Day 4

Yeah! I finally figured out the bugs and got it to work! Phew! Today was not nearly as eventful as yesterday, but was exciting, nonetheless. After breakfast we checked out of Hotel Opera in Madrid and loaded up the bus. Our bus driver's name is Jose-Luis, and he will be with us until Avignon when we board the TGV to Paris. He's from Mali and is very nice, but only speaks Spanish. The scenery was beautiful! There were many olive trees stressed so they would remain short, thus easier to harvest the olives. Spain is known for its olive oil as well as its oranges. We stopped along the way to use the restrooms. They were very nice at the "Quesos y Jamones." We stopped in Cuenca to view the hanging houses "las casas colgadas" and the Abstract Art Museum. You might be wondering why I took pictures of the toilets in the museum. In Europe many bathrooms are shared by both men and women. This was one of them. The urinal is located just outside the stalls. If you look in the picture of the stall you can see white in the lower right hand corner...that's the urinal! Mrs. Frank was not too fond of the idea of sharing a restroom with the menfolk so asked me to stand guard for her! lol We went to the center of the old part of Cuenca and had lunch at one of the many cafes along the street. There was a wedding going on, so we were serenaded by bagpipes during lunch! We continued on to Valencia where we checked in to this very modern, very squared hotel. It is even nicer than the last one! We then set out for the beach. We took a city bus, which cost 1,20 euros each way. The beach was so much fun! The waves were pretty high, so we went body surfing! Mrs. Frank and Guy swam farther out than anyone else. We met many friendly people, too. There was a group of gentlemen playing volleyball. Part of Guy's commentaries this morning explained that the Spanish spoken in Valencia is different than in Madrid and Barcelone. Instead of "calle" meaning street, they would say "carrer." I tried to understand those gentlemen speaking to us in the sea, but could only understand one of them, who seemed to speak a more standard Spanish. There was also a woman and her daughter from Bulgaria there on vacation. I am so impressed in general at how the participants are learning some Spanish as well as the customs here. They are frequently seen writing down key phrases here. One of the more common ones is "Vale!" That one is heard quite frequenty. It means "Okay!" After the beach we returned to the hotel (on the crowded city bus), took showers and met for dinner. This evening we had the most popular and authentic meal yet: Paella. It is made in an enormous pan. It consisted of rice, prawns, chicken, beans...I think that was most of it. Saffron is used to obtain that yellow color. We started with a salad which had not only lettuce but also beets, corn, tomatoes and tuna. After the Paella we had Valencia oranges. Yum! Since we didn't start eating until 8:30pm, we went up to our rooms to get ready for bed right after dinner. In Spain they don't typically eat dinner until around 9 or 10pm. See you tomorrow (I hope!)
Mme

Pictures for Day 3

Happy 4th of July! We had no fireworks, but we did have a great day! It began with a wonderful breakfast buffet. They had coffee (very strong, just the way I like it!), juice, bottled water, and milk to drink, and an array of amazing food to eat, including quiche and a cold pudding bread. We met after breakfast for a map lesson so participants could orient themselves for our free afternoon later in the day. Then we boarded the bus for the museum tours. We met Mati (short for Matilda) on the bus who commented on the many things by which we passed. Her commentaries were filled with historical facts as well as interesting stories about the city. We arrived at the Reina Sofia modern art museum around 10am. We weren't allowed to take any pictures inside. The main attraction was Guernica by Pablo Picasso. Mati's explanation was fascinating. Guernica is bigger than just representing the war. It represents the killing of all innocents in war. It is read from right to left. The far right depicts panic from complete destruction of the town of Guernica by Hitler. He used incendiary bombs. The deformation of the neck represents shouting to the heavens in desperation. The elongated body of the woman whose giant knee is on the ground represents the townfolk attempting to flee, but unable to do so (as shown by the large grounded knee). The open mouths are cries for help. The shout to the left of the painting is one of questioning, "Why us?" There are spears in their mouths on the left showing their desperation. He began the painting with colors but decided on black and white, showing more black than white. The black represents despair and the white hope. The symbols of hope present are the dove between the horse and the bull, the lady with the torch, and the soldier at the bottom with the flower and broken sword (signs of peace). The horse is in the shape of the cross representing Jesus crucified. He also shows signs of the stigmata (the wounds in Jesus' hands, feet and side). The light at the top is also a symbol of Christ. The lady with the baby resembles the Pieta statue of Mary holding Jesus after he died. The bull could represent the fascists attacking or Spain itself. Guernica is such a powerful piece of art to the Spaniards that they carry copies of it at demonstrations. We also saw some of Salvador Dali's works. Those were the highlights. We boarded the bus again and headed to the Prado museum. Mati gave us each individual headsets so we could hear her as she describes various works of art. The Prado is so large and always full of people that it would be next to impossible to hear her commentary without them! We went into a special Goya exhibit. There is a statue of Goya in front of the museum. We took a group picture at it's base. We also heard about Velzquez's works of art, including "Las Meninas" or "Ladies in waiting." It was actually a commission from king Phillip IV of Spain. Velazquez was his official artist. If you look closely you can see the king and queen in the mirror behind Velazquez (on the left painting the portrait). Velazquez was actually looking in a mirror as he was painting this. The princess in the the middle, with her ladies in waiting and two dwarves. The court's Public Relations man is pictured in the doorway in the background. The red cross on Velazquez's chest was added years after the original painting was finished and showed that he was knighted in the order of St. James. This painting is rated as one of the top three in the art world. We saw much more, but those were the highlights. After the two museums it was time for lunch. We split off into 3 groups and bought lunch. I apologize, but I can only really speak for my group. I believe Mrs. Frank's group did more sightseeing around town (they got to see a wedding in progress!), and Mr. Kim's and my groups bought sandwiches (except Adamm who insisted on eating sushi!) and had a picnic lunch in Retiro Park. Abby found some sights other than the park (see photos) as Alex gently (or not so gently) reminded her about her boyfriend back home! Mr. Kim's group rented some rowboats and explored the small lake in the middle of the park. My group saw them as they were feeding goldfish and crackers to the ravenous goldfish (and carp?) in the lake. Alex dubbed them cannibals because they were eating goldfish crackers! They also had to compete with the ducks! After the park we went shopping. We soon discovered that "REBAJAS" meant sales! I bought pyjamas (can you believe I forgot to pack some?!) while the girls bought dresses. We went to the department store called "El Corte Ingles" and discovered that they had 9 floors (not including the supermarket in the basement), none of which had clothes. We had to go to another "El Corte Ingles" for clothes! Ay, ay, ay! We also found some nice souvenirs near the Prado. We had a nice afternoon for exploring the city and all its wonders. The weather has been so incredibly beautiful! It was in the upper 80's, but there is very little humidity so it wasn't too bad. We all met back at the hotel around 6:45pm to head out to the Tapas bar. We first made lemonade. Participants had to cut 3-4 lemons in half then squeeze out the juice. They poured the juice in a pitcher and added 4 packets of sugar, Then they added ice and water and mixed it. It was delicious! We were told that Spanish lemons are the best in the world! lol Then we got to make three different tapas. The first was called Escalivada con anchoa. On a slice of French bread we put eggplant, red pepper, onion, anchovies, salt and pepper. I don't typically care for anchovies, but the blend of flavors was divine! Next we made Jamon Iberico. It consisted of bread, 2 slices of ham and olive oil drizzled on top. The 3rd tapa we made was called Cabrales con cebolla confitada. On the bread we placed carmelized onion then Cabrales cheese (a type of bleu cheese found in the city of Cabrales). Mrs. Frank said it smelled like dirty feet! lol I must say, though, that it was mighty tasty! After the tapas we had dinner in the same room. The first part of our dinner was Bravas, which are potatoes with a spicy sauce on top. Then we got Chistorra de Navarra, a type of Spanish sausage similar to chorizo but smaller. Next we ate Calamares, or Andalusian style breaded squid. After that we were served Morcilla de Burgos, better known as Blood Sausage. We didn't tell the participants exactly what it was at first so they could try it. Most of them at least tried it, but few enjoyed it. Then we told them what it was and they didn't believe us! It is grilled blood and rice. Then we ate Croquetas de jamon, a fried puff pastry with ham, which went over much better than the blood sausage (as you can tell in the picture!). For dessert we had Tarta selva negra. It's a kind of chocolate cake that was very light and fluffy. After graciously thanking our hosts we walked by the Palacio Real. There are a series of free concerts there in celebration of their bi-centennial since the French invasion. This evening there was a violinist and his crew. His name is Lucio Dalla. Some stayed with Guy to listen to the concert, others returned to the hotel (including me so I could begin this blog! lol) and the rest went with Mr. Kim to the "Chocolateria San Gines" for "churros y chocolate." We had churros for breakfast, too, but without the chocolate. It's a long, thin fried doughnut type thing that you dip in chocolate. Guy tells us you can find the best churros in Madrid, so they didn't want to pass that up! After that full day would you believe we were all in our rooms by 10pm? We need to pack up and rest up, because we rise nice and early tomorrow for our trip to Valencia! Hasta manana! (It's driving me nuts that I can't do accent marks on this laptop! Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can do that? Marty?)

Mme

P.S. Good news! Both errant bags have returned safely to us! No more worries, Fettys

Having Blog issues! Argh!

I had an awesome blog done but it won't post, so this is a test. I will continue to try to get it up and running. Thank you for your patience!
Mme