Ordered Chaos

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.

Hi everybody!

Chris and I have a little bit of time before dinner tonight, so we thought we’d catch up on the blog.  Right now we’re in Cartajima (near Ronda), but since we’ve last blogged, we’ve been to Granada and Nerja.

We arrived in Granada the morning of May 19th after taking the overnight train (Trenhotel) from Valencia.  The name ‘Trenhotel’ is misleading as we did not get the beds that we expected, but rather we slept in regular seats.  We really did not have a problem with that as we were so tired we could have slept in the aisle–but it was the guy next to us who was coughing the entire night.  We still got enough sleep to feel refreshed and not waste any of our precious time in Granada.

When we got off of the train, we literally wandered around the town looking for our hotel.  We found it after a short walk, and our host was kind enough to let us check in at 9am (many hours early).  Since we had been wearing the same clothes for over 24hours, we decided to quickly clean up and then head out to see the sights.  The ‘cleaning up’ part was slightly difficult without ANY hot water. 

We left the hostel, got a quick bite to eat and headed for the main square.  Our first order of business was to take a walk through the Albayzin neighborhood, and old Moorish (Muslim) area with white washed homes, zig zagging roads and flower boxes on every window.  We let ourselves get lost for awhile and then decided to follow our guide book to a look out point on the Saint Nicholas Plaza.  This point had the greatest view in town, included a spectacular shot of the Alhambra. 

After taking in the site for a good half-hour, we decided to walk back down to the main area of town.  We eventually found ourselves on a street filled with dozens of shops selling many products from North Africa and India.  We ate lunch at a Moroccan restaurant and then decided to continue on home for a little siesta (‘when in Rome,’ right? or should I say ‘when in Granada?’).

Later on that night, we took a walk down Las Avenidas de Tristes, or ‘The Sad Avenues.’  This was a street that used to be used for funeral processions, and it is now commonly a tourist site that leads up to a Gypsy/Roma neighborhood.  We did not walk all the way up the street as we had heard stories (and advice from the gospel of Rick Steves) warning about theft further up the street.  We then decided to end the night at a tapas bar where we met a great couple from Australia. 

The next morning was devoted to the Alhambra.  Since we did not book tickets in advance (because they sell out months in advance), we took a bus up first thing in the morning to get tickets.  We eventually got tickets after a two hour wait, but the time slot we were scheduled for started at 4pm.  Because of that, we hiked back down the mountain with our Australian friends (who also got tickets for the afternoon).  Chris and I bid them farewell near their hotel and headed to our hostel for a little R&R before our big afternoon. 

Before we headed to the Alhambra that afternoon, we stopped for a quick lunch (quick in Spanish culture–long for Americans).  We found a little restaurant on a hidden plaza and ordered our lunches.  Chris had squid.  No, not the squid rings, but a full-blown puffed up squid.  

After we paid the bill, we hiked back up to the Alhambra and began our tour.  The Alhambra was essentially a Muslim fortress where over 2000 Muslims lived with Sultan Boabdil before the Catholic Reconquest in 1492.  We started off in the Nazaries Palace, the original palace of the Moorish sultan Boabdil, who had originally ruled the Muslims in the area.  The palace was a sensory overloading experience with it’s size, intricacies and embedded history. 

After the palace, we walked to Alcazaba, the original fortress.  It included a prison and numerous watchtowers used to defend the citizens of the medina (the city).  It was not nearly in as good shape as the palace since Napoleon eventually took it over and let his military destroy it.  One of the greatest parts was that when we stood on any of the watchtowers, we could see all of Granada (including the Saint Nicholas Plaza we stood on the day before), the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and some of the little villages dotting the mountains. 

After the Alcazaba, we walked briefly through Charles V’s palace.  Charles V chose not live in the palace of Boabdil but rather to build a home of his own.  The outside of the structure is a square, and the inside is circular-much like a colliseum.  The palace was originally intended to have a dome, but it never was built.

Finally, we walked up hill to the Generalife, the gardens of the Alhambra.  This was really not like any garden we had seen before (surely not like our weed-infested gardens at home!).  The bushes, trees, and flowers were manicured to remain authentic to their original likeness.  The greatest part was that nearly everything was in bloom!   The gardens were punctuated by the Sultan’s summer palace, a three bedroom home with another garden in the middle.  It was a stunning experience!

After a three hour awe-inspiring experience, we walked back down the hill and down to the grocery store for picnic supplies.  We were a little tired of restaurants, so we stocked up on a baguette, jamon, an array of cheeses (yes Mom, they were pasteurized!), pears, and a mini-bottle of wine.  We spread out an old map on the bed and enjoyed our feast. 

That pretty much sums up our experience in Granada.  The next morning we took the bus to the airport to pick up our rental car.  We ended up with a Kia Picanta, or a Kia Piquena (little in Spanish) as I like to call it.  We then took off on our Spanish road trip–more on that to come!  Also, be on the lookout for a future post regarding mullets in Spain!

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!

So here we are, on our last day in Barcelona, and we feel like we’ve already seen so much! Jet-lagged and toting our well-packed two backpacks (yes, only two!), we took our first breath of Spanish air on late Tuesday morning. After navigating the user-friendly subway system, about an hour later we were roaming what was apparently the street of our guesthouse…only we didn’t know how to get in! Luckily our kind host, Juan, was waiting for us on his balcony and hollered down to retrieve us. Although our room is small by American standards, it does the job, and Juan is a great host! With our triple-keyed entrance and our closet safe, we feel pretty secure.

Although there have been countless sites to see here in Barcelona, I’ll try to highlight our favorites. Our first was simply roaming the streets of Las Ramblas, kind of a main drag through the city. It’s as crazy as Time Square, with streets that zig-zag in a maze-like fashion. The Barrí Gotic (Gothic Quarter) is rich in architecture that takes one back to old world charms. The Catedral Gotic is a site that is on our list for today before we leave.

Another incredible destination was Monserrat, a monastery built into the side of a mountain northwest of Barcelona. A quick cable car ride up the mountain left us to breathtaking views and sacred grounds. The pinnacle for many tourists is the Black Virgin, a statue of the Virgin Mary believed to have been discovered in La Santa Cova, a cave that is a 30-minute hike away. We ended up taking that hike, which rewarded us with even more breathtaking views…and quite the exercise.

Yesterday we started our day with La Sagrada Familia, a church designed by Gaudí, and still be constructed 125 years later. We then headed through the Citadel Park and munched on a baguette with jamón while people watching. Our walk then took us to Barceloneta, an old fishing village turned into a touristy drag lined with seafood restaurants.

After a walk on the beach and my first dip in the Mediterranean, our final destination was the Picasso Museum. Here we toured the strange life of the world-renowned artist.

Well, that’s all for now…on to Valencia!