Spain wins ... and Spain celebrates

We spent our first full day in Spain Tuesday exploring Madrid ... and noticing Spanish flags in both home and business windows. Spain beat Croatia 1-0 in the Euro Cup 2012 Monday, another big win for the team that now qualifies Spain for the quarter finals. We visited several soccer stores today and many students bought jerseys to bring home.

We met for breakfast around 9 a.m. in the hotel. It was a buffet-style breakfast that included breads, cereals, ham, cheese, fruit, coffee and juices. Afterward, we returned to our rooms to pack our bags, as the plan was to meet in the lobby with our luggage at 11 a.m. We locked the luggage in a storage room and began our walking tour of Madrid. We spent the first hour exploring Retiro Park, Madrid's biggest area of green space and one of my favorite parts of the capital city. All across the enormous park are monuments, beautifully landscaped lawns and gardens and even a big lake where people were taking boat rides. The park was laid out in the 17th century by Felipe IV, my Lonely Planet book told me. It was once a park of kings and queens, and after spending just a couple of hours there this afternoon, I understand why. The landscaping is perfect, the gardens and flowers are beautiful and all the trees provide several patches of shade where you can just sit down and watch the world pass. The monument to Alfonso XII looks over the lake, including the enormous marble lions.


We stayed at the park until noon and then decided to break into two groups. We had until 6 p.m. to explore Madrid, so Jamie and I took the guys while Tish and Amanda took the girls. Our group decided to do a little shopping first. We made our way to the Corte Ingles, located near the Puerta del Sol plaza. The Corte Ingles is a big shopping mall and is located in a myriad of cities across Spain. We spent about an hour walking through the mall. The students bought a few items and also practiced their Spanish with many of the employees. We also visited a few soccer shops in the area.

Afterward, we decided it was time for lunch. We went to a sandwich place I found last summer. There are about 100 different types of sandwiches you can order. The menus were on the tables with all of the options and there was also a pad of paper and a pen. You fill out your order and then take it inside. They make your sandwiches on the spot and give you a plate of "patatas chips" once your order is ready. The sandwiches are small, so most of us ordered four or five. I had one with chicken and a few with tortilla espanolas and different sauces. They were all delicious! The students did a great job figuring out the menu and later placing their orders.

We next made our way to Nike Madrid and spent a few minutes looking around. We had about two hours left and decided to walk to the Plaza de las Cibeles because the Palacio de Comunicaciones building is located near-by. I posted some pictures of this building last summer when I was in Spain, but it is absolutely stunning. Its construction is a mix of North American monumental style from the Gothic period but it also has a Renaissance look to it. The building is used for the central post office, as well as the city hall. I visited the building last summer and had the chance to go to the top of it, where you can walk around and get a great overview of Madrid from its tower. Everyone wanted to go to the top, so we asked for tickets for 4:30 p.m. We spent 15 minutes at the top and were treated to some great views of Madrid. I'll post a couple of pictures below.

We used the metro to return to the hotel and meet up with the rest of the group at 6 p.m. We boarded the bus around 6:30 p.m. and drove to Avila. Avila is located about 90 minutes from Madrid, so it was a short bus ride. A portion of the city is surrounded by massive walls that were built to protect it from the Moors. The walls are home to nine gates, 88 observation towers and more than 2,500 turrets. Most of the walls are still in their original form from the end of the 11th Century. The walls are nearly 40 feet tall and cover a distance of about 1.5 miles. Only nobles used to live within the city's walls and the rest of the population lived outside; however, the entire city would enter the walls when there was danger or an attack. For about 300 years, Avila was led by either the Muslims or Christians -- until the fall of Toledo in 1085.

As we pulled into the city and the bus came to a stop, we saw our host families waiting for us. The guide introduced us to the families and we called the students up in pairs to meet their families. We will spend three nights with these families while in Avila. We'll be together during the day but will separate at night to return to our host families. The students greeted their families and then departed to spend the first night with their new Spanish families. Jamie and I are staying with Manuel and Fabi. Manuel drove us to their apartment and we met Fabi. They have been such great hosts. We had dinner with Fabi last night and spent about 90 minutes eating and chatting. It was interesting to talk about everything from their family to the economic crisis.

Well, it's time to call it a night. I'll try to post more later about our tour around Avila and day trip to Segovia on Wednesday.

Buenas noches,

--Justin

View from the top of the Palacio de Comunicaciones building ... one of the best views of Madrid!

Monday's lunch in Madrid ... muy sabroso!