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Círculo de Bellas Artes – After-class Activities

We are back with another great after-class activity with AIL Madrid! This time, we went to the Círculo de Bellas Artes, and once again, it was an afternoon of great fun.

Firstly, the Círculo de Bellas Artes is famous for being a hub of artistic talent and expression. This cultural centre is a multidisciplinary centre with activities including visual art, literature, science, philosophy, film, and the performing arts. So inside, there are wonderful exhibitions – there is always something to suit everyone’s tastes! It was founded in 1880 by a group of artists, and since has always kept the passion of art at its core. Now, it is officially declared a ‘Centre for the Protection of the Fine Arts and of Public Interest’.

This building offers two great things, one being the breathtaking rooftop views of the centre of Madrid. There is a small 4€ fee to reach the rooftop, but for the magical view when you get there, it is totally worth it. Our tour group absolutely loved it.

Want to join us on our next tour or activity around Madrid? Simply sign up to one of our courses and you will be invited for free! Visit our website to find out more…

Or if youre curious, read about another one of our activitys here: Trip to the CaixaForum Centre! We would love to see you on our next activity 🙂

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Visit to CaixaForum – After-class activities

We are back with another blog post about things to do in Madrid! This time, it is a visit to CaixaForum that we recommend. CaixaForum is a culture and exhibition centre in Madrid. It is home to a wide variety of things including ancient, modern and contemporary art, music and poetry festivals, multimedia art, debates on current affairs, social conferences, and family and educational workshops.

The building itself is famous because it has a ‘vertical garden‘ that you can see in the picture above. It is worth paying a visit simply for a photo in front of this unique architecural feature! Then when you venture inside you will be lost in a maze of art and culture for hours. It is the perfect way to spend your afternoon exploring in Madrid.

Our after-class activity group loved this visit to CaixaForum, as well as all the other opportunities we have on offer. If you want to join us for one of these free activities, you just have to enroll on one of our great Spanish courses! View them all on our website here.

Why not read about our trip to the Salamanca neighborhood next? With AIL Madrid, it really is one of the best ways to see the beautiful city of Madrid.

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Walking tour of Salamanca – After-class activities

Madrid is a dynamic and diverse city of culture. There are of lots of neighborhoods that offer different things to see, do, eat, and drink. There is so much to explore that we recommend splitting the city up into different sections. Tackling different parts of it on different days is much easier! One of our favourite areas, coincidentally where our language schools are located, is Salamanca. That is why we took our students on a walking tour of Salamanca in one of our fun after-class activites!

Salamanca is renowned for its beautiful building fronts, and high class inhabitants. It has always been a political and financial hub for the city of Madrid. However, it is now combined with becoming a fashion go-to for designer shopping. Queen Isabella II ordered its construction, and architect José de Salamanca designed it. Therefore it has a very expensive feel as you wander the streets.

If you want to join our next walking tour of Salamanca, or any other neighborhood of Madrid, join our family! In order to get access to these fun and FREE after-class activies, you simpy have to be enrolled on one of our courses. To get more information about the courses we offer at AIL Madrid, check out our website…

After this, why not read about another one of our fun after-class activities? Previously we wrote about a great tour around the Prado Museum, it is definitely worth a read!

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Going to a restaurant – Spanish Exercises

Whether you are here for a weekend on holiday, a semester abroad at university, or you’re lucky enough to live here permanently, it is almost guaranteed that you will be going to a restaurant at some point. Madrid is a culinary hub of amazing restaurants, so there are hundreds of choices to try out some great food. Although they can cater for tourists, many of the restuarants will appreciate your efforts to communicate in Spanish. This is why we have made this helpful cheatsheet for what to say when going to a restaurant!

Can we change table? Have you got a children’s menu? The bill, please? Do you have a reservation? These are the questions you will hear flying about in any restaurant. Simply remember how to say them, and you will be comfortable communicating with your waiter or waitress with no confusion!

Next read our article on how to say numbers in Spanish so you can also cover your bill easily! Then you will be fully prepared for an unforgettable Madrileño feast.

After that, why not check out our website. There you will find more Spanish exercises and cheat-sheets to make your language learning that much quicker and easier…

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Museo Prado- After-class activities

AIL Madrid offers free after-class activites to everyone in the AIL family that is enrolled on our courses! Last week there was a trip to Museo Prado to learn about the art, culture and heritage of this world-class art gallery. The students were given a guided tour of the most iconic pieces feautured in the Museo Prado. This gave them a great insight to the stoires behind many of the paintings.

The Prado museum has a huge collection of European art from the 12th to early 20th century. It was originally based on the Spanish Royal Art Collection and has been growing ever since. The gallery now boasts am impressive 21,000 works. The most well-known piece of art on display at the museum is Las Meninas by Velázquez. A trip to this beautiful building is essential when in Madrid, so why not make the most of having a talented tour guide to help you understand all the art better!

Want to join in on the fun we are having in our after-class activites? Sign-up to our school today, by clicking here! To get more of an idea of the activites we offer, read about our tour around Madrid of Los Austrias.

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Madrid’s Teleférico – Featured after-class activity

How would you like to soar through the bright blue skies of Madrid without needing wings, feathers or even a boarding pass? With our featured activity this month, you can do just that! Madrid’s Teleférico cable car system is an exciting way to discover hidden areas of Madrid from a unique bird’s eye view.

Our journey begins

Our students join us in catching the Metro to the Argüelles station, from which we only need to walk for two minutes to arrive at the base of the Rosales Teleférico station. We climb into the stylish glass pods of the Teleférico and quickly begin our ascent into the air!

Madrid's Teleférico – Featured after-class activity

The landscape unfurls below us, revealing trickling mini waterfalls of the Parque del Oeste and the pink blossoms of the Rosaleda. We hover over the Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida, home to a stunning fresco painted by Goya, before gliding over the Manzanares river.

The beauty of the biggest park of Madrid

Our cable cars finally puncture the green lung of the city, the Casa de Campo, the biggest park of Madrid. If the day is nice and sun is shining, we often prepare a nice picnic basket and enjoy some treats at Casa the Campo, near to the lake while families paddle row boats lazily across it. Our students love this little green corner of the capital. We disembark from our pods, find a shaded spot and enjoy a picnic in the relaxing surroundings.

The striking beauty of the city of Madrid is often referred to with the saying ‘De Madrid al cielo’ (from Madrid to Heaven). We can’t think of a better way to live out this phrase than by taking to the skies yourself! Why not come along for our next visit to the Madrid Teleférico?

If you enjoyed the Madrid’s Teleférico ride, learn everything about this kind of activity in AIL Madrid and find out about other featured after-class activities, like our Spanish Cooking workshop.