Madrid: A Week of Walking Through History

  ¡Hola! I have been in Madrid for about two weeks now and have had the opportunity to see so much of the city! As a class, we have been able to take multiple tours to learn more about the history of the city. 

    On the second day here, we got to do a walking tour of El Madrid de los Austrias. This tour included admiring and learning more about some historical buildings and monuments that were created and flourished during the reign of the Habsburg family in Spain. The Plaza Mayor is one of the famous areas created during that time. As a group, we got to visit Plaza Mayor and even have dinner there!

    Another tour we had the chance to participate in was a very informational walk-through of El Museo del Prado. This is an art museum, similar to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which houses tons of unique and famous masterpieces. We were unable to take many pictures inside of the museum, but it was so awesome to see pieces of art in person that I learned about in my classes. Our tour guide was a professor from the university we are studying at and he was incredibly knowledgeable about all of the art movements and artists over time.

  

    Finally, on the Friday of the first week, our class had the opportunity to see a flamenco performance. I loved the show and the fact that it brought the class material to life. In Dr. Scaramella's class, we talked about the gitano population in Spain and their culture, which involves flamenco. Seeing the nuances of flamenco that we discussed in the classroom, brought to life on the stage, was awesome!

    

    Overall, I have been able to see the city of Madrid and enjoy all that it has to offer. I am so excited to see what this next week holds. I am so grateful for the Jaspers Abroad scholarship because it gave me the ability to travel to another country and fully immerse myself in the culture!

¡Hasta luego! 

Kaitlyn Hennig :)