That first day was a unique one in Alicante thanks to the Scottish. There was an international fútbol match that night in Alicante's Estadio Mundial between Spain and Scotland, so a horde of at least a thousand Scots (mostly men in kilts) were invading the streets of this helpless Spanish coastal town. Between the hours of 4 and 8pm, they crowded every restaurant and bar, while the sounds of bagpipes and proud chanting could be heard throughout the city. On our short tour of Alicante, we had to constantly walk through this slew of Scotsmen. Then after some tapas and sangria, we walked back to the apartment via the route of a mob-parade that was processing from the coast to the fútbol stadium, shouting The Sound of Music's "Do Re Mi" among other things. Fortunately, the raid was put down when España defeated "Escocia" 3-1. Going out that night would have been much more problematic if such a rabble of Scots had taken to the fiesta, infused with alcohol and the pride of defeating the world's best soccer team. But the Scots' loss combined with the fact that I had no school the following day allowed for a jubilant night in El Barrio among friends and, for the first time, family.
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| Small sample of the Scottish swarm |
The second day of their visit was special as well, because it was "Día de la Hispanidad", the Spanish speaking countries' version of Columbus Day, when all Hispanic cultures celebrate their heritage. So all along the central coast line, there were kiosks representing each nationality with food, music, the sale of trinkets, and general good cheer. We walked through this display on our way to the beach, where Kevin and Liz received their official Mediterranean baptisms. The water was the calmest I've seen it, and you could see the ocean floor at any depth -- a magnificent day to soak up the sun.
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| Statue of Alfonso XII Parque del Buen Retiro Madrid |
We took Wednesday night easy and went out again Thursday, waking up early Friday morning to see Castillo de Santa Barbara before our departure to Madrid. This being my second time there and my first time taking the stairs, it was a new experience for all, with picturesque views of the city, the sea, and the mountains. Then later that day we saw much of the Spanish countryside, as well as the backs of our eyelids, on the train to Madrid. Immediately obvious upon arrival was the beauty of the city - its cleanliness, its antique demeanor, and its incorporation or trees, gardens, and sculpture spread throughout the cityscape. As to make the most of the following day, we made dinner and went to sleep in our hostel early that night.
The next morning we sprung out of bed very slowly and made our way to Real Madrid's Estadio Santiago Bernabéu to buy tickets for the afternoon match against Real Betis, who hail from Sevilla. Then we made our way toward the Prado Museum, by way of El Parque del Buen Retiro,
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| "enormous in a different aspect" Parque del Buen Retiro, Madrid |
one of several pristine parks in the city. Just outside the north entrance sits a massive archway, and along the park's paths lie many interested things. Of what we saw, there is Palacio de Cristal (Palace of Glass), Estanque del Retiro (Retiro Pond), and next to the pond, the monument to King Alfonso XII, with one enormous statue, and two statues that are enormous in a different aspect. We also saw some huge ducks. These ducks were about twice the size of the average mallard, and one of them showed a flock of pigeons who's the boss of eating bread crumbs.
We made then it to the Prado, where photography is unfortunately prohibited. The museum has far too much art to see in two and a half hours, but in that time we made a significant dent. There were exhibits full of centuries old statues, classical Spanish paintings, Italian Renaissance art, and one of 19th century Spanish Romantic artist Francisco de Goya, for whom I have a found a new appreciation. Impressively, many paintings were in the range of 15x20 feet or more. The Prado has one work of Pablo Picasso, Acróbata en la Bola, but most of the work of Picasso, Salvador Dalí, and their 20th century contemporaries can be found in the Reina Sofia Museum, which we did not have time to see. Maybe next time.
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| Liz in anticipation of Cristiano Renaldo |
Afterwards we went back to the Real Madrid stadium, this time for the Real deal. [Travis Rainey, if you're reading this, yes I did say that I've taken to supporting Barça, but for one day I backed your boys in blanco. I guess I'm not serious enough to have strict fútbol allegiances. That being said, ¡venga azul y rojo, abajo con Real Mierda!] Anyway, the game was a lot of fun. From our seats, we had a perfect view of the bald spot on the head of the Real Betis goalie. And after a scoreless first half, we witnessed five goals in the second, three of which comprised the hat-trick of #20 Gonzalo Higuaín. The final score was 4-1 Madrid.
Later, we got a taste of Madrid's nightlife. The first event we encountered was a crossover between a working class protest and a "botellón", which is Spanish for "drinking in the streets", in the famous plaza of Puerta del Sol. For our own good, we didn't stop there and instead went to a nearby bar district. There we found a fine establishmet called Soltera and made some temporary Spanish friends. I was happy to play the translator.
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| Three Honolds and one Ciaravalli - Plaza de Toros, Madrid |
Then on Sunday, after a slow morning, we went to Madrid's Plaza de Toros to see a bullfight, or "torero". We went primarily to meet a friend from Summit, Lauren Ciaravalli, who is studying in Madrid this semester. We also went because we thought it would be interesting to see a bull fight, and yes it was 'interesting', though we all decided it would be our first and last time. Let's just say it didn't turn out too well for the bulls. If you have a strong stomach and a lust for authentic cultural experiences, I would recommend seeing one bullfight - just one. To lighten the mood, there was a little niño outside the plaza after the torero, pretending to be a bull and running into his dad's coat. It was mad adorable.
That night we ate at a Spanish restaurant with a twelve euro deal on a quality three course meal. We made a toast to having had a magnificent week and to having taken a satisfying bite out Spain. Then we parted ways at the Madrid airport Monday morning, and are now back at our respective abodes, but it was awesome having my siblings visit. To Liz and Kevin: love you guys and thanks for making my time in Spain that much better!
Tomorrow I'm off to Grenada for the weekend, so expect a post next week about another Spanish city. And there will be something about graffiti eventually, it's just that I keep finding more of it. Por lo tanto, ¡estad atentos!
