Our Second (and final) Day in Madrid

On Sunday, May 5th, our second day in Madrid, we traveled by subway to El Museo Reina Sofia (Princess Sofia Museum) after a fantastic breakfast at our fancy hotel.  In El Museo Reina Sofia, we saw Picasso's Guernica, one of his most famous paintings, and learned some of the history behind it.  Guernica is a town in northern Spain that was bombed by German planes through Franco's orders during the Spanish Civil War.  Meanwhile, Picasso was given the task of creating a mural for the Paris Exhibition, but he did not know what to paint.  While he was trying to figure this out, Picasso became aware of the bombing at Guernica and was inspired to create his mural.

Here are just a few of the famous artists we saw in El Museo Reina Sofia:  

Picasso

Dalí

Diego Rivera

After our visit to Reina Sofia, we had comida (lunch) together as a group at el Restaurante/Pizzería Pinnochio in front of the museum.  Some of us had our own delicious pizzas while others had various types of pasta, followed by dessert, of course!!  The food here has yet to disappoint!

Once we were all done with comida, we had free time until we met back at the hotel to gather our bags and head to the bus station.  Some of us spent the rest of the afternoon shopping in Puerta del Sol, while some of us went back to el Parque del Retiro (Retiro Park) to relax and enjoy the beautiful weather.  No matter what we were doing, being in small groups in Madrid forced us to use our Spanish at all times - from asking how much a shirt cost, to asking what kind of ice cream was available, to travelling around the subway by ourselves.  We are all learning so much being completely surrounded by Spanish!

Before we knew it, it was time to gather our things, head to the bus station and back to Segovia!  I think I can speak for the whole group when I say we loved experiencing Madrid!