June 12, 2009
We started the day in the Praca do Comercio which is a plaza that sits on the edge of the city right next to the river. This plaza is of the Plaza Mayor style with the tree sides not facing the water all having matching facades with a central gate to one of the major streets(and no cars are allowed on it) in the city.
Gate to Rua Augusta from Praca do Comercio
June 11, 2009
Merida is an interesting town because it takes at most half an hour to walk to any point in the city, assuming you don’t take the long way. Even when we went to the bus station to get tickets to Merida from Sevilla the attendant asked What is in Merida? Still we stopped there and in terms of architecture this city has some pretty interesting buildings. We started the day in Plaza de Espana.
Plaza de Espana
From there we headed up to the National Museum of Roman Art. On the way we passed the Templo de Diana, an ancient Roman temple that is currently being restored.
Templo de Diana
After the National Museum of Roman Art we headed over to the Roman Amphitheater and Theater. That was the end of our day in Merida.
June 10, 2009
At the start of the day we made our way through the campus of the University of Sevilla.
University of Sevilla Courtyard
From there we headed over to the grounds of the Ibero-American Exposition (photos) of 1929. On the way we saw one of the buildings I had done research on previously, the Infanta Elena Library by Cruz y Ortiz.
Infanta Elena Library
June 1, 2009
We started class at the Circulo de Bellas Artes, located across from the Metropolis Building, where we learned that Cafe Americano is coffee with water added. From this point we started to walk down Calle de Alcala to Paseo del Prado which is the major cultural axis in the city of Madrid.
Metropolis Building
May 30, 2009
The first day we had in Madrid was spent wandering around but first we went over to another hostel to meet Tyler to go and get phones but ended up waiting for a little while until all of a sudden I heard someone calling, “Jake, Aric” and we looked up and at the same time both said “Joe?” who was leaning out his window. I was extremely excited because I have never had a conversation with someone who was leaning out a window. This started the day where we wandered around and ended up at the nearby plaza Sol where we ended up getting phones. We headed back to Las Musas before setting out again. On the way out this time we noticed a building that pretty much looked like any other building except the facade was an Escher print.
M.C. Escher Building
