Current Location: Barcelona, Spain
Hey! So… I think I have some catching up to do…
We rather reluctantly left Lagos and took the train up to Lisbon. We had intended to spend a couple of days in Lisbon, but we were enjoying Lagos so much that we decided to add on an extra day there instead. In the end it was the right decision because it was raining and miserable in Lisbon. It seemed like a cool city though, if we had had the time and weather to complement a longer visit. As it was we just walked around a bit and then went to a “fado” show that evening. Everything I read about Lisbon indicated that attending a fado show was a must as it´s a traditional Lisbonian method of story telling by singing… blah blah blah. Anyway, it was nice but I definitely wouldn´t recommend doing it if you are on a limited budget. We were bemoaning all the alcohol we could have purchased on our trip instead of paying to see some chick sing (however lovely) in Portuguese. But maybe that speaks to a greater problem…
Anyway, from Lisbon we flew to Barcelona. One of our must do´s in Spain was to go to San Sebastian because it is now considered the food capital of Europe. The flights directly from Lisbon though were way too expensive so instead we flew to Barcelona and then booked a night train to San Sebastian. We figured we would save on a nights lodging as well, and wake up refreshed and energized for a Saturday and Sunday in San Sebastian. Wrong. We were in a cabin with two other couples. One couple was nice and pretty quiet. But later on in the night another couple boarded and joined our couchette after the rest of us were already sleeping. Jon and I had the two bottom twin beds and there were two more twins stacked up over each of us. The guy from this new couple couldn´t figure out that he couldn´t just shut the door to the cabin, but that he had to actually latch it as well. (The way the beds were situated, he was the one with the easiest access to the latch). So, the door slammed open right by our heads about 6 times before Jon finally got up and latched it himself. It was really annoying. It´s weird to have such loathing coarsing through your veins towards someone you´ve only seen from the lower torso, down. (The beds were so tightly packed that there wasn´t even room to sit up in bed). I had taken a night train with multiple beds when I was 21 and traveling through Europe… But… I am no longer 21 and I guess I´m just not as compromising.
San Sebastian was absolutely lovely! It´s a really quiet, but very cosmopolitan city right on the ocean. It´s in Basque territory and there is a lot of Basque nationalism- they retain their own language etc. We walked in to downtown at 7:30 in the morning and it was so peaceful. The first pension that we had been considering had a “Completo” sign outside. We just started walking and came upon another one and rang the bell. An older woman answered speaking Basque and invited us in. She was the cutest lady! We had obviously woke her up because her hair was a mess and she was still wearing her robe, but she was incredibly warm and kind to us even though she couldn´t speak English at all and we obviously don´t speak Basque. She had a room for us for the night and it was seriously the nicest place we´ve stayed on our whole trip. It was sparkling!
We took a snooze to make up for the lack of sleep on the train and then got ready to head out. We had been feeling a little disappointed because we had desperately wanted to go to one of the world famous gourmet restaurants while we were there but hadn´t been able to confirm a reservation anywhere because of the language barrier. It was now Saturday afternoon and we were going to head back to Barcelona on the night train on Sunday night. As we walked out of our room though, the older lady´s daughter was sweeping the hall and we decided to ask her for recommendations. She spoke some English and when we told her that we hadn´t been able to confirm reservations and had actually been hung up on once, she promptly took out her cell phone and started calling! She must have called 5 or 6 places before finally finding us a table that night at Martin Berasetegui restaurant! We were ecstatic! He is one of the most famous chefs in the world!
In the afternoon we decided to walk around and see the city. Almost right away we entered a pedestrian plaza where a crowd had gathered. There was a group of musicians and suddenly they started playing. The crowd was made up of people who had just been walking by. When the music started though everyone joined in singing! They sang several songs together and then the music stopped and everyone went on with their day. It was so cool to watch- really uplifting and heartwarming. They seemed to be Basque nationalist songs. Many people in the Basque territories would like to secede from Spain. Here’s a picture of all the people singing:
That night we got dressed up and headed out to the restaurant. We had decided that we were going to pretend like we were rich for the night and have a meal we wouldn´t soon forget. It was actually the first thing we had put on our credit card for “Future Jon and Nancy” to worry about… The meal was insane- it was a 14 course prix fix paired with 5 different glasses of wine. Towards the end of the meal Chef Berasetgui actually came to our table and asked us if we had enjoyed the meal! He´s a superstar! We left there three hours later, full, drunk and happy.
The next day we took a day trip to Bilbao to visit the Guggenheim. Unfortunately as the day went on I started feeling worse and worse. I was feverish and achy and I couldn´t really stand up without feeling dizzy. A few hours later Jon started feeling bad too so we left the Bilboa early and headed back to San Sebastian. I´m pretty sure we both caught something from sleeping submarine barrack style with a bunch of strangers on the train two nights before. We decided to upgrade to a private cabin for the overnight back. It was a million times better! There was a little sink in the room and even a tiny shower!
We are now in Barcelona. We´ve been here for four days just kind of hanging out and seeing the sights at our leisure. The people in northern Spain seem much friendlier than those in the South. We´ve had a very pleasant week back in Spain. Barcelona is beautiful! Our first day here Jon made a lunch for us and we went up to the castle on a hill and had a picnic on the castle grounds. It was so nice! Then walking back down we happened upon the old outdoor high diving platform from the Barcelona Olympics. It was amazing! I never really though about what those divers could see when they walked out on the platforms. We could see right out onto the platform. They would have had a total panoramic of the entire city skyline! It was amazing. It also seems like it would be more than a little terrifying but.. I still plug my nose when I go underwater so I guess it´s nothing I´ll ever have to worry about…
Yesterday was “El Dia de Libros”- The Day of Books”! It was a huge festival! That´s why the roads were closed. The streets were lined with vendors selling books and tables where people could buy roses. Books and roses, roses and books… I was in booknerd heaven!
We went to watch the match last night and met a couple of Brits. It was so fun to be a part of that. It´s amazing how many different chants they have for their teams in Europe. It really gets you pumped up to watch your team. (The title of this post was taken from one of the chants- it was really pissing off the Spainards in the bar…). It was so fun! Maybe if the Lions had some cool chants devoted to them, they would be inspired to give a crap…
Tomorrow we leave Spain for good (at least for good on this trip). We are heading to France next. We are renting a car (a convertible!) to drive around the French Riviera and we pick it up in the morning. It´s a rough life…
Next Stop: The French Riviera
This Way Maybe 