Barcelona-The City of Gaudi

It seems like a long time since I’ve written. I have truly enjoyed Barcelona as I had a feeling I would. Unfortunately my Spanish lessons were curtailed by the fact that in Barcelona they speak Catalan so only to confuse me more and believe me it’s quite different. In fact the true Catalans believe themselves to be very separate from the Spanish. At many of the museums they have the headings written first in Catalan and then in Spanish………sometimes English if you’re lucky.

I just loaded my photos from Barcelona on my computer and had a good look. Barcelona is definitely “The City of Gaudi” There are amazing buildings and churches designed by Gaudi and some fantastic designs at that. My photos only captured a small amount of Gaudi as I didn’t go into all the buildings but did have a good look from the outside. Some of the things I saw and/or visited were the La Sagrada Familia church, La Pedrera, Casa Batillo and Park Guell. You will see a number of photos from the park as I went two different times; once when there were a lot of people and then one morning I ran there and it was so peaceful and quiet.

I also went to the Picasso museum and that was wonderful. What a brilliant artist and interesting person he was. I visited monument a Colom, museu naconal d’art De Catalunya

While in Barcelona, I was lucky enough to have a friend to stay with who is American and has been living in Barcelona for about 12 years so knows the city very well. Lucky me! In trade, I was able to cook meals for us and satisfy my culinary desire to cook. One day I walked down the La Rambla-a famous street in Barcelona filled with street performers, flower and live bird stalls and much more. I visited the Mercat de la Boqueria which was fantastic! It was filled with every vegetable, fruit imaginable and more. Then the choices of meat, fish was incredible and some I couldn’t tell you what it even was. There was even a hog’s head which I decided to pass on that for our evening meal. I must have spent more then an hour and had to control myself since I had to carry all I bought onto the metro and buses.

The weekend that I was there, Greg and I headed to the coast to a place called Cadaques which is about 20 kilometers from the border of France.I fell in love with the white washed buildings, the crystal clear blue water, the small winding rock laid streets filled with boutiques, restaurants and art galleries. We hiked and I ran some of the trail out to the lighthouse and you’ll see by the photos how magical Cadaques is. It is known for the wind and boy was it while we were there. The evening we were there we attended a photo exhibition done by a local photographer of the local women of Cadaques in black and white and it was wonderful! Most of the women were in their 50’s and 60’s and she captured the beauty and playfulness of every one of them. The opening itself was very interesting and I wish I had remembered to bring my camera but it was great people watching!

The next day we took a bus to Figures where Salvador Dali grew up. There we went to the Teatre-museu Dali and that was fantastic! What a talented and strange man that was. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there.

The remainder of my time there was spent wandering around, exploring the city, and getting caught in the rain…and I mean serious downpour. Yes, I had my umbrella but this didn’t stop my shoes and socks from getting totally drenched. This was the day before I was leaving and in Europe dryers aren’t very common so I had my wet clothes draped all over the house radiators in hopes they’d dry by the morning.

So, my time in Spain was wonderful and it felt bitter sweet leaving this morning but to be going to Paris is not a bad thing! The walkabout continues!

photos at: www.picasaweb.google.com/tonibodeau/Barcelona

I'm currently in Paris and leaving next Tuesday but will get my blog and photos posted before I leave...next is Italy and not sure about internet connection while I'm there.

The Last Supper

This was the joke I had with the group of Anglos and Spaniards that I spent the week with in Salamanca on the last night of the program. Being that when you travel, sometimes meals take the back burner. It’s not like I starve but I tend to eat simply and sometimes only two meals a day. So, I have to say, in spite of the long hours it had it’s benefits (not to mention my own room, bathtub and wake up calls) and one of which was three meals a day and pretty good food in spite of being a buffet; it always had lots of fresh fruit and a great salad bar at lunch and dinner so I was a happy girl! And as some of you may know, I LIVE for my salads and since I’ve been away my servings of fruits and vegetables have been diminished somewhat. When your traveling for extended periods of time this feels like luxury.

So there I was enjoying my salad and fish (of course wine) thinking about the week. It was really a great experience. Even though my time wasn’t my own and I had to talk and listen all day long at great concentrations, it was really fun. I truly enjoyed meeting new people, having some great connections and learning so much about the Spanish way of life. I truly feel like I made some new friends. We had some funny activities as well, like skits and poems and presentations in the evenings. I even did a yoga presentation and had one man, Lynn, from Wales volunteer to let me lead him through the demo….what a good sport! The last night we had a fiesta with Sangria and lots of dancing and some sad goodbyes at the end of the night.

Once again the partying interfered with my sleep. I had to get up at 4:00am to catch a train to Lisbon, Portugal. At about 12:30 I was almost convinced to just stay up and go out with everyone but I figured a few hours of sleep would probably be a good idea!

I had the train ride from hell. My train left from Salamanca at 5am and it was 7 hours on the worst train I’ve ever experienced. We were squeezed into a compartment like sardines and it was loud, cold and dirty. This was the first time I had experienced a bad train so I was surprised. I survived and arrived to Lisbon at about 12:00 noon and made my way to the hostel. What was really nice is everything seemed a bit easier in Portugal. They actually listed English as well as Portuguese so I could actually figure out what the hell I was supposed to do next and a lot of people spoke English.

The hostel I stayed in was really nice and the people very friendly and helpful. I thoroughly enjoyed my 3 ½ days in Lisbon and got to see a number of sights like the town of Belem which is on the water and had a bridge that reminded me of the Golden Gate bridge. I visited a couple of castles, an old montassary and some great neighborhoods. Also a town called Sentra which was very magical filled with castles and amazing parks and more history then I had time to digest.

Currently I am sitting at the Salamanca train station in the café waiting for my next train to Madrid for a day to visit a friend and then head to Barcelona. I arrived at midnight on the “train from hell” (which wasn’t AS bad this time) and couldn’t catch another train to Madrid until 5:45am. So, here I sit writing about my experiences and wondering if I can curl up on the table and sleep for a few hours. The TV is blaring and chairs uncomfortable so I’m thinking not. Oh well, there’s always 2 ½ hours to snooze on the fast train to Madrid.
View my photos from Salamanca and Vaughan Town at:
www.picasaweb.google.com/tonibodeau/SalamancaAndVaughanTown
Also view my Lisbon photos at:
www.picasaweb.google.com/tonibodeau/LisbonPortugal
Another note: I posted the Madrid photos on my last blog entry so go there...Madrid
Thanks for letting me share!

Madrid

I've decided that some big cities just don't do it for me at all. Don't get me wrong, there are some amazing buildings and and things to do like the Prado which you really need about two days to see it in it's entirety. I spent two hours! I know but when you only have 1 1/2 days you try to see it all that's about it.

My main reason for coming to Madrid was to meet up with this volunteer group called "Vaughantown" which is a group geared towards Spaniards learning English.
http://www.vaughantown.com/english/newsletter1.pdf
I included the website for information if anyone is interested in reading more.
It seems like a great program for becoming more comfortable with speaking another language. You first need to have a fairly good base of English and once here, it's mostly about speaking and listens with Anglo like myself and others from Australia, England, Wales. I'm actually the only American. Our job is to basically converse with them, it's not about correcting grammar, etc. You get to talk about life, interests, their country, your country and just about anything. We in turn get to stay in a very nice hotel and get feed very well plus wine at lunch and dinners. The people are really nice and so far it has been a great experience....plus I love having my own room after staying in hostels with 3 smelly men. Yep, that's right my experience in Seville didn't stop at staying in mixed dorms....did I not see that in the description?? So needless to say, I'm appreciating the solitude, in my room at least. Salamanca is a wonderful city as well but I'll write more about that at the end of the week.

I finally experienced the "night life" in Spain. After meeting the other volunteers from the program, a few of us decided to go out to a club. Knowing that we had to get up early, I was thinking it probably wasn't a good idea BUT what the heck....you have to experience everything at least once right?
It was wild! I've never seen so many people out at one time and the club was packed but the music was great. Needless to say, I arrived back to my hostel about 4:30am! Okay, so 3 hours of sleep. I slept a bit on the bus but then had to be "on" chatting with Spaniard and believe me it's work when you have to focus so much. I'm truly enjoying meeting them and getting to know them.

Okay, that's all for now. I'm off for more...
No photos of Madrid right now, I have a very weak signal at the cafe and limited time so I'll post soon.
Adios!
here is the link to my Madrid photos www.picasaweb.google.com/tonibodeau/Madrid

Hammam.........ahhhhhhhh!

A delicious sensory experience. What is it? It’s an ancient Arabic bath which consists of warm, hot and cold baths along with a wonderful stream room. It is decorated in the Arabic style by its geometrical mosaics, archways, latticework and columns.

As well as soaking in the baths, were you alternate from warm to hot to cold(oh so refreshing…no really it is and really good for you)you can choose to do a traditional “hammam” massage which is an exfoliation of the body and truly an amazing experience.

I was taken it to the main room where the large warm bath is and laid apon a octagonal shaped warm slap of marble. The therapist poured warm water over my body then I could feel something being put onto my back and legs but couldn’t for the life of me tell what it was but it felt wonderful….like light meringue being softly ladled onto my body. I was then scrubbed with some sort of glove that felt like it was gently but firmly taking the top layers of skin, dirt and road wariness away. Then warm water delightfully poured over me again and I was told to turn over and got to experience the front of my body as well…..nice to have two sides of the body! This time I peeked when the substance was ladled over me and it was a thick layer of foam from the soap she used.

Once done there I had the pleasure of receiving a relaxing massage while enjoying the smell of rose oil aromatherapy-my only complaint was that it wasn’t long enough-only 15 minutes. I then got to soak in the pools for at least an hour and a half. While soaking alternating form the different pools and sipping sweet Moroccan tea, I was able to appreciate the architecture, the candles and the sunlight coming in through the star shaped skylights. Also, they had relaxing music playing to harmonize with the sound of tickling water of the fountains.

I hope you now have an idea of my hammam bath experience. Oh and by the way, this was while I was in Cordoba. As you can guess that was the highlight and Cordoba is also a nice, picturesque city as well with an huge ancient mosque/cathedral that took about 300 year to complete. I also visited an old casa in the Arabic style as well as a couple of art museums.

I decided that 2 days was plenty in Cordoba so I’m moving on to Madrid tomorrow.
View my photos of Cordoba at www.picasaweb.google.com/tonibodeau/Cordoba
Also, I put my photos from Granada on the web and you can see those at:
www.picasaweb.google.com/tonibodeau/Granada

Seville

I really like Seville and in some ways wish I had chosen to study Spanish there. Not that that would have helped me in my progression with the language BUT I think the life style in Seville would have suited me much better in many ways. I liked the layout of the city and it was very easy to get around and they actually HAVE signs on the streets which makes life much easier when looking for things in a strange city. Actually what I've learned about myself, is that maps are a good guide but I like to wander and rather then street signs I'm better at landmarks and while sometime it takes me a while to find the same place, I eventually do.

So, my new friend, Jenna, who was in my Spanish class in Granada, decided to join me in Seville for the weekend. She booked us into a hostel that she found online and the first night we had a three bed dorm which was fine until we found out it was a mixed dorm! Okay, news to me...and Jenna. It worked out even though our roommate was an English bloke whose skills in the English language where challenged...or was it our challenge in understanding? Anyway, he may as well have been speaking Spanish! The next night we moved into a double and the only other roommates we had were uninvited.....mosquitoes or some sort of biting insects!

We had a great time seeing the sights in Seville including a 16 century mansion remolded in 1924 by the Countess Lebrija...whoever she was. She had an amazing art collection of Roman mosaics, statues and tiles. In case you haven't noticed, I've become a bit obsessed by tiles and also stained glass. I love the colors and designs and the inspiration-the artist coming out in me. Also, the Arabic architecture is fascinating! The other places we visited were the Alcazar which is somewhat of a smaller version of the Alhambra but very different in it's layout and nowhere near the magnificence of the gardens at the Alhambra.

The Cathedral is one of the largest in Europe and it truly is mind boggling. I can appreciate the years of work, the architecture but the Catholic symbolism and gets to be a bit much to be honest.

We also went to Plaza Espana which was beautiful and there are so many parks in Seville of which I explored the last day I spent in Seville as well as enjoy a run one night after it rained and the sun was setting and there were runners, bikers, rollerbladers everywhere....I felt right at home.
View my photos at:
www.picasweb.google.com/tonibodeau/Seville

Another World!

I went to Morocco this past weekend on a tour. Lesson number one; no more tours! I decided to go with the tour because being a woman alone, Morocco is not the place you want to go on your own. Over all it was a good introduction to the country but there would be so much more to experience without being tied to a time schedule and limited areas to explore.

We were primarily in the North of North Africa in three different areas; Tetuan, Tanger and Chef-Chaouen. The weather was beautiful and the country amazing in so many ways; the color, the people and just a different way of looking at the world. Nothing like anyplace I've ever been to. In Tetan, we went to some traditional markets where the locals hang out and shop. We were a large group and no doubt stood out but we didn't see many other tourist in this area.

We were given "free time" to shop and taken to this amazing carpet store where they just sat us down (and maybe locked the door, I'm not sure but that was the feel) and started putting out a ton of rugs and they were all smiles and happy until they started taking us aside in the little corners of the shop and giving us outrageous prices and then the smiles vanished when hardly anyone would buy.

We were then taken to a "traditional" Moroccan meal that was not the best...not really even good! We were very disappointed to say the least.

The next day was my favorite day. We drove up into the mountain to Chef-Chaouen. This was a truly magical place with incredible mountain views and the areas we walked and shopped were so colorful and simply magical! Once again we got taken to a "special" shop and I think everyone was much more prepared. We found out that the same item could be purchased down the way for about a third of the price(apparently the guides get a percentage....imagine that! You learn fast in Morocco about shopping.

We had a very long day that day as we heading back down the mountain and then to the ferry and had about a 3 1/2 hour drive back to Granada.

It has been a busy week, finishing up Spanish classes and getting ready to move on to Seville tomorrow. I've had a great time in Granada and really feel like I've had the opportunity to truly get to know one area in Spain. I'm ready to experience more!
To view the photos go to: www.picasaweb.google.com/tonibodeau/Morocco

Just show up, pay attention......don't get attached!

The last part is easier said then done but I believe it's so true. The entire saying is to just show up, pay attention, tell the truth and don't get attached to the outcome. My time in Granada has been about that and especially the not getting attached part.

The Spanish class has proved to be a tremendous challenge for me and I have not mastered the language in any way or form. Okay, so did I expect that I would be chatting away in Espanol with all the locals....well no, but I thought I'd a least be able to form a sentence! I found myself so frustrated and not really paying attention; to the beauty around me, to the other senses that we are so blessed with. So one day, I just slowed down and really saw what was around me and took it all in. I looked people in the eye and smiled instead of being nervous that someone may actually try to talk to me and OMG...how would I answer!I have been apreciating the taste of the food,and the wine(even my host mom's cooking is better...) I love the smell after the rain and the feel of the Hamman arabic baths and the massage that I experienced last night. When you stop to smell the flowers...you don't miss life!

Speaking of a visual experience; I will post my photos of the Alhambra and I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking them. This place was amazing. I don't have my book with me to give you the history but basically the Alhambra was originally owned by the Arabics and overtaken by the Spanish. The architecture was so amazing to see. I tried to capture some of it with my photos. I didn't rent the audio which I wish I had now because there is so much history. I am actually thinking of going back next week because there is so much to take it.

Last weekend, I went to Ubeda with a couple of girls from the school. It is about 120 kilometers north of Granada and about 2 1/2 hours by bus. It's a fairly small village and had some amazing building to visit. What we hadn't considered is that getting there about 12:30 only gave us a few hours before everything closes and believe me, the Spanish take their siestas very serious! We had a nice time and it was great just to get away for the day. I'm actually getting to know Granada fairly well and love that I can actually "feel" my way around instead of looking at the map all the time. Which like I mentioned before, doesn't work well because of lack of signage.
You can view my photos at www.picasaweb.google.com/tonibodeau/thealhambraandubeda
I'm off to Morocco this weekend so more soon...