¡Hola!
Last week I got back from my first proper annual holiday since I got here. I spent a week traveling in Spain then spent a few more days in Geneva before going back to work on Thursday.
The trip in Spain was awesome, the weather was perfect (want proof? look here), had everything planned and set, so just had to relax and travel around. The week in Spain was spent in 3 cities, scattered all over the country. We were in Madrid, Granada and Barcelona. The trip photos are here. I will be posting a video with clips from the trip.
Madrid (pronounced Madrith) was the first stop, the capital in the heart of Spain. We stayed in the heart of the city for 1 day, and had a tour around the whole city, then headed to watch the infamous Spanish Bull Fight. I am no vegetarian, and don't believe animals should be killed for amusement, but just wanted to see what the whole thing is all about. The atmosphere is really something special, and I can imagine the skills and courage required to face a bull that's charging at you. However, the whole thing is really cruel to the animal, after watching 6 bulls killed (the bulls were young, 2 years old, they are usually three to be part of bull fights), here's the pattern summerized:
- make the bull go nuts by making him run around the ring from one side to the other using the coloured capes;
- start stabbing the bull in the back with a spear by a guy on a horse (to make an opening in the bull's back) as seen here;
- Matadors (bull fighters) start stabbing the bull with sticks that hook on to the Bull's back like this;
- the main Matador plays a bit with the bull, to make him tired and increase the bleeding (mainly showmanship) like this;
- the Matador is handed a special sword (bent at the tip) to stab the bull in the back, shown here;
- The bull might bleed badly and die, or just collapse. Then people come and clean up.
The Madrid photos are here.
Granada (pronounced Grenatha) part of Andalusia, was my favourite city during the whole trip, it felt the most Spanish. First day we toured the city, tried Paella and Ox meat (I said above, I am no vegetarian), then we attended an open air flamenco concert, guitar music, with clapping, singing and dancing.. perfect!
The second day in Grenada was spent in the Alhambra. Alhambra is one of the remaining tangible remains of the Islamic civilization/empire, the whole place is amazing. Given the fact the whole place is just historical remains, but it was one of the things I really enjoyed in Spain. The science, architecture, art and atmosphere in the palace is really something special. I highly recommend Alhambra if you want to learn about part of Spain's history. If you plan to go to Alhambra, make sure you reserve the tickets a few days before waiting in the queues, there are limited tickets per day.
The other cool thing about Granada is the streets are full of old buildings/remains and guitar shops are every where. Of course, flamenco was a result of music played by gypsies, so you'll see a lot of gypsies around Granada.
The Granada photos are here.
Barcelona (pronounced Barthelona) one of Spain's most popular. A very large touristy city, full of architecture and attractions, a must for anyone interested in shopping/fashion. Barcelona is very big, and I think you'll need at least 3 days (we only spent a day and a half), to see the whole city, but the time I spent there is enough.
The Barcelona photos are here.
Overall, Spain is a country that I would recommend visiting. The life style in Spain is really different to the rest of Europe, siestas, late dinners, for example, we had dinner at 12 mid-night and the restaurant had queues outside it for people to get a table!
After visiting Spain, there are certain things which I found good, and some not so good:
Good:
- Shops and restaurants opened late;
- Good food;
- Everyone on the street is helpful;
- Weather is great;
- City public transport is good and cheap.
Not So Good:
- Pickpocketing (didn't happen to me, but witnessed one in front of me);
- There's no such thing as precision, flight between Granada and Barcelona was 40 mins late, flight from Madrid to Zürich was 20 mins late, train from Barcelona to Madrid was 60 mins late, only the bus service from Madrid to Granada was accurate. The Metro is really good though, on time and cheap;
- English is not spoken by everyone;
- People are very friendly and helpful, but people working in shops and offices need to work on that a bit more, it's like they expect you to pay them for answering your questions.
So, overall, I would like to visit Spain again, but can not see myself living there. Once you get used to a certain standard that matters to you, then it's hard to go back to something lower. Just like when you buy a new PC, it's nice and fast, few months (if not weeks) later, you just want to kick the box because it's not fast enough (hope this analogy helped).
After returning to Zürich, the Spaniards lost 1 bag with a fragile piece in it, which arrived late and shattered into pieces, this is another thing I did not like about Spain. So returned to Zürich from hot sunny weather to cold rain!!! After receiving the lost bag on Monday, we headed to Geneva hoping the weather would be better, but it wasn't. However, visiting Geneva was a change within the same country, it was like visiting France, everyone speaking French, and for some reason, it really reminded me of Paris, but we were still in Cheeseland.
Geneva is nice and beautiful, and the photos are here.
Now I am back to work, and preparing for the next short break coming up soon. Till then, taken care.