Toledo

Yea these are a little late, but I will eventually catch up.

Well, the next excursion was to Toledo, one of the oldest cities in Spain. I didn´t really know what to expect and honestly, I didn´t have time to think because the night before, we went tapa hopping. Of course, that is not what it is called but I had to come up with a name for one of Spain´s national pasttimes for my own use. What we did is we travelled around to a few different bars eating tapas and finally ending up at a famous chocolatería. Now, I am always going to remember this night because it is the first and last night that I will ever drink alcohol. I ordered a sangria because I am a huge fan of the nonalcholic version and I just wanted to taste the original. Of course, I thought it was pretty nasty and immediately after, I regretted ordering it. However, every single place had a brand new delicious tapa to offer which made up for my mistake. We eventually ended up in a chocolatería which needless to say, was awesome. This little venture really gave me an idea of what Spanish life is like.

The next day, we went to Toledo. I hadn´t done any research on Toledo, so I wasn´t prepared for what I was going to see. As we rounded a road to Toledo, we came to the most breathtaking view I had ever seen. From this view alone, you could nearly see the diverse history and spirit of Spain Luckily, they stopped so we could take pictures. Before I started shooting away, I just took in and admired the view, mesmerized. It was truly something that was one of a kind. After this appetizer, I could not wait to get down there to explore the city.

We eventually made it to the city and we were treated to a nice tour of the more important places in the city. One of the first things I noticed was that there were swords EVERYWHERE. I later came to find out that Toledo was and is renowned for it´s steel making, namely swords. I even heard from a fellow student that there was an actually swordsmith somewhere in the city who would personally forge a sword for you. Unfortunately, I didn´t not get to see him. However, everything else I saw made me forget about this circumstance. We got to see one of El Greco´s most famous paintings, which gave me my first taste of the beautiful art I would come to see all over Spain. The specific piece I mention is El entierro del Conde del Orgaz. The painting, of course, was amazing, but it also seemed to have a life of it´s own. You could almost see all the activity going on in the painting which made the experience all the more surreal.

Unbelievably, this wouldn´t be the most impressive part of the trip. This would be claimed by the Cathedral of Toledo. This cathedral was just amazing. The most impressive part of it for me was the garden in the middle. This garden, to me, embodied purity and innocence. With birds flying everywhere within and orange trees growing it is something I hope, will never be ruined by human hands.

Like all things, the tour had to come to an end. I was not in the least bit disappointed and it left me wanting to immediately go on the next trip. Each trip brings something new a beautiful to the table and the only bad part is waiting until the day of the trip. Segovia and Escorial are next on my list.

Toledo

This past weekend we went to visit a couple different cities. My favorite was Toledo, it was absolutely beautiful. It was a very old and historic. We were driving up the hill and then we looked out the window to the left and we could see the entire old city. It looked like a scene from a movie. When we got there we drove around a little bit to get a basic idea of what the city was like. Then we got off the bus for a walking tour. We went all throughout the old city with the cobblestone road, which took a tole on our feet after a while. We saw the oldest synagogue which was interesting because it was built by Muslims for the Jews. Then it was later turned into a church and now it's just a museum. My favorite part of the city was just walking around and looking at the scenery because it was so beautiful.

Spain Post #2

Last weekend was very interesting. We went on tours of three cities outside of Madrid, Toledo, Segovia, and Escorial. On Saturday we went to Toledo. We began by going up this narrow little road to the side of a mountain in this huge tour bus. I was scarred to death, but when we stopped the view was amazing of the city. When we got into the town, we took a walking tour of everything there. We look at the churches all over the town. The way they were all painted was amazing. We also visited a grave site/ location of El Greco's famous "The Burial of the Count of Orgaz." They said that the painting is in its original form since El Greco painted it from 1586-1588.

On Sunday, we went to two cities beginning with El Escorial. This is where we visited the basilic church of King Philip II. It was huge and there were so many stories about it since it had been there since 1584. Now it is used as a church with monks and a boys boarding school. On our tour we went down below the church where there a grave monuments everywhere. Almost all of the Kings of Spain and their families were buried there.
The second city we visited that day was Segovia. This city wasn't really as exciting as the other two but probably because we couldn't understand our tour guide's spanish accent. The only exciting thing there was the Castle of Segovia. It was built in the 15th and 16th centuries.

I wrote this a few days ago actually and I had saved it because I wanted to make a few changes. The date of creation of this article would be July 5, 2007.


Well, it started innocently enough. I was excited about flying to Spain. I had not been on a plane since about 8 or 9 years ago. My excitement soon turned to extreme boredom, waiting for the plane to take off and after the plane took off my boredom turned to complete misery. The seats were uncomfortable, there was no space AND I was stuck in the middle giving me the least amout of room. I had forgotten my mp3 player and all of my books in my bag. I got absolutely no sleep and I was very dehydrated. To say the least, the flight was quite hellish. However, I quickly got over all of my self-pity as soon as we landed in Madrid.

We got off the plane and I was able to fully take in my surroundings. The airport was nothing too different from what you see in the states, but something that I found absolutely enthralling was that everything was in Spanish. Of course, I knew that this was going to be the case before I got there, but when I actually saw it, the full impact finally hit me: I was in Spain.
As we drove to Colegio Mayor Mara, my first impressions were that it was not much different than most big cities. There were cars and people everywhere, grafitti on the walls, the works. One funny I noticed is that many of the cars were quite small. I later came to find out that these small cars were absolutely necessary and also that one must be superhuman to drive and survive in the crowded streets of Spain.

Our first tour was to Madrid. We drove to many different places such as Plaza Mayor, El Palacio Real and Plaza de Oriente. From these visits, you could truly feel the Spanish flavor. Everything was beautifully constructed, exquisite and grand. However, Palacio Real was the most amazing for me. It is a giant palace reserved for the King of Spain (although he doesn´t actually reside there). The building itself was enormous. I couldn´t help but marvel at its size and take lots of pictures. At that point, I was the definition of tourist.

Afterwards, they gave us the choice of exploring Madrid on our own and so I went along with a group who invited me. We started in Plaza de España, where there are statues of Cervantes with his greatest creations Don Quixote de la Mancha y Pancho. Madrid is another big city, like Atlanta, but which much more flair and life. There´s food, shops, bars and people everywhere and it´s extremely lively at all times with no slowdown ever. This was also the first time I got to eat a few different tapas, and I have to say, they were absolutely delicious.
So far, my experiences have been great. I am loving Spain and wanting to do more every day. Soon I go to Toledo, one of the oldest cities in Spain. I can´t wait.

SPSU 2007 Madrileños

SPSU 2007 Madrileños--Back row: David Hampe, Aleksey Ávila Vila; seated: Eleanor Rochelle, Hagen Saunders (Brenau College, we adopted her!), Casey Adcock, and Marguerite Cheatham.

So far our trip to Madrid has been awesome. There is so much to do and see here. At first it was hard to get used to the time change. I think all of us are still trying to fully adapt to it, since it is 6 hours ahead of Atlanta time. Everyday we have been going to classes in the morning and then taking the afternoons off to go and see the city. Fortunately there have been many tours organized by FORSPRO that have taken us to the best places in the city. The biggest change for me though is all of the walking we have been doing. I swear we walking almost 5 miles a day. We also have been using the Metro here, a subway system that takes us all over the city. I like most of the people here in Spain. The culture is different because these people do not really have their personal space "bubbles" like we do in the U.S. The also have graffiti everywhere here. Like its all over buildings, signs, historical monuments, its everywhere!
I had the most fun the other night when we went out for tapas and wine at 5 different places. Tapas are like little appetizers. Another fun night for us was when we went to El Parque del Retiro. We went rowing on a little boat for awhile, it was funny to see four girls rowing. Here is a picture of us at the lake.

First Impressions

My first impressions of Spain thus far, have all been very good. I love city life, can't ever get enough of it. I don't think I was fully aware of how much i missed living in a big city until coming out here. The people of Madrid are wonderful and incredibly friendly, making the experience all the more enjoyable. It's hot here, but not as hot as I thought it would be, I really like the weather. I did not know what to expect when it came to the food and have decided that I am not a fan of the food that we are given to eat here at Collegio Mara, however when we go out into the city and are eating real authentic Spanish food, I really enjoy it. It's very exciting being here in the city because there is so much to do! It's impossible to get bored! The only problem that I might be having is not getting enough rest do to the fact that I never want to stop! I just want to do and see everything here that Spain has to offer!
Marguerite