Blogs from Spain, Europe - page 977

There is a rather significant football match for our Spanish hosts tomorrow evening. Currently a warm up game going on over our tent. Excitment is high and expectation even higher. We are staying put in the moderately sized town of Sahagun for the big game as it feels the best place to watch the Spanish emotions in full flow. During our year in the Spanish speaking world achieving decent fluency in their language is one of the primary objectives. Today showed signs of a solid start to this endeavour. Building on our smooth conversational exchange about the finer points of our camping kit with a four year old two days ago we raised the bar even higher today. Having a late breakfast (toasted bread and olive oil must be tried) a Dutch couple had to reply ... read more

When I last left you I had just arrived at my hostel in Madrid and was waiting to get into my room. After settling in I spent the whole afternoon in the incredible Reina Sofia museum. While boasting some of the 'greats', their collection was predominantly from Spanish artists. Picasso and Dali were two artists who were heavily represented. In fact, Reina Sofia is the home of Picasso's famous Guernica, which is so powerful to behold in person. It has been given a room to itself, which is needed to hold the crowds that it draws. I thought that the two rooms on either side were actually more interesting, containing Picasso's studies and preparatory drawings for the masterpiece. To see the development of the symbolism and the ways in which he chose to portray grief are ... read more

So after being told at LAX that I was on standby for my flight, a very long 24 hour turnaround of missing an entire day from being in the air and jumping 9 time zones, not really sleeping for the past 36 hours, and the two year old next to me from Cameroon that tantrumed the entire first hour of the flight, I am safe and sound at the hotel in Barcelona and waiting for Cheryl´s flight to come in. She should be landing any minute, but unfortunately the free shuttle stopped 15 minutes ago, so she will have to take a cab. Tomorrow we get up early and catch an 8:45 train to Montpellier. First week will be mostly about the wedding for Agnes and Mitch. More to come! ... read more

Yesterday I managed to visit two of the most major tourist attractions of southern Spain. First, in Cordoba, I spent time at la Mezquita, the third largest mosque in the world & the oldest building in day-to-day use in Europe! The construction of the building began in 786 and was finished in the 16th century. It was initially built as a mosque, however, three additions later it became a Christian cathedral was built in the middle. It was amazing to see the combination of arab & christian faiths as well as the mix of roman, arab, and even baroque architecture. In the main area of the mezquita, there are 856 white & red columns, supporting arches throughout! AMAZING! I left Cordoba and took a bus to Granada. The trip was about 2 hours and 40 minutes, ... read more

Marisa aptly nicknamed my trip for me! En route from LAX to Barcelona after a very nice birthday spent with Jon in L.A.... hope to figure out the picture downloading situation not far into my trip so I can keep everyone up to date on my adventures. Eurostravaganza here I (we-Cheryl and I) come!... read more