First Stop: Valencia
We arrived in Valencia with no map, no hotel reservation, and really knowing nothing about the city other than its famed Oranges. We ran into a bit of traffic and after a bit of aimless driving, we found a parking garage and a hotel. We only planned to stay that evening and then head to Barcelona in the morning, so we went out to find some Paella and Sangria. Paella is a Spanish rice dish made with saffron, vegetables, and whatever kind of meat you choose. From what I gather, The rice and all the fixins are cooked for a long time over low heat in a big iron pan with handles which they bring right to the table and you pretty much just dish it out. We got chicken because all the seafood here comes with heads and tails on which is ok for me, but not so much for some other people (Kara). And Sangria pretty much speaks for itself. I can't even express the admiration and deep affection I have developed for this drink. YUM! The lady who checked us in to our hotel suggested a place a little off the beaten path and by the time we got there, there was an hour wait to sit outside (good sign). We opted to take a table inside and had a pretty fantastic meal - olives that they seemed to pick that day and jar themselves, amazing Paella, and even more amazing Sangria. It was a good night. The next morning, we got up early to see some sights and find some fresh squeezed orange juice. Also excellent. Valencia is a good place for consumption. About midday, we picked up the car and headed up the eastern coast of Spain to...
Stop 2: Barcelona
We thought the drive from Valencia to Barcelona would be gorgeous, but it was not that amazing, pretty much your standard highway. I am saying this from the perspective of the only person who was awake for the entire thing. In Barcelona, we had a map and a plan. Find somewhere to park the car and then find a hotel. You know the saying "the best laid plans..." well, yeah, 2 hours later we finally found a hotel that was in a decent location. It seems that this weekend was big Harley Davidson rally in Barcelona which jacked up the hotel prices and made our lives difficult. I didn't realize so many Eurofolk rode hogs. They do. And they look the same here as they do in Sturgis. All leathered and moustachioed. Hot. After we freshened up a bit, we hit the streets to find the famed La Rambla, a long stretch of pedestrian road with lots of little booths and street performers. We wandered around a bit and found another pretty amazing meal. As we were heading back to our hotel, we came across a small stage and a small crowd gathering around it. We figured we would stop and listen for a while and were pleasantly surprised to hear some English-language songs, more specifically country music. Yes folks, we listened to a country cover band in Barcelona playing such hits as "God Bless Texas" and "Sweet Home Alabama." It was pretty awesome. And through the "concert," little men were selling beers to the crowd for €1. Can't beat that. On the way home, we stumbled upon what appeared to be the Barcelona "Red Light District." It definitely wasn't on our map, was not nearly as touristic as Amsterdam's, and should be avoided if you ever travel to this area of the world. Another oops moment for us.
Barcelona day 2 was Kristin's birthday so we headed out pretty early to see what we could. We ended up just checking out this amazing Market off of La Rambla which had all kinds of vendors and fresh foods, fruits, veg, meats, fish, anything you could imagine and things you don't want to imagine. (Think: whole skinned rabbits, cow's heads, tongues and various other unidentifiable parts) We each had some pretty awesome fresh fruit juice. Then we hit the beach, which happened to be a semi-topless, not semi as in partially topless, but semi as in only some of the women were topless. Completely topless. Needless to say we were pretty shocked - but its just part of the culture. Moms and daughters, teens, children, old ladies - and no one was bothered. Americans need to lighten up - its just boobs. Anyway, we walked along the beach for a while (first time in the Mediterranean Sea!) and took it all in. On the way back to the hotel we checked out the Barcelona Cathedral - pretty spectacular gothic architecture. But even better was the band playing when we walked out and all these old Spainards doing some sort of traditional dance. It was really cool to watch! After freshening up at the hotel we set out to find a place for Kristin's birthday dinner - we settled on a little Italian place we found. Now, its going to be difficult to put this experience into words so bear with me...basically it was the worst meal ever. They were out of almost everything we tried to order and when the food did come, there was fur on my (kara) meat. Yes, you heard right, fur. Nope, not a stray chef's hair or some fuzz that landed in the bowl - the meat had not been cleaned properly and some cow's fur made it into my stew. Now most of you know that I am a big animal lover and don't eat a ton of meat - and after seeing what we saw at market that morning I was seriously considering cutting it out altogether - but since they were out of everything and my Spanish sucks I just pointed to something and hoped that it would be good. Nope, fur. If you want the rest of the hairy details (har, har) we will gladly provide them. What came next made me forget all about the disasterous meal...DRAG SHOW! Nicki happened to look across the street we were walking down and said "hey, that looks like a drag show". We were pretty tuckered after a long day but decided to check it out anyway - and man were we glad we did! It was unlike anything I've ever seen - theatrical, beautiful, funny...it was actually two (real) women and two drag queens. Amber, you would have died and gone to heaven! We thought of you the whole time! Its really hard to put into words what exactly we saw - so much more complex than American drag shows - here, just check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8HN0cjdCQw
It was totally free and the drinks were pretty cheap. I loved the place so much I bought a tank-top! We have lots of pictures and Kristin took a video of the "Its Raining Men" skit that had my jaw on the floor.
On the way home we stopped at La Sagrada Familia, the famous Gaudi Cathedral that was never finished and for the past 150 years has been in various stages of construction. It was pretty darn cool. The drive from Barcelona back to Madrid was BEAUTIFUL! Mountains, valleys, winding roads... we made it back safe and sound, returned the car and made our way back to the apartment. Barcelona is one of those cities I would love to go back to and recommend to all of you! Whew, this was a long one! Thank you for keeping up with us!
1 comment:
QUEENS!
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