So much to see!

Hola! So, today is officially my 10th day in Madrid! Some things are already beginning to feel quite routine, such as my walk to school and frequent rides on the metro. I realized that I have mentioned the center of the city and whatnot, but not where it is in relation to my apartment. The following link will take you to a map, but you will have to copy and paste it into your web browser. You can see roughly the distance (walking) from my apartment to el Puerta del Sol (just "Sol" on the map).

http://maps.google.es/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Av+del+Doctor+Federico+Rubio+y+Gal%C3%AD,+16,+28039+Madrid,+Comunidad+de+Madrid&daddr=Puerta+del+Sol,+Madrid&hl=es&geocode=FYw0aQId8WfH_ykjDzTpUyhCDTHVw9v2fXLl_g%3B&aq=0&oq=puerta+del+sol&vps=1&sll=40.443061,-3.700976&sspn=0.026325,0.055747&vpsrc=6&gl=es&dirflg=w&mra=ls&ie=UTF8  

I know it's a very long link, but now you can visualize my trip! When I go to Sol, I take the metro south about 7 stops. The whole trip, from my front door to street level in Sol takes about twenty minutes, depending on the timing of the trains. On the same map, you can see a park in the upper left hand corner called "Parque Dehesa de la Villa", and that is where my school is, although it is not labeled on this map (not to be mistaken with the huge Universidad Complutense on the left hand side of the map). 


Now to backtrack a little. In my last post I mentioned my visit to the Teatro Real in the center of the city (Sol). The tour was fantastic, and we had a very knowledgeable guide. The inside of the theater is very ornate, with tapestries and portraits of historical Spaniards in many of the practice rooms. The restaurant was very glamorous, and our guide informed us that the most important part was the deep red ceiling, because red was the color of passion, and opera is all about passion and emotion. We're going to start getting to the point where I cannot post ALL of my pictures from every event, but here are some of the highlights. 

El Teatro Real, which is the same as the Opera I put up pictures of earlier. This is simply the front of the building.

Our tour guide explaining the layout of the theater.

The only original light fixture left in the Teatro. Our guide said we should use it as a model of changing yet enduring with the times.

Portrait of Queen Sophia, the current Queen of Spain. Juan Carlos is the current King.

La Sala, or the main theater. There were musicians practicing during our tour!

Another view of La Sala

Directly across from the Teatro Real is the Palacio Real, which I will be touring tomorrow! Here are some sneak preview pics of the outside...

Courtyard of the Palacio Real. The Teatro was directly behind me while I took this picture.

Nikki and I in front of the Palacio Real.

Nikki and I again.

I'm sure I will have lots more to post regarding the Palacio after the tour tomorrow. 


This past weekend was our first full one in Madrid! In addition to plenty of relaxing and spending time with our host families, we went to the largest club in Madrid, called Kapital. It was unbelievably fun, we spent the whole night dancing, and it was unlike anywhere I've ever been in the U.S. Here these elaborate clubs are fairly common, and they are called "discotecas". This particular discoteca had 7 floors, each with differing kinds of music, strobe lights, and atmosphere. We went in smaller groups (I went with Nikki, Neha, and Sinead), but in all there were around 30 people there from our program, so we all had a blast dancing together. 


This week will hold more exploring of the city, the Palacio tour, midterm exams on Thursday, and a day trip to Toledo (no, not in Ohio) on Saturday with all of the ISA students. In even more exciting news, Nikki, Neha, Sinead, and I booked a trip to Paris for next weekend! Many people in our program are beginning to travel, whether it be to Paris, Amsterdam, Prague, Berlin, London, Rome, or myriad other European cities. We are trying to get all of our plans nailed down now that we have formed small groups of friends. While I'm here I will have excursions that are included in my program, like the trip to Toledo, but I will also do some traveling on my own! I would like to go to all of the places I listed, but I fear I do not have the time or the means! I will keep you all updated on trips as they come up. 


I think that's all for now, I hope everyone is enjoying Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which of course is not being celebrated over here. But we have some holidays in May for Labor Day and the Patron Saint of Madrid, so I guess it will all even out. If there are any questions you guys want me to answer or topics I am neglecting please send me an email or comment on one of the posts! Hasta luego!