I'm still behind on blog posts...so technically these trips are from March. But true to the Bob Dylan song from which this blog post steals its title, I did indeed travel to Barcelona and Madrid, two very distinct and thriving cities (and the largest) in Spain. We'll begin with Barcelona...
After another Ryanair flight adventure and a severely delayed train, I finally arrived in downtown Barca around 4:30 pm. Since our group was split between two hostels and two different flights, we spent the majority of Friday evening just trying to get checked in and then grab some dinner. And my dinner I must say was fabulous! A goat cheese spinach salad with a honey dressing...nom nom nom. Considering that I usually only eat fried food, the meal was quite the treat. Friday night was a bit of an early night, as to prepared to traverse the entirety of Barcelona on Saturday.
The next morning we began. First with a trip to the Plaza de Espanya (notice the crazy Catalan spelling), then Gaudi's Sagrada Familia and Parc Güell, then to La Boqueria, Columbus Monument and the port and finally to the Picasso museum and the beach! When I said we traversed the city, I wasn't kidding! For me, the Sagrada Familia y La Boqueria market were two of my favorite sites--the architecture of the Sagrada Familia is unmatched and unlike any other cathedral in the world, it is simply mesmerizing! I think I could stare up at those towers forever.
And La Boqueria was like a dream come true! As we walked into the famous covered market, my mouth watered at every stall. Finally, a 1/4 kilo of gouda, a baguette, some strawberries + mangos, a strawberry coconut smoothie and a few pieces of white chocolate later, and I had a FANTASTIC lunch! I think that if I lived in Barcelona, I would spend a majority of my money at this wonderful market.
The Picasso museum was also an incredible experience, especially because I am love the artist's work. It was set up in chronological order and the opportunity to see work spanning the artist's entire life was such a neat experience; seeing his renditions of Velazquez's Las Meninas were definitely the crowning moment of the visit to the mueseum.
To complete our time in Barcelona, we went to Marsella Bar Saturday night, per suggestion by fellow Dive writer Jonathan, for some mean and green absinthe. It was a really unique experience, as the bar is almost 200 years old and was the stomping grounds of some really famous folk. Pouring our water over our sugar cubes into the absinthe proved to be a bit of learning experience to say the least, but at least most of us achieved the green hue typical of the spirit. It was the perfect end to a long day of city seeing.
Sagrada Familia
La Boqueria
Parc Güell
Gaudi's Casa Mila
Next up, Madrid! Madrid was a great trip in the fact that I got to visit some friends as well as relax a little while seeing all of the city's major sites! One of my co-workers from Skyline this past summer, Jessica Alcorn, lives in Madrid teaching English with two roommates (all of who graduated from UNC--go Heels!), and I got the chance to stay with them for three days (even though I only saw Jess for a little bit due to a frisbee tourney--but then I got to sleep in her bed :)) In fact, her roommate Tory had the same home stay as I do now when she studied in Sevilla a few years ago, so it was quite fun talking about our crazy experiences.
To get to Madrid, I decided to take the bus, a six-hour venture I conquered alone. But let me tell you, I quite enjoyed the lack of company and the lovely scenery--it actually gave me a good amount of time to kind of think out a lot of things. When I finally arrived around 8:45 pm Thursday night, Tory met me at the bus station and we went straight to some delicious tapas! Jamón Iberico, queso de oveja (goat cheese) y huevos con patatas fritas (eggs over-easy on french fries!) were a great start to Madrid! Over the course of Friday and Saturday, I went to all the typical places--El Mercado San Miguel, La Reina Sofia, El Prado, El Palacio, Parque de Buen Retiro y many more. I did a lot of it by myself (since Tory had already been many times, I don't blame her) but I actually ran into my friends Will and Christina and we met up to go to the Prado and then a delicious Italian dinner! And to end my trip to Madrid, I went out Saturday night to celebrate Tory's birthday with several of her friends. We ended up staying out all night and were actually still awake for Daylight Savings Time, which totally threw off my schedule, but allowed me to have the experience of riding the Madrid metro as soon as it opened (6 am). Despite the immense lack of sleep, I had another 6 hour bus ride back to Sevilla to catch up on my sleep.
My trip to Spain's capital was great, especially since it was my first time back since the airport (which doesn't really count since I was only there for about an hour), and I must say that Madrid would be a great city to live in--I can see why my friends have stayed for two years! It is a big city, yet retains a truly Spanish feel, something that Barcelona sometimes lacked. Also, I never felt rushed in Madrid, despite its huge size. Although I pretty much conquered most of the city in my trip, I hope to go back (not including my plane ride back to the states) and explore a little bit more.
Joan Miró
Palacio Nacional
Picasso's Guernica
Plaza Mayor
Parque del Buen Retiro
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