I´ve just spent six days in Madrid, doing the urban thing. I have decided that I actually really like cities, which is a pretty big statement for a small town girl, even one who´s lived in a city for 15 years. I´ve always seen cities as useful jumping off points for trips into the wilderness but at no point during my stay here did I feel compelled to see what lay outside the city walls.
I started my stay here in a hostel but have realized that the whole 'backpacking Europe' thing has gone a little too upscale for me. This is the room 'to be' (translated literally) at the hostel I arrived at. Very posh. I soon found the new budget traveller´s dream come true: couchsurfing! There´s a website called
http://www.couchsurfing.com/ where you can sign up and find people in the city you're in who don't mind you crashing on their couch for a few nights.
Alexandra, Etienne and their new baby Hanae, have kindly put me up in their lovely apartment. They are from France and do a lot of travelling and couchsurfing themselves. It has been interesting hearing French at home and Spanish in the streets because it is the exact opposite of what I just came from on the boat!
Madrid is really beautiful, in an old world meets high fashion kind of way.
It is also one of the art capitals of the world, so I had to visit the classic museums to see both old and new Spanish art. It was very cool to see a lot of art I had only ever heard about or seen photos of, like Picasso´s Guernica. They had lots of Dali´s works, too, which are just so much better in person, as amazing as their prints are.
Just inside the entrance to the Reina Sofia Museum.
I chose not to visit the 'Museum of Ham', however.
This is a park between two lanes of a very busy street where I had lunch. I really appreciate how pedestrian-friendly Europe is. The metro system in Madrid is fantastic, as well. You can get within a few blocks of anywhere you want to go. My theory is that it is because people here wear the most ridiculous, yet fashionable, shoes that they won't put up with walking very far. Fashion tip from Spain: Gold is the 'in' colour this season. In a group of seven women that I saw, THREE of them were wearing gold pumps, I swear!! I wish it wasn´t rude to take photos of people in the street - it was so Eurohot.
And, of course, being in Spain, I had to see some flamenco. I had thought of making the trip to Seville, the heart of flamenco, but luckily it came to me! Maria Pagés, who is apparently a very famous dancer from there, was performing in Madrid for two weeks.
The photos are pretty blurry, but you get the idea! At times there were 20 dancers on the stage. It was nice to see young men dancing flamenco, as well, not just that old pervy guy at the Kino Cafe in Vancouver.
I leave tonight for Morocco for two weeks. I really don't know what to expect! It is Ramadan right now, which means that people can't eat from sun up to sun down and when it ends in a few days, there will be a ton of celebrations but, like during the Christmas holidays, lots of things will be closed. Maybe not the best time to travel in a Muslim country!
I´ve just spent six days in Madrid, doing the urban thing. I have decided that I actually really like cities, which is a pretty big statement for a small town girl, even one who´s lived in a city for 15 years. I´ve always seen cities as useful jumping off points for trips into the wilderness but at no point during my stay here did I feel compelled to see what lay outside the city walls.
I started my stay here in a hostel but have realized that the whole 'backpacking Europe' thing has gone a little too upscale for me. This is the room 'to be' (translated literally) at the hostel I arrived at. Very posh. I soon found the new budget traveller´s dream come true: couchsurfing! There´s a website called http://www.couchsurfing.com/ where you can sign up and find people in the city you're in who don't mind you crashing on their couch for a few nights.
Alexandra, Etienne and their new baby Hanae, have kindly put me up in their lovely apartment. They are from France and do a lot of travelling and couchsurfing themselves. It has been interesting hearing French at home and Spanish in the streets because it is the exact opposite of what I just came from on the boat!
Madrid is really beautiful, in an old world meets high fashion kind of way.
It is also one of the art capitals of the world, so I had to visit the classic museums to see both old and new Spanish art. It was very cool to see a lot of art I had only ever heard about or seen photos of, like Picasso´s Guernica. They had lots of Dali´s works, too, which are just so much better in person, as amazing as their prints are.
Just inside the entrance to the Reina Sofia Museum.
I chose not to visit the 'Museum of Ham', however.
This is a park between two lanes of a very busy street where I had lunch. I really appreciate how pedestrian-friendly Europe is. The metro system in Madrid is fantastic, as well. You can get within a few blocks of anywhere you want to go. My theory is that it is because people here wear the most ridiculous, yet fashionable, shoes that they won't put up with walking very far. Fashion tip from Spain: Gold is the 'in' colour this season. In a group of seven women that I saw, THREE of them were wearing gold pumps, I swear!! I wish it wasn´t rude to take photos of people in the street - it was so Eurohot.
And, of course, being in Spain, I had to see some flamenco. I had thought of making the trip to Seville, the heart of flamenco, but luckily it came to me! Maria Pagés, who is apparently a very famous dancer from there, was performing in Madrid for two weeks.
The photos are pretty blurry, but you get the idea! At times there were 20 dancers on the stage. It was nice to see young men dancing flamenco, as well, not just that old pervy guy at the Kino Cafe in Vancouver.
I leave tonight for Morocco for two weeks. I really don't know what to expect! It is Ramadan right now, which means that people can't eat from sun up to sun down and when it ends in a few days, there will be a ton of celebrations but, like during the Christmas holidays, lots of things will be closed. Maybe not the best time to travel in a Muslim country!
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