Madrid Update #2 w/ a link to fun pics! woo!
Howdy again from Madrid. Let’s get to it.
A little over a week ago, I went to my first European soccer game. It was a big one too - both Madrid teams (Spanish League) going head-to-head. And the team “Real Madrid” had - are you ready for this? - David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane, and Ronaldo (the best forward in the world) all on the same team.
Too bad at the end, the score was still ZERO TO ZERO...damn soccer. Adding insult to injury, the crowd wasn’t insane, which annoyed me because I was sure I’d see someone die…or at least get wounded.
I also visited El Museo de la Reina Sofia - a museum that had, among other things, a collection of works from Picasso and Dali. Dali’s color palette and detail are incredible, and his portrayal of objects in his surrealist style is genius. Picasso had some amazing works too (duh) - especially Guernica, a 12-by-26 foot depiction of the ills of war. Fitting for this political climate…
Last Saturday, we spent an entire day in Toledo, the former capital of Spain. The town is built on a hill, and is covered on three sides by a river. Not easy to invade, which sucked, because I wanted a new province.
Some of the sites in Toledo included a gothic cathedral that only took 250+ years to build, and “La Casa de El Greco”, the artist who spent most of his life in this city. I just couldn’t help but think, “Wow, these buildings are older than my country.”
Oh yeah - we visited the synagogue in Toledo, one of the three remaining synagogues in Spain. After 1085, Jews, Muslims, and Christians coexisted here with little conflict. In 1492, unfortunately, the Christians decided to ban the Jews from the land…kinda like what will happen to me when I tell my mom I got a Spanish girl pregnant. Just kidding mom.
On Friday at 1:30 in the morning, I’m taking the red eye to Barcelona for the weekend with a few people in my program. The adventure continues...
By the way - I set up a webshots account with pics of my forays - check it. You’ll be handsomely rewarded with laughter and frivolity.
http://community.webshots.com/user/mikerosco
-M
PS - Don’t tell Spanish girls they’re “caliente”. Although it may SEEM you’re calling them hot, apparently you’re inferring they’re a prostitute.
A little over a week ago, I went to my first European soccer game. It was a big one too - both Madrid teams (Spanish League) going head-to-head. And the team “Real Madrid” had - are you ready for this? - David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane, and Ronaldo (the best forward in the world) all on the same team.
Too bad at the end, the score was still ZERO TO ZERO...damn soccer. Adding insult to injury, the crowd wasn’t insane, which annoyed me because I was sure I’d see someone die…or at least get wounded.
I also visited El Museo de la Reina Sofia - a museum that had, among other things, a collection of works from Picasso and Dali. Dali’s color palette and detail are incredible, and his portrayal of objects in his surrealist style is genius. Picasso had some amazing works too (duh) - especially Guernica, a 12-by-26 foot depiction of the ills of war. Fitting for this political climate…
Last Saturday, we spent an entire day in Toledo, the former capital of Spain. The town is built on a hill, and is covered on three sides by a river. Not easy to invade, which sucked, because I wanted a new province.
Some of the sites in Toledo included a gothic cathedral that only took 250+ years to build, and “La Casa de El Greco”, the artist who spent most of his life in this city. I just couldn’t help but think, “Wow, these buildings are older than my country.”
Oh yeah - we visited the synagogue in Toledo, one of the three remaining synagogues in Spain. After 1085, Jews, Muslims, and Christians coexisted here with little conflict. In 1492, unfortunately, the Christians decided to ban the Jews from the land…kinda like what will happen to me when I tell my mom I got a Spanish girl pregnant. Just kidding mom.
On Friday at 1:30 in the morning, I’m taking the red eye to Barcelona for the weekend with a few people in my program. The adventure continues...
By the way - I set up a webshots account with pics of my forays - check it. You’ll be handsomely rewarded with laughter and frivolity.
http://community.webshots.com/user/mikerosco
-M
PS - Don’t tell Spanish girls they’re “caliente”. Although it may SEEM you’re calling them hot, apparently you’re inferring they’re a prostitute.