Today was the start of a nice peaceful weekend at home in Madrid. It is so nice to be able to say that...as much as I love traveling, it is not as relaxing as staying at home because I am running around trying to see everything in such a short time. This weekend, I only made 3 plans: bullfight, babysitting, mass.
I allowed myself to sleep late this morning because I was up late last night. So I did not even get out of bed til 11am. Then I moseyed around for a while - eating breakfast, getting on the computer- before actually getting dressed. I was finally ready for action a little after 2 pm.
What I decided I wanted to do today was explore Madrid a bit, find some more postcards, and check out Retiro Park. My roommate recommended that I walk toward Sol (the center of the city) instead of taking the metro because on the way are some souvenir stores where I could find postcards and other things for family and friends. Then after getting to Sol, it would be a shorter walk to Retiro Park. So I decided to take her advice, traced the route on my map, and set off. After stopping at the post office for stamps and making one other stop and then walking slowly and often stopping in stores to look around or purchase something, it took me 1 1/2 hours to reach Sol. Like I said, I wasn't going anywhere fast...and I was stopping to take pictures often too.
Here are some photos of my walk:
After I reached Sol, I headed down Calle de Alcala toward Retiro Park. I arrived at Retiro Park after about 1/2 hour of walking.
On my way, I was able to see "La Puerta de Alcala," which is a monument with a few arches...famous here. And I was excited about that.
More Puerta de Alcala (this was a different day, but I figured I'd keep it all together. Here I had a friend with me)
Let me preface this next part by saying this: Retiro Park is my new favorite place in Madrid! I was astounded at its size, first of all. Seems much bigger than Forest Park...but maybe if you counted all the other buildings that are not part of the "park" part, they would be the same. I don't know. All I know is that it looked HUGE!!! What a beautiful park - green grass (which is more rare here what with the dry climate), many trees, monuments and statues here and there, paths to walk on, and a man-made lake!
I could have spent 5 days walking around there and not seen everything. But I knew specifically what I wanted to see. I wanted to explore the park, but make sure to see the Palacio de Cristal (Glass palace) by Velazquez. I asked several people where it was (because I had a map with street names on it but there were not street signs in the park to tell me exactly where I was in proximity to it), but no one knew. Finally, I purchased a water at one of the stands there and the lady working there was able to direct me.
All I can say is wow! It was beautiful! Not a kind of beauty I can explain...see my photos (coming soon), even though they will not do it justice. I enjoyed looking around and trying to guess how many panes of glass were in the building...I was thinking 8,000-10,000...but still don't know for sure.
After viewing Palacio de Cristal, I found an exit and left the park, looked at my map to see where I needed to go, walked around the perimeter of the park for a while, and then found the street that would take me home. On the way home, I stopped at a restaurant for a couple slices of pizza to go because I knew I would not be eating dinner at home tonight (because of my babysitting job), and I still hadn't had lunch...even though I had spent an hour in the park and it was now after 6pm.
When I finally arrived home, I had a while to chill, talk to my roommates, put away my purchases, etc. before I had to leave for my babysitting job (which ended up being later than originally planned so I could have eaten dinner at home...drat!). I arrived a bit early for my job and though it was already 9:30, the children were just about to eat dinner and still did not have pajamas on or teeth brushed. Such sweet kids - L (7) is very shy, G (9) is ready to take charge, and J(3) is adorable - she immediately brought out toys upon my arrival and wanted me to play with her right away. Unlike in the U.S. when the parents would have told you where everything was, these parents set out the supper things, told me to bring them back to the kitchen and just leave it all on the counter for them to put away later, and showed me how to get Internet. They didn't even mention what time I should put the children to bed until I asked.
It all worked out well, though. But it was a bit rough. J immediately started to cry when her parents left and it took all 3 of us a few minutes to get her to calm down with the T.V., dessert, and Justin Bieber songs I found on Youtube. L and G are like little parents - it's really cute. Of course, J kept being fussy because she was tired (though she wouldn't admit that). She refused to put on her pajamas and brush her teeth, refused to go to bed, and then when we got her in her bed (still fully clothed), she refused to allow L to turn the light off.
I was a bit frustrated, but I was willing to go with the flow. But all of this was making L and G nervous even though they already had their pajamas on and were ready for bed. So they insisted upon calling their parents to talk to them. Well I felt really bad and incompetent, but after they talked to their parents, the mom talked with me and when I apologized for the kids bothering them, the mom assured me that it's just because it's the first time they're home with me and that they get nervous when the parents leave, especially if they are with someone new. I felt better after that. L and I shared bedtime prayers (traditional English..."Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" and traditional Spanish "Padre Nuestro" - Our Father). Then all 3 went to bed. All is well now and it's quiet in the house.
I am glad to have had the chance to get to know the children better before beginning tutoring them. I already love this family and cannot wait to start my job next week!
That's all for tonight! Buenas noches!
Peace and Blessings,
Melanie
Spanish Words of the Day: rezar = to pray, cama = bed, acostarse = to go to bed, dormir = to sleep :)
2 comments:
Madrid appears to be a beautiful city. They have some fabulous architecture there! Amazing. As for the Crystal Palace, I wonder how long it takes to wash all those windows, and how often they do it. Obviously, some of the windows were a bit overdue for a bit of scrubbing. Did you "leave your mark" there in the dirt?
Haha it is a beautiful city! I love the architecture, hence the multitude of photos. And I bet it takes ages to wash all those windows. And I can't imagine having to get up on an all glass roof to do it either! Plus you'd have to wash both sides...ugggh! I think the dirty windows added to the charm, but only because of the writing. And no, it did not occur to me to leave my mark.
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