¡Ole!

This past weekend we hopped on the bus and Mrs.Frizzle drove us all the way to Madrid. After a mildly carsick and uncomfortable six hour ride, we made it there. This ride was an unfavorable one, especially because of a spatially challengend Spaniard who´s head came oh so close to Izzi's shoulder as he drifted off into dreams. On Saturday, we grabbed a map and ventured out into the city. First stop: El Prado. This was a particularly enjoyable museum visit because of the Zuburan, Velazquez, and Murillo paintings inside. We have studied all three for the past month in our Spanish Art History class. 

At El Reina Sofia we were able to see the traveling exhibition of Picasso. Our favorite was the Guernica, which was much grander in person than we had imagined. Up until our limit before we had a claustorphobic panic attack due to the overwhelming amount of people in the museum (it was free that day), we explored the work of artists such as Joan Miró, Georges Braque, and Francis Bacon. 

Later that night, we caught the subway and arrived at Palacio de Deportes for the Arcade Fire concert. What a show. The entire arena was full- from the sea of people on the floor in general admission, all the way up to the seats far enough away to be considered the nosebleed section. However, the location of seats didn´t seem to phase the Spaniards. The crowd became one people that night, united as they danced, clapped, jumped, and screamed the lyrics at the top of their lungs. How they were able to sing the words in English without knowing how to speak the language in general.... we have no idea. 

We almost forgot that we were at a concert in Spain until the band spoke in English in between songs. Their failure to understand the lead singers commentary became obvious when they broke their silence in response to his one statement in Spanish.... (Please sing their response instead of reading), "ole, ole ole ole, ole ole ole ole". You get the picture. For the encore, Arcade Fire played one of our personal favorites- Wake Up. 

It was a night well spent, and one more memory to add to our list of adventures abroad. The next morning we returned to the sunshine in Sevilla, making sure to listen to The Suburbs shortly after returning home. Don´t you love the feeling of listening to an album after seeing it preformed live? Soon to come.... Thanksgiving in Belgium. But for now, that's all. Ciao!