Day 3 (bonus): The Pets We Leave Behind

As many of you know, both Carissa and I left some cats behind but I haven't heard anything interesting about what Watson has been up to (feel free to give me an update Jody!). However, Carissa got some interesting texts from her sister about Scabbers, the crazy stray she's adopted.

Apparently Scabbers has been making sacrifices to encourage Carissa to come back home. Needless to say, this has not been something Timeri has enjoyed. And with that I give you the pictures below...

Day 3: Art Overload

Day 3 and we're back for more in Madrid! We started off the day with one of the things I was most looking forward to, the tour of El Estadio de Santiago Bernabeu! If you didn't know this is where Real Madrid and my future husband Cristiano Ronaldo play. Some of my backup husbands play here as well, so the excitement was real!

And the tour didn't disappoint. Well, it did because we weren't able to see the players dressing rooms and tunnel because there was a game that evening, which we also couldn't get three tickets together for. Double the sadness. But it was awesome being inside this masterpiece and walking the same ground as so many wonderful players! And especially worth it to get a picture with Ronaldo, even if it was only via green screen.

Caught by the paparazzi: me and Ronaldo! Then posing with the Champions League trophy

Carissa and I were not amused by some of the questions from the press/Inside the stadium!

Next it was time to find our more cultured side so we took the metro to El Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. This is the museum of more modern art in Spain and it definitely showed. While it had some cool paintings and sculptures, the first one was not a winner. They had a special exhibit called the Invention of Concrete and to sum it up, I'll provide a quote: "Um we could do this. So can I be in the museum?" But maybe I'm just not a good appreciator when it comes to some of the modern art:

Eric works to understand the meaning of the yellow room; Eric's favorite of the modern art; An artistic haystack?

Other snippets of commentary from the Reina Sofia (as you can tell, we weren't huge fans of some of the modern art):

• He's French, he has a beret
• That one looks like gollum from the side
• What's the name of this one, camel toe?
• Children with plants--why is the one naked? They're hobbits. 

Camel Toe; a Picasso; and a Dalí

Then because it was close and also recommended by the guide book, we walked to El Museo del Prado. And you know what? It was FREE because it was after 6pm. I always love free. However, maybe it was the after effects of 7 hours of walking the day before but I had a low tolerance for art today. We went and saw the "masterpieces" but that was about as much excitement as I could muster. Some of the paintings, like Goya's "Saturn" were cool but it was a lot of art overload. Which led us to more comments like "Is that water she's shooting at him?" "... that's not water..."

Then we grabbed dinner at a place called Estado Puro which had some delicious food. I tried octopus for the first time, kind of scary, but tasted like calamari--which I love--so it gets a passing grade.

The octopus risotto! And then "Ali-Oli potatoes" that were delicious!

Hamberguesas and jamon, a winning combination; Salud!

And then we were off back towards the apartment with one goal in mind: gelato. Carissa has made it we goal to have gelato every day that we are here. And what kind of person would I be if I didn't help a sister out? A bad one. So if I must, gelato it is :)

And now for the rest of the pictures from today:

Day 2 (bonus): I'm a clutz

So yeah, I definitely managed to run into the side window of the bus yesterday. Carissa thinks I got a concussion but we all know I'm hard-headed :)

This is the aftermath:

I am so not amused. 

Day 2: Getting Lost in Toledo

For our second day in España, we decided to do one of our day trips out of Madrid and caught the train to Toledo (thanks for the recommendation Pablo!). For those who don't know, Toledo used to be the capital of Castile and is known for having Christian, Jewish, and Muslim influences.

Once we got there we decided on the bus that took us on a loop of the city before going within the city walls. That loop gave us these fantastic views of the city:

Our first and last stop of the day was the Alcazar. We went up about 5 flights of stairs to the Library only to discover that, hey we don't know how many flights of stairs there are AND there may not be an entrance through the library. So back down we went. And around the building. And then we find, it's not even open. What the heck peoples?

So, undeterred, we're off to the next destination which is the Catedral Primada. And this is a huge Cathedral! I'd put it on par or above Notre Dame because the inside of this thing is just ridiculous. I don't know if I've ever seen so much gold in a church before. Seriously, tons of gold. And there's the columns which according to the audio guide are like tree trunks plunging into the sky. The best (or worst?) thing is I initially didn't take pictures but then saw everyone else was so I may have snapped a couple or... a hundred :)

Then we get lost wandering around trying to find the Museo del Greco and Iglesia de Santo Tome. Thankfully I can get by somewhat with my elementary Spanish and we are able to get somewhat decent directions. But I did find myself thinking... why wasn't the grid system invented earlier?

But we finally found La Iglesia de Santo Tome! I had erroneously thought it was the El Greco museum. We looked around inside and then sat down. And Carissa's question was, what's so special about this place? I had to agree because while it was nice, not exactly on par with the Catedral. It's nothing to write home about. Then we read that it's because it houses el Greco's most famous work. Which explains why there were tons of people just outside the door but not in the church. Just came there for the painting. Heathens. The painting was cool though so I snapped a picture.

We then stumbled upon the Sinigago del Transito that we had tried to find but didn't see on the map. So of course, we went in side. Built in 1336-57, it's really old and has seen a lot of things in it's day. From being a synagogue to a military barracks and then back to a synagogue. If I could read Spanish better I could have learned lots more about Judaism. But alas, all I got was this map of Jericho. (JK I got other pictures, too).

Then it was El museo del Greco. Apparently some guy bought this house thinking it used to belong to the painter, but alas, he was wrong. Didn't stop him though (lesson in perseverance) and he created a house to represent how else Greco would have lived. And then added some of his and his followers paintings. Despite the tone in the previous sentences, I actually enjoyed this and thought it was cool. And El Greco was clearly a gifted painter. His depictions o the apostles was wonderful and I especially loved his Tears of Peter. 

Then we went to the exhibitions on Leonardo da Vinci: the inventor and medieval torture devices aka how the people running the Spanish Inquisition used creative torture devices. I literally cringed at many a description for the devices they had on display. Those devices are no joke. I'm glad we don't allow "cruel and unusual punishment" these days.

That was the last of the sights for us and then we just dawdled around the city, getting lost some more and eventually making our way back to the bus so we could take the train home. We ended up being in Toledo for about 10 hours and I'd say about 7 of those we were on our feet so let me tell you, my feet are so glad to be done for the day!

And now for the the pictures from today. Get ready, there are a TON. Enjoy!

Day 1: Plazas y Plazas en Madrid

First, jet lag is definitely not being fun right now. It's a fun-sucker and making us all tired! And I may have just woken up from a 3 hour siesta. I'm a regular Madrileño already!

Second, the Europeans of the Middle Ages? Yeah, I don't think we'd be friends. But more on that later.

So far today (it's only 6pm right now), we have gotten a good bit of walking under our belt and saw La Plaza del Sol, La Plaza Mayor, La Plaza Oriente, and El Palacio Real (Royal Palace). One of the guide books suggested this and it seemed like a good choice for our first day so away we went!

The plazas were all pretty cool and offered some good-looking architecture. La Plaza del Sol lived up to it's name and was, indeed, sunny. La Plaza Mayor was quite large, enough so that I had to do two panoramic photos to capture it all! It also gave us the fattest Spiderman I've ever seen, so there's that. La Plaza Oriente was my favorite as it was situated right in front of the Royal Palace and had a lot of trees and shade (don't ever underestimate shade).

Plaza del Sol

Plaza Mayor

 

Plaza Oriente

After our journey through the plazas, we ended up at the Palacio Real. It kind of reminded me of Versailles except it wasn't pink or at that level of opulence. I only wish I had some pictures of it but noooo, those are not allowed. Spoil-sports.

Also on the grounds was the Royal Armory. This was probably my favorite thing of the day although it led me to the second conclusion mentioned above. Why, you may be wondering? Let's lay out the facts here:

• These Middles Ages men were short. I'm talking 5'5 here. Not just shorter than me. Just plain short.
• Some of these men liked skirts. As in skirted armor. What?
• They had armor for dogs. Who sends their dog into battle with them? Someone alert PETA on these guys.
• They had armor for boys. Like little boys who don't even know what war is. I seriously hope this was just for looks and not function.

Other things of note in the armory: they had guns in the 1500s? Why did I not know this? And these things look more sophisticated than the guns our good ole boys were using in the Revolutionary War in the late 1700s. I clearly need to brush up on my history.

But enough about the armory, after that it was lunch at a Tapas Bar on the 9th floor of a building near us. They were delicious! And came complete with Coke Light, my favorite! And check out that can please.

And then it was naps. And now I'm watching Scandal while the others nap. It's been a good day so far!