{"id":344,"date":"2015-08-03T15:55:00","date_gmt":"2015-08-03T15:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jessicaeblack.wordpress.com\/?p=344"},"modified":"2019-08-29T21:09:48","modified_gmt":"2019-08-29T21:09:48","slug":"madrid-miscellanea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jessicaeblack.org\/everythingelse\/2015\/08\/03\/madrid-miscellanea\/","title":{"rendered":"Madrid, miscellanea"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Moncloa\"<\/a>
The Arco de la Victoria stands where the A6, the freeway connecting the northwest provinces to Madrid, enters the city.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I fell in love with Madrid the first year I spent in Spain. \u00a0I was living in Palencia, a small city in Castilla-Leon whose residents take pride in their pure\u00a0castellano<\/em> (Castilian Spanish), the early Gothic Cathedral<\/a>\u00a0known as\u00a0la bella desconocida<\/em>, and the province’s many examples of arquitectura rom\u00e1nica\u00a0<\/em>(Romanesque<\/a>, I believe, in English… I studied History of Art in Spanish and never bothered to learn the terminology in English).
\nI loved living in Palencia, and had a wonderful year as an exchange student, but I was always eager to visit Madrid. \u00a0I loved the broad avenue known as\u00a0La Castellana,<\/em> I loved the museums and nightlife, and I loved visiting my Spanish host brother and his friends at their student housing.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Ejercito del Aire building makes an impressive backdrop to the metro and bus station at Moncloa. When I first lived in Madrid, all the buses were above ground, and Moncloa was a mess. The bus routes from the northwest suburbs end at Moncloa, including the many that shuttle students out to the Somosaguas campus, where I “studied” during my junior year abroad.
Now, the bus terminal is underground, and it is much nicer, though still chaotic during rush hour.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I went to Madrid several times during the year I lived in Palencia.<\/p>\n

\"vodafone<\/a>
I hope Vodafone (a Spanish mobile phone\/internet provider) has paid a fortune for advertising, because i find it extremely irritating to see “vodafone” before every stop on the red metro line in Madrid. \u00a0(The tio Pepe sign used to be on top of that white building)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I went with my class (I completed COU–“Curso de Orientaci\u00f3n Universitaria”, or the last year before college during which students prepared for their college entrance exams, now known as the second bachillerato year–in Palencia) to see an exhibit at
\nthe Reina Sofia<\/a> museum and the musical Carmen Carmen!\u00a0<\/em>(Antonio Gala) at the teatro Calder\u00f3n. \u00a0<\/em>I met my host brother and friends at the Reina Sofia, and we left (with permission) for dinner; they promised to deliver me to the theatre before the show started, but we got stuck in a broken metro train, so I was late…<\/p>\n

I went with my host family. \u00a0These visits usually included a long visit to\u00a0El Corte Ingl\u00e9s<\/a>, <\/em>a brief visit at my host brother’s dorm, and, if lucky, a meal at a nearby Italian restaurant. \u00a0My host parents hated<\/i> dining out… vestiges of privations during the era of Franco, and a natural reluctance to spend money unnecessarily.<\/p>\n