First field trips - Thursday July 9

Hola!

Today was the first field trip day of the summer and we had 2 field trips that were going into Madrid. The first was the field trip for the History of Disease class which was going to the Botanical Gardens to investigate the medicinal plants and the 2nd being the Engineering and Architecture class that was going to the Caxia Forum (an architecture museum) and then on a walking tour to look at examples of different types of architecture in the city.

We took mass transit into and out of the city, which to tell the truth I wasn't to excited about. I understood why we did it that way, but honestly a shuttle would have been sooooo much better. Especially because the metro ticket guy screwed up and made me pay for his screw up and then the bus guy on the way back overcharged us. But lo que sea.

The botanical gardens were just ok. I think that Longwood Gardens back home are much better! But I did find out what an artichoke looks like when it is flowering and it is really neat! There is a picture down below.

The History of Disease class returned to campus in time for lunch and once I got them back on to the metro, I went to meet up with the architecture class at La Reina Sofia. They were enjoying a snack in the cafeteria. They all had very nice things to tell me about their tour of Caxia Forum, I wish I had been able to be a part of that.

We departed from La Reina and made our way to la Plaza Mayor, which is still one of my favorite places in Madrid. The teacher, Kevin, and his TA, Alex, spoke about the various pieces of the architecture in the Plaza and had a good Q & A, with their kids. From Plaza Mayor we walked into the older part of Madrid to take a gander at the differences in the type of construction they saw in the newer part of Madrid.

Then we headed over to el Palacio Real, where we chilled out on the grass and ate lunch. The class had bagged lunches, but I was forgotten in the count and I had to get my lunch, which consisted of a strawberry Ice-Pop and a Coke.

From el Palacio Real, we trekked over to the Templo de Debod, which I had never seen before. Evidently it is the oldest structure in Madrid, and Spain, but don't quote me on that. It was given to Spain by the Egyptians. It was pretty neat. I personally liked the vista of old Madrid better than the actual temple.

Once we were done at the Templo, we walked over to La Plaza de Espana and across the street to help give the kids a caffiene boost at Starbucks. We relaxed a bit more in the park before getting on the crowed, rush hour, metro to head back to campus.

Before we got on the train, I received a phone call that we desperately needed change, so after trying 2 banks that were closed I found the 3 bank I tried on Gran Via open and got 50 euros in 2 and 1 euro coins. That made my purse pretty heavy.

Then our trip home was pretty uneventful.

Once back on campus, it was my turn to man the office and I stayed in the office from 5:30 - 11:00. I could barely keep my eyes open, I slept quite well last night.

Enjoy the pictures below.

The architecture class walking into Plaza Mayor

Cute preschoolers on a field trip to the Botanical Gardens

A really cool Dahlia(?), are my skills ar photographing flowers awesome? Gotta love the digital Macro setting!

This is an alcachofa, or in English an artichoke. The purple flower on top is soft and fuzzy.

A pretty covered walk way in the botanical gardens.