Madrid

We arrived in Madrid on the high speed AVE train. Spain has one of the most punctual rail systems in Europe. It definitely beats the laid back, strike prone, usually tardy trains of Italy. After a short walk down Paseo del Prado, the main street with art museums and parks, we put our bags down at our hotel and headed out to explore.

The forest inside the train station

On the way to Palacio Real, we went through Puerta del Sol and Plaza Mayor which are major hang out spots. I was impressed that we went clear across the main area of the city in only 20 minutes. No public transportation necessary here to see the main sights. Palacio Real is an old palace for the Spanish royalty. It was certainly impressive. Every time I stop by a European palace I cannot help but wonder why so much money goes toward the royalty who has little or zero legislative power. They tend to be token figure heads and brand logos for the country. It's a huge difference between here and the US.

Typical family dinner table

This brings us to a monumental moment of the day. We got to see my friend Allison in Puerta del Sol! A trip to Valor for chololate con churros. These things were out of this world. Greasy churros and rich thick chocolate is a fantastic combo. Allison left to do some homework so Dan and I headed to the Museo del Prado to see some famous art for free. Spain is nice about admitting students into their museums for free.99. After staring at famous pieces by Goya and Velazaquez, we took some time to recoup before dinner. We went to Mercado de San Miguel for tapas. My favorite was the tortilla which is like a quiche made of potatoes.

Our next day was spent wandering around the city of Toledo just soaking in the sights. Beyond a nice day in a beautiful quiet town, a trip through the El Greco museum, and a couple old Synagogues it was fairly uneventful. The Don Quixote story passes through Toledo so there were tons of souvenirs in honor of it such as swords and statues. Also, on the train to Toledo we sat across from these two sisters from Australia. While very nice, one sister was probably the least humble person I've spoken with in recent memory. She told what I imagine was her entire life story of rising from nothing, making bank on this educational CD-rom, starting a successful ad agency, and now screenwriting. She asked us finance majors if she should put ALL her money into this "Little Miss Sunshine" that she wrote. Dan answered with two words: 'no' and 'diversification'.

It was dinner time so naturally we waited until around 9 to meet up with Allison and her friends for drinks and tapas. It was a great time at this bustling place where the waiters dip, dodge, duck, and dive navigating the crowd with plates of greasy, starchy snacks. And yes, those tapas were most certainly dinner.

On our final day in Spain, we took it easy and saw the rest of the Madrid sights. We got to see a relocated Egyptian temple, a statue of Don Quixote, and the Museo Reina Sofia which holds Guernica by Picasso. I could not believe how massive the painting is. It's a true behemoth and it has a neat story behind it. Before taking our customary siesta, we went rowing in the Parque del Retiro. It's worth noting that a woman from China joined our boat since she was by herself. That evening, our last in Madrid, we got one-euro tapas with Allison before attempting to explore the Madrid nightlife. It wasn't easy especially since we had to wake up at 4:30 am for our flight to Italy. More on that later.

Barcelona

Sunday marked the end of our nineteen day excursion through Spain and Italy. Barcelona greeted us with our first dose of warm sunshine this entire semester. Barca is bright, welcoming, and an overall great place to begin our hiatus from the cold in Scotland.

We walked 13 miles on our first day. Beginning in the old Gothic neighborhood, El Barri Gotic, we wandered from the main square called Placa de Catalunya down to the Cathedral of Barcelona. Remnants of Rome and an outdoor Picasso frieze were our first tastes of Spain and Italy. Ancient artifacts and famous art were regular sights this past trip. A stroll through narrow alleys lined with drying laundry led us down to the water and the Columbus Statue. From there we rambled up the Ramblas, the main tourist street shaded by big trees. For lunch, we ate our way through the Boqueria market. Fresh cut mango was one of my favorite snacks. The rest of the afternoon consisted of the Picasso museum and the beginning of our negotiation for the cheapest Barca jersey in town.

 

After a siesta, we set out for dinner and sangria before meeting up with a friend. A couple lessons learned: 1) when it comes to Paella, 'cheap' and 'delicious' are mutually exclusive, trust me 2) sangria is a specialty of southern Spain and the sangria in Barca is actually similar to Manischewitz. Afterward we set off to meet up with our friend. We ended up playing a game called 'navigate without a map or phone'. Long story short we walked more than was probably necessary and ended up seeing Howie Mandel, the Deal or No Deal host, at a hotel that was helping us navigate.

Day two in Barcelona was not actually in the city. We took a guided hike to Montserrat, the tallest mountain in Catalunya and a favorite spot for rock climbers. It was almost mystical hiking through the clouds up to the summit. Along the way we witnessed adventurous souls walking a tightrope stretched over a large drop. We wrapped up the day with Alex, our guide, taking us to a local hole in the wall tapas restaurant for a genuine Barcelona experience.

Our third day began with a tour of the absolutely incredible Sagrada Familia. This church is enormous, gorgeous, and breath-taking. Having now seen the greatest cathedrals in Europe, I can say this is my favorite. Inspired by nature, the inside feels like a forest colored by light shining through stained glass. It was actually very peaceful inside despite construction still taking place. After a brief trip to see the overlook at Park Guell, we made our way to a sandwich shop frequented by abroad students.

 

It's a good thing we did because otherwise we would have missed the FC Barcelona game we had tickets to. It was Saturday and I was fairly certain the game was Sunday. After getting to know our neighbors in the long food line we were shocked to learn the game was Saturday night. This meant we had to haggle with every souvenir shop in Barcelona before 8pm to find myself a jersey in time for the game. Don't worry, I got one.

Our last day in Barcelona was nice and relaxing out on the beach. I really enjoyed just walking around, sitting in the sand, and people watching. The people I see in each city never fail to outdo themselves. It's always a spectacle. The next morning we took the high-speed train to Madrid to begin our next adventure.