May 21 - Madrid to Barcelona

We left the bus station in Madrid before midnight. As a big dude I wasn't excited at the cramped conditions, but I figured we'll see how comforable it is to maybe catch some sleep. The idea was to take a night bus to Barcelona instead of a night train because it was roughly half the price. Save on one night's hotel and get to a new place to sightsee in the process. Well, I would have gladly paid to take the dang AVE superfast train during the day instead...but before we get to that story, here's roughly how we traveled that night on the bus:


Too long on a night bus.

We left the bus station and it was amazing to see the bus seem to drive up narrow underground ramps until we finally broke through to the surface streets. About an hour into the ride...well, let me just say it was horrible. The dude in front leaned his seat back, I couldn't get mine to work to give me more room, it was hot and the little air vent was barely poofing out air. We suffered for miles and miles and miles. Thankfully we stopped every two hours and got off at least to stretch, etc. Lisa wanted me to switch seats with her so I'd have the aisle and more legroom, which did make it better but I think it just made it worse for her. Sun starts coming up, and we're just sitting there exhausted ready to get to Barcelona. We finally roll into the first station and just grab our bags and get off. It felt like escaping! Later we were talking about it and both found we had been thinking the same thing...to get off the bus at the next town that had a train station and continuing on in the morning instead of one more minute on the bus. Haha. Yeah, it was the worst decision I'd made in a long time.

Anyways, we get down into the Metro system, make our way to the stop nearest our hotel, and wander the couple blocks to find it. The front of the building is all different than I remember seeing in pictures because of remodeling, but we found it. You buzz the door, go inside and up a narrow winding staircase to the lobby which is on the second floor. The guy, who obviously doesn't know we are just wanting to crash out so bad, tells us that they only have a single (though I requested a double) and to put another bed will be ten euro more a night. By this point we don't care and say yes, just get it ready, etc. So to wait for check in we leave our bags, then go down to the street in front. Barcelona is famous for its "ramblas" which are big wide streets that people can walk down the middle of, if not entirely pedestrian only. We plop down on a bench and watch time pass as people begin setting up the sidewalk cafes for the breakfast crowd, fend off a gypsy beggar lady, and go into one of the cafes and get something to drink and eat. It got to a point on the bench where I was just about to lay down on the ground and go to sleep, when we went in to check on the room, and it was ready. We went to sleep.

That day we figured was pretty much lost because we were so wrecked by the stupid night bus which was supposed to benefit us...haha, we just took it slow. Later on we went to the main plaza a couple blocks away to the big department store El Corte Ingles which had a supermarket. We bought a bunch of stuff, probably more than we needed, checked out the protest here in Barcelona, and went back to the hotel. We were going to go check out Casa Batllo, which is a famous building nearly designed by Antoni Gaudi, but we got there and forgot our student ID cards...so we figured we'd come back tomorrow to get the discount. Instead we went on the metro across to a little hill area named Montjuic where they have this "magic fountain" from the Olympics in 1992. Imagine the Bellagio one but with more movement and color, but not as big. Anyways, Lisa had wanted to see it and so we avoided all the pickpockets and such to make our way over and walked forever around a building to get there...because they had a big car show going on and the main entrance was blocked. Haha, Barcelona was being real crappy to me so far.

Anyways, on to the pictures!


The protestors in Plaça de Catalunya. We saw these all over Spain, mainly a youth movement. Umemployment in Spain is something like 20%, and even worse for younger people, esp. those coming out of university. So, combined with everything going on in the world, they're out there trying to have their say as well.


At the supermarket...some nice octopus! Spanish food is probably 65% seafood, which made it hard sometimes because Lisa won't hardly eat it. It was fun to look at anyway!




The "fuente magica" near Montjuic. You can see a building up on top there which is an art museum.


The street outside our window at night. It looks pretty quiet here, but that is totally misleading. All the cafes below on the street, scooters zipping around like little buzzing bees...made for pretty high street noise well until 3 or 4 in the morning that first night.

With that day pretty much blown, we looked forward to seeing some of the famous architecture in the city the next day.

Toledo - Madrid - May 20th

We got up that Friday morning, repacked our bags, took showers, etc. then checked out of the hotel and made our way back to the train station to head back to Madrid. The plan was to catch a night bus from Madrid to Barcelona and we'd figured we'd check out some stuff in Madrid for the day. Left the train station and stumbled across the block to the more "modern" art museum, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia...haha, what a mouthful. It is famous principally for tourists because of the huge Picasso painting they have, "Guernica". But, we check out some other stuff as well.

We first saw an exhibition by a Japanese artist, Yayoi Kusama. Some of it was really fun and trippy to look at, some just meh, but overall I enjoyed it. Here are a couple pics from her stuff:


Some weird tentacle like pillows looking like they're sprouting from the ground.


One section in her exhibition was a room of mirrors with tons of lights hanging down, and the lights all changed colors back and forth, it was fun.

But we were mainly there for the Picasso, so made our way towards it, seeing some stuff by painters Salvador Dalí, Henri Magritte, Joan Miro, etc. The museum stewards were watching the crowd pretty good, and you were supposed to take pics of the stuff, so don't really have any to show here. This is what it looks like though, just with a lot more people milling around:


Then we rested for a bit in the courtyard of the museum, still recovering from jet lag and just exhausted from walking everywhere. We had stashed our bags for the day at the bus station already, so thankfully didn't have those to haul around all day. From the Reina Sofia we caught a bus a few block north to go to the Hard Rock Cafe in Madrid so Lisa could get her a glass from there to add to her collection, and we had a hamburger and a couple drinks. Then we made our way to the Palacio Real (Royal Palace) to check it out. Sat and people watched in front for a while, just cooling it really.


The main facade of the palace, taken through the gate.


Then we made our way back towards the bus station, first going towards Plaza Mayor, the main square of old Madrid. Stopped at a place and had a couple beers, saw a bunch of people out taking their nightly strolls and eating, etc.


A market stand near the Plaza Mayor in Madrid.


The Casa de la Panadería, finished in 1619, on the north side of the plaza.

I also have a few videos! I forgot about them. The first one is one I took in Toledo from the roof of the hotel, just surveying the scenery:


Here we are sitting and relaxing in front of the Palacio Real, just people watching, etc.


Here is us walking into Plaza Mayor...it is after 9:00PM.


And here is a video of the crowd of protestors a couple blocks over still, at the Puerta del Sol, another main square:


We then left and made our way to the bus station, retrieved our bags and got on the night bus to Barcelona.

Toledo - May 19th

Why Toledo?

Toledo is known as a touristy place, because of its medieval city center. It just looked cool, as once was the capital of Spain before it was moved to Madrid. I figured also because it was so close to Madrid, it would be a good place to start our trip and be able to eaze into it, since it was relatively compact (all the sites are within walking distance of each other more or less).

Toledo probably has had people living there since at least the Bronze Age (3200-600BC), probably because of its natural defenses and location along the Tagus River. The city sits on a hill, surrounded on three sides by the river. In Roman times it was an important city (Toletum) and even today ruins of its Roman days can be seen. After the collapse of Roman authority, the Visigoths established their capital at Toledo around 580AD. The Moors invaded Spain from North Africa conquered most of modern-day Spain in the first years of the 700s. From then it was an important city in the Caliphate of Cordoba which was famous for having Jews, Christians and Muslims all living together. During the Reconquista (Reconquering) it was captured by the King of Castile and Leon in 1085AD.

The city eventually became less important when the capital moved to Madrid, and in later centuries served as a base for scholarship and even housed the infantry academy. It was this garrison that was besieged during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) in a famous standoff between those supporting various causes loosely united behind the Second Spanish Republican and the military garrison at the Alcazar who stood in support of the rebel military coup eventually led by Francisco Franco.


Above, the Alcazar during the siege in 1936, and below from the trip, rebuilt (same side).


So, that's roughly the backstory on Toledo. We started our second full day in Spain with a visit to the cathedral which was only a couple blocks from our hotel. Toledo has been the seat of the Church in Spain since since Visigothic period (ca. 600). They started building it in 1226 and the main gothic part was finished during the reign of Ferdinand and Isabel in 1493.

Huge pic alert!
Facade of the cathedral from the Plaza del Ayuntamiento.


We went to the cathedral store across the street to the right and bought a ticket, then wandered around ourselves inside the cavernous interior. The pics below were sneaked with my iPhone's camera, and made the interior look much brighter than it really was. Seeing things that are hundreds of years old just boggles the mind, you can't even really accept that they are that old.


Looking down the nave towards the altar. The wall in the foreground is the centrally located choir.


Sneaking another pic around a big German tour group of the main altar. So ornate, the picture doesn't even do it justice. To see a huge well-done photo of this click this link: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Catedral_de_Toledo.Altar_Mayor.JPG

After touring the cathedral we hunted down a European converter for my phone charger, ate lunch and rested for a bit, before walking a few blocks to the west to the Iglesia de Santo Tomé (Church of Saint Thomas). This smaller church (one of dozens in Toledo, not to mention all the convents and monasteries) was the parish of El Greco, one of the most famous painters of the era. El Greco lived in the late 16th-century and painted perhaps his most famous work there in 1586-88. Originally from Greece, El Greco (which means "The Greek" in Spanish) lived and painted in Toledo, and was commissioned to paint this portrait of a prominent Toledo count who had died a couple centuries earlier. Right inside the main door, on the right side of the entrance is The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, located above the said count's tomb. It is one of the few works to remain in place where it was painted, and not up in a museum somewhere.


The Burial of the County of Orgaz by El Greco.

Tour groups were starting to clog up the small room, but we did get a few minutes to stand in front and just look at it. The pic here I sneaked doesn't do it justice, so I'll link to a better version: http://www.art-reproductions.net/images/Artists/El-Greco/The-Burial-of-the-Count-of-Orgaz.jpg.

The painting is divided into two sections, a scene of the count's burial below, attended by two saints none-the-less who lower the count into his grave. Above heaven awaits as the soul, looking like a wispy baby, is guided through a tunnel made of clouds of sorts to be born into Heaven with Mary, Jesus on the throne, and all the saints waiting. It was painted during the Reformation, so you'll see a subtle nudge there with Jesus's right hand pointing towards St. Peter in yellow holding the keys to the Church, a symbol of the Papacy. El Greco painted himself into the crowd attending the funeral, the only one staring straight out at the viewer. It was cool to see, and would be the first of many famous masterpieces we would see on the trip.


The altar of Santo Tomé, the church with the El Greco painting.

Afterwards we walked along the southern part of the city, just getting lost and randomly strolling down interesting looking streets. Some streets were not really streets, but mere alleyways some in which you could touch both walls at the same time. Because Toledo is on a hill, it always seems like whatever way you go is always the steepest way up, and not to mention the streets aren't that smooth. They're paved with small rocks, so if one doesn't watch their step they could easily take a nasty spill, especially walking up and down all the hilly streets.


The Tagus River valley on the east side of Toledo, looking north.

We wound our way through the maze of streets to near the Alcazar and found a nice overlook of the river gorge, took a few photos, then wandered back to the main plaza and back to the hotel just checking stuff out. Here is an aerial view of Toledo, you can see how easy it is to get turned around:


For the rest of the day we basically window shopped, got a few souvenirs, got some more food from the market, etc. Just enjoying our time before heading out to Madrid in the morning. Here are a few pics to round up the second day.


A picture of Spanish police in the Plaza de Zocodover for Dusti. A small group of protestors had set up camp next to them, so figured they were there to keep an eye on things. Toledo is relatively small, about 80,000 people...but in Madrid the next night we saw the epicenter of the nationwide protests.


"Productos Tipicos de Toledo", stuff that the area is famous for. In this window you can see all the little marzipans that Toledo is famous for. I bought some almond covered ones called "imperiales" to bring back, mom and I ate them all. I forgot Dusti doesn't like nuts.


In this window you can see some of the famous Spanish hams hanging, and some cheeses...some is manchego, a typical Spanish cheese. Looks like some chorizo too, different than Mexico chorizo.


A meeting of several little streets along the "main drag" in Toledo.

Toledo - May 18th

Big wide picture warning! Scroll right to see it all. Click on the link to see a version with notes telling what is what: http://i.imgur.com/gif0O.jpg


Panoramic scene from the rooftop terrace of our hotel.

After finding the Madrid Metro station at the airport, going into central Madrid to Atocha train station, then taking the train to Toledo we were pretty beat. In our heads and our bodies it feels like 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning, yet we're tromping around trying to buy train tickets, figure out which way is which, etc. Lisa was great in being able to ask random people (lady running the candy store, haha) how to get to the part of the train station that our train to Toledo left from, etc.

The train to Toledo was a very smooth and fast 30 minutes or so, and we fought off sleep the entire way. The train station at Toledo is slightly outside the main old city, and you walk out of the station, catch nearly any of the city buses and grab a ticket and a seat. Many of them go to Plaza de Zocodover, which is Toledo's main square. From there, us two zombies marched towards the cathedral, because from there I figured we could find our hotel (Hotel Santa Isabel, I would wholeheartedly stay there again). After asking a few people we finally made it to the cathedral and then we made it to the hotel, checked in, and immediately crashed! We slept for about 4 hours, until getting up that evening to go eat, get a sense of our surroundings, etc. The panoramic picture above was taking from the roof our our hotel. We went to the supermarket located behind the cathedral and got a few things and had an impromptu picnic up there, just trying to believe that that we finally were in Spain.


Walking towards the cathedral on our way to the market that evening. Cars do travel down these tiny streets, but the cars are pretty tiny themselves.

Also, it was Lisa's 30th birthday! So we celebrated a bit and decided that being in Spain on your 30th birthday was a pretty good memory. (I'll admit that when I picked the date to fly to Spain I didn't realize that we'd be getting there on her birthday, even though I know when her birthday is...just happened to overlook it was all. She said she didn't mind and figured it would make it special.)

The clouds darkened and rain began to fall, so we retreated inside. We finished the night by winding down, checking out a little Spanish TV, then slept like babies.

From Washington D.C. to Toledo, España - May 17th

May 17th, 2011

Our flight was scheduled to leave 5:40PM, so I figured we'd be up in the air by around 6 o'clock in the evening more or less. One never really knows the exact time because airlines pad their scheduled times to help with on-time percentages. In anticipation of having to travel to the airport on public transportation, go through security, etc. we got to the airport a few hours early. The airport is about 30 miles from the center of the city. Here is a little map of the journey to Dulles International Airport.




Plane at gate before boarding began.

Well, after eating a Subway sandwich and waiting for a while, the plane finally began boarding. It was an Aer Lingus Airbus A330-200, which has two seat rows near the window, then four seats in the middle, then two seats again near the other side. Anyways, storms had passed through the DC area about an hour before our scheduled takeoff, delaying planes from taking off. So by the time our plane was loaded and pulling back from the gate, we had to wait a while before being able to take off because of the back log of planes needing to take off because of the thundershower. We finally took off about two hours later. It wasn't so bad because the plane had seat-back entertainment, we could watch movies, tv shows, play games, etc.


On board the plane mid-flight.

The flight over wasn't that bad, even the little microwave hobby kit dinner they served wasn't too bad (or we were just hungry). It's tricky leaving the U.S. on an evening flight to Europe, because by the time you get there it's morning...but at home and to your body it really is only in the wee hours of the night. Our plane finally landed about 9:30 Madrid time, which is 2:30 in the morning to us Texans. We tried to sleep some on the plane, but the best you can do is to really only get a couple hours before it's magically morning again and then you feel lethargic for a couple of days.


Looking out the window of the plane over the Atlantic in the middle of the night.

The sky gradually gets lighter and lighter and before too long a bolt of sunshine cuts through someone's window, and in the gaps of all the clouds you start to see land down there. Our flight path took us nearly entirely over ocean, so besides being dark, there really isn't anything to look at. By the time we started over the coast of Portugal it was light enough to be able to see the land all the way down there.

We finally came down and landed at Madrid-Barajas Airport, which like many airports are several miles outside the center of the city. We waited for everyone to deplane, then made our way through a maze to go through security, hand in our customs form, have them glance at our passport, stamp it, then voila...we were officially in Spain. It was now Wednesday, May 18th.