I just arrived in Cordóba last night. I thought I was going to leave Spain after Barcelona, but I fallen in love and really never want to leave. But I have to because I just spent $600 on a return ticket, plus I don't think our government likes it when people move abroad and they make it difficult to get work visas. lolz.
Anyways, I left off about a week ago on my arrival to Barcelona. Wow, a lot has happened in the last week! Barcelona is unlike any other place I have ever been, it's different than much of Spain, I've never been to Miami, but I imagine Barcelona as the Miami of Spain. No one wants to believe that it is not summer, so everyone bundles up and goes out, shopping, running, drinking, partying, wandering. The Gaudi buildings dotting the city are extraordinary and really inspire. It's quite refreshing to see so many people flock to what is essentially contemporary architecture (compared to the rest of the architectural wonders of Europe). The giant cathedral designed by Gaudi over 100 years ago is still being built and in it is a glorious monstrosity. I can't think of a better way to describe it. Twelve conical towers representing the twelve apostles rise from the roof centering around the pivotal Christ tower. It is intense. Gaudi park, Parque Gual, is a much more relaxing place. The house he lived in is surrounded by bright green ferns and trees, and the rounded edges of the home make it look like a fairy castle, or something the Kebler elves would live in. We sat in the park for a while while some Spanish hippies played reggae and made giant balloons that toddlers ran after with all their might. From tall point in the park you have a panoramic view of Barcelona. As you look towards the Olympic park area, a giant falice shaped building stands out. It's just full of offices, but it did kind of disturb my sightline when I first noticed it...
Getting back to the metro from the Park I noticed some graffiti that looked very familiar. It is two elaborately decorated hands, then I remembered them from facebook, my good friend Frank Rodriguez from high school has a picture of them as his profile pic, random!
That night Mike and I went to a Lebanese restuarant in Plaza del Sol that one of our recptionists recommended. It was excellent and everyone was very friendly when I asked for directions in my broken Spanish. This olf man in the table next to us even drew me a map and said the only English words he knew ''thank you, sorry''. It was quite adorable. From Plaza del Sol we met up with our friend Pascal from Paris and his cousin who lives and works in Barcelona. Since Mike had to catch an early train to Marseille, we decided to stay up all night dancing, which is really easy to do in Barce. We had some mojitos and went dancing at Metro. I had a free ticket to get in, but they don't like girls there so I gave it to Mike and paid the cover charge. Dancing at gay clubs is great because there is never any expection. We left at 7am, I felt like I had just done four spin classes in a row. We seriously danced nonstop for four hours, definitely lost a pound or two.
We got back to the hostel and Mike and I had to say our goodbyes, we had an incredible six weeks together, I will think of Mike everytime I hear Keesha, get annoyed at Europeans with umbrellas, eat Haribo-- especially the ones with the white on the bottom, or want to kill Lady Gaga (which happens alot). I slept on the top bunk last night, it was wierd. I really hope you read this Mike!
Eventually, I went to sleep until about 2 in the afternoon. I got up and some kids from Canada (everyone is from friggen Canada) and we went out and got some food. It was a miserably rainy and dreary day, and my Mike was gone, so I was a bit depressed. I decided it was a stay indoors at the hostel and watch movies all day day. This worked out nicely, it seemed like a bunch of people felt that way, about ten people on three couches watching Super Troopers on a rainy Barcelona day, classic! That night I went out for Indian food with Pascal and his cousin Regis, who also hadn't done anything productive after our previous nights dance-a-thon. I went to bed at a decent hour that night, but once again, time is really only a guideline in Spain.
Monday I got lost in the Barri Gotic, or the old gothic section of the city. It was quite nice to roam around the city by myself. I had just picked up a copy of George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia, his recollections of fighting in the Spanish Civil War, and much of it takes place in Barcelona. As I wandered up and down Las Ramblas, the 'busiest street in Europe', I imagined the street fighting that happened between the Anarchists and the Communists, the sound of rifles jamming, and the clatter of shabby boots running from cover to cover. I made my way to George Orwell Square hoping to find a cafe there to read some more. Unfortunetly, it's kind of a grungy square with a bunch of derelict kids and Santa Cruz- esque hippies hanging around it and no cafes at all. Oh well, I guess I shouldn't glorify things in my mind like I had done. Anyway, I wandered around some more and found a nice cafe to have a cafe con leche and a pastry. I missed Mike though, I really felt more eyes on me then when I was with him!
That night I remembered that I had seen a flyer for a Fiery Furnaces show in Barcelona on the 22nd. I googled and found the place it was at. I was okay with going by myself, you can generally meet nice enough people at indie rock shows. As I asked reception how to get there, I found I had a crew of four other people that wanted to go with me, even though they had never heard of this band. Our motley crue of two kids from Belgium, one from Toronto, one from Tahoe and myself went. It took us a while to find the place as it was slightly hidden. The show was great, and everyone had a good time. After we met up with some other people from our hostel at Apollo, a gianormous rock club, where much dancing followed. We decided to take it easy and leave at 3:30, so we could get some sleep. It's seriously amazing how anyone gets anything done in Barcelona. There were at least 2000 people at this club, on a Monday night. Don't people have jobs?
Tuesday I walked around some more. Sent a package home, you'll get it soon Dad! My bag was overflowing one again. I walked to a see a friend I had met at the show the night before to steal some music, he is the manager of a bar club thing in Brooklyn and had 100gb of music with him, thanks Brent, you've made train rides tolerable again! With Mike gone, I couldn't imagine travel days with no music! Now my pantheon of indie greats is back, I even have some new stuff to listen to. Four Tets, amazing! Since you all care. Anyways, after that I caught my train to Valencia. I was said to leave the Sant Jordi hostel, by far the best hostel I've stayed in, I can see why they won best hostel in Spain and 6 in the world!
I got into Valenica late. Basically had time to eat a bite and go to bed. The hostel was very comfortable, first time the beds were bot bunked, quite refreshing. The next day I got up and wasn't feeling so hot, but I went outside to catch the free walking tour anyways. And I'm so glad I did. It was sunny t-shirt and jeans weather! I got some food in me and drank a whole liter of water and a coke and felt much better. I keep forgetting to eat sometimes. When you walk for so long, you lose track of the last time you ate. The walking tour was great, I met to guys from Belgium who were there for thier soccer teams game against Valencia. We met up with two English girls and all went for tapas after the tour. Valencia is the birthplace of paella, so naturally, we had to try paella Valenciana. It was quite good, but a bit greasy, it seemed that all the places in Valencia I tried paella were a bit greasy. Still holding it up to Chef Gary standards I guess... The second place we went however, had a great paella, but it was spinich and shallot, which I had never had before. Our tapas tour lasted about four hours, we went from cafe to cafe sitting in the sunshine eating and drinking. Perfectly amazing Spanish afternoon.
Valencia is unique because, altough it's the third largest city in Spain, it feels quite small. There are orange trees everywhere, they are strictly for aestics though. The oranges are really seedy and bitter and sour. They planted these on purpose so that people wouldn't eat them You can always tell a tourist because they are the ones that try them, lolz. I was warned first, so I didn't commit this folly.
In 1957, the river going through the city flooded so badly that the government decided to divert its flow. They intended to build a motorway on the dsry riverbed. The Valencians were so adament no to have this built that they secretly planted trees in the middle of the night, one of the first acts of ecoterrorism you could say. The city removed them, but the trees kept coming back each night. Eventually the city gave in and now there is this beautifully winding park going through the city. Its really quite breathtaking.
Yesterday, I spent about an hour in Valencia's covered market. It is said to be one of th biggest in Europe with some 1800 vendors. I'm pretty sure that is an exgaggeration, but none the less its quite large. I have a vegetable empanada that was a pure food gasm. Also paella everywhere. But again, a bit greasy. I had a tapa of squid, the little guys, in a smoky paprika sauce that was absolutely killer. It makes me want to open a tapas bar.
At around 4 I boarded a train to Cordoba via Madrid. You have to go via Madrid to friggen get anywhere here. I now the Atocha Renfe station very well now.
Anyways arrived in Cordoba last night around 11pm. Went to the common area and met Max, a 5ft tall Chicago kid who was travelling through Europe after his birthright adventure in Israel. This morning has basically been this blog entry. It takes me like at least an hour to write these! But its gone by quite fast.
Cordoba is waiting! Even though its raining, booooooo. There is a ton of history in this city, it was once the most populous city in the world! 400,000 people when it was the center of the Ummayid Caliphate. Off to see it!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Spanish time...
One thing I have learned about Spain is that it exists on a timescale much different from most other places. People don't go out until 1 or 2, which means that you probably won't go to sleep until around 6, which means that you probably won't get out of bed until at the earliest noon, which means you will probably want a nap around 2 or 3, which is okay, because Spain has embraced the hours between 2 and 5pm as Siesta, or what I like to call, National nap hour. Since everyone has rested for a couple hours in the afternoon, no one is hungry for dinner until at the earliest 9, so if you want to eat earlier, good luck, but if you want to buy a new pair of shoes before you go out, all the shops are open really late, which is neat.
Anyway, enough about Spanish time. Madrid is HUGE. Mike and I editted the maps we recieved from the front desk to only include central Madrid, which meant we ripped 2\3 of the map off. Our first day is Madrid was a bust, it seems that our first afternoon in every city is bad. We are usually both cranky, hungry, tired and smelly... not a good combo. Our first afternoon in Madrid consisted of a stop at the Corte Ingles, the Wal-mart of Spain, and to a grocery store. Unfortunetly, our hostel in Madrid did not have a guest kitchen, which after traveling for so long has become a necessity in choosing a hostel. That evening we snacked on fruit from the store, finally in Spain we found some decent fruit, I think my body had been craving vitamins. We felt better, but still not well enough to begin exploring Madrid, so we stayed in our hostel and hung out with a couple from France. By the time 1am rolled around, we felt well'rested enough to join a large group of Portuguese students on a pub crawl. On the pub crawl, we met Matt, the only other native English speaker in this random group of Portuguese. We went to a salsa club, I'm a pretty good Salsa dancer, it was quite fun!
The next day, Mike and I met Matt for churros and chocolate. After our greasefest, we explored the city. We walked to the Cathedral, to Palacio Real, to the Gran Via, Puerta del sol, and many other places. We went to the Mercado San Miguel and ate octopus tapas that were divine! At 6pm we made our way to the Museo del Prado, because between 6 and 8pm its free. Mike and I have learned the joys of saving money by figuring out museums free times, they all have them, you just have to plan around for them. The Prado is incredible! It's so big, with so much art, 2 hours was not enough to see it all. They have quite a few Goya paintings including the 2nd and 3rd of May paintings, which absolutely blew me away. Matt and I discussed the 3rd of May painting and then read the description, our assessment was almost verbatum what the description said, we felt like true art lovers, lol! After the Prado we went for paella, we tried two types, one with squid ink, and one made with noodles instead of rice. The squid ink was the only redeaming thing about this restuarant, the paella with noodles tasted of spagettios. Dad- your paella beats most paella in Spain, but I almost sort of knew that already :) After dinner, we all hung out in the bar of the hostel. It's amazing how many people you meet traveling. Travellers seem to crave the company of other travellers, have yet to meet locals that crave that same experience.
The next day, Mike and I walked around the city more, our main goal for the day was to see the Don Quijote statue and to go to the Reina Sofia museum. The Don Quijote statue is so amazing, its such a silly statue. He sits atop this great horse whose eyes are all bugged out. Sancho Panzo sits on an even funnier looking donkey- so classic. We roamed around the city for about two or three hours, getting lost, then reorienting ourselves. Made it to the Reina Sofia, which is a contemporary art musuem. The special installations on the first level were.....wierd. Most of you know that I am an art lover, I enjoy the strange, but this was just a bit too modern for me. BUT, then we went to the second floor that was filled with Picasso and Dali and other cubists and surrealists. I was really excited about seeing Guernica, and I was not disappointed! It's violence and emotion are heightened by the sheer scale of the painting- it's huge! Also, next to the painting they include Picasso's initial drawings of the layout, was interesting to see the progression and change of it. After the museum, we got doner kebaps and ate them at the bar in our hostel with cheap Spanish beer. Once again, ended up talking to a bunch more travellers from across the globe, Turkey, Germany, France, Colorado, South Korea, its like the friggin olympics, lol!
On Thursday, we were to leave for Barcelona. But, before we did, we went to the park behind the Prado with two French kids we met. At 3pm, we left for Barcelona.
Arrived in Barcelona at 5:30. As we left the metro station, the Gaudi building greeted us, how refreshing it is to see a modern building that is just as, if not more, architecturally stimulating than all the old buildings we have seen! Unfortunately, we got terribly, terribly lost trying to find our hostel. We hadn't been lost like this the entire trip, until now. We went into a random hotel to ask for directions, and the girls at the desk were kind enough to give us a map and show us our hostel. But, there are three Saint Jordi hostels in the downtown Granada area, they didn't know that, nor did we, so we eneded up at the wrong Sain Jordi. Eventually at around 8pm, we found our hostel. It was about a 4 minute walk from the first metro station we left. fml. oh well, we made it to Barcelona! That night we went out with the front desk guy, Mauro, and some other kids. Barcelona is a party-town, and its not much else than that. Yesterday, Mike and I walked to the beach, to the large Spanish market and around town. At around 5pm we were really really hungry, kept talking about wanting a Mike's Mess from Zarcharys in SC, or a burger from 99 bottles, during this conversation we passed a Burger King and caved. I think that after almost 6 weeks, only one shitty fast food trip isn't so bad.
Anyway, it's time to see more of Barcelona! It's a beautiful sunny day today, we plan on hiking to the top of some hill. Barcelona is by far the warmest place we have been so far, its amazing what not always being cold feels like! My hands are grateful they are not restricted by gloves.
Anyway, enough about Spanish time. Madrid is HUGE. Mike and I editted the maps we recieved from the front desk to only include central Madrid, which meant we ripped 2\3 of the map off. Our first day is Madrid was a bust, it seems that our first afternoon in every city is bad. We are usually both cranky, hungry, tired and smelly... not a good combo. Our first afternoon in Madrid consisted of a stop at the Corte Ingles, the Wal-mart of Spain, and to a grocery store. Unfortunetly, our hostel in Madrid did not have a guest kitchen, which after traveling for so long has become a necessity in choosing a hostel. That evening we snacked on fruit from the store, finally in Spain we found some decent fruit, I think my body had been craving vitamins. We felt better, but still not well enough to begin exploring Madrid, so we stayed in our hostel and hung out with a couple from France. By the time 1am rolled around, we felt well'rested enough to join a large group of Portuguese students on a pub crawl. On the pub crawl, we met Matt, the only other native English speaker in this random group of Portuguese. We went to a salsa club, I'm a pretty good Salsa dancer, it was quite fun!
The next day, Mike and I met Matt for churros and chocolate. After our greasefest, we explored the city. We walked to the Cathedral, to Palacio Real, to the Gran Via, Puerta del sol, and many other places. We went to the Mercado San Miguel and ate octopus tapas that were divine! At 6pm we made our way to the Museo del Prado, because between 6 and 8pm its free. Mike and I have learned the joys of saving money by figuring out museums free times, they all have them, you just have to plan around for them. The Prado is incredible! It's so big, with so much art, 2 hours was not enough to see it all. They have quite a few Goya paintings including the 2nd and 3rd of May paintings, which absolutely blew me away. Matt and I discussed the 3rd of May painting and then read the description, our assessment was almost verbatum what the description said, we felt like true art lovers, lol! After the Prado we went for paella, we tried two types, one with squid ink, and one made with noodles instead of rice. The squid ink was the only redeaming thing about this restuarant, the paella with noodles tasted of spagettios. Dad- your paella beats most paella in Spain, but I almost sort of knew that already :) After dinner, we all hung out in the bar of the hostel. It's amazing how many people you meet traveling. Travellers seem to crave the company of other travellers, have yet to meet locals that crave that same experience.
The next day, Mike and I walked around the city more, our main goal for the day was to see the Don Quijote statue and to go to the Reina Sofia museum. The Don Quijote statue is so amazing, its such a silly statue. He sits atop this great horse whose eyes are all bugged out. Sancho Panzo sits on an even funnier looking donkey- so classic. We roamed around the city for about two or three hours, getting lost, then reorienting ourselves. Made it to the Reina Sofia, which is a contemporary art musuem. The special installations on the first level were.....wierd. Most of you know that I am an art lover, I enjoy the strange, but this was just a bit too modern for me. BUT, then we went to the second floor that was filled with Picasso and Dali and other cubists and surrealists. I was really excited about seeing Guernica, and I was not disappointed! It's violence and emotion are heightened by the sheer scale of the painting- it's huge! Also, next to the painting they include Picasso's initial drawings of the layout, was interesting to see the progression and change of it. After the museum, we got doner kebaps and ate them at the bar in our hostel with cheap Spanish beer. Once again, ended up talking to a bunch more travellers from across the globe, Turkey, Germany, France, Colorado, South Korea, its like the friggin olympics, lol!
On Thursday, we were to leave for Barcelona. But, before we did, we went to the park behind the Prado with two French kids we met. At 3pm, we left for Barcelona.
Arrived in Barcelona at 5:30. As we left the metro station, the Gaudi building greeted us, how refreshing it is to see a modern building that is just as, if not more, architecturally stimulating than all the old buildings we have seen! Unfortunately, we got terribly, terribly lost trying to find our hostel. We hadn't been lost like this the entire trip, until now. We went into a random hotel to ask for directions, and the girls at the desk were kind enough to give us a map and show us our hostel. But, there are three Saint Jordi hostels in the downtown Granada area, they didn't know that, nor did we, so we eneded up at the wrong Sain Jordi. Eventually at around 8pm, we found our hostel. It was about a 4 minute walk from the first metro station we left. fml. oh well, we made it to Barcelona! That night we went out with the front desk guy, Mauro, and some other kids. Barcelona is a party-town, and its not much else than that. Yesterday, Mike and I walked to the beach, to the large Spanish market and around town. At around 5pm we were really really hungry, kept talking about wanting a Mike's Mess from Zarcharys in SC, or a burger from 99 bottles, during this conversation we passed a Burger King and caved. I think that after almost 6 weeks, only one shitty fast food trip isn't so bad.
Anyway, it's time to see more of Barcelona! It's a beautiful sunny day today, we plan on hiking to the top of some hill. Barcelona is by far the warmest place we have been so far, its amazing what not always being cold feels like! My hands are grateful they are not restricted by gloves.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Chupiterias, tapas, flamenco!
Granada was amazing. A city of unique beauty, despite the rain and snow, yes snow. Our first night in Granada was spent sleeping. we awoke the next morning early to a sunny day. We took the free walking tour our hostel offered, free tours are always a good idea. Our tour guide took us around the Albycin, or the Muslim part of town, which is definitely the coolest part of town. With our bearings, we explored the town with a couple from Vancouver who we met on the tour. Soon our tummys were calling out at us, so we got kebaps. Kebap is to Europe as burrito is to CA. So good. We talked to this amazingly sweet couple over coffee at a nearby cafe afterwards for a good while. We planned a flamenco night out for Sat.
Later that evening we went out tapas-hoping with a group of students all from the US who were studying in Madrid. Our good friend Emily who we met in London joined us, she is super super cool! Our tapas tour included all types of tapas bars, holes in the wall to larger bar style places. We ended at the Chupiteria 69, a bar that only serves shots, all for 1 euro. The Madridians got very wasted and were annoying Americans, so we left. Disco! But the disco was all treble and no bass. Build up and no beat. It was a bummer, but that didn't deter my love for Granada, I can have my own dance parties.
The next day we slept in and made a jamon, cheese, tomato scramble with toast for breakfast. So necessary to eat protein at breakfast, most hostel breakfasts are corn flakes and croissants. Too many carbs! We then left for the old city wall, situated above Albycin on a large hill. The hill is dotted with cave-homes; holes dug into the hillside and then plastered so they don't leak and then furnished. Some are high-tec with solar panels etc. Some are just a place to stay dry for a poor family, others are abandoned and reclaimed by expat hippy types. Very interesting places. We made it to the city wall and found a place where the bricks coming out of the wall created a virtual staircase and we scaled to the top of the wall. I'm pretty sure that all the tourists at the Alhambra could see us because the next day we visited the Alhambra and had a clear clear view of the part of the wall we climbed. Getting up was easy, getting down presented its problems, mostly that Mike doesn't like hieghts. We managed though. We walked back to Plaza Nuevo where we ran into one of the guys from the tapas tour. He was lost so we marked how to get back to our hostel. Then he told us to have a tapa at the place he just left. Naturally, we did. We have a tortilla bocadillo, which is a Spanish tortilla (egg potato thing, similar to a fritatta) in a roll. It was divine!
Next we rested at the hostel before our flameco night with the Brea and Niel, the Canadian couple we met on the tour. The show was at the international school of flameco. The stage was insanely amazing. Behind it was a huge glass wall that looked out over Granada and the Alhambra. The guitar player was stellar, as was the singer and the dancer. We were blown away. After, we decided to get some cervezas at one of the bars in the area that happened to be a cave. After our first beer, three old gyspy guys in matching red shirts appeared and began singing and dancing flameco. We stayed and had a hell of a time with these riotous gypsy flamenco dudes. Highlight of the trip so far.
The next day we finally went to see the Alhambra. It's an amazing place with amazing history. I can't go into it all now because I've been on the computer for way too long. Should have brought my laptop, people are waiting for the computers! Anyways, monday we left for Madrid. Today is Thursday and we just arrived in Barcelona. I will write ASAP about Madrid! Pics will follow soon also!
Later that evening we went out tapas-hoping with a group of students all from the US who were studying in Madrid. Our good friend Emily who we met in London joined us, she is super super cool! Our tapas tour included all types of tapas bars, holes in the wall to larger bar style places. We ended at the Chupiteria 69, a bar that only serves shots, all for 1 euro. The Madridians got very wasted and were annoying Americans, so we left. Disco! But the disco was all treble and no bass. Build up and no beat. It was a bummer, but that didn't deter my love for Granada, I can have my own dance parties.
The next day we slept in and made a jamon, cheese, tomato scramble with toast for breakfast. So necessary to eat protein at breakfast, most hostel breakfasts are corn flakes and croissants. Too many carbs! We then left for the old city wall, situated above Albycin on a large hill. The hill is dotted with cave-homes; holes dug into the hillside and then plastered so they don't leak and then furnished. Some are high-tec with solar panels etc. Some are just a place to stay dry for a poor family, others are abandoned and reclaimed by expat hippy types. Very interesting places. We made it to the city wall and found a place where the bricks coming out of the wall created a virtual staircase and we scaled to the top of the wall. I'm pretty sure that all the tourists at the Alhambra could see us because the next day we visited the Alhambra and had a clear clear view of the part of the wall we climbed. Getting up was easy, getting down presented its problems, mostly that Mike doesn't like hieghts. We managed though. We walked back to Plaza Nuevo where we ran into one of the guys from the tapas tour. He was lost so we marked how to get back to our hostel. Then he told us to have a tapa at the place he just left. Naturally, we did. We have a tortilla bocadillo, which is a Spanish tortilla (egg potato thing, similar to a fritatta) in a roll. It was divine!
Next we rested at the hostel before our flameco night with the Brea and Niel, the Canadian couple we met on the tour. The show was at the international school of flameco. The stage was insanely amazing. Behind it was a huge glass wall that looked out over Granada and the Alhambra. The guitar player was stellar, as was the singer and the dancer. We were blown away. After, we decided to get some cervezas at one of the bars in the area that happened to be a cave. After our first beer, three old gyspy guys in matching red shirts appeared and began singing and dancing flameco. We stayed and had a hell of a time with these riotous gypsy flamenco dudes. Highlight of the trip so far.
The next day we finally went to see the Alhambra. It's an amazing place with amazing history. I can't go into it all now because I've been on the computer for way too long. Should have brought my laptop, people are waiting for the computers! Anyways, monday we left for Madrid. Today is Thursday and we just arrived in Barcelona. I will write ASAP about Madrid! Pics will follow soon also!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
It tolls for thee
Granada is a spectacular place. By far, I could get stuck here more than in any other city. The hills and mountains of Andalusia hold so many stories; the majestic calls to prayer of the Moors, Ferdinand and Isabellas deal to Colombus, the Civil War bullets of fascists and anarchists. It all happened here. The Alhambra sits above the city, watching, no longer as a palace of luxury, but as Spain's most visited site.
Oh, and tapas. €1.80 for a tapa and a Alhambra 1925 cerveza. cheap and good!
I also have a phone now, my Spanish number is +34610129623, life is much easier with a phone.
Oh, and tapas. €1.80 for a tapa and a Alhambra 1925 cerveza. cheap and good!
I also have a phone now, my Spanish number is +34610129623, life is much easier with a phone.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Was it love?
Haley : Do you remember that universal language someone tried to invent that one time?
Mike: Was it called 'love'?
I was referring to Esperanto, but I suppose love would be a good answer also. Our conversations have devolved to such obscurity, but it has made for some of the best laughs. Mike suffers from worse musical turrets (sp?) than I do, which says a lot, and we are constantly singing. With the second death of my ipod, I am once again musicless, I would explain how this happened, but it's a long and technical yarn. So, in place of my once ubiquitous pantheon of indie greats streaming through noise cancelling headphones, I am left with Mikes turrets and the last top 40 song overheard. For some reason that infectiously poppy Keisha song follows us, google it if you don´t know it, it might not be as popular in the states as it is here. 'Now the party don't start til I walk in.... don´t stop, make it pop, come on dj blow my speakers up, tonight gonna fight, til we see the sunlight....' Anyways, it has become the ironic themesong of our travels.
Today is Thursday. We have just arrived in the city of Granada, Spain. This morning we left the Capital Gastronomique de Espana, San Sebastian. Yet I still haven´t recounted the last few days of Paris, so I shall do it here.
Isabella, Cynthia's mother, was a most generous host. We felt like part of the family. Her house is in the 14th of Paris, which is towards the Southern most part of the city. It is on Metro line 4, as is Cynthia's place, which was quite convinient. After my last post, we had just gone to the market. That afternoon we went to the Musee D'orsey, which many people prefer to the Lourve. After seeing the Louvre on Sunday, I quite agree. D'orsey is much more manageable and has more contemporary works. Once again, I went straight for the Impressionists and fell in love with paintings of artists I had yet seen, like Andre Derain, Edward Vaillard and Pierre Bonnard. Monet still owns my heart though.
That night, Friday, we went out with Cynthia, Kyle and friend Pascal. A usual hangout for Kyle and Cynthia was particularly packed this night, so we went in search of a good bar in the Marais, the Jewish/gay quarter of town. We found one called Radiosomethingorother. It took some convincing for the barman to let Cynthia and I, the two girls, in. I found it quite funny that they had records hanging from the ceiling, but they were all of INXS. Any ideas? Kyle, Cynthia and I leeft Mike and Pascal to dance the night away, it was our bedtime.
Saturday, Mike and I set off to have different afternoons, but ended up deciding on the same thing. We walked the Champs de Mars and saw the Effiel Tower, which was crowded with tourists and not as a majestic up close. It´s much better at night when it lights up, especially on the hours when they make it sparkle. We brought with us a bottle of wine, a bagette, olives and some other goodies. From the Tower we walked to the Jardin des Tuileries and found ourselves a spot in the sun to picnic and read the afternoon away. While we were there, we saw a most curious sight, a fashion shoot. Two ofthe most glamorous girls posing and posing. Then the police drove through the garden and broke up the fun. like always. I guess you probably have to pay loads of money to get the Louvre in the background of your gucci ad. That night was Kyle's birthday party, I baked an apple pie a la America. We danced for a long long long time in their tiny appartment. I left my camera on the table for all to take photos, by the end of the night 9 people had taken a total of 157, more than the rest of Paris, oops?
Sunday was free day at the Lourve. I had a ham and cheese crepe for brekkers, and then off we went. The Lourve is too big. At one point I just stopped noticing the grand art surrounding me. We made it to the Mona Lisa, of course, but behind all that glass, and the rope, the enigma that is her image gets lost, and I couldn't bring myself to look past the glaring camera flashes to find it. Venus de Milo, however, is absolutely stunning. Also, I quite like the sitting statue of Ramses II, but I just have a thing for Ramses. Such a badass, come on, he ruled Egypt for 92 years and had like 86 kids. He is truly the original gangsta.
Sunday evening was Kyle's birthday dinner. Isabella prepared a leg of lamb with pasta and spinich. She is an amazing cook, she prepared it with such ease as well, like roasting a lamb leg was just what she always did. It was divine, and of course there was a cheese and salad course after.
Monday we had kunch with Pascal. I had a duck breast with potatoes, rare. Best lunch of the trip so far. We roamed around the Bastille area that afternoon. During the evening, we went to an Irish pub and drank Guinness and played English pub trivia, our team name was the poets and the patriots, in honor of our Santa Cruz second home. We got 4th place, not too bad.
Tuesday we left for España. San Sebastian to be exact. We arrived late and went promptly to bed in our lovely hostel, Olgas house. The directions to the hostel were quite funny, more like a scavenger hunt than directions. 'Walk straight until you see the two glass buildings, turn right and follow until you see bar Zurriola...etc'.
San Sebastian is stunning. I have little words to describe it. With only one day in the town, we decided to get up early in the morning and explore. Those three words 'in the morning' often hold weighty promises though. We left the hostel to explore around 11am. At least it was still the morning. San Sebastian is the food capital of much of Spain. For lunch we had pinxtos, like tapas, but they are already made and sit on the counter of the bar. You simply take which ones you want, eat them, order a drink from the bartender, and then tell them how much you ate before you leave and pay. So simple, and muy delicioso! tuna on toast, egg tortilla like creation, croquettes, small sandwiches, delectible! After our lunch of pinxtos, we hiked up the hill where the big statue of Jesus overlooks the city and had some breathtaking views of the bay. Then we made our way down and walked along the beaches to the westernly side of the bay. On returning to the hostel, we were famished, we had walked about 15 miles that day! In such a foodie paradise, we treated ourselves to a three course meal with wine. Which, although expensive for Spain, was cheap compared to Paris and London. We started with fresh grilled octopus in the most heavenly romesco sauce. We paired this with a bold, but fruity wine our waitress recommended. Our main course was to die for, wild mushroom risotto with foie gras. It was a most incredible foodgasm. For dessert, we had molten chocolate cake with homemade papaya ice cream and passionfruit syrup. I'm salavating just thinking of it.
Out train for Granada left at 8:45 this morning, we barely made it! It snowed this morning hard as we were leaving, which has happened in three cities we've been to do far... I guess the sky is sad when we leave! Today was basically spent in a train, or at a train station, but the rolling hills and splendid olive tree groves of Spain went speeding by, now and then there would be an old fortress a top a hill, lonesome and neglected. As the sun set, we made our way into Andulusia and a singular cloud crossed over the sun making it seem as if there were two suns, breaking the light in half and leaving a long and narrow dark shadow over our train.
Mike: Was it called 'love'?
I was referring to Esperanto, but I suppose love would be a good answer also. Our conversations have devolved to such obscurity, but it has made for some of the best laughs. Mike suffers from worse musical turrets (sp?) than I do, which says a lot, and we are constantly singing. With the second death of my ipod, I am once again musicless, I would explain how this happened, but it's a long and technical yarn. So, in place of my once ubiquitous pantheon of indie greats streaming through noise cancelling headphones, I am left with Mikes turrets and the last top 40 song overheard. For some reason that infectiously poppy Keisha song follows us, google it if you don´t know it, it might not be as popular in the states as it is here. 'Now the party don't start til I walk in.... don´t stop, make it pop, come on dj blow my speakers up, tonight gonna fight, til we see the sunlight....' Anyways, it has become the ironic themesong of our travels.
Today is Thursday. We have just arrived in the city of Granada, Spain. This morning we left the Capital Gastronomique de Espana, San Sebastian. Yet I still haven´t recounted the last few days of Paris, so I shall do it here.
Isabella, Cynthia's mother, was a most generous host. We felt like part of the family. Her house is in the 14th of Paris, which is towards the Southern most part of the city. It is on Metro line 4, as is Cynthia's place, which was quite convinient. After my last post, we had just gone to the market. That afternoon we went to the Musee D'orsey, which many people prefer to the Lourve. After seeing the Louvre on Sunday, I quite agree. D'orsey is much more manageable and has more contemporary works. Once again, I went straight for the Impressionists and fell in love with paintings of artists I had yet seen, like Andre Derain, Edward Vaillard and Pierre Bonnard. Monet still owns my heart though.
That night, Friday, we went out with Cynthia, Kyle and friend Pascal. A usual hangout for Kyle and Cynthia was particularly packed this night, so we went in search of a good bar in the Marais, the Jewish/gay quarter of town. We found one called Radiosomethingorother. It took some convincing for the barman to let Cynthia and I, the two girls, in. I found it quite funny that they had records hanging from the ceiling, but they were all of INXS. Any ideas? Kyle, Cynthia and I leeft Mike and Pascal to dance the night away, it was our bedtime.
Saturday, Mike and I set off to have different afternoons, but ended up deciding on the same thing. We walked the Champs de Mars and saw the Effiel Tower, which was crowded with tourists and not as a majestic up close. It´s much better at night when it lights up, especially on the hours when they make it sparkle. We brought with us a bottle of wine, a bagette, olives and some other goodies. From the Tower we walked to the Jardin des Tuileries and found ourselves a spot in the sun to picnic and read the afternoon away. While we were there, we saw a most curious sight, a fashion shoot. Two ofthe most glamorous girls posing and posing. Then the police drove through the garden and broke up the fun. like always. I guess you probably have to pay loads of money to get the Louvre in the background of your gucci ad. That night was Kyle's birthday party, I baked an apple pie a la America. We danced for a long long long time in their tiny appartment. I left my camera on the table for all to take photos, by the end of the night 9 people had taken a total of 157, more than the rest of Paris, oops?
Sunday was free day at the Lourve. I had a ham and cheese crepe for brekkers, and then off we went. The Lourve is too big. At one point I just stopped noticing the grand art surrounding me. We made it to the Mona Lisa, of course, but behind all that glass, and the rope, the enigma that is her image gets lost, and I couldn't bring myself to look past the glaring camera flashes to find it. Venus de Milo, however, is absolutely stunning. Also, I quite like the sitting statue of Ramses II, but I just have a thing for Ramses. Such a badass, come on, he ruled Egypt for 92 years and had like 86 kids. He is truly the original gangsta.
Sunday evening was Kyle's birthday dinner. Isabella prepared a leg of lamb with pasta and spinich. She is an amazing cook, she prepared it with such ease as well, like roasting a lamb leg was just what she always did. It was divine, and of course there was a cheese and salad course after.
Monday we had kunch with Pascal. I had a duck breast with potatoes, rare. Best lunch of the trip so far. We roamed around the Bastille area that afternoon. During the evening, we went to an Irish pub and drank Guinness and played English pub trivia, our team name was the poets and the patriots, in honor of our Santa Cruz second home. We got 4th place, not too bad.
Tuesday we left for España. San Sebastian to be exact. We arrived late and went promptly to bed in our lovely hostel, Olgas house. The directions to the hostel were quite funny, more like a scavenger hunt than directions. 'Walk straight until you see the two glass buildings, turn right and follow until you see bar Zurriola...etc'.
San Sebastian is stunning. I have little words to describe it. With only one day in the town, we decided to get up early in the morning and explore. Those three words 'in the morning' often hold weighty promises though. We left the hostel to explore around 11am. At least it was still the morning. San Sebastian is the food capital of much of Spain. For lunch we had pinxtos, like tapas, but they are already made and sit on the counter of the bar. You simply take which ones you want, eat them, order a drink from the bartender, and then tell them how much you ate before you leave and pay. So simple, and muy delicioso! tuna on toast, egg tortilla like creation, croquettes, small sandwiches, delectible! After our lunch of pinxtos, we hiked up the hill where the big statue of Jesus overlooks the city and had some breathtaking views of the bay. Then we made our way down and walked along the beaches to the westernly side of the bay. On returning to the hostel, we were famished, we had walked about 15 miles that day! In such a foodie paradise, we treated ourselves to a three course meal with wine. Which, although expensive for Spain, was cheap compared to Paris and London. We started with fresh grilled octopus in the most heavenly romesco sauce. We paired this with a bold, but fruity wine our waitress recommended. Our main course was to die for, wild mushroom risotto with foie gras. It was a most incredible foodgasm. For dessert, we had molten chocolate cake with homemade papaya ice cream and passionfruit syrup. I'm salavating just thinking of it.
Out train for Granada left at 8:45 this morning, we barely made it! It snowed this morning hard as we were leaving, which has happened in three cities we've been to do far... I guess the sky is sad when we leave! Today was basically spent in a train, or at a train station, but the rolling hills and splendid olive tree groves of Spain went speeding by, now and then there would be an old fortress a top a hill, lonesome and neglected. As the sun set, we made our way into Andulusia and a singular cloud crossed over the sun making it seem as if there were two suns, breaking the light in half and leaving a long and narrow dark shadow over our train.
Friday, February 5, 2010
From London to Paris...
I already miss London! I had such a good time there with all the lovely people I met, would not have been the same without them.
I didn't realize how much can happen in just the few days that I haven't blogged. Let's start with Saturday in London. We never made it to Indian food, it was bit too late to go that far, instead there was a Turkish restaurant around the corner that was had the best iskandar kepab I've had outside of Turkey, YUM. It's grilled flatbread covered in lamb doner meat with a tomato sauce, then covered in yogurt garlic sauce and then drizzled with clarified butter. mmmmmm, I want some more now.
After dinner a group of us gathered at the hostel to go out dancing at a drum and bass club, unfortunately, we get there and it's house and disco night, which no one seemed to care for. So we walked around for two hours searching for drum and bass, settled on techno and had a epic night of dancing, the bass thumping still gets stuck in my head. We left the club early, you know around sunrise, so we could have a good Sunday in London. We did, we walked around the city and this time made it to Brick Lane for some incredibly spicy Indian food that was delicious but deadly and few hours later, eeek.
Monday, Mike and I walked and walked and walked around London. We took a Tube to the Tower of London and then walked all the way to Harrods, where our day ended. Along the way, we stopped at the Tate Modern Museum. This Polish artist named Balka was displaying a massive work called How It Is that blew both Mike and I away. It was a gigantic railcar like structure two stories tall that one walks into. The way your eyes adjusted to the darkness made it a different experience for everyone, to me, it was reminiscent of Plato's Cave. The rest of the Tate was amazing as well.
After the Tate we walked along the Thames to Eye of London, but didn't go on it because it cost 20 pounds. Instead, we went to the National Gallery, which is free, woohoo! Also, the sections are set up by date, so my favorite artists, the Impressionists, were all together in a tidy little section. Pisarro, Cezzane, Renoir, and the giant of them all Monet. I didn't bother going to see the other paintings, I didn't really need to. There were some Botecellis that would have been nice to see, but you have to walk past about a thousand Jesus and Marys to get to them, I'm not to keen on religious paintings.
After the gallery, we made our way to Harrods, yay! It's like a museum of luxury goods, not an actual store. Mike and I felt very underdresed, but whatever, we enjoyed it nonetheless, especially the floor with all the rare and antique maps, so excellent! I bought myself a red and whit polkadot harrods apron, it was just too cute! We went to the foodhall and bought way to much for dinner to bring back to the hostel.
Tuesday we left for Paris on the Eurostar. I thought diving under the English Channel in a train would be exciting, but it really wasn't, so I slept. We got to Paris around 4pm and found our hostel. It was located in Martmontre, the artsy part of part near Sacre Crour. Our room was on the 6th floor, which is really the 7th floor because there is a zero floor, and there was no elevator; we got to drag our stuff up 6 flights of twisty, slippery Parisian stairs, not fun. We got settled and our roommates showed up, tow girls from Brazil. The four of us left to see the sacred heart cathedral, sacre crour. It's on the top of a hill and is absolutely stunning, with an equally stunning view. We then made our way to the sex district to get a glimpse of the Moulin Rouge. Then back to the hostel for some well deserved shut eye.
Wednesday, we woke up to do laundry, so exciting. Parisian laundromats are expensive! Oh, well, it had to be done. For lunch we met up with Cynthia and she showed us around the Latin quarter. We ate Croque Monsieurs for lunch and she went to class, so Mike and I explored the Luxembourg Gardens and the Pantheon. The Medici fountain in the gardens is breathtaking, its a small part of the garden, but it is romantic and evokes a nostalgia for a Paris I never even knew.
That night we had dinner with Cynthia and Kyle and Cynthia's family. It was a lovely French meal accompanied by lovely french wine, brussel sprouts, mushroom chicken, mashed celery and potato. This was followed by salad, bread and cheese. For dessert we had an apple gallete, so
delicious! Cynthia and Kyle had just returned from Cuba, so they showed us their pictures and shared some Cuban rum with us. We went out for drinks to a quintessential Paris cafe with them and two of their friends, one who was also from Santa Cruz and happened to live on the same
floor of college 8 as me, except a year later. random.
Yesterday, Mike and I went from La Defense to the Lourve along the Champs Elysee, stopping at all the major points. We left our hostel and are now staying with Cynithia's mother, so generous! We just went to a farmers market around the corner, where I bought ingredients to make a grand soup! French food is so good, especially after the drabbery of England. Must go, will continue soon!
I didn't realize how much can happen in just the few days that I haven't blogged. Let's start with Saturday in London. We never made it to Indian food, it was bit too late to go that far, instead there was a Turkish restaurant around the corner that was had the best iskandar kepab I've had outside of Turkey, YUM. It's grilled flatbread covered in lamb doner meat with a tomato sauce, then covered in yogurt garlic sauce and then drizzled with clarified butter. mmmmmm, I want some more now.
After dinner a group of us gathered at the hostel to go out dancing at a drum and bass club, unfortunately, we get there and it's house and disco night, which no one seemed to care for. So we walked around for two hours searching for drum and bass, settled on techno and had a epic night of dancing, the bass thumping still gets stuck in my head. We left the club early, you know around sunrise, so we could have a good Sunday in London. We did, we walked around the city and this time made it to Brick Lane for some incredibly spicy Indian food that was delicious but deadly and few hours later, eeek.
Monday, Mike and I walked and walked and walked around London. We took a Tube to the Tower of London and then walked all the way to Harrods, where our day ended. Along the way, we stopped at the Tate Modern Museum. This Polish artist named Balka was displaying a massive work called How It Is that blew both Mike and I away. It was a gigantic railcar like structure two stories tall that one walks into. The way your eyes adjusted to the darkness made it a different experience for everyone, to me, it was reminiscent of Plato's Cave. The rest of the Tate was amazing as well.
After the Tate we walked along the Thames to Eye of London, but didn't go on it because it cost 20 pounds. Instead, we went to the National Gallery, which is free, woohoo! Also, the sections are set up by date, so my favorite artists, the Impressionists, were all together in a tidy little section. Pisarro, Cezzane, Renoir, and the giant of them all Monet. I didn't bother going to see the other paintings, I didn't really need to. There were some Botecellis that would have been nice to see, but you have to walk past about a thousand Jesus and Marys to get to them, I'm not to keen on religious paintings.
After the gallery, we made our way to Harrods, yay! It's like a museum of luxury goods, not an actual store. Mike and I felt very underdresed, but whatever, we enjoyed it nonetheless, especially the floor with all the rare and antique maps, so excellent! I bought myself a red and whit polkadot harrods apron, it was just too cute! We went to the foodhall and bought way to much for dinner to bring back to the hostel.
Tuesday we left for Paris on the Eurostar. I thought diving under the English Channel in a train would be exciting, but it really wasn't, so I slept. We got to Paris around 4pm and found our hostel. It was located in Martmontre, the artsy part of part near Sacre Crour. Our room was on the 6th floor, which is really the 7th floor because there is a zero floor, and there was no elevator; we got to drag our stuff up 6 flights of twisty, slippery Parisian stairs, not fun. We got settled and our roommates showed up, tow girls from Brazil. The four of us left to see the sacred heart cathedral, sacre crour. It's on the top of a hill and is absolutely stunning, with an equally stunning view. We then made our way to the sex district to get a glimpse of the Moulin Rouge. Then back to the hostel for some well deserved shut eye.
Wednesday, we woke up to do laundry, so exciting. Parisian laundromats are expensive! Oh, well, it had to be done. For lunch we met up with Cynthia and she showed us around the Latin quarter. We ate Croque Monsieurs for lunch and she went to class, so Mike and I explored the Luxembourg Gardens and the Pantheon. The Medici fountain in the gardens is breathtaking, its a small part of the garden, but it is romantic and evokes a nostalgia for a Paris I never even knew.
That night we had dinner with Cynthia and Kyle and Cynthia's family. It was a lovely French meal accompanied by lovely french wine, brussel sprouts, mushroom chicken, mashed celery and potato. This was followed by salad, bread and cheese. For dessert we had an apple gallete, so
delicious! Cynthia and Kyle had just returned from Cuba, so they showed us their pictures and shared some Cuban rum with us. We went out for drinks to a quintessential Paris cafe with them and two of their friends, one who was also from Santa Cruz and happened to live on the same
floor of college 8 as me, except a year later. random.
Yesterday, Mike and I went from La Defense to the Lourve along the Champs Elysee, stopping at all the major points. We left our hostel and are now staying with Cynithia's mother, so generous! We just went to a farmers market around the corner, where I bought ingredients to make a grand soup! French food is so good, especially after the drabbery of England. Must go, will continue soon!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
A Sunny Cloud
The weather reports here are, well, interesting. It's not like in California where a ten day forecast varies little; every hour has a picture of a different shaped cloud. Yesterday, we looked at the forecast for the next 24 hours and one of the pictures had a dark cloud on a sunny background that said 'changeable' next to it. Spoiled Californian now knows what that means. The clouds here speed across the sky and just as you think they are going away, they magically form one big cloud and rain like crazy on you for 10 minutes. Or like last night on the way back from dinner, a clear sky will just start to snow on you. It's completely unpredictable, which is why I wonder bothering wit weather reports at all.
Mike and I have made a few really great friends here, Soumia from Morocco and Joel from Australia. The four of us have basically been inseparable, except that Sou had to leave this morning, maybe someday I'll visit her in Morocco! Yesterday we all went to Westminster and saw the Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and all those famous tourist attractions. The Parliament building is also in Westminster and it happened to be the first day of the Iraq Inquiry on Tony Blair. There was a great scene of protesters, with signs that 'Bliar' and 'Blair lied, thousands died' and a jail cage with someone inside in a Blair outfit. About a thousand people were there, most of them genuine in their protesting, but there were a few crazies, as there always is in scenes of public display. My personal favorite was the old man dressed as a leprochan with a big Jewish star of David on his chest-- he would randomly start playing music and doing an Irish jig, no clue at all what his point was supposed to be. Of course, along with protesters were police, lots of them. Here, though, they aren't armed and wear bright neon yellow jackets and funny hats, not very menacing.
We then walked through Hyde park, it was beautiful, sunny but cold. And then a huge cloud came out of nowhere and we were soaked! Really, it just appeared, dumped, a left us wet, cold and hungry. We took refuge in a local pub. It's nice to be able sit and relax on comfy chairs and not at a restuarant, but there are only a few variations of potatoes and mushy peas, I'll be happy to get to some more exciting cuisine, maybe with some spices in it please? There's hope for Paris on that front.
Mike, Joel, Soumia, and I went out to Lester Square last night where all the tourist
Mike and I just got back from another day of walking, we went to Camden Town, which is basically the Berkeley/Oakland of London. Tons of shops, coffeeshops, pubs, angry punks, and grungy hipsters, felt like the good ol' Bay Area! There is a really cool market, called Camden Market with stalls and stalls of unique crafts and food. Mike and I chose a Thai place, to our dismay, it was not spicy and barely resembed our idea of what is Thai food.
After Camden Town, we made our way to tourist shopping central, Oxford St. I guess this would be London's version of Union Square. There's an H&M on basically ever corner, and wall to wall people with shopping bags. We were determined to find Mike a new something nice, we hadn't had any retail luck with him yet, and it was only until our last shop, Ted Baker, that we found the perfect yellow detailed sweater. Perfection in a sweater. London is so hip, everyone is dressed stylishly all the time, it's great!
Anyways, tonight we are off to Brick Lane in dodgy East London to get some Indian food, apparently that's where the best stuff is, I'll let you know. We're going in a big group, should be so fun!
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