¡Bienvenido a España!

Hello from Spain! After an unexpected nine hour layover in Lisbon, I finally arrived in Madrid late Thursday evening on January 23rd, and it’s a bit surreal that I’m actually here. This is the trip I’ve been imagining for years!

Madrid

Friday we took a walking tour of Madrid and we had a fantastic guide named Martha. We started at the Museo Nacional del Prado and focused on the works of Goya, Greco, and Valásquez. They were all incredibly talented artists with distinctly different styles, and if you have a minute I would encourage you to look at their art on the Prado website here (https://www.museodelprado.es/coleccion). Of course, the Prado is huge so if I get the chance I definitely want to go back to consider the art more closely and look at the other artists’ works as well.

After the Prado we walked past the Palacio de las Cortes which is where the Spanish Congress meets. We also saw the Puerta del Sol which has a giant clock at the top. On New Year’s Eve the Spaniards watch this clock and when it turns to midnight they eat a grape with each sounding of the bell -twelve grapes in total. Each grape counts as one month, so if you eat all twelve then you will have good luck for an entire year. If you only eat five grapes then you will only have good luck for five months and so on. I think it’s a much more fun tradition than our tradition of kissing at midnight!

We also saw some distinctive features of Madrid like the Tio Pepe sign, El Oso y el Madroño (the symbol of Madrid), the Plaza Mayor, the Royal Palace, and the Teatro Real. Each of these landmarks has a rich and distinctive history, and I could write pages about their stories, but I don’t have the time to do so. As always if you want to learn about these landmarks google their names or, even better, travel to Madrid!

La Comida

In my time here I’ve tried so many new foods! Here’s a quick look at the food from my day in Madrid. For breakfast I had fruit, bread, and fruit juice which is a very typical breakfast here. For lunch our sweet tour guide recommended to try either a bocadillo de calamares (fried squid) or a bocadilla de jamón (ham). I tried the bocadilla de calamares with lemon juice and, although the texture was definitely different, I liked it a lot. I also ordered a side of fried potatoes with a spicy sauce and it was tasty as well. After lunch we continued walking around Madrid and made our way to a chocolatería where we bought churros y chocolate caliente. The chocolate was so rich and we’re about 90% sure that you aren’t supposed to drink it, just dip the churro in it. Regardless, it was the perfect snack on a cold, rainy day. For dinner I had habitas con jamón which reminded me of the green beans and ham I know from the south, and I really enjoyed that meal as well.

Overall I loved my time in Madrid! One day was definitely too short to appreciate all Madrid has to offer. I’d love to go back at some point in the semester if I have time. Stay tuned to learn about my day in Toledo in the next entry!

Sinceramente,

Jennifer