My last weekend in Spain turned out to be an interesting one. The family and I went to Madrid where Cristina's two aunts live right outside the city. Madrid was beautiful, but the rest is what made my first trip to Madrid not very enjoyable. First off, the car ride from Alicante to Madrid is 4.5-5 hours long. Secondly, the car they have is an old stick shift that seats 5 (barely), and the girls still need car seats. So that means I get smashed in between the two in the already tiny, awkward middle seat for 5 hours. Oddly, the girls brought nothing to do in the car, which I thought was weird thinking back to all my trips when I was little and I had books, little toys or games, or crossword puzzles to keep myself busy. So for the first hour we listened to Teresa and her "circus" too many times. Imagine Kids Bob and the Wiggles collaborating to create what they call "music", but what I call "I'd rather be deaf than listen to these 13 tracks again". The last hour things were a little better. I taught Sofia how to braid, and Claudia was very calm and cool for the first time the whole trip.
"Ayy, colleague"
When we finally arrived to the aunts' house, I just wanted to eat, shower, and go to bed. The food was great; traditional spanish dinner of tortillas patatas (potatoes), and the aunts' were funny and nice. I got stuck in the attic to bunk with the two girls for the night, and it was stifling hot and I only got about 2 hours of sleep. The first night was rough, especially knowing I had a full day of walking and exploring Toledo the following day.
On Friday, the plan was to drive to Toledo, an old city 45 minutes away. Sofia threw up in the car on the way.
When we arrived, we went to the well-known cathedral and did the self-guided audio tour. I split off and went on to climb to the top of the cathedral tower to see the "fat bell" and the breathtaking view of the city. I liked the old city, and the old traditions and stories it had in the skinny streets and centuries-old buildings. One weird legend was of this virgin that supposedly lived on this street, and women that wanted to know what color hair their lover will have would come to her. They would bring a needle of the color they wanted and their wish would be granted. We passed this little window on the street with glass covering an old portrait of the virgin with a slot to shove needles (and bobby pins) through. I'm still not sure if I interpreted the story correctly or if they translated it into the right words in English.
Halfway through the day we met up with this guy the parents knew from their previous jobs who lived in Toledo. He knew the place pretty well, and we stopped at his house on our way out of the city, only to get stuck there. This guy was relentless. He kept offering drinks, food, and presents to the family. He was basically doing everything he could to prevent us from leaving, even though we were all tired and worn out. Eventually I led the escape by being the one to suggest carrying all the food and he drinks he brought up to the terrace back down to the kitchen, that way he couldn't keep bringing us stuff. It still took about 15 minutes after that to get out of there, but if I hadn't had done anything I bet we would've ended up spending the night there. To put an end to the perfect day, Claudia threw up on the way home, but she didn't have a plastic bag like Sofia had earlier. I love sitting in between two puking children, let me tell you.
Saturday was a lot better. The girls stayed home with the aunts and the parents and I went on a tour of the Royal Palace in Madrid. If I hadn't got to do this, I don't think the trip would've been worth it. Every room we walked into was just as extravagant as the last, with more gold to sink the Black Pearl. The huge tapestries and paintings that covered the walls were breathtaking; 1 meter would cost 12,000€ today. There were about 4 or 5 clocks to every room (clocks symbolized intellectualism), and they had separate rooms for the king to have lunch, to get dressed, and to sleep in. We checked out the Royal Armory before our tour, and outside the door was a peacock just chilling by the steps. In Spanish, peacock is "pavo real" which directly translates to "royal turkey". Cristina told me this, and that "it would only make sense they'd have some roaming around". After the Palacia Real, we went to this old market where I got to try real Spanish ham. The family thought I was an alien because I never wanted to eat the ham they have at home, but it's because it looks very different than ham back home. The ham here is sliced right off the roasted pig, and it's bright red with the fat still connected to it (just google a picture, I doubt many Americans would identify that as ham). After, we walked through Plaza Mayor and down Gran Via (the Main Street) to this old building that had been several things throughout the years but was now a post office/office building. We went to the top where there was an observation deck and that was the best view of Madrid you can get.
When we got back, the girls and dad left for the park and Cristina napped, so I was left with the aunts who have traveled the world together. They showed me videos they put together on the computer of the pictures they'd taken, and told me stories of their adventures. I did my best to understand their rapid Spanish, but they were good at explaining with their hands as well.
Sunday we woke up late (10am) and went to el Escorial de San Lorenzo, which is one of the 5 palaces the Royal family uses throughout the year. This one is the autumn palace, but it also doubles as a monastery, school, library, and crypt. Only Cristina and I went through the tour, and we were the only ones in our group with the tour guide. It was a different experience having basically a private tour, but the chick wouldn't let me slide and snap a few pics (made me a little irritated, it's not like I was going to use flash). The crypt was the most interesting part of the tour; every king and queen since I forget what year was buried beneath the building, with rows of marble coffins. The creepiness really gets to you when you're down there in the cold, circular room with a bunch of dead guys. But even more the SIX other "tomb rooms" that held the bones of all of the princes and princesses that never made it to reign. The other interesting object I liked was in the library. It was a globe sphere with rings around it that they had used to study when they believed the Earth was in the center of the universe and everything orbited around it. Hearing the side stories of the kings that lived in luxury and ruled Spain at one point made me think that even kings and queens are still human and don't have it all, no matter how much gold they have. One king thought it was best to have offspring from his bloodline only, so he married his cousin. The son turned out to be mentally retarded, and the last king of that dynasty to rule Spain, also because he didn't reproduce any heirs.
My last topic I'll discuss is the discussion I had with the aunts and parents after lunch. One summer the aunts went to America and traveled from the east to the west coast (in one month). Cristina had mentioned before that they know America from the movies they see in Spain, and that's what they picture America as. The aunts agreed and confirmed it was true, having been to NYC, Chicago, Dallas, etc. The last time Cristina had mentioned it, I Iaughed and said it wasn't true; the whole country was not what Hollywood portrayed it to be. The aunts disagreed with this, and said it was exactly what the movies showed. I tried to explain that yes, New York City looks like New York City in the films, but that it's only a small area of the country. Not every state is like that. I eventually gave up on the argument, because it's really hard to argue and back yourself up with facts in a foreign language. I guess they'll just have to come and see for themselves!