Our last day, Friday, we went to class for the last time (I took more pictures, of course), had our last two meals (breakfast and lunch) at Barradas, packed, and then KF, Dale and I went out to complete our mission of buying dresses! We walked north this time, traversing streets we’d never been on before, and accomplished our mission! Each of us came away with a dress from the same store where one of the other girls had bought the dress she wore to the farewell dinner (Kelly bought one just like it)!

 

Dale was on his own mission – to buy magnets that his daughter had only just informed us she wanted. This was annoying, since there had been nice magnets at virtually every museum and souvenir store we had visited throughout the entire trip and we hadn’t known until now that she wanted them. Plus the area we were going was not a tourist neighborhood per se, and there was really nowhere to buy the type of magnets he wanted.

What we did find, however, was a really nice little restaurant with fresh and inexpensive food! We only had ice cream (lemon with no added sugar!!) but noted the fare for a possible return for dinner if we didn’t like the offering for our last supper at Barradas. In fact, the food that night at Barradas was not to our liking at all, and once again our group of six adults set out for this place we had discovered. Along the way, Dale decided to go to a Chinese bazaar – not the one we usually go to – to look for magnets (I knew he wouldn’t find them but he was stubborn) and he said he would meet us at the restaurant. I didn’t think much about it, since Dale usually has a pretty good sense of direction and we’d been there only a few hours before.

At the restaurant, I ordered a vegetable calzone which was really great! It was filled with tomato and lots of hearts of palm! Yum!! Prof. A ordered the same thing and also really liked it. I also ordered a slice of tortilla, but ended up wrapping it to take back for our breakfast next morning, because I was full after eating the calzone.

Two hours passed and Dale did not show up!! At one point, I went out to look for him, but realized I could walk all the way back to where we separated and never find him, because he could just as easily come around the other way. I worried about him, but Prof. J told me quite sharply to stop thinking about him – he was independent and could find his way. She suggested he might want some alone time, but I seriously doubted that was the case – if so, why would he have put up with going on girly shopping trips for the last two afternoons?? So I said no more, but said a silent prayer for his safe return to Barradas.

Now I was glad about the tortilla because perhaps he had gone back, unable to find the restaurant, and would want something to eat. But when we got back, he was not there! His bag was there, but KF said he hadn’t taken it with him that evening. Now I was really worried!!

KF was developing a cold and wanted to finish packing and go to bed early, but she offered to go out with me to look for Dale. We met up with some of the other people from our group and told them that if they saw Dale, to tell him we were looking for him and that I had brought back a tortilla for him!

About halfway back, we came across Prof. J and A–, who had split off from us after dinner to go to a store. Prof. J was putting away her cell phone and said that Dale had just called. He had gotten lost, finally found the restaurant, and was now on his way back. KF asked if I wanted to go back or keep going to meet up with him. I was indecisive but leaning toward meeting up with him, so we continued on. We finally saw him, crossing a street ahead of us. I yelled to him and when we met up, gave him a big hug!! He had gotten lost and, after finding a place to stop and have a sandwich, showed us on the map where he had gone. He had walked a long way, all the way north to Rio Rojas!! And not having his street map, he could rely only on Metro maps to orient himself. He always used San Bernardo as a reference point, and a couple of times he knew he was very near the restaurant, but just never got to it.

I was so relieved, because although he is resourceful, he still cannot communicate well enough in Spanish to be understood. And I was grateful to KF for coming with me even though she wanted to stay in her room and pack – she’s a great friend!

Yesterday (Saturday), we got up early and I took a shower. We were all packed, so we decided to go out for coffee, since the dining room at Barradas was closed until 8 and we had to be on the bus by then. Prof. A went with us, and I took the wrapped up tortilla to have with the coffee.

At 8 am, we were all on the bus with our luggage stowed underneath, except two girls, who were roommates, were missing! Apparently they overslept, having relied on S– to wake them up! She had gone and knocked on their door earlier, but they had gone back to sleep. Why they didn’t set an alarm clock, I have no idea. Anyway, S– went back to get them, and to their credit, they got up and to the bus in less than 15 minutes!

As the bus rumbled by Barradas, we waved and some of the girls screamed goodbye to Fernando, the night watchman, and then we watched the familiar sights of Madrid go by for the last time.

The flight back was long and noisy, but I managed to sleep a little, thanks to a sleep aid. Shortly after our return, we went to my sister’s house, where our extended family were gathering for a family birthday party – there were three family birthdays between July 30 – August 11. The cake had number candles on it – 81, which was the sum of all their ages!! We stayed until 7:30 pm (2:30 am for Dale and me!) but then we just had to go home and go to bed!

As I mentioned in my last post, Thursday night was to be our farewell dinner. We had been told that there wasn’t even going to be a farewell dinner because there wasn’t enough money left, but as it turned out, our professors found a place to use whatever money was leftover. The name of the restaurant was Riazor and it was a little south of Plaza Mayor. We were to meet at 9:30 pm to walk there and we would have tapas and sangria at 10 pm. We also had a “town meeting” at 5:30 in the Barradas dining room, at which we were given surveys to fill out about the program, everything from rating our Spanish classes, the excursions we took, and the directors of the program.

Barradas dining room

Thursday was the last day of class for one of my fellow students, Miriam. She is a beautiful, soft-spoken German of African descent who is married to a very handsome young man and they are expecting their first child, a daughter to be named Sofia, in November. While many of the students in my class had been in and out, she had been there the entire time I was there. So I took a couple of pictures of her with Mer and Alicia, the two teachers.

It was also the day that I was taken out of the class to take an oral test. During Alicia’s class, we were having a laugh looking for a “novio” for one of our young students, a Chinese girl named Xixi (pronounced Cici). Birgit, a middle aged German woman who joined the class only last week and I were pulling up pictures of our sons to show around. The picture I pulled up of my son on Facebook was passed around and he was pronounced “guapo” (handsome) and that he didn’t look anything like me! However, he does look very Spanish – with his name and appearance he would blend in well in Madrid. He wasn’t right for Xixi, though, because “tiene gafas” (he has glasses).

The oral test was a bit hard – Mer asked me what I thought about the news that the region of Catalonia has banned bullfighting. I felt that I didn’t express myself very well and there were words I couldn’t think of so I had to resort to either repeating something or saying something more simplistic. Even so, I scored well on the test, so perhaps I am too hard on myself.

After lunch, because of the heat, I didn’t want to do much, but Dale, KF and I went out to do some shopping. K and I were sort of on a mission to find cheap dresses that we liked (and that fit, since there are few choices in my size). Most Spanish women are thin and stores are filled with a variety of cute styles that look as though they would fit nicely on someone who is about 6 inches wide! My size in Spain is 50 or 52, or XL. Large is more like a U.S. medium, Medium is like our small, and you can imagine who can fit into a Small or Extra Small!! There are very few obese people in Spain.

After the town meeting, I took a shower and got cleaned up for the dinner. Everyone showed up wearing nice dresses (except for the two guys, of course!) and some wore heels, which I thought would make it difficult to walk on some of the streets.  On the way, I looked at the places we passed with nostalgia, knowing it would be my last time. Plus, the weather by that time was absolutely gorgeous – it had cooled off considerably after sunset and there was a refreshing breeze!

The restaurant has hosted some famous people, including Salvador Dali, whose picture was framed on the wall, among others. We went upstairs and were seated at a long table set up with white tablecloth, cloth napkins and two cups for each person. One was for cold mineral water served in liter bottles, and the other for sangria, served in glass jars. The tapas began arriving and there was plenty for everyone – Iberian ham, sharp cheese slices, ham and cheese croquettes, tortilla española, calamari slices, asparagus spears, potatoes in tomato sauce….soon I was stuffed!! We also got a piece of chocolate and whipped cream cake for dessert. It was a wonderful meal and we had a great time.

Afterwards, everyone split up into their usual subgroups, and we “older” adults (me, the professors, and KF, – only 24, but mature for her age!) headed to a Cuban restaurant called “Cuando Sali de Cuba” to listen to live music and have one more drink. On the way there, we encountered a group of Galician bagpipers playing in the street! I got closer to take pictures and to see if they had a CD for sale, but they didn’t. A man who was not part of the group, but associated with them, saw me and asked me if I was Galician. Scottish, I told him. He then began talking in very fast Spanish or Galician about our common Celtic heritage and what else I am not sure, but something about “alegría.” He asked the band between songs if they had a CD for sale – they did but not on hand. I have always wanted to get some Galician “gaita” music, but I guess I’ll have to look for it on Amazon!

At the Cuban restaurant, there was a duo singing traditional Cuban favorites and playing guitar and bass with accented percussion and (KF’s favorite) cowbell! Most ordered wine or sangria, but Dale and I ordered mojitos, the famous Cuban drink with rum, mint, sugar and water. It was strong! We sat behind the musicians at the only small tables in the place, on stools. Twice vendors came in from the street with bouquets of roses, trying to sell Dale roses (presumably to give to one or more of us!). Dale was the only male in our group, surrounded by five women! The musicians sang “Guantanamera” and improvised on each verse, to sing about people in the bar: Este señor, rodeado de rosas, they sang, and then went on to say something about although he (Dale) was surrounded by women, he declined to buy roses for each of them!

By the time we had finished our drinks, some of us were ready to dance a little – Prof. A and I, and at the very end, I got KF to join us! We had a good time and I am glad we went – between the cool breeze surrounding us as we walked the streets of Madrid at night, the tapas at Riazor, the Galician gaita band, and finally the Cuban bar, it was a very satisfying evening. We arrived back at Barradas at 1 am and collapsed into bed!

July 29, 2010

We are on our second to the last day in Spain. Saturday morning we leave Madrid and arrive back in Chicago in the afternoon. People are doing their last minute things: last minute shopping, last minute sunbathing (yes, some of the girls actually went to the park today in this oppressive 100 degree F head to sunbathe!!), last minute emailing, last minute museum going, etc. On the other hand, some people are spending a lot of time sleeping. A virus has been going around and several members of our group have gotten sick. Or perhaps it has been brought on by fatigue in some cases.

It is just so HOT and I am sick of the dirt! I think I have learned a lot here, and for sure my Spanish has gotten a lot better, partly due to studying in class and partly due to gaining confidence as I interacted with people every day. And of course, this was the main point of the trip. I have very much enjoyed my stay here and have seen and learned so much about this country – including the cultural impact it has had on its Latin American former colonies. I have loved the artwork, architecture, the history. But I am ready to go home.

What this tells me is that this program is exactly the right length!

So here is an update on my last week in Spain:
After the weekend in Barcelona, we returned to Madrid and our usual routine on Monday. Classes at Enforex from 9:30 to 1:30. Lunch at Barradas after that, then studying, siesta or relaxing. Dale and I went out to a book store (Casa del Libro) and music store (fnac) where I bought a couple of CDs.  On Monday night, after our dinner at 8:30, a group of 7 of us decided to take the cable car ride over Madrid. The cable car station is just beyond Templo de Debod and it closes at 9 pm, so we had to walk FAST!

We found out that because it was so close to closing time that we could only go to the end of the line but NOT come back on the cable car!

Views from cable car

The ride dropped us at a park on the far outskirts of Madrid called Casa de Campo. When we got there, two of the girls decided to walk around the park on their own and the rest of us wanted to find a way back. There was a family with a small child in a stroller with the same problem. It was nearly sunset so 5 of us figured it would be best to hang with these people who appeared to be natives.

Actually, they are Colombians who live in the Spanish city of Alicante and are in Madrid on a vacation. So they didn’t know how to get back either, but still there is safety in numbers.

 

It was enjoyable talking to them. They told us how they wanted to go to the U.S. but could not get visas because they are from Latin America. The two year old daughter, Natalia, a Spanish citizen, would have no problem getting a visa for the U.S.!! As we followed the path to the road, then followed the road, asking along the way, that led out of the park, I talked with them a lot and thought about how comfortable I was feeling about conversing in Spanish. I didn’t have any trouble understanding them either!

I was worried about the 2 girls who had gone off on their own, and said a private prayer for their safe return. They returned safely!

Actually they got back before we did because we stopped to have sangria at a bar in Plaza 2 de mayo, after we got off the Metro at Tribunal station. It was hard to find a table – the bars were packed! And the custom here is that you don’t pressure people to leave if others are waiting. A waiter will not even give you the bill until you ask for it, and won’t collect it until you hand it to him or her. This is a nice custom, in my opinion. I don’t like to be pressured to leave a place when I am relaxed and engaged in a conversation over a drink at a sidewalk cafe or any restaurant for that matter.

Tuesday we did another thing we had wanted to do – have chocolate fondue with fruit at Valor. We had had chocolate and churros a few times at the famous Chocolatería San Gines, but this time we wanted to go to Valor. It was very hot and we were not in the mood to do much else. When we found the place and went in, we came across the foursome from our group who always do things on their own. It was fun to sit and talk with them, which we rarely get to do. The fondue came with a tray of 4 different fruits cut up into pieces. It was yummy! There was so much chocolate leftover and such a shame to waste, so I ordered a 1/2 order of churros to finish it off!!

Wednesday we went to buy our last souvenirs. KF came along again, and showed us a whole section of Corte Ingles that sells souvenirs!! I bought several things there and Dale finally found a flamenco doll for his sister’s collection. We actually had gone out shortly after class, skipping lunch at Barradas, because KF wanted to visit the Cerralba House which was free on Wednesday. We didn’t know exactly where it was, so we asked someone when we were in the vicinity, who turned out to be American, and she told me that it was closed for restoration since she had also tried to go there! So we went to Nebraska, an Americanized sort of restaurant where we had a bocadillo of ham and cheese filled nuggets, and salads. On the way back in the oppressive heat we went to Palazzo, the Italian ice cream place.

It is a pity about the heat because I wanted to go back to the Buen Retiro park and explore the rest of it, but I just can’t do it in this heat. Unlike the girls who went there to sunbathe today!! Yikes!!!!

Today we did some more shopping to buy cheap clothes! I bought a blouse and KF got a dress. She is unsure about the dress, whether it’s too colorful to wear to work, or the neckline is too low (wear a tank top underneath!!). Anyway her dress was cheap – only 10 euros. The clothes here run the gamut – you can find just about anything and people wear all different styles. At first I found the clothes expensive, but have since learned where to find cheap items!! And everything is on sale in July. There are “Rebajas” everywhere.

Tonight is our farewell dinner. We are going out to a tapas place near the Plaza Mayor at 10 pm. The tapas come with a glass of sangria, but some of us are thinking of having MORE sangria afterward somewhere else!! So it is the night to get a little dressed up, take some nice pictures and spend a last evening together. Tomorrow we’ll be going to our last classes, packing and trying to figure out how to carry all our purchases!! 🙂

 

July 25, 2010 (Sunday)

Check out time was noon.We had a few hours to kill, so we had breakfast and then wandered on the Ramblas. I bought an ashtray for my niece made out of an aluminum soda can, and Dale had his picture taken with his “hero” Don Quixote.

Here is the aluminum can artist. The first picture shows his finished product for sale (I think they cost 1 euro each). The next three pictures show how he does it.

Once he cuts and weaves the strips of the can together, it is amazing the variety of colors and patterns the finished products has.

More living statues – always something to look forward to on Las Ramblas!

Mass was just finishing at a nearby church, and we were allowed to go in and look around.

orange tree in courtyard

By 11:30 we were ready to go, and met the cleaning woman as we were leaving! I was melancholy as I heard the elevator voice announcing doors closing and opening in Catalan for the last time… (Since we had bought lots of souvenirs, we had an extra bag, so Dale went down in the elevator with his luggage first, then I went down).

We left our luggage at the office of Visit All the World and checked our email on their computers. Then we headed out the opposite way on the Ramblas, in the direction of the port. Even though it was Sunday and many places were closed, the interesting characters that come out in costume to earn money from tourists taking pictures were there as usual. The silver man whose head was “separated” from his body had apparently come out of his box to scare a girl who was screaming – in glee – as he chased after her.

I had planned to take the cable car up to Montjuic, which was the site of the Olympic Village, as well as a luxury hotel and a fort, and from which you have splendid views of the huge port and the city of Barcelona. However, the location of the cable car station was an optical illusion – we walked toward what we thought was it only to discover it was much farther down the beach! In the end, we didn’t go on it.  Dale was relieved, because he is afraid of heights!

We walked and walked, and it was a sunny, hot day, but at least there was a breeze near the ocean.  We crossed a boardwalk bridge, and found ourselves at a modern mall! By that time we were very tired, so we found a sandwich place and had lunch, then we walked back.

We walked along the ocean walk where we saw interesting trees, a Picasso-like sculpture, and a giant lobster!

We ended up coming upon the Museum of History of Cataluña and we went in and spent an hour there before it closed. I didn’t get to see everything I wanted to see, but at least got some background on the historical inhabitants of the region. I was interested in finding out more about the Catalan language and also about the region’s fierce independent spirit.

There was a vendor on the Ramblas selling souvenirs touting Catalan independence from the rest of Spain, such as T shirts, Catalan flags and the like. There had also been a man covered in red paint who had signs calling for an end to bullfighting in the region. (A story was on the news about this issue today – apparently Cataluña is due to vote on whether to ban bullfighting. I hope they do.)

We ran out of things to do and still several hours to kill. We rested in a quiet square with plenty of shade and watched a little boy chasing pigeons around and acting surprised when they flew away. He didn’t give up though. His mother sat on the bench next to us, watching and calling him occasionally. She had to get up to keep him from going into the street and we watched her luggage when she vacated the bench. We talked to her a little but our communication was impeded by the fact that she was French and spoke very little Spanish or English.

Plaza Catalunya

Eventually we headed to Plaza Catalunya with our luggage. We had scoped out the airport transportation and had found out exactly where on the plaza the blue airport buses stopped. When we got on the bus, the 5 chicas that we hadn’t seen all weekend were already on the same bus!!

The next Wednesday, we had a test in class and the written portion had two topics to pick from. One of the options was to describe the most recent trip you took. I wrote about Barcelona and got compliments from my instructor!! She said I wrote it with emotion, showing my joy at seeing the city, and that it was a pleasure to read!!! Yea!!!

Here is the last picture I took in Barcelona. It is one of the narrow streets off Plaza Catalunya, typical of the old part of the city.

July 24, 2010

After touring Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia cathedral, we took the metro a few stops, then walked a couple of blocks to a series of escalators.

We also climbed some stairs.

Finally we were high enough to get a good view of the city. Notice the spires of Sagrada Familia rising higher than anything in its surroundings.

Parc Guell is high on a hill, and is suprisingly dry, supporting desert vegetation. From this spot, we also could see the tops of some of Gaudi’s structures in the park.

To visit the park, you walk along a wide dusty path, among a variety of flora, including palm trees and cactus.

Follow the crowds and noise to the Gaudi stuff!!

It was a challenge to take pictures that didn’t include a single person!

Patios, rooftops and structures have the characteristic undulating forms typical of Gaudi, with ceramic mosaics in a variety of designs and colors, with whimsical figures such as open mouthed lizards ending in fountains. Even the plants in this area give the impression of waves and arches. There is a house there that Gaudi lived in, but did not design. Inside you can visit the rooms (the ticket price for this was included in Sagrada Familia) and also see some of the furniture he designed, with handles that mold to your hand, chair backs and arms that are designed to conform to a person’s natural curves. Once again, pictures tell the story better than words.

By the time we had finished seeing the park, we were really exhausted! We dragged ourselves back to the Metro (a different one, with less steep decline, but still lots of steps to go down), stopping at a souvenir shop to fulfill Dale’s promise to his sister and daughter to get them the souvenirs they asked for.  I got a t-shirt with the image of one of the park’s mosaics on the front.

The Metro was quite far and we had to make a pit stop in a public library before entering the station. On our way back, we came across an interesting church, with a patio in back, where we took a rest!

When we got back to our apartment it was nearly 8 pm! We stopped at a place to buy a sandwich (for me) and a bread pizza (for Dale) and some boxed pineapple juice to have for our breakfast the next day. Around 9 pm we finally decided we should go somewhere for dinner. Right down the narrow street from our building, on the edge of a square, is a place called Menage a Trois. The waiter was dressed in a tank top and jeans and had tattoos all up and down his arms. But hey, he did his job and the tapas we ordered were quite good!! And not TOO expensive!!!! The sangria was just right, not too strong.

By the way, on this square are some Roman tombs that had been dug up. They looked like a series of gravestones that you might see at a place where you can order headstones. A big plaque explains what you are looking at as you peer down at them. (No pictures – it was too dark!)