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Published: September 10th 2007
We arrived in Spain on what has to be one of, if not the bumpiest flight I have ever been on, good thing I´m good at a joking laugh and feigning confidence...... because Venny was a mess. Despite the turbulence we arrived in good form and hopped a bus from the airport to our first stop, Malaga.
Malaga Malaga is a mid-sized city on the southern coast of Spain, I had always heard good things about the city so I was looking forward to finding a room and getting out to see the sights. We did three nights in and around the town and there was quite a bit to see.... and on top of that a beach which is always a worthy distraction in itself. We actually celebrated Venny's birthday here at of all places, a Mexican restaurant. The city itself was cool and it was a nice intro to spain.
From Malaga we actually travelled to Granada to visit an old compound/fortification called "the Alhambra" which is supposed to be an interesting mix of North African and Spanish architecture left over from the Moorish conquest of southern Spain. We got there shortly after noon but
of course found that tickets for the inside sold out for the day already (and the place stays open until 8pm, go figure), we could still access part of the compound and toured what we could before bussing back to Malaga to figure our way to Barcelona.
Barcelona Malaga to Barcelona cant be that complicated can it, just get a train ticket the day before, get to the station early the next day and get cozy on the car right.......... wrong. "What do you mean the train is sold out for the next month and a half (maybe the spanish just buy tickets really early, first the Alhambra and now Barcelona). Plan two, el autobus.... how many...... 17 hours huh????? We tried to outsmart the system and bussed to Madrid, to transfer to Barcelona and shave an hour or three when we should have just got it direct and sat ourselves in a seat all day, lesson learned because we got there in about the same amount of time as just taking the direct w/out the transferring and hustle between bus terminals in Madrid.
We arrived in Barcelona (One of my favorite cities ever) about 1 a.m. and
spent the next hour and a half finding a hotel room which wasnt fun but once settled in, Barcelona was the city I remembered it to be and we had a blast. Venny found what must be her favorite fountain in the whole world in their central park and we toured the sights of the city. Barcelona is a city where you can make yourself busy exploring the sights or just head to the beach and do nothing..... either way you will enjoy yourself, I cant say enough about the place.
Barcelona is famous in my book for its nightlife and the city is just generally alive and vibrant at any hour. While visiting before with my friend Dwayne we actually turned up at a club at midnight thinking we were late and the place was almost completely empty. The place didnt get packed till about 2am and they partied until the sun came up..... a little different than the states, if your visiting Spain, Barcelona is a must in my book. While there we did our fair share of painting the town blue and also took in a Flamenco show, it was awesome but of course we left
the camera in the room, oh well!
San Sebastian San Sebastian is a semi sleepy small city in the north of Spain. As odd as it sounds we had to visit the city because it contained one of my regrets in life (as odd as it may sound), I had been there before and visited the beach and never got around to actually getting in the water due to a mixture of Georgeish paranoia and some personal hangups of mine. Not touching the water bothered me enough (they say you should not live w/regrets right) that I vowed to go back to rectify the situation, that plus its a very romantic couple friendly place so it was a win/win to return with my wife and enjoy the town.
We did a few nights here before continuing on the Madrid, our last stop before leaving Europe.
Madrid Madrid turned out to be a fitting end to our European travels, it was big enough to keep you occupied, but mellow enough that you could just head to a park etc. and just hang out. We really didnt accomplish much here, kinda played it low key and kept an eye
on the weather and any possible hurricanes in the Caribbean that might put us our for our next destination, the Cayman Islands.
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Leida Erickson
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Enough!
I am soooooooo jealous, but enough is enough. Doncha think it's time to come home????? Last 4 postcards from Venny have said "be home in 2 weeks." Thanks for the great pix and write-ups. Let's see, April to September, hmmmmm.