The rain in Spain...
No, it didn't fell for me on any plain. And there are two reasons. First, because the dilluvian attack came in the abovementioned Parc Guell in moody Barcelona. And second, because contrary to Prof. Higgins' convictions, Spain's meseta is very far from being a plain, and rain is not common anyway. While the latter is very much known ( images of a dry, arrid Spain are what we usually have in mind), the first is not that much. Beyond the Pyrinees, there is the Spanish dry flatland think many ( and something that is not Europe, say some nasty French people). Quite the opposite. Spain is complicated by various mountain chains that appear from n'importe ou and havce traditionally slowed traffic and helped developing regionalisms and even nationalisms ( Luis's pater very well dixit). I won't get into any orography lessons, but just talk a little bit about my way through Spain, that got forgotten in my previous rants.
So after my stormy exit from Barcelona, I took the train to Lleida Pirineus ( doesn't the name sound exciting?) with a regret that I cannot get out of Cataluny sooner and spend the night in very much praised Aragonese Zaragoza. But my innate love for the sea made me unsettled in my chair, and as the train got to Tarragona, I quickly picked up my bags and stormed again, this time out of the train, only to realize that my dreamed sunset on the beach was to be blocked by the stupid rail tracks. I eventually got to the other side after walking with my heavy bags for 1 km, and saw a very industrial sunset, with the port of Tarragona blocking some sun.
But at least Tarragona has a youth hostel. It is a 3 km up the hill hike, but I will have a bed to rest. Actually, not, as the guy in charge said they were full. To my surprised reaction " Why is a youth hostel in random Tarragona full on a Sunday night in March ???", he told me that youth hostels in Spain may double as student residence during the low season year. He recommended a cheap hotel not very far, I went to the street, entered the hotel, paid, only to realize that the recommended hotel was next door, with much lower prices. Annoyed at myself for my sunset decision and stupidity , I furiously walked into old town Tarragona saying " What now? Rabbid dogs and angry sailors. And of course the Roman ruins that the museums in Barcelona boasted about"ยท But no, to my surprise, I discovered an enchanting, lively town, with colorful, but elegant houses, fantastic Roman ruins ( quite well preserved), all under magical lights. And a developed civil society (! Yeah Midd, yeah Sciences Po!), with protest sheets hanging from most windows against the ajuntament. " We don't want a dead city", said the most, but to my question to a local bartender what is actually happenning, I just got something about unhapiness and coches ( which means cars, as it was revealed to me when admiring my Renfe ticket, which stated that my place is in the famous coche 6). All in all, I loved Tarragona, one of the hidden, accidental jewels of the trip.
Woke up, ran in a sunbathed Tarragona with very matinal activities around, and took the train to Madrid. Madrid!!! Das gewartete Moment wird kommen! I said goodbye to Catalunya with Lleida Pirineus and gorgeous mountain scenery, then fell asleep and woke up on what looked like the moon. It was Eastern Aragon, aridity at its best, something that I have never seen in my anyway short life. Dry to the bone, but spectacularly beautiful.. Then I admired finally Zaragoza from the 6 km long underground train tunnel ( the train station is also underground) and got to Madrid.
Red city, red Austrias, red brick new districts, amazing museums ( I mostly enjoeyed Bosch and Goya in Pradp, Thyssen as an overall experience, and of course Dali and Picasso at the Reina Sofia), cool north to south axis, the most lavish and luxuriant Palacio Real ( I guess the most luxurious palace that I've seenb, reducing Versailles to a mere hut), but as I said, what made Madrid so special came from other angles of the trip.
Heading south again ( after a most wonderful day at Toledo with Luis), I passed through the green Castilla- La Mancha, home of Don Quijote, the up to shape Ciudad Real, the very beautiful mountains of Sierra Morena, with olive trees, forests, and lakes, adding all into a surreal landscape. Indeed, the natural landscapes I've seen in Spain, from moonlike Aragon to the snowcapped Sierra Nevada, seem dreamy, surreal, in a Dali spirit. And it is green , it is so green, defying all my stereotypes of dry grass, parched Spain. I came at the right time, I guess...
And then came Cordoba, which sincereky I liked much more than Barcelona. White houses, street life, kids polaying football everywhere, palm trees, the amazing Mezquita. As I was a kid, I read this children's book in which this 12 year old ( I think his name was Alunel...) meets several famous people, including Avicenna and Averroes. And I started to have this obsession with the two, and now, I was in Averroes' town. ( Yeah, our children's books in Romania are wild). And Maimonides', one of the greatest medieval Jewish thinkers. They both tried to reconcile science with religion, a beautiful endeavour I find.
Being in the Mezquita, and later this day into the Alhambra , I felt so many overwhelming things...But I guess I will continue this tomorrow, very probably from another continent. Marruecas, here I come!
and by the way, some photos:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/gruia_badescu/album?.dir=f759&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos
and
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/gruia_badescu/album?.dir=6f03&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos
So after my stormy exit from Barcelona, I took the train to Lleida Pirineus ( doesn't the name sound exciting?) with a regret that I cannot get out of Cataluny sooner and spend the night in very much praised Aragonese Zaragoza. But my innate love for the sea made me unsettled in my chair, and as the train got to Tarragona, I quickly picked up my bags and stormed again, this time out of the train, only to realize that my dreamed sunset on the beach was to be blocked by the stupid rail tracks. I eventually got to the other side after walking with my heavy bags for 1 km, and saw a very industrial sunset, with the port of Tarragona blocking some sun.
But at least Tarragona has a youth hostel. It is a 3 km up the hill hike, but I will have a bed to rest. Actually, not, as the guy in charge said they were full. To my surprised reaction " Why is a youth hostel in random Tarragona full on a Sunday night in March ???", he told me that youth hostels in Spain may double as student residence during the low season year. He recommended a cheap hotel not very far, I went to the street, entered the hotel, paid, only to realize that the recommended hotel was next door, with much lower prices. Annoyed at myself for my sunset decision and stupidity , I furiously walked into old town Tarragona saying " What now? Rabbid dogs and angry sailors. And of course the Roman ruins that the museums in Barcelona boasted about"ยท But no, to my surprise, I discovered an enchanting, lively town, with colorful, but elegant houses, fantastic Roman ruins ( quite well preserved), all under magical lights. And a developed civil society (! Yeah Midd, yeah Sciences Po!), with protest sheets hanging from most windows against the ajuntament. " We don't want a dead city", said the most, but to my question to a local bartender what is actually happenning, I just got something about unhapiness and coches ( which means cars, as it was revealed to me when admiring my Renfe ticket, which stated that my place is in the famous coche 6). All in all, I loved Tarragona, one of the hidden, accidental jewels of the trip.
Woke up, ran in a sunbathed Tarragona with very matinal activities around, and took the train to Madrid. Madrid!!! Das gewartete Moment wird kommen! I said goodbye to Catalunya with Lleida Pirineus and gorgeous mountain scenery, then fell asleep and woke up on what looked like the moon. It was Eastern Aragon, aridity at its best, something that I have never seen in my anyway short life. Dry to the bone, but spectacularly beautiful.. Then I admired finally Zaragoza from the 6 km long underground train tunnel ( the train station is also underground) and got to Madrid.
Red city, red Austrias, red brick new districts, amazing museums ( I mostly enjoeyed Bosch and Goya in Pradp, Thyssen as an overall experience, and of course Dali and Picasso at the Reina Sofia), cool north to south axis, the most lavish and luxuriant Palacio Real ( I guess the most luxurious palace that I've seenb, reducing Versailles to a mere hut), but as I said, what made Madrid so special came from other angles of the trip.
Heading south again ( after a most wonderful day at Toledo with Luis), I passed through the green Castilla- La Mancha, home of Don Quijote, the up to shape Ciudad Real, the very beautiful mountains of Sierra Morena, with olive trees, forests, and lakes, adding all into a surreal landscape. Indeed, the natural landscapes I've seen in Spain, from moonlike Aragon to the snowcapped Sierra Nevada, seem dreamy, surreal, in a Dali spirit. And it is green , it is so green, defying all my stereotypes of dry grass, parched Spain. I came at the right time, I guess...
And then came Cordoba, which sincereky I liked much more than Barcelona. White houses, street life, kids polaying football everywhere, palm trees, the amazing Mezquita. As I was a kid, I read this children's book in which this 12 year old ( I think his name was Alunel...) meets several famous people, including Avicenna and Averroes. And I started to have this obsession with the two, and now, I was in Averroes' town. ( Yeah, our children's books in Romania are wild). And Maimonides', one of the greatest medieval Jewish thinkers. They both tried to reconcile science with religion, a beautiful endeavour I find.
Being in the Mezquita, and later this day into the Alhambra , I felt so many overwhelming things...But I guess I will continue this tomorrow, very probably from another continent. Marruecas, here I come!
and by the way, some photos:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/gruia_badescu/album?.dir=f759&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos
and
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/gruia_badescu/album?.dir=6f03&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos
posted by Gruia Badescu at 12:38 PM
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