http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/tronqui1/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from tronqui1 en-us Sun, 03 Jan 2010 00:46:14 +0000 Sun, 03 Jan 2010 00:46:14 +0000 I was very lucky to spend my birthday this year in Istanbul. East meets west the major religions collide and thousands of years of history are hidden behind 24000 taxis hundreds of modern lounge bars and cafes and 12 million bustling Turks. The harmony within the city is the most amazing part. On any sidewalk you can see a group of girls a few with tank tops and shorts on others wearing http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Marmara/Istanbul/blog-411602.html Rothenburg ob der Tauber...GO for Christmas. Yes I realize Christmas was some months ago but since we've had a heat wave here in Spain I needed to cool off a little its been in the 90's all week. So for Christmas my love and I headed North and East. We got in the car and drove straight through Spain and France and headed due East. The first real stop on our trip was Rothenburg. WOW. A http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber/blog-405037.html Jolee sheet thats in my best Spanish accent and remember the J is gutteral If you've never been to Italy get your culo over there. I took a 14 day stroll from Rome all the way to the Lakes region near the border with Switzerland. I ate and drank my way through Rome Tuscany Liguria and Piemonte. I think the best way to do this is to start with one area and then slowly make my way throug http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-347789.html Last weekend I spent some quality time with nature at a mountain pass called La boca del asno or The Asss Mouth. Paulas parents Mamen and Juan Carlos their best friend Maribel and myself took a bus with a mycologist mushroom specialist to the Sierra north of Madrid. When we arrived we were instructed to pick all the mushrooms we could find meet up with the specialist and the other 40 http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/blog-222079.html Because I expressed so much interest in the LAST bullfight my friends got me tickets to another. I got to see a Puerta Grande or a Grand Exit. The bullfighter was so good that he was carried out of the arena on the arms of the crowd. Its hard to describe a good bullfight from a bad one. Even though they do the same thing in every bullfight some are terribly boring. The bullfighters job is http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/Madrid/blog-212251.html So I've been to Spain a lot but I've never seen a bullfight. As a matter of fact neither have most of my Spanish friends. The majority of young people here don't believe its right. I completely understand why however after witnessing it myself I think the cultural importance of it outweighs the cruelty to the bull. You are free to disagree with me on that one though. A bullfight or corr http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/Madrid/blog-207300.html Ok Friday I woke up went to see 2 other BAD apartments went grocery shopping had dinner at 330 and packed. Left at 900 PM to go to the Mediterranean for the weekend to a friends house with 8 other people. We get there at 130 AM after driving almost 5 hours through pouring rain. The house is Rocio's Paula's best friend from high school. Her dad has 5 houses in different parts of Spain and a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Valencian-Community/J-vea/blog-205187.html Its now 431 in the morning. I have to go to look at apartments at 930 tomorrow....and I can't sleep....AND i'm supposed to with Paula's my friend who I live with's dad. I'm gonna be a mess. I hope I can fall asleep by 5... So heres the lowdown on what I've done. I landed at 300 yesterday after being up for 24 hours. I took a 1 12 hour nap got up showered went to see Ratatouille in Spanish http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/blog-204118.html