Submitted by Ana Lopez Magana on the 2014 spring semester study abroad program in Granada, Spain…
This week started out a little intense as well. We had a 3 hour placement test on Monday, but the rest of the week was just AMAZING!!!!!!!!
We left Granada at 7:00 a.m. on Thursday to head to Madrid. We spent about 2 hours on the road and then we stopped to eat breakfast and relax. After that, we spent about 3 hours more on the road until we arrived to our first stop El Escorial.
El Escorial is a historical residence of the King of Spain, in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. El Escorial functions as a monastery, royal palace, museum, and school. Walking through this historical palace was just an amazing experience. I loved every section of the building because each one has a lot of history behind it.
We arrived in Madrid around 5 p.m. After settling in at the hotel, we went on a small tour around the city. I have no words to explain how beautiful Madrid is. I LOVE MADRID!!! We visited the royal palace and the cathedral. It was a unique experience.
After visiting the palace, we all went to the museum of El Prado. This museum features some of the world’s finest collections of European art. We visited the collections of El Greco, Diego Velasquez, Goya, and Rubens. Among my favorite paintings is one by Diego Velázquez entitled Las Meninas and La maja desnuda by Francisco de Goya. If I could repeat the visit, I would not think twice about going back, because I was able to expand my knowledge about art, but mostly because seeing see these beautiful paintings is priceless.
This amazing excursion had an equally amazing ending. We visited both the city of Toledo and the molinos de viento (windmills) in Campo de Criptana (La Mancha, Spain). I was speechless when I saw the view of the city from inside the bus. We walked around the city for a few hours and took a lot of great pictures. Even though we were in the city for only a few hours, I fell in love with the city at a glance. I love how the city is surrounded by the Tagus River because it gives it a touch of magic. Having the pleasure of visiting the molinos de viento (windmills) de Don Quijote de la Mancha was awesome. As everyone knows these windmills are very important and being there so close was the best thing ever. The view from there is unique; it felt like I was on top of the world.
