June activites part 2 - Sun & Fun

As I promised, here we go with the non-work part of June! :)

I started the month with the Barcelona trip, which was practically the last trip of my volunteering time. The rest of the weekends I spent relatively calmly (meaning I didn't travel further than Madrid), but not any less exciting.

The second Saturday I went to Matadero Madrid to see some short movies. Normally I'm not a big fan, but a friend of mine convinced me, so I gave in... they were much better than I expected. We saw like 5-6 movies, and except for one very weird one, I liked the rest. They were all made by Spanish directors, however the topics were very diverse, from food to strange love stories and gay rights in Russia.

The following Thursday I went out to have lunch with Vanessa and Ana (with whom I had the quilling sessions in May) here in Illescas. We went to an Asian all-you-can-eat kind of restaurant to celebrate Ana's graduation, it was very nice. The place was very good, but they had a strange ordering system. I imagined that they'll have all the food there and we can just go and pick whatever we want, but no. They gave us a menu and an extra sheet where we could tick the dishes we wanted and indicate the quantities. The only rule was that we could "only" order 15 dishes per person... :) We ordered 15 altogether for 4 of us (plus desserts ;)) and it was more than enough, so I wonder how can one person eat 15 dishes... :)

Then on the 19th, Marta (one of our English students) invited us for a dance show, where both her and her daughter were performing. It was the annual show of the dance school, so we had all age groups and all kinds of dances. I really enjoyed it, especially the second part, because that had mostly Spanish dances (sevillanas, flamenco) and for the flamenco they even had a live guitarist and a singer. It was amazingly nice, and since I haven't been to any Spanish dance show before I was totally impressed. Both Marta and her daughter danced really really well, so I'm very happy I got invited. :)

Also June was a farewell month not only for my volunteering project, but for two friends of mine who decided to take up a new adventure in Canada. :) We had their farewell picnic in Retiro last Monday with a bunch of cool people, it was a lot of fun, I actually almost missed my last bus, since I didn't really feel like leaving... :)

The mandatory group picture of the picnic participants :)

Then this weekend I went to a walking tour called "Urban Safari": it is about street art in Madrid. I found this initiative randomly a couple of months ago and got very curious, but till now they haven't had any suitable dates... so when I saw that they finally have a tour on a Saturday, I signed up. Normally they have these in Malasaña (which is the most artsy district of Madrid), but now they had this one in Lavapiés. I was a bit disappointed, because I would have wanted to get to know Malasaña better, but since I had absolutely no clue about street art in general, it was very interesting, regardless of the district. :)

Our guide explaining about the signatures of each street artist: some have small figures, some have special ways of signing their names and some have their specific colors.

An abandoned shop decorated by street artists

Random masterpieces :)

Some "ordered" street art: the fence of a cultural center is decorated by different street artists.

Segovia and the cable car in Madrid

Last weekend I finally got to visit Segovia. It has been on my list for a while, so when my best friend decided to visit me again, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to go. :)

The first (and only) shock we had was when we arrived to the train station: it's literally in the middle of nowhere. :) Of course there are buses that took us from there to the center in 15 mins, but I found it very funny that next to the train tracks there are cows peacefully enjoying the day.

The view when getting out from the station: place for taxis, some cars and then fields everywhere with cows

Train tracks to infinity and beyond :)

Me contemplating the questions of life and the future with my coffee while staring at the infinite tracks :)

The town itself however is beautiful: it's quite small, so we could walk around the historical centre in a few hours and it's on a hill (a bit like Toledo), so there are quite some nice places to enjoy the amazing view. We didn't enter the cathedral or any museums as the weather was too nice to be inside (and we were on low budget), but we went to see the Alcázar. It looked very different from the ones I have seen in the South so far: this was more like an enchanted castle (or fort) and in the inside it definitely looks more Roman, with some Arabic influence and knights. :)

The famous Roman aqueduct and the statue of Romulus and Remus

The amazing view from the top of the aqueduct

Plaza Mayor and the Cathedral

Poppies :)

The Alcázar that looks more like a Disney castle :)

Inside the Alcázar: a nice mixture of Roman and Arabic influences 

Our reward from the tower after climbing almost 200 stairs

My favorite statue on the way to the station: a shepherd with a dog and sheep :)

On Sunday we originally planned to go the El Escorial, but we were too tired, so in the end we ended up in Madrid and went to Casa de Campo with the cable car. 

On the way

A very tourist-y thing they do at the cable car: they take some photos that you can buy at the other end when you arrive. Since we've never bought any kind of stuff like this before, now it was time. :)

By accident we found a very nice rose garden nearby the station (at the Parque Oeste side), where they have a competition of new roses every May, so there is a huge selection of all kinds of roses from all over the world. I checked and it is so popular, that rose-enthusiasts can already sign up for the competition of 2017.

Madrid and Toledo

I realized that I wrote so far about all the places I've visited, except for Madrid and Toledo. :) This must be because they are both quite close and I have visited both of them several times (especially Madrid), so it doesn't really feel like traveling... But as both cities are great, here are my impressions and some photos:

Madrid

Well, Madrid is as amazing as any capital can be. :) I just love the city, it is perfect for any kind of activity: there are huge parks to walk around but also many bars and all kinds of events to hang out and meet people. It is always very vivid, during the day and during the night as well and is very liveable.

I don't really feel like writing a long list of what I have seen and visited here (as I'm not even nearly done with seeing everything :)), so I will give you a glimpse with a few photos:

Puerta del Sol - the very center

Plaza Mayor

Plaza de la Cebada in La Latina, a really cool square to hang out, they have also music on most Sundays

Palacio Real - though the royal family doesn't live here :P

Plaza de Cibeles - town hall

The symbol of Madrid :)

Wall in Lavapiés, a very multicultural and artistic quarter of Madrid

Retiro Park - it actually reminds me of Heroes Square and Városliget in Budapest

Royal Palace at sunset

Casa de campo - an enormous park in the middle of the city

View from the cable car over the park and the city

Toledo

Toledo is like a nice little treasure box, it is just beautiful. Although the fact that I had to go to foreign office here to arrange my papers (as Illescas officially belongs to the province of Toledo) takes away a little bit of its charm, but well. :) The city is still very nice, walking in the old town feels like time traveling and it's also a wonderful mix of Spanish, Arabic and Jewish architecture and history. Not to mention it's on a hill so the view is amazing from the top. :) I still have a lot to discover here as well, but as I will have more friends visiting me in the upcoming months, I will have the chance to get to know the city more.

Beautiful view on every side of the hill :)

Charming narrow streets

The Alcázar

The Cathedral