as a preamble, the only thing on the screen in english as i write this blog is what i am writing. the blogger page itself, all in spanish. and i can´t figure out some of the punctuation on the keyboard, so i can´t always type how i want.
i was able to carryon on my pack & camera bag, so no worries with my belongings thus far! plane ride wasn´t grand, but definitely not my worst experience, either. since i can´t sleep on planes, movies are key. however, the first movie, freedom writers, was only dubbed in spanish, so i didn´t watch it b/c i actually want to see it at some point and i figured that would ruin it for me. the second movie was spanish and i watched part of it. the third movie was eragon, and i it was actually in english so i watched it. probably enjoyed it way more than i would have otherwise. i had a window seat and so i was able to catch part of the sunset and later watched the moon and stars for a while. pretty cool to be almost on a level with the moon! then, as we were approaching the airport i was able to see the land--mountains, olive tree fields, towns with red-roofed buildings. and when we were taxiing down the runway, i saw these gorgeous patches of red flowers, which i later found out were poppies and are EVERYWHERE. it was a nice welcome.
kate met me at the airport. and we headed to camarma where she lives to drop everything off. then took a bus to alcala and walked around. the town is really lovely and there´s definitely something distinctive to the look of spain. she showed me the huge nests on top of buildings for these storks (?). i was fascinated by these.
yesterday i went to her school in the morning and then we took a train into madrid and walked to the main plazas and saw the cathedral and palace. they have some amazing architecture here.
today i came into madrid by myself. thus far i´ve gone to the reigna sofia (art museum) and saw picasso´s guernica (per hannah´s suggestion). art museum´s always overwhelm me so i decided to take a brake before i head to the prado which is a massive museum.
don´t think i´m sounding too articulate but i still feel tired. i was awake for basically 32 hours before i slept tuesday night and then i´ve been walking and in the sun loads. hopefully my next post will sound more exciting!
just wanted to let you all know i´m alive and well in spain.
yay for making it safe and sound!! i totally forgot about the storks nests, arent they cool!!? what did you think of the guernica, huge isnt it? oh and please let us know what you think of the food. cant wait to here more!
ReplyDeletecan you please make your next post more exciting? you really need to spend your time in europe entertaining us in kansas.
ReplyDeleteglad you're there; glad you're safe; glad you're going to meet an italian guy to watch tv with (wait, wrong nationality...that quote might not work in this context).
can i just say, beth, that i envy you being able to visit kate in spain? wish i could be there with you two! give her (and beki, when you see her too) a hug for me, please! i so miss you all.
ReplyDeleteso glad to hear from you! i get overwhelmed by museum's too, so i'm glad you took a break to post (you benefit and so do we!).
ReplyDeletetoday i walked by your office and sadly peeked in just for old time's sake. But then i remembered that, wait, it was Sunday and it's not like you'd be in there working anyway. Then I wept.
ReplyDeleteWait--no, none of that stuff happened. But I did miss you at church this morning, glad you're doing well. I hope you get to visit El Prado while in Madrid!
han: yes, i loved the stork nests. so fascinating. i filmed them a little and snapped a few shots, so we'll see if anything comes out. and i loved all the cooking with olive oil. will certainly have to try more at home. and yes - the guernica is huge. i especially liked seeing the photos of how it all came together. and the sketches of his different ideas.
ReplyDeleted: are you not entertained? are you not entertained?
jules: did & will do. hope you & your fam are well in stL.
joy: cheers
moe: thanks. :) and yes - the prado was my next stop the afternoon i wrote this post. muy bueno.