Day 2 in Madrid, by Marisa Marshalka and Ariel Dickerman

Day 2 in  Madrid, 4/11/13,  

an extract of the Diary by  Marisa and Ariel.

"After a much needed 8 hour sleep, we awoke to eat a buffet style breakfast in the Tryp Hotel. Spanish breakfasts seem to be a lot more meat-based than carbohydrate-based like in the US. Our first  destination in the morning was the renowned Prado Museum. Everywhere we looked the architecture was breathtaking.Carlos, patiently, explained the history of democracy in Spain as we passed

El Congreso de los Diputados on our left.

Before entering El Prado, we took a group picture with the statue of one of our favourite Spanish artists, Velázquez. In El Prado, we had a lovely tour guide who explained to us the significance of a lot of famous works, such as Las Meninas. We learned about Velázquez last year in school. It was cool to see the real painting. It was much bigger than we imagined!

Just when we thought our feet could not hurt any more, we took a walk in a park. The gardens were so well pruned, without a leaf out of place. One of the highlights of the park were the trees that looked like broccoli.  

 As we reached the lake in the center of the park we decided to rent a row boat in the pound. The sky was cloudy, but the water was clear enough to see the enormous fish beneath the surface. Other Spaniards on row boats were really friendly.
Then, we took a two hour break for lunch.

Carlos claimed that every Spanish person is a little crazy, so we had to stop by the statue of their literary embodiment, Don Quixote.Wherever we go with Carlos, other tourists stop to listen to his stories. Our next stop was the Egyptian ruins, which were moved to Spain to preserve them from a flood. We didn´t expect to experience two distinct cultures  in one city.


One of the most culturally enriching experiences we have had thus far was a Flamenco spectacular we saw at night in Tablao Cardamomo.

 The loud music and stomping kept everyone on their toes. It looked like the dancers were in pain, but that is just part of the expression of the dance. As we headed back to the hotel, our instinctual caution was confirmed.

Our innocent group fled when they saw a car of masked thieves break into a building. Even though we saw something that made us question our safety, we feel so grateful to have been given the opportunity to visit such a beautiful and historic city.

We want to thank Carlos for showing us all that we love about Madrid and staying patient with us along the way. Mrs. Lima, Mrs. Cuilla and Mr. Roberts made the day just as unforgettable.
It is so difficult to leave a city that we just got to know, but we are excited for our next adventure!"