mastering the art of escalators
colleen wondered why all of my stories about sevilla, and spain in general, were about eating and drinking. i think she understands now.
thanks to her, though, we managed to storm around the city of barcelona like mad this past thursday. a brutal, but productive, insightful, and outstanding interjection among the cultural ingestion.
but first, sevilla: yes, i did indeed get in touch with carmen, and between carmen, raul, the tapas, and the cruzcampo beer, the four years since our last almuerzo pinched together, vanishing seamlessly into our last XXL siesta. colleen, well acquainted with the idea of cultural immersion by this point, held on very well to the barrage of food, cold beer, and flurry of spanish stories. with carmen and raul, though, it is never difficult to laugh. raul had to leave to get back to work after lunch, and colleen, carmen, and i marched around triana trying to find a bar that was actually open (july is NOT the high season in sevilla). lucky enough for us, we found one with republican-strength air conditioning, and castro-strength cuban sweet rum.
in short, lunch started around 300pm, and the whole event ended with carmen getting a call her doctor's office informing her she was quite late for a 730pm appointment. colleen and i went back home, brushed ourselves off, just in time to meet raul for dinner. ole!
we also toured the cathedral, scaled la giralda, migrated through alcazares, blah blah blah. i was bummed we missed a bullfight by one day, and la vela, a week long religious festival, which is also an awesome party, by three. in the end, though, i'd think we were both happy to escape the 42 degree C heat (do the math: 9/5C + 32, right?) and our attic w/o AC apartment. hopefully by our next trip, sevilla will have it's proper face on, if not with a functioning metro, then at least life back in the centro. -sorry, krissy, it won't be quite as picturesque, but all the great places will be open for you to... experience. raul and carmen are waiting for you! i might have to give you a training session before sending you off. [sorry, couldn`t find your homestay street in malaga, by the way. maybe the family are nomadic gypsies?]
so, one flight, two trains and a taxi later... another city.
mission one in barcelona: el xampanyet. no complete sentences necessary- one bottle catalan champagne, colleen ate sardines, we closed down the place, and stumbled around the gothic quarter before 6pm. we also meandered down to the water, back up las ramblas, the mercat, and plaza catalunya. instead of saying we did nothing, i would say we took a day to 'absorb', both the city and the cava.
we made up for it yesterday, with a march of death tour, starting with mies van der rohe's barcelona pavillion, to gaudí's battilo (sp?), milá, sagrada familia, and parque güell. we have approximately one million pictures, and even some good diagrams. unfortunately, we are unable to post any. i think we officially killed our flip flops yesterday- not good since i don't think we have any other shoes to wear.
our hostel has been fine here. pension victoria, for future reference. good rate, clean room, smelly water, and only one cucaracha.
finally, museo picaso does not allow you to sit anywhere. fortunately, el xampanyet is just up the road on the right.
time to go take a look at zara's rebajas. i could really use a new not-smelly shirt. hasta bilbao! wish us luck on our overnight train: 10pm to 755am. ciao.
thanks to her, though, we managed to storm around the city of barcelona like mad this past thursday. a brutal, but productive, insightful, and outstanding interjection among the cultural ingestion.
but first, sevilla: yes, i did indeed get in touch with carmen, and between carmen, raul, the tapas, and the cruzcampo beer, the four years since our last almuerzo pinched together, vanishing seamlessly into our last XXL siesta. colleen, well acquainted with the idea of cultural immersion by this point, held on very well to the barrage of food, cold beer, and flurry of spanish stories. with carmen and raul, though, it is never difficult to laugh. raul had to leave to get back to work after lunch, and colleen, carmen, and i marched around triana trying to find a bar that was actually open (july is NOT the high season in sevilla). lucky enough for us, we found one with republican-strength air conditioning, and castro-strength cuban sweet rum.
in short, lunch started around 300pm, and the whole event ended with carmen getting a call her doctor's office informing her she was quite late for a 730pm appointment. colleen and i went back home, brushed ourselves off, just in time to meet raul for dinner. ole!
we also toured the cathedral, scaled la giralda, migrated through alcazares, blah blah blah. i was bummed we missed a bullfight by one day, and la vela, a week long religious festival, which is also an awesome party, by three. in the end, though, i'd think we were both happy to escape the 42 degree C heat (do the math: 9/5C + 32, right?) and our attic w/o AC apartment. hopefully by our next trip, sevilla will have it's proper face on, if not with a functioning metro, then at least life back in the centro. -sorry, krissy, it won't be quite as picturesque, but all the great places will be open for you to... experience. raul and carmen are waiting for you! i might have to give you a training session before sending you off. [sorry, couldn`t find your homestay street in malaga, by the way. maybe the family are nomadic gypsies?]
so, one flight, two trains and a taxi later... another city.
mission one in barcelona: el xampanyet. no complete sentences necessary- one bottle catalan champagne, colleen ate sardines, we closed down the place, and stumbled around the gothic quarter before 6pm. we also meandered down to the water, back up las ramblas, the mercat, and plaza catalunya. instead of saying we did nothing, i would say we took a day to 'absorb', both the city and the cava.
we made up for it yesterday, with a march of death tour, starting with mies van der rohe's barcelona pavillion, to gaudí's battilo (sp?), milá, sagrada familia, and parque güell. we have approximately one million pictures, and even some good diagrams. unfortunately, we are unable to post any. i think we officially killed our flip flops yesterday- not good since i don't think we have any other shoes to wear.
our hostel has been fine here. pension victoria, for future reference. good rate, clean room, smelly water, and only one cucaracha.
finally, museo picaso does not allow you to sit anywhere. fortunately, el xampanyet is just up the road on the right.
time to go take a look at zara's rebajas. i could really use a new not-smelly shirt. hasta bilbao! wish us luck on our overnight train: 10pm to 755am. ciao.
posted by JTH at 09:46
2 Comments:
Very cool travelogue. 42 degrees celsius, not withstanding. BTW: frequent showers and non-smelly clothes are still 'in' back here in the New World; prepare appropriately.
I have Grandpa D's chain saw if you don't locate a barber ...
It is probably good that Colleen did not post a pix of you getting social with that stoned terp in Barcalona. Weren't there any bullfights happening there? They have a great Ring that is very old.
Enjoy the North Coast. Make your connections make to Milan as we are all anxious to hear your travel tales live and in-person. Sans the coo-ca-raches (sp), of course.
Local note:
I got back late last nite from teaching in NJ; Hertz gave me a RED Mustang coupe as my rent-a-wreck. Red that is that bright clashes with grey hair. It was a V-6 pig, with terminal understeer and real 'floaty' front end. But an acceptable cruiser as a rental jalopy. Maybe I'll get a GT350 in Vegas on my next trip ...
---fpr
mr. healey,
I love your commentary! .. you should see the "social" pictures of your son with the ducks! live and in person!
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