Madrid y Barcelona Trip

View down on Barcelona from Castell de Montjuic

Spent two nights in Madrid and 4 nights in Barcelona and loved both cities.

Madrid

 

Awesome market in Madrid: Mercado de San Miguel

Did a free walking tour (best way to learn about any city!) through Madrid - the tour guide knew her stuff! We walked around the downtown for about 2 1/2 hours and I definitely felt like I learned a lot. The city is a cultural hub and there is so much history to learn about. We also walked through the castle on the west side of the city where the King and Queen used to live. That was pretty cool. Every room had a different theme! I don't know what they did with so many rooms though. Kind of ridiculous! Susanna took all the pictures on her camera so I will have to get those from her soon. Loved the markets in both cities. Tried some serrano meat. Legs hanging everywhere. Yuck.

Crystal Castle in the eat park in Madrid

Barcelona was very diverse. So much to see. Highlights:
- Catedral: beautiful cathedral with neat garden outside
-  Barri Gotic: the old city
- Mercat de la Boqueria: awesome market with fruit juices for 1 euro
- Passeig de Gracia: read SHOPPING
- Castell de Montjuic: perfect castle to go to to see a birds eye view of the city and sea
- Basilica de Sta Maria del Mar: old church built by the Catalans over 53 years
- Sagrada Familia: pretty awesome to see Gaudi's melting church

Basilica de Sta Maria del Mar

We walked everyday 6+ hours. By Friday I was EXHAUSTED, but was very pleased with how much of both cities I got to see. Can't wait to go back to Barcelona. :)

Gaudi's Park Güell

Taking part in the bierbike is not always wise.

This is the second year that I have taken part in the Bierbike. It is quite the event. JessA, Sarah, and I decided to grab dinner beforehand for Sarah's birthday. We were a little late leaving the restaurant and then we didn't know exactly where to go to get to the bierbike. Probably not so smart. So, we find a bus and jump on. Already running late, we were not off to a great start. Then a blind woman tries to get on the bus. For some reason, the bus driver thought she changed her mind and wasn't getting on so he closed the door. WELL that did not go over well with the man in the wheelchair on the bus. He starts yelling at the bus driver to open the door for the poor woman trying to get on the bus. She had actually just turned around to try and find her suitcase that she needed to bring with her on the bus. Doors open again. More yelling. Wheelchair man tells the bus driver to enjoy his last day at work. Bus is not moving. We are now 15 minutes late. Bus takes off and then when the lady wants to get off the bus driver is EXTRA careful with her, going so far as to get off the bus with her and make sure everything is okay. Now we are 20 minutes late and the bierbike is leaving without us, because obviously it only has a certain amount of time to make the planned route. That leaves JessA, Sarah, and I on the street, running around trying to find the place where we can catch the bierbike somewhere on it's route. We run in this direction, JessA on the phone with one person and I on the phone with another person on the bike, and then run in the opposite direction and then sprint when we finally see it. Two bikes have been rented since we are over 20 people. Each bike holds 16 people. The bikes had been evenly split, but then, since we took so long, people jumped bikes and one was full and the other was left with 10 people. ANYWAYS. We get going. I am sweating up a storm pumping on those pedals and drinking apple wine. At the end of the night I discover that the girl who has been pouring our beer and apple wine is 13 years old. How is that legal? Our driver is a nice man. The music goes back and forth between German classics, new songs, and English pop songs. We catch up to the other bike (how?!). Everyone is dressed up in Lederhosen and Dirndl. Pretty impressive group. We have a break at the Römer. Technically, we were supposed to also have a break at the Alte Oper, where we had our only stop last year, but since SOME PEOPLE decided to be late we only get one stop. Those who need to use the bathroom do so. I throw a football around with Will and Paul. Seems like a good idea in the dark when one is slightly intoxicated. We take pictures and then head off once again. I somehow end up in the middle of the bike dancing to Hangover. Deja vu from last year. We finish the route. I somehow end up in charge of making sure our bill is paid. 375 Euros for the 10 of us. Why didn't Will organize both bikes so that the cost was split evenly? Fail. 40 Euros seems a bit steep for the 4 beers Sarah drank. The group heads off to a Karaoke bar. That's where my story telling is going to end. Once again, an interesting night on a bierbike!