So, this one’s gonna be a long one, folks. This has been quite the “puente”—basically occurring when Spaniards have a day off on Thursday and just take the Friday too for fun.
We left for Barcelona Wednesday night, in a rental car, four of us: Nick, Mandy, Matteo, and me. Let me explain a little about what happened and how we remedied it. So, we go to the train station on Monday afternoon to buy overnight tickets to Barcelona on Wednesday, for a group of 11 people (Don’t ask me how it got that big). The women not-so-politely informed us that there were NO plazas—none, ninguna, nada. Plan B. The frustration set in, as this was such a great train—through the night, with a bed, arriving in the morning at 8, only for 50 euros. That’s a steal. So, now it’s either bus or car. I hate buses, so we searched about renting a car. This was a logical idea because we planned to come back in a car. Searched and searched, but most of the group elected to take the bus. I’m stubborn, and that ride to and from Santiago was TERRIBLE, so three other people and I planned the car ride. One problem was that we couldn’t leave until 7 pm because two of my friends didn’t get out of class till then. Go to the rental place, had to switch drivers because my friend’s license just ran out at his 25th birthday, and we were off. Stopped for dinner, and had a sudden realization about Spanish toll roads. 10.25 euros for a toll. We had gone maybe 2 hours. What the hell!? Well, we finally found some food, and kept going. Our plan, as suggested by my professor earlier that day because she informed me that the place I had selected to stay overnight was not reachable by a humanly hour, was to stay outside Zaragoza. We hit there around 11 pm, and as I had already known, they had their festival that weekend. Not just the puente, but their biggest party of the year as a city. So, after searching a few places for lodging, we got outta dodge and kept going. Next plan was to stop at Lleida, the next closest major city. In retrospect, we should’ve just searched in a town, but seeing as we didn’t know the area AT ALL, we opted for the city, We reached Lleida a little before 2, and started driving around. Searched a hotel and a few hostels, and either too expensive or not available. On our way back out of the city, at about 2:30, Mandy spotted a sign for a one-star hotel. I went in and inquired—19 bucks a person for a hotel, which is at least one step up from a hostel. Good, ours, to sleep.
Left the next morning at 9:30, after rousing the troops. Finally got to Barcelona proper at around 11 pm, but that doesn’t mean we actually got to the train station to drop off our car. Mind you, this is 45 euros later in tolls—completely ridiculous, for a 6-hour drive. I do have to say, though, that the roads were in impeccable condition and the scenery for the first few hours was amazing—it was a shame the sun went down so early. Yeah, so I figured there would be signs in Barcelona indicating the train station. We stopped at a gas station to get directions, and the attendant could NOT help us—very frustrating. Another problem in Spain is the signs. Lack of street signs, unclear road signs, both of which combine for a headache. We got to Barcelona, with no map, no clear road signs in the city, and no signs pointing toward the station. We had to rely on our friends, without whom we would still be lost, and a little wandering until we saw some helpful signs. Finally, we found it and had to deal with the rental car return people--always fun.
Found our way to the hostel, dropped off our things, and grabbed some food before meeting up with the other group. Went to the Cathedral not to be confused with la Sagrada Familia, where we went next. The whole day it was raining. At times, very hard, but usually just a steady rain that soaked everything. La Sagrada Familia, tho, was amazing. We arrived shortly after 6, as my tour book said it closed on the inside at 7, but when arriving we discovered it to actually be 6. But we sure did spend some time on the outside http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_familia There are a LOT of old churches and cathedrals in Spain, as you can imagine, but this one is much different than any I've ever seen and I think will see during my time here. Designed by Gaudi, it was his life project, which is still not finished. They estimate the project to be completed in 50 years because it's only based on donations and ticket fees. Click the link if you haven't.
From there, we found some food and headed back to the hostel. The other part of the group, who had taken the bus over night, was QUITE tired, so we ended up just hanging out back at the hostel instead of going out. I did get to play a few games of euchre, which was awesome. I so love that card game, and since many of my friends on this trip are from Michigan or Illinois, they know how to play and some are addicted to it like I am. Bed time, relatively early for a holiday, at 2, to prepare for the next day's excursions.
Friday was a much more productive day, and we saw a LOT of things, in my opinion--so much so that my calves hurt at the end of the day. I'll list off some of the cooler stuff: Las Ramblas, a long street which is one of the hot spots, off of which are government buildings, the OLD basilica, some Gaudi works, and their Plaza Mayor, which was quite cool; the Parque de Guell, which is what Gaudi designed for a nobleman back in the day--it's indescribable but filled with architecture and gardens; the INSIDE of La Sagrada Familia, which was the highlight of my trip to Barcelona; their Arc de Tromphe; Gaudi's disputably best work, an apartment building which still functions as such; and the fountain show, which was such an attraction and was like the Bellagio's in Vegas. La Sagrada Familia as a work of art and as a religious house, is amazing. I really lack the words to describe it, but it gives such a distinct interpretation and representation of the Bible and Biblical scenes--it really moves you to faith.
Late night at one of the clubs, and early morning to get outta dodge. We picked up a new rental car, now on Saturday morning, a different group of us: Kara, Jeff (driver), Nick, Mandy, and I. Kara and I, with the help of one of the CIDE professors, had planned a trip to go north to Figureres to see the Dali museum and then cut east into the Pyrenees, stay the night in a rural house, and see some of the attractions and do some outdoor stuff. Let me say that it was worth all the PAIN involved in this planning. Wow, just finding a house was immensely difficult; only by luck did this one place have openings, and boy was it worth it.
The Dali museum was very cool, very Dali. He built it before his death, and he's actually buried in it. Featuring many of his most famous works, tho not nearly all, it plays with your mind, as he wished. Dali was one crazy guy, but in some cases I could see what he was going for.
So, we left Figueres (the town in which Dali’s museum is situated) around 4:30, which was much too late to begin with. I had no idea we would spend that much time in the morning, as we left late, or around the town that afternoon, eating and such. So, we got on the open road. Basically, Kara and I knew we had two options for driving: head into the mountains and just plow straight west, or go back down to Barcelona and get on the autopista and cut off a bunch of time. Because we were feeling cheap, had nothing else to do, and wanted to see the country, we all decided to take the mountain roads. And let me tell you, they were mountain roads. Very windy roads, up and down hills, but with incredible vistas. Stopped a few times to take pictures, which of course will not be able to capture the beauty that lay before our eyes. Around 6:30, I did a little math and distance calculations, tried to figure out how far we had gone and in what time, and roughly concluded that if we remained on this road, we wouldn’t reach our lodging for the night until 3 am. Well, I brought this to the attention of the car when we had a chance to change routes south—get out of the mountains by going south and west and then cutting back up north—and we decided to try to get there by a reasonable hour. We didn’t end up getting there till a little after midnight, tho, with the new direction. We arrived in Jaca, the biggest town in the region, which lies to the south of Abay, the tiny town in which we were staying, and somehow managed to get up to Abay on a one-lane road. However, it took us some struggling to find this hotel, but the owner had to come out to get us. The hotel was amazing, I believe. I shouldn’t say hotel, because it was more of a house. Most of the lodging we had been considering consisted of old, but recently-rehabbed rural houses, all stone and wood. Beautiful structures. This place was no exception, as it retained its glorious roots but offered commodities like hot and high-pressured water and comfortable beds—and our room had a balcony. All this for less than 17 euros per person? Couldn’t beat it, honestly, especially after we spent 19 per night at a HOSTEL in Barcelona.
Wake up the next morning at 8, take in some of the vistas that morning, including the sunrise. It’s so wonderful to gaze out your window and stand on your balcony and view the sun rise over the Pyrenees, let me tell you. We set off, got some AMAZING breakfast at this place in Jaca, and went to see the two main sites of the city, the Citadel and the cathedral, which is one of the oldest in Spain. The Ciudadela, we deemed, was not worth the money or the pain—4 euros for a 40-minute guided tour for which we had neither the time nor the patience. We got out of Jaca and headed toward the Monastery of San Juan de la Pena, which is literally halfway up a mountain submerged into the side of the hill. What an awesome place; it took us a while to ascend the windy road up there, but it was so worth it. It’s interesting to imagine monks living up there hundreds of years ago.
From there, we set off east, with me planning to stop at a Canyon to have a hike. Much of this road followed a large river in the region, and at this one point a big lake opened up out of nowhere. Kara spotted cars down by the beach, so we figured we could head down there as well. Hell, we bought the extra insurance, why not!? We took out rental PT Cruiser off-road toward the beach and had lunch. Wow was that wonderful, an amazing little unexpected break. Continuing on, we finally got to the canyon, which was beautiful and funfunfun. We got to climb all over rocks and formations, all the things I didn't do as a "yute" (I hope you get the film reference). I was like the proverbial kid in a candy store, and the rest of the group loved it as well.
We got out of there, drove home, dropped the car off at the airport (still a pain this time--another lack of signs), and there ends the puente. What a wonderful one at that. Certainly we missed some of Barcelona in not spending the WHOLE weekend there, but think about what we would've missed had we done that? We saw Spain, and we're seeing Spain, not just in its large cities. This weekend we'll visit Guernica and some shore cities with the CIDE group, more Spanish culture. I realized in Barcelona why I really am enjoying NOT being in a large city here and why I made the correct choice in Bilbao--I don't want a metropolis, because that's not where Spanish culture lies. There isn't one Spanish culture, and that of the north is much different from that of the south, but I have the opportunity to attempt to understand these people outside the environment of a metropolis. Sure, I miss NYC, but I get a wonderful place in the meantime!
All the best--
AMDG,
Anthony
