We have been in Madrid for the last 3 weeks or so. I am having a great time taking Spanish classes in the afternoons. The classes are challenging and surprisingly tiring but really rewarding. I’m getting better! Best of all, I get to meet so many people from all over the world. Tunisia, China, Malaysia, Japan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Russia, Norway, Sweden, Kuwait, Germany…so many countries!

Madrid is the first city we’ve returned to–generally we like to go and see somewhere new. We came back because I really wanted to take Spanish lessons and because the Morcillos are here–you can’t find people as wonderful as they are just anywhere in the world. Besides, the city itself is perfectly sized for walking with tons of parks and museums. The archaeological museum is particularly incredible; I’ve gone back twice. Check out the fancy mystery lady below.

Last weekend we went to Toledo, a city filled with religious history and architecture. Until this past week, the weather has been amazing, so we spent the day walking around the city, visiting various churches, mosques, and synagogues. Because the history of the city is so mixed, many of these were built on top of one another.

For example, here’s the big Gothic cathedral built upon a mosque. It was huge and kind of misshapen–5 naves is a bit much–because the architects insisted upon covering the entire footprint of the former building. It took around 270 years to build.

This was in the Synagogue of El Transito. I took a couple pictures so you can get an idea of the size. It was incredibly beautiful.

Here’s another example from within the synagogue. You can see the Hebrew written up at the top, but also the influence of Arabs based on the design and symmetry.

Inside the synagogue there was also a museum to Sephardic Jews. These were the Jews that were expelled from Spain in the 15th century. Some of them went to North Africa (where they faced persecution as well) but also took up some of the customs of their new neighbors. Check out the clothing–it looks so much like what the Berbers wear in Morocco!

Here’s a picture from the inside of Mezquita-Iglesia de El Salvador. This building was first a Roman construction, then a church (I think), then a mosque, and now a church again.

Here’s a particularly beautiful cloister in Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes. You can maybe see me if you look closely.

Some Arabic influence within the cloister.

Some general pictures of Toledo and surrounding countryside.

Yesterday Garett and I went with Álvaro and Marta to Chinchón, a small village in the hills outside of Madrid, and Aranjuez, a city that contains the old springtime palace for the royal family. I hadn’t heard of either of the cities but both were very beautiful and worth visiting.

First, Chinchón. Here’s the city from a distance. Maybe you can tell that the weather was a bit shaky by the cloud cover. It was pretty chilly.

Here’s the Castillo, which is closed to the public.

We walked around a bit. It is famous for its circular main plaza with these nice wooden balconies. Here is a picture that Marta and Álvaro took of the balconies. Unfortunately, the reason the plaza is circular and has plenty of vantage points is because it’s used as a bull-fighting arena. Even if I weren’t a vegetarian, the practice wouldn’t make any sense to me.

We spent several hours eating at Jardín de la Condesa. The food was amazing and we’d recommend it to anyone visiting. This picture was taken by one of the waitresses.

The weather cleared up by the time we got to Aranjuez. We spent our time first wandering around the park, Jardín del Principe, along the Tagus River.

And then to the area around the palace. A couple of photos from Marta and Álvaro. I could be wrong, but I think the fountain depicts Ceres or Persephone.

While walking, we got to see a peacock with crazy mating form. It was insane! He was sort of dancing and he would vibrate his feathers whenever he caught sight of one of the lady-peacocks. Look at those eyes!

Finally the weather! It’s been up and down these past few days; it hailed in Madrid when I was out running on Friday. Everyone was standing in their doorways, flabbergasted. Look at this car in front of our apartment building!