The weather here is fabulous! Sunny, mild, a breeze... you couldn´t ask for better and extremely atypical for summer in Madrid!
On Friday after classes I took the boys to Aquopolis - a water park about 25 km outside Madrid. We took the Metro to Moncloa and from there caught a bus to the town of Villanueva de la Cañada. A short walk (well, I thought it was short!) and we were there. They had about four and half hours of slides, rides, swings, a rolling log type thing... water, water everywhere! They brought along various roommates, friends, acquaintances, etc... we formed a grop of nearly 22! It was nearly 22:00h before we got back to Madrid and we had an early and very long Saturday planned. I expressly told the boys no going out since they were going to have many and varied activities for the weekend.
On Saturday morning we met at 08:30h at International House. There is a group of 12 high school students from Puerto Rico and we joined with them to take a coach bus out to El Valle de los Caídos (Valley of the Fallen) y El Escorial. The Valley is a monument built by Francisco Franco to commemorate those who died during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) and in particular as a tomb for himself. It was completed and dedicated in 1959 and he was buried there upon his death in 1975. The monument is a monolithic structure comprised of a 150 metre granite cross that soars out of the rock of the mountain. At its base are larger than life-size sculptures of the 4 evangelists and below that, 4 angels. The main facade is hugh arched opening to a basilica that has been blasted out of the rock face of the mountain. It opens onto an esplanade that overlooks a pine forest and valley that stretches across the Spanish meseta for as far as the eye can see.
The rear of the structure, which is seen in pictures, although we did not visit it, is a Benedictine monastery which houses the monks who care for the basicila. It is accessible though a door behind the main altar. I am in awe of the structure, and althiough it is a place I love to see (the cross is one of the most strikingly beautiful structures I´ve ever seen) it is not a place I like to visit. There is a great deal of horror and tragedy surrounding the Spanish Civil War and Franco´s subsequent dictatorship. The basilica has always presented me with a stark reminder of this dark period of Spanish history.
We followed this with a visit to one of my very favourite places in Spain. El Monasterio de San Lorenzo del Escorial. Built by Felipe II in the 16th century, it is at once a monastery, a school, a library, a royal residence, a pantheon of all the kings of Spain since Carlos I and a church. It houses one of the most extensive libraries other than the Vatican and an amazing collection of art. Not to mention that nearly all the Spanish royalty is interred there. We were fortunate to have an amazing guide, Pablo, who accoompanied us and gave us an incredible tour of the structure.
We had lunch in the village of El Escorial at the base of the Guardarama mountains and returned to Madrid around 16:30h.
Every summer Spain hosts the European Gay Pride parade which brings gay rights activists from all over Europe to the city. No matter what your personal feelings on the subject, it is quite a celebration and a spectacle. Since it is on the news and the parade takes place at 18:00h through the main streets of the city, there is no way to keep the boys away, so I just gave them a short explanation of what was going on, a strict warning to stay together and be careful and sent them on their way. From what I hear, most went to view the parade...it is something you would never have in this magnitude in the US...ah, well, it is all part of the culture!
For Sunday, we all agreed to meet for the Rastro at 09:30h in the Plaza Mayor. Since it is our last Sunday in Madrid, many of the boys wanted to buy the last of their recuerdos for friends and family. I guess they think there are no souvenirs to be had in the south of Spain! Won´t they be surprised!
Afterwards I gave them free time to do their writing for me - which many of them are not doing, I regretfully add. And we planned to meet at the Plaza de Toros at Ventas at 19:30h. I found out during the week that there was in fact a ¨novillados¨ bullfight this weekend, and so we attended. Novillados are toreros who are young and/or learning their craft. They are novices, if you will. All the components of the corrida are the same, just the bulls are a little smaller and younger. So the boys got to see 6 bulls, with picadores. I gave them all an explanation of exactly what they were going to see, how the drama unfolds and the meanings of the parts of the corrida that I understand, at least. Every piece of the corrida has significance and I do not know it all but they got a pretty good idea.
Because of the summer heat, the corrida began at 20:30h. Each bull takes approximately 30 minutes so we were close to 13:30 heading home. Needless to say, there were quite a few tired students in school on Monday morning.
It is difficult to keep up with all that we do! There are so many activities for the boys and they have seen and done so much. And there is so much more yet to come! I only wish that they would spend more time sleeping so they are awake enough to enjoy the activities of the day! I guess I can´t have everything!
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