{adventures abroad} anniversary-moon II: spain

to celebrate our second wedding anniversary, we decided to make our triumphant return to europe!  we'd been dreaming about spain for a while, so we booked a trip to barcelona and madrid at the end of may. to prepare, we ate lots of tapas and watched l'auberge espagnole and vicky cristina barcelona. most of the following posts have been kidnapped from my old blog, with some new additions and updates thrown in for good measure.

our trip began on may 30th. we were so excited that we got to the airport four hours early. we ate breakfast, did a crossword, people-watched, bought magazines, anything we could to pass the time. the people-watching part was pretty entertaining, actually, since we happened to be at the airport at the height of the swine flu hysteria. of course that's not to say that i didn't bring some air-borne and lots of hand sanitizer with me...
we ate lunch at pop-eyes (one of our random travel traditions) before boarding the plane for our first flight to atlanta. the eight-ish hour flight from atlanta to barcelona went smoothly as it could have possibly gone; we both got a little bit of sleep, and we had those little tv screens in the back of the seats in front of us that let you choose movies and watch your progress as you cross the atlantic. when we landed we had to fill out lots of paperwork - the usual stuff with some added bonus materials thanks to the swine flu - before they would let us off the plane, and then they bused us from the plane to BCN...

{adventures abroad} spain: day one - arrival in barcelona

when we arrived in barcelona, it was raining. after grabbing some cash from the atm, we took a cab to our hotel on the passeig de gracia...we were both a little sleep-deprived and foggy and i don't even think we had realized that we were actually in spain. it was too early to check into the hotel, so we dropped off our bags, borrowed an umbrella, and set out to do a little exploring.

first stop: breakfast. we stopped in a little chain coffee shop for coffee and croissants (they made hearts out of our coffee foam!)

after breakfast we walked up the street past gaudi's famous casa mila (la pedrera) and wandered the streets of barcelona, marvelling at the beauty and history of nearly every building we saw. even the lamp posts were lovely! the rain cleared up and the sun came out, so the bright colors of the city could be seen the way they were meant to be seen. we made it all the way up to avinguda diagonal before we realized that (a) we really didn't have a clue where we were, and (b) we were pretty much delirious from fatigue and hunger. so we headed back more or less the way we had come, and found a quick bite to eat in a quiet cafe. we made our way back to the hotel just in time for a nice long siesta...

* * * *

er...four-and-a-half hours later, we got cleaned up and went up to the rooftop of the hotel for the most magnificent view of the city you could possibly imagine -- la sagrada familia, the mediterranean sea, gaudi's casa battlo, and montjuic....

once we had taken it all in, we headed down to the hotel lounge for a couple of before-dinner drinks {it was only 9:00 or so, and i'd heard that nobody ate dinner before 11}. i had my first glass of cava {catalan champagne}, and i fell in love. it was only cava for me after that!

we were feeling adventurous, so we decided to try out a restaurant that i'd read about in my guidebook, taverna basca irati. it was hard to find, and we had to some scary turns down some dark and narrow streets, but eventually we found it. the place was long, narrow, and crow.ded. waiters were continually bringing out platters of pinchos and setting them down on the long bar. a not-so-nice barmaid gave us a plate and explained to us that we would eat what we wanted and then pay at the end of the night based on how many toothpicks were left on our plate. (honor system? what??) so we pushed our way through the crowd of locals to get a sampling of pinchos -- we didn't always know what it was that we were eating, but more often than not it was pretty delicious. it was loud, hot, and more or less insane in there, but it was the most fun!

after dinner we made our way to las ramblas, the super-touristy main drag of barcelona. we watched all the different people doing their different things; tourists and locals, street performers and vendors. we walked all the way down to the port, and saw the christopher columbus statue all lit up in the center of the plaza. on our way back to the hotel, we got some yummy ice cream for dessert. we wanted to go back to the rooftop, but it was closed, so, exhausted, we climbed into bed for some much-needed slumber!

{adventures abroad} spain: day two - la rambla to the port

apparently, we needed lots of slumber, because we slept till 11 a.m. on day two of our anniversary-moon (oops!).
once we got up and running, we walked down towards placa catalunya for a breakfast (brunch?) of coffee and pastries. i don't know a word of catalan, but my high school castillian spanish was coming back to me pretty easily by now.
we wandered down to la rambla, a completely different scene during the day than it is at night. all along the street, vendors sell souvenirs, flowers, and apartment-sized pets {birds, bunnies, ferrets, etc}.

a little farther down, we came to the mercat de sant josep de la boqueria, an open-air market with endless aisles of booths where you could buy just about any type of food you could ever imagine - we paid a euro for a cup of fresh blended fruit juice (strawberry and some other fruit we'd never heard of). it was delicious, of course.

we continued down the road, past our friend christopher columbus, to the port. we crossed the rambla del mar  to get to the maremagnum mall. lunch was fish and chips (and cava and cerveza) out on the boardwalk, where we could sit in the sun and watch the boats out in the harbor for a little while. after we did a little shopping in the mall, we went to the aquarium, because we can never resist an aquarium.

after leaving the aquarium, we indulged in a little chocolate waffle action and then headed back up the rambla towards placa catalunya. on the way, i stopped to take a drink from the fontana de canaletes - the legend says that if you drink from this fountain, you will fall in love with barcelona and will one day return {i think it worked...}.

after all of the day's adventures, we had zero energy. we stopped at a tapas place close to our hotel and ordered some yummies to go. we spent a quiet evening in the hotel room - a delicious tapas dinner in bed, accompanied by some delightful bbc programming - and then we drifted off to dreamland...

{adventures abroad} spain: day three - sunday in the barri gotic

on the morning of day three, we picked up a light breakfast and headed back down toward placa catalunya.

from the placa, we walked down avinguda portal d'angel. we heard some music coming from one of the tiny side streets and decided to investigate, following the sound down a narrow cobbled lane until we discovered some sort of religious procession emerging from a lovely little hidden courtyard. we entered through an old gate and found a little flower shop and a beautiful 15th century church!

we explored the charming cloisters of the little courtyard church and then left to find our way to the gothic quarter. we came to a 17th-century fountain that {according to our guide book} once served as the last watering stop for horses on the way out of barcino {ancient barcelona}. beyond the fountain was a square where two towers stood - left over from the walls that surrounded the city in roman times.

eventually we wandered up to the cathedral of barcelona, a 14th-century gothic cathedral dedicated to one of the patron saints of barcelona, santa eulalia. we toured the cloister, where thirteen geese are kept at all times, in honor of eulalia.

the front of the cathedral was under construction and {unfortunately} hidden behind a giant picture of what it was supposed to look like. a large crowd had gathered out in the square in front of the church and a group of musicians was seated on the cathedral steps. it was time for the sardana dances! every sunday at noon, locals of all ages come together to celebrate catalan pride with this traditional circle dance that everyone {but us} seems to know.

after being captivated by the sardana dances, we wandered around the narrow cobbled streets of the gothic quarter for a bit. everywhere we turned, there were hidden plazas and sunday concerts - a constant stream of soft music surrounded us on all sides. we toured the incredible picasso museum and shared a tortilla espanola at the museum's courtyard cafe.

we did a little more wandering and found ourselves in barcelona's ribera (el born) neighborhood, with its crowded cafes and narrow streets, old jousting square, and fascinating street art.
it was getting to be siesta time, so we looked for the metro (read: got lost looking for the metro) and took it back to our hotel.

* * * *

after our nap, we took our cava and cerveza and hopped on the metro again, bound for the magic fountains! as it happened, our arrival at the national palace coincided with the end of a futbol game... celebrating fans were out in droves, cheering and making mischief. the magic fountain itself was pretty impressive, albeit incredibly touristy - every twenty minutes or so there was a fantastic light and water show set to music. we sipped our bebidas and watched two or three different shows, and a few of the people too. one woman in particular was, well...mesmerized.

back in the eixample, we ate a delicious tapas dinner at a table outside - seafood croquettes, patatas bravas, and paella. they kicked us out at midnight so we went back to the hotel for some sleep!

{adventures abroad} spain: day four - gaudi and the beach

we attempted to get up early on day four of our trip in order to avoid the crazy lines at gaudi's casa mila. it ended up not being so early, but we got some strong coffee to go and drank it as fast as we could while we stood in the relatively short line.

the atrium of casa mila was an exciting taste of what was to come on our tour of casa mila {nicknamed la pedrera - the quarry}. gaudi was inspired by nature in everything he did. the inside of the building is stunning with its parabolic archways and its complete lack of pointed corners, but the rooftop is the star of the show - disney-esque undulating walkways, fairytale windows, and 30 chimneys that look like menacing knights and white mosaic ice cream sundaes.

after our rooftop adventures and a quick snack break, we began the hike to parc guell.  it's ten times the fantasy wonderland that la pedrera is. an entire park to play in, with gingerbread houses, a multicolored mosaic dragon fountain, a magnificent hall of columns, ergonomically designed serpentine benches, dozens of amazing little worlds to explore. we hid in one of gaudi's bird's nest alcoves and ate some ice cream while listening to a band play some sort of magical catalan dixieland.

* * * *

after a failed attempt at siesta we took the metro out towards the water. we watched the sun set from the beach as we drank our grocery store cava and cerveza. we took our shoes off, drew a heart in the sand, and sank our feet into the mediterranean sea. then we ate tapas at an open-air restaurant on the beach - classic catalan paella and pa amb tomaquet. it was dark as we walked back to the metro station, past the gypsies building intricate sand castle creations.

{adventures abroad} spain: day five - last day in barcelona

day five of our trip was our last full day in barcelona, and there was lots to do! we grabbed coffee and breakfast to go and hopped on the metro to go to la sagrada familia.

gaudi's famous church was breathtaking, to say the very least. nothing could have prepared me for it. we entered at the passion facade, all stark and white and pointy, like bones and pain and sadness. the audio guide taught us about the symbolism and meaning that had been carefully built in to every single part of gaudi's church. we took the elevator up to the top of the passion facade, which was an accomplishment for me, considering my irrational and sometimes paralyzing fear of elevators, but how many times are you at the sagrada familia, right? so i took my chances, and it was more than worth it. incredible views of the city and of the rooftop details of the church awaited me when i got to the top... and so as was a crazy winding staircase adventure to get back down.

we continued our tour of the church, which took us around the nave and out to the nativity facade - the first and only part of the church that was finished before gaudi's death, in hopes of inspiring funding for its completion - swollen and alive with the joy and love of christ's birth.

from the sagrada familia, we hopped on a tourist bus and headed towards montjuic, a mountain overlooking the port of barcelona that is home to a joan miro museum, the '92 olympic stadium and an olympic sports museum, the catalan art museum, and an 18th-century castle. our destination was the castle at the top of montjuic. we accidentally got off at the wrong stop, so we had to hike a bit to get to it. our mistake took us through a lovely botanical garden area, up an ivy-covered staircase and along secret garden pathways.

we ate lunch in the cobblestoned inner courtyard of the castle, and then headed up to the roof to admire the view of the port below. it was a beautiful sunny day, a little windy up at the top of the mountain, but it was clear and perfect for looking out at the boats on the blue mediterranean. a man in one of the gardens below was feeding the dozen or so feral cats that lived there.
i, of course, was incredibly jealous (and missing my own cats) and decided that i wanted to go down and be loved by the kitties. sadly we learned that these were not the kind of cats that like to be petted so much.

{looks just like our little one!}

wandering our way back down the mountain, we went through more garden areas and past a pretty fountain. since we didn't really know where we were going anyway, we took our chances and went exploring. we ended up finding a zip-line type swing in a garden and {because who can resist a zip-line swing?} we spent a decent amount of time zipping back and forth between platforms and acting like kids {or idiots?}.

the funicular took us from the middle of the mountain back to the metro station. when we got back to the hotel we gathered up our dirty smelly clothes for a trip to the laundromat. the wash'n'dry was located off of the rambla, down the street from palau guell. not the most exciting way to spend an afternoon in spain, but {believe me} it was necessary!

on the way back to the hotel, we stopped at barcelona's h&m flagship store... it was incredible - ginormous and beautiful and full of fantastic clothes that i was sadly too tired to shop for.

in the end we were too tired for most anything. we grabbed a couple of salads to go and ate them in the hotel room while packing our bags for our next adventure: madrid!

{adventures abroad} spain: day five and a half - drip...drip...drip...

we'd been in bed for maybe an hour when the dripping started.
at first we tried to ignore it. maybe we could sleep through it. i took a pill to help me sleep.
but the drips got louder. and they came faster.
and finally, at midnight-thirty, we called the front desk.
maybe there was another room that we could just sleep in for a few hours?
nope. fully booked.
so the maintenance man came up to take a look.
there was something wrong with the air conditioner.
he fixed it, kind of.
we got three hours of sleep, kind of.

{adventures abroad} spain: day six - off to madrid!

when the cab came for us at 5am, it was still dark outside. we ate breakfast at the airport and watched the sun come up as we waited for our plane. the flight was short - when we arrived in madrid an hour or so later we hopped on the metro and took it to the puerta del sol stop, which put us in the heart of madrid's central square. our first moments in this city were pretty overwhelming: the square was bustling with people and construction, it was noisy and disorienting, and we were running on three hours of sleep. we got our bearings fairly quickly, though, and started walking down calle mayor in the direction of our hotel.

naturally, we couldn't check in yet, so we left our bags at the front desk and went exploring. the day was sunny and warm. we headed away from puerta del sol, towards the royal palace. we admired it from the outside, though, because (a) we were just too tired and (b) it was packed with locals that day (wednesdays are free for locals).

on the way back, we stopped at a supermarket for a few little snacks. our room was ready for us when we got back to our strange little space ship of a hotel. we opened the windows, admired our fantastic view of the city, and had ourselves a lovely siesta.

* * * *

after siesta, we headed over towards the prado. we got to the museum at 6:00 (admission is free from 6-8pm), and hit the highlights - goya, velazquez, rubens, titian... of course, las meninas stole the show, and it was everything i'd imagined it would be!

we left the museum as it was closing and roamed around a bit until we found a lovely little tapas place where we enjoyed a lovely little dinner and a lovely little drink. from there we took our time finding our way back to calle mayor, wandering along tiny side streets and just looking at every last beautiful detail of the city.

our hotel was right across the street from plaza mayor, so instead of going straight to our room, we stepped into the magical 17th-century square. it was getting dark outside, that perfect time of day when the sky is still just barely lit up by the last little bit of the day's sun. throngs of musicians and entertainers and tourists and locals gave the cobblestoned plaza a certain care-free energy. we sat and soaked up the romantic atmosphere for a bit before heading up to our hotel room for some much-needed sleep.

{adventures abroad} spain: day seven - royal palace and reina sofia

at 7:30 am we were rudely awakened by what i can only assume was the ghost of some angry madrileno soccer fan. the television came on of its own accord and so did the shower.  more exhausted than frightened, we simply opened the windows and went back to sleep for a couple of hours.
when it was time for breakfast we found a table outside on the plaza mayor at the museo del jamon (yes, that's ham museum). just a side note: lots of dead pig parts hanging around at this place. and the "american breakfast" does not involve any sort of scrambled eggs. we shared our scraps with the little hoppy birds begging by our table and then headed for the royal palace.

upon our arrival at the palace we were informed that they were preparing for some sort of official state function and only seven of the twenty-five rooms would be available for touring.  i guess it's pretty common for rooms to be closed without notice, and we got a discounted rate because of it, so we didn't mind so much.  the palace was lavish and over the top (it is a palace after all).  after our tour, we got a window seat in the cozy cafe and sipped some espresso while we wrote in our journal.
leaving the palace, we walked back up calle mayor to sol and then headed to the reina sofia. i could barely contain my excitement.  salvador dali, joan miro, juan gris, rene magritte, alexander calder, and the most amazing of all: picasso's guernica.  i stood and drooled for what must have been hours.

after being amazed by modern art, we went back to puerta del sol and did a little shopping at the corte ingles. a cute dress, a pair of harem pants, and a box of sangria later we went to our space ship hotel to freshen up for dinner.  *travel tip: if your sangria comes in a box and costs one euro, it's going to be gross.  especially if your hotel mini-fridge is less than fully functional.* 
since our boxed sangria was not so fantastico, we opted instead for cervezas on the plaza mayor before dinner. this was the night we'd decided to celebrate our anniversary, so a little splurge was in order.  we had a reservation at sobrino del botin, supposedly the oldest restaurant in the world. we sat on the first floor where it was dark and romantic in a medieval sort of way. the service and the food were spectacular. *vegetarians: beware. every last dish, including the mixed vegetables, involves ham.*

once we had made disgusting pigs of ourselves, we decided to wander around the city for a bit.  we mostly stayed along the calle mayor and puerta del sol, surrounded by the lights and sounds of madrid. we walked off about half of one cream puff and then wandered ourselves right back to our hotel.

{adventures abroad} spain: day eight - segovia

on day eight of our trip we were visited by the television ghost but not the shower ghost. we needed to get up early anyway so it was okay. we grabbed coffee on our way to chamartin station.  once there, we bought our train tickets and a light snack-lunch to eat on the quick but scenic trip to segovia. 
upon our arrival at the train station in segovia we took the crowded #11 bus to plaza del azoguejo at the foot of a stunning 2,000-year-old roman aqueduct(!). also at the foot of the aqueduct was the most gorgeous/creepy man-powered carousel we'd ever seen. 

we walked up the steep and narrow main road to segovia's plaza mayor, where we admired the ornate gothic cathedral {but did not go inside}.

we continued walking uphill toward the alcazar, a disney-esque castle that once was a medieval fortress {and once was a prison, and once was an artillery school}.  i immediately reverted to my six-year-old self and went into princess mode. especially while we climbed the 152 spiral steps in the princess tower to get to the roof. the views from the roof were breathtaking. you could see all of segovia - the old city walls, the cathedral, the winding roads, and the guadarrama mountains in the distance. extraordinary.

after the tower we toured the rest of the castle - the dungeon, the terrace gardens, the chapel, the armory {A's favorite}. we planned our dream segovia wedding {ceremony in one courtyard, cocktails on the terrace, reception in another courtyard, obviously}.

after our tour of the castle, we wandered along the medieval city walls and then back through town on the impossibly narrow streets.
we ate a leisurely late afternoon meal outside on the plaza mayor with a perfect view of the cathedral. 

segovia is famous for roast suckling pig, but neither of us were ready for that, so we opted instead for a local favorite called judiones de la granja. we'd read in our guidebook that it was a "soup made with flat white beans from the region" but our book had conveniently omitted the part about the fatty pig skin with hairs still in it... anyway, we ate around the pig hairs and enjoyed our flat white beans.

after our lunch {and a glass of cava or two}, we headed back towards to the train station. the return trip to madrid was relaxing, but by the time we got there we were exhausted.  we went straight back to the hotel to pack our bags and prepare for the journey home the next morning. at some point A ventured out to find food, and we ate dinner in bed before drifting off to dreamland. it was the perfect end to a perfect anniversary-moon in spain.