ESPANA

I noticed I had this post in draft status only. Not sure why I never posted it. It's really old from 5 years ago but it's about Spain which was a great trip so I thought why not post it now.

I went to Spain in September 2006. I had gone there before but only to the Southern Coast. This time I went to Madrid, Sevilla and Barcelona. We flew into Madrid and took trains to get to the other cities.

Our first stop when we landed in Madrid on Saturday, was the Atocha train station, and we went direct to Seville. We took a bus into town and easily found our hotel. We actually stayed at a Best Western of all places, and we stayed in the new wing of the hotel so it may have been the cleanest hotel I've ever stayed at. We thought they ate late in Spain, but when we headed out at 10:30pm, we could only find one place that would serve us some food. So it looks like late nights do not apply to Seville. Seville seemed very old world to me. It's a beautiful city. We stayed for only one night. Since we were short on time, we visited this amazing Palace and then went on a bus tour so we could take in all the "main" sites of the town. Below is a photo of the palace that we saw.
We then left for Madrid on Sunday. We were originally just supposed to overnight it in Madrid and head out to Barcelona on Monday. But we found out all the tickets were sold out for the trains we needed for Sept 11 so we had to stay an extra day in Madrid. Atleast we were able to see more of Madrid. Our hotel was in the heart of the city. Very modern. With a free lap top and internet access included. When we first arrived in Madrid, I actually found it a bit daunting. It reminded me very much of New York City, but with a language barrier. Our hotel was just above the main Plaza. There were hookers around the corner and apparentlymy friends saw a man running for a gun when they went out for a smoke. But aside from the initial scare, Madrid is a beautiful cosmoplitan city. The restaurants were open late here. We actually ate dinner at this Italian restaurant near by. Food was really good.

We saw another amazing palace while in Madrid and walked around town. We found this cute neighborhood that felt sort of like the Village. We took in the traditional Flamenco show and ofcourse went to the museum which they have plenty of...ok now it's hard to write a recap of the trip because it's been like 7 months already and I never finished writing this blog..yikes.

Basically after Madrid we went to Barcelona for like 3-4 days...very artsy beautiful city. Gaudi abounds and is amazing. It was cold and rainy during our time in Barcelona unfortunately. Our the apartment we rented was right on the main tourist strip around the corner from a Plaza. Lots of students and tourists. There's a beach at the end of the strip. The beach is dirty and since it was kind of cold still not somewhere where we spent much time. Actually the strip is kind of gritty in some parts but it gives it more flavor that way. I felt I could not appreciate the city as much because of the weather. We did go to the harbor and check out the shopping mall. Long lines at the Picasso Museum led us only to walk in the entrance way and use the bathroom. We made it to Sagrada Familia and Guell Park all in one day - that was a lot of trecking - but totally worth it. It was a sight to behold. We ended up in a ritzy part of Barcelona and had tapas. Barcelona is a diverse city with lots to offer. Little passageways along the main strip - you never know what you'll find.

C'est La Vie to Summer

Another summer come and gone. What? I can't believe it. It's so true - the older you get, the faster the time passes. I miss those 2 month summer breaks, and it looks like I always will miss those times as I'll never get those types of vacations again. Here I am wasting away a Saturday morning...actually I like when I get to relax and veg out. Sometimes my weekends are so packed full I have no time to take care of the menial tasks of daily life...like my clean laundry piled on a chair in my room for like 2 weeks or getting a couch for our new apt...uh we moved in like 3 months ago but hey...actually maybe that's not because I'm busy. It could just be because I'm a couch potato. Whatever the case may be, on a rainy dreary cold saturday like this one, you aren't motivated to do anything whatsoever. It's Labor Day weekend and the temperature already dropped 20 degrees...is this a sign that a brutal winter is to come? My sis just moved to Taiwan for a year (or more maybe more!!??).. She gets to miss the cold and will instead have to sustain many more months of 100 degree weather and typhoon season. What's better? Snow or torrential down pours? I can't believe my lil sis is off on her own like that. I'm already missing that bitch so much. How dare she leave? Actually I'm proud of her. It will be a great experience.
And I actually do like the fall season where your ass doesn't sweat when you wear jeans and only a light jacket is required or just long sleeves. I just find it depressing because I know what it all leads up to...cold...brutal cold...
Actually I'm going on vacation soon so I get to extend the summer a little more. I'm excited because I'm going to my dream city...I'll be going with a couple of friends. For the past 2 years, the only vacations I took were with my boyfriend - either with him or to visit him or to spend time with him when he visited me...That's the trouble with long distance, when you have limited vacation days, you spend all your vacation days with him...Not that it was a bad thing but I didn't go away with my sis or visit my friend in the Philippines..because I used up my vacation time. It was worth it at the time, but now that we broke up..
My ex went to Spain recently and I haven't heard back from him since.
Perhaps he had so much fun there, he never returned or maybe he's forgotten me and met some new chick, not that he's supposed to remember me since we broke up which means we don't owe anything to each other. But it's not like we had stopped emailing. Not sure what I'm expecting..just bored perhaps since I haven't dated since the break up (except that strange blind date). Wasn't ready yet to step out into the dating scene, but maybe I am now. Technology today...I do admit, if it weren't for email my ex and I couldn't of ever had made our relationship work. It's amazing if you think about it. And hopefully my sis will get email up and running there in Taiwan so I can keep closer tabs on her. Even if we're far apart, I still feel the need to make sure all is alright. She is my lil sis after all.