5 Apr

All right, first let me be perfectly honest (as if I have been anything else in the course of writing this blog). I am writing this entry on 9 August 2006 from my desk at GlaxoSmithKline during my lunch break. There. I said it. Some time ago, I decided to take a break from writing. I intended this break to be rather small, but as you can see, it has grown to unconscionable proportions. My memory being what it is, the entries following and including the current one may not be entirely accurate recounts. Bear with me, and do give me the benefit of the doubt. The detail you have witnessed (perhaps to your dislike) earlier shows that I can remember enough to be specific, if not always entertaining. With no further ado...

5 Apr 2006

We managed to enjoy a peaceful ride to Barcelona. There was just one other girl in our 4-person all-female compartment and, being Spanish and knowing very little English, she hardly said a word to us the whole trip. Could have been worse. I was eager to get off the train and get moving again after staying in a cramped space for so long. We unloaded our luggage with relative ease and headed for the Metro to take us into town. The map is very easy to follow and the system is rather well designed. I still think the Tube is one of the better one's I have ridden and certainly most London stations were cleaner and neater than this.
Since I was the only one who had studied a map of Barcelona before arriving (shocking, I know), it was up to me to find our hotel. I got us off at the right stop, but unfortunately led us in the wrong direction for a couple of blocks before realizing my mistake. Such a misturn would have been so bad if I wasn't so terribly eager just to get to our hotel, take a shower (trains don't do much for making you smell good) and put our luggage away. Toting around a heavy duffel bag can get real old after a while, especially when it's warm outside, you're dressed a little too heavily for the weather, you're in a new and crowded city, you're not 100% sure where you're going, and your parents aren't helping with directions or keeping your patience. I pride myself on being a rather patient person, but this morning I just lost it. Finally, after what seemed like half an eternity, I found the hotel.
It was an awfully nice one too, 4 stars I believe and in an excellent location, right on one of the main boulevards of Barcelona. With great relief, we checked in. After resting for a bit and showering, we left in search of a funky looking music hall Dad and I had found in a guidebook. Note: Barcelona is very famous for its modern art and architecture. It is also a bilingual city in a bilingual part of the country known as Catalonia. Catalan and Spanish are the official languages of Catalonia. Just when I was getting used to Spanish, another language comes up that looks like a mix between Aztec and French. Perfect.
The music hall looked pretty neat from the outside, though when we found out the tour of the inside costed far more than we were willing to pay, we decided a nice look at the exterior was enough and moved on. In the alley outside the hall leading to the main street, a huge troop of schoolchildren were playing, screaming, and eluding the control of their chaperones. I was wearing the hat I bought in Ronda and as I walked by a small group, a little Spanish boy of about 8 years old cried out 'Indiana Jones! Indiana Jones!' and pointed to me. I turned immediately at that and gratefully tipped my hat at him. That little boy saved my day.
It was getting around dinner and we decided to try out a salad bar place I had noticed on the walk to the music hall. Dad said he'd been craving salad for some time and since they also pizza and such, we thought the place sounded just fine. Typical of Europe, or at least just Spain, a drink was included with the price and you had a choice of wine, sangria, or some fountain drink. What the hell, we were in Spain so I chose the wine while Dad picked the sangria and Mom just had water. Too bad the white wine wasn't too good, but then again, I couldn't expect much. The food was decent and after eating, we headed back to the hotel.
There is a plaza near our hotel that is rather nice with several fountains, some green spots and trees, and a huge open space where pigeons love to scuttle around. We walked around here for a spell before heading to the hotel to rest and make plans for the next day. Cheers!

4 Apr

We got to a really early start today. We had some quick breakfast of cereal and bread in the apartment before catching a cab for Alhambra. It’s not that far from the city and is within walking distance, but it’s a bit of a hike to the top and in the interest of time, we decided that riding just made more sense. The Alhambra palace is composed of three main areas, you have the Nasrid Palace (where the Moorish kings used to live), the Generalife gardens (hen-er-al-leaf-ay), and the Alcazar (yet another fortress). You’re required to choose a time in which to visit the Nasrid Palace but once you’re in you can stay as long as you’d like. They make it very clear to you that if you miss your window, they will not let you in. We had some time to kill ‘cause we were early so we decided to walk down to the gardens for a bit. They were quite beautiful and afforded and excellent view of the city below.

We wandered about the flowers for a while and listened to the audio guide we had purchased. They really like to talk about their elaborate use of water here which was nice but nothing spectacular. The flowers were really pretty though, and it was nice to stroll around them in peace before the crowds gathered. Our entry time neared so we started on the fairly long walk back to the palace and reached it in plenty of time. We took a quick bathroom break and headed in. Some of the rooms were rather dark but enough sunlight broke through to make them rather pretty. The courtyards were really special, whether dominated by statues of lions and surrounded by thin yet beautiful pillars or filled with a gigantic pool and fountains. The sun was shining brightly and yet the water helped the complex keep quite cool. It took some time to admire all the rooms but it was outside that I enjoyed myself the most. A palace is a palace but gardens are uniquely and singularly beautiful because no two are ever alike, and their beauty is more profound because it is so transient. We visited the Alcazar for a little while after the palace. It wasn’t as cool as the palace but still nice because you could see a killer view of the city from one of its watchtowers. We didn’t leave the whole complex until late afternoon.

Instead of catching a cab down, we decided to ride a bus instead that makes a trip up and down all day. It was a pretty short ride that dumped us right into the heart of town. There was this really steep hill at the end of the ride that was lined with souvenir shops so after alighting from the bus, we spent the next half hour or so popping in and out of these stores in search of gifts for home. We came up empty-handed, unfortunately, but didn’t mind too much. The sun was still shining so we walked along some streets and found a little falafel/sandwich place to eat lunch in. I liked the sandwich and our waiter was Pakistani who knew Hindi and some other languages so my parents had fun talking to him in Hindi.

After lunch, we strolled around for a while and I grabbed some ice cream for dessert while Mom looked in more souvenir stores. The weather was beautiful so we just chilled out on a bench for a while and planned out our next day. We had a night train to Barcelona tonight that wasn’t leaving until around 9 p.m. so we still had a good part of the day. We walked over to a church which Dad felt like seeing but Mom and I weren’t too interested in. We hung out outside drinking some water that I left to buy and just waited for him. After he got back, we headed back to the hotel to find a place to grab a quick light dinner. I figured we wouldn’t find anything good at the train station so I thought we might as well get something filling then. We looked around for a bit before finding this little sandwich shop quite near the apartment. The waiter was exceptionally rude but at least understood our request to not put too much mayo on the sandwiches. The service was fast enough and when we were done, I stayed back to pay while Mom and Dad went back to the apartment to take care of ordering the cab. We had already checked out in the morning and left our stuff in the lobby ‘cause checkout time was before 11 a.m. We didn’t have to wait too long at the apartment before our cab arrived and it only took about 8 minutes to reach the station.

There weren’t many platforms (four!) so I thought it would be easy to find our train. There was one waiting at platform 3 which was the same platform that I thought ours would be arriving at. Turns out, that train was ours and after we checked that with the conductor, we searched out our compartment. Dad waited outside with the luggage while I got mom settled in and then I brought the rest of the luggage onboard. It was an overnight sleeper train in which the compartments were separated by sexes. Fortunately, ours were next door to each other so we could hang on to most of the luggage and it would be easy for Dad to reach us. There were four bunks to a compartment and it only took a few minutes for us to get settled in. There was one other girl in our compartment with us who didn’t speak much English but seemed to be waiting for someone.

The train left right on time and we just had to wait for the conductor to come check our tickets. He kept them, to our surprise, but told us that he would give us a wake-up call 30 minutes before the train reached Barcelona. I thought that was really sweet of them and it makes a lot of sense. I read and listened to my iPod for a little while before getting comfortable and going to sleep. We wouldn’t be reaching Barcelona until about 8 in the morning so we had plenty of time to rest. Cheers!

3 Apr

We left a little on the late side today (10-ish) and caught the highway bound for Granada. Granada is quite a big city and it took us a while to get our bearings and find the way to our apartment complex. Once we finally made it there, we didn’t find a place to park that was close by, so Dad ended up parking way down the street and over. Mom was working out details for the room while I was the go-between (not so fun!). Two little girls, daughters of the owner I guess, were our guides and maybe they were being spiteful but they must have led us on the longest and dustiest path to the apartment. All I know is that when I found my way back to the car to pick up as many bags as I could carry and then headed back, I got back much faster. We quickly dropped things off before getting back into the car and going to the Hertz center to drop it off. Finding that place took some time too and the traffic was terrible. Not horribly congested just busy and loud; not nearly as pleasant as the traffic in Sevilla. Dad didn’t realize how big Granada was but I knew more or less what to expect. At long last we ditched our car with no problem and caught a cab back to the apartment.

Once there, I started arranging things while Mom and Dad left in search of groceries and internet, respectively. I was hot and tired and just wanted to rest for a bit. When they got back, we were rather hungry so we started making preparations for dinner. We decided that we really just wanted to relax and not go out that night. Dinner was pretty good and then we went straight to bed. Tomorrow we travel out to the Alhambra palace that really puts Granada on the map and is supposed to be spectacular. We’ll see! Cheers!

2 Apr

Ronda! We got to an early start and hopped onto the highway for Ronda. The ride there was fairly pleasant and it was nice to drive through Spanish mountains. Intrepid motorcycle riders took the often steep corners at daring speeds, much to my amusement and delight. It wasn’t until the ride down that I had the sense to take some video of the guys (but hey, they were moving pretty fast). One thing that really struck me about the scenery was how old all the stones and rocks looked. I’m used to countryside and have traveled through quite a bit of it, but you’re used to wildflowers, grasses, and the occasional little village so you don’t see many ruins. The rocks on these mountains looked as though they had been laying there for ages, perhaps hundreds of years. I have no scientific evidence or proof for these guesses, but just a intuition. The sides of the mountains looked much fresher and newer in glistening whites emerging from somber grays. It was late morning by the time we reached Ronda and what a cute city this is! Our first priority was finding a place to park, and it took us some time before we finally did. We also drove perhaps a little too deep into the city too, ‘cause it took us a while to reach ‘civilization.’ We finally reached a little park where we got directions to the tourist information place. We picked up directions and then went to the bathroom before continuing. There was a bullring nearby, one of the older ones in Spain, which we didn’t walk into but looked around at. There were also some military guys there with heavy-duty guns who started playing with this dog that wandered into their group. It was cute.

Maps in hand, we searched for the most famous site in Ronda, the Puente Nuevo (new bridge). A 15-min walk brought us there and what a sight it was! Delicately spanning the river and gorge below with strong, arching struts of white stone…The ravine it hovered over was no small beauty either and we gazed at it and shot pictures of it from various angles for about 30 minutes, along with dozens of other tourists. After the bridge, we headed a little further into town in search of souvenirs and just to enjoy walking down the cobblestone streets flanked by quaint whitewashed buildings. We saw a few leather stores and in one of them I found this beautiful, Indiana Jones-esque hat that I immediately fell in love with. I’ve wanted a hat like that for the longest time, but never thought I would seriously wear it until now. I found one that fit perfectly and though the price felt a little steep, 25 Euros, I knew it was made of solid material and that I would definitely treasure it. Dad picked up a wallet and I decided to go with the hat. It smelled wonderfully of leather and I walked out with it on.

We were hungry after our little shopping trip and so we went in search of some lunch. We looked at some small places but didn’t like the look of them much and didn’t see too many vegetarian options. Finally, we made it back to the Puente Nuevo and saw this nice looking restaurant that afforded a fantastic view of the ravine. The menu was a bit pricey but quite agreeable and when we got a table outside, we knew it was perfect. We ordered two soups, one almond and garlic, another gazpacho (cold tomato soup) and one asparagus pasta dish. I thought the almond and garlic one was the best. Dad also ordered a tomato and mozzarella salad that ended up being sliced tomatoes with olive oil, garnish, and fresh mozzarella cheese. It was delicious. Mom really liked her asparagus dish and told me that the white asparagus they used was relatively rare and quite expensive. It was truly a delicacy, and I’m glad she had a chance to savor it in such a beautiful setting. We asked a nice guy near us to take some pictures of us which he obligingly did.

After lunch, we decided it was time to head back so we grabbed our things and started on a long walk back to the parking lot. On the way, we picked up some fruit and small groceries from this little store. It took us some time to finally leave the city and after we went back down the mountain, we stopped at another big grocery store that Mom had seen on the way up. Parking was another nightmare for that place and by the time Dad and I found a spot, she was almost done shopping. Once we finished there, we drove back to Marabella and got there by early evening. The sun doesn’t set until late here and places are open even later so timing wasn’t a big deal. We rested in the hotel for a little while before heading into town to find a place to eat and see some of the other famous places in Marabella, like the plaza or oranges or something. The city was not as cute as Sevilla and other places but definitely had its own charm. The park we crossed to reach the city center had some neat works of Dali in iron or bronze which I took some pictures of. Food options in the city were mostly restricted to seafood and since we obviously couldn’t partake of that, we headed back to the beach instead. After walking for a bit, we found a pizza place that looked okay so we sat outside in the rather cool air near the sidewalk so we could people watch.

While Mom was in the bathroom, the waiter/possible owner and another woman took our orders and then set our table. Dad and I were very impressed by the quick and efficient way in which they laid out the napkins, silverware, and poured out our Cokes. We half expected our food to be ready in a few minutes they were so fast. Unfortunately, they were merely mortal so we did have to wait a bit for our food, but it was really good. Dad and I had pizza while Mom got this pasta dish with a spicy sauce that was definitely spicy but had a wonderful flavor. It’s not often that pasta sauce tastes that good. We enjoyed our meal and reflected on our trip so far before making plans for the next day. After the meal, we went in search of some gelato that we would eat while strolling along the beach. We didn’t actually walk on the side, rather on these small yet wide roads that run near it (rather like boardwalks). The evening was a little cool and I was glad to get back to the hotel to warm up. We were leaving for Granada the next day so we wanted to make sure we got plenty of sleep. I’m going to miss the coast! Cheers!

1 Apr

We woke up early, checked out of our apartment, and grabbed a cab for the train station. The Hertz rental facility was there, and since the rail station was a good distance from our apartment, we couldn’t just walk there with our entire luggage. It didn’t take too long for us to get our keys and fill out all the paperwork. We walked out into the lot and found our car; a tidy, black Ford Focus that was looking sharp in the morning sunlight. We loaded our luggage and Dad took a few minutes to figure out the controls. It’s been a while since he’s driven a stick shift (except for Mr. O’Connor’s truck when we moved in last fall) and he wanted a bit of time to get the feel of it. The next thing we needed to know was how to reach the highway. We asked a parking lot attendant who unfortunately knew no English. Using a mix of broken Spanish and hand gestures, she was able to communicate directions to us. I understood a few words such as ‘puente’ which means bridge and gathered that we were supposed to essentially go in a box until we reached the bridge. After the bridge, we had to drive for about two kilometers until we saw signs for the highway. Good thing we had a couple of maps in the car, too! We buckled in, and then we were off!

Despite little recent practice, Dad handled the car quite well. We were fine direction-wise for a while until we accidentally missed a turn for our highway and then had to circle back using a U-turn. Thankfully, the traffic wasn’t very heavy and no one got too mad at us for being dumb tourists. The drive became very smooth and comfortable once we reached the highway. Our first destination was La Linea and Gibraltar! I’ve wanted to see the Rock of Gibraltar ever since I first heard about it and especially after last fall when in my Shakespeare class with Armitage we read that Cleopatra has this vision of Antony’s greatness in which he straddles the Strait of Gibraltar. It’s a fitting image since in the play ‘Antony and Cleopatra,’ Hercules is said to be Antony’s patron god who unfortunately abandons him towards the end of the play to the sound of trumpets (one of the few bonus questions I missed that semester, which is of course why I remember it so well now!) The legend of the Pillars of Hercules (which is made up of the Rock of Gibraltar and it’s sister rocky formation in Morocco) states that to complete one of his twelve labors, Hercules had to cross over a mountain that was once the Titan Atlas (same one who held the world on his shoulders, the one Ayn Rand wanted to shrug his shoulders) in order to reach a flock of some famous sheep. Instead of going around the mountain, Hercules used his invincible mace to split the mountain in half, thus shortening his route and connecting the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Who would not desire to visit the site of such a legend! Anyone, we drove along the coast merrily heading for the place of antiquity. The ride was much shorter than I thought it would be, since after only a couple of hours, Mom pointed out that she could see the Rock. I didn’t believe her at first, until I became convinced that it couldn’t be anything else. It was beautiful! And HUGE! No wonder the ancients must have believed it to be part of the gateway at the edge of the world!

We found our way easily into La Linea and then sought a place to park our car. You can drive into Gibraltar from Spain, but the line is long and it’s more of a pain than it’s worth. We put in money for about five hours and then grabbed our things and headed for Gibraltar. ‘Customs’ didn’t take to long and at Passport Control I asked the guy if he would stamp my passport which he obligingly did. Hooray! We took a quick bathroom break at the airport (which is so tiny I think that only British Airways operates there and the only flights coming into Gibraltar leave from Heathrow and Manchester). Dad went in search of a map and some tourist information but was surprised and disappointed to find that all the guides and maps were in Spanish only! This was English territory! While he looked for those, I wandered into the gift shop in search of my shot glass and a pin for Saket. I found both of just the kind I wanted and I fortunately had some pounds with me. I’m sure they would have accepted Euros, but it was nice to be able to use my pounds. I was also thrilled to find that the Gibraltar pounds are different from the English ones. I set some aside for safekeeping. With my new treasures, I returned to my parents and then we headed out into the city.

Our guidebook said that you could take a bus all the way into the city and then to the top of the rock for a small fee. As soon as we reached the bus stand, I knew I was really in English territory. I saw a bobby (policeman with those tall black hats) and a red double-decker bus and even the bus stop signs were the same that they use in London. The same ‘look left’ and ‘look right’ signs were painted on the road to prevent dumb tourists from crossing the street at inappropriate times. Ah, good old England, er, Gibraltar. After waiting for what seemed like an awfully long time, we caught a bus into the city and bought a return ticket, which I hung onto. The day was beautiful if a bit windy and it was nice to ride in the open air. The ride didn’t take too long and before we knew it, we were in the city proper. We got off and walked about ten minutes to the center of town. We saw pubs and Indian restaurants. You can’t keep a Brit too far from his curry and ale…

As we were searching for a lift to the top, a tour guide in a large van pulled up beside us and offered to take us to the top and to all the main sites on the Rock for 20 Euros per person. There were already five girls in the car and he told them that they would get the same deal (he normally charges 25 Euros). A tram/bus ride would have cost us about the same so we decided to go with this guy. Turns out that was a great idea. He was a friendly guy who knew a lot about Gibraltar and was happy to answer questions. Funny accent too; not really English but not Spanish either. Two of the girls were from Wales and the other three were traveling together from I’m not too sure where. I think they were on a company vacation or something. Our first stop on our way up the mountain was at a little promontory that had an excellent view of the strait. The horizon was a little hazy but you could still clearly see Africa. Africa! The very first time I have ever laid eyes on that dark and rather mystical continent. This trip was also my first real interaction with the Mediterranean; flying over it doesn’t count! I could clearly see the other pillar and some undulating green hills near it. Beautiful.

We went a bit higher to see the famous macaques/Barbary apes that are the only wild monkeys of Europe. Legend has it that if these apes ever leave the Rock, so will the British. Many Spaniards hope this will happen but the British government and the people of Gibraltar (who are overwhelmingly in favor of British rule + self-government than Spanish rule) think otherwise and therefore these monkeys are very well looked after. These monkeys are adorable but show a great deal of irreverence for personal space. I walked out to this little ledge to take some pictures of the breathtaking view, and when I put the camera down, I was completely surrounded. One just sat there about a foot away, possibly waiting for food or something. I know they’re not dangerous, but it was a little unnerving. I gingerly stepped around them and headed back to the van.

Looking out over the top of the mountain into the strait really made me believe how the people of old felt that this place was the edge of the world. A dazzling blue that slowly melts into a hazy grey is all the eye may behold. Once you leave the sight of land, you’ve entered nothingness…it must have been terrifying for the first adventuresome sailors who braved the unknown and entered an expanse where unimaginable dangers could lie. ‘Here be monsters…’

From the edge of the world I traveled through the very gates of Hell. Or, rather, the gates of a great cave that runs for kilometers inside the rock. The old Romans who visited this place thought they were gazing into the Underworld once they excavated part of this cave. I can understand the impression because although the caves are not as impressive as Carlsbad Caverns or other ones I’ve seen, it’s still a neat sight with all the stalactites and stalagmites.

The cave was the last real stop on our journey around the rock. After that, we drove down and then our guide dropped the girls off in the center of town before taking us back to the border. We cheerfully paid him our 60 Euros and then crossed back over into Spain. I missed a chance to get my passport stamped with a Spanish stamp, but oh well. I was concerned that our parking time limit was about to expire so I hurried as fast as I could back to the car. Thankfully, no one had noticed that we were fifteen minutes late. We pulled out the lot, and Dad idled the car near the road so I could get closer to the shore and take some final pictures. It was simply gorgeous.

We left Gibraltar and then got back on the highway bound for Marabella (mar-ra-bayah) on the Costa del Sol. The drive was quite pleasant though we started anxiously looking for affordable hotels since this was the stretch of our trip for which we had not yet booked hotels. Near the outskirts of Marabella, we saw some nice looking hotels. We stopped at one of them only to find out that it was a golf resort that was charging over 100 Euros per night for a single room, and over 200 for a triple. We simply said ‘no thanks!’ and drove further into the city. As we neared the center, I saw a sign for a 3-star hotel on the right and then directed my dad to it. We circled this little shopping center area for a bit before we found it. Fortunately, he pulled into a parking spot right near it and stayed with the car while Mom and I checked the place out. It had a triple room that was spacious and nicely outfitted and for 90 Euros a night, we were set. I made payment arrangements while she helped Dad get stuff out of the car. I joined them and together we managed to haul all of our things up in one trip. We rested for a little while to freshen up before leaving in search of dinner. I had seen an Indian restaurant just a few shops down from our hotel (how convenient, right, and we were worried about food…) so we decided to try it.

The wait was rather long because it appeared that only one man was running the whole show. He probably had a cook in the back, but we were rather doubtful of that. There was a small British group near us who said that it might be a while before we got our food. We didn’t mind too much ‘cause even though we were pretty hungry, we didn’t have anywhere to go so we weren’t in a rush. We gave our order and since I had seen cava (Spanish champagne) on the menu, Dad decided to order a bottle of it. After some time, our waiter came out with the bottle, popped it next to me, and then poured me a little bit to taste. I thought it was all right so he poured everyone a glass. He overfilled mine a bit so it spilled over which was kind of funny but kind of sad too. After he left, Dad commented that he didn’t know what he was doing. Apparently, a waiter never gives the lady champagne to taste like that, and he certainly doesn’t overfill the glass! We toasted each other and had our sips. I’m such a sweet tooth that a drink practically has to have chocolate in it for me to like (or some other sugary/fruity liquid) but I did like this champagne. It wasn’t as strong as some of the other things I’ve tried which was nice. We were done with our first glass before our food came. It was fun to sip champagne while eating. Another woman came in who was much more experienced with serving alcohol. She quickly and expertly refilled our glasses and we thanked her for it. The food was pretty good, though by the end of the meal I was feeling kind of funny. This was the very first time that alcohol had ever affected me. It struck me as simply hilarious that the first time I felt even slightly tipsy would be in Spain with my parents. That’s all I was, just a bit tipsy. We paid and then headed for the beach where we could stroll and work off some of dinner in the cool coastal air. I wasn’t just imagining things, I was definitely a little tipsy because I walked a little unsteadily at first. Champagne doesn’t have a terribly high alcohol content, maybe 11-12%. It’s the bubbles that get you.

We strolled along the path near the beach and kept an eye out for gelato shops and places to eat tomorrow. We decided to stay here another night because we liked it so much. When we got back, I spent a little time online checking my mail and such. We also made plans to visit Ronda, a little mountain town north of Marabella, that Mom had heard was simply gorgeous. We turned in a little early in order to have a good start the next day. Cheers!