Hola,
Long time, no talk. Boy has it been a busy weekend/week. Well, last Thursday my friends and I took a bus to Málaga and hopped a plane to Madrid. We got in around 11 and headed to my friend's friend's apartment to do some serious itinerizing (don't know if that is a word) before heading to bed. We got up bright and early the next morning and headed on a power-packed walking tour. First, we headed to the Temple de Debad, the ruins of an Egyptian temple close to my friend's friend's apartment. Outside there was a beautiful pond and arches and inside you could see traces of hieroglyphics. Pretty cool. After that we went to Palacio Real, which are the former royal palaces of the Spanish royal family (they currently have more "humble" palaces outside of the city). We saw something something like 30 of the 2,000 rooms in the palace. They were pretty elaborate and beautiful. After that we did a bit of a walking tour through the city, hitting most of the popular plazas-- Plaza de España, Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol, and several others. Then we went to the Parque del Buen Retiro. This park is beautiful. It has amazing gardens at the entrance with the coolest trees that there leaves are shaved into individual little clumps (I thought it was really cool!) and a beautiful pond/lake you can take paddle boats out on. My friends and I took this time to pass out in the park for a much needed siesta. After our siesta, we headed over to the Museo Nacional del Prado, essentially the most famous museum in Spain and, some might say, in the world (all-ranking.com ranks the Prado the best museum in the world). I'm not an art buff by any means, but this museum is fabulous. It has tons of pieces by El Bosco, Velásquez, Goya and more. I really enjoyed it and left with with a greater appreciation of art. I want to learn more of these great artists. Another great thing about the Prado is that there are historic explanation and reasoning behind each piece, which you often don't find at other art museums. After that we went to one of the best tapas bars I have ever been to, el tigre. We ended the night with, according to my lonely planet guide book to Spain, the second of the top 25 experiences in Spain-- Madrid's nightlife. I think I would have to agree with lonely planet. It was a fun night.
The next day we slept in a little later and then went to the Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, the modern alternative to the Prado. It was great as well. By this point, we were getting a bit arted out (not sure if that is a work either) and didn't stay too long. After this, it was raining and we desperately wanted churros con chocolate (similar to Mexican churros, essentially minus the sugar and cinnamon on the outide, and dipped in chocolate), a delicious and popular treat in Spain. We finally found an excellent churro place and chowed down. It was raining this whole day so warm churros con chocolate were perfect! After this we had to head back to our friends apartment to get our stuff together and head for the plane.
We arrived in Barcelona around 11 and checked into Hello BCN, an interesting but fun hostel. Community style rooms and bathrooms and a lobby that never sleeps. It ended up being great but definitely interesting. That night was pretty calm. The next day we embarked on our many planned activities. To say we loved itineraries, would be an understatement. The itinerary for this day included a walking tour of "Guadí's eccentric life and...his most magical building around the city" (walking tour brochure). We visited his first piece of work, a lamppost, and several of his houses, Casa Mila and Casa Batjllo, finishing the tour with La Sagrada Familía (lonely planet's number one top experience in Spain). All were amazing. Casa Batjllo looks like Disney land and a mermaid all at the same time. Casa Mila is more simple on the outside (apparently it was greatly disliked at the time it was built, many called it ugly and many mothers, the story is told, made their young children look away when they passed it) but apparently very elaborate on the inside and has an amazing terrace with a bunch of really cool sculptures (one of which apparently inspired the design for the storm troopers in Star Wars). La Sagrada Familia was absolutely amazing. There are three facades (Nativity, Passion, Glory). The most elaborate of the three is the Nativity facade, which depicts the birth of Christ. It's the most intricate, detailed thing I have ever seen. If you haven't seen a picture of La Sagrada Familia, you need to google it and the Nativity facade as well. My attempt at a description wouldn't do it justice. All I can say it that it blew my mind. One fun fact about this facade, they babies on this facade are mold of stillborns that Guadí got ahold of from a local hospital. A little creepy but interesting. I could talk all day about this but this should give you an idea. After a long day of site seeing, we had lunch and attempted to shop but everything was closed because it was a Sunday. We later had dinner and enjoyed some of Barcelona's nightlife.
On Monday, we took a gondola (cable car type thing) up to the Castella de Montejuc, which is at the top of a big hill. On the way up we could see the whole city from the gondola. It was really beautiful. After visiting the castle we walked around the Olympic complex nearby that housed the 1992 Olympics and is still used today for concerts and events. After that we had lunch and went to Park Guell, another one of Guadí's projects. This project was actually suppose to be a city park and a upscale housing site. The venture eventually failed and was left unfinished. However, there is a beautiful courtyard area, gardens, stairs, and two ginger bread looking houses that still stand there. After this, the girls and I did some shopping (who would we be if we didn't shop a little bit in Barcelona, but don't worry mom and dad, I was very frugal!). We also went to the best Chinese buffet I ever been to in my life for dinner. This sounds sketchy I know, but the food was delicious and I was a great end to our trip. Well, that is before we experienced one last night of Barcelona nightlife.
The next morning we caught a 8 a.m. flight back to Barcelona. A day of homework, ending with some great food at the renaissance type festival by my house completed my Tuesday. I had classes as usual yesterday and today and now it's the weekend again. Got to love those four-day weeks (two-day this week)!
The weather is starting to cool down here. It still gets pretty warm in the afternoon but is cool in the mornings and very cool in the evenings. It's is very difficult to dress for an entire day and I often change several times. It's a bit annoying but what can you do.
We are going to Cordoba tomorrow for a day trip. It should by fun!
hasta!
Ashley
No comments:
Post a Comment