Ordered Chaos

Well, first of all, Chris and I apologize for being total slackers on the blog. Once we left Spain, it became increasingly hard to find an internet cafe with a reasonable price AND that had a semi-fast computer. Now that we’re home, we’ll try to fill in the blanks on the second half of our journey. . .

When we arrived in Madrid, both Chris and I were craving something healthy to eat, so we looked in our trusty Rick Steves guidebook for a vegetarian restaurant. Lo and behold, we found one right near our hostel with delicious food. By no means was it “Spanish” food, but this may have been the first time on our trip that we both felt full. After lunch, we decided to take a walk and explore the sites. We walked from Puerta del Sol (the architectural center of the city) to Plaza Mayor (the social and cultural center of the city). Our trip led us to a convent known for its sweet treats. In order to get said desserts, you were supposed to ring the bell, say “dolces!” (“sweets!), and someone would let you in. From there, you walk to a small, covered window above a lazy susan and request the sweet of your choice. Then, like magic, the lazy susan starts spinning, and a treat appears! The lazy susan is there to “hide” the appearance of the nuns so that they never expose their faces to the public. Unfortunately, Chris and I showed up on a day that they were not selling any treats.

After walking a little bit more, we ended up in front of the Palacio Real, or Royal Palace. This is the official residence of the Royal Family of Spain, but the current royal family has actually chosen to live in a smaller palace (how modest!). Nonetheless, this Palace is still used for royal functions (meetings, dinners, etc.). There were even red carpets rolled up along the sides of the rooms that could easily be unrolled when a royal event was to take place. The inside was immense, gilded from top to bottom. There were rooms for everything: one for the china and another for the silverwear.

After our walk, we headed back to our hostel for a little siesta. That evening, we decided to have an unconventional dinner: the tapas crawl. We headed to our first bar for a tapas (olives) and glass of wine. At our next stop, we dined on grilled peppers, and for our final stop–pigs’ ears and chorizo. The next logical things for me to talk about were those pigs’ ears. Lets just say this might have been the only dish on our European adventure that did not get finished.

The next morning, was spent holed up in a laundromat/internet cafe. At this point in our trip (about the halfway mark), we really needed a real washing machine to get the stink out. We also needed a dryer to shrink our clothes back to size as well. Up until this point, we had hand-washed all of our clothes. I think we had a little skip in our step carrying that backpack full of clean clothes back to our hostel.

We spent the afternoon at the Museo del Prado, quite possibly the finest collection of European art anywhere. We rented an audioguide to help us along to make sure we got the most out of our experience. We saw El Greco’s, Goya’s, Ruben’s, Titian’s, Rembrandt’s and Boticelli’s among others. I think that the highlight for both of us was seeing Diego Velazquez’s Las Meninas:

Besides the fact that it is an unbelievable picture with a great story, this was also meaningful to us because we had already seen Picasso’s interpretation of this painting when we were in Barcelona:

Anyway, we spent over four hours in the museum, only seeing about 60% of the art. To say it was overwhelming would be an understatement.

Since we were so (mentally) exhausted from the Prado, that evening we decided to have another picnic in our hostel. We did our usual picnic meal: wine, a baguette, jamon and cheese.

The next morning, we went on a day trip to Toledo, the former capitol of Spain. Another Spanish city with a lot of Moorish/Muslim influence, the first thing we noticed when we arrived was the wall surrounding the entire city. We first visited the Cathedral, impressive for it’s atypical skylight, El Transparente. Back in the day, the parishioners of the church decided that the church itself was too dark inside. To solve the problem, a giant hole was torn through the ceiling, and a cascading mural of marble and stucco was built around it to soften the appearance. What resulted was a stunning 3D masterpiece of angels, prophets heralding in the natural sunlight.

After the cathedral, we walked around town, grabbed a bite to eat (venison and apricot skewers and a Mediterranean sandwich) and then topped it off with Toledo’s famous marzipan candies. We then caught the next bus back to Madrid. Our last evening in Madrid (and Spain) was spent over a nice dinner of artichokes, swordfish, shrimp and wine. We mentally prepared ourselves for the next leg of our trip, Italy. The next morning, we travelled to the Madrid airport and boarded a plane to Venice, Italy!

Also, there are more pictures from Madrid and Toledo in the post below!

Okay, I’m not really going to write about all of those (in detail) here, but that’s where we’ve been since we last posted.  Here they are in a nutshell, though:

Madrid Busy metropolis of hard-core city-lovers (most of whom smoke), and quite the array of “ladies of the night”.  That being said, the Prado Museum was absolutely amazing – we spent an exhausting 4 hours there, but saw arguably some of the greatest artwork of all time.

Toledo Rich in history and hills, this day trip from Madrid was a nice retreat from the city.  As the former capitol of Spain, its fortress-style city walls still house 10% of the city’s population.

Venice This picturesque and charming city, though swarming with tourists, has a way of capturing the heart.  Their public transportation system floats tourists and residents around town via an abundant system of canals.  St. Mark’s Basilica was a gem, and our live demo of glass blowing proved to us that a glass lemon can, indeed, be quickly melted and shaped into a cat…crazy!!

Cinque Terre These five villages sit quietly along the Italian Riviera and serve as popular vacation spots for Italians.  We racked up quite a few miles on the shoes with our hikes between the towns.  Though sometimes a bit dangerous, they were worth the rewards of phenomenal views.  Ordering anything but seafood in these towns is slightly criminal.

Lucca Ahh, the family homeland to the Ramacciottis.  Our trip there today was slightly disappointing due to the fact that today is the Italian independence day, and city offices are closed.  With hopes of looking up the family name, we’ll return via train sometime in the next couple days.

Florence We’re here!!  This city is beautiful and is somewhat of an citywide sculpture exhibit.  More to come, and hopefully we’ll expand these blurbs soon with pictures (we currently have over 1500).

Be sure to check out pics in the road trip post!

Our road trip through Andalucia and the white hill towns came to a close with a congested drive to the Sevilla airport.  We figured that, by dropping the car at the airport a opposed to the city center, we could avoid the uber-congestion and narrow streets of the city center.  Unfortunately, the absence of the congested city center was replaced by a malfunctioning gas gauge which led to two back-to-back fill ups on consecutive highway exits.  Even then we had to convince the car rental employees that our tank was, indeed, full.

Although our car-dropping experience was quickly followed by a sweaty, crowded bus into the city, eventually we were on foot again to our next hostel.  With a superman-like change of clothes and a quick wash-cloth shower, we found a street-side restaurant with outdoor seating.  Although we didn’t expect greatness, the food fell far short of our low expectations.

Full from tripe & squid (and will somebody please tell me what tripe is?!), we meandered the botanical gardens and old-town Sevilla.  We’ve found that one of the best ways to acquaint ourselves with a new city is by getting lost in it, so we did just that.  Similar to the other Spanis cities we’ve visited, the streets are too narrow for cars (though they stil drive on them), and the plazas are lined with orange trees.  Unique to Sevilla, though, is the flamenco and bullfighting culture, showing its face in both decor and dress.

Our evening further progressed to Bodega Morales for tapas of pork tenderloin sandwiches and spicy chorizo (sausage).  We sat amongst a huge crowd of Spanish patrons, wine barrels, and a littered floor…which, by the way, is apparently one sign of a good tapas bar.  After paying the bill, we raised our umbrellas and saluted the pooring rain, all the way to a bar for sangria and impromptu flamenco dances.  Sevilla is the capitol of flamenco dance & music, and this was the first of two (very different) experiences we’d have during our stay.

The next morning, of course after our cafe con leche, we explored the less-touristy area of Triana, across the Guadalquivir River.  Of course, hunger soon set in, and we pulled over to a street-side stand specializing in grilled sardines.  Living as Sevillanos, we ordered our plate, along with a tapa of olives, and began devouring the spread of six whole sardines without utensils.  As disgusting as it sounds, they were actually quite delicious!

The evening’s highlight was the flamenco show, for which we had already purchased tickets.  It was absolutely phenomenal, and though we had high expectations, they were far exceeded by the performances of the musicians & dancers.  It would be impossible to fully describe the experience in a way that truly captures its nature.  The highly skilled art form appears to run like blood through their veins, and it’s as if they are one with the music.

Sufficiently awe-struck and hungry, we hit up another tapas bar for shrimp salad, carne asada sandwiches, and a tuna steak.  That capped off an evening of Spanish perfection, so we ended our day there.

The following morning, we fueled up with churros con chocolate for our trip to the Alcazar.  Much of what we’ve seen has included Moorish architecture built by Moors themselves, but interestingly enough, this palace was in fact built by a Christian king in the Moorish style.  This king even went as far as to include scripts from the Quran on his walls.  Although not quite as stunning as the Alhambra in Granada, it was still worth the visit.

Following our visit to the Alcazar and some good eats, we headed to the Santa Maria de la Sede Cathedral.  This is the largest gothic cathedral in the world, and there is even a copy of the letter from the Guiness Book of World Records displayed to cast away any tourists’ doubts.  Even though it was closed for tours, we were able to walk around part of the cathedral and catch some major highlights.  Unbelievable!

For our last night in Sevilla, we decided on an indoor picnic in our room and plan the next leg of our journey.  On to Madrid!

Last Wednesday, after picking up our sizeable Kia Picanto, we headed off to our next destination: Nerja.  We picked this place by little more than shutting our eyes and dropping a finger on our map.  Turns out, Nerja was absolutely beautiful!  Though it took some creative, clueless tourist loops around and through the city, we finally found the underground parking we were looking for.  I now bear the nickname Clark “Sparky” Griswold.   With a quick change into our swimsuits, we headed for the beach…and some good eats.

Upon reaching the beach, we were but a ten minute walk from the all-you-can-eat paella joint, Ayo.  There we enjoyed some seafood paella and a pitcher of sangria.   Oh, the view wasn’t bad, either.  From about 18 inches off the beach, the sea was in full view.  After settling our cuenta  (bill), we strolled along the coarse sandy beach and dipped our feet in the quite-cold Mediterranean before heading back to our car to yet our next destination: Cartajima.

During the leg of our journey that included the coastal highway, we could see Gibraltar in the distance, and of course the sea in always mesmorizing.  Later on down the road, after heading north toward Cartajima, we came upon quite the winding road, with a speed limit of 60…that’s kilometers per hour, not mph mind you, but with the pile of experienced windy-road-drivers behind me, you’d think they’d expect me to go 100mph.  We were passed more times than I care to remember, but we sure enjoyed our drive through the Sierra de Grazalema mountains.

That brings us to our next destination: Cartajima.  Upon arrival to this village, we were sure about only one thing – we were in the middle of freaking nowhere.  When we walked up to our hostel, we were greeted by two British chaps, Pete & Botz, that we can only describe as forever bachelors, whose lifelong dream was to live out the rest of their lives on the Mediterranean.  Their service was top notch, and second only to the food – prepared by the chef of the two, Botz.  For the first time in a couple weeks, we were stuffed with healthy grub, and in American-sized portions.

After the best night of sleep I’ve had in about 7 years, the next morning we hiked about 6 miles to a nearby town via mountain trails…and back.  Quite the workout for a couple vacationers!  Next on our agenda was the city of Ronda, about a twenty minute drive from Cartajima.  The high point of this city was its extraordinary bridge traversing the Tajo ravine.  It connects the old Moorish town to the new town, and stands a nauseating 360 feet tall and 200 feet wide.

We also explored the town, had some delicious dessert, and did a little shopping.  Since we had to be back in time for dinner with the Brits and their international friends, we made our way back to Cartajima for the evening.  Overall, this leg of the trip was quite enjoyable and relaxing.  This would prove to be much needed as our next stop at Sevilla would require a good pair of party shoes…or Teva sandals in our case.

With our first European destination checked off, we arrived in Valencia after a 3 hour train ride. Emerging from the train station we were filled with the notion that this would be a much different experience than Barcelona. Valencia seems more open, cleaner, and its citizens – and tourists – are dressed in ridiculously nice clothes.

I´m going to be a little less wordy with Valencia, and just hit a couple high points. With not much on our agenda, everything happened by chance. First, in walking through Plaza de la Reina, we happened upon the Valencian soccer team parading through the plaza bearing the Copa del Rey – King Cup. We had no idea we would help receive the city´s top atheletes in the country´s most celebrated sport.

The other, more notable, event we happened upon, was the Procession of the Virgen de los Desamparados, marking the 50th anniversary of its choir. To say this was a procession does it little justice. There were hundreds of people lining the winding streets and hundreds more participating in the procession. Participants included religious groups, military personnel, bands, the choir, and women and girls adorned in dress representing their image of the Virgin Mary. It is strikingly similar to the costumes worn by teenage Latinas celebrating their quinceañera.

Our sampling of food in Valencia proved especially delicious. We dined on Valencian paella (with rabbit and chicken), tapas of mussels and prawns, and much more. And a quick word about rabbits in paella…don´t eat it without careful chewing and inspection. Now Allison knows how our cat feels when chomping through her latest garden kill – rabbits actually do have bones, and they make an obvious appearance in the paella.

Our lodging in Valencia was probably the purest of hostels – shared bedrooms, shared bathrooms, and absolutely no privacy…even for our French roommates who could have used more privacy than we allotted. It was a positive experience, although one that disrupted our normal sleep habits – that is, actually getting some sleep at night. Having a duet of French snorers is not as harmonious as it sounds.

With two Spanish cities down, and several left, we´re slowly but surely adjusting to the Spanish lifestyle of late nights and unconventional eating habits, by American standards. Now we´re just a Trenhotel ride away from Granada!