Friday was super rainy so I went to the Prado and Reina Sofia (museums) with Hope and Janey. We also went to el Mercado de San Miguel because it was indoors and out of the rain (I'm beginning to think of myself as a market connoisseur). It was more of a hang-out spot than a crazy market, very relaxed with areas to sit and eat the tapas/drink you buy at any number of the stands. There were also sweets, snacks, full meals, and seafood by the pound available.
My tapa of stuffed olives and a salmon cake on bread.
El Prado, one of the most impressive museums I've seen thus far. Aside from the works by Goya, El Greco, Caravaggio,Velazquez, Rubens and Van Dyck that I've studied in the past, I'll remember a couple little things about this particular museum visit. Hope had been when she was in high school with one of her teachers, so as we were walking through the planned route set out by the museum guide, she experienced various flashbacks of certain works that her teacher described to her years ago. She would then proceed to act as our own guide and describe what she remembered, usually starting off by saying things like "OH this one over here, it's famous." And then after reading the description beside the painting she could explain what it was about. It was also one of the shortest museum visits I've done since it was only free for the last hour it was open, so obviously that's what we opted for. As for the Reina Sofia, a museum that holds modern works from the likes of Ernst, Goya, Kandinsky, Magritte, Rivera, Lichtenstein, and Dali. There was an artifact that I thought was especially cool, I wish I could've taken pictures. It was a handwritten letter from Federico Garcia Lorca, a poet and author I've read a lot from in my Spanish classes to Dali. The nerd in me again coming out, but just seeing his handwriting on paper after I've read copies of his work in my textbooks for a few years was pretty cool. I also really liked the exhibits about oppression in South America, in Argentina, Cuba, and Venezuela in particular. Really powerful stuff.
The highlight of the night, though, was going to the grocery store and buying the good to make dinner. The main course? A SALAD. Haven't had a salad as a meal in so long. This one was big, with spinach as a base (unheard of nowadays; we don't even get iceberg lettuce. It's more like a weird clover-type green with stringy pieces and some sprouts). We used avocado, cucumbers, tomato, red pepper (FRESH not canned), nuts, chicken, red onion, goat cheese, and a homemade balsamic/lime/honey/olive oil dressing.
Listening to pandora and slicing avocados...the life.
After a full meal we got situated on the couch and watched New Girl until we fell asleep. Perfect Friday night in my book. On Saturday morning I was still unsure of what I was going to do, and the weather was a little if-y to be taking a day trip to a beautiful city like Toledo, but I decided that half the reason I was in Madrid was to see Toledo so I just made myself do it. I found the bus station online that supposedly makes day trips there and back, figured out what lines to take on the metro, packed up my bag and bundled up, and just went for it. The bus ride was only 45 minutes long and 9 euro round trip. When I got there I felt so strange and a little exhilarated all at once. I didn't know a soul there. It was just me and Toledo for the whole day. The first thing I did was get a map from the tourist office, have them mark down the most important points to find, and buy an umbrella. It was raining when I arrived but it stopped almost as soon as I paid the 4 euro for the thing. Didn't even need to open it. Toledo was a cultural hub for many years back in the day, and it was known for its tolerances of all religions in a time where Spain was experiences mostly turmoil. Mosques, cathedrals, and synagogues coexisted in peace, and you can still see that today. I visited the Jewish Quarter, the main mezquita, and the cathedral (all within a couple hours, the place is not very big). I also visited a museum inside el Sinagogo de Transito and a museum of the recreation of El Greco's house (free things to do, of course). All of the architecture of these buildings was beautiful, but my favorite thing to do is be outside so I used the time when it was mostly sunshine wisely and found a walking path around the river that surrounds 3 sides of the city. These are some of the views my walk had me stumble upon:
On the bridge looking towards Toledo
View from across the river, looking towards the city
Took a little stroll further around the outskirts of the city and up a hill to get some panoramic views
When you're by yourself, there's no shame in selfies
View from the bottom of the city by the bus stop
The walk was gorgeous and I couldn't have been more content when I sat on a bench overlooking the water as I ate my orange. But the path ended strangely- I ended up on a highway outside of town. Not wanting to double back the entire way I had just come from (it was nearly a 2 hour walk), I walked along the road trying to find the best way back up to the center of the city. I passed by an old woman using her umbrella as a walking stick, going in the opposite direction as me. After a minute or so I thought to myself, I bet she knows what she's doing, so I turned around to catch up with her. Turns out she has lived in Toledo her whole life and happened to be walking to the Plaza de Zocodover, same as me, and she suggested we just walk together. She gave me little bits of information about buildings as we passed by them, let me know when we passed a free museum, explained what each statue was and why there was a tribute to that person in Toledo- it was awesome. She made sure I knew where to go next when we made it to the plaza, and gave me dos pequenos besitos goodbye. I'm so sad I didn't get a picture with her! She actually reminded me of Mimi in the way that she was so stylish and cute and still trucking up all those hills...Mimi if you read this I could totally see you doing these walks with me! I ate a very Spanish lunch (as in at 3:30) after my walk in a Syrian restaurant near the mezquita. Being alone, I made friends with the man who owned the restaurant (actually from Syria) but his English was quite good. He was so excited to talk to me and to practice his English. He also had 2 sons running around the restaurant, literally crawling under my table at times, chasing each other. I'm pretty sure his wife was cooking food in the kitchen, and there's a good chance that they lived upstairs because I thought I saw her take a laundry basket up some steps. I ordered a chicken kebob and grape leaves and had a leisurely break from all the hiking around I had just done, listening to the Tracy Chapman CD that was playing in the background. The man wanted me to come back and have tea later but I wanted to catch the 6:00 bus home so I said I'd try...but that definitely wasn't going to happen. I walked around inside the city, exploring the winding streets, checking out the shopping areas, looking at the swords that Toledo prides itself in crafting, and popping into marzipan shops.
When I took the bus home I fell straight asleep. Too bad it was only a 45 minute trip because my night was only just beginning! As soon as I got back I met up with Hope, her sister, and her friends that I know from Jami Masters' from years ago that were all visiting her and had just arrived. It was wild to see everyone, and in Spain no less. We reminisced on old dance stories, how we all remember each other from when we were younger, etc. etc. Gina came to meet me and we walked to her apartment to get ready for the night (obviously Hope's place had become a little crowded). We all met back up again at a "The Place," (which is very difficult to find when you are asking for directions and all you can say is its "THE PLACE"... nobody really knows what you mean, especially in Spanish), and a few friends from UNC that were either studying there or visiting for their spring break also came. From The Place we went to an Irish pub to watch the UNC vs. Duke game (it came on at 3 am here, mind you...what a dedicated fan I am, right?) but after realizing there was no way we could win everyone agreed on pizza. And that was Saturday!
So now it's Sunday. Well its been Sunday for a while, since we didn't get back to Gina's until 6 am, but around 11 Gina and I headed out to El Rastro, a flea market near the center of the city until Robert got in at 1. We got directions to Robert's hostel and showed up at 1, hoping he was going to be on time (we had no way of getting in contact), but he was! So we spent the afternoon checking out some sights of Madrid, and then relaxing in the park until my bus back to Sevilla at 5. It was a weekend of colliding of worlds for sure- my childhood friends, friends from school, one of my best friends in the world, and everyone meeting in Madrid of all places- but after meeting up with Robert it was so clear to me I made the right choice to make the trip. Everything worked out almost too perfectly. Example: I bought a 10-pass metro card and used the metro exactly 10 times. I met up with everyone I wanted to see and did everything I wanted to do. I saw some museums. I saw some sights. I relaxed and had good food. I made the trip by myself and didn't get lost or miss any buses. I didn't get pick-pocketed. I even made new friends.
After finding Robs in the hostel
After I opened my (new) umbrella for the second time
At the Palacio Real
All of us at Retiro Park
...and just before the skies opened up and we had to take cover behind a closed candy shop kiosk
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