The longer I am here, the more I realize there are so many things for me to see in Spain. There is much more to this city than my neighborhood, my school building, and Sol, the “barrio” in which all the clubs are located. This week I made a conscious effort to see more of the city that I currently consider home.
For starters, I am entirely sick of wasting 25 minutes, to and from school, on the metro each day. So, I have taken to walking. Now not only am I late for Spanish each morning, but I get so see so many beautiful buildings and explore different neighborhoods. I also like to believe that I am working off the mountains of bread I consume on a regular basis. Europe is like the land of carbohydrates and no one is phased by it. Wonderful, but dangerous.
On Thursday I decided it was time to explore a new park, and Parque El Capricho is a supposed must when living in Madrid. I put on my running sneakers, grabbed my iPod, and hopped on the metro for forty minutes to get to the outskirts of the city. Upon arrival I realized all of the gates were locked. When I was close enough to read the signs, I learned that the park is closed on weekdays. After a long day of home sickness, bad grades (who knew you could actually do badly on exams when studying abroad?), and other forms of crummy, this was icing on the cake. Thursday = failed day of exploration.
Friday, my seminar class took a trip to the beautiful city of Salamanca. The city is about two hours north of Madrid by bus, and is totally worth the trip. It is home to one of oldest universities in the western world and the oldest in Spain, and is still a huge learning center in Europe.
Immediately upon arrival, I spilt my coffee all over my favorite white sweater. Classic. After that, the day was nearly perfect. We visited the beautiful old and new cathedrals where we saw amazing views of the whole city. Next we toured the University of Salamanca. On the wall of the building, there is a toad carved into the extremely detailed facade. The legend holds that if you spot the “ranita” among the heroes and coats of arms, you will have good luck for the next year. Naturally, I spent about fifteen minutes tuning out my professor while I searched and searched for that little frog. With a little help I spotted the ranita, and I’m praying that there will be an increase in my grades for the next year. Stay tuned. After much more exploring, a delicious lunch and some “helado” (ice cream), we headed back to the bus for the long ride home and a much needed siesta.
Today Devyn, our friend Christine and I were determined to be super tourists. We rented bikes in the city center and rode down to “Madrid Rio,” the park along the Manzanares River. We spent about three hours riding along the gorgeous river, snapping pictures and enjoying the beautiful 80 degree day. At the end of the river we entered Plaza de Espana, where we wandered through a small market and I took a few people out with my bicycle. After returning the bikes, we attempted and failed to find a food market in Chueca. We begrudgingly consulted our iPhones for help and found the area we were looking for, and topped the afternoon off by ordering a good old plate of nachos. I was in my own personal heaven at this point in the day.
Tomorrow we plan on riding the gondola to La Casa de Campo, one of the biggest parks in Madrid. I also would like to check out the El Greco exhibit at the Prado Museum, go to a big shopping center, make my way back to El Capricho, and maybe see the Botanical Gardens. I would also like to sleep for the entirety of the day. We will see what happens. Adios!