SB 2006 Spain and PortugalApr 8, 2006
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on the way to Madrid
...just takin it easy on the night train
night train bunks
Now this is a place I love. It made me wonder why I didn't head out for Spain earlier. The food, the people, and the culture were all perfectly suited to me. Alex and I basically bounced around the country starting off in Madrid and then going off to Lisbon, Portugal for a few days. Coming back to Spain we met a friend (Chris) in Madrid for the Easter processions, and then all of us went down to the coast. We spent a couple days in Marbella taking a couple days to do Sevilla. From there we went to Barcelona were we ended the trip.
Madrid- wow tapas, sangria, plazas galore, and of course the bull fights...Torro! The first place to see in Spain and I loved it. We wandered the streets, sat in the plazas, ate amazing food, and explored every inch of the city. We went to beautiful parks and churches, and then we did the ultimate Spanish event...the bull fight. This was shocking and beautiful.
Lisbon was all hills, cobblestone streets, and tons of stairs! This is no city to wander around aimlessly with a big pack. This city (this trip!) taught me the value of packing light. Lol. Anyway, I almost want to say this is my favorite city thus far. We would spend our days wandering through winding streets, eating yummy food, and taking it easy in the various plazas...oh and the coast! We spent an entire day just exploring the coastal area. There is this fabulous sandwich place right near the famous pastry shop, and across is a beautiful park. We just sat there eating just about the best sandwich i have ever had, snacking on custard pastries sprinkled with powder sugar and cinnamon. YUM!! What a great day of people watching too.
Sevilla- TAPAS TAPAS TAPAS!!! wow is it good and cheap here!!! there are some businesses here that is older than the USA. LOL. this is a shopping and eating town, but there are some good sights, and i love the old town feel which this has.
Marbella, Malaga- this is the brit mecca for holiday I think. All the restaurant and stores cater to the brits. also not having a car is a bad thing, but the condo chris had was nice and the bus was close. We just spent our days here being lazy and enjoying the pool.
Barcelona- LOVED IT! Catalan is a beautifully crazy language. this is a town for shopping during the day and clubbing it at night. they never sleep it seems! We walked around and saw all the modernism buildings, saw Ramblas a million times, and explored father corners of the city. its big, but mellow. I loved it. It's got a Paris feel to it with the architecture, but the people are way laid back. there style and mentality are awesome as well. Ours days were filled with wandering and simply enjoying the city vibe, while nights were finding good bars and clubs. we found some pretty cool places by just wandering and getting lost. Things and places you don't notice during the day. one bar we ended up at was this revolutionary type place. all young people with Spanish punk blasting on the stereo it was a pretty cool place. Another night we found this club with live music and wow were they good!!! i wish i could remember the name of the band. the lead singer was a girl and after the set all the band was hanging out having drinks with us. it was small and intimate...loved it!!
