Barcelona 8/16-8/20

After 8 pleasant hours spent reading Harry Potter on an ALSA bus, I arrived in Barcelona. Alexx met me at the train station and we walked the short distance to our hostel.

We had dinner at a local restaurant and Alexx told me all about her time at Leadership camp in Japan. The next day we had a lively Irish man lead a free walking tour viewing some of Gaudi's work. Gaudi is Spain's most famous architect and he is known for his crazy and unique designs. A lot of which appear to be giant gingerbread houses. La Sagrada Familia is the granddaddy of his designs and has been under construction for over 130 years. Dang. It also has an overwhelming amount of symbolism.

In the evening we watched a free water fountain show in front of the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya.

On Sunday, we visited the beach. The sand was imported from Egypt and was conveniently planted on the port of Barcelona in order to appeal to more tourists for the 1992 Olympics. That is also when the metro system was constructed.

For lunch, we had Paella, a traditional Spanish dish. Until then, we had been really good about making our own food and spending little to no money on meals. We kept this up with the exception of the Paella and a couple of other restaurant stops.

We saw the Museú de la Musica and were some of the last people let into the Picasso Museum for free.

That night, we had a short stint at the Festival de Gràcia, an outdoor music festival featuring multiple genres and assorted paper mâché animals including dinosaurs and spiders. We saw a swing band, a few rock bands, and an amazing jazz band. At one point we stumbled upon an underground Spanish punk rap show behind this questionable garage door:

We spent the next day reading at Parc Guell, the park that was going to become a neighborhood of homes designed by Gaudi. Like most things in Europe, it is unfinished and full of tourists. Gaudi constructed the largest park bench in the world there and you may recognize the famous iguana sculpture. The entire village is accented with oriental mosaics. Locals are protesting because for the first time starting this September, the city is going to charge an entry fee to enter the grounds. I was especially excited to visit Parc Guell because it was the location I most vividly remembered from the Cheetah Girls' second film. 

 

That evening, we participated in the pub quiz, (a series of random 10-15 question quizzes on various topics all bound in one book) in order to compete for a free pub crawl. I won the game after taking the Harry Potter, Color Category and a couple other quizzes. Alexx did not want to pay 15 euros for her ticket so we went out alone. However, we eventually ran into the pub crawl group at an Australian Bar by the beach. Our dancing got the attention of the others in the bar, especially after the DJ played Single Ladies at my request. This is probably why the guy in charge of the pub crawl gave Alexx a free pass and we proceeded to migrate to Club Shoko along with the group. We didn't stay out til 7 am like the rest of the group but we had a nice night dansing. On our last day in Barcelona, we did a walking tour of the Gothic Quarter of the city. We learned some more history then I retreated back to the hostel to skype. That evening we did another pub crawl, however this one was free for everyone. 

 

Madrid 8/14-8/15

Despite the short length of the flight from Lisbon to Madrid, we were served a meal.

Upon arrival that evening, I found that my bag was not there. The airline had left mine about 12 other people's bags in Lisbon as ours was such a small plane. The woman at the Lost Baggage desk pretended as though she did not speak English when I first went to request tracking my bag. It appeared as though she didn't understand any English words or simple gestures and I was too flustered to think of how to explain my situation in Spanish. Flustered, I waited for the others to approach her. They soon did so, yelling in Spanish and accepting tracking info for their luggage. Eventually, I was left alone at the counter. Having practiced what I needed to say as I waited for everyone else to finish, I stepped up finally ready to speak Spanish. Before I could open my mouth, the woman clearly stated "I am guessing you live in the United States." She then proceeded to speak in excellent English and give me the tracking information for my luggage. I arrived at the U Hostel and shortly after hand washing my clothes, I went to sleep.

The next morning I took a walking tour of the city and learned quite a few centuries of Spanish history.

Plaza de la Puerta del Sol

The city's icon

Catedral de la Almudena on the Palacio Real de Madrid side

The more impressive side of the Catedral de la Almudena 

Later on, I visited the Royal Palace and Egyptian temple with Emilio, a Mexican student in the hostel.

Palacio Real de Madrid

all gold errything

part of an extensive collection of armory in the palace

Templo de Debod

Throughout the day I talked to a lot of students, mostly Australians on holiday. I also befriended a middle aged woman in order to use her travel adapter. Turns out she has sleep apnea, just like my dad.

New York/Lisbon 8/12-8/13

After finishing my applied math summer course, I headed down to NYC to visit some friends:

Ashdaddy

Ode

Then I left for Spain to visit Alexx, a friend of mine who is also studying abroad this semester. Due to a delay followed by a lengthy layover, I was able to spend about 8 hours in downtown Lisbon, walking around, sweating (it was 35 Celsius plus humidity), and seeing the sights. I got a 24 hour aerobus pass for only € 3.50 and took it down to City Center. On the way I recognized a mural by the Brazilian street artists Os Gemeos. They have a similar mural in Boston.

Boston

Lisbon

Once downtown, I walked down the main drag-a wide tiled street with outdoor restaurant seating, chill ambience, and zero cars:

I spent approximately sixteen minutes in a free modern art museum. Then, I walked through Rua Augusta into a rather large plaza that is probably used as a prime location for outdoor fairs and events.

 

The water is on the other side of the plaza and it's so clear enough that you can see plenty of fish. There is also a red bridge that looks a bit like the Golden Gate.

Next, I walked to a cathedral that had a convenient foon hole cut out in the large doors for humans to enter through-this became a common feature in other cathedrals I visited:

My next task was finding the Castelo St Jorge. After climbing the steep hill that it sits on, I  with many other tourists spent a while walking in a large circle around the castle in search of the street leading to the entrance.

 There were peacocks and owls on the castle grounds and a gorgeous view of the city. The tour guide led us through the castle as though we were Imperialists trying to break through the numerous defenses of the castle. Later he informed us that none of the defenses were ever put into action apart from in training and drills. When the team of French, Spanish, and other armies came, they simply staked out the castle for a few months before the Portuguese surrendered.

I walked back downtown and started to wait in line to ride the Elevador de Santa Justa-a tower built by a student of Eiffel.

The line was moving terribly slow and as my resolve waned, I spotted a Chinese buffet for around the same price as riding the Elevador. I had a delicious meal before heading back to airport. Worn out, I napped and read Harry Potter before boarding my flight to Madrid.