Part 1 Euro-Extravaganza: Madrid

Part 1 of the Euro-Extravaganza began in the lovely city of Madrid. Having never been to Europe Madrid definitely showed off the good side of Europe. The people, the food, and the sights were all delicious.....yes ALL of them were. The city itself was very clean (this comment pertains specifically to the Metro which put the NY subway to shame) and more spread out then I imagined. All in all it wasn't too difficult to explore the city (even with my sad 5 year old Spanish skills) which is very tourist friendly.

Day 1: Saturday May 17
We began with a flight from JFK, and after purchasing a dinner of hummus to eat with our Trader Joe's Bagel/Pita chips, Kissa and I sat down and waited for our plane. The flight itself wasn't too bad (I have to admit I slept for the majority of it) and once again God blessed me with nice companions for the flight. Alessandro sat on my right, a blond blue-eyed Italian, in his late 20's who was had been visiting the city for vacation. We had a nice little conversation about a variety of things, and his biggest piece of advice? Make sure I go to Paris with my boyfriend because it is the "City of Love." Good thing I had Kissa with me to serve as my date/lover for the trip, haha. On the other side of of the row next to Kissa was Jorge, a very smiley and cheerful man probably in his early 50's. Jorge was definitely interested in us from the beginning, I think he was surprised to see two small Asian Americans sitting on a plane, trying to remember and practice any ounce of Spanish left in our bones. He was very helpful however, and was more than willing to give us tips on what to do in Madrid. Two important things: eat tapas and pulpo de gallega, both of which we did. Jorge also was kind enough to answer our questions about Spanish words, which ranged from asking him what to call a cup to what conseguir meant. And to top it all off he wished us good luck as we parted ways.

I like meeting strangers on planes. =)

Day 2: Sunday May 18
After getting into Madrid, we got our luggage and took a cab to our hostel. We found ourselves outside of a sketchy looking building, and walked into a darkened hallway, and into a really old school elevator. To get in you had to open the outside gate, enter through two swinging doors, making sure you locked the outside gate, and then up you went. Very quaint and old school, but awesome. We met Francisco who showed us our room (complete with a tv, 3 beds (yes 3!) and a desk. The bathrooms we shared with the rest of the girls on the floor, consisting of 2 showers and one toilet. The hostel we stayed at was a students hostel, and so every so often you'd hear some others conversing in different languages.

Once we were settled in at the hostel we went on to find a bank. Quite an adventure as we explored the city for the first day. First thing I ate was a boccadillo con jamon serrano, DELICIOUS. Boccadillo's are Spanish sandwiches, basically a baguette with ham (more like proscuitto then American sandwich ham, and therefore even more yummy.) We explored the Retiro Park for a bit before getting blown away by pollen and dirt (after we drank our first Spanish Coke - for the record it taste pretty good, maybe better than American Coke, and is always served with a slice of lemon.) From there we went to the Puerta del Sol where we encountered our first Museo Del Jamon. While it is most definitely NOT a museum, it has tons of meat, more like a deli. We stopped off to get some candy at a Haribo store, and then went home to rest up for the next day.

Day 3: Monday May 19
We started off the day at the Palacio Real, which was beautiful (thanks to Bekah who suggested it.) Large and picturesque were each of the rooms and the entire palace itself. After sneaking in an illegal picture or two, and taking absolutely too many between and through columns, we then went to the cathedral that was next to the palace.

It was interesting being in the cathedral. For one thing its different being in a type of church like it, because 1) Most Christian churches aren't built like cathedrals, and 2) it's also a piece of artwork. The stained glass windows, along with all the architectural aspects were simply amazing. The mosaic ceilings, were a blur of colors and images, and gave a sort of lightness to such a holy place. The second thing that interested me about being in the cathedral was that I felt the majesty of God in that place. I understood why Catholics seem to distance themselves from a personal relationship with God's to one where there God is the authoritative figure. Not saying its bad, if anything it was a feeling I haven't felt for a while. Few times do I ever feel that small at the feet of God, but in this cathedral, I felt God's power. I felt that I was in the presence of something so much bigger than me, that all I could do was be in complete awe as a result of his all mighty nature, and my insignificance.

From the cathedral we went to the Real Madrid Soccer Stadium. Too cheap to pay for a tour, we walked around the entire stadium (took lots of pictures for my brother) and even got to sneak a picture of the field through an opening where some men were doing construction. From then we spent the afternoon at Plaza Mayor, where I had my first chocolate con churros and cafe con leche (can we say YUM!), and then later had dinner at a nice restaurant.

For the sake of the length of this blog I will write a short description of the food, but let it be known that it was all sooo good. =)
Pulpo de gallega - buttery slices of potato, with tender pieces of octopus on top, with a splash of olive oil and a sprinkle of paprika
Stuffed Pimientos - Small red peppers stuffed with seafood in a tomato cream sauce.
Sopa Castilliano - Serrano ham based soup, with pieces of bread, and a fried egg at the bottom
Sangria - you better know what this is

Day 3: Tuesday May 20
On our last day in Madrid we visited the famous Prado Museum, which had a special exhibit on Goya. Not realizing the extent of our exhaustion and the grandeur of the museum we quickly went through it and took a short 10 minute nap on one of the benches inside.

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NOTE: Goya
So I learned about Goya in my art history class, and I never was particularly fond of his art until I was able to see it up close and in full scale. In particular one of his paintings, The Third of May 1808, never struck a cord with me until I got to see it at the Prado. In books you can't really see the man's eyes, but in person.....well the painting depicted so much humanity in the eyes of the man, ready to die. The exhibition displayed Goya's works that were based on his feelings towards war. Some of them are really difficult to look at, not simply because they are gruesome, but rather because they indicate reality.

In seeing Goya's work I had to admire the man. You can't look at it and not realize the heavy burden he must have carried. His heart obviously hurt for victims of war, for injustice that occurred. His mind must have been heavy as he tried to explain his complex emotions through art. I saw his paintings not only as an expression of the situations around him, but as an image of his heart, torn, broken, and burdened. Burdened so much so that he had to express himself in a way that affects so many future generations, people like myself. And while it may seem depressing at some points, it in some way encouraged me to have hope. It reminded me that everyone carries some sort of heavy burden, for all sorts of things in the world. It reminded me that its ok to share that burden too, because perhaps it can encourage others to do something about injustice, like how Goya's artwork has affected me and so many others.
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After the Prado we stopped of for lunch at Plaza Mayor one last time, for paella and mas churros. Interestingly enough we had a waiter who was from China. I finally had the chance to carry a conversation in English, Chinese, and Spanish. =) Then we went back to the hostel to pick up our stuff, drag it through the Metro, got on a plane, and flew to Barcelona.............where the real fun began.