I traveled over 4000 miles just to visit Toledo

Editor Note: This took place on January 27
Holy Toledo!
No, not that Toledo.

Toledo, Spain is one of the most historic cities in the world, with some buildings and relics dating back over 1000 years. Located only 50 miles from Madrid, a visit there is almost perfect for a short day trip.
To simplify things for myself, the transportation and tours were arranged by the ERASMUS group at my university. From what I can tell, ERASMUS is a foreign exchange program for students in the EU. They get funding from the European governments and even offer travel scholarships to students from the EU. Even though not from the EU, they offer their programs to students from the United States.
Starting off Sunday morning, the meeting point for the traveling group was the Atocha train station. Atocha is the main train station for Madrid and where the high-speed rail departs for longer distance trips. For me, getting from the university to the station is a 5 minute metro ride and a 30 minute light-rail ride. All in all, it takes over 40 minutes.
That morning, breakfast service in the dorms did not begin until 9:00 on the weekend. With the group departing for Toledo at 9:30, I could not get breakfast in time to depart. Low on resources, I finished a quarter package of rice cakes I bought earlier and ate one of my few remaining Clif bars.
Meeting up with some Canadian students coincidentally at the metro, we traveled to the train station but just missed the first train, needing to wait another 8 minutes. Thankfully, the train moved quickly and we arrived at Atocha by just before 9:30.
Two buses were allocated to transport around 50 students. Three student organizers from ESN (ERASMUS Student Network) were in charge of filling the buses. Naturally, this process took around 20 minutes as the students went through every name pronunciation possible for the students on the list. The way they pronounced my name, you would think I was German.
Finally on the bus, I got a window seat and waited as the bus filled. At random, a girl from New Zealand sat next to me. Throughout the 35 min ish drive to Toledo, we talked about the USA and New Zealand. Coincidentally  she had a brother studying at the same university as another friend of mine from the USA. We then started making arrangements for the two to know each other. It must really be a small world!
Looking out the window on the gray day, the Madrid countryside consisted of rolling hills of desert-like terrain  Still, more interesting than Indiana.
The city is on a plateau bordered by a river except on its north side. We arrived at the city on ground level at the main gate. There, we were joined in the bus by a tour guide. We then drove around the city on the opposite side of the river. The views were incredible.

The majority of the history lesson offered by the tour guide was boring and forgettable. An interesting fact was how the three major religions of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all coexisted peacefully for many years in the city during tumultuous times between the religions elsewhere. 

Continuing the drive, we were informed of an ammunition factory located very near to the city; we also noticed how no homes were built near the factory. 

Returning to the city gates and disembarking, we took a series of escalators up to the city plateau. Funny: modern escalators built into the hillside of one of the oldest cities in the world. 

The subsequent tour of the city was rather bland. Every other building was some famous church. Pro tip: every building you see in the city is/was a church or convent. 

Progressing, interest level among the other students decreased to almost zero as lunchtime approached. On the bus, we were promised an authentic paella lunch for only six euro. Soon, everyone was asking where the paella was. My attention turned to talking with other students, meeting some from Canada, Finland, Poland, and some other Americans. 

Stumbling through some more famous churches/convents/Jewish temples, this starving band of students finally arrived at the lunch location. Much to their credit, feeding 60 starving students was easier than expected. Maybe the free sangria and beer helped....

After more than a hour for lunch, we were allowed to tour the city on our own. Teaming up with some Canadians  we first proceed to the famous Cathedral of Toledo. Beyond it being old, it is also very beautiful. 

Entrance to the Cathedral cost around 10 eur. Not wanting to spend too much on the visit, we decided to skip the inside and perhaps return closer to closing.

Our next destination was the Alcazar, the iconic four-tower building that hosts the Spanish war museum. In the process, we got lost wandering through the maze of streets. All of the buildings are iconic to the city style. Not knowing, you could easily believe each home was some famous building. It was almost nice getting lost in the city and seeing these different parts.

Finally arriving at the museum, we were pleased to know it was free today. The museum has two buildings, both connected. The first serves as a protective shelter for the old foundation of the Alcazar (Arabic for castle).

 The other building is the Alcazar, which houses the majority of the war museum. Here, we decided to separate and see different parts of the museum. I powered through a few of the exhibits until I came to the plaza of the museum. There, I noticed it was raining.

The museum closed at 5:00 and I was kicked out with everyone else. Still separated from my friends, and with an hour left before the bus departed, I decided to wander for just a little longer.

As promised (to myself), I returned to the Cathedral and entered through the public viewing section for free. The beauty of the Cathedral was easy to notice. I almost wish I had paid for the entry. Oh well; there will be more interesting sights along my journey.

Wandering to a few dead ends and gradually making my way to the city gates (and the buses), I passed one more famous location and could not pass this up. La Mezquita Cristo de la Luz (Mosque of Christ the Light) is an old Mosque adorned with frescoes of Christ and other Christian images. I believe it was worth the 2.50 eur entry fee. It is very interesting how such conflicting images are present in this Mosque. Perhaps it reflects on how easily the two religions can coexist in close proximity.

Just outside was a pleasant garden. It looked nice, even against the gray skies.

With minutes to spare before the buses departed, I returned to the city gates, boarded the bus, and fell asleep for the return to Madrid after a long day.

To close, here is a picture of me and Don Quixote, the famous novel character from La Mancha region of Spain (near Toledo).

New pictures and a few tapas for your thoghts.

So I finally got around to updating the background photo on my blog.

The picture is the main gates to Universidad Carlos III, my university in Spain.

I've had a hard time getting photos onto my computer for uploading. Probably, I will update my old blog posts to include photos.

Some tapas from today and yesterday.

Apartment search is going slowly. Need to look at more places.

I went back to one restaurant near the dorms last night for dinner. The first time was my second day where I ordered churros and chocolate with Bobby. One waiter there spoke English well, so we mixed our conversations. Returning, I asked for some dinner options, ordered a chorizo sandwich and egg tapa, with a beer. We talked about a few things. Originally from Mexico, he finds Spain Spainsh faster and harder to understand compared to Mexican Spanish. Same for American English to English English. It took him almost 6 months to fully understand the locals even with a fluent commas of the language already. Doing my best to converse in Spanish, he commented my grammar was very good and that I should have little trouble adapting to the language. He also mentioned the prevalence of English in other European countries, so I should not have too much difficulty there. Finally, he said to explore as much as possible before returning to the USA? I could not agree more!

Did laundry this morning (exciting, no?). The washing machines are all HE, but there is one dryer made in the U.S. Hey, when the instructions are in English, I'm going to use it. For your enjoyment, here is a picture of the laundry room.

El Clasico

Some call it the best soccer match in the world. Real Madrid and Barcelona. A rivalry steeped in tradition and passion. The 'establishment' Madrid and the homegrown Barcelona. Complete opposites in almost every way.
Having the opportunity to attend was almost too good to pass up. Unfortunately, I made some mistakes along the way.
I began the day by traveling almost an hour to the Real Madrid stadium, the Santiago Bernabeu. There, buying a ticket was actually easy. Having encountered many difficulties attempting to buy tickets online, I bought a single ticket for myself in the same section as my friends who had purchased earlier.
After my one class of the day, I went to Sol to meet my friends and get a quick dinner. I left early for the stadium with some roommates of my friends.
We arrived at the stadium an hour early. Even then, the streets were almost packed with people. I felt a little empty with only my Spain national team jersey on, so I went street vendor shopping. Having looked over the selection of soccer scarves at many legitimate stores in the city, the quality of items sold by the vendors is not the worst, though a little overpriced for the convenience. The selection was expansive, but one scarf caught my eye in particular. I had to get it for 10 eur.
Because we entered at different doors, I went off on my own.
Entering the stadium, the size of the facility is impossible to describe in words. The overhead lights and small groups already chanting created an atmosphere I have never seen before.
I proceeded to tour the stadium before the start of the match. Navigating the stadium is a nightmare. There is no central concourse and the stairs go in every direction. Part of me wanted to find a store in the stadium to look for other items. My tour took me to every part of the stadium: the middle field seats, the rafters, and the pitch side seats. I watched from the ground level as Real Madrid entered for warmups to cheering from the half filled stadium. Later, Barcelona entered to many jeers and shouts of 'Puta!' from the supporters near me. People with large signs and in costumes appeared to draw the attention of the media near the player entrance.
With half an hour left until kick off, I attempted to make my back to my seat. In the process, i was sidetracked by a number of security guards who pointed me to an exit. I asked a security guard, in Spanish, if it was possible to enter the stadium again. From my knowledge, he said that I had two chances to enter. Accepting his word, I exited and made my way in the streets to my gate.
I've seen celebration parades and tailgates, but nothing compares with the mass of people all trying to enter the stadium or drink in the streets. You had to slog through piles of empty cups/bottles while dodging people.
Returning to my gate, I could not get back in! Oh my! I paid 95 eur to see the greatest sporting event in the world, only to buy a worthless ticket!
Nevertheless, I near ran back to the ticket office and asked if I could purchase the ticket again. While I could not, I would be able to re-enter at halftime. Phew....
I meandered through the streets, looking at other street vendors, until I saw a small crowd gathered in front of a restaurant window watching the game through the glass. I spent the next 40 minutes here. I did have a chance to talk with some of the fellow spectators, like making sure I knew player names. Some drunken old men also paid a visit, cracking bad Spanish jokes and laughing a terribly squeaky laugh.
Even by true fanatic standards  the first half was boring. Beyond a few minor altercations and some yellow cards, the only thing of note was a goal line clearance that prevented a Barcelona goal.
I counted down the seconds to get back inside.
Finally entering the stadium, the second half was a near blur. All of the emotion of the game was hard to take in all at once. For starters, this is the first 'good' soccer game I had ever seen (sorry MLS and Fire games). It was hard to believe I was watching some of the greatest players ever: Messi, Iniesta, Ronaldo...! I really did not know what to expect.
I am familiar with a few strong sport rivalries from the United States, but nothing really compares to the raw hate between these teams. You can probably find articles describing the historic and political significance of these teams playing each other.
Barcelona supporters were sitting in the stadium's upper tier. I can only imagine what some of their chants meant; probably a few in support of Catalonia independence. Madrid supporters were on the baseline. Every now and then they would start chanting against the government.

For the actual game, Barcelona scored first and Real Madrid scored with 15 minutes left to tie the game.
The game was really dramatic, even if for only the second half!
What was equally interesting is what happened to my friends who decided to wear Barcelona jerseys to the game. Not only were they taunted by the fans, they were kicked, punched in the face, spat in the face, and even urinated on. Together, we were kicked out of the stadium because they were taking pictures of themselves celebrating.

Overall, an amazing experience I would probably appreciate more a second time around.
I can now say I've been to 'El Clasico!'

I've been bad...

... At keeping this blog updated. Things have been crazy-busy between classes, time with friends, and apartment searching.
To keep things interesting, here is a picture of the famous 'gato gordo del jardín' at my dorm.

Daily Tapas Vol. 2

A recap of the last two days.

Today, had a nice late start to the day. More on that later.

Ate lunch in the Plaza Mayor. Not wanting to pay for a long sit down meal, I bought some empanadas at the San Miguel market and ate them on a bench in the square. Now that I think about it, probably overpaid on the food.

Watching the street performers in the square (and Sol) is interesting. Today, there was a headless man, three headed box, fat spiderman, several human statues, a variety of Disney characters in soccer gear, spongebob, and a guy holding another guy on a stand.

Back in Leganes, I wanted to visit the stadium for CD (club deportivo) Leganes, the local soccer club. I went in the evening because their team store is only open then. CD Leganes competes in the third division of Spanish soccer; the famous clubs like Real and Barcelona compete in the first division. So, they are a minor league team. The stadium is located in a more residential suburb of Leganes; my university is more downtown.

Outside of the stadium are public soccer fields. There were several youth soccer players practicing, I believe, before a match. They all wore jerseys matching the logos of the pro team, who sponsors them (except the other team). Closer to the stadium, the pro team was practicing in front of some casual spectators. I was able to gleam some ideas about soccer in Spain from this; probably enough for a separate article.

At the stadium, the ground was completely open. I walked around the stands for a little bit. Finally, I bought a team sweatshirt at the store for 10 eur, a good price for the item I know.

A note on Spanish drivers: some of the nicest I have encountered. At a crosswalk, if you are waiting to cross, the first car that sees you will always stop. Even if going full speed, the first car not already in the crosswalk will stop for you. Even for only one person. Some cars were going 60 km/hrs (do the math) and stopped for me. I have never had to wait more than a few seconds to cross an open crosswalk (ie not with a controlled crossing light).

Funny thing: all of the stop signs read 'STOP'.

You might wonder why I got such a late start to the day. Well, I went to my first techno club the night before. In Spain, you start clubing only after midnight. We finished after 6:00 am, when the first metro trains opened. It was really fun. Really fun. Really fun.

Side note, I love the 24 hour clock system. I have used it for several years on my watch.

Daily Tapas Vol. 1

I am thinking about starting a new feature on the blog: Daily Tapas. This is where I can write about the events that happened recently without a huge amount of detail. Just a way of getting all of my thoughts down in a quick manner! Short bites of my life in Spain, just like tapas!

Let's begin.

Day 4:

Finally got my meal card after the third time being told I had the wrong card (room card, student card). Now I can go get breakfast without looking like a total idiot!

Registered for classes and got into all I needed. The server crashed shortly afterward because so many people were logging in.

More apartment hunting today. Called an apartment agent and visited two places at 2:00 today. From Leganes to my place was more than a hour. I budgeted for this travel time and left around 12:45 without lunch. Somewhat hungry, I grabbed a snack from the vending machines here at the dorms. It was a layered pastry, similar to a croissant, in a triangular shape covered in chocolate. Not the healthiest option, but enough to tide me over for the journey.

The fact that I could communicate effectively with the apartment agent, Carmen, is a good baseline for my spanish knowledge. All of our phone calls and conversations in the apartments were in Spanish. I could understand 70% of her literal words and around 90% of the overall meaning. I don't think she held anything back on account of me being American; from my experiences looking at U.S. apartments, there was little difference. Responding in Spanish and formulating questions is still my problem. Hopefully, that will improve with time.

Near the city center, I decided to do some wandering around. The weather forced the issue about my transportation means. When registering for classes, it started snowing in Leganes. When I left for the apartments, it started raining, which then conveniently stopped when I toured the apartments, and then started again. I took the metro from Embajadores to Sol, the city center. This was actually my first time taking the normal metro; between the dorms (station San Nicassio), Leganes, and Getafe, I take the Metro Sur (south metro) which is its own loop with only one connection to the normal metro.

Starting my tour, I visited a few stores to do some 'window' shopping. I found El Corte Ingles, which is like a  Spanish Macys. My next stop, which I had seen earlier, was the Real Madrid soccer club official team store. As one of my favorite teams, I almost died looking at the item selection (and the prices too!). Later, I scouted some Spain national soccer team gear at a sport shoe store. I am already making a list of the items I need to buy! Probably could go through a lot of money on those alone!

More wandering in the city. This time it was sunny outside. Visited the Opera house adjacent to the Palacio Real, the Royal Palace of Spain. It is built on a cliff, overlooking a beautiful view of suburban Spain. With the sun starting to set, it was a wonderful view. 

Earlier, I had purchased a return train ticket to depart from Sol to Leganes. On my way back to Sol, more souvenior shopping at some trinket shops which sell fake soccer jerseys. Might consider buying a few of those if only for the price. Many such shops were located in the Plaza Mayor which I walked by for the second time.

I also got my phone fixed at an Orange (cellular company) store! Yay!

Returning to the dorms, I met up with Bobby and departed for the Leganes Orange store to fix his phone. Running part of the way to make sure the store did not close, his phone was fixed and then we departed to find a tobacco shop. You must understand, going to tobacco shops does not carry the same stigma as in the U.S. Our purpose was to purchase a discount train pass for next month, sold commonly at most tobacco shops. Not finding one, we then found a place for dinner. 

Day Two

After the madness of Day One, some general thoughts after two days.

Spanish Language: For all of you thinking years of Spanish from high school will help you in a Spanish speaking country.... think again. In the thick of the moment, only the most basic grammar you remember will come to mind. The grammar you know might be incorrect, also. From what I can tell, formatting sentences that locals understand is difficult. I basically use short phrases, hand gestures, and, if necessary, what English they already know. Speaking of which...

English Language: Most people I've met speak some English  Enough for simple conversations. Most formal stores (like phone company stores) have someone who speaks English (necessary when discussing phone options). Most people in Sol, the city center, speak very good English  Here in Leganes, more hit or miss. I had a good conversation with  a food proveyor at a Tapas bar here in Leganes. Speaking of which...

Tapas: The normal 'cafe' in the Unites States is like a tapas bar in Spain. I need to add the 'bar' part because everyone serves alcohol. It is not that uncommon to drink at almost any time of day. So combine the alcohol aspects of a bar with full menus of food, and you have a Tapas Bar. Fun fact, most tapas bars will serve you a tapa with an alcoholic beverage purchase so you don't drink on an empty stomach.

Back to English Language: My usual complaint is that Spaniards speak too quickly. The accent is also different. I'm improving. Hopefully more time with native speakers will help. It is also my task to make sure they understand me clearly.

Sport: Today, got to play pingpong with some students in the dorm. Most students spoke good English. They played an interesting form of group ping pong (this might be the Spanish way of playing ping pong, I don't know). Each game is 'three' points. You get a point each time you lose. You serve each time you win. But, if you completely miss a shot (i.e. ball goes past you without hitting the paddle), you are out and switch with another person. When you get to three loses (points) you switch with someone else. It is a great way to give everyone playing time.
Bobby noticed some students playing basketball outside, so we both joined. For dinner, we watched an Athletico Madrid soccer match on TV. Most people there (like seven) were drawn to the game. We later got churros and chocolate (and yes, you can drink the chocolate, Bobby) when a Real Madrid match was on. You can ask almost anyone and they will know when Real or Barcelona play. We will all try to see a Real Madrid, Athletico Madrid, and Barcelona matches while here.
Bobby likes Athletico Madrid and tells people it is because of Falcao (look him up). I say I am a Real Madrid fan. This can cause tension for some people who hate Real; they are a team easy to hate. So I tell them it is because of Iker Casillas, their goalkeeper. He is also the Spanish national keeper and worshiped everywhere (they don't call him Saint Iker for nothing). To everyone I've talked to, no one will fault you for liking Real because of Casillas (if you like Ronaldo, that is another story...).

Transportation: I love the metro and walking will probably be a pain (see my post about yesterday).

That is it for now.
I have not taken too many photos, but expect that to change soon!

Cheers