Last weekend (March 2) we had a long weekend (four days). Two friends, Alex and Jono, and I
decided to travel somewhere, and we chose the capital of Spain: Madrid! It was my second time going, but the first time I was only there for two hours, so I didn't see much. This second trip was for three days, and in that time we were able to do many things.
We left Zaragoza early Saturday morning at 8:50 am. We rode the bus, which took about three hours. Once we arrived in Madrid we took the metro to the place in which we were staying, a
youth hostel, which was situated near the center, about a ten-minute walk away. I had only
brought my backpack because I didn't need a lot of clothes for such a short trip. Packing was
easy for me.
That afternoon we went to two museums: the Prado and the Reina Sofía. First, we went to the
Prado. Unfortunately photography was prohibited. I wish I could've taken pictures of the
paintings! Obviously we didn't see the entire museum. It's too big to do all at once. We walked
around where we liked. But one painting we did make time to see was Las Meninas by
Velázquez. We entered the room where it was and I could tell right away where it was on the
wall because a crowd of people was in front of it. It felt quite amazing to finally see this painting
myself because I had heard about it for such a long time. It was a lot bigger than I thought, but
that way it's easier to add a lot of detail in a painting I guess. I really liked all of the paintings in
the Prado. There were a variety of themes. For example, one was about the Greek myth that
Cronus would be usurped by one of his sons, so he ate them. The painting showed Cronus
taking a bite of the body of one of his sons. It was disgusting but interesting. Another painting
showed a nun who started to grow a lot of body hair when she was older. I thought she was a
man at first, but then looking at the title I realized I was wrong. In the Prado there are only paintings I think. I don't remember seeing any other type of art.
In the Reina Sofía, there is a lot more modern art, including photography, paintings, sculptures,
videos, and written work. I found out while walking through the museum that I liked the Prado a lot more because of the paintings. The more modern art was more difficult for me to understand. That's probably why I liked it less.
We returned to the hostel, and I was so tired that I took a nap. We had walked so much that day.
I'm surprised that walking, which seems so simple, can tire one so quickly. After my nap we went out to get dinner. Alex, who had visited Madrid before, knew a really good Chinese
restaurant, so we went there. I was craving some Chinese food. We had to go down stairs to get to it. It was below the ground in a sort of tunnel with other stores and restaurants. It was also
small. My friends and I had to wait in line for about half an hour before we could enter. I ordered
fried rice and beef wrapped in bread. It was delicious! It was worth the wait. We went back to the hostel after that and soon I went to sleep.
The next morning (Sunday), we woke up pretty early so that we had time to eat breakfast in the
hostel. Breakfast was included thankfully in the fee. That day we wanted to go see the Palacio
Real (Royal Palace), which is the home of the monarchs, and a third art museum, the Thyssen.
On our way to the Palacio Real we stopped to buy churros and chocolate, but Alex didn't want
any. We finished quickly and continued on our way. We got tickets at the entrance of the Palacio Real and walked in. First we had to climb some wide stairs up to the second floor where the rooms were. Even from the beginning I could see all the luxury that surrounded the monarchs. Everything was exquisitely decorated and perfectly symmetrical. It was breathtaking to see. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take photos. On the second floor there were many groups with guides going through. Alex and I followed them to learn about each room. Jono had already been to the Palacio Real before and so went ahead of us. The guides explained them purpose of each room and how it was decorated. There were also signs that one could read about the rooms. The king had different rooms for everything he did. He ate breakfast in one,
ate dinner in another, slept in another, got dressed in a different one. I thought, "Why?" But he's
a king and he can do whatever he wants I guess. We also saw a huge dining room with a very
long table that can hold more than a hundred people! In another room we saw the silverware and other eating utensils used before. They were all in class cupboards.
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| Me, Alex, and Jono. |
also in Madrid for the long weekend with a friend from the school she teaches at in the US. We
said hello to each other and she told us that we needed to go see the armory. It was her favorite
part of the Palacio Real. Jono and I went. There were two rooms fulls of swords and shields and
armor. And the armor wasn't just for the men but also for horses. It was very impressive. I can't
imagine how heavy all that metal was. The men and horses had to move really fast while
wearing something that weighed so much. It sounds pretty hard to me. Jono and I met up with
Alex outside and we rested a bit. It was sunny and warm and really nice.
Then we went to the Thyssen. All the paintings are part of a collection of the Thyssen family.
Together they collected about 800 paintings! We saw mostly everything. Alex is in the
Contemporary Art class, so she knew some of the painters/paintings in the museum. She
explained them to me. She was really interested in them. She would spend several minutes
looking at one painting to really understand it.
Jono and I became tired of being in the museum, but Alex wanted to stay, so Jono and I left
and went back to the hostel to rest. I took my second nap of the trip. When Alex came back she
also took a nap. After we woke up we all went to get dinner together. We wanted somewhere
close so we walked around looking for a restaurant. We found one called La Vaca Argentina
(The Argentinian Cow). It was expensive, but we decided that since we were in Madrid we
should have at least one fancy dinner. There was one other couple in the restaurant. A man led
us to a table and gave us each a menu to look at. Alex and Jono both ordered meat and I
ordered "Falso" Risotto. It was delicious of course. We ate slowly and savored every bite.
When we finished we payed and left.
We wanted to walk some more so we headed towards the center of Madrid. We passed through the Plaza del Sol, which is the point from which all the main roads of Spain are measured. That's very cool. We made a big circle basically. Once we arrived back the hostel I went to bed.
The next day (Monday), we wanted to go see a castle in a pueblo outside of Madrid called Manzanares el Real. We took a 45-minute bus ride out to the pueblo. The castle was high up on a hill, a good vantage point, and looked very cool. We walked to the ticket booth and read a saw that made our hearts sink. The castle was closed on Mondays. Of course. I wasn't mad, but
Alex was. Jono didn't care as much either. Alex found a map with different routes we could walk
in the pueblo, so we decided to do that instead. We had all day. In order to show us the way,
there were little red signs with arrows in the right direction. Even though we didn't get to see the
castle, we still saw really pretty landscapes. The red path led us up a hill and we could see all
around us. When we finished the trail we went to eat lunch.
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| The red trail that we followed. |
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| The mysterious castle. |
hadn't seen everything. We stayed for about two hours and then went back to the hostel to pack
our things.
We left the hostel and rode the metro back to the bus station. Our bus left at 7:30 pm and we
arrived in Zaragoza around 11 pm.
I am very glad that I got to go to Madrid and do so many things. Of course many more things
remain to be seen and done, but at least I saw a large portion of them. Next week the whole
school is going to Andalucía! We will be stopping in four different cities: Córdoba, Granada,
Sevilla, and Cádiz. It's going to be so much fun! I won't be able to bring my laptop, but I'll tell
you all about the trip afterwards. Hope you have a good week!
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