Advertisement
Published: June 26th 2007
Edit Blog Post
Spain
Kirsten Sheppard 8 days but only 1.5 days to explore. These are the challenges of travelling on business. You get to go cool places, but have to work harder than you play. As a result, I can say that I visited Madrid, Alcala de Henares, Toledo and Pamplona...but I barely saw Toledo... of course, I got to speak espanol and dine as I imagine Queen Sofia does.
Madrid
It would be easier to do this if I actually wrote it when I was there. But I truly did not have time. For anyone reading who is romantacizing the life of business travel, all I have to say is 8am-11:30pm. Those are the working hours.
The biggest disappointment for me on this trip was learning that siesta doesn't happen anymore. Oh, there is a break in the middle of the day, but I did not find one Spaniard who would admit to sleeping in the middle of the day. The rest of the world has changed things. But lunch at 2pm and dinner at 9pm are still there!
A city of 5 million people, and after the first day in Madrid I only got to see a small fraction of
Spanish Flag
This flag was adopted in 1981 - although the only things that changed in the last 3 versions were the coat of arms. The bottom right coat of arms is for Navarre (where Pamplona is located) it. On the agenda was arrival (3 hours sleep on the plane), recovery, the Prado museum and Spanish tapas. The Prado has the best Spanish/Flamenco/Italian art collection I have seen...if you like art by Goya, Velasquez, Poussin, and Rembrandt, etc, this is the museum to visit. I'm more of a modern art buff so I was happy that Sunday visits are free. So I left to walk around a very cool city. It is an easy city to both walk and learn the metro routes. It is amazing how different cities are from one another within one country. Why this surprises me when Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and Montreal are nothing a like, and Boston, LA and Nashville are quite distinct, I don't know. Somehow I expect that when I visit a country with more history that it will all have some common defining features. Well, this is not the case. Madrid felt nothing like Barcelona, and Pamplona and Toledo were quite distinct as well. My favorite thing about Spain was getting to see how the Spanish have been able to preserve historic buildings while still using them, and mixing in modern touches!
Toledo
I imagine if I had
The Post Office
Believe it or not this was the post office until recently. gotten to see more of Toledo, it may have turned out to be my favorite place. But unfortunately we only had time to visit the Universidad Castilla La Mancha. Check out the view from the top of the city though. Sometime I will have to return to explore this crossroads of Judaism, Islam and Christianity.
Pamplona
In Pamplona we actually got to have two tours - one of the palace and one that followed the route for the Bull Run of the San Fermines festival. I have to start off by saying, however, that we flew from Madrid to Pamplona on Spanair. Unlike any airline I have EVER been on, they have an on-time GUARANTEE!!!! You can imagine my shock. Wait on the plane longer than 15 minutes and they give you a coupon of 25%!y(MISSING)our next flight. While we arrived on time, I got to learn this as we got stuck on the way back to Madrid. Strangely, they told us that it would be 55min and it was exactly 55 min. And they turn on the radio for you to listen to while you wait.
So back to Pamplona. It is a city of contrasts....tradition
Don Quixote de la Mancha y Sancho Panza
...arguing about Dulcinea in Alcala de Henares and cobblestones, the Encierro, Hemingway and ultra-modern universities. Beautiful walkable city, but I can't imagine being there with 2 million people during San Fermines. Apparently Hemingway is to blame. His book describing the festival is said to be the reason the festival in Pamplona is so famous, despite the fact that there are many other bull runs in smaller cities across Spain.
Comida
I'll let the pics speak for themselves, but I must explain the title....comida en Espana. I would say that Spanish food had to be the focus of this trip....mostly because I don't think we ever stopped eating. We were hosted by incredibly generous institutions, and each one meant for us to experience the best of the region. Cafe con leche, vino tinto, and postres to die for were by far the highlights. These delights sometimes came with the need to practice a little cultural etiquette however. From ox, venison, lamb, and hake, to baby eels in calamari ink, I was challenged to experiment with Nouvelle cuisine Spanish-style. While the tapas brought new bites of heaven (croquettes) and fabulous chorizo and tortilla....the pile of worm-looking eels (as I sat next to my host) tested me in
Entering Toledo
Left - Cathedral...
Right - Synagogue... a way I had not experienced in a long time. Over all the food, while not the norm in my house, was pretty amazing, I also learned to appreciate the daily fruit and vegetables that I take for granted at home. With this, I leave you with some of my favorite shots, and promise to write more DURInG my next voyage.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.155s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 12; qc: 50; dbt: 0.052s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Stefan
non-member comment
Hi
Hi Kirsten, what do you do in Spain?