Muesos y paseos

I have had a long and unemployed week, but it has been a good one for seeing some of the sights I might be too tired (lazy) to see when classes are in full-swing. First, though, I want to say that I am very nervous about whether or not we will be paid on time, and also whether or not we will be paid in full for the month of October. I have a contract to work starting October 1, so I hope that having not started until  at least the 11th will not be something they will penalize us for.


After being inspired by my evening trip to the Prado on Wednesday during the free hours to see my favorites (Velázquez, Ribera, El Greco, Goya), I decided to take advantage of as many free exhibitions as I could. On Thursday I went to the CaixaForum, a wonderful public building and exhibit center started by the Caixa bank. Right now their exhibit is "Teotihuacan," one showing off artifacts from the Mayan capital in Mexico. Beautiful objects, really good blurbs about the history and what happened, and a great public there to see it with - all very respectful, interested, and Spanish. The CaixaForum has events throughout the year associated with the current exhibit, but also an expo series that relates to its own topic and brings in speakers on a variety of subjects. I have my eye on the series entitled "The Splendor of the Cities" which has individual talks about Mediterranean port cities and the role they play in the region with changing political and social atmospheres. The first one on Istanbul is next week, I'll let you know if I make it.


After the CaixaForum, I hopped across the street to the Real Observatorio (Royal Observatory) for an architectural tour of the building. It is Architecture Week in Madrid, so there have been several tours each day of various buildings, and I hit this one in the middle of the hot hot afternoon, but it was very cool. It's up on this great hill just south of the big Retiro park, with a big dome and interesting architectural aspects.

THEN, immediately from there, because I was already on the right train line, I went to the "ghost station" of Chamberí. When I studied here one of my favorite experiences was taking the Line 1 train from Bilbao to Iglesia because in between the two modern stations there is an old station that they closed when the tracks had to be extended for the modern trains in the 60s. I would press my face up against the grimy windows to catch a glimpse of the secret underground world as we zipped through, but in the past four years they've turned the station into a museum! They have a neat 10 minute video about the history of the Metro (which is one of my most favorite things about this city, so I loved it) and then the ghost station, with old ticket counters and everything! I could feel the ghosts in there, and when the trains go through periodically, it feels even weirder... Here are some pictures:

Portland cement!? What is this!? It is a Spanish company, but I'm not sure where they got the Portland name. More research to come...

Friday was tamer, I just picked up tickets for an Egyptian hip-hop group from the Arab cultural center here and went out to visit my wonderful cook-of-a-friend, Kiki, in Pozuelo at her house. We ate delicious mac and cheese that she made just for me (complete with these nice trays, nametags, and leaves!) and caught up on some shows from home.

Friday night I wandered the city with some younger Carleton kids to celebrate our own Alumni Weekend (going on as we speak in Northfield!), and just enjoyed FINALLY having other people not in class or working so I could have some friends to do things with!

Just outside the Prado museum at the Goya statue doors, looking to the San Jerónimo church.

 

The Palace Hotel, situated across the street from the Prado and the Ritz Madrid. Someday...

My city. Mi ciudad.