Xanadu Mall

Yesterday, I took a bus trip to one of the largest malls in Europe on the outskirts of Marid, called Xanadu. It houses one of the very few indoor ski hills in the world!
Also happening this weekend is Carnival Madrid, a tradition of festivals and parades leading up to Ash Wednesday to mark the beginning of Lent. I will post some of those pictures in a couple of days, too!

The indoor ski hill

A neat mini-golf arena

My favorite store! They even had a Hollister in the mall

A day in the park

Here are a few more pictures from the weekend in Retiro park! I also visited the Santa Barbara church and the adjoining building where the Supreme Court is held.

Some whale bones on display as a statue at the park



Some really funky upside-down trees!



Santa Barbara church

Tribunal Supremo

Prado Museum

On Friday, I went with my art class to the Prado Museum to view the paintings that we have been studying. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, so I took quite a few on the outside and of the gardens. We only covered a couple rooms in the whole museum, but we are going back 4 more times for the class. I think it would take hours to cover the entire museum though, but there are a lot of great paintings and sculptures!

The entrance of the Prado

This is just one section of the building, it is very large!

I couldn't pass up taking a picture of these cute kids on a field trip all holding onto eachother's shirts!

A very pretty church across the street

Museo Cerralbo

A couple days ago, we visited this mansion/museum called Museo Cerralbo. It was built in the 1800s for a wealthy man who collected all sorts of treasures...paintings, sculptures, weapons, armour, jewelry, furniture, etc. He had collected over 50,000 objects!! From the outside it looked like a regular apartment, but on the inside it was quite a palace!



The ballroom





A neat glass chandelier



El Escorial trip

Yesterday, I went on an excursion with my study abroad program to El Escorial. It is a large monastery north of Madrid that was built in the 1500s, and it was the largest building in the world at the time. Inside, there is a palace, museum, basilica, library, and pantheon where all of the Royalty of Spain have been buried. We were not supposed to take pictures at all, but we were able to sneak a few.
On the same trip, we visited the Valle de los Caidos. This is a large Catholic basilica where the tallest memorial cross in the world is held. It was situated in the mountains so we were surrounded by snow. Almost felt like home!

The center courtyard of El Escorial

Walking into the beautiful basilica

One of the most important historic libraries in the world

The entrance into the Pantheon where the Kings and Queens of Spain are buried

Valle de los Caidos (Valley of the Fallen)

Surrounded by snowy mountains

Weekend fun

This weekend, we went to the Reina Sofia Museum where Picasso's famous "Guernica" painting is held. They actually allowed pictures to be taken inside, without the flash of course. This was a great experience because I had studied this painting in my high school Spanish class, and it was really interesting to see it in person. We also strolled through the Caso de Campo park, which has a theme park, lake, and the best zoo in Europe. It was so nice out that we decided to take a little row boat out on the lake!

Standing in front of Picasso's famous painting

Picasso's "Guernica" from Google (a very interesting piece)

A beautiful day in the park

Taking a nice boat ride around the lake!

España vs. Colombia

Last night, we went to the España vs. Colombia soccer game! We got very cheap tickets by waiting in line several hours before the game. We ended up getting great seats near the corner of the field on the fourth tier (out of five) for only 20 Euros! España won the game 1-0


The famous Santiago Bernabeu stadium of Spain



The great view from our seats



My new camera has a great zoom on it!