Spring break. Oh man I was I ready for it. Too long without a decent nights sleep can take a toll on you and I was pushing my limit, so when Friday finally rolled around and the last happy child finally headed off with their parents I booked it out the door and headed for a nice nap. Except I never quite got around to it. It's strange how tired you can be when you have something to do, yet how awake you are when you lift that weight free. My plans for spring break didn't exactly go as planned. Originally I was going to go to the UK and see almost all of it, but due to passport complications that I won't get into I was unable to leave Spain. I had a good time though anyway and got to see some really cool things and hang out with cool people!
Sunday I headed out with the Pathfinders group to a mountain about two hours from Zaragoza called Moncayo. We got their in the early afternoon and while the pathfinders set about learning how to distinguish plants and such things, I started up the mountain. I hiked until I couldn't hear the screaming kids anymore, found a nice sunny spot, built a rock chair with a reclined backrest, and took a nap. It was so nice to be out in nature again. I haven't seen a wilderness since I got here and it was amazing to sit on my rock with pine trees surrounding me and no noise to disturb my contemplations... or my sleep. I woke up an hour or so later and headed back down the hill just in time to meet up with the pathfinder group starting their hike. I got my exercise in. After lunch I rode with a fellow teacher and her husband around to the other side of the mountain and up to an old sanitarium. The sanitarium now serves as a cafe and lodge for the daring hikers who plan to go for the top. From the look of the mountain I think I could have been up and back down by supper time with a light jacket and a good pair of boots... but I didn't say anything, and we had coffee at the cafe.
Monday night was a little different. The festivities for Semana Santa had begun. I went downtown and met Anabel then we went to check out the parade. Anabel told me that Zaragoza focused on the drum during this event and I didn't really understand that until we got to there. There must have been 200+ people in the first parade all of them dressed in colorful outfits, that are eerily similar to ku klux clan uniforms, and every single one of them was beating on a drum. It was deafening, but I enjoyed it. The parade was long and each section represented a different part of Jesus's crucifixion. After that parade we caught two more before getting tapas at a cafe and heading home. I caught the next night too, but after that I had a headache and couldn't stand more drumming.
The next day we got up and saw the Prado Museum, a big art gallery with lots and lots of famous paintings. I took one picture before I realized that photo's weren't allowed in there and had to put the camera away... We also saw the botanical gardens which are home to over 30,000 different kinds of plants! After that we decided to go see the river so after a long walk we found it right about sunset. The river was beautiful... Madrid is beautiful. I really was amazed by how pretty the city was, I walked around Paris and Rome and while those cities were cool they were not beautiful. Madrid has a good vibe to it. I recommend you at it to your travel plans if you ever head to Europe.
Overall my spring break was awesome... if a little to short. I had a great time and saw cool things that I wouldn't have seen if I had gone off somewhere else. It feels good to know Spain just a little bit better now.
Sunday I headed out with the Pathfinders group to a mountain about two hours from Zaragoza called Moncayo. We got their in the early afternoon and while the pathfinders set about learning how to distinguish plants and such things, I started up the mountain. I hiked until I couldn't hear the screaming kids anymore, found a nice sunny spot, built a rock chair with a reclined backrest, and took a nap. It was so nice to be out in nature again. I haven't seen a wilderness since I got here and it was amazing to sit on my rock with pine trees surrounding me and no noise to disturb my contemplations... or my sleep. I woke up an hour or so later and headed back down the hill just in time to meet up with the pathfinder group starting their hike. I got my exercise in. After lunch I rode with a fellow teacher and her husband around to the other side of the mountain and up to an old sanitarium. The sanitarium now serves as a cafe and lodge for the daring hikers who plan to go for the top. From the look of the mountain I think I could have been up and back down by supper time with a light jacket and a good pair of boots... but I didn't say anything, and we had coffee at the cafe.
Monday night was a little different. The festivities for Semana Santa had begun. I went downtown and met Anabel then we went to check out the parade. Anabel told me that Zaragoza focused on the drum during this event and I didn't really understand that until we got to there. There must have been 200+ people in the first parade all of them dressed in colorful outfits, that are eerily similar to ku klux clan uniforms, and every single one of them was beating on a drum. It was deafening, but I enjoyed it. The parade was long and each section represented a different part of Jesus's crucifixion. After that parade we caught two more before getting tapas at a cafe and heading home. I caught the next night too, but after that I had a headache and couldn't stand more drumming.
The rest of the week went pretty good. I got caught up on sleep, exercised, and planned for my weekend in Madrid. Saturday morning I headed to the bus station, hopped on my bus, and headed for Madrid. I was supposed to meet my friend Chelsea Rodgers at the hostel at around 10 p.m. I took the metro and the place was easy to find. I was a little scared to see where we would be staying, (we signed up to sleep in a 12 bed mixed dorm), but was pleasantly surprised when I got there. The place was clean and everyone spoke English, not something I was expecting on either front. The bedroom wasn't bad either, nice clean beds with lots of room and free lockers for your things. I had some time to kill so I headed to the common area and chatted it up with some of the Americans/English guests who were down there. Around 9:45 I headed out to wait by the metro stop for Chelsea, just to make sure she found the hostel and because there were a lot of drunks out and about when I had come in. There were two exits to the metro however and at some point as I was going between the two Chelsea arrived, checked into the hostel, and began waiting for me there. Comical I suppose, but man do I miss my cell phone...
That night we got some food and saw what there was to see in that area of the city, then headed for bed. The next day we saw the Puerto del Sol (center of the city and old gate from the wall that once surrounded Madrid) and walked around the parks in the area. Around supper time we decided it was time for some taco bell! We hopped onto McDonald's free wifi and google mapped it. Only 3.5km away! Google maps won't lead us wrong right? Google maps took us down real streets making real turns. However it was leading us down a path of false hope and empty stomachs. After arriving at an empty apartment building we were depressed. We ended up eating Kebabs though so it was still okay. :)
The next day we got up and saw the Prado Museum, a big art gallery with lots and lots of famous paintings. I took one picture before I realized that photo's weren't allowed in there and had to put the camera away... We also saw the botanical gardens which are home to over 30,000 different kinds of plants! After that we decided to go see the river so after a long walk we found it right about sunset. The river was beautiful... Madrid is beautiful. I really was amazed by how pretty the city was, I walked around Paris and Rome and while those cities were cool they were not beautiful. Madrid has a good vibe to it. I recommend you at it to your travel plans if you ever head to Europe.
Overall my spring break was awesome... if a little to short. I had a great time and saw cool things that I wouldn't have seen if I had gone off somewhere else. It feels good to know Spain just a little bit better now.
It is so nice to see pictures of you. We sure miss you, can't wait until you are home! Nice, interesting blog. It is awesome that you are having all of these cool experiences. :) Happy for you. You'll go back again and see the rest sometime! Glad you made the best of it.
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