Madrid and Valencia

6/19/12

I feel much safer in Madrid. The people are speaking Spanish, not Cataluns, and I'm not being hassled by some street vendor at every corner.

Brooks' flight was delayed by about 40 minutes yesterday. Having dealt with so much adversity thus far on my trip I know not to panic or jump to conclusions. Now that I know how to properly use my cell phone over here, I was able to get in touch with him. Turns out you have to hold down the "0" key until a "+" appears on your screen and then it's all good to dial internationally. So simple, yet so difficult.

Convinced my brother would find his way over here safely -you don't rise to captain in the Air Force typing directions into a GPS device, or do you? - I kicked back, relaxed, and checked out the surrounding area. Our hotel is situated between Plaza Mayor and the Plaza del Sol and just a short walk to the Thyssen-Bornesmisza and El Prado museums. I was hoping to go catch the free evening entrance into El Prado but my bro's delay meant we would have to hold off the museum trip until tomorrow, which is actually today, the 19th.

When Brooks did finally arrive it was good to see him. Him and I have never been on a trip together being just us guys and I was happy we planned one for Europe. Once we got the pleasantries aside we knoew what was necessary, food and beer.

We headed towards La Plaza Mayor and found an outdoor tapas cafe that suited our needs. Restaurante Hegar provided a perfect view of the Plaza for our feast. We dined on pan, queso, jamon, calamari, and croquettes. This was the first time I had tried croquettes and I am almost sure they are a deep fried cheese/potato nugget of goodness. Croquettes and me have not seen the last of each other.

Plaza Mayor

Tapas!

When it came time to settle the bill and head back I was shocked at the sticker price. All of the food and beers totaled our meal to 66 euros. So much for dining on the cheap side.

Sleep would not come easy tonight. Brooks and I would share a bed, which isn't a problem if the bed is of a normal size. The bed we shared was about the size of a double but shorter and narrower. On top of that a singular long pillow was provided to share between the two of us. When one of us was taking all the sheets the other was attempting their best to stretch out. It's a fair assessment to say neither of us slept well last night.

Spacious Madrid sleeping arrangement

Things were a little better in Valencia

This morning we woke, or should I say rose, at 9 am. Time to hit the museums. It was raining, but not enough to deter us from our endeavors. After scarfing down a hearty meal and one strong cup of coffee later, it was time to check out the Thyssen. The old studen ID came in handy for a reduced admission, and later free entry into El Prado. It was amazing how one family could amass such an enormous collection of artwork. This place has everything. Titian, El Greco, Picasso, Dali, Van Gogh, Lichtenstein, you name it they probably have one. We probably spent close to 3 hours exploring the exhibits and I can't say I had a favorite amongst them. Although the Lichtenstein and Dali's "Sueno Causado Por Una Abeja Alrededor De Una Granada", they had the name in English but I forgot what the title was, were pretty tight. So I ended up buying a poster print of the Dali since I already have a Lichtenstein from the MOMA.

After the Thyssen we made our way over to Museo Del Prado where I got in fo' free with my student ID. El Prado definitely had more recognizable masterpieces than the Thyssen and was way bigger too. Among the masterpieces were works by Durer, Fra Angelica, Titian, Tintoretto, El Greco, Velasquez, Rubens, Rembrandt, Goya, and Raphael. "The Garden of Earthly Delights" was a trippy tryptych by Bosch that I thoroughly enjoyed. The Lourve in Paris had loaned El Prado their Raphael collection so we got to see that gallery as well. However my favorites of the museum had to be the Goya collection. His "2nd of May" and "3rd of May" masterpieces depicting the Spanish civil war were great. My absolute favorite of Goya's work had to be The Black Paintings. His use of charcoal to depict grim and dark scenes was dark. Some of my favorites were in that gallery because no one can explain the reasoning behind some of the drawings, leaving much of it open to interpretation.

We ended our day walking through the Parque El Retiro after my brother found the nearest CrossFit gym. When he went to go get his pump on I went back to El Retiro for a much needed jog and in search of one of the few statues dedicated to Lucifer. I didn't find the statue but the jog wore my ass out. Afterwards I bought an authentic FCB jersey for only 40 euro. It would have cost an extra 18 to get a named ironed on the back and that was enough to say no thanks.

Now showered and hungry once again it's time to go find some grub and head to a pub before the UK/Ukraine soccer match. Salud.

6/20/12

Last night we went to Dubliners Pub to catch the soccers matches. When we walked in, a whole crowd of patrons were staring at us or so we thought. There just happened to be a tv above the doorway broadcasting the France/Sweden match.

Brooks and I posted up in a corner, bought a bucket of beers, and waited for some girl he met at CrossFit. She arrived and they got to talking but I was more interested in the soccer matches and the large French contingent nearby.

I don't know a lick of French but from their reactions and gestures, I understood the gist of what they were saying. France went on to lose and the UK won. Couldn't have asked for a better outcome.

After the matches I had decided that was as late as I was going to stay up, but not before some bed time gelato. Brooks wanted to stick around with that girl, so I told him to call my euroburner when he was back. Upon arrival to our deluxe suite I fell asleep instantly. A solid day's sightseeing, beer, and the bed all to myself seemed to do the trick. Then Brooks called around 1:30 and I didn't go back to sleep.

We rose this morning around 10 to get a move on to Valencia. Our train did not depart until 12:40. We had plenty of time to get to the station so somewhere around 12 we sat down at an outdoor cafe to do some much needed grubbing.

There's a good chance we might not make our train

At 12:30 we were speed walking to the train station. 12:35 full on spring through the station. Reaching the platform somewhere around 12:38, we stepped into a train car, and the door shut behind us. That was close.

The train ride to Valencia wasn't bad and thought it would be a great time to catch up on some much needed sleep. That didn't happen, but I was able to knock out one chapter of "A Feast for Crows" which is a feat in and of itself if you consider how excruciatingly slow that book is.

We arrived at the train station on time and walked into the city and eventually our hotel. Hostal El Cid is located near Plaza Del Ayuntamiento. After checking in we found a post office and mailed off my Dali poster. It was worth the 14 euro not to see that bad boy all bent and shredded after my trip.

We walked around town some more after that and paid to tour the Catedral de Santa Maria. The audio tour was very informative. Santa Maria is unique in that it features both gothic and neoclassical architecture. That's pretty much all I can say about the place in that aspect without sounding like an idiot.

Catedral de Santa Maria

Goya inside Santa Maria

Another Goya

After the cathedral we came back to El Cid to chill out. For dinner Brooks and I dined like kings. All for 11 euro we had 3 appetizers consisting of salad, patatas bravas, and calimari. Then for the main dish paella with a glass of vino tinto and a dessert to top it all off.

You know when you have one of those moments when you walk by someone you know on the street and you recognize them, but you don't make any attempt to say something? Well that happened to me. Today. In Valencia, Spain. As my bro and I walked back from the Cathedral I noticed this girl walking in the opposite direction towards us. It couldn't be, I thought. Step by step my doubts began to fade. It was definitely the KD from my sophomore Spanish class. She probably didn't recognize me due to my hairy and unkempt appearance, but if I had said something she definitely would have remembered. I'm the worse in those types of situations because I make no attempt to make myself known. That is something I'll work on, next time I recognize an acquaintance in Europe.