Update

Yesterday was the first day of Spring and me, being very innocent and ignorant about this whole thing of the seasons as well, thought that the weather was going to be a little bit better by now. But boy was I wrong. This morning it was snowing since the moment I left the hotel in Ljubljiana (Slovenia) until about 10 minutes before arriving to Zagreb (Croatia). The temperature is now 2 degrees Centigrades which is somewhere in the low 30's.

Ljubljiana, Ljubljiana, Ljubljiana, Ljubljiana. I just love saying that name. It looks so unpronounceable. But it actually isn't after you learn that in Sloven the "j" is pronounced as a "y" in English. Ljubljiana is the capital of Slovenia I bet you did not know that one!!! Me neither. Until I changed my plans and got there on Wedensday night from Budapest. My original plan was to continue to Bulgaria from Budapest but it turned out the train ticket was much more expensive than what I had expected )180USD) and the ride took 17 hours. Logistically speaking it was also not a good idea because I wanted to come back up north to Croatia so I would need to take another 15 hr train back to Croatia. So instead I went to Ljubljiana (8 hours and 20USD from Budapest and 3 hors and 18 USD from Croatia).

I spent 4 days in Budapest (I actually went to a nearby town as well on one of the days) and I loved it. Budapest is a beautiful city: the Buda castle, the walks along the Danube, the Piarlament, the town squares, the churches. I arrived there on Saturday morning and met around noon with Marelys, Juan Miguel and Mara Jose who were all there for a business meeting on Monday and Tuesday. Together we toured the city on Saturday, got lost inside the castles labyrinth (the highlight of the trip...but more on that when I have more time to write and be detailed and post pictures). We also had time to take a thermal bath, visit a Synagogue and eat delicious food. It was great and lots of fun to be in their company!!!

On Wednesday night I got to Ljubljiana and did not get to tour the city until the next morning. I fell in love with the place. What is there not to love about a place where you ask for a 1 Euro Caffe Latte to go and they serve you on a plastic cup a couple of homemade sweets (chocolates and cookies)? I wasn't expecting anything at all from Slovenia and I have to say I loved it. It reminded me a lot about the small cities in Germany which I love too. Everyone is very nice, friendly and helpful. Everything is easy, no complications: buying train and bus tickets, the hotel, moving around the city, etc etc.

Well, my hour here at this internet cafe is running up so I'll wrap it up!!! Tonight I will take the night train to Split and spend there one day. Then I will take a 5 hour bus to Dubrovnik where I'll spend a day and a half. On Tuesday night I take an overnight ferry across the Adriatic sea to the city of Bari (Italy) where I'll visit some friends!

March 17 update

I'm currently in Budapest (Hungary) where I arrived on Saturday morning after taking the overnight train from Krakov (Poland). So far I've had a wonderful time and have gotten to do and see so many things. I must confess that my feet are already feeling the pain from all the walking all day long. I left Madrid on Wednesday March 6 and arrived in Barcelona where I stayed with a friend. She showed me all of Barcelona and on the weekend we drove to the sanctuary of Lourdes (France) which is located about 6 hours from Barcelona. We crossed the Valley of Aran to get there and where able to see and even photograph the Pyrenees at a distance. On our way back we stopped at several little towns near the France/Spain border including a very famous ski town: Baqueira.

From Barcelona I took a 3 hour flight to Warsaw (Poland) where I spent 2 days. Warsaw is just a big city still undergoing a lot of construction and expansion. I did not find too much to do or see and the fact that it was very cold, windy and rainy did not help either. From Warsaw I took a 3 hour train to Krakov in the southern part of Poland. Krakov was beautiful. It has a huge town square where the cathedral stands. That day there was a fair/festival taking place and the whole square and adjacent market were crowded. The city also has a castle nested on the top of a hill called Wavel hill which was also very pretty.

That night I took a 10 hour overnight train to Budapest where I arrived at around 830 in the morning. Marelys, her boss and a coworker are here on a business meeting and they also arrived on Saturday. We met at the Hotel around noon and headed out for a walking tour of the city. We ended the day by having a delicious dinner at a very nice restaurant and then a couple of drinks at a nearby lounge/bar. We are staying at the Intercontinental Hotel and I have to say I love it. After sleeping in hostels with shared bathrooms and no luxuries staying at a Hotel like this one is like winning the Lotto.

Yesterday we did more sightseeing and we even went to take a famous thermal bath in one of the many thermal pools spread all over the city. At night we went for dinner on a boat on the Danube river. (The boat is anchored and does not travel along the river)

Today and tomorrow I will be doing some day trips to towns close to Budapest such as Szentendre and Visegrad while everyone else is working. And tomorrow night I head out to Sofia in Bulgaria.

34 days around an nth part of the World

On Thursday morning I left Madrid on my personal tour of Europe for approximately 34 days. I left with a carry-on luggage (I decided that a backpack was too much strain on my back and my shoulders and I would not have space for any souvenirs), and a tentative itinerary. Before leaving I also left all of my clothes and books packed in 2 big suitcases. A friend is being relocated to Miami from Madrid and he is shipping my stuff together with all of his belongings (furniture) at the end of March.

So this is the itinerary I have planned so far:

• Barcelona (where I currently am visiting a friend). This weekend we drove to Lourdes (France) and tomorrow I will make a day trip to Tarragona. On Tuesday I will stay touring Barcelona.
• Poland: Warsaw and Krakov by myself for 3 days
• Hungary: Budapest for 3 days and a half with Marelys, her boss and a coworker (they are all there for a business trip but will arrive in the weekend so we can all tour the city)
• Bulgaria: 4 days in Sofia, Rila and Plovnic by myself
• Croatia: 3 days in Split and Dubrovnik by myself
• Italy: 3 days in Bari visiting a friend
• Spain: 12 days in Granada, Seville (visiting a friend), and Canarias (visiting a friend)

From Canarias I will fly back to Madrid and stay there for 1-2 weeks before taking my flight back home to Miami, and back to reality!!!

HIM

Just before leaving to the concert

HIM What?!?!?! HIM, (His Infernal Majesty) is a rock band from Finland; one of those bands that tends to sing to the obscure if you know what I mean. “Razorblade Kiss”, “Vampire Heart”, “Buried Alive by Love”, and “The Funeral of Hearts” are examples of some of their most famous songs. And yes, just like you I had no idea who they were. I had never heard about them until I arrived in Madrid almost 3 weeks ago. I’m a music lover; it’s as simple as that. When it comes to music I do not discriminate; I’m equal opportunity to all genres. So when Eliana told me she had 2 tickets for HIM’s concert in Madrid on March 4th I happily said: “Yes!!!! Count me in!!! I listened to a couple of songs days before the concert to find out that their music was not as heavy as I had expected and that I did truly enjoyed. As March 4th approached the excitement started to build up: it has been a while since I had been to a concert which is something that I truly enjoy. Specially a concert like this one which was held on a smaller venue where you really get to be closer to the artists so you get to see them as a real person and not as a black/blue/white/red dot (depending on the color of their attire) on the horizon and where you do not feel overwhelmed by thousands and thousands of people. I was also excited about the fact this was a hard rock concert. As a matter of fact I don’t remember ever going to any other hard rock/metal concerts in my life before.
The day of the concert arrived and so did our preparations for it. What were we going to wear?? That was of course the most important question. You have to understand that for a 34 year old engineer who’s never been to a hard rock/metal concert before going to see HIM was not just a plan, it was an event. So I wore my rocker outfit (just as I have worn my hip-hop outfit before) and off I was to the concert. We got to the place at around 7:30 PM and made the long line to get in, got in at around 8 o’clock and positioned ourselves strategically: in the middle of the crowd so we could jump and bump into everyone and bang our heads to the beat of the battery. Ja ja ja ja!!! NOT ja ja ja ja!!

La pinta (The look)

Paradise Lost is the name of the group who opened for HIM. They sang for about an hour and they were very good too. HIM came out at about a quarter after 10 o’clock and the crowd went crazy; but a good crazy. I have to say I was surprised to see how calm everything was. Knowing were we were, I was expecting maybe a fight here and there, people being escorted out by security guards/policemen and all of those sort of things you encounter when you find yourself in the late afternoon at a Calle 8 festival or the festival of the Colombian Independence in Miami. Everyone at the concert (except for me) knew all the songs and was singing along. My favorite part was when they did a cover of Chris Isaac’s Wicked Game.The concert ended at midnight so we were able to still catch the subway back home and made it there at around 1 o’clock in the morning. I had a great time and enjoyed not only the music but the experience as a whole. I came back wanting to know and learn more about HIM and realizing that I´m falling in love with HIM. (Scroll down for a video from HIM)

Paradise Lost -- Him

HIM

Him - The concert

Salamanca

Salamanca's Cathedral

The bus ride to Salamanca took approximately 3 hours and 40 minutes and included a 25 minute stop at a small town for which I forgot the name. The good thing is that during that time you can get off the bus and grab a coffee or something to eat at the station’s cafeteria. That is exactly what I did!!
I arrived to Salamanca on a warm and sunny afternoon. I have to admit I was very tired by then and was therefore glad to see that Salamanca was a small town that could be visited in only a couple of hours. I think the all day walks from the previous days, the getting up early in the morning and the carrying of all my stuff on my back had finally caught up with me on that day. I crossed the old part of town with its cathedral, many of the university’s buildings and museums on my way to the train station from the bus station. What I saw was a very well kept, charming and beautiful “Old Town” from every angle. I wanted to take pictures from every little street I took and from every little corner I turned. Along my walk I also stumbled into a lot of tourists with their Spain guides in their hands and others who were there as part of a big group and who were also taking lots and lots of pictures. I went straight to the train station to make sure there was a place for me to travel on the train to Madrid that night and I was also planning on leaving my bag stored somewhere in the station while I walked back (20-30 minutes) to the old part of town. When I got to the train station I found out there was no place to store my bags. It so happens that the lockers were disabled for security reasons. Since I was not willing to go back to the city center and walk all over with my backpack I just decided to stay there and wait a little bit over an hour for the next train to Madrid. I sat down at a nice coffee shop, ordered a café con leche and finished reading my book.

I arrived to my house at 11 o’clock at night exhausted but very happy with the whole experience of traveling by myself all over the North of Spain and of having visited so many beautiful places and eager take off on my next adventure.

Gijon & Oviedo

Beach of San Lorenzo in Gijon

GIJON
Gijon, located in Asturias, was not part of my original itinerary. I only added it on the night before leaving Madrid when I got together with Marelys and Luz for dinner and Luz (who is from Gijon) suggested that I visited this coastal town, visit her mother and have her cook lunch for me. Since I never say no to a lunch invitation I accepted gladly knowing it was also going to be very interesting to talk and share some time with a true Spanish family. This is one of the coolest parts of this trip. Getting to know people from the city or country you are in, visiting their homes, eating their food, learning about their culture, and sharing about your experiences, your life and your background with them. I truly believe this is how you gain the most knowledge and a better sense of the culture and the life of the place you are visiting. So I got to Gijon sometime around 1 o’clock and went for a walk around town since my lunch meeting was at 3 o’clock. I walked around the old part of town, which in this case does really hold true to its name of Old Town, with some of the ruins found in this are of town dating back to the 2nd and 4th centuries. After you walk past the Old town you end up right next to the beach of San Lorenzo. The day was once again gloomy but it was however very nice to just sit and watch the sea. There were not too many people by the water except for a couple of older folks walking on the sand and a handful of surfers. I was really surprised by how big Gijon is: it has 275,000 inhabitants. I loved the whole area of the beach of San Lorenzo. I can only imagine how nice it must be during the summer!!!

The Port of Gijon - Casco Viejo

Beach of San Lorenzo

At 3 o’clock I arrived at Maruja’s apartment. She lives together with her husband on the 7th floor (8th floor when you convert it to American floors) of an apartment building very close to the center and close the train station. I got there, called the elevator and no signs of it coming to get me. “Oh God no…please don’t let it be broken” – is what I said to myself. I called it and once again there were no signs of it showing up. I waited a little bit longer and decided to start my journey up the stairs. When I got to the first floor I called the elevator again and it still did not show up. So I just gave up and went up the stairs all the way to the last floor. Mind you I was carrying my backpack with all of the things I had taken to the trip. I got there exhausted, introduced myself and did not talk for a while. After catching my breath I was finally able to start talking to the lovely Maruja and Stella, the nurse that comes everyday to her house to take care during a couple of hours of her ailing husband. Maruja is originally from Galicia and she still has a heavy accent (gallego) which took me some time to get used to. She had prepared a lot of seafood a la gallega: gambas, mejillones and some others which I don’t really remember the name. The food was delicious and between her and me we almost drank an entire bottle of red wine. Stella had to leave early so she only accompanied us during the first 30 minutes of the lunch. I then stayed chatting with Maruja until 6 o’clock in the afternoon. We chatted very pleasantly and she told me a lot of stories about her life as a little girl in A Coruña (Galicia), about when she moved to Gijon, about how things were back then, about her kids, her grandkid, her work when she used to work, and how she spends her days nowadays. She cracked me up. She is a very positive, optimist and joyful person despite the current situation with her husband’s illness and just for that alone I have to admire her courage and her attitude in life.

Lunch

We ended lunch with a “Chupito” which is basically an after-dinner shot of liquor which you drink little by little to help you digest your food. Chupitos tend to have a sweet taste to them and this one was really good. I don’t remember what it was called but it was made with the residual of the grape. What remains from the grape after everything that is needed to produce wine is extracted is then cooked very very very slowly and that produces another type of liquor which is then mixed with a cream to produce the “Chupito” I drank. It tasted similar to a Bailey’s and following Maruja’s suggestion I not only had a shot of it but I also mixed a little bit of it with the coffee we had afterwards.

OVIEDO

At 7 o’clock on Wednesday night I took the one hour train to Oviedo. To make a long story short I ended up buying a ticket for the train that was not going directly from Gijon to Oviedo and thus I had to change trains at another town. I missed that stop and had to get off at the next little village (Bendicion, that is the name of the village) and wait about 40 minutes for the train going back to the city where I needed to catch the direct train to Oviedo. I ended up getting to Oviedo at around 9 o’clock at night with no hostel reservation and actually no address for one. I figured once I’d arrived there I would either go to the tourist information desk to inquire about hostels or just walk until I found one. Well, the tourist information office of course was closed at that time so I walked outside of the station and just went walking towards the city center/old town looking for a hostel. As I walked towards the center I was surprise to discover what has now become one of my favorite cities in Spain. I’ve been lucky enough to have seen many places in Spain. Some of them are places that I loved because of their history, or because of their architecture, or because they are next to the water and they have spectacular views, or because they have nice beaches and a good ambiance to go on vacation during the summer. But that is what they are: places that I love to visit for a couple of days on vacation and that is it. However Oviedo is a city where I said: now I could live in a place like this. It is a big city, it is clean, organized and quieter and calmer than for example Madrid. People wait for the green light before crossing the streets, the traffic did not seem chaotic, you feel very safe walking around the city, and it has some nice green areas and parks. But is not as calm and laid back as for example most of the beach towns are where you sometimes feel that everyone is on vacation; not only you but also the people who live and work there.
I was delighted walking around town and in this walk I crossed a couple of hostels. I finally stopped at one that looked more like a hotel from the outside, but since there was a sign showing it was only a one star hotel I walked in and inquired about the availability for a room and about the price. I hit the jackpot!!!. The price was 30 euros and they only had available a quad room so I ended up staying in a room with actually 2 bed rooms, 4 beds, and 2 TVs. Yes, how ironic. Here I am with no TV in Madrid but I had 2 in Oviedo. I dropped off my stuff in the room and went outside for a walk.

Oviedo Cathedral - City Center

Maternity from Fernando Botero

The Return from William B. Arrenberg

The next day I woke up early to have breakfast and walk around town before catching an 11 o’clock bus to Salamanca.

Santander

The Cantabria Region from the train

Santander is located in the green region of Cantabria. Thanks to its beaches it is a very popular destination for vacationers looking for some sun at more reasonable prices than the usually more expensive beaches on the south of Spain or the Spanish islands. I got to Santander around noon on Monday after taking an almost 3 hour train from Bilbao. The FEVE train (or el lechero as I would like to call it) stopped in every single town between the 2 cities; however the landscape along the journey was well worth taking it. In addition the train ride allowed me to make a lot of progress my reading of “The Testament of Gideon Mack”; the book that accompanied me during this trip. After finding a hostel for the 2 nights I was staying in Santander I headed out to the streets, stopping first to grab a sandwich and a coffee, and continued then to the beach and the “Casco Viej” (old town).

Santander City Hall - Bay of Santander

Santander Cathedral

I had planned to take a boat trip around the Bay of Santander on Tuesday afternoon but I woke up to a very cloudy, foggy and rainy day. I was hoping it would clear up so I could get on the boat but no luck with that. I started thinking then about what I could do instead; trying to come up with a plan B. Since I had already seen the Old part of town and the cathedral the day before and there were no signs of the day clearing up so that I could take the boat ride I decided then to go to the train station and take a train to a nearby town. I took a 45 minute train to Torrelavega; the name sounded catchy and the price was right. Torrelavega is a small town with not much really going on. It had a small city center, a cathedral which was undergoing renovation and a town square right in front of the city hall. I arrived during siesta time so the shops were closed and the streets were pretty much empty. It took me about an hour and change to walk around town and have something to eat while sitting down at a bench in the town square.

Torrelavega City Hall - Torrelavega City Center

I headed back to Santander in the late afternoon for a last walk along the beach and along its city center. Just like most cities in Spain people start hitting the streets of Santander sometime around 6 o’clok. And somewhere between 8 and 9 o’clock the streets are totally packed. I found the people in Santander to be very laid back and relaxed. The city gave me the sensation that people are in no hurry, that they do not really stress over anything and that they take things easy. Some traits I’m really hoping are very contagious. That night I was pretty tired from walking all day long so I sat down for about an hour on a bench on one of its main boulevards to rest and observe the people. I was so comfortable that I had a hard time getting up and going to the hostel. I tried to go early to bed that night as I had to wake up early the following day for a long trip to Gijon and a long day which was going to end in Oviedo.

Bilbao

The Guggenheim Bilbao

I’ll try to be brief from now on so I can catch up with the stories from the north of Spain.

On Sunday morning I took an hour long bus ride from San Sebastian to Bilbao. Walked from the bus station to the hostel and fortunately they did have a room available so that saved me some time as I did not have to walk around looking for a place to stay. Bilbao (population: 350,000) is more of a commercial city with a small and quaint “Casco Viejo” (old town) and the world famous Guggenheim museum. Other than these 2 things there is not much more to in Bilbao, so spending only one day there was just enough. The museum building is amazing: both inside and outside. It has a shape which cannot really be described. From what I have been told for example the building has no corners that form a right angle: nor the walls, nor the columns. Most walls for example are curved and the columns have wider or narrower angles than a 90 degree angle. Titanium panels were used to cover some of the walls of the building; something which was a first in the history of architecture. The intent of these panels, as explained by the architect himself in the audio-guide, is to resemble the fish scales of some fishes he used to play with when he was a kid. The museum, which exhibits modern and contemporary art, consists of both a permanent collection and one big temporary exhibition. Unfortunately the permanent collection was closed and I was able to only see the temporary collection: Art in the USA, 300 years of innovation. The exhibition was a collection of works from American born artists and artist born elsewhere but who had become American. There were for example works by Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. Unfortunately they do not allow you to take photographs inside the museum so I have no pictures from the exhibition nor from the inside of the building. The museum is located right next to the Nervion River so the natural thing to do is to walk along the river-walk to see some of the art exhibited on the exterior of the museum such as the big iron spider. After visiting the museum I continued walking along the river all the way to the old town. Once again it was surprising to see how much people were out in the streets walking, having some tapas and enjoying a caña (a glass of beer) or a glass wine. Definitely that is the way of living in Spain. I found lots of people on all the streets I took on my walk back to the hotel.

Museum Entrance - Another view of the Guggenheim Bilbao

Riverwalk - Casco Viejo (Old Town)

That night I got back to the hotel and was able to watch some news on a TV: Raul Castro was officially becoming the new “president” in Cuba. It was as if I had never left Miami and the Spanish broadcasting station of Miami where the theme “du jour” toute les jours (everyday) is Cuba and one of the Castro brothers. But oh well!! It was good to finally watch some news on TV. The previous hostels were I had stayed had no TV. Oh…and apart from that I’m not sure if I mentioned this before but I had no TV in my apartment in Paris (there was no TV at the apartment at all) and there is no TV here in Madrid either. I guess it is not meant for me to have a TV while on this sabbatical.

San Sebastian - Donostia

San Sebastian (Donostia)

View from of the city from Mount Igeldo with

Island of St Catalina and Mount Urgull in background

San Sebastian (population: 186,000) or Donostia in the Basque language is one of the most charming cities I’ve been to so far. I don’t think I have enough adjectives to describe how beautiful this city is and how much I liked it. I fell madly in love with it. It has such a good vibe to it, such a welcoming and enjoyable atmosphere. I felt very much at ease and enjoyed so much walking along its beaches, along its wide boulevards next to the water, the narrow streets on its old town and hiking one of its smaller mountains for some of the most spectacular views of the city and the Bay of Biscay. I arrived around noon on Friday, took a bus to the old part of town and walked to the hostel for which I had written down the address. They did not have any rooms available for the 2 nights I was staying there. I walked to another hostel nearby which did not have any rooms either. However the guy at this second hostel called another place for me which did have a room available for the 2 nights. I walked to the hostel and even though it was a little bit pricier than what I was planning on spending I felt so good when I walked in I decided to stay. The place is run by a young couple who themselves love to travel/backpack around the world so they really understand what your needs are when you are on this kind of trip. They were very helpful in providing me information as to what to and where to go while in the city. That first afternoon I spent it walking around the city center and around the old part of town. Even though the temperature was very nice (it was somewhere in the 60’s) it was very foggy and you could not really see much of the mountains.

A foggy afternoon - View from Mount Urgull

The following day I woke up early and headed to Mount Urgull. That was on Saturday and the weather could not have been better. The fog had cleared up and the temperature during the day reached somewhere around the 70’s. I did not have to be carrying my coat around and I even got a suntan on my face. As a matter of fact there were some people sunbathing on the beach. The hike to the top of Mount Urgull takes about 30 minutes. Once you get to the top you find a small park and the Mota Castle; a fortification with cannons all around, a big statue of Christ and some of the best views of the city. I made my descent from mount Urgell and walked along the beach boulevard all the way to the other side of the bay to visit mount Igeldo. During the walk I got hungry and had to stop to get lunch and a coffee to recharge my batteries. But before going to the top of the mountain I walked to the end of the beach were the sculpture called “The Comb of the Wind” is located. It was great and very peaceful and relaxing to sit by them and look at the waves crashing against them.

The Comb of the Wind

Afterwards I took the funicular to the top of mount Igeldo for even more spectacular views of the bay and the city. There is a small amusement park on top of mount Igeldo so the place was rather filled with families with small children who seemed to be having the time of their lives. As the sun began to set, it started to cool down so I decided to head back to the city and begin once again the almost one hour long journey.

View from Mount Igeldo - Old Town

San Sebastian at 7PM

San Sebastian at night

On the way back, it was the high tide time and there were a couple of surfers taking advantage of the waves that were being formed. Of course I had to stop and watch them for a little while. It was unbelievable how much people there were out in the old part of town once I got there sometime close to 8 o’clock. What called my attention is how many families were out on the streets walking, eating tapas and having a glass of wine or beer right outside many of the pintxo bars. And when I say families I mean the whole gang: kids, parents and both sets of grandparents. One thing is for sure: the people from San Sebastian really know how to enjoy their city and everything it has to offer. Another thing that really called my attention, or that I observed in San Sebastian (I’m an observer by nature and since I was by myself I had more time to observe these things) is that there were a lot of couples with twins, and a lot of couples with adopted kids. I have no clue about the statistics of these 2 items there but I’m telling you it is something that does stand out. My conclusion??? For some odd reason, which I’m still trying to figure out or trying to come up with a theory, couples in San Sebastian have a hard time conceiving and they undergo fertility treatments. In many cases these fertility treatments (and this is a proven fact) result in multiple pregnancies and hence the many couples with twins. And then there are the couples who do not become pregnant with these treatments and they end up adopting