Friday

School lets out early every Friday. (No exam results today) In culture class we began talking about the many different regional and national dances of Spain, in addition to flamenco.

Amanda and I went straight home to read, nap, and shower (respectively) before lunch. 

 When Patricia came home she brought her sister Lola who will be preparing lunch for us from Sun-Wed., while Patricia is at Euro Disneyland in Paris with her daughter and granddaughter. 

Amanda was asleep and Alice was on some field trip with her program, so only I ended up meeting her. Then while Patricia was cooking our meal I began asking her questions and talking with her about places to go and things to see, about history and people, etc. I really loved just attempting to talk with her without any stress or pressure. 

We had a fantastic pasta salad today with arugula, cashews, tomatoes, cheese, and pasta with a olive oil and salt dressing; there was also pan fried chicken. A poor, hungry Alice came in late because the excursion had lasted a long time.
Then after lunch Patricia began showing us images of her work...which is amazing.  She uses mostly oil paints and some black and white charcoal.   Her subject matter ranges from family and friends to paintings of the sea and sky.  In several works she incorporates mirrors in order to involve the observer in the piece (She has one which is like a giant family meal/last supper.  1/2 of the table is painted with food and people while the other half is set up right next to the painting...and around this you can sit and interact with the painting.) 

 

....

I went on a late afternoon walk to the exchange place and then around by the palace where I went down into the gardens which lie to the side. It was relaxing on such a beautiful day. 

Eventually I made my way home to relax a little before the evening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alice, Amanda, and I made plans for food and fun later on in the evening. Then Alice took a nap and we two went to Retiro for a walk. It was a beautiful, cool evening and the park was so fun. It is enormous and has so many different parts to it. Open green spaces, a giant pond, wooded walking trails, open garden spaces etc. We had a really good time just wandering through it. 

Towards the end, while looking for the restroom we walked into this crazy book market that was packed. 

 

 

 

 

 

(Bridge in our neighborhood; I have posted pictures taken from on top of it previously)

 

 

 

 

(A garden within a park...was not really curved this is just how the pano turned out.)

 

(Broccoli trees)

(She apparently had never climbed a tree before.)

 

(You can just see the Prado Museum behind this gate)

(The wooded portion of Retiro)

 

At 9:40ish we made it to La Latina where we were meeting Alice and several others to go out for Pinchos week in La Latina...this is a special menu that is put out featuring these small tapas like items...one from 41 different restaurants. The idea is that you chose the pinchos you are interested in trying and then go from restaurant to restaurant finally voting on you favorites. Each pincho is only 2.50€ and is served with a little beer. (same drink at each place). 

Once we found the group we set off to settle on the first place we found. Someone on the street, obviously sent out to shepherd people to a restaurant, caught us and took us to our first stop. This pincho was Salmon TarTar with caviar and sprouts all sitting on a little rice wafer. It was pretty good. 

2nd pincho was a wedge of really yummy tortilla de patatas (potato quiche) on top of a slice of bread. 

3rd was a little chicken wrap... this was the groups favorite.

(The Pinchos)

(Alice)

(These three not so great pics are from pincho stop #1.

Just above is Amanda and Jasmine)

(Pincho #2)

(Alice, Me, Cindy, Genevieve, Amanda... the two "unknowns are also from Hunter College)

 

At 12 we split up and Amanda and I took the 7 minute walk back home for bed.

--EM

Thursday...Midterms and a Movie

Tests! Scary and tough but I think I know what I got wrong. 

More rain. Big droplets here. And when it rains it poors (literally) but only for very small amounts of time. Amanda, Alice, and I missed the rain by minutes when we walked to school. And on the way back it held off too. 

It actually become quite cool...probably the coolest it's been since we got here. 

(During break I got this picture to show you all how cloudy it was... The view is completely gone)

(This following the end of the day when it had cleared up a little)

Lunch was pasta with clams (This is called alle vongoli in Italian if anyone would like to look it up). Strawberry yogurt for desert. 

I recognized progress in my ability to follow and add to our daily luncheon conversations today! Because it was kind of a yucky day and there wasn't that much to do we three decided to go to the movies. This way we could celebrate finishing midterms, practice listening to Spanish, and also relax. 

After lunch we had a very relaxing afternoon. We decided on a movie and agreed on one of the later times. Alice and I did some more yoga; it was a much harder routine today but very envigorating. I talked to the fam, made a list of a whole bunch of things to do in Barcelona, etc. We were getting stir crazy towards the end. 

At 8 we were off. 

On the way to the metro at Ópera, we stopped at this Kebop place where the ever hungry Alice got a little gyro style sandwich...she kindly shared several bites with both of us. 

The theater was only two stops from opera on San Bernardo. We had some time to walk around the neighborhood. 

Different part of Madrid in style and atmosphere but still nice and clean with lots of people out eating and socializing. ...lots of dogs too. 

Fountains everywhere!! This is a little park (one of thousands) right around the corner front the movie theater. 

Here we are. It was a pretty theater and the prices were just about the same as at home. We got a huge tub of popcorn to share and sprites. Good way to practice Spanish. 

The movie was: Requistas Para Ser Una Persona Normal. It is a movie from Spain...but it was such a silly/simple plot that we could all understand pretty much all of what was going on. It put the three of us in a really good mood. So fun! 

After we walked through opera, the castle is lit up at night and is so impressive. 

Amanda and I found a place to get tapas and a small drink. An Italian at the table next to us spoke a little in both English and Spanish. Probably to practice. He told us about a couple of different interesting places to go in the city.. Like these micro theaters. 

Came home slowly walking.  Beautiful evening!!

Em

Tuesday and Wednesday (a quick update)

Tues:

Rained off and on throughout the day and stayed gray all evening. This made Madrid humid for the first time since I've been here.  Signed up for Toledo excursion on Saturday. Lots of chatting with my roomys. Began planning a Barcelona trip for between sessions. 

And I studied this evening. That is just about it. 

Wed:

 Rainy and cool today. 

In school we reviewed what we've done so far in class for our midterms. 

Lunch was delicious...garbanzo bean and noodles soup, salad, and an omelet...melon for dessert 

Barcelona planning is almost done! 

Troubles though with finding a hostel with the right location and the right price. 

Amanda went to tutoring session at 4:15 

I worked on blog and hw. Later Alice and I did some light yoga, and then took a walk, partly in search of a grocery store that was less expensive than the one we have been going to on Calle Mayor. We went down to the left, from out house, and then up to the "hip" neighborhood of La Latina, which Amanda and I had walked through several days ago. Alice and I went to a couple of clothing stores and eventually did find a much better grocery store for picking up snacks. 

Back home I began studying again in earnest to prepare for my midterms, then I went to bed. 

Sunday...The Royal Palace

Slept in again and feel fully refreshed.  Today I had two cups of coffee and a peice of toast. I sat in bed and read emails, worked on blog, the usual. Amanda and Alice didn't get up until nearer 11:00-11:30...which was nice for them I'm sure. 

Patricia was up with her granddaughter who had spent the night. Little Mia is adorable and sweet but she encounters new people all the time through her moms work so she isn't too keen on chatting with still more strangers. 

...

At 12:45 Amanda and I met Rhiannon,Tanner, and Sierra at the Apple store and from there we all walked to el Palacio Real (Royal Palace) for a tour. 

 

(Inside the Palace.  This is the Prince's courtyard)

(View from the front windows to the Cathedral)

(The grand first half of the stairwell)

View of the walls and ceiling.  Every single room had frescos painted on the ceiling like this one)

(Photo thanks to Rhiannon's Facebook)

 

(Looking across the entry hall from right in front of where the tour of the rooms/living quarters began)

 

After this point no more photography was allowed so I can't show you any pictures of the excesses and beauty of this place.  There are red rooms, green rooms, blue and gold rooms, there is a room completely covered in porcelain, all of which was crafted in Spain.  It is still used by the royal family today whenever they visit Madrid but is not their primary residence... Also we will likely be returning.

 

Amanda and I had to leave for lunch at 2:30.  It was chicken, rice with veggies, gazpacho, and cherries for lunch today (and of course bread).  I have found that I have trouble drinking a whole glass of gazpacho.  I like the first few sips but then I really can't get down anymore. (Gazpacho is kind of a cold tomato based juice...Cold tomato soup!)

 

 ...

Around 9 Amanda, Alice, and I went out together; Alice needed to run to the store and we two wanted a stretch before finishing our homework. 

We encountered a fairly large crowd dispersing after what appeared to have been some religious parade surrounding this:

(Photo courtesy of Amanda)

We asked someone what it was but none of us, even Alice, could not understand her accent.  Apparently, it is connected with the celebration of Corpus Christi, which was on Thurs.  There were tons of people with white Lily flowers and several people walked by dressed in these medieval looking robes.  (I will try to gather more information about this event)

 

For "dinner" we went up to the Museo de Jamon on Calle de Mayor...it is as you can imagine filled with ham.  It also has small baguette sandwiches called bocadillos  and tapas for sale.  We all got a small lettuce, tomato and egg sandwich on a croissant and walked back down to a small open place on Calle Mayor that has a monument to those who were killed in the assignation attempt on King Alfonso XIII and his queen Victoria Eugenia in 1906.  this is directly above our street.  There we ate our sandwiches, some fruit, and some sour cream and onion pringles that Amanda had gotten at the store.

  

After eating and talking about our plans for the next few weeks and our time here so far we went for some ice cream.  (Dulce de Leche for me)

Then we returned home to finish homework and soon went to bed.