Los Palacios Reales (Royal Palaces)

So far, we have visited two "Palacios Reales", or Royal Palaces.  The first palace we visited was on the Segovia trip--El Palacio Real de la Granja de San Ildefonso.  The second was El Palacio Real de Madrid.

El Palacio Real de la Granja de San Ildefonso

This photo barely even captures the beauty of this palace--I cannot believe things like these exist!  This 18th century palace is located in hills near Segovia in the small town of San Ildefonso.  Many kings of Spain have lived here since the reign of Philip IV.  The palace has a baroque-style including vast gardens, statues, and fountains.   Interesting tidbit: because of its vastness, many kings picked this palace as their hunting spot.  

Sadly, we were not able to take photos inside, however, the gardens were by far my favorite part of the palace.  They were designed by a French designer of the French royal offices, Robert de Cotte and René Carlier.  The main garden is arranged on a large slope, which makes is very easy to see a great deal of the garden at once.  

A side view of the garden with a Sphinx statue in the lower right hand corner

Some classic poses in the garden

El Palacio Real de Madrid

El Palacio Real de Madrid is the largest palace in Europe (by floor area).  It covers 135,000 sq. meters (1,450,000 sq. feet) and contains 3,418 rooms.  It is considered the official residence of the Spanish Royal family, however, they reside on the outskirts of Madrid in more "modest" Palacio de Zuarzela.  This palace was by far the most impressive from what I have seen so far.  Thinking about it, I probably could not make even half of the decor that is inside the palace in one lifetime.  

The original 16th century palace burned down in 1764 and was rebuilt with more durable materials, which you can clearly see with all of the granite and stone inside.  The design is baroque and classicist having incredible architecture and embellishments.  Again, we were not allowed to take photos inside the palace, so another reason to visit.  I would say it is a must-see for your bucket list.  Here are a few photos I grabbed off google images so you can get a glimpse of what I'm talking about.  

The "Porcelain Room"--yes the walls and ceiling of the room are made of porcelain.  Other rooms include silk,
gold and many other precious materials.  The carpets are also extremely impressive.

Gold details all throughout the palace--even stitched into
material that is upholstered on the walls and curtains

The Royal Throne that has never been used by the current King and Queen of Spain, which is purposefully done to send a message that their reign is different from those before them and that they are no better than their people.

Just one of the many ceilings

Segovia

On Thursday we took a trip with IES to Segovia, in the region of Castile and Leon.  The bus trip from Madrid takes about 1.5 hours--except we got a flat tire about halfway there so we had to wait for another bus to come pick us up and take us.

Segovia is considered a World Heritage Site, having the Segovia Aqueduct, Alcazar of Segovia, and Segovia Cathedral to list a few.

The first thing to see in Segovia is the Aqueduct.  Designed by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, the aqueduct was built in the 1st century AD without mortar--unbelievable.  It was then rebuilt in the 15th century due to partial destruction by the Moors.  It has 166 arches built of granite blocks--consisting of single and double arches divided into 2 levels.  The top section is where the water actually flows through.  The water comes from the Fuente Fria River in the mountains about 17 km (11 miles) away.

After seeing the aqueduct, we toured around the city, observing the architecture and design of the buildings.  Segovia is known for the texture on buildings called "Esgrafiado" (pictured below).  Esgrafiado is "Sgraffito" in English and is a form of wall decor (note it sounds like graffiti).

We then saw the Segovia Cathedral, a Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Virgin Mary.  It was built between 1525-1577 in a later Gothic style, consisting of many pointed arches (Arcos Apuntados) and pinnacles (pin aculos).  The outside is beautiful, however we did not go inside (which I wished we would have). 

Segovia Cathedral (a bit fuzzy, sorry!)

Lindsay in front of the Segovia Cathedral (notice the gothic-style pinnacles)

Alcazar of Segovia (meaning Castle of Segovia) was my favorite of all the attractions.  The inside consisted of many intricately designed rooms with embellished ceilings, stonework, crests, and artwork.      It was originally built as a fortress for the Arabs, but it then served as a Royal Palace for King Alfonso VIII and his wife, Eleanor of Plantagenet.  After that, many other royals lived there such as King Ferdinand III, King Alfonso X, King Juan II and King Enrique IV, to list a few.  Aside from it being a royal palace and Artillery College, it was also an inspiration for Walt Disney's Cinderella Castle (which I have no doubts as to why).

After seeing the Alcazar of Segovia, we went to tour La Iglesia de Vera Cruz (Church of Veracruz--meaning Church of the True Cross).  This was the Church of the Knights Templar, a medieval secret society.  The structure is twelve-sided with one tower on the south end. At one point it was thought to have a fragment of the true cross, thus the name.

As you can imagine, all of this is a lot of walking with a ton of stairs (some of which were not very level, which of course invited some graceful tripping...).  So, we took a break and had another delicious multi-course luncheon at El Rancho de la Aldegüela.  The menu included:

Tortilla de patata*

Pimientos rojos asados*

Croquetas caseras*

Pan tomaca*

*in tapas form*

Pollo asado con ensalada mixta

Ponche de Segovia

Agua y Cafe

• Spanish Tortillas de Patatas are very different than tortillas in the States.  They are essentially an omelette (eggs and potatoes + extra ingredients to make a pancake like form).
• Asado means "roasted".  So the red bell peppers (pimientos rojos) and the chicken (pollo) were roasted to perfection and were so delicious.  

The array of tapas-style appetizers--notice the Spanish "tortilla" in the lower left hand corner.
Also, in Spanish restaurants (and I believe throughout Europe) they serve water in bottles.  

Ponche de Segovia--a marzipan-custard layer cake that has
powdered sugar and caramelized sugar lattice on top, a
must-try in Segovia.

La Historia de Madrid

5/22 - 5/23

I am accumulating tons of photos, so I am putting all of them on my Flickr, so feel free to browse those as I will only be selecting a handful of my favorites for the blog!

5/22
We went to a club on Wednesday night.  I can't remember the name of it but it was definitely promoted for international students.  All the songs they played were American songs too!  I wasn't that surprised I was just hoping to hear some popular Spanish music.  Hoping that the next club we go will be more authentic to Madrid.  We didn't go out until about 12:30am and didn't come home until ~4am.  People here go out very late and even stay out until 6 or 7 in the morning (which is supposedly also because they want to catch the early Metro since they close around 2am).

5/23
Class from 9am-11am and then a very long siesta!  Later we had an optional Historical Tour of Madrid that started at 6pm.  We were about 15 minutes late and had to take the Metro to a place we had not been before in Spain and somehow ended up finding the group!  We were pretty much set on just missing the Tour and wandering around ourselves.  It worked out though, and it was so worth it!  Here are some photos:

Multi-million dollar apartments overlooking el Plazo Mayor de Madrid and the Palacio Real

El Plazo Mayor

One of the many colorful and beautiful apartment buildings

Plazo Mayor landscape

Plaza de la Cruz Verde - "Plaza of the Green Cross"

Lindsay and Bria in la Jardin del Principe Anglona

Guinness World Records:  The Oldest Restaurant in the World 

Oldest Restaurant in the World

Madrileños have a saying: "Pasa o no se casa"

Basically,"Walk Calle de la Pasa or don't be married"

El 21 de Mayo

Today was a very long day!  We left the apartment at 8:20am to get our Metro Passes that will allow us to use any public transportation for 1 month--we paid €35 for it, which is supposedly a good deal here. After getting everyone's passes which took a good hour and a half, we went to the IES center.  The center is in the middle of la Universidad Complutense de Madrid--which is a beautiful campus alongside el Parque del Oeste.  The center has a pool, a library, cafeteria, a theatre, and several classrooms for IES students to use. (Photos to follow later).

Getting our Metro transportation passes

We sat through hours of information sessions about the program, safety (presented by policias de Madrid), apartments, and finally the 90-question placement exam.  As I expected, I was placed in the Intermediate level--which I need, no doubt.  Lindsay did very well and placed in the highest level!

As far as our schedules go, we will have different Spanish Grammar classes at the same time Mondays-Thursdays 9:30-11:00am and then we both have "Spanish Culture, Politics and Film" class on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 11:10am-2:15pm.  So we basically have a 3.5-day weekend!

After the test and information sessions, all of the students and staff went to a luncheon at 2pm.  I forgot the name of the restaurant but it was delicious!  We were served a 5-course lunch that included Artesian Bread, Gazpacho, Steak y papas, un postre, y un café expresso.

Artesian Bread

Gazpacho is a traditional vegetable soup that is served cold--usually tomato-based.  It originated in Andalucia (southern Spain)

Friends Matt and Andy at lunch

After lunch, we split up into groups and went on a walk with a spanish student who led us on a tour of la Calle Princessa, a main street which eventually turns into la calle Gran Via.  Gran Via is the main street with many discotecas, casual bars, shops, and restaurants.  We are hoping to go out to some of the clubs on Gran Via on Thursday night.

A Metro entrance

Government building near our apartment

As for the rest of the week, we have our first day of classes tomorrow (5/22)--however our Profé for Spanish Culture, Politics and Film is not in town and postponed class to start on 5/28, so everyday until then we will be done by 11am!  Pretty easy start into school.  This weekend, all IES students will be going on the first excursion to Segovia on Friday.