Saturday, December 13, 2008

Snow, El Bosco, and a cold little stroll

Well it went from rain to snow in Madrid for us, not that it stuck, but it was fun nonetheless. Leah and I hit Madrid today to walk around and look for areas in which we may want to live. Madrid is beautiful. There are many different barios in Madrid and all of them have a unique taste.

The first we visited the other day, Malasaña, has tight narrow streets and is full of life and youth. Apparently it is where the artists live.

For the washed up artists, or those trying to make it, we toured Lavapies, a bario with a HIGH concentration of foreign immigrants. We saw people of African, Asian and Arab descent while walking through the narrow streets. It was intriguing to say the least and quite fun to see the diversity. We strolled in the cold around the other areas as well, mostly with wider streets.

I (Kevin) think Madrid is beautiful (I think Leah agrees), and may rival my fascination with Portland. Today was a good day to compare the two as when the snow stopped the rain persisted into the evening.

After a little Spain style Mexican food (which was so-so), we headed of to Museo del Prado, one of the more famous art museums in Europe, second probably to the Louvre. We got to see some Rafael, Velazquez and many other famous artists and their beautiful work. I (Kevin) liked the Flamenco work. Leah did not.

After the museum, the rain had stopped, it had warmed up 3 degrees, and we strolled again in the breeze with many evening walkers to see the Christmas lights around el parque Retiro. It was very nice and beautiful.

Pictures to come. Tomorrow Church.

1 comment:

Carolyn Kerr said...

Dear Kevin and Leah, Welcome to Spain! We would like to meet you or at least communicate by e-mail at EdCarKerr@hotmail.com or by Skpe (internet phone that costs 2 cents per minute). We are Edwin and Carolyn Kerr of the Latin America Mission, and we have been working on unusual evangelism methods in Sevilla, Spain, since 1989. We talked with José Luis de Brillones of Decision a little after your visit with him, John Blake, and Miguel Angel de Marco. We have learned a great deal about methods that do and do not work in Spain, and Carolyn has published some analysis in Evangelical Missions Quarterly (July 2007). In our tiny town, Castilleja de Guzmán, we have made many friends and some converts and have missionaries from two other missions working with us. If we talk we can share experiences, because we have heard many good things of those who have been in Mexico with Spearhead.
Waiting to hear from your, Yours for the gospel, Edwin Kerr, Carolyn Kerr, and our colleagues