Update

First and foremost, I have recently began writing some more creative pieces. If interested, these will begin to show up on the other site. So this is a revision of the last post. NOW not only opinion, but also my more random train of thoughts and creative writing along the way will begin to appear on the other site.

Its address again:

http://www.theworldisee2day.blogspot.com/

Secondly, I have (tentatively) begun to solidify my future travels:

February 29-March 2: Lisbon, Portugal
March 6-9: London, England
March 13-15: Dublin, Ireland (for St. Patty's)
March 16-17: Copenhagen, Denmark
March 18: Amsterdam, Holland
March 19-20: Brussels, Belgium
March 21-22: Paris, France
April 10-13: Berlin, Germany
April 15-18: Basque Country, Spain
May 1-4: Either Prague, Vienna, or French Riviera
*other notable day trips: hopefully Sevilla, Cordoba, and Segovia
May 5: Denver, Colorado where my mom, as she puts it, will "s'mother" me...

Either way, I be busy in the coming days.

A new site...

I had another urge to rant on political matters today. Instead of putting that on you guys here, I have created a separate site for days when I need to get things off my chest. Check it out only if you want to uncover the opinions relating to the world I see:

http://www.theworldisee2day.blogspot.com/

Barca...

Recently, I spent the week in Barcelona with my program. We stayed in a nice hotel in a centrally located area (right next to Plaza Cataluna and minutes from the famous Las Ramblas). My favorite part of the hotel was we had REAL breakfast for a change since Spaniards generally only eat bread and jelly in the morning. Oh, and we had this awesome elevator-like music that we could play in our room all day...which we did. It was soothing. After four days our official visit with the program was over, but the majority of us remained in the city for the weekend. It was at this point that myself, another Tyler, and Manuel went and checked into our hostel, which was called Mambo Tango. Mambo Tango was a neat place. It was run by these two hippie brothers, their mom, and one of their girlfriends. The place was super clean, we got breakfast every morning, and they bumped Bob Marley songs all day across the hostel...oh, and one of the brothers names was Toti; he had dreads and to my knowledge, did not shower or change clothes the three days we were there. Did not matter though because he was a solid guy.

While in Barca, we went to the Sagrada Familia, Parque Guell, and Casa Batllo (all of which were designed by the modernist architect, Antoni Gaudi). We also went to the Picasso Museum, dined at a special restaurant called 4Gats where he and all his intellectuals hung out at all the time, spent time in the Gothic Neighborhood, visited and took a boat tour of the Port, had a presentation from La Caixa--Spain's third largest bank--at their headquarters, got a tour of Cava Freixenet, saw the FC Barcelona Stadium, walked around on the boardwalk of the Mediterranean, went to where the 92 Olympics were held, and went to a bar that was set up like the Stock Exchange--in other words the prices would fluctuate throughout the night.

Now for my more fun observations and accounts of the trip. I was: (1) approached by a hooker (2) from a distance asked by a guy, and I quote exactly, "blah, blah, blah [pause]...cocaine?" (3) rejected with my group to enter this famous jazz bar (apparently too many people)...twice (4) walked a lot as always (5) ate better than any other trip--Barca knows how to do food (6) experienced the Mediterranean Sandwich and its delicious tuna at Pan and Company (7) found Alhambra Reserva in Corte Ingles (see previous posts on Alhambra Reserva and Corte Ingles) (8) went to a local teenage music festival on Sunday (9) watched old couples dance in the streets and (10) walked the world famous Ramblas way too many times.

I took some pictures as always:

'92

Columbus @ Sunset

*best pic i have taken thus far

the barca norm

Part of the Olympic Center

un otro parte

Spain loves mirror imaging or balance in their buildings (i.e. 3 windows on the right = 3 on the left)

museum

fc barca

eto'o!!! i miss last year's orange jersey

sizes of cavas (can't call it champagne).

aging...

we went inside.

this is a trail of caterpillars...life should be shared

parque guell

tunnel @ parque guell

parque guell una vez mas

sin una cabeza

da old port

to use a You've Got Mail Reference: "a lone reed"

buildings

near plaza de colon

casa batllo

inside casa batllo

*this was Gaudi's room
**this house was designed in the early 20th or late 19th century...i forget, but its old; look at the picture above this one again. not many buildings constructed like that today, much less 100 yrs ago.

Picasso's orginal design of the menu @ 4Gats

the entrance

barca port...building bridges (economically)

a fellow photgrapher

*notice cool snakeskin hat
**he was not taking a picture of the Sagrada Familia, but rather having a little photo session with his lady

three wisemen

Sagrada Familia

*this church has been under construction for over 100 years...still got another 20 or so before being finished

inside

no willy loman's here.

stain glass

other side

the greatest story ever told

adorable

he had a little talent...

statue.

*there is a significant story for barcelona of this guy killing the beast below him, but we had been walking a lot. i was also hungry. apologies, for not being attentive.

gothic

brown

Granada

On a whim, myself and two fellow travelers decided to take a five hour bus ride to southern Spain. Our destination...Granada and the renowned Alhambra. The prior night to departure, we booked a hostel and bought our bus tickets. Eight hours later we were off. My general observations of Granada were their tapas are bigger and better than Madrid, the people were very friendly, they had the most graffiti I have seen thus far, and it kind of had a Berkeley-esque feeling (lots of dreads and dirty young people). By and large, I loved my short trip. Below are some pictures...you know the drill at this point:

da trio.

"the wall" (corny pun intended)

albaycin...aka really old arab buildings

pillars

arab sunroof.

alhambra.

alhambra w/people.

alhambra [from generalife]

generalife

generalife dos

me gusta arches...

rotunda @ alhambra

alhambra again

church art

green

typical granada; typical spain (minus madrid)

their sierra nevadas

a fellow thinker.

mas agua.

*granada likes water for decor
**environmentalists...be up in arms

one will randomly come across a building like such when wandering

alhambra reserva--by my friend pete's recommendation this delicious treat was throughly enjoyed. he claims it is one of top two beers he has tasted. i would say top five. either way, much like my experience with neck warmth, AR (my shorthand for alhambra reserva) is simply divine.

Final thoughts:
1) we went to a mass (in Spanish)
2) gypsies are not all they are cracked up to be...here i am looking for some collective group of outcasts with really cool/colorful beads, ribbons, and eventful maneuvers to steal your stuff. most are just old, barefooted women begging for money outside churches. what a letdown.
3) we saw a gypsy hit a guy with her cane outside the church where we attended mass. then there was a long and loud fight between the man and the gypsy...during which, a local came up and talked to us (in Spanish) about Romanian immigrants and how they are trash and what-not. i sat there listening to him and swear you could have plugged in mexicans in every place and the conversation would mirror something one MIGHT hear in the states.
4) my theory: when all is said and done, immigration will be what historians in the future define as the central issue of my generation (not just in the US).
5) to repeat: AR is delicious
6) the alhambra is incredible. i am still not sure how it was ever taken over
7) our hostel was colder than outside
8) as always, we walked a lot...