Spain: Madrid

We arrived in Madrid and were greeted by a parade! Guess what, another unexpected holiday. It was Spain’s National Day and so there was a parade and flyovers of all types of planes and other fun activities. We were staying in a wonderfully cute neighborhood called Lavapies. We rented a room from a very nice family and I really got to practice my Spanish since none of them spoke English. They had a lovely home and were so kind and welcoming. As a result of the holiday, the flea market and antique shops nearby were up and running and that was our first stop of the day. It was fun to explore all the shops and browse the stalls. Since we had been wanting to see a movie in a theater for awhile (the last one was in China) we found a place that was showing Mazerunner 2 in English and had popcorn for lunch. After that, it was more wandering around in El Retiro park and then tapas and wine for dinner. We also managed to go to the Reina Sofia Museum for the last couple hours it was open. All the museums were free for the holiday so they were all quite busy earlier in the day but by evening the crowds had thinned enough we were able to get in right before closing. It was a splendidly Spanish day.

Plaza Mayor

Wandering the streets

 

A view across the little lake

An all glass museum space in the park, I love it!

What a lovely path to stroll

While in Madrid, our little neighborhood had a sort of tapas festival. Several of the restaurants offered a discounted tapa deal and there was a competition between them to be voted best tapa. We went to seven different places the first night and six the second- it was a perfect ‘food tour’ that we were able to do on our own. Tapas are the most ingenious way to serve food. We also did some cultural things such as visit the Thyssen- museum. This museum is one of the world’s largest private collections and was quite diverting as it spanned several centuries and encompassed many different styles. We also took a day trip to Toledo. Toledo is a quaint medieval town and has cobblestone winding streets that center around the Gothic Cathedral. We also discovered that Toledo is where all of the swords for the Lord of the Rings movies were made. We didn’t buy any swords though and instead chose to sample their town sweet treat, marzipan. I was not a huge fan but it was, ok. That evening we got to watch some amazing Flamenco dancing. It was full of emotion and passion and stomping. We chose to go to the earlier show so we were almost front row and it was worth it.

A tapas-llage (like collage but with tapas)

Toledo

Toledo

Toledo! 

I got a fun fan

Such passion 

Our last day in Spain’s capital we visited the cathedral and the royal palace. It wasn’t my favorite royal home but as a general rule, I enjoy seeing the residences as they often show the fancy home décor trends over the centuries and, if the audio tour is done well, can also provide a good historical context for the city and/or the country. After the palace, we walked along Gran Via and then I had a meeting with a speech therapist working at a bilingual clinic in Madrid! It was quite fun to talk to her and discuss issues they face and struggles they have that are similar to some that we have in the States.

Palacio  

We left early the next morning for Granada!

Spain: Barcelona

Yay Spain! We finally made it to a place where I could actually communicate in the native language. Jared was also able to hold his own, for the most part. Although I did relish in getting to impress him with my skills. We started the Spanish adventure in Barcelona and I immediately had to suppress my urge to correct all the lisping. Compared to what I was expecting though, it wasn’t too difficult to understand. The Castellan, on the other hand, really is a different language. I had to utilize some serious context clues to decipher some of the signs and menus. It made for a fun linguistic exploration. We spent four nights in Barcelona and they were four of the last five we would be in a dorm room. This particular dorm experience was one of the worst we have had. We were two in a four bed dorm and our roommates were a couple from Australia. The first night was great, they went to sleep at around 9 to kick the jetlag. The next night however, the girl was sick and went to bed again, at 9 but the guy stayed out until probably 4 am and made at least two trips into the room between midnight and 4. His capers were quite loud and inconsiderate. If the sound he was making didn’t wake us then the stench of cigarette smoke which surrounded him like a cloud would. The last two nights they kept to fairly normal sleep hours and the noise improved but, to say the least, we were quite exhausted by the time we left.

Despite our roommate situation we both truly enjoyed Barcelona. Our first day was Gaudi day. We started with a tour of Castel Battlo. This amazing little gem of a house made me love Art Nouveau even more. The combination of structure and decoration is just mesmerizing and it is easy to feel at home and in awe at the same time. I heart it, I really do.

 

Gaudi residential façade

Residential view from the back

 

The interior, looking up

 Even the door frames are art

We then had to go on a shoe search and grabbed a quick sandwich from a café before our appointment at La Sagrada Familia. You have to make an appointment for entrance or you don’t get a ticket, it is that popular. This church was/is meant to be Gaudi’s piez d’ resistance, his crowning glory, his pride and joy. Gaudi was a deeply religious man and this is well reflected in his church. Despite the fact that it is still not complete, La Sagrada Familia, is the most stunning church or building I have ever been to. I felt as though I could have stayed there for hours and felt so calm and at peace sitting in the pews. The façade is impressive but it does not even come close to the experience of being inside. I literally almost started crying. The moment of walking into La Sagrada Familia was refreshing and helped me realize that a jaded perspective is often an ignorant one even if the perspective becomes that way from experience. I cannot wait to see this place once it is finished.

 

From afar 

The tree canopy inspired ceiling

Looking towards the altar

The colors,

 

I die,

 

in wonder.

The high provided by Gaudi’s masterpieces slowly diminished into a calm happiness and Jared and I enjoyed a cup of sangria while watching the people on Las Ramblas. We got some food to cook for the evening and watched an episode of Dr. Who at our hostel to end the night.

The following day we took a train to Montserrat and enjoyed some leisurely hiking and some glimpses of the monastery and chapel dedicated to the Virgin of Montserrat. We returned that evening and cooked again to finish the day. Our last full day in Barcelona we visited the Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar, the beach and had every intention of going to the Picasso museum (it is free on Sundays). Our intentions were met with an incredibly long line and so we delayed our enjoyment of Picasso until Malaga, the artist’s hometown.

Hiking path

The chapel of the Virgin

 

La Basilica

Beach!

And Beach! 

Come, on your horse, exit this way.

 

The next morning we were on an EARLY train headed for Madrid and our room rented from a wonderful family!

Paris

We spent four nights in the romance capital of the world, the City of Lights, the absolutely gorgeous Paris! We had a hostel in the Montmarte district and were quite close to the Gare du Nord which made it easy to get around the city. We arrived in the late afternoon/early evening and so we just had enough time to do some laundry and walk around our neighborhood. We picked up some soup and cooked in the shared kitchen for the evening.

The next morning we started bright and early (sorry roommates!) and went to see the most visited paid monument in the world, the Eiffel Tower, of course. We were on the lawn in front of the monument with only another few tourists and the early morning Parisian runners. It was a cloudy day but little could diminish the impact of the famous tower’s silhouette. We were among the first in line to climb to the second story (about 600 steps, NBD.). Walking inside the tower is almost as impressive as seeing it from down below. The raw steel supports from up close make you much more appreciative of the overall monument. There was something special about seeing the innards of the world’s most recognizable city icon.

Had to get this shot

Looking up

 

The silhouette

 

Then it was a walk over to the Arc du Triumph, a quick lunch then a stroll down the Champs d’ Elysess to the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Unfortunately, after lunch it started raining on us. Then, we started fighting because apparently, we are unable to agree on a strategy to walk in the rain with one umbrella and two raincoats. These are the things we fight about these days. Anyway, Notre Dame. Wow. There were signs asking people not to take pictures and, even though lots of others were, we were good little rule followers and did not take pictures. After our tour around the building, I realized that the signs were intended just to keep people from taking pictures in the area of worship. Oh well. We also paid (entrance itself is free) to see the Treasury of Notre Dame. We were under the impression that a remnant of the Crown of Thorns, a nail from the True Cross and other sacred relics were housed inside. This was not the case. The treasures were indeed beautiful and I’m sure most hold great importance for those of the Catholic faith but all of the descriptions were in French only so we were kind of in the dark. Either way, it was all still very beautiful. It was still raining when we left so I didn’t get as many exterior pictures as I wanted. We then walked over to see some quaint little bookshops before heading back to the hostel for some more soup for dinner. It was a long, long day.

It's an Arc! An Arc of Triumph!

 

In all its glory

 

Notre Dame

 

Cute little book shop

 

The next day we had every intent of going to the Musee D’Orsay in the morning and then just wandering around. We thought about getting some wine and cheese for a picnic along the canal and seeing a famous antiques market. However, the rain, oh, the rain. Oh, and sleep. We slept in later than we had intended and so by the time we made it to the Orsay, the line was at least an hour long. We decided to skip it and put it on the agenda for the next day. So, from the Orsay, we walked to the Invalides and then took a peak at an Art Nouveau façade I had scoped out. By then, it was really raining so we ducked into a café for some sustenance. We managed to wait long enough for the rain to stop before we headed on the St. Ouen Antiques market. I had found this recommendation on a website which listed various free things to do in Paris. It did not mention that the market was only open on certain days. Everything was closed. Everything. Well, that sucked. Then we decided to try to find a formagerie to buy some cheese to take to our idyllic canal. We walked about a mile to a place which was…. Closed. So, we tried again. Closed. So, we gave up on the canal picnic (it was supposed to start raining again anyway) and decided to swing by Sacre du Couer and then go to a wine bar by our hostel. Sacre du Couer was beautiful and provided an excellent view of the city. After walking down the many steps, we were off to our wine bar. Another mile to another place that was… closed. Well, we didn’t want any of your French wine and cheese anyway! We settled on grocery store purchases and enjoyed some stinky camberbet with a crusty baguette, olives and a glass of Bourdeaux. Ok, maybe we did want the French wine and cheese. This was not the best day as a tourist and it was made even worse by poor sleep in a dorm room. HOWEVER, we were in Paris. Paris!

Sacre du Cour

From another angle

Consolation prize wine and cheese

Our last full day in Paris became museum day. We actually woke up as early as we intended and were among the first bunch to make into the Orsay aka my most favorite museum. In this museum, there are three different sections dedicated to Art Nouveau. I was like a little Art Nouveau neophile geeking out. There were even three different pieces from my hometown hero, Frank Lloyd Wright. Also a piece from the architect Makintosh who we ‘met’ in Glasgow was on display. I don’t know if these three areas primed me for the rest of the collection but I don’t remember having more of an appreciation of impressionism as I did during the three hours we spent there. Next, we went to a famous French boulangerie and had a quiche and bought some sweet treats to take with us. Unfortunately, we are now 30 so we had to go back to the hostel and take a nap because we had a date with The Louvre at 6 that evening. The Louvre is just overwhelming. It is so huge and you feel like everything in there is worth seeing because well, it is at The Louvre. We had planned 3.5 hours there and, of course, it fell short. We started with Mona because, she is probably the most famous of all. Then, we went our separate ways for the majority of the rest of our time (we also can’t walk in museums together). That evening we walked along the Seine and enjoyed the city of lights at its shiniest hour.

The Louvre pyramid!

The majestic River Seine

We managed to agree on the umbrella arrangement at least for a picture

The next day we left Ol’ Paris and moved on to Barcelona!

Munich Mania

We spent three full days in Munich. What a charming city! While the main attraction was Oktoberfest, arguably the world’s most popular festival, we also got to see a good deal of this European jewel. We toured the main plaza , Marienplatz, and even caught the Rathaus-Glockenspiel while it was going. This is essentially a giant cuckoo clock that consists of 43 bells and 32 life-sized figures.  We saw the Frauenkirche church, one of the most recognized symbols of the city and I have to say one of my favorite displays of stained glass that we have seen yet. The colors were very intriguing and the images were pieced together in a beautiful way. There were traditional biblical scenes mixed with more shape based abstract-type designs. The overall effect was enchanting. To add to the lure of the windows, one of the stories behind the building of the church is that the architect made a deal with the devil to fund the church and the devil’s conditions were that no windows be built. However, the sneaky builder positioned the windows ‘just so’ and from the devil’s viewpoint columns blocked all of the windows. The devil’s footprint still remains from where he stood during this legendary example of trickery. It is true, from where “he” stood, all windows are effectively disguised by columns.

Rathaus-Glockenspiel in action

Marieplatz architecture

Some of the stained glass from the Frauenkirche

 

The Devil's footprint

We also visited Dachau during our time in Munich. This is not only the name of a small village but the name of one of the first concentration camps of the Nazi regime. Being so far removed, both physically and temporally, from WWII and the effects, it is not easy to comprehend the severity of the socio-political situation and the devastation from that time. The experience was a chilling and educational one. The memorials are nice and thoughtful and, for the most part, the tourists were respectful and showed appropriate reverence for the place.

The area of the gas chamber and crematorium

It's hard to tell but all the plots of land are indicators of where the bunkhouses used to be

Of, course, Oktoberfest was the main time-consumer of our trip to Munich. We made it into a (3 different) tents (they often reach capacity) on Thursday night. We also made some German friends. Beyond that, what happens at Oktoberfest, stays at Oktoberfest. Just kidding. It was a lovely festival and the tents are decorated so beautifully and there is music and chanting. It is quite the site to see. On Saturday we returned to the festivities but did not go into a tent. Instead, we walked around and bought a giant sausage, a giant pretzel and people watched for a bit.

This is not the best picture but capturing the decorations is difficult. The wreaths were huge and had lights strung in them. It was very wintry and folksy.

Giant Ferris wheel!

Giant pretzel!

 

Giant sausage!

That sums up our time in Munich pretty well. I very much enjoyed the city and look forward to returning not only to Munich but to see the rest of Germany as well!