A Spanish Honeymoon

A friend is going to Barcelona, Sevilla and Madrid on her honeymoon and requested my advice. I told her:

In Barcelona, definitely go to Parque Guell, the Sagrada Familia, the Picasso Museum (one of my favorite art museums in the world...and I've been to MANY as the daughter of two artists), and of course, the beach. Definitely go to the Alhambra (amazing!!!!) in Granada, when you're down in Andalucia. In Sevilla, check out the huge mosque (soak up all you can about Spain's rich history of the Christians/Jews/Muslims while you're there...they call the interaction for so many years the "convivencia,"...it's really fascinating). Along those same lines, if you can while you're down in Andalucia, go to Cordoba and see the Mosque there - it's pretty cool (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Mosque_of_C%C3%B3rdoba) and maybe the Jewish Quarter, which is nearby -- I think it's the largest in Europe.

In Toledo, wander and get lost around the little streets - it's a fabulous little ancient town. In Madrid, check out the Palacio Real, go to Plaza Santa Ana and have some tapas outside in the big square, go shopping at El Corte Ingles (Spain's biggest department store) in Plaza del Sol (the center of the city), relax outside and walk around Retiro Park (maybe rent one of the paddle boats and go out on the pond in the middle?), go to the Prado Museum, and go out ALL night! If there's a Real Madrid soccer game while you're there, that could be really fun too. Spaniards love their futbol. For nightlife, I suggest Palacio Gaviria, it's this really cool huge club in what used to be a palace in the middle of Madrid. Just beware --- drinks are $$ there!

Must Do's for Spain (anywhere you go): drink some Rioja red wine and sangria, eat some tortilla espanola, and enjoy the blue skies and SUN.

***Would you add anything?***

Clean air in Europe?

I distinctly remember shopping at a mall in Madrid that allowed customers to smoke freely inside. You'd buy a dress for a night on the town, and it would already smell like smoke when you put it on! Those days are long gone...http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28876293/

Photo by Jo Naylor

Flamenco!

I studied ballet for 13 years and yet Flamenco impresses me tremendously. It's just such a sultry, passionate, rhythmic art form. Many people consider Flamenco to be all about the dancing [baile]-- when in reality, it's just as much (if not more) about the Flamenco guitar [toque] and song [cante]. We attended an intimate cave performance in the mountains of Andalucia, Spain and sat in awe, sipping our sangria, as the dancers performed their intricate moves.




One of the dancers picked me out of the crowd to participate (surprise, surprise - my red hair stood out). And lets just say that I have profound respect for these dancers. The hand and footwork is much more difficult than they make it appear to be.

World's top 10 art museums

TripAdvisor recently named its list of the world's Top 10 art museums. I reviewed the list and discovered I've visited 7 of the 10 so far in my life. Not too shabby!

1) Musee du Louvre (Paris, France)

2) Vatican Museums (Vatican City, Rome, Italy)

3) Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY)

4) J. Paul Getty Center (Los Angeles, CA)

5) Musee d'Orsee (Paris, France)

6) Uffizi Gallery (Florence, Italy)

7) Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago, Illinois)

8) Tate Modern (London, England)

9) Prado Museum (Madrid, Spain)

10) National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.)

My personal opinion: Great list, but could also see the British Museum, MoMA, and Guggenheim(s) as other possible contenders.

A LA CARTE: Maoz Vegetarian

My first delicious Maoz experience was in Amsterdam, Holland -- at their flagship shop. Next, I stumbled across branches in both Barcelona and Madrid. Finally, last spring, I got the good news: they opened a U.S. branch right in Union Square!


Their official promise: "At Maoz, we understand that today’s lifestyle is more demanding than ever, leaving almost no time to take care of the fundamentals such as maintaining a healthy and balanced lifestyle, including a nutritious diet. We at Maoz provide our customers with the highest quality of products and services at a reasonable price and in minimum time, fitting into each and everybody’s busy day and night…"

I think they get it.

**A healthy, inexpensive, fast-food menu featuring crisp falafel, flavorful hummous, warm whole wheat pita, and a salad bar where I can choose my own fresh veggies? Yes, please.

Azahar

For two weeks prior to settling in Madrid, we traveled around Spain as a group - known as "Azahar." Highlights included visits to Toledo, Cordoba, Granada and Sevilla. Each town was more beautiful than the next (and led to more crazy adventures -- many, many more humorous stories to come!).


Each day, we visited historic sites and took diligent notes at lectures about Spain's history. We learned all about Convivencia -- Spain's period of religious tolerance, when the Muslims, Jews, and Christians all lived together in harmony. It was so interesting to wander through Cathedrals that were full of Moorish architecture and Jewish influences.

On Spanish Time

Azahar: [AH-za-har]; verb; 1) to be inefficient;
related forms: azahamas [we are inefficient]

Very soon into our journey, we learned about Spain's schedule. NOBODY is in a rush.

"I'll meet you there at 3pm." [Spanish translation: I'll be there around 3:20. Maybe 3:15 if I'm wearing comfortable shoes.]

The Original Departure

You will spend three weeks traveling around Spain before arriving in Madrid, your final destination for the next five months.

Five months in a country that I'd only visited once, on a family vacation when I was 14 and still thought that 'NSYNC was the greatest thing since my Strawberry Shortcake obsession in preschool. Five months in a city that I'd never visited. Five months speaking a language that I hadn't spoken since high school.

I picked my dear friend Cara up at a train station in Newark and spent the rest of the evening packing.

"I wonder what it's going to be like," I thought out loud as I stuffed each article of clothing into my enormous, new rolling suitcase.

Nothing could prepare us for the five chaotic, yet fabulous months ahead of us.



The first sign of the chaos was a transatlantic flight in which the airline ran out of liquor. "Happy hour in the back of the plane," someone announced. Suddenly, there was no vodka to be found. As soon as the seatbelt lights went off, people were running around the back of the coach-class cattle car as if it were a Friday night at Maggie's Tavern.

Cara sat next to our friend Devin, and immediately was at ease. Never the shy one, I too, found myself deep in conversation with my seat partner, a complete stranger. Perpetually known as "Nice Nick" from this point on, he was the greatest person to be sitting next to during an eight-hour flight from the familiar (New York) to the absolutely unknown (Madrid). We chatted about school, Spanish, and anything else that would distract me from the fact that I was suspended 36,000 feet in the air over the Atlantic Ocean, just hours from a final destination that would include a new "family" that didn't speak my language.

Eventually, we landed in Madrid, retrieved our suitcases (they'd survived the transatlantic journey, too!), and shuffled into lines to go through Customs. Little did I know then that the single, mindless act of moving from the longest to the shortest line would forever shape the rest of my life. Suddenly, I was surrounded by smiling strangers, and we laughed at the other, longer lines. Past Customs, the group of us followed the herd of students, yet gathered on the same bus to Toledo - unslept and full of a nervous energy.

These smiling faces would become my closest friends during my semester abroad, and would truly shape the rest of my college career.

Granada, Spain

A trip to Granada is truly a life-changing experience.

The second I set foot in the Alhambra, the famous Andalucian palace and fortress, I felt goosebumps creep up and down my arms. Yes, it was a chilly day in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, but these goosebumps could be blamed on something more abstract than the temperature in the room.

This impressive architectural structure has such a long, religious, tumultuous history.

It's like stepping into a world-class spa. The entire complex is filled with vast bodies of water, vibrant flowers and intricate tile mosaics.

Each room is more impressive than the next.