Hola desde Madrid,
Everyday is an adventure and the learning continues throughout Spain. This week, we took a day trip to Segovia, España, where we explored the gems of the city. Our language students learned about the history of the Alcazar de Segovia (the royal palace of Segovia) firsthand from Profe Evan, while our art students captured the artistic meaning of the now historic site from Profe Krista. While there, we explored the last Gothic cathedral built in Spain and the awe-inspiring Roman Aqueducts. The day trip provided a snapshot of life outside of Madrid. We are looking forward to an additional day trip later in the program.
Learning the inner workings of Segovia. Photo Cred: Addy S.
The art students working on their sketches inspired by the Alcazar in Segovia
Photo Cred: Evan O.
Checking out the infrastructure of the Alcazar
Photo Cred: Addy S.
Check out the video of Profe Evan’s introduction of the Alcazar in Segovia
A trip to Madrid is incomplete without El Museo Nacional Prado. The seminar groups recently visited one of Europe’s most extensive collections, which houses well over 15,000 works of art. Our students commented on the surreal experience of admiring Las Meninas (painted by Diego Velazquez in the 17th century) and being able to connect the Spanish art history they have learned stateside to the reality in front of them. El Prado has definitely been a highlight of their experiences. The art students continued their learning by recreating portraits of royal families and creating still-lifes to put together a representation of the world around them.
As always, our students have cultural immersion activities (CIAs) and nightly activities that complement the hands-on seminars. For CIAs, a group of students explored the PhotoEspaña exhibit, Latin Fire; saw a Spanish comedy – los requistos para ser una persona normal; did a graffiti crawl around the city; and visited el estadio Santiago Bernabéu (Real Madrid soccer stadium).
Check out the video of some of our students at the Real Madrid soccer stadium
Touring Real Madrid!!!!!
Seeing the panoramic view of the Real Madrid soccer stadium.
A few of the students that toured the Real Madrid soccer stadium.
Photo Cred: Carly D.
What’s the story behind this graffiti piece?
Lucy M finding her zen moment on the graffiti crawl.
Addy checking out the artwork on the graffiti crawl.
Our evening activities are filled with the local, cultural happenings around Madrid. This week, a group experienced a “Tapa Hop” for the first time, which encourages a variety of tapas from a variety of restaurants centered on a popular street in Madrid. Meanwhile another group enjoyed a food staple of Madrid, paella (a famous rice dish – arguably the national dish of Spain).
Coffee at Cafe de America
Miranda & Zander tasting the various types of paella.
As you may remember from our last blog post, “Fox in a box” (a team-dependent escape experience) was a popular activity for our students….so much that we hosted two additional teams of competitors. Meanwhile another group checked out La llamada, a Spanish musical on the broadway circuit. We are excited to continue our journey. I cannot believe that we have a short seven days remaining in Madrid.
Fox in a Box – Team A – Bunker Game
Fox in a Box – Team B – Attack of the zombies
Hasta pronto,
Sky, Evan, Krista, & Anthony