Cervezas, Siestas And Sightseeing

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The Spanish Life

Arriving in Valencia an hour late, I was pleased to find that the temperature here was much easier to handle at a mere 42C. Out of the train station and heading towards my hostel, the city was a sudden assault on the senses. There was life everywhere, from the lady feeding the birds in front of the enormous fountain to the people having a laugh around the bull fighting ring. It is also one of the more beautiful cities I've seen from first impressions with heroic monuments, fantastic sculptures and fountains in every plaza, as well as magnificent churches and temples and even the gate of the old city wall looming over the old quarter.

Reinvigorated, I set off walking the winding back streets and lanes, weaving in and out of towers and museums, and brushing past street markets and people hawking wares from carts on the side of the road. Alive..... not just alive but humming with enthusiasm and a real feeling of co-dependence. I found myself wandering aimlessly for over four hours before I was rudely interrupted by the beast within.

Realising I'd had nothing but a bottle of water all day, my stomach led me to a little bar/cafe on one of the side streets. What a find!!! The tiny little tunnel like building buried under the mass of old apartments was a family run business with just the husband running the bar, the wife running the kitchen and the son helping out while he wasn't in school. Being the only person there, I sat at the bar and tried to brush up on a bit of Spanish while the husband used the opportunity to learn a little more English. Then the 15 year old son sat with me while he had his dinner and plied me with questions about Australia and the other countries I have visited. A good five hours passed before I realised that I had to get up to catch a train to Barcelona in only about four hours (and I didn't want another repeat of the London to Paris incident), so I bid them adios and made my way back, wishing I had one more day to explore this wonderful city a little further.

Just a short train ride up the coast and I was in Barcelona, the place everyone says you just have to go. The reason..... because it's a party town!!! With the Spanish night life not really getting in to dear until about 3am and most places not even opening until 1am, it's not really my cup of tea when I want to actually go out and see the sights the next day. Needless to say, I did brave it the first night though and found it to be not just a little disappointing, but also, I'm not a fan of getting asked if I want anything from drugs to sex while walking down the biggest and most well lit street in the city, La Ramblas.

Well, after getting back to the hostel with the sun, the next day was a write off but I made up for it the following. Heading back towards the city centre, I made the first stop Placa De Catalunya, an open space filled with fountains, sculptures and obviously a useful place for people to meet. Then the walking began!! From there I headed down through the winding back streets and local markets through the Barri Gotic Quarter to the Basilica De Santa Maria Del Mar, an old cathedral dominating the centre of town. Just around the back of the cathedral were a bunch of gypsies playing instruments and, after standing there listening to them for what must have been about an hour, I found them so good I bought their CD.

Weaving my way back to La Ramblas, I set off for the port with it's monument to Christopher Columbus and stunning buildings surrounding the area. Walking along the foreshore a ways I turn back in to the city and cut through Parc De La Ciutadella to reach Barcelona's version of the Arc De Triomf and then further still all the way to the city's most famous building. La Sagrada Familia is a gothic style cathedral built by Eusebi Güell, the man most credited with Barcelona's appearance today. As only his second building it was a daring and ambitious project that sadly never got completed and is still in the process of being built even now.

Another area commissioned by Güell was an area overlooking the city which originally was intended as a community with parks, markets and housing. After not getting the support for the original concept, he ended up just creating a huge park and as you enter it's like walking into a fairytale. Stone art, mosaics, curving buildings and wide open terraces become a haven for street performers and the whole place has an almost carnival atmosphere. Keeping up with tradition, I found the highest lookout in the Parc Güell and climbed to the top for some stunning vistas out over the city to the Mediterranean Sea.

Feeling like I'd walked the whole city in a day (which is pretty accurate actually) I decided Barcelona had been conquered and it was time to leave Spain.

All up, I found Spain to be a wonderful country with rugged landscapes, fantastic food and genuine people. Another country that hasn't been crossed off my list and will warrant a return in the future... maybe like the Europeans do and literally spend a month just there, exploring and discovering in more detail the food, the culture, the food, the history, and did I mention the food!!!

"Finding fortune among the accidents of life - is there any greater talent?" - Anonymous

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