Saturday, October 13, 2007

Another Perfect Day

The birds are chirping, the bees are buzzing, and the weather couldn’t be any better (seriously, does it get better than 70 degrees, sunny, and no humidity?). This week’s been another one that’s flown by, despite the absence of any big trips this weekend or last.

At the beginning of the week we celebrated Marie’s birthday, although we mixed it up a little by going to a Japanese restaurant. Since there were so many of us (or maybe because they foresaw how loud twenty American college students could be…), they put us in a private room. I must admit it was a little strange ordering Japanese food while speaking Spanish, although in the end all the food turned out to be delicious (albeit not quite enough to fill me up!). Afterwards, we were strolling the streets of Sol (an awesome, centrally-located neighborhood of Madrid) and, being a Tuesday night, we got free admission to the club Palacio. It was a different experience because it was actually a palace built in 1850 that was renovated in 1991 to become a club! Dancing where Queen Isabella II once walked was an odd, but nevertheless exhilarating experience.

The action continued on into Friday, which was “Hispanic Day,” which commemorates the day when Christopher Columbus first set foot in the Americas (so I guess it could be called “Columbus Day”?). Although I missed the parade led by King Juan Carlos and President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero (whew, that’s a mouthful!), I did make it out to the Parade of the Americas to see the South American countries represent.

Bolivia's Contingent


There was a ton of music, leading to random breakouts of dancing in the streets, as I’ve dutifully posted below.


Parade of the Americas

Not wanting to stay put for too long, today we went to El Escorial, which is only about 45 km away from Madrid and famous for its massive monastery. Well, it’s called a monastery, but it seemed to me to be more of a museum/monastery/tomb/palace. It was built by King Phillip II to commemorate his battle in Picardy against Henry II of France, as a burial chamber for the royal family and his descendants, and also as a center for studies to battle the Reformationists. The “Hall of Battles” was probably the coolest room, depicting important Spanish victories through a massive, massive painting. The panorama overlooked by El Escorial was breathtaking as well, with actual greenery (imagine that…in Spain!) and mountains framing the sky.

View from El Escorial

Well, that was my week (not quite as exciting as Italy, but not bad by any means!). Let’s hope the fun continues so I can keep the stories coming!

Favorite picture of the week:

Sunset from the Retiro steps

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