Wabi Sabi photography - Fine Art, Travel and Abstract Photography

Travelogue – Spain May 2007 

This was my first trip to Europe and I did a lot of research to maximize our short time in Spain. The total travel time was 10 days, but our actual time in Spain would only be 7 days. We took a long 10 hour flight to London, had a 1 hour layover and barely made it to our connection to Madrid. The plane landed in the brand new Terminal 4 which was practically empty and seemed to be just entirely too large for it’s own good. We were technically in the T4S terminal and had to take a train to the T4 area. This was easy as there was no other choice and signs were in English.

After finally exiting the terminal we easily found a bus (#204) to the city center for only €1. This bus drops you off at an underground terminal at Avenida de America. From there we walked up and out and took a taxi to our hotel or rather ‘hostal’. Our first night in Madrid was rather dreary. The hostal, Hostal Gonzalo, was a little depressing but it was clean and once we got used to it, it wasn’t so bad. It was raining and we went just around the corner and had our first experience in a great little tapas bar called la Taberna de Dolores. We ordered some cervesa and were delightedly surprised at how good it was. I had never in my life even heard of any Spanish beer and here we didn’t ask for anything specific and what we got was rich, but still light and refreshing. This was to be repeated in just about every restaurant we went to.

The next morning was clear and we spent some time walking around Madrid. We went to the Reina Sophia Museum, which is a very nice modern art museum that is home to the infamous Guernica painting by Picasso as well as a good sampling of Dali and other modern masters. After the museum we had only to walk across the street to Retiro Park and we walked its full length through lush wooded areas and past lakes large and small.

We walked back to our hotel, collected our things and took a taxi to the bus station and went to Toledo. We stayed at Hostal del Cardenal which is a wonderful place built into the outside wall of the city. You enter the Hotel through a large gate that opens up into a wonderful little courtyard. The hotel is nicely appointed in an antique style with attentive service. Just outside the hotel were escalators that take you up into the old city. Our first day, we just wandered around and didn’t do anything specific. We had some decent paella at a touristy spot in the popular Plaza Zocodover.

We wandered through town back to the escalators and retired to our hotel. Due to jet lag, I was awake at 3am and couldn’t go back to sleep. At about 5:30 I got up quietly walked out of the hotel. I had to unlock the front door and then walk through the courtyard and unlock the front gate to exit the hotel. I took some night photos of the old main gate of the city which was just around the corner from our hotel. I was waiting for the dawn when there was some lightning. All of a sudden there was a huge crash and I knew it would start raining soon and it did just as I got back into the hotel.

The next morning we wandered up into town through the main gate which is pretty impressive. We made our way to the Cathedral which by most accounts is second only to St. Peter’s in Rome as far as size and opulence. It as a very impressive church and we spent quite a bit of time wandering around its various areas. After leaving the cathedral, we wanted to tour the Alcazar. We found however that it was closed due to the construction of a new museum. It looked like it had been closed for quite sometime, but my guidebook did not mention this. It will probably be closed for a few more years.

We walked over to the Jewish quarter and toured a restored synagogue. This was not very impressive but it was a nice part of town to stroll around. We then toured another church called San Juan de los Reyes that had a very nice cloister area. As we were strolling around the cloisters a small group of nuns showed up and I took some nice photos of them taking photos of each other. After leaving the church, we made our way down through an old gate called Puerta del Cembron and then around the old walls to an old bridge called Puente de San Martin that crosses the Taro River. It started to rain again but it wasn’t heavy and it didn’t prevent us from wandering around the area near the bridge.

After coming up from the bridge, we had a hard time to find our way back to the escalators that would take us down to our hotel. We got turned around a few times and actually walked in a big circle. Just as we were at our wits end from being tired and hungry, a nicely dressed Spanish women walked by and I asked her for directions and she kindly walked us to the escalators which were only about a 100 yards away from where we were. Before heading down we stopped at nice tapas bar and had some of the best octopus I have ever had. It should be mentioned here that in just about every place we ate, they would also bring out the best olives I have ever had.

The next morning we had to make a long journey to Girona. We took a taxi to the bus station (5 minutes). Took the bus back to Madrid (1 hour), took a taxi to the bus station at Ave de America (10 minutes) and took the #200 bus to Madrid’s Terminal 2 (1/2 hour) and flew to Barcelona (1-1/4 hours). Then we took the airport train to Barcelona Sants train station (20 minutes) and had to figure out how to get a train to Girona. There is an ‘anticipada’ window for tickets that are not departing immediately. You take a number and wait for them to call your number. After waiting for about 20 minutes for my number to be called, the vendor told me I was at the wrong window and had to go across the station to a different window. We did, and then the only way to know which platform the train will run on is to listen to the frequent announcements. There were some TV screens around as well and it didn’t take us long to figure out where to go. We made our train to Girona (1-1/2 hours) and stayed in the modern Hotel Peninsular which was nice and roomy. It had double paned windows which makes the room soundproof. This was a nice feature as the windows face a busy street and Spaniards will be out on the streets until very late.

The next morning we took a train to Figueres (1/2 hour) and walked to the Teatre Museo Dali. The entire museum is dedicated to all things Dali and was designed in part by Dali and is his final resting place. It was packed with school kids from Spain, France and Germany as well as other tourists from all over. It has to be the greatest museum ever. I have been to quite a few, granted not any major European museums, but I doubt there could be any museum that is more fun and entertaining as this one. While many important Dali pieces are spread all over the world, this one still has plenty of famous pieces including several that were created specifically for the museum. One notable piece is the Mae West room where you climb a small staircase and view the room through a distorted glass and the entire room becomes a sculpture of West’s face.

We walked back through town, which was nice and took the train back to Girona and toured the city on foot. We walked through the Jewish quarter, which is quite nice meandering through tight medieval alleyways and stairs until you get to the cathedral. The cathedral is very nice and we wandered through it for a while and then made our way around it to the Banys Arabs which are some ancient Moorish baths made in the Roman style. After that we found the entrance to the city walls and walked amongst them for quite a while. They twist around with many places to explore hidden gardens and towers that look over the town.

We were exhausted and needed a quiet place to eat and drink. All the places that were close to us at this point were just too loud and touristy. We went through some back streets and most places were closed because it was only about 5 or 6, much too early for Spaniards to be out for dinner. We walked by a small alley and there were some tables out and there was a couple with a baby having some tapas. This looked like just what the doctor ordered.

The restaurant is called Zanpanzar and we sat down and were handed a menu. The man from the couple behind us would go into the restaurant and come out with a plate loaded with goodies. I asked what it was because I was trying to find it on the menu and he told us how to really enjoy tapas. In some places they put a bunch of platters on the bar. You go in and ask for a plate and then load up on whatever looks good. Each bite has a toothpick in it and you simply keep the toothpicks. When you are done the waiter counts the toothpicks and brings you the bill. After being refreshed we walked around the almost deserted streets at night.

The next morning it was back to the train station and back to Barcelona. We took a taxi to our hotel, Hostal Girona, which was decent enough. The room had the tiniest shower we had ever seen, a sink and no toilet. There were two toilet rooms down the hall. As there were only a few other rooms on the floor, the toilet rooms were never busy and we never had to wait to use one.

The hotel is in a great location on a quieter street right in the middle of town with Placa Catalunya only a few minutes walk away. The Placa is basically the dividing line between the newer Eixample area and the old Gothic quarter. After stowing our bags at the hostal, we set out to get our bearings in the big city. My first goal was to find a bus to take us to Parc Guell. I walked up to a bus stop and it was indecipherable. I couldn’t find one thing that looked familiar to any of the maps I had. We were looking for bus #25 when a bus numbered B25 pulled up. I asked the driver if he goes to the park but he said no. We walked towards one of the main boulevards and found a better map on a different bus stop. It was then easy to figure out which buses stop where and we were soon on bus #25 headed for the park. It was a steep walk uphill but there are several escalators thankfully, that lead to the western entrance of the park. It was pretty packed but very interesting place to visit. While in the park we toured the main area with several fantastic Gaudi structures and a museum that was once Gaudi’s house. We didn’t have time to explore the entire park and I’m sure it is quite nice.

At the main entrance to the park we took a taxi to la Sagrada Familia. This is the iconic temple of Barcelona created by Gaudi that is still under construction and may never be finished. It is very impressive inside and out. The facade is just incredible with an unbelievable amount of detail carved into it. It is expensive to go inside (€8 plus 2 more to use the elevator to the top). There really isn’t much inside except a lot of construction equipment, and plans for what is still yet to come, but what is there is extraordinarily beautiful. We had to wait about 45 minutes to get on the elevator. We looked around for the stairs but were informed that they had closed the stairs a year ago. Once at the top you can wander around through the towers peering through holes that open this way and that. Sometimes you go across little bridges or pop out onto a small balcony, each offering different views and new perspectives. It was a lot of fun and well worth the wait. Then when you are ready, you head down and down and down a spiral stairwell that makes you dizzy after a while.

We left the temple and walked 4 long blocks to Hospital St. Pau. The hospital is yet another Modernista design and some parts are still being used as a hospital. It was nice but not too impressive. We then took the metro to Passeig de Gracia where there are many beautiful Modernista buildings. We waited in line about 30 minutes to tour Casa Mila or la Pedrera as it is commonly known. It is another Gaudi design that was very interesting mostly because of its roof. After touring through a period apartment, you get to wander around the roof which has some very strangely designed chimneys and is laid out in large undulating oval that looks down into an open foyer at the bottom where the main entrance is. After leaving Casa Mila we found an excellent place to eat called Cervesaria Catalana that a man sitting next to me assured us was the best tapas in all of Barcelona. The food was fantastic. We walked back down Passieg de Gracia and saw the other Gaudi gem Casa Batlo all lit up. It is a magical looking building and even more so lit up at night.

The next day we ambled down la Rambla into the Barri Gotic area which is the old part of town. I didn’t find la Rambla to be too exciting. It is certainly lively though. It is divided into sections where people sell birds and pets in one section, flowers in the next and art in the last. In the middle we took a side street into la Boqueria which is a huge market selling everything from fruits and vegetables to every kind of meat, seafood and sweets that you can imagine and some that you can’t. It was very colorful and fun but as was everything, crowded.

We left la Boqueria and made our way down medieval alleyways to the cathedral la Seu. It is free to enter and we spent some time wandering around its cavernous interior. After leaving the cathedral we went to the Museo d’Historia de la Ciutat. The best part of it is underground where there are Roman excavations, which tell the story of ancient Barcelona. It is interesting to note that the whole time you are looking at these ruins that the city is right above your head. You then exit the museum at Placa del Rei and realize that everything you just saw is right below your feet.

I realized that we didn’t see the cloisters at the cathedral so we went back there to find them. The entrance to the cloisters is on a different street to the side of the church. The cloisters are notable because they have palm trees and bunch of geese that have been living there for hundreds if years. We wandered through the old streets, which were very crowded for some time and collapsed back at our hotel.

We left Barcelona the next day flying back to Madrid. Took the bus into city center and taxied to our hotel which was in Plaza de Oriente directly across the street from the Palacio Real. My guidebook said the address for the hotel was 23 Pl de Oriente but when we got there, there was no 23 to be found. It is a small plaza and the numbers only went from 1 to 8. I surmised that it had to #2 and that the hostal, Hostal Valencia, was probably on the 3^rd floor.

 We went to #2 and there was a plaque on the doorway that said Posada Real Valencia 3˚ Izq (izquierda), which meant 3^rd floor left in Spanish. So I was convinced we were in the right place. We went in with our bags in tow, took the elevator to the 3^rd floor and there was the same plaque next to the door. I knocked on the door and a woman answered and I asked in Spanish if this was Hostal Valencia. She said no it is Posada Real Valencia. I tried to tell her that I have a reservation and if she knew where the hostal was. I showed her my book that said it was at #23 and she went on and on in Spanish pointing in different directions and I could not understand a word she was saying except for the fact that this wasn’t the hostal and we couldn’t come in. I was very angry and we left and walked back and forth around the plaza trying to see if we were missing something. We asked a number of people including some that spoke English if they knew anything about this missing hostal to no avail. We found a pay phone and I called the number in my book, the same number I had used on 4 occasions to book the hotel and confirm it. The same lady that we had just talked to answered the phone. I had no trouble recognizing her voice and she again went on an on about it not being Hostal Valencia.

 I hung up and we were stuck. The only thing I could think of to do was to start calling hotels in the guidebook and pick the first one that had a vacancy. Makiko had one person that she could call. She had a number of her sister’s friend that had been living in Madrid for over a year with her American husband. After two tries she was able to reach her and said she would come pick us up. We went one train stop to a mall and met Chiemi and Tim at a Starbucks in less than half an hour. We piled our stuff into their van and had a wonderful time wandering around eating and drinking in Madrid. One of the notable places we ate at was an Argentine restaurant right behind the opera house at Plaza de Oriente. We had a few bites of some of the most delicious sausages that I have ever had.

 While we were back at Plaza de Oriente, Tim wanted to get to the bottom of the hotel mystery. He looked at my guidebook and arrived at the same conclusion I did and we ended up at the same door where we argued with the lady earlier. I had no desire to talk to her again so we took the elevator back down and we were now standing in front of the building’s mailboxes. We looked at them and sure enough there was one for Hostal Valencia! We went right back up to the same door and Tim argued with her in Spanish. He determined that it was indeed a hotel and convinced the lady to call the owner about our reservation. The owner confirmed that we were indeed expected and she apologized. We didn’t check in and said we will return later to do so. Chiemi and Tim graciously invited us to stay with them and we accepted and spent a very nice evening at their home.

We got up very early the next morning and took a taxi to the airport. We had a long but uneventful flight back to Los Angeles.