Finally finished with exams, my friend Clarie and I flew to Espa
ña for our winter break. We flew into Madrid where Claire's high school friend Mary Michael was just starting her semester abroad. We met up with Mary Michael at the Plaza de Sol. The plaza was filled with people and street performers making their way past the large fountain in the middle. There is also a famous statue called "El Oso y el Madro
ño." This statue is of a bear reaching up to eat from a strawberry tree. Way back in the day the state and the church had a dispute over the land around Madrid. A council decided that the church would keep the pastureland and the state would have the woodlands. The emblem of a bear climbing up a strawberry tree was adopted after this compromise was made.
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| Street performers in Plaza Mayor |
Mary Michael also took us to see Plaza Mayor before we went to the Mercardo de San Miguel. The market was amazing! We wound through the grid of stands selling fresh mozzarella sandwiches, sushi, desserts, fruit, and nuts. Everything smelled delicious! I even got to have some paella (my second favorite food next to guacamole)! It wasn't nearly as good as Susie's though. After the market, we checked out where Mary Michael and her host family lived as well as her school before finally calling it a night.
The next day Mary Michael had a school trip to Salamanca so Claire and I were on our own. We started off by heading to the Prado Museum. I absolutely loved the Prado! It was so cool to stand right in front of paintings I had only seen in books from history or Spanish class. I especially loved seeing Las Meninas and anything painted by Tiziano. Claire and I spent the whole morning admiring the art throughout the museum before our grumbling stomachs finally forced us to leave.
We grabbed a baguette and cheese then walked over to the Parque del Retiro where we perched on a ledge overlooking a pond and feasted. We had a tree full of feathery friends hanging out with us and waiting for a crumb to drop so they could swoop in and snatch it up. There was also a bright red squirrel who became my stalker. Literally every time I turned around he would be sitting only a foot away from me before scampering away only to return once I wasn't paying him any more attention. Once we had finished we walked around the beautiful park before heading over to the Reina Sofia Museum of Modern Art to see Picasso's "Guernica." The
painting took up the entire wall and was in a
long, large room all by itself.
We took the metro over to the Plaza de Espa
ña where there seemed to be a Chinese New Year celebration in full swing. We passed through the celebration and walked over to the Parque del Oeste where the Templo de Debod was located. Debod is a temple from Egypt that was given to Spain as a thank you for their help in saving many other Egyptian temples. The park offered a great view of the city and the nearby palace. We also got to enjoy some sun while watching a group of teenagers LARPing. It was quite entertaining!
When we had had our fill of foam broadswords and battle axes, Claire and I walked over to the Palacio Real and saw the Gardens of Sabatini and the Cathedral of Our Lady of
Almudena. We also had front row seats when a large dog walked by a man playing the accordion and started to howl along to his tune. Afterwards we met up with Mary Michael again to have dinner. The restaurant we went to was in a basement and looked like a dungeon, complete with weapons hanging on the stone walls. We each ordered different tapas and then shared them. We
ate chorizo (sausage), croquetas
(fried mashed potatoes), cheese, ham, and
tortilla española (kind of like an omelette).
Everything was scrumptious! It was a
perfect end to our visit to Madrid.
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