This past weekend I had the opportunity to travel to Madrid. I caught a bus from Bilbao, and five hours later I was standing in the middle of the capital of Spain! Igor picked me up from the bus stop, and then we continued our SPAINexperience2010TOUR. We parked the car and started walking around the city. We found a restaurant and positioned ourselves in the perfect seats outside. We enjoyed some good tapas and good people watching (especially people tripping over the curb right in front of us). From there we went to a few more restaurant/bars, and after that had breakfast before going to bed. We had the typical breakfast of Madrid: Churros con chocolate... delicious! We headed to bed "early" (according to Spanish standards) because the next day was packed.
Churros con chocolate... chocolate for dipping and for drinking. It was ssoooo thick and sssooooo good!
We started Saturday out by taking a little stroll around a park, but it wasn't just any park, it was the Campo del Moro (royal gardens) that is situated right in front of Placio Real (the Royal Palace where the King and Queen of Spain live). We actually walked around the gardens on the property of the palace... the same gardens that the king and queen and prince and princess walk around in! So cool! After that, we bought tickets to take a tour of the palace. It is the only "still-functioning" palace that you can go inside. We went into the dining room that is used when they have company, like if the President of the US came to visit, and I think each side of the table had about 25 chairs. The whole palace was absolutely incredible! We couldn't take pictures, but I'm sure my mouth was hanging open the whole time!
Campo del Moro with the Palacio Real in the background
Palacio Real
La catedral de Santa María La Real de La Almudena
(directly across from the Royal Palace- where crown is transferred, royal weddings happen, and mass... gorgeous inside)
From there, we just took some time to walk around the city. We walked through the Plaza Mayor, past the oldest restaurant in the world (yes, it holds the Guiness World Record- 1725), and through the Jardines del Retiro de Madrid, a beautiful park in the center of the city. We took a row boat out on a small pond and enjoyed a peaceful lunch. Igor said you haven't experienced Madrid unless you take a boat out on Estanque del Retiro (Retiro Pond). The artificial pond is right in front of a monument to King Alfonso VII. ¡Que guay! (How cool!) We also saw Palacio del Cristal (Glass Palace), and La Fuente del Ángel Caído (the Fountain of the Fallen Angel) that is an altitude of 666 meters above sea level. We spent the rest of the evening taking in Madrid, enjoying tapas (free "appetizers" with each round of drinks), enjoying street shows in the Plaza Mayor, and watching a few shows of the Noche de Teatro (night of theater).
Estanque del Retiro y Monumento al Rey Alfonso VII
Palacio del Cristal
La Fuente del Ángel Caído
On Sunday, we packed up and set out on the road to go to Lorca. The scenery along the way was incredible! The mountains were gorgeous and the sky was crystal blue. The area is considered 89% desert, so it was nice and warm! In Lorca, we met up with one of Igor's friends and got ready for the Semana Santa processional. It was incredible! I have never seen anything like it. Each barrio (neighborhood) is represented by a different color, and each has a different history tied to a different civilization. There is always an ongoing "battle-ish" between each paso (neighborhood), and there is a lot of cheering and chanting when the color of your barrio comes along. ¡Viva Paso Blanco! (We cheered for the white barrio.) The processional was amazing. There were hundreds of people involved, and it depicted the story of the Bible. People were dressed in costumes, did tricks with horses, and bands were playing music. The cloaks that the individuals wore looked like they were painted, but the images were stitched... by hand... using gold, silver, and silk. ¡Que guay! Then there were the pasos, the floats depicting a story from the Bible, that were decorated with flowers and candles. They were carried by individuals who volunteered to be in the processional. There were individuals who carried crosses, candles, and palm branches because of things they had done on the past year. It was very powerful. We saw the short version... 2.5 hours. The rest of the week, you have to pay 50 Euros for your seat and it is 5 hours long. I'm sure it would be totally worth it. Next year...
Waiting for it to start... "Viva Paso Blanco!"
Semana Santa Processional
Dancing horse
Hand-stitched cloak, some took ten to even one hundred years to complete
Lorca- Semana Santa
Sunday night after the parade we headed to Murcia (about 45 minutes away), where we would spend the next few days. Igor lived in Murcia for two years, so he has lots of friends and connections there. We stayed with one of his friends. Monday was spent walking around the city, looking at old buildings, cathedrals, and ruins, and stopping in various plazas to enjoy the day and have a coffee. It is hard to remember all that we saw and the name of everything, but it was all amazing. The Cathedral of Murcia was completed in 1467, and it was incredible. To think that construction started in the 1390s, there was not the technology we have today, and it was finished in 1467... the detail was out of this world.
Catedral Murcia- 1467
Choir loft and organ
What you see as you walk through the main door- the back side of the organ
There are many places in all of the cities where old buildings have fallen down. People are nervous to purchase the property to rebuild, though, in the instance that they discover remains of an ancient civilization in the process. The city was in the process of constructing a parking garage (in Spain they build down, not up like in the US), and they came across the remains of an ancient Arabic civilization that dates back to about 300 b.c. It blows my mind that civilizations more than 2,000 years old exist under the current one, and there is probably even more under that. ¡Que guay!
Murcia had a Holy Week processional as well, but this was more solemn. Igor and I bought a Coke and some Pipas to enjoy while we sat on a wall and watched the processional. Pipas are Spain's version of popcorn. They are sunflower seeds in the shells, but there is a definite technique to eating them correctly. I have been practicing and am on my way to doing it as the Spaniards do, but it isn't as easy as it looks. We met two students from London who were on their way hitch-hiking from London to Morocco. We chatted with them and decided to go get tapas together. After tapas, we walked back to the car... or where we left the car. Igor looked down and found a yellow sticker just for us... towed. I think I found it more comical than Igor did, but we had a good laugh about it.
The view from our seats... Cathedral at sunset
A "paso" going by... notice the individuals carrying it. The pasos are very heavy.
A paso of Jesus on the Cross passing in front of the Cathedral
On Tuesday, we went to Cartagena, a town about 45 min south of Murcia. It is right on the Mediterranean and was a very important port. There, we got to walk through an ancient Roman theater (Roman Theatre of Carthago Nova). The construction started at the end of the First Century B.C. Because different groups have occupied that area, changes were made and each group had its influence on the area. It was incredible to see an exact spot where Augustus (the man that the month of August is named after) sat. To see ruins that are thousands of years old... I still can't get over it! The submarine and helicopter were also invented in Cartagena. From there, we went to La Manga, another city right on the Mediterranean. On one side is the Mar Menor and on the other is the Mediterranean. We got to sit in the sun and enjoy a coffee right on the beach!
Pillars/stage with seats behind
For the audience
Remains of a church
El Mar Menor- the view we had while sipping coffee (there was no zoom used in the capturing if this image!)
El Mar Mediterráneo
After Cartagena and La Manga, we went back to Murcia and met up with some of Igor's friends. I was kind of nervous because I don't have an outgoing personality, and I had no idea what to expect. I was even almost kind of dreading the evening. It was a blast! The friends were all SO nice and welcoming. Some even spoke some English so we had conversations where they would speak to me in English and I would respond in Spanish. There was lots of laughing and sharing. Our time together started at about 7pm and went until about 4am... nothing to dread at all. It was so fun! By the end of the night, I felt like I had an instant group of new friends. Many of them said things to me like... "next time," or "when you come back," and other things like that. I think I could have my choice of five different places to stay if I ever went back to visit. The people here in Spain are just so open and so nice! I love it!
On Wednesday, we were invited to have lunch/appetizers with two of Igor's friends. We went to their house and enjoyed appetizers with fresh vegetables from their garden and good conversation. I love that the lifestyle in Spain is not rushed. It is more focused on sharing, talking, and spending time with people than rushing around, working, and following a strict schedule.
We got on the road at about 6pm and started our trek back to Bilbao. We stopped in Madrid and had dinner (at 11:30pm -normal) at the oldest restaurant in the world- Casa Botín (founded in 1725). The restaurant has never closed; it even stayed open during the wars. It was kind of pricey, but Igor and I compared it to the Master Card commercials where it lists the different prices of things but ends with something like, "Some cow meat dinner: 17 Euros. Some chicken and rice dinner: 15 Euros. Two glasses of wine: 6 Euros. Dinner at the oldest restaurant in the world: Priceless" ¡Que guay!
At about 1:30am we got back on the road, but started to run out of gas... at about 5am... in the middle of nowhere. We had to stop in a town, sleep in the car, and wait for the gas station to open at 7am. Finally, at about 8:30am this morning (Thursday), I got back home.
Casa Botín
It was an amazing few days. The more that I'm here, the more I love it. The culture is so rich, and it just seems like people have their priorities in line. At 1am on a Tuesday night the bars and restaurants were still packed, but its not about the drinks or the food... its about relationships and spending time together. That's what I love. Some may see this lifestyle as lazy, but I think its beautiful. From a few different people a few different times, I've heard, "We work to live, we don't live to work." It is so true, but a definite change from the lifestyle I'm used to in the US. I've definitely seen and experienced things here that I hope I can carry with me.
... Now its time to prepare for Italy!
Hey r u excited about Bradford wood, we r getting a new student tommorrow mrs shuck says that he has behavior problems Jenna Clouse
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