Shit, the apartment is cold!
So apparently there is a law in Italy that you can't turn on the heat until November 1st. Also, once you do turn on the heat, you are not supposed to have it on more than 8 hours per day, and you are not supposed to leave it on at night. It usually does get up to 65 during the day, but it does get down into the 40's at night. And without heating, it makes it too cold to sleep comfortably. I think we have more blankets in one of the closets that I'll need to find and put on my bed. Last night I had on sweatpants, a long sleeve shirt, and a pair of socks, and I was still not as comfortable as I would have liked. Boo!
So Madrid was really nice. The weather was in the 70's during the day and down into the 40's at night. However, I had ample blankets on the hotel bed. The important thing about Madrid is to remember that it was a planned capital. Before the royal family moved in there were many capitals throughout Spain. In the 1500's the monarch decided that he wanted a capital in the middle of his country and thus made Madrid the capital. He completely redid the city and made it worthy of his presence. It gives off a very different vibe than Berlin (which was the whole idea of the trips.) Berlin is a city made up of different parts. Madrid is a stereotypical capital city from the age of absolutism. It gives off a european and united vibe. I have uploaded my photos to my photo page: www.learningitalianisfun.shutterfly.com.
So the first day we walked around and saw Plaza Mayor, the royal residence (I forgot what it's called) and a bunch of other stuff. The highlight was seeing the Caixa Forum. It's a building that was redone by Herzog and de Meuron. It's kind of a weird building. But, inside were exhibits on Palladio and Richard Rogers which were both fantastic. It was really cool to see actual drawings done by Palladio. It was even cooler to see the thought process behind some of the buildings he designed. And, it was even cooler because I've been to a bunch of his buildings in Venice and in the Veneto region. Of course he did the Villa Rotunda, but he's got San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, Villa Malcontenta in Vicenza etc (which I've been to as well).
Caixa Forum
Royal Park
The Richard Rogers exhibit had some of his proposals that won him the competitions. Essentially he created small books to explain why he should be the architect and why his design makes the most sense. It was really neat to see how he broke down the design problem and how he supposedly addressed each point of emphasis that the owner wanted. Unfortunately, photos were not allowed in any of the exhibits. That's all for now. School is getting super busy and I have aspirations of going back to Genoa this weekend so I really have to buckle down. Perhaps I can blog more about Madrid tomorrow.
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