End of Week 1
Things are happening people. I'm no fluent Spaniard, but I'm improving little by little.
We've gone to two different parks so far: Retiro and Oeste, and I think I'm going to make Retiro my new "place." It's 350 acres of doggos, green space, and good eats. I've had calamari with inky-black onion mayo (don't knock it until you've tried it and have black teeth). We've seen three rose gardens, and let me tell you: A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but these babies are FRAGRANT. As in Marc Jacobs 34, wear to your wedding, fragrant. (Does Marc Jacobs number his perfumes? idk I'm a TJ Maxx perfume kinda gal)
We watched the Real Madrid game in a bar big enough for 40 people, in which we squeezed 60, but it was really cool to watch the games in a bar full of people who treat futbol like a religion- I think most of them there were Atletico Madrid fans, however...
Yesterday Shelby and I went to la Plaza de Toros- where come this weekend, there will be bull fights and la Corrida del Toros (the running of the bulls). As we circled the stadium in the rain, I caught a lil smelly smell that smelled.....smelly. "It smells like Mercer County over here." Sure enough, we saw a truck trailer move back and forth, and we had found the unlucky bull of the week. We wished him luck, tried to forget about his probably impending death (the bull fights really suck, fam. not a fan.), and carried on. We hopped on the Metro and decided to get off at a random stop. We had selected Cuzco, because of the Emperor's New Groove, but got of a stop early. We were shocked to walk out and be standing in front of the Real Madrid stadium! Not as beautiful as I hoped, but I would love to experience the place on game day.
We also had the finest churros con chocolate that Spain has to offer- San Gines. I expected outrageous prices and a long wait, but we were in and out in 10 minutes with only 2 euros spent each ($2.20 USD). Muy deliciosos.
Today we visited Toledo (rhymes with tomato), and HOLY TOLEDO that place is impressive. It's kind of what I would picture when I pictured Spain. We explored the land of the three cultures, where Judaism, Muslim, and Christianity live in "relative harmony." The cathedral that we saw was unbelievable. All of the art and the detail into these old old churches that took hundreds of years to construct took my breath away- you can see the transformation of art styles through the years as they were built. Incredible. I had "Smashed eggs with diced deer," which was just eggs and chorizo on top of french fries and very delicious. Something I've noticed here is that you typically pay more for food that comes in smaller portions, but it's delicious, so I'm not complaining (much.) Also, alcohol is basically free. As I speak I am sipping some red wine, of which I got the bottle around the block for less than $2 USD. Buenisimo.
I can feel my Spanish improving. I know I'm getting better, I just need to take the initiative to get over my fear of making mistakes and actually speak more. I like to think things out before I say them, and usually by then, the conversation has moved on. But I'm learning. And I'm loving. One week down, five to go, and I can't wait to see what Spain has to offer.
