A Few Days at a Time

That's how I have been working things since I left Paris. For Barcelona I had booked 3 days at a hostel without really much of an idea what I was going to do. My original plan actually called for me to head north to Amsterdam. However, I decided I was getting tired of the cold and it was only going to get worse with time and going north. So, off to Spain I went. Within the few days I ended up spending a lot of time with people from as far away as Brazil or India and from as close as Ohio or even Long Island. I had an excellent time there. The weather was warmer and the prices were lower, and I could understand the language a bit. Barcelona is a beautiful city with some very interesting architecture (Gaudi) and some very fun streets (Las Ramblas). Barcelona is basically like one big party. Additionally there are plenty of street performers and plenty of pickpockets. In fact almost half the people I met there were pick-pocketed or were attempted to be. One guy almost had his camera stolen as I was in mid conversation with him, and I didn't even see the guy. Luckily nothing of mine was stolen.

On Sunday night I decided to leave Barcelona for Madrid with a couple of the guys I met. One of them, Julio, studied there for a semester and speaks fluent Spanish, so I figured he would be a good guide. Plus he is also from Long Island and we have a lot in common. To save both money and time we took an overnight bus and arrived early Monday morning. My stay here in Madrid has been great. A lot less hectic and touristy than Barcelona. Its more of a city atmosphere here. A beautiful park, delicious and cheap food, and luckily good weather. Most importantly though, for people who know me... the food.

If you ever happen to find yourself in Madrid and are having some hunger pains and are a bit thirsty, all I can recommend is that you find a small crowded bar called El Tigre. For every drink you order, you are served a plate of food. For example I went with two other people. We all ordered a drink, we were a little extra thirsty so we got the double size beer. This cost us 2.50 each, a fair and maybe even cheap price for a bar. However, with that order we were also served one plate of Paella, one plate with potato's with the most delicious homemade sauce I have ever had, and one huge plate of Tapas. In fact after maybe two orders of drinks yesterday afternoon I was so stuffed that I am still full right now, the next morning. Or perhaps your not thirsty and you just want to see the Spanish obsession with jamon (ham). You should definitely head over to Museo del Jamon. There is ham every where. Super super expensive ham and super cheap ham, ham everywhere you look. Hanging from the ceilings are giant legs of ham, which apparently are taken as a very nice gift to give. So our days in Madrid consisted of visiting either El Tigre or Museo del Jamon, or most of the time both. Afterwards maybe we would relax in the beautiful park called Retiro.

The past few days I have been Couchsurfing again. My hostels were very fun and I met some really really good people who I hope to keep in contact with, but some cheap rest time was needed. Actually Julio's cousin came to visit him and she had set up the Couchsurfing, and luckily there was enough room for me to come along. So I spent Christmas and some of Hanukkah with friends in a home type of environment. No presents, except maybe the Swiss chocolate that I shared with everyone. However, we had an excellent lazy time with our hosts. Doing the normal Christmas type of activities, such as watching three movies in a day. Today is my last day in Madrid, I will be departing from my new friends tonight. I booked an overnight bus to Granada, a city everyone here says is a must see. I have two nights booked in a hostel down there. I don't even know where I will be spending the new year yet. I am just moving on to my next few days at a time.