Hola Espana

Simply put, Madrid was an incredible city, overflowing with energy, culture, and good seafood. Of the cities I've had the opportunity to see, Madrid is second only to Istanbul in beauty and culture. It's grandiose architecture and construction are almost pompous showcases of Spain's powerful past. Europe has always had an obsession with building majestic buildings to flaunt their capabilities and power, but Spain takes the cake in this interminable competition with a number of palaces, cathedrals, parks, and castles that stand as reminders of powerful Kings and empires. The city itself is massive. In comparison to Prague, which has three humble metro lines, Madrid boasts close to a dozen. It was fun to use our Spanish and we found ourselves being able to communicate more of our thoughts than we had expected. Comprehending a native speaking at mach speeds, however, was a different story. We were all thankful that Molly was there to navigate the city with us and talk with store clerks and servers. I don't know how many times she intervened to salvage conversations our high school-level Spanish just couldn't handle.  

Molly facing off with her eternal foe, pigeons, on one of Madrid's numerous squares.

The Spanish people are very warm and fun, love their music and food, and were very receptive to Americans. The most striking contrast between Spanish culture and the rest of the world is their biological schedule. The Spainards have somehow figured out how to function and operate on half the sleep a normal human is supposed to get each night. Everyone, even small children, eat dinner after 10:00 most days of the week, and use a ciesta in the afternoon to briefly recharge their batteries. The kids in the city go out until the Metro system begins its daily operation at 6:00, despite the fact that the sun has fully risen, because cabs are too expensive. Spanish preteens seem to party harder than even the craziest kids at St. Lawrence. They eat lunch about the time my Grandparents eat dinner and sit down for dinner when the rest of the world is fast asleep. Molly brought us to a rather upscale restaurant on Saturday night. We arrived at 11:00, were not seated until 12:00, were served our main dishes at 12:45, and left around 1:30. It'd be like about Olive Garden hopping at 1:30 a.m. 

Molly purged us from our slumber around 10:00 on Friday morning, and with her cracking the whip, we started exploring the city. Unlike Prague, whose sites rarely hide much historical substance, Madrid's architectural phenomena were also interesting places to visit. They contained not just beauty and romance in their appearance, but hosted fascinating tours or art museums. We saw the Royal Palace of Madrid, which has a dozen large reception rooms and over 250 bedrooms. Overlooking much of the city, it was quite a spectacular sight. The Almundena Cathedral, situated right next to the Palace, only added to the enormity of the panorama. Completed in the late 20th Century, it married Gothic architecture with more modern flavored art and decor. Both were astounding examples of what humans could construct without modern technology and machinery. Also, we had to do the Prado, although Molly was the only one with any substantial knowledge of art history.

I really stumbled into this chance to be a chivalrous, caring boyfriend by buying my lady a flower. We even got a picture with the guy who came into the bar selling the flowers after he blew my cover..

A Portrait on Prom Night. Matt, Caroline, Molly, and I in front of the Royal Palace. About a fourth of the Palace is visible behind us; the massive structure extends far back and to the left.

Again, rallied after an inadequate sleep, we left for Toledo, a smaller, Medieval city 70 km south of Madrid. Our train departed from Atocha, the largest metro station in the city where commuter trains and subways connect to carry an army-sized workforce into the city. It was the site of the 2004 terrorist attacks that killed 190 people and wounded close to 2,000. Being in the same corridors and terminals that saw such carnage six years ago coupled with the recent, prevalent threats to European cities made for an eerie experience. Nevertheless, we took the train to Toledo, which turned out to be an awesome decision because although it is only a quick ride away, it is markedly different than Madrid, evidence of Spains incredible geographic and cultural diversity. In addition to its beauty, Toledo featured the fourth largest Cathedral in the World, an enormous Castle, a Mosque, and a Medieval wall that encompasses the city. The whole city was enveloped by an almost fairy-tale ora that emanated from the buildings, landscape, and bastions that once protected what used to be the capitol of Spain. The city is famous for its swords, and despite our urge to return to the States sporting some badass Medieval weapon, Matt, Tucker, and I gave in to reason and stuck with buying marzipan, another trademark of the city. After Peter Pan in Munich, Aladdin in Istanbul, and Vlad the Impaler from Bratislava, we decided we had adopted enough hero personas.

A view from above Toledo, with the castle dominating the skyline. The city is surrounded not only by stone walls and towers, but also on three sides by a river. There is not much development beyond the little peninsula, so whatever historical society is protecting the city from commercialization has been really successful.

We took a double-decker bus tour in Toledo, which ended up being the perfect means to experience the city in one day. The weather was rather foul so the bus was empty and unfortunately, no one was there to see us all get slapped in the face by a number of trees. I guess that's why we were supposed to sit...

Tucker and I on our trip back early Sunday morning, still in our same clothes from the previous night. It was the Eve of Halloween, so the club we went to, which was a converted opera house, put on an awesome performance of the Thriller dance. Some people just can't handle Vegas... 

This week in Prague is mid-term week. I've got one under my belt, European integration, which I hope will prove to be my most difficult. The EU is so complex and bureaucratic; I don't think many of the officials working within its complicated framework understand it, let alone 10 American students trying to understand a teacher with a heavy Czech accent. So, we'll see how that fares...