Sam's Eurotrip

It feels like it’s been such a long time since I last collected my thoughts. Since my last post I’ve traveled all the way from southern Germany to southern Spain – it’s about 8AM on June 15^th as I’m writing this, and I’m en route via bus to La Linea and Gibraltar. The Mediterranean Sea is about a quarter mile to my left, and the sunrise has been really nice to watch. You might be wondering why we’re not taking the train down south, the answer to which would be that in Spain the public bus system is far more utilized (and therefore more efficient, inexpensive, and perfected) than the trains. Let me try and recap the last few days in order to get back to the present! Sorry in advance for being long-winded!

From Milan we took an overnight train to Barcelona on which we met and hung out with three girls from the south – they went to LSU and to Georgia – and also had one of our 2 cabinmates thrown off the train at the French border. We ended up paying more for the bunks than we had wanted to, but the sleep was actually quite nice and we arrived in Barcelona around 9AM feeling mostly rested. We went ahead and booked our overnight train to Granada for the next day while we were at the station and jumped on the chance to buy 6.50 euro seats, a mistake we would later regret.

After dropping our bags at the hostel and cleaning up a bit we headed out to explore Barcelona. Our hostel was actually located right on one of the main avenues in the city, Rambla de Catalunya, which led us straight to Las Ramblas. Las Ramblas is the huge pedestrian thoroughfare that leads to the port, lined with shops, artists, restaurants, and street performers. It was a little overwhelming taking it all in but it was probably one of my favorite parts about Barcelona. It was about this time that I realized how different the weather would be in Spain - the summer heat is intense, but dry, so 35-40C is pretty routine but still bearable. We grabbed a bite to eat, my first Spanish bocadillo (sandwich), and then perused the port before heading back to the hostel. The port was really nice with lots of public art and a ton of tall ships – sweet! We hit the Corte Inglés, a huge Target / Harris Teeter / Best Buy modeled after American department stores, on the way back to the hostel for some food, rested up a bit, then headed out to check out some Gaudí architecture and to watch the sunset.

We walked past Casa Milá, my first Gaudí house, and then headed to la Catedral de la Sagrada Familia, perhaps his most remarkable work. Let’s just say that I was totally impressed. The structure is unlike any of the cathedrals that I’ve seen so far, very stylized and modern, true to Gaudí’s eccentric tendencies. Though still unfinished (and with no solid projected date of completion) the two facades and the cluster of cranes make one stand in awe. While he’s incorporated many elements of traditional architecture – gargoyles, biblical figureheads above the main entrance, stained glass windows – of religious buildings, Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia is truly unique. Check out the photos below! From there we headed to Park Güell, Gaudí’s creation of a huge public park for all of Barcelona. Perched atop a hill overlooking the city, the park had incredible vistas (the view of Sagrada Familia was really neat) and it was fun to see the colonnades and other Gaudí-esque structures that make the park famous. It’s also home to the world’s longest bench, a serpentine bench that wraps a huge open plaza overlooking the city, covered in beautiful Gaudí mosaic tiles. We enjoyed some dinner and watched the city slowly fade into the night before calling our first day in Barcelona to a close.

The second day in Barcelona brought me another first which I’m still super pumped about – my first piece of Santiago Calatrava architecture! We made out for the Olympic Park in the morning (Barcelona hosted the ’92 summer games), passing the Catalunya Museum until we reached another plateau (opposite Park Güell) overlooking the city, atop which sat many of the facilities used during the games. Calatrava designed an iconic tower for the site – actually a huge TV / radio antenna – that looks kind of like a space ship or maybe a gigantic laser pointed at the sky. A huge, round base supports a single white column that bends vertically upward and atop which rests a large ring. Through the center of the ring the antenna, a long, slender ellipsoid hangs vertically – I think this is the part that makes me think it looks like some sort of huge laser! The whole structure is bright white (very Calatrava), making it stark against the deep blue sky. I think you can tell that I was pretty fascinated! And, Brett, I hope you get the chance to see it someday!

The hike continued up to Montjuïc, the large hill that divides Barcelona into its old and new / commercial districts. More great views of the city could be had, though we didn’t spend long as we had to meet some of Rob’s friends for lunch back down in the city. The Glaesers had been spending about two weeks in Spain and were in Barcelona for their last day before flying home to Charlotte the next day, and we all enjoyed a nice lunch at the same restaurant we had had lunch at the day previous. We all went to Casa Milá together, too, which was really neat. The apartment building had a walk-through exhibit and an awesome Gaudí museum in the attic – the Pedrera – which was formed by a series of large arches, and I really enjoyed learning about all of his works in the city and elsewhere. We said goodbye to the Glaesers and headed to Park Güell one last time to catch the sunset before returning to the hostel to grab our things and head to our overnight to Granada.

So, about that whole overnight thing… We paid for seats at a nice rate of 6.50 euro but found them to be incredibly uncomfortable and neither of us slept much. We made it to Granada, however, and on exiting the train I ran into two friends from Broughton that I literally hadn’t seen once since graduation day. Ryan Kane and Austin Mattox had caught the train on our way through Valencia and were headed to Granada for a few days before going to Morrocco and then flying back to the states. We decided to get checked into our hostels and try and meet up later in the day, which we ultimately did for tapas, beer, and a kebap – a lot of fun!

After making it to our hostel we headed to la Alhambra, the Moorish fortress that overlooks the city. The structure was completed over many hundreds of years by the various Islamic and, much later, Christian empires that ruled the south of Spain. Some of you may remember that I wrote my IB Extended Essay on the effects of the Moorish invasions on architecture in Spain and much of my focus was on places like la Alhambra – it was awesome to finally see it firsthand! The palace is broken into three areas, the Alcazaba, the Palacio de los Nasrides, and the Generalife, and is famous for its horseshoe arches, decorative vaulted ceilings, and beautiful Moorish tile work. The Court of the Lions, named for the central fountain’s lion figures, is also pretty famous, but we were disappointed to find that the fountain and all its large felines were being renovated! Nonetheless the experience was incredible; Rob had called it the best thing in all of Spain (besides Toledo, he adds), and I was inclined to agree. My favorite part was the gardens of the Generalife which were absolutely beautiful – Bebee, don’t worry, I have lots of photos!

After cleaning up at the hostel – it was about 40C – we headed back out to see the Albacín, which is the old Moorish neighborhood. It’s lined with shops where you can buy tapestries, lanterns, hookahs, jewelry, and even belly dancer costumes that are all straight from northern Africa. The steep little streets with all the shops have a magical feeling as if they’re right out of “Aladdin.” We checked out the Granada bull ring, another first for me, and then headed to grab some groceries before heading to watch the sunset at a great overlook called el Mirador. Something else worth mentioning is that Granada was celebrating la feria (kind of like the State Fair) at the time, so all the streets were decorated with lights and flowers that helped to give the city a very lively feel. El Mirador is a plaza at the top of the hill that the Albacín occupies, a large space with musicians, artists, and spectators taking in the view of the Alhambra across the valley. We met with Ryan and Austin, shared travel stories for most of the night, and enjoyed some food and drinks before going our separate ways. We hiked back up to our hostel (across the street from the Alhambra, way up the hill) and hit the hay. Speaking of our hostel, did I mention that it had a rooftop pool?! It was pretty sweet and we enjoyed it for a couple of hours that afternoon before heading out to dinner.

The next morning (Sunday the 14^th) we got up and headed to catch a bus to Málaga, a bit further down the coast. We got in by mid-afternoon and, after a bit of hostel trouble, ended up changing our reservations to stay at an awesome place on the main drag (where the Semana Santa parades travel through the city, right across from the port) for just a little bit more in price. We saw a little of the city by walking around, and I have to say that I was impressed. The downtown was really nice, with tree-lined streets that reminded me of a combination of Savannah, Charleston, and Miami. There was a nice park along the waterfront and it was actually nice to be outside – it was noticeably cooler being so much closer to the water! We enjoyed some McDonald’s for dinner, both to take advantage of their “free” wifi and because it was right downstairs, and called it a night.

That gets us all caught up; we woke up today around 6AM to make our 7AM bus to La Linea, which is the border town on the Spanish side of Gibraltar, still in the possession of the British. I think we’re about an hour away now, and coming through Marbello, which is like the Monaco of southern Spain – pretty ritzy! I’ve really enjoyed being in Spain for a variety of reasons… the weather is nice (hot, but better than the cool, rainy weather in central Europe), the cities are very cosmopolitan, the Spanish wine and food are delicious and cheap, and I can actually communicate with locals! That part is especially gratifying after studying Spanish for so long but having never visited a Spanish-speaking country. Something else that’s really neat is the huge amount of olive groves in Andalucia – they literally cover entire plains and mountains.

After Gibraltar our ultimate destination for today is Tarifa, a small coastal town that is at the closest point to Africa – we hope to be able to see Morocco in the distance! We’ll be there for four nights which will be nice… a place to spread out, relax, and hit the beach! Tarifa is known for its constant wind, making it the kite surfing capital of the world; people flock to its Atlantic beaches to take advantage of the strong wind, beautiful weather, and good surf. I’m really excited!

More to come sometime soon – enjoy the photos from this recap and from the previous one (added to the post about Munich and Lake Como).

Cheers,

Sam