Madrid - Along with my good buddy Alexis, I left Barcelona by bus at 11:00 pm Friday night.. We got to Madrid a little after 6am the following morning, and set about exploring the city. To tell the truth, there wasn't a whole lot to see in the cold, pre-dawn streets but soon things started to pick up, and after a delicious hot chocolate/churros/tortilla española breakfast we headed to the Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid's famous art museum and one of the most treasured collections of European art in the world. It was really cool because, in my early years of Spanish classes, we would always have these, like, Cultura de España sections that would often feature pictures of paintings by the Spanish greats. At the Prado I got to see the real deal versions of works I remember from so many years ago: Las Meninas (Velázquez), San Andrés y San Francisco (El Greco), Colossus (Goya), and an entire Rubens - a Flemish painter but still legit - collection were all on tap. As Alexis noted, many of the paintings take some background knowledge (which we lacked) to understand well, but it was nevertheless amazing to see these masterpieces up close.
After bouncing around great art for awhile, we checked out another of Madrid's famous attractions, El Parque del Buen Retiro (literally: Good Retreat Park). This gorgeous, huge, aptly named haven recalled memories of my first visit there in 2006, when my brother was studying abroad in Spain. The park boasts wide pathways, gads of flora, an impressive monument to King Alfonso XII rising over a calm pond, a beautiful Palacio de Cristal, and - enjoying it all - scores of runners, hundreds of happy dogs, and thousands of ambling visitors. Here's a pic w/ the pondside monument in the background:
Probably the coolest part of the Madrid trip was attending an Atlético Madrid (not to be confused w/ Madrid soccer giant Real Madrid.. no one likes them) soccer game in their home stadium, the Calderón.. We managed to get reasonably-priced tickets just 6 rows back from the pitch, affording us an incredible view of the first-half Atlético offensive action, which was in great display! Some background: Atlético's biggest star is Diego Forlán, a flashy Uruguayan striker who, you may remember, won the golden ball this past summer as the Most Outstanding player of the World Cup. Coming into this game, he hadn't scored for Atlético in 12 games.. Not trying to brag, but before the game I called that Forlán would score two goals in a breakout performance to get him back on track, and Diego didn't disappoint, notching 2 goals and an assist. The two first-half goals - the second of which was stunning, set up by a gorgeous chip from Forlán to Kun Agüero - were followed by a ridiculous curling shot by Forlán in the 70th. Almost better than the soccer was the atmosphere inside the stadium - it was nuts! There was one section that literally cheered the entire time (I'm convinced they get free tickets or something for doing that every game), and the whole place exploded after every good play and goal.. When Forlán scored, everyone chanted: "Ur-u-guay-o! Ur-u-guay-o!". Even though it wasn't Barca playing, just being in such a soccer-crazy environment was great. Really cool experience. Oh, and Atlético ended up winning, 3-0. Highlights here if you're interested (you can hear the fans' craziness in the video.. really it's worth watching).
After the game, my friend and I enjoyed a nice home-cooked meal prepared by a friend's host señora. Then we saw the Madrid night life, and I caught a 7 am bus back to Barca to wrap up the day in Madrid.. My overall impressions? I liked Madrid, but I'm really glad I chose to study abroad in Barca. Madrid is spacious, sort of peaceful, beautiful, and a bit serious, but it doesn't have the energy and vivacity that Barcelona does. Of course, I'm biased, but that's my takeaway.
Lunch at the oldest restaurant in the world - el Botín!
Other random news items: In my 1st session w/ my 2nd intercambio (to practice spanish remember), my new friend took me to a swanky private club in the heart of Barcelona.. It had a sweet library, a goldfish pond, and a nice little outside terrace - all within the heart of the city! Also, I was able to see a Tchaikovsky concert - Piano Concerto No. 1, Swan Lake & 1812 Overture performed by the Russian Symphony Orchestra - at the Palau de la Música Catalana (I talked about the Palau in my 9th update) yesterday, which was a really cool experience. Seeing the music hall in the day, on an hour-long tour, was one thing but hearing some of the best classical music in the world, played by a premier orchestra, was another thing altogether. The flying horses, elegant roses, peaceful muses, and Catalan flags that adorn the place seemed to revel in the live music.. The crowd was quite enthusiastic too; because people wouldn't stop clapping at the end, the conductor was forced to have his musicians play 3 encores! All in all, the concert was pricey but I'm glad I went.
And finally, many of you know that my brother also has a blog, called "The 52 Week Project." This week he wrote a sad but, I think, very important piece about World War II and the near-inconceivable loss of lives it engendered, particularly in China. If you haven't had enough of Kurz blogs, check it out: http://www.the52weekproject.com/ There's a strong possibility that you will find Steve's posts more interesting than mine ;)
The oldest restaurant in the world, I'm curious what kind of food did they serve, what actually did you eat there? and if desert, what was that?
ReplyDeleteI had a delicious egg & asparagus dish, one friend ordered a salad that he said was the best he's ever had, and the other friend had a savory soup. We actually didn't order dessert (although the choices looked great), but we did get sangría, which was the tastiest I've ever tried! All in all, I was pretty impressed/pleased and it wasn't overly expensive.
ReplyDelete