Madrid, Spain and Canary Islands
Sunday, June 2, 2002
Greetings from Madrid, yet again. I had a great week, showing Scott all around Madrid. We spent lots of time sitting at parks, and walking around the city. One day we went to a museum that was created for blind and visually impaired people (but open to the general public as well.) Some of the sculptures and paintings were created by blind people, and it was pretty amazing. I don't understand how a blind person can paint landscapes that look so real, but it is impressive. The cool thing about the museum is you were allowed, and encouraged, to touch and feel all the various exhibits. Another section of the museum had scaled models of various historic landmarks, like the Tower Bridge, the Greek Pantheon in Athens, the Eiffel Tower, etc. Since these types of creations are often difficult for blind people to imagine, the models allow them to feel them and get an idea of what they are like. The museum was really high tech, every time you walked into a new room, you tripped a sensor that announced what room you were entering, and what it contained
. There were both Braile and voice descriptions of all the exhibits. Scott and I took turns closing our eyes and having the other person lead us to a model exhibit and trying to guess what it was by feeling it. We had fun and both really liked the concept of the museum.
Yesterday we took a day trip to Segovia. They have an amazing Roman aqueduct there, and an impressive cathedral. We also wandered through the beautiful castle. It was incredibly hot in Segovia, and has been here in Madrid as well. We spent a long time in the cathedral because it was nice and cool there.
Scott left this morning. It doesn't seem to be any easier saying goodbye for the second time. But he will be coming out to Istanbul in August, so at least I have that to look forward to. While he was here he uploaded all my digital photos, so hopefully within a couple weeks I will be able to post some photos for your viewing enjoyment.
The girls and I are off to Krakow, Poland tomorrow. I'll let you know how it is.
