Madrid, Spain

Still in sunny Madrid this morning, although the weather is not quite as warm as yesterday. I didn’t get a chance to look it up, but I’m guessing low 70s F. I actually wore my fleece this morning on my walk to the Metro, but not much throughout the rest of the day. I’m guessing I’ll get more use out of my wintry clothes over the next couple weeks.

So, today I started out with a hotel-provided breakfast of croissants and cheese slices. I forgot all about the cheese slices on a plate until I saw them this morning, and it made me laugh. It’s some kind of cheese that I don’t know, sliced in a square like Kraft Singles but it’s the color of Swiss (minus holes) and cut super thin. Next I went to the Atocha train station to reserve my tickets and then realized I hadn’t brought my Eurail pass with me. (oops.) So I came back, swung by El Corte Ingles to get some band aids for my ampollos and then up to the room (4th floor) to get my Eurail pass and my mp3 player.

At Atocha (which looks like Jurassic Park inside–very cool) I stood in a long, long line, but not as horrendous as last night, which is good. I was able to get most of my tickets except for Italy and a couple for France, so that’s one hassle mostly hurdled. I then decided to walk to el Museo del Prado and spend all day looking at art with a rented audioguide, but… on my way I passed the sidewalk sale. Those of you who know me well know that I’d rather stick my head in an oven than go shopping, but this was a sidewalk sale of *books*. Books, I tell you! I absolutely, positively, cannot be trusted around books. I think I bought some from every single vendor. I had to throw out all my clothes just to pack them in my suitcase, and it’s only the 3rd day. (OK, I didn’t throw out all my clothes… but that’s the choice I would’ve made if it came to that.) How could I pass it up? Some English-language authors like Robin Cook and Stephanie Bond (translated into Spanish of course) and a ton of Spanish authors, and some from other countries.

So, when I finally made it the half-mile or so to the Prado Museum, my shoulder was already weighed down with more or less my body weight in books. (Or at least it felt that way.) Instead of spending all day at the museum (the beginning hour or so of which was spent book browsing) I stayed until about 5pm (rather than 7:30) before I gave up. I’ll come back in a couple weeks, maybe. (It’s free on Sundays, although more crowded.)

The weird thing about being in Madrid is that although I’m toting the camera everywhere I go, I’m hardly taking any pictures. I’ve been pretty much everywhere (and documented 99% of it on film previously) so there’s no real reason to take yet *another* picture of XYZ statue or ABC fountain. I did notice that the entire city is under major construction (Retiro Park says they’ll be done in 4 months, not sure about the people re-bricking the streets) so I’m interested in coming back in another year or two and seeing the upgrades. I did get to ride in a brand spanking new Metro train, the sort where you can see from one end all the way down to the other end, rather than boxed off cars.

I met some people from Oregon who were in Madrid by way of Ireland, and who told me that people from Edinburgh call people from Glasgow “soap dodgers” (which is a hilarious insult) due to their alleged stinkiness, and that Glasgow is the 2nd most likely place in the world to get stabbed. (#1 is some place in South Africa.) Apparently, gang members in track suits strap machetes to their thighs and stab people–rival gang members and ignorant tourists alike–who wander into their ‘hoods. And these ‘hoods aren’t your typical ghetto… they’ve been razed and replaced with government housing in the form of the tallest skyscrapers in Ireland. So the people on the street basically don’t go near tall buildings, because if they do, they’ll be stabbed. (If I decide to tour Glasgow someday, I’m guessing I better not pack a track suit.)

After all that fun, I came back to the hotel and did some work because tomorrow morning I get up nice and early so I can fly to Frankfurt to see Erin!

Tags: books, food, museums, trains, travel tips

Málaga, Spain

Yet another gorgeous day! Unfortunately, a school day, since the professor had agreed to switch Friday’s lesson for today. After class, I hit the train station and went straight to Málaga. My first item of business was to hit the tapas festival. I bought 3 tickets for 1.80 Euros each. The first tapas I got was hummus and falafel.

What’s that, you say? But that’s Mediterranean food, not Spanish food! Ah, my friend, I once thought the same as you. However, the southern coast of Spain is on the Mediterranean. You can often see the Rock of Gibraltar from the beach, and on clear days, you can see the mountains of Africa. I saw them myself, just the peaks peeking through the clouds, and was amazed by how close it was. Not only this, but Spain was ruled by varying Mediterranean groups for centuries, so today quite a bit of the culture and architecture remains.

The hummus was awesome, and the falafel not only tasted better than any I get in the US, but also looked much more appealing. (It was more of a golden color than the typical dark brown color that Pita’s serves.) The second tapa I got was a pizza funghi (aka mushroom). So far I had been eschewing pizza because it seemed so American and I wanted to do European things in Europe. But I saw the Spaniards wolfing down the pizza, and I had an epiphany: Pizza is from Italy, and wouldn’t you know, Italy just happens to be in Europe! So, having thus justified my pizza craving, I was pleased when I got a slice of fresh, baked-to-order, mozzarella and mushroom pizza.

The third and last tapa I bought was a Blanco Y Negro from an heladería. (In other words, a Black & White from an ice cream tent.) Let me tell you, the US better wake up and start serving these babies! (Or at least Starbucks ought to think about it.) A Blanco & Negro is a glass half-filled with iced coffee (but without the ice) and topped with cappuccino ice cream. Like a root beer float, but with a coffee theme. Delicious! (There are also other varieties, such as with vanilla ice cream, topped with whipped cream. Mmm…)

After this, I wandered around Málaga, following a walking map that turned out to be really awful. Half the time, the alleged museums/buildings on the map completely didn’t exist – at least not in the area shown on the map – and the other half of the time, the facades were under restoration, so I could only see part. Nonetheless, I had a great time watching all the people and looking at all the architecture and the graffiti. Graffiti? you ask. Before you conjure images of ghetto alleys or city subways, let me say that the graffiti here is really, really, really good. It’s an art form. Oh sure, you’ll see a few bits of amateur art (witness the Disney scene, attached) but the majority is really well done, if of bizarre themes.

So there I am, on a graffiti walking tour of downtown Málaga. I run into a vendor selling Spanish-language Harlequin suspense novels and I bought it because I can’t not buy books. I head back to the hotel for dinner and find out that the group plans to go out dancing tonight. I borrow an outfit from Paula (I only brought my throwaway clothes, and she brought something like 3 massive suitcases packed with the cutest possible outfits) and we all head downstairs around midnight to call a cab. The older guy at the front desk says to forget calling a cab – it’s midnight on a Saturday. Better luck walking down to the taxi stand.

But, the younger guy at the front desk (later to be identified as Sebastián) says he gets off work now and would be glad to drop us off. So, four of the girls pile into the back seat, leaving me up front because my Spanish is the most fluent. Sebastián drops us off in downtown Torremolinos, although he warns us that Torremolinos is not only the San Francisco of Spain, but actually the gay Mecca of this part of Europe. Or, should I say, he warns *me*, since all of this is in Spanish. I decide to keep this information to myself – after all, we’ve arrived, and none of us were looking for Spanish dates anyway.

As it turns out, we had a great time. The atmosphere was friendly and fun, and we didn’t have to worry about scrubby drunks hitting on us. That is to say, none of the ladies of us did. When the other half of the group joined us later, Bryan for the first time in his life had the experience of random men repeatedly pinching his rear. (We women found this turn of events much funnier than he did.)

Tags: books, festivals & fiestas, food, travel tips

Portland, OR

Today Todd had to work, so he dropped me off downtown so I could walk around and see what I could see. I started out at Powell’s, the nation’s largest independent bookstore, and boy is it massive. I absolutely love to read (okay, I’m addicted to reading) and I could easily spend every dime I earn in a place like this. If you’ve never been, you should really think about checking it out.

Next, I walked all around downtown, looking like the tourist I was (backpack on, digital camera hanging around my neck). I walked through most of the parks (and there were a lot more than I anticipated), by the Chinese Garden, the Skidmore Fountain, the Ira C Keller fountain, City Hall, Portlandia, the Cultural District, Chinatown, and the Pioneer Courthouse Square.

I also visited the Art Museum, which had neat Asian, European, and Native American exhibits, and even a Forgotten Mid-Western Prints exhibit. Then I went to the Oregon History Center, which was pretty cool, and I was disappointed that photography was not allowed. There was an exhibit with scale representations of every type of wagon imaginable (ice wagon, conestoga, etc) and that was really neat.

Lastly, I walked along the river (Waterfront Park), taking photos of bridges and Canada geese (NOT “Canadian” geese, as I’m informed) and wandering through the Rose Festival area.

The cool thing about that was that it wasn’t open yet. While that may sound odd, consider this: typically if a fair/festival is not open, the general public is not allowed inside. So for the first time, I got to see carnies setting up, rides being constructed, midway game booths being assembled, and so on. It was really pretty interesting. (And I saw that they had my two favorite fair items in all the world: the Zipper ride, and Elephant Ears – yum!)

That night, Todd and I went to the Crystal Ballroom at McMenamins and saw the sold-out Sleater Kinney concert, which was a lot of fun!

Tags: books, festivals & fiestas, museums, music & concerts