Barcelona-Sevilla

Spain at last! It´s really hot, the food is wonderful, and the people-watching is sublime. Barcelona in particular takes fashion to its extremes. Who knew that orange pants were so popular?

I´ve had a bit of a hard time adjusting to the pace of life (and timing) in Spain. It seems that the locals sleep until about 11, eat lunch around 3:00, take a nap from 7-9, eat dinner at 11, and stay out until 2 or 3 in the morning. I´m doing my best to get on this schedule. Waking at 9 and skipping the siesta makes the days drag on forever.

Barcelona was different than I expected. I was underwhelmed by the sights, but loved the city itself--getting to my various destinations was often the best part. The things I did like: the Picasso Museum (fascinating collection of his early work (really early; most of it is from his childhood) and the Las Meninas series from his later years), La Sagrada Familia (I´m not a huge Gaudi fan; I liked this more because it´s a work in progress. I´ve seen dozens of churches at this point, but to see one under construction is a really moving experience. Somehow it feels like you belong to it, and it belongs to you. I find it exciting to think that I´ll be alive when it´s completed), and the tapas crawl. Spain is designed for people who like to graze. It´s hard to dislike your surroundings when you get to eat every 30 minutes.

There are a few things that I found disappointing. In hopes of saving you time on your next trip, skip the Museo Nacional Dárte Catalunya (some decent works, but it´s too big and the overall experience is draining) and the Park Guell. I realize that many of you will disagree with this last one, but I think you can easily find better ways to spend your time in Barcelona.

The tourists (at least the hostel crowd) is different in Barcelona than in the other places I´ve been. It´s very young (17 or 18), English speaking, and completely uninterested in culture. Everyone in our hostel was in Barcelona just to go to the beach, which is odd--the water is too polluted to swim in. We have a new saying about hostel people: Always annoying, always under 22, occasionally Canadian. I´m looking forward to meeting some older people.

Elese and I have been in Sevilla for the last two days. It´s really, really hot. Elese is under the weather, so I spent several hours exploring the city on my own yesterday. We were fortunate to arrive on Corpus Christi day, which is a major holiday here. The entire town was either watching or in the parade, which lasted for several hours. The local priests carried numerous holy relics through the streets. It´s shocking--and oddly humerous--to see priests using crucifixes as walking sticks. It was a fun situation to be in.

After the parade, I walked from the river to the Macarena district (home of a spectacular church of weeping Esperanza, along with her various outfits) to our hotel in Barrio Santa Cruz--a huge triangle that covers most of the town. Many streets are only two or three feet wide. Sevilla has clearly been around for a very long time. We spent some time this morning exploring the main shopping street, which has functioned as such for over 500 years.

We spent several hours this afternoon at the Alcazar, a grand palace built in the Moorish style. The gardens are the best I´ve seen yet. We brought lunch and relaxed. It´s a must see destination here. Unfortunately, we´ve missed the cathedral, which was closed due to the holiday. I´ll catch it on the next trip, I guess.

Elese´s comments:
I am under the weather but still kicking (on the tail end - hopefully - of a cold). Alicia sums it all up well, especially about the hostelling scene, but here are a handful of thoughts:
- Barcelona was a joy to wander around. I´m lukewarm on Gaudi as well, but the Picasso Museum was definitely worthwhile. Picasso was cranking out major works of art at age 15 ... incredible.
- It was great to see all of the Sevillanos out yesterday in their Sunday-best parading through town.
- The gardens in Sevilla are beatiful -- great places to while away a lazy, hot afternoon. They remind me of California mission courtyards/gardens: heavy on handpainted tiles and bougenvilla (sp?).

We´re taking our first bus ride tomorrow up to Ronda, a hill town. We´re spending a night there before heading to the beach!