Pilzen

So we headed over to the Czech Republics second city of Pilzen. Home of one of my favorite beers, 'Pilsner Urquell'. We took a train which dated from the era of Lenin I think, but we passed through some beautiful countryside of rolling hills. There was a tour in English which we made it in time for and it was very well done. Now, we have been to lots of breweries, but this might have been the best tour ever. There was a very informative guide who told us of all the history, and walked us around the factory catwalk showing us the bottling and canning process. A bus took us around to different parts of the factory and their was a little museum of relics, as well as a video presentation and just everything you could want in a brewery tour.

Now this place is unique for several reasons. It is home to the first Pilsner ever made. Beer before this was all of the thick stout variety (think traditional English beer). Also even though it is a couple of hundred years old, in the modern era we have only had access to this beer in the West for less than twenty years. All those years it spent behind the iron curtain only Eastern Europeans and Cubans got this, how sad. Well, now it is one of the largest breweries in the world and some of the best beer the world has ever produced is now available to everyone.

Towards the end we were led down into the cellars to taste some beer. Now there are over 9KM of underground tunnels and cellars, but after the advent of refregeration they don't need these cellars to keep the beer cold (they just use chillers on ground level). They still make some beer in the original wooden casks and keep them in the cellars just to taste test them with the modern production methods to make sure they are still on par. Now the beer we got to drink is not available anywhere else. It is unfiltered and unpasturized and simply delicious. I even got to pour my beer myself and was complimented on the fact that I poured it correctly (hey I have drank some beer and know what I am doing here people). Our guide loved this beer too and it was all she could do to not drink several pints since she had things to do later that day. Well, we are not under these constraints and so we spent the rest of the afternoon in the brewpub. Eating salty Czech cheese and pretzels and drinking Pilsner Urquell. This was a singular experience and completely enjoyable. Maybe Pilzen will be the new Prauge.

Praha

Well, Prague will unfortunately be the place were I lost my beloved Guinness hat. The hat I bought 13 years earier at the Guinness brewery when I was freezing my ass off in Dublin. Oh well.

Prague is a city with great architecture and has been the darling of the expat set for several years now. Having given in to any invading powers, the city is very well preserved and being a behind the iron curtain it was historically very cheap. Unfortunately this is really no longer the case. Now, not to brag here, but I was lucky enough to be here not long after the fall of the iron curtain in '92 as part of a school trip. The city was just coming into it's own, with no international chains and it was still cheap. And I mean cheap. Pints of beer for 15 cents, and as 10th graders we were just in heaven. The price, beauty and creative energy is what attracted an ecclectic set of expats, but unfortunately in our opinion it has 'jumped the shark' (look it up if you don't know what I'm talking about).

It is still a great city with lots of beauty and lots to see and do, and it is still a bit cheaper than other European capitals, but it is a bit sketchy and lacks the effortless charm of other cities of similar stature. It is also very, very heavily touristed. I am talking Rome levels here, even in the winter time, elbow room only in the main square. Lots of Russians and other Eastern Europeans, as well as the usual contingent of Americans and Western Europeans rob it of it's charm a bit.

Their is an ancient castle with loads of history on a prominent position above the city and the Charles bridge and the surrounding areas are beautiful and worth seeing, but we just didn't gel with this place. We ate the national dish of pork, dumplings and saurkraut which is nothing to write home about. Not speaking even a lick of Czech was a bit inconvenient too. After coming from Italy where we can stumble through a sentence and Spain where it is even a bit easier and even Germany where I know 'Thank You' and my numbers we can't utter a word in Czech. Now several people speak English, but we went into a busy deli and had to just grunt and point which was very disspiriting as well frustrating for the person who helped us.

Berlin

Ok, so we are going to learn to buy our tickets early. After two months in Italy and Spain where train tickets are relatively cheap, this was a shock to the system. We were prepared for some high prices but, 120 euro from Amsterdam to Berlin. Wow. Lesson learned, plan ahead.

So we arrive in Berlin and beer halls and Liederhosen this is not. The capital of the new Germany and home to the German avant-garde. It is a big and vibrant city with tons of history. We went to the Pergamom (sp?) the first night because it was free and it has an impressive collection of Greek, Egyptian and Islamic relics. Their is a whole island of museums which we could have spent days in, but this was definitely the highlight.

The next day we rode a bus around the main sights. The Brandenburg gate (the symbol of Berlin and home to the speeches of world leaders), the Reichstag (the impressive sounding and looking seat of German power) and finally Checkpoint Charlie. The checkpoint between the east and the west and the heart of the cold war. Why this checkpoint was more popular than the first two (Alpha and Bravo) we didn't really figure out, but their was a museum, which while although haphazardly organized told the story of all the players in the cold war. All the escape attempts and the slow process that would eventually unseat the communist regime were presented and was quite interesting. We spent a few hours at the zoo so Brooke could make a pilgramage to see Knut. Remember him, the adorable polar bear that you probably saw pictures of about 6 months ago? Well, he has grown up a bit and although he is popular, he is sort of a prima donna now. He was not as adorable as when he was a youngster and seemed disinterested in all the attention he still got. I think I saw him yawn on the back of his paw. It was still fun and the zoo is in a nice location in the center of Berlin, with a burned out, half destroyed church nearby which was left as a symbol of the price of war, as well as the corporate buildings of Merces and the like which are the symbols of the new Germany.

So we were finally in sauerkraut country and Brooke couldn't have been happier. I mean really, this was the girl who a few months after we met, ordered and ate a bowl full of saurkraut at a festival. Unfortunately the kraut here is not what she was expecting. It is almost exclusively served warm and (possibly as a result) is sweeter. Oh well, having some of the ubiquitous sausage, mashed potatoes and kraut is a good meal on a cold day. Currywurst is also really popular and possibly the unofficial national dish. Basically a sausage cut up, put on a plate and covered with ketchup and sprinkled with curry. Eh, not so exciting.

One night after we tried to find the SS museum, which was closed by the time we tracked it down, we ended up in the heart of the east. Now this is the part of Berlin that is just full of promise. It is the home to artists and musicians and holds all the promise of the new united Germany. A bit edgy with lots of leahter and spikes on the weekend, but also home to American Apparell and Starbucks. It is also adjacent to the Turkish part of Berlin. We were smoking the hukkah in another part of town and I asked the doorman where I could find the best Turkish food and he pointed us to this area. The Turks and Germans have a long history together and their are a lot of Turkish people here, possibly the most in all of Europe. So we were walking around this part and seeing all kind of Turkish restaurants and people and I was getting a bit nostalgic about my time in that country. We saw restaurants that advertised food from every local, Antalya, Izmir, Cappadocia, etc, and I was like, 'why is their no Adana restaurant, this sucks'. Well after wandering around in the cold for a bit we were about to give up and we turned the corner to find the holy grail, 'Adana Restaurant'. This was it, this was what I had been searching for. It was perfect and full of Turks, not some kebab stand, but a proper Adana barbecue joint with sweet, delicious Adana Kebab on the spits, with onions and sumac, served with cooked vegetables on delicious Turkish bread. I have gone on and on about Turkish bread and finally Brooke saw what I was talking about. These people take bread seriously. I really couldn't have been happier. I drank Efes (the Turkish beer) and a Yeni Raki (like Greek Uzo). Brooke ate a chicken kebab and got a great taste of the whole 'Turkish BBQ' experience. We both left happy and had some Baklava to end the night.

Berlin is huge and multi-faceted and we could have spent weeks here exploring the vast plethora of art museums and WWII/Cold War museums and memorials but it was time to move on.

PICTURES! PICTURES! PICTURES!

We finally were able to upload most of our pictures. Check them out here, or click on the link on the left.

Amsterdam

So the song 'Goodbye San Francisco, Hello Amsterdam' by Doug Sahm was in our heads the whole time, so put that on while you read this.

Ok, so we weren't even going to go to Amsterdam. I figured it was just a tourist ghetto of hash bars with a bunch of goofy stoners about. My god, how this is untrue. Amsterdam is one of the coolest cities in the world. Clean, vibrant and simply gorgeous. Most of the Netherlands is built on land reclaimed from the sea, and there are canals everywhere making this place way more deserving as the 'Venice of the North' than anywhere. I can't overemphasize how nice and inviting the city was. The people were so welcoming and kind. Everyone and I mean EVERYONE spoke English. Being a small country with a language not spoken by many, they take immense pride in speaking the international language. This combined with a liberal, laid back attitude make this a wonderfully congenial city to be in. I mentioned to somebody that everybody was just really nice and laid back here and they mentioned the calming presence of the hash bars as the reason. You might think that all the liberal attitude makes this a hedonistic city, but it only is in small parts. Just because you can smoke weed and get prostitutes legally doesn't mean you have to.

Brooke was very excited to see the Van Gogh museum and it did not dissapoint. Other impressionist masters where in the collection as well as a special exhibit that contained 130 of the most prized works by various Dutch artists. This exhibit went over the point that the Dutch historically haven't been great collectors of art (even their own) until the early 1900's. The French and Spanish own a lot of Dutch art and this wounded their national pride and they were determined to stake claim to their lost heritage. It chronicled the efforts of private individuals and the government that made efforts to reclaim art from various private art collections around the world. This was an interesting side to see, especially the dollar amounts they paid for these pieces. Of course paying 1 million dollars for a Van Gogh in 1920 seems like a pittance today when the same piece would fetch 20 times that.

Their are a lot of Turks here and I finally found my beloved Adana Kebab. It wasn't as good as it was in Turkey, but it scratched the itch slightly. Brooke has developed a taste for tea, and I introduced her to Turkish tea which is a huge part of their culture (The Turks drink more tea than any culture, including the British). We also ate Indonesian food. Sweet Jesus, where has this been all our lives. Indonesia was a Dutch colony and their are a lot of Indonesians and therefore their food in Amsterdam. The food is not quite Chineee and not quite Indian, with plenty of rice and noodles (but no pork, Muslim you know) and just the perfect amount of spice. It seems like great stoner food which probably enhances it's appeal here. Maybe with the president-elect having lived in Indonesia, it will start becoming more popular in the US, we can only hope.

On that note, it was election time when we were here. Being Americans we had a lot to say on the subject and everybody (speaking English as they all do) was eager to talk to us about the election. It was nice to talk politics with various people and it makes you realize how important US politics are to the world. Quickly, somebody tell me who is the prime minister of the Netherlands! I know they have a queen (Beatrix), but I have no idea who any other leaders are. We went to an Irish pub in the Red Light district to watch the results. This gave us an opportunity to walk through the red light district. Sure, it is pretty hedonistic, and makes Bourbon street look like Disneyland, but why the hell not. It is not like the world's oldest profession is going anywhere. On our way to the museum in the morning we passed through a mini red light district and their were prostitutes in their warm windows, sitting and reading the paper and waiting for business. Now isn't regulating and taxing this profession much more ideal than leaving these people to the mercy of the streets. Anyway, I digress. So we were watching the results come in and met some Australian political junkees. Now they were just as familiar with the American political system as me. Again, who is the prime minister of Australia? Anyone? It was fun being surrounded by lots of people from the US and other countries watching the results roll in, but the bar closed at 1:00 which is only like 6:00 on the east coast, so we retired to our place and track the results. Brooke heads to bed, but I stay up and watch the inevitable. The election is called around 5:30 local time and I wake Brooke up around 6:00 for the moving acceptance speech and we hit the sack.

The next day every paper is covered with pictures of Obama. We talked to some more people who were really optimistic and hopeful about the future, because needless to say that Bush has a sub Nixon approval rating in our country and is even less popular around the world. Every decision we make affects the world so everybody takes great stake in our election. We were also inspired and happy that after 8 long years of mismanagment and foolish blunders, that our nation might once again inspire the world with it's actions.

We slept in most of the day but managed to catch the Dutch WWII resistance museum. It was nice seeing this side of the conflict, as we are mostly familiar with the post D-Day activity. The Dutch are a proud people who did not take the invasion lightly but battled from within. In 'Band of Brothers' the story of the 101st Airborne, the soldiers mention that the Dutch were some of the best and most helpful people they met and this really lifted their spirits. They really liked these people and we cannot disagree.

Bruges

Okay, go watch the movie 'In Bruges' before you read this, go ahead, I'll wait...

Well, if you haven't seen it, the catchphrase line from the movie that the psychotic mob boss delivers again and again is that 'Bruges is a F***ing fairy tale'. That thought was with us as we were here. Joking aside, it really is like a fairy tale. The perfectly preserved medieval buildings and the Cinderella spires combined with the canals make for a storybook experience. It is sometimes refered to as the 'Venice of the North' due to the canals, but just as likely for the tourist hordes. This being the off-season it wasn't so packed with tourists and we had some elbow room as we explored.

It really is beautiful and everywhere you turn is a picture, it is no Venice since it is not an island and there is traffic, but it is quite a sight. We only spent a day here just to see what it was like. Keeping with the Venice comparison their is even a Michelangelo sculpture in a church, one of the few Michelangelo pieces outside of Italy (I think the Louvre has another). Their are a lot of tourist traps here, but one thing worth seeing is Jesus' blood. Yes that is right, they claim to have Jesus' blood in one of the chapels. Well after witnessing these things we climbed a tower to get a view over the whole city which was nice. We spent the rest of the day walking around soaking up the fairy tale. The map we got from the hostel was hilarious. It had a section on 'how to piss off the locals', which included such gems as 'What time does Bruges close?' and 'Hey is this the tower they built for the movie "In Bruges"' and everybodys favorite, 'Where is McDonalds?'.

We partook in more of the famous Belgian beers and the bartender at the bar we ended up at was a Pantheon of knowledge on local beers and helped us select some good ones. Some more Fries before we went to sleep in our hostel (which was possibly built in the medievil era) and we were done.

Good little place, beautiful and worth the visit, but touristy and overpriced even in winter, but fries and beer overshadow any minor discomforts.

Brussels

After a pre-dawn flight we arrived on a completely different planet. After spending the last three months in Mexico, Italy and Spain in rather temperate weather with familiar Mediterranean cultures, we were thrust into the icy chill and unfamiliar surroundings of central Europe. The weather was right at a crisp 0, but not to worry, it would warm up to 2 that day. Two, it's going to be freakin 2 today! That is the problem with celcius, it just sounds too damn cold.

On the bus ride from the airport to the city it started to snow a bit then it was just an icy blanket. We looked at each other with a bit of trepidation, but we knew this was coming and had prepared for it.

Brussels is a big international city that is the home to NATO and the EU (probably because it is in between all the big heavy hitter countries of Europe). It was way more diverse than we had expected. This was one thing that we encountered again and again in many cities we went to. I fall into a mindset that many European countries are homogeneous, but this is certainly not the case, especially in the major population centers. Not as broadly diverse as the US, but there are definitely enclaves of immigrants from all over. Brussels is also home to the language battle between Flemmish (Dutch basically) and French. This is a huge rift in Belgium and is always simmering below the surface. Brussels is right in the middle of all this and as a result, all the streets have two names. Now, this makes it horribly difficult to find your way around with a map. The street names are real long in two completely foreign languages, and as many streets do, they change names from block to block. Now, on a map of winding downtown city streets it may not be very practical to list both names on the map so sometimes you get one or both and you can never really tell exactly where you are.

Well, we came to Belgium for one thing: Beer, chocolate and fries. Well I guess that is like three things. We walked around the beautiful central quarter in the rain and killed time eating chocolate and fries until it was a respectable hour to drink. With the sky overcast it starts getting dark at 4 so no need to wait until 5 for the first drink I think. We went to a 'beer museum' that was the price of a beer and that is basically all we got. A little movie on the Belgium lambic beers and the history of monks and beer and we moved on to the tasting room. They have two 'mystery' beers on tap that rotate out each week. One was an amber and the other a cherry beer. Now this was a wonderful discovery. I have drank cherry beer before, the Sam Adam's Cherry Wheat comes to mind, but this was something else entirely. A full bodied Belgique Lambic with a slightly tart, slightly sweet cherry taste. It was absolutely delicious, and we would go on to try every variety of this beer that we could find.

We ate the national dish of Belgium which are mussels and fries. One bright point of suffering through this weather is that it is mussel season and they were plump and delicious, cooked in a light broth of white wine, butter and garlic, just enough to give it some flavor but not to overpower the mussels. Brooke and I agreed that these were easily the best mussels we have ever eaten.

Maybe everybody already knows this, but Belgium Waffles are actually a thing that people in Belgium eat. I thought it was something like a Spanish Omlette or canned Vienna Sausages, neither of which are eaten in their respective locales. We were pleased to find big, crisp fluffy waffles sold everywhere on the street and which are at their best when sugar and butter are baked in. There are chocolate shops everywhere and every now and then we would walk in and pick up a few individual pieces and munching on them until we ran out and then picking up a few more.

Comics are really big here and I knew that Belgium was home to that irrepressible do gooder TinTin but we discovered it was also home to those little blue hallucinations, The Smurfs. Who knew, I always thought they were American.

Belgium is horridly expensive and every museum is too. We did go to a musical instrument museum which was a bit different. You are issued a pair of headphones, and when you stand in front of a display of an instrument, a sample of that music plays. It was huge and fairly interesting, showing the instruments that we are all familiar with, and several that have fallen out of favor. Other than that, not too much was done. One day we were going to see the official buildings of EU and NATO but it was just pouring rain and freezing, so we spent the day in a cafe playing chess. This was actually a fine experience as spending a day in a warm cafe in a French speaking region with good food and coffee, playing chess and watching the locals is a fine way to pass the time.

We took every opportunity we had to try different beers. After drinking relatively schwilly Spanish and Italian beers we were glad to be in a country that produced a multitude of delicous beers. We went to a bar that had over 200, but only managed to drink into the double digits. Sure, we went to an 'Irish Pub' one night, but happy hour lasted until 1am and they served only Belgium beers. The beer culture here is to be envied. Beer is taken very, very seriously. Most every beer a bar serves has it's own type of glass. A beer is never drank from the bottle, but carefully poured into it's glass to give the right amount of head. If a beer is poured from the tap and it overflows, it is dipped into water and cleaned off. If the head rises above the glass (which it almost always does) it is cleared flat with a knife. When the beer is finally presented to you it tastes that much sweeter. The night we were at the 'Irish' bar, it was actually halloween. Not terribly popular here, but between the expats and some fun-loving locals it is taking off a bit. There were plenty of people dressed up in relatively cliche outfits as well as the occassional Smurf or two. Smurf Yeah! All the revelry must have confused me, because when I went to the bathroom I somehow ignored the three giant signs that indicated that this was the ladies bathroom. I was still oblivious as I went in because their were individual locked rooms with stalls and this being Europe I just figured it was a co-ed bathroom. As I was washing my hands in the communal area a woman was giving me a real funny look and it slowly dawned on me what I had done. I quickly made my way out, head slunk low, hoping that people would think I was just dressed up as a guy. Brooke laughed at my idiocy, but I didn't feel to bad, hell I am in Belgium and somebody sitting next to me is painted blue.

Alicante

Well, after the crappy weather, we were treated to an absolutely gorgeous sunny and cool day. Unfortunately we would spend most of this day in the bus, which seems to happen quite often. One nice thing was that the storm dumped a bunch of snow on the mountains and we were treated to a magnificient site as we climbed up and around the foothills of the Sierra Nevada on our way to Alicante.

We were simply using Alicante as a place to fly out of and in fact were only spending about 10 hours there until we had to leave for our flight. Alicante is a very popular beach destination for Europeans and well connected by air to the North. We walked around town for an hour or two and actually got some really good Pallella here. Alicante is in the state of Valencia where the dish is from. It is funny because there is pallella all over the place in Spain but most of it is some pre-packaged yellow rice crap they make for tourists. It is hard to find the real hommeade stuff outside of nice restaurants in big cities and it's home in the SouthEast. We ate this and some chocolate and churros which was a nice way to say goodbye to Spain.

A wonderfully big diverse country that we spent a month in, but barely scratched the surface of. We ate and drank well and saw all the 'must see' sites and generally had a good time exploring. San Sebastian, Madrid, Granada and Catalyuna were all highlights but next time we would like to make it all the way to the west coast and down through Extremadura and deeper into the heart of Castilla La Mancha.

Hasta Luego Espana!

Granada

Now, this is the Southern Spain we were expecting. A big diverse city with spice markets and a maze of bazzars and street merchants. It has all the Islamic characteristics we were expecting to find in the other cities. There are a lot of students which give a bit of a bohemian atmosphere, but it is also a bit edgy with the feeling that if you are not careful you could be abducted and shipped off to work in an Algerian salt mine. It is also the home of free tapas. Woohoo! Tapas date back to when caravans were crossing the countryside and people would stop in for a drink. Travellers got drunk and caused havoc when drinking on an empty stomach, so the tavern owners put a 'top' on each drink (partially to keep the bugs out) to soak up the booze a bit. Granada is one of the last cities to practice this. We thought we would be getting a little tapa, maybe some bread with tomato, but we ordered two beers for 2 Euro each and got a plate filled with fries, two pieces of bread with ham and olives and cheese. Now that is a tapa.

The major draw here is the Alhambra which is a sprawling castle and one of the top sites in all of Spain. We hiked up to a neighborhood of narrow streets opposite the Alhambra which provide spectacular views of the castle and the Sierra Nevadas in the background. We also booked a 'free' Flamenco show since we just can't get enough of it. Since we made a reservation, we got a table right in front, but of course nothing is free and we got some overpriced appetizers and wine, but it was definitely worth it. The Flamenco museum taught us that the Flamenco in Granada is a bit more passionate than it's Sevillian cousin. There was a woman singer which was a bit different and the guitar player was the spitting image of Antonio Banderas. He was beating the hell out of his guitar and broke strings twice. The whole troope was a family and a young boy of about 10 was playing percussion. He was really good and after he got over his shyness busted out a little solo. The atmosphere was not as good, but not like Seville. It was nice to see a different style and compare and contrast them. On our way back home we stopped in a little Arabic cafe and had a pastry and tea along with a very pleasant smoke from a hukkah.

It was really hot when we got to Granada and we sweated pretty good hiking up to the overlook of the Alhambra. Determined not too be hot the next day, we wore our lightest clothes. When we stepped out of the hotel it was a little overcast but we were convinced that the merciless Andalucian sun would burn this off. After about 20 minutes of waiting in several different lines which everyone working there assured us was the right line, we finally got into the Alhambra. We bitch, but in the summer people daytrip here from all over the coast and the lines can be several hours long. The complex is massive and you could spend a whole day there. A woman we met in line is seeing it for the third time in 2 days. It is full of gardens and various castles. We went to one castle which was pretty cool but for some reason had a modern art display in it's basement. Not really the place for this guys. Well, whatever bigger fish to fry now because it has started raining. It steadily gets worse and the weather gets colder and colder. We are absolutely shocked by this because we were sweating to death the day before. Of course there is no weather channel to watch and we are not in the habit of checking the Internet each morning so we didn't bring any rain gear. So there we are, waiting in another line to see the main castle, in our thin shirts in the cold pouring rain. A sweet older Spanish woman took pity on Brooke and tried to share her umbrella, but she was about 4'2" and it wasn't really working, but she was insistent. We were thinking that this place better be worth it and luckily it was. All other palaces we saw pale in comparison to the detail put into the architecture of this one. It is just exquisite and romantic, and the location overlooking the city and valley below with the mountains on the opposite side is unparalleled. Washington Irving actually came and lived in this castle when it was abandoned in the 1800s. I am not sure how something this beautiful can be abandoned but apparently it was. We went to another part which was basically a huge garden-house with indoor and outdoor elements combined. At one point the weather turned even worse and a cloudy mist poured in at an alarming speed and enveloped us, it was like out of a Stephen King novel.
We made quick work of the rest of the sites and got back to get into some dry clothes. If it was nice we could have spent days up here, but it was not to be.

Luckily we had a hammam (Arabic bath) and massage to look forward to. After 2 months of backpacking around and wearing the same clothes, we figured we deserved an extended soak. The bath was top notch and well deserved after a day of freezing our asses off. It had 10 baths of all different temperatures, mostly warm and hot, but one was ice cold. It was dark and had low ceilings and had the exotic architecture that you could imagine was similar in earlier eras. We got a massage early on, then spent the rest of the time alternating between the hot and cold baths. We had some tea and just relaxed and soaked in the peaceful ambiance and aromatherapy. This was a real treat.

We loved Granada, it just had a great flavor to it. We could definitely have spent more time here. Young, vibrant, just big enough, edgy and best of all cheap. It is always nice to leave a country wanting more.

Ronda

A quick stopoff in the town of Ronda. It is a small town which is perched on top of a huge gorge. It is a pretty spectacular location and is a great place to walk around. An old hilly Islamic quarter of narrow streets perched on a spot with great views of the countryside. We checked out the museum of banditos which was small but fun and introduced us to some of the Spanish folklore, which is similar to our tales of Billy the Kid and such.

Not much going on here but a pretty enough town that could warrant a stopover.

Sevilla

The heart of Andalucia and the most 'Spanishy' of the Spanish cities. Flamenco, bullfighting and tapas all reign supreme. We thought it would be more of a melting pot being so close to Africa, but there was nary a kebab house in sight. We saw the Cathedral which is the largest Gothic church and the third largest church in the world. We have seen St. Peters and we just need to see St. Pauls in London to complete the biggest church tirfecta. The church was quite massive and impressive especially because we had not seen too many Gothic buildings yet. It contained the remains of Christopher Columbus,

but someplace in the Dominican Republic claims they have the remains as well. Who knows.

We ate some great tapas at a little place near our house, a pork roast sandwich with garlic olive oil and another with jamon and blue cheese. At another time we got a tapa of fried Camanbert with rasberry sauce and another of fired eggplant with honey, shizam they were delicious. Our hostel had a big rooftop with hammocks and chairs and the weather was quite beautiful, sunny but just cool enough to be pleasant. We spent some good qualitz time loafing about on the roof, which is a top notch 'activity'.

We went to another palace which was about 5 times larger and grander than the one in Cordoba. The top Islamic artists of the time were brought from around the world to design things here and it is spectacular. The geometric designs mixed with the Arabic writing is just spectacular. The gardens were equally impressive with orange and lemon trees and numerous fountains and waterworks.

So the real highlight here was Flamenco. Oh snap was this good. Flamenco is more than just the dance, it is music and singing and a whole way of life. The show we saw started with a guitar player who was just awesome accompanied by an older guy singing his heart out. The songs are like the Blues with the people singing deep, soulful, sad songs that are really moving. Then the female dancer came on. Wow, if you asked me to find the most Spanish looking woman I could, this would be her. She had two layers of long black dress and here hair in a bun with a net around it. The dancing is like very flamboyant tap dancing with a lot of hand motions. When she really got into it and was stomping and dancing around it was hypnotic. Her partner accompanied her towards the end and they just tore the floor up. Our hands were sore from clapping too much. At the end a young girl of about 8 came on and danced and sung a bit, it was a bit cutesy and seemed really geared for the tourists, but she was adorable and it just shows you how serious people take this and how young they start.

So, on this Flamenco high we decided we needed more so we visited the Flamenco museum the next day. It was a bit expensive, but full of information presented in an interactive format of videos and music which was really well done. We watched some older videos and learned about the styles across the different regions which helped make sense of what we saw.

That night was LSU v Georgia so we found a place to watch it. Yes, yes, we went to a place called 'Texas Lone Star Bar', but it was the only bar we could find showing the game and we drank Spanish beer so we didn't feel too much like sellouts. Well LSU got pounded but we had fun and drank beer in pitchers which is possibly the only place in Spain that this is possible. It was also entertaining watching Spaniards eat hamburgers and nachos with a fork and knife.

Cordoba

After going back through the hub of Madrid, we settled in for the 6 hour bus trip to Cordoba. Luckily we had our chess set and some scenery to keep us occupied. The terrain is relatively low key, but there are the old white windmills from Don Quixote next to the new energy producing windmills of today. We also spent time gawking at the sheer vastness of the olive tree orchards. Once we entered the state of Jaen we were surrounded by olive trees for as far as we could see in any direction for at least 3 hours of bus time. This one state produces 10% of the world's olive oil (let that sink in for a minute) and it is apparent. As an aside, we have discovered that we really like Spanish olive oil.

We got to Cordoba pretty late and called it an early night to get the most of the sites the next day. Sure, Europe has less room that the US and we were prepared for this. Living spaces are smaller and baths are more modest but we were not prepared for what our room had in store for us. We could barely get into the shower and close the sliding doors much less bathe normally. To compound this, the toilet was situated in such a way that when we managed to wedge our way in and sit down, our chins rested on the sink basin. It is funny in retrospect and the rest of the hostel was great especially the staff. The night guy gave us a tip that if we went to the Mezquita real early we could get in for free.

The next morning we got up early and headed for the Mezquita. It was a mosque that was turned into a church. A lot of the features of when it was a mosque are still preserved and this really makes it unique when this is combined with all the Christian relics. They were having mass in another part of the church, but we were free to wander in the other parts. Almost nobody was there and it was dark and peaceful. This combined with the incense and the occasional Latin we heard from mass really gave a special atmosphere to the place. We think this was one of the most magnificient structures we have ever seen. The Muslims don't use iconagraphy to decorate their places of worship, but instead carve and paint intricate geometrical designs. The Islamic arches also added to the exotic character. We were absolutely mesmerized by this place. After more people started filtering in and the bulbs started flashing the reverie was broken and we headed outside to the courtyard which was full of lemon and orange trees.

After a little second breakfast of chocolate and churros, we went to the Alcazar, the palace of the kings. The gardens were beautiful and still kept in great shape. Lots of flowing water which is a common feature in Islamic architecture. The palace was in great shape and is still used to host official functions one of which was going on when we were there.

It rained most of the rest of the day but we managed to walk around the old quarter a bit which is not without it's charm. We saw another small museum later in the day which houses Cordoba's most celebrated artist Romero Torres. He was a portrait painter who was popular in his lifetime and with his humble, melancholic and sometimes sexual portrayls of his subjects he really captured the essence of Andalucia and Spain.

We got some more local specialities and of course some olives and hung out on our terrace ready for our foray further into the heart of Andalucia.

Toledo

After a helluva time trying to figure out the Spanish transportation system we were on our way to Toledo. The heart of Catholic Spain and a very beautiful city. It is in the state of Castilla La Mancha of Don Quixote fame. The city is walled and on a cliff and is easily walkable. They wanted $13US each to see the church which seemed ridiculous especially after seeing a pile of chuches in Italy (including St. Peter's) for free.

We spent most of the day strolling around the hilly city taking photos and just relaxing. A bunch of chess sets were being sold in stores and we ended up picking up a travel set. After walking around all day we were beat and picked up some Manchego cheese (from this region) and local wine and brought it back to our room. We hadn't seen the room yet and we weren't sure if we wanted to take the food back and eat it there. Brooke was apprehensive especially after the crap hole in Salamanca. I joked that maybe it has a balcony and a view over the city. We laughed at the preposterousness of that remark until we got to the room and it did have a balcony that did overlook part of the city. Yeaah.

That morning we had some breakfast in a cafe and noticed not for the first time that people were drinking. Some municipal workers were having some breakfast beers to start their day. We have seen others drink in the morning too. All types of people, from businessman in suits having a glass of wine to city workers having a few this seemed real common. Something that is so taboo in our society but very normal here.
Later on our way to see the synagouge (one of only 3 left in Spain after the inquisition got through with their work) we ran into a flea market. These markets are always fun and we never miss a chance to stroll through one to see what is for sale. I noticed a particularly bulked up Spanish guy (not a common sight) with two middle aged women around him giggiling. As I peered a little closer I saw that he was trying to sell them the firemans calendar. This made us giggle too.

Madrid

Wow, we love this city. What a vibrant place with everything going on all the time. It was a little offsetting at first though. We dropped our stuff at the hostel and went out to explore and it was like stepping into a David Lynch film. First there was a gimpy armed gypsy with trinkets and old pictures on her blanket, then there was a guy with no arms who was holding a plastic cup full of change with his mouth and beating it into his chest non-stop making a wild spectacle and when we quickened our pace to get away from him there was a midget on some milk crates selling lotto tickets yelling hello to somebody in the crowd. Ahhhhh! We ducked into a kebab house before a talking horse rounded the corner and offered us some coffee and pie.

We walked down one of the main drags with broadway type shows playing, tons of traffic, restaurants and just a lot of stuff going on. Brooke mentioned it was a bit like New York, but on a little smaller scale. At this point in the trip we were getting a bit homesick so we found a theater that was showing movies in English and caught a flick. We saw 'Burn After Reading', which was not really well done, but fun nonetheless. Popcorn and a coke (both a normal size without prodigous amounts of butter and ice respectively) helped us escape into the movie. The theater was a bit smaller and lacked the stadium seating that most American movie theaters have, but you can by tickets online and reserve your seat which is kinda cool.

The next day we went to the royal palace. The armoury had some of the best weapons and armor that we had seen and by this point we had seen a lot. It was mostly ornamental armor worn by the king and nobles and their horses so it was really intricate. We got some chocolate and churros for the first time. Basically donuts served with real thick hot chocolate that you dip them into. Good stuff.

That afternoon we saw the Thyssen museum which is an art collection from a private collector and his wife. Now if this sounds modest, let me assure you it is not. I am not sure what these people did, but they amassed a collection of art that could rival most top tier museums in the world. The collection had art (paintings mostly) from the medieval era up to the mid 1900's and it was presented chronologically which we are fans of. The Spanish masters were all represented and they had a large collection of Dutch and Flemmish painters as well as lots of Impressionist art which Brooke really enjoys.
That night Real Madrid and their cross town rivals Atletico Madrid were playing each other. We had been wanting to go to this game and figured as Americans actually interested in soccer, we would be met and escorted to the game by a diplomatic contingent and seated with king Juan Carlos. This is not what happened. Apparently this game is more popular than the second coming of Jesus and no tickets were to be had. Since Spain doesn't really have sports bars, we caught the game at an Irish pub. It was packed with Madrillenos and the atmosphere was lively. The game was tight and almost ended in a draw until a BS penalty was called on Atletico and Real scored on the penalty kick in the 90th minute. Some were happy others sad but the experience was fun. As a bonus the OU game came on right after so we got to watch a little bit of this American Football that seems to be so popular across the pond. The only drawback of this is that we spent like 5 hours in a bar and came out smelling like a smokestack. These people smoke like crazy and we comiserrated the next day with some other travelers whose whole packs just reeked. Not being able to wash or separate your clothes after a night out is a drag.
We went to the Prado the next day which is supposedly Madrids finest museum. There were some great pieces in there including a bunch of dark Goya's and El Greco's. It also contained a very popular painting by Velazqauez called 'Las Meninas'. This was a painting which Picasso interpreted several different ways and produced a roomful of paintings which we had seen earlier in the trip in the Picasso museum in Barcelona. It was nice to put the actual painting

in the context of some of Picasso's interpretations.


Overall the museum was good but the Thyssen was better. We wouldn't get to see the other great museum, the Reina Sofia, but we loved Madrid and I could definitely see another trip here.
We spent the rest of our Sunday in the big gorgeous park with all the other Madrilenos and their families. There is an artifical lake in the middle that you can ride boats on and a big mausoleum for Alfonso XII. It was a perfect fall day and strolling around the park was a relaxing way to escape the hectic city for a bit. There is a memorial for the victims of Madrid train bombings (which were at a station not far from the park) which we passed by to pay our respects. The oddest feature of the park was a statue to the fallen angel. You don't see many statues to Satan, especially in the middle of a capital city's marquee park, but there he was.

We grubbed on some Chinese food at a great little restaurant. It was outstanding food and was full of people even late on a Sunday. Just another nice thing about a big city is that everything you could want is around the corner.

We had a great time in Madrid. People knock it for being a big city, which it is, but it is a big Spanish city with all the flare and energy that you would expect from the heart of Spain.

Salamanca

Another even more beautiful bus ride on our way to Salamanca. We went through the Picos mountain that we were bordering the whole time. It was in a word beautiful. Similar to northern New Mexico, big open passes, mountains, lakes. Just big and beautiful and vast and empty. I don't think we passed a single town on our way to Salamanca. Along with it being the harvest season (grapes, olives, etc) another benefit of travelling in the fall is seeing the leaves change. I never knew trees could get this color. The typical yellows sure, but some rich reds and oranges and every now and then a purple that I did not know even existed in nature.

Salamanca is a beautiful town with great architecture and a young population of students. We had a good time here, but it was tainted a bit by the craptacularness of our hotel. We thought we were getting a good deal only paying 28 euro, but you get what you pay for. I think the mildew even had mildew on it and the 'rooftop terrace' was covered in pigeon crap and feathers even though it did have the promised view of the cathedral.


We took a walking tour and soaked up the architecture.

A little vegetarian food during the day helped cleanse the arteries from pork fat but we sure made up for it that night. I ordered some potato dish that the restaurant seemed to specialize in. When we saw it come out it was orange and Brooke remarked 'oh, it must be sweet potatoes'. Oh no my friends, the orange is from chorizo pork fat. And those 'walnut' looking things on top, fried crispy bacon.

We went out and absorbed some of the student nightlife and the few drinks helped us sleep in our craphole. Some breakdancing in the square and some bars with cool ambiance and tapas rounded out our evenings.

Oveido

About 5 hours on the bus took us to Oveido in the province of Austurias. We had some absolutely gorgeous scenery on the way. The mountain range of the Picos de Europa is near the coast and we rode between the inlet ridden coast and the mountains. This part of Spain gets a ton of rain. It is green and lush even in the late summer. All this rain helps support a healthy population of milk cows and apple orchards. With this the people make what else but cheese and cider and this is what we came here for. We walked around the city for a bit and then stopped into a Sidreria on a street lined with them.

There are 40 different types of cheese made here and we got a plate sampling 10 of them. Of course we drank the cider which was much better here than other places we drank it in Spain. Now the fun part of cider is that the waiter holds the bottle above his head as far as he can with his right hand and holds the cup in his left hand as low as he can and pours it in. This is to get the cider foamy and it really brings out the flavor. Unfortunately this is very difficult even for experienced people and as a result half the cider goes on the floor. Cider pouring is really messy business, but at 2 euro for a big bottle no worries.

This is a beautiful part of the world and shatters the general stereotypes of Spain. Lush and mountainous and more like the Scottish highlands than Spain. It is less touristy and we would have really liked to explore a little deeper and go even farther west. This would take time and probably require a car, but we got a little taste to help better plan another trip in the future.

Bilbao

So we didnt have this part of the trip really planned out, but since we were near Bilbao and the Guggenheim, why not make a stop. This was also reinforced by the fact that trains dont really run along the coast up here and all bus trips to other places we were thinking about going were upwards of 6 hours. Spain is big. Bigger than either of us realized and getting around is a bit of a hassle. Buses are just more practical for everyone it seems.
I was expecting Bilbao to be a pretty crummy industrial city so when it turned out to be a relatively nice mid sized town we were pleasantly surprised. The Guggenheim is closed on Mondays, so we spent the afternoon just walking around.
. Not a bad place, but just not much interesting going on.

Now the Gug is something special. Just a crazy building that may seem out of place, but Ghery made sure to integrate it into the landscape and the surrounding buildings.

Surrounding the Gug is a spider statue complete with eggs

and the beloved local mascot, a terrier made out of flowers nicknamed 'El Poop'.

Inside are cavernous open spaces that house some really avant-garde art. It is mostly installations that dont make much sense, but there is a free tour and the guide made an attempt to explain some of the pieces. We cant say we loved all of it but some pieces were designed specifically for this place and they seem to all fit with the futuristic cutting edge design of the building.

San Sebastian

Now after our harrowing train adventure, we stepped off into quite a wonderful little city. It was about 7 in the morning and the city was just coming to life. The city was clean and beautiful and was a welcome sight. We arrived early at our B and B and one of the guests who was up early let us in. Real nice guy who was on his honeymoon. We hung out and waited for the owners to get there. They couldn`t have been nicer and more accomodating. Our room was ready and we could check in at 8 and they even made us breakfast. Realy wonderful people who would later get us a bottle of champagne because it was my birthday. We took a nap for a couple of hours and then went off to explore.


San Sebastian is a well-heeled resort town. Queen Isabella had her summer home here which helped solidify the cities reputation. No cheesy tshirt shops here, just beautiful beaches and beautiful architecture.


We can`t overstate how nice this place is. The weather was nice and we strolled along the old town and beachfront and dug into our first Pinxtos, Basque tapas.

Little sandwiches with peppers, some gorgonzola, salmon and a seafood ball which was quite a fine discovery. It tasted like a deep fried ball of shrimp etoufee. It was outstanding.

Every place seems to work differently and ordering food can be a little intimidating at first. We asked for a plate and pretty much picked whatever we wanted to eat, then just stood up and ate it. You have to remember what you ate and tell them when you are ready to pay. Some places you only get one plate, others a plate for each of us and still others where you just eat with your hands from the plates on the bar, plateless. We went to a few different places for lunch, having a bite or two and a drink in each place. This is the true art of pinxto eating and was a lot of fun. This really is a good way to eat.

We got some much needed sleep and decided to celebrate my birthday on the 11th so we could sleep in the next day and wouldn`t have to travel after going out. We started early and hit damn near every pinxtos bar in the city. Some highlights were skewers of grilled fish and meat, a pimento stuffed with a creamy cod (way better than it sounds), a goat cheese pimento and salmon pinxtos and a rabbit leg.

We ate the little fried seafood ball at every place we could find it. We drank a crisp white wine which is a staple of the region and goes well with seafood. Now, what we didn`t like was the heavy use of mayo. They seem to put it on everything. No thanks. We tried our share of anchoives and herring, but we just don`t have the taste for them. Well at least we tried.
We had a great time hitting all the bars and absorbing the night life. We had a conversation with the bartender at one restaurant about San Sebastian and Basque food.

She spoke easy to understand Spanish, and when I have a few drinks in me I can somehow speak better. It is like playing pool, a couple drinks help relax you and prevent you from thinking too much, but a few too many and you are knocking balls out the window.

The next day our heads were a little heavy and since it was my actual birthday Brooke said we could do anything I wanted, except for ride bikes. So naturally we rode bikes. After the initial headache wore off we got into the groove.

We rode up a hill to a watchtower which provided beautiful views over the city and the countryside.


Of course it was cloudy, which seems to be a reoccuring theme anytime we manage to hike, bike or climb our way to the top of something. Oh well, it was fun anyway and there was an amusment park from the 1960s on the top of the hill. There weren`t too many people around and a half empty amusement park in the windy overcast weather can be a little spooky. Unfortunately the `Casa del Terror` (hee hee, casa del terror) was closed.

But there was a mini roller coaster that we rode. It was way more fun than expected. It was old and rickety and ran around the edge of the cliff and was run by an old Spanish carney. It was 2 euro, but hell it was my birthday and a roller coaster ride was in order.
We rode down and had a little mini-pinxtos session and got some rest, sorry to leave this picture perfect little resort.

Night Train

So even with 5 days to make plans, we didn`t buy our tickets to San Sebastian until the last minute. We planned on taking the night train to save some money on hotels and some time. We only had a choice of buying 1st class seats or a 2nd class couchette sleeper. They were both about the same price and the guy at the counter suggested that riding in the first class seats was better than being packed into a tiny compartment with 6 people in beds. I agreed, so first class it was.

Now, I know everybody has an idea what first class means to them. Free champagne and choclates, perhaps a butler (I wasn`t really expecting this but I was expecting some manner of luxury) It wasn`t terrible, but a bit dirty with a crapy bathroom nearby. We expected a little more. I couldn`t help but wonder what the regular class was like. No worries, only about 9 hours to endure and at the moment we had the 6 person carraige to ourselves. We were relaxing and about an hour later another person got into our carriage. We exchanged respectful hellos and all tried to settle in. After about another hour we all had two seats to ourselves and were laying down in the dark trying to get some sleep. Hey, this isn`t too bad. Í felt the train stop again and we prayed that nobody was coming into our car. The chattering and noise got louder and stopped in front of our door then all hell broke loose.

The door opened and we all sat upright and clicked the lights on to make room for what arrived. It was an older bedouin couple from Yemen just chattering away at the top of their lungs. We were half-dazed from sleep and this was quite a rude awakening. They spent about 5 minutes arguing over the suitcase while it was on my foot. `Yeah dude, just put it up in the lugage rack, that is where it goes.` Now as they sat down still talking non-stop, I noticed they were on the phone, long distance or something with cousin Faesal. They had the phone away from their ears just yelling into it. Brooke and I were exchanging horrified glances with each other and the other guy in our carriage. The phone conversation lasted at least 15 minutes, but when they were off the chattering continued. This was quite a poor turn of events, but nothing to do but sit back and suffer.
The talking eased off just a bit as time went on and we may have even dozed off for a bit. When we got to Pampalona, the conductor came by and announced it and the giant signs outside stated that we were in Pampalona. The bedouin woman must have repeated Pampalona, Pampalona like 50 times to Brooke, yes woman, this is clearly Pampalona. All our roomies got off a bit later and we were able to sleep horizontally for about 2 hours for the final leg into San Sebastian. Next time we are flying.

Barca

Barcelona, one of the best cities I have been to in recent memory and also where I met Mike Hicks for the first time. Mike was there teaching English, and I was there on vacation. He was living with a mutual friend that I knew through Drew, so we all hooked up and hung out. We talked and Mike mentioned he was moving back to Texas and I invited him to stay with Drew and I for a bit and the rest is history. So, Brooke has had to endure us talking about how cool Barcelona is and how good the food and architecture is, blah blah blah, so it was built up in her mind. We spent 5 days there which is an eternity when you are traveling like this. We stayed
up in the Eximaple, a bit away from the touristy areas. Barca has good transportation, and walking a bit is no problem when you have some time. It was nice to be able to really take it slow when seeing things.

Barcelona is a city I could see myself living in and we really wanted to soak up the atmosphere. It has always reminded me of San Francisco but warmer. Big, progressive, clean with beautiful archeticture and a creative edgy populace. Gaudi and the modernista architects had a huge influence on this city and Brooke came to quickly appreciate their style.

Between the medievel old town and the modern Exiample the quirky flowing lines of the modernistas really sets the tone. We walked around a lot just soaking in the atmosphere. Barcelona has been experiencing a bit of a Renaissance since the Olympics in `92. It is one of the top cities for young people in the EU to move to.

It was fun hanging out at nights in our hood, eating and drinking at the cafes up and down the street. We had chicken and cheese crepes one night which was basically like a burrito, ate tapas, had cava and generally enjoyed ourselves. We hung out in a square one night just full of people our age drinking beer and playing with their dogs. We took up a spot in a cafe and ordered some tapas. Now, we have been in Italy for a month and I have been trying to speak Italian by modifying my Spanish a bit. The languages are very similar but just different enough to confuse me. I have really been working to say `di` instead of `de` and `senza` instead of `sin` and pronouncing all my c`s as `ch` and now it bit us in the ass. We order what we usually order in Italy, a bottle of `vino rosso`, red wine. Now from being in Mexico both Brooke and I know that in Spanish, red wine is vino tinto (colored) and vino rosso is some pink crap. So here we are, with all these hip Barcelona kids drinking a bottle of pink wine. It was gawd awful and embarassing.

Single gentelmen, listen up. We saw this place in our guide book and gave it a cursory glance (perhaps Brooke`s glance was more steadfast), until we saw it was free on Monday. This being Monday we headed over. Free to get in and a free bar of choclate per entry, the chocolate museum was the place to be. Where else can you see a choclate Pieta, I think this is much better than that crap by Michelangelo, this should be in the Vatican.

Now, I was tired and while Brooke was in a fantasy land of choclate history and sculpture I had a seat, where I made the astute observation that the chocolate museum is a great place to pick up chics. I think I was the only man in the place and was surrounded by women under the magical spell of the cocoa bean. There was also an exhibit on the Barcelona soccer team, I assume to give the attached men in the audience some entertainment. I had a hard time reconciling why the soccer stuff belonged in a chocolate museum, but it was free and I was tired so I sat quietly and ate my chocolate.

So the people in Barcelona are on average young and progressive. Hash is basically leagal here and people take full advantage of this. I want to draw some sort of correlation between hash consumption and hairstyles here. The mullet is insanely popular. A guy from Barcelona that we met in Mexico even had a mullet. Fine whatever, you want to rock the mullet, you are European, I will give you some leeway. Now what I have never seen is the dread mullet. These are people whith short normal hair on top and with mullet dreadlocks. Some dreads are short, others longer, but it is just wild to see. It is not isolated either, in our time here
we saw perhaps 30 or 40 people were rolling with this style.

We did a lot in our time here, saw the Picasso museum which had a lot of his early work and stuff from his blue period. We saw the Joan Miro museum which is pretty out there but pretty fascnitating. The Sagrada Familia, Gaudis unfinished masterpiece.

We went to the Gaudi designed Park Guell

which is a wonderful hodgepodge of fantastical structures. We got to make a pilgramage to Montjuic, home of the `92 Olympics where Oklahoma native Shannon Miller began her quest of becoming the most decorated female gymnast in US history.
One night we caugt some classical guitar at a gorgeous old theater. It was a nice treat to catch some music and see some top notch Spanish guitar.

We took a daytrip to Monserrat

which is a Monestarry perched on a huge cliff. We hiked to the summit which was wonderfully scenic and afforded close-up views of all the unique rock formations.

There were several that were supposed to look like things, a pregnant woman for instance, but we just made up our own things which was a lot more fun. The hike was a lot of fun and reaching the top had some pretty decent views even though it was cloudy. Apparantly on a clear day you can see the island of Mallorca.

Cadaques and Port Ligat

We actualy stayed in the neighbouring town of Cadaques which is a little bigger and easier to find cheaper accomodation and just a few minutes walk from Port Ligat. We were surprised to find a little balcony in our room which was nice. Cadaques is a picture perfect little fishing village with whitewashed houses and narrow streets, and a calm harbor full of boats.

The weather was a little cooler than we expected, but if it was warm this place would be overrun with sunseekers, so no worries. We walked around the picturesque little town, watched the sunset and got some tapas and a drink near the water. Some people actually asked us for directions in Spanish and I was able to answer them and even point them in the right direction.

Since we had a balcony, we got some snacks and hung out and soaked it in.
The next day we walked over to Port Ligat to see Dali`s house. This is something I didn`t get to do my first time around and was itching to get there. I didn`t have high expectations for this place. It costs about 15 US and you have to make a reservation to see the place. Fortunately we were pleasently surprised.

His house was as crazy as his museum and his life. It was originally his family,s vacation house and was just big enough for him and his Gala. Gala was Dali`s wife and muse. She was the wife of a Russian and when her and some friends met Dali in Spain, they ran away together and would remain together until the end of their days. The house expanded over the years and would eventually be built up and contain several rooms, a pool and a garden on a hill. Now, even though he expanded it, it was very very modest by international icon standards. Dali, although eccentric, was rather modest in regard to material posessions. Clearly as the polar bear in the living room would indicate.


Great place, I would have loved to party with this guy here.

We walked around the little village of Port Ligat which has not changed much over the years.


Now this may not seem like a big deal, but it can be quite rare in some parts of Spain where beach tourism is huge. Just 30 minutes down the road is a huge town of mini golf, hamburgers and t shirt shops. You might as well be in Gulf Shores. On our way to the bus station we saw a little side of the road stand with a woman selling food. She had some little nuggets stuffed with a type of creamed chicken which were remarkably good. Eating street nuggets from a nice old Spanish woman on a Sunday on the coast was when we finally settled into the Spanish groove.

Figueres and Dali

Okay, so the inevitable Spain and Italy comparisons are forthecoming. As much as we want to enjoy each place on it`s own merit, it is hard. The coffee we have had is nothing close to Italy. Italian coffee is something else. So rich and smooth. Nothing like that here, but on the bright side the proximity to France has provided some outstanding croissants and much better bread. Off to the mad, mad world of Salvador Dali. I have always loved Dali and his warped outlook on life which is reflected in his art. Brooke has never been a huge fan of the Dali work she has seen but the museum definitely changed her mind. Seeing a range of his work from the span of his entire life puts things into perspective. Dali got to design his own museum in his hometown and he made it as crazy as his artwork. It is a jumbled assortment of his paintings, sculptures and installations set up in
a way meant to confuse and promote random wandering. The museum is just fun in a way many art museums are not. You leave with a kind of giddy feeling like wandering through Alice`s looking glass. Dali was born in Figueres and grew up there and wouldn`t think of having his museum or his final resting place anywhere else, but
I never found the town too inviting. Apparently neither did Dali since he actually lived most of his life on the coast in the nearby town of Port Ligat. I think we will head there too.

Girona

Our first foray into Espana. I love Spain and wanted to show Brooke all the places I had been recently, plus hit several more. Being able to kludge my way through the language and with Brooke picking up a surprising amount in our time in Mexico, we felt in more familiar territory. We could ditch all translation
books and dig in a bit more. Girona is a nice enough little town with a great little medievel quarter. A church sits high up on a hill and it is so clean it looks like it was built just the other day.

Not that we were tired of Italian food, but we were excited to eat some different things. Apparently all the Italian food followed us here because there were a lot of pizza and gelato places around. Our first meal was a Jamon Iberico (acorn fed pig, props to Mr. Hicks for recommending we eat the Iberico) `hamburger` with grilled onions and Brooke had a cured Jamon Iberico, goat cheese and pimento
sandwich. Not a bad start. We had our first tapas later that night. Some little chorizos, patatas bravas and mushrooms in olive oil and garlic. Now these patatas bravas were some of the best I have ever eaten. This dish can range all over the map
from the sauce being ketchup and mayo to this. The brava sauce came on the side for dipping and was a homemade tomato sauce that tasted like a homemade marinara with a splash of homemade BBQ sauce and a splash of heat. It was outstanding.

Viva RyanAir

Okay, why don`t we have RyanAir in our country? Our base ticket cost 2.99 Euro to get from Rome to Barcelona. That is less than 5 dollars. Sure we had to pay taxes, baggage fees and check in fees, but after all that we still flew for less than 60 dollars US each. I love these people, and it certainly doesn`t hurt that they are Irish. Yeah fine, there is no free stuff on the plane, but they sell stuff that the people want like pizza, good beer and lotto tickets. They load the plane from two doors so everybody gets on a lot quicker. Now, the only thing free is the on flight magazine which is usually a joke on US airlines. It is usually a boring hodgepodge of articles which try to appeal to the widest audience without alienating people or advertisers, kinda like network TV. Now on RyanAir the magazine has interesting and at times dare I say cheeky material. Articles on truffle hunting, where to stay eat and party in Belgium and what city has the cheapest prostitutes in Europe (Budapest if you are keeping score at home). The magazine also advertised a swimsuit calendar of their flight attendents where all the profits go to charity. Now this is an airline. On top of all this we got to our destination 10 minutes early. Bravo RyanAir, bravo.

The Amalfi Coast

Ok, I think I am running out of superlative adjectives here, so I will just say that this place is really, realy, really, pretty. And good. We took a hydrophoil

over the bay of Naples to Sorrento to catch a bus to our final destination, Priano. A small town on the Amalfi Coast that we heard was a little less touristy than the rest. This will be our vacation from our vacation, a time to just hang out on the beach and on our balcony and just loaf.
The bus ride from Sorrento to Priano was breathtaking. The road is about wide enough for a suburban, but somehow two buses manage to run past each other. Some times, buses come to a complete stop to inch past each other on these hairpin turns. Check this road out.

It is about 500 feet down and the road runs right on the edge of the cliff. Again, the honking around the corners so that you know a giant bus is barreling down the road.
This area is so beautiful it defies my poor vocabulary.

The sea is gorgeous and the mountains rise up out of it so dramatically and keep going up and up and up.


Cinque Terre seems like foothills compared to this place. Now, we didn´t even get to explore this whole area. An island called Ischia (is-kee-ah), the island of Capri (Ka-pree), we were told that these were not to be missed, but we have been running around enough, and find this little place to be as good as anyone could ask for. I mean, we went to use the Internet and this place was perched on the side of a cliff and we just sat there afterwards watching the most goregous sunset.

This place was truly paradise.
We splurged on a hotel
with a balcony

so we could realy enjoy our time here. Those vines in front are grapes, which actually dried up and became the sweetest raisins that we snacked on.
Some beach loafing, some fresh seafood dinners and some rest made us happy campers.


On to Espana....

Pompeii

In the morning we went to the archeological museum of Naples which everybody says is top notch and they do not lie. A lot of the easily transportable statues, mosaics and other works of art from Pompeii/Herculaneum are there. We really dig mosaics and their are some awesome examples. A piece called the Alexander mosaic has over 1 million individual mosaics in it. The Farnese Bull is there, which is thought to be the largest ancient sculpture. It is freakin huge. There is a really extensive collection of coins and almost all denomonations from about 1500 years are represented.

Now, another less scholarly section of the museum was dedicated entirely to sex. This part of the museum has been alternatively opened and closed to the public depending on the prevaling social mores of the era. Since the museum was founded in 1585, it has been open and shut several times, but thankfully it is now open to the rabble. Now sure, ancient people adored the human body and loved to represent it in an artistic manner. We can all sit around and nod at what equisite work was done on a statue of a nude Hercules or something, but this was basically ancient pornography. People in every imaginable position: in mosaic, in painting, in fresco, in sculpture, on the sides of amphoras. And just to add to the spicieness of the room there were phalluses everywhere. Ancient people believed the penis warded off evil spirits and brought good luck (I knew it was good for something). And apparently the bigger the member the more evil it kept away. Ok, on to the real deal and some more high brow sites.

So we are at Pompeii and after the forum, the center of the town and the heart of life. Everything is well preserved, from urns at lunch counters to the temples, to a few peoples bodies. You really feel that you could live in this city today. Then we make our way to the Lupanarium, litteraly ´the place of the she-wolves`. The brothel. Man, this trip has really taken a turn into the gutter. Basically a building divided up into about 6 rooms with stone beds (sex must have been uncomfortable back then), with more mosaics and frescoes of sex covering the walls.

We spent the rest of the time wandering from building to building in the enormous city of Pompeii. We were there about 4 hours and didn`t see half of it, you could easily spend a day or two there. It really is an entire city preserved. The whole place is in pretty good shape and you can really get a feel for what the city must have been like.

The stadium is very well preserved.


As is two theatres. Baths were well preserved and everything was labeled and explained in a way that really brought you into what life might have been like. These last two days were a real highlight and we had loads of fun at these ruins in these beautiful surroundings. And nothing is a better reward after a hard day of hiking around than delicious pizza pie, so big it falls off the plate.

Herculanium

Vesuvius and Herculanium are right next to each other so we checked Herculanium out in the afternoon. It was named as such because it was supposedly founded by Hercules. It is less well known than Pompeii because it is smaller and was less significant historically, but it is much better preserved because it was covered in mud while Pompeii was covered in ash. Second stories exist on buildings with the roofs intact, statues are preserved, things are in better shape but not as numerous. It was free due to the Italian cultural weekend so that just made it sweeter (entrance was 11 Euro each, yikes). Now this is what ancient ruins are supposed to be like. Well preserved buildings and all the sites were well labled. We got the audio guide and it was great (Rome, listen up). We really felt that we got a feel for the city and it´s past. Check out the preserved frescoes:

Good times, this was one of the better parts of the trip. Like a museum but one you could be a part of. A lot of work walking around today, so back to Naples and more pizza.