So, I have not written in a while and during those weeks of silence I have toured amazing places, learned incredible facts, seen unheralded sights and taken tests. One of those does not belong and I am sure that you can guess. Last week, I had midterms and the DELE or Diploma Espanol como Lengua Extranjera fluency exam. It was tough. But, in the midst of studying I also visited Madrid and Barcelona. They are the two largest cities in Spain and each has a distinct feel that I, as someone who has spent three months in Spain, found surprisingly un-Spanish. I loved both of them, to be sure, but they were unlike anything I have known in the rest of Spain.

The Madrid trip was with our program and so we lived like kings, well compared to the paupers we usually travel as. Also, the program directors are both incredible people who help us with everything and know just where to take us and what to see. The city of Madrid was so busy; people everywhere! Being the Capital for 500 years, it has all the required beautiful parks, monuments, museums (I have an illicit picture of Velazquez's Las Meninas from the Prado). Along with this trip we visited El Escorial, The Valley of the Fallen, Segovia and Toledo.

This is San Lorenzo, in the Plaza outside of El Escorial. Built as a palace, retreat, monastery and mausoleum by Felipe II in the 1500s it is the largest building in Spain. You are not allowed to take pictures inside, which was fine because the architecture mirrors the personality of the King, said and rigid. He was a devout Catholic but the death of 5 wives and something like 12 children weighed on him, as it would anyone. The one bright spot, and one of the coolest rooms I have ever been in was the library. The ceiling is a bright Fresco by Lucas Jordan, who could paint with both hands. All of the books face outward and are coated in real gold, this preserves the pages and also adds to the enlightened feel of the room. This library has the most extensive collection of ancient Arabic writing in the world and behind that of the Vatican, the second most of Greek and Latin. Some of the most important books include St. Theresa of Avila's journal, a bible printed with glue and gold flakes in place of ink and the first book written in Gallego that is also the best collection of written music from the middle ages.

In the mountains above El Escorial is the monument to the dead of the Spanish Civil War called the Valley of the Fallen. It is a basilica dug out of a mountain and so in place of light from windows the inside is dark, yet powerful nonetheless as huge sculptures of angels line the walls of the cathedral that is longer than St. Peter's. It was built by political prisoners as a last "in your face" by Franco who made sure every symbol represented his victory over the heathen republican fighters. Above the basilica is a 125 m cross with statues of the four Evangelists at the base. They are so big that a person would be shorter than their noses. Outside, situated on the edge of the mountain is a parade ground. Right now, there is a lot of dissidence towards the monument as any Spainards older than thirty lived during the oppressive regime. I do think, however, that as Spain becomes more personally removed from Franco this sight will be truly celebrated as an engineering and architectural masterpiece. It is the same way that most people can overlook the thousands of deaths that it took to build the pyramids and Great Wall of China.

The cross is more than a football field tall.

Segovia is more than 2400 years old and it hardly looks its age. The aquaduct is impressive, more than 135 stairs from the bottom to the top. The Cathedral is impressive; I have to be careful that I am not callous towards huge, beautiful cathedrals after visiting so many. It is impressive that people spent so much time, money and effort to build these tributes to God. It is something that happened then and today would be scoffed at as a HUGE waste of money.

The castle is excactly what I would expect from one; Walt Disney agreed and modeled Snow White's after it. My favorite part of Segovia was, however, the view from the castle to the mountains..... Notice that is a grain elevator and not a castle or Cathedral. Just like home.

The next weekend I went to Barcelona. It is the Capital of the Autonomous Community, much like a State, Cataluna. But, unlike a state, Cataluna has its own language and history that it is so proud of it wants complete independence from Spain. Also, Barcelona is a port city and so it was full of tourists and I heard more English than Spanish. Even the signs are in Catalan and English, but not Spanish. I met a lot friends from Gonzaga-in-Florence there and that was really fun. My friend Matt and I attended an FC Barcelona game. It was a great game and it marked the first time I have been cold in Spain.

In front of the Stadium.

Barcelona also has Gaudi architecture everywhere including the unfinished La Sagrada Familia that he lived in for forty years while working on it. It seems everywhere I look in Europe there is a crane ruining a picture. But, they are just a sign that work is being done, of wanting to better the buildings and it took the under-construction masterpiece of La Sagrada Familia to show me that.