Back at home in Madrid, the festivities continued. Pat and I barely had time to unpack our clothes, wash them and hang them out to dry (because evidently no one believes in dryers here, so your clothes are nice and hard, almost standing up on their own), before we went to the airport to greet Ilanit. She was coming in from Italy to spend the weekend with us. Luckily for Pat, Iberia had managed to find her bags, so we were able to pick them up at the same time.
We headed back to the apartment, got ready, and then went out to the Salsa Simposium. The first night of shows was pretty good, and we even got to see my friend Sandro perform with his partner. Thursday night's show ended with a magnificent performance by Pablo and Diana from Madrid. Wow!!!
Social dancing was fun that night, but difficult because all the dancers decided to choose the slanted section of the building to dance in. So most of the night was spent bumping into people because it was so difficult to stay in one place due to the angle of the dance floor. Nevertheless, it was a lot of fun. Sandro brought us back home around 6am. Our feet were exhausted.
The next day, we woke up around 2pm and headed on foot towards the downtown area of Madrid. We walked along Alcalá down towards Puerta de Alcalá, through Plaza Cibelles and Banco de España, and then down to Puerta de Sol, the heart of Madrid. We ate at my favorite café called Faborit, had their delicious "chocolate a la taza", and then headed to the shops.
Around 7pm we started to make our way back home when we ran into a Good Friday procession in the streets of Madrid! I had been wanting to see something ceremonial for the Semana Santa week/weekend, and lo an behold, we bumped right into it. We perched ourselves up on the window ledges above the crowd for the next hour as we watched the people walking by. There were bands, men and women wearing tall, pointy purple hoods with only their eyes showing (not sure what this garb represents exactly), people walking barefoot, people walking barefoot with their ankles chained together, a man holding a wooden cross, and then the final part was a glorious gold ornamental carriage that was carried through the procession. It was beautiful, and we had a bird's eye view!
We rushed home to get ready because we were having all my friends Patry, Rober, and Sandro over for dinner. We made gnocchi, potatoes, and salad, while my friends brought little sandwiches and pasta dishes as appetizers. It was an interesting assortment of food, but all delicious. After dinner we headed to the simposium again to watch the most incredible shows, beginning with a tango group that recreated Moulin Rouge. It was so beautiful we all had goosebumps. We saw Tropical Gem, Latin Black, Maykel Fonts and many other incredible performers from all over Europe. After the shows we danced our hearts out. So many talented dancers, so little time! Before we knew it, the lights were on and it was 6am. Time to jump in the cab to head home.
The next day we woke up around noon, showered, and headed to the other main part of Madrid called Gran Vía, where the popular shopping street Fuencarral is. We all did a little shopping, and then went back home, got ready, and then went out to Villaverde Alto, where we had tapas at Patry and Rober's new condo. Rober had made tortilla de patata, esparragos, empanadas, salad, slices of bread with camember cheese, walnuts, and caramel on top, slices of tomato with mozzarella, and more. It was so impressive! After the meal, he made crepes and we got to choose our topping of chocolate, toffee, or whipped cream. Of course, we all chose all of them, although the toffee was the best. After that we made our way to the congress again where we saw many of the same performers with their 2nd (and better) act, and then did our best to social dance, but we were all so tired. After the dancing we went to the famous Chocolatería San Gines to have the typical afterhours snack of chocolate con churros. Delicious! Of course the chocolate doesn't beat the chocolate at Faborit, but it's still pretty good.
We got home at 7am, the girls packed their bags, and then left for the airport by 9am. I slept until about 3:30pm, and woke up only because I knew I had to because Sunday night's performance at the congress was extra special. It was a 2-hour performance by Frankie Martinez and his dance company. He is a salsa legend! But before I got there, I decided to do a little laundry. I was talking on the phone when all of a sudden I heard water splashing in the kitchen. I went in there and there was a swimming pool of water all over the floor from the washing machine! I don't know what happened because I had just done laundry a few days earlier without any trouble. Let me tell u how funny this was. If someone could have filmed this, it would've ended up on America's Funniest Home Videos. Water splashing out, me rushing to find towels in th house, slipping on the floor, dropping the mop, picking it back up, dropping i again, wringing out the towels in the sink only to throw them on the floor again drying to absorb the water! I finally got it to stop, and then when I opened the washing machine door to try to get the clothes out, out came another flood of water! Hahahahaha! I repeated the same process again, and then used a bowl to scoop up the rest of the water from the washer and dump it into the sink. After that I took my clothes to the shower and hosed them down to get all the soap out, wrung them out, and then hung them to dry. What a mess!!!
So by the time I got to the congress, I was exhuasted and my fingers were prunes! :)
Frankie's performance was incredible. He is so talented. Amazing footwork, body movement, and body isolation. 2-hours of dancing with a few intermissions so they could change their outfits. I stayed to dance a little bit. The dancing was much better Sunday night that Saturday because there were fewer people and more room to dance.
Now it's Monday, and I am trying to fight off a cold and body exhaustion before heading to Sweden this weekend for the Salsa Congress there.
To see my pics, click on Collections and look for Madrid. Enjoy!
Monday, March 24, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Murcia and Valencia, March 15-20
So much has happened since I last wrote, so much that u probably won't believe, but I will try to explain. Patricia, my best friend from LA, arrived on Saturday the 15th of March to spend 10 days with me and to see if she liked Spain enough to move back here for the entire summer.
She flew Iberia, and guess what? yup, they lost her bags! Actually she received one bag, which she luckily had put her dance shoes and few essentials in, but the other one was AND STILL IS nowhere to be found! It's been 5 days and no word from Iberia.
So, a friendly reminder to all of you planning on coming out to visit....DON'T FLY IBERIA!!!! :)
With a great attitude and only the clothes and shoes she was wearing, she was ready for our journey. Actually, I don't think we could've ever prepared for this journey!
We took the metro to the train station hoping to buy our ticket from Madrid to Alicante, then Alicante to Murcia (because we had already missed the direct train from Madrid to Murcia). WRONG! It was sold out. Now what? Well, the ticket agent mentioned the possibility of taking the bus to Murcia, so we hopped back on the subway and took it to the bus station, only to find out that the next bus was at midnight, getting us to Murcia at 6am, by which time the sals congress would be over and only Sunday evening would remain to dance. Frustrated, but not letting the wind out of our sails, we had the idea to take the metro back to the airport and rent a car and drive to Murcia! When we got there, we saw 3 car rental agencies. The first one.....out of cars, sorry! The second one...out of cars, sorry! Our last hope was Hertz, and like a beacon in the night, we had our car, a cute blue Peugeot and a full tank of gas.
Off we went, on unfamiliar terrain, embarking at 9pm, hoping to arrive to Murcia in one piece and in time to dance before the congress ended saturday night. Through clenched fists, white knuckles, do we go here or do we go there, getting lost in downtown Murcia, we made it to the coastal town of Los Narejos, Los Alcàzares, where the congress hotel was. We changed in the car, excited, impressed, and ready to dance our hearts out. We went running into the hotel and realized we didn't hear any music! hahahaha! At this point we began to get frustrated. The hotel reception wasn't very friendly and told us we were mistaken but there was no congress here at this hotel, but never telling us where to go. In walks Eddie Torres, "El Rey de la Salsa", innovator of on2 style (mambo) in NY. We asked him where to go, and he said that his chauffeur was going to be heading back that way. So we hopped on the private shuttle for the stars, and 25 minutes later we found ourselves in a deserted town that we would've NEVER found on our own! By that time it was 2:30am, and luckily for us the conress went until 5am that day. We danced a little, mingled a little, and then hoppen back on the bus to the congress hotel.
I forgot to mention a small detail....we actually didn't have a hotel of our own until Sunday, and check-in is usually in the afternoon....so, we went to the afterparty in the hotel lobby, mingled, ate, and partied until 8:30am.
From there we headed to the car (our hotel for Saturday night), and slept until 11am, at which point we were able to check into our REAL hotel for Sunday, which was a cute 2-star hotel called Hotel Los Narejos. We showered, got dressed, and went to the beach. There we found a little chiringuito to have coffee, eat lunch, and take in the beautiful weather. Back in our hotel, took a quick 4-hour nap, got dressed and did it all again a second night. We ran into Albert Torres (LA's salsa promotor) in the lobby of the hotel, and he gave us free passes for the congress for Sunday night, a front seat to watch the shows, then introduced us to the salsa promotor from Valencia named Augustin Williams. He offered to let us follow him in our car as we drove to Valencia the next day.
Good thing he did because Las Fallas had already begun on Saturday the 15th, and it was Monday the 17th and a majority of the streets were blocked off, therefore we couldn't return our car to Hertz! He maneuvered us to another dropoff location, and then called around for us and found us a great deal on a hotel room (because we obviously weren't prepared enough to book one ahead of time!) witha corporate discount. It was a 4-star hotel "de lujo" (luxury). We changed there and went out with him to his dance academy and then to tour the city.
Las Fallas is a tradition that begins March 15th of every year. The city builds huge paper-mache sculptures that are displayed on almost every corner and in every neighborhood in the city. On the 19th in the evening, they are all burnt to welcome in the spring. This tradition began because people back in the day used to put out all their old furniture, clothes, and household goods they didn't want and would burn them. Slowly it developed into what Las Fallas are today....a 4-day celebration and an excuse to party! What an incredible experience. At 2pm during the day every day they set off 5 minutes of continuous explosions, so intense it makes your hair stand up on end. There are people wandering the streets at all hours, dancing, singing, eating, setting off firecrackers, all dressed up in the traditional garb for the celebration.
On March 19th, Las Fallas are burnt down, beginning with Las Fallas Infantiles (the children's) first at 10pm, then the rest of them at midnight. The largest one is saved until the very end. This one is in the heart of downtown, in front of city hall, where crowds gather and wait for hours just to get a good spot. We arrived at 11:15pm and stood until 1am waiting for this experience we had heard so much about. Exactly at 1am sharp, a barrage of fireworks is set off, lasting about 10 minutes and filling the dark night with smoke. Then the largest paper-mache doll is set ablaze, and burns to the ground in about 10 minutes. Firefighters are standing by, people are cheering, black smoke billows up in the air, and ashes rain down on us. It's an unbelievable sight. It takes them about 1 year and millions of euros to build these things, and then within 10 minutes they are ashes. As soon as this last falla is burnt, the cleanup crew has already taken to the streets because by morning on the 20th, there is no evidence that this whole thing even happened.
By the time we finished watching this, it was about 2am, and our train back to Madrid was leaving at 6:50am. We were forced to buy a 1st class ticket because everything else ws booked, and every other time of departure was booked. So, what to do between 2 and 6am? Well, sleep in the freezing cold train station of course, play cards, listen to music, watch salsa videos, and hide from the cold in the automated foto booths! Those 4 hours were the longest part of this whole trip, but well worth the first class treatment on the train back to Madrid.
So here we are, unwinding, doing laundry, napping, Pat still without bags, and awaiting our dear friend Ilanit's arrival from Milan tonight to begin the party again. Tonight begins the Madrid Salsa Congress!!! Watch out Madrid!!!!
Enjoy my pics from Murcia and Valencia. Go to my pics and click on collections: Murcia and Valencia
She flew Iberia, and guess what? yup, they lost her bags! Actually she received one bag, which she luckily had put her dance shoes and few essentials in, but the other one was AND STILL IS nowhere to be found! It's been 5 days and no word from Iberia.
So, a friendly reminder to all of you planning on coming out to visit....DON'T FLY IBERIA!!!! :)
With a great attitude and only the clothes and shoes she was wearing, she was ready for our journey. Actually, I don't think we could've ever prepared for this journey!
We took the metro to the train station hoping to buy our ticket from Madrid to Alicante, then Alicante to Murcia (because we had already missed the direct train from Madrid to Murcia). WRONG! It was sold out. Now what? Well, the ticket agent mentioned the possibility of taking the bus to Murcia, so we hopped back on the subway and took it to the bus station, only to find out that the next bus was at midnight, getting us to Murcia at 6am, by which time the sals congress would be over and only Sunday evening would remain to dance. Frustrated, but not letting the wind out of our sails, we had the idea to take the metro back to the airport and rent a car and drive to Murcia! When we got there, we saw 3 car rental agencies. The first one.....out of cars, sorry! The second one...out of cars, sorry! Our last hope was Hertz, and like a beacon in the night, we had our car, a cute blue Peugeot and a full tank of gas.
Off we went, on unfamiliar terrain, embarking at 9pm, hoping to arrive to Murcia in one piece and in time to dance before the congress ended saturday night. Through clenched fists, white knuckles, do we go here or do we go there, getting lost in downtown Murcia, we made it to the coastal town of Los Narejos, Los Alcàzares, where the congress hotel was. We changed in the car, excited, impressed, and ready to dance our hearts out. We went running into the hotel and realized we didn't hear any music! hahahaha! At this point we began to get frustrated. The hotel reception wasn't very friendly and told us we were mistaken but there was no congress here at this hotel, but never telling us where to go. In walks Eddie Torres, "El Rey de la Salsa", innovator of on2 style (mambo) in NY. We asked him where to go, and he said that his chauffeur was going to be heading back that way. So we hopped on the private shuttle for the stars, and 25 minutes later we found ourselves in a deserted town that we would've NEVER found on our own! By that time it was 2:30am, and luckily for us the conress went until 5am that day. We danced a little, mingled a little, and then hoppen back on the bus to the congress hotel.
I forgot to mention a small detail....we actually didn't have a hotel of our own until Sunday, and check-in is usually in the afternoon....so, we went to the afterparty in the hotel lobby, mingled, ate, and partied until 8:30am.
From there we headed to the car (our hotel for Saturday night), and slept until 11am, at which point we were able to check into our REAL hotel for Sunday, which was a cute 2-star hotel called Hotel Los Narejos. We showered, got dressed, and went to the beach. There we found a little chiringuito to have coffee, eat lunch, and take in the beautiful weather. Back in our hotel, took a quick 4-hour nap, got dressed and did it all again a second night. We ran into Albert Torres (LA's salsa promotor) in the lobby of the hotel, and he gave us free passes for the congress for Sunday night, a front seat to watch the shows, then introduced us to the salsa promotor from Valencia named Augustin Williams. He offered to let us follow him in our car as we drove to Valencia the next day.
Good thing he did because Las Fallas had already begun on Saturday the 15th, and it was Monday the 17th and a majority of the streets were blocked off, therefore we couldn't return our car to Hertz! He maneuvered us to another dropoff location, and then called around for us and found us a great deal on a hotel room (because we obviously weren't prepared enough to book one ahead of time!) witha corporate discount. It was a 4-star hotel "de lujo" (luxury). We changed there and went out with him to his dance academy and then to tour the city.
Las Fallas is a tradition that begins March 15th of every year. The city builds huge paper-mache sculptures that are displayed on almost every corner and in every neighborhood in the city. On the 19th in the evening, they are all burnt to welcome in the spring. This tradition began because people back in the day used to put out all their old furniture, clothes, and household goods they didn't want and would burn them. Slowly it developed into what Las Fallas are today....a 4-day celebration and an excuse to party! What an incredible experience. At 2pm during the day every day they set off 5 minutes of continuous explosions, so intense it makes your hair stand up on end. There are people wandering the streets at all hours, dancing, singing, eating, setting off firecrackers, all dressed up in the traditional garb for the celebration.
On March 19th, Las Fallas are burnt down, beginning with Las Fallas Infantiles (the children's) first at 10pm, then the rest of them at midnight. The largest one is saved until the very end. This one is in the heart of downtown, in front of city hall, where crowds gather and wait for hours just to get a good spot. We arrived at 11:15pm and stood until 1am waiting for this experience we had heard so much about. Exactly at 1am sharp, a barrage of fireworks is set off, lasting about 10 minutes and filling the dark night with smoke. Then the largest paper-mache doll is set ablaze, and burns to the ground in about 10 minutes. Firefighters are standing by, people are cheering, black smoke billows up in the air, and ashes rain down on us. It's an unbelievable sight. It takes them about 1 year and millions of euros to build these things, and then within 10 minutes they are ashes. As soon as this last falla is burnt, the cleanup crew has already taken to the streets because by morning on the 20th, there is no evidence that this whole thing even happened.
By the time we finished watching this, it was about 2am, and our train back to Madrid was leaving at 6:50am. We were forced to buy a 1st class ticket because everything else ws booked, and every other time of departure was booked. So, what to do between 2 and 6am? Well, sleep in the freezing cold train station of course, play cards, listen to music, watch salsa videos, and hide from the cold in the automated foto booths! Those 4 hours were the longest part of this whole trip, but well worth the first class treatment on the train back to Madrid.
So here we are, unwinding, doing laundry, napping, Pat still without bags, and awaiting our dear friend Ilanit's arrival from Milan tonight to begin the party again. Tonight begins the Madrid Salsa Congress!!! Watch out Madrid!!!!
Enjoy my pics from Murcia and Valencia. Go to my pics and click on collections: Murcia and Valencia
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Italy, March 8-10
Ok so where do I even begin? Maybe this is a good start....this weekend was the MOST fun I have had since I have been here in Europe. After a slight change in itinerary because of a job interview, I took flight to Milan and met Ilanit at the Cardorna station. From there we took a train to Bologna, which took about 2 hours. We arrived fairly late at night to where there were no more buses to our last stop, which was Pieve di Cento, where the Bologna Salsa Festival was to be held. So we decided to stop and have a slice of pizza, something I have been anticipating since reading the Italy section of my book "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. Well, the pizza didn't let me down!
So while deciding how we were going to get to our final destination, which was about 50km away still, a man approached us and told us he was a "private" taxi driver, and that was his car over there, the one with the hazards flashing that had no taxi sign or meter! hahaha! No way were we about to get in that cab! So we continued looking. All the legitimate cab drivers were gonna charge us 40-50 euros. The trai wouldn't get us there until 11:30pm, so against every advice our parents gave us about riding in cars with strangers, we got in the undercover cab. Even better, he made Ilanit sit up front so none of the cops thought he was operating illegally as as a taxi driver! hahahaha! let me tell u, every time this guy turned opposite of where he GPS system told him to turn, I started thinking of ways we could jump out of a moving vehicle, how badly it would hurt, and if we would still be able to dance later that night! :)
To our surprise, he took us directly to the hotel and charged us 20 euros! what a nice guy! and to think I was making assumptions about him.... :)
So once at the hotel, we go to put our bags in Jen and Stephanie's room (girls from LA dancing with Johnny Vasquez), since of course we didn't have a room of our own and figured we would just stay up all night so we could save money :)
We got ready, and then headed downstairs to watch the shows, which didn't finish until 1:30am! After that we got some social dancing in, and before we knew it, it was 5am! Well, that meant it was time for the afterparty, which would tide us over until the free breakfast (mind u, for guests of the hotel, which we weren't, but who's counting, right?). So we went to Juan Matos' suite, and continued the party there with his dancers, Johnny Vasquez, Jen, Stephanie, Peter, and a bunch of other peeps from U-tribe from France, and dancers from Italy. That was fun to get to know people we had only seen in videos or heard about.
Around 7am we headed downstairs for continental breakfast of coffee, pastries, nutella to your heart's content, and a few pieces of fruit. Johnny serenaded us to El Cantante (will post this on youtube later), and then we moved to the lobby and hung out there until about 9am when people started to come downstairs. That's when we realized how embarrassing it was that we were still in our clothes from the night before. Well we went and grabbed our bags from Jen and Stephanie's room because Juan Matos had offered us the couches in his suite. We headed there, and TRIED to sleep. We thought it was a perfect situation, but Juan evidently snores really loudly, and therefore, there was NO sleep for the weary. So Ilanit and I decided to try to have a conversation with each other, except we couldn't even hear each other, so we awaited the pauses in the snoring to conversate! :) ahahahahaa! omg what a funny night/day!
when everyone else awoke in the suite we all got ready and we headed with Juan and his dance team back to Milan. From there he took us to a Peruvian restaurant for lunch that had live music. Lo and behold, right as we walked in, the signer was singing..."El Cantante!" Hahaha! It was perfect!
After lunch, Juan, Ilanit and I headed to Brescia where he had been invited to teach a cha cha cha class, and since we didn't have plans, we went along. We checked into the hotel, and then our ride came to pick us up. The club was an old villa that was transformed to a club. There were free appetizers (well free to us, don't know about the other guests) and drinks. The club was so beautiful!!! We danced and laughed all night long! What a fun night!
The next day Ilanit and I headed out for lunch of gnocchi and gelato, my final "must-haves" in italian cuisine. Delicious!
Back to the train, to the bus, to the airport, to the metro, and finally home in Madrid late last night. Exhausting journey, but well worth it :)
Check out my pics!
So while deciding how we were going to get to our final destination, which was about 50km away still, a man approached us and told us he was a "private" taxi driver, and that was his car over there, the one with the hazards flashing that had no taxi sign or meter! hahaha! No way were we about to get in that cab! So we continued looking. All the legitimate cab drivers were gonna charge us 40-50 euros. The trai wouldn't get us there until 11:30pm, so against every advice our parents gave us about riding in cars with strangers, we got in the undercover cab. Even better, he made Ilanit sit up front so none of the cops thought he was operating illegally as as a taxi driver! hahahaha! let me tell u, every time this guy turned opposite of where he GPS system told him to turn, I started thinking of ways we could jump out of a moving vehicle, how badly it would hurt, and if we would still be able to dance later that night! :)
To our surprise, he took us directly to the hotel and charged us 20 euros! what a nice guy! and to think I was making assumptions about him.... :)
So once at the hotel, we go to put our bags in Jen and Stephanie's room (girls from LA dancing with Johnny Vasquez), since of course we didn't have a room of our own and figured we would just stay up all night so we could save money :)
We got ready, and then headed downstairs to watch the shows, which didn't finish until 1:30am! After that we got some social dancing in, and before we knew it, it was 5am! Well, that meant it was time for the afterparty, which would tide us over until the free breakfast (mind u, for guests of the hotel, which we weren't, but who's counting, right?). So we went to Juan Matos' suite, and continued the party there with his dancers, Johnny Vasquez, Jen, Stephanie, Peter, and a bunch of other peeps from U-tribe from France, and dancers from Italy. That was fun to get to know people we had only seen in videos or heard about.
Around 7am we headed downstairs for continental breakfast of coffee, pastries, nutella to your heart's content, and a few pieces of fruit. Johnny serenaded us to El Cantante (will post this on youtube later), and then we moved to the lobby and hung out there until about 9am when people started to come downstairs. That's when we realized how embarrassing it was that we were still in our clothes from the night before. Well we went and grabbed our bags from Jen and Stephanie's room because Juan Matos had offered us the couches in his suite. We headed there, and TRIED to sleep. We thought it was a perfect situation, but Juan evidently snores really loudly, and therefore, there was NO sleep for the weary. So Ilanit and I decided to try to have a conversation with each other, except we couldn't even hear each other, so we awaited the pauses in the snoring to conversate! :) ahahahahaa! omg what a funny night/day!
when everyone else awoke in the suite we all got ready and we headed with Juan and his dance team back to Milan. From there he took us to a Peruvian restaurant for lunch that had live music. Lo and behold, right as we walked in, the signer was singing..."El Cantante!" Hahaha! It was perfect!
After lunch, Juan, Ilanit and I headed to Brescia where he had been invited to teach a cha cha cha class, and since we didn't have plans, we went along. We checked into the hotel, and then our ride came to pick us up. The club was an old villa that was transformed to a club. There were free appetizers (well free to us, don't know about the other guests) and drinks. The club was so beautiful!!! We danced and laughed all night long! What a fun night!
The next day Ilanit and I headed out for lunch of gnocchi and gelato, my final "must-haves" in italian cuisine. Delicious!
Back to the train, to the bus, to the airport, to the metro, and finally home in Madrid late last night. Exhausting journey, but well worth it :)
Check out my pics!
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Barcelona, March 1-3
Barcelona is full of beautiful architecture, culture, and energy, but let me tell you, their train system is AWFUL!!!!
OMG so the reason we went to Barcelona this weekend was because Shanda decided to run the Barcelona Marathon. She decided 4 weeks ago, and they booked our hotel (Ciutat del Prat) in the city called El Prat de Llobregat. Never heard of it? No worries, you aren't missing anything. This hotel came recommended on the list of hotels for the marathon, so they had absolutely no idea that it was SO far from the heart of Barcelona. It is conveniently close to the airport with a free shuttle, but try to get downtown, and you will have a headache on your hands :)
When we arrived and checked in, we got oriented to our surroundings and how to use the train, metro, and bus system. We headed to the Marathon Expo in the Placa Espanya, where Shanda got her bib, chip, bag, and map of the marathon. We walked around the city for a bit, and then discovered that it would be impossible to circulate via bus after midnight the night before the marathon because all the routes would be closed. That meant if I went out salsa dancing, I would never be able to get home! So we had a chill night at the hotel, and Shanda went to sleep early for the marathon.
Sunday morning after she left for the marathon, I did some sightseeing. I went to the Cathedral, Picasso's museum, La Iglesa de Santa Maria, and then headed over to the marathon site to see her cross the finish line. She finished in 4 hours and 30 minutes! Great job!
In the afternoon I headed to La Sagrada Familia, Casa Mila and Casa Batlo to see Gaudi's work. I am a huge fan of his architecture, and as you will see by my photos, I spent a lot of my sightseeing hours visiting his sites. La Sagrada Familia is a huge church that is still under construction. Gaudi began it, and now the inside is being restored. Casa Mila is an 8-story apartment complex that Gaudi designed. We were allowed to see the apartment, the attic, and walk on the roof. Casa Batlo is another Gaudi museum, but I never went inside.
The next day we woke up early and went to Parc Guell, which is a park that Gaudi was commissioned to design. Inside the park is Gaudi's museum, which was originally his house.
The park has such a unique design, reminding me of Hansel and Gretel. I absolutely loved it!
So now I am back in Madrid for a few days, then off to Italy (Lake Como & Milan) to visit my friend Ilanit. Enjoy my pics :)
OMG so the reason we went to Barcelona this weekend was because Shanda decided to run the Barcelona Marathon. She decided 4 weeks ago, and they booked our hotel (Ciutat del Prat) in the city called El Prat de Llobregat. Never heard of it? No worries, you aren't missing anything. This hotel came recommended on the list of hotels for the marathon, so they had absolutely no idea that it was SO far from the heart of Barcelona. It is conveniently close to the airport with a free shuttle, but try to get downtown, and you will have a headache on your hands :)
When we arrived and checked in, we got oriented to our surroundings and how to use the train, metro, and bus system. We headed to the Marathon Expo in the Placa Espanya, where Shanda got her bib, chip, bag, and map of the marathon. We walked around the city for a bit, and then discovered that it would be impossible to circulate via bus after midnight the night before the marathon because all the routes would be closed. That meant if I went out salsa dancing, I would never be able to get home! So we had a chill night at the hotel, and Shanda went to sleep early for the marathon.
Sunday morning after she left for the marathon, I did some sightseeing. I went to the Cathedral, Picasso's museum, La Iglesa de Santa Maria, and then headed over to the marathon site to see her cross the finish line. She finished in 4 hours and 30 minutes! Great job!
In the afternoon I headed to La Sagrada Familia, Casa Mila and Casa Batlo to see Gaudi's work. I am a huge fan of his architecture, and as you will see by my photos, I spent a lot of my sightseeing hours visiting his sites. La Sagrada Familia is a huge church that is still under construction. Gaudi began it, and now the inside is being restored. Casa Mila is an 8-story apartment complex that Gaudi designed. We were allowed to see the apartment, the attic, and walk on the roof. Casa Batlo is another Gaudi museum, but I never went inside.
The next day we woke up early and went to Parc Guell, which is a park that Gaudi was commissioned to design. Inside the park is Gaudi's museum, which was originally his house.
The park has such a unique design, reminding me of Hansel and Gretel. I absolutely loved it!
So now I am back in Madrid for a few days, then off to Italy (Lake Como & Milan) to visit my friend Ilanit. Enjoy my pics :)
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