¡Desde Barcelona a Madrid!

It´s rather hard, when you´re travelling at a breakneck pace through Spain, to take mental notes about everything you´re doing in order to blog about it when you get the few necessary minutes-so keeping all of that in mind, here´s a brief recap of the last day in BarÇa and the beginning of our adventures in Madrid.

So the second day we tackled Montjüic, a wonderful hilly region on the outskirts of the city. On the top of the hill stands an old military battery. While it would be a stretch to guess the relevant time period, I would say it dates at least back to the late 1600s if not before, and was retired shortly after WWII. It not only offers a nice little piece of history, but a wonderful vista of Barcelona´s Mediteranean coast. Yet the best part of our visit was probably avoiding the major tourist trap, a gondola which takes you up the mountain-only a 20 minute walk other wise-which costs 9 euro (I found it ironic also that I can´t seem to find the euro symbol on this Spanish keyboard).

After descending the mountain we walked along the road until we reached the old Olympic Stadium used in the 1992 summer games. The stadium is still fully operational, used by FC Espanyol of Barcelona, as well as a past life in NFL Europe (big joke). There wasn´t that much to see but it was free to get in and having a picture of me in front of another football pitch is always nice. We kept walking down the hill, past a gorgeous old art museum and then down a steep plaza filled with fountains and monuments until we reached the literal center of town. Great pictures and time were had by all.

The next stop was the Mercat de Boqueria-a real live farmer´s market, sporting the best of local food. It did not dissapoint to say the least. For one euro we got a fresh, hot baguette which was devoured in no time-followed by a kilo and a half of the best strawberries we had ever tasted. It was one of those experiences which words or photos cannot adequately describe.

The last major stop of the day was the Camp Nou, home of FC Barcelona. It was a highlight for all three of us, because we had all grown up loving the club, especially when we were playing FIFA and subsequently destroying our opposition. After a short time in the shop, where I added to my already growing collection of football scarves, we decided to pay the fee and take the stadium tour. While we were originally quite pissed that we didn´t get a tour guide, the lack of structure allowed us to take our time. We took tons of pictures of the pitch, saw the dressingrooms and all that, but then we were able to just sit in the stands and talk for almost an hour. Not only was this a real break for our legs, but it was an experience that I will definitely never forget.

So Day 3 involved just a couple of things. First we set out to explore the Barceloneta section of town, which feels a lot like Miami Beach, with its high rises and palm trees. The main reason though, besides the beautiful secenery, was the huge cheap sandwiches of Be ó B, as adverteised by our hostel guide. They definitely lived up to their expectation. 3 euro for fresh tuna, tons of veggies, and homemade pesto made it one of the best pieces of food that we´d ever gotten, let alone in Spain. The we merely sat on the beach and enjoyed the warm sun, wasting away the last couple hours before disembarking for Madrid.

Y, ahora estamos en el Hostel de Las Musas en Madrid. Yep, we made it. After a 3 hour train ride (averaging around 250 km/hour) we made it to Madrid. The first reaction was wow, this looks a lot more Spanish than Barcelona. It´s true. While Barcelona definitely has that Mediteanean flair, Madrid is located well inland in central Spain and thus reflects a lot more of the quitensential Spanish architecture and attitude. The hostel is defintely better than its counterpart in Barça. It´s cleaner, brighter, has a better shower, a better breakfast, and best of all, it has more Americans and staff who take you on tours. Despite our aversion to standing out as gringos and only hanging with Americans, we decided to take the hostel´s Tapas Tour last night. We already wanted to get tapas for dinner, but the late hour and our lack of knowledge about the surrounding area made it an obvious choice. It was a blast to say the least. Our Argentinian tour guide took us to three bars, each representing a different section of Spain. We sampled homemade beer, local hard cider, as well as sangría and some of the greatest tapas ever. And while we were surrounded by Americans, getting a brief chance to socialize and just enjoy the food (provided at a very low price) without having to struggle with a relative language barrier was very nice.

So after a good night´s sleep we´re off for our first day in Madrid. Most likely we´ll hit the Prado, El Museo de Reina Sofia, and a couple other choice spots...updates to follow!