Oh no!
Our last blog and we barely have enough money...we had to make a decision: a decent meal or blog post. You should be so lucky that we went this route. Now we're hungry. Feel good about that, blog readers.
Now that we've wasted two minutes, let us say goodbye to Europe. We are leaving in 16 hours and just as the sun has left Madrid, we, too, will be leaving this fine city. It's raining.
The last few days have been interesting. We spent 3 days in Sevilla, enjoying the beautiful parks and exploring the city. We also had a great time melting in 90 degree weather. Thanks, Sevilla. It was a gorgeous city with a mix of old and new. The city felt young, lush, and vibrant. Sevilla also had one of the most picturesque cathedrals ever. We were planning on spending another night couchsurfing, but once we found out the bus to Madrid would take 9 hours, we made a spontaneous decision to hop a night bus. However, nothing went according to plan - theme of this trip. The bus actually would only take 6 hours and would leave from 11pm and arrive at 5am. What? Alex caught swine flu (not really)/a stomach bug and spent the last day suffering through her upset stomach. We sought out a pharmacy, looking for the good American solution of Pepto-Bismal. Yeah right, Spain. Instead, the pharmacy had nothing to offer us. Nothing for upset stomachs. What kind of pharmacy doesn't have medicine for that? Oh yeah, we're in Spain. Without any medicine and still feeling ill, we embarked on our trip. Although Alex almost puked on the bus and on an elderly couple, she managed to make it to the rest stop bathroom to take care of business in the trash can.
Feeling better but with bus sleep (and we all know how great that is), we arrived in Madrid at 5am. We originally planned on getting to the hostel to drop off our luggage and finding who knows what to do at 5am. But when we found the hostel, it wasn't open until we woke up the jefe of the hostel and forced him to let us enter (after an hour of sitting outside, looking like homeless people, and buzzing the doorbell). He informed us that we wouldn't be able to check-in until 1pm but we were able to leave our bags. Faced with 5 hours to kill and fighting sleep deprivation, we went with the familiar: STARBUCKS! We bought some coffee, found some comfy-ish chairs, and settled in for a morning of rest. We slept there for 5 hours. Literally, slept in chairs in the entrance to Starbucks, our sleeping faces greeting all who entered. Why we didn't get kicked out will forever remain a mystery. The barista laughed and waved knowingly when we finally stumbled out. He probably could tell that we were miserable.
After our full day of laying around, doing nothing, we spent the next day seeking out La Plaza de Torros. We were bound and determined to not leave Spain without having seen a bull fight. The bull fight was....just that...a bull fight. There were 6 participating bulls who bravely fought los matadores. As we learned, each bull fight is divided into 3 rounds. In the first round, the "lancing round", the bull would enter the ring and be challenged by 5-6 men with capes who would pretty much just distract the bull until the blindfolded horses came out. Yeah, there are blindfolded horses in a bull fight. The horsemen, called "lancers", would take their gigantic spear and stab the bull in the shoulder muscles. Cue bloodloss. The bulls would get pissed and ram the horses, but don't worry, the horses wore mattress-like padding. In the next round, other men would enter the ring with barbed spears to throw in the bull's shoulders. At this point, the bull is mad. Way mad. Then, the matador enters. Fittingly called the "third of death", the matador kind of toyed with the bull by drawing it closer with the red cape, nearly getting gored himself. The matador gets a big sword and shoves it into its back. At this point, the bull is in rough shape and eventually just falls. The best/worst part (depending on your animal-rights passions), a chariot of horses comes out to drag the bull carcass around the ring to the delight of some people. We saw this happen 4 times before deciding we had enough bull-death for one day.
That's about all the excitement we've had in the last few days. We went to the Prado, but like other art musuems, it wasn't that exciting. You may remember our blog about the Picasso museum and how we had no clue what we were looking at. Well, it was like that but with more crucifiction paintings and odd renditions of Christ. By the way, the lady at the Picasso musuem in Barcelona was wrong: Guernica isn't at the Prado. It's down the road, elsewhere. We never did see Guernica. We bet it was lovely though...
So now here we are. Sick of walking everywhere and excited for vehicles with wheels. It's the small things that we have come to appreciate...free refills, endless amounts of ketchup and ranch, Cap´n Crunch, dollar bills, and English. But we're not Europe-haters. There are plenty of things that we have grown to love...cafe con leche, gelato, cobblestone streets, cheap beer and wine, tapas, amazingly old and gorgeous architecture & cathedrals (America has nothing on Catholic Europe), meeting other travelers and swapping tales of grand adventures, the freedom to do whatever we want aka no jobs, Euro fashion, football - VIVA BARÇA! - seeing world-famous sites, and Italian men. We recognize how lucky and blessed we were to be able to take this kind of trip and have this experience to remember forever. One day, we'll be able to show our kids and grandkids photos of this trip and they can see how cool and young we once were.
We also want to say THANK YOU for reading our blog posts, sending us messages of support, and showing interest in our crazy little adventure. You guys have been great! (Happy Mothers Day!)
We did it! Eurofest 2009 officially concludes here. Pics coming soon!
We send our love and we'll be seeing you very soon.
- Alex + Kirsty = time to beg for food
Editor´s Note: Kirsty will be leaving for Honduras in August. You can follow her travels at http://www.hondurasyear.blogspot.com/. Alex will be in TC - come visit her at the Cherry Stop!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Sunday, May 3, 2009
We found the Entrance Stone... and it's not in Tangier.
It's hard to believe that it is our last day in Málaga, which means only 1 week left in Europe! Sorry we haven't written in so long but we have been pretty busy. Busy at the beach. Oh yeah, and busy exploring Spain and Africa.
We first went to Granada, which is famous for being the last Moorish city to fall to the Christians. It is also known for its tapas scene and its large university. Because of all these different influences, Granada is a young, vibrant hippie town with a funky Islamic vibe. We spent two days there, the first of which we spent exploring the Alhambra. Situated on a gigantic hill overlooking Granada, the Alhambra is a Moorish creation meant to represent paradise on Earth. It's hard to explain but it's pretty much an area with gardens, a fortress (complete with moat), a palace, and lots of reflection pools. It is also full of tourists. We wish everyone could see the hill/mountain that it is on so you could understand the trek we undertook to get there. But it was well worth it to see the intricate details of the Alhambra and the view from the top was exquisite!
Then, it was time for Africa...
We booked a weekend in Tangier, Morocco through a deal that provided us two nights in an amazing 3-star hotel. This detail is important for later in this story. The journey to get to Tangier proved the old addage "It's the journey, not the destination". Because it took FOREVER to get there. A 4-hour bus ride to Tarifa, Spain (which was only supposed to be 3hours, by the way), then a 2 hour ferry (again, only supposed to be 35 minutes), plus a shuttle to the hotel when we thought we were going to get taken. How do you describe Tangier? As soon as we got off the ferry, we were bombarded by this old man trying to get us to stay in his "hotel" and eat at his "restaurant". Yeah right, old man, we're not fooled that easily. Brian Cole taught us that. We narrowly escaped old-man Moroccan and were taken to our hotel. 3-stars in Morocco is very different than 3-stars in the US. It wasn't too bad since we had beds and a hot shower. But our pillows were so stiff they couldn't be folded in half, our toilet paper was pink and didn't flush, and our TV was probably a good 5 inches. There were also lots of flies. But whatever, we loved every minute of it. Except when we decided to walk the 2 miles from our hotel to the medina (the main market street in Tangier). We didn't love every minute then...
During this walk, we were subjected to a level of verbal assault that neither one of us had ever experienced before. It can be described as this: It was as if the city of Tangier provided a monetary reward for every man who made a female tourist feel threatened and scared. Besides the usual cat-calls and cars honking, we also experienced hissing, suggestive phrases (in Arabic, Spanish and English), a car following us down the street to pull over and yell at us, and a man who followed us around. Needless to say, it was an unpleasant situation and we were made to feel objectified and inferior to the men. We also observed that women were virtually nonexistent on the streets. But we learned that it was uncommon for women to leave the house without a companion, usually a man. We quickly learned to take cabs everywhere.
After we took cabs, the harassment lowered to a non-threatening level as we found that the city center was more touristy and welcoming. The medina was lined with colorful stores and cafes. We had the world´s best mint tea and even bartered with the shop owners. It was a unique experience to be in an Islamic country, both for its culture and religion. We heard the call to prayer sang from the mosque towers and saw the vast majority of women covered in veils. So we just consider Tangier a wonderful cultural experience, and are glad we went. Although, for those women thinking of going, we do recommend taking a man with you.
We made it back to Spain with a new appreciation for our liberties as women. The trek back was long but we made a new friend with the awesome name of Jackson Fellows. Shout out to Jax.
A few days later we ventured to Ronda, a little city nestled in the rolling hills of Spain. Ronda is in the book, 1000 Things to See Before You Die, and we saw it! Life WIN! It is in the book because it is one of the "pueblos blancos"/white towns for all you non-Spanish speakers. The houses and buildings are all white washed to keep the citizens cool in the cruel Andalusian summers. Ronda is also really cool because it's situated on two giant hills separated by a enormous ravine. To connect the town, the people of Ronda built a monsterous bridge that stems from the bottom of the ravine. Google it if you can't imagine what we're saying.
We've spent our last days in Málaga by tanning at the beach, watching plenty of soccer games (Viva Barça!), avoiding Mehdi and Mehdi, reading, and trying to speak Spanish. Tomorrow we go to Sevilla for 3 days, then Madrid for 4 days, and then AMERICA!!!!!!!! hell yeah.
We're super excited to be home and look forward to eating American breakfasts, using real condiments like ranch and ketchup, and speaking English to people besides each other. Don't take those things for granted, people.
That's it for us! Hope you are enjoying the beautiful season of Spring and supporting the Red Wings in their quest to win another Stanley Cup (Alex) and/or supporting the Cavs in their quest to win anything for the state of Ohio (Kirsty).
We love you all! Steer clear of the swine flu!!
-Alex + Kirsty = the future Mrs. Guardiola and Mrs. Valdes.
We first went to Granada, which is famous for being the last Moorish city to fall to the Christians. It is also known for its tapas scene and its large university. Because of all these different influences, Granada is a young, vibrant hippie town with a funky Islamic vibe. We spent two days there, the first of which we spent exploring the Alhambra. Situated on a gigantic hill overlooking Granada, the Alhambra is a Moorish creation meant to represent paradise on Earth. It's hard to explain but it's pretty much an area with gardens, a fortress (complete with moat), a palace, and lots of reflection pools. It is also full of tourists. We wish everyone could see the hill/mountain that it is on so you could understand the trek we undertook to get there. But it was well worth it to see the intricate details of the Alhambra and the view from the top was exquisite!
Then, it was time for Africa...
We booked a weekend in Tangier, Morocco through a deal that provided us two nights in an amazing 3-star hotel. This detail is important for later in this story. The journey to get to Tangier proved the old addage "It's the journey, not the destination". Because it took FOREVER to get there. A 4-hour bus ride to Tarifa, Spain (which was only supposed to be 3hours, by the way), then a 2 hour ferry (again, only supposed to be 35 minutes), plus a shuttle to the hotel when we thought we were going to get taken. How do you describe Tangier? As soon as we got off the ferry, we were bombarded by this old man trying to get us to stay in his "hotel" and eat at his "restaurant". Yeah right, old man, we're not fooled that easily. Brian Cole taught us that. We narrowly escaped old-man Moroccan and were taken to our hotel. 3-stars in Morocco is very different than 3-stars in the US. It wasn't too bad since we had beds and a hot shower. But our pillows were so stiff they couldn't be folded in half, our toilet paper was pink and didn't flush, and our TV was probably a good 5 inches. There were also lots of flies. But whatever, we loved every minute of it. Except when we decided to walk the 2 miles from our hotel to the medina (the main market street in Tangier). We didn't love every minute then...
During this walk, we were subjected to a level of verbal assault that neither one of us had ever experienced before. It can be described as this: It was as if the city of Tangier provided a monetary reward for every man who made a female tourist feel threatened and scared. Besides the usual cat-calls and cars honking, we also experienced hissing, suggestive phrases (in Arabic, Spanish and English), a car following us down the street to pull over and yell at us, and a man who followed us around. Needless to say, it was an unpleasant situation and we were made to feel objectified and inferior to the men. We also observed that women were virtually nonexistent on the streets. But we learned that it was uncommon for women to leave the house without a companion, usually a man. We quickly learned to take cabs everywhere.
After we took cabs, the harassment lowered to a non-threatening level as we found that the city center was more touristy and welcoming. The medina was lined with colorful stores and cafes. We had the world´s best mint tea and even bartered with the shop owners. It was a unique experience to be in an Islamic country, both for its culture and religion. We heard the call to prayer sang from the mosque towers and saw the vast majority of women covered in veils. So we just consider Tangier a wonderful cultural experience, and are glad we went. Although, for those women thinking of going, we do recommend taking a man with you.
We made it back to Spain with a new appreciation for our liberties as women. The trek back was long but we made a new friend with the awesome name of Jackson Fellows. Shout out to Jax.
A few days later we ventured to Ronda, a little city nestled in the rolling hills of Spain. Ronda is in the book, 1000 Things to See Before You Die, and we saw it! Life WIN! It is in the book because it is one of the "pueblos blancos"/white towns for all you non-Spanish speakers. The houses and buildings are all white washed to keep the citizens cool in the cruel Andalusian summers. Ronda is also really cool because it's situated on two giant hills separated by a enormous ravine. To connect the town, the people of Ronda built a monsterous bridge that stems from the bottom of the ravine. Google it if you can't imagine what we're saying.
We've spent our last days in Málaga by tanning at the beach, watching plenty of soccer games (Viva Barça!), avoiding Mehdi and Mehdi, reading, and trying to speak Spanish. Tomorrow we go to Sevilla for 3 days, then Madrid for 4 days, and then AMERICA!!!!!!!! hell yeah.
We're super excited to be home and look forward to eating American breakfasts, using real condiments like ranch and ketchup, and speaking English to people besides each other. Don't take those things for granted, people.
That's it for us! Hope you are enjoying the beautiful season of Spring and supporting the Red Wings in their quest to win another Stanley Cup (Alex) and/or supporting the Cavs in their quest to win anything for the state of Ohio (Kirsty).
We love you all! Steer clear of the swine flu!!
-Alex + Kirsty = the future Mrs. Guardiola and Mrs. Valdes.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Finally! Photos!
(Photo1) Giusi, Giulia, Alex and Kirsty.
Enjoying our first meal with the Galimberti's.
(Photo2) From left to right: Giusi, Ausilio, Kirsty and Alex.
Having some gelato in Cremona, Italy.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Poorer and Wiser...and now tanner.
Okay so we suck at doing this whole blog thing. It's been nearly two weeks, and there has been no update! Please forgive us.
Thanks to those who have emailed us asking if we were affected by the earthquake...we are safe and sound. It is horrible to think of all the lives lost in Italy as well as the destruction done to the beautiful city.
There is much to catch up on! After we left Rome, we headed north to the quaint city of Cremona. Alex knows a family that lives there and they kindly opened their home to us. From all the walking in Rome, it was nice to have a place for some much needed R&R, plus many three-course meals. Giusi, the mother, was an expert cook and spoiled us rotten with her mounds of homecooked, Italian delicious-ness. Many of you may not have heard about Cremona, but if you like Stradaveri violins, gelato, and old churches, you should go.
During our time in Cremona, we also had the chance to hop on a train to Venezia! Venice was glorious. As a city on water, it was humorous to see how Venetians managed day-to-day life. There were water taxis, police boats, and even a floating ambulance. Very surreal. Although we got lost many times, one such moment resulted in a seemingly impossible run-in. As we were meandering around the canals, Alex felt a hand grab her and looked up to find Senora Lynch, her high school spanish teacher. Senora Lynch was in Venice on a much-deserved vacation and it seemed almost like fate for us to find her. She even checked up on our Spanish skills, which was sad because we have none.
The theme of this trip has been poorer and wiser, which we are now due to our trip to Venice. First, the train ticket ¨customer service¨ person was very un-customer service like when we sold us tickets for the expensive train, despite our demands for a cheaper train. Then, another ticket person almost sold us tickets to Sulmona when we clearly asked for Cremona. We don't even know where Sulmona is. But we did recognize that it seemed wrong to have to pay triple the price and take four trains and a bus to get back. So we figured out our own route. After basking in our glory for outsmarting the ticket man, we jumped on the train, forgetting to validate our ticket. Let us rant. The law about validating tickets is dumb. It is not well advertised and the validating machines are not well marked. It´s just stupid and easy for tourists to not realize. And that's what happened to us. So when the conducter came around to check tickets, he informed us that ours were not validated, and therefore needed to pay a steep fine. Because of our ignorance (and overwhelming beauty), he only made us pay one fine instead of two. Stupid Italy trains...
So now we're back in Spain! Back to a country that speaks a language we can kind of understand. We are in Malága, which is a little coastal city on the south of Spain. We found a cheap apartment (not owned by Brian Cole) and will be here for a month. Malága is one of the best Spanish cities to celebrate Easter, and is known for their huge parades during Semana Santa. There are floats depicting the Passion and people carrying large crosses. We were surprised to see robed people with conical hats, much resembling the KKK. Scary! We later discovered (right now on Wikipedia) that they are called penitential robes, not related to the KKK.
We look forward to getting to nearby cities and spending time in the sun. We send our love!
Happy Easter!
-Alex + Kirsty = creeped out by the heavy, breathing habits of the man next to us in this cyber cafe.
Thanks to those who have emailed us asking if we were affected by the earthquake...we are safe and sound. It is horrible to think of all the lives lost in Italy as well as the destruction done to the beautiful city.
There is much to catch up on! After we left Rome, we headed north to the quaint city of Cremona. Alex knows a family that lives there and they kindly opened their home to us. From all the walking in Rome, it was nice to have a place for some much needed R&R, plus many three-course meals. Giusi, the mother, was an expert cook and spoiled us rotten with her mounds of homecooked, Italian delicious-ness. Many of you may not have heard about Cremona, but if you like Stradaveri violins, gelato, and old churches, you should go.
During our time in Cremona, we also had the chance to hop on a train to Venezia! Venice was glorious. As a city on water, it was humorous to see how Venetians managed day-to-day life. There were water taxis, police boats, and even a floating ambulance. Very surreal. Although we got lost many times, one such moment resulted in a seemingly impossible run-in. As we were meandering around the canals, Alex felt a hand grab her and looked up to find Senora Lynch, her high school spanish teacher. Senora Lynch was in Venice on a much-deserved vacation and it seemed almost like fate for us to find her. She even checked up on our Spanish skills, which was sad because we have none.
The theme of this trip has been poorer and wiser, which we are now due to our trip to Venice. First, the train ticket ¨customer service¨ person was very un-customer service like when we sold us tickets for the expensive train, despite our demands for a cheaper train. Then, another ticket person almost sold us tickets to Sulmona when we clearly asked for Cremona. We don't even know where Sulmona is. But we did recognize that it seemed wrong to have to pay triple the price and take four trains and a bus to get back. So we figured out our own route. After basking in our glory for outsmarting the ticket man, we jumped on the train, forgetting to validate our ticket. Let us rant. The law about validating tickets is dumb. It is not well advertised and the validating machines are not well marked. It´s just stupid and easy for tourists to not realize. And that's what happened to us. So when the conducter came around to check tickets, he informed us that ours were not validated, and therefore needed to pay a steep fine. Because of our ignorance (and overwhelming beauty), he only made us pay one fine instead of two. Stupid Italy trains...
So now we're back in Spain! Back to a country that speaks a language we can kind of understand. We are in Malága, which is a little coastal city on the south of Spain. We found a cheap apartment (not owned by Brian Cole) and will be here for a month. Malága is one of the best Spanish cities to celebrate Easter, and is known for their huge parades during Semana Santa. There are floats depicting the Passion and people carrying large crosses. We were surprised to see robed people with conical hats, much resembling the KKK. Scary! We later discovered (right now on Wikipedia) that they are called penitential robes, not related to the KKK.
We look forward to getting to nearby cities and spending time in the sun. We send our love!
Happy Easter!
-Alex + Kirsty = creeped out by the heavy, breathing habits of the man next to us in this cyber cafe.
Friday, March 27, 2009
A Note on Italian Food
Unlike Alex, my partner in crime, I have never before traveled to Italy. Because of the incredible culinary experience that I have had over the past three days, I just wanted to write a brief note specifically about Italian food. In short, Italian food is simply the best food that I have ever had in my life and I have spent the last several days of my life in a complete food coma.
Since arriving in Italy (three days ago), I have devoured gnocchi, pesto, ravioli, margherita pizza, pepperoni pizza, cherry gelato, stratchiatella (chocolate chip) gelato, mango gelato, a nutella crepe, and several pastries. Alex has been somewhat more frugal with the food than I have. But a note to anyone who has never been to Italy...come here and eat as much as you possibly can, because it's ridiculously awesome.
That's all.
Much love,
Kirsty = going to have to roll home
Since arriving in Italy (three days ago), I have devoured gnocchi, pesto, ravioli, margherita pizza, pepperoni pizza, cherry gelato, stratchiatella (chocolate chip) gelato, mango gelato, a nutella crepe, and several pastries. Alex has been somewhat more frugal with the food than I have. But a note to anyone who has never been to Italy...come here and eat as much as you possibly can, because it's ridiculously awesome.
That's all.
Much love,
Kirsty = going to have to roll home
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Friends, Romans, Countrymen
We're finally here...
Despite the best efforts of Brian Cole, we made it to Roma! And, oh goodness, Rome is spectacular. Unlike Barcelona, Rome is truly Old Europe.
We arrived in Rome on Tuesday after leaving the villa at the ungodly hour of 6am. Having already been overwhelmed by the unfamiliarity of Madrid and Barcelona, we felt like old pros at navigating a new city. We found our hostel without any major hiccups and were pleasantly surprised to find that we were around the corner from Vatican City. We literally wandered into San Pietro, known to us as St. Peter's Basilica and plaza. The Basilica was larger-than-life and houses many famous sculptures by the great artists Bernini and Michelangelo. After the basilica tour, we attempted to get into the main area of Vatican City, only to be thwarted by the Swiss Guards who informed us that, "The State of Vatican is closed". What does that mean? How can a sovereign nation be closed? We later learned that by "closed", they mean that it is only open to those who pay the 14euro entrance fee, which we will be paying tomorrow (unless we can hop the large brick walls).
The next day we set out to conquer Rome. We trekked across the city to the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps & Piazza di Spagna, the Villa Borghese, and the Piazza del Popolo. While we wish we could go into detail about the amazingness of each sight, we a.) don't want to bore you to death, b.) don't have a lot of time, and c.) will have to show pictures later. But rest assured, that each sight is breathtaking and we spent most of the day in awe.
Today, armed with a Rome guidebook, we tackled ancient Rome. We saw Palazzo Venetia and the Altar to the Nation, the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, and the Colosseum. Wow! We can't even begin to describe how magnificent these historical monuments are. We are both physically and mentally exhausted from spending the day walking the ruins and considering the historical significance.
If anyone is considering coming to Europe, put Rome on the top of your list. It is simply one of a kind.
We send our love! Hope all is well,
-Alex + Kirsty = S.P.Q.R (google it)
Despite the best efforts of Brian Cole, we made it to Roma! And, oh goodness, Rome is spectacular. Unlike Barcelona, Rome is truly Old Europe.
We arrived in Rome on Tuesday after leaving the villa at the ungodly hour of 6am. Having already been overwhelmed by the unfamiliarity of Madrid and Barcelona, we felt like old pros at navigating a new city. We found our hostel without any major hiccups and were pleasantly surprised to find that we were around the corner from Vatican City. We literally wandered into San Pietro, known to us as St. Peter's Basilica and plaza. The Basilica was larger-than-life and houses many famous sculptures by the great artists Bernini and Michelangelo. After the basilica tour, we attempted to get into the main area of Vatican City, only to be thwarted by the Swiss Guards who informed us that, "The State of Vatican is closed". What does that mean? How can a sovereign nation be closed? We later learned that by "closed", they mean that it is only open to those who pay the 14euro entrance fee, which we will be paying tomorrow (unless we can hop the large brick walls).
The next day we set out to conquer Rome. We trekked across the city to the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps & Piazza di Spagna, the Villa Borghese, and the Piazza del Popolo. While we wish we could go into detail about the amazingness of each sight, we a.) don't want to bore you to death, b.) don't have a lot of time, and c.) will have to show pictures later. But rest assured, that each sight is breathtaking and we spent most of the day in awe.
Today, armed with a Rome guidebook, we tackled ancient Rome. We saw Palazzo Venetia and the Altar to the Nation, the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, and the Colosseum. Wow! We can't even begin to describe how magnificent these historical monuments are. We are both physically and mentally exhausted from spending the day walking the ruins and considering the historical significance.
If anyone is considering coming to Europe, put Rome on the top of your list. It is simply one of a kind.
We send our love! Hope all is well,
-Alex + Kirsty = S.P.Q.R (google it)
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Death to Brian Cole
Hi everyone,
We have neared the end of our time in Barcelona! During our last week, we divided the time seeing the final sights in Barca and tanning our pale bodies in the gorgeous Spanish sun.
While in Barcelona, we walked through Barceloneta, a quaint fishing village famous for its cheap paella. That last part was a lie as we scoured the streets for paella that cost less than an arm and a leg. So no paella for us. On another day, we decided to get a bit cultured and visit the Picasso Museum. While we recognize the awesomeness of Picasso and the impact of his work on the art community, we were completely lost. Instead of quietly appreciating the genius of Picasso, we spent the time giggling and poking fun at the art. Needless to say, the security guards were not amused, and sent us many withering looks. We then spent our last day in Barcelona in the same fashion as how we began...with La Sagrada Familia. One of the most famous landmarks in Spain, La Sagrada Familia was designed and partially built by Gaudi until his death. Construction on the project still continues today. The carvings on the church were exquiste and the enormity of the church was overwhelming. We thought that was a perfect way to end our time here, but...
Right now we are supposed to be boarding our plane to go to Rome. One of the joys of traveling, however, is dealing with spontaneous changes of plan. We found someone on Craigslist who we were going to rent an apartment from. He requested that we send the security deposit for the apartment ahead of time, which we agreed to send, since we believed that everything he told us was legitimate. Unfortunately, after we sent the money we didn't hear from the renter for several days. After doing some internet research, we discovered that the renter had been running this very successful scam for a long time; he robbed us and many other travelers as well. Needless to say, we learned an extremely valuable, albeit expensive, lesson about investigating people.
As a result of this scam, we've been forced to change our plans a little bit. We will still be traveling to Rome next week for a brief tour of the Italian capital city. It's a blessing that both of us are flexible and adapt quickly! For now, we are still going to soak in Barcelona and the lovely towns of Montmelo and Monternes for a few more days. We can work on our tan, plan our revenge on the renter/asshole/robber/Brian Cole, and hang out with the people at the villa.
Hope that your lives are less robber-filled, your bank accounts fuller, and your faith in humanity more intact than ours.
We send our love!
- Alex + Kirsty = breakin' kneecaps
We have neared the end of our time in Barcelona! During our last week, we divided the time seeing the final sights in Barca and tanning our pale bodies in the gorgeous Spanish sun.
While in Barcelona, we walked through Barceloneta, a quaint fishing village famous for its cheap paella. That last part was a lie as we scoured the streets for paella that cost less than an arm and a leg. So no paella for us. On another day, we decided to get a bit cultured and visit the Picasso Museum. While we recognize the awesomeness of Picasso and the impact of his work on the art community, we were completely lost. Instead of quietly appreciating the genius of Picasso, we spent the time giggling and poking fun at the art. Needless to say, the security guards were not amused, and sent us many withering looks. We then spent our last day in Barcelona in the same fashion as how we began...with La Sagrada Familia. One of the most famous landmarks in Spain, La Sagrada Familia was designed and partially built by Gaudi until his death. Construction on the project still continues today. The carvings on the church were exquiste and the enormity of the church was overwhelming. We thought that was a perfect way to end our time here, but...
Right now we are supposed to be boarding our plane to go to Rome. One of the joys of traveling, however, is dealing with spontaneous changes of plan. We found someone on Craigslist who we were going to rent an apartment from. He requested that we send the security deposit for the apartment ahead of time, which we agreed to send, since we believed that everything he told us was legitimate. Unfortunately, after we sent the money we didn't hear from the renter for several days. After doing some internet research, we discovered that the renter had been running this very successful scam for a long time; he robbed us and many other travelers as well. Needless to say, we learned an extremely valuable, albeit expensive, lesson about investigating people.
As a result of this scam, we've been forced to change our plans a little bit. We will still be traveling to Rome next week for a brief tour of the Italian capital city. It's a blessing that both of us are flexible and adapt quickly! For now, we are still going to soak in Barcelona and the lovely towns of Montmelo and Monternes for a few more days. We can work on our tan, plan our revenge on the renter/asshole/robber/Brian Cole, and hang out with the people at the villa.
Hope that your lives are less robber-filled, your bank accounts fuller, and your faith in humanity more intact than ours.
We send our love!
- Alex + Kirsty = breakin' kneecaps
Monday, March 9, 2009
Spanish Outlaws
Hola amigos!
After a week of dreary weather (55 degrees and rainy), we finally have some sunshine! Because of this, we have spent much of the last week lounging by the villa pool and the local beach. Now we both are tan (Alex) and sunburned (Kirsty).
However, we haven´t been 100% lazy as we made plenty of time to continue our Barcelona education. We walked through the Cathedral de Barcelona and saw tapestries and sculptures from the 1300´s. It´s hard to conceptualize how old that is when we live in a country that is only a few hundred years old! We also got to climb to the top of the cathedral to see the Barcelona skyline. Unfortunately, we are discovering a pattern in Spain as many of the sights are under construction before the huge summer tourist season. The cathedral was no exception so instead of seeing the gorgeous facades of historic buildings, we are left to use our imaginations as many buildings are covered with scaffolding and construction material.
This past weekend we were able to acquire tickets to see FC Barcelona in action. For those less familiar with soccer/english football, FC Barcelona is the best professional team in Spain. Its stadium, Camp Nou, is the largest in Europe and holds around 98,000 people. The energy in the stadium was amazing and the game was super exciting. Americans don´t exactly appreciate the sport of soccer so it was pretty special to be in a place where everyone feels extremely passionate about the sport. We even got into the spirit by wearing fabulous FC Barça uniforms and joining in the cheers of ¨¡Viva Barça!¨. Who knows? Maybe we´ll even become hooligans!
Speaking of hooligans, we´ve developed a bit of a rebellious streak. Faced with the aforementioned construction and unpredictable train schedules, we´ve taken to a life of crime. We found that it´s both easy and fairly common for Spaniards to avoid paying for trains. Some simply walk through the broken gates without buying a ticket, while others sneak through bushes to get on to the train platform. Sorry parents, but we have done both. Hopefully, we won´t be calling you from a Spanish jail in need of bail money.
On another day of law-breaking, we decided to take a trip to Park Güell which is famous for containing an amazing array of Gaudi´s work. Unfortuately we entered the park from the wrong entrance, and without a map, we found ourselves lost and without a sense of direction. We knew we were supposed to be in a park with people and art, but all we saw were trees and German hikers. We followed said German hikers who led us to another entrance, but were dismayed to find that the entrance was blocked by a huge steel gate and a sign that said something in Spanish, but looked like it meant "Do Not Enter. Under Construction". Undeterred, we got skinny and squeezed and climbed our way through a narrow passage between the fence and a rock wall. We thought we were victorious when we finally saw many tourists and crowded walkways. Too bad we were in a construction area that had been completely fenced in from all directions. We had to squeeze through another fence, this time trying to hide the fact that we were clearly not where we were supposed to be. Oh well, we did it! Park Güell was beautiful and amazing, and it was definitely worth becoming Spanish outlaws to see Gaudi´s art.
We hope everyone is doing well and surviving the end of winter. We send you our love!
- Alex + Kirsty = not arrested (yet)
After a week of dreary weather (55 degrees and rainy), we finally have some sunshine! Because of this, we have spent much of the last week lounging by the villa pool and the local beach. Now we both are tan (Alex) and sunburned (Kirsty).
However, we haven´t been 100% lazy as we made plenty of time to continue our Barcelona education. We walked through the Cathedral de Barcelona and saw tapestries and sculptures from the 1300´s. It´s hard to conceptualize how old that is when we live in a country that is only a few hundred years old! We also got to climb to the top of the cathedral to see the Barcelona skyline. Unfortunately, we are discovering a pattern in Spain as many of the sights are under construction before the huge summer tourist season. The cathedral was no exception so instead of seeing the gorgeous facades of historic buildings, we are left to use our imaginations as many buildings are covered with scaffolding and construction material.
This past weekend we were able to acquire tickets to see FC Barcelona in action. For those less familiar with soccer/english football, FC Barcelona is the best professional team in Spain. Its stadium, Camp Nou, is the largest in Europe and holds around 98,000 people. The energy in the stadium was amazing and the game was super exciting. Americans don´t exactly appreciate the sport of soccer so it was pretty special to be in a place where everyone feels extremely passionate about the sport. We even got into the spirit by wearing fabulous FC Barça uniforms and joining in the cheers of ¨¡Viva Barça!¨. Who knows? Maybe we´ll even become hooligans!
Speaking of hooligans, we´ve developed a bit of a rebellious streak. Faced with the aforementioned construction and unpredictable train schedules, we´ve taken to a life of crime. We found that it´s both easy and fairly common for Spaniards to avoid paying for trains. Some simply walk through the broken gates without buying a ticket, while others sneak through bushes to get on to the train platform. Sorry parents, but we have done both. Hopefully, we won´t be calling you from a Spanish jail in need of bail money.
On another day of law-breaking, we decided to take a trip to Park Güell which is famous for containing an amazing array of Gaudi´s work. Unfortuately we entered the park from the wrong entrance, and without a map, we found ourselves lost and without a sense of direction. We knew we were supposed to be in a park with people and art, but all we saw were trees and German hikers. We followed said German hikers who led us to another entrance, but were dismayed to find that the entrance was blocked by a huge steel gate and a sign that said something in Spanish, but looked like it meant "Do Not Enter. Under Construction". Undeterred, we got skinny and squeezed and climbed our way through a narrow passage between the fence and a rock wall. We thought we were victorious when we finally saw many tourists and crowded walkways. Too bad we were in a construction area that had been completely fenced in from all directions. We had to squeeze through another fence, this time trying to hide the fact that we were clearly not where we were supposed to be. Oh well, we did it! Park Güell was beautiful and amazing, and it was definitely worth becoming Spanish outlaws to see Gaudi´s art.
We hope everyone is doing well and surviving the end of winter. We send you our love!
- Alex + Kirsty = not arrested (yet)
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Barcelona is gigantic.
Hello friends and family!
It has been a bit since we last wrote and we have done so much in the meantime. We are still settling in to our villa but have enjoyed spending more 1-on-1 time with our villamates. One of the people, Greg, is the chef for the villa and has taken us under his wing. We have learned the fine techniques of crushing garlic, chopping onions, and peeling potatoes. Hopefully we graduate from the veggie preparations and can move on to the meats soon. But be thankful that we are learning this great skill so we can someday make food not prepared in the dorm.
One great thing about the villa is it´s proximity to the mountains surrounding Barcelona. After a steep 5-minute walk through the neighborhood, we are immediately connected to trails through the hillside. We have been on two hikes so far. One to a lookout tower overseeing Barcelona and its surrounding villages. The other through the hills and down to a nearby village. Its pretty phenomenal to see the city from this perspective.
We are still getting acclimated to the city of Barcelona. We spent one day wandering through the Gothic Quarter and roaming the narrow cobblestone streets. Another day we made it up into Montjuic, an old district of Barcelona containing many gardens, a castle and the 1992 Olympic Stadium. Unfortunately, we still haven´t found a way to upload pictures but we wish we could show you all the beautiful scenes.
We have discovered one great thing about Barcelona, and Spain in general, is the sunny weather and 75 cent bottles of wine. Hopefully everyone is doing well and managing to stay warm in snowy times.
Miss you and love you all!
- Alex plus kirsty equals spanish language experts.
It has been a bit since we last wrote and we have done so much in the meantime. We are still settling in to our villa but have enjoyed spending more 1-on-1 time with our villamates. One of the people, Greg, is the chef for the villa and has taken us under his wing. We have learned the fine techniques of crushing garlic, chopping onions, and peeling potatoes. Hopefully we graduate from the veggie preparations and can move on to the meats soon. But be thankful that we are learning this great skill so we can someday make food not prepared in the dorm.
One great thing about the villa is it´s proximity to the mountains surrounding Barcelona. After a steep 5-minute walk through the neighborhood, we are immediately connected to trails through the hillside. We have been on two hikes so far. One to a lookout tower overseeing Barcelona and its surrounding villages. The other through the hills and down to a nearby village. Its pretty phenomenal to see the city from this perspective.
We are still getting acclimated to the city of Barcelona. We spent one day wandering through the Gothic Quarter and roaming the narrow cobblestone streets. Another day we made it up into Montjuic, an old district of Barcelona containing many gardens, a castle and the 1992 Olympic Stadium. Unfortunately, we still haven´t found a way to upload pictures but we wish we could show you all the beautiful scenes.
We have discovered one great thing about Barcelona, and Spain in general, is the sunny weather and 75 cent bottles of wine. Hopefully everyone is doing well and managing to stay warm in snowy times.
Miss you and love you all!
- Alex plus kirsty equals spanish language experts.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Hola Barcelona!
After an eight hour bus ride, a train ride, a metro ride, and a car ride, we finally arrived at the No Worries Barcelona villa! Although not 100 percent what we expected, the villa is amazing! We have our own room (really a closet with bunkbeds), a chef, a swimming pool, tennis courts and a fridge full of food and alcohol. The people are great and we´re meeting people from all over the world. The villa can best be described as a colleg co-op with lots of parties and messes to clean up.
We´ve only had one day to explore Barcelona so far. The city is very different than Madrid in that it is an odd mixture of old city, new industry and funky art. It feels like a Spanish version of Orlando, Florida, although our impressions may change with time. We had a bit of an odd moment when we caught a pickpocketer in the midst of his art. Before even coming to Barcelona, we had been warned about 20 times from various people to watch out for pickpocketers and now we have a sense of what we´re up against. Although we aren´t familiar with the city, we´re still really eager to get to know the city that so many people rave about.
Fortunately, we arrived in Spain just in time to experience Carnival. Carnival is a week-long celebration prior to the Lenten season...like an extended Mardi Gras. With our pals from the villa, we took a train down to Sitges, a cute resort town south of Barcelona on the Meditterrean (forgive our spelling...we´re on a time limit!). Because it is known as the biggest Carnival party in Spain, we decided to go all out for our time in Sitges. Dressed in mismatched clothes and bright colors, we hardly compared to the amazing costumes and floats that we saw in the parade. It was definitely an all-night party.
We´re at an internet cafe with expiring time so we must head out!
Miss you all and we send our love,
Alex + Kirsty = 30 seconds left. bye!
We´ve only had one day to explore Barcelona so far. The city is very different than Madrid in that it is an odd mixture of old city, new industry and funky art. It feels like a Spanish version of Orlando, Florida, although our impressions may change with time. We had a bit of an odd moment when we caught a pickpocketer in the midst of his art. Before even coming to Barcelona, we had been warned about 20 times from various people to watch out for pickpocketers and now we have a sense of what we´re up against. Although we aren´t familiar with the city, we´re still really eager to get to know the city that so many people rave about.
Fortunately, we arrived in Spain just in time to experience Carnival. Carnival is a week-long celebration prior to the Lenten season...like an extended Mardi Gras. With our pals from the villa, we took a train down to Sitges, a cute resort town south of Barcelona on the Meditterrean (forgive our spelling...we´re on a time limit!). Because it is known as the biggest Carnival party in Spain, we decided to go all out for our time in Sitges. Dressed in mismatched clothes and bright colors, we hardly compared to the amazing costumes and floats that we saw in the parade. It was definitely an all-night party.
We´re at an internet cafe with expiring time so we must head out!
Miss you all and we send our love,
Alex + Kirsty = 30 seconds left. bye!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Lessons in Madrid
Another day in Madrid, and another day filled with lessons about travel. Number 1: Don´t piss off the local tour guides. We went to go on this free walking tour of the city but it was interrupted when the tour guide union reps interrupted with brochures detailing the illegal activities of said free tour. Apparently, the free tours are not official tours in Madrid so therefore the tour guides aren´t legitimate and aren´t supported by the city or the union. After some heated exchanges between the guide of the free tour and the official guides, we decided to support the union and leave. It was disappointing to not get the tour we had looked forward to but we felt like we needed to support the cause of the tour guides.
We decided to continue on the way and explore on our own. Lesson number 2: Always zip your purse & watch out for packs of women. As we were walking towards the next destination, I (alex) observed a woman standing ridiculously close, right behind us. I then saw the woman had her hand on Kirsty´s purse. At this point, I pulled Kirsty away and the woman walked away with her posse of two other women. We were both in shock at what had just happened. Luckily for the gang of the purse-snatching bitches, we were too shocked to yell or hit them. And it was probably for the best because we would have started an all-out brawl. More than just that, it was very very fortunate that Kirsty had her purse all zipped up or else it could have been bad news. From that point on, we made sure to ALWAYS have our purses zipped and made sure to both watch out for one another while keeping an eye out for potential thieves. We made sure to follow through on this lesson when we wanted to get our picture taken in front of a lovely fountain. We watched for potential photographers and decided our safest bet was two elderly women who wouldn´t be able to run off with our cameras. Yet, they were also unable to handle technology and while taking the photo, cut both of our heads out of the photograph. Oh well!
Finally, we ended our day in the central park in Madrid. Lesson number 3: Never turn down a boat ride for 5 euros. We rented a cute little boat and paddled our way through the pond/lake. It was a lovely day and we didn´t get robbed. Mission accomplished.
Hope all of you are surviving the cold and the snow.
Much love,
- alex + kirsty = sunburned
We decided to continue on the way and explore on our own. Lesson number 2: Always zip your purse & watch out for packs of women. As we were walking towards the next destination, I (alex) observed a woman standing ridiculously close, right behind us. I then saw the woman had her hand on Kirsty´s purse. At this point, I pulled Kirsty away and the woman walked away with her posse of two other women. We were both in shock at what had just happened. Luckily for the gang of the purse-snatching bitches, we were too shocked to yell or hit them. And it was probably for the best because we would have started an all-out brawl. More than just that, it was very very fortunate that Kirsty had her purse all zipped up or else it could have been bad news. From that point on, we made sure to ALWAYS have our purses zipped and made sure to both watch out for one another while keeping an eye out for potential thieves. We made sure to follow through on this lesson when we wanted to get our picture taken in front of a lovely fountain. We watched for potential photographers and decided our safest bet was two elderly women who wouldn´t be able to run off with our cameras. Yet, they were also unable to handle technology and while taking the photo, cut both of our heads out of the photograph. Oh well!
Finally, we ended our day in the central park in Madrid. Lesson number 3: Never turn down a boat ride for 5 euros. We rented a cute little boat and paddled our way through the pond/lake. It was a lovely day and we didn´t get robbed. Mission accomplished.
Hope all of you are surviving the cold and the snow.
Much love,
- alex + kirsty = sunburned
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
We made it!
So after a long journey, we finally have arrived in Madrid. The flight was fairly painless and easy - we didn´t even have to go through customs! We were so excited about arriving that we forgot to pick up our bags and were surprised to find that we had left the main, secure part of the airport and were on our way out the door. We finally had to enter through the DO NOT ENTER, AIRPORT PERSONNEL ONLY doors. Unlike in an American airport, no one wondered what we were doing when we entered in through an illegal doorway, not even the police officer standing by. But eventually we found our bags!
Madrid is a bit chillier than we expected, but it is better than the cold Midwest. We are quickly adapting to Spanish life, even though we had a few moments of utter confusion. The language barrier is still very much a barrier, but our old Spanish language education is slowly coming back. We now are comfortable saying, ¨Hola. Como estas?¨and ¨La cuenta, por favor¨. However, we are still unsure about the Spanish pronuciation of the letter ¨S¨. When do we add a lisp? When is the lisp inappropriate? All good questions.
There have been some ups and some downs. The hostel is different than what we expected. Not so clean, a bit stinky and we have a male roommate who we only have seen when he stumbled into the room at 5AM. Additionally, we´re having some technical issues because the promised wireless internet isn´t functional and we can´t figure out how to make calls to the US. However, we are having a great time exploring the city! We don´t really know where we are going but it´s been really fun to wander. On one such excursion, we found this huge cathedral and as we were walking through the interior, we found 60 euros on the floor. After debating what was the ethical thing to do, we decided that we would donate 10 euros to the church and be on our merry way with the rest of the money. God loves us!
Tomorrow we plan on taking a free walking tour of the city and then getting a delicious lunch of spanish ham/jamon. Two more days in Madrid and then off to Barcelona!
Love you all,
- Alex + Kirsty = 50 euros richer
Madrid is a bit chillier than we expected, but it is better than the cold Midwest. We are quickly adapting to Spanish life, even though we had a few moments of utter confusion. The language barrier is still very much a barrier, but our old Spanish language education is slowly coming back. We now are comfortable saying, ¨Hola. Como estas?¨and ¨La cuenta, por favor¨. However, we are still unsure about the Spanish pronuciation of the letter ¨S¨. When do we add a lisp? When is the lisp inappropriate? All good questions.
There have been some ups and some downs. The hostel is different than what we expected. Not so clean, a bit stinky and we have a male roommate who we only have seen when he stumbled into the room at 5AM. Additionally, we´re having some technical issues because the promised wireless internet isn´t functional and we can´t figure out how to make calls to the US. However, we are having a great time exploring the city! We don´t really know where we are going but it´s been really fun to wander. On one such excursion, we found this huge cathedral and as we were walking through the interior, we found 60 euros on the floor. After debating what was the ethical thing to do, we decided that we would donate 10 euros to the church and be on our merry way with the rest of the money. God loves us!
Tomorrow we plan on taking a free walking tour of the city and then getting a delicious lunch of spanish ham/jamon. Two more days in Madrid and then off to Barcelona!
Love you all,
- Alex + Kirsty = 50 euros richer
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
11 Days and Counting...
Hi! I'm Kirsty, world traveler #2. I don't think I'm quite as inspired as Alex to tell my life history here, (I've been continually teasing Alex about the length of her first post) but I'm so excited about our trip, which is starting in eleven days! We're leaving February 16th from Detroit and have a layover in Germany. Unfortunately we probably won't have enough time to leave the airport, but we can look out a window and admire the country! Maybe we will also have the chance to enjoy some overpriced German airport food. :) We'll arrive in Madrid on the 17th.
We're spending our first three nights in a hostel in Madrid, and then we'll make our way over to Barcelona- I'm just thinking now that we should probably figure out how we're going to travel from Madrid to Barcelona before we leave the US- to our first stop: the No Worries Villa. Sounds awesome, right?! I think I attached the link on here, I still have to figure out how this blog stuff works.
http://www.noworries-barcelona.com
Anyway, it should be a great adventure, and I know Alex and I are both so excited! We are very privileged to have the opportunity (and the supportive parents) to just be able to drop everything and travel for a few months.
If anyone has any suggestions of places to visit or things to see, please email us or leave a comment here and let us know! It's fun being able to share our experiences with our family and friends.
We're going to Europe in 11 days!!!!!!!! I'm so excited :)
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