The Madrid Zoo

Last weekend, I visited the Madrid Zoo, one of the largest zoos in Europe. Compared to most zoos that I've been to, this zoo was a bit different. The cages surrounding the animals weren't much of cages at all, most of them only had this little mote of water separating the animals from the on-lookers, but it was also fun getting up so close to the animals. The dolphin show there was one of the best I have seen, too.

This is my last week here in Madrid, and I have all my finals coming up in the next couple days. It has been such a great experience here, and there will be lots about Madrid that I will miss, but I'm also looking forward to coming home in a few days. Thanks for following my Spain blog and I hope everyone has a great summer!

San Isidro

This weekend is the celebration of San Isidro, the patron saint of Madrid. There have been concerts and dance shows throughout the week, and last night I went to a fire show over the river. There were 8 thousand flames lining the river and constructed into sculptures, but we could only stay for about a half an hour because of the masses of smoke coming from them filled the air and made it difficult to breathe. On Friday, I visited the Cathedral of Almudena across from the Royal Palace. It is the latest Cathedral constructed in all of Europe and the first one consecrated out of Rome by a Pope. The ceilings were so colorful and beautiful, and we were able to go to the top of the dome overlooking the city.

The colorful dome

The huge organ in the back of the church

The fire show on the river

Palma

I went to the Spanish island of Palma Mallorca this weekend in the Balearic Islands. The weather could not have been better, but the ocean was a bit too cold to swim in. I had no idea that Palma was "THE place" for Germans to vacation to, so about 95% of the people there were German and probably 99% of the restaurants were German restaurants. It was definitely a much different atmosphere, much more lively...the Germans sure do like their beer! The first day we arrived, we went to this German restaurant for lunch, and the German men there were all about 7 feet tall and had some of the lowest voices I have ever heard. I was able to visit the city center, where the big Cathedral is located, but it was closed when we got there so we weren't able to go inside. Here are some pictures from the trip...

The Cathedral in Palma

A very old-looking tree

Playing some mini-golf

A neat upside-down church sculpture

El Pardo palace

Today, I visited the Royal Palace of El Pardo. It was constructed in the 1400s as a royal hunting lodge, situated on a landscape of oak woods and a rich hunting reserve. I wasn't able to take pictures inside, but here are some pictures of the grounds outside.

A Spanish Bullfight

Yesterday, I went to a famous Spanish bullfight at the Plaza de Toros. It rained on and off during the fight, but we had great seats, about 20 rows up, and it was definitely an interesting experience to watch how the matadors "dance" with the bulls. It wasn't as gory as people made it out to be, but the guys did get trampled by the bulls a couple times.

This was probably the saddest part where they dragged the bulls off the pitch

Every time a bull would try to attack the horse, they would have to stab it to keep it away

The colored things hanging off the bulls were the things that they poked into them

Segovia, Spain

Today, I went on a day trip with my program to Segovia in northern Spain. This city was by far the most beautiful I have seen here, it's monuments and cathedrals were in a league of their own. It is said that the castle, Alcazar, influenced the design for the castle in Disney's Sleeping Beauty, and the Cathedral of Segovia is called the dame of Spanish Cathedrals. The Aqueduct wall was built by the Romans in the late 1st century AD, and it was built to bring water from the river nearby. It was supposed to rain the whole day today, but we had clear, sunny skies!

The Aqueduct

The Cathedral of Segovia

The Alcazar castle

Neat ceilings inside the castle

Roasted suckling pig - a Spanish delicacy