The Basque Region and the Bus problems

Bright and early Friday morning Laura and I woke up and hopped on a bus headed for San Sebastian. Upon our arrival Laura and I attempted to purchase tickets to go to Bilbao the next day, but Laura realized that she did not have her purse. (This problem with the bus would be a theme) With Laura in mild panic mode translating what the bus lady was saying fell onto me. Through a series of basic Spanish phrases and wild hand gestures we were able to figure out when we would probably be able to get Laura's purse back. After all of that we were rather famished and decided to follow Rick Steve's advice and follow the pinxtos. Basically you would walk into a bar. Grab some pinxtos (little appetizers) right off the bar, eat them, throw your napkin on the floor, and pay on the honors system. 

The Pixtos

The pinxtos were great. Then after being a little less famished we climbed up a hill with a big statue of Jesus that had an amazing view of San Sebastian. After hiking all over the hill Laura and I headed back for a fancier dinner than we were usually accustomed to. It was rather nice and the food we ate was amazing. After that we wandered and San Sebastian going to bars and trying their native drinks, including wine that was poured through a special type of top from a large height. Then of course we had to wander the beach. No way I was going to a beach town and not going on the beach.

The next morning Laura and I woke up and were already behind schedule. We ended up running down the road from our hostel to the bus station with our back packs on. I felt like I was on the Amazing Race, but more likely I just looked like a goof ball. What followed was one of the most violent bus rides I have ever been on, with a large number of rapid hair pin turns. Thankfully the arm rest and seatbelt held me in my seat. Upon arriving in Bilbao, Laura and I turned around and headed to Guernica. Our arrival on Guernica, via bus, was unsurprisingly hectic. We figured the bus would have a stop label Guernica, but our assumption was very wrong as we had to jump out of the bus on the stop after Guernica and wander back to town. Guernica was the site of a bombing by Hitler during the Spanish Civil War, and was a cultural hub of the Basque people. I was able to learn so much about the Basque people during this trip, but much of what I learned was in Guernica. We saw much of the town and went to a very interesting Peace Museum. Upon the end of our exploring we hoped on the bus and took it back to Bilbao. Figuring the bus would drop us back off we were greatly mistaken as we were dropped off abruptly in the middle of Bilbao.

Sunday Laura and I awoke and decided to go visit the number one tourist attraction of Bilbao, the Guggenheim Bilbao. This being my second modern art museum in a week I hoped that I would have a better appreciation of modern art. I was vastly mistaken. I do not understand it. How seven different canvasses painted all black is art, I do not know. The architecture of the building though was very interesting. Then Laura and I hopped on our bus for an uneventful ride back to Madrid, before I left Monday morning back for America.

The Basque region was very interesting with them having their own unique identity along with language. The more I learned about the culture the more fascinated I became with the region. Hopefully I can read the Basque history book I bought my parents as a souvenir sometime soon.  

Exploring Madrid

My week in Madrid:

After getting back from the adventures in Granada I had a few days to explore Madrid and all of it's wonders. Monday was easily my busiest day as I get up and got going early. Laura and my orginal plan was to go to a park and throw around a frisbee, but mother nature was not agreeing with that plan so we went to the Reina Sofia Art Museum. We were able to see Picasso's Guernica along with a lot more modern art that I apparently am not civilized enough to appreciate. After wandering around that museum for a while Laura had to go to class and I walked to the Royal Place where I took the self guided tour. I was able to see all sorts of interesting things inside of the palace and a huge armory, but unfortunately they did not allow photo's inside. After that I went and wandered around the crypts of the Cathedral in Madrid. I had already wandered around the cathedral in a very jet lagged state, but now I was wandering around the crypts. The crypts were interesting, but there didn't appear to be anyone overly famous that I recognized buried there. Then I hit up the Madrid night life with a couple of Laura's roommate.

Tuesday started a little slower as the Madrid culture appeared to breed fatigue for me. After finally getting motivated I headed out for lunch and then to the Naval Museum. The Naval Museum was very interesting as it was the history of the Spanish Navy according to the Spaniards. I chucked at the overall lack of coverage of the Spanish Armada. (They probably had less written about the Armada than I have written thus far) They had much more written about the Battleship Maine and how that was not the Spaniard's fault. They also had a very interesting quote about the Maine that made me giggle.

Wednesday I went and toured the Stadium of Real Madrid the “Number one club of the 20^th Century.” The Stadium was really cool and I enjoyed seeing all of the trophies. Even the one that Sergio Ramos dropped and was run over by a bus. The field looked so soft and I really wanted to play frisbee on it. Unfortunately I'm pretty sure I would have been sent to jail if I did that. And I was not really looking for a night in a Spanish Prison.

Thursday was my last day to explore Madrid, so what did I do. I got a late start. And then I chatted with Laura's house mom, Loti, for two hours about Politics and Life. While I may not have gotten as out and about in Madrid as I had hoped on the last day, I felt that this might have been one of the coolest things that I had done. I learned all about the Spanish election, how American Politics were interpreted, and a whole host of other things.  

Spain Thus Far

For those of you that do not know I am currently in Spain for the next week or so.  I arrived last Thursday morning (12:55 am CST) and the fun has continued since.  Aside from fighting jet lag for the first 24 hours I got to see large parts of Madrid courtesy of my wonderful tour guide and host, Laura Kelly.  Her Senora is allowing me to stay in her house and is cooking great food for me.  She is a hilarious lady as well which makes staying with her a real treat.
Wandering around Madrid that first day was a delight and terrible.  I alternated every 5 minutes between extreme energy, extreme tiredness, and just overall normal energy levels.  I did manage to pick up some Spanish Political literature, being the campaign manager nerd that I am I got really excited and grabbed it.
Friday morning we got up bright and early to travel to Granada.  Granada is such a beautiful region of Spain and the food was awesome there.  Seriously, I'm probably going to gain about ten pounds.  We saw the Alhambra, which was this really neat Moorish Palace, the Cathedral and the Royal Chapel in Granada as well.  In the Royal Chapel was the remains of the King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella the monarchs of the First United Spain.  The History Major in me loved it.  The Alhambra was the last Moorish strong point in Spain before they finally gave up in 1492 and was very beautiful on the inside, and it also provided for spectacular views of the surrounding town.
Granada also had more than it's fair share of Gypsies and Dirty hippies which provided me with so much entertainment.  Laura and I were also able to go on a self made Tapas crawl in Granada, where we basically wandered through the streets stopping at different bars.  You ordered a drink of any kind and they showed up with a free plate Tapas, which varied greatly from bar to bar, but they were all very good.  A word of warning to you Granada travelers.  The city is extremely confusing and most maps are not drawn to scale.  This can cause a good bit of frustration.  Just FYI.
I am currently back in Madrid now and am wandering the streets trying to find all sorts of fun things to do.
Observations of Spain:
Their dialect of Spanish is much different than what I'm used too.  Granted I may not speak much Spanish to begin with, but they like to throw in what to me seem like random th's and drop syllables.  It makes life confusing.
How are these people so skinny?  The food they eat is so good and there is so much.  Not to mention they have like a drink with every meal.
The Spanish girls must have mega strong ankles.  Everywhere I go they all seem to be wearing high heels.  My ankles hurt walking around Granada and their small cobble stone streets, but these Spanish women were just trucking along.

13.1 Miles and still alive

This last weekend I checked the Half Marathon off of my bucket list.  I didn't train for very long, but I was still able to complete it in 1:43.17 which I was rather happy with.  I had never run that far competitively before and I had a great experience.  Granted there was a guy who beat me by over 20 minutes but I was still happy.  I ran a little bit competitively in high school, but this was completely different.  I did not realize how mental running was.  Not only was I trying to do math to make sure I was running a good pace, I kept having to encourage myself to keep going.  All in all I had a great experience and I am going to try to do another one real soon.  Maybe even a full marathon.  This time I am going to wear a watch though.