Winner of the Photo Contest and a Beautiful Gift From a Student

 The course is about to end... It is hard to believe! Memories begin to pile up and we try to fulfill our last plans before returning home... Our student Fiona Goe has given us a precious gift: one of her final class projects, where she and some of her classmates show us their vision of their experience during these months:

Vídeo de Fiona sobre AU

And now, what you've all been waiting for... Here it is! The winner of the Photo Contest 2 is... Alma Beckwith, with the following picture:

You can see the other pictures (they were all very good!) and the votes they got in the padlet below.  I will be travelling next Monday with the Iberian group and I will not be able to write, but I will post the last entry when we come back. Good luck with your exams, guys!

International Book Day, The Night of Books... and Alternative Places to Study for Your Exams

International Book Day is a commemoration celebrated every April 23 worldwide. Since 1988, it is an international celebration promoted by UNESCO. It is a symbolic day for world literature, since that day, in 1616, Cervantes, Inca Garcilaso de la Vega and Shakespeare died (Cervantes actually died on the 22nd, but was buried on the 23rd, and as for Shakespeare, that April 23 corresponds to the Julian calendar, still in force in Elizabethan England). The date also coincides with the birth or death of other prominent authors. Libraries, museums, and other cultural institutions usually organize special activities on the occasion of the date (round tables, book signings, conferences, guided tours, children's workshops, storytelling, concerts, public readings, and much more...).

On the other hand, inspired by that day, and I quote, "The Community of Madrid celebrates, annually, The Night of Books with the participation of bookstores, libraries and cultural institutions. The event has numerous free activities around books and reading in Madrid and in municipalities in the region. It has been presenting, since 2020, a hybrid format: face-to-face and virtual. There are debates, conversations, conferences, round tables, children's activities, contests, literary tours, music or theater workshops" (http://www.madrid.org/lanochedeloslibros/2023/index.html). This year it will be on Friday April 21st. 

However, it is also possible that you feel a bit overwhelmed with exams and prefer to go to "cafeterías- workplace" this weekend, where they will let you study for exams (which is not always the case in Madrid). In order to find those spaces,  you can visit the following site: https://unbuendiaenmadrid.com/10-cafeterias-workplace-con-encanto/ Although the texts are in Spanish and maybe they are too difficult for some of you, under each description you will find the corresponding address. The best known cafeteria and the one that has been running the longest is "La bicicleta", in the Malasaña area... Take a look at the pic below!

(Picture from https://www.salir.com/la-bicicleta-cafe-madrid-neg-125575.html)

In the next post I will let you know who won the second photo contest 😊

The Rose Gardens in Madrid

Welcome to the final stretch of the course! We hope you had a happy holiday. Madrid welcomes you with a beautiful spring (which is usually short and gives way to summer very quickly, so enjoy it). In May and June the rose gardens bloom throughout the city, but you could see the beggining of that in no time.

Surely you have been to the Retiro Park a thousand times, but you have not gone to its rose garden. We recommend that you go for a walk one of these afternoons!

Other precious rose gardens, and somewhat less known, are in the Parque del Oeste (near the Argüelles metro, line 3 and 6) and in the Campo del Moro (near the Royal Palace). Finally, don't miss the Botanical Garden, next to the Prado Museum, because right now it is like an explosion of life (not just because of the roses).

Study for the exams, but don't stop enjoying Madrid, your friends, and your experience with American University abroad!!!

Happy Break and a Plan for Today April 1st

 

First of all, the AU Madrid team wishes you happy holidays! 

Just in case someone thinks this is a joke for April Fools' Day, I should tell you that it does not exist in Spain in the same date, although we have something similar in December 28th (but that is another story I can tell you some day 😊)

As we know that some of you do not travel until Monday, we remind you that today, being the first day of the month, the Prado Museum is open from 8:30 pm to 11:30 pm (entrance free and until full capacity), as we announced a few posts ago in this blog. Here you can watch an interesting video where the Head of Institutional Relations of the Prado Museum, Celia Guilarte, explains some fun facts:

https://www.facebook.com/museonacionaldelprado/videos/el-prado-de-noche/1241503736790914/?locale=es_LA

And for those who love to read, I recommend you this book: Un novelista en el Museo del Prado, de Mujica Lainez, where the characters that appear in the paintings come to life!

The blog posts will come back after the holidays! Have fun, take care, and don’t forget the photo contest!