Spain wrap-up December 31, 2007

When we got back to Madrid, we immediately high-tailed it over to the Reina Sofia (the modern art museum in Madrid). I will go out on a limb and say that it is by far the best art museum I’ve ever seen. Tons of Dali, Miro, Gris, Picasso, and some others like Man Ray, Braque, etc. I got to see Guernica, which absolutely took my breath away. It’s a gripping painting anyways, but the size of it…it’s was gigantic! I stared at it for a good 5 minutes, just taking it all in. After the Reina Sofia, we took the Metro up to eat at Fast Good, Ferran Adria’s “fast food” restaurant. While it was kind of pricey, it was good, and worth the experience. They fry the fries in olive oil (which is yummy) and they have veal burgers (which we obviously did NOT try). We checked out an Asturian (not Austrian) cider tavern before heading back to the hostal.

The next day we did some shopping, went to the Royal Palace, met up with a guy we met in Granada and wandered around nibbling tapas and enjoying our last night in Spain. I started feeling achy and feverish,  but didn’t let up a bit. The next morning I woke up and knew I was pretty sick, but didn’t care because we’d just be on the plane all day anyways. We got to the airport and had some tea before boarding the plane. I was pretty much unable to sleep, but caught a few minutes of sleep here and there. We got to Philly and sought out a meal since we had about 6 hours to kill. There was a little Asian bistro that had surprisingly tasty Pad Thai (and for only $9, too), although all I could stand was miso soup. I was dizzy and sick, and nowhere near done with the trip home. We got on our flight to Atlanta around 8:45 and arrived in a little before 11. We waited nearly an hour for our bags (yeah, what the hell), and when I got my bag, I found that one of the wheels had been broken off. Great. Dragging it around was no picnic, especially since I was sick and exhuasted. We got to our car and headed back to Tuscaloosa after 12:30 (Eastern) and didn’t get home until after 2:30 AM (Central, which is 7 hours behind Spain).

I woke up the next morning (Christmas morning) literally unable to speak a word. I mustered up some strength and went to Walgreen’s for medicine and basically slept all day. We ran out for Chinese at dinner, since there was absolutely nothing to eat at home. For the next 3 or 4 days I just slept, lounged, watched TV, or uploaded pictures from the trip. I’m still nursing whatever this is, and if I don’t get better before we get back to Alabama, I’ll go see a doctor. It sucks to be sick over the holidays.

You say Grenada, I say Grenad-ah December 28, 2007

To start with, I should explain that we attempted to do this Spain trip on the cheap. While we live comfortably,  but we’re not made of money, we don’t believe in unnecessary debt, and we want to have substantial savings. We got a rock-bottom deal on our flights ($470 each, round-trip from Atlanta to Philly to Madrid, in case you care), we stayed in hostals, and we took the bus from city to city. I ate many a queso bocadillo on this trip, but it was all good. As far as staying in the hostals go, we didn’t stay in some dormitory arrangement (that would have been kind of weird), but rather, we always had our own room, though bathroom arrangements varied. We had our very own bathroom in Madrid (both times) and in Cordoba, but shared one in Sevilla and Granada.

In Granada, we stayed at this really incredible backpackers’ hostal called Oasis. It was in the Albayzin (old Arab neighborhood) just under the shadow of the Alhambra. The people working there were super-laid back, and the guests were young travelers from all over the world. Our first night we went along w/ the tapas tour group hopping from one bar to another, eating free tapas along the way. In Granada, unlike other parts of Spain, whether you order a Coca-Cola or a tinto de verano (red wine with lemon soda…surprisingly good), you get a small plate of free food. Or not so small, in some places. After about 2 or 3 places, you no longer feel the need to seek out a dinner spot, because you’ve been given more than enough food. I hung out with a guy from Finland who was a psychologist, a Canadian guy involved in TV production, a Laotian-American woman who worked for the UN, a few Americans, and a French guy studying math in Sweden. We spent quite a bit of time with the Canadian (Kevin) and the French guy (Alex). After traveling for over a week, it was nice to find people to talk to, and they were all so interesting and intelligent. The crowd there was admittedly younger (most were in their 20s, no doubt), but it made for a good time.

Our second day in Granada, we went to the Alhambra and the Generalife. The beauty of that place is so difficult to verbalize. Every last detail was so painstakingly addressed. There was so much symmetry and grace in every last doorway, window, wall carving, and fountain. It astounds me that humans are capable of producing a place so incredible. I have some pictures posted on Facebook, for those of you who are so inclined, but I will be happy to post a public link to the album if some of you want to see it and are on FB.

After the Alhambra we rested for awhile and took in a little bit of what Spanish television had to offer (in our case, The Simpsons). TV there is interesting…you go like 10 or 15 minutes without a commercial break, then you have 5 continuous minutes of commercials, and then you have the rest of the show. I think I like it better that way, although since we have a DVR, commercial breaks and timing are largely irrelevant. We then feasted on an incredible dinner at the hostal of veggie paella, fried potatoes with mojo sauce, pear-bleu cheese soup, and a salad with avocado, feta, and quince paste, all for a mere 5 euros. We agreed it was the best meal we ate while in Spain, and it was also the least expensive. Go figure.

I bought my only souvenir of the entire trip here, a beautiful turquoise and silver scarf I saw at one of the shops lining the way up to the Alhambra. Scott bought a little zipper wallet thing because his silver money clip (that I bought for him a few years ago) was starting to lose its grip on his cash and cards. Everything in Granada was so much cheaper than in Madrid or even Sevilla. Since it’s a college town, it’s pretty laid back and inexpensive, and we liked it a lot.

Spain, Part Dos December 26, 2007

After Sevilla, we woke up early to take a bus to Cordoba. One thing I never got used to in Spain was how incredibly late the sun came up. As in, 8:30 am. You could be out at 7:30 and it would still be dark and almost no one was out. We caught a 9 AM bus and our walk to the bus station was almost completely in the dark. Very, very weird. That coupled with jet lag made getting up those first few mornings really difficult.

We got to Cordoba and were initially very unimpressed. Except for the old part of town (where we stayed) the whole city wasn’t too attractive. We also had our only two bad meals there, a crappy paella (no doubt frozen and microwaved to order) and some god-awful wild asparagus puree. Our trip to the Mezquita was also somewhat of a disappointment, since much of it was being renovated or cleaned. It was also kind of pricey, compared to the other wonders we saw in Spain (and no student discount…the bastards!). If I ignored the aspects of the Mezquita that were built when the Christians took over and build a cathedral inside it, it was actually quite stunning. Our hostal was beautiful and the owner/manager was a super nice lady that fed us a wonderful breakfast of toast with all the fixings, coffee, juice, and hot cocoa. The tearoom was an amazing sight to behold; hookah pipes, elaborate tilework on the walls, pillows…I felt like I was in a Saudi palace, not a hostal in Spain!

We walked around the old quarter and took pictures of the outer walls, which were really interesting. Scott was feeling very sore and had a swollen ankle (from all the walking we were doing), so I managed to not only find a farmacia on my own, but communicate with the pharmacist well enough to get the appropriate medicine (to the tune of 3 Euros). I was rather proud of myself, given that I haven’t taken any Spanish since I was in 1st grade (in Florida). I won’t lie: there was gesturing involved, but I managed to make a few pleasantries with the pharmacist and accomplish what I needed to. The Spanish system is interesting in that they required that every area have a pharmacy open somewhere all the time. At each pharmacy there is a list of pharmacies in the area and their hours, and they rotate which one stays open all night.

After only one night in Cordoba, we were more than ready to head on to Granada, which I was eagerly anticipating.

Spain, Part Uno December 25, 2007

Our trip started, inevitably, with a delay at the Atlanta airport. We were supposed to take off around 2:40 to Philly and didn’t actually do so until after 5:15. Considering our Philadelphia-Madrid flight left at 8:45, we were just a bit panicked. Luckily it all worked out, and we didn’t spend too much time in the Philly airport (a shame, because it’s actually quite nice, as airports go). Our flight attendant was one of the nicest, coolest people I’ve ever met on a plane. He came by to check on our veggie entree request and mentioned that he was also vegetarian. When we got our dinner, he came by twice to check on us to make sure that we were enjoying it. I wasn’t able to get much sleep on the plane, maybe 4 hours total, though definitely not consecutive. We arrived into Madrid a little after 10 and hopped to it. Clearing immigration in the EU is a breeze, even if you’re not an EU citizen, and we had our bags and were on the Metro by 11:15. Yeah.

We struggled to find our hostal, but eventually did and checked in. Our room was tiny, but immaculate and enough for our needs. From there we walked to the Prado (about a 2 mile walk, maybe) and saw some really nice, if very traditional, masterpieces. Lots of Goya, Velazquez, Bosch (El Bosco), etc. I was glad to see The Garden of Earthly Delights by Bosch and Saturn Devouring One of His Sons by Goya. After that, we were just wiped out, so we went back to the hostal, took a brief nap, showered, and then went out on the town. We hit a couple of places on Cava Baja (where I ate the best olives I’ve ever had in my life), walked around the Plaza Mayor, and the Puerta del Sol. After that we turned in, since we had an early bus to catch the next morning.

We took the Metro to the bus station where we ate breakfast (yep, at the bus station…they make a mean cafe con leche) and caught our bus to Sevilla. Bus travel in Spain (and probably Europe in general) is way better than in the U.S. It was fast, efficient, and pretty cheap, despite the dollar’s weakness (more on that later). We got to Sevilla in the mid afternoon and again, had a lot of difficulty finding our hostal. The streets of Sevilla are narrow, windy, and don’t operate on a grid system. Dragging along 35 lbs of luggage whilst doing so was not my idea of a good time.  The hostal was in a beautiful old house and our room was pretty cute. We had a shared shower/toilet, but it wasn’t a big deal. We never had more than one other room to share with, an older Belgian couple on an extended weekend holiday.

Sevilla is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever seen. It exudes a ton of old Spanish charm, with the white stucco, wrought iron, and orange trees growing everywhere. Our first night there we ate chocolate y churros at a sidewalk cafe and watched the sunset. It was amazing. We toured the Cathedral the next morning, and it was fantastically beautiful. We saw Christopher Columbus’ tomb and climbed up the Giralda, a really tall tower in the cathedral that provides a stunning panoramic view of the city. I got some incredible pictures up there!

The next few days we just sort of wandered aimlessly, taking in sights like the Tower of Gold, the Plaza de Espana, Maria Luisa Park, and the Alcazar. We found an excellent tapas place about a 10 minute walk from our place that provided delights such as berenjenas con miel or con salmarejo (fried eggplant with sugar syrup or with a thickened cold tomato soup…sort of like gazpacho, but not) and patatas bravas (fried potatoes with a spicy tomato sauce). You  order tapas there in tapa, media racion, or racion sizes, though you can only get a tapa sized order at the bar. One nice thing is that you don’t have to be drinking to sit at the bar, and I was even able to get a cafe con leche at the bar. I also drank a decent amount of Fanta, since theirs is made w/ sugar and not high fructose corn syrup. There IS a difference, y’all.

More to come, later.

Seville… December 18, 2007

is so awesome!!!

We´ve seen the Cathedral and the Alcazar, and have eaten more than our fair share of tapas (berenjenas con miel/salmorejo, patatas bravas, etc.). Tonight we may try to catch some flamenco, although my hopes are not that high, since many places cater to tourists and are pretty pricey. Even still, I´d feel dumb if we didn´t at least try to see some, given that we´re in Seville.

Our hostal is nice, but basic (and heat is 3 euros a night…no thanks). We´re close to a lot of things, but we´ve done a lot of walking. Since arriving in Spain, we estimate that we´ve walked about 50 miles. It helps burn off all the fatty food and the copious amounts of hot chocolate I´ve been drinking (oooohsooogoooood).

I´m off now. Traveling to Cordoba tomorrow, and then Granada on Wednesday. Adios!

Hey, guess what. December 14, 2007

I’m in Spain, y’all!!!!

I am entirely too sore and jet lagged to even be functioning, yet here we are, ready to go out and crawl from tapas bar to tapas bar. We’ve already seen the Prado, had lunch, taken a nap, and showered.

This place is seriously awesome. We’re on to Seville tomorow!

Culinary success! December 8, 2007

As promised, here are the pictures of the Confit Biyaldi we made a couple of weeks ago. It was quite tasty!

Recipe here.

December 8, 2007

There is a crazy-ass woman who roams the streets of Tuscaloosa, and she seems to have a particular fondness for my neighborhood. She’s been out in the street (in front our house, no less) yelling God knows what for the past 2 and a half hours. I’m so tempted to call the cops. I almost feel mean even thinking of doing this, but sista ain’t right. She’s not merely talking, but yelling. Loudly. In the middle of the street, overlooking the golf course. I’m sure they appreciate what this does to their members. I sure as hell wouldn’t want to tee off at #8 w/ her over there ranting and raving.

What to do, what to do…

December 5, 2007

Even though I’ve only completed a fraction of what I have left to do for this semester, I strangely feel as if I’ve accomplished a lot. The remaining items on my “to-do” list just don’t seem all that bad. We leave for Spain in 8 days, and that’s what keeps me going. Between now and then I have hanging out with friends, a few holiday parties, and whatever else pops up for me. I’m not even thinking about next semester, and it no longer bothers me. I am not in graduate school for those people, and therefore their presence or absence doesn’t mean a thing. I will still succeed, and I will still (eventually) earn my doctorate, so it really doesn’t matter.

I am so freaking excited!!! In a little over a week from now, I’ll be in a tapas bar in Madrid, enjoying the sounds, sights, and tastes of Spain. The first day will be exhausting, but I know there’s no way I could sleep, given how much we want to see and do. We’re trying to figure out things like which museums we’ll see which days. We really only care about the Prado and the Reina Sofia, although I care more about the latter because it has Picasso’s Guernica, which is one of my favorite paintings. Our days are more cut out for us in Granada (the Alhambra), Seville (the Alcazar), and Cordoba (the Mezquita). If we have time we may make a day trip to somewhere like Jerez (where they produce a lot of sherry) or Cadiz (the oldest continually inhabited city in Western Europe…it dates back to 1100 B.C.). At any rate, we’ll have plenty to see and do. I can’t wait!

Ok, now I’m just being punished December 4, 2007

Some grad student from Ed Research came over today to hang out w/ me and my lab partner and we found out we were taking 2 classes together in the spring. We looked up the class rolls (she has access by virtue of being a GTA) and discovered that not only do I/we have two classes w/ CGS, but  that we also have a class w/ that right-wing asshole who wrote all that garbage for the CW.

I need a drink.