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In front of the Royal Palace
I left on Saturday morning for a trip to Madrid with my roommates. We took the train, which took about 3 hours to get to Madrid from Sevilla. Upon arriving in Madrid I went and got a coffee and then dropped my backpack off in a storage locker so I didn't have to carry it around with me. I made lunch reservations at a restaurant that Yazmin recommended, and it was fantastic! After lunch I took a tour of the beautiful Royal Palace, which was filled with stunning artwork and history from all the Spanish royalty. I picked up a calamari sandwich on my walk after the palace, which is something that Madrid is famous for! It was very simple but delicious. I then went to the Reina Sofia museum - one of several art museums in the city. I got in for free with my student ID! There were so many pieces of artwork there that I have studied for many years, but the highlight was definitely Guernica by Picasso. This is definitely the most famous painting in the museum, and it is a piece that I have wanted to see since I was in high school. The rooms on the way to Guernica are filled with WWII and Spanish dictatorship propaganda, which perfectly foreshadows and gives context to Picasso's painting. Guernica illustrates the horrors of the bombing of Guernica, a city in northern Spain, by the Nazis. There was no strategic military reason for the bombing, and many civilian lives were lost, at the hands of the Nazis in support of the Spanish dictator Franco. I was amazed at how large the painting was in real life, and I loved hunting for all the different figures and symbols that I have studied.
On the second day I woke up and got a coffee and breakfast, then walked around Parque del Retiro, a very famous and giant park in the city. I was so excited to see all the leaves changing colors. I have been in Spain all fall, so I missed the fall colors back home! From there I went to Museo del Prado, another art museum that I was excited to visit. I got there when they first opened and I was excited to beat the crowd. I first went to see Las Meninas - the most famous piece there - before it got busy. I explored for several hours but I was most excited to see the works of Francisco de Goya, one of my favorite painters. His works were divided among the three floors of the museum, with each floor being a different one of his eras. The top floor had his romanticized and happy paintings, with lots of scenes of nature and happy people. The next floor down had a lot of portraits, most of which were painted of royalty and commisioned. Lastly was the black works era, which has a drastically different tone. The paintings are all very darkly colored and have some dark messages. Goya has such a diverse collection of works, and I really like how the museum organized them. After the museum I went to a market and browsed the food, but I ended up at a sandwich place that I found online that was amazing! I picked up a pastry on the way to the train station, and headed back to Sevilla. I fit a lot of fun in my 24 hours in Madrid!
Best sandwich ever
Inside the palace
Sweet treat to go
Enjoying the fall colors
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