Let me first give my pre-depature analysis on Spain. I did not like Spain. Looking at a list of countries to visit in Europe, Spain is equivalent to the Detroit Lions in those standings. I don’t have anything against the country or the people, it just doesn’t interest me. I know very little of their history, and frankly I don’t care. So why did I spend a week there?
It all goes back to Paris. Paris was AMAZING. I got to visit a friend while there, but a lot of my time was spent alone. While walking the city alone, I realized that traveling with no one to share it with is quite boring. It felt like the whole tree falling in a forest thing…if I visited the Louvre, would anyone hear me? So with that in mind, I knew I needed to travel with someone. Fast forward to several weeks ago…
I found out that Molly was getting this last week off, too. Finally! Someone to travel with! She’s already been to Europe, though. So she’s seen quite a bit. And the only country that she really wanted to see was Spain. So, being desperate for a traveling partner (and also, I know I like to travel with Molly), I went along with going to the last place on my list…but I’m glad I did.
As you can imagine, after a week, I have some many stories to tell. I could easily make a thesis paper out of this. So I’m going to tell this story in installments. This first installment is the reasoning why I went, and some of the factual elements. After this post, I’ll give more interesting anecdotes and observations. As I write this, I’m kind of excited.
First stop, BARCELONA.
I flew by myself from Geneva to Barcelona on Sunday night (Molly had spent the previous 4 days in Florence with some friends…she met me there). We ended up staying until Thursday morning (that’s 4 nights and 3 days, for those of you keeping score at home). We stayed at a rather small hostel not too far from the main drag (Molly says that I use that word quite a bit).
· Day 1- Walked along the beach. Much farther walk than we thought. After that, we went to the Museum of Contemporary Art. I really like this type of art, but this museum lacked something. There wasn’t a “wow” factor as I was hoping for. We finished off this day with a walk around the old-town, some tapas, and some bars.
See...Barcelona's beach
· Day 2- We went to the farmer’s market to get a picnic. Then we headed off for Mount Monjuric. We didn’t really know what to expect from this, but I was pleasantly surprised. We took a bus up to the top of the mountain (maybe a large hill). On the top stood a formidable castle… maybe it was a fortress. Either way, it had a great view of the city and the ocean. On our way back down, we stopped by the Olympic Stadium and grounds (Barcelona ’92). I have this huge fascination for the Olympics, so I loved it. We also stopped at a village which was built for the 1929 World’s Fair. They created a replica of different Spanish villages from around the country…it was ok. Finally, we finished it off with the Picasso Museum. I liked it, didn’t love it. It was missing several famous works. And then, some paella finished off the exhausting day.
View from the fortress on the moun...hill
Olympic Stadium and park
· Day 3- Again, we started the day off with picnic supplies before heading off to a park. This time, we visited Guell Park. This was made by the one and only Gaudi. It was definitely strange, but definitely cool. I liked this a lot. We then went to the Sagrada Familia. When you think of Barcelona, this is the most common image…the church that looks like a sand castle. We then hung out at the hostel for a while and then at the beach before getting some dinner. That was basically it.
Trippy Park (Guell Park)
Sagrada Familia. Gaudi's Masterpiece. Still under construction after 100 years.
Beach at nighttime
Now, MADRID.
We flew in Thursday morning.
· Day 1- We got settled in the hotel, had some lunch, and then for the first time, Molly and I parted ways. I went to the Museum of the Americas. This had artifacts from Colonial Spain. I actually really liked this museum, but it could have been SO much better if the descriptions were in English. I was disappointed by this. After this, Molly and I met up for some city-exploring and bar hoping. We then got some dinner and called it a night.
· Day 2- I spent a lot of time away from Molly on this day. I went to see the main palace of Madrid, Palacio Real. It was basically a typical grand palace. Nothing too special. I then spent some time relaxing. I was tired. I then met up again with Molly for a picnic lunch in a plaza and then separated again. I went to Retiro Park (Madrid’s answer to Central Park). And then I took a nap. Molly and I met for some drinks before meeting a friend of a friend of hers for dinner. That’s a story in and of itself. More on that to come.
Palacio Real
· Day 3- This morning, I woke up throwing up. Not pleasant. At first I thought it was too much alcohol…but nope, I was sick. This was really upsetting, because I had 2 Butler friends coming in to visit with. Sam and Jordan arrived a little before noon, and the 3 of us and the day to ourselves. We explored the city and the monuments. We did a lot of what I did the day before, but it was great. Great to see those two. We finished up our day with a trip to the Prado “don’t call me Prada” Museum of Art. This is supposed to be Madrid’s answer to the Louvre. We went late enough so that it was free. It was fun to make fun of the paintings. We then caught up with Molly for dinner and finished the day.
Sam and I taking a nap...beautiful
· Day 4- Because Jordan missed her bus, she spent the night with Molly and me. The three of us went to the flea market. It was HUUUUUUGE. It seemed like every street in Madrid had people selling something. And then we flew back home.
Phew! That was nearly as tiring as the vacation itself. If you read through all of that, I highly commend you. I’ll have more interesting things to say later on. Just had to get this out of the way.
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