Also, this is an awesome shot my friend Marianna took shortly after I met up with Chelsea at the Renia Sofia the other day. I'm behind the second pillar! These are a bunch of the Tufts/Skidmore in Madrid students.
Chelsea had stuff to do all day yesterday, so I had my run of the town, haha. I had grand plans for being up super early but ended up sleeping in (shocker). I guess I haven't really given myself enough time to relax from all of the crazy walking and touring we've been doing all across the city, and it had taken a little bit of a toll.
I got myself together late and left the Hostal. Gorgeous day in Madrid, but so cold! I grabbed a sandwich from a chain juice bar and walked to the incredible gem that is the Prado.
"The collection currently comprises around 7,600 paintings, 1,000 sculptures, 4,800 prints and 8,200 drawings, in addition to a large number of works of art and historic documents. At the present time, the Museum is displaying less than 1000 works in the main building, while around 3,100 works are on temporary loan to various museums and official institutions. The remainder are in storage.[3]"
The idea that they have so many masterpieces that they need to rotate them is pretty incredible. Unfortunately they asked for my passport to confirm that I did indeed live in the US in order to get the student discount even though I had my Tufts ID (bizarre) to I had to fork over the 8 Euros anyway. I learned my lesson about the audioguide from the Renia Sofia though, and unfortunately did not have my iPhone, so let the academic Spanish that surrounded me in the exhibits be my soundtrack del dia.
Unfortunately the tickets for the Renoir exhibit were sold out for the day, but I still got to see so many masterpieces in such a short amount of time! The most notable were definitely Las Meninas (we spent so much time in high school talking about how influential this painting was to.. about every other painting since. The space that is created and all that is going on within in is incredible) and The Nude Maja. There was also this painting that I used for a project once back in the day - a seemingly unfinished nude that is so absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately I did not write down the name, figuring she'd be easy to find on the internet. No such luck. I don't even remember the artist. Ho hum.
"The collection currently comprises around 7,600 paintings, 1,000 sculptures, 4,800 prints and 8,200 drawings, in addition to a large number of works of art and historic documents. At the present time, the Museum is displaying less than 1000 works in the main building, while around 3,100 works are on temporary loan to various museums and official institutions. The remainder are in storage.[3]"
The idea that they have so many masterpieces that they need to rotate them is pretty incredible. Unfortunately they asked for my passport to confirm that I did indeed live in the US in order to get the student discount even though I had my Tufts ID (bizarre) to I had to fork over the 8 Euros anyway. I learned my lesson about the audioguide from the Renia Sofia though, and unfortunately did not have my iPhone, so let the academic Spanish that surrounded me in the exhibits be my soundtrack del dia.
Unfortunately the tickets for the Renoir exhibit were sold out for the day, but I still got to see so many masterpieces in such a short amount of time! The most notable were definitely Las Meninas (we spent so much time in high school talking about how influential this painting was to.. about every other painting since. The space that is created and all that is going on within in is incredible) and The Nude Maja. There was also this painting that I used for a project once back in the day - a seemingly unfinished nude that is so absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately I did not write down the name, figuring she'd be easy to find on the internet. No such luck. I don't even remember the artist. Ho hum.
I then walked around the Retiro, checking out the sights, people watching, and taking pictures. The park used to be for the royal family only back in the day as their private getaway.
Teletubbies?? Someone's a little behind on what's popular with the youngsters these days...
The water was used for naval battle enactments for entertainment. I walked around its edges and I bought a bracelet from a woman who I think was an actual gypsy, and had made the bracelets from orange peels (I picked out one without orange peels - that grossed me out a little - some were already a little green, and it wasn't the dye), acai berries, and melon seeds. I had a conversation with her in Spanish that somehow used pretty much all of the Spanish I know in thirty seconds. I then gave up and did the "ingles?" hand gesture I talked about before - you know, the "I'm stupid, sorry," motion. She told me "they NO touch the water!" and i was grateful for the warning - this thing gets wet and I'll be holding a rainbow.
I reset the options on my camera so that the shots are taken with a wider aspect ratio (10:1).
I got an ice cream cone from a vendor and checked out the other sights in the park.
I got a little lost at the end there, but it was still pretty close to my hotel, so a few more turns and I was on the right track.
I got back to my hotel around 7 and met Chelsea online and planned our evening. We went with our friend Amira (another Tufts in Madrid kid) to the same local bar from the other night for tapas and a feast of, you guessed it, meatcheesebreadalcohol. This time with mushrooms too :) We stayed at the bar for a few hours and it got late (they kind of kicked us out.. it was an older crowd that probably doesn't party like the youngsters). We headed back to start the day early Sunday, my last full day in Madrid!
Today we met up and went to el Rastro, the HUGE flea market held every Sunday and every national holiday in Madrid. You could purchase absolutely everything at ridiculously low (even back home standards low) prices. I picked up a few things: some earrings, a pillowcase for a throw (I know I'm supposed to travel light to India but it was 1 Euro and SO COOL!), and a scarf cause even though I'm headed to scarf land, I was freezing, and it's beautiful. Together they were less than $10 USD. And good news! Found a bag. It still smells like a stable (seriously, it kind of reeks) but hopefully that will go away, and it's really gorgeous! If it were any smaller it would not fit my netbook, but hopefully the soft leather will stretch and wear in a bit. Chelsea also got a few pairs of earrings and we walked around for a while just to take it all in.
Next we headed to the Opera metro station to see the palace.
This little girl was really interested in Chelsea's addition to the palace statues.
For lunch we stumbled around in the rain until we found a place that, oh my god, served salad. Green veggies! Yahoo! It was a great lunch and since we had it so late (4pm ish), it felt like we had rented out the whole restaurant to ourselves.
After lunch we walked to Chelsea's homestay where I got to finally meet Manuela, Chelsea's hostmom. Even though I can't speak Spanish and she can't speak English I liked her right away - she just has that "mom" vibe, and was so warm and welcoming even though Chelsea was translating the warm welcome. I know Manuela must be one in a million, but I really really hope that I get a hostmom like her! Living with another family for an extended period of time is something so new and different, and something I have so much hope for to go well.
We came back to the hostal where Chelsea worked on her schoolwork and I packed up my stuff. Unfortunately, this was also when I found out that the laundry service needs at least a day to do laundry and everything was closed tonight, and it is too much of a time squeeze to try to do it tomorrow morning, so I will have to go to India with clothing that doesn't have the Madrid washed off of it just yet. This is a challenge since I packed so little. Fingers crossed that our ashram where we're staying for the first few days has a washing machine! (I know my Mom is cringing reading this).
I know it sounds dumb, but the laundry thing really got to me. I've been so anal about making sure I had everything ready for this trip that the idea that I'm now less prepared that I hoped I would be made me have a moment of panic. Having clean, modest clothing has been stressed by my program as important, and right now most of the things that I have clean are my Delhi "going out clothes." Whoops...
And I guess it isn't just about the laundry... I'm nervous. And excited. And crazy nervous.
I cooled off and Chelsea finished her reading, and we set off in search of one last serving of Brie con Bacon, but to our dismay, it was closed. We got recommendations from Elena (I love you so much Elena) for another place on the top story of a building not too far away.
We took the sketchiest elevators I've ever seen to the top with a bunch of British ladies celebrating one of their birthdays. They asked if we were Spanish... between my tennis shoes and Chelsea's blond hair NOTHING about us says Spanish so we had a good laugh. Chelsea became the translator for their party during the meal as we watched them laughing hysterically as they tried to order from the extremely friendly, jovial Spanish waiter. We got on with them for a while and they asked about our studies, etc. "Well done, girls, well done!!" We were glad we had their approval :)
We had one more meal of... I won't even bother saying it again, because yes, you guessed it. No cheese this time though. And Sangria in huge frozen mugs!
We had a great last meal out in Madrid (for me at least) which is no surprise. We laughed so hard at times during dinner, I think I developed a six-pack. I always have so much fun with Chelsea, and always know that when we hang out I'm guaranteed to be laughing. I'm gonna miss you girl! Have an amazing semester.
What a fantastic way to start out this time abroad. For those of you still reading, thanks for bearing with me through the heavily detailed stuff... my guess is that I won't really be able to do that as much during the semester, so being able to remember my "vacation" visiting Chelsea before India through these entries is a better souvenir from this time than anything euros could buy.
My flight tomorrow to Heathrow is at 2pm, so I'm headed straight to the airport tomorrow. This time tomorrow I'll be on my flight to Delhi!
Love from Europe, soon to be love from Asia,
Laura
Ps: I'll leave you with shots of my hostel room in Madrid. It rocks.
Teletubbies?? Someone's a little behind on what's popular with the youngsters these days...
The water was used for naval battle enactments for entertainment. I walked around its edges and I bought a bracelet from a woman who I think was an actual gypsy, and had made the bracelets from orange peels (I picked out one without orange peels - that grossed me out a little - some were already a little green, and it wasn't the dye), acai berries, and melon seeds. I had a conversation with her in Spanish that somehow used pretty much all of the Spanish I know in thirty seconds. I then gave up and did the "ingles?" hand gesture I talked about before - you know, the "I'm stupid, sorry," motion. She told me "they NO touch the water!" and i was grateful for the warning - this thing gets wet and I'll be holding a rainbow.
I reset the options on my camera so that the shots are taken with a wider aspect ratio (10:1).
I got an ice cream cone from a vendor and checked out the other sights in the park.
I got a little lost at the end there, but it was still pretty close to my hotel, so a few more turns and I was on the right track.
I got back to my hotel around 7 and met Chelsea online and planned our evening. We went with our friend Amira (another Tufts in Madrid kid) to the same local bar from the other night for tapas and a feast of, you guessed it, meatcheesebreadalcohol. This time with mushrooms too :) We stayed at the bar for a few hours and it got late (they kind of kicked us out.. it was an older crowd that probably doesn't party like the youngsters). We headed back to start the day early Sunday, my last full day in Madrid!
Today we met up and went to el Rastro, the HUGE flea market held every Sunday and every national holiday in Madrid. You could purchase absolutely everything at ridiculously low (even back home standards low) prices. I picked up a few things: some earrings, a pillowcase for a throw (I know I'm supposed to travel light to India but it was 1 Euro and SO COOL!), and a scarf cause even though I'm headed to scarf land, I was freezing, and it's beautiful. Together they were less than $10 USD. And good news! Found a bag. It still smells like a stable (seriously, it kind of reeks) but hopefully that will go away, and it's really gorgeous! If it were any smaller it would not fit my netbook, but hopefully the soft leather will stretch and wear in a bit. Chelsea also got a few pairs of earrings and we walked around for a while just to take it all in.
Next we headed to the Opera metro station to see the palace.
This little girl was really interested in Chelsea's addition to the palace statues.
For lunch we stumbled around in the rain until we found a place that, oh my god, served salad. Green veggies! Yahoo! It was a great lunch and since we had it so late (4pm ish), it felt like we had rented out the whole restaurant to ourselves.
After lunch we walked to Chelsea's homestay where I got to finally meet Manuela, Chelsea's hostmom. Even though I can't speak Spanish and she can't speak English I liked her right away - she just has that "mom" vibe, and was so warm and welcoming even though Chelsea was translating the warm welcome. I know Manuela must be one in a million, but I really really hope that I get a hostmom like her! Living with another family for an extended period of time is something so new and different, and something I have so much hope for to go well.
We came back to the hostal where Chelsea worked on her schoolwork and I packed up my stuff. Unfortunately, this was also when I found out that the laundry service needs at least a day to do laundry and everything was closed tonight, and it is too much of a time squeeze to try to do it tomorrow morning, so I will have to go to India with clothing that doesn't have the Madrid washed off of it just yet. This is a challenge since I packed so little. Fingers crossed that our ashram where we're staying for the first few days has a washing machine! (I know my Mom is cringing reading this).
I know it sounds dumb, but the laundry thing really got to me. I've been so anal about making sure I had everything ready for this trip that the idea that I'm now less prepared that I hoped I would be made me have a moment of panic. Having clean, modest clothing has been stressed by my program as important, and right now most of the things that I have clean are my Delhi "going out clothes." Whoops...
And I guess it isn't just about the laundry... I'm nervous. And excited. And crazy nervous.
I cooled off and Chelsea finished her reading, and we set off in search of one last serving of Brie con Bacon, but to our dismay, it was closed. We got recommendations from Elena (I love you so much Elena) for another place on the top story of a building not too far away.
We took the sketchiest elevators I've ever seen to the top with a bunch of British ladies celebrating one of their birthdays. They asked if we were Spanish... between my tennis shoes and Chelsea's blond hair NOTHING about us says Spanish so we had a good laugh. Chelsea became the translator for their party during the meal as we watched them laughing hysterically as they tried to order from the extremely friendly, jovial Spanish waiter. We got on with them for a while and they asked about our studies, etc. "Well done, girls, well done!!" We were glad we had their approval :)
We had one more meal of... I won't even bother saying it again, because yes, you guessed it. No cheese this time though. And Sangria in huge frozen mugs!
We had a great last meal out in Madrid (for me at least) which is no surprise. We laughed so hard at times during dinner, I think I developed a six-pack. I always have so much fun with Chelsea, and always know that when we hang out I'm guaranteed to be laughing. I'm gonna miss you girl! Have an amazing semester.
What a fantastic way to start out this time abroad. For those of you still reading, thanks for bearing with me through the heavily detailed stuff... my guess is that I won't really be able to do that as much during the semester, so being able to remember my "vacation" visiting Chelsea before India through these entries is a better souvenir from this time than anything euros could buy.
My flight tomorrow to Heathrow is at 2pm, so I'm headed straight to the airport tomorrow. This time tomorrow I'll be on my flight to Delhi!
Love from Europe, soon to be love from Asia,
Laura
Ps: I'll leave you with shots of my hostel room in Madrid. It rocks.
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