Thursday, May 28, 2009

Spain continued. . .




18 May 2009



Hey Everyone,
Today is my last day/morning in Madrid and I am off to Barcelona. So far my experience here in Spain has been great. I have met many fellow friendly travelers who are more than willing to let me tour around with them for a few hours during the day or at night. The hostel has been lovely; it is a great place to meet other people and have some down time. (I must confess that eating Cornflakes out of a coffee mug with warm milk has been a new experience for me though.)
Yesterday, I took a day trip to Toledo, Spain, which is about a 30 minute bus ride south of Madrid. Toledo was beautiful, and with so much character and charm; I instantly fell in love with it. Toledo is a small city on the Tajo river that sits up on a hill. I ended up meeting a couple on the bus, Sandra King and Carlos Fernandez, and they let me explore the city with them. Both of them spoke fluent Spanish, which was a must, and were great company. Toledo is full of tiny cobblestone streets that wind upwards at extreme inclines. There are cathedrals everywhere and the entire city is enclosed by walls. When you reach the top of the city, the views are amazing and well worth the effort. Toledo is located in La Mancha, or as I like to refer to it, "Don Quijote Land".
Last night, I went to a drum circle in Retiro park with a fellow traveler from Duke University who happened to live in Madrid about a year ago. It was an experience to say the least. There must have been at least 150 people or more accuratley Spanish hippies all dancing around to the beat of drums and cow bells and shakers on this national monument. I can´t say that that would fly too well in the states. Vendors were also selling beer out of trash cans and folks were smoking a lot of hash (Iguess that hippies will be hippies!). We did some serious "people-watching" for a bit and then decided to grab a quick meal and call it a night. Don´t be fooled by that though, calling it a night does not mean you'll be tucked-in by 10 pm, I find it difficult to get to bed by 12:30 because they don´t do dinner here until 10ish at the earliest!


Overall, my experience in Toledo was wonderful, and I really feel as if I have gotten to know the city in the brief time I was here. Walking the city (and getting lost multiple times) is a great way to get the feel for a place!
Now for my gear review:
I have been wearing the Chaco Entrada shoes around since I left home, and hands down love them! They are super-comfortable to walk in all day, whether it is on cobblestones, gravel, or pavement. Wearing them while carrying my Granite Gear backpack (weighing 30lbs full) has not been a problem either. I love being able to get into it like a suitcase and not have to take everything out of the top when I need to get to something. It sits well on my hips and hasn´t been a pain to carry around, thanks Jonathan!
Well that is all for now. I hope everyone is doing well and had a great weekend!
Adios,
Kate





20 May 2009
Greetings from Barcelona!
I have been hanging out in Barcelona since Monday and am really enjoying my time here. I´m staying at an awesome hostel (Yellow Nest) that is in a quiter district in the city. The hostel iself is a really social place where I have been able to meet many travelers my age from around the world. On Tuesday, I took a bus tour to three destinations outside of Barcelona. The first stop was at the Torres winery, an hour west of the city. It was absolutely beautiful with vineyards everywhere and charming staff. We were given a tour of the property and a free wine tasting at the end. The next stop on our trip was at Montserrat. Montserrat is located about 40 K outside of Barcelona and is known for the thousand-year old monastery located there. This was probably my favorite stop along the trip because it allowed for me to do some hiking and exploring in the park. The rock formations were like nothing I have ever seen before. The rocks are almost bubbly looking and take on the most unique shapes. Our last stop was at Sitges. Sitges is a former fishing village that has turned into a popular beach destination along the mediterranean. We had an english speaking guide who took us on a walking tour of the old part of town for a while and filled us in on the history and architecture of the town. We were then turned loose to do as we pleased for a bit. That being said, I ended up kicking off my shoes on the beach and getting some sun. I ended up meeting this really nice father and son from Kansas on the tour and joined them for dinner in downtown Barcelona later that night. It was a great way to end my day.
Today, Wednesday, I met up with this guy named Duncan that I met at the Barcelona airport on Monday. He´s from the UK and teaches english here in Barcelona while he moonlights as a DJ at a few of the local clubs. He took me on a tour of the city, mainly Montjuic. There we climbed over 1000m to the top of this hill (neither of us were expecting that intense of a climb) where there were breath taking views of the city, the port, and the mountains. there was this really neat castle at the top too. He filled me in on the history of Barcelona and what it´s like to live here. I then ended up doing some touring on my own and just enjoying the city from various cafes and parks. Tomorrow I am going to be doing some more exploring and then hopefully going to Bern or Zurich Switzerland on an overnight train.
Gear Review:
The Mountain Hardware peddle pusher capri´s are AMAZING! you can change how they fit on your waist for an ideal fit and they have a little bit of stretch to them which makes them perfect for traveling and hiking around. The Chaco entradas are still my favorite shoe of the trip, however, my heels are starting to hurt a bit in them. I don´`t know if this is from the hours of walking in them for the past week and not resting or the shoe itself. I´m going to try my sneakers for a bit this week and see if there is a difference.

I hope everyone is doing well, sorry I haven´t been responding to personal emails, the internet is not cheap in Barcelona and my time is limited.
Have a great evening,
Kate

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