day 18 madrid - barcelona

7 june 2009
today has been a long day. not because a lot was jam packed in, but because time passed ever so slowly before we could leave madrid. checking out at 10:30am with everyone else was not the best idea and luggage storage wasn't too secure.


walked down to check out the flea market "el rastro" that takes place on sundays and it is largely the same stuff over and over again. underwear, t-shirts, fabric, other clothing, bags, daggers and swords... hmm. weird.


got lunch and snacks at grocery store and walked along gran via for 1/2 the way... oh wait, first went to the egyptian temple de debod on recommendation from winnepeg guys. STRIKE... it sucked.


so back to gran via, we turned down some street with cortes ingles which appears to be a department store complex, where i got socks (lower ankle) and watched hawkers disperse as cops came through.

also saw a shrek costumed person near puerto del sol (have seen mainly pooh bears, tiggers and mickey mouse at plaza mayor) and we also found the bear and tree statue. big whoop. boy are we sick of this city.


ate lunch near thiessen museum and fed "nubbin" pigeon (one foot) and his sparrow friends. rich hates pigeons. i then went to check out thiessen museum which was actually pretty cool. perhaps going when there is no pressure to move on helps?


back at hostel, i got angry at mexican guy again and had to leave before i ripped into him. at el prat (barcelona airport) realised that one of my cinch draw strings and side webbing strap had ripped off! guy at the desk said i could fill out a form, but that nothing would happen. got to seapoint hostel and crashed zzzzzzzzz!!!

day 17 madrid

6 june 2009
realised the bathroom on 1st floor is much cleaner, but leg space in stalls is minimal. yay for little legs!


hit up museo del prado and understood just how sick of art museums i have become for now. saw pieces by rafael and rembrandt, then hightailed it out.

we found our way to homefield for real madrid and checked that out. wow...they have won a lot of stuff since their inception in 1902. they even include a basketball team that has apparantly done very well too. went back to the latina area to eat thai, and rich had 2 hairs in his green curry which queased him out.


took a stroll into retiro park which was nice, but compared to versaille was nothing. perhaps we did things in the wrong order because palaces and gardens will always be compared to the summer palace (i heart paris).


came back to hostel and i read a crap load of my book, save a 2 minute period where i pretended to be asleep so pablo didn't bug me about flamenco dancing program tonight. funnily enough, he thought rich was sleeping too even though pak was looking right at him.


we decided to then hit up paella in plaza mayor and it SUCKED. NEVER goto 33 plaza mayor. it was terrible especially compared to the paella we had in malaga.


other:
- i want to punch mexican guy in the face
-"i don't think that girl needs anymore ice cream"
- milk with a hint of tea (although very good)
- a lot of people had opinions about my trip to see a bullfight
- finished da vinci code tonight!

day 16 madrid

5 june 2009
after the pub crawl, we got up far too early and had arranged to meet katie and nicole to hit up the museums at 11am.


walked to the museo nacional: reine sofia and at first we walked into the new art exhibitions which quite frankly bored me. then we found our way to the permanent exhibits with dali (although not what i expected, and then there was one dali-esque, not by him) and then guernica by picasso which is amazing. sherri and paco had told us about this painting and it was made even more cool with the supporting picasso pieces showing the different studies (horse, bull, composition) that progressed to the final piece.


we then ventured to la latina district for an indian lunch (the one pablo told us to go to during the day)


afterwards, we decided to see if the museo taurino at plaza de toros de ventas was open, only to find it was not. HOWEVER, rich and i got tickets to the bullfight! we paid 15e each for a 4.50e ticket. oh well. once in a lifetime opp.


hit up the disappointingly small museo arqueilogico nacional, back to hostel, and then toros time!


bullfight observations:
- very cramped seating

- clapping is only acceptable at certain times (to the snobs at least)
1. bull if teased by group of matadors with pink/yellow capes
2. bull is speared by dude on a horse
3. bull gets six banderillas (sharp daggers that are barbed)
4. one matador with red cape puts on a show, and when some grandmaster is out, they shout, "ole!" for some as of yet unknown reason
5. matador puts bull down with series of sword stabs to the head

6. some other matador comes in with short dagger and finishes the job
7. horse drawn rope pulls dead bull around the ring and then away
8. when the main dude was finished, roses, hats,scarves, jackets and other random stuff is tossed from crowd as he walks around. other matadors help him pick it up and clothing is tossed back to audience, after the crowd waves white things once bull is dead


we left after 5 bullfights. were 8 total (editor 2010 note: draining... 8 bulls? really?). the bullfight has made my madrid visit.


other:
- i realise how much i hate this mexican dude staying here (editor 2010 note: this guy was a tool. he was obviously staying at the hostel to get laid, and he was so chochy and creepy. he needed a punch to the face or something)
- started drizzling tonight

day 15 malaga - madrid

4 june 2009
rich and i took off for madrid today whereas nusbaum went to la ligne to check out gibraltar, before heading to seville.


for some reason, departure gates keep changing and they like to see what happens if they don't really announce it.

arriving in madrid we had to navigate the metro system, but the metro directions to hostel, plus the system itself were surprisingly clear. once we reached anton martin station though was a different question all together. took us a while to find the hostel itself, but then was welcomed by activities coordinator, pablo. apparantly this position is not common, so "drinking games" and "pub crawls" are not the norm. after orienting ourselves in room 209 (i was bunk 9), we checked out a bunch of stuff recommended by pablo, such as the "heart" of the city, plaza ponteres (which was all under construction, so kinda sucked), then to plaza mayor (where we returned to for dinner to have beer and bocata de calamares for 4e at los galayos), then went to the palacio real which was pretty cool, but lacking compared to versailles. then we strolled the entire length of gran via, down to museo postal y de telecommunicaciones (which was just a big post office), then down paseo del prado til we hit huertas again. i will give it more time, but so far nothing crazy great to say about the capital of spain.


drinking games began back at the hostel with the free (cheap) sangria, and i got screwed with chugging 4 glasses with the 4th king. HUGE canadian contingent from ontario, and manitoba and chris martin look-alike and fiery witty peterborough opponent, complete with remarks on age, hair and race :)


used cached map and gps to find my back back to hostel.


other:
-"we're the only ones from real cities!"
- "man bangs"
-"i have swine flu" re: no more sangria for rich and no desire to kiss dude to his left
- i am 10 years older than a lot of the other hostel guests
- "what's your name?"
  "victor"
  "victor, you got f$&ked..."

day 14 malaga

3 june 2009
paco (which we learned is actually a nickname from father of the community - padre - community or something like that) showed us around today starting with a brekky of churros! very similiar to chinese donuts, but more sweet.

then we were off to cuerva de nerjas (in nerjas) which are these huge cave labyrinths, where they also hold concerts 5 times a year in one of the main caverns. i was wondering about volume and causing the cave structure to crack (stalagtites/mites falling) and paco asked one of the attendants who basically shrugged it off and said, "could happen... hasn't yet"


then paco took us into nerjas and we saw an amazing costa del sol view... clear blue water, beaches, terraced buildings etc. off to the next village of frijiliana where we had lunch. 4 san miguels, 4 waters and 4 paellas with seafood and shrimp. siesta in the car ride back :) i can get used to spain.


started reading the da vinci code and boy is it addictive. started and didn't put it down til page 90!


played a lot of the 3D 3x3 tic tac toe. good game. much harder to play.

then paco, sherri and us walked to dinner and had soooo much seafood and sangria. at the end, nusbaum got cocky with credit card draw and put 3 in (we each had 2) and in the end he lost.


ice cream to cap off the night. this time was lemon and white chocolate.


other:
- started the da vinci code today. highly addictive
- brad?

day 13 malaga

2 june 2009
slow start to the day, but hey, it's spain!

had coffee (espresso! same machine as jason i think) and spanish white donuts (you either get chocolate or white donuts, although dunkin' donuts is now in malaga).


walked to paco's parents place just 5 minutes away and met the dogs, a cute shy black cocker-spaniel and a seemingly jealous husky who liked to jump in circles and bully the little one... beautiful blue and brown eyes.

paco's father drove us to see the malaga view from the parador (old monastery that is now a hotel) just below castillo gibraltar. unfortunately it was sooooo foggy, but we did see the 200 year old bullring where 2 matadors were practising.


then in town, we checked out the local market, and tried to buy 3 apples (although nusbaum was told off by the guy for not waiting his turn or something).

then walking around, sherri took us to the malaga cathedrale which was beautiful (1700s). at cathedrale, noticed HUGE doors, and sherri explained how during holy week (easter) large processions take place and holy statues from these churches are dressed and placed on huge human carried flaots, hence the need for massive doors.

then we hit up casa natal which is pablo ruiz picasso's birth house. saw a progression of bull drawings from realistic to picasso's distinct abstract form which was cool. sherri said last time, they also had early drawings by a young picasso, but she figures these are all in his museum now, which is also in malaga.


took sherri for lunch and i lost the credit card draw :(. then had lemon ice cream ("una pequena tarrina d'helado limon por favor!")

... sadly, learned that air france flight went down....

returned to paco and sherri's house and booked madrid hostel for rich and i (nusbaum deciding what he wants to do) and then hit the beach. surprisingly cold water, and the wind picked up after 90 minutes or so, so we left. for dinner, bbq! sherri prepared a wicked meal, and beers and dark rum (from barbados) and coke were consumed. talked about differences in sports (hot dogs are new to spectator sports in malaga!) stories about jason, different wedding norms, schools (paco wore a suit every day to school for his MBA).


other:
- malaga cathedrale began construction in 16th century and stopped work in the 18th century. with 2nd tower incomplete, it is nicknamed "la manquita" - one armed one.

day 11 london

31 may 2009
andree and i had an early start and hit up starbucks for brekky, whilst eating along the river thames. had the competition to see who could spot the next person wearing pink (which is quite fashionable in london) and she looks at her hoodie and pulls the "aw! aw!" crow noise (editor 2010 - i have no idea what this is about...)


hit-up tower of london. wow. impressive. saw the medieval palace and prison right next to it with old school graffiti. saw the crown jewels (protected within the vault w/2000 kg doors!) and the first star of africa diamond from the cullinan find. little break for food (after viewing the ravens) and bumped into the guys. andree then had to leave, and i checked out the white tower with king henry the VIII exhibit. the armor was awesome. footage from the history channel of someone in full armour doing a cartwheel or front flip!

went with the guys to notting hill and had lunch with nicole. nusbaum finally loses credit card draw. pak and i rejoice.


off to camden market via double decker ride (that place is crazy! used to be horse stables!) and then fish and chips meal at wellington hotel near waterloo station.


back at the hotel, the guys are eager to watch britain's got talent finals but luckily it's not on :)


ps. we have 4 key cards but only one works. and we just asked for 2 new reprogrammed ones... no dice. wtf?


pps. today is the day (or maybe last night) that andree admits wearing heels is not comfortable, and any woman that says they are is simply lying.