To Be Or Not To Be... A Tourist

With the exception of a Monday night that was better suited to be a Saturday night, and a rough Tuesday morning to follow, Madrid has treated me well! This week has been an excellent balance of feeling like a tourist and a budding madrileña. 

Ah, tourism. A delight because I never feel awkward snapping photos of the big sights, but a bummer because I want to be able to feel at home here. But I guess there's nothing wrong with feeling amazed by beautiful paintings and architecture when it's in your own city! (Obviously those who have ever been to the Varsity in Atlanta know what I'm talking about.)  

We went to the Prado on Tuesday and, unfortunately, we all had eyes more glazed than a baker's dozen of Krispy Kremes. Our tour guide spoke really quickly (in Spanish) and while we only looked at about 15 paintings, we stood at each one for what felt like a week. But we did get to see a lot of Goya's work, including El Dos de Mayo and El Tres de Mayo, both of which I was scared to take a picture of. I attempted to take some photos in the Prado, but by the time we went to the Thyssen Museum on Thursday, I was so sick of being yelled at by guards that I just decided to enjoy the art. The Thyssen and I got along much better because I could actually understand our tour guide. (Hola... clase...Me... llamo... Laura...¿Me...entiendes?) 

El Palacio de Comunicaciones

El Prado Museo from the side

Entrance to the Royal Botanical Gardens next to the Prado.
(We're planning on checking it out when it cools off a bit.)

In another big time tourist move (without any prompting from our school, mind you), our group decided to ride the Teleferico this week, an aerial cable car ride that takes you away from Madrid so you can see the whole city. There's not as much of a skyline as I thought there would be, but there was a gorgeous view of the royal palace and cathedral so it was well worth the trip. Not to mention the stylish free hats Tyler and I received with the beer we purchased at the halfway point.

These cable cars have been in use since 1969.
The words "Well, it's been a good life" went through my head when I learned this fact. 

The view from the top

El Palacio Real y El Catedral 

View from the halfway point

Find me an Atlanta girl and a Houston boy that can resist a free cowboy hat when they purchase beer and I'll... well, I don't know, but I don't think you could find them.

So while we've been Touristy McTouristers this week, we've also had some moments to integrate fully into Madrid culture! Mary Jordan and I went to El Parque de Buen Retiro last week to write some postcards and sip some sangria, and after the Prado on Tuesday, the whole gang joined us! The park is 350 acres and has a plethora of attractions, including the lake I posted pictures of in my second post. This week we found the Palacio Cristal! I'm not sure what the function this crystal palace has in a park, but apparently there is also an art gallery and a fake mountain which we have yet to see, so you never know what you'll stumble upon.

We watched some sweet little boys feed the ducks in this lake! 

El Palacio Cristal

In addition to frequenting Parque de Retiro, we also went to el mercado. It's not a "market" that we normally think of, like a farmer's market, but more like a bunch of different deli stations at a normal grocery store, but more specified and varied. For protein, there's fish counters, chicken counters, meat counters and, of course, ham counters. Notably, the Spanish eat ALL of pigs, and we had the delight of seeing pig kidneys, pig brains, pig ears and a grand finale of a gutted suckling piglet that was about the size of my dog Chester. It was freakish. I decided not to take a picture. However, we also saw fruit counters, cheese counters, drink counters and a delicious pastry and bread counter that Mary Jordan and I had jamon y queso croissants. In addition to typical foods, there is also a section for clothes, shoe repairs, alterations, a florist, and school supplies. Each little counter/shop is rented out by a different owner or family, and they all have their names above their products. After walking around for a bit with our teachers Rosana and Alicia, they left us and we had to complete a worksheet with questions like "What is the difference between jamon iberico and jamon serrano?" and "What are the advantages and disadvantages of shopping in a mercado as opposed to a typical grocery store?" We had to approach the owners of the shops as well as shoppers and chat with them in Spanish in order to get the answers we needed. (Maybe that's a little touristy, but we were speaking completely in Spanish so I felt quite immersed.)

One of the meat counters

The delicious pandería!

So I didn't take a picture of the suckling pig or the brains,
but here is some delicious conejo.

Everyone was incredibly friendly and one owner let us sample some amazing sheep's cheese from Salamanca. Another man let me try a tiny Spanish plum, and when I said, "Es más dulce que en los Estados Unidos," ("It's sweeter than in the US") he responded, "Si, son más pequeños en Espana pero mucho más dulces." ("Yes, they are smaller in Spain, but they are sweeter") and winked at me. At first, I didn't quite understand what he was implying but my friend Drew quickly explained. I guess innuendos are harder to pick up in a different language!

The fruit counter with the infamous winking.

In addition to our touristy/non-touristy activities, our group has been hanging out at Pool and Beer and we're definitely speaking Spanish more with Pedro and Mario!

Sarah, Mary Jordan, Me and Jennifer

Finally, Mary Jordan and I helped our host sister, Ana, with her English homework this week! Hey, if I can teach English as a second language and then speak to her in Spanish, I might actually be getting somewhere after taking Spanish since I was 8. Here's hoping that Ana will like English as much as I love Spanish and she'll have the opportunity to travel somewhere as beautiful as Madrid! 

Mary Jordan and our sweet student!

Off to a tapas bar tonight, then we're checking out the Madrid discoteca scene for the first time! Hasta lunes! 

Un beso!