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Published: September 15th 2006
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My Aussie Posse
Pic with Albert and Danielle at Madrid pub. One week and a half down, 7 or so to go!!! Greetings from Barcelona!!!! Hope everyone is well, miss you all! Sorry for taking so long to add an entry, it´s difficult to sit still for very long...
Below are some highlights of my trip thus far...
Madrid (Days 1-2)
Brutal red-eye on Iberia. Note to all of my loved ones, pay a little extra and fly British Airways, worth every penny - that is, unless you enjoy potentially being catostrophically sandwiched between an overly-inexperienced mother, her overly-indulged toddlers, and the overly-attending grandmother...landed with two red eyes...
After managing to find my hostel in downtown Madrid via the city´s subway system (which is suprisingly easy to navigate), I met an Aussie named Albert, a gregarious 24 year-young vagabond who invites me to tag along with him to the Reina Sofia Museum. Let me just say: Aussies rule! He turned out to be the perfect antidote to my arrival anxiety. And to top it off, we met up with another Aussie, Danielle, a free spirit of 35, who Albert had met up with previously. Once at the Sophia, we soberly took in Picasso´s "Guernica" and laughed out loud at
Palacio Real (Madrid)
Not too shabby piece of real estate. Joan Miro´s exhibit (the guards weren´t too pleased). Afterwards, I enjoyed my first Spanish meal (tapas and Sangria) with the joyful twosome from the land down under. We toped off my inaugrual day with a visit to a neighborhood bar (where we were treated to a free round) and a couple hours of dancing to techno at a discoteria. I returned to the hostel at about 3am, needless to say, I think I liked Madrid.
Day 2 was a bit tamer since Albert and Danielle each made their departure from Madrid - Albert was off to France and Danielle was taking the train to Salamaca. It was just going to be me and my citymap. I decided to jump on the quintessential tourbus to get my bearings, it was actually helpful to tour the city in its entirety and then to have the option of disembarking at the stop of my fancy. I toured the Palacio Real (lots of red velvet, gold, and crystal) and followed it by a 4 hour journey through the Prado Museum - simply amazing!!! I fell in love all over again with Velasquez, Goya, and El Greco. At this point I´m running on 10
Las Meninas
Velasquez´s masterpiece at the Prado. hours of sleep over the last three days, I head on back to the hostel to wage holy war against my jetlag.
Days 3-4
These two days were spent hightailing it after trains and buses. I decided to tackle El Escorial (monastary where royal remains from Charles V onward lie entombed), Valley of the Fallen, and Segovia. My favorites were the last two: Basilica de la Santa Cruz del valle de los Caidos (Basilica of the Holy Cross at the Valley of the Fallen) is an amazing structure, it is a humongous basilica that was built underground by Franco´s enemies (Republicans in prison) that is topped off by a larger than life cross. Franco himself, along with the remains of 50k civil war casualties (both nationalists and republicanos) lie here. I was so enthralled by Spain's tragic past that I almost missed my bus back to the station (only one for the day). I ended up chasing it a bit before it mercifully stoped and let me on, not a terribly fun bit of exercise when you have a 30 lb pack on your back - I recieve an ovation from the crowd inside. Back on the Renfe train
Basilica de la Santa Cruz del Valle de los Caidos
Franco´s emtombed remains lay here. Understandibly, most Spaniards don´t make this a popular destination. However, excluding the Fascist blemish, truly a magnificent structure. and an hour and a half later, I´m in Segovia. Absolutely charming little town, complete with a central plaza with a decent sized cathedral, where dozens of children ran merrily after their errant pets at 11pm. I sat at one of the cafes that bordered the sqaure and enjoyed some people watching - if theres one thing I´ve learned thus far, Spainiards love their social time with family and friends (ok - insert mushy ´"miss you all" sentiment here)
Next day, explored aqueduct, Alcazar, and cathedral in Segovia. Jumped on overnight train to Barcelona.
Days 5-9
Arrived in Barcelona, walked the Ramblas to the Meditteranean, visited Gaudi´s Parc Guell, Sagrada Familia (only cathedral in existence to be under construction - expected completion in 40 years, La Pedrera (luxury apartment building designed by Gaudi). In the evening, I caved in and jumped into a movie theater (home at last!) and caught "Alatristë" - a film about the time when Spain was Europe´s reigning crown, right before its onslaught of military defeats. It follows the story of one soldier (played by a spanish speaking - no not dubbed - Viggo Mortensen)...oh!!!! where are these valiant Spanish men, I see
tons of smartly dressed metros but no conquistadores...I´m 2 centuries too late! maybe in the countryside...
Day 10
Today was all about the Dali musem in Figueres. Very interesting man, not my cup of drug-laden tea but...admittedly, it was the perfect setup for my very own, rather surreal moment. Sooooooooo...after a two-hour wait for a bus that would jetty me back to Barcelona (trains were down due to power outage - did I mention the rain in spain falls not only on the plains...), I placed my backpack in the luggage compartment below the bus ( the door was open for loading), and after taking a gander behind me at the 100 or so people in line (only of which 40 would be able to board) I decided to take a seat with a bird´s eye view of the storage compartment (I´d read somewhere that you should sit where you can keep an eye on your luggage at all times). Well this turned out to be sage information - not more than 5 mintues pass when I notice this young chap in a green jacket cut in line and ask the bus driver if he was heading to a
La Sagrada Familia (Barcelona)
Me at Gaudi´s unfinished tribute to the Holy Family in Barcelona. This is the only cathedral in existence still under construction. It is due to be completed in 40 years, I will be back. certain destination, once the bus driver confirmed that he wasn´t heading in said direction, the kid dissapears under the storage compartment door for a few seconds only to re-emerge having shouldered my backpack!!!!!! Holy /&%·&!!! It takes me half a second to realize that he´s actually taking my bag, my bag! I stand and yell "Mi bolsa!!!" (my bag!) and step on several people in order to get off the bus. Once outside I frantically look for this joker, I yell at the unconcerned bus attendant outside and then at the people in line "Did you see a kid with a bag? He has my bag!!!!" One observant, older woman points towards an alley and off I go. Sure enough, up ahead is my backpack going for a non-chalant, piggy-back stroll towards the town plaza. I start running and what a sight I must have been...crimson-faced, hair blowing in the wind (I´d like to think in "a la Vogue" fashion), eyes locked on my target...CHARGE!!! I´m not more than a dozen feet away when I think...what if he starts to run, what if he fights me for my bag, what if...what am I doing??!!!?? He must of heard my rhino-like assault on the cobblestones below because he turned around , looked at me and....stopped. I get to him "You have my bag!!! Give it to me!!" He manages to look confused before dramatically taking another look at the bag, he apologetically rants "Oh, I´m so sorry, I must have confused it with mine." I yank it from him, consider my options, and run back to the bus, where I recieve another ovation for the recuperation of my goods. Ten minutes later as people are still trying to board, I see the same guy now sporting a different jacket walking about the bus terminals, his eyes never straying from traveler´s belongings. Needless to say, my cumbersome backpack stayed on my lap for the entire journey back to Barcelona.
More to come!!!!
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Tricia
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Chica Has Balls
I know you're a little crazy, but definitely not THAT crazy! Chasing down a backpack snatcher in a foreign country deserves some type of medel. Thank God you're all right! Thanks for updating your blog -- it gives me a chance to live vicariously through you. Your pictures are super cute, btw! Have fun on your jaunt up to Granada and please try to keep your bolsa with you at all times, would ya? Luv ya and miss ya!