Sunday in Madrid

I spent most of this Sunday in Madrid. I took the 11:00am train to the city and went to the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, a museum of 20th-century Spanish art named after the current queen, Sofia, wife of the acting monarch, Juan Carlos. The museum is most famous for housing what is possibly Pablo Picasso's most well-known painting, Guernica. He unveiled the painting in 1937 soon after the German bombing of the town of Guernica in the Spanish Civil War. The painting is often interpreted as the chaotic aftermath of the attack with several symbols thrown in.

The museum also held several paintings by Salvador Dalí and Joan Miró.

After the museum I took the metro to the old section of Madrid and visited the Plaza Mayor, the great square where many bullfights and public executions took place in the past. Today it is full of cafes, street performers, people sitting on blankets, and fat Spider-Man. In the center is a statue of King Felipe III.

Outside the Plaza Mayor is one of Madrid's oldest covered markets, Mercado de San Miguel, which was constructed in 1915. It was very busy and included fish, meat, produce, and tapas bars.

I also found this very tranquil street nearby. Notice the slanted buildings on the right. (This reminds me of a word you often hear in Spain, "tranquilo," which means "relax" or "don't worry.")

I also returned to Gran Vía to take some pictures of the Edificio Metrópolis, a landmark building in Madrid which was covered up for renovation the last time I was in the area.

From here I walked to the area near the Plaza de Oriente where the Catedral de la Almudena and the Royal Palace are located. Here is the Cathedral:

America celebrates 12 October as Columbus Day, but in Spain, this is a larger holiday. Christopher Columbus sailed under the Spanish flag, and while he may not have actually been the first European to land in the Americas (and actually never believed he had discovered a new continent), the expedition sparked a new wave of exploration toward the Americas which Spain led. The Spanish domination of exploration increased the wealth, power, and prestige of Spain immensely. As a result, in Spain, Columbus Day is the national holiday, much like our own Independence Day.

I was lucky enough to visit the Royal Palace (or Palacio Real) on the day before this holiday and witnessed a performance of the Spanish military's bands. Several people were in attendance, watching the performance from the courtyard of the palace, which stands across from the Cathedral seen above. Here are the photos:

I was in Madrid for almost a whole day, but there is still much of the city that I haven't seen yet.

Training and Some Free Time

I attended two training sessions for the language assistants yesterday and today. Cody and I had to wake up at six and catch the train (located just a five minute walk from my apartment) at seven. The location of the training was on the western side of Madrid. The sessions covered some pretty common sense topics the first day, but today we talked about more practical classroom management skills and ideas for activities in which we can present our culture and experiences to the kids while maintaining the focus of the curriculum. We also had to fill out a lot of mind-numbing paperwork. From the endless stream of questions about which box to check and what phone number to write, I came to the conclusion that, as a whole, humans are too inquisitive to be left alone safely with a government form and a pen.

I met several people at the training who seem nice. There is a great variety of personalities participating in the program. My school has four assistants including Cody and I. The other two assistants are from England. Since these two days of orientation were for non-European Union assistants I haven't met them yet. I have tomorrow off and then begin work on Thursday, which I have been told will be another orientation to introduce the four of us to the children, staff, and resources at my specific school in Alcalá de Henares.

The meeting today ended at two in the afternoon, so I took the opportunity to head to Gran Vía, a main street in Madrid which is often compared to Times Square in Manhattan. I took several pictures of the surroundings.

The following building is the Palacio de Comunicaciones, the headquarters of the Spanish postal service. It's located near the arch known as the Puerta de Alcalá. I plan to visit both of these places at night sometime as they are lit up with colorful floodlights.

From here, I went down the adjacent Paseo del Prado, a walkway lined with trees near a tomb of the unknown soldier from the Napoleonic Wars, the Palace Hotel, and several high-profile art museums including the Prado. Here I saw a pigeon with a numbered tag on its wing, which I assume means it is either a carrier pigeon or used for racing.

I walked from here to the very large and tranquil Parque del Retiro. There were many people lounging on benches or in the grass among trees, fountains, and statues of former Spanish monarchs. In the center of the park is a pond, on the edge of which lies a colonnade with several fountains and an equestrian statue of King Alfonso XII. The boats which you see on the pond below are rented out. There were many more on the water than are visible in this picture.

More to come soon!