Doing it the Tourist Way

I am pleased and saddened to announce that Judit and I have returned to Hungary and are adjusting back to normal life. She had to work this afternoon and I am starting to preparing myself for Orientation which begins on Tuesday.

This past week was an incredible one and it wouldn't have been so without Judit, Amor, Carlos, Rocio, Ines, Emily, Curro and the rest of the families and friends who took such good care of me the past seven days.

We visited a lot of places (Madrid, Toledo and Alcalá) this past week so I won't include all that we saw, but I wanted to share a few of my favorite places and things.

MADRID

 

In a park near the house where we were staying we encountered birds of a peculiar sort. THEY WERE PARROTS! These small green parrots are very commonly found in Madrid....however, they are pesky little fellows and are hated in the same way we hate pigeons. 

This is the King's Palace and Cathedral. The palace is not the residence of the King and Queen, but is used for large state events and banquets. The Cathedral is quite modern since the building and decorating process was finished in 1994. It is 20 years old, just like me!

Here is Madrid's Virgin Almudena. Legends state that after The Virgin Mary manifested on a wall in Madrid this Virgin became the Virgin of Madrid. 

Typically downtown Spanish buildings have a balcony at each window as you can see in this picture. This is not a typical color for Spanish houses, but I liked the contrast between the two. 

Each downtown Madrid street is marked with the name of the street and a small picture that describes the street or its name painted on a collection of nine tiles. Calle Mayor is historically the main street of Madrid; however, Gran Via (captured on the right) has become a more popular street.

 

El Oso y El Madroño (The Bear and the Strawberry Tree) is the main symbol of Madrid. You can find this image all over the city, including the sewer grates and trash cans.

Imaginarium is a toy store. I just thought the separate door for kids was so cute.  

This is a very large theater (Cines Callao) where most movie premiers in Spain take place. The actors of these movies will come to this theater for the premier.

Cava Baja is the most traditional and famous bar street in Madrid. We were there at 6:30 pm on a Friday night, which is the calm before the storm. It gets busy around 8:00 followed by people staying out way past midnight. Historically paintings on tiles, like the ones in the first two photos, were typically put on the outside of shops downtown. The second bar was founded in 1642; I love the wooden paneling and paint color combination, it looks very classy. 

Retiro Park is a popular tourist destination; however, many locals have picnics or run through the park daily. We even saw people doing tai chi.  Many street performers play in this park; however, one thing I learned is that if you engage any street performer or take their picture they will force you to pay. So it is better to enjoy their performance completely internally. 

TOLEDO

On Saturday Judit and I went with the family of Amor and Carlos to see Toledo. 

I was surprised at how narrow the streets were; and yet pedestrians and cars still shared the roads. There were a few close calls!

We visited the Toledo Cathedral; much more beautiful and intricate than the Madrid Cathedral. My favorite parts of this Cathedral were the Bishops' room (left) where an image of every Bishop that ever served in this Cathedral was hand painted on the walls around the room and the choir "loft" (right). Each seat had a different Biblical character and scene hand carved in wood; it was absolutely beautiful. I would give anything to sing with a choir in that loft in that Cathedral.

ALCALÁ DE HENARES

Finally Judit and I visited some of her close friends (Victoriano and Justi) in Alcalá de Henares on Tuesday.

This is the courtyard of the original Universidad de Alcalá. This town is famous for this university and for the white storks and their nests scattered on top of historical buildings and churches throughout the city. Apparently they are counted and studied and therefore protected by law so it is illegal to tamper with or remove their nests in any way. Today there are over 90 pairs of storks living on top buildings throughout this small town. 

This week was full and I learned much about this history of Spain and these individual towns. I hope that I can return to Spain and my new friends soon.

At the end of the trip we were greeted by a security dog walking along the baggage claim belt while sniffing each piece of luggage.  I have never seen anything like this before, but it was a great way to end our trip especially once our luggage passed the dog's inspection!

Love from,

Emily