New years eve in Madrid! We began the day by visiting the 'Museo Thyssen,' one of the three main art museums in Madrid. The museum is unique in that it is all a private collection once owned by one family. There was an exhibit at the museum entitled 'The Illusion of the American Frontier," which detailed how explorers and Native Americans interacted during the 1800s. It shows the disparity between how Americans and Native Americans viewed the West and 'manifest destiny' (the dream of spreading from sea to sea.) Unfortunately, the museum was closing early, so we couldn't see all the works of art.
One of the works from "The Illusion of the American Frontier" at the Thyssen Museum.
Afterwards, we visited a massive 9-story mall. They sold everything from Barcelona FC grass (for $22!) to Dim Sum and burgers. At the mall, we purchased grapes. Grapes and new years are associated with each other in Spain because of an age-old tradition. During the 1800s, there was a grape surplus in Spain, so the grape market decided to create a tradition of eating 12 grapes for the 12 rings of the clock at midnight. As a result, everybody in Spain buys grapes for new years.
The leftover grapes at our hotel after New Years. Notice how they tell the number of "rations" of 12 grapes in a box!
Fast forward to 12 seconds before midnight: We were all preparing to devour 12 grapes in 12 seconds, which already seemed somewhat difficult. As the bell started to ring (we were watching on TV instead of Puerta de Sol, where the celebration takes place) we all started to eat the first grape, and to our surprise, the grapes had seeds! This made it nearly impossible to finish all the grapes. Only my dad, out of the 9 of us, was able to finish the grapes. The rest of us will all have bad luck for the year!
Spain is obsessed with soccer. It's the subject of entire TV channels, newspapers, and endless discussion. While I was in Barcelona, I purchased a Barcelona FC sweatshirt. In the few days I have worn it in Madrid, I have gotten called out by taxi drivers and people on the street-the Madrid-Barcelona rivalry is considered one of the largest rivalries in the world, nicknamed 'El Clasico,' partly because it features soccer great Cristiano Ronaldo and the even better Lionel Messi. On this day, we were not seeing such a matchup, but we were seeing Real Madrid. Real Madrid is one of four Madrid teams, and it is the most popular. Their stadium, Santiago Bernebau, sits 85,000.
Our view was not fantastico
I decided even before we left for the game to root for their opposition, Real Sociedad from the city of San Sebastian, because I wanted Barcelona to stay on the top of the standings. After a very crowded metro ride, we arrived at the stadium. Outside, there we many vendors of knockoff Real Madrid jerseys and food carts. We were setting in the very last row of the building, so our view was not fantastic, but we could tell which team was which. To prevent violence, fans of the away team are kept in a special section and separated from the home fans by a barrier and police. Similarly, the hooligan section, the most extreme fans of Real Madrid, were surrounded by police. The hooligans lead loud chants and all wore the same white jersey.
While introducing players, the stadium announcer says the players first name and the crowd is supposed to complete it. For example, the announcer said "Christiano..." and the crowd answered "Ronaldo!" This was slightly more difficult for us as we did not know the full names of all the players, especially one whose full name was Nacho.
Atmosphere from our section
During the game, the referees called two very dubious penalties, but we got to see Ronaldo miss a penalty, which is rare. He did score on the second penalty, however. Later, Real Sociedad equalized with an amazing goal. I cheered loudly, much to the annoyance of both my family and a boy sitting in the row in front of us, who stared at me with pure hatred in his eyes. Eventually, Real Madrid won, 3-1.
On our way back home, my cousin Sabina lost her phone via a hole in her pocket (or a pickpocket depending on who you ask). We later went out to an Indian restaurant to dinner (despite my protest). It was better than I expected, even though Spain is not known for its Indian food. At the end of the day, I checked the scores and saw that Barcelona had won their game as well. Barcelona was on top of the standings, just where they belonged.
On our first day in Barcelona we had visited La Sagrada Familia, but we were unable to enter because we didn't have tickets. Well, today we did have tickets! As soon as we entered the church, we realized that the interior was just as amazing as the exterior. There were stained class windows, sculptures, paintings, and murals throughout the church. If you want to learn more about the church, my prior post has a very brief history of the church.
The church is very large and has a high ceiling-even more impressive when you consider it was built without any cranes!
Brilliant stained-glass windows make the church very colorful.
After exploring the church, we stopped for a quick meal of paella. I was rather dismayed to see the man behind the counter microwaving my meal, but it wasn't too bad.
Our next expedition was perhaps the most frightening of the trip. From across Barcelona, you can see a mountain with a palace on top of it. I looked it up on the internet and it turns out that this palace is accessible through a gondola lift.
Palau Nacional in Barcelona. I wanted to see it, but we were unable to find it. I did find this picture on the internet though!
My father initially was weary about the gondola but he eventually agreed to it. After a long walk around a pier, we found the lift. The tower it started from looked old and rusty, which was not encouraging.
I was beginning to feel nervous, but a couple of other tourists reassured be that it was safe. Nevertheless, suspended high above the Mediterranean, I forgot about their reassurances and regretted my decision to take the gondola. It did offer sweeping overhead views of Barcelona, but I did not really want to look out the window (or down.) When we reached the top of the mountain, the only building was a hotel. It was a little disappointing, but I did get some good pictures of Barcelona from above (and a new fear of heights.)
A view of the Barcelona skyline from a cable car. Notice La Sagrada Familia in the center.
The Barcelona sunset from Montjuic Mountain.
At the end of the day, we had to return to Madrid via rail, however, we enjoyed our time in Barcelona!
On our second day in Barcelona, we went to Park Guell. This park was designed by architect Antoni Gaudi (who also built La Sagrada Familia) and it functioned as his home as well. First, we had to climb a high hill in order to reach the park. Our tickets to the park actually only included access to his house, not the park itself. Nevertheless, we were able to see the colorful sculptures that highlighted the house.
The colorful entrance to Park Guell
While we were in the metro station we saw what might be the biggest vending machine in the world. Unfortunately it was out of order :(
Afterwards, we decided to visit Camp Nou, the home of FC Barcelona. I have never seen a city more in love with a team than Barcelona. It is impossible to go down a street without seeing a shop selling jerseys, caps, and tickets, and fans sporting gear are everywhere. It is tough not to love a team that almost always wins the league and has players like Messi, Neymar, and Suarez. The stadium, which seats 98,000, was a ways away from the city center. On the self-guided tour, we saw their many trophies, the players’ place of prayer before games (this is not common in the U.S.) and the stadium itself, which is almost overwhelming. There was an exhibit showing Messi’s goals, and we got to walk up the steps to the field and almost feel like a Barcelona player. At the end of the tour they try to sell you a 31 Euro photo or a 120 Euro jersey, however, we decided to not add to the FC Barcelona sweatshirt that I had purchased the day prior and that I plan on wearing to the Real Madrid game (not! Although I’ll root for the other team so that Barcelona stays on top of the standings.)
This is as close as you could get to the field. 100,000 seats behind me!
On our way back to the subway station from the stadium, a man started yelling at me and pointing to himself. I first thought it was an insane person, but then I remembered I was wearing my new Barcelona sweatshirt, and he was just cheering them on. I replied “Si!” even though I didn’t know quite what he was saying, but it was a fun experience showing how much some Barcelonians love their team.
After that, we returned to city center via the Metro, and missed our stop. We ended up getting off at the next stop, and when we exited we saw another attraction: Casa Batllo. This was yet another one of Gaudi’s works in Barcelona. Gaudi’s style is unique and difficult to explain, so you can see how it looks in the picture below.
Casa Batllo, designed by Gaudi
We decided to have lunch after that. We went into a nearby restaurant and had a meal of cheese and meat. I am not a huge fan of strong cheeses or charcuterie meats, but the meal was interesting.
After taking a rest (and beginning to watch Batman: The Dark Knight Rises) we ventured out for dinner. The restaurant served Tapas, or small plates. Traditionally, one would order a few tapas and a drink as a light dinner. We had four tapas: potatoes with mayo and special sauce (better than it sounds), olives, potato croquettes, and sausage (the best of all.) We also ordered a small pizza, which was closer to a flatbread. The meal was inexpensive and tasty! We returned to the hotel after another great day in Barcelona.
We began our day bright and early at 7:00 AM (this may not seem early to many people, but we were used to awaking around 11) While the majority of the group was staying in Madrid, a Core 4/Fantastic 4 were headed to explore Barcelona for three days. After a short cab ride, we arrived at the train station, Atocha, and were on our way. Ave, the Spanish rail service, is quite different than Amtrak. The cars were clean and modern, there was a movie playing overhead, and the train went over 190 mph. The train ride was more enjoyable than the plane ride into Madrid!
Blogging from the train
As soon as we arrived, we decided to check out the number one attraction in the city: La Sagrada Familia. The church was designed by architect Antoni Guadi, who had an enormous impact on Barcelona architecture. At his death, the church was not completed, and it still has not been finished, although there is construction currently ongoing. To get inside, tickets were necessary, so we decided to just see the outside and to tour it at a later time.
The spectacular front of La Sagrada Familia
By that time, we were ready for lunch, so we tried to find something to eat. The area around the church was filled with tourist traps, so we chose to take the metro to a different neighborhood. We purchased the 2 day unlimited metro pass so we could ride as much as we wanted. We ended up just taking the metro to a random stop and looking for food there. After searching for an hour around the neighborhood we ended up in, we wandered into a crowded restaurant. We ordered ceviche, clams, and a beef dish. The waiter was very nice and patient understanding my flawed Spanish and the food was great and reasonably priced.
Ceviche was our first meal in Barcelona
After that we decided to return to the hotel to rest, but on the way we happened to see a bar showing the Jets game. I didn't expect there to be a heavy Jets fan group 3,831 miles from Metlife stadium. We watched a bit of the game and then finally went back to the hotel. At the end of the day, we decided to have a late dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant. The streets were certainly alive considering that it was passed 10 PM on a Sunday! The dinner consisted of a variety of different tacos. Walking back, we saw a gelato shop, so we stopped and had a cold treat. Our first day in Barcelona was busy, but successful in exploring the city.
We started the the day off by visiting a restaurant called ‘Churreria y Chocoloteria.’ As you may have inferred from their name, they serve churros and chocolate, which is a typical breakfast item in Spain. The chocolate comes in the form of hot fudge, which combined with a suger-filled churro makes for a tasty, if not unhealthy, breakfast.
A typical Madrid breakfast of churros and thick, hot chocolate.
Afterwards, we made our way to the Reina Sofia, part of the Art Museum Triangle in Madrid, which also includes Del Prado and the Thyssen Museums. The Reina Sofia is best known for its many Picassos and Dalis. After entering the museum, we went straight to the most famous painting there: Picasso’s Guernica. Guernica depicts a bombing during the Spanish Civil War. Its specific symbolism is disputed among art critics, but it most certainly depicts the brutality and oppression of warfare.
The front of the Reina Sofia, home to many paintings from Picasso and Dali.
We also explored other parts of the vast museum. The museum contains so many works of art that it would certainly take multiple days to see them all. My cousin Sabina and I enjoyed one modern artist’s work in particular. Ignasi Aballi, a spanish artist, had an exhibit entitled ‘sin precipio / sin final,’ which roughly translates to ‘without beginning / without end.’ In one of his works, Aballi cut out every mention of every country from one Spanish newspaper. At the end of each year, he would place all the names of each country together. This created a visualiation of how much each country made an impact around the world. The United States was mentioned a particularly high number of times.
The view from the top of the Reina Sofia, an art museum.
With Modern Art, there is always a work or a concept that I do not completely understand. In the Reina Sofia, this came at the exhibit ‘Duty-Free Art,’ which included a room that was completely painted blue, in addition to a blank canvas with a few yellow dots on it. At the gift shop, there was a sign for sale that said “Modern Art = I could do that + But you don’t.” Maybe I should consider that when looking at certain pieces of artwork. Overall, the Reina Sofia was a historic building with new and old works of art that stood out. For dinner, we decided to go to a typical Spanish, specifically Andalusian, restaurant. We started with an appetizer of fried balls of mashed potatoes and ham, which were surprisingly good. For the main course, some people ordered scrambled eggs (not a typical dinner item!), while I had calamari with a garlic sauce. When everybody had finished eating, the waitress brought out a free cocktail, ice cream, and two types of liquor! We did not want to stay up too late, though, because the next day we were going to Barcelona!
On our first full day in Madrid, which also happened to be Christmas day, we began our day by having breakfast in our apartment. Afterwards, we decided to head to Retiro Park for the day. This is the most famous park in the city, and is known for the large lake at its center.
The main street in our neighborhood, with many cafes, bars, and grocery stores.
The walk to the park took about 30 minutes, and we passed an architecture museum on the way there. The park is similar to Central Park in New York City in that it is surrounded by buildings and not at a remote point far from the city central. As soon as we entered, we were surrounded by multi-generational families wandering the park, vendors selling fake jerseys and shoes, and street carts selling various types of snacks.
A view of the many trees throughout the park. It must be even better during the summer when they all have leaves!
I saw someone in the park with what looked like a New York Jets jersey, which surprised me because we were in Spain. My cousin Sabina did not believe it was a Jets jersey, so I turned and asked him. He gave me one of the most confused looks I have ever received, so I gave it up. After people-watching for a bit, we strolled around the park. We stopped to get a snack, which turned out to be a cheeto-like substance that was not too filling.
A panorama that I took of Retiro Park's lake.
The main attraction of the park, the lake, was stunning. At its center was a multi-sided statue. After eating a small meal of paella, (it was from a park stall so it was not extravagant) we ventured towards the statue.
At the end of the day, we were looking for a place to eat dinner. It was Christmas night, and most of the country was sitting down with their families and celebrating the holiday. In the end, we did just what many hungry non-observers did on Christmas night: got Chinese food. Chinese food in Spain is slightly different than the cuisine we are used to in New York. Our family of eleven caused a lot of chaos in the quiet restaurant. Our first full day in Barcelona was over, but we had succeeded in exploring and having an adventure!
