Link to the Photobucket page: http://s577.photobucket.com/albums/ss211/memoagomez/CMU%20in%20Spain/?albumview=grid
As my time in Madrid is coming to an end I've seen the city take it's effects on me. I've picked up on the slang and I say words such as "vale", call people "tio/a", and refer to groups as "vosotros"; all different from the Mexican Spanish I grew up with. I walk on the streets without people giving me strange looks. Tourists, new people to Sampere, and even some Spaniards ask me for directions on the streets, how to get from point A to B on the metro, and other little things like that. Even this morning, I helped a family from Denmark get to Sol. As I started talking to them (in English they didn't know Spanish) they were surprised to know that I was from the United States. Well here's a bit on my last week in Madrid (I still have the weekend!!!).
Street in Sol (the flash didn't go off), it's a bit funky but I like the effect
Wednesday: Sampere took a trip to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum to see the works from all over Europe. Unlike El Prado, which contains more classical pieces such as Goya's and Velazquez's, and Reina Sofia (I still need to go...), which has 20th century works like Dali and Picasso, the Thyssen Musuem has art pieces from different eras, different countries, and different styles. As usual with the museums here in Madrid, no photography was allowed, but I was allowed more time to explore the museum and really take in different styles, techniques, and painters. Portraits, still life, abstract pieces; painters from the United States, Italy, Spain; and everything from Romanticism to Expressionism.
Bust of the founder: Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza
That night I heard that Cristian was leaving for Paris Thursday afternoon. So we and a couple of friends got together and we went out to see the streets of Sol and to get some churros with chocolate (Spanish churros aren't that sweet compared to the Mexican ones which usually have cinnamon on them, but I guess that's what the chocolate is for). The metro closed so we had to take a taxi, and the taxis in Madrid are crazy! We told him the street and he popped it into the GPS, blasted the techno, started mumbling to it, and we dashed 60 km/hr in a 30 km/hr zone. Normally I just take the metro (I have a pass) but the fare came down to about 5€ from each of us and seeing how we live a bit of a distance away it was a pretty good deal.
¡Churros con Chocolate!
Thursday: I owed Liubov (the Russian girl) a dinner for buying me those goggles so I took her out to a place in Sol. It was a small place called El Bascon not too far away from the metro station in Sol; great tapas, sweet sangria, and it's all at an amazing price. We then walked around Sol a bit and I showed her all the little places that people seem to miss or to know nothing about: Madrid's emblem, km 0, the place that had the churros and chocolate until seven in the morning, all that fun stuff.
Communications Palace, Salamanca district, Madrid
So now it's Friday at around 3 pm here in Madrid, the weekend is looking up, I'll probably go out tonight with some friends to Sol, see what's up. Saturday will be my last full day in Madrid, so the morning I will fully explore El Retiro, (I'm still not done yet!?) then visit The Reina Sofia Musuem. Sunday I will make sure I'm fully packed, got everything and leave to Alicante at 2pm at the Renfe Train at the Chamartin Metro station.
The place we went to Wednesday night had some amazing photographs all over the wall...
Oh and I'm having a bit of a photographer's block... I don't shoot things twice and I need a new change of atmosphere. I'll snap out of it as soon as I explore the Retiro and let myself get a bit lost. I'll update on Monday about the weekend with photos.
-Guillermo :D
Nothing lasts.
-Ken Kesey
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