Friday, November 04, 2005

Welcome to Madrid!

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Puerta del Sol

This area is the "Time Square" area of Madrid so-to-speak. The bell at the top is used for the countdown of the New Year.

Spanish New Year's Eve tradition:
You need: Twelve grapes & twelve tolls (or dongs) of the bell.
For each time the bell rings, you eat a grape.
How fun is that?!

Trivia: In front of this building on the pavement is the 'kilometer 0' plaque, marking the center of the Spanish road network. It is the starting point from where all the highway distances are measured. Posted by Picasa

Lampost at a church

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Royal Palace

Here is Antonio, smiling for the camera.
:) Posted by Picasa

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz - 17th century Mexican feminist


I was very excited to run into this statue while taking a stroll after visiting the Royal Palace.

From her writings, an excerpt from Reply to Sor Philothea:

Oh, how much harm would be avoided in our country if older women were as learned as Laeta and knew how to teach in the way Saint Paul and my Father Saint Jerome direct! Instead of which, if fathers wish to educate their daughters beyond what is customary, for want of trained older women and on account of the extreme negligence which has become women's sad lit, since well-educated older women are unavailable, they are obliged to bring in men teachers to give instruction in reading, writing, and arithmetic, playing musical instruments, and other skills. No little harm is done by this, as we witness every day in the pitiful examples of ill-assorted unions; from the ease of contact and the close company kept over a period of time, there easily comes about something not thought possible. As a result of this, many fathers prefer leaving their daughters in a barbaric, uncivilized state to exposing them to an evident danger such as familiarity with men breeds. All of which would be eliminated if there were older women of learning, as Saint Paul desires, and instruction were passed down from one group to another, as in the case with needlework and other traditional activities. Posted by Picasa

Egyptian Temple in Spain

This temple was donated to Spain by the Republic of Egypt in 1968. If it hadn't been moved, it would have been flooded by a dam that was built at that time.

History: The temple was built approximately 2200 years ago to honor the gods Amon and Isis. Constructed in the Nubian town of Debod it was later enlarged and redecorated by the Ptolemanic pharaohs and the Roman emperors.

www.travelinginspain.com Posted by Picasa

The Royal Palace



1. It's the largest palace in Europe, I read.
2. The royal family no longer lives here. (They live at another palace oustide Madrid).
3. The building on the right is a church where Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia were married about a year ago. On October 31st, they had their first child...Princess Leonor. If changes to the constitution are made, she will one day be queen of Spain. Posted by Picasa

Cervantes at Plaza de España

This is Cervantes, the writer of Don Quixote de la Mancha! Below this statue of Cervantes is another statue of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Cervantes is here portrayed showing us a little leg apparently... oooh la la!

Plaza de España - Olive Tree

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A visit to Starbucks

Starbucks is everywhere in Madrid! This beautiful building across the street from Plaza de España has a two story Starbucks on the left side.

They have very clean bathrooms. Posted by Picasa

Street Performer "Caught in the Wind"

Isn't he hilarious? We sure did think so. He was a lot of fun to watch, too. Posted by Picasa

The symbol of Madrid


"Bear and the (El Madroño) Tree" ("El Oso y El Madroño")

This is a famous, famous statue. Madrid's name came from this tree...and the tree symbolizes something... but I've forgotten what... :( Posted by Picasa

Plaza Mayor

This was taken at Plaza Mayor in Madrid where we had a traditional Madrid style meal. So, there we are, about to order. I of course go first. It was a slightly chilly night. I knew that ordering a water or soft drink would just make me cold, so I ordered DELICIOUS HOT CHOCOLATE instead to go along with my calamari sandwich. Antonio thought that was an interesting combination. He later asked our waiter if he'd seen such a strange request before. Our cute waiter replied with, "Yes, and even worse combinations!". :)

A girl wants what she wants, eh? ;) Posted by Picasa

Simply a lampost...

Madrid has the coolest lamposts I've ever seen. This one reminds me of Harry Potter for some reason.

Antonio is patient. He never once complained when I stopped to take silly shots. :)

Prado

While in Madrid, we visited the Prado museum and spent the greater part of a day there. My favorite was probably Las Meninas by Diego Velazquez.

Here is a review of that painting from wikepedia.org: One of the infantas, Margarita, the eldest daughter of the new Queen, is the subject of Las Meninas (1656), Velázquez's magnum opus. Created four years before his death, it is a staple of the European baroque period of art. An apotheosis of the work has been effected since its creation; Luca Giordano, a contemporary Italian painter, referred to it as the "theology of painting," and the seventeenth century Englishman Thomas Lawrence cited it as the "philosophy of art," so decidedly capable of producing its desired effect. That effect has been variously interpreted; Brown points out the noteworthy interpretation that, in inserting within the work a diminutive, faded portrait of the king and queen hanging on the back wall, Velázquez has ingeniously prognosticated the fall of the Spanish empire that was to gain momentum following his death.

Personally, I love that he's in the painting. It's full of life, there is so much going on, and the way he chooses to let you know what is important in the painting is totally awesome! Oh, one more thing... Velazquez was born in Sevilla! Posted by Picasa

Thursday, November 03, 2005

"The Spy's Store"

We most definitely took this picture with Kelly in mind!

According to me & Kel, Antonio is really a secret agent. It was confirmed on this trip... why else would we *happen* upon this store? You tell me... coincidence? I think not... I think not. Posted by Picasa

Alasdair made us get up and dance...

The last night we spent in Madrid, Antonio took me to a concert at club called Galileo Galilei to listen to the music of Alasdair Fraser, a Scottish Fiddler. We had dinner before the concert. When there, however, we decided to have a drink. He had some juice and I had a diet coke. The cost was about 8 euros! At least we got some nice crackers and peanuts with the drinks, too. :)

Anyway, the concert was GREAT. We really enjoyed the music. He was accompanied by a chelloist -- lovely, simply lovely.

He also played a few songs with the Basque nationalist who opened for him. It was cool to listen to him, too.

Bird in flight at the park

El Retiro is a park originally built as the gardens for the Palacio del Buen Retiro of Philip IV, in the 15th century but has been open to the public since the end of the 1800's. This was a fun little walk on this rainy day in Madrid. We walked and walked so much in Madrid, but we had a great time! Three days out of the four we were there, we even ran into missionaries! But never a companionship and twice it was the same elder, but on different days. The stories can be shared at a later time if intrigued. :) Posted by Picasa

A cool little church

I went on a walk to Mercadona (a local supermarket in the neighborhood and bought some fun treats! I don't recall the name of this street, but the street running past it is Guadalajara which has a lot of fun little shops. I witnessed a fight on this street a few days before. Some punk kids yelling at a man saying "C'mon HIT ME!!!" I also learned that in Sevilla construction styles haven't really changed. By that I mean, you won't typically find sheetrock... they use brick or something of the like. Good quality materials that last. I really like that. Posted by Picasa

Sevilla on Halloween night


Here you can see the famous GIRALDA and TORRE DEL ORO... and the Guadalquivir river.

NO8DO CHURROS!


From wikipedia: The motto of Seville is "NO8DO". The "8" is shaped like a wool hank, in Spanish madeja. This makes the motto, as a rebus read "NO madeja DO" which is a pun on "no me ha dejado" = "it did not abandon me". This refers to the city's support for king Alphonse X in the war with his son Don Sancho in the 13th century. This motto is seen throughout Seville.

However, I think I'm funny... and what cracked me up about this picture is that "no me ha dejado" can also mean, 'you haven't left me'.... so in this case, 'you haven't left me churros'. For the most part, I think Antonio laughed at me, not with me. He does that sometimes... ;) It's all good though... it's all good.

Castilla-La Mancha country


We drove from Sevilla to Madrid - through the land of Don Quixote. Here's a windmill to prove it, too. :) We stopped here (well, next door) for a snack and beverage. Nothing like coca cola light...made with real sugar, not corn syrup.