Today did turn out to be better than yesterday, thankfully.
We finally managed to pin down a place to stay for tomorrow night. We had searched high and low on nearly every single website for a hostel, but everything is booked for the holiday. Everything. We even wandered about the city and asked at the fancy hotels that we knew we could not afford. Tomorrow is May 1, which is a big labor day holiday all across Europe. It also happens to be my birthday. Growing up, it was nice as I was always guaranteed to have my birthday off. In the U.S., it usually tends to fall around finals time, which kinda sucks. This year, I really do not care about my birthday very much, but I also was not looking forward to the prospect of spending it sleeping in a bus station huddled up next to my backpack. So, once we secured a place to stay, I felt so much better.
After that bright start to our day, we caught the free walking tour of Prague to get a feel for the town, as is our usual routine by now. Prague is simply a spectacular city with its old buildings, winding cobblestoned streets, and varied architectural styles. After the walking tour, we had to make our travel arrangements for the remainder of our trip as it is rapidly coming to an end. I somehow have to get myself back to Madrid by May 8 to get on my return flight on the 9, and piecing together bus trips and cheap airfares has proven to be a little bit of a challenge. The trains have gotten quite expensive and did not really work out for us.
After a lot of running around and hassling with crappy websites, we finally pinned it down and it looks like Prague is our last city together. We leave Prague on Friday the 2. After that, Brian heads off to Italy. I have already been to Italy and want to see something new, even though I absolutely love Italy. Instead, I hop on a bus to Marseille for a fun 22 hour bus ride, but it was the only viable option schedule wise. I spend a few days in Marseille, then fly to Lisbon for a couple of days before heading back to Madrid.
Once we figured out our travel arrangements and that we would be going our separate ways after Friday, we felt a little down. We have gotten along surprisingly well on this trip and we have really appreciated each other´s company. I think Brian said it best: ´Getting lost by yourself is scary, but getting lost together is an adventure.´ We walked around the rest of the afternoon, enjoying the sights, but our moods dampened that we would not be spending the remainder of the trip together.
Even though we did not do any marathon walking today like we did in Barcelona, my feet were tired and achy at the end of the day. When I took my shoes off to put them up on my bed to rest, Brian, who was sitting on a chair by the bed, grabbed my feet and massaged them. Totally found my ´´F´´ spot too. It was such a sweet gesture. I realized that I have not had my feet rubbed by someone else in almost two years and it felt absolutely amazing. But, that is the thing about Brian. He randomly does these sweet little things that are super thoughtful. Like the one day when we were wandering about in Amsterdam. He was listening to his MP3 player, and he really liked the song that was playing. So, he shared one of his earpieces, put his arm around me and thus we walked down the street together. Very sweet.
Anyhow, to get back on track, the food here is great and the beer cheap. In fact, my 0,5 liter beer at lunch was cheaper than Brian´s glass of coke. Ha. The meals are hearty and filling. I enjoyed a yummy Gulash with bread dumplings for lunch. Filling and tasty. For dinner, we had been craving pancakes since Germany, so we finally found them. Cinnamon crepes filled with vanilla ice cream and maple syrup. Scrumptious.
Tomorrow, we are going to visit the castle on the other side of the Vltava river. We will see what that side has to offer.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Two Days In Berlin And Now Prague
We spent two days in Berlin and have now made it to Prague. I had never been to Berlin before so was excited to see this city I had heard so much about. I approach each new destination with enthusiasm and eager curiosity and I did the same with Berlin. However, I simply did not feel it there. The vibe everyone had been talking about did not touch me in the same way. I am not sure if it is its somber war history that still has me reeling, but I just could not settle in. On our first day there, we started off with our usual free walking tour. This one was four hours and the guide very knowledgeable. Not much remains of the old architecture as it was bombed in the war. I found the newer architecture drab and depressing and walking around Berlin made me feel eerie somehow. I cannot explain it. I am sorry Kathleen, I know this city is your favorite city in the world, but it did not capture me the way I had thought it might.
Our hostel was beautiful, however, and the people were very friendly in general. We also enjoyed the best weather we have had on the trip so far, sunny and around 75 degrees. On our second day, we took the train to Potsdam and went out to visit Sanssouci park and its three castles. It was like being in France. Lush, beautiful garden and we had an amazing German meal. I had a bratwurst and Brian had this gianormous German meatball sandwich that was to die for. We were feeling so much better here. Afterward, we headed back into town. We wanted to see different things, so Brian headed off on his own to see more of the Berlin wall as he felt he had not gotten enough of it on our walking tour. I wanted to see Kurfurstendamm that I had heard so much about. So, I went shopping, while Brian went for more history. The shopping street was very generic, again sorry Kathleen, but there was a beautiful old church, half bombed out, remaining since the war. We had decided to meet up at the Reichstag for a tour up in the cupola and I high tailed it over there as I was running late. This allowed me a nice walk through the Tiergarten, their big city garden, and THIS was impressive. Such an oasis in this city. People were barbecuing and it smelled so nice. I found myself feeling somewhat softened toward Berlin.
I met Brian at the Reichstag and we went up on the roof to see the cupola on top. There was an amazing view on top and the cupola was a really impressive piece of architecture. This last bit of sightseeing allowed us to leave with a better feeling about Berlin than the previous day when we arrived.
The next morning, yesterday, we took a bus to Prague. Walking from the Prague bus stop to our hostel, I immediately took a liking to this city with its old buildings and winding streets. However, it is very expensive here. But, we managed to find ourselves a wonderful meal for lunch. Brian had wedding schnitzel and I had wine battered mushrooms with roasted potatoes and a beer. Yum. But, it was raining. We could not find any lodging for our third night here and the remaining travel reservations were just not panning out. So, it ended up being a rather frustrating day and at the end we gave up. Headed back with wet, soggy shoes and a gray mood. I ate a candy bar and drank my small bottle of wine before falling asleep in my hostel bed. Hopefully, today will be a better day.
Our hostel was beautiful, however, and the people were very friendly in general. We also enjoyed the best weather we have had on the trip so far, sunny and around 75 degrees. On our second day, we took the train to Potsdam and went out to visit Sanssouci park and its three castles. It was like being in France. Lush, beautiful garden and we had an amazing German meal. I had a bratwurst and Brian had this gianormous German meatball sandwich that was to die for. We were feeling so much better here. Afterward, we headed back into town. We wanted to see different things, so Brian headed off on his own to see more of the Berlin wall as he felt he had not gotten enough of it on our walking tour. I wanted to see Kurfurstendamm that I had heard so much about. So, I went shopping, while Brian went for more history. The shopping street was very generic, again sorry Kathleen, but there was a beautiful old church, half bombed out, remaining since the war. We had decided to meet up at the Reichstag for a tour up in the cupola and I high tailed it over there as I was running late. This allowed me a nice walk through the Tiergarten, their big city garden, and THIS was impressive. Such an oasis in this city. People were barbecuing and it smelled so nice. I found myself feeling somewhat softened toward Berlin.
I met Brian at the Reichstag and we went up on the roof to see the cupola on top. There was an amazing view on top and the cupola was a really impressive piece of architecture. This last bit of sightseeing allowed us to leave with a better feeling about Berlin than the previous day when we arrived.
The next morning, yesterday, we took a bus to Prague. Walking from the Prague bus stop to our hostel, I immediately took a liking to this city with its old buildings and winding streets. However, it is very expensive here. But, we managed to find ourselves a wonderful meal for lunch. Brian had wedding schnitzel and I had wine battered mushrooms with roasted potatoes and a beer. Yum. But, it was raining. We could not find any lodging for our third night here and the remaining travel reservations were just not panning out. So, it ended up being a rather frustrating day and at the end we gave up. Headed back with wet, soggy shoes and a gray mood. I ate a candy bar and drank my small bottle of wine before falling asleep in my hostel bed. Hopefully, today will be a better day.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Ping Ping and A Midnight Bus To Berlin
As we approached the girl's house whose couch we were staying on, Brian asked if we should come up with a code in case she turned out to be a weirdo and we felt it was not a suitable place to stay overnight. It's really nice to have a travel buddy, not just for company and laughs, but for safety too. We already have a secret code for ''hot man nearby" (I could tell you the code, but then it wouldn't be secret anymore). Right as we were in the middle of this new safety code conversation, we see someone in the distance waving at us, calling out ''Brian?" Uh oh, no time to decide on a code in case she turns out to be psycho.
Thankfully, our fears were completely unfounded as she turned out to be absolutely wonderful! She's a fifth year dutch medical student (med school here is six years) who likes to travel and make new friends. She was super sweet. Had gone to the grocery store and picked up fondue supplies and put a bottle of wine in the fridge to chill. So, we ended up cooking dinner together that we then enjoyed by candlelight at the table she had set for us. She even let us use her computer and gave us towels for the shower and blankets for the couches. What a gift! I don't know why, but I'm always so surprised when I encounter kind strangers who are so willing to go out of their way for you. This was absolutely exceptional and completely restored my faith in how kind, caring, and considerate people can be. Unfortunately, it is not something we encounter every day as people are mostly too absorbed in their own worlds to extend themselves for you.
We weren't sure what we could do to repay her kindness as she has no plans on visiting Chicago or Detroit any time soon. The least we could do was to take her out for brunch today. So, that's what we did. But, even that turned out to be another gift because she showed us this amazing breakfast place we would never have discovered on our own. We enjoyed amazing youghurt/icecream/fruit shakes and sandwiches that were out of this world.
After that, we said our goodbyes and split up. She was off to get a haircut for her date this evening. Brian and I went to check out the Heineken brewery (thanks for the tip, Pete!), but found to our disappointment that it was closed. :( It is closed for renovations until August. This is the second time I didn't get to see (or taste) the brewery. But, I did make it to the Van Gogh museum, and that was definitely worthwhile. The only thing was that it was packed and difficult to fully appreciate each painting as there were about 10 people hovering about each painting at once. However, they also had a John Everett Mallais exhibit that was not at all as crowded, but mighty impressive.
A few parting notes on Amsterdam before we head out to enjoy the last few hours before catching the midnight bus to Berlin:
I absolutely LOVE this city. It is so progressive and filled with such energy and fun. All the bicyclists make me feel very much at home. One of them made me laugh yesterday. His bell was broken (they use their bike bells quite a bit as space is rather tight for sharing between pedestrians and bicyclists). In the U.S., you're used to hearing ''On your left" or something to that effect. Not here. "Ping Ping'' is the call out of choice, apparently (no doubt to imitate the sound of a bike bell). Ping Ping had Brian and me cracking up for hours.
Another thing we noticed and learned about on the free tour is that urination in corners and alongside buildings is a big problem in the city. To curb this, they've put up public urinoars (that's what they're called) for men. Women protested as they also wanted their public bathrooms in which to urinate. However, as women needed more 'coverage' than men, the women's bathrooms soon became havens for injecting drug users seeking privacy to shoot up. So, the women lost their public toilets. Even though men have their public urinoars, they still cannot refrain from relieving themselves on buildings and in corners, so the city has had to put up specific urine shields in certain heavy use areas. The urine shields are designed so that they will spray the urine back at the person urinating on them. Pretty clever. They come in various shapes and designs. I have pictures, but yet again, not able to upload them to show you at this point. But, they do look like they would work pretty effectively. Barcelona could learn a lesson or two from this and would definitely benefit from installing a few of them across their urine smelling city.
Uh oh, I just realized that that was supposed to be my closing comment, but boy, what a topic to end on...urine. Yikes! That is definitely not how I want this great city of Amsterdam to be remembered. Instead, dream with me about the waffles or pancakes with ice cream I'm hoping to indulge in for for dinner. Ok, we are off to go and catch a free ferry for a little last minute sightseeing.
Thankfully, our fears were completely unfounded as she turned out to be absolutely wonderful! She's a fifth year dutch medical student (med school here is six years) who likes to travel and make new friends. She was super sweet. Had gone to the grocery store and picked up fondue supplies and put a bottle of wine in the fridge to chill. So, we ended up cooking dinner together that we then enjoyed by candlelight at the table she had set for us. She even let us use her computer and gave us towels for the shower and blankets for the couches. What a gift! I don't know why, but I'm always so surprised when I encounter kind strangers who are so willing to go out of their way for you. This was absolutely exceptional and completely restored my faith in how kind, caring, and considerate people can be. Unfortunately, it is not something we encounter every day as people are mostly too absorbed in their own worlds to extend themselves for you.
We weren't sure what we could do to repay her kindness as she has no plans on visiting Chicago or Detroit any time soon. The least we could do was to take her out for brunch today. So, that's what we did. But, even that turned out to be another gift because she showed us this amazing breakfast place we would never have discovered on our own. We enjoyed amazing youghurt/icecream/fruit shakes and sandwiches that were out of this world.
After that, we said our goodbyes and split up. She was off to get a haircut for her date this evening. Brian and I went to check out the Heineken brewery (thanks for the tip, Pete!), but found to our disappointment that it was closed. :( It is closed for renovations until August. This is the second time I didn't get to see (or taste) the brewery. But, I did make it to the Van Gogh museum, and that was definitely worthwhile. The only thing was that it was packed and difficult to fully appreciate each painting as there were about 10 people hovering about each painting at once. However, they also had a John Everett Mallais exhibit that was not at all as crowded, but mighty impressive.
A few parting notes on Amsterdam before we head out to enjoy the last few hours before catching the midnight bus to Berlin:
I absolutely LOVE this city. It is so progressive and filled with such energy and fun. All the bicyclists make me feel very much at home. One of them made me laugh yesterday. His bell was broken (they use their bike bells quite a bit as space is rather tight for sharing between pedestrians and bicyclists). In the U.S., you're used to hearing ''On your left" or something to that effect. Not here. "Ping Ping'' is the call out of choice, apparently (no doubt to imitate the sound of a bike bell). Ping Ping had Brian and me cracking up for hours.
Another thing we noticed and learned about on the free tour is that urination in corners and alongside buildings is a big problem in the city. To curb this, they've put up public urinoars (that's what they're called) for men. Women protested as they also wanted their public bathrooms in which to urinate. However, as women needed more 'coverage' than men, the women's bathrooms soon became havens for injecting drug users seeking privacy to shoot up. So, the women lost their public toilets. Even though men have their public urinoars, they still cannot refrain from relieving themselves on buildings and in corners, so the city has had to put up specific urine shields in certain heavy use areas. The urine shields are designed so that they will spray the urine back at the person urinating on them. Pretty clever. They come in various shapes and designs. I have pictures, but yet again, not able to upload them to show you at this point. But, they do look like they would work pretty effectively. Barcelona could learn a lesson or two from this and would definitely benefit from installing a few of them across their urine smelling city.
Uh oh, I just realized that that was supposed to be my closing comment, but boy, what a topic to end on...urine. Yikes! That is definitely not how I want this great city of Amsterdam to be remembered. Instead, dream with me about the waffles or pancakes with ice cream I'm hoping to indulge in for for dinner. Ok, we are off to go and catch a free ferry for a little last minute sightseeing.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Amsterdam Afternoon
Internet cafes are a little hard to come by here in Amsterdam, so I'm seizing the opportunity while I have it. But first, some of the postings aren't proof read (in case you didn't notice the obvious) as it's sometimes tight for time to avoid extra charges.
We rented the bikes I mentioned earlier today, and what an awesome thing to do! It was simply magnificent to roll around town on two wheels, not to mention how happy my feet are to get the rest. To add to that pleasure, I got to revel in the nostalgia of my childhood as the bikes we got were the oldfashioned kind with high handlebars and foot brakes. It didn't take long to get used to either one. However, I quickly realized that there's a big difference in the physics of the high handlebars compared to the lower ones I'm used to at home as you don't get as much power for pushing off quickly when there's an urban assault threat such as a rapidly approaching car or tram.
We started off by riding to Vondelpark, a giant open park on the outer edge of the city center. There, I turned on my itunes and rocked out to ''Stuck In The Middle With You", which made me feel so happy. It was just like being at home and riding about town. After Vondelpark, we just kept on riding all over town for a few hours. Bike riding here is great for so many reasons. The distances are very manageable. Streets are fairly flat and there are bike lanes everywhere. Hence, everyone and their grandmas ride their bikes. I wish I could upload the pics to show you the uberfilled bike racks at the Centraal Station. There has to be at least 5,000 bikes parked there. I couldn't help but wonder how long one would have to sort through that bike mess before finding one's bike at the end of the day.
After our three hour bike ride, we figured we had earned our Flemish fries, so indulged in some yummy fried potatoes with curry sauce (for me) and American sauce (for Brian). American sauce, we learned, consists of mustard, ketchup, and mayo mixed together. Sounds like a totally gross concoction. But, it wasn't as bad as it sounds. Wasn't great exactly, but not quite as gross as one might think.
Now, we're off to grab our backpacks and head over to sleep on someone's couch. I say "someone's'' couch, because I don't know this person. Brian found this website called couchsurfing.com where people from all over the world offer up their homes/couches for you to sleep. Brian's been chatting with this Amsterdam woman online and she's letting us crash on her couch tonight. From the e-chatting, she seems nice, but we'll see... Hopefully, it'll be better than the airport.
P.S. I know that since I'm in Amsterdam, a lot of you are looking for decadent details...and there are some details of the decadent kind, but none that I'm posting here.
We rented the bikes I mentioned earlier today, and what an awesome thing to do! It was simply magnificent to roll around town on two wheels, not to mention how happy my feet are to get the rest. To add to that pleasure, I got to revel in the nostalgia of my childhood as the bikes we got were the oldfashioned kind with high handlebars and foot brakes. It didn't take long to get used to either one. However, I quickly realized that there's a big difference in the physics of the high handlebars compared to the lower ones I'm used to at home as you don't get as much power for pushing off quickly when there's an urban assault threat such as a rapidly approaching car or tram.
We started off by riding to Vondelpark, a giant open park on the outer edge of the city center. There, I turned on my itunes and rocked out to ''Stuck In The Middle With You", which made me feel so happy. It was just like being at home and riding about town. After Vondelpark, we just kept on riding all over town for a few hours. Bike riding here is great for so many reasons. The distances are very manageable. Streets are fairly flat and there are bike lanes everywhere. Hence, everyone and their grandmas ride their bikes. I wish I could upload the pics to show you the uberfilled bike racks at the Centraal Station. There has to be at least 5,000 bikes parked there. I couldn't help but wonder how long one would have to sort through that bike mess before finding one's bike at the end of the day.
After our three hour bike ride, we figured we had earned our Flemish fries, so indulged in some yummy fried potatoes with curry sauce (for me) and American sauce (for Brian). American sauce, we learned, consists of mustard, ketchup, and mayo mixed together. Sounds like a totally gross concoction. But, it wasn't as bad as it sounds. Wasn't great exactly, but not quite as gross as one might think.
Now, we're off to grab our backpacks and head over to sleep on someone's couch. I say "someone's'' couch, because I don't know this person. Brian found this website called couchsurfing.com where people from all over the world offer up their homes/couches for you to sleep. Brian's been chatting with this Amsterdam woman online and she's letting us crash on her couch tonight. From the e-chatting, she seems nice, but we'll see... Hopefully, it'll be better than the airport.
P.S. I know that since I'm in Amsterdam, a lot of you are looking for decadent details...and there are some details of the decadent kind, but none that I'm posting here.
Amsterdam
After one long day in Girona and night in the Girona airport, we finally made it to Amsterdam. I have to admit that Girona was a pretty nice place to be stuck in. And, we also managed to be there on St. George's day, when they had a massive book fair in the center of town. People galore! It was the most insane crowd of people I've ever seen. Taste of Chicago crowds got nothing on this one! Not easy to navigate with our gianormous back packs, but loads of fun nonetheless. We had a picnic on a bench, wandered about for a few hours, then found a spot in the grass, before heading back to the airport, where we spent the night. It finally happened, I slept overnight in the airport. Not the most pleasureable experience, that's for sure. But, we survived and caught the early a.m. flight to Eindhoven (made sure we didn't miss this one)! Slept on the plane and bus to Amsterdam to make up for the crappy airport sleep.
Even though Girona was beautiful, this was the day when I became really homesick. Sick of living out of a backpack. Sick of schlepping all my stuff around. Sick of no private bathrooms and showers. Sick of constantly being on the go. Sick of everything. It all just really hit me that one day. I made a desperate call to Kathleen, just to vent for one minute on her voicemail. I really wanted to cry, be in my own bed, my own bathroom and shower. I just wanted to be at home.
But, then we made it to Amsterdam and had a room in the hostel we had booked. At first I thought this one was worse than the last as one could walk through the men's/women's bathroom to get to whichever gender side one wanted. NOT my idea of privacy. But, then I discovered that there were individual shower stalls that locked and had a little cubby for your stuff while you showered. Heaven! I probably spent an hour in that private little space to clean off the sleeping-in-airport filth and to just enjoy a moment of personal space. After that, I felt human again. Also, got a full eight hours' of sleep and feel quite rested and ready to explore.
Yesterday, we took another free walking tour. Aside from the obvious free perk, these tours are quite nice actually. Today, we're going to rent bikes and ride around town, which seems like a precarious prospect considering the pedestrians, millions of bikes, streetcars, regular cars, buses, and other random motorized vehicles that occupy the streets here. Tomorrow, it's the Van Gogh museum and Heineken brewery before we catch the midnight bus to Berlin for new adventures.
Even though Girona was beautiful, this was the day when I became really homesick. Sick of living out of a backpack. Sick of schlepping all my stuff around. Sick of no private bathrooms and showers. Sick of constantly being on the go. Sick of everything. It all just really hit me that one day. I made a desperate call to Kathleen, just to vent for one minute on her voicemail. I really wanted to cry, be in my own bed, my own bathroom and shower. I just wanted to be at home.
But, then we made it to Amsterdam and had a room in the hostel we had booked. At first I thought this one was worse than the last as one could walk through the men's/women's bathroom to get to whichever gender side one wanted. NOT my idea of privacy. But, then I discovered that there were individual shower stalls that locked and had a little cubby for your stuff while you showered. Heaven! I probably spent an hour in that private little space to clean off the sleeping-in-airport filth and to just enjoy a moment of personal space. After that, I felt human again. Also, got a full eight hours' of sleep and feel quite rested and ready to explore.
Yesterday, we took another free walking tour. Aside from the obvious free perk, these tours are quite nice actually. Today, we're going to rent bikes and ride around town, which seems like a precarious prospect considering the pedestrians, millions of bikes, streetcars, regular cars, buses, and other random motorized vehicles that occupy the streets here. Tomorrow, it's the Van Gogh museum and Heineken brewery before we catch the midnight bus to Berlin for new adventures.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
To Amsterdam, Or So We Thought
Yesterday was our last day in Barcelona. The city definitely grew on us with its architectural beauty and numerous sights to see, but remained dirty and frequently smelling of urine. We went on the free walking tour of the Gothic quarter in the morning. It was a nice and leisurely tour around the Gothic neighborhood. After the previous day´s lengthy walking adventure, a relaxing pace and shorter distance was much appreciated. We also became friendly with a few more people from our hostel and one hot limey in town for a soccer game (although Brian and I had a major disagreement on how attractive this British bloke was, with me giving him a definite ¨hot¨, while apparently he made the ´gross, barf´category for Brian).
After the tour, we took the metro up to Labyrinth Park, where we enjoyed a lovely picnic consisting of bread, cheese, Spanish meats, and Sangria. Apparently, eating in the park was not allowed (we learned when we got there), so we ate our food while looking over out shoulders to avoid getting caught. Once we finished our meal, we headed into the hedge labyrinth, where we found our way to the center pretty quickly. The rest of the park was beautiful and we strolled around for a bit before trying to locate the city´s giant phallux, visible from all over.
We found the the phallux, but it was somewhat disappointing. It was just an office building, and we weren´t allowed to go to the top to enjoy the view. But, we did get lots of photos from outside that will show you its distinct shape (once I can upload the pics).
Then we hoofed it back to the hostel along the beach, where we met up with the rest of group that we had chatted with on the tour, to go for dinner and drinks. They were a nice group of people and we had fun hanging out, drinking beer and eating dinner. After dinner, all 12 of us went for ice cream, but not just any ice cream. This place had some unconventional flavors: curry, bacon & spinach, black olives, gorgonzola & nuts, and a whole host of other odd and random flavors. I sampled the curry flavor and it honestly wasn´t bad. A little strange to taste that flavor in ice cream form, but actually pretty tasty.
This a.m. we were supposed to take the metro to the bus station to get up to Girona airport for our flight to Eindhoven, en route to Amsterdam. Unfortunately, it didn´t quite work out that way. We missed the bus to Girona Airport by 10-15 mins, and the next one didn´t leave until 1.5 hrs later (thank you crappy hostel directions)! Apparently, a cab would be about 100 euros and there were no other viable options to get there efficiently. We were able to catch a bus to Girona city where we then grabbed a cab and high tailed it over to the airport for about 20 euros. But, no luck. We missed our flight. No more flights to Eindhoven today and no other cheap flights anywhere near there today. So, we´re stuck in Girona for the day. Not that Girona is a bad place to be stuck. It´s a beautiful and sunny day outside. I´m sure there are nice sights to see here, but we got two gianormous backpacks to lug around, and that doesn´t make for easy sightseeing.
Well, actually, we got one gianormous backpack (mine) and Brian´s manageable backpack. I´m eternally grateful to my awesome world traveling buddy David who so generously loaned me his travel backpack. It´s outstanding. Big. Sturdy. Roomy. Lots of great compartments. When Brian and I were packing before we left, Brian was astounded at how much stuff I was bringing. He hadn´t seen my backpack and was wondering how I could possibly fit all that stuff in my bag. 'I got a nice pack, world class' I told him. I could hear the jealousy in his voice at how much I was able to bring, while he had to skimp. Well, there comes a time in every backpacker´s life when skimping is a concept to revere. Today, is that day. My pack´s so heavy from all the junk I´m lugging around that I´m almost toppling over. And, to top it all off, there are no lockers here in Girona, not at the airport and not at the bus station. I know they´ve pretty much done away with lockers in airports for security reasons. But, I´ve seen them around train stations still. We definitely saw them in Madrid. If Madrid of all places had them, why in the world not Girona? And that, my friend, is the big question of the day. Why not Girona?
After the tour, we took the metro up to Labyrinth Park, where we enjoyed a lovely picnic consisting of bread, cheese, Spanish meats, and Sangria. Apparently, eating in the park was not allowed (we learned when we got there), so we ate our food while looking over out shoulders to avoid getting caught. Once we finished our meal, we headed into the hedge labyrinth, where we found our way to the center pretty quickly. The rest of the park was beautiful and we strolled around for a bit before trying to locate the city´s giant phallux, visible from all over.
We found the the phallux, but it was somewhat disappointing. It was just an office building, and we weren´t allowed to go to the top to enjoy the view. But, we did get lots of photos from outside that will show you its distinct shape (once I can upload the pics).
Then we hoofed it back to the hostel along the beach, where we met up with the rest of group that we had chatted with on the tour, to go for dinner and drinks. They were a nice group of people and we had fun hanging out, drinking beer and eating dinner. After dinner, all 12 of us went for ice cream, but not just any ice cream. This place had some unconventional flavors: curry, bacon & spinach, black olives, gorgonzola & nuts, and a whole host of other odd and random flavors. I sampled the curry flavor and it honestly wasn´t bad. A little strange to taste that flavor in ice cream form, but actually pretty tasty.
This a.m. we were supposed to take the metro to the bus station to get up to Girona airport for our flight to Eindhoven, en route to Amsterdam. Unfortunately, it didn´t quite work out that way. We missed the bus to Girona Airport by 10-15 mins, and the next one didn´t leave until 1.5 hrs later (thank you crappy hostel directions)! Apparently, a cab would be about 100 euros and there were no other viable options to get there efficiently. We were able to catch a bus to Girona city where we then grabbed a cab and high tailed it over to the airport for about 20 euros. But, no luck. We missed our flight. No more flights to Eindhoven today and no other cheap flights anywhere near there today. So, we´re stuck in Girona for the day. Not that Girona is a bad place to be stuck. It´s a beautiful and sunny day outside. I´m sure there are nice sights to see here, but we got two gianormous backpacks to lug around, and that doesn´t make for easy sightseeing.
Well, actually, we got one gianormous backpack (mine) and Brian´s manageable backpack. I´m eternally grateful to my awesome world traveling buddy David who so generously loaned me his travel backpack. It´s outstanding. Big. Sturdy. Roomy. Lots of great compartments. When Brian and I were packing before we left, Brian was astounded at how much stuff I was bringing. He hadn´t seen my backpack and was wondering how I could possibly fit all that stuff in my bag. 'I got a nice pack, world class' I told him. I could hear the jealousy in his voice at how much I was able to bring, while he had to skimp. Well, there comes a time in every backpacker´s life when skimping is a concept to revere. Today, is that day. My pack´s so heavy from all the junk I´m lugging around that I´m almost toppling over. And, to top it all off, there are no lockers here in Girona, not at the airport and not at the bus station. I know they´ve pretty much done away with lockers in airports for security reasons. But, I´ve seen them around train stations still. We definitely saw them in Madrid. If Madrid of all places had them, why in the world not Girona? And that, my friend, is the big question of the day. Why not Girona?
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Barcelona And The Devil In The White Bag
Hola from Barcelona! We arrived here on Sunday a.m. after an eight hour bus ride from Madrid. The bus ride wasn't bad as I'm pretty much able to sleep anywhere and anytime. Our first impression of Barcelona wasn't all that great. Compared to Madrid, the subway system was still easy to navigate, albeit very dirty. Every street corner we passed infused our nostrils with an unpleasant urine smell. When we dropped our bags off at the hostel, the guy who checked in our bags suggested that we leave our passports in the luggage storage area as he didn't think it a good idea to carry them about town. These things left us missing Madrid and wish we had stayed as Madrid was very clean and we felt totally safe there. So, our first day in Barcelona, we slowed our pace get our bearings.
However, yesterday morning, we'd regained our curiosity and thirst for new sights and headed out to explore the famous Gaudi architecture. We took the metro to Parc Guell, where we wandered about for a few hours. Absolutely stunning sights in the park itself as well as beautiful vistas of the city and ocean spread out below. From there, we wandered to Sagrada Familia, another Antonio Gaudi creation, and the most amazing piece of cathedral architecture I have ever seen. Construction was begun in the early 1900s and is still ongoing. They hope to have it completed by 2026. I so wish I could include a picture here because it's just breath taking. I'll upload my pictures when I get home and you can see for yourself. His architecture is inspired by shapes in nature and have a fairytale feel to it. It is a very unique style of architecture and I'm surprised that he has not inspired more architects to follow in his footsteps. From Sagrada Familia, we headed to La Pegrada, an apartment building Gaudi designed. Again, simply fantastic.
As we were out walking ALL day yesterday, from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., it was a long day. When you walk that much, you get hungry. At least I do. I'm not sure what kind of weird metabolism system Brian has, but apparently he requires very little sleep and not much to eat or drink. I guess he's well suited for the surgical profession. Not me. I like to sleep for eight hours if I can and I also like to eat and drink when I can. So, imagine my excitement when I discovered a place where I could get a pizza to go for 1.80 euro. Score! That was the tastiest lunch for that little money so far. But, the best part was that I found a super cheap grocery store that sold Sangria in a one liter box for 1.19 euro. So, for the grand price of 4 euros, I had a kick ass lunch! I decided to indulge in my lunch feast on the sunny door step of Sagrada Familia. Of course, consumption of alcohol in public is strictly prohibited, so I kept my Sangria box in the white grocery bag. It's difficult to fully explain the joy I felt of sitting in the warm sunshine, eating lunch, drinking sangria, and enjoying the beauty of Gaudi all at once. I only drank half the box, but that was enough to get me loopy, so the walk from Sagrada Familia to La Pegrada was kind of a blur. Thankfully, Brian's our map reader so got us there ok.
At the end of the day, we were trying to google our route to see how far we actually walked, but couldn't quite figure it out. But, it was far; far enough that I kinda feel a little bit like Forrest Gump. We're not running, but we really have not stopped walking since we hit European ground. Today, we're going on a free, what else, walking tour of the Gothic quarter. Plus, there's some weird building that looks like a giant phallus that I absolutely have to see. It's gianormous and we've seen it from all over town, so I'm very curious to figure out what it actually is. All in all, Barcelona has definitely grown on us as it is a spectacular city, but it is simply not as clean as Madrid. Tomorrow, we're hopping on a plane to Eindhoven, where we'll catch a bus up to Amsterdam.
However, yesterday morning, we'd regained our curiosity and thirst for new sights and headed out to explore the famous Gaudi architecture. We took the metro to Parc Guell, where we wandered about for a few hours. Absolutely stunning sights in the park itself as well as beautiful vistas of the city and ocean spread out below. From there, we wandered to Sagrada Familia, another Antonio Gaudi creation, and the most amazing piece of cathedral architecture I have ever seen. Construction was begun in the early 1900s and is still ongoing. They hope to have it completed by 2026. I so wish I could include a picture here because it's just breath taking. I'll upload my pictures when I get home and you can see for yourself. His architecture is inspired by shapes in nature and have a fairytale feel to it. It is a very unique style of architecture and I'm surprised that he has not inspired more architects to follow in his footsteps. From Sagrada Familia, we headed to La Pegrada, an apartment building Gaudi designed. Again, simply fantastic.
As we were out walking ALL day yesterday, from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., it was a long day. When you walk that much, you get hungry. At least I do. I'm not sure what kind of weird metabolism system Brian has, but apparently he requires very little sleep and not much to eat or drink. I guess he's well suited for the surgical profession. Not me. I like to sleep for eight hours if I can and I also like to eat and drink when I can. So, imagine my excitement when I discovered a place where I could get a pizza to go for 1.80 euro. Score! That was the tastiest lunch for that little money so far. But, the best part was that I found a super cheap grocery store that sold Sangria in a one liter box for 1.19 euro. So, for the grand price of 4 euros, I had a kick ass lunch! I decided to indulge in my lunch feast on the sunny door step of Sagrada Familia. Of course, consumption of alcohol in public is strictly prohibited, so I kept my Sangria box in the white grocery bag. It's difficult to fully explain the joy I felt of sitting in the warm sunshine, eating lunch, drinking sangria, and enjoying the beauty of Gaudi all at once. I only drank half the box, but that was enough to get me loopy, so the walk from Sagrada Familia to La Pegrada was kind of a blur. Thankfully, Brian's our map reader so got us there ok.
At the end of the day, we were trying to google our route to see how far we actually walked, but couldn't quite figure it out. But, it was far; far enough that I kinda feel a little bit like Forrest Gump. We're not running, but we really have not stopped walking since we hit European ground. Today, we're going on a free, what else, walking tour of the Gothic quarter. Plus, there's some weird building that looks like a giant phallus that I absolutely have to see. It's gianormous and we've seen it from all over town, so I'm very curious to figure out what it actually is. All in all, Barcelona has definitely grown on us as it is a spectacular city, but it is simply not as clean as Madrid. Tomorrow, we're hopping on a plane to Eindhoven, where we'll catch a bus up to Amsterdam.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Finishing Up Madrid
Sorry about leaving you hanging there last nite, but internet access is kinda sketchy as we´re constantly on the move trying to maximize our time and there´s always a long line at the hostel.
Anyhow, to finish up the story I started for you yesterday.... It was around 5 p.m., we hadn´t eaten since breakfast, and I was getting mighy cranky (Brian´s description, personally I thought I practiced enormous restraint as we passed tapas place after tapas place with yummy food and I was reaching critical mass, or rather lack of mass). After a lot of back and forth and stopping back at the hostel to check for recommendations, we finally made it to a decent place to have tapas, our big food fest for the week. We step in and look at the blackboard where tapas are listed for 2.5 euros each, which we thought were about as cheap as they come, but still out of our budget, but something we had to do (cuz we were starving and cuz we didn´t come to Spain to not be able to say we had tapas). We asked if we could get a table to order those tapas or if we needed to stand at the bar. That is when the ´trouble´started. Apparently, they have a cheap blackboard menu for the locals, and an overpriced menu for the touristas. They shoved the expensive menu in our hand and tried to make us order from it. Well, we were having none of that silly business! So, out came my rusty high school Spanish and apparently it was good enough to qualify us for the locals´ cheap blackboard menu. I even got complimented on my Spanish, and told that it is ´muy bueno´. Ha! Pretty funny. But, it got us what we needed, the cheap food. Along with that we also got some sangria to make us forget Charlotte´s cranky pre-nourishment demeanor. All was good again.
Afterward, we headed out to shop in Chueca, the gay neighborhood in town. All of a sudden Brian became very concerned with if his shirt was tucked in the right way and sat just right under his fleece jacket. It was cute. And he got his fill of eye candy. I have been getting my fill of eye candy all over Madrid. This city is loaded with tall, slender, dark haired, and seductively handsome brown eyed men. Oy! I feel as though this is paradise for man watching. I also feel that for the first time in my life, I´m in an environment where my dark hair & brown eyed looks don´t make me stand apart from everyone else. I actually fit in here and look like one of the locals. But, I guess being 50% Spanish and all of it Madrileño on top would explain that. It feels really good to have that sense of belonging for a change and not stick out like an Easter bunny at Christmas.
Another thing I´ve noticed about the city is that the people have fun, unique, and very individualistic styles of dress. Brian thinks it´s more of a European look as opposed to people just showing off their individuality. I dunno. But, it´s definitely fun to people watch.
I´m also super impressed with the subway system here. It is by far the best, cleanest, and most convenient subway system I´ve tried, and I´ve tried Stockholm´s (which kicks ass!), London and Paris´(although I admit that it was a long time ago), as well as NYC, D.C., and San Francisco. Chicago's doesn´t count (for more than the obvious reason that it just plain sucks). Aside from being very clean, frequent, and user friendly, there´s another really cool thing about the Madrid subway - the trains. Some, although not all of the trains, have all the cars connected as one long bendy tube. It is the coolest thing. When the train turns, you can see the curvature of the train from the inside. And when the train´s straight it looks like it extends forever. Super neat.
People watching on the subway is great. Today, we saw a guy that we actually saw yesterday too in an entirely different part of town. How do we know it was the same exact guy you ask and what is the likelihood that we´re not mistaken in this city of millions? Well, it´s simple really, he had the most distinguished hairstyle we´ve seen in the longest time. We weren´t sure whether to term it Dread-et or Mullet-dreads. But, no matter what it was, it was an absolutely dreadful hairdo! Dreads and a mullet into one. Not a good combo. They´re pretty disastrous as separate entities, but combining the two should simply not be done. It´s kinda like combining Bush and Cheney in the White House.
Speaking of likelihood...did anyone do that whole calculation on the likelihood of two days of rain since it only rains here in Madrid 10 days out of the whole year....well, get out your fancy calculators because it rained today as well, and not just a little, but a whole lot! That makes for three days of rain in a row, which means that there´s only seven days of rain left in the whole year. But, that´s ok with us because we had some cool indoor plans. Brian had scoped out this interior design exhibition in the northern part of the city. We hopped on the subway and were there in a jiffy (even though we had to change trains twice). It was a really neat thing to see interior design styles a la Spanish style. After that, we headed back to our central area for more indoor culture: the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia.
After 2:30 on Sat afternoons, the museum is free. We got there at 2. We hadn´t planned it that way, it just happened so. We debated whether to stay and wait or walk around until free time. Luckily, we made the call to stay and wait and were at the front of the line. By 2:30, the line snaked all the way around the plaza and around the corner, with us not even being able to see the end of the line. And it rained too. But, inside was dry and amazing. There was a Picasso exhibit (this time we knew to grab the free tickets before heading upstairs). I have recently begun to appreciate Picasso more and this exhibit solidified it. His art is simply spectacular. However, as much as I enjoyed the Picasso stuff, it had nothing on the handful of Dali art I was able to indulge in. I love Dali the way some people love their children. In fact, I would probably sell my first born to buy a Dali to hang on my wall. Art is not really Brian´s big passion in life, but he was very thoughtful and considerate of the fact that it is mine. So, kudos to Brian, a man with known little patience, for being so patient with me while I lost myself in the fantastic Dali landscapes.
After some more shopping and calimari sandwiches, we´re about done with Madrid, for now. We are catching the midnight bus to Barcelona (combining sleeping with cheap transportation to save on time and moola). We´re planning on staying in Barcelona for three nights. Then, we found some cheap and fab airfare on RyanAir to get us up north to Eindhoven, where we´ll catch a bus to Amsterdam. The plan is to stay there for two nights as prices seem to skyrocket on night three (4/25) for some reason. We´re not sure what big event is going on then, but it´s too pricey for us so think we´ll head to Berlin after that. And, that is all the planning we have for now. More from Barcelona.
Anyhow, to finish up the story I started for you yesterday.... It was around 5 p.m., we hadn´t eaten since breakfast, and I was getting mighy cranky (Brian´s description, personally I thought I practiced enormous restraint as we passed tapas place after tapas place with yummy food and I was reaching critical mass, or rather lack of mass). After a lot of back and forth and stopping back at the hostel to check for recommendations, we finally made it to a decent place to have tapas, our big food fest for the week. We step in and look at the blackboard where tapas are listed for 2.5 euros each, which we thought were about as cheap as they come, but still out of our budget, but something we had to do (cuz we were starving and cuz we didn´t come to Spain to not be able to say we had tapas). We asked if we could get a table to order those tapas or if we needed to stand at the bar. That is when the ´trouble´started. Apparently, they have a cheap blackboard menu for the locals, and an overpriced menu for the touristas. They shoved the expensive menu in our hand and tried to make us order from it. Well, we were having none of that silly business! So, out came my rusty high school Spanish and apparently it was good enough to qualify us for the locals´ cheap blackboard menu. I even got complimented on my Spanish, and told that it is ´muy bueno´. Ha! Pretty funny. But, it got us what we needed, the cheap food. Along with that we also got some sangria to make us forget Charlotte´s cranky pre-nourishment demeanor. All was good again.
Afterward, we headed out to shop in Chueca, the gay neighborhood in town. All of a sudden Brian became very concerned with if his shirt was tucked in the right way and sat just right under his fleece jacket. It was cute. And he got his fill of eye candy. I have been getting my fill of eye candy all over Madrid. This city is loaded with tall, slender, dark haired, and seductively handsome brown eyed men. Oy! I feel as though this is paradise for man watching. I also feel that for the first time in my life, I´m in an environment where my dark hair & brown eyed looks don´t make me stand apart from everyone else. I actually fit in here and look like one of the locals. But, I guess being 50% Spanish and all of it Madrileño on top would explain that. It feels really good to have that sense of belonging for a change and not stick out like an Easter bunny at Christmas.
Another thing I´ve noticed about the city is that the people have fun, unique, and very individualistic styles of dress. Brian thinks it´s more of a European look as opposed to people just showing off their individuality. I dunno. But, it´s definitely fun to people watch.
I´m also super impressed with the subway system here. It is by far the best, cleanest, and most convenient subway system I´ve tried, and I´ve tried Stockholm´s (which kicks ass!), London and Paris´(although I admit that it was a long time ago), as well as NYC, D.C., and San Francisco. Chicago's doesn´t count (for more than the obvious reason that it just plain sucks). Aside from being very clean, frequent, and user friendly, there´s another really cool thing about the Madrid subway - the trains. Some, although not all of the trains, have all the cars connected as one long bendy tube. It is the coolest thing. When the train turns, you can see the curvature of the train from the inside. And when the train´s straight it looks like it extends forever. Super neat.
People watching on the subway is great. Today, we saw a guy that we actually saw yesterday too in an entirely different part of town. How do we know it was the same exact guy you ask and what is the likelihood that we´re not mistaken in this city of millions? Well, it´s simple really, he had the most distinguished hairstyle we´ve seen in the longest time. We weren´t sure whether to term it Dread-et or Mullet-dreads. But, no matter what it was, it was an absolutely dreadful hairdo! Dreads and a mullet into one. Not a good combo. They´re pretty disastrous as separate entities, but combining the two should simply not be done. It´s kinda like combining Bush and Cheney in the White House.
Speaking of likelihood...did anyone do that whole calculation on the likelihood of two days of rain since it only rains here in Madrid 10 days out of the whole year....well, get out your fancy calculators because it rained today as well, and not just a little, but a whole lot! That makes for three days of rain in a row, which means that there´s only seven days of rain left in the whole year. But, that´s ok with us because we had some cool indoor plans. Brian had scoped out this interior design exhibition in the northern part of the city. We hopped on the subway and were there in a jiffy (even though we had to change trains twice). It was a really neat thing to see interior design styles a la Spanish style. After that, we headed back to our central area for more indoor culture: the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia.
After 2:30 on Sat afternoons, the museum is free. We got there at 2. We hadn´t planned it that way, it just happened so. We debated whether to stay and wait or walk around until free time. Luckily, we made the call to stay and wait and were at the front of the line. By 2:30, the line snaked all the way around the plaza and around the corner, with us not even being able to see the end of the line. And it rained too. But, inside was dry and amazing. There was a Picasso exhibit (this time we knew to grab the free tickets before heading upstairs). I have recently begun to appreciate Picasso more and this exhibit solidified it. His art is simply spectacular. However, as much as I enjoyed the Picasso stuff, it had nothing on the handful of Dali art I was able to indulge in. I love Dali the way some people love their children. In fact, I would probably sell my first born to buy a Dali to hang on my wall. Art is not really Brian´s big passion in life, but he was very thoughtful and considerate of the fact that it is mine. So, kudos to Brian, a man with known little patience, for being so patient with me while I lost myself in the fantastic Dali landscapes.
After some more shopping and calimari sandwiches, we´re about done with Madrid, for now. We are catching the midnight bus to Barcelona (combining sleeping with cheap transportation to save on time and moola). We´re planning on staying in Barcelona for three nights. Then, we found some cheap and fab airfare on RyanAir to get us up north to Eindhoven, where we´ll catch a bus to Amsterdam. The plan is to stay there for two nights as prices seem to skyrocket on night three (4/25) for some reason. We´re not sure what big event is going on then, but it´s too pricey for us so think we´ll head to Berlin after that. And, that is all the planning we have for now. More from Barcelona.
Friday, April 18, 2008
More Madrid
So much fun to share I´m not even sure where to begin. We´ve been here for 2.5 days now, and we´ve been exploring the city non-stop since our arrival. We´ve taken a gazillion pictures, but unfortunately, I cannot upload them until I get home, so have no current visuals for you to be able share in our the beauty we´ve been enjoying.
Day1: We hit the pavement running (ok, walking, but I swear we´ve been walking ever since) the moment we got here to get out to see what this beautiful city had to offer. First off, we serendipitously ran into the royal palace (Palacio Real de Madrid) , which was absolutely magnificent. Ornate would be an understatement to describe the size and decorative style, definitely very impressive. According to one of the locals, the palace is the largest palace in western Europe.
Since we´re on a budget, staying and eating as cheaply as we possibly can, we grabbed some cold & super cheap empanadas (1.65 euro) and a soda for dinner from a tiny little grocery store. They´re pretty tasty, but certainly nothing fancy. As Brian likes to call them: gas station food. They´re not really that bad, but it´s no gourmet sit down scrumptious meal either. With all this walking, we´ve been hungrily staring down all the tapas and other fancy restaurants, jealously eyeing the yummy food being served up inside.
Day 2 (yesterday): We headed out early (around 10, which is early for me, but late for Brian, the future surgeon who´s practicing sleep deprivation in preparation for residency. Meanwhile, the jet lag that was making me so tired also gave me a major anxiety attack as it reminded me of how painful my life is going to be in a few months when the reality of being on call and constant sleep deprivation sets in - repress, repress those thoughts while on vacation. Repress I say! Anyhow, off we went to explore the two gardens of Madrid. First up, the garden surrounding the Royal Palace. Again, the royals did not disappoint. A mighty impressive surrounding oasis in the middle of the city. We wandered about and enjoyed the scenerey while horse drawn carriages trotted by and peacocks wandered the grounds and called out for their mates. Brian desperately wanted one of the male peacocks to show off his plumage. He stubbornly refused. Brian thought that he could just wait him out. Finally, I had to pull him away as we´d be there all day waiting for the two stubborn men to see which one would fold first. However, a few minutes later we ran into two males and a female peacock. The female turned out to have been the missing ingredient and we got lucky and got to see one of the males spread his most impressive plumage and hold it up on display for us. It was quite the show!
After this, we high tailed it over to Plaza Mayor for a free walking tour of the city. We were hungry, but decided that a free tour was better than a costly lunch. It turned out to be a wise decision as we got to see and learn a great deal of the city. The only thing was that it rained intermittently (according to our tour guide it only rains 30 days out of the year, so what are the odds that it would rain while we´re here? Need I mention that it also rained again today? Calculate out those odds and tell me if I don´t have some sorta dark cloud over my head?) After we were done with the walking tour, we decided to have lunch with our new French buddies we just met on the tour to enjoy one of the local favorites: a calimare sandwich. It´s basically just fried calimari on a baguette, but very delicious and the price is right (2.15 euro). Score!
With our newfound energy and friends, we headed off to the other large city garden to go for a boat ride on the lake and check out the crystal palace in the middle of the garden. The hike there turned out to be quite a bit longer than we had anticipated as the garden is absolutely enormous. The crystal palace was pretty neat, but the boat ride didn´t quite pan out as it was just too rainy and windy.
Back to the hostel we went, where I to my own great joy and amusement, discovered a beer vending machine! Yippee!! Our hostel has a bar, so we could purchase drinks, beer, and wine there, but did I mention that we´re on a budget? Everything here is expensive. It wouldn´t be so bad if the exchange rate between the dollar and the Euro weren´t in the crapper, but it is, so just looking in the store with the intent of buying something is akin to highway robbery. But, there it was - affordable beer, within reach. Right next to the snack and soda machine was a beer vending machine. Stupendous!!! For the grand price of 1 euro (about $1.5), I purchased an Estrella (chose that over Budweiser, ha!) and sat back to appreciate life. Once I finished that one, I thought that I really deserved a second one for being so thrifty to discover a beer vending machine and not purchasing anything extraneous.
Day 3: Today we got a little bit slower of a start as we´d been up a little bit later trying to figure out our next move, how to get around Europe, and to make some travel arrangements. Of course, none of the computers were working right and crashed every time we thought we´d come up with a plan. This morning we finally got moving on it and made some sort of head way. Then, we headed out again. Today, we went to the place that has been my Mecca since I was a teenager and began appreciating art: Prado. Oh, my holy Colbert, what a spectacular museum! It is by far the most impressive collection of grand masters I have ever seen. It was a truly amazing experience that every art lover should have at least once in their life. It was also the first time on the trip that Brian distinguished himself in the way I had thought he would, in some shape or form. For those of you who don´t know Brian, some might call him enterprising and ingenius. Others might call him mischevious or devious. I dunno. I rather like the kid and I was intrigued to see what it would be like to have him as my travel partner. Today, I finally got to see that enterprising side of him that I had been excitedly anticipating and secretly fearing at the same time, and it was great!
We were at Prado, enjoying all the beautiful art when we came upon the ´Goya exhibit´, for which you apparently needed a ticket. The ticket was free. All you had to do to get said ticket was to go and stand in line, downstairs, at the entrance, to get your free Goya exhibit ticket. Had somone mentioned that to us at the entrance, we probably would have stood in line, but no one did. Now, we were half way through the museum, filled with people, who much like ourselves had no idea that they needed another ticket to enter the Goya exhibit. We asked what the purpose was to have a FREE ticket to enter the exhibit and according to the security folks, it was because they needed to count how many visitors they had to the exhibit. We wanted to see the exhibit. However, it seemed too laborious to venture all the way back downstairs, stand in line, get a FREE ticket, come all the way back upstairs, just to enter the exhibit. We were tired. We had been walking for two days, were half way done at the museum, and had not yet eaten lunch. We were not expletive walking back downstairs to get a free ticket! Another tourist started yelling at the guard. Some people were trying to reason with the guards. All to no avail. This is when Brian´s genius surfaced: we´ll ask someone exiting the exhibit to get their used ticket! So simple, and so brilliant! Yet, so gutsy I would never have thought of it. But, he did and we did. And it worked great! To top it off, we paid it forward by passing our tickets along to someone else after we used the previous `owners´´ tickets.
Phew, this is getting long. Are you still reading? Well, if you are, you´ll learn that after the museum and all this walking it was getting onto 4:30 and I hadn´t had anything to eat since breakfast (10 a). If you don´t know me well, you may not realize that I apparently turn into quite the cranky rhymes-with-witch when my blood sugar runs low. Uh oh, the internet place is closing so I won´t be able to finish this one or proof read what I got. I´ll post more when I can. Salud!
Day1: We hit the pavement running (ok, walking, but I swear we´ve been walking ever since) the moment we got here to get out to see what this beautiful city had to offer. First off, we serendipitously ran into the royal palace (Palacio Real de Madrid) , which was absolutely magnificent. Ornate would be an understatement to describe the size and decorative style, definitely very impressive. According to one of the locals, the palace is the largest palace in western Europe.
Since we´re on a budget, staying and eating as cheaply as we possibly can, we grabbed some cold & super cheap empanadas (1.65 euro) and a soda for dinner from a tiny little grocery store. They´re pretty tasty, but certainly nothing fancy. As Brian likes to call them: gas station food. They´re not really that bad, but it´s no gourmet sit down scrumptious meal either. With all this walking, we´ve been hungrily staring down all the tapas and other fancy restaurants, jealously eyeing the yummy food being served up inside.
Day 2 (yesterday): We headed out early (around 10, which is early for me, but late for Brian, the future surgeon who´s practicing sleep deprivation in preparation for residency. Meanwhile, the jet lag that was making me so tired also gave me a major anxiety attack as it reminded me of how painful my life is going to be in a few months when the reality of being on call and constant sleep deprivation sets in - repress, repress those thoughts while on vacation. Repress I say! Anyhow, off we went to explore the two gardens of Madrid. First up, the garden surrounding the Royal Palace. Again, the royals did not disappoint. A mighty impressive surrounding oasis in the middle of the city. We wandered about and enjoyed the scenerey while horse drawn carriages trotted by and peacocks wandered the grounds and called out for their mates. Brian desperately wanted one of the male peacocks to show off his plumage. He stubbornly refused. Brian thought that he could just wait him out. Finally, I had to pull him away as we´d be there all day waiting for the two stubborn men to see which one would fold first. However, a few minutes later we ran into two males and a female peacock. The female turned out to have been the missing ingredient and we got lucky and got to see one of the males spread his most impressive plumage and hold it up on display for us. It was quite the show!
After this, we high tailed it over to Plaza Mayor for a free walking tour of the city. We were hungry, but decided that a free tour was better than a costly lunch. It turned out to be a wise decision as we got to see and learn a great deal of the city. The only thing was that it rained intermittently (according to our tour guide it only rains 30 days out of the year, so what are the odds that it would rain while we´re here? Need I mention that it also rained again today? Calculate out those odds and tell me if I don´t have some sorta dark cloud over my head?) After we were done with the walking tour, we decided to have lunch with our new French buddies we just met on the tour to enjoy one of the local favorites: a calimare sandwich. It´s basically just fried calimari on a baguette, but very delicious and the price is right (2.15 euro). Score!
With our newfound energy and friends, we headed off to the other large city garden to go for a boat ride on the lake and check out the crystal palace in the middle of the garden. The hike there turned out to be quite a bit longer than we had anticipated as the garden is absolutely enormous. The crystal palace was pretty neat, but the boat ride didn´t quite pan out as it was just too rainy and windy.
Back to the hostel we went, where I to my own great joy and amusement, discovered a beer vending machine! Yippee!! Our hostel has a bar, so we could purchase drinks, beer, and wine there, but did I mention that we´re on a budget? Everything here is expensive. It wouldn´t be so bad if the exchange rate between the dollar and the Euro weren´t in the crapper, but it is, so just looking in the store with the intent of buying something is akin to highway robbery. But, there it was - affordable beer, within reach. Right next to the snack and soda machine was a beer vending machine. Stupendous!!! For the grand price of 1 euro (about $1.5), I purchased an Estrella (chose that over Budweiser, ha!) and sat back to appreciate life. Once I finished that one, I thought that I really deserved a second one for being so thrifty to discover a beer vending machine and not purchasing anything extraneous.
Day 3: Today we got a little bit slower of a start as we´d been up a little bit later trying to figure out our next move, how to get around Europe, and to make some travel arrangements. Of course, none of the computers were working right and crashed every time we thought we´d come up with a plan. This morning we finally got moving on it and made some sort of head way. Then, we headed out again. Today, we went to the place that has been my Mecca since I was a teenager and began appreciating art: Prado. Oh, my holy Colbert, what a spectacular museum! It is by far the most impressive collection of grand masters I have ever seen. It was a truly amazing experience that every art lover should have at least once in their life. It was also the first time on the trip that Brian distinguished himself in the way I had thought he would, in some shape or form. For those of you who don´t know Brian, some might call him enterprising and ingenius. Others might call him mischevious or devious. I dunno. I rather like the kid and I was intrigued to see what it would be like to have him as my travel partner. Today, I finally got to see that enterprising side of him that I had been excitedly anticipating and secretly fearing at the same time, and it was great!
We were at Prado, enjoying all the beautiful art when we came upon the ´Goya exhibit´, for which you apparently needed a ticket. The ticket was free. All you had to do to get said ticket was to go and stand in line, downstairs, at the entrance, to get your free Goya exhibit ticket. Had somone mentioned that to us at the entrance, we probably would have stood in line, but no one did. Now, we were half way through the museum, filled with people, who much like ourselves had no idea that they needed another ticket to enter the Goya exhibit. We asked what the purpose was to have a FREE ticket to enter the exhibit and according to the security folks, it was because they needed to count how many visitors they had to the exhibit. We wanted to see the exhibit. However, it seemed too laborious to venture all the way back downstairs, stand in line, get a FREE ticket, come all the way back upstairs, just to enter the exhibit. We were tired. We had been walking for two days, were half way done at the museum, and had not yet eaten lunch. We were not expletive walking back downstairs to get a free ticket! Another tourist started yelling at the guard. Some people were trying to reason with the guards. All to no avail. This is when Brian´s genius surfaced: we´ll ask someone exiting the exhibit to get their used ticket! So simple, and so brilliant! Yet, so gutsy I would never have thought of it. But, he did and we did. And it worked great! To top it off, we paid it forward by passing our tickets along to someone else after we used the previous `owners´´ tickets.
Phew, this is getting long. Are you still reading? Well, if you are, you´ll learn that after the museum and all this walking it was getting onto 4:30 and I hadn´t had anything to eat since breakfast (10 a). If you don´t know me well, you may not realize that I apparently turn into quite the cranky rhymes-with-witch when my blood sugar runs low. Uh oh, the internet place is closing so I won´t be able to finish this one or proof read what I got. I´ll post more when I can. Salud!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Madrid
We made it to Madrid safely and rather uneventfully, which is a good thing. I especially think of my friend David who sent this hilarious travelogue from his recent trip to Patagonia. It took him and his travel companion 18 hrs just to leave the country. We had no such snags, thankfully. The worst thing that happened was the stupid parking ticket I found on my car yesterday morning as I was heading out to start the first leg of the trip. Judging from the number of parking tickets I´ve received over the past year, I believe the city has received enough revenue from me alone to fund the construction of a third airport. The meter maids in my neighborhoods are like hawks. The parking restriction started at 7 a.m. and they were very timely in ensuring that I had a ticket promptly at 7:09! At least there are some city workers who take their jobs seriously.
Anyhow, enough bitterness about the Chicago meter maids. We´re in Madrid!!! We only just got here, so we´re tired and haven´t really had a chance to see anything yet. Just wanted to let you know we got here safely and are heading out to explore this beautiful city.
P.S. Thank you for all your sweet replies to my e-mail, sorry I don´t have time to respond to you individually right now because there´s a line for the computers and the keyboard is pretty crappy. I wonder why the keys are so sticky...?
Anyhow, enough bitterness about the Chicago meter maids. We´re in Madrid!!! We only just got here, so we´re tired and haven´t really had a chance to see anything yet. Just wanted to let you know we got here safely and are heading out to explore this beautiful city.
P.S. Thank you for all your sweet replies to my e-mail, sorry I don´t have time to respond to you individually right now because there´s a line for the computers and the keyboard is pretty crappy. I wonder why the keys are so sticky...?
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