In Barca, one can rent a bike anywhere in the city and return it wherever you find a rack like this!
Last weekend my parents visited me in Madrid! They came at the perfect time. I was really missing family, and I also had come down with Gripe A (in English: Swine Flu) the day before they arrived. It was so nice to be taken care of by my very own parents, and I think I got better much quicker than I would have had they not been here. Anyways, they arrived on Wednesday October 28. We spent two really fun days in Madrid. They came with me to my Prado class, and we ate very well on both Wednesday and Thursday nights. We went to a famous steak place called Casa Paco, and to Ramses Petit, a resturant designed by Phillipe Starke on Thursday night. Delish. On Friday we took the Ave train to Barcelona. This train is a semi-new thing in Spain. Before it was invented, one would have to take an 8 hour bus ride or fly to Barcelona, but with this awesome invention you can get to Barca in 3 hours from Madrid! It was very cool and fancy inside too. A little weird at first--I was expecting it to be loud like the Wolverine train from Chicago to Ann Arbor, but it was silent. We arrived in Barca (the cool way to say Barcelona in Spain, pronounced Bar-sa) around 1 in the afternoon, and went straight to Hotel Casa Fuster. Excellent find, Fritz-this hotel was in one of the first scenes in Vicki Cristina Barcelona! It was beautiful, and had an awesome roof with a pool overlooking the city. We then went straight to see the Sagrada Familia, a big church designed by Gaudí. They started building it in 1882, and guess what? It's stilllll under construction. They say they're aiming for 2030 to be all the way finished. Yeah right. Nonetheless, it is a beautiful building with very intricate designs on the outside. We waited in line (for too long) to take the elevator up to the top of one of the towers and had some awesome views of the city. Check it out:
Hotel Balcony
Mom's not a big pigeon fan
After seeing La Sagrada Familia, we headed over to Parque Guell, designed again by Gaudí. What a cool dude. It is a huge park (also in Vicki Cristina) with intricate designs and colors all over the place. I could have spent all day here. For dinner, we asked the taxi driver to take us to a restaurant near the ocean. He ended up taking us to a very very touristy area at the port where the restaurants were gross-looking and very expensive. We walked around for awhile while being harrassed by resturant people telling us to come into their restaurants until we finally found a decent restaurant in a mildly sketch neighborhood. My dad's fish was really good.
On Saturday, we woke up and went straight to Las Ramblas. This is a walk in the middle of the city with many street performers, birds in cages, and flower stands. Off Las Ramblas is Mercado St Josep-La Boqueria: a huge market swarming with Spaniards and tourists galore. They had everything, from the freshest fruit (I had the juiciest pineapple ever and Mom had a coconut) to fish (Dad didn't like watching them cut off the heads) to meat to colorful vegetables. I loved it. After that stop, we went to the Miró museum. What a cool guy! I especially enjoyed the sculptures outside on the roof. Next, my mom and I went to the beach and had a very nice walk and talk. I had missed her. After a relaxing sit and read in the hotel lounge, we went to dinner at a restaurant named Sikkim in a cool area in town. They had some funny decorations for Halloween and the waitress was dressed up as a scary witch. On Sunday morning, we woke up on the early side to catch the Picasso museum before our Ave train left in the afternoon. There was a long line because it's free on Sundays, but we didn't have to wait very long. I loved this museum, too. I think my favorite was his interpretation of Las Meninas by Velasquez. I studied this painting in my Prado class in Madrid, and it was so cool to see Picasso's ideas about Velasquez and the painting itself. Not only did he draw a big painting of the entire picture but he also drew many little paintings of each part and each person multiple times. Very very cool. We picked up some food to have a picnic and sat outside our hotel at a big fountain before we caught our train. It was a great trip, and a real delight to be with my parents. It was hard to see them go as I won't see them or my brother and sister until March in Israel. Thank god for Skype!
Market
Miró Sculptures
Saw a great Flamenco show on Sunday night!
Hotel Balcony
Mom's not a big pigeon fanAfter seeing La Sagrada Familia, we headed over to Parque Guell, designed again by Gaudí. What a cool dude. It is a huge park (also in Vicki Cristina) with intricate designs and colors all over the place. I could have spent all day here. For dinner, we asked the taxi driver to take us to a restaurant near the ocean. He ended up taking us to a very very touristy area at the port where the restaurants were gross-looking and very expensive. We walked around for awhile while being harrassed by resturant people telling us to come into their restaurants until we finally found a decent restaurant in a mildly sketch neighborhood. My dad's fish was really good.
On Saturday, we woke up and went straight to Las Ramblas. This is a walk in the middle of the city with many street performers, birds in cages, and flower stands. Off Las Ramblas is Mercado St Josep-La Boqueria: a huge market swarming with Spaniards and tourists galore. They had everything, from the freshest fruit (I had the juiciest pineapple ever and Mom had a coconut) to fish (Dad didn't like watching them cut off the heads) to meat to colorful vegetables. I loved it. After that stop, we went to the Miró museum. What a cool guy! I especially enjoyed the sculptures outside on the roof. Next, my mom and I went to the beach and had a very nice walk and talk. I had missed her. After a relaxing sit and read in the hotel lounge, we went to dinner at a restaurant named Sikkim in a cool area in town. They had some funny decorations for Halloween and the waitress was dressed up as a scary witch. On Sunday morning, we woke up on the early side to catch the Picasso museum before our Ave train left in the afternoon. There was a long line because it's free on Sundays, but we didn't have to wait very long. I loved this museum, too. I think my favorite was his interpretation of Las Meninas by Velasquez. I studied this painting in my Prado class in Madrid, and it was so cool to see Picasso's ideas about Velasquez and the painting itself. Not only did he draw a big painting of the entire picture but he also drew many little paintings of each part and each person multiple times. Very very cool. We picked up some food to have a picnic and sat outside our hotel at a big fountain before we caught our train. It was a great trip, and a real delight to be with my parents. It was hard to see them go as I won't see them or my brother and sister until March in Israel. Thank god for Skype!
Market
Miró Sculptures
Saw a great Flamenco show on Sunday night!
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