Hi all, here is the latest update to the blog, covering my time in Milan and Florence.
Getting from Avignon to Milan proved a little troublesome. Once again, (like my journey from Paris to San Sebastian) the French rail system tried to stop me, but I wasn't about to be foiled a second time and I emerged victorious in the end. My journey to Milan was composed of four trains; three regional French trains and then an Italian train to Milan. The first train got me to Marseilles without any trouble, but the second train from Marseilles to Nice just decided to come to a stop for some reason and sat mid-route on the rails for about 20 minutes. Because of this, I arrived late into Nice and missed the third train to Ventimiglia, a coastal Italian town near the border. But, I was able to get my schedule reworked and got on the next train there. I had two hours in Ventimiglia before the final train to Milan, so I walked down to the beach (actually I wouldn't call it a beach as it's mostly rocks) and sat around down there. My train to Milan brought me into the city at 11:00pm, so I had to find my way to my hostel at night, but I managed to get there ok.
I only had one full day in Milan, so I didn't see too much. Also, it started raining again, with a vengeance. The perpetual rain storm that had followed me from London all the way to Madrid for a month was throwing me a reunion party. In spite of this, I walked around town a bit and saw some of the main sights of Milan. The first big thing I came to was the town's duomo (cathedral). Milan has the second largest cathedral in the world, and it's quite impressive. I went up to the roof, which appears to have been designed from the start for people to go up there. Many other cathedrals and buildings have scaffolding you go on when you go up to the roof, but at the Milan duomo you are walking on the actual rooftop of the cathedral. The view up there is good, but because of the rain I couldn't see too far. After the duomo I paid a visit to a large shopping mall that was next to the duomo. Apparently this is the first large shopping mall that was ever built, and it resembles more a train station than a traditional mall with high vaulted roofs made of glass and steel. I even found the bull mosaic on the floor of the mall. You're supposed to do a little spin on the bull's testicles to give yourself good luck and there were a number of people doing just that. I however, was not content to just do a little pivot turn on the bull, and instead jumped and stomped on the testicles before doing a Michael Jackson spin. By my logic this act will give me an exponentially greater amount of luck than those other people got. Moving on, I walked over to Milan's old castello (fort) though there isn't too much there. The castello is free and open to the public, though most locals seem to just pass through it to reach the park on the other side of it. After looking around the castello a little I went over to that park and walked to the opposite side before returning back. When I got back to the castello I came across what I thought was a group of people doing some sort of traditional song performance, but it turned out to really be a group of Catholics who were singing some Italian hymns. I spoke with them briefly and learned that they do these public songs regularly as their way to speak to people in the community about their church. Once we parted ways I went back to my hostel, and that was more or less the end of Milan.
The next day I arrived in Florence (called Firenze in Italian) and the rainstorm followed me in for the first day I was there. My first day in Florence I didn't see too much as I only had a few hours after arriving from Milan. I spent the remainder of that day walking the south side of the Arno River and saw a few things like the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge (I think that's what it's called; it's the one that's covered in jewelry shops). I also climbed up a hillside to Piazza Michelangelo and got some good views of the city. The next day I saw most of Florence and it thankfully stopped raining. I visited a number of churches, piazzas and other buildings, including the unfinished Basilica di San Lorenzo. The church is actually effectively complete, but it has no facade because the pope pulled the plug on funding before it was finished. I then moved down to Florence's duomo, with its famous red dome. The exterior is a colorful mix of white, green and pink marble, which not everyone likes but I think works well. The inside is actually kind of plain for a cathedral of its size, but the entrance is free so I'm not complaining. I considered climbing the dome, but the line was really long and not moving much, so instead I did a close substitute and climbed the duomo's bell tower, which had no line and is nearly as tall as the dome. With the clouds gone, I got some good views of Florence up there. When I came down I walked south and tried out a local gellato shop called Grom that a lot of people are saying is really good. Kind of like the sandwich in Barcelona, I thought Grom's gellato was very good, but I wasn't floored by it (maybe I set my expectations too high from the hype). I then took a quick look at the outside of the Medici Palace and the Uffizi Gallery (which I would visit the next day) before going north to the Accademia. The Accademia holds Michelangelo's famous David statue, and normally has a long line to get in, but I had made a reservation a few days earlier so I got to skip the line. David really is the main attraction of the Accademia, and the museum isn't very large so most people are finished there in about half an hour. I made sure to see everything in detail, but even that only took me about 45 minutes. The Accademia visit concluded day one in Florence.
Since I had seen most of Florence on day one, on day two I did a short trip over to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower. The Leaning Tower of Pisa is the only thing Pisa has going for it, and I didn't notice anything that looked all that interesting during my walk from the train station to the tower. I spent some time checking out the tower, along with the cathedral and baptistery that are in the same area, but despite my best efforts I could only get an hour and a half out of that place before leaving. You can pay to go up the tower, but in my mind that made no sense since the tower is the only thing worth seeing, and when you're in the tower you can't see the tower, just the rest of boring Pisa. Arriving back in Florence, I walked around town for 45 minutes until it was time for my reserved slot at the Uffizi Gallery. The Uffizi is much bigger than the Accademia and is mostly made up of art that the Medici family gathered during their time as the rulers of Florence. After I finished at the Uffizi, I went back to my hostel and spent some time booking my next few accommodations. To finish the day I did a night stroll through Florence, and I got to see the sights all lit up. While I was out I also tried out another gellato shop on the south side of the Arno, next to one of the bridges, that I actually liked a lot. With that, Florence was finished.
I am typing this update from Rome, which I have just finished. Tomorrow I leave for Venice, where I will try to type up a Rome recap for all of you.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Avignon & Arles: Midway
Here is part 2 of the long overdue update. It covers my short time in southern France, which served as a bridge between Spain and Italy.
My time in southern France marked something of a midway point on my trip, hence the name of this post. Both geographically and chronologically, it marks a good half-way point of this journey. I had about 2.5 days in southern France, which were spent in the towns of Avignon and Arles, and also with a trip over to Pont du Gard.
The town of Avignon is on the Rhone River, which in older times was known by the locals as the "angry river" because of its strong current, frequent floods and just general moodiness for a river. Avignon is also the windiest place I have ever been. On my first day there I experienced something akin to gale-force winds that just never stopped during the day. Avignon is famous for being the temporary residence of the Vatican when the pope moved there from Rome in the early 1300s. The papacy stayed in Avignon for a number of years, and something like eight or nine popes resided in Avignon until the papacy was brought back to Rome. As you can imagine, the pope moving into town turned Avignon from a backwater village into an important town. City walls, a palace for the pope and other buildings quickly sprung up. The other main thing Avignon is famous for is its broken bridge, which has actually been destroyed a number of times by the angry Rhone River, but the last time (1800s I think?) the residents just didn't rebuild it. The bridge extends just over halfway out into the river, and there it just stops. One last thing I would like to say about Avignon is that it for some reason reminds me of Minas Tirith, (that's right, I just made a LOTR reference) though I admit it's a bit of a stretch. All in all, Avignon is a cool place, though you can see all of it in a day.
I also did a trip to the town Arles while I was in southern France. Arles is a former Roman town with a number of well preserved Roman structures, more so than most other places outside of Italy. I visited the town's antiquities museum, which shows how Arles used to look as a Roman town, and then moved on the explore the town itself. The two big Roman sites people visit in Arles are the old arena and the theatre. The theatre is something of a stone graveyard, with blocks from the old structure scattered all over the place (locals cannibalized the place for stone after Rome collapsed) but the main part of it with the half circle theatre area is still intact and used for performances today. The arena is actually in very good condition, and still hosts events to this day. Interesting fact; during the middle ages the arena's archways were bricked up and a few towers were added to the place to turn the arena into an enclosed village. These days the arena is back to its original look, but some of the towers are still there. While I was in Arles I was hoping to see a bull game, which is a non-violent version of a bull fight, but none were going on that day. In bull games, a group of guys have about 15 minutes to attempt to grab a ribbon that is attached to the bull's horns. Only humans get harmed in bull games, so PETA need not complain. Before leaving Arles I also checked out the Baths of Constantine and the town cathedral. Like Avignon, Arles can be done in a single day.
On my last day in southern France I explored around Avignon a bit more, and it the afternoon I took a bus over to Pont du Gard, which is a well preserved Roman aqueduct that spans a river gorge. The aqueduct used to carry water to the town of Nimes, but these days just spends its time getting photographed by tourists like me. I wish I had more time there, but because I had missed an earlier bus to the site I only had a bit over an hour at Pont du Gard. While there I also befriended a pair of ladies who later took me out to a very nice dinner back in Avignon. You know who you are, so thank you, especially for the great advice you gave me that day.
So, half way done. In a few days I will try to post an update covering both Milan and Florence.
My time in southern France marked something of a midway point on my trip, hence the name of this post. Both geographically and chronologically, it marks a good half-way point of this journey. I had about 2.5 days in southern France, which were spent in the towns of Avignon and Arles, and also with a trip over to Pont du Gard.
The town of Avignon is on the Rhone River, which in older times was known by the locals as the "angry river" because of its strong current, frequent floods and just general moodiness for a river. Avignon is also the windiest place I have ever been. On my first day there I experienced something akin to gale-force winds that just never stopped during the day. Avignon is famous for being the temporary residence of the Vatican when the pope moved there from Rome in the early 1300s. The papacy stayed in Avignon for a number of years, and something like eight or nine popes resided in Avignon until the papacy was brought back to Rome. As you can imagine, the pope moving into town turned Avignon from a backwater village into an important town. City walls, a palace for the pope and other buildings quickly sprung up. The other main thing Avignon is famous for is its broken bridge, which has actually been destroyed a number of times by the angry Rhone River, but the last time (1800s I think?) the residents just didn't rebuild it. The bridge extends just over halfway out into the river, and there it just stops. One last thing I would like to say about Avignon is that it for some reason reminds me of Minas Tirith, (that's right, I just made a LOTR reference) though I admit it's a bit of a stretch. All in all, Avignon is a cool place, though you can see all of it in a day.
I also did a trip to the town Arles while I was in southern France. Arles is a former Roman town with a number of well preserved Roman structures, more so than most other places outside of Italy. I visited the town's antiquities museum, which shows how Arles used to look as a Roman town, and then moved on the explore the town itself. The two big Roman sites people visit in Arles are the old arena and the theatre. The theatre is something of a stone graveyard, with blocks from the old structure scattered all over the place (locals cannibalized the place for stone after Rome collapsed) but the main part of it with the half circle theatre area is still intact and used for performances today. The arena is actually in very good condition, and still hosts events to this day. Interesting fact; during the middle ages the arena's archways were bricked up and a few towers were added to the place to turn the arena into an enclosed village. These days the arena is back to its original look, but some of the towers are still there. While I was in Arles I was hoping to see a bull game, which is a non-violent version of a bull fight, but none were going on that day. In bull games, a group of guys have about 15 minutes to attempt to grab a ribbon that is attached to the bull's horns. Only humans get harmed in bull games, so PETA need not complain. Before leaving Arles I also checked out the Baths of Constantine and the town cathedral. Like Avignon, Arles can be done in a single day.
On my last day in southern France I explored around Avignon a bit more, and it the afternoon I took a bus over to Pont du Gard, which is a well preserved Roman aqueduct that spans a river gorge. The aqueduct used to carry water to the town of Nimes, but these days just spends its time getting photographed by tourists like me. I wish I had more time there, but because I had missed an earlier bus to the site I only had a bit over an hour at Pont du Gard. While there I also befriended a pair of ladies who later took me out to a very nice dinner back in Avignon. You know who you are, so thank you, especially for the great advice you gave me that day.
So, half way done. In a few days I will try to post an update covering both Milan and Florence.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Barcelona: The Sound and The Fury (Updated)
UPDATE: I have done some editing and added some more details to this post, hopefully making it better. If you've already read this one, just pretend you haven't and read it again.
Hello all, here is a long overdue update to the blog. I have been mostly away from the internet lately so I have not been able to keep you all updated on how things have gone. Here is part 1 of a very late update; covering my time in Barcelona. I hope to add more updates in the next day or two. I am typing this one in a hurry, so forgive any errors (as always).
Although I thought the book The Sound and The Fury was actually pretty stupid (sorry Faulkner) I chose it for the title of this post because that was the phrase that came to mind during an event you will read about in just a moment. I spent a total of 4 days in Barcelona and saw most of the major sights. The hostel I stayed in was in the southern part of El Raval, and just two blocks away from Las Ramblas, a famous street I will tell you about in just a moment. I had read that El Raval was actually the seedy part of town, but section I was in felt ok (but I was told the northern half of El Raval is not a good place to be after dark). On my first full day in Barcelona I went over to Placa Cataluyna, which is Barcelona's main square, and something of the center of the Catalan people. As some of you know, the people in Barcelona and the surrounding lands consider themselves Catalan first, and Spanish a distant second. Just about everything you read is printed in both Catalan and Spanish (much like San Sebastian, where everything is in Basque and Spanish). After checking out the square, I walked down Las Ramblas which is a famous street (it's actually several streets linked together) that leads down to the harbor. Las Ramblas is lined with all sorts of shops and outdoor eateries, and is infamous for pickpocketing, though I felt ok while walking it (but to be safe I kept a hand in my pocket on my wallet and camera). The only issues I had were with the various street salespeople, who were stationed every 50 feet along the street and were all using something in their mouths to give themselves extremely high pitched and squeaky voices. At the bottom of Las Ramblas is the Columbus monument, which I was going to go up, but the lift was broken. It is somewhat ironic that Barcelona honors Columbus, as the discovery of the Americas actually led to Barcelona becoming a much less important city in Spain, as the oceanic trade shifted to the Spanish cities on the Atlantic side of Spain. Leaving the monument, I walked the harbor front to one beaches on Barceloneta, which is a triangular wedge of the city jutting out into the ocean. Barcelona's beaches are ok, but were very crowded when I was walked by. From there I went back to Las Ramblas by another route and then went back to the hostel for dinner. After eating I decided to go back out to Las Ramblas to see it at night, but this time I walked in the other direction, from the bottom back to Placa Catalunya. The street has a different feel at night and did feel a little shady, but not dangerous. It actually might be cool to eat outside there at night, if you can afford it. When I got to Placa Catalunya there was a protest going on by the Indignants (unemployed young people). I stayed for a few minutes but didn't venture into the mob. A number of people were giving speeches over a loudspeaker, and I even heard a "viva la revolucion!" shout from one of them. There was a definite anger in the air, and from this sound and fury I decided to take the name of this post. The next day I went back to Placa Catalunya in the morning and found most of the protesters gone, but there were some tents and few booths that had been set up. The setup reminded me of the Occupy Wall Street movement, but on a smaller scale. From there I walked through Barri Gotic (old town) and eventually got to Barcelona's main cathedral. Outside I got to see some people performing a Catalan folk dance while I band played music. The dance has people holding hands in a circle and slowly rotating around in the circle. It actually looks like the easiest folk dance ever. I looked around the inside of the cathedral for awhile, and then took the metro over to the base of Mont Juic (a big hill along Barcelona's southwest) and then got on a gondola to the top. There's an old fort up there, along with the Olympic stadium from the Barcelona Olympics and a few other things. Coming down the hill, I passed by a grand museum of Catalan art, which I had meant to go into, but I had gotten there too late and it was closed for the day. At the bottom I walked passed some sort of triumphal columns near a bull fighting arena, and then took an elevator up to the top of the arena since it only costed a euro. The arena has a dome on top, so I couldn't see in, but it had decent views of the surrounding area. On the next day I went again to Placa Catalunya, (it really is the center of town, and a good starting point for walking to wherever you want to go) where there were now a few more tents than the day before. I then walked north into the Eixample, which is "newer" (1800s) Barcelona that got a grid layout instead of the tangle of small streets that characterize Barri Gotic. Antoni Gaudi, the famous architect, designed a number of the homes in this area, and while there I saw the more famous houses that he designed. I then went over to Sagrada Familia, the unfinished cathedral that Gaudi designed. If you see just one cathedral in Spain, I would say to see this one. Gaudi, breaking from traditional designs, integrated geometrical patterns found in nature for the interior internal columns, ceiling and other sections. It's really hard to describe this place, and I would encourage you to look up pictures of the cathedral online. The inside of the cathedral seems to be mostly done, and the cathedral is supposed to be finished sometime around 2030, but no one is counting on it. On the outside, two of the major facades and multiple towers are finished, but much work is still to be done. After Sagrada Familia, I went over to Parc Guell, which is the park that Gaudi originally designed (I think I'm seeing a theme for this day) to be a gated community for rich people, but no one wanted to move in so it became a park. The hill in the park has a good vista view of the whole city, though because it's a bit far away from the main part of town you'll have to zoom in to check out individual buildings. On my last day in Barcelona I checked out a few miscellaneous things that I had missed in the previous days. I went back to Barcelona cathedral to go up the lift to the roof (it was closed when I was there the first time) and also checked out a park in the east area of town. I also went to a place on Las Ramblas called Cafe Viena to try out a sandwich of theirs' that became famous from a 2008 (not sure of the year) article in the New York Times where somebody raved that this sandwich was the best in the world. The sandwich has Iberian ham, bread that has had tomato rubbed into it, olive oil and some other stuff. It was tasty, but I wasn't blown away by it. That was more or less the end of Barcelona, and also the end of my time in Spain.
Anyways, I am currently in Florence, Italy. I hope to have another update for you soon on my time in southern France.
Hello all, here is a long overdue update to the blog. I have been mostly away from the internet lately so I have not been able to keep you all updated on how things have gone. Here is part 1 of a very late update; covering my time in Barcelona. I hope to add more updates in the next day or two. I am typing this one in a hurry, so forgive any errors (as always).
Although I thought the book The Sound and The Fury was actually pretty stupid (sorry Faulkner) I chose it for the title of this post because that was the phrase that came to mind during an event you will read about in just a moment. I spent a total of 4 days in Barcelona and saw most of the major sights. The hostel I stayed in was in the southern part of El Raval, and just two blocks away from Las Ramblas, a famous street I will tell you about in just a moment. I had read that El Raval was actually the seedy part of town, but section I was in felt ok (but I was told the northern half of El Raval is not a good place to be after dark). On my first full day in Barcelona I went over to Placa Cataluyna, which is Barcelona's main square, and something of the center of the Catalan people. As some of you know, the people in Barcelona and the surrounding lands consider themselves Catalan first, and Spanish a distant second. Just about everything you read is printed in both Catalan and Spanish (much like San Sebastian, where everything is in Basque and Spanish). After checking out the square, I walked down Las Ramblas which is a famous street (it's actually several streets linked together) that leads down to the harbor. Las Ramblas is lined with all sorts of shops and outdoor eateries, and is infamous for pickpocketing, though I felt ok while walking it (but to be safe I kept a hand in my pocket on my wallet and camera). The only issues I had were with the various street salespeople, who were stationed every 50 feet along the street and were all using something in their mouths to give themselves extremely high pitched and squeaky voices. At the bottom of Las Ramblas is the Columbus monument, which I was going to go up, but the lift was broken. It is somewhat ironic that Barcelona honors Columbus, as the discovery of the Americas actually led to Barcelona becoming a much less important city in Spain, as the oceanic trade shifted to the Spanish cities on the Atlantic side of Spain. Leaving the monument, I walked the harbor front to one beaches on Barceloneta, which is a triangular wedge of the city jutting out into the ocean. Barcelona's beaches are ok, but were very crowded when I was walked by. From there I went back to Las Ramblas by another route and then went back to the hostel for dinner. After eating I decided to go back out to Las Ramblas to see it at night, but this time I walked in the other direction, from the bottom back to Placa Catalunya. The street has a different feel at night and did feel a little shady, but not dangerous. It actually might be cool to eat outside there at night, if you can afford it. When I got to Placa Catalunya there was a protest going on by the Indignants (unemployed young people). I stayed for a few minutes but didn't venture into the mob. A number of people were giving speeches over a loudspeaker, and I even heard a "viva la revolucion!" shout from one of them. There was a definite anger in the air, and from this sound and fury I decided to take the name of this post. The next day I went back to Placa Catalunya in the morning and found most of the protesters gone, but there were some tents and few booths that had been set up. The setup reminded me of the Occupy Wall Street movement, but on a smaller scale. From there I walked through Barri Gotic (old town) and eventually got to Barcelona's main cathedral. Outside I got to see some people performing a Catalan folk dance while I band played music. The dance has people holding hands in a circle and slowly rotating around in the circle. It actually looks like the easiest folk dance ever. I looked around the inside of the cathedral for awhile, and then took the metro over to the base of Mont Juic (a big hill along Barcelona's southwest) and then got on a gondola to the top. There's an old fort up there, along with the Olympic stadium from the Barcelona Olympics and a few other things. Coming down the hill, I passed by a grand museum of Catalan art, which I had meant to go into, but I had gotten there too late and it was closed for the day. At the bottom I walked passed some sort of triumphal columns near a bull fighting arena, and then took an elevator up to the top of the arena since it only costed a euro. The arena has a dome on top, so I couldn't see in, but it had decent views of the surrounding area. On the next day I went again to Placa Catalunya, (it really is the center of town, and a good starting point for walking to wherever you want to go) where there were now a few more tents than the day before. I then walked north into the Eixample, which is "newer" (1800s) Barcelona that got a grid layout instead of the tangle of small streets that characterize Barri Gotic. Antoni Gaudi, the famous architect, designed a number of the homes in this area, and while there I saw the more famous houses that he designed. I then went over to Sagrada Familia, the unfinished cathedral that Gaudi designed. If you see just one cathedral in Spain, I would say to see this one. Gaudi, breaking from traditional designs, integrated geometrical patterns found in nature for the interior internal columns, ceiling and other sections. It's really hard to describe this place, and I would encourage you to look up pictures of the cathedral online. The inside of the cathedral seems to be mostly done, and the cathedral is supposed to be finished sometime around 2030, but no one is counting on it. On the outside, two of the major facades and multiple towers are finished, but much work is still to be done. After Sagrada Familia, I went over to Parc Guell, which is the park that Gaudi originally designed (I think I'm seeing a theme for this day) to be a gated community for rich people, but no one wanted to move in so it became a park. The hill in the park has a good vista view of the whole city, though because it's a bit far away from the main part of town you'll have to zoom in to check out individual buildings. On my last day in Barcelona I checked out a few miscellaneous things that I had missed in the previous days. I went back to Barcelona cathedral to go up the lift to the roof (it was closed when I was there the first time) and also checked out a park in the east area of town. I also went to a place on Las Ramblas called Cafe Viena to try out a sandwich of theirs' that became famous from a 2008 (not sure of the year) article in the New York Times where somebody raved that this sandwich was the best in the world. The sandwich has Iberian ham, bread that has had tomato rubbed into it, olive oil and some other stuff. It was tasty, but I wasn't blown away by it. That was more or less the end of Barcelona, and also the end of my time in Spain.
Anyways, I am currently in Florence, Italy. I hope to have another update for you soon on my time in southern France.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Seville, Granada & Valencia: Southern Requiem
Hello all, here is an overdue update to the blog. I meant to create an update just for Seville, but I kept forgetting each time I had access to a computer. So, I'm grouping together the last three towns I've been to into a single post. I am pleased to report that in these three southern towns, Seville, Granada and Valencia, it has finally stopped raining. But anyways, here is the update, with a section for each town.
I arrived in Seville (called Sevilla in Spanish) from Madrid by a fast train. Seville is in the region of Andalusia, which is the southernmost of Spain's provinces. It is also the home of Flamenco dancing, which I'm sorry to report I did not participate in. Now, I don't normally mention the hostel I was staying in, but I feel compelled to speak about my hostel in Seville because it was what I call the Hilton of hostels. By this I mean that it was easily the nicest place I've stayed in so far in my journey, and I suspect it will never be matched. While most hostels have a dormitory type feel, this place was more akin to an upscale hotel. Words don't do this place justice, and unfortunately you're just going to have to wait until I have a chance to upload pictures. Seville itself is a very pretty town with architecture ranging from the ancient to the modern. I paid a visit to the main cathedral in town, which is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world, and the third largest overall. While there I climbed the cathedral's tower using it's distinct internal ramp, which was designed so that instead of a person having to climb a lot of steps to the top, they could ride a horse all the way up. Next to the cathedral is the royal palace, which is a former Moorish palace that got renovated when the Spanish reconquered the city. It's an interesting mix of Moorish and Renaissance architecture. Farther to the south of the cathedral and the palace is the Plaza de España, which I think is the best looking building/site I've seen so far in Europe. I would strongly recommend you to look up images of it online in your spare time so you can see what I mean. Continuing on in Seville, I also paid a visit to the site Spanish Pavilion/Exhibition, but everything was closed since it was Sunday (I really should have asked before leaving). I also saw a number of other sights such as the Torre del Oro and a crazy tree-canopy building before leaving.
After Seville, I came to the town of Granada. This town is famous for being the last Moorish stronghold in Spain to fall to the Reconquest. The city was taken in 1492, the same year Columbus sailed, but here in Spain the capture of Granada is the more famous event that people remember from that year. Granada is not a large town, so even though I only had about a day and a half there, I feel like I covered the vast majority of sights. Of course, the first (and usually only) sight that people think of when they think of Granada is the Alhambra Palace. Much like the palace in Seville, the Alhambra is a former Moorish palace that the Spanish added onto when they took over, but the Alhambra is on a hill and much larger and more extravagant that the palace in Seville. One thing you need to know about the Alhambra is that it is one of the sights in Europe that requires a reservation to visit. If you don't have a reservation, (like me) you have to show up early in the morning to try to grab one of the limited number of general tickets that go on sale just before the palace opens. The palace opens at 8:30am, but you should be in line no later that 8:00am (earlier in the summer) to make sure you get a ticket. After the Alhambra I walked around town checking out a cathedral, a few smaller churches and some other buildings. Although you could spend more time there if you like it, I think most people will be fine with just one full day in Granada.
To get to Valencia from Granada, I had to take a night train since there are no daytime trains between the two towns. I arrived in Valencia at just after 5:00am and I had gotten almost no sleep on the train, so it was a tired first day. Regardless, I decided to make the most of it and covered all of the old town on my first day. Among the sights I saw were the old city gates, the central market and the cathedral that holds the supposed Holy Grail. Contrary to what Indiana Jones taught me, the Holy Grail has actually been sitting in Valencia the whole time after being being brought from Israel to Rome, and then Rome to Spain. The next day, after ten or so hours of sleep, I paid a visit to Valencia's beaches to see how they stack up to the ones back in San Diego. While the beaches are very large, have good sand and the water is a bit warmer than in San Diego, there are no waves in the water, so San Diego wins. For a few hours I walked both the beach and the beach-side boardwalk and took in the sights along the coast. After this I walked over to a part of town with a number of modern buildings that have gone up in the past few years. I don't remember the name of this place, but it had Valencia's equivalent of Sea World along with a science museum, an auditorium and a few other buildings that I'm not sure what they are for. I then returned back to my hostel along a long park that appears to have been built on a former riverbed. Whether or not the river dried up or just got diverted, it makes for a long green belt and a good long walk through town. That concludes Valencia.
I am typing this update from Barcelona, which is my last city in Spain before I move on. The next town I am going to is Avignon in France, which is serving as a link between Spain and Italy. After Avignon I will be going through Milan, Florence, Rome and Venice. I will try to have another update in a few days at the end of my time in Barcelona.
I arrived in Seville (called Sevilla in Spanish) from Madrid by a fast train. Seville is in the region of Andalusia, which is the southernmost of Spain's provinces. It is also the home of Flamenco dancing, which I'm sorry to report I did not participate in. Now, I don't normally mention the hostel I was staying in, but I feel compelled to speak about my hostel in Seville because it was what I call the Hilton of hostels. By this I mean that it was easily the nicest place I've stayed in so far in my journey, and I suspect it will never be matched. While most hostels have a dormitory type feel, this place was more akin to an upscale hotel. Words don't do this place justice, and unfortunately you're just going to have to wait until I have a chance to upload pictures. Seville itself is a very pretty town with architecture ranging from the ancient to the modern. I paid a visit to the main cathedral in town, which is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world, and the third largest overall. While there I climbed the cathedral's tower using it's distinct internal ramp, which was designed so that instead of a person having to climb a lot of steps to the top, they could ride a horse all the way up. Next to the cathedral is the royal palace, which is a former Moorish palace that got renovated when the Spanish reconquered the city. It's an interesting mix of Moorish and Renaissance architecture. Farther to the south of the cathedral and the palace is the Plaza de España, which I think is the best looking building/site I've seen so far in Europe. I would strongly recommend you to look up images of it online in your spare time so you can see what I mean. Continuing on in Seville, I also paid a visit to the site Spanish Pavilion/Exhibition, but everything was closed since it was Sunday (I really should have asked before leaving). I also saw a number of other sights such as the Torre del Oro and a crazy tree-canopy building before leaving.
After Seville, I came to the town of Granada. This town is famous for being the last Moorish stronghold in Spain to fall to the Reconquest. The city was taken in 1492, the same year Columbus sailed, but here in Spain the capture of Granada is the more famous event that people remember from that year. Granada is not a large town, so even though I only had about a day and a half there, I feel like I covered the vast majority of sights. Of course, the first (and usually only) sight that people think of when they think of Granada is the Alhambra Palace. Much like the palace in Seville, the Alhambra is a former Moorish palace that the Spanish added onto when they took over, but the Alhambra is on a hill and much larger and more extravagant that the palace in Seville. One thing you need to know about the Alhambra is that it is one of the sights in Europe that requires a reservation to visit. If you don't have a reservation, (like me) you have to show up early in the morning to try to grab one of the limited number of general tickets that go on sale just before the palace opens. The palace opens at 8:30am, but you should be in line no later that 8:00am (earlier in the summer) to make sure you get a ticket. After the Alhambra I walked around town checking out a cathedral, a few smaller churches and some other buildings. Although you could spend more time there if you like it, I think most people will be fine with just one full day in Granada.
To get to Valencia from Granada, I had to take a night train since there are no daytime trains between the two towns. I arrived in Valencia at just after 5:00am and I had gotten almost no sleep on the train, so it was a tired first day. Regardless, I decided to make the most of it and covered all of the old town on my first day. Among the sights I saw were the old city gates, the central market and the cathedral that holds the supposed Holy Grail. Contrary to what Indiana Jones taught me, the Holy Grail has actually been sitting in Valencia the whole time after being being brought from Israel to Rome, and then Rome to Spain. The next day, after ten or so hours of sleep, I paid a visit to Valencia's beaches to see how they stack up to the ones back in San Diego. While the beaches are very large, have good sand and the water is a bit warmer than in San Diego, there are no waves in the water, so San Diego wins. For a few hours I walked both the beach and the beach-side boardwalk and took in the sights along the coast. After this I walked over to a part of town with a number of modern buildings that have gone up in the past few years. I don't remember the name of this place, but it had Valencia's equivalent of Sea World along with a science museum, an auditorium and a few other buildings that I'm not sure what they are for. I then returned back to my hostel along a long park that appears to have been built on a former riverbed. Whether or not the river dried up or just got diverted, it makes for a long green belt and a good long walk through town. That concludes Valencia.
I am typing this update from Barcelona, which is my last city in Spain before I move on. The next town I am going to is Avignon in France, which is serving as a link between Spain and Italy. After Avignon I will be going through Milan, Florence, Rome and Venice. I will try to have another update in a few days at the end of my time in Barcelona.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Madrid and Toledo: Echoes
Welcome to central Spain; home of the monarchy and Spain´s government for the past few hundred years. Although there are several languages in Spain, this was this region that was the dominant power when Spain unified, so it´s language (Castilian) became what we know today as Spanish. Since I have some time, I will give you the details on my days here in Madrid and Toledo before I leave tomorrow morning. This is a long one.
After a seven hour train ride from Santiago de Compostela, I arrived in Madrid on April 30 at night. The place I am staying in is close to Puerta Del Sol, which is the literal center of town (there´s even a marker in the square from which all distances in the city are measured). The next day I set out intent on doing a lot of sightseeing, but I had forgotten a critical fact: May 1 is Labor Day in Spain, so nearly everything was closed. This threw off my plans, but I decided to make the most of it by walking around town and seeing as much as I could. Madrid has more street performers, souvenir salesmen and beggars than any city I´ve been to so far (but let´s wait until I get to Barcelona or Rome to see if that record holds up). But the city is also possibly the best looking one I´ve been to so far. Grand architecture is all around and even mundane buildings get elegant facades. These buildings are reminders of Spain´s past, back when it had a giant empire and tons of cash to throw around. Another nice thing about Madrid is that almost all the sights are in the city center, so you can walk everywhere. Walking through town I came to Plaza Mayor and then moved on to the Royal Palace and the cathedral right next to it. Though the palace was closed, the cathedral was open so I got to go inside and check that out. The cathedral is quite distinct from others ones I´ve seen in Europe, and that´s mainly because it is much newer than most other cathedrals. The stained glass windows are in a modern style and the exterior is much more angular than older cathedrals. After leaving the cathedral I moved north, checking out a few parks along the way. One of them has an ancient Egyptian temple in it that was transplanted from Egypt. I then proceeded down the Gran Via, which is kind of like Broadway in New York City, though with fewer lights and outdoor screens. The street is arguably not very "Spanish" as most of the stuff there you can find in America, but it´s still an interesting street to walk. After reaching a roundabout, I turned south and walked to the Prado Museum and then on to Atocha train station, where I made my reservations for my train to Toledo, the next day. When I left the station it was the late afternoon and I was getting hungry since I had skipped lunch. On top of that, being Labor Day almost everything was closed, including grocery stores, which are my main source of food out here. But the day was saved by one of the valiant defenders of the American Way; a true American hero named Burger King. I know some of you might be worried that I´m insulating myself from the local culture by eating fast food, but relax, I only do this when I´m out of other options. Here´s an interesting fact for you; in Spain, American fast food is considered both unhealthy and an invasion against the culture, but the Spanish can´t stop eating it and American fast food is booming in Spain. Anyways, after this I wandered around a little more before going back to my hostel. Along the way I discovered that Dunkin Donuts has a few outlets in Madrid, though it´s called Dunkin Coffee over here. Donuts don´t seem to be a big deal over here, so the place has adapted itself by focusing more on the coffee. That concludes day 1.
On day 2 I took a trip to Toledo, which was the former capital of Spain before Madrid. For the first time I got to ride a fast train, and the trip to Toledo only took about 30 minutes. Toledo´s old town is on a large hill, so I got quite a bit of uphill hiking in that day. The town is a good day trip from Madrid as you can leave Madrid in the morning, see everything in a day and be back in Madrid in the evening. The town center is dominated by Toledo´s main cathedral. There are also a number of smaller churches, convents, monasteries and museums dotting the hill. You can see bits of the old Moorish influence in some of the buildings, though you have to look for it. After a few hours in the main part of town I walked down to the southern edge, down to the river that flows along the town´s eastern, southern and western sides. There are no tourists down there, and it seems that´s where most of the locals live. I spent some time down by the river and walked along the riverside path for awhile before going back up to the main part of town. Back at the top of the hill, I went into the main cathedral. Officially, there´s a no photography policy, but it wasn´t being enforced. The cathedral´s interior is a bit dark, but also extremely ornate. I can´t really describe to you just how it looked, you´ll have to wait for pictures to get an idea of how over the top some parts of this cathedral were. When I had finished with the cathedral, I went back over to the west side of town to look around a little more before leaving. There I ran into a lost American who I helped find a museum he was looking for. This man was in his 60s and had a very thick New York accent. He thanked me for my help and told me about some traveling he had done back in the 70s in southeast Asia. He told me how he had hitch-hiked from Singapore to Cambodia and then traveled around from there. Some old photos he had showed him back in those days and were cool to look at. We parted ways and I then grabbed my train back to Madrid. Upon returning I checked out the Reina Sofia Museum, which is dedicated to modern art. I honestly don´t have much respect for much of modern art, but the museum had free entry at the end of the day so I decided to take a look. That concludes day 2.
Day 3 (today) is when I got in the core of my Madrid sightseeing. I started out at the Royal Palace, which is a lot like Versailles, but without all the acres of gardens. Though Versailles is better overall, I think I liked the interior of Madrid´s palace a bit more than the interior of Versailles, but it might be because the Madrid palace is more generous in showing off their fanciest stuff. After the palace I walked across town to the Thyssen Borezman Museum, which is a short distance from the Prado. The museum is made up of works that a rich German baron´s family has been buying over the years and some time ago sold to the city. Much of it is Impressionism. I finished with the museum and then ate lunch before moving on to Retiro Park. The park used to be a royal retreat and hunting ground (they kept and hunted bears in it) but it is now an expansive public park. I actually got lost for a short period in it, and since it was so cloudy I had some trouble reorienting myself. Thankfully Retiro Park is not a bad place to get lost, and after awhile I found where I was on my map and moved on to the Prado Museum. The Prado is Madrid´s main art museum and is kind of like their version of the Louvre in Paris, but not as big. I had saved the Prado for last as it becomes free from 6-8pm, though that meant I had limited time and a lot of other people had the same idea as me. I managed to see almost everything by moving quickly through the rooms, but I stopped for the major works by Goya, El Greco and others. When I left the museum I figured my day was done, however Madrid had one last surprise for me. It seems that Real Madrid, the city´s soccer team, had just won the nation´s soccer league, so there was a large crowd celebrating just north of the Prado. Police had closed the street to traffic and the crowd was growing steadily bigger as more people arrived. I walked over to take a look and saw the members of Real Madrid up on a platform leading the celebration. I stayed for a few minutes, and then I left and returned to the hostel, where I am now typing this blog post.
Tomorrow I leave for Seville, and after that comes Grenada, Valencia and finally Barcelona before I leave Spain. Hopefully it stops raining before I´m gone.
After a seven hour train ride from Santiago de Compostela, I arrived in Madrid on April 30 at night. The place I am staying in is close to Puerta Del Sol, which is the literal center of town (there´s even a marker in the square from which all distances in the city are measured). The next day I set out intent on doing a lot of sightseeing, but I had forgotten a critical fact: May 1 is Labor Day in Spain, so nearly everything was closed. This threw off my plans, but I decided to make the most of it by walking around town and seeing as much as I could. Madrid has more street performers, souvenir salesmen and beggars than any city I´ve been to so far (but let´s wait until I get to Barcelona or Rome to see if that record holds up). But the city is also possibly the best looking one I´ve been to so far. Grand architecture is all around and even mundane buildings get elegant facades. These buildings are reminders of Spain´s past, back when it had a giant empire and tons of cash to throw around. Another nice thing about Madrid is that almost all the sights are in the city center, so you can walk everywhere. Walking through town I came to Plaza Mayor and then moved on to the Royal Palace and the cathedral right next to it. Though the palace was closed, the cathedral was open so I got to go inside and check that out. The cathedral is quite distinct from others ones I´ve seen in Europe, and that´s mainly because it is much newer than most other cathedrals. The stained glass windows are in a modern style and the exterior is much more angular than older cathedrals. After leaving the cathedral I moved north, checking out a few parks along the way. One of them has an ancient Egyptian temple in it that was transplanted from Egypt. I then proceeded down the Gran Via, which is kind of like Broadway in New York City, though with fewer lights and outdoor screens. The street is arguably not very "Spanish" as most of the stuff there you can find in America, but it´s still an interesting street to walk. After reaching a roundabout, I turned south and walked to the Prado Museum and then on to Atocha train station, where I made my reservations for my train to Toledo, the next day. When I left the station it was the late afternoon and I was getting hungry since I had skipped lunch. On top of that, being Labor Day almost everything was closed, including grocery stores, which are my main source of food out here. But the day was saved by one of the valiant defenders of the American Way; a true American hero named Burger King. I know some of you might be worried that I´m insulating myself from the local culture by eating fast food, but relax, I only do this when I´m out of other options. Here´s an interesting fact for you; in Spain, American fast food is considered both unhealthy and an invasion against the culture, but the Spanish can´t stop eating it and American fast food is booming in Spain. Anyways, after this I wandered around a little more before going back to my hostel. Along the way I discovered that Dunkin Donuts has a few outlets in Madrid, though it´s called Dunkin Coffee over here. Donuts don´t seem to be a big deal over here, so the place has adapted itself by focusing more on the coffee. That concludes day 1.
On day 2 I took a trip to Toledo, which was the former capital of Spain before Madrid. For the first time I got to ride a fast train, and the trip to Toledo only took about 30 minutes. Toledo´s old town is on a large hill, so I got quite a bit of uphill hiking in that day. The town is a good day trip from Madrid as you can leave Madrid in the morning, see everything in a day and be back in Madrid in the evening. The town center is dominated by Toledo´s main cathedral. There are also a number of smaller churches, convents, monasteries and museums dotting the hill. You can see bits of the old Moorish influence in some of the buildings, though you have to look for it. After a few hours in the main part of town I walked down to the southern edge, down to the river that flows along the town´s eastern, southern and western sides. There are no tourists down there, and it seems that´s where most of the locals live. I spent some time down by the river and walked along the riverside path for awhile before going back up to the main part of town. Back at the top of the hill, I went into the main cathedral. Officially, there´s a no photography policy, but it wasn´t being enforced. The cathedral´s interior is a bit dark, but also extremely ornate. I can´t really describe to you just how it looked, you´ll have to wait for pictures to get an idea of how over the top some parts of this cathedral were. When I had finished with the cathedral, I went back over to the west side of town to look around a little more before leaving. There I ran into a lost American who I helped find a museum he was looking for. This man was in his 60s and had a very thick New York accent. He thanked me for my help and told me about some traveling he had done back in the 70s in southeast Asia. He told me how he had hitch-hiked from Singapore to Cambodia and then traveled around from there. Some old photos he had showed him back in those days and were cool to look at. We parted ways and I then grabbed my train back to Madrid. Upon returning I checked out the Reina Sofia Museum, which is dedicated to modern art. I honestly don´t have much respect for much of modern art, but the museum had free entry at the end of the day so I decided to take a look. That concludes day 2.
Day 3 (today) is when I got in the core of my Madrid sightseeing. I started out at the Royal Palace, which is a lot like Versailles, but without all the acres of gardens. Though Versailles is better overall, I think I liked the interior of Madrid´s palace a bit more than the interior of Versailles, but it might be because the Madrid palace is more generous in showing off their fanciest stuff. After the palace I walked across town to the Thyssen Borezman Museum, which is a short distance from the Prado. The museum is made up of works that a rich German baron´s family has been buying over the years and some time ago sold to the city. Much of it is Impressionism. I finished with the museum and then ate lunch before moving on to Retiro Park. The park used to be a royal retreat and hunting ground (they kept and hunted bears in it) but it is now an expansive public park. I actually got lost for a short period in it, and since it was so cloudy I had some trouble reorienting myself. Thankfully Retiro Park is not a bad place to get lost, and after awhile I found where I was on my map and moved on to the Prado Museum. The Prado is Madrid´s main art museum and is kind of like their version of the Louvre in Paris, but not as big. I had saved the Prado for last as it becomes free from 6-8pm, though that meant I had limited time and a lot of other people had the same idea as me. I managed to see almost everything by moving quickly through the rooms, but I stopped for the major works by Goya, El Greco and others. When I left the museum I figured my day was done, however Madrid had one last surprise for me. It seems that Real Madrid, the city´s soccer team, had just won the nation´s soccer league, so there was a large crowd celebrating just north of the Prado. Police had closed the street to traffic and the crowd was growing steadily bigger as more people arrived. I walked over to take a look and saw the members of Real Madrid up on a platform leading the celebration. I stayed for a few minutes, and then I left and returned to the hostel, where I am now typing this blog post.
Tomorrow I leave for Seville, and after that comes Grenada, Valencia and finally Barcelona before I leave Spain. Hopefully it stops raining before I´m gone.
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