Haven't posted in a couple days. We've been seeing the sites and trying to survive the heat. Saturday we went to the Reina Sophia, a museum that features mostly modern art by Spanish artists. There was a lot of work by Dali and Picasso including Guernica, one of Picassos's most famous murals which depicts his views on war. I had seen the painting before in art history but in person the scale made it seem so different and much more powerful. In the same room as the painting was a series of photographs taken at different stages of the paintings production and the gallery next to it was full of composition studies and other process work that Picasso did while preparing for the final piece. Since we focus so much on process work at school it was nice to see the steps it took to make such a massive painting. Unfortunately I forgot my camera so I have nothing to show for this museum outing.
We tried to get traditional Spanish food for dinner by heading into a small local restaurant but we accidentally ordered fench fries so that didn't work out that well. Should have paid more atetention during the Food unit in Spanish class. We took it easy Saturday night and just took a walk around the city, getting ourselves lost in the process and only finding our way back after asking an unhelpful cop and a very helpful waiter for help.
Sunday we went to the Prado which has older, more traditional wk than the Reina Sophia. It was a beautiful building with tons to look at although after a while the paintings and sculptures began to seem a little redundant. We did stumble on Las Meninas by Velazquez which we didn't even kniw was there. It's weird wandering into a random gallery and stumbling into such a wll known painting.
Today we were planning on taking a day trip to Toledo , the origianl capital of Spain but we overslept and decided to go tomorrow instead. We ended up at the palace which was cool. Very ornate with carved ceilings and brocade covering pretty much every surface. It was so hot today that on the way there and back we had to keep stopping to dunk our feet in fountains or get water. I'm definitely buying one of those cheesy fans from the next street vendors who offers.
Tonight is another night in for us both. We have become engrossed in the Hunger Games series. I started reading them Saturday afternoon and am already on number three. But don't worry, I'm not so obsessed that I've stopped leaving the hostel to see the city! I'm still enjoying exploring Madrid and practicing my Spanish. It's not great but I can communicate pretty well. It's possible that that's mostly due to my frantic arm gesturing than my actual grasp of the language but I like to think I'm getting better. I have had ample opportunity too practice the phrase "No, gracias." I have been deploying it constantly since we got here and began to be approached constantly by club promoters and guys selling beer on the streets out of plastic bags. Because plastic bag beer isn't sketchy at all!
Since I forgot my camera at the Reina Sophia and the Prado and the palace don't allow cameras I have very little photographic evidence of my presence in Spain for the last few days. Promise to take it to Toledo tomorrow!
Besos!
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