So I took myself on a trip yesterday - just me - to a palace town about 45 minutes by bus south of Madrid, Aranjuez. It's the "Versailles" of Spain - the palace and gardens were built in the mid-late-1500's during the reign of Felipe II (same guy who built El Escorial and who moved the capital of Spain from Toledo to Madrid). Most of the palace burned down in the 1600's and was rebuilt and remodeled the over the years by the subsequent kings and queens. The town used to be just for the servants of the palace, but that eventually changed in the early/mid 1800s. The palace was built for relaxation and it is a *lot* brighter and more cheery than the highly austere and cold atmosphere of the monastery/church/tomb/palace at El Escorial. That place seriously gives me the creeps - I have a visceral reaction upon entering that place -ugh. The only thing that I enjoy about El Escorial anymore is the library and the town itself nestled at the foot of the mountains.
Anyway, it was a beautiful day and flowers and trees are beginning to bloom. I walked around all of the gardens and took a tour of the palace and walked around the town a bit. I also stopped to watch canoeing races - canoeing/kayaking (piragüismo) is huge there since the town is in between the Tajo and Jarama rivers. There was a big piragüismo fair going on yesterday and races were held all afternoon. The palace/town, Aranjuez, is famous for its strawberries and asparagus, so I treated myself to a lunch of asparagus salad with red wine (Rioja, of course) and strawberries for dessert. Pretty good stuff :)
It was rough last week - some seriously crappy stuff happened and having a day to walk around outside in the nice weather in beautiful surroundings was good for helping me re-focus... I still can't bring myself to concentrate on my studies, though, which stinks because I have 2 exams next week! I had a dream that I got an "E" on an exam... what is that about?... Anyway, I know that things will be fine as far as exams go - Again, I am still very happy to *take* exams rather than *create* and *grade* exams :)
The following are pictures of the palace (exterior - no interior photos were allowed except in a King's Garden), the surrounding gardens (there are 4 main ones in the town), the kayaking races, and the town itself.
King's Garden (inside palace)
King's Garden - Statue of Felipe II (replica - original is in rough shape)
Palace (exterior)
Tajo River (I think it's called the Tagus in English)
El Rana Verde (restaurant where I ate lunch) - it overlooks the Tajo
Flowerbed Garden
Island Garden
Island Garden
Strawberry stand (offering strawberries with cream)
Various berries for sale
Canoeing races
Fountain in the Prince's Garden
In the Prince's Garden
In the Prince's Garden- don't know the name of this flower - wish I did... anyone know?
Hyacinth bloom in the Prince's Garden
Prince's Garden
Prince's Garden
Entrance to the Prince's Garden
Poster for Holy Week (just started today-Palm Sunday) listing the procession times for the town... Each town has its own processions and ways of celebrating Holy Week - but the big mama-jama is in Sevilla, where I will be next weekend :)
View of downtown Aranjuez - it's pretty quiet, small, chill...
Garden of Isabel II (queen in the 1800s) with blooming almond trees
1 comment:
Strawberries are my favorite fruit. When are you going to be able to ship me that Freson con Nata cart?
Post a Comment