¡Madrid y Toledo!

So that beautiful picture above? That is my view as I am writing this post. Thought you all should know. We have left the great city of Madrid and are now in Toledo, a beautiful, old city that is exactly what you envision when you think of Spain. However, I am getting ahead of myself, we still have some Madrid stuff to cover.

(Also, I will not be posting everyday, that would be crazy, and very presumptuous of me to think anyonewould read my ramblings that often, but things are wild these first couple of days).

So, Madrid. Yesterday we started off the day with a visit to El Prado, a huge art museum that features artists like Rafael, El Greco, Velázquex, Rembrant, and Goya. The coolest thing was seeing Las Meninas, even if you think you don’t know what I am talking about, you’re wrong. It is like the staple of Spanish art curriculum. Look it up. So that was awesome, I am not an art person, but seeing some of this stuff in person was breathtaking.

After El Prado, we went on a walking tour, which was really cool but I couldn’t actually tell you what we saw. We ended up in La Plaza del Sol, the super famous area known for the clock that, on New Years, Spaniards eat a grape for each chime at midnight. La Plaza del Sol pretty much leads into La Plaza Mayor, which is, I think, what most people think of when they think of Madrid. It is a huge square with red brick buildings all around and yellow cobblestone streets. Beautiful, and hilarious. As many of you know, Real Madrid played Manchester City last night. Those Manchester folks get going early. The square was full of singing English men in light blue jerseys. It was quite the show. 

Cade, my roommate, and I decided to do a bit more exploring before retiring to our siesta that afternoon; we stumbled upon The Palacio Real de Madrid where the Spanish royal family lives. That was incredible and huge and white. There was a cathedral right next to it, that was also incredible and huge and white, basically they matched and it looked like something out of a fairy tale. I would have loved to gone inside and looked around, but you can’t just ignore Spanish customs…

So lets skip past our two hour siesta and move on to the great events of that evening. Cade and I met up with some friends, gabbed some café and walked through this massive, random park in the middle of Madrid. Seriously, this thing was a labyrinth of impeccably kept shrubs, trees, and grass. Oh, and there was a crystal palace in the middle and a giant lake with rowboats and monuments all around tucked in there too. I could have spent hours there.

However, there were more important things to think about. Apparently fútbol is a big deal over here (If there was a sarcasm font, it would have been used there), so off we went to find a pub, associated beverages, and a television. We ended up in this cute (am I allowed to call a pub cute?) Irish pub with a couple other random folks who were watching the game too. I didn’t really get what was such a big deal until the last twenty minutes of the game. For those of you who don’t know, basically Manchester scored, then Madrid, then Manchester, then Madrid, then in the last 10 seconds Madrid scored for the win. It was epic and I don’t even like soccer. I might now, though.

In true Spanish fashion, we decided to head back to La Plaza del Sol to celebrate the win. After jumping around a bit, including a quick stop to sample McBeer (which is not really what beer from McDonalds is called, but it is clever, don’t you think?) we ended up in loud, sticky, bar. Here, Cade and I had the pleasure of meeting a few guys who we chatted with for the next several hours over other bar associated beverages. Let me just say that Europeans know how to socialize. It isn’t the ‘get drunk, hook up’ attitude that so many American’s seem to have. I had a great discussion with a Dutch man about the differences in politics between the US and Belgium. Also, did you know that there are more bikes than people in Amsterdam? A Canadian guy and I laughed over the differences in Europe, like seriously; no one here wears flip-flops. It’s like a giant blinking sign that says “TOURIST.” And Cade made another Dutch man fall in love, and was also a great sport when attempting to talk with a Finnish guy. I could go on and on about last night, seriously some of the most fun I have ever had. Oh, then I took a taxi for the first time.

Toledo! 

We’ve only been in Toledo a few hours after leaving bright and early this morning (no I will not comment on the 3 hours of sleep Cade and I got the night before). This place is beautiful. So picturesque and perfect. We saw a few synagogues that were stolen and made into Christian churches - which seems to be a running theme. We also saw a beautiful Cathedral commissioned by Isabelle and Fernando – a king and queen with equal power, since they both had their own countries. The detail on all of the walks and ceilings was outstanding along with the claustro (the garden created for the monks). Oh, the picture that looks like a monkey sitting on a toilet . . . is a monkey sitting on a toilet. These people had a sense of humor, even a thousand years ago when the church was built.

We then had a bit of free time in the main plaza where Cade and I got paella, a typical Spanish meal that made me never want to eat anything else ever again. It was delicious. See the attached picture and order some now. This has been such a crazy and mind blowing experience so far. Like I said earlier though, don’t worry, I won’t be posting every day – but the past 48 hours have just been awesome. Now, however, it is siesta time, the Spanish know how to do it. ¡Hasta luego!