So while my previous post was all about my wonderful international adventures...I am trying to really relish my time in Madrid. Truth be told, Madrid is not quite the city for me. I always feel tired and not quite settled, but I think it may be because I want to run out of here every weekend. So, the next few weeks (except for next weekend, lol) I am planning on staying put in Madrid and Spain to really start learning and enjoying my adopted cuidad. Here are some highlights from the past few weekends:
My first weekend back, we hit up a bunch of museums. My absolute favorite was the Casa Sorolla. The museum was established to display and honor one of Madrid's greatest modern artists, Joaquin Sorolla. He lived in Madrid and painted just really beautiful impressionist paintings. He lived in the house that is now the museum with his family and just seemed like a passionate nice man who got a lot of acclaim during his lifetime. I loved the museum and plan to go back soon!
Every few weekends, the Museo de Ferrocarril has a market with food and mini shops. A group of us went for some tapas and beers. I had some great croquetas, 3.7 out of 5.
Life imitates art at the Museo Thyssen which is free every Monday.
In the ultimate quest to find the best croquetas in Madrid, Jane did her research and took us to Casa Julio. Casa Julio is in the Malasana neighborhood of Madrid and has the reputation for some of the best croquetas. We tried three kinds of croquetas and I was happy and impressed. I'd give these a 4.3 on the croqueta scale.
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| Nothing beats sunsets in Retiro (even if it was freezing) |
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| Bonus!! Nothing cheers me up like facetiming with my favorite girls |
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| Between the croquetas and the traveling, I do spend most of my days teaching and tutoring. This was an adorable note from one of my students :) |
Some quick tapas and drinks at Madrid's classic Taberna la Dolores.
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| The turtles at Atocha were all really cold!! Madrid has been quite chilly recently and it even snowed! |
An exciting personal update, I moved apartments! The past few months I have been living in an interesting situation with an older man and two students. I moved into a new place nearby, which called for an always exciting trip to Ikea to buy some furniture and accessories.
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| The gal pals and I went on a hike in Miraflores, a small hill town in the north of Madrid. Great to get outside and get some fresh air! |
One very recent highlight this week was Carnival! Carnival is like our Halloween in the US. Instead of going spooky, the kids all have a theme for each grade and go all out in costumes to celebrate! My grade was assigned Dragon Ball Z, as the school's theme was comics and cartoons. Other grades were Star Wars, Teenage Ninja Turtles and Smurfs! For Carnival, all the students and teachers dressed up and there was an hour long parade around my pueblo for the kids to show their costumes and for the parents to gather and take photos.
Found amazing croquetas (4.2/5) and tortilla at Pez Tortilla. This will be a frequent spot for me.
If you are ever thinking of visiting Cuenca, I'd recommend visiting the Abstract Arts Museum, the Casas Colgadas and going when its not too cold! :)
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