Un Buen Fin de Semana

This past weekend was one of the last full weekends I was able to spend just in Madrid. On Friday night we all went to this area of Alcala known as La Garena, where there were all these different discotecas, or clubs. I was able to dance the night away and towards the end of the night we even did karaoke. The next day I just hung around Alcala. My friend Kelly and I went into town and I finally had the chance to go inside Cervantes House. The house was a lot bigger then I thought it would be. Most of the rooms were set up to represent how Cervantes lives. There was one room that contained various editions of Don Quixote in different languages. After walking around the house for a little we walked to a castle that is on the outskirt of town. This castle is where Marco Polo interviewed with King Fernando and Queen Isabella to receive the job of discovering the new world. I then went back to the dorms and a group of us watched the movie Blue Crush because we were tired and then headed to bed.

On Sunday I woke up early and headed into Madrid for the day. The group I was with wanted to go see Guernica so we went to the Reina Sofia in the morning and entrance was free. We walked around the museum for a while and I got to see a couple more rooms that I did not see with my mom when I went last week. After the museum someone in the group has discovered that a bagel place had opened up in Madrid so we decided to go check it out. The bagels were okay, nothing compared to the bagels in the US but they were not that bad. It was funny because it took a while for us to get our food but meanwhile back in the States bagels are considered to be a fast meal to get for breakfast.

Retiro Park

After enjoying my bagel we walked to Retiro Park, which is known as the Central Park of Spain. This was the first time I had the opportunity to go to the park and it was beautiful. It was such a nice day out so I just walked around the park for a while and looked at the various vendors in the park. Then we all took rowboats out on the lake for an hour, which was a lot of fun. Then I walked to the Crystal Palace; which is this huge building made completely of glass in the middle of the park. Usually the building is home to various artworks but it was undergoing renovation so it was closed but I still got to see it from the outside. Next I walked to the statue of the Fallen Angel, which is the only statue dedicated to Lucifer. It was this huge statue in the middle of a fountain and serpents surrounded Lucifer. After that I went back to the dorms and sat outside for a little of enjoy the beautiful day. I hope that the weather continues to be this nice and that the days of rain are finally over.

Statue of the Fallen Angel

Also, today I graduated from Alcalingua, which is the language institute I have been taking my Spanish classes at. So from now on I will only have class twice a week so I will have plenty of time to travel. Speaking of traveling I just recently booked a trip to London and Mallorca, which is an island of the coast of Spain. For the last day of classes we had a fiesta in one of my classes and the other we all went out to coffee with my professor, which was weird because I would never do something like that in the US. This weekend I am going to Seville and Cordoba, which is going to be the first trip we have taken as a group and I am really excited about that. Also, it is finally sunny and warm in Spain, which is amazing. I am so pumped for the nice weather. Well hope all is well in the States.