Nancy's Travel Adventures!

September 1 - "Ambien Haze"

We have arrived in Espana! The flight was very long and I decided to try to sleep most of it away (From ATL to Spain) with the help of Ambien but I decided to take one about 4 hours into our flight.....And it worked, a little too well. After getting off the plane and getting the 104 lbs of luggage (I feel as I am traveling with a large child), we managed to get a cab and head to the hotel. I felt as if I was walking around with my head in the Spanish clouds since the affects of Ambien were still in full force. We arrived at the hotel, La Florida, high in the hills of Barcelona. It is a very nice hotel and has amazing views. First priority, get more sleep! It was about noon when we arrived and I managed to take a very long, Ambien-assisted, nap. Lindsey woke me up to tell me it was time to hit the town. We had a long list of recommendations so we had a lot to do!

We managed to get seats at a very famous Tapas bar called Cerveceria Catalina where we were helped by a Cuban Waiter who looked very much like our friend Tyson. The tapas were great and we enjoyed a nice and very inexpensive bottle of Spanish Wine. It was very interesting to watch all the people at the bar, many of which were locals. The local people are all very natural looking yet very chic. It was fun to watch the madness going on around us -- the crowds, the fast speaking waiters, I loved hanging out and munching on some Tapas.... even though the Ambien was making me feel like I had weights on my eyelids.

We then went on a madcap journey to find the restaurant that we had made reservations to. Not many people speak English, so it makes it very challenging with directions, ordering, etc. We were trying our hardest to conjure up the high school Spanish.... although Lindsey discovered the more wine she drank the more fluent she was! However, that did not help us find the restaurant.

We did manage to make it afterall and arrived at Carpe Diem, a very trendy, Buddha-Bar type place. The restaurant/lounge is right on the beach and the diners there are the "beautiful Euros".... although we did manage to find more Californians there. (While at the Tapas Bar, I pointed out that a few couples next to us looked American and sure enough, they were.... they were from Carmel/Monterey.)

By the time we got to the restaurant I was ready for bed and ironically, they sat us at just that, a bed! We were both very tired from the jetlag and decided to call it a night at about 11p, just when Spain is waking up!

September 2nd, 3rd - Sam, Snacks, Getting Lost and Salsa!!
Today we wandered the streets of Barcelona and had lunch with a new Preferred Hotel employee. Very interesting guy and we had a very European lunch -- three courses with wine and coffee. Spain literally does not start moving until late afternoon. We had an early lunch at 1:30p (we were the first in the restaurant) but got out of there around 3:30p. The Europeans have it right, they work to live and enjoy leisurely meals, the art of conversation over a bottle of wine, late nights, sleeping in.... I am getting used to this! I just wish I spoke more Spanish (Note to Self: I will have my brother-in-law Tony and my four year old nephew speak only Spanish to me), and that they did not serve so much Ham on everything. I am surrounded by cured meats and pig legs hanging in all the Tapas bars.

After yet another nap, we decided to hit another Tapas bar that was recommended so we again, had to struggle with the language barrier with the Taxi cabs and finally made it to Tapas C 24. That is where we met Sam. Sam is 24 and from Bangladesh. He moved away from home when he was 15 and has lived throughout Europe since then. He has been in Barcelona for 4 years and speaks a variety of languages. He was interesting to talk to and very endearing. Despite him leaving home at such a young age, living throughout Europe and growing up in a lower caste in Bangladesh, he still had an innocence about him. He was a definite highlight that night. Sam wanted us to join him for drinks after dinner but we knew we were not going to make it due to the jet lag that continued to plague us.

Dinner that night was at Kama, ironically enough, an Indian restaurant that we stumbled upon after walking out of the original restaurant we made reservations for. When we arrived at Abac, we noticed it was definitely NOT what we were looking for..... it was filled with all couples and had a romantic vibe about it. We politely told the waiter this is not what we were looking for and promptly left. The Indian restaurant was very good and was exctly what we were looking for.

Saturday, we had to get up at 5:30a to catch a flight to Sevilla. After checking in my small child (my luggage), we made it to Sevilla airport and rented our car (which we had to upgrade due to the fact most cars in Europe are very small and stick shift) and drove to Sevilla which much to our dismay is very confusing due to all the one-way and very small streets. We literally stumbled upon the hotel by accident. I felt so bad for our poor bellman who, in about 100 degree weather had to haul our bags from the car (where we randomly parked it about 3 blocks from the hotel) to our hotel room. He was so sweet and would not let us help him. He was probably about 5'2 and maybe weighed 130 lbs. soaking wet (which is what he was after hauling 4 bags of luggage totaling about 200 lbs through the cobbles-stone streets of Sevilla.)

Sevilla is a very charming town but it was very quiet due to it still being considered the holiday season and most of Sevilla shuts down during the hot months of Summer. We still managed to wander around the town, check out Tapas bars and get lost many times. About the time we were about to call it a night, we decided to find a bar called Caboneria that Marra had recommended to us. We found it and had just got a table to ourselves when about 5 Spanish gentlemen asked us if they could sit with us..... little did we know what our night would entail from there.

Juan Carlos, Juan Antonio, Juan Pedro, Juan Philip and Antonio sat down and we managed to strike up a very entertaining conversation with our broken Spanish and their broken English. Antonio kept talking about his great Salsa moves, so we decided to take him up on it and go dancing with them. They drove us to a very interesting club. The interesting part about it was that the streets surrounding the club were PACKED with 20-something year olds drinking and socializing OUTSIDE the club. Our friends told us that the drinks at the club were very expensive and the kids go and bring their own drinks and hang out on the streets. It reminded me a lot of New Year's Eve at the Rose Parade Spanish Style.

We managed to go in the club and dance the night away. It was so much fun and defninitely lively till the wee hours of the morning. Anonio, the King of Salsa, we found out was more into rocking his shoulders forward and twirling us around. It was very funny. They were very nice to us and were the perfect hosts to the Sevilla nightlife.

After our late night out (we got home after 5a), we slept in very late and decided to drive to Granada. Poor Juan Pepe (the bellman) had to come get our bags AGAIN but he did it with a huge smile and absolutely no complaints! We tipped him very well and thanked him endlessly for having to deal with that. (Tips are not really expected here in Spain). We hit the road Thelma and Louise style and tried our best to manage the random stop lights and traffic. Again, we got lost and could not find out hotel or get decent directions due to the language barrier (note to self again: Learn Spanish).

After checking into the hotel, showering and getting ready to try all the recommendations that we got from our friend Lauren, we hit Granada. Definitely one of the recommendations we got was to hit Puerto Nuevo, an area in Granada with lots of Tapas bars. So, we set out on foot to try it out. We tried out best to find a restaurant that was recommended but to no avail. So, we had some Sangria and complimentary tapas and watched all the random dogs wandering the streets. I find that the homeless people here in Granada all have dogs, in particular puppies. I am not sure if this is some sort of Gypsy initiation but for me, of course, that was disturbing. But the dogs looked healthy enough, so it did not bother me that much. (Should I be more worried about the homeless people or the dogs?)

After trying to find a restaurant that offered something other than Spanish Omeletes, Cured Pork or Bull's tail, we decided to eat at the hotel because in our mind, all five star hotels have good restaurants. The food was good but finding something on the menu was a challenge. The selections of Stuffed Pigeon in Chocolate Sauce, Kangaroo Tenderloin and Roast Suckling Pig just did not make my mouth water..... hopefully the lack of good cuisine will kick start a weight loss? I managed to order a soup and roasted vegetables much to my waiter's dismay. (Note to Self: Be more open minded to eating exotic meats... or just meat in general?)

Overall, Spain has been great. The people are very friendly and want to help out despite the langauge barrier. Lindsey and I have had some great laughs at both our own expense and the expense of others but all in good jest. Our plans tomorrow include a trip to La Alhambra, some gardens, and a Flamenco Show! Buenoe Noche!

posted by Nancy Chapman @ 3:06 AM