Well, there seems to be a trend forming here. Another week, another post. Last week was pretty cool, but nothing crazy really happened. I kind of like it. I believe we last left off on Thursday night, so here goes:
Friday night, Teresa and I went to Primavera Pop, a huge pop concert on the outskirts of the city. We met up with some of her friends there, and waited in line for what seemed like forever. We waited some more. More waiting. Finally, the line started to move and everybody poured into the stadium. It was a decent show, as far as pop music goes. Hearing the same four chords over and over again got kind of boring, though. I had never been to a concert in a packed stadium before, so at least that part was an experience worthwhile. Afterwards, we took the train back into the city and went to iReal. We had a few drinks, and then went home around 04:00. Three hours later, I got up and met my fellow Americans to go to Toledo.
Although it's about an hour's drive from Madrid to Toledo, the trip by bullet train is under 20 minutes. I had never been on a train before, apart from using the Metro, and it was a lot nicer than I expected. It was like being in an airplane, but comfier. Another experience worthwhile. Anyway, we got to Toledo [sister city of Toledo, Ohio and Corpus Christi, Texas] and met up with our tour guide. As much as I loathe tour guides, I make an exception for this guy. Maybe it was just the size of our group [there were only four of us this time], but the tour was actually enjoyable. Our guide knew everyone in the town [he even greeted them all as they passed] and he was just a genuinely nice person. What set him apart from other guides was the fact that he seriously loved Toledo. He's lived most of his life there, and his love for his town was remarkable. We went through some synagogues and walked around the outside of the cathedral. We saw El Greco's most famous painting, El Entierre del Conde de Orgaz, which was really cool. It's a huge painting on a wall in a pretty small church, and the little things in the painting are really neat. Although it was his masterpiece, he didn't think so, as the date on the painting isn't the actual date it was finished. Rather, the date is the year his son was born; his greatest work was becoming a father. I thought this was humble and really neat. We walked through the narrow streets in the rain [which I found really relaxing] and went to La Iglesia de San Juan de los Reyes. It's a huge church [but not a cathedral] commissioned by Fernando and Isabel after Spain's victory over Portugal in 1476. We sat inside as our guide told us more about Toledo, and then we walked around the courtyard. Inside the church, they were preparing for a wedding, so the whole place smelled of fresh air and flowers. In the courtyard, there were orange trees, along with other greenery, and everything seemed so natural, so peaceful. I really liked it, it was super tranquil, and I could have stayed there all day. I hope someday I can retire in a place as serene as this. I suppose my ultimate goal in life would be to find complete peace. Well, I'll save the philosophical post for another time.
Anyway, we then got lunch at a little restaurant, typical Spanish-style: 2 courses and dessert, and three of us killed a bottle of vino. We watched some kids in the street playing soccer, and then got on the train to Madrid. When I got home, I napped for a few hours, then went out for Teresa's birthday. We stayed out really late [we caught the morning Metro train] and mostly walked around the city. It was neat to see everything eventually shut down, then open again, albeit tiring.
Sunday, I slept in, and lounged around the house for a while. Then, my cousins Fran and Alberto took me to the Real Madrid - Valencia game. That was seriously awesome. The sheer amount of people in the stadium was incomprehensible. We got seats in the nosebleeds, but they offered the perfect view. The seating is pretty scary at first, though, 'cause you're pretty much looking straight down to the field. It was way fun, and the best part is, Madrid won 2-0. We got home and I crashed early, tired from the weekend.
Monday was class as usual, and I'm actually starting to like all of my classes. Well, there's still that Written Expression class, but you can't win 'em all. I can't remember anything particularly interesting about Tuesday, either; just another school day. Wednesday was more school, and at night Mwafaq and I went out looking for
Today, we went to Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, one of the most important art museums in Europe. We only toured one floor of the 4 level building, but I plan on returning and seeing the rest. The best part, hands down, was completing another life goal: seeing Pablo Picasso's Guernica. Call me mainstream, but this is my all-time favorite painting. It's so deep and powerful, and the symbolism behind it is even more impressive. The painting is over twenty feet wide, and it was simply incredible; another place I could stay all day. After the museum, I did some homework in the botanic gardens, went to class and then came home. I took a nap, had dinner, then walked around the city with Teresa. Tomorrow, us study-abroaders are going to Salamanca [round two] for the weekend. Saturday is my birthday, so that should be super fun. I'll be sure to take photos and not get my wallet stolen this time. Monday we don't have class, so I plan on going to the park. Maybe I'll think about that whole finding peace thing, who knows? Not me. Anyway, hasta luego.
Brian
Brian
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