1) Since I got to Spain, I am constantly hungry. There are very little vegetables here, and if you order veggies in a restaurant, you might get half a tomato. I think my body is craving some nutrition other than meat and bread.
2) Non-Americans don´t like America to a greater extent than I expected. I´ve had more than a few conversations with foreigners about this, and despite the Obama euphoria that many people feel, more people than expected are not ready to "forgive" the US of it´s sins (Iraq, torture, etc.). I was talking with a German woman last night and she refused to allow that the 50/51/48% of americans who voted for W and McCain in the past three elections could be, in fact, good hearted people with misguided voting habits (or even principled and well-spoken opponents of liberal policies). She kept harping on the invasion of Iraq, seemingly the most vicious act of aggression in recent history. I had to remind her - politely - that her country, and the rest of Europe for that matter, have been invading their neighbors for the past few centuries and beyond.
Well, the point is that I´ve been sticking up for America more than I thought I would. I´ve never been one to take America´s side, but I´m sticking up for the USA a bit more now. Yes, the US has done some abominable things in the past, but it´s too easy of an excuse to blame everything on America. It´s a cop-out and excuses taking responsibility.
Important caveat to this thought: 99% of the people I´ve met have been kind, reasonable people that are willing to have calm discussions on difficult subjects. These conversations are teaching me much about my culture and how it is different (in good ways and bad ways, and sometimes just different) from others.
3) Europeans and their long vacations. Maybe it´s the American in my DNA, but I don´t get how people can take months off from work to travel. I have to admit, I´m slightly envious of the number of vacation days that some Europeans get, though.
4) I am ready to give up wearing sandals. They do not suit me.
5) I want to start learning Spanish again.
6) Traveling solo. Traveling solo is about making near-constant mistakes (taking the wrong bus, saying the wrong thing, making a cultural faux pas) and then picking yourself back up, only to make even more mistakes. I love this.
Being alone gave me a system shock for the first few days. I didn´t really know how to not have email, phone, etc. constantly relieving any loneliness. It took a couple days for me to figure out a) how to be comfortable just by myself, and b) to be bold in meeting new people. These things have been great "growth experiences."
7) I much prefer meeting new people than just seeing stuff.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
What I´ve done so far
Here´s a summary of where I´ve been and what I´ve done:
Saturday, May 23: Left Birmingham to Philly to Lisbon to Sevilla. The entire trip took about 18 hours, and I arrived in Sevilla around 13:00. I only slept a couple hours on the plane, but had enough energy to make it through Sunday without a nap. I checked in to the Hostal Samay (clean, about 20 bucks a night for a room with 5 others), which is in the Barrio Santa Cruz section. It´s the old Jewish quarter and was built up in the 1200´s, more or less. The barrio streets are typical Andalucia - narrow and confusing, with small plazas dotting the neighborhood.
Bullfights only happen on Sundays, so I walked to the ring and bought a "sol" ticket, which is directly in the sunlight. I had a couple hours to spare, so I had a beer and some tapas at a cafe. I thought I would respect the bullfight for it´s history, but it was truly barbaric. About 20% of the audience were tourists, which makes you wonder how sustainable the sport would be without interested foreigners. For me, it´s a relic of machismo.
Monday: I woke up late and walked around the town by myself, and toured the cathedral, which is the largest gothic cathedral in the world. It´s impressive, but seeing many many cathedrals in my life, they all blend together.
In the evening I went on a tour organized by a few hostels, then a pub crawl afterward. Met lots of people.
Tuesday: Woke up late again, and went to the Alcazar, an old Moorish/Christian fortress and palace. I joined up with a pub crawl again that night.
Wednesday: Walked randomly around the city with a friend, which I enjoyed a lot. Later went to an Irish pub to watch the Barcelona - Manchester United game on TV. I hung out with locals for the first half, and ran into some friends for the second half.
Thursday: Travel to Granada by train.
Friday: Toured the Alhambra in the afternoon, and ended up spending four hours there. By the time I left I was pretty sick of it. The Alhambra is nice, but I preferred the Alcazar in Seville. On Friday night I went to a concert by Ojos de Brujo (flamenco/hip hop/rock band)... awesome time. I went with a couple people from the hostel, and met some other travelers I had met in Sevilla.
Saturday: Took a tour of the old arabic neighborhood in Granada, and had a lazy lunch with some of the tour-goers. Then siesta. Then I met up with a couple people from the tour. We planned to walk to the caves of Sacramonte, but a downpour confined us to a bar. We ended up meeting an Australian couple, and walked up to Sacramonte for a Flamenco show.
Sunday: Purposely lazy day. Had a big Irish breakfast, but am still hungry. I need to figure out what I´m going to do in Morocco, and when. I might go to the beach for a day, and then head to Morocco. Or I might go to Morocco tomorrow, which is looking less likely as time passes, since I haven´t planned anything yet. There´s a big "world sacred music festival" going on in Fes, Morocco. Unfortunately this means that prices will be jacked up... not sure I want to deal with that.
Saturday, May 23: Left Birmingham to Philly to Lisbon to Sevilla. The entire trip took about 18 hours, and I arrived in Sevilla around 13:00. I only slept a couple hours on the plane, but had enough energy to make it through Sunday without a nap. I checked in to the Hostal Samay (clean, about 20 bucks a night for a room with 5 others), which is in the Barrio Santa Cruz section. It´s the old Jewish quarter and was built up in the 1200´s, more or less. The barrio streets are typical Andalucia - narrow and confusing, with small plazas dotting the neighborhood.
Bullfights only happen on Sundays, so I walked to the ring and bought a "sol" ticket, which is directly in the sunlight. I had a couple hours to spare, so I had a beer and some tapas at a cafe. I thought I would respect the bullfight for it´s history, but it was truly barbaric. About 20% of the audience were tourists, which makes you wonder how sustainable the sport would be without interested foreigners. For me, it´s a relic of machismo.
Monday: I woke up late and walked around the town by myself, and toured the cathedral, which is the largest gothic cathedral in the world. It´s impressive, but seeing many many cathedrals in my life, they all blend together.
In the evening I went on a tour organized by a few hostels, then a pub crawl afterward. Met lots of people.
Tuesday: Woke up late again, and went to the Alcazar, an old Moorish/Christian fortress and palace. I joined up with a pub crawl again that night.
Wednesday: Walked randomly around the city with a friend, which I enjoyed a lot. Later went to an Irish pub to watch the Barcelona - Manchester United game on TV. I hung out with locals for the first half, and ran into some friends for the second half.
Thursday: Travel to Granada by train.
Friday: Toured the Alhambra in the afternoon, and ended up spending four hours there. By the time I left I was pretty sick of it. The Alhambra is nice, but I preferred the Alcazar in Seville. On Friday night I went to a concert by Ojos de Brujo (flamenco/hip hop/rock band)... awesome time. I went with a couple people from the hostel, and met some other travelers I had met in Sevilla.
Saturday: Took a tour of the old arabic neighborhood in Granada, and had a lazy lunch with some of the tour-goers. Then siesta. Then I met up with a couple people from the tour. We planned to walk to the caves of Sacramonte, but a downpour confined us to a bar. We ended up meeting an Australian couple, and walked up to Sacramonte for a Flamenco show.
Sunday: Purposely lazy day. Had a big Irish breakfast, but am still hungry. I need to figure out what I´m going to do in Morocco, and when. I might go to the beach for a day, and then head to Morocco. Or I might go to Morocco tomorrow, which is looking less likely as time passes, since I haven´t planned anything yet. There´s a big "world sacred music festival" going on in Fes, Morocco. Unfortunately this means that prices will be jacked up... not sure I want to deal with that.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Past my bedtime
My bedtime since I´ve been in Spain...
Sunday: 12:00 AM
Monday: 3:00 AM
Tuesday: 3:30 AM
Wednsday: 2:30 AM
Thursday: Midnight
Friday: 3:30
Tonight: 2:00 AM
I like Spain.
Sunday: 12:00 AM
Monday: 3:00 AM
Tuesday: 3:30 AM
Wednsday: 2:30 AM
Thursday: Midnight
Friday: 3:30
Tonight: 2:00 AM
I like Spain.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Leaving Philadelphia
My first blog post and it's from my iPhone as i leave the states for
Spain. How modern of me.
Spain. How modern of me.
As I embark on this awesome and unreasonably expensive trip for the
next month (which is really bugging me), it's got me thinking of my
favorite places I've been. Here's my list, subject to change.
Cities-
1. Mendoza, Argentina (smallish city right in front if the Andes...
Lots if wine and sun)
2. New York city (an obvious pick, but I love it every time I go).
3. Edinburgh, Scotland
4. Guanajuato, Mexico
5. Buenos aires, Argentina
Disqualified because I live there: Washington DC.
Plane is leaving.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)