El Museo del Prado & El Jardin Botanico del Prado

This is the statue of Diego Velazquez located in the middle of the Prado Museum. 

I love the position of the Spanish flag on top of the building. I didn't even notice it until I uploaded my pictures. LOL

The Goya Entrance of the Prado Museum, and the Church San Jeronimo el Real.

I was so excited to visit the Botanical Garden right next to the Prado Museum. The Botanical Garden is enormous and the colors are amazing. There's a small museum of modern art in the garden. 

This one is my favorite flower! I love the way the color is so bright. Maybe next time I go, I'll come prepare with a pair of scissors to take one home as a souvenir. :) 

Statue of Carlos III of Spain

This is the Museum of Modern art. 

This is one of the many fountains in the Garden, and probably the biggest one.

So on my next post, I will show you the art displayed in the Museum of Modern Art in the Botanical Garden of the Prado. They allowed me to take pictures in there, whereas the Prado does not allow cameras. However, thanks to my handy dandy iPhone, I was able to sneak in a few pictures in the Prado Museum. I might post those also... :) 

My Neighborhood & The Shopping in Madrid :)

After having a sever case of jet-lag, I decided to take a small tour of my little neighborhood and do some shopping at my favorite store, Zara. The downtown area, also known as Opera, has a fabulous variety of shopping centers and amazing architecture. First I will begin with the tour of my neighborhood by the Prosperidad Metro stop.

So apparently drying machines are not very common in Spain, so everyone must hang their clothes to dry. This is not very comforting, but I guess I have to adapt. This also gave me a reason to go shopping, and I live close to the Calle Serrano shopping center. Calle Serrano is the Rodeo Drive of Madrid, and their Corte Ingles is like the Nordstrom of Spain. 

This is the historic downtown Madrid with many restaurants and shopping areas, and it is located in the Opera Metro.

Tour of Old Madrid and The Opera District

The night of my arrival to Madrid, I fell asleep as soon as I unpacked and settled in my apartment in Calle Zabaleta. I told myself that I would not fall asleep, but of course I could not help it. The day after, I was ridiculously exhausted and was thankful for redbulls and cigarettes. We toured the university's neighborhood, attended an orientation, and ended the day walking the historic Madrid. The buildings were absolutely beautiful and the views were breathtaking. The weather was very spontaneous, like San Francisco, but this did not stop me from being a typical tourist. The Royal Palace was amazing and the small buildings surrounding the palace added charm and warmth to the neighborhood. The small streets between the buildings lead to other neighborhoods and amazing buildings, like Casa de Cisneros. 

This is a picture I took when my classmate and I were walking back to the Opera building from el Mercado San Miguel.

El Mercado de San Miguel is absolutely amazing! There's a little bit of everything and the wine selection is fabulous. It is similar to a farmer's market but it's in a glass building and they serve alcohol. So I guess Madrid won't be too bad for the next ten weeks... :) OJR