El Escorial is a monastery/palace/basilica all constructed under the watchful eye of king Phillip II. In 1584 Escorial was completed taking only 21 years. Which is amazing for the size of this place. It has a huge art gallery to house all of the art Phillip II collected during his reign. It is sometimes called the mini-Prado. His empire was so large that he controlled Netherlands, Portugual, Naples, Sicely, and the Americas. As a result, he has Flemish, Italian, and Spanish art. It was incredible. All the art is showcased in just one little corner of Escorial. In the middle is the Basilica, which itself is rather large. Phillip was highly religious, and was always found doing what God wanted him to do. His devotion to the Catholic church and to God is apparent in Escorial. He had is bedroom built right above and to the side of the basilica, so when he was too sick or too frail to leave his bed, he could still participate in Mass every day. His palace was far from decorative and elaborate. His bedroom was very plain, and was just enough to fit his needs. I asked myself, if he was such a religious man, why did he build this huge palace for himself. But I learned as I saw it that it wasn't built just to glorify the state or himself. Phillip was a king that loved knowledge and reading. This was apparent in his amazing library with 40,000 books! The library was my favorite room. All the books were spine in, which was interesting. They had some of them pulled out and we could see that Phillip had annotated them. I also loved that he had the model of Ptolemy's Universe. It was the original. We weren't supposed to take pictures, but I did. I thought it was cool, it had the earth in the middle with all the sphere's surrounding it. El Escorial is still used today as monestary, so we couldn't see all of it. It was very impressive, though. It was awesome to be able to know so much about Phillip II because we read a book on him. It explained a lot about the place, and why some things were the way they were.

Los Caidos y El Escorial: Pretty Stately

On Friday we took a trip to Valle de los Caidos, which is just outside of Madrid. It is tucked away into these beautiful green mountains, I didn't even know existed that close to us. The mountains are littered with granite, lots of it. The monument of Los Caidos, is a 450 M. tall cross, and at the base of it a basilica built into the mountain. It is all granite, and was built to huge to make the human spectator feel small. The purpose of the monument is controversial. First some history. It was built between 1940 and 1958, by thousands of Spanish Republicans, which were POW's of General Fransisco Franco. The basilica built into the mountain is bigger than St. Peter's basilica in Rome, but was only half blessed because no basilica is allowed to bigger than that one. The granite that comprises the cross is the granite they blasted out for the basilica. Ok so to the theories. One is that the monument is built to all those that fell in the tragic civil war. The other is that it is a tribute to fascism and Franco. This is my conclusion, because the fascist insignia is on the front of the basilica and he and the founder of Falange Espanola( fascism) Jose Antonio de Riviera are buried in the basilica. I liked visiting this monument so much, whichever it's purpose. It was impressive and was in the prettiest setting. Another interesting detail I noticed was on the ceiling, they made the blocks to look like real parts of the cave, but they are just decorative, and the way they are arranged looks somewhat cubist, which was the popular art style in the 30's and 40's.

LETI, LETI, LETI, ATLETICO MADIRD!!!

Viva Espana! Go Atletico Madrid! On Thursday night I, along with a bunch of crazy, drunk, men, got to watch Club Atletico Madrid play the bloody English team Bolton FC. Unfortunately, the score was 0-0 so nobody won. Madrid was way better though, except the Bolton goalie was on the ball.(nice pun) We(Atletico) had so many shots on goal, just none were good enough. It was such an exciting game though, on and off the field. There was a huge rowdy group across the stadium from us, and just after the game started they let off a huge stink bomb that the smoke was all over! ha we didn't think much of it until we looked over and someone had a firework or something, and all the people scattered to the edges. The scary bomb squad police had come up from the field and were chasing the crazies. Then probably 20 minutes later. Right up and to the left of us were all the Bolton fans. They started fighting with the Madrid fans. Then this huge fight broke out. Bodies were flying over the chairs, and then when the bomb squad came to the scene to break things up, they started dragging bodies around! It was the craziest thing. Luckily we didn't get beat up, because shocker, we don't really look Spanish! When we were walking to the game, the police told us to turn around and go in on the English side. We were way close to the entrance, and we were like oh no we are Atletico fans. He was like well, you don't look like Atletico fans, you look British! We could sense his seriousness, and then he said I am just telling you for your safety! They are very serious about these things! When we were walking out there were tons of police lining every street for like a mile! Oh my it was so awesome though. It was so good to be watching sports, in Spain!

Pedro the Suckling Piglet

Pedrazza is famous for their authentic, Castilla y Leon cuisine. We had ordered before from the choice of cordera a la plancha(lamb roasted) or chuchinillo(piglet) which I ordered. Rumor had it that they brought out the animal almost as whole as possible. My stomach got a little queasy knowing that I have a hard time eating chicken off the bone. About 22 of us decided to eat the 28 euro meal so we had a big group. I think that was the most expensive meal I have ever had! Don't worry our program paid for 15 of it as it was to be a rich cultural experience, and that it was! We sat down to a big piece of pan(bread) not bad. Then they began to bring out the tapas(appetizers). First they brought churiso(sausage) it was pretty good, especially with the goat cheese. Then they brought out another type of sausage that made me a little ill looking at it. It was dark red and had rice in it. But you can't pay for an authentic meal and not try everything. I later found out it was blood sausage...glad I didn't know before. Then the salad, and then as we all anticipated they brought the meat. The put them in these huge terracotta bowls.Since most people ordered lamb they brought a huge one for 4-5 people to share. The two girls next to me were lucky enough to find a special body part in their piece of lamb. They lifted up each of them had one, lamb testicles!!!! You know how on fear factor people eat those for money, well these girls didn't need money they dared each other to eat them, and they just popped them in. They both almost barfed but they did it! By this time they were bringing out my dinner. I saw this lady put down a pig leg in front of me, and I was just thinking, this is disgusting. My face must have been saying that too, because everyone was laughing at me. Ah it was so gross to look at, the skin was cooked, but it was still leathery, and I could even see some hairs growing out! Sorry can't leave out any details. I cut through the skin and tried some of the meat,and it was delicious! It was so tender, and tasted like pork in the crock pot! It was a little disturbing to cut around a ball and socket joint, but it was really good! I ended up really liking the little pig by the end, I named him Pedro. We were laughing so hard at the little foot, I had one and someone else had the other. We shook hands with them and everything! I took a big leap in my trying new things that night! It was such a fun dinner, I am so glad we got to eat there!

Segovia Adventure!

Segovia/Pedrazza
Oh Friday our group traveled to Segovia for the day. It is just 40 or so Km outside of Madrid, so it was perfect to see it in one day. Segovia is the city where Queen Isabella named herself queen of Castille in the very Alcazar up on the hill. Although it was not this exact Alcazar because in the early 1800's there was a fire, and the entire Alcazar was burned down. It was rebuilt to duplicate the original, and still maintains the ancient feel. The outside has the enchanted fairy tale castle feel, we even learned that Walt Disney patterned the famous Cinderella's castle after the Alcazar in Segovia. Inside was slightly furnished and so we were able to make out the king's bedroom, the throne room, etc. There was one room with a wall mural, and it was this white-as-a-ghost queen, could have been Isabel or Juana the Loca, and there were people all around her, but the catch was that none of the people in the painting had eyeballs, just empty sockets. It was very disturbing, like something on a scary movie. We kept looking for secret passageways to get into the mysteries of the castle, but everything was locked, don't you hate when that happens. There was this little staircase we found though, and there wasn't a rope in front of it so we walked down, and found a secret little door. It was pitch dark and the door was locked(of coarse) but we told everyone we heard Juana the Loca wailing behind the door! The story behind Juana the Loca:she was married to the handsome king Phillip the Fair, son of pious king Phillip II, and he died at a young age, and she was just devastated. She kept his corpse and would take it around with her, and kiss it every night. Thats where the name the Loca comes from. She lived in the Alcazar for some time, and we were convinced her ghost haunts it! Another famous site in Segovia is the 2000 year old Roman Aquaduct.It was declared as a UN world heritage site, and is also on the list of 100 endangered historical sites. It still works to carry water today, although not with the same efficiency as long ago. It has 120 arches and was built completely without mortar. I was amazed to see such a huge structure still standing. After we were done walking around Segovia, we drove about a half hour away, through beautiful country, to an old medieval pueblo in the middle of the country called Pedrazza. Dr. Shumway said our dinner reservation wasn't until 8 and we got there at six, so he told us to explore till then. He said to meet in the Plaza Mayor. Well we walked up the hill to the town, and walked down about two deserted streets and we were in the Plaza. Hm...so then we kept walking a little bit, and we reached the other side of the city. All the little houses were so old. It kind of reminded me of something you would see in a little town in Britain. Because down the hill were just green field with sheep and cows. We just bummed around with each other till our reservation for dinner.

Andalucia Trip- Part 2

Cordoba
Oh Cordoba, ancient and holy. The Moorish and Jewish influence still loomed in the aura of Cordoba. Although the two peoples have not lived there for hundreds of years, their presence is felt in the old part of Cordoba. The main attraction in Cordoba is the Mezquita. It is the Cathedral/Mosque built in the 720's and then Christianized in 1500's. This structure is famous world wide. Honestly I could not believe I was actually seeing it in person and not from a picture. It looks exactly as it does in the pictures, only bigger. It feels different than a cathedral, it is more holy and simple. Although it is now a place of worship for Christians it bothered me that such a unique mosque would be taken from the Moors. Fernando III was the one who wanted to build the cathedral shortly after the conquest of the moors in 1492. Before he commissioned it to be built he went to Holy Roman Emperor, Carlos V, and asked permission. Permission was granted with out even knowing what the Mosque looked like. Because of the rarity, they did not tear it down, but simply built a cathedral right in the middle of it. After it was built and Carlos V visited he said of the new cathedral, "You have taken something you could have built anywhere, and ruined something truly unique." That was exactly what it felt like inside. I made a movie with some documentary from the Mezquita, but it is not loading. It was sort of a walking tour, a short one. The Mezquita has 840 of the red and white horseshoe arches, typical of Muslim design. I will put a picture up. We walked around the old Jewish quarter which was very cool. Cordoba, especially, the Jewish quarter, is known for it's beautiful patios. The people adorn them with flowers and plants, and in May there is a big competition to judge who has the most beautiful one. They are open to passerbys so we got to go in and see those. Also there is a famous street called Calle de Los Flores where all the tourist take pictures, so of course we took them too. You can see the tower of the Mezquita at the top of the picture. This city ranks as my favorite from the whole trip. I woke up early to run and see the sunrise by the old roman bridge, and it was just great to be up and look at the city when everyone was sleeping. I got a really cool picture of the city at night too, which I included. At the end of our time in Cordoba we visited a cool old synagogue which was only a room. It had Hebrew written all over the walls quoting the Old Testament. I thought it was really cool, and such a hidden special place. We also visited an Alcazar in Cordoba, but it was not nearly as ornate as the one in Sevilla. There were a lot of good little moments in Cordoba like when we asked an old man to take our picture, he had never used a camera before, and when we walked into the candy store and all bought the weirdest thing we could find. I found gummy flan...only in Spain. Emily and I dressed up as Mudejar people, I wore the turban she wore the shawl around here head, we didn't go out in public though don't worry. We were just feeling the spirit of Mudejar.
Granada
Our last city. This city is hard to explain. It was the first city in Spain I have seen with mountains, that was exciting, the high ones even had snow! The Alhambra, which is the main attraction sits up on a hill above the city. The Albaycin, the old Muslim area, also sits on a hill adjacent to the Alhambra. The rest of the city is down in a valley. We stayed up next to the Alhambra, so we walked down the big hill to get down to the city. The Alhambra was built in the 700's when the Moors conquered Spain. It was built as a huge fortress/ palace. The structure is giant and has various buildings. The first we saw was the Palacio de Nazarin. I have a picture in the first courtyard, the Court of Myrtles. You can see the Mudejar deco and the famous muslim baths. It was cool to try and picture the wealthy Al-Andalus elites living here. They had it good, they lived in a beautiful palace they created for themselves. Another interesting room was the Court of the Lions. In the middle stood a font, and at the base of the font were 12 lions. They were said to represent the 12 tribes. Another cool fact is that the Muslims created a clock out of the formation, and at each fifteen min the lions would spit water out of there mouths. When the Christians came in and conquered they took the fountain apart to see how it worked, and they ruined it so it never worked again. I was a little bummed though, because the lions are under reconstruction so they weren't on display. After the Palacio we walked through the elaborate gardens that as one girl on the trip said,"Will take you up on hills you didn't even know you could get to!" They were huge. The had lots of little pools and carved hedges. They led over to another palace on another hill. It was really cool. All we really saw in Granada was the Alhambra. We ran down the hill to the city and then back up in the Albaycin neighborhood to a look out that is famous to see Granada at sunset. It was quite the hike, but it was awesome. That's where I took the picture of the Alhambra lit up. Then we walked back down and had Kebabs! That was definetly another highlight. They were such tasty Turkish goodness. It was fun to walk around the town a little that night. I found Meringue's at a pastry shop, they were so tasty as well! The next morning Emily, Susie, and I woke up at 6:30 to run up to the Albaycin to the look out to watch the sunrise! It was freezing, but since it was Saturday morning nobody was up. We were all alone, and we got to watch the sunrise over the snowy mountains. I loved it so much, it was the perfect way to bring in the morning. I was thinking to myself, I am just up watching the sunrise in Granada, Spain, I probably never be here again! It was such a cool experience. I definitely realized I need to relish those experiences. On the way home to Alcala, we stopped at the ever famous Don Quixote windmills. They are up on a very windy hill in the region of La Mancha, hence Don Quixote de La Mancha. We imitated the battle that Don Quixote had with them. It was such a great trip, Spain is full of so many hidden treasures no one really recognizes! It is great!

Andalucia Trip

Last week the whole group headed down south for five days! The region in the South of Spain is called Andalucia. It is known for its warm weather(it was mid 60's-70 when we were there), gazpacho(not a fan, cold tomato pudding stuff), orange trees, and much Muslim influence in architecture and design especially. On our way down there we stopped in Merida. Merida is one of the oldest cities founded in 25 B.C. by the Romans. It was the Roman capital of Spain. They built temples, theaters, and aquaducts. Most of these still remain in parts today. We first crossed an 800 meter Roman bridge. Before I found out it was 800 meters, I said to people "Oh I bet this is about 800 M, I could do intervals on it!" Just an aside, anyway. As we walked up to the main ruin, the teatro and ampitheater, we passed the Temple of Diana. It was just sitting there amongst the newer buildings. That's how it was everywhere in Merida. Roman ruins randomly all throughout the city. The theater was pretty cool, still very much intact. My friend Emily and I even acted out a little play on the stage there. We took a huge group picture there, that the one with 46 people if you couldn't figure it out!
Sevilla
Oh beautiful Sevilla, a big city, surrounded by the Guadalquivir River. It had the feeling of a busy, lively city. There were always many people out and about. Sevilla is famous for their Flamenco which we were privileged to see a show! That is where the movie come from. It was by far the most cultural activity I have done in Spain. We sat in this little theater and watched an hour and a half of Flamenco dancing. The dancers loved what they did, it was so fun to watch their passion for the dance. The would yell Ole! at the end of every song and then wait for all of us to yell it back, it was sweet. We visited the Sevilla Cathedral. It is the largest Gothic Cathedral in the world. It is famous because it holds the bones of Christopher Columbus( which have been switched from here, to Cuba, back here, and there, and now here?!) We got to climb the bell tower which was built by the Moors, where the cathedral stands was originally a Mosque, and they kept the tower. It had 36 ramps built large enough for horses to go up to the top. We could see the whole city up there, and that's where I was shocked at how big it really was. After the Cathedral we headed right next door to the Alcazar, built by Pedro the Cruel. Or Pedro the Great, depending on which side of the sword you were! It was highly influenced by Muslim design, Mudejar. (this is our favorite word because it was everywhere in the south, we made up a language and pose) The most exquisite thing were the gardens. Keep in mind that we weren't there in the summer so none of the jardines are completely full, but they are still great. It was a day of about 70 degrees, and they had fountains, baths, orange trees, myrtle bushes(smell really good). After those two places we had free time, which was basically the whole day. Callie Clark, Emily Bourne, and I walked around trying to find a Flamenco club, when we came upon a bike rental place. We looked at each other all with the same idea, and walked over to it, to rent our cruisers! We rode for about three hours around the whole city! We rode through jardines shaded with trees, and along the river, where we stopped to talk with some Sevillians! It was the funnest thing, and a great was to see a lot. My other favorite thing about Sevilla was waking up early and running along the river. In the morning there were tons of men out rowing, it was really cool. The city was very vibrant.

Fact: Getting a small fever in Spain=going straight to the Doctor

Ok so the car thing was a little something characteristic of Spain. I just found out today another trait, dramatic of coarse, of the Spanish. My roommate Cassi got a little sick today at school, she had all the normal cold symptoms. So she came home and went to bed. Pilar, mi madre, was immediately worried and asked me if I thought she would be ok. I said I was sure she just needed to sleep a little. That wasn't good enough however, so she went back to our room to talk to Cassi. She asked if Cassi had a fever. She replied that she didn't think so, but Pilar went straight to the neighbor, her friend Ana to ask for a thermometer. While they talked back and forth at a million words a minute about how to work the thermometer, Cassi and I looked at eachother kind of laughing. Then Pilar gave her the thermometer and when she went to put it in her mouth, she said no no and motioned for her to put it in her armpit! She doesn't actually have a fever, which is good. But the two ladies told me to watch her because she may need to go to the doctor. I said I think she needed sleep and a glass of water. So Pilar brought in a glass and some yogurt, of coarse. Cassi is still feeling under the weather, what we in the United States would call the beginnings to a cold. Bummer, but not knocking on death's door. I gave her some ibuprofen which she said helped a little. Pilar said that if she is not better by the morning we will take her to the doctor, he sister in law knows of a great one! Oh funny funny Spanish people.