Se me olvidó

I completely forgot in my last post to mention that on Saturday night in Sevilla, a couple of friends and I went to see flamenco (a type of music and dance) that Andalucia is so well known for. It was pretty good, but we got there at the end, so we only saw the last part. I took a few videos with my camera, though, which I've posted below. The first two are kind of crappy quality and the last one is really short because I finally discovered a way to make the video slightly better quality, but apparently that comes at a price.

Córdoba and Sevilla

So NYU takes us grad students on one weekend-long trip each semester. Last weekend we all went to Cordoba and Sevilla, two major cities in the region of Andalucía (mainly most of the southern part of Spain). Next semester we'll go to Basque Country (Bilbao and San Sebastian) - which I'm really really excited about, but thats months away.

Anyway, we left before the crack of dawn on Friday to drive by bus to Cordoba. There we saw a few of the main attractions - the Roman style bridge, the mosque-turned-cathedral, and also the Jewish quarter with one of the oldest synagogues still standing in Europe. These buildings also represent the coexistence of three cultures/religions in the Iberian Peninsula at the time (under Islamic rule): Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. (This all came to an end in 1492 when the Islamic government surrendered to the Catholic kings, Isabel and Ferdinand.) Aaanyway, I'd seen this stuff all before when I was last in Spain (with NYU, too), and I wish we'd had more time to see other things in Cordoba (example: the Alcazar), which was the capital and a pretty important city during Islamic rule and the Middle Ages. Nevertheless, we continued on to Sevilla after a few hours in Cordoba. That night we had free time to do whatever, since we got there at about 8 p.m., but since we'd all been up so early in the morning, we just got dinner and went to bed.

Saturday was a packed day. We started by visiting the Alcazar, or the Royal Palace, which is HUGE. The buildings themselves, along with some courtyards, are pretty extensive, and the gardens keep going on and on as well. I really liked the gardens - there are a lot of flowers, plants, trees, etc., and there's also a labyrinth! Pretty sweet, huh? After visiting the alcazar, we saw the cathedral. Now, this is a very nice cathedral, inside and out (though still not as pretty as the one in Segovia), but we were in there for about two hours, listening to our professors go on and on about lord knows what (pun semi-intended), including about half an hour inside the Royal Chapel (which we got to visit even though it's not usually open to the public). I like visiting churches, but I'm still going to need a while before I can stand to see another...

After the cathedral and lunch, we visited the Hospital de la Caridad, which was, yes, a hospital that was built in I think the 15th century. I think we visited it because the architecture (in particular of the church in the hospital) is Baroque style, but quite frankly I was so tired and bored at this point that I don't really remember much of what we were told there. (And also, for some reason old buildings that were once hospitals creep me out a bit.) Then we passed by the Torre de Oro and the bullfighting ring (one of the more important ones in Spain), where we were told about bullfighting in Spain...fun.

Then free time, thank god. A friend and I walked through the Barrio Santa Cruz for a bit. Later one we went to see the Plaza de Espana, which is really pretty and probably would have been equally nice during the day also. It was built in 1928, along with the Parque de Maria Luisa that surrounds it, for a world's fair the following year (Ibero-American Exposition of 1929).

Sunday we visited a convent, the Convento de Santa Paula, which is still in use but open to the public at some hours of the day. I think it was originally built in the 15th century, and there's a little museum inside that shows its history. Interesting, I guess...not sure I fully understand the point of going there but it was definitely interesting. After visiting the convent, it was back on the road for the six-hour drive back to Madrid...

Valencia

So this past weekend was extra long: Tuesday was the “Día de la Hispanidad” or “Día de la Raza,” which basically celebrates Columbus’s (Cristobal Colón) “discovery” in 1492 of the Americas. There are huge parades everywhere in Spain, particularly in Madrid, more or less like our Fourth of July parades but perhaps a little more political and historical. (I.e. no crazy parade floats, no fireworks that I know of, no groups of fifth graders carrying homemade patriotic signs.) Anyway, since Tuesday was a holiday, they decided to give us Monday off as well, and since we don’t have class on Fridays, it was a five day weekend (bless Spain and their mid-week holidays). So three friends and I decided to go to Valencia for four days.

From las Fallas this past year in 2010
(this is from Wikipedia, I didn't
actually see this one, but just so you
have an idea)

Valencia is the third biggest city in Spain, located on the Mediterranean coast. It’s known for its oranges, its paella (which originated there), the City of Arts and Sciences (more on that later), and las Fallas, a huge celebration that includes a big parade of ninots, or papier mâché dolls (more like statues really) based on a predetermined theme. There is a competition for the best statue  and all but the winner are burned on the last day of the festival. Anyway, that takes place in March so we didn’t see any of that. However, there is a museum that houses the winning ninots, and we did go there (it was pretty cool but you’re not allowed to take pictures unfortunately so just google “las Fallas” if you’re curious – and you should be).

Aaaanyway, on Friday we woke up at 4:30 am to get to the airport for our 6:40 am flight. Ew. The flight itself is only about 50 minutes, so that wasn’t too bad. We spent our first day in Valencia first at the City of Arts and Sciences, which practically is a city itself of several futuristic-looking buildings devoted to science and the arts, including a huge aquarium, a science museum, an IMAX/planetarium, and more. Friday we went to the aquarium, which is pretty impressive. There are tunnels that go under enormous tanks filled with fish, sharks, and other ocean dwelling animals, so you can basically watch them swim over or around you. We also saw a dolphin show. After the aquarium, we explored a bit of downtown Valencia, including the cathedral (I’m pretty sure that the cathedral is the biggest tourist attraction in ANY Spanish city). Then we had a menú del día lunch, which included croquetas (basically fried balls of cheese and meat), paella (of course), and dessert. [Sidenote: every restaurant in Spain is obligated by law to offer a “menú del día” which is a three course meal of an appetizer, main course, and dessert, and also includes bread and a beverage. It’s wonderful because it’s also usually relatively cheap for the amount of food that you get – usually around 10€.] Later on Friday we explored a bit more and went to the beach in the evening before it started raining.

Saturday was a Valencian holiday, which we didn’t discover until that morning. It was Valencia’s founding day, essentially, which celebrates when the king Jaime I conquered the city. There was a parade and a special mass in the cathedral, and I think a few other celebrations. We also went inside the cathedral before the mass to check it out and also to see the alleged “holy grail” that they claim to have (see pictures). Later on Saturday, we walked a little bit through the Jardín del Turia (huge gardens/parks that surround a good portion of the city) and went to the Museum of Fine Arts.

Sunday we were going to go to the flea market at the Plaza Redonda (a round plaza), but for some reason they weren’t holding it that Sunday, perhaps because of the holiday the day before. So instead we went to the Fallas museum, and then after that back to the City of Arts and Sciences to go to the science museum. The museum itself was ok, though geared a bit more towards children. Also some of the exhibits were a bit strange in that they didn’t really seem very cohesive…but rather just some semi-related science information thrown together in the same exhibit. However, there was a temporary exhibit devoted to Star Trek, which was pretty good, especially considering that I’ve never really been a fan (that isn’t to say I dislike it per se, just that I never really watched it aside from when Aria had it on freshman year). The rest of the day consisted of exploring various parts of the city.

Torres de Serranos

Monday was our last day and we started at the Central Market, which is an inside market with fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, and other fresh food products. It reminded me a lot of the Boquería in Barcelona, if you’ve ever been there. More exploring ensued, including of the Torres de Serranos (one of two remaining doors or gates to the medieval wall that once surrounded Valencia) and the royal gardens. Our flight back to Madrid was supposed to be at 9 pm, but naturally, it was delayed about an hour, so that was fun. All in all it was a fun weekend!

Huelga general del 29 de septiembre

So the Spanish like to go on strike every once in a while, and this year September 29th was one of those times. The "huelga general" or "general strike" was planned well ahead of time, and everyone, including the government knew about it. I want to first off say that, despite Spaniards' fondness for going on strike (and other Europeans' too for that matter - the French went on strike yesterday), they are pretty peaceful about it. There were a few less than peaceful incidences on the news, but aside from that, they mainly seem to want to skip work and attempt to get their point across (however effective that may be).

Either way, businesses were closed, some banks were closed, Spanish newspapers didn't go to press, and practically every mode of transportation experienced delays or cancellations. People started gathering to protest a little after midnight and stuck with it for the next 24 hours. About 70% of the working population participated, apparently. I had class that day, but since I live about 3 miles from school and could never convince myself in a million years to wake up an hour early just to walk to a 9:30 class, I stayed over at some friends' apartment the night before (they live about ten minutes from NYU). However, I decided to risk it and take the metro home (trains were running at I think 20% their normal frequency during non-peak hours), and got to the platform just as a train was arriving. Success! I don't really know if the strike itself was a success...everything pretty much just went back to normal the next day.

Anyway, I thought this might be interesting to share since we don't really have general strikes in the US. If you're interested in reading a bit more, this article can give you a better idea of what went on.