Friday was a funny morning. I had gone out for "guac night" at Austin's the night before, where we have officially become regulars and on a first-name basis with all the bartenders. Austin's (Aw-steens) is definitely the American students' meeting spot, but we meet people from all over the place. I'd say it's mostly a haven for English speakers...I've chatted with Scottish, German, Irish, English, and Norwegian people - a nice break from Spanish conversation. Anyway, I guess we had a little too much guacamole because from Austin's we went to a Spanish bar and then to an underground night club where we danced our hearts out until about 5 a.m. So Friday I had to rush and pack for my trip to Madrid before heading to class, got to the bus stop just as it was pulling away, and also forgot my bus card. It was one of those days. Once on the bus, I sat next to a Spanish woman with hot pink lipstick and a gold tooth who started rapidly joking/gossiping about someone else on the bus to me. It's always hardest to understand Spanish in the mornings, especially with strangers. Eventually we got on the same page and started talking about how I'm a student here, and she guessed from my appearance and accent that I was French. Score! For once, I'm not blatantly American...And I'm working on the accent. It was my first time being late to class, so of course I wanted to make a discreet entrance. Our class was moved to a different location due to construction, so I was surprised by the layout of the new room. The door squeaked and swung directly into someone's desk when I opened it, everyone laughed, and there was also not a single spot available. Before I could politely respond to the situation, the two big Russian guys in my class immediately got up, lifted a table from the back of the classroom over the heads of other students and swung it around (with heads ducking, teacher gasping) to make a spot for me. People literally applauded...not so discreet. After class, I joined the group on the charter bus and took off for Madrid to participate in my first of three trips for the Survey of Spanish Art class. The five-hour ride was long but beautiful. Just as we got out of the city of Alicante, it was all rural Spain for hours on end with views of little old towns and endless mountains - I've never seen anything like it. In Madrid, the views changed drastically. The city is enormous compared to Alicante, with ancient government buildings, amazing architecture, art plastered over random buildings, and huge plazas, including the famous Plaza Mayor. On Saturday it felt like we walked through the whole city, but it wasn't even close. We toured the Palacio Real, the royal palace where the kings and queens had hosted events since the 16th Century. The palace was probably my favorite; each room was breathtakingly unique and intricate, from the chandeliers to the ceilings to the rugs to the doorknobs. We went to Museo Prado and Museo de Reina Sofia, both with seemingly endless rooms of impressive art. Prado is considered one of the best art museums in the world and the single best collection of Spanish art, and I don't doubt it for a second. It has endless collections of paintings that were created for royalty by important Spanish artists. Main things I learned: Catholicism, breasts, and death are the three main themes, and Spanish painter Francisco de Goya obviously never took a siesta. We went to a small restaurant for tapas (Spanish appetizers) and got a little more creative than usual. I tried cooked snail just to say I did it, but can't say I went in for seconds. Along with that I had blood sausage, fried anchovies (with eyeballs), churrizo (another kind of sausage), and some good ole' French fries to wash it down. Bon appetit! Wrong language? Anyway, later that night we took the advice of every random person we had talked to about Madrid and decided to check out the infamous Kapital. I had heard the nightclub was fun, huge...somehow I didn't expect it to be like this. It was a seven-story club, each floor completely unique and filled with people raging from all over the world. The bottom floor was essentially a giant concert of DJs and performers with the other six balconies overlooking the massive crowd. Boring, right? We thought so too. After that tranquil night we got up bright and early to head to Toledo, about an hour out of Madrid. I had no idea what to expect, and I loved it. It's so culturally and ascetically different...it's a mixture of Spanish Catholic, Jewish, and Muslim influences. I hadn't seen anything other than Catholicism in Europe, so it was cool to tour the historic synagogue-turned-museum. The day was cloudy and a little rainy while we went through Toledo, but it went along well with the stillness of the town and in my opinion made the historic architecture look beautiful. I'll show rather than tell with the slideshow below. If you've made it this far in the post, I'm impressed, and your Facebook news feed must be quite uninteresting. Here's some other random things on my mind before we part: - Running on the beach at sunrise is my new favorite before-school activity - The aforementioned Russian guys in my class asked me for a detailed description about the meaning of the English word "a**hole" today. I tried my best. - My host parents asked me what the word "like" means this morning, because I randomly slip it into my Spanish when I'm trying to figure out what to say. I should probably break that habit when I'm not even speaking my own language! - As cool as Madrid was, it made me appreciate Alicante even more. I am in love with every inch (oops, European centimeter) of this city. Hasta la próxima! MadridToledo
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