Spain. We are in Spain.
This is a country we have been anticipating. People we have talked to about Spain have said that when they were traveling, once they got to Spain they stayed for awhile.
It is a beautiful country (reminds a lot of California...) and the history and architecture is fascinating. But, you know what I'm thinking about? We only have ten nights left to book for the rest of our trip. A few days ago, Matt said, "Next month we'll be home." The number of pictures we take has decreased. And, though we have no idea where we will end up next Fall, I've looked at apartments on Craigslist.
We're looking forward to being home.
So, while Spain is amazing, I feel like it's a bit blurry in the memory as I have started shifting my focus to cooking dinner in our own kitchen. And having consistent access to a washer and dryer. We are going to smell so good in a few months! And I'm getting a real haircut. I can't wait for that hair cut. I may even start shampooing my hair more consistently to celebrate that.
Alright, I just revealed a lot about our hygiene. Maybe too much.
Anyways, I should talk about Spain. There was a lot to see in Spain. We think we would like to come back someday and see it more slowly. But for now, we spent 2-3 nights in each city and saw what we could. If we have a TV, we see a little bit less.
Way back in Mongolia (that is kind of weird to write) we met two Spaniards. They were pretty excited to give us tips about Spain. In fact, they created a spreadsheet of towns to visit, what to see/do there, what to eat there and a 1-5 star rating. Matt was super impressed. Obviously, that spreadsheet was a guiding light for us.
So, here is Spain:
First, we started in Segovia. You are welcomed by a huge Roman Aqueduct crossing the town. The cathedral and Alcazar (castle) are beautiful and the local meal is roasted suckling pig. Piglet is pretty good, but it doesn't really get served until 8:30 at the earliest, which meant we were paying our bill after our bedtime. Which is hard for us.
From there we went to Toledo. It sort of felt like a larger version of Segovia. I think I liked Segovia, the town better. Although, Toledo had beautiful jewelry and delicious meat, generally covered in Roquefort cheese. So, incredible.
Oh, this is also where Matt got a cold (maybe that's part of why Spain feels a bit blurry).
From Toledo, we spent a quick night in Madrid, then headed to Barcelona.
Barcelona is interesting. We basically spent our time chasing after Gaudi buildings. To be honest, I wasn't so into Gaudi at first. His style is bizarre. However, it becomes interesting. He was so influenced by nature and you can really see that. He was obviously a genius and about 100 steps ahead of everyone else; what he created was quite beautiful.
Matt was so excited to see Gaudi architecture. Probably one genius recognizing another. At one point we were standing in front of Segrada Familia and as Matt looked at the details, he just smiled, shook his head and said "Oh, Gaudi," like he was appreciating the eccentricities of a dear friend. It was so cute, maybe that was when I got a little more interested in Gaudi.
The cathedral of Segrada Familia was exquisite. Inside the columns are designed to be like trees in a forest. The stained glass windows flooded the space with rainbow light. I had to sit and take it in a bit, but the more I saw and learned, the more I really liked it. It's not complete yet, they are still building it.
We also visited a private estate designed by Gaudi. And though there were strange elements, it was also just stunning and full of light.
Then, we left Gaudi behind and flew to Lisbon, Portugal (which I think received 6 stars on the Spaniards' spreadsheet).
We splurged on a nice apartment here and kind of moved in. It's a beautiful city, built on hills. The view from our kitchen reminded me of San Francisco.
We spent one of our days taking the train to Sintra. Sintra is full of castles, palaces and monasteries. It is perched at the western-most point of Europe. Someone historical and famous described it as where "the land ends and the sea begins," so a coastline.
We took a bus out to the beach and hiked down to enjoy the sun. Some people hiked down and let their WHOLE bodies enjoy the sun. I once listened to a comedian tell a story about his family coming upon a nudist colony and his mother kept referring to the nudies, which kind of cracked me up. I was thinking it was a lot of work to get to that beach, so those nudies were determined. But now that I think about it, I guess nudies would choose a beach that isn't particularly easily accessible. Anyways, we found them. But, we're too American for that, so now I have tan lines.
The coastline was beautiful. It was really nice and warm on the beach. Matt explored and took some amazing pictures; I napped. Where the land ends and the sea begins is a lovely spot.
We spent the rest of the afternoon at a castle on a large estate. I believe it was one of the last castles of the Portuguese monarchy. It is bright and colorful and as we walked, we both felt like "It's a Small World," should start playing. It felt like Disneyland.
It was fun to walk around. After we walked through the castle we headed into the park surrounding the castle. There are a lot of paths and the map kind of follows them. We were trying to get to the other side, but it was near closing time, so it was a little intense. Finally, we came to the other side and found the sweet chalet the last queen built. She had been a German-American opera singer and the widowed king fell in love with her when he saw her perform. They built the chalet and cultivated a farm just below the castle. When he died, the queen nearly lost her home, but was eventually allowed to stay, although she only stayed a few more years. They are having to restore the chalet now.
We made it out of the park before the gates were locked and left Lisbon the next morning.
From there, we had some long bus and train rides. We had one night in Sevilla, where we didn't do anything.
Then we went to Granada. We had a couple nights there, mostly to see the Alhambra. The whole town is a neat place. We walked around a bit and admired the views. We enjoyed tapas, and a drink that is just red wine and sprite, so simple and so good. You can just buy a drink, then you get tapas with it. It's pretty fun to eat out in Granada.
There are caves in the hills above the Alhambra. They were used by gypsies and now serve as small theaters for Flamenco shows. We went to one and it was just wild. That dancing is crazy. We really enjoyed that show.
On our last day, we had reserved tickets to the Alhambra. It was a bit tight, but we wandered through all the various gardens and castles, then at our specific time, we went to the Palace. It was ornate and quite impressive.
After that we had to race down to the bus station so we could get to Tarifa. Tarifa seemed like a cute city, it was very windy and much cooler than I expected. I believe it's a popular place for kite surfing and windsurfing.
We were there for just a quick night. As we looked across the water, we could see the land just 8 km away. Africa. Morocco was waiting for us.
Spain is a great country, but I think we kind of raced through it, both physically and emotionally. In some ways it's that 7th week in the quarter; the week where you skip classes because you're over it. Or the point in the family outting where tears have been shed and you just need to get back to the car. For us, we didn't feel the pull to stop and start teaching English just so we could stay. We enjoyed it, but we're on the countdown. And that's ok with me.
