Here is the rundown of the last few weeks here in Spain. This is definitely the longest chapter in my stay here so please bear with me on the length. Like previously said, I can’t bring myself to leave out any detail of my stay here. It’s fairly common knowledge that after spring break the semester and school year is practically over. This statement could not be truer, especially while studying abroad. It seems like just yesterday I was on the train home from Madrid and it has already been a full week.
Following the trip to Portugal I spent the next weekend doing a whole lot of nothing. The next week consisted of projects and finals, which ended the first half my semester here and Spanish 1607. March 11th marked the start of Spring break and we started it off with a bang here in Spain. After class on Friday I hit up La Madriguera, or The Burrow, for some climbing followed by a trip to el río.
Saturday night was an interesting one to say the least. Every year Cádiz, a coastal city south of Sevilla; hosts Carnaval, which is the Spanish version of Mardi Gras. Basically all of Spain puts on costumes, heads to Cádiz, and celebrates in its many squares. The whole trip was kind of thrown together on a whim the day of. Several of us had been told the train ride there was free if one was wearing a costume. To our shock, halfway there we were asked for our tickets and when we could not produce them were promptly asked to get off the train. In a pueblos name I will never know, we bought tickets, waited on the next train for an hour and a half, then continued our journey to Carnaval. Although it was dark and crowded upon arriving, one of the first things I did notice about Cádiz was the interesting architecture. This is definitely a city I plan on heading back to for a weekend as it starts to warm up. Perhaps I will get a better idea of what this famous town is all about when I see it in the light. From what I’ve been told the beaches and scenery are particularly good in Cádiz.
Brant and I practicing Spanish with the cheerleaders
After arriving back to the comfort of my bed at 10:20 Sunday morning I had ample siesta time prior to meeting my mom and her friend Joanne at their hotel. The rest of the day was spent playing tour guide in the pouring rain. Upon arriving in Spain I was told, “Sevilla is in a drought” so it never rains here, this statement could not be more false. While the vast majority of days are sunny, southern Spain definitely receives its fair share of precipitation. After two days of showing my visitors around my new home, it was time to truly begin spring break and head off for Toledo, Segovia, and Madrid.
I would like to take this moment to throw in some commentary about Spain and my family here. Hollywood style cliffhanger to stall the spring break info I know, try to contain your excitement. For those of you who didn’t read of my first blog, or have simply forgotten, part of the reason I’m writing this blog is for three hours of upper level Honors credit. My assignment was to read Ghosts of Spain: Travels Through Spain and Its Silent Past by Giles Tremlett and then write a paper relating it to my own experiences abroad upon returning to Tech. I actually found the book to be quite interesting as it talks about everything from blood spilt during the Spanish Civil War to current day corruption in politics, a topic I find fascinating regardless of the country involved
Our homework assignment for the day in History of Spain was to ask our host family about 23-F. On February 23rd 1981 a group of Spanish Guardia Civil led by Antonio Tejero attempted Golpe de Estado, a coup or famous 9b climbing route in Siurana, by entering Congress and explaining the military was taking over the government in the king’s name. For the first forty-five minutes of the affair a live video feed in congress gave Spaniards some idea of what was happening. However, it was cut before the one-hour mark and news of the country’s fate did not come until 1am when the king made an official statement. Juan Carlos I ordered the military to stand down and made it clear to the people that it was his intent to carry on democracy for the betterment of a united Spain. Manuel, my host dad, used to be a cop and was actually at the congressional building on that infamous day in Spanish history. He said it was a crazy day but, of course, he was not nervous.
This topic led us into another conversation, all spoken in Spanish, regarding nationalists in the Cataluña and Basque regions of Spain. Giles Tremlett spends a great deal of time in his book on the question of whether Spain is one country or several different ones shoved together. There is a small group, twenty percent or less, of Cataluña and Basque that seek separation from Spain. The Basques go about it mainly through the violent ETA terrorist group while Castilians have a more peaceful approach. Regardless of methods, both peoples believe their unique languages and cultures are enough to warrant independent countries. Upon asking Manuel if he believed they should have independence, he passionately responded by saying this was against the constitution and therefore unacceptable. From what I have experienced and read; it is my opinion that after being under Franco’s reign for so long, most Spaniards want a free, united, country to call home.
Enough about politics, let’s get back to Tuesday morning of spring break at 6am. The tour busses for our trip were set to leave from the Santa Justa train station at 6:30am and they are notorious for leaving stragglers behind. At 6:15am I was just leaving the house and Manuel, being the boss that he is, offered to give me a ride. He was also nice enough to grab my friend Cameron, whom I said I would split a cab with, on the way.
Calatrava La Nueva
In typical fashion, I was awake on the bus ride long enough to see glimpses of the Spanish countryside in between stellar views of my eyelids. Our first stop was Calatrava la Nueva. A Medivil castle built in the 13th century, it is one of the largest castles in Spain and was truly spectacular. After exploring the castle for about an hour we were onto our next stop.
A cathedral commissioned by Isabella II for the knights of the order of Calatrava
Almagro, a small pueblo whose main attraction is a theatre from the Spanish golden age gave a unique view into country life, or the touristy side of country life in Spain. During the Spanish Golden Age Almagro’s theater was the center of entertainment for miles around. Plays were held there on a regular basis and would generally last five to six hours. After hearing about the theatre’s history and eating lunch we were off to Toledo.
The theater was roughly twice this size back in the day and would not have had chairs. It was standing room only for commoners on ground level.
That evening was a free night, which was spent exploring the winding streets of Toledo while looking at countless swords. Toledo is well known for its steel work so there are touristy sword shops all over town. I started Wednesday morning off with an optional tour of ancient roman baths. While they looked comfortable for the most part I prefer 21st century hot tubs. The groups next stop was “The Burial of the Count of Orgaz” considered El Greco’s masterpiece, which is housed in the church of Santo Tomé. Needless to say, it was quite impressive to see such a massive painting with so many unique themes in it. Greco even included himself and son in the painting as the only two people looking at the audience. After seeing “The Greek’s” painting, we were off to a quick synagogue tour before leaving town.
Greco's masterpiece is split into two segments. The lower half represents earth while the upper half depicts the heavens.
Texas Tech left its mark in Toledo
Our next destination was Segovia, which is home to the largest aqueduct in Spain, the “Disney Castle” and world famous suckling pig. As usual I was taking a mobile siesta during our two-hour drive. To my surprise, I woke up to snow-covered hills when we were about an hour out of town. Falling asleep to blue skies and waking up to snow was a rather strange sensation. It was funny to see the confusion on people’s faces as they woke to this unexpected storm. While Segovia was a great city to see, the dreary weather kind of put a damper on our visit there. We started our tour at the Roman aqueduct, which was the city’s source of fresh water from the 2nd century AD until 1980. When we were done admiring the advanced Roman architecture it was time to grab some lunch. Just about every restaurant I walked passed offered their own suckling pig so this was an obvious choice for lunch. The entire pig can be eaten including the brain and tongue. I stuck with the leg, which was beyond delicious.
This massive aqueduct runs for 17km
Once we were done experiencing the local delicacy it was time to head off to the castle. The Alcazar, or fortress in Arabic, was used as the model for the iconic Walt Disney castle. While the Alcazar was interesting and fun to see I enjoyed Calatrava la Nueva more. This is because it was out in the country and had less of a museum feel to it. All in all though I’m glad we stopped to see Segovia regardless of the weather.
"Disney Castle"
Another couple hours in the autobus got us to the hotels Madrid. Much like Toledo, our first night in Madrid was spent exploring the town and eating dinner. The capital of Spain can be summed up as New York City with more of a 17th and 18th century feel to it. In 1561 King Philip II made Madrid the permanent home of his court and its influence grew over night. Present day Madrid is a bustling metropolis home to several renaissance plazas, palaces, museums, and skyscrapers.
Plaza Mayor is a renaissance square right off El Calle Gran Via
On Wednesday we took a group excursion to El Escorial. This palace / monastery was commissioned by King Philip II to be a residence for royals and to hold the pantheon for all future kings of Spain. This palace was overwhelmingly large, containing countless rooms, world-renowned paintings, a cathedral, and the graves of long dead kings and queens. Philip II wanted to halt the protestant reformation overtaking Spain and decided building a massive complex would be the best way to achieve this; thus proving Catholics could do Christianity better than the Protestants.
The massive El Escorial
After viewing a few of El Greco’s famous painting and wandering through several hallways and rooms we arrived at El Escorial’s center point, the pantheon of kings. The final resting place of twenty-three previous kings and queens, the room let off a strange and magnificent vibe. There is only room for three more coffins whose future inhabitants are already rotting in the decomposing room. This has presented an interesting decision for the current king of Spain. He must decide where to be buried, a choice few kings have made since the 17th century.
The pantheon of kings
Once we were done taking in the pantheon it was off to the cathedral. To be completely honest, I was far from impressed. The entire altar, including the saints and jesus were made of pure gold. In my opinion this is a little ridiculous. Was it necessary to spend who knows how much money making a gold Jesus while Spanish citizens were starving to death? This blog is already getting long so I’ll withhold my rant on this subject; however, I find the whole idea ludicrous. What’s next, a gold plated cow on the altar?
Gold, gold, and more gold. This obviously proves Catholics are better Christians than Protestants. Please note I am not hating on present day Catholics in anyway.
Seeing as how it was St. Patty’s day, in Madrid, we decided to check out the nightlife of Madrid. It was a fun night filled with all sorts of lighthearted shenanigans amongst friends. The next day, Friday, was a “free” day that was spent seeing the museums and parks of Madrid. We started off by going to the church where the famous golden age painter Francisco de Goya is buried. Credited as one of the first anti-war paintings, “The Third of May” depicts citizens of Madrid being executed by French soldiers. This painting, along with several of his other paintings are hanging in El Prado museum, which was my next destination.
"Tres de Mayo" - Fransisco de Goya
One could easily spend a few days in El Prado and not see everything it has to offer. The sheer size of the museum made it a little overwhelming. However, I had a list of masterpieces thanks to Dr. Ingles and a Prado information packet. I spent a solid two or three hours exploring the endless rooms and paintings El Prado had to offer. While I’m not a huge art buff, I do appreciate art that can inspire or make one thing, something El Prado was far from lacking.
Saturday morning we all parted ways with our families and headed back to Sevilla on the AVE high speed train. After a particularly safe and enjoyable ride home we all immediately went to the river to soak up some mother nature and enjoy the warm weather. After spending a week in the snow and colder temperatures of Madrid the sunshine of Andalusia was a nice change.
I took advantage of the warm weather by going climbing outside on Sunday. On Friday afternoon I got a call from a member of La Madriguera inviting Matt and I to climb with him on Sunday. Without hesitation I accepted his offer. After roughly an hour drive we arrived at Cerro del Hierro. Unfortunately I was unable to get pictures of us climbing but it was a great day nonetheless.
This gives a general idea of our climbing destination. The cliffs were more or less jagged pillars sticking out of the ground.
If you’re still reading thank you for sticking with this till the end. I realize it was a long entry and I’ll try not to go so long without posting again to avoid this problem. A spur of the moment trip was booked to Paris for Wednesday so I’ll have news on that trip up sometime next week.
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