Madrid, Segovia y Toledo

A view of Toledo.

Me overlooking Toledo.

A picture of the Cathedral in Segovia.

The ancient aqueduct in Segovia.

Me in Madrid near el Valle de los Caidos overlooking the beautiful greenery!

El Valle de los Caidos.

El Escorial

Our feet on the plaque that marks the center of Spain in Madrid.

El Palacio Real in Madrid.

Statue of a king in Madrid

Guernica by Picasso in El Mueso de la Reina Sofia.

A carved pumpkin in Madrid on Halloween!

Long time no write:

Howdy everyone. Over the weekend I went to Madrid, Segovia and Toledo with the entire 40 students in my program. We had a really fun time and got to see all of the culture and beauty of these three wonderful, yet very different, cities. The first few days we stayed in Madrid and went to el Museo de la Reina Sofia, el Museo Prado, took a guided tour of the city and last but not least partied it up on Halloween. Halloween in Spain is different. There were a good number of people dressed up in costumes, but the trick-or-treating deal really doesn’t happen here. But I had a lot of fun hanging out with my friends and exploring Madrid. We also made a trip to El Escorial (a famous palace) and El Valle de los Caidos, which is a church/monument that Franco built for the fallen soldiers in the civil war in Spain. It is actually quite a politically controversial monument. Franco is also buried there. In El Escorial almost all of the kings and queens of Spain, and their families, are buried in this palace. A little creepy but at the same time the architecture was amazing and the caskets were ornately decorated.

Then on Sunday we took a day trip to Segovia. Segovia is a beautiful but very small city outside of Madrid and it is famous for its aqueduct. We took a historic walk around, visited the Alcazar (basically a big palace) and the cathedral of Segovia--all very beautiful and interesting.
Then on Monday we went to Toledo, another small town that is absolutely adorable. The streets are almost all cobblestoned and the houses and buildings are out of the movies. Literally--there have actually been quite a few movies that are set in the middle ages that have been filmed in Toledo. We had free time all day so my friends and I explored the Cathedral, saw the famous painting by El Greco “El Entierro del Conde de Orgaz” and visited a few other smaller churches and synagogues. Toledo is also known for its metal and there were shops everywhere with swords and knives!

So overall the trip was really fun and really beautiful. I also learned lots from the museums because we saw artists that we had been studying in Culture class: Goya, El Greco, Picasso, Velazquez and Dali. I had never really had the opportunity before to see a lot of these artworks in real life. It was very cool. My favorite painting was Picasso’s Guernica in La Reina Sofia. I had studied it is high school Spanish class but seeing it is real life was surreal. It is huge and very awe-inspiring.

Now begins this week of studying. I gave my presentation this morning and it went well. Now I have a Culture test on Friday and then one midterm next week plus the DELE exam on Friday the 13th. Then that weekend our program is going to Sevilla, then the week after I have one other test. Yeah how creepy that the DELE is on Friday the 13th…maybe it will be lucky instead of unlucky. So I should get to studying…wish me luck!

Peace,
Annie