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| Plaza Mayor in Madrid |
I've always been an adventurous, independent type. To be completely honest, when I decided to enroll in Webster's Global MAIR I didn't even consider that I would have anxiety about the traveling or living away from home. I was more anxious about my courses, and money. So, when I broke down in the airport, I surprised myself. All of it hit me at once, I was going to be gone for the next thirteen months, and in that moment it might as well have been a lifetime. I was going to be in places where I don't speak the language (short of my month in Spain where I do, in fact, speak Spanish and would be studying the language), having food that I wasn't used to, and I would not have anyone around that I really knew. It became, in that moment, the scariest thing I'd ever experienced. I was glad that my dad and my best friend were at the airport with me, though in some ways that made it a little harder. It is also nice that I am starting out with my undergraduate program, so my first month in Europe I have friends here with me, and will be staying with a friend before beginning at Webster. In the end, I am still very excited to be here, and wouldn't change my decision because of a little bit of anxiety.
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| Pablo Picasso |
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| Toledo |
We spent the first few days in Madrid, which is an incredible city!
We visited the Reina Sofia the first day, which is a modern art museum. I am not much for modern art, but I do love the cubist movement. The Reina Sofia also houses Picasso's Guernica. I have seen plenty of prints of that painting, but in real life it is incredible and very moving.
We took a half day tour of Toledo which I was excited to find out was "la ruta de Don Quixote", because Toledo is in Castillo-La Mancha. Additionally, and maybe it was the pathetic tourist in me, but I kept walking around thinking "Holy Toledo Batman!" Later, in my Culture class, I came to find out that Toledo is the Catholic center of Spain. Well then. We then visited the Prado, which, considering everyone has described it as a museum heavy-weight, I wasn't that impressed, though it wasn't bad either. A few pieces were pretty astounding. Goya's Second of May 1808 and Third of May 1808 were amazing, and Velazquez's Las Meninas was stunning. It really struck me just how *big* some of these paintings were. When you study paintings in books, you don't really get a good perspective on their size.
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| And artist sketching Toledo. |
The last night in Madrid was something else, it was gay pride in Madrid, so we went down and checked out the parade. There were so many people there it was incredible! After a short nap we went out. It was a night to remember - I am still working on that though!
We left Madrid for Salamanca and stopped in Segovia. I have never been so astounded by a city before. It is by far the most beautiful place I have ever seen. I kept asking if we were on a movie set or in a theme park of some sort because it just seemed too perfect to actually be real! And the Roman aqueduct is impressive as well. It really puts things into perspective: The Segovia aqueduct was built before Rome had invented cement, in the 1st century AD. Rome fell 1500+ years ago, the Moors invaded, ruled, and were driven out of Spain, Christopher Columbus discovered another country, Spain's empire expanded across the globe, Spain's empire fell, the world has changed so much - yet this structure still stands!
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| Aqueduct |
Jana told us a legend relating to the aqueduct. It goes like this: This girl had to walk up the mountain to get water for the town everyday. One day, she made a deal with the Devil: if, in one night, he can build a way to get water to the town without having to go up the mountain, she would go with him to the inferno. As the Devil began building the aqueduct she began to realize he was going to finish before morning, so she prayed to God for mercy and for help. God sent a huge rainstorm and as the sun rose, the Devil was unable to lay the last stone in the aqueduct. The girl did not have to go with the Devil and the town now could get its water without having to climb the mountain.
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| Cathedral in Madrid |
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| Cervantes statue in Madrid |
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| Gay Pride crowd in Madrid |
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| Me in Toledo |
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| Segovia |
I will post more about Salamanca when I have photos. As it is, I haven't even really processed my Gay Pride or Segovia pictures. Since I am in Salamanca the next month, I haven't gone out and photographed yet, getting a feel for the city and getting an idea where to go get photos.
We are homestaying in Salamanca, and my Señora is the most amazing cook. I love that we get fed authentic Spanish food, plus it saves money not having to eat out the whole month. So far, this is starting out to be an incredible journey!
We spent the first few days in Madrid, which is an incredible city! We visited the Reina Sofia the first day, which is a modern art museum. I am not much for modern art, but I do love the cubist movement. The Reina Sofia also houses Picasso's Guernica. I have seen plenty of prints of that painting, but in real life it is incredible and very moving. We took a half day tour of Toledo which I was excited to find out was "la ruta de Don Quixote", because Toledo is in Castillo-La Mancha. Additionally, and maybe it was the pathetic tourist in me, but I kept walking around thinking "Holy Toledo Batman!" Later, in my Culture class, I came to find out that Toledo is the Catholic center of Spain. Well then. We then visited the Prado, which, considering everyone has described it as a museum heavy-weight, I wasn't that impressed, though it wasn't bad either. A few pieces were pretty astounding. Goya's Second of May 1808 and Third of May 1808 were amazing, and Velazquez's Las Meninas was stunning. It really struck me just how *big* some of these paintings were. When you study paintings in books, you don't really get a good perspective on their size. 
