Spain

How was Spain you may ask? Well if you read my other blog (www.offexploring.com/travelingchameon) you would know I had a great time! Even though I didn't speak Spanish well only a sprinkling of words with the use of my phrasebook, I found that one can communicate without using much words. The people there were friendly (except for the creepy guy that followed me once on Montjuic [I escaped him by entering a restaurant with an awesome view!] and the weenie-wacker guy in Valencia) and thought I was one of them. So most of the time they would rattle off in Spanish as I nod my head and try to grasp a few words to understand what they are saying. But I discovered that one didn't need many words to communicate and that a smile goes a long way in communication.

Frankly I wished I had set aside more time for Valencia instead of just four days. Valencia is the third largest city in Spain yet it somehow retains the traditional small town feel. They still have their siesta at 2pm and everything but food places are closed until 4pm. You can hardly find English signs at their museums only Spanish and the local dialect and you'd be lucky if you get an English guidebook. The city isn't very touristy unless it is with other Spaniards from different regions and I didn't really see too many large tourist buses like in Barcelona. Valencia weather reminded me of home and frankly if I were to pick a place in Spain to live I would want to live here. You have the center of town which retains the classic style architecture, then there is the riverbed turned park which connects the center of town to the modernist City of Arts and Science. Plus there is the beach, where one can swim in the Mediterranean. The airport isn't very large but it can get you to the two big cities, Madrid and Barcelona, or you can take the train to travel around town.

Barcelona was a nice city to wander in and absorb. A city full of energy, people hustling and bustling everywhere, tourist abound in droves and yet one can still get lose them by getting lost in the Barri Gotic. There is so much to see and taking the Bus Turistic is a great way to do that. The bus hits all the "must see" things on two different routes (3 in the summer) and you can hop on and off at any point to take your time to see each place. If you're in Barcelona for more than 2 days it is worth your while to get the Barcelona Card. You can get it for 2, 3,4 or 5 days and use it on both the Metro and buses it is a good way to get around the city, though you still want to bring comfortable shoes since you'll be walking a lot. Art museums abound, there is the Picasso musuem, Miro musuem, Gaudi musuem and National Art Musuem. I got my fill of culture and fell in love with Gaudi's work. I spent 8 days in Barcelona and was quite satisfied with it, by the end of my time there I felt that I knew the city well enough that when I go back I can manuever around much like Paris. The only difference is that when I left Barcelona there were no tears, in Paris I had tears as the plane took off.