Dinner Monday night:
paella, bread, and tortilla (read: Spaniards love their carbs, but for good
reason…) A group of 6 other students and
I got the chance to learn how to make these at our cooking class that night! Though the paella was extremely elaborate,
our instructor Javi made it seem so easy.
Homemade fish stock, clams, mussels, shrimp, chicken, pork, veggies all
in one delicious paellera! Maybe I’ll be
able to pull this off when I get back home.
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| Beautiful paella from the cooking class |
Tuesday afternoon, I
finally paid a much-anticipated visit to the Museo del Traje, the fashion
museum of Madrid. Unfortuately, I had a
little difficulty finding it…Spanish streets are not well-labeled (if labeled at all!). After walking back and forth for about 15
minutes I went into the botanic gardens that were nearby to rest for a bit, and
find someone who could help me! Luckily
I did, and was able to find my way!
The
main exhibit detailed Spanish fashion through the ages, starting from around
the 13th or 14th century.
The lighting in the exhibit was very dim because it supposedly helps the
clothing last longer. There was also an
interactive section that explained the origins of different types of fabric,
how clothing is made, and how world events can dictate new trends…very
interesting! 
After
the museum closed, I took the Metro back home and did some more exploring! I went into a grocery store because…why
not? It was actually very entertaining
to discover all of the differences between American and Spanish grocery
stores. Here, the milk on store shelves
is not refrigerated (don’t worry, it’s safe!
They use ultra-high temperature pasteurization that allows them to box
milk and store it at room temperature!)
Some other interesting things I found were sweetened condensed milk in a
tube, flour tortillas (which were called “rolls” because in Spain the word
“tortilla” refers to an omelette), and yogurt sold in glass jars! Since everyone here uses olive oil, there was
a very small selection of butter, and they only sold the half-pound European-style
kind (no big surprise…European butter does belong in Europe after all).
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| Tortillas=rolls? |
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| All of the non-refrigerated milk |
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| Sweetened condensed milk in a tube...don't confuse it with toothpaste! |
Wednesday was a day
of shortened classes, so most of the group went to see the Temple of
Debod. While it seems very strange that
an Egyptian temple would reside in Madrid, there is a great heartwarming
(maybe?) story behind it. In the late
1960’s, the construction of a dam in Egypt threatened the safety of a bunch of
monuments and temples. The Egyptian
government sent out a call for help to other countries to help with
preservation efforts. As a sign of
thanks to Spain, they sent over sent over this small but stunning temple. 
Later on, it was off to the Prado
Museum to see lots of art with the class.
We focused on Velazquez and Goya, and it really is amazing how large
this museum is. We had 2 hours to
explore, and still only were able to see part of their collections. After the museum, it was time for dinner and
prepare for the day trip to Segovia!
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