Probably the most beautiful place I have ever seen!

He also took me everywhere, showed me his favourite restaurants and clubs, took me for a delicious meal with his brother and then we went for a wonderful walk along the coast. It was beautiful!

The worst bit was saying goodbye. I hated that.

written by  Brigid Jelsma on June 7, 2011 from Valencia, Spain
from the travel blog: Walk a little further to another plan
tagged Spain
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I was fortunate enough to arrive a few hours before a free walking tour, so I made my way to the meeting point (getting lost a few times) and waited by the fountain, eying a particularly extravagant lamp post.

A few moments later I was approached by a man, who had been standing just opposite me. "Gaudi's work really is extraordinary, isn't it?"

Gaudi? Hmmm. That name did sound familiar and the man seemed to say it like one would Raphael or Da Vinci, so I nodded, did my whole goofy smile thing, and mumbled, "Yeah. It really is."

Thankfully the man then launched into all the details of his work - actually teaching art, so Gaudi's work was particularly special to him. I felt a bit of an ignoramus, by anyway.

My tour started pretty soon after that, and I got chatting to a German girl, Melly, who is doing ERASMAS in Barcelona. And then I met two guys, SOUTH AFRICAN GUYS!!! And it took me ages to realise they were from home, but then I saw his Springbok hat!

I nearly died.

Anyway, the tour was fantastic. An overload of information, but at least I learnt who Gaudi was. We were also saw a mansion in which a king died of viagra overdose (actually herbs given to him to induce *ahem* gave him stomach problems, but a viagra overdose is much more amusing).

That night I went to a couchsurfing event - meeting in a tiny pub in the backstreets of Barcelona, and I met loads of people, including a British guy, Nick. He was only there for a day (on a business trip, actually), but we ended up trawling through the streets in the middle of the night.

Then I realised the metro in Barcelona shuts at midnight on Thursdays.... Remember how I mentioned how far out of the centre my hostel was? Yup. SCREWED.

I ended up staying out all night (thank Jungle Bars that pubs and clubs actually stay open all that time), and I think Nick was hungover for his business meeting, but anyway. I arrived at my hostel feeling shattered, the guy there (luckily one I'd been chatting to earlier) burst out laughing and, even though I was meant to check out, led me to a bed downstairs that the staff use.

I collapsed.

Four in the afternoon I stumbled out, managed to find another hostel, make my way there and collapse again.

Then Rob called.

Oh, and it was pouring with rain by then.

I managed to drag myself out of bed, throw some clothes on, and make my way to Barceloneta tube stop. And there was Rob, with NO UMBRELLA, standing outside a off license alcohol store - typical. :D

We decided to risk the rain and make our way to Sagrada Familia - Gaudi's masterpiece of a basilica.

FIFTEEN EUROS. But worth every cent. Nature influenced all of Gaudi's work, and this is most visible inside. The massive pillars and curved ceiling makes it all congruent with what I imagine Elven architecture to be like. And the exterior is so detailed it would take forever to examine each figure - time we really didn't have while running around beneath an umbrella, dodging raindrops.

It's apparently only going to be finished in 2023. So that gives me another excuse to visit Barcelona again.

That night I went out with Rob and Charlie - Rob's housemate. Alcohol. So much alcohol. And I ended up crashing at their place (once again making my hostel stay redundant).

The next day, I just wandered around, down La Ramblas, along the beachfront, through the parks, before meeting up for a party on the beach.

And the water was so warm, even in the middle of the night!

So, all in all, Barcelona was a fantastic experience.

written by  Brigid Jelsma on June 11, 2011 from Barcelona, Spain
from the travel blog: Walk a little further to another plan
tagged Spain
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The next day we went to the Alhambra, a Moorish palace converted to a fort by the Spanish when they reconquered Spain. The Alhambra was the winter palace for the Moorish roaylty while the adjacent Generalife was occupied in the Summer.

Here is the Alhambra from the outside:

But the Interior was the neat part with numerous courtyards, and the spanish/moorish architecture used in many of the palaces we've visited. Here is one of the more famous sections of the Alhambra, el patio de los leonares, featuring a Fountain surronded by lions which spray water from their mouths.

We stayed at the site for a good 4 and a half hours and here are the pictures we took.

The Alhambra is the most popular tourist destination in Spain and it isn't hard to see why. It was easily the grandest palace we've visited and one of the overall coolest period.

On our final day in Granada we visited the poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca's House. He was a socialist and a homosexual during Franco's regime and he was assasinated for his ideals in 1936. We were not allowed to take pictures inside.

And that was it for Granada, a neat stop on our trip.

written by  andres3009 on July 15, 2012 from Granada, Spain
from the travel blog: Spain Trip 2012
tagged Spain, Granada, Lorca and Alhambra
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