I seem to have left out a few things!

We do so many things that sometimes I forget a few! So let me back up to last week when we went to do a little rowboating on the Estanque at the Parque Real de Buen Retiro! Given all this hot weather, I thought it would be fun to spend an hour or so on the water so off we went to hire rowboats. Everyone took his turn rowing - except me, of course! I was busy taking photos of all the boys working so hard, haha! The water is about 2 metres deep, kind of gross, but there are plenty of fish (carp, I think) jumping and splashing around. It was hot out there on the water, but as usual, the guys organized a soccer game afterwards. Go figure.

On Friday afternoon, we visited the House and Museum of Joaquin Sorolla - a 20th century Spanish painter who is famous for his beach scenes containing bright colours $ light and for his wonderful paintings of his wife and family. He has particular ties to CT inasmuch as his patron was Archer Huntington, founder of the Hispanic American Society in New York. Equally well known is his wife, Anna Hyatt Huntington, American sculptress. Some of her very famous work is here in Spain, particularly in Valencia where there is a spectacular sculpture of El Cid. Anyhow, the Huntingtons had a house and substantial lang holdings in Redding, CT which they donated to the State to be used as a State Park. (Huntington Park)

Sorolla´s museum is one of the few where you can take all the photos you want (sin flash!) and so the boys snapped away! Many of them have little or know knowledge of art and therefore little interest. However, I dare to say that while I may not make art aficionados out of them, they will at least have gained a little knowledge and a better understanding of art - heaven knows I´ve dragged them to enough museums -and they´re not done yet!

On Monday we went to the Reina Sofia Museum, a former palace turned hospital turned art gallery that houses Spanish art from the 19th century on - or the Spanish modernist art. Some of the artists included are Miró, Picasso, Dalí and a little of Goya (his modernist style work). The centerpiece of the museum is Picasso´s Guernica - his condemnation of the horrors of the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) Painted in blacks and whites, this massive work represents the bombing of the small Basque village of the same name.
Later that evening, I took the boys out for tapas in the Cuevas - the subterranean restaurants beneath the Plaza Mayor. This isn´t the most gastronomically adventerous group Ive ever had, but they did try (and like, I think!) a few local specialties such as Pimientos al Padrón, queso Manchego and chorizo.
Tuesday we went walking along the Manzanares River in Madrid checking out the new Madrid Rio - river walk. Construction has only recently been completed, so the trees are young and small and dont ýet provide too much shade. I actually read in the paper yesterday that the first kiosk has been approved in the area - soon one will be able to buy water! It is truly a lovely walk, nearly 30 km in its entirety including space for bicycles, playgrounds for children, picnic areas, numerous bridges and spectacular views of the city from a vantage point previously virtually unreachable.
On Wednesday, we spent the afternoon at the Zoo - it´s rather expensive, but a place where we spent about 6 hours. They have a huge variety of animals in a very environmentally friendly habitat. You can get really close to the animals and there are also a number of shows, birds of prey, sea lions, dolphins, etc. Once again, lots of great photo ops!
Today we are going to the Teatro Real - the boys are thrilled (Not!) because as usual, I¨m dragging them to a "cultural" event when they´d rather be doing.... well, just about anything else! (especially if it pertains to a soccer ball or food. However, I´ve told them that they are guinea pigs - I´ve heard the theatre is a spectacular place to visit and I´ve never been.... so they get to go so I can see it! There is a method to my madness.
It is hard to believe we are nearly finished in Madrid. The next couple of days will be a flurry of "finishing up" activities and making sure everything fits in suitcases.

where does the time go??

During the last week we have had a huge influx of American students - more than 100 - and it has been very busy trying to get on to a computer for an extended time to write! Not to mention the fact that we are tremendously busy! So - let me try to recap the past week.

On Wednesday we had a tour of the Royal Palace of Madrid. Built in the 18th century by Felipe V after the original Alcazar was destroyed by fire, it is modeled after the Palace at Versailles. Containing more than 2800 rooms I would love to have had a picture of the boys´faces when I told them we were going to see all of them! However, since the palace is not the royal residence (that is El Palacio de la Zarzuela, outside Madrid) and is only used for State functions (dinners, meetings, business, etc) there are about 30 rooms open to the public. Unfortunately, as in many palaces and formal sites in Spain, no photos are allowed. I have suggested to the guys that they buy a book about Madrid, most of which contain all the explanations of the places we have visited including many great professional photos.

While they were all reluctant and assured me that they were going to play a fierce game of futbol and sprain BOTH ankles so that dancing was impossible, I promised that even with a broken leg, they would be able to participate in the flamenco dancing lessons scheduled for Friday. And despite their best efforts, they all did participate - occasionally looking a little funny as they attempted to imitate the teachers graceful moves. They learn a few steps, a turn or two - and just when they thought they had it mastered, the teacher included some hand movements! I don´t know that any of them will be joining a flamenco tableau any time soon, but they did get a taste of the complexities of the art - and when we go to the flamenco show in Granada on the last night, hopefully they will have a better appreciation of both the music and dance they are watching.

On Sunday, we left the city early for Segovia, a beautiful ancient town about an hour to the north of Madrid. There we visited the Alcazar (the moorish name given to a building that is both a palace and a fortress)which was used by Walt Disney as the model for his Disneyland (California) castle. It comes complete with a moat, drawbridge, dungeon and tower to climb. It was here that Isabel la Catolica was when she received news that her father had died and was crowned Queen of Castilla and Leon, and presumeably here where she and Fernando received Columbus when he petitioned them for the funds for his explorations. Ideally situated where two rivers meet, the murallas (exterior fortressed walls) of the Alcazar form a high cliff that provides a perfect view across the plain to ward off virtually any attacking army.
Segovia´s most important and most recognizeable monument is the 2000 year old roman aqueduct - 100 feet high at it´s highest point and constructed of 168 dry arches. It was built to bring water to Segovia from approximately 30 km away in the Guadarrama mountains and was used into the 1980´s at which point it was shut down not because it no longer functioned, but rather because the open top allowed animals, birds and ambient contamination to infiltrate the water supply. To date, the aqueduct still can bring water on a gravity feed from the mountains to the city at an approximate grade of 1 inch per km. It is a dry structure, built with granite blocks cut from the local mountains, stacked dry (no sand, concrete or mortar) and formed with a keystone to form the arches. While it did undergo a rennovation in the 18th century, it still stands today as it has since the Romans built it in the first century AD. It´s pretty cool.

The final great structure in Segovia is the late gothic Cathedral. While not nearly as large as the others we have seen and shall see (Toledo and Sevilla, respectively) it is a beautiful gothic edifice, begun about 1560 and finished in 1780. The inside is rather austere by comparison to others, but still contains 24 fabulous chapels and a magnificent choir in the center as is typical of all Spanish cathedrals.

Sunday is just as busy as the rest of the week - the boys keep telling me they need a "day of rest" and I tell them they can rest when they go home! We started our morning at the Rastro - our last visit as this was our last weekend in Madrid. We followed that with a visit to the bullfighting museum which is a free,little museum tucked into the back of the Mudejar Bullring at Ventas. There, in addition to numerous mounted heads of bulls, swords of famous torreros, trajes de luz (the complete outfit worn by torreros), capes and other accouterment, is the complete set of Goya´s Tauromaquia - his 30 odd etchings dedicated to the art of the Corrida de Toros - Bullfighting. We also got a look at the horses used during the bullfight and the armour they wear to protect them from the horns of the bulls.
I gave the boys time for siesta - which they used to go swimming - and we met later in the evening for the Corrida. I gave them a quick, half hour overview on the proceedings they were about to witness and let them know that if they wanted to leave at any point, they could. The Corrida was Novilleros - young torreros (19, 20, 24 yrs) and smaller bulls (about 498 - 550 kgs) so not the best, but it was quite well attended and provided quite a spectacle. I´ll leave it to the students to give their personal perspectives. Some "enjoyed" it, others, not so much as is to be expected. While I like the pageantry, culture and tradition, the Corrida is not something I can actually say that I "like". It is a culturally significant spectacle, begun by the Roman Emperors in Spain so it has a long and important history. And it is a significant business.

hot, Hot, HOT!!!!!!!!!

40 degrees.....x 1.8 + 32 = 104F Even for Madrid in summer, this is unusual. Usually this kind of heat does not arrive until the end of July or beginning of August. The Sirrocco wind is blowing off the Sahara Desert and has arrived here with a vengeance! The good news is that it comes without humidity or it would truly be unbearable.
Friday afternoon we spent at another location of International House where Spanish students study English. We had an "intercambio" or language exchange where our kids got to meet and chat with Spanish students of the same age. When we were finished, they had a few minutes of free conversation (as opposed to the initial ´guided´conversation) and immediately became facebook friends! Ya gotta laugh. Most of Friday evening I spent in the Emergency Room - don´t worry, if you haven´t already heard about it, it wasn´t your son! This group plays futbol as if every game were the World Cup final. I´m thinking I may have to ban the futbol games.... I´m getting nervous about the cuts, scrapes, sprains, twists... not to mention the fact that they seem enamoured of playing in 100 degree heat! Who knew that 9 kids and a soccer ball could wreak so much havoc?????
On Saturday, we had our big excursion to Toledo. Due to the fact that it was naturally protected on three sides by the Tajo river and therefore easy to defend, it was the natural capital of Spain in the middle ages. One of the things of which Spain is most proud is it´s history of the relatively peaceful (or at least mostly tolerant) co-existence of the three important cultures, Muslim, Christian and Jewish. The significant influences of each are clearly evident in Toledo with it´s preponderance of Mudejar styles, 2nd largest Gothic Cathedral in the world and important synagogue and collection of midieval jewish artifacts. Oh yeah, and swords. While we toured the magnificent Cathedral with its unique transparente, and meandered the narrow streets designed to keep out the heat, but also because within the murallas of the city there was only limited space and so it was used for buildings not for wide streets, visited the exceptionally beautiful Jesuit Church of San Ildefonso and explored the shops, the jewish museum and viewed the magnificent masterpiece of El Greco, all the boys could think about was buying swords. So finally I took them to a shop and turned them loose - and all their long, tired faces turned into excited grins as they feigned sword fights and made their selections according to their favourite historical or film characters. While even today, moviemakers come to Toledo to have the swords made for their movie sets (since we don´t have too much need for actual battle swords anymore, thank goodness) there actually IS more to see there than the inside of the sword shops. But I don´t think the boys noticed....
On Sunday - after all the walking on Saturday- we had a light day. After the Rastro (flea market) in the morning, I took them to a beautiful 18th Century park designed by the Duchess of Osuna. I wanted them to see all the lovely 18C buildings, trees and spectacularly designed gardens, but they elected to sit under a tree rather than walk around with me.... I was disappointed. It was a spectacularly beautiful park and all designed and built before America was even a country!
The Feast of Corpus Christi is a huge one in Spain and on Sunday evening, there was a Mass at the Cathedral of the Alumdena followed by a procession through the streets culminating with the massive monstrance holding the Host. We had a front row view, just at the beginning of the procession and got spectacular photos of all the groups who are members of the Cathedral association in their traditional attire. It is something that the boys are unlikely to see anywhere in the States, so I thought it was important for them to see it.
We started off our third week with a free day - they went swimming to beat the oppressive heat, but the rest of our week is very busy - filled with activities. Hard to believe we are only two weeks from home.

End of week 2

Wednesday afternoon after classes proved, as always, to be one of the highlights of the trip for the boys. We visited Santiago Bernabeu, the 85,000 seat stadium and home of the Real Madrid football team. We started out in the "vomitorio", aptly named in the top of the stadium and worked our day down and around ending up in the team store. On the way down, we stopped at various levels, eventually arriving out on the field level (they can´t go out on the turf) and getting a chance to relax in the seats of the teams - soft, blue leather - really comfy! A short trip through the dressing room, shower, jaccuzzi and massage area and out to the store which contains every imaginable item containing the team logo! This year new additions were computer accessories - mouse pads, cases, wrist pads... you name it! I would never even think of all the items they have in which they put the team logo! It is crazy.
Additionally, we get to pass through the press room - always a favourite, where the group can comment on the day´s activities. It always makes for a great photo op!

Thursday was the feast of Corpus Christi - no school, so we went out to Alcalá de Henares, a town about 30 minutes outside Madrid by train that has the original University founded by Cardinal Cisneros in 1499. It is in restoration and so we got a great tour, albeit in Castellano, by a student who imparted SO much interesting information. Some of it was lost on the boys, but I went back and explained afterwards. So much of what they see ties together, it is important to make the connections. When we go to Toledo on Saturday, we will see the sepulcro of Cardenal Cisneros, who was the Archbishop of Toledo (which was the Capital of Spain), personal confessor to Isabella la Catolica and initiator of the Spanish Inquisition. The university at Alcala was eventually moved to Madrid where it became the Univerisidad Complutense - the university I attended when I studied in Madrid. Alcala is again a University today with about 1500 faculty and 25,000 students in total. Some of its more famous students were Lope de Vega, Miguel de Cervantes and Ignatius Loyola.
From the University, we walked through midieval streets to the Puerta de Madrid - the gate from the city on the road to Madrid (in Madrid we have seen the Puerta de Alcalá, also built by Carles III) and examined the midieval walls (murrallas) of the ancient city. we visited the house where Miguel de Cervantes (author of El Ingenioso Hildago Don Quijote de la Mancha) was born and saw a number of original manuscripts and first editions from the 16th century. Very cool. We had lunch, and then shortly returned to the train for the journey back to Madrid where they all immediately fell asleep. They tell me I´m mean and unfeeling because I won´t let them sit and rest or go home and sleep. I´m trying to get them to sleep at night(doesn´t seem to be working) - there are too many things to do and see to sleep during the day! They have actually realized how quickly the time passes - they ca´´t believe that there only are two weeks left in Madrid.


For the Feast of San Juan (today) there are crazy celebrations of jumping over fires - I took them out looking for the fiesta last night - but later heard that they had been curtailed due to injuries. Needless to say, I wasn´t going to allow the boys to jump over the fires, just watch! But instead, they decided they wanted to try some authentic Spanish food - so when we saw a pizza place they immediately wanted to stop. hmmmmmmmmm
Mañana, another long day - we travel south into La Mancha to visit the ancient capital of the country, Toledo (not to be confused with Toledo, Ohio), where we will spend the day exploring an authentic, midieval fortressed city - home of the factories of the best swords ever made. Uh oh.

Beginning a new week

Back to class on Monday with new students in many of the classes. During the summer, every Monday has new students who are beginning a course. As we progress through there will be more and more students from different countries. After lunch and before our walking tour of Madrid of the Austrians, I took the boys to Chueca, a newly updated and trendy part of the city near the school. There we explored an upscale market where you can buy your meat or fish at the market on the first level and take it up to the restaurant on the third level to have the chef cook it to your desired perfection. Very cool.

Part of our walk through Madrid of the Austrians or Old Madrid from the time of the Austrian Kings was to visit the Casa Botín, noted in the Guinness Book of Records as the world´s oldest restaurant. In fact, it was founded in 1725 and has been a restaurant without ceasing since that time. Inside, you can see part of the old Christian wall of the city. It is very famous, very small and one of the many places in the city that Hemingway frequented. It´s specialty is cuchinillo asado, roast suckling pig - a regional delicacy, but something that most of the boys said they were reluctant to try. haha
We meandered through the oldest street in the city, passed by the oldest building with its moorish style horseshoe arches and saw the original town hall. I think at times the concept of buildings from the 13th and 14th century is lost on the boys. But they´re taking a ton of pictures!
Tuesday brought us to the Botanical Gardens near the Prado Museum. They are beautiful cultivated gardens containing thousands of species including cacti, tropical plants and more than 100 bonsai specimens from the collection of one of the former presidents who donated his entire collection to the garden upon his death. They are fascinating, some are individual trees, but others are like little forests containing trees and rocks. They are very cool.

Busy weekend......

Apparently before we arrived, Madrid was cool with lots of rain. Not so now! It has been hot, Hot HOT!!! Temps hovering around the mid to upper 30´s (celsius) and it may reach 40 any day now. Fortunately there is no humidity.....

Our Thursday afternoon activity was a visit to the Museum of Romanticism. It is a house that is furnished with the paintings, furniture, toys, everything pertaining to the Romantic Period of the late 18th and into the 19th century. They enjoy it alot because it is one of the few museums where they can take all the photos they want. And, at the end is a room with some interactive computers that they can play with. That always gets their attention.

Thursday night I took the boys out to try paella. Some liked it, some didn´t. We tried two kinds (there are many), one with chorizo and chichen and the other with seafood. It´s important to have fresh paella - not the kind that was made earlier (maybe yesterday) and has been sitting around awhile. We´ve also discovered Cien Montaditos - a place that has 100 different kinds of sandwiches - each for about €1.20. They are getting more adventuresome in their selections I´m happy to say. There used to be only one of these wonderful little shops in Madrid near Sol, but this year we have seen at least 5 scattered around the city (despite the ´crisis´) and there is even one just around the corner from International House.

Friday our after school activity was a movie,Pan´s Labyrinth about the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War. Then, the boys have gotten a soccer ball and enjoy going to the park to play. So while they tell me it is too hot to walk around and see things in the city, it isn´t too hot to go play soccer. Go figure.

On Saturday we met at school early to go to San Lorenzo del Escorial, a small town about 45 minutes outside Madrid by bus in the Guardarama Mountains. It is a monastery, basilica, school, library, palace, art gallery and the burial place of nearly all the kings and queens of Spain. Built in the 16th century by Felipe II, it is an imposing granite structure three times the size of Bernabeu football stadium in Madrid (which holds more than 70,000 people). We had lunch in a cafe and then were fortunate to get a guided tour. When we arrived at the Basilica part, there was a wedding on and the boys got photographs - I think they were pretending to be the press. They asked lots of questions about the Pantheon, which is one of the most fascinating places they will see. We can tell them all day about the succession of the Spanish monarchy, but to see all the kings and queens interred there in the actual succession of their respective reigns makes it all very real for them. And of course, they have never seen anything even remotely like the Pantheon. We don´t always get to go into it so this visit was quite special. No photos are allowed, so I cannot post any here. But Dan Sullivan got one - just before the guard threatened to take his camera away if he took any more photos!

Due to the fact that the constant flash damages the frescoes and valuable artwork in most places in Spain and that people have ignored the "no flash" requirement, you are not allowed to take any photos in any of the great buildings or monuments any more. There are signs everywhere and the kids have noticed how many people actually ignore the signs and take photos with flash anyway!!!! So they have gotten very funny about walking around saying "No fotos aqui, No fotos aqui!" But they get it. On Saturday night, after returning from the Escorial, they decided they were going to the "Disco Lite". The dance clubs in Spain are open from 11:30 pm to aabout 4:30 am. However, on Saturday evening, from 5:30 to 10:30, they have disco lite - the clubs are open to younger people, ages 14 -17 and serve no alcohol. They are very strict about age requirements and the students must show their passports. So off they went and had a ball - even the nay sayers who had to be convinced to go are happy they went!

On Sunday morning, we met early and went to the Rastro, the famous outdoor market near metro La Latina. They got to buy some gifts for family and friends and just get a look at all the stuff available. Later we had a cafe con leche, I took them to the beautiful 14th century Church of Santiago and San Juan and then we went to Retiro Park to see the phenomenal gardens and the "pavoreales" (peacocks) that wander around the gardens. The days have been very hot and so the boys decided that after having their main meal of the day at home, that they wanted to go swimming and so I gave them the rest of the day free.

A special treat!

Our after school cultural activity on Wednesday was a walk down the Paseo de la Castellana and the Paseo del Prado to the train station, Atocha. Called, Madrid de los Borbones, it highlighted the arrival of Carlos III, the first of the Burbon kings (who still rule Spain today). We got a chance to see and learn about the beautiful fountains, Cibeles, Apollo and Neptune and examine the beautiful buildings that line the grand avenues.

For many years the Palacio de Cibeles has been used as a Communications Center and Post Office. Recently however, for the past 5 years it has been undergoing a major cleaning and rennovation and will shortly become the center for the government of Madrid. At the moment, however, it is upen to the public and we had the chance to go in, have a tour and go up to the terrace on the top floor. What a fantastic panoramic view of the entire city! This is the first time ever we have been able to go up in it - a really special treat for the kids. (and me!) The view was really spectacular.

We continued our stroll down the Paseo, past the Museo del Prado which we will visit one day next week, past the Botanic gardens and down to Atocha were we went in to see the tropical gardens inside with it´s thousands of turtles. It is one of the hidden wonders of the city!