My Impression of Madrid

After an exhausting 6 days, I've finally got time to sit down, relax, and try to get this blog done.  I've been to four different cities in Spain since my arrival and had to deal with the hassle of lost luggage (don't worry, it was at Madrid the entire time and no one felt the need to inform me...).  So, it's been an interesting time here so far.  This will be my attempt to catch up and probably blogpost 1 out of many more to come shortly.  They're a little wordy, I know, and I apologize.  Anyway, back to the Spain.

I don't know what exactly I was expecting from Spain, but I didn't expect its landscape to be like it is.  There are very few green spots seen as you fly in and is fairly mountainous.  I knew there were mountains in the north and south, but didn't expect Madrid to be surrounded by a mountain range, which I still don't know the name of.  Then when you get into Madrid, there's little to no grass, just like any major city.  However, the city makes up for it with urban landscape.  The plazas, fountains, monuments, etc. are amazing and beautiful.

Plaza Mayor

In the center of the city, they have the Plaza Mayor which is simply amazing. The people walking around and the view are always interesting.  Here is where I finally saw some Americanization (minus the airport).  

Plaza de España

Like I said, there's very little green space in Madrid, but we did find some in this next plaza, the Plaza de España (or what we think it is).  Here you see Madrid's tribute to Don Quijote and his companion who are from Castilla de la Mancha.  It was one of the more interesting plazas because it was somewhat off the beaten path.

Then, finally, we passed these two plazas and monuments everyday and I never got tired of seeing them.   The left one below is Plaza de Cibeles which holds a fountain of Neptune with the city building behind it which we believe houses some government offices and the Culture and City information/museum type of deal.  The right one is the Plaza de la Independencia which was built for Charles III.  It was really interesting and everyone seemed to congregate there for a meal or two and had an amazing view of the Plaza de Cibeles as well.

Plaza de Cibeles

 

Plaza de la Independencia

Madrid's Parque de Buen Retiro can be compared to what is New York's Central Park.  It was originally a royal garden but later opened up for the public.  It probably is the majority of the green in Madrid.  Really nice to see.  Here's the main monument to King Alfonso.

Monument for King Alfonso

Monument for King Alfonso

Parque de Buen Retiro

Parque de Buen Retiro

Parque de Buen Retiro

Parque de Buen Retiro

So, overall, Madrid is a great city.  Something is always going on, whether that's between the four soccer teams there, Fashion Week (which starts Monday I believe), or just the normal business of a major city.

Initial impression: Cool city, a lot of history, museums, and art.  Reminded me of my class I took in the fall last year.  I recognized the names and paintings, but that was it.  However, although it was great, I'm definitely happy that I'm not studying there. It was great to be there as a base to travel and spend the 3 or so days actually exploring the city, but that's it.

Unfortunately, these will probably be a little word and long because I'm going to try to update this blog and get as much written about the last week as possible.  So, sorry once again.

For those interested, you should be able to see my pictures here on Facebook, but if you can't don't worry because I will be post the entirety of my photos on Flickr, but Flickr isn't wanting to cooperate.  I will let you know when Flickr decides to do what I want.