I have two addendums to my prior entry before anything else.
First, we did, get our bags actually last Monday, which I failed to mention. The arrival of the backpacks was cause for great rejoicing on all sides.
Second, I spelled Moors wrong in my last entry. Even though I had read about the Moors about a million times since coming to Spain, I just didn´t think about it. Please excuse this egregious error.
So, now we´ve been in Spain for a week- it´s hard to believe it´s only been a week, because so much has happened. We´ve had our ups and downs, but it´s been mondo fun.
Yesterday was our first day in Madrid. We took an early morning train to Madrid, and were off an exploring by noon. Our pension is right in the museum district, so we are less than five minutes from the Prado, the Thyssen, and the Reina Sofia (as well as the huge Retiro Park, which is gorgeous!). We visited the Thyssen, where they had a special exhibit on the paintings that Van Gogh did in his last couple of months before he killed himself. The paintings were beautiful, and it was interesting to have a window in to what he was thinking in those last few weeks.
After the museum we went on a walking tour of Madrid, visiting the Puerta del Sol, the Plaza Mayor, and finally the Palacio Real. Madrid is brimming with history, so there were monuments and statues everywhere. We even caught a peek of the ceremonies surrounding the moving of the city hall to new buildings, which was interesting. We toured the Royal Palace, which was beautifully decorated and had interesting collections of silver and clocks and such things that royals deem necessary to collect. We´re learning more and more about the history of Spain and the royal family, which is eye-opening and intriguing.
Today we took a day trip to El Escorial, which is an austere palace/monastery about 45 minutes from the city. We saw a wedding taking place in the basilica, which was possibly the most interesting part. We then went to the Valley of the Fallen, which is a huge (300 m long) underground basilica that honors all of those who died in Spain´s civil war. My time is out here at the cafe, so more later...
