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.