Still in Madrid

Apparently we are postponing Seville for another day.

So, I went to the Prado which was, as advertised, pretty amazing. There were 3 floors of 12th to 19th century works of art, many of which are some of the most precious in the world.

The lineup was insane, taking me almost an hour to get in, but well worth the wait.

I met a couple of New Yorkers in line who had been to Rome and were spending a few days in Madrid before heading home. We talked during our wait to get in, which made the time pass quickly. They were having a great time and had a lot of funny stories.

After the Prado, I found a Starbucks that looked just like one from home, so I spent some time there sketching and drinking my favorite tea. After a few minutes, a beautiful lass sat down next to me and was reading her Anthropology of Public Health book for a while before asking what I was drawing.

We talked for and discussed: some amazing coincidences about our lives, Land-O-Lakes butter, Target, and other interesting items.

Also...

The post office in Madrid is a huge, beautiful, ornate building right near the centre of town.

And they don´t sell stamps.

If you want stamps, you have to go to a tobacconist.

Catching Up

A lot has happened in the last few days, most of which I can´t remember right now because I am a worn out after many late nights, lots of alcohol and not enough sleep.

I went to El Escorial and Valle de los Caídos yesterday, two locations Northwest of Madrid. Pretty impressive places, both.

El Escorial was originally a monestary that eventually becaume the king´s residence and now acts as a royal burial location. It was wierd to see the tomb where the current King and Queen are going to be buried some day. I think I would feel a wee bit uncomfortable if I knew there was a casket with my name on it somewhere.

When we were there, some ceremony was taking place, so much of the Palace was closed. We got an audioguide which looked like a small cell phone and walked around the various areas anyway. I lost count how many images of the Virgin Mary there were in the Palace...it must have been at least 80.

After the Palace, we hung around the town of El Escorial for a while, ate just outside the main entrance and headed back to the bus station for Valle de los Caídos.

If any of the areas I had already seen were impressive, Valle de los Caídos blew them all away. In the late 50´s, Franco created this gigantic monument to those who died in the Spanish Civil War. Or so he would have people think. In reality, it is a monument to himself. There is a huge cross atop a high hill just north of El Escorial, and under it are two enormous plazas. One is the entrance to the tomb of the fallen soldier, which is about 180 meters long, and I am not sure what the other plaza is. We ran out of time after having done the tour of the tomb.

The most impressive sight, other than the enormity of the site that was bored into solid granite, are the 8 tapestries hanging from the walls indicating different passages from the book of Revelations. They are incredibly intricate and beautiful, but contain some disturbing images.

Okay, only a few minutes left...

Went to the Thyssen musem and saw quite a lot of paintings that really struck me. I spent quite a lot of time jotting down ideas, inspirations and interpretations of the various works there. I want to start sketching and painting as soon as I get home!

Went to Retiro (a giant park here) and saw lots of cool statues, fountains, etc. In fact there is a statue to the Fallen Angel, our good buddy Satan, right near the centre of the park. It´s odd to see a statue like that in such a Catholic stronghold as this.

Spent an evening with some of my sister´s friends down by the big Opera House. We had a dinner that we cobbled together from various dishes we all thought might be interesting. Among some of the better dishes (an excellent cheese & meat dish) we tried callos, which is basically the intestinal tract of a sheep, pig or cow, I wasn´t sure. I noticed that it was a bit rubbery and hard to chew through, but I thought it was the way it was made. Until the guy to my right explained what it was.

I wish he had waited until after I swallowed before telling me.

We drank lots, talked lots (my colloquial Spanish is improving rapidly), and had a really great time. Jane´s friends are cool, all very interesting and fun to speak with.

Tomorrow is my last day in Madrid before I fly home, so I am going to spend most of the day in the Prado, the biggest museum in the city. I have been told that it would likely take 2 or 3 days to see most of the pieces there, so I will try to make the most of the 10 hours it is open.

After that, we are planning to go to Seville, Ronda and Cordoba, but we may make stops in Cadíz, Gibralter, Grenada, Antequera or possibly even Malága. Although, as things have been kind of busy here (we couldn´t get tickets for the AVE, Spain´s high-speed train), we may end up just sticking to the larger areas.

Anyway, this will probably be my last update before I get home, so I hope you are all well.

¡Hasta Luego! Iré a Sevilla...

Only a Moment

A few things I have noticed:

- No Smoking signs are simply a suggestion. People here smoke everywhere.

- There is less concern for ´personal space´. On the Metro, walking in the street, standing in line...people are much more passive about it.

- People generally don´t stand in line. When you go into a shop, it is customary to ask: ¿Que es la ultima? which means ´Who is last?´ and then you just remember your turn comes up after theirs.

- Do not cross the street if there are cars coming. Unless there is a clear ´Walk´ symbol, cars will barrel through intersections and crosswalks. Pedestrians are low on the totem pole here.

- If you want tickets for the AVE (high speed train to Seville), buy them weeks in advance. Especially if you are trying to travel there on a holiday.

- There are very few fat people here.

- You never see ´Rascals´.

Goin´ South

Just got back from Toledo and Aranjuez today. It´s interesting to see all of the different cultures that have been through there in the last 2500 years or so. Romans, Visigoths, Arabs...everybody seems to have made a home on the Iberian peninsula at one time or another.

The architecture of Toledo is particularly striking in its many different influences. Looking at the city from the Youth Hostel, you can see the heavy Roman influence that much of Spain appears to have. Getting closer to the city, you begin to see the Arabic influence present in archways, minarets and various small buildings scattered throughout the main area around El Alcazar.

This building has had it´s share of amazing historical moments, the most recent being when Franco was forced march to Toledo to interrupt the Government siege on the building. The siege lasted about 90 days and though the National army threw everything they had at it, the fortifications stood. Franco finally arrived on the scene with his troops (that were originally bound for Madrid) and sent the Government army packing. The Generalissimo was so impressed that the troops withstood the attack from within the Alcazar for so long, he promoted the defending officer to a high rank.

Later, there was the Cathedral de Toledo, which was magnificent! I picked up an audio guide (it looked like a really long phone receiver) and walked inside, prepared for a stoic tour of an old church, but I was blown-over when I walked in. I just stood in the entranceway, looking up at the towering ceilings and enormous stained glass windows while schoolchildren on a day trip streamed around me. The church was just massive, with 28 seperate areas which required about 2.5 hours to complete. Not being a Catholic, some of the vocabulary flew over my head, but it was a worthy experience.

The rest of my time in Toledo was taken up walking around the town, taking pictures of the various buildings, parks, city walls and surrounding land. I must have walked about 10 miles in the course of my time there and my feet were killing me. I decided it was time for a break, so I headed for the train station that would take me to Aranjuez.

I mis-read the schedule and was almost an hour early for the train, so I decided to wait on the platform and read about the various areas I have been planning to visit. Before I knew it, I was head-back, book-in-my-lap, probably-snoring asleep. An old Spanish woman woke me with a shake and pointed at the train saying something I didn´t understand. I looked at my watch and it was 5 minutes before the train was scheduled to leave. Thank goodness for little old Spanish ladies.

Aranjuez is a very small town which basically has a Palace, the gardens surrounding said Palace and not much more. I was too late to hit the Palace (it closed at 5:30), so I decided to walk through the garden, take some picutres and write some postcards, which I did for about an hour.

Now, I´m back in Madrid after having taken the regional train (instead of the Express) which took almost an hour. I bummed around Sol for a while and ended up at this crazy Internet Cafe that is painted in pink with rows and rows of computers with flat-screen monitors. The sound system is blaring a dance mix of The Never Ending Story which adds to the ambience of the place. Not to mention this blog....

More from España

Yesterday was a very long day.

I started by going to the stadium for the Club Atlético de Madrid to buy some tickets for this Saturday´s match, but they were closed, so I walked around the area. Madrid is a fairly flat city, but behind me was a small hill, which offered a view across the city from a small park. The majority of the architecture in the centre of the city reflects a significant Roman influence.

Later, I walked over a very ornate bridge that crosses the rather small river that runs through the city. Actually, it is nothing so powerful as a river, something closer to a stream would be more apt. I took a few pictures and headed for the Metro station on my way to Sol.

For those of you inclined toward this kind of thing, here is an excellent map of the Madrid Metro system.

On the first couple of days I found the system to be a little confusing, but after riding it a few times (and finding a map), it is very easy to find your way around. Now, how much do you pay for your local Metro (if there is one in your city)? In Madrid, you pay just €0.50 per trip. That is about $0.75 Canadian or $0.50 US. Compared to the city I live in, that´s an incredible bargain. Plus, the Metro covers almost all of Madrid, not just one or two areas. Added on to that is a bus service and a rapid train service that traverses the city.

Most of the day was spent walking around and looking at anything that caught my eye. I visited the Opera House, a few churches, walked around on Gran Vìa, took pictures of statues, people, buildings and anything else that stood out. Soon, it was 7 pm and time fore me to go home. I ran into Jane on the Metro and we went to the grocery store, and later the butcher, to stock up on food. I was conversing with the staff at both locations, feeling much better about my Spanish.

We got a great bottle of tinto (Red Wine) from the store for only €2.70. If it were so affordable in Canada, I´d likely drink a lot more wine.

Jane made a fantastic dinner, complete with appetizer (cheese, pepper, and tuna slices with lettuce) and entreé (ground steak with spaghetti). Then we spent the rest of the evening talking about this and that over a bottle of a kind of wine I forget the name of. It was a sparkling white from San Sebastién, and was very tasty.

After repeatedly swearing it was time for bed, we all finally gave into sleep at 2 am.

Today started off kind of lazy. My sister got up just before 9 am and made a simple breakfast that I am coming to love: baguettes fried with olive oil, some kind of Spanish cheese (tastes a bit like Havarti, but sharper), a small banana or pear and tea. I sat with her and her roommate Andy and talked about the day before us. I was planning to visit the Palace and perhaps the Thyssen Museum if there was time. We agreed to meet later for dinner. Soon after, they both left for work.

That´s when I turned on the TV. Why didn´t I just get up and walk out the door? Well, I watched the morning news, another program with young singers and actors, a Ricky Lake-type talk show with a blonde host and a sports program covering a lot of soccer. By the time I left it was almost 1pm and I was feeling guilty that I had wasted so much time!

I took the Metro to Opera and walked to the Palace. The guide book I have said that the Palace was free on Wednesdays, but they didn´t print that it is for EU passport holders only. Although I have an EU passport (my father was born in England), I did not bring it with me as it expired last year.

After paying the €6 entrance fee, I tagged along with a group of people who were on a group tour. The Palace is absolutely magnificent, with every room decorated in various styles going back as far as the 1400´s. The Throne Room and the Official Dining Room were the most impressive areas of the Royal Residence. While every room in the Palace is ornately decorated, I can´t imagine what it would have been like to actually live there. It is so incredibly formal looking, that it´s hard to imagine the King walking around in his underwear with a half-finished beer in his hand, scratching his belly on a lazy Sunday.

The Armoury was equally impressive with a huge array of weapons and armour, including fully clad horses and knights throughout the hall. I tried taking a few pictures, but I get the feeling that without a flash (you are not permitted to use them indoors) the results might be hazy.

While walking around in the entrance area of the Armoury, I noticed a spiral staircase that had a small rope in front of it. I nonchalantly strolled around it, looking up to see if I could see anyone. Convinced there was no one there, I hopped the rope and climbed the stairs. There was a short hallway with massive windows covered by shutters. I took a few shots of the city from behind the shutters and one of the hallway.

I could hear some voices nearby and was a little worried that I might get caught in this area, so I decided to go back down the stairs. That´s when I noticed that the voices that I heard were at the bottom of the stairs. There were two old men, talking with one another in very loud Spanish. I tried the Yoda technique of willing these gentlement to move on, but my Jedi powers were clearly not strong enough as they seemed to be relaxing while enjoying a good debate.

I decided to just walk down as if I owned the place. I strode down the stairs (with my backpack, hiking shoes and travel pants on), calmly released the security rope, walked past, reattached it and continued on my way. The old men didn´t even pause in their conversation.

By then, I had had enough of the Palace and was on my way out when I saw that there was a small archaeological excavation right on the edge of the main Plaza. After a few more pictures of some ancient walls, I headed out, back to the street with the rest of the commoners.

Tomorrow is my day to go to the Prado, the most important museum in Madrid. I´ve been told that it could easily take 2 or 3 days to see the entire collection, so I am going to try to start early. No Spanish TV.

Finally! An Internet Café

It took me 4 days, but I finally found a place that I can surf for a while.

It´s not that there is any shortage of them here, but mi hermana has had every minute booked since I walked off the plane. I have done quite a lot since touching down at 7:15 in the morning on Saturday.

According to the clock on the computer, I only have 9 minutes left, so I´ll write until I run out of time:

On the first day, I met my sister´s roommate, Andy. A very nice Scottish fellow who teaches at the same school as Jane. After that, Jane and I took a bottle of wine, some bread and cheese to the park by her house. We sat on the grass, caught up, ate the food and drank the wine. It was great. We got home a few hours later and started in on a new bottle. We talked quite a bit more, I had a siesta and we sat up that night to watch a soccer match.

Sunday we set out to see some areas of town and meet a few of Jane´s friends. We started by visiting Le Restro, a huge open-air market that spans about 20 blocks. As you can probably imagine, most of it was just tourist stuff, but there were a lot of people and vendors there. Later we went to Plaza Mayor which is a large square that I took a lot of pictures in. We walked on to Sol, at the center of Madrid, which looks like a smaller version of Times Square. When we arrived, there was a large demonstration going on to do with liberating Palestine. There were many people with placards, Arafat-style headdresses and lots of yelling. I took only 1 or 2 pictures before my sister figured it was time to go.

We walked to Plaza Dos de Mayo and waited for her friends at the wrong café for a while before meeting them at the correct location. While waiting, we angled for a table and missed out a number of times. In Madrid, they don´t have waiting lists, you just circle around like vultures, waiting for someone to get up and you run for the table.

Most of her friends speak quite good English (not suprising as she is a teacher), so I wasn´t getting a lot of practice at Spanish...

Oh my god! I have to interrupt here and say that the guy at the counter just slipped in a Ron Sexsmith CD! I had been listening to horrible Musak until now, but this is an amazing change in musical direction.

I just asked if he was a Sexsmith fan, but his English is non-existant and the subject is a little outside my range of Spanish. Strawberry Blonde...I love this song!

So anyway, I was talking with Hector, a painter friend of Jane´s, about his work and there was a loud *bang* from the direction of the Plaza Dos de Mayo to our left. I asked Hector what it was and he said ´Oh, you know...terrorista´ and then laughed. I figured it must have been a firecracker or something, and then all the people at the tables to our left either hit the ground or started running toward us. We all stood up and tried to see what was going on. Out of the Plaza ran a man with 4 or 5 others in hot pursuit. They tackled him and started beating the crap out of him. They were kicking him in the head, beating him with a chair and jumping on him. Then, two of the assailants started walking in our direction and people really started moving! Hector, Jane and I sttod rather like deer in headlights as they walked our way and watched as one of them calmly put a gun into his beltline, pulled his shirt down over it and walked on. I don´t think my eyes have ever been wider.

When we sat down again (Jane called the police), Hector was apologizing, saying that he had no idea that it was a gun shot and his comment about terrorists was just a joke. It was about this time that we noticed that one of the people that had been at the table was missing...and so was her baby. In all the commotion, we didn´t notice her jump up, grab her kid and run into the café. She had run past the indoor patrons, past the waiter station, past the cooks in the kitchen and was hiding at the back of the building in the kitchen storage area.

Well, I am past my time limit, so the rest of the stories will have to wait.

¡Hasta Luego!

Under Control

After a couple of late nights picking up various items deemed necessary for
my journey to Spain, I feel a lot better about how prepared I am.

Of course I then received a letter from my sister saying she has everything
I'll need so all I need to do is 'bring clothes and ginch'. I guess the
latter don't qualify as clothing.

I also managed to find a friend, who is currently looking for somewhere to
stay, to stay at my house and make sure it doesn't fall into disrepair.

Or, further into disrepair.

Today's Phrase:
¡Ayuda! ¡Yo necesito una transfusion de sangre!
Help! I need a blood transfusion!

Some Phrases

From my Spanish Phrasebook:

Es la primera vez que visito España.
This is my first visit to Spain.

Lo siento, pero bailo fatal.
I'm sorry, I'm a terrible dancer.

No estoy acostumbrado a esto.
I'm not accustomed to this.

¿Quieresir a un karaokae?
Do you want to go to a Karaoke bar?

Soy soltero.
I'm single.

¿Puedo llevarte a casa?
Can I take you home?

Tócame aquí.
Touch me here.

¿Tengo que declarar esto?
Do I have to delare this?

¿Pueodo llamar a la ebajadade mi país?
May I call my embassy?

Countdown

I just made a list of the things I need to do before I go.

Now I'm in a state of panic.

I left way too many things too late and everything is coming to a close very quickly. Hopefully, I can get the critical things done.

One of the things I am going to try is e-mailing my blog rather than using the Blogger interface. My sister has a GSM phone that should be internet-ready, so we'll see how that goes.

I've had a few requests for postcards, which is great! If you'd like one from Sunny Spain (who doesn't like getting postcards?) send me an e-mail with your postal address. I would be happy to send you one, whether I know you or not.

Scared to give me your address? Give someone else's then.

World Premiere

This past weekend, I made my very first film.

I conceived, shot, and edited the whole thing in about 5 hours. It runs 2 minutes and 30 seconds and was done as a gift for a friend of mine.

It was shot on my digital camera, which allows for a maximum of 30 second shots. The sound was pretty bad, the lighting was kind of dim, the shots were rushed and the editing was a little sloppy. But I loved it.

Loved it.

It was the process that made the experience for me. I really enjoyed setting up the shots, filming them, reviewing the 'rushes', sequencing the different scenes and editing to the final product.

I have always wanted to make films. I even attended some film classes years ago. Nothing ever came of it though, mostly because I had many things going on and I realized that the film industry, as I saw it then, wasn't something I wanted to be a part of. Since then, the technology has become much more accesible and the independant scene has really started to grow.

Now I can't wait to make my next feature.

Postcard Exchange

Here's the deal: I love receiving postcards.

I have quite a few tacked up around the apartment from various destinations that friends and family have visited. I also have postcards from people here in town that know I like to receive them. In fact, I once received an entire set sent over the course of a month, each one featuring a letter of the alphabet. That was cool.

Well, I'm going to Spain in a few days so I'll make you a deal: If you would like a postcard, just e-mail me your name & address and I'll send you a card, complete with pithy comment. Then, when you go away someplace exotic, remote or even strange, you can send me one back.

Sound good?

Camera Update

I am impressed with the response I got to my request for a camera! There were many offers, of which I am grateful to all.

I now have a tiny Konica Revio Z2 to accompany me on my trip to Spain.

Camera Request

If anyone out there has a small point & shoot camera of good quality they can lend me for about 2 weeks, let me know.

I don't really want to take my new digital camera to Spain and my only other camera is a rather large 35mm SLR.

I'll pick up a fancy gift for you while I'm there.

Designer Fun

Have you ever looked at a font but had no idea which one it was?

Let Identifont help you out.

Busy, Busier, Busiest

This week has been very busy...not much time to post anything.

Next week should be better.

Off to Whistler!