Mi Fin de Semana

I wasn't planning on posting again so soon, but since weekends around here are always three full days (which is brilliant), I feel like I'd be falling behind if I don't blog soon. Somehow, we managed to pack quite a bit into these last few days.

Friday, everyone at the Fundacion was part of an excursion to the northwestern side of Madrid, where we visited El Escorial and Valle de los Caidos. El Escorial is the palace/monastery/college/library/church built by Felipe II (Phillip II) to commemorate his first military victory over the French at the Battle of San Lorenzo. It was amazing to see its size and its simplistic beauty. Room after room was filled with Christian artwork. The mausoleum portion, where Holy Roman Emperor Charles V is buried, along with most of the famous Spanish monarchs, was awe-inspiring for me as a history major. The style of the palace is far less ornate that one would expect from a 16th century monarch, but we found out that this reflects Felipe's severe monastical lifestyle and devout religiousness. The Escorial's floorplan is even shaped like a grid to recall the martyrdom of San Lorenzo (Saint Lawrence), who was burned alive on a grill.

As our trip continued, the austere style of El Escorial was only intensified by Valle de los Caidos, a monument built during the Spanish Civil War. Although the Valley of the Fallen is easily recognized by the enormous cross that marks its underground church, this place of worship is far more chilling and terrible than its beautiful mountain surroundings and Christian images would suggest. It was built by prisoners of war for dictator Fransisco Franco, and honors the dead from his side in the war. Franco's tomb is located directly behind the altar. The whole place has a dark feel to it, and expresses the silence and bitterness about the Civil Wat that modern Spain still deals with under its surface. To say the least, seeing these two monuments provided some interesting insights into the Spanish perception of faith, Spain's past, and its current political culture.

Saturday, Emily and I took advantage of some beautiful weather to explore our city. Madrid has some beautiful locations, and we were able to visit quite a few of the tourist highlights, including Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol, Plaza de Villas, Plaza de Oriente, Teatro Real, Plalacio Real, El Corte Ingles, and Parque del Retiro. If you haven't been to Madrid, this basically means beautiful buildings, great shopping, and a great park, all within walking distance of our apartment. It was definitely a tiring day, but we managed to go out with some of our amigas that night to experience more of Madrid's nightlife.

Today, Sunday, has also been an adventurous one, although unintentionally. We managed to find an English-speaking church, which was a great start, but our trips there and back were definitely over-complicated by public transportation. Let's just say that the minute we thought we were getting good at navigating our way around Madrid, we were reminded of just how American we really are... and how hard it is to understand Spanish bus drivers sometimes.

That said, we got home ready to siesta, but still really loving Spain and our lives here so far. Although I miss family and friends, I'm definitely having a great time.
Hasta luego!