El dia del tour

Okay, sorry I wasn't able to blog yesterday (or the day before that for that matter). Yesterday I went on a free city walking tour that was hosted by our hostel. Since I had just went to the palace and cathedral the day before, I thought it was going to be somewhat boring, but it was actually really interesting. We went to a lot of places and I learned a lot of facts about the places that we went. The tour was three hours long so again I got a lot of walking in.

Palacio de Santa Cruz

Holy Cross Church

We started by walking to the Holy Cross Church in Madrid, I believe our guide said that it used to be the highest point in Madrid and it burnt down twice and was rebuilt twice. Also, it is no longer in it's original location. (*Also, I should tell you that we were given lots of information and I could have forgotten some, mixed it up, or changed what we were told..so some of what I say in this blog may be just a good story). Right down the street from the Holy Church is the Palacio de Santa Cruz. It was a prison and now it is the Ministry of Foreign Affair. The architectural style of el Palacio de Santa Cruz is a style from the Habsburg era (1516-1700): red brick, stone, two towers on each side.

Next stop was the Plaza Mayor of Madrid. The Plaza was the location of many trials and executions during the Inquisition and let me tell you, some of the methods that were used to kill just do not sound fun. We also talked about how the Plaza caught fire three times, the worst in 1790 when it burnt down 3/4 of the Plaza (*Fraction could be made up). The Plaza also used to be five levels high and now it is only three. Also, a lot of the rooms are offices or pisos (apartments), but there is part of the plaza that is completely empty, because someone wants to put a hotel there, but citizens are getting signatures so that hasn't happened yet. Apparently it has been in discussion for at least two years.

Part of Plaza Mayor and Felipe III stature

Next, we went to the oldest restaurant in the world (*not lying--look it up in the Guinness Book). It also is number three on Forbes top ten list of the world's best classic restaurants. It was built in 1725. It has the original firewood oven and their specialty is a suckling pig. I will most likely make it there sometime in the next ten months, as long as I don't forget about it.

Restaurante Botin

Original oven and suckling pigs

We then walked to the Plaza de la Villa, which is surrounded by three buildings from the 15th, 16th, and 17th century: the Torre de los Lujanes (one of the oldest buildings in Madrid), the Casa de Cisneros, and the Casa de la Villa (the old city hall and prison).

Plaza de la Villa
Statue is of Alvaro de Bazan (a well known Spanish Admiral)

We also stopped at memorial that was for the victims of the bombing on May 31, 1906. The bomb was thrown from a window and meant to kill King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg on their wedding day. Our next stop was the cathedral and the palace. Although I was just there the day before, I learned a lot more about both. For example, the cathedral is the only cathedral in Madrid (there are many churches however). Also, since it was a Sunday, mass was going on. So I witnessed a little bit of that, which was cool. Seeing it nearly empty on Saturday, I thought it was impossible that it could be filled, but it was packed full of people. We also learned more about how the cathedral is a mixture of three architectural styles since it took so long to build (114 years, if you didn't read the previous blog): Neoclassical, Gothic, and Romanesque. 

Representation of Pope John Paul II
consecrating the cathedral in 1993

We also learned more about the Royal Palace like how there are eight floors and 3,418 rooms..CRAZY! We also went across the street to the Plaza de Oriente. It has a big statue of Felipe IV created by Pietro Tacca with the help of Galileo because it was the first sculpture with the horse on it's hind legs, so Galileo figure out the calculations so that the statue wouldn't fall over. It's hard to tell in the picture, but the rear of the horse is actually disproportional. 

Spanish parliament

We also stopped in the Plaza de España which has a big statue of Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quijote de la Mancha. There are also statues of Don Quijote and Sancho Panza. Did you know Don Quijote used to be the second most translated book in the world behind the Bible and now it is the third. Guess what book is number two now? Harry Potter. Anyway, Cervantes is hiding his left arm in the statue because it was crippled after it took a gunshot wound, so he was always hiding it apparently. Also, fun fact, the building in the background of the statue is completely empty, called the Edificio de España. It used to be filled with apartments, but because of the recession, it is a useless building. Also, the building in the back left is called the Torre de Madrid.

Our last stop was Sol, which I have been to, but this time there was a demonstration going on by the Republicans. Apparently demonstrations are very common and non-violent in Spain and specifically in Sol. I also didn't know, until the tour, that Sol is the radial center of Spain's highways. Also, Sol is the popular place in Madrid to go for New Year's Eve. When the clock on the clock tower strikes midnight, people eat twelve grapes, which is supposed to give you good luck for the whole year.

Demonstration captured on news

Clock tower

Radial center of the highways in Spain

Signs from the demonstration

After the long morning/afternoon of touring. I went back to the hostel just to sit down for a little bit. Then I got my butt out of bed because I had things to do. I went to Vodafone to get a cell phone because it is next to impossible to look for an apartment without a phone. I did run into a little bit of a problem with my debit card..apparently my bank thought I was in South Africa instead of Spain, but it all worked out in the end. I then met up with Karin and Stephanie. We walked around for a bit looking for a fotocopiadora (photocopier) because we had to get some things photocopied for our orientation, which was today (see next blog to here about that). We then sat in Sol for a long time to talk and people watch and I partook in my first ice cream cone in Spain. We then all headed back to our separate accommodations. I tried blogging, but it didn't work too well. That's why I have been frantically trying to get these up. This one particularly took awhile because of the pictures and fact-checking. I doubt I will be able to blog about today right now considering it is 11:45 p.m., but I will say that today's orientation and apartment hunting went fairly well. Hasta luego.