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Our Spain trip ends in Madrid...

Giralda, SevilleWe've arrived in Madrid for the last week of our Spain trip. In the more than seven weeks to date, we have just seen a small part of this country, but are taking many impressions with us.

After our time in Barcelona, which we enjoyed very much (and which also gave us some insights into the Catalan language and political struggle, see our blog...) we traveled south. With visits to Granada with its marvelous Alhambra, and to Sevilla with its Giralda (left), Alkazar and Torre del Oro, we followed in the steps of our Spanish 1 “hero” David - and we learned much about the long and often violent history of Spain.

We also visited Aranjuez and the summer palace oParque de Retirof Spanish kings so we could utter the words: “Die schönen Tage von Aranjuez sind nun zu Ende” - the first sentence of Schiller’s play “Don Carlos” (“The pleasant days of Aranjuez are now over”).

While in Madrid, we are also following in David‘s footsteps - indeed our apartment is in walking distance of all the places mentioned in Level 6 of Spanish 1: Parque del Retiro (see picture on the right with the monument of Alfonso XII), the Prado, and even the Plaza de España and the “Museo Chichote” (a bar frequented in earlier years by film stars and other famous folks). There are more museums in Madrid than we can visit in our time here, but we certainly are trying our best.

And equally important, our stay in Spain has given us ample opportunity to try out our Spanish and to collect new ideas both for our Spanish 1 as well as for our future Spanish 2 course...

Posted 12:32PM on May 20 2012 by Peter & Ulrike Rettig
Tags: Adult language learning, Language learning, Regular foreign language practice, Spanish learning, Travel & language


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Posted by Ulrike Editor at 09:08PM on June 15 2012

Hi Lisa, Spain is a great and beautiful country, we loved Barcelona, and we loved the south. We didn’t have time for some of the places you mention, but what we saw was lovely. We found a way to tour the Alhambra at night. You saw so much, and it’s clear to us that we have to go back.

Posted by Lisa at 03:41PM on June 10 2012

Two weeks are good time. Enough to go to many places. You HAVE to go to Madrid and Barcelona. But also you can pick going south or north. South there is btaueiful Sevilla and Granada. In the Coast there is Valencia, Alicante very nice beaches.In the North San Sebastian is a must, a btaueiful (cold) beach. Santander to the west is very very pretty. In the way Bilbao, the Guggenheim Museum of art a must. There is in the West point Coruf1a which people say it is btaueiful also.If you are in Madrid you have to go to Toledo, it is like an hour by train. It is a btaueiful medieval city. Also very near are el valle de los caeddos (a church built by prisioners in the time of Franco and el Escorial an impressive (a castle) where all the dinasty of the spanish crown is buried.Near Barcelona we rented a car and went to gerona al along the coast.I also made a trip by car from madrid to San Sebastian. Stoped in Burgos, Santander, Bilbao (there are lots of wondreful towns in between). Paeds Vasco is a very nice Land.In Madrid and in Barcelona you should stay a little longer. In Madrid you have to go to the museums: el Prado, Tyssen Bornemissa and Reina Sofia. Walk around the Gran veda, Cibeles up to the atocha train station. Go to the Palace.In the Park of the Temple of Debot you can take a trip up to Casa de Campo and look al the city. Parque Espaf1a and the Street Pincesa. Stadion Bernabeu. Take the Turibus .In Barcelona you have to go to la Rambla. Take the turibus also. The Sagrada Familia is WONDERFUL. All the buildings. Uff. Spain is Wonderful.Hey i forgot in Granada de Alhambra (castle of Arabs) is impressive!!In Sevilla the Giralda and the patios