Ok first of all, weekend in Madrid = CRAZY. We started off our trip with a bus tour of the city where we almost got eaten by a giant bug on the bus. Then we headed to the Palacio Real which was incredibly beautiful and took a few secret pictures inside the palace when the security guards weren't looking. Each room was elaborately decorated and had priceless artwork. The views of Madrid from outside the Palace were pretty spectacular as well.
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| Grand Entrance! The horses get parked at the bottom of these stairs. |
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| And every room had beautifully painted ceilings |
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| So happy to be there! |
After the palace tour, we ate lunch at El Museo de Jamón (The Museum of Ham) where we expected to have a fabulous meal of jamón which is what Spain is known for, but instead were served fried chicken and french fries?... anyways, our guided tour with the school was finished after lunch and we were free for the remainder of the weekend! After successfully navigating Madrid to find our hostel, we took a quick siesta, went shopping, ate some topas (finally tried some jamón), and got ready to hit up the discotecas. Before going to the club, we hung out at the bar in our hostel until about 12:30. Got to the club around 12:45 for the "early bird special". haha the club was EMPTY when we arrived! So we explored the SEVEN FLOORS of the club for a few hours until people started showing up and then danced the night/morning away. After returning to the hostel in the early morning and sleeping for about 4 hours, we were off to a full day of excursions. We started with a nice walk through El Parque de Retiros, followed by wondering through El Museo del Prado (where we saw amazing paintings by Goya and Valasquez), enjoyed gazpacho and a bocadillo at a little restaurant, took a short siesta at the hostel, ventured to Plaza Mayor and Puerta del Sol, indulged in some churros con chocolate at a famous chocolateria where we were serenaded by an accordion in the street where we were sitting, and finished off the day in a crowded local bar while we watched Spain beat France to make it to the semi-finals of the Eurocup. We did not waste any time in Madrid!! Although exhausted by Sunday, we managed to pack up our things and head to one last museum (La Reina Sophia) to see masterpieces by Picasso and Salvador Dali, and buy my very first train ticket back to Toledo.
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| El Museo de Jamon |
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| Inside our fab hostel |
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| La Kapital- la discoteca (nightclub) |
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| Parque de Retiros |
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| Chocolateria San Gines |
After our long weekend away in the big city, it was nice to return back our little city of Toledo and spend some time with my host family. Classes during the week followed the same old routine as last week. The weather here has been one for the records (literally!). While watching the news with my host mom, I found out that this week's temperatures have been the hottest that it has been in Toledo (and all of Spain) in the past 100 years!!! All week, the heat remained around 105 degrees Fahrenheit! It may not seem bad to you guys back home, but let me just say one thing: we don't have air conditioning. Two other exciting events during this week were Flamenco dance lessons (which was more challenging than I expected...I felt like I was just running in circles when they turned the music on) and returning to the Plaza de Toros to watch the incredibly intense Eurocup game where Spain beat Portugal in a shootout! (YAY FOR THE EUROCUP CHAMPIONSHIP ON SUNDAY!!)
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| Viva Espana! |
Although all of these crazy events have been a lot of fun, some of the best experiences that I've had is spending time with my host family. They really are very welcoming and have made me feel at home. Geli has cooked me a new dish every day so far so that I can try as many new foods as possible! I've been a pretty adventurous eater as well: I've learned how to eat an entire shrimp (head and all!), I've been served an entire baby squid (and ate as much as I could), and tried some very different looking chorizo. Although the weather has hit record breaking temperatures, we still have eaten soup and other rich/hot dishes for lunch! Cafe con leche is a regular breakfast, post-lunch, and post-dinner beverage (served hot as well). Funny side note: the first time I was preparing my cafe con leche for breakfast by myself, I grabbed the the sugar jar out of the cabinet and dumped a hearty spoonful into my glass only to find out I had actually grabbed the salt jar by mistake...
I finally feel accustomed to the lifestyle of a Spaniard: late nights with early mornings and afternoon siestas, big lunches at 2:00 PM and small dinners at 10:00 PM (although my host mom always serves me a full meal for dinner while she and Luis might have a small salad. She loves to see me eat!), no personal bubble aka talking with your faces very close to each other, and giving 2 kisses before leaving the house, upon returning, or meeting someone new in the family.
Tonight I had my first intercambio with Jorge and his novia Laura where I got to practice my Spanish and Jorge got to practice his English. It was a really good experience AND I got invited to dinner at Jorge and Laura's apartment for dinner next week! Tomorrow I'm venturing to El Escorial with the rest of my classmates and then relaxing in Toledo for the remainder of the weekend. Sorry for the long entry! Much love to you all!
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