Week of Museums!

As we are nearing the end of our second week of the program, I wanted to take a moment and share how the week has gone. 

Like the title of this blog suggests, this week has been a week of visiting different museums in Madrid. In groups, we went to the Reina Sofía, the Museo del Traje, Museo Arqueológico, and we also visited a typical “mercado” (market). Each of these experiences gave us an opportunity to learn about different parts of the history of Spain.

The Reina Sofia gave us a deeper look into history through the expression of art with a focus on the Spanish Civil War. Art is an expression of feelings and interpretations of events. We spent most of our time looking at art that was created during the Spanish Civil War which allowed us to see through the artists’ eyes what people were experiencing during the time. 

The Museo del Traje granted us time travel through the different styles of each century in Spain--starting from the 18th century and going up to nowadays. Our amazing tour guide, Sara, taught us how the styles evolved with what was going on at that time in history. It’s a unique lens through which we can learn about history. 

The Museo Arqueologico gave us the more traditional look at history and allowed us to see physical remains of past civilizations in Spain while the mercado de Barcelo gave us a peek into the traditional way to buy groceries. The students really enjoyed talking with the locals and buying a few items in the mercado! It was a great hands-on experience.