my life

Reflections on Spain...

I'm in the midst of post-vacation catch-up and can't believe I returned from Spain almost a week ago! The trip went splendidly, and despite the rain that kept following us around, we managed to have a great time and see some amazing things. We went to Barcelona, Madrid, Granada, Sevilla, and Cordoba. All were beautiful cities, but my favorite was Barcelona. It is on the Mediterranean coast and like a lot of coastal cities, it seemed to have a very laid-back vibe and LOTS of organic & vegetarian restaurants. I got my fill of great art and architecture on this trip: the Picasso museum and Gaudi's unique architecture in Barcelona, the Reina Sofia Modern Art Gallery and the Prado in Madrid, and even some intricate Muslim designs in Granada and Cordoba.

Rachel was a great tour guide and translator, she had planned the entire trip and somehow managed to navigate the busy metro stations, bus stations, train stations, and other places that would have confused the hell out of me. And I am happy to report that Spain DOES have vegetarian food! I had some great food over there—falafel kebap, veggie paella, potato croquettes, gazpacho—but my favorite thing was sangria! :)

I have all my photos up on Flickr in my Semana Santa in Spain set, but I still have some organizing, labeling, and weeding out to do. So give me a week or two if you want to know where all the pictures were taken. I am worse than a Japanese tourist and took a picture of darn near everything!

In this post are pictures of the Cathedral in Cordoba seen through a narrow "kissing lane" (above), and a view of La Alhambra in Granada (left), as seen from a very steep hill that we climbed in the rain. La Alhambra was beautiful inside, it is an old Muslim palace with a great view of Granada. Rachel has been studying there this semester, and it was great to see her and the country she's been calling home for the past few months. She even has a blog about her studying abroad experience, although she's not quite as much of a blog addict as her older sis...

Labels: family, vacation/trips

posted by Megan @ 4:13 PM 0 comments   

Hola from Barcelona!

I am in Barcelona! Woohoo! It is gorgeous here, despite the bit of rain we've had the last few days, and I have fallen in love with the work of the famous Barcelona architect Gaudi. We got here without any problems (no lost luggage this time, yay!) and despite the jet lag, we went to the Picasso museum and walked down Las Ramblas on our first day here. We even got to go to a market where I found organic vegetarian food. We went on a walk through the Gothic architectural part of town and had some dinner at a vegetarian restaurant. We went to bed early since we were so tired from all the traveling.

Today was Gaudi day - we saw Sagrada Familia, his famous unfinished cathedral (it was started in 1893 and won't be done until 2060!) which was amazing. Then we went to Casa Mila, an apartment building Gaudi designed with undulating balconies and a great view from the roof. (See the picture for a view from the top of Casa Mila with Sagrada Familia in the background). Then we went to Park Guell, which was also designed by Gaudi. The park was gorgeous with beautiful tile work all over and a house Gaudi lived in for 20 years. Tonight we had some tapas (at a place that served little open-faced sandwiches, some of which were sin carne), juice from an excellent vegan restaurant called Juicy Jones, churros and chocolate, and of course, sangria. Very large glasses of it.

I'm not sure if I'll have internet for the rest of the trip, but tomorrow we are headed to Madrid, and then Granada, Cordoba, and Sevilla. It has been fun so far and happily there is actually vegan food in Spain! I'll be back home on April 10th. Until then, adios!

posted by Megan @ 1:34 PM 0 comments