¡Hola familias y amigos!

Madrid continues to exceed all expectations! Our third day in Spain’s capital city was packed with art and active adventures. We started the day with a guided tour through the Museo del Prado. Our guía Olga navigated through the 1500 paintings on display to highlight famous works by Bosch, El Greco, Velázquez, and Goya. Many of our group members studied Spanish art in school and were thrilled to see the works up close, particularly Velásquez’s masterpiece, Las Meninas.

After the Prado, we enjoyed a picnic lunch at Parque del Buen Retiro, where we cooled off with ice cream and row boat rides.

In the evening we explored the green spaces along the Manzanares river on a 90 minute guided segway tour followed by dinner at a delicious pizzeria. Later, we returned to Parque del Oeste for our daily Spanish lesson, which revisited our morning at the Prado. We reviewed colors and vocabulary to talk about art, then small groups were given a postcard of a painting we’d seen at the museum. Each group had 10 minutes to prepare a presentation in Spanish that would describe the painting and remind the group of its background, symbolism, and why it was significant.

Hasta luego!

– Natalie, Graciano, y Joe