Another European Strike

So when I was in Belgium in 2014, there was a one day strike and a lockdown of tourist sites. Today, another strike due to the response to the referendum vote on Sunday for Catalonia to separate from Spain and the police response at voting polls. As such, again, we were locked out of all tourist sites, our restaurant reservation at Adrià's Bodega 1900 (I wasn't able to get reservations at Tickets this time), but also very limited public transportation as well.

Side note: I recommend every U.S. traveler to register with the state department which provides alerts to U.S. citizens traveling abroad through their STEP program. STEP provided alerts throughout the situation and knows where the registrants are staying or have emergency contact info on file. 

As such, we slept in and relaxed in our apt and after midday, we headed out. There had been massive protests, but by the time we had left the hotel, the streets were empty of cars and buses and waves of people would walk by. Here's one shot when it ebbed:

There were also helicopters flying over head policing the area:

Amanda and I eventually met up and spent the afternoon together and did a little Gaudi walk through the neighborhood. Here's Casa Batlló, designed by Gaudi in 1904:

Here's Casa Mila, also known as La Pedrera, built between 1906 and 1910 by Gaudi:

Here are some cool lamps in front of La Pedrera with mosaic seating:

And finally Casa de les Punxes or Casa Terradas, which is not Gaudi, but by Josep Puig i Cadafalch which is considered "emblematic of Catalan Modernism":

After our walk and architectural selfie series, Amanda and I then relaxed in her hostel terrace with tea and cookies (very Amanda) and just had bestie time. We met up for dinner after my nap and we ate at a tapas restaurant around the corner and celebrated her last night in Europe. 

All museums being closed, restaurants and many stores on strike, and practically no public transportation today. I'm hoping we'll still be able to fit in what we originally planned. I'm faced with this sign in our hotel lobby - and although this is my 2nd time in Barcelona and love this city, I'm looking for it to step up these next two days for some "good time" and "wow happiness". 

Valencia

What an adventure it is when you have to fend for breakfast for yourself after 8 hotel breakfasts. The plan was to walk over to Mercado Central and observe the market and pick up some breakfast. But at other mercados, there's usually some dining stalls or some seats, so ended up not eating there, but did buy a few pieces of fruit. Here's a picture of the Mercado Central in Valencia:



We went to a restaurant across the street who struggled to serve us and communicate. They were incredibly strapped and folks had to constantly go up to the counter as there were many uncomfortable delays.

Afterwards, we walked over to La Llonja which is the old commerce market and a UNESCO heritage site. The building has a mix of gothic, renaissance, and neoclassical features. Interesting were the twisted columns shown in the collage:



It was a toss up to take a bus or pull out our car from the parking garage, but we finally opted to take the #35 bus that leaves from near our hotel to Ciudad de les Arts y les Ciencas - the City of Arts and Sciences.

An architectural marvel that has opened relatively recently and is one of the reasons the NY Times consistently ranks Valencia as one of 52 cities to visit in recent years. My parents had no expectations of what it was and was blown away by it. It has an arts museum, planetarium, science museum, and aquarium. You can buy a multi day ticket to visit all the venues. I had pondered just looking at it on our stopover in Valencia, but thought that would be a shame.

By recommendation from my friend Jamie, we went to the aquarium and had fun being like kids.







At the aquarium, we enjoyed the dolphin show:



Underground tunnel fun during feeding time:



Shark exhibit:



Jellyfish:



The outdoor exhibits with penguins, birds, and turtles:



We opted to hop in the cab sitting in front of the aquarium to return to our hotel. Around the corner, we enjoyed an Italian lunch as recommended by the front desk clerk who checked us in yesterday. We enjoyed various pastas and shared a pizza - I forgot to take a picture of Justin's lasagna and the pizza, but I think you get the idea:



We packed our rental car one last time after it took Justin and I much longer than it should have to navigate the streets from the parking garage to the hotel (there was construction and some streets are exclusively for pedestrians during the day).

3.5 hours is how long it should take from Valencia to Barcelona. Here are a few sights along the way:



Midway, we stopped at the Baix Erbe rest area. We hadn't filled our tank once and it was our first time dealing with diesel. My mom also chipped in by helping to wash the car windows. Here's a collage of our gas fill up experience:



As we drove away, my brother asked my dad how he paid for his coffee when we all went to the bathroom and he said, I thought you paid for it with the gas.

This led to a 20 minute turnaround back to the rest area which included getting off and back on the highway to go south, and then getting off and back on again to go back north. We probably could have gotten away with it, but feared the worst, like the station agent reporting us and a ticket getting assessed to the rental. We were all mystified why the station agent wasn't more firm with us or followed us, but she did confirm he hadn't paid when I went in to pay. My brother likened it to kids taking toys when they leave a store. Seriously.

Kudos to my brother who did all the driving as we listened to international pop, Spanish radio, and my mom's cd from the Sainte Chappelle concert. We finally arrived in Barcelona and checked in. We unpacked the luggage and my parents rested while Justin and I spent 40 minutes trying to find the Hertz return garage when it should have taken 15 - this was multiplied by the traffic, rotaries, and a mess up in the GPS address input. However, we returned the car without any issues or assessments.

Justin and I hopped into a cab to the restaurant Cal Pep. Since we didn't have time to stop at the hotel, my parents took a cab direct for our 8 pm reservation. We finally converged around 8:30 pm, and despite the long wait and tiny room that only accepts reservations of 4 or more, they were able to accommodate us. I had eaten here in 2014 after waiting in line for an hour. This place is not far from the beach and includes classic and mainly seafood tapas. We enjoyed it all, but the razor clams were the best along with our convivial waiter:



After dinner, we hopped into a cab and returned to our hotel. We did buy some groceries, and so glad we did, because we saw this in our elevator:



This cramps our schedule as we had bookings at Sagrada Familia and Parc Güell tomorrow, but at least we have a few days in Barcelona to pivot and beautiful hotel room - it's a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment with kitchen and living room, giving ourselves some time to take it easy tomorrow during the strike.

Also, my best friend Amanda is in Barcelona at the same time, and we met up for a drink tonight and I look forward to catching up her more tomorrow before she returns to America!

Enter Roundabout

We enjoyed our last hotel breakfast and piled in the car for our drive north. We did a little better as we rearranged the suitcases and managed to fit the trunk cover / flap and my dad's walking stick in the trunk. My mom said she could now put her arms down. 

We are getting a good chuckle from this road trip experience. Originally, I planned a train from Córdoba to Granada, and then a flight from Granada to Barcelona. But my friend Jamie, suggested renting a car, as not only would it be more economical, and when you factor in the time to and from airports with security, it may be easier on my dad. Plus, once I sketched out the itinerary, I learned that the track from Córdoba to Granada was undergoing some work, so the train company transfers you to a bus a few stops outside of Granada. And then when I timed it all, so many places are closed on Monday, it all made sense to not rush our travel. 

However, I kind of wished we had a bigger car / trunk, like our Madrid airport transfer driver's sedan. But with the small parking garages and narrow old city roads, I'm not sure if we would have always fit. A catch-22, but my parents seem to be chuckling throughout as they endure the tight spaces in the back. 

Here's a collage including my brother who had put his backpack in the trunk, so he's wearing my sunglasses to endure the Spanish sun:

Here are a few shots to the front during our initial 3.5 hour drive - it actually reminds me of Arizona with some of the red rocks and dryness:

Here are some photos to the side:

All of the driving was laced with a gazillion roundabouts and my GPS constantly saying "enter roundabout" and we had to make sure to stay glued to the purple line for the turn offs. A couple of times we circled to make certain which all brings to mind Chevy Chase's National Lampoon's European vacation - "hey look kids, there's Big Ben!"

We finally arrived in Pinoso, which is in the Alicante region where we had reservations at Paco Gandia. It's only open for lunch which is when paella is traditionally served. I had researched where to eat and stay on our road trip and stumbled upon this place where world class chefs Ferran Adrià, famous for El Bulli, and Joel Robuchon said Paco Gandia had the best and most authentic paella. It was also a good stop in between our drive from Granada to Valencia!

Our convivial host and owner, took care of us and we started out with wine, toast with cheese, nuts, smoked tuna loin, Iberico ham, and a fresh salad with sardines and anchovies. We also ended with a dessert and fruit plate. My mom stated that the appetizers alone left her full and satisfied. 

But the real treat was obviously the paella which is cooked naturally over vines being burned and made with rabbit and snails. The pan is so hot, they clip paper on the handles and as we scraped the perfectly cooked dish, we savored every bite. Here's a collage of this gastronomic experience:

We left happy and full for our 1.75 hour drive to Valencia where we checked in at the Melia Plaza. My dad and brother rested while my mom and I ventured out for 6 pm mass at the Cathedral. None of us were hungry after our paella lunch, so we opted to skip our originally planned dinner reservations at the Neptune Hotel on the beach. 

Here's a photo inside the Cathedral after our mass: 

Inside the Cathedral is the Chapel of the Holy Chalice which has an incredible recently restored alabaster altarpiece; but also supposedly, the original chalice used at the Last Supper. A photo below of the chapel - I didn't take many photos as folks were praying:

We walked back to our hotel and took a photo of this tower - there are several in the city that had been a part of ancient walls that protected the city:

The top photo below is the plaza in front of the Cathedral and the bottom is the plaza in front of the hotel. What a beautiful city for our stop on our Iberian road trip!

Granada Tierra Soñada Por Mí

After an early breakfast at our hotel, we walked over to the Plaza Isabel la Católico to catch the C3 Bus that goes up to the Alhambra. I had booked our tickets about 3 months ago as the entry times to the Palace Nazaries book up fast. Here's my dad in front of the statue in the plaza of Columbus with the Queen:

The Alhambra bus is like a small shuttle, so it can navigate up the hill and roads easily. When we arrived, we picked up our 10 am entry tickets and slowly walked to the Palace which is on the other side of the complex. Before going into the Palace, we visited the Alcazaba, which is the fortress. Here's a collage below and a few candids:

You can see the Albayzin, the Muslim quarter across from the Alhambra behind us:

The complex and palace continued to expand over the years and is now the #1 tourist attraction in Spain. The palace is unbelievable and as my guidebook calls it, the high point of Moorish architecture in Europe. Here are photos from our visit, where I cropped out or tried to minimize the bright shirts of many tourists:

The ceilings are incredibly ornate and as on my last visit here in 2014, my mom said her neck hurt from looking up. Here are a few examples:

So I suggested selfies of the ceilings which I did in the collage above. We also did people selfies with the ceilings for fun too:

A view of the hills of the Albayzin, Muslim quarter, from the Alhambra:

I couldn't get enough of the various arches and courtyards:

After our palace visit, we walked towards Generalife which includes another palace and famous gardens. But on the way, we enjoyed beautiful plants and shrubbery as shown below:

Here's the start of the Generalife palace and gardens:

We finally started to exit which takes a bit of time. A photo of my dad who has been keeping up pretty well - he's been hiding a back brace underneath the green vest to keep up:

We returned to the city center on the C3 bus and popped into the Cathedral where we enjoyed the included audio tour in English or Korean!:

Behind the Cathedral is where they have markets and stores that feel like you're in Morocco. It isn't the original Arab market, but it gives a tourist a nice experience with the fragrances of various spices and herbs:

We lunched in Plaza Bib-Rambla at Laurel. Originally, I had wanted to take my parents to a fried fish place on Pescaderia where I went in 2014, but the family started to melt down from being hangry. I had a local beer, the Alhambra Especial, and we all shared a tapas tasting, fried fish, toast alpujarra, and a seafood paella. I forgot to take a few photos of the dishes, but I think you get the idea:

For the afternoon, I wanted to go up to Mirador San Nicholas, a famous lookout so we can see the Alhambra now from the Albayzin neighborhood. Unfortunately, Justin wasn't feeling well, so he headed to the hotel and my parents and I picked up the C1 bus conveniently in front of the Cathedral. We zig zagged up, saw a few backpackers getting arrested on the street, and observed the white washed walls. At the Plaza de San Nicholas, a block party was going on honoring the Saint of the neighborhood, but we were able to squeeze in a few photos and take in the enormity of the complex. In the bottom photo, the white house on the left is the Generalife as I tried to get the Alcazaba, Nazaries Palace, and Generalife - the whole Alhambra in the shot:

This is where Bill Clinton said he saw the most beautiful sunset in the world and a nice fellow tourist took a few shots and we tried a few selfies:

While waiting for the bus, I treated everyone to ice cream where you can even see the Alhambra in between the trees from the seating area:

We met Justin back at the hotel and napped and rested for a few hours. Our transport for our Flamenco show at Cueva La Rocio was supposed to pick us up at 8:30 pm, but we got a call they were stuck in traffic. So we hopped in a cab and headed up to Sacromonte, known as a Roma or gypsy neighborhood, and it is just north of the Albayzin. The flamenco culture is rooted with the Roma people who apparently live in caves. As such, as part of the package, you dine and watch a flamenco show in a traditional cueva or cave. I had researched many, but this is where apparently the Clintons watched a flamenco show and was rated very highly. 

Here's a collage of our meal which included some cheese and meat puffs, salmorejo, vegetable soup, cod, oxtail, pork, and flan:

Kudos to my brother who endured, like me, many flies. I guess it's one of those hassles of open air seating and I washed down 2 glassss of red wine to help ignore the nuisance. 

We then entered a cave for the 10 pm show and watched 1 hour of flamenco dancing, singing, and guitar playing. A nice New Yorker who was traveling alone sat next to me as we lined the cave's walls. A collage of the dancers below:

A photo of us waiting for our return transfer and a photo of the cave before the show:

The shuttle bus was filled with Italian tourists who were also getting dropped off at their hotel. On the way down, they stopped at San Nicolas so we could see a night view of the Alhambra, pictured below along with Granada city and the moon:

We finally all got dropped off after a few hotel stops. Indeed, we enjoyed our full day in Granada, as my mom hummed all day, and the flamenco singer sang soulfully, the famous song called "Granada". Translated, it starts out, "Granada, the land of my dreams..." 

Mama Kim may or may not have played repeatedly this song and the famous "Alhambra" guitar piece during our nap - I'm just glad my parents enjoyed our visit to this wonderful and special city!