Casa de Campo

Small pyrenean road, or inner city Madrid?


Well, seeing as I've only been here 11 days, you'd be rather silly to think this is the Pyrenees, but we'll forgive you if you thought that.



Madrid's Urban Utopia. Created as a hunting ground for Royal Monarchy sometime during the reign of someone (Felipe II I think), its just a huge park. Think Central Park size times 5, its 4,300 acres. It has a beautiful 8 km loop in it for bikes, which is mostly closed to traffic, with a 3 km climb just a 10 minute ride from my Apartment. It is an absolutely beautiful place and a good place to head for a quick little ride. It is somewhat sketchy though, and if first impressions are everything, I probably would never have entered the park. The first time I rode through the entrance there were prostitutes lingering about in the trees. Its a little wierd, but once you get in the park you're safe! So thats where I ride, or intend to ride most weekdays, I've only been able to get out twice in these first couple weeks. They have just been busy. But hopefully come Tuesday after my impending trip to ITALY, I will get into a groove. I just stumbled upon the Venice tourist website and apparantley this weekend is the start of Carnavale, so that should be interesting. I'm really looking forward to checking it out.
Until Then!
Owen

And an anecdote

One day I came home from class, after not having the greatest of days and decided to go to the internet cafe down the street, but then as I left I decided I would be better off going for a little walk and exploring the barrio. So off I went, just kind of wandering up the Calle de Embajadores, just sort of seeing where it takes me. So I walk and walk and walk, its not the prettiest of walks, its kind of a big street in the area and it's pretty commercial. But I walk past a police station and so on the way back I stopped and asked one of the three police officers outside for one of their eternal smoke breaks, if he can tell me where an electronics store is. So these three cops turn to each other and start speaking animatedly and arguing over where this place is. I feel kind of neglected, and I feel almost forgotten, like "guys, I'm still here..." Finally one turns to me, and says, sort of exasperatedly, clearly fried from his intense intellectual debate with the other officers, "ven conmigo" (come with me). So I expect to go walking around the corner and running into one. But this guy walks straight to the car and puts me in the back. And away we go. Here I am seeing Madrid from the back of a police car, I guess you can't really say that under good circumstances most of the time. In hindsight I wish I had called my mother to tell her I was in the back of a police car, it would have been only slightly evil, and I probably would have gotten a good laugh out of it (sorry Mom!!!). Anyways, we finally show up at the Electronics store and I bid my new favorite form of transportation adieu and go in (after 20 minutes of waiting for siesta to end, as usual).

So, what have we learned here. If you need to get somewhere in a foreign country. Ask the police, they will argue for a second, and be the cheapest cab fare you will ever receive. Just a little travel advice.

SEGOVIA!!!

As promised here are some pictures of Segovia.



The first view of the Aqueduct. Its just magnificent!!

The Segovia Cathedral. This was such a magnificent sight, and well worth the 3 euros to get in it. I couldn't help but think about what this huge symbol stands for in Spain though, as this building was built at the height of the inquisition. Its kind of eerie to be in a building that is symbolic of so much pain in history, and exemplary of such a dark time of persecution in history.
On a lighter note, me in front of the aqueduct. See, I actually am here
The view over the town in from the tower of the Alcazar, the medieval castle of the city. The Cathedral dominates the landscape with the looming snowcapped mountains in the background. Madrid lies over that white peak.

Some Pictures

Chocolateria San Gines. The Legendary home of Churros con Chocolate. delicious, don't eat too much. The chocolate is so rich you might actually die.




















Granvia, and the back of my Roommate's head. Gran Via is Madrid's main boulevard, though its not original. It was bulldozed in 1911 and is the big bustling "5th Avenue" of Madrid, with all sorts of glitzy stores and the big buildings

The View from my apartment balcony

Hi Everyone!
I'm sorry I'm doing so terribly at updating this silly little blog of mine. I haven't had a whole ton of luck with the internet in this country, and the little time I have had I have spent doing emails and figuring out travel plans. Anyways, you don't really care about these details; you're probably here to figure out what the heck I've been up to. Well it goes something like this, I've done a few beautiful walking tours of Madrid, it is such a beautiful city and it is always abuzz. It’s a bit of an adjustment, but it’s just a fantastic place. On weekends the whole city is out until 4 or 5 in the morning! (I haven't made it that far; I tend to do the collapse into bed by 1 thing). Last night my roommates went and had a beer in a bar that Hemingway was known to frequent, and the night before, a nice place called Magistero, which actually brews its own.

There are so many different neighborhoods in Madrid, each with their own distincitive feel. I'm personally partial to a place called Huertas, which is full of restaurant lined streets and has just an attractive small town Europe feel to it even though it is right in the middle of a 3 million person city.

Siesta is rough, I haven't really embraced the practice of a long nap in the middle of the day, so you wind up with nothing to do for a few hours. Oh well, maybe one of these days I'll get the hang of it, though its not looking good.

Yesterday I took a day trip to Segovia, which is a small town about a 2 hour train ride from Madrid, its a long time on a train that seems to stop a lot but it was very much worth it. It is home to a beautiful Roman Aqueduct, a breathtaking Cathedral, and a castle which juts out over a ledge that just goes hundreds of feet into this valley with a small river in it. It’s a beautiful little Spanish town and I highly recommend it to anyone who comes to Spain. The local delicacy is roast suckling pig, I couldn't stomach the price nor the idea of a dead baby pig being thrown in front of me (maybe someday). Toledo is Wednesday's trip, and then on Thursday evening my roommates and I are off to Rome and Venice until Monday. This should be a fun trip and a good way to spend the long weekend.

I'll try to get some pictures up here somehow, but don't get your hopes up too much, I have to figure out how to get a reliable internet connection (this one seems to have disappeared in the course of writing this post), but as soon as I can I'll try to get some things up. I promise.

Until Later,
Owen

Finally Here!!! oh dear

So I'm Here.
for now there aren't going to be pictures in this post, I'll try to get some up over the next couple of days. This is just the, HI how ya doin post I guess. I got to my apartment, its actually pretty nice. I have the HUGE room in the apartment, and even like a double bed... crazy.
I arrived here in Madrid yesterday, I got into the airport at 1 pm local time and had to wait until 430 to meet the people from the group flight to take a charter bus into Madrid. Problem number 1: I'm in terminal 4 and need to get to terminal 1. Solution, take one enormous suitcase, 2 backpacks, and a bike box onto a bus. So as I fall over my bags and try not to die as I try to get all of my stuff in and out of the bus before the doors close, I get a nice little taste of what the next 3 hours is to be like. And its exciting. So I get to terminal One, find a nice little cart, and make my stuff managable. Then I realize that arrivals is downstairs, and the bus has dropped me off upstairs. There are only stairs and escalators down to the lower floor. Not so easy with two wheeled things. So I cram into this elevator that is barely bigger than me, except I cram approximately 3 of me worth of luggage in with me, and as I burst out the door from the pressure when I get downstairs, I'm sure the Spaniards are saying "oh no, another stupid gringo coming to ruin our country (I say another because of the sheer quantity of burger king, pizza hut, kfc, and mcdonalds franchises here).
So anyways, here we are downstairs in Terminal 1...which of course is the wrong terminal. Bueno, ahora empece usar mi espanol, no hay otra manera para resolvar ese situacion. just kidding (and that said, good, then I began to use my spanish because there is no other way to resolve this situation). So off I go to terminal 2, which involves going back upstairs...and then back downstairs. And as I sit waiting for the group to get there, the coffee shop is playing avril lavigne, 6000 miles of travel to listen to terrible American pop music ;-).

Thus ends the airport saga.
Anyways, I've been around the city and its really really cool. I live not to far from the center of the city which has more great tapas bars than you can count, beautiful architecture, and lots of bustle. I'll tell more about that soon, and include some pictures. But for now, I'm here, and actually have "sort of" internet.
And just an fyi, my mailing address
Owen Hassig
Calle Caceres 18 6-3
Madrid, Spain, 28045

This is all fairly terrifying, and exciting at the same time, my roommates seem like cool guys (as I wrote that my very weak wireless signal died...oh my). More coming, and pictures, and stories.
Until Then
Owen