Otoño

Just a few weeks ago, when it was hot and sunny and I was constantly sweating on my way to classes, I was eager for the fall weather to come.  Boots and a light jacket sounded so good when I was running out of shorts and t-shirts to wear.  But now, fall is here, and per usual, I'm wishing it was still summer weather.  Fall in Madrid is "rain season." I put that in quotes because it doesn't rain half as much as it does in Chicago; what it does mean though is that most days are gray and cold, with the occasional light rain. It's been gloomy and wet for a few days now, but I have these to remind me of few days were I was loving fall:

 Lucy and Alex.

 Candid

Me and Alex.

Although the sun hasn't really been out since that day, we definitely took advantage of the beautiful weather by going to 2 museums.  First stop was the Naval Museum.

Inside there were hundreds of artifacts from historical expeditions, paintings of kings and captains and battles on the ocean, and models of the ships that once sailed.   The best part about this museum was seeing the things we were learning about in class.

This painting, for example, may have once just looked like a cliche painting of Christopher Colombus encountering the Native Americans, an event which might have been followed by a Thanksgiving dinner of sorts.  But after learning about Colombus' expeditions and the historical facts of his interactions with the natives, this painting really comes to life.  This painting is more than just a guess of what might have happened; it is likely that is an accurate depiction of the differences in dress, language, weapons, and intentions.  Thinking about this painting, and others in the museum, as accurate testaments to specific times in the past makes our world seem so vast and so full of history. 

There was also a lot about the battles that took place on the oceans, including paintings of what they may have looked like.  It's crazy to think about what it would be like to to try survive in the middle of the ocean, on a wooden ship, as you're being bombarded with cannonballs.  Seems so Pirates of the Carribean-esque.

After a few too many model ships and glass cases filled with swords, we decided to go to a girlier exhibition, the Yves Saint Laurent fashion exhibit. It reminded me a lot of the Alexander McQueen exhibit in New York, but to a lesser scale.  We learned all about the mastermind behind Yves Saint Laurent's fashion line and saw samples of some amazing pieces of clothing.  On the bottom floor, on every wall there were sketches of different clothes ideas along with pieces of textured and colored fabric that could go along with the piece.  The sketches spanned from the 60's to the 90's so it was really cool to see the evolution of his work and how it compared to the fashion trends of the time. I snuck a few pictures in the museum so here they are:

 At the time it was created, this collection was referred to as "the ugliest clothes in Paris" from a designer with the "worst fashion sense"

 Asian influences.

 Pretty jacket

Moroccan influence

We topped off the day with an amazing dinner at a Mexican restaurant, La Mordida.  We've decided that Spain has mastered Mexican food more than any other cuisine.  Now we're on the hunt for more Mexican!!

Me and Alex at La Mordida.

In other news, I just finished midterms and pretty soon I'll officially be on fall break.  Nathaniel is coming to visit tomorrow!! Then off to Florence....