El Tigre
Mercado San Miguel
Mercado San Miguel
The crazies come out to ask for money on the weekends.
"Guernica"- Picasso
Miro in the Reina Sophia
Standard window display..
Friday night my friend Cara and I ventured to a bar called El Tigre, known for its free plate of tapas with every drink ordered. The place was PACKED but we managed to snag a space at the bar so that we could enjoy our free food. The plates were filled with patatas bravas (similar to homefries with awesome sauce on top), pieces of bread with cheese and ham, croquettes and tortillas. We could barely make it through our first plate! The bar was filled with people, many of which spoke English! Its so funny because now whenever I hear someone speaking English I stop, turn around and stare. The bartenders at El Tigre were awesome and we will definitely be returning.
Saturday morning/afternoon started with a trip to Mercado San Miguel- a gourmet style market place in the heart of Madrid. This market has counters and booths set up for all types of food from fish and cheese to an entire section dedicated to sweets. The counters offer everything from pre-packaged things you can take home with you to hors d'oeuvres style bites that cost about a euro. The market was FULL of people sipping on wine and sampling from the huge plates of food they had bought, while we tried to walk around and take it all in. Once again, a place to return to.
After the market, we walked to the Reina Sophia, the modern art museum. The museum was huge and full of pieces that I have learned about in art history classes throughout the years. It was so amazing to be able to actually see the works of art that I had seen in textbooks. Although the museum was too big to conquer in one day, we did manage to see works from Picasso, Dali, and Miro. The most amazing piece was "Guernica" by Picasso. The piece had its own room- mostly because of its fame but also because it took up almost an entire wall. It was really incredible. There was also a photo exhibit that I really liked with photos of Spanish refugees. The photos showed images from children playing in ruins and carrying rifles to dead bodies in a field- it was intense and eye opening. My friends and I are planning to go back soon so that we can finish going through the museum.
My roommate and I were invited to a spanish Single's Party on Saturday night by our teacher (the class has only 3 students so we've gotten relatively close with her). It was in an apartment in Chueca and we had NO idea what to expect. After wandering around the neighborhood, we finally got to the party and found our teacher. She gave us name tags that had our name and whether we were looking for a chico (boy) or chica (girl). She then introduced us to a few people and we spent the next 2 hours mingling and talking in both Spanish and English with the people at the party. Even though I didn't find my future Spanish husband, we met so many interesting people and were totally out of our comfort zone. I was so proud that we ventured to the party because we didn't know anyone aside from our teacher but we left having had great conversations, despite the language barrier. It was definitely an experience and I am so glad that we went. When will I ever be invited to a singles party by my teacher AGAIN!?
Today (Sunday) I am going to see a bullfight! Its a requirement for my Hemingway in Spain class, but I think its something you have to see in Spain. I'm nervous because Im not sure how I will react to the bulls being killed but hopefully I'll make it through...
No comments:
Post a Comment