Catching up…Sevilla / Madrid
Okay…okay, I’m back. I finally found an internet cafe and some spare time, so I best get to recapping…before I forget the details.
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Not sure where I left off, but I’ll start with Sevilla.
It’s a great little city, full of architectural gems, interesting sites and tons of students. When I was there the University was just about out for the semester so there were tons of students milling about and scrambling to get the last of their course work done.
I spent the bareable hours of daylight wandering the city from end to end…checking out sites like the Alcazares, the old Arab fortresses which are still held as a royal residence by the Spanish royalty. Got in free with my handy student card and spent a few hours taking in the ornately constructed rooms and courtyards, and admiring the lovely gardens. It was hard to beleive this site was smack dab in the middle of the city!
I also visited the Cathedral, the largest in Spain. I saw it on my first trip to Spain when I was 15, but it didn’t disappoint this time around either.
My favorite site in Sevilla, besides the waterfront, in the Plaza Espana, a hue plaza with an arching cresecent shaped building to one side, a huge fountain in the middle and all sorts of pretty spires and arched footbridges. (Pictures when I get USB). I spent sunset here adoring the angle at which the building arches away from you, and the lovely light of sunset on the red sandstone building stones.
Of course, Sevilla is also where I got sick. 😛 Feeling under the weather and deyhdrated from food poisioning is not pleasent in 100degree heat…I can attest. I spent afternoons indoors trying to conserve what little fluids where still in my system, napping if possible to fight my night time insomnia. It was kind of a rough week…and I can’t believe I saw as much of the city as I did!
Then is was off to Madrid on the fancy fast train! The AVE train travels at speeds upto 250k/hr…making it slightly uncomfortable to look out the window next to you! It’s all swanky too, full of business travelers with briefcases and paperwork, talking on mobile phones…and me, backpacker girl. Hehehe…sometimes its fun to infiltrate!
I got to Madrid on a Friday night, looking forward to checking out the nightlife…but unfortunately I was still sick. I walked about the popular going out area and marvelled that people eat dinner at 11pm…really, how strange…and saw the kids ready for a night on the town…then promptly went back to my Hostal and crashed.
The next day I headed to Moises’ place…my host from www.hospitalityclub.org. He went above and beyond the call of duty by hosting 5 people at once! Fortunately he had an apartment vacant that he was trying to rent, so there was plenty of space. At Moises’ house I met girls from Hungary, Florida, and Finland…and we all got along quite well. Tanja from Finland and I ended up crashing in the empty apartment and I have to say I was completely spoiled. Unfortunately I did not see as much of Moises as I should have…so again I have to say, ‘Moises you’ve got a couch to crash on if you’re ever in New York!’
Madrid is quite a beautiful city…lots of old, palatial buildings, expansive parks and wide boulevards…very much a capital city. I did enjoy the city but I didn’t fall in love with it. Again, it was sweltering hot…104degrees one day, causing an electrical fire that knocked out electricity in a big portion of the city…so siesta was a must…and becoming a habit! I walked all over Madrid, from end to end and back again!
I went to the Prado museum, the city’s most popular…a big building full of old master paintings of goofy looking people and over zealous religious iconography. Do I need to say it wasn’t my thing? Well Tanja and Jing (from Florida) weren’t particullary impressed either, which made me feel better. We went on a free Sunday and spent about 2 hours canvassing the whole place…despite my guidebook saying it would take repeated visits to see it all. They also call it big…but it would fit in half of one wing of the MET in NYC.
I also visited the Reina Sofia Gallery, a museum that houses contemporary art, from about 1880 on, including Picasso’s Guernica, a truly striking canvas that captures the eye. The display was enhanced by preliminary sketches of the figures in the finished work, allowing you to see how it progressed in the mind of the artist…interesting stuff! I feel in love with a Dali painting too, called The Invissible Man…a really detailed canvas with all sorts of subliminal effects of foreground making background and details you don’t see until you looked at it for 5 full minutes. I was also impressed by some of his non-surrealist works of family members. Overall, a great museum…and again, free. (on Wednesdays)
Other points of interest in Madrid include the Royal Palace, the Cathedral, and countless plazas: Plaza Espana, Plaza Oriental and Plaza Santa Ana to name just a couple.
My route through Spain
I realized towards the end of my time in Madrid that I was very ready to hit the road. Finally feeling better -I couldn’t wait to get to Scotland and an English (kind of) speaking country…someplace cool and bright, not scorching…someplace with green hills instead of parched earth…someplace with old Celtic castles, not, um, Moorish ones. As much as I love Spain, it was time to move on…catch a plane and check out my next destination…ready, set, go!
Tags: Spain
LizG
Stay away from the haggis!
Yeay…no haggis for me. I originally thought ‘When in Rome…’ but I just can’t do it. There’s just no need in my life to eat stomach filled with other innards….ewww. Sorry Scots…