To celebrate our 1-year anniversary, Jared and I took a trip to Spain. We had a fantastic time, traveling to four different cities, taking in as much of the Spanish history and culture as we could.
Madrid
Our trip began in Madrid. We arrived Sunday afternoon, drove into the city, and after checking into out hotel, began to explore. We walked to and through Plaza Mayor, the entrance to one of the city's older sections. After some people and performer watching (check out the photo of the man dressed as a tree) we headed to the Mercado de San Miguel for a snack. The mercado is a gem: many vendors serving a wide variety of tapas. We enjoyed some meat, cheese, burrata, and small pastries before continuing on. We headed to the Catedral de La Almudena and Palacio Real. The cathedral was open, so we spent about a half hour walking through, but could only view the Palacio Real from the outside. From there we walked on to the National Library, and generally enjoyed the sights of Madrid. As the sun FINALLY set, close to 10:00 pm, we had dinner at a restaurant called Fat Tomato. It was ok; Jared enjoyed his dinner, but I didn't enjoy mine (though I think it was because I selected poorly: fried baby squid with an egg.) Pretty exhausted and jet lagged, we walked back to our hotel and called it a night.
Monday we were up bright and early, and enjoyed a simple breakfast (toast with tomatoes, toast with ham and cheese, zuma - orange juice - and dos cappuccinos) at El Azul de Fucar, a lovely little cafe tucked away in a neighborhood by the Reina Sofia Museum. From there we headed to the Reina Sofia Museum, which houses art by Salvador Dali, as well as art stemming from the Spanish Civil War. This includes Picasso's famed Guernica, which was awesome to see in person. Fun fact: it always has two guards next to it. They also had a unique exhibit on the evolution of playgrounds around the world, which included a picture of Coney Island from the 1930's, the beach packed with people, and NO sand visible. It is crazy how you can travel thousands of miles, and see prominent recognition of something so close to your home. After a couple of hours we made our way towards the Museo Nacional del Prado, stopping at a nearby cafe, Maribello. We enjoyed a quick snack: plantain chips with an incredible creamy dipping sauce, croquette's and dos Coca Colas in glass bottles - one of the best things about Europe. We spent the afternoon at the Museo Nacional Del Prado. The museum's collection includes art by El Greco, Manet, Cezanne, Picasso, Goya, and more. We really enjoyed the Prado, though like any art museum you identify with some artists and work over others; after a while the portraits of Spanish royalty become boring. The special El Greco exhibit was very unique though. It was interesting to see his influence on other famous artists, Jackson Pollock for example, who we easily recognized with our limited art knowledge. The museum itself is also architecturally stunning, and a program where artists paint replicas of famous works housed there. We were thrown at first one, but after observing several decided it was pretty cool.
We departed and walked up to and through the Salamanca neighborhood, an upscale area of Madrid, window-shopped and viewed the beautiful residential buildings. As the late afternoon came to a close we enjoyed a couple of cold cappuccinos and the general hustle and bustle of the Plaza de la Independencia at Grand Cafe. We attempted (again) to tour the Palacio Real, but by the time we got back across the city, it was too late. So we strolled to the old quarter, had dinner at Botin, a recommendation by one of Jared's friends, and the oldest restaurant in the world according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Besides that distinction the food was pretty good. We both ordered simple fish plates, and enjoyed them with bread and pitcher of sangria. Following dinner we strolled the old quarter more before heading back to our hotel.
Early Tuesday morning we checked out of Hotel Regina, grabbed breakfast at a local coffee shop, before heading to the Palacio Royal for a tour. Turns out the third time is a charm, but the palace was a disappointment. You could only see a small portion of the building, which is huge, and the section open for tours is only the truly historic rooms, despite the fact that they palace is rarely used. Some rooms were incredibly ornate and over the top; one was made entirely of porcelain - walls, ceiling, floor, everything - while others were more understated. We departed after the 45-minute tour, grabbed coffee and our rental car, and began our drive to Barcelona.
Zaragoza
The drive from Madrid to Barcelona is about five hours, and the largest city midway is Zaragoza. I referenced our guidebook, Lonely Plant Discover Spain, 2013, which recommended a few places to eat in the city, so we decided to stop there for lunch. This wasn't the first time the book let us down and it wouldn't be the last. (It had listed the tour times for the Palacio Real de Madrid incorrectly screwing up our afternoon and following morning, and the maps were not very good.) The restaurant we selected, Casa Pascualillo, was disappointing. The food was eh and the ambiance was weird, and walking to it, some crazy lady yelled at us for being Americans. The city itself was depressed, different from what we generally observed in Madrid. Departing the city was incredibly difficult as we tried to follow the poor book maps, on top of the strange way the road signage was laid out. After forty-five minutes of driving in circles and Jared cursing Spain's civil engineers, we were back on the road. Our two-hour-plus detour wasn't really worth it, but we'll chalk it up to foreign exploration.
Barcelona
The drive to Barcelona was gorgeous. The countryside is arid farmland, with curious mountain ranges, and old, dilapidated stone farmhouses in various stages of collapse, and if you can believe, it hundreds of wind vines. Jared called it the land of the giants. They speckled the landscape for much of the drive, and are really quite beautiful. We also drive over the Prime Meridian, which was pretty cool. Our drive became maddening as we entered the city boundaries of Barcelona, and again wished the maps in our book were better. After getting incredibly lost, and fighting just a tad, we turned our phones on to find our way to our hotel, Hotel Pulitzer. It was located at the Plaza de Catalunya, just off Las Ramblas, a main thoroughfare and walking promenade in Barcelona. We relaxed for about an hour (it had been a pretty long car ride) before heading out for dinner. We ultimately ate at Restaurant Boca Grande, in The Apartment, where we were slightly underdressed for such a swank location, but whatevs. We had a couple of fancy cocktails, and croquettes, fried zucchini blossoms, and a fabulous cheese plate. After dinner we walked Las Ramblas a bit, stopping at a small cafe for some dessert and cappuccinos, and to watch the U.S. (lose) in the World Cup. It was late by the time the match ended, so we called it a night.
Wednesday morning began with a trip to the Mercat de La Boqueria, where we bought breakfast to take to the beach: fresh juice and fruit, and baguettes with meat and cheese. The mercat was huge and a bit overwhelming trying to select what to purchase with so many vendor stalls selling the same produce. But it was also fun to walk around, incredibly colorful and bustling. We headed to the beach, despite it being overcast. Before long the sun was out, and we spent the morning and early afternoon reading and relaxing. We returned to our hotel in the late afternoon, showered and changed, heading out to explore the Barri Gotic - Gothic Quarter - of Barcelona. Again, our late lunch comprised of dos cappuccinos and pastries, before touring Museu Picasso de Barcelona. We spent about an hour there, which might seem like a small amount of time, but the museum is not huge (and again our bloody book had the incorrect closing times.) The museum is tucked away in the Barri Gotic (we actually walked right past it the first time) and mainly houses work from the early part of Picasso's career. His earliest art is as unique as the work he is more commonly known for. When you see it in chronological order, from his apprenticeships and early years, to his later work, the evolution of his unique style is very clear.
We departed and walked through the city to the Arc de Triomf, where we relaxed and people watched a bit, and then walked through a small portion of Parc de la Ciutadella before heading to dinner. Dinner was quite an experience. Recommended to us by one of Jared's Adobe-Behance coworkers, we went to Commerce 24, known for their unique take on tapas. It is a Michelin-rated restaurant, and we did the smaller of two tasting menu options. It was wonderful, but also an incredible amount of food, and we left feeling like we would never be hungry again. I don't think either of us could accurately describe how great the food was, but here are a few descriptions of what we enjoyed: cauliflower with vinegar and ginger, consommé with egg and parmesan cheese, duck rice with foie gras, elder flower grape fruit and lychee, chocolate nougat, and SO MUCH MORE. It is beyond just going "out to dinner" but was a true dining experience, the wait staff explaining each dishes components and composition, and start to finish lasting more than three hours (we arrived at 8:30 and departed at 11:30.) If you ever plan on visiting Barcelona, we highly recommend it.
Thursday brought us up close and personal with Barcelona's famed architect Antoni Gaudi. We took the Metro up to Park Guell, which was designed by Gaudi. It is a steep walk up to t he park (reminded me of the hills of San Fran) but offers sweeping views of the city. The park itself is very unique, with many whimsical components. Some natural yet designed parts looked like they belonged to the sets of The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit. We didn't purchase tickets to enter each individual area (in part because of cost, and in part because of the lines and the mass of people inhibiting how we would ultimately be able to view them) but walked the outskirts of many. The Hansel and Gretal Gatehouse was particularly fun to look at. We headed back towards the city center, attempting to view the Sagrada Familia, but the line for tickets was massive, so we headed to 4 Gats, famous in part because Picasso designed their menu, and spent a large portion of his early career hanging out at the eatery. We ordered our standbys: croquettes, toast with tomato, and cheese, and dos cappuccinos, and enjoyed a break from walking. From there we were off to the Catedral de Barcelona, a beautiful Gothic basilica and cathedral. I am not normally a fan of Gothic-style architecture, but this cathedral is beautiful, which even Jared agreed to. It has side chapels surrounding its center, in dedication to various saints, beautiful cloisters, and unique seating for various ceremonies throughout. Modern day technology is also included, and you can take a lift to the roof, and walk among the steeples, culminating in gorgeous views of Barcelona. We took advantage of the late sunset times, and headed back to the beach for the remainder of the afternoon and early evening, where as we often do, I read, and Jared walked the length of the Barcelona beaches to the east of us (some 3+ miles).
Later in the evening we continued our exploration, this time off the beaten path, to a tapas bar called Quimet & Quimet, another recommendation from one of Jared's friends. (And listed in The Guardian as one of the 10 best tapas bars in Barcelona.) We had been told it was standing room only, but had no idea it would be quite so small, and truly standing room only. It was quite busy, and we waited a long time before being helped, and to a point where I was ready to go. Good thing Jared has more patience than I do, because the handcrafted, fresh tapas were out of this world. We each enjoyed two small plates, and shared a third, and two drinks before departing, and feeling like we had a truly authentic tapas experience. From there we headed to the rooftop bar of the Hotel 1898, recommended by our friends Jason and Jackie, enjoyed some a couple of drinks, some croquettes (don't you judge, they are so, so good; seriously every croquette we had was out of this world) and enjoyed the beautiful night air and night lights of the city. Following this is was when the real fun began, when Jared insisted we head to a Barcelona nightclub. I was skeptical at first, then again when the place was pretty quiet, but it picked up. And then we were thoroughly entertained by a gothic-scene man in the club with NO PANTS, and just a mesh top and g-string. We are totally terrible people, but it provided us with a great deal of fodder over our drinks. A real observation though, was the truly wide variety of patrons at this particular club, young and old, large groups, couples, etc. and the overall setting, a vibrant restaurant upstairs, and a small quiet lounge and more hopping club downstairs. I have no idea what it was called, and years and years from now, I will only remember the man with NO PANTS, and his stellar and continued efforts to get his groove on with fellow club goers. He had NO PANTS ON, man oh man, the things you experience traveling.
On Friday morning we headed to the Sagrada Familia, in an attempt to get tickets to tour the cathedral first thing in the morning. The earliest time we could get was 12:30, which meant we had 2.5 hours to kill. (Note to anyone traveling to Barcelona who wants to visit the Sagrada Familia: buy the tickets in advance. It will save you time waiting on the ticket line purchase, and you are more likely to get a touring time you want.) So we walked around the exterior of the building, viewing the MANY different architectural styles, got some coffee, and spent some time people watching and relaxing in the park adjacent to the site. At 12:00 we were allowed to enter (a half hour early woohoo) and spent just shy of an hour walking through the basilica. I did not find it particularly pretty, aside from the stained glass, which is magnificent, and does flood the space with great light. The interior is all stone though, and both the interior and exterior are carved into a variety of architecturally styles which converge and in my opinion compete. The Sagrada Familia has been under continued construction since the 1880's and had multiple architects other than Gaudi work on it. It was interesting to see though, as it is supposed to be one of the largest cathedrals in the world, able to hold mass for thousands upon its completion, tentatively set for 2026.
After our walkthrough we grabbed our rental car (and after some great difficult exiting the parking garage - ask Jared) departed for San Sebastian.
San Sebastian
I believe that during every trip one takes, you come across a place that is truly special. San Sebastian was that place during our trip to Spain. The drive across Spain was beautiful, again enjoying the farmland, wind vines, and as we approached San Sebastian, beautiful green mountain ranges. We had trouble getting into the city and to our hotel, which sparked my first ever travel meltdown, brought on by a mix of car sickness and feeling incredibly lost - even with the use of the GPS on our phones. Everything was written in Basque Spanish, differing from our map, and hard to navigate on Google Maps. But, eventually we arrived at our hotel, Hotel Eziza. The gentleman at the hotel's reception desk was kind enough to call the restaurant we had our reservation at (for an early anniversary celebration) and secure a later time. We quickly changed, and called for a taxi to take us to Mirador de Ulia. (Yes, we did have a car, but it was approaching dusk, we were already late, and given our difficult getting into the city, we questioned our ability to find the restaurant. And it was a good thing we used a cab - the restaurant was about 15 minutes from our hotel, high up one of the San Sebastian mountains, overlooking the bay.) We arrived at Mirador de Ulia, were seated, and enjoyed the last minutes of sunset as we began to enjoy another wonderful meal. This restaurant did not serve tapas, but Spanish fare in the Basque-style. We enjoyed our anniversary dinner - which included croquettes - before heading back to our hotel for the evening.
On Saturday we were up early, had a light breakfast at out hotels "cafeteria" and headed to the beach. There are three city beaches in San Sebastian, and we started our day at Playa de la Concha, which is a beautiful and overlooks a small bit of the Bay of Biscay. The beach was pretty busy by the time we arrived, and before long was thronged with people. Despite this it was easy to enjoy the sand and strong sun, relax, and read. (By the early afternoon I had finished my travel book, The Fault In Our Stars, a great YA book; I highly recommended.) In the late afternoon, we walked to Playa de Ondarreta, across from our hotel and quieter, and spent the late afternoon and early evening there (we were at the beach with full sun until close to 8:00 pm) before finally ending our beach day. Later in the evening we headed to the old-town section of San Sebastian and joined in the revelry of tapas-bar hopping. We hopped between tapas bars and enjoy the fare at each, and enjoying this very vibrant side of the Basque-Spanish culture. As midnight approached, and our first anniversary came to a close, took the quiet 20-minute stroll back to our hotel along the bay.
Sunday was….depressing. I woke up pretty early, and it was raining, so hopped back into bed. A couple of hours later it was still....raining. So, our plan of relaxing seaside was out. We got ready to attack the day anyway, and headed out to find breakfast during a break in the rain. By the time we got to the old part of town though it was closer to lunch, so we grabbed some at an outdoor, park-side cafe. We stumbled across an outdoor art show, and we purchased our second piece of original art, a beautiful oil painting of Playa de la Concha and the Bay of Biscay, by an artist named Gabriel Lribar. The rain started again shortly after this, so we ventured on to the San Telmo Museum. The San Telmo Museum is the art and history museum in San Sebastian. We learned a great deal about the country's Basque history, walked through their cloisters, an exhibit on opulent royal fashion, as well as one on primitive art. It killed a couple of hours, but the rain persisted. We walked back to our hotel, dried off/warmed up, and then headed to the Funicular. The funicular is a tram that takes off from the Plaza del Funicular, right by the beach, and goes to Mount Igeldo, where there is an amusement park and hotel. We took the ride, and also took in the sweeping views of San Sebastian, and south and east over the Atlantic Ocean. After the funicular, we decided to go to La Perla, a sort of - sea therapy spa - with a variety of seawater pools that you move through to exercise, relax, receiving massages, and so on. I was a bit spectacle going in, but it was really enjoyable, and was really happy Jared pushed for us to go. Our visit to La Perla included a drink and some tapas, and afterwards we headed back to the Old Town part of San Sebastian. The weather had cleared finally, and our walk from La Perla to the old town included a spectacular view of the beach and the bay. We spent the early evening tapas-bar hopping again, and then called it an early evening.
On Monday we spent a bit more time in San Sebastian - had breakfast, did some souvenir shopping, and grabbed some groceries for our time later that day in Pamplona. We checked out of our hotel midmorning, and began our drive to Pamplona, but promising ourselves we would one day return to the lovely San Sebastian.
Pamplona
Our drive to Pamplona was one our easiest drive, about an hour or so west of San Sebastian, and we only got lost for about 15 minutes trying to locate our hotel. We checked into the Hotel Sancho Ramirez, about a 15-minute bus ride from the center of Pamplona. We changed into our reds and whites - as best we could - got some directions on the San Fermin celebrations and directions into the city center, and were off. We arrived into the city center, visited a gentleman names Michael Murphy (a true Irish ex-pat) to pick up our bullfight tickets, and then did some tapas bar hopping through the San Fermin Festival. The best way to describe San Fermin, would be to compare it to something like the St. Patrick's Day Parade. The biggest difference being that EVERYONE in Pamplona was celebrating San Fermin: young people, old ladies, babies. And they were all dressed in red and white. The streets are way more crowded than you were ever see in New York, and people were drinking everywhere across the city. Another big difference is that the festival is continual partying - day and night - for 9 days! We did some taps bar hopping, and then made our way to the Plaza de Toros to watch the bull fighting. Prior to the start of the bullfights the parade of bullfight horseman took place, which included the marching bands that sit in the stands and play to the crowd leading up to the fight.
We entered the stadium, found our seats, and enjoyed the bands and their crazy music, before the pomp and circumstance of the bullfight began. This part was interesting to watch, and there are some parts of the bullfight tradition that are beautiful: the costumes of the matadors and other participants, as well as a stadium full of people dressed in red and white. Jared and I have differing opinions about the bullfight itself. All I will say here is that while I understand it is a nation-wide Spanish tradition, it is quite upsetting to someone who spent their formative years caring for large animals. Plus, I maintain that bullfighting is not a fair fight - 8 matadors to one bull. Warning: there are a number of pictures from the bull fight below. One thing that was nice about the bullfight is that you can bring in food and drink, so we enjoyed cheese, bread, meats, beer and wine for dinner. It was pretty cold afterwards, so we sent back to our hotel and called it a night, save for a small venture outside to watch the fireworks and check where we parked out car. (Which had been ticketed, YAY! Try dealing with that in Basque-Spanish, 8-/ Thank goodness for a kind, English-speaking expat who guided us on how to pay it.)
On Tuesday we were up before dawn to watch the famed running of the bulls. We reserved a balcony above the path the bulls and runners travel down, about three-quarters of the way through the course. It was a bit odd being in someone's home, but the rental of the balcony came with a light breakfast, and after that was brought out, the owner basically disappeared. The police slowly closed and cleared the street of people (who had very obviously still been partying from the day/night before) pushing all of the runners back to their starting point. Shops boarded of their window-fronts, and a cleaning crew swept up all of the glass and garbage of the San Fermin street revelries. At 8:00 am sharp a shot went off, and before long, a herd of bulls came down Estafeta. One of the interesting things about the running of the bulls, at least with the bulls running that mornings, was that they seem a bit lazy and had to be prodded along. A second observation, at least from my point of view - above the crowds - was that there are so many people running, that they are often tripping over one another - not over the bulls. While it was cool to see, it started and ended so quickly, that it is surprising that it is such a large international event.
After the bull run we sought out Camino de Santiago, the Way of St. James, which we learned about prior to leaving for our trip by watching The Way by Emilio Estevez. (It is a great movie, highly recommend it.) The path leads through a portion of the city, and we actually saw a few people who were hiking the path. We got some coffee, warmed up - it was a chilly, damp morning - and waited for Gigantes Y Cabezudos, Giants and Big Heads. Giants and Big-Heads was by far my favorite part of San Fermin. It is a parade of large, puppet-like religious figures such as the Three Kings, small knights on horseback, marchers playing music such as flutists and drummers. The marchers travelled down Calle Mayor, and the parade itself was pretty short. We headed back to our hotel, took a quick nap before checkout - it was only about 10:00 am - and then drove back to Madrid for our flight home.
Spain was spectacular and we hope anyone who hasn't, has an opportunity to see it sometime.
The Instagrams: Margaret's
The Instagrams: Jared's
