A peek into Madrid's history
Hola, Mama!
Today was the first day of educational modules for the students. I was part of a group that took a day trip to El Escorial and Segovia.
Our first stop was El Escorial, the palace of Filipe II and the burial place of Spain's kings and queens. It was built around the 16th century. It not only was a palace, but housed a chapel and the most elaborate crypt I~ve seen outside of Westminster Abbey.
The crypt was made of red and green marble and had lots of gold statues. It had a very large domed roof also made of marble and highlighted in gold. Even the sarcophagi, the caskets, were made of green marble. Man, beats the old pine box any day. All of the kings and queens, at least the ones starting with the Hapsburgs, are buried there. Their children and other relatives are entombed in other chambers, but they don~t have nearly the same kind of fancy resting places. The relatives only get white marble mausoleums in white marble chambers. Even when they're dead, you can still tell who was king.
The basilica was also impressive. It was so big, which was a bit of a surprise as it was originally built strictly for the use of the king and his family. You could put everyone in the Nevada Methodist Church in there and still have room left over. (And no one would fall asleep during the service either. These old castles are on the chilly side with no central heat. Add in the hard benches with no backs, and you can bet that no heads would be nodding during Ralph's sermons.) The bus next took us to Segovia. The centerpiece of the town is its Roman aquaduct dating back approximately 2,000 years. What I still find amazing is there is no mortar holding these ancient stones together. I can't wait to show you the photos.
We visited the cathedral of Segovia next. It dates back about 500 years and looks more like a Moorish temple or a mosque. We had a limited amount of time, so our guide turned us loose for lunch and exploration. We were told we could see the inside of the cathedral on our own time if we wished. However, it was after 1:30 by this point and we were hungry. Fortunately, we would be ahead of the Spanish lunch crowd, which doesn't start showing up until after 2 p.m.
The seven adults on this day trip went to a nice-looking place and instead of ordering individual meals, we ordered several plates of raciones (rah-see-own-ess), or rations, and sampled a variety of things. We had hams and cheeses, of course; tuna emapanadillas (em-pan-ah-dee-yahs), which are small meat pies; fried calimari (squid); and foie gras (liver pate). A nice lunch and another opportunity to sample some new things.
After lunch we split up. I spent my time wandering around taking photos. I did stop at a small shop and bought a Barcelona soccer scarf (the kind you wrap around your neck in the winter) for Mark. It has the official seal of the Barcelona club on it. Mark likes that soccer team in the European football league, and it will go with his team jersey. Even if he doesn't wear it, it would make a cool room decoration.
One interesting thing about the Castillan (Cas-tee-yahn) Spanish the locals speak: They pronounce most of the "s" sounds with a lisp. Legend has it that a king from the old days had a lisp, so everyone had to speak like the king. Don~t know if it's true, but it's a great story.
Anyway, I told the woman at the store I wanted to purchase the scarf. I said, "Uno Barcelona, por favor." That means, "One Barcelona, please." She replied "Bar-THE-lona?" So I said, "Thi," instead of "Si." When in Segovia....
Our group got back together for a quick tour of Alcazar castle. I~ve been told that Walt Disney patterned his castle at Disneyland after Alcazar. The highlight for me was seeing the throne room of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. This was where Christopher Columbus came to ask for the financing for his trip to the New World. Just think what life would be like today if they had said no.
After we had returned to the hotel, we had just enough time to freshen up before five of us took off for a walking tour of "Bloody Madrid." Betsy set up a tour with one of the most entertaining fellows I've ever met, Stephen Drake-Jones. Stephen is an Englishman who has lived in Madrid for 30 years. Interestingly enough, his wife, Connie, is from Herrman, Mo., and she joined us because we were from Missouri.
I don't know if it's good to admit to my mother how much fun we had. Stephen is a great actor and has tremendous presentation skills. However, he also knows his Madrid history. I think he mixes in a lot of facts with a little bs to keep us entertained. We know there are facts in there because we could read some of them on the plaques and momuments tucked away in obscure alleyways and small plazas.
We saw where a prime minister was assassinated, where a famous Spanish writer took his life, and where a count was murdered on orders of the king. We also visited a spot where anarchists tried to kill the king in 1906. After that stop, we went inside the little tapas bar on the bottom floor of the building from which the anarchist threw the bomb that killed 48 people. (The king and queen survived.) Inside the bar is a large black and white photograph of the aftermath of the bombing. Who knew history could be so cool?
We actually stopped at three or four tapas bars throughout the walking tour. Tapas is a small portion of food, and in Madrid, it's what people eat to tide them over until the very late dinner hour. In our case, it was dinner. I don't think I ate anything too unusual or exotic. We had cheese, sausages, bread, marinated olives and things like that. It's just enough food to keep you going 'til the next stop.
The food was good, and I don~t think Betsy, Mary, Becky, Angela and I have ever laughed so much in our lives learning history. Best of all, at the end of the evening, Stephen presented us with our official membership cards inducting us into the Wellington Society. I~m not sure I can explain what it is; in fact, I~m not completely sure myself. But you can check it out at the official Web site, www.wellsoc.org. Whatever it is, we're now official members and have the cards to prove it! Well, Mom, it's been another great day, and unfortunately, another late night. I have got to figure out how these Spaniards manage to do this and get any sleep.
Hasta mañana -- wait, it is mañana.
Your loving son,
Steve