Madrid and Barcelona

Well this update is waaaaaayyyy overdue; even more so than any other that I have been tardy with before. So much was going on this summer though, and then my laptop went in for repair which took longer than expected (and silly Ren didn’t back-up this particular document.) Anyhoo,I haven’t updated you guys yet on my trips to Madrid and Barcelona.  If I had been attending to business as I should, then each would have their own postings. As it stands I will just combine them so that I actually get it done. There is a lot to tell regarding both trips, but I will attempt to condense.

So Madrid. It all started one day when I looked in my planner and realized I had a relatively generous Easter holiday from school approaching; perfect opportunity to get some travelling in. At first the plan was just to pick up myself and go solo, but then a lightbulb went off. I messaged my friend Davia (who I stayed with in Toulouse and who was also in on the awesome Paris trip) something along the lines of “find a cheap flight and meet me in Madrid nuh?” And so it began.

We met in the bus station in Madrid and then it was off to find where we were staying. We were to be hosted by Almudena and Santi; I found them through a site I discovered called airbnb (check it out guys!!!). Essentially people rent out extra space they have in their homes on a regular basis or when they go on vacation ect. I love the concept. You can find anything from budget accommodation, to luxury villas in exotic places.  We stayed in Madrid for a good while without accommodation costs breaking our budget. The couple we stayed with were great. They were very accommodating and very willing to help us out. They lived in an area that was one train (not metro) stop away from the centre. It was a little further than I had originally anticipated, but once we got our bearings, it was pretty easy to get around.

The first major touristy thing that we did was to make it to the Plaza del Sol and from there to Plaza Mayor. There were lots of people out and about and we were essentially in the centre of Madrid.I had to say to Dav.. We’re having lunch and sipping Sangria in the Plaza Mayor of Madrid!!! Can you believe it? How cool is that?! Paris a couple months before, and now Madrid. We were on a roll. After , we set off walking and eventually ended up by the Royal Palace. Very impressive. It was a bright and sunny yes, but warm? Umm..no. Not to us anyway. We continued on and took a small break and had a rest in the gardens adjacent to the palace. This was followed by more exploration and taking in some of the major sights of the city.

Now the plan was for Davi and I both to head off to Morocco for a North African adventure. However, thoseplans hit a snag when we realized that Dav would have some visa issues that we didn’t realize before. As it was Easter Sunday the day we got to Madrid, we knew that there was nothing we could do about it immediately and so we put that aside just enjoyed the day.

The next day however, definitely had its ups and downs. We decided that first things first we would head to the Moroccan embassy and try to get Davia’s situation sorted. To cut a long story short, it didn’t work out. All that waiting in line and running around the consulate for nothing. This of course threw a seemingly huge monkey wrench into our plans.

We were pretty dejected after that as you can imagine. As we walked disconsolately away from the embassy, I realized that we were  around the corner from Bernabeu Stadium!! Ok, so here was a seemingly bright-ish spark right? After walking around for a bit, we went inside THE official Real madrid store. I played around with the idea of buying a jersey, with Ozil on the back most likely. That is until I saw the price tag….. Did I want the jersey? Yes. Coud I afford the jersey? Not if I wanted to eat for the rest of the month. Ok so maybe I’m exaggerating a little, but I don’t love Real Madrid that much, my student budget needed to be stretched elsewehere.To prevent regrets and second thoughts I just told myself that I would only be putting money in Cristiano Ronaldo’s pocket. That worked like a charm!!

So I’ll confess we broke an exploratory travel rule and decided to resort to familiar, well-needed comfort food for lunch. So TGI Friday’s it was. Ah the solace one can sometimes find in food! Never had a rack of ribs been more welcomed. Well I must say we were able to recover our spirits quite a bit after lunch.

During this whole time my mind was completely in a flurry. I was trying to think of what to do next. Added to my stress was the fact that my parents would NOT answer their phones for a consult, or call me back for that matter!! (turns out they had been palavering in the garden at home and were away from their phones;  I had suspected as much.)

After a few more stops around the city, we eventually made our way to the Jardines del buen Retiro. Such a lovely public space. I think that if were living in Madrid, this would  be a hang-out spot. We even went rowing in the lake there!Following our respite in the park, we were just out and about wallking around the city. We actually ended up at Plaza Mayor again and decided to try some tapas.

In the end we decided that I would still go to Morocco (on a somewhat shortened version of the trip) and Davia would stay and chill out in Madrid. Luckily, they family that she lived with in Toulose would actually be visiting Madrid during that very period and so she would link up with them also. We would then meet up again of course upon my return. If you read my previous blog entry, then you know all the details about that adventure.

So picking up where the Morocco entry left off, I got back to the house in the early hours of the morning, and pretty exhausted. The plan was that we would go the the Sunday market at the Rastro. By the time we managed to get out of the house, people had begun packing up (albeit a litlle early)

The one thing I really wanted to do in Madrid that I wasn’t able to was to visit the Prado Museum (If you have been following this blog, you may have picked up by now that I am a museum hopper).  That was a bit disappointing, but on the evening that we managed to make it there, they closed early for some reason. Ah well, another time hopefully. At least we took pictures outside.

The last major thing we did during our stay was our day trip to Toledo. We took the train and went out to explore our second medieval town together. 

As far as medieval  towns go (granted I’d only visited two at this point), I would give Carcassonne the edge over Toledo. Carcassonne I think had more potent Middle Ages charm. Toledo, while still great, felt a bit more commercialized in comparison.

When I saw this sign I had to laugh out loud. I can’t recall ever visiting anywhere outside JA and seeing oxtail on offer. In addition, notice that all the other signs are in Spanish, but this was in English.

That night back at “home” we managed to order a pizza ourselves (and it even had the right toppings. Yay us!!) , chilled and watched a move. The next day unfortunatley, heralded the end to our little jaunt and we went our separate ways. She to Toulouse, and I back to (at the time) dreary, cold and rainy Bilbao.

  

Now onto Barca in a nutshell. My aunt e-mailed me one day to say that she and her friend Suzanne were going to be holidaying in Spain in May. Barcelona was their chosen destination. She had written to find out if there was the possibility of us meeting up. I don’t even know why that was a question. My aunt should know me well enough to know that I wasn’t going to let an opportunity like that slip past. It took a quite a bit of manoeuvring , and there were some nervous moments when it seemed I would be foiled. In the end however, I got it together.

I had actually been “living” in San Sebastian (yet again) for a few days because of a course we had at an institute there. Instead of commuting between cities every day, it made logistical (and economic) sense to stay over in San Sebastian for the duration. We got really lucky, and the institute at which we had the course actually paid for our accommodation at a lovely little hostel overlooking the city!

I managed to get to Barcelona in time to meet up with Aunty and Suzanne for dinner. We went out to a bull-fighting themed restaurant (well at least the décor suggested that) and experimented with an array of tapas.

The plan for the next morning was to do some sight-seeing in Barca before picking up our rental car and heading out to the Costa Brava.

 As it turns out, I didn’t get to spend that much time in Barcelona proper as I had hoped. I think it might be worth re-visiting. After all, I actually didn’t get to visit Nou Camp ( FC Barcelona’s home stadium), which was one of the things I had always wanted to do if I ever made it to Barca.

In the afternoon , we picked up our rental vehicle, and were off. Immediately, I took up my new position as Navigator- in- Chief. I think I may state without reservation that there would have been chaos if I wasn’t there to provide that particular service. Eventually we arrived at our final destination of Begur; the charming town in which we were staying. The name of our hotel was Hostal Sa Rascassa. Rolls right off the tongue doesn’t it?

The plan for the next day was to visit the medieval town (I’m getting around to them aren’t I? J ) of Besalu. 

Afterwards we tried to head over to Figures to the Salvador Dali museum, but unfortunately our research was a little off and we ended up getting there after closing hours. However on the following day, we made it back over to Figueres and were able to explore the museum. I’m so glad that we were able to do that. I swear, that man’s mind was on a whole different level. His artwork was fascinating. From his surrealist work  (ironically, his arguably most famous surrealist painting “The Persistence of Memory” was not housed there, but as luck would have it, I had been able to see it up close and personal at The MOMA New York, on a visit to the self-same aunt with whom I was touring now), to his Jewellery collection. That was definitely a highlight. 

The weather on the outside had not really been co-operating and it poured and poured. In any event, we decided to try and make a run for Cadaques, one of the more popular towns on the Costa Brava. The trip carried us up pretty near to the French border in fact. Unfortunately the gloomy weather pursued us to Cadaques and we didn’t manage to see much, but were able to have a nice lunch despite all that. Cadaques had actually been on the list of potential towns to saty in, but I’m really glad it wasn’t our base. The only way in and out was a somewhat tedious, over-mountain route that did not offer much by way of scenery.

That evening, the restaurant at Sa Rascassa was closed, and so we had to venture out to find somewhere for dinner. We drove casually around the area, in and out of several little coves nearby until we stopped at one called Aiguafrieda at a restaurant by the sea.  I would have really loved to see this place in full sunlight; I’m sure it would be gorgeous.

Aunty and Suzanne still had a couple days left, but unfortunately I had to return to the purpose for which I was on that side of the world in the first place. School. So I had to grab a coach bus in Begur and hustle back to Barca to catch my flight to Bilbao ( where I was hoping to get back to in time before the last metro, otherwise I wasn’t really sure how I’d have gotten home to my suburb in Getxo).