The Last Leg of the Journey
Oh the final stretch...the end is in sight as we get in the car and head from Granada to Seville. Julia and I will end our journey there, while the boys will head to Madrid to take a plane on to Morocco. As we leave Granada and head towards Seville, Julia and I are in agreement about many things. The list goes on, but to name a few:
1. Spain is the greatest place we have been thus far.
2. Of all the places in Spain, Barcelona is our least favorite, despite having heard multiple friends sing its praises.
3. Matt has probably never driven in a city before this trip.
4. Maps are a necessity on a road trip.
5. If Matt makes us visit one more cathedral instead of taking us to the beach, we're going to kill him.
6. We're tired, hungry, dirty, and sweaty.
7. Matt and Max might be trying to kill us slowly by depriving us of air conditioning.
As you can see from the list, our patience for the boys on our trip was wearing thin. Apparently, we all had very different goals for our trip and we should have ironed them out beforehand. Matt was trying to see every single tourist attraction in the entire country of Spain, while I just wanted to go to the nearest beach. Traveling by car is a great way to get to know someone and we all know each other better after this trip. We are happy to have had the car and appreciative to our driver, but let's just say no tears were shed by either party when it came time to split up in Seville.
To top off the end of the trip, we arrive at our so-called "hotel" in Seville to find that our reservation has been lost, the desk clerk speaks NO English and has trouble hearing, our room is shared with two other people, and there's no air conditioning. At this point in the trip, I literally thought Matt's head was going to explode. Julia and I, however, accepted the fact that this is part of the deal, so we decided to make the best of it. We spent our evening sitting on the terrace and watching Spanish television, trying to figure out what the shows were about. Eventually, everyone came around and we ended up sharing a lot of laughs, talking about all the things that had gone wrong over the course of the trip. It was nice to finally laugh about everything.
The next morning we checked out and had tapas together one last time. The food was delicious and it was a great way to spend our last hours together. The boys dropped Julia and I off somewhat near our hostel and were one their way.
Now my favorite part of the trip began. After spending three days with Matt the Nazi tourist, we were ready to do anything besides sight-see. We found our beautiful hostel and spent some time soaking up the sun on the roof-top terrace. After relaxing, we set out for a walk and actually ended up stumbling upon some of the sights and taking nice pictures. It was so nice to walk leisurely and just absorb the city. We ended our day on a floating dock on the river, drinking Rebujito and enjoying our girl time. On our way home, we stopped at a nice grocery store and bought supplies to make a lovely dinner of pasta with Spanish salami (solomillo), olives, and vegetables. We enjoyed this with a fine Sangria which cost 1.50 Euros for a two liter bottle. Later, we joined our hostel on a nightlife tour. What a great time!! We had our doubts at first when we showed up and there were only two other people. Luckily, we met up with six other hostels and had an amazing time. We ended up making friends and forming a little group with some solo travelers, two of which were from Montreal. We had such a great time with Linda that we have already planned to get together with her when we all return to Canada.
That brings me to today and what a nice day it was. This morning we slept in and took our time getting ready. Then we lingered over a tapa lunch and walked down to the river. It was SO hot! Literally, there was not one cloud in the sky and it was about 40 degrees C! Amazing! After seeing absolutely no sights, we sunbathed by the river until we couldn't bear the heat. Then we ducked into a shaded cafe for not one, but two iced teas. Thank god, the Spanish have mastered ice. I don't know why the Dutch have not realized the wonderful invention that is ice, but the Spanish have embraced it and we certainly appreciated it today. Upon finishing our teas, we tried to swim in the river but determined if we jumped in, we might not be able to lift ourselves back onto the dock. After a lot of convincing, I finally convinced Julia to sneak into a nearby hotel so that we could cool off in their pool and oh was it amazing! The water was perfectly refreshing and put the perfect end to our day. On the way home, we again bought supplies for a nice dinner of loaded baked potatoes and stir-fry complete with steak. Enjoyed on the terrace again, life couldn't be any better.
Now I sit outside my nice hostel bedroom shared with five other people, waiting to jump into my top bunk bed. I love this place and am so happy we have another day tomorrow. We are going to see the bull fighting ring and go inside the cathedral. I know I previously said no more cathedrals, but this one looks really cool from the outside and it's only two Euros for students. After our sights, more sun bathing will be in order, followed by more tapas and soaking up our last hours in Spain. Thursday morning, it's back to Amsterdam for three more weeks before coming home! Talking with my mom about my graduation party has made me really excited to get back and I'm more than ready to see those of you that I have been missing.
Te amo mucho mi familia y mis amigos. Estan en mi piensamientos y tienen un lugar especial en mi corazon.
De Espana con amor,
Meg
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Spain 6/12/2011-Granada (Read below first)
We made it to Granada! We arrived at our hotel and got settled around midnight. Navigating the city was a bit difficult, especially since Matt decided spending 2 extra Euros to buy the nice atlas with enlarged city views was unnecessary. He seemed to believe we could use WIFI internet and printed maps from the internet to navigate. Fail! Our "hotel" in Granada was quite intertesting. It had four separate twin beds, probably purchased right after the building was built in the 1400s. The pillows were a little flat, but that's not even the best part. The web site advertised a choice of private shower or bath; I chose shower assuming it would be part of an entire bathroom. However, it was a shower and sink in the middle of our room, right next to the window.
We were also starving after arriving, but were unable to find anything open besides shoarma. This was the low point of the trip. Everyone was tired, angry, hungry, and grouchy and in the end we just had to go our separate ways and take a break from each other. Julia and I did our own thing while the boys went out on their own. The good news is, we all woke up the next morning in much better moods and ready to see the Alhambra.
The Alhambra is the most visited landmark in Spain, with over 3 million visitors per year. It was almost chosen as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The Alahambra is an old Moor Palace that is very well preserved and absolutely beautiful. Don't worry there are pictures to follow. The other great thing I can say about this destination is that they do an excellent job of crowd control. In order to better preserve the palace, only a certain number of people are allowed in at a time. Instead of having insanely long lines like most other monuments, they give you a ticket stating the time you can enter and must leave. It makes the whole experience much more enjoyable. The Alahambra is absolutely huge and it took us about three hours to hike all the way through, plus an hour to eat while waiting to enter. After all this, we didn't have time to see anything else in Granada. The stop in Granada is absolutely worth the journey if only to see the Alahambra. After sweating all day, it was time for four stinky tired people to jump back in our tiny car and head to Seville.
On the road again....
-Meg
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| Shower in the middle of our room...Matt doing laundry in the sink-traveling cheap at its finest. |
We were also starving after arriving, but were unable to find anything open besides shoarma. This was the low point of the trip. Everyone was tired, angry, hungry, and grouchy and in the end we just had to go our separate ways and take a break from each other. Julia and I did our own thing while the boys went out on their own. The good news is, we all woke up the next morning in much better moods and ready to see the Alhambra.
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| Matt, Max, Me, and Julia happy atop the Alhambra |
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| Alhambra from a distance at sunset |
On the road again....
-Meg
Monday, June 13, 2011
Spain 6/11/2011
Spain
For my final trip through Europe I saved the best destination for last. Since I originally decided to study abroad, I have wanted to visit and live in Spain. I was unable to study in Spain because there were not enough classes offered in English and I have thoroughly enjoyed Amsterdam. Spain, however; is probably my favorite place by far. For my final trip, I am traveling with my very good friend Julia and our friends Matt and Max. Julia and I started in Barcelona, met Matt there, then traveled down the coast to get our friend Max in Valencia. Then the four of us are (currently, as I type in the car) proceeding to Granada, followed by Seville. After Seville, the boys venture to Madrid to catch a flight to Morocco, while Julia and I fly back to Amsterdam.
Barcelona
Julia and I arrived in Barcelona on Monday night. We were lucky enough to find a very nice hostel that was extremely clean and had hot water!! It was probably one of the best hostels I have stayed in. Our luck contined when we found that we had a nice grocery store and fruit stand directly across the street. This saved us a lot of money because we were able to buy food and cook in our hostel's kitchen. We also met a lot of great people in our hostel, which seemed to be filled with mostly Americans and Canadians.
After resting our first night, Julia and I were looking forward to spending our first day on the beach, saving all of our sight-seeing for after we met our friends. The weather seemed a little worrisome, but we ended up having a nice day on the beach. We got massages for five euros from an Asian lady and drank excellent mojitos. We also met some friends from New York and Atlanta. As the day wore on, the weather seemed to cloud up and the beach started to clear out. We stuck it out as long as we could, then joined our friends in a nice beach tapas bar for dinner as we waited out the rain. After dinner, we met our friends at the hostel and spent another night in, hanging out with Matt and Chad who had just met us.
During the next day, the weather was cloudy, cool, and rainy; not beach weather. This turned out perfectly though, because during the rain we visited a church called Sagrada Familia. This is a cathedral that is still undergoing construction, even though the original architect, Gaudi, is dead. Gaudi is very famous and has a lot of work throughout Barca, including the Gaudi houses and a park on the top of a mountain, overlooking the city. The park was next on our list to see, but we had a nice lunch while we waited for the rain to stop, then headed to the park. The park was a little hike, so we were thankful for the cooler weather. The view was spectacular and I bought a nice Spanish bracelet! After the park, we headed down to the city center to see the Magic Fountain and an art museum. This concludecd our sight-seeing tour and we headed back to the hostel for dinner and to go out. This was our first night out in Barca and we joined a large group from our hostel for dancing. After heaing a lot of hype about nightlife in Barca, I was a little unimpressed. The music was all American-not Spanish! Also, the clubs are just full of tourists. I am hoping to find some better nightlife as we head south. I want authentic Spanish music and dancing!!
For our final day in Barca, we headed back to the beach for more massages in the morning. There are literally hundreds of immigrants working illegaly in Barca, selling everything from massages (5 Euro) to Mojitos (best ever!!). When the police come they all scatter. We spent the morning on the beach, enjoying the sun and fresh fruit from our fruit stand. After soaking up some sun, we headed into the city to see more of the city and get some fantastic sandwiches, per reccommendation of our friends. For our final night out, we met up with some of our friends from Amsterdam: Chad, Julie, Gustavo, and Mathias. We had mediocore tapas and sangria, but had a great time meeting new people and checking out Las Ramblas-a big, shopping and nightlife street in Barca. We spent a bit of time watching street performers and hanging out before heading to another club. This time was a little better than the night before and it was very warm so we got to hang out on the beach for a majority of the evening. Very nice night!!
Valencia
Now our trip was about to really begin. On Friday morning we headed to the train station to rent our car, which Matt would be piloting. After getting-gasp-McDonald's in the train station, we were off. We spent our day driving south toward Valencia to meet our friend Max. This was a day of what Julia and I like to call "drive-by tourism". Basically, we spent the day driving and seeing various sights in Spain. We made a stop in Tarragona to see the beach, but it rained on us again :(. We had a beautiful drive through Spain and this is when I absolutely fell in love with this amazing country.
Arriving in Valencia with no place to stay proved to be a poor decision. We amazingly were able to meet up with Max at his place, but we had trouble finding a hostel. After a very long day of driving, we finally crashed in a Holiday Inn Express, which turned out to be the same price as a hostel. We were absolutely exhausted so we probably would have paid anything, but luckily after splitting three ways it was quite inexpensive and included breakfast. We got VERY spoiled! I forgot how nice styaing in a hotel is, especially compared with a hostel. You can leave your things everywhere!! We had a huge bed and TV. The only channel in English was CNN and we were able to catch up with some news and learn about the problems in Syria. It always feels nice to catch up with current events. Julia and I had a nice dinner at a very authentic Spanish restaurant that was cheap and had great food!! I had a very nice calamari and we had delicious bread with tomato spread. After a nice night in the Holiday Inn, a bath, and free breakfast our road trip continued.
That brings us to today. I currently sit typing in the backseat of a small hatchback, while the boys drive, navigate, and control the Ipod. This morning, we toured Valencia, with tour guide Max who has been there studying all week. We visited a beautiful cathedral and climbed the tower for more great views. Much of southern Spain was once occupied by the Moors (Muslims from Africa) and this can be seen in the distinct architecture. The further south we travel, the more Islamic the buildings become. Tomorrow we will be visiting an very Islamic palace known as the Alehambra. Valencia also looked Islamic, a bit. We visited the city market and bought some nice olives for a car snack. Then we ate a lunch of montaditos, or small, Spanish sandwiches, followed by gelato. Now, we have been driving for about three hours; munching olives and listening to techno music. We have now entered into the sing-along music phase of the trip. We usually like to end our journeys with rap, in order to keep everyone awake and entertained. Tonight, we journey to Granada in search of tapas and flamenco music. ETA: 10:00-11:00 pm. Since we are a group of four, we have booked a hotel, in advance this time. Tomorrow we climb the Alhambra then head to Seville. I will keep you all posted.
Happy Reading! Love from Spain!
For my final trip through Europe I saved the best destination for last. Since I originally decided to study abroad, I have wanted to visit and live in Spain. I was unable to study in Spain because there were not enough classes offered in English and I have thoroughly enjoyed Amsterdam. Spain, however; is probably my favorite place by far. For my final trip, I am traveling with my very good friend Julia and our friends Matt and Max. Julia and I started in Barcelona, met Matt there, then traveled down the coast to get our friend Max in Valencia. Then the four of us are (currently, as I type in the car) proceeding to Granada, followed by Seville. After Seville, the boys venture to Madrid to catch a flight to Morocco, while Julia and I fly back to Amsterdam.
Barcelona
Julia and I arrived in Barcelona on Monday night. We were lucky enough to find a very nice hostel that was extremely clean and had hot water!! It was probably one of the best hostels I have stayed in. Our luck contined when we found that we had a nice grocery store and fruit stand directly across the street. This saved us a lot of money because we were able to buy food and cook in our hostel's kitchen. We also met a lot of great people in our hostel, which seemed to be filled with mostly Americans and Canadians.
After resting our first night, Julia and I were looking forward to spending our first day on the beach, saving all of our sight-seeing for after we met our friends. The weather seemed a little worrisome, but we ended up having a nice day on the beach. We got massages for five euros from an Asian lady and drank excellent mojitos. We also met some friends from New York and Atlanta. As the day wore on, the weather seemed to cloud up and the beach started to clear out. We stuck it out as long as we could, then joined our friends in a nice beach tapas bar for dinner as we waited out the rain. After dinner, we met our friends at the hostel and spent another night in, hanging out with Matt and Chad who had just met us.
During the next day, the weather was cloudy, cool, and rainy; not beach weather. This turned out perfectly though, because during the rain we visited a church called Sagrada Familia. This is a cathedral that is still undergoing construction, even though the original architect, Gaudi, is dead. Gaudi is very famous and has a lot of work throughout Barca, including the Gaudi houses and a park on the top of a mountain, overlooking the city. The park was next on our list to see, but we had a nice lunch while we waited for the rain to stop, then headed to the park. The park was a little hike, so we were thankful for the cooler weather. The view was spectacular and I bought a nice Spanish bracelet! After the park, we headed down to the city center to see the Magic Fountain and an art museum. This concludecd our sight-seeing tour and we headed back to the hostel for dinner and to go out. This was our first night out in Barca and we joined a large group from our hostel for dancing. After heaing a lot of hype about nightlife in Barca, I was a little unimpressed. The music was all American-not Spanish! Also, the clubs are just full of tourists. I am hoping to find some better nightlife as we head south. I want authentic Spanish music and dancing!!
 |
| Sagrada Familia |
For our final day in Barca, we headed back to the beach for more massages in the morning. There are literally hundreds of immigrants working illegaly in Barca, selling everything from massages (5 Euro) to Mojitos (best ever!!). When the police come they all scatter. We spent the morning on the beach, enjoying the sun and fresh fruit from our fruit stand. After soaking up some sun, we headed into the city to see more of the city and get some fantastic sandwiches, per reccommendation of our friends. For our final night out, we met up with some of our friends from Amsterdam: Chad, Julie, Gustavo, and Mathias. We had mediocore tapas and sangria, but had a great time meeting new people and checking out Las Ramblas-a big, shopping and nightlife street in Barca. We spent a bit of time watching street performers and hanging out before heading to another club. This time was a little better than the night before and it was very warm so we got to hang out on the beach for a majority of the evening. Very nice night!!
Valencia
Now our trip was about to really begin. On Friday morning we headed to the train station to rent our car, which Matt would be piloting. After getting-gasp-McDonald's in the train station, we were off. We spent our day driving south toward Valencia to meet our friend Max. This was a day of what Julia and I like to call "drive-by tourism". Basically, we spent the day driving and seeing various sights in Spain. We made a stop in Tarragona to see the beach, but it rained on us again :(. We had a beautiful drive through Spain and this is when I absolutely fell in love with this amazing country.
 |
| Tarragona |
Arriving in Valencia with no place to stay proved to be a poor decision. We amazingly were able to meet up with Max at his place, but we had trouble finding a hostel. After a very long day of driving, we finally crashed in a Holiday Inn Express, which turned out to be the same price as a hostel. We were absolutely exhausted so we probably would have paid anything, but luckily after splitting three ways it was quite inexpensive and included breakfast. We got VERY spoiled! I forgot how nice styaing in a hotel is, especially compared with a hostel. You can leave your things everywhere!! We had a huge bed and TV. The only channel in English was CNN and we were able to catch up with some news and learn about the problems in Syria. It always feels nice to catch up with current events. Julia and I had a nice dinner at a very authentic Spanish restaurant that was cheap and had great food!! I had a very nice calamari and we had delicious bread with tomato spread. After a nice night in the Holiday Inn, a bath, and free breakfast our road trip continued.
That brings us to today. I currently sit typing in the backseat of a small hatchback, while the boys drive, navigate, and control the Ipod. This morning, we toured Valencia, with tour guide Max who has been there studying all week. We visited a beautiful cathedral and climbed the tower for more great views. Much of southern Spain was once occupied by the Moors (Muslims from Africa) and this can be seen in the distinct architecture. The further south we travel, the more Islamic the buildings become. Tomorrow we will be visiting an very Islamic palace known as the Alehambra. Valencia also looked Islamic, a bit. We visited the city market and bought some nice olives for a car snack. Then we ate a lunch of montaditos, or small, Spanish sandwiches, followed by gelato. Now, we have been driving for about three hours; munching olives and listening to techno music. We have now entered into the sing-along music phase of the trip. We usually like to end our journeys with rap, in order to keep everyone awake and entertained. Tonight, we journey to Granada in search of tapas and flamenco music. ETA: 10:00-11:00 pm. Since we are a group of four, we have booked a hotel, in advance this time. Tomorrow we climb the Alhambra then head to Seville. I will keep you all posted.
Happy Reading! Love from Spain!
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