Last weekend I went on the first of three weekend trips planned by UConn! We left Thursday morning for Madrid and had plans to take day trips to Ávila on Saturday and Toledo on Sunday. On our way to Madrid we stopped at a small pueblo called Amargo to see the city centre and an old theater.
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| Amargo |
When we arrived at Madrid, we checked into our hotel and got settled. The hotel we were staying at was on the other side of the city from the hostel I stayed at last time; so we walked around a bit to orient ourselves and explore. We had the rest of the day free, so we went to get a late lunch and then napped! That night I went out with some of the frisbee kids I had met the weekend earlier in Salamanca who were studying in Madrid.
The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel and then had a 3 hour bus tour of the city... It was a little bit boring because we were stuck in the bus and couldn't see the city in person but we stopped at the bull fighting arena (Plaza de Toros)!
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| Plaza de Toros |
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| Group Shot |
After the bus tour, we went to see the Palacio Real. The Royal Family of Spain used to live here, but now it's only used for ceremonial purposes and other government stuff. We got to walk inside and see some of the King's and Queen's chambers and the dining room. It was so beautiful and intricate inside, but unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures.
The next morning we took our first day trip to Ávila. Ávila has medieval city walls and was a really cool city to explore.
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| City Walls |
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| Ávila |
After returning to Madrid, we treated ourselves to a fancy dinner. I had the best seafood paella I've had all trip! Then we went to Kapital (the huge club). On Sunday we went to Toledo. According to our tour guide the city's history is interlaced with religion. Jews, Christians, and Muslims lived simultaneously in Toledo until the Reconquista of Spain by the Christians. The tour guide said there were 40 something churches in Toledo! Holy Toledo!
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| Cathedral of Toledo |
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| view of Toledo |
Toledo was a very beautiful city and I wish we could have stayed for more than a couple hours. But we still had a four hour bus ride back to Granada. Overall it was a really fun weekend; great food, great friends, and great cities!
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