Madrid Wrap-Up, Toledo, and the road to Sevilla

The last full day in Madrid was busy towards the first half, as the entire group began quite early with a visit The Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial. El Escorial is located roughly 30 minutes outside of Madrid, situated alongside some gorgeous mountains which you see in some of the pictures above and below.

The place was enormous – our guide (a very charming middle-aged man who seemed to have a knack for Spanglish humor, interjecting English words in his Spanish narrative at the perfect moments) told us that if one were to walk every corridor in the Escorial, they would have to walk 70km, or over 40 miles. Obviously, it took a fair amount of granite to build and the surrounding mountains were well able to supply the most abundant resource.

The structure was completed in a mere 21 years, a feat accomplished only because work never ceased – Philip II, the king that commissioned its construction had laborers and architects on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (here we find one of the few historical breaches of the sacred Spanish siesta, possible only by order of the king). However, perhaps the most impressive part of the Escorial was the library – a huge collection of books and manuscripts numbering around 50,000 volumes dating back to the 4^th century A.D., rivaling only the Vatican collection. Like the museums, photography was not allowed, so I’m left in a difficult position of trying to describe the grand frescoes, tapestries, and sculptures decorating the interior of the palace. I was able to find this illustration of the library online, but it really doesn't do it justice.

Again, our guide was a real treat, and he did a great job of bringing the history and significance of the space to bear. The quality of the tour guides over here has really stood out to everyone in the group. In my brief experience, each has demonstrated a sincere passion, knowledge, and unique character to keep everyone attentive and entertained throughout (exception: El Museo Arquelogico Nacional, but that was more due to circumstances than the tour).

With our last free afternoon in Madrid, a few friends of mine and I decided we had to check out something really worthwhile. We settled upon the art museum known as La Reina Sofia, home of Picasso’s Guernica. For those unfamiliar with Guernica, here is a picture below.

Personally, I don’t really care for Picasso – I have a hard time appreciating more abstract art, but I respect it for what it signifies. Standing 12ft tall and 25ft wide, Guernica is probably one of the most famous pieces in Europe, certainly amongst pieces of the 20^th century. Witnessing both its literal and figurative magnitude was a real treat, and I’m glad I was able to see it before we left Madrid.

To the left, you can see a lovely picture of a mariachi band that was playing outside my hotel that night. We opened up the doors to our balcony and were serenaded for quite some time. It was an excellent way to end my last night in Madrid.

Checking out of the hotel the next morning was a real fiasco. Of course, the day that our group packs and leaves is the day the painters choose to show up at our hotel and close the stairs. This resulted in around 40 people simultaneously trying to use two elevators that cannot hold more than a person and half with their luggage. The hotel staff insisted everyone just wait for the elevators, and I don’t think any of us were adept enough (especially at 7am) to challenge them. Fortunately, after our program directors convinced them we would not be able to make our bus if we could not use the stairs, they conceded.

Though we were all set to leave Madrid, we were not heading straight for Sevilla, our itinerary called for a stop in Toledo. The beautiful city of Toledo is located about an hour south of Madrid, neatly carved into the mountains. Upon arrival, the bus took us up to the highest point the road outside the city reaches for a spectacular view. Admittedly, I’m a touch sleepy in the picture.

The city was a real contrast to Madrid. Walking about the narrow cobblestone streets, I sensed that Toledo captures the classical conception of an old European city. Every alleyway seemed to bring something new and undiscovered. I was snapping pictures like crazy.

The first site we visited was a synagogue (I took pictures, but it was dark inside and none came out very well) that demonstrated the mixed religious history of Southern Spain. Because it was built during a time when Muslims still maintained a strong presence in Spain, the architecture was very Muslim-influenced. Even more interesting was the Christian altar, which was put in the building later after Muslim and Jewish peoples were driven from Spain by Christians.

After walking around for a bit, the group stopped at a large café (there were a great many of us, we certainly would not have fit into most cafés in Europe). While there, I tried my first Coke Light. Apparently, there is no Diet Coke here, and strangely enough, Coke Light has no calories but tastes virtually the same as regular Coca-Cola. From what I was able to gather from asking around, the FDA banned the sweetener Coke Light uses in the U.S. since it’s probably too cancerous. In any case, I’m less worried about the adverse health effects of Coke Light than the prevalence of secondhand smoke, the extent of which I have yet to grasp (or perhaps remember from the bars).

Next, we made our way to el Catedral de Santa Maria…

WOW. Wow wow wow wow wow…etc.

I first learned about cathedrals in my high school freshman world history class, and I clearly remember Mr. Aukerman emphasizing the unfathomable grandeur of these mega-structures. He claimed that nothing short of an in-person visit would allow for an adequate grasp and appreciation. Well, consider that point confirmed, italicized, and underlined. Apparently el Catedral de Santa Maria took 500 years to complete. Thus, the cathedral is a hybrid of various artistic and architectural styles and trends represented in a staggering amount of artistic representations, flourish, and subtle detail. We spent almost two hours there, and I believe that it would take countless trips to observe and fully note the scope and subtly of the décor inside the cathedral.

Over the course of those 500 years, one must stop to contemplate the countless individuals that contributed to its construction – nearly all of which never seeing the project to its completion. I’m sure over all that time, the project underwent a number of financial, managerial, and architectural crises considering the changing sources of funding, changing leadership, and variance of methods and materials. It’s a real miracle it was ever completed and still stands (I mean hell, they can’t even dig a fucking hole in Boston right?).

It would be virtually impossible to replicate today with the scarcity and astronomical cost of rare and precious resources, not to mention the priceless contributions made by some of the most accomplished painters, sculptors, and metal workers in the world.

After we had lunch, it was back to the bus for the 7-hour bus ride to Sevilla. People were able to catch up on some much needed sleep. The long ride brought us through thousands of acres of olive farms, mountains, and past a few wind farms (conveniently not located anywhere in and around Nantucket sound) and underscored what I’m told is organization of much of Europe – scattered populated cities with open country in between.