Well I tried to post part of this, but ran out of time. So I´ll finish now. Lets start with Madrid. First off we went down to the Prado. If you get the chance, go. It was awesome. Some of the best art in the world. I took a picture (bad Noah) of one of the paintings. It turned out pretty good. When I upload everything I´ll post it. One of the coolest things was seeing the 16th century art. I continue to love that time period. After the Prado we left for the Archaeological Museum just in time to dodge a few tour busses (we walked by the Prado on Saturday and it was packed. If you go, go on a weekday. So the Archaeological Museum is a must see. It charts the history of the Iberian peninsula from neolithic times to the 17th century. You´d be surprised at just how many cultures called Spain home. Some highlights were Roman Jewelry, Moorish architecture, and Celtic weaponry. After that we walked down to Plaza Mayor for lunch (eaten around 2 or 3). Lunch was wonderful, as was the wine. I´d tell you more, but if I told you all about the food I wouldn´t have time for anything else. After that we were exhausted, so after a stroll around the Plaza we went back to the hotel. Distance Traveled: 10 km The next day we went to the Royal Palace. This is another must see, but mostly for the weapons and armour. They had more 16th and 17th century pistols than even the White Tower in London. The palace proper was cool as well, but not nearly as cool as the armouries. After that we walked down to Retiro Park. It´s basically a big park around a man made lake. And statues. They really like their statues here. So we participated in two of Madrid´s most popular sports. Walking, and people watching. We also stopped by the rose garden, and the statue of the Fallen Angel. We went out and had lunch and then took a short nap. Then it was off to Reina Sofia Museum. Another must see. Not only does it have Guernica, and other Picasso´s it also has a huge collection of Salvidor Dali. If you like art at all, you must go here. Distance Traveled 15 km Toledo Day. So after a long bus ride at way too early in the morning we arrived, and were treated to the sight of a medieval walled city sitting on the hill above us. Yes, I have pictures. Again, you´ll have to wait till I´m home. First off, after climbing the hill, we went to a new Visigothic Museum. It was free, which was the first cool part, but the best part was that it was almost better than the Archeological Museum in Madrid. It is focused on the time from the end of the Romans to the beginning of the Moors. The rest of Toledo was mostly walking around and enjoying the architecture. We went into a few churches, synagogues, and mosques, but mostly we just enjoyed the city. We did get a chance to climb up onto the city wall as well. After a long bus ride home we slept very soundly. Distance Traveled 20+ km Segovia next. Again a long bus ride. Segovia is another wonderful Medieval city. We spent a lot of time walking around, got to see a kick ass cathedral, and some amazing architecture. But the best parts were the Fortress (can´t remember the proper name right now) and the Templar Church. The fortress looks like Sleeping Beauty´s. Mostly because it is what Disney based that castle on. It wasn´t the most amazing thing in the world, but it was very cool. Also it has the best view ever. Then we went to the only remaining 12 sided Templar church. It´s being slowly restored by the Knights of Malta, and is now a functional church again. It´s fairly small, but impressive none the least. We also got to walk around a beautiful garden at the Cathedral. It was awesome. Another long bus ride home. Distance Traveled: 20 km Next was our day to leave Madrid. But we wanted to see a few things first. So we went down to the Anthropological Museum, but it was mostly closed. We were allowed to wander the few open areas, but it isn´t really worth mentioning. Other than seeing an early Mate straw. We then went to see the Tyson (sic) museum. Again amazing artwork. This time spanning from the 16th to the 20th century. I think I can now say I´ve seen more Picasso´s than most people. Also Dali´s, Monet´s, and Degas´. We then got our gear, and walked up to the train station (8 km), and waited longer than expected for our train. Got on the train 1/2 an hour late and waited 20 min before we left. We then got to the transfer station at 3:30 am, and had to grab our gear and run to the next train. We made it, and that one was more comfy. I slept about 6 hours total last night. But we pulled in to Lugo. Distance Traveled: 15 km Lugo is an amazing city. It has the worlds only fully surviving roman wall. 2.2km of wall around the inner city. It also has a pretty cool, free, museum. The wall is the coolest part. Oh yeah, and each time they dig for a new building, they find more Roman buildings and objects. I got to see part of a roman road when I looked down into an excavation pit from the top of the wall. Now we´re in Sarria. Gotta go. bye
Leave a Reply