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

Ávila

For the last day of spring break, my friends and I traveled to Avila, Spain. It was a very old city filled with lots of neat buildings, churches, and architecture. Only 17 days left of actual classes here, and about 5 weeks until I will be home again! Enjoy the pictures...

Spring Break

On Saturday, my friends and I traveled to Toledo for the day to start off our spring break. Toledo was the capital of Spain until the 1500s, and it is a very pretty city that sits on top of a hill top overlooking the valley with a river on three sides. We spent the day visiting churches and museums there. On Monday, we took a four hour bus ride to Valencia for two nights on the east coast of Spain. Our hotel was minutes from the beach, and the weather was 70s and sunny! The City of Arts and Sciences was definitely the highlight of the trip, and the architecture was amazing!

Cathedral of Toledo

An overlook from the top of the hill

Neat looking buildings in Toledo

Malvarrosa Beach in Valencia

At the City of Arts and Sciences

City of Arts and Sciences





More buildings at the City of Arts and Sciences



Cute little buildings

Cathedral of Valencia



Cordoba and Sevilla

Last weekend, I took a trip with my CEA program to southern Spain. It took about a 5 hour bus ride to the city of Cordoba, where the famous Cathedral of Cordoba resides with the red and white columns lining the ceilings. From there, it was another 2 hours to Sevilla, which reminded me of Arizona with the palm trees, orange trees, and 90 degree weather. The city was right on the river, and our group took a walking tour of the palace gardens and went to a Flamenco dance show. It was such a nice weekend trip and I was able to see so many great sights!

Inside the Cathedral of Cordoba

The Cathedral in Sevilla

The Flamenco dance show

The whole CEA group

Capricho Park

Capricho park, just north of the city and unknown to many, is considered to be one of the most beautiful parks in Madrid. This park dates back to 1784 when the Duke of Osuna, from one of the most illustrious and powerful of the city’s families, acquired the land for the specific purpose of giving expression to the family’s visionary and artistic values as well as to give the family a place to escape city life. Here are some pictures from today in Capricho park...

Here are two pictures from Retiro Park yesterday...

Crystal Palace

A laundry basket sculpture inside the glass palace