Friday 26 June - Roasting day today, for a change (!). We kicked off the day around 11 or 12 and headed in toward Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia cathedral. It's quite a touristy spot there with queues stretching around the corner to get inside, so we gave the interior a miss. No big deal, as I think it's the exterior that everyone goes to see it for. Impressive doesn't really begin to describe this landmark. As it was the first cathedral I went to see, I didn't have the dreaded 'cathedral fatigue' that travellers often moan about, so I came away very impressed. Kinda hard to put the sight into words, so it's best to just check the photos I think (when I get them up, it's such a hassle to upload to this site).
After that, we decided to check out Camp Nou, the biggest football stadium in Europe, if I remember correctly. It holds about 95,000 and is the home of European Cup winners Barcelona FC. The fellas are not really huge fans of maps and looking like tourists which is unfortunate as we made three wrong turns and spent about two hours trying to find it, before I forced them to look at the map and pick a route to get there, claiming that the stadium better be open after all the walking. After all the tramping around, it turned out the stadium was closed due to U2 playing that week and they were constructing stages for the performance. Fuck Bono.
Went back to the hostel and had a few drinks with other travelers. Being a little bit far out from the centre of the city meant it was easier to just stick around the local area. A few drinks turned into a few more and John went to the casino again. I (stupidly) game him 50 Euro and asked him to turn it into 100 for me.
Saturday 27 June - woke up regretting giving John the 50 Euros, but it turns out he had a successful night and I got my 50 Euro back plus another 50 on top. Not bad eh? Not something I'll make a habit of though. We checked out of the hostel and got the train to Valencia.
As I've said before, trains are an amazing way to travel and this time was no different. The coach was very luxurious, with a movie playing from a telly on the roof. Whizzing along at 197 kph, we got to Valencia in about 3 hours and quickly checked in to the hostel. Wasn't as nice as the last place but it was very central and had a good vibe.
A nap followed for a few hours. Napping in the afternoon when it's too hot is easy to get used to and because places stay open much later, you don't feel so guilty about sleeping the day away.
Later on, Ian and I walked around Valencia town centre which, while it doesn't really have anything major landmarks of note, was still a very pleasant stroll. Did a bit of washing when I got back which dried in about an hour in the sizzling heat.
Sunday 28th and Monday 29th. Generally just looked around the city during the day, followed by a nap, then ate tapas in the evening. Found a pub that was playing the Wimbledon tennis and we watched Andy Murray beat his opponent in five sets. Went to a bar that stayed open late which had some cheap drinks. Turned out it was gay and lesbian night which explained why the barman was so friendly.
It's hard to say why Valencia is my favourite place I've been to in Spain. It's not too big and we didn't do anything in particular, it just has a lot of character and is a good size to wander around in. It's not as bustling as Barcelona and I think I like that. It's cleaner too.
Tuesday 30th - Set off via train again to Madrid which was a four hour journey. We were only gonna do two nights in Madrid originally but lack of flights to Gibraltar meant that we ended up staying another night, and skipping out Sevilla to save a bit of cash. Much smaller hostel this time which was a nice change, so it kinda forced us to interact with a lot of the other travelers. Met an Aussie guy who had been to watch the bullfights the day previous.
I thought about maybe going to see one of these despite being against animal cruelty. However there were no shows on but I took a look at the Aussie's video of the show which confirmed that it's not really something that I want to see. He said he'd never do it again and his girlfriend was in tears when she watched it. Supposedly the bulls live like kings until the day of their fight but the jury is out on whether that's okay or not.
Despite the skill and bravery of the matadors, it's pretty hard to condone attending. A show will generally have six fights with the best one being saved for last. It's pretty brutal to watch as bulls get swords stabbed up to the hilt into their heart. Normally it's supposed to be the coup de grace, but in the vid I saw, it wasn't the case at all and the matador had to stab the bull in the head with a knife a couple of times to finish it off. Other vids showed bulls losing control of their front limbs and coughing up blood. It's all a bit distressing, really.
Sometimes, although not at this show, they bring out a calf and encourage kids to throw spears at it. Pretty fucked up, any way you look at it.
Wednesday 1st July - rambled around the city a bit, taking pictures and being a tourist. A few beers in the evening with the boys and an American girl from the hostel. We followed John around trying to find a casino at two in the morning (fruitlessly) and ended up at an Irish bar opposite our hostel. This impacted the following day's sightseeing unfortunately. Felt sorry for the girl who had to catch her plane two hours after we all got in. Ha ha ha.
Thursday 2nd July - bit of a write off really, didn't do much except nap and eat and have a bit of a wander. Madrid is very busy with lots to look at and it's easy to just do nothing but wander and still have a good time. Scratch that. Just remembered that we did a three or four hour trek and saw the Palacio Real or the Royal Palace. Also checked out some gardens which had statues of what I presume to be Spanish kings from years gone by.
Friday 3rd- had to check into another hostel as we only booked two nights but we needed to stay an extra night in order to get a train to Gibraltar. I had already booked and found a hostel which was just down the street, but for some reason, John was looking up directions to the place on google. He insisted that I had the wrong address so I just went along with it rather than cause a bit of friction.
By now, I think we were getting used to being around each other a bit more and getting used to each others annoying habits. It's been a pretty argument-free trip, which is good but being around the same people ALL the time can be a bit hard.
Anyway, so we followed John to the next hostel and turned out it wasn't there. The address was right but John had a discussion with an elderly Spanish gentleman from which I gathered that there was no hostel and he lived on the third floor. Apparently he would have put us all up, but didn't have enough room for three. Gracious offer, but no thanks we said.
It wasn't too hot, only around 30 degrees or so but with a 20 kg pack on your back it was hard work. We found an internet cafe to check our directions. Found the actual place with google street view and turns out I was right after all. Resisted the urge to say "I told you so" and we made our way to Hostal Marlasca. A little more pricey but we had a room just to ourselves.
Due to wasting the previous day, we went out a did a lot more. The main thing we did was attend the Museo del Prado -- the art museum. Saw lots of famous paintings from various artists such as Goya, Raphael, Valasquez among many others. Took a while to get around the whole thing but it was an awesome experience with some amazing pieces of art. Like most museums, couldn't take any pictures (flash photography can cause damage to the paintings) but it's not something I'll forget anytime soon. Was really glad we went and saw it because we hadn't seen a lot of the arty side of Spain until this point.
Goya, in particular was quite interesting. His early stuff is all poncy and a bit boring, really. Just paintings of upper class folk having picnics or young boys throwing rocks. Something must have happened to him after that coz his later stuff is incredibly dark and murderous. Take for example, a painting of the god Saturn eating the head off a baby. Maybe someone called him a naughty name and he went of the deep end. Weirdo.
Back at the hostel, went into nap mode. Got up and went to find somewhere to eat at 11pm but Madrid on a Friday night is packed with people eating at that hour. Had to go to an Irish bar instead and order a steak sandwich at midnight.
