My Address

Here is my address while I am here in Spain.

Hannah WendLake
C/ Coslada, 12,6⁰D
28028 Madrid, Spain

Toledo

Yesterday we took a day trip to Toledo. Toledo is about 45 minutes south of Madrid and is really easy to access by bus. When we first arrived it was so foggy you could hardly see a thing, but as the day went on it cleared up and we were able to see the beautiful, historic city. The streets are super narrow and sometimes you have to jump in a doorway so you don't get hit by a car! First we went to the cathedral and I led some people on a walking tour that I found in one of my guide books. The cathedral was huge and had so much ornimentation that it was hard to take it all in. Inside the cathedral there is a little museum full of paintings by Goya, Velazquez, Caravaggio, and Bellini. It was cool to see the painting I've learned about in school in real life. All of the ceilings were beautifuly painted and I spent a lot of time looking up. After the cathedral we wandered through the old part of town to a synagogue, however it was 1:30 when we arrived which is when everything starts shutting down for siesta. We only got to look at the synagogue from the outside. Instead we went into this little shop that sold hand made golden jewlery. The man running the store showed us how the jewelery was made with fine threads of gold and the burned to be a beautiful piece of jewelery or a plate or a vase. I guess there aren't many artisans who can still make this gold jewelery by hand. Now most of it is made by machine. We got to watch a man working on a neclace that was about the size of a qarter. He said it would take him 4-5 days to finish. By this time we were starving so the owner of the store recomended a restaurant for us. He even called and made reservations. We walked up the hilly, winding roads and enjoyed a huge 3 course meal. We were all stuffed after we ate so we walked around a bit and did a little shopping to help us digest. Then we went to our last stop of the day, the Museo Sefardi. This is Toledo's jewish museum. It is an old synagogue converted into a museum. It is really cool because you can see the Jewish influence as well as the Muslim and Christian influence. According to my guidebook, "This 14th century synagogue was built at the peak of Toledos enlightened tolerance-constructed for Jews with Christian approval y Muslim craftsmen. Nowehere else in the city does Toledo's three culture legacy shine brighter than at this synagogue"(Rick Steve's Spain 2009). So there you have it! After that we called it a day and caught our bus back home. I went to my house and had dinner. A few friends and I decided to go and explore the nightlife a little so we went out to a tapas bar and to a dance club and had a really great time. Our evening ended in the traditional madridleno way, with churos y chocolate!

El catedral de Justo

I had a great day today. We met this morning to go to Mejorada del Campo which is a city a little ways outside of Madrid. There we got our permanent meto and bus passes. Mine took especially long because I will not be 21 while we are here so I need a youth pass which is much cheaper but needs a lot more paperwork. Mejorada del Campo is the city in which the AYA director lives. She knows a lot about it so she showed us around a bit. There is a man named Justo who has been building a cathedral in Mejorada del Campo for 40 years, brick by brick, all by himself. He is a monk but got teburculosis while in the monistary. He was sent home but believed it was his mission to build a cathedral. It is the most amazing thing I have ever seen. There are towers and stained glass windows and grand staircases. It really shows persiverence and devotion. Everything he uses is donated so most of the bricks are rejects from building companies. Justo is now 80 years old and is still working on the cathedral. We saw him building away in his monk outfit. After that we had lunch at a little restaurant in town and caught the bus back to the city. Me and a few others decided to go to el parque del buen retiro. This park is humongous and will probably become my new place for running. There is a lake where you can rent row boats and a memorial to the victoms of the 2004 train bombing. It is a beautiful park and will be even more beautiful once spring arrives. Well now I'm going to go take my siesta- my feet are awfly tired from all the walking!

Churros y Chocolate

Today I got to explore Madrid a little bit. I took my first metro ride all by myself. I had to transfer lines in the middle which was a little scary but I figured it out. The metros are so clean here and they are really easy to navigate. All of the AYA students met at Puerta de Sol and together we went to eat churros and Chocolate for desayuno (breakfast). I may have found my new favorite food. The churros here are so delicious. They are crispy and round and you are supposed to dip them in this thick hot chocolate drink. I really enjoyed the whole experience. Then we all went on a little walking tour to get acclimated to the city. We saw the exact center of Madrid and then moved on to Plaza Mayor. There is a large square of buildings with shops on the first floor of each. In the center there is a statue and lots of open space. The plaza was currently under construction of some sort so I'll have to check back and see what it is supposed to look like. Near the Plaza Mayor is Madrid's oldest restaurant. It is really famous and hard to get reservations....it is also not a good restaurant for vegetarians. Then we went to see el palecio real which used to be a summer home for the king and queen. It is huge and is now a museum that is fully furnished as it was when it was a home. There are beautiful gardens and a huge fountain outside. Near by there is a cathedral where the royal family went to church. Our trip ended at el Corte Ingles, which is the hugest department store in the world. We all picked up the things we had forgotten to bring with us and then went our separate ways. I came home and had lunch and then enjoyed a nice jog through my neighborhood. I was pretty timid because I didn't want to get lost. There are a lot of angle streets here and many streets are to narrow to fit a person and a car. Tonight I met Carmen, the other girl who is living here. She is from the Canary Islands and is in Madrid to study ballet. She is 20, just like me and has lived here for about 2 years. She is very nice and it will definitly be nice to have someone my age who speaks Spanish. Maybe she can show me the good places to go in Madrid. Tonight my host brother is coming over for dinner so I will get to meet him as well!

I'm here!

I'm finally unpacked and settled enough to write about my past two days. Friday morning I left Milwaukee (3 hours late) and flew to Philadelphia. I had a nice dinner in the Philadelphia airport and my plane to Madrid left at 9 PM. I was lucky enough to have two seats to myself so I actually got a little sleep on the plane. When we got to Spain it was 10 in the morning, but to me it felt like 3 AM! There were two other girls from Ripon on my flight so we all went to what we thought was the place where they AYA director would meet us. We waited and waited and she never showed up. Finally we figured out how to call her and found out we were in the wrong place and she had been waiting for almost 2 hours for us! Opps! We met up with all of the rest of the study abroad students and went to our hotel. The hotel was right in the center of Madrid and within walking distance to everything. Me, Sondie, and our new friend Katie went to grap a bite to eat and then took a little nap because we had been awake for over 24 hours. Saturday night we went "Tapa Hopping" with out director. We went to two different tapa bars and got lots of different tapas to taste. They were all delicious (at least the vegetarian ones that I could actually eat). Today we got to meet our host families. My Senora is very nice and I think we're going to get along well. She hosted another Ripon student last year. We live in an appartment on the sixth floor and there is a huge balcony overlooking the street. Unfortunitly it's too cold and windy to go out on it today. My Senora has a grown son who does not live here. She also has a little dog that looks and acts just like Murray. I unpacked all of my things and had lunch with my Senora and her friend Anna. Tonight will be a relaxing night of getting settled. Tomorrow we have a walking tour of Madrid so I hope the weather improves!