Mom, Dad: Don't panic, but I think I want to rearrange my life plan just a tad and move to Spain for a few years. Nothing permanent of course, I'll be back before your grand kids come. I just think the Spaniards really know how to live, and I'd like to try out their lifestyle for a tiny while. Never mind I don't speak any Spanish, that's just a minor speed bump really, and I'm quite resourceful. Plus, what better way to learn Spanish than to move to Spain anyway, right?
In all seriousness, our trip to Spain and Portugal was phenomenal. Both countries are absolutely beautiful, with beautiful people, beautiful music, and beautiful food (except tripe soup, but more to come on that minor disaster later). Amanda and I spent thirteen days traveling around Spain and Portugal, and we loved every minute...well almost every minute - never mind that one horrendous overnight bus ride with raging, impatient, furious passengers about to break out in fights periodically throughout the night. Oh, and that other time we missed our bus by mere minutes and had to wait an entire day for the next bus. But really, the rest of our trip was perfect.
We started out in Barcelona, and I think after visiting everywhere else, Barcelona is my favorite. We spent three nights in Barcelona, and just enjoyed exploring the city. We went to the beach and dipped our toes in the Mediterranean Sea, and visited many of the main tourist sites. My favorite tourist site was the Sagrada Familia, which is an incredible church by the famous architect Gaudi. After over 100 years of building, it remains unfinished (that's how intricate and detailed nearly every surface on the church is). Many of his designs might be considered a bit outrageous by US standards, but really his buildings are works of art and very fun to see. We also explored the local markets, drank fresh fruit juice, and bonded with our roommates in our hostel while we sampled the local nightlife. And we shopped. Nothing major of course, we had to carry everything we bought in our backpacks around two countries, multiple bus stations, three airports, and then back to Ireland. But this is me we're talking about, so of course we found time for a little shopping.
After Barcelona, we took the worst bus ride we have ever taken, and finally made it to Granada, although at times we weren't sure we would ever make it. Let me just give you a brief preview of our bus ride...
1. We get on the bus in Barcelona absolutely fine around 6 PM. We each have our own seats, and after about an hour of window gazing, I fall asleep.
2. I wake up to find our bus, and all it's agitated passengers, just sitting in a gas station parking lot on the side of the freeway. Just sitting.
3. I inquire: "how long have we been sitting here?" Amanda replies: "about an hour"
4. I think to myself that this situation is a bit odd, but what can I do, really? I don't speak Spanish, the bus drivers don't speak English, and most people around me seem to be remaining relatively calm.
5. The relatively calm mood in the bus starts to falter.
6. People are beginning to get VERY agitated. After sitting for two hours, I understand why they might be a bit agitated.
7. Said agitated people start to pace the aisles and begin yelling at bus drivers in Spanish.
8. Minor panic ensues.
9. More yelling, more agitation, more pacing, and now there is even face to face yelling.
10. Meanwhile, Amanda and I are worried that we could possibly: a) be somehow injured in a fight we are sure is about to erupt between the very angry elderly man behind me and anyone in his way b) be stuck in this bus on the side of the road for days, months, or even forever maybe c) a very slight possibility, but we could die here, on the side of the highway, in a parking lot, in a bus, in Spain
11. Then we get ahold of ourselves, and we take action. Actually, just Amanda takes action. I continue to sit on the seat and try and read my book in an effort to tune out the yelling and cursing in Spanish happening all around me while Amanda attempts to investigate.
12. Amanda finds out from a very nice woman who speaks some English that we are waiting for somebody who missed our bus.
13. Finally, the other bus arrives. People get on. Amanda and I still have our own seats, and we think we might get away with it until...
14. THEY arrive. They being three homeless, drunk passengers who continue drinking on the bus, popping beer after beer after beer, while simultaneously starting fights with the already agitated elderly passengers around me.
15. This fighting continues for much of the night. As does the drinking. As does the stench from the said passengers.
16. I could go on, but I think you get the picture. Bottom line, we made it to Granada alive.
So, we made it to Granada and settled in to our new place for the next three nights. We enjoyed Granada very much. Granada came highly recommended to us by numerous people, so we had high hopes. Although many stores and shops were closed for Semana Santa (holy week), we still found plenty of things to do. This was probably better for my bank account anyway.
In Granada, we toured the local town, visited the Alhambra, took a free walking tour with Aric, walked up an aqueduct barefoot, met some great people in our hostel, tried and became minorly addicted to Sangria, sampled the local nightlife once again, and even experienced an Arab bath. I had no idea what an Arab bathhouse was before I went to Granada, but after visiting, I highly recommend it to everyone. We got a massage (body scrubs were also available), and then you have two hours to just relax in one of three pools - hot, medium, or cold - the steam room, or hot stones throughout the building. Tea is provided. It was honestly the most relaxing thing I have ever done. After enjoying Granada for three days, we were sad to leave, but excited for our next town.
Ahh wait, I almost forgot about tripe soup! We went to eat tapas one night since Granada was famous for tapas. Sadly, we picked a restuarant where absolutely nobody spoke any English, and we felt bad about leaving, so we stayed. We thought in might be fun to be a bit adventurous and just order random things off the menu that we had no idea about. Unfortunately, one of our random choices was callos a la and. Warning for anybody and everybody: DO NOT ORDER ANYTHING WITH CALLOS IN THE TITLE. Callos translates to tripe. Yikes! (Just a tiny piece of necessary information: tripe is the inside lining of an animal's stomach - in most cases a cows stomach). Whoever came up with this dish must have been crazy. We had, in fact, ordered tripe soup, complete with boiled blood, beans, and of course, yummy tripe. Even the smell was enough to elicit the gag reflex, although we both sampled a tiny spoonful. Never again. Luckily for us, we later had other tapas experiences that were much more enjoyable, so all hope is not lost for tapas. Although all hope is certainly lost for tripe.
So, we hopped back on a bus, and made our way to Lagos, Portugal.
Lagos is a tiny beach town on the Algarve coast of Portugal (very Southern coast of Portugal). We had amazing weather, and spent the next two days relaxing, eating, reading, getting sunburns, and exploring the local beaches. The beaches in Lagos were gorgeous - beautiful, clear water, white sand, and really close red/orange stone cliffs backing up the beach. If I could have a vacation house anywhere, I might build one on the Algarve coast. Our hostel was excellent, and we just enjoyed our time relaxing in the sun, reading and eating - a perfect vacation in my book.The hostel receptionist named Arthur was particularly delightful, and greeted us with a "hello sunshine people, let me see your sunburns."
After Lagos, we took the bus to Lisbon, where we attempted to catch another morning bus to Madrid, but we missed the bus by nine minutes. Unfortunately, the next bus to Madrid wasn't until the night, so we had the entire day to wait, not to mention another dreaded night bus. Fortunately, the ladies who sold us our bus tickets were nice, and they let us keep our backpacks in their office while we set out to explore Lisbon. After some emotional eating, we decided to make the best of our situation, and we enjoyed our day in Lisbon as much as possible. (Mom, just a note - I've been rationing the skittles and starbursts you sent here since they have no candy to even compare in much of Europe, and I had brought along a pack or two of skittles on this trip for dire moments. This was one such moment, and those skittles were very helpful).
After exploring Lisbon, we finally caught our night bus to Madrid. Luckily, this time our bus was normal, and we arrived in due time with no major incidents.
By the time we got to Madrid, we were pretty tired. We probably weren't as adventurous as we could have been, but we did visit some great places, one museum, and went on a walking tour. As usual, I did a little local shopping, although nothing too exciting. We got to Madrid the day after FC Barcelona had played Real Madrid in quite the controversial game, so we heard lots of news about soccer. In anyone was unaware, Spaniards are fairly passionate about their soccer. Then, after two nights in Madrid, we headed back to Ireland. Good to be home, but sort of sad to leave the sun and siestas in Spain.
In other news: the murse (man purse) epidemic rages on in Spain and Portugal. Unfortunately, the murse is not contained to France as I once hoped. I have now accepted that the murse is a must-have accessory for nearly every male over the age of 15 in Europe. I can only hope this hideous phenomenon does not catch on in America. What can a man possible need a murse for anyway? I mean what else does he possibly need besides a wallet, maybe a water bottle, and perhaps a camera if he's feeling a bit touristy? Your guess really is as good as mine.
Anyway, enough for now. Adios.
