I’m finally  getting around to writing about my vacation to Spain in late March – my second European trip since moving to the Eastern Hemisphere. My granddaughter was visiting a friend in Madrid and invited me to join her. I began my Spain vacation with three days in Barcelona, and finished it with a twenty-two hour layover on the the island of Gran Canaria. We spent eight days together in Madrid, with a side trip to the town of Toledo. Hazel is a great traveling partner, she enjoyed planning our daily itinerary, has a great sense of direction, and we have similar interests – museums, historical sites, and good food.

Barcelona

I arrived in Barcelona with a long list of first world goods and services I wanted to buy – my immediate need was to replace my wardrobe of tattered shirts, pants and sandals. Shopping is not one of my favorite activities, but it was a delight to walk on clean historic streets lined with flowering trees on a cool spring day. Living in a country where is always summer, it was a refreshing change to need warm clothes, and the huge variety of stores on Passeig de Gràcia actually made shopping fun. I had tapas for dinner before returning to my comfortable AirBnB, stopping at a well stocked grocery store to purchase breakfast supplies.

The next day started with Rick Steves city walk audio tour. I also was able to cross more items off my shopping list – sweet basil seeds, lavender essential oil, and getting my glasses repaired. The tour started at Placa de Catalunya, then went down La Rambla a wide pedestrian street, lined with shops and stalls. I love how the European cities I have visited so far, all have large public spaces to enjoy. I toured the Barcelona Cathedral before rambling through the Gothic district, where I found the bronze sculpture of a sleeping man, in the courtyard of a small church that served the homeless. I wasn’t able to finish Rick’s tour, because I wanted to go to the Picasso Museum. Picasso’s Las Meninas series was very interesting, and later I was able to view Diego Velázquez original at the Prado in Madrid. After walking ten miles in new shoes my feet were very sore, and I had blisters on my toes – it had been a long time since I had worn shoes. I sought out a pharmacy for moleskin, because the next day would be another ten mile day.

On my last day in Barcelona I went to Park Guell and the Sagrada Familia. It was another glorious spring day and the views from the top of the park and the roof of the Sagrada Familia were breathtaking – clear across the city towards the ocean. Gaudi’s ceramic and tile works in Park Guell were being renovated, so I wasn’t able to get a close look at them, but enjoyed walking curving paths lined with concrete palm tree trunk columns and overflowing artistic planter boxes. There were green parrots eating pink tree blossoms, trinket vendors displaying their goods, and musicians playing in this park that was originally designed to be an exclusive residential area.

Construction on Gaudi’s Sagrada Família began in 1882 and it is still under construction today, with a completion date of 2030. It is most recognized for its Art Nouveau Spanish Gothic exterior, but the interior open spaces were my favorite part, with the columns carrying the weight of the roof designed to look like tree trunks. Essentially no interior surfaces are flat, the ornamentation is comprehensive and rich, consisting in large part of abstract shapes which combine smooth curves and jagged points. Even the iron railings for balconies and stairways are full of curvaceous elaborations. The east facing stained glass windows are in cooler tones of blues and greens, and the west windows are warms tones of yellow and reds. I was there mid-afternoon  and the colors bathing the interior was spectacular.

Madrid

I met up with Hazel on a Thursday afternoon in the Madrid airport – it was so wonderful to see her after sixteen months apart. She had been in Italy since early January, staying in Rome, Venice, and near Florence with her mom and was on her way back to Oregon. Hazel is a seasoned traveler, she has already been to more countries than I have, but I’m trying to catch up. After getting situated in our AirBnB, we walked to Laura’s school and spent the afternoon together. We toured her school – Instituto San Isidro – and she gave us lots of pointers about how to get around Madrid. We spent the afternoon together viewing the Royal Palace of Madrid and Sabatini Gardens. Laura is a high school senior and wants to pursue photography in university. When Hazel and I took the Metro back to our neighborhood, we realized how conveniently located out AirBnB was between the metro and train station, and within walking distance to restaurants, museums, plazas and historic buildings.

Below is my favorite painting from the trip – “Waterloo Bridge” by Andre Derain.

Friday we visited the Thyssen & Prado Museums. The Thyssen’s collection was once the second largest private collection in the world, and was moved from Munich to Madrid in 1992. One reason Baron Thyssen was able to purchase a lot of his art was because he took advantage of American collectors needing to sell during the depression. The museum was thoughtly arranged with works from the old masters of the eighteenth century through the post-impressionist period. One reason I love museums is finding a new “favorite” piece of art.

The Prado Museum is considered one of the greatest art museums in the world. There are numerous works by Francisco Goya, Hieronymus Bosch, El Greco, Peter Paul Rubens, Titian, and Diego Velázquez. It was very interesting to see Velazquez’s Las Meninas after viewing Picasso’s series in Barcelona. The vastness of the museums collection was a bit overwhelming, and being our second museum of the day we were unable to see all the rooms. We did return several days later after realizing we missed seeing “The Garden of Earthly Delights” by Bosch.

Saturday morning we went to the Archaeological Museum, which was very well laid out and had excellent educational exhibits. The museum concentrates on pieces from the Iberian Peninsula, from prehistory to the early modern age. We ate our lunch at the museum before meeting up with Laura at the UnPacked Zero Waste store, where I purchased bulk coffee beans – another item on the list checked off.

We walked the gorgeous streets of Madrid to Retiro Park, which had belonged to the Spanish Monarchy until the late 19th century. This magnificent park is filled with beautiful sculptures, Spanish monuments, a peaceful lake, and a Crystal Palace. It is one of Madrid’s premier attractions, entirely surrounded by the present-day city, and once again I was impressed with the beautiful public spaces in this metropolitan city.

Our next stop was the Reina Sofia Museum and a political rally was being held in the courtyard. We experienced several political events during our time in Madrid, and it was fascinating to watch people gathering peacefully, and making their voices heard. The Reina Sofia is the third Madrid museum in the “Golden Triangle of Art”, featuring twentieth century art. After touring these great museums, I have accepted that just because a work of art is famous, I don’t have to like it. We finished the day at an incredible vegan restaurant, before returning with Laura to our apartment for the night.

The Temple of Debod was our first stop the next day. During the construction of the Aswan Dam UNESCO made an international call to save the ancient constructions. As a sign of gratitude for the help provided by Spain in saving the Abu Simbel temples, the Egyptian state donated the Temple of Debod to Spain in 1968. The Temple of Debod is an Egyptian temple, dedicated to the goddess Isis, from the 2nd century BC. It was dismantled and rebuilt near the Royal Palace of Madrid. It’s amazing to be able to still see the stunning collection of pictograms and hieroglyphs carved in the well-maintained walls, and this small installation had excellent discriptions about what we were viewing.

The next couple of days were filled with more sightseeing – we were making good progress visiting all the sites recommended by Laura and pictured on the map above. The Cerralbo Museum is located in what used to be the stately home of the 17th century Marquis of Cerralbo. The classical style Palace, decorated with Neo-Baroque and Rococo elements, was designed with a dual purpose of home and museum. It has over 50,000 objects, including paintings, sculptures, ceramics, glass, tapestry, furniture, coins, medals, drawings, stamps, clocks, weapons, armour and archaeological objects.

The Museum of Romanticism is also located in a former palace built in 1776. It houses a fascinating collection of 19th century paintings, furniture and decorative art which captures the essence of the cultural, political, and everyday life of Madrid during his time. These homes/museums were jammed packed with furniture, art, and I wouldn’t have wanted to be on the cleaning staff – there were hardly any surfaces that weren’t covered with collectables.

We visited the Royal Botanic Gardens early in the morning, and although many plants were not yet in leaf or bloom, there still was a lot of color. It was not at all crowded and a pleasant change from being indoors. Afterwards, we did return to the Prado to try to finish seeing what we had missed previously. We spent another couple of hours there and did have to navigate around hoards of tourists. We ate a late lunch at a wonderful restaurant, before returning to our apartment for a relaxing afternoon. Hazel and I are very compatible in our eating habits, breakfast at home, eat a large lunch mid-afternoon, and have light snacks for dinner – that way we were happy to splurge on the main meal of the day.

Hazel and WigWag have been together since she was born. Hazel’s other grandmother, Dawn, has repaired WigWag many times over the years to keep him looking great and healthy enough to travel. Hazel takes many photos of WigWag sightseeing, and I took a photo of Hazel and WigWag at the Prado Museum.

Toledo

The beauty of the train stations in Madrid and Toledo added to our fun day trip to this ancient walled city. Toledo was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986 for its extensive monumental and cultural heritage. With a history stretching back to the Bronze Age, Toledo is one of Spain’s most diverse and engaging cities. At its peak in the 11th century, the city was a haven of tolerance where Christians, Jews and Muslims all coexisted and shared their knowledge. This rich ethnic integration shaped the history of Toledo into the rich mosaic of Moorish, Jewish and Spanish heritage enjoyed today.

The first place we went was the Cheese Museum, which was a bit disappointing. There were several small rooms with information about Manchego cheese, but the main focus was wine tasting, and since we don’t drink alcohol there wasn’t much to do there. Our next stop was the Catedral Primada, and it was gorgeous with gold altars, tiled archways, and a side room with paintings of all the Popes. The Gothic style of this Cathedral was begun in 1226 under the rule of Ferdinand III, with construction continuing into the 15th century. Then walking around the maze of streets, with many shops selling replicas of medieval weapons we found the most incredibly fresh tapas for lunch. Toledo is such a beautiful and interesting small city that one day wasn’t enough time to thoroughly explore it, and it would have been better to stay overnight and see all the other sights we missed. We did visit the Army Museum which is located at highest point in Toledo, with breathtaking views, and displays of weapons, uniforms and military gear. Before catching our train back to Madrid we stopped for delicious ice cream cones.

Last Days in Madrid

We spent our last days visiting the Natural History Museum, walking to fountains, plazas, and buildings we hadn’t seen yet. I also bought the last item on my shopping list – a lightweight sewing machine. On one of our walks we turned a corner and saw a government building with Nazi flags, but upon closer inspection it was obviously a movie set. Wonder if we’ll ever know what they were filming for?

Chamberí station was one of the eight stations that made up the city’s very first metro line and was opened to the public on October 17, 1919. In the 1960s the metro was extending train platforms to allow for longer trains that would hold more passengers, but it was impossible to extend the Chamberi platform, so it was closed down. In 2006 it was decided to restore the old station as a museum, and some of the highlights are the intricately reconstructed advertisements that lined the platform, made from mosaics. There are also original ticket booths, turnstiles, platform, maps and videos charting the construction of the metro. The metro station was designed by architect Antonio Palacios. Palacios is famous for designing Madrid’s Palacio de Comunicaciones, the grand building on Plaza de Cibeles that was formerly the headquarters of Spain’s postal service, and is today the base of Madrid’s City Hall.

One evening we had the pleasure of dining with Cara Sandlass, who is a RPCV from the previous agriculture cohort. She served from 2016-2018 in a North Bank village, and is now attending IE Business School in Madrid pursuing a Masters in Business Administration. She was one of my mentors when I arrived in country and it was fun to visit with her at a delicious vegan restaurant. I am amazed at how wonderful good vegan food is, because I don’t know how to cook without eggs, milk and cheese products. This restaurant was so good we returned for lunch the day before we left Spain.

Gran Canaria Island

My last stop in Spain was the island of Gran Canaria, because I chose the cheap flight with a twenty-two hour layover. The money I saved allowed me to stay overnight, rent a car, and explore another new place for a very short time. I arrived at noon, got my car and had maps.me direct me to my AirBnB. I love maps.me and couldn’t live without it in The Gambia or during my European travels. I was thrilled with the occasional showers and the overcast skies when I arrived, since I was returning to “always summer land”. It was interesting to see all the windmills and miles of greenhouses growing bananas everywhere. I drove the coastal road that afternoon and the next morning, but wasn’t there long enough to see the interior, where I understand there are great hiking trails.

The end of my Spain vacation was the beginning of busy PCV times, and one reason for my blog silence. Upon my return I helped facilitate a Media Team training, finished Roots Tribe Yoga at my school, and attended the yearly all volunteer conference at Massembeh – blog posts about these activities coming soon. If you are reading this paragraph – thank you for finishing this very long post – I promise the next posts will be much shorter.

This colorful doorway is a symbol for all the traveling possibilities awaiting me. Next vacation will be to the UK in August with Irion, Min and Hazel. We are planning on a few days in London before taking the train to Scotland for a week. PC gives me twenty-four days a year of vacation time and I plan to use it all.