I arrived late Thursday evening and went straight to their apartment. They live with four other people in a dorm-style apartment meaning they have no livingroom and every person has a lock on their bedroom door (from the outside). Their housing has its pluses though: they are not responsible for replacing their butane (for hot water).
Friday morning Meagan and I (Amy was away in Italy trying out to be an extra in the next Twilight movie) went to the bus station to buy tickets to Salamanca. They were sold out so we had to wait until noon. This gave us two hours to kill in downtown Madrid. We walked around by the Palacio Real (Royal Palace), national theater, Plaza de España and Moncloa areas. We stopped off at Starbucks for some caffeine (we had gotten up pretty early).
Arriving in Salamanca, we wandered towards the older part of the city. Salamanca was made famous because of its university, which is one of the oldest and best in Spain. We were there to see the cathedrals and the university facade which has a frog carved in it. Legend says students who find the frog will pass their exams. We easily located the amphibian because tour guides were using lasers to point it out their groups. It was really small and located on a skull on a column at the side of the facade, which was ornately carved.
We also visited The Museo de Salamanca (Salamanca Museum), which we initially entered to use the bathroom. The museum was housed in an old palace. On display were works collected from monasteries and churches around Salamanca - the usual assembly of statues and paintings depicting saints and other religious figures. However, this was only true of most of the rooms. There was one room, the very last one we visited, which housed a modern art collection. It was such a strange to see these paintings after having walked through rooms of religious paintings, especially since the modern art room had old-fashioned window alcoves.
The best part of the trip to Salamanca was the museum set up in the tower adjoining the two cathedrals. Instead of building a new cathedral on top of the original one, Salamanca built its newer cathedral next to the old one. There is a tower in between them. We climbed the tower, which had entrances to the upper parts of both cathedrals. In the old cathedral we looked down on a wedding in progress. Then we kept climbing and entered the newer cathedral. Inside this one, we walked the width of the building while looking down from a two-foot wide balcony. Then, we climbed up higher and got an outdoor panoramic view of the city. It was incredible to walk from the upper balcony of one cathedral across to the other one. I had never done anything like this. The view of the city were not that great because the cathedral is a promenent part of the skyline.
We also visited the Casa de las Conchas (House of Shells), a palace covered in carved shells. Inside, we were able to see the patio. Its upper level has a photography exhibit dedicated to bicycling: people on bikes, parked bikes and bike trail maps (including NYC!).
Meagan and I spent the rest of the day walking around, stopping into some churches. There were many attached to convents. In one church we even saw the nuns praying (behind a screen).
For dinner, we didn't want to spend money, so we went to the grocery store and bought cherry tomatoes and a tortilla (egg, potato, onion omelet). We ate our meal in the main plaza, where many people were enjoying more portable foods like ice cream cones. Eating outside, both physically outside and outside the normal food "schedule," is considered taboo here. That meant we were basically "freaks" in the eyes of the Spanish. The plaza is considered one of the most beautiful in Spain. We were somewhat underwhelmed.
On the way back to Madrid, the bus drove through Avila, a walled town which was lit up at night. The wall in nearly completely in tact and it looked great lit up. Back in Madrid, we went to bed, exhausted.
Saturday morning we woke up and spent time catching up with Amy. Then, the three of us headed off to the bus station to go to Toledo. This time we had no trouble catching a bus because they leave every 20-30 minutes. We arrived at lunchtime and had strawberries and bananas to satisfy our hunger (I also ate a tomato and they had ice cream).
First, we headed up to the city, which was quite a feat. Toledo is built on a hill and to visit it, we had to go up and down several times. We tried to find an old mosque, but it was closed. Then we headed to the cathedral, which was another fantastic gothic structure (like the one in Salamanca). We were hungry so we stopped into a grocery store for gummy candy and watermelon. I usually travel with a spoon because it means that I can eat many foods (like salads and yogurts) for lunch or a snack instead of sandwiches. We used the spoon to carve bits of watermelon out of its skin. People gave us the most ridiculous looks, one woman even commented on our snack. We heard her and told her it was delicious. That made her shut up; she didn't even think we had heard her.....
Next, we went to the Sephardic synagogue, which has been turned into a museum. The building had been worked on between 1336 and 1357. In 1492, the Jews were kicked out of Spain. At this time, the building was converted into a Christian church. In the 19th century, it was used by the military. Now, it has been restored; its walls are covered with Hebrew carvings and Moorish designs. Most of the exhibition space was dedicated to the history of Jews in Spain and Jewish ceremonies and customs.
From the synagogue, we headed downhill, passing another synagogue and a monastery, on the way to the Roman bridge. Finding the bridge was quite a challenge. Most of the roads leading down to it were under construction. When we finally found it, it wasn't that impressive. Next to it was a sign describing the many routes of Don Quixote, one of which passed through Toledo. In fact, we found many small green signs marking the route.
While Toledo was pretty and interesting because of its history and combination of cultures, we were somewhat let down because it was overrun with tourists. The stores in the center only sold crap and the food there was overpriced and not worth eating.
We returned to Madrid and made some stir-fry for dinner. We also made popcorn on the stove and hung out for the rest of the night.
Sunday morning we woke up and went grocery shopping. (The only reason the store was opened was because it was closed Friday.) Their small grocery store had drinkable soy yogurt, which we can't get here in Priego. I was shocked and jealous. I haven't even tried it, but I appreciated the diversity there.
We took our snacks and headed toward el Parque del Buen Retiro, Madrid's Central Park. I was only able to stay for an hour, but we soaked up some Spanish sun and enjoyed people-watching. Then, I headed to the bus station to catch my five-hour bus back to Cordoba where I met Ana who drove me back to Priego. Even though my friends spend more than half of their paycheck on rent, and they spend at least an hour traveling to school each day, I would still rather be there than here. There is tons to do in the city and they can get to other parts of the country more easily than I can. Oh well, only four more weeks here.
No comments:
Post a Comment