Student Bloggers

Madrid

What a busy week it has been! I feel like I haven't had a second away from all the excitement to relax in forever. Definitely not a bad thing though. I began my time in Spain flying into Madrid from Scotland. I missed the first day’s orientation activities, but of course I still had time for churros con chocolate. I went with a few friends to try them out and WOW, Madrid does it right. The next day followed with an enlightening tour of the Prado museum. This was the first time I’ve ever genuinely been moved by a piece of art and felt like I understood an art museum visit. The guided tour didn’t hurt. The piece that I absolutely died over was “Apollo in the Forge of Vulcan” I would highly recommend a look. It captures Velazquez’s mastery of space, reflects his study of classical sculpture with beautiful human forms (six-pack in Spanish is “tabla de chocolate”), and has some incredibly convincing and realistic facial expressions. This museum, in combination with great food and incredible street performers, made my short two days in Madrid great!

Toledo

When we arrived in Toledo, we met our awesome tour guide Luis, who quickly reminded us that we were not in Ohio and to never say “Tol-ee-do” in his city. We were also met by a thick layer of fog covering the steep cliffs surrounding Toledo. Some of the most beautiful views in Europe (that we got to see later that day, thankfully) were obscured by this terrifyingly opaque obstacle. First, we got to see beautiful handmade jewelry made and amazing swords forged! Did you know that the swords used in The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones were made in Toledo? I certainly didn’t! That’s why I hardcore fangirled when I got to hold a sword that read “Winter is Coming.” Walking around Toledo was wonderful because is was so small and navigable, plus there was a steep incline to give me quite a nice little workout. “Toledanos” refer to their muscular legs as “jamón,” attributing them to the impressive hills that make up the city. My favorite part of Toledo, apart from the amazing views and giant, centuries-old bridges, has to be The Primate Cathedral of Saint Mary of Toledo. I took an almost two hour audio tour of this amazing structure, which took over 600 years to build. Upon entering, one can see why. It was the most beautiful cathedral that I’ve ever had the pleasure of being in. I didn’t take pictures inside because I wanted to remember it strictly as it was without the false, much less impressive reminder that any picture would give. That night, Bethany and I stumbled upon the military fortress known as the Alcázar. It wasn’t anything particularly ornate, though it was huge. The craziest part of seeing this structure wasn’t its size, though. Above one of the entrances, we saw the quote “TODO POR LA PATRIA,” something like “all for the homeland.” This statement blatantly reflects the Francoist, fascist ideals of the Spanish Nacionales who I studied in class at Arcadia. Even more crazy, this was situated right across a narrow street from an office for UGT, or Unión General de Trabajadores, a socialist trade union. This group was part of the Republicanos who fought against the Nacionales during the Spanish Civil wWar. It CAN’T be a coincidence that it was placed there. Over all, our stop in Toledo ended up being way more than I ever though a one day trip could be.