My Spring Break Adventure Part 1

   MADRID

  This spring break, I got the opportunity to go to Spain and France. It was one of the, if not the, best experience of my life. I planned for this trip for over a year and I loved the whole thing!


       Our first stop was in Madrid, Spain. I liked Madrid but I liked the other spots that we went to while staying in Madrid much better than the city itself.  The two pictures below are from Madrid's Plaza Mayor (Main Plaza).

       On the first day, we also drove out to El Escorial. It was really interesting and my favorite part was seeing the tombs of all the former kings and queens of Spain. After taking AP European History, I knew a thing or two about the people buried in that room. (Unfortunately,  we were not allowed to take pictures inside but I did get some of the outside of the building.)

       Because, Spain was controlled by Muslims for so long, a lot of the architecture is influenced by that culture. 

       Our second day was also in Madrid. We started the day off with a bus tour of the city. My favorite part of that was the bull fighting arena. We were not able to see an actual fight (thankfully) but the outside of the arena was amazing!

     
       The Statues in the next two pictures are the front and back of one statue. The story goes that, there was a Matador that was a favorite during his time. During one of his fights, the bull was putting up mush more of a fight than usual but nonetheless, he still managed to kill it. When the Matador turned to the crowd to receive his praise, the bull, who was thought to be dead, stood up and killed the Matador before finally dying. So, the statue is the story of that and the back, is an angel weeping over the jacket of the Matador who was killed.

        After our bus tour, we headed out to Toledo. Toledo is a city that was built by the ancient Romans, has remained the same since and, is famous for its sword production. It was home to Muslims, Christians and Jewish cultures for a very long time. (Sorry for the greenish tint to some of the pictures, they were taken inside of our tour bus.)

TOLEDO

                                                         The river used to make swords.

                                                                      Roman Ruins

                        This is a church that we got to go into. More pictures of the inside later.

                                                                    (Oh, there's me!)

       After getting our pictures, we headed into the town. Toledo is surrounded by a huge wall and its streets are labyrinth like. This was so because, during the Roman times, the walls were needed to protect the people and keep attackers out. If, somehow attackers got in, the streets would be to confusing and cause the intruder to either get trapped or need to leave. 

                             This is where Miguel de Cervantes wrote his famous Don Quixote.

                                                           The streets were so cool!

 Because most people couldn't read when the church was built, the entire building tells a story through images. Each of the three entry ways has a different meaning that can be determined through the statues above the door.

                  Then there is the inside of the church which is even more amazing than the outside. 

                               This is the Saint that protects you on your journeys if you look at him.

       This was a rock that they claimed that the deceased Mary came down and stepped on. We were told that we could make a wish on it by touching it and that if we did it would eventually come true. My mind was still on the giant painting of the saint so I wished for safe travels.

        The next two pictures are the top and bottom of one statue. Once every year, the top part (in the      first picture) is paraded throughout the city.

        These three pictures are of a grave. Again since the people couldn't read the hat was hung above it to symbolize who was buried there.

                       The main alter of the cathedral. This is wood painted gold not actual gold.

The thing that I love about this statue is that Mary and Jesus are interacting compared to the one below it. This was the only statue of them that we saw that had that closeness that is so visible. The actually look like mother and child.

The choir room (this is where the statue two above is)

These three pictures are of a skylight like thing but it has huge statues carved up into it.

This statue was part of the inspiration for The Da Vinci Code. The statue sleeping on Jesus was thought to be Mary Magdelene but our guide explained that it was probably actually the youngest Disciple, who was a teenager. This easily explains the lack of a beard and the sleeping at such an important event.   

These next four statues were in the church and each represent a different place.

This is Europe. She is fully clothed holding the church in her hand, is surrounded by goods and is riding on horses quite majestically. 

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And this is America. Not full clothed, about to stab herself, surrounded by riches but no goods that can be sold to make a profit (i.e. clothes). Plus, we are riding on some dragon alligator lizard thing. 

This is Asia. (Not quite as entertaining and Europe vs. America)

This is Africa. (Again not quite as entertaining) 

This is a ceiling. We learned very quickly that you always needed to look up whenever you went into a new room. Practically every ceiling was decorated in some way (only in the old buildings).

That was the first two amazing days of my trip. Everything was so incredible! More to come soon!