Postcards from Madrid

2008-08-24T18:10:00.000-07:00

30 days, 10 countries, and 15 cities later my eyes are wide open, just as I had hoped and my brain is a sponge dripping with images of virgins, scaffolds, fire bombings, spires, cathedrals, bridges, gondolas and markets, mountains, castles, red poppy fields, gaudi and hundertwasser, sunrises and strobe lights, steins, clocks, gardens, puppets, masks, and new faces. My ears are ringing with sounds of buses, trains, airplanes, french, german, dutch, czech, hungarian rhapsodies, "grazie", catalan, spanish; bells chiming, pigeons cooing, children screaming, gypsies begging, lisps, the national, broken social scene, blue ridge mountains, loud speakers, rain, british accents, cameras clicking, laughter, waves crashing, bottles breaking, coughing, and soccer chants. The best Indian food in the world is in London, I've sipped Gazpacho in Madrid, tasted Tzekinut in Budapest, I ate gelato for breakfast lunch and dinner, dined on "organic orgasmic crepes" and crema catalan in Barcelona, Lasagna al Forno in Venice, bratwurst and BananaWeisen in Berlin, and soup a L'onion in Paris. Smells of paprika, fumes, sugar, urine, jasmine, body odor, oregano, citrus, sea salt, gasoline, red wine and honey suckle, bread and cheap perfumes, cigarettes and marijuana flood my memory with landmarks of places passed and time spent. I pushed my hands against walls one thousand years old and mountains 500 million more. I spent 30 hours on a bus and learned how to sleep just about anywhere. I met some amazing people that made every castle taller, every day shorter and every color brighter. I grew victorious and connected, elevated and exhausted. I feel like a citizen of the world and a girl from the south.

Palacio Real de la Granja de San Ildefonso

2008-08-20T13:51:00.000-07:00

Segovia

2008-08-20T13:43:00.000-07:00

Barcelona

2008-08-20T13:40:00.000-07:00

Mas Barcelona

2008-08-20T13:30:00.000-07:00

Mercat La Boqueria

2008-08-20T13:19:00.000-07:00

Barcelona- La Rambla

2008-08-20T12:58:00.000-07:00

Gaudi- Casa Batlló

2008-08-15T12:35:00.000-07:00

Gaudi-Park Guell

2008-08-15T11:59:00.000-07:00

Gaudi- La Pedrera

2008-08-15T11:07:00.001-07:00

Gaudi-La Sagrada Familia

2008-08-15T10:23:00.000-07:00

Venezia

2008-08-09T09:27:00.000-07:00

through fair Verona

2008-07-29T21:35:00.000-07:00

From Munich I said my goodbyes to my new friends, some who I would never meet again but I was lucky to have met once. They had kept me company through eight different countries, but I was on my own for the next two. Just outside of the Kufstein train station soar gigantic sun glazed mountain tops with jagged rock faces and lush green trees. A small river flows alongside my train window standing between me and millions of years of seismic collisions. All this on my way to Venice. Nameless castles lace the creases between mountains flooding me with curiosity of medieval times and admiration for the people who dared build such heavy fortresses along these steep slopes. Clouds hang low kissing the unusual peaks of the eastern Alps, the sun doesn't seem so far away. On my left, a naked rock face causes my stomach to turn upside down, on my right a sea of green climbs up to a 14,000 foot roof. The words around me are so unfamiliar with more letters and punctuation in a single word than in one English sentence and combinations of letters I would never imagine. Like the Rockies, pine trees shade the mountain sides, transcending languages and longitudes reminding me that some things are universal. Little square white houses with red roofs and brown trim scatter across the most vibrant grass I have ever seen and a horse pulls a man and his carriage carrying grapes until the vineyard meets the base of the mountain. In the distance loom the highest peaks, covered in snow like clouds folded into every ancient crevice staring up at the sun in victory and down at the trees with longing for their company. I'm tired as hell but these mountains have me more awake than any amphetamines. I have the strongest urge to touch the rock on the side of the mountain, to push against these giant monuments and know the feeling of something solid and millions of years pushing back. Crossing the German border into Italy, the Alps become even more beautiful. Green meets white meets blue then light, I feel peaceful, this place is real, this trip was a good idea.

München, last call

2008-07-29T14:10:00.000-07:00

the Hofbrauhaus

Vienna

2008-07-29T13:43:00.000-07:00

home of Hundertwasser, the Hapsburgs and EuroCup 2008.

Budapest, a Hungarian Rhapsody

2008-07-29T13:37:00.000-07:00

Prague, a storybook

2008-07-29T10:08:00.001-07:00

Dresden

2008-07-13T09:54:00.000-07:00

Dresden is a prime example of mankind's capacity to rebuild and progress after destruction. Dresden was completely obliterated by the allies in the firebombing of 1945. Now Dresden is a beautiful, bright, and thriving town with the most ethereal cathedral in Europe (in my opinion).

Berlin.

2008-07-10T19:46:00.000-07:00

The Berlin Wall

2008-07-10T19:36:00.001-07:00

The Reichstag

2008-07-10T19:19:00.000-07:00

danke Berlin

2008-07-10T19:04:00.000-07:00

Amsterdam, a little bit of grass

2008-07-07T22:16:00.000-07:00

lunch in Brussels.

2008-06-20T09:11:00.000-07:00

Paris.

2008-06-19T17:47:00.000-07:00

Métro Graffiti...

2008-06-19T16:15:00.000-07:00

meets Louvre Renaissance.

Tour Eiffel

2008-06-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

la Fée Verte

2008-06-19T13:47:00.000-07:00

Absinth tasting on the outskirts of Paris.

La Vie En Rose

2008-06-19T12:55:00.000-07:00

London Part II

2008-06-18T15:21:00.000-07:00

I think Winston Churchill looks like a pug. My third time in London and it may have been my best. I ate the most delicious Indian food near King's Cross Station. Then I saw a T-rex at the Natural History Museum, my favorite Renaissance painting (Da Vinci's Virgin on the Rocks) at the National Gallery, and my favorite band (Broken Social Scene) at the Shepherd's Bush Empire.

Kevin Drew started out by saying he was thrilled to be playing in the same venue where he saw Jeff Buckley when he was 18 and backpacking through Europe. The set list was great and so was the cast. At one point there were 13 people on stage, sometimes two trupets, two trombones, a sax and a clarinet, other times there were 6 people playing guitar at once or 3 people playing drums. I sat in the first row of the lowest balcony right in the middle. The view was great, the only problem was that everyone in the balcony was sitting. It was nearly impossible for me not to stand up and dance. At one point Kevin told everyone to stand up. I was getting down to Major Label Debut when some guy behind me tapped my shoulder like he was going to ask me to sit down. Not that it mattered, a strait jacket wouldn't have stopped me from dancing at that point. Then K. Drew played a Lover's Spit solo as a tribute to Jeff. Gary let us in on his little "science experiment" and he played guitar to humans speaking while some other guy played sax. AFTER the show, I walked past the band in a side alley next to the venue. I actually had the courage to say "Thank you so much, you guys were great" with the biggest smile on my face. They all looked at me, Amy Milan and Kevin Drew too, and said "no, thank YOU" with welcoming smiles. Kevin looked me right in the eyes and gave me the most genuine smile, it took every inch of my willpower not to jump on him or say something stupid but I wish I had said "I would have loved to have seen Jeff play here, how was it?" I will have to save that conversation for the next time we meet...

It's a pretty amazing feeling when your heroes look you in the eye and smile.

in good company

2008-05-21T13:54:00.000-07:00

zumo

2008-05-20T07:56:00.005-07:00

everyday i make a glass of fresh orange juice.
it reminds me of my lovely Florida.

Guernica

2008-05-20T06:09:00.000-07:00

this is my favorite painting. it is displayed in the contemporary art museum of Madrid, Museo de la Reina Sofia, in an exhibit called "la iluminacion de la Guernica". shining light directly at the painting would cause the painting to fade over time. instead the 11 feet tall 26 foot wide canvas hangs over a white platform, lights shine at the platform which then reflect upon the painting, in effect illuminating la Guernica. Picasso painted this in 1937 after the Nazi German bombing of the civilian town Guernica in the Basque Country of Spain.

i can relate to this song and this painting in similar ways.

Bright Eyes_Devil in the Details.mp3

Aranjuez

2008-05-18T09:35:00.000-07:00

the Spanish spring palace

Monasterio de El Escorial

2008-05-16T13:43:00.000-07:00

Today we went to El Escorial which is less than an hour away from Madrid by train. The original plan was to hike the mountain behind the monastery but since the student admissions rate for the monastery was only 3 euros, we decided to venture through this mighty castle. It turned out to be a good call because while we were admiring the astonishingly accurate maps drawn by Spanish explorers from the 16th century, it started pouring rain.

El Monasterio de El Escorial was both a monastery and a Spanish Royal Palace during the 16th and 17th centuries. King Philip II contracted architect Juan Bautista de Toledo to build this complex as an expression in stone of Catholicism in Spain. Highlights: gold ceilings, the pantheon of kings, King Philip II's death bed, and the Basilica [words cannot describe the grandiosity of this church].

Toledo

2008-05-15T13:53:00.000-07:00

75 km outside of Madrid, Toledo is the old Visigoth capital of Spain. El Alcázar is a stone fort once used as palace by the Roman's in the 3rd century. everything here is so old, i can't get over it.

El Estanque del Retiro

2008-05-14T17:10:00.000-07:00

today Madrid celebrates its patron saint, San Isidro. Madrid knows how to put on a good show...

El Museo del Prado

2008-05-14T08:41:00.000-07:00

these are my favorite pieces from the Prado:

nico & rosie

2008-05-14T08:21:00.000-07:00

nico in his school uniform

rosie the retriever

andando

2008-05-09T11:27:00.000-07:00

today i met a pug and smashed it despite its owner's reluctance. i had my first taste of Manchego cheese. the botanical garden was beautiful but i got busted for getting too close to the poppy flowers to take a picture. a violinst played "All of Me" in front of the Prado. i shared a Hefeweizen with a friend from Gainesville. it was a success.

Plaza de Cibeles:

Pictures:

London Part I

2008-05-07T18:41:00.000-07:00

i spent my first night in Europe in Canary Wharf (London's financial district). i had a couple of hours before my flight to Madrid today, so i decided to go see the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London. The Tower of London sits in front of London Bridge along the Thames River. The Tower is famous for being the site of royal executions, torture, and diamonds. The crown jewels were spectacular, unfortunately I couldn't take a picture of the 534 carat diamond known as the 1st Star of Africa.

romance has new meaning in an old country. i'm loving the final words of King Henry VIII's fifth wife, Katherine Howard, upon the scaffold..."I die a Queen, but I would rather have died the wife of Culpepper." [Culpepper was her humble lover with whom she had an affair while married to the King.]

NYC

2008-05-07T18:37:00.000-07:00

On my way out of the country, I spent a day in NYC with the fam. I stumbled upon some climbers in Central Park and decided to give this problem a go on Rat Rock.

the start of something

2008-05-03T22:02:00.000-07:00

i met a friend on my way to madrid on his way back from barcelona in the newark airport. soon i will be bright-eyed too...