La Vida en Granada: Madrid, Segovia, Toledo OH MY!

I forgot to add on the last post that I am teaching English Monday mornings to Spanish kids.
I am also taking a cooking class Wednesdays. So far we have cooked Paella and Tortilla Española (potatoes and eggs). YUM! I cannot wait to make some of my own in the States.
My NEXT piece of very exciting news is that I got RA (residence assistant) for next year's staff in Fields! I am so excited!

So as for my Spanish adventures, we recently returned from a 5 day trip to Madrid, Segovia and Toledo.
In Madrid, we went Salsa dancing. I have a friend in my program who teaches salsa dancing (Cuban style) in the States so she was a life saver when I realized that I, like my fabulous mother, have two left feet...in truth it was more of a reminder than realization. (Dad knows how many times I've stepped on his feet or tried to lead).

pretty sunset in Madrid

We also ate churros at a famous restaurant called San Gines.
Just to give you an idea:

While in Madrid, we visited the famous arts museums: Prado,Reina Sofia and a group of us visited the house of Sorolla. Unfortunately, I couldn't take photos in the Prado and had to find some of the Sorolla online, however though I do not have photographic proof, I actually visited these places! :) These are a couple of my favorites:

La entrada (the entrance) of Reina Sofia

Dali

Goya

Miro

Dibujo por Picasso (sketch by Picasso)

Headlines from 9/11

more headlines...

This last one was really interesting to visit. It brought up a lot of memories from September 11th, like where I was, who I was with and what I thought. This room was filled with framed newspaper headlines from all around the world. I saw so many different languages, but all of the headlines reflected the same message. This exhibit represent a bit of continuity, unity about our world that people often forget. It was pretty cool and impacting.

Sorolla

This was my favorite Sorolla piece. I just love how many colors he uses in the water and even the skin and hair of the boy. It's pretty amazing. The other thing about Sorolla's house was that on display were his old paints and paint brushes. Those were the tools with which he made masterpieces.

Though I could go on forever about art, I think for your (the reader's) sake, I will move on...
While in Madrid we visited two other cities: Segovia and Toledo.

Segovia is famous for its old, Roman aqueduct in the city. It was really cool to see. While on our way to Segovia, the clouds gave us a little gift of snow. So it was a little cold in Segovia. For lunch, I ate with my professor from the States and two other friends of mine in a little restaurant (of which my professor knew). The owner is famous for winning an award in 2002 for having a "nose of gold" (Nariz de oro). I think that means he can smell wine really well. So we were talking about it at the table and my professor asked the waiter about it. The waiter, instead of responding, just pointed and said, "well, he is right over there." So we met the 2002 Nariz de oro! It was pretty great.

Yours truly in front of a view of Toledo

In Toledo, we had just a whole bunch of free time. So I visited various art pieces by El Greco (couldn't take photos, sorry), a church that was a mosque which allowed us to walk underneath to see the original structural foundation from back in the day, and the cathedral. The cathedral in Toledo is by far my favorite in Spain. It was beautiful.

Lastly, yesterday I spent 6 hours in the Sierra Nevadas! I was the best decision ever because I had been missing nature so much. Here are some of the best photos: