Now for the second half of my trip with Paige. On St. Patrick’s Day we took a six hour bus ride from Sevilla to Madrid, arriving around 4:30 in the afternoon. We took the metro to our hostel and it was weird because our room was right next to the reception desk/outside door and the walls were super thin so we could easily hear everything going on outside and vice versa. However, it was really affordable lodging for right in the center of Madrid so we got what we paid for. Since it was St. Patrick’s Day we had to do something a little bit Irish besides wear green, so we met up with Rachel (who previously visited me in Cartagena) and went to an Irish pub for a little bit. It was really packed, and was the second one we found, since the first was even more crowded. We didn’t stay long and decided to find a place to eat supper that was less populated and ended up at a place called The Good Burger, and I have to admit that they do have good burgers there. It wasn’t exactly Irish, but I hadn’t had much in the way of beef in awhile since it’s not all that big in Spain, so it was a pleasant change.
Puerta del Sol, Madrid on St. Patrick's Day
The next day, Paige and I caught a bus to Toledo a city in Castilla-La Mancha, the region in which Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote takes place. It was raining when we arrived which put a bit of a damper on things and we had to catch a second bus up to the city center rather than walk in the rain for twenty minutes. However, once in the heart of the city, the rain began to let off and by the time we had finished a late breakfast the rain had completely stopped. We were able to see the most important things which included a Jewish synagogue, El Greco’s greatest masterpiece, “The Burial of the Count of Orgaz”, and the cathedral. The cathedral was gigantic and really impressive. We gave in and paid the eight euro admission fee and since it came with an audio guide we had quite a thorough visit which made the cost worth it. One of my favorite parts of our visit to Toledo was just wandering through the streets and taking pictures with random but interesting things. Besides things like life-size knights or Don Quixote figures, we came across other unusual things like an opportunity to put ourselves into El Greco’s painting. After arriving back in Madrid, we had a couple hours of daylight left so we walked to Retiro Park and had a blast taking photos and videos. We ended the night with supper at 100 Montaditos because it was Wednesday and everything on the menu is only one euro on Mondays and Wednesday which is pretty hard to beat.
12th century synagogue
View from the city
Just because
It's blurry but it'll have to do (El Greco's painting)
Posing with some fine-looking suitors
The intricate altarpiece of the Cathedral
On Thursday morning we were up bright and early to catch a bus to Ávila, as in St. Teresa of Ávila’s Ávila. We really made the most of the hours in the day because we were able to see the most important things all before lunchtime. We started off with a visit to the walls of the city which we were able to go up on and enjoy a nice view of the city and cathedral. Unfortunately, it started to rain a bit but didn’t downpour at least, so we were able to get some nice pictures. Next we visited the church that was built over St. Teresa’s house and in a side chapel there was a window looking into the room where she was born. We also visited a little gift shop that had a separate room with relics of St. Teresa which included a finger if I remember correctly as well as a sandal and some other things. There was a museum right next to the church that had a ton of writings from the great saint as well as writings from St. John of the Cross and information about the convents St. Teresa founded. We made it back to the bus station with a plenty of time to spare before our bus to Segovia took off, so we went to the grocery store across the street and bought tortilla de patata and bread for an excellent and very cheap lunch. We encountered a problem though when we settled down in the bus station to enjoy our lunch and I realized that the plastic in which the tortilla was sealed was not going to open with just my hands. So I had to go to the cafeteria in the station and ask for a knife. I didn’t feel right asking without buying something, so I bought a chocolate covered flaky pastry and our lunch became complete with a dessert.
Ávila (this is the first thing we saw walking out of the bus station)
Up on the wall
The garden where St. Teresa and her brother played as children
The second half of our sightseeing began once we got off the bus in Segovia. Since it was around 4pm, we weren’t able to do a whole lot, but we saw the most important things. First of all, we went to see the aqueduct. It was extremely impressive and the biggest attraction of the city. Once we’d snapped a sufficiently extreme number of photos, we saw the cathedral in passing and made our way to the castle. It was a really cool looking castle and if it wasn’t about to close we would have probably paid to go in because it looked like it would have been worth the entrance fee. Later I was told by a friend that had been there that it was even more incredible inside, so I guess I’ll just have to go back sometime and see it for myself. However, it was enjoyable just seeing the outside of it and it was the type of palace that brings to mind Disney. I half expected to see Cinderella wave from a window. We left the happily ever after land behind (that sounds more depressing than I’d intended) and arrived back in Madrid around 8pm. We wound up at 100 Montaditos again since it was our last supper together before Paige left early the next morning and it’s just a great place to eat at. Then, despite a chill in the air, we topped off the evening with frozen yogurt.
Segovia's Aqueduct
The overcast sky added a neat effect
The Cathedral
The Palace
4am the next morning found us standing outside where we thought the airport bus was supposed to come. But 4am came and there was no bus. Then a lady walked by and asked if we wanted the airport bus and that it was across the street. Now it would have been obvious to us that the bus was across the street if it was a normal street. But it was actually a huge intersection with multiple rows of bus stops blocking our view of the other side and the next couple minutes saw us racing to the other side to catch the bus. We made it, out of breath, but we made it. Once at the airport it was adios time and then I did the unthinkable. I went to McDonalds for breakfast. Now this isn’t such a problem except for the fact that I’d had a clean record of not eating at a single McDonalds in Spain this whole school year and I’d been planning to keep it that way. However, it was cheap and I was too tired to care just as long as there was coffee in the deal. Fortunately I felt a lot better about myself when I saw that I could get a traditional Spanish breakfast of tostada (toast) with jam and butter along with my beloved coffee, so it wasn’t such a crime. Once the metro opened at 6am I journeyed to the bus station and dozed for a few hours until my 9:30am bus took off for Murcia. In Murcia, my friends Tania and Sandra picked me up from the bus station and I had lunch with them before getting back to my flat to crash in exhaustion after an amazing but somewhat tiring week away.
