Kaspar took off first, his plane arrived exactly 2 hours before mine and is also departing 2 hours before mine. He had the joy of getting to the airport all by himself :) I had the honor to be accompanied by 2 guys :D So lovely :D Goodbyes are not very lovely though, but there is no way to get around them either :(
So sad the trip is over already. Got so much done and so many places visited during those few days. Had the best companions, very patient and not very demanding ones at all. They even all woke up at 10 without one complaint :) when needed. Thank you guys! The trip was wonderful.
My flights back home were luckily very quick and went without problems for all I can remember :) Managed to be productive at the long layover in Copenhagen and watch 2 movies in a row :D Arrival home was cold :( And I got sick the following day :( But that is nothing :) All better now :D
Next trip is planned to early May, but as of today I still have no plane tickets so will see how it goes. Trip of the year in September is getting clearer and clearer - more on the subject in a month or two!
Showing posts with label spain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spain. Show all posts
Sunday, April 18, 2010
28.03 - Sunday - from Benidorm
As every year there was a huge mess on my part related to the time change. I had only my phone - which I did not trust to do the time change automatically (and then my computer confused me as well since had forgotten it to Estonian time so it differed from my phone time.. uh oh). Anyways - huge confusion, but all turned out for the best in the end. The plan was to stop by triathletes housing and head over to swim practice. Ended up having famous pancakes (famous rightly so) and then headed out to the practice just like planned. It was refreshing to swim :) More updated on the training camp and more check-ups :)
Goodbyes to triathletes, met up with my travel companions and back towards Barcelona we headed - me behind the wheel. Took us about 5 hours of driving and 1 hour of going around in circles and arguing about the usefulness of GPS devices :-S Best part of all was the wonderful discussions with my friend :), I've missed those! Really enjoyed the drive and the chat - one can never have too many friends with whom to discuss about the world matters for hours without once getting bored :D I'd come back for a visit just for the talks at anytime!
Arrived to Barcelona, one crankier than the other (except me of course :) ), one hungrier than the other (especially me of course ;) ). Dropped off the car, dropped of the packages at the apartment and headed to regular midnight dinner :D at the Japanese buffet place.
Now let's talk about food :) Local specialties I got to try out were:
Pa amb tomaquet - roasted white bread with olive oil and garlic rubbed with tomato. This is how the locals eat bread here, none of this buttery stuff.
Paella - those come in many different variations, the one I ate was 'paella valenciana', it is the original version with chicken and seafood.
Tapas - all kinds of little snacks like meat, sausages, bread, fish served with oils and herbs. One must have is 'patatas bravas' - potato chunks in spicy tomato sauce.
From deserts - Crema Catalana - Catalan version of creme brulee, it is a rich eggy custard with a caramelized sugar topping, YUM!
Then of course 'cava' - sparkling wine made the same way as French champagne and sangria. Sangria is everywhere and is served throughout the day like lemonade.
Another wonderful food experience was definitely the Japanese buffet place we visited in Barcelona - it was grand. You just picked whatever you liked from the menu and everything was served to the table nice and quick. That was really neat as the food was superb. Haven't eaten that much sushi total in my whole life :)
Goodbyes to triathletes, met up with my travel companions and back towards Barcelona we headed - me behind the wheel. Took us about 5 hours of driving and 1 hour of going around in circles and arguing about the usefulness of GPS devices :-S Best part of all was the wonderful discussions with my friend :), I've missed those! Really enjoyed the drive and the chat - one can never have too many friends with whom to discuss about the world matters for hours without once getting bored :D I'd come back for a visit just for the talks at anytime!
Arrived to Barcelona, one crankier than the other (except me of course :) ), one hungrier than the other (especially me of course ;) ). Dropped off the car, dropped of the packages at the apartment and headed to regular midnight dinner :D at the Japanese buffet place.
Now let's talk about food :) Local specialties I got to try out were:
Pa amb tomaquet - roasted white bread with olive oil and garlic rubbed with tomato. This is how the locals eat bread here, none of this buttery stuff.
Paella - those come in many different variations, the one I ate was 'paella valenciana', it is the original version with chicken and seafood.
Tapas - all kinds of little snacks like meat, sausages, bread, fish served with oils and herbs. One must have is 'patatas bravas' - potato chunks in spicy tomato sauce.
From deserts - Crema Catalana - Catalan version of creme brulee, it is a rich eggy custard with a caramelized sugar topping, YUM!
Then of course 'cava' - sparkling wine made the same way as French champagne and sangria. Sangria is everywhere and is served throughout the day like lemonade.
Another wonderful food experience was definitely the Japanese buffet place we visited in Barcelona - it was grand. You just picked whatever you liked from the menu and everything was served to the table nice and quick. That was really neat as the food was superb. Haven't eaten that much sushi total in my whole life :)
27.03 - Saturday - to Benidorm
One of the purposes of my Spain trip was to visit my students and friends in Benidorm while they are in their spring training camp pushing their bodies to the limits by getting through unbelievable amount of training hours every day. As their practice was ending around 1pm anyways we weren't gonna hurry a whole lot. Ate breakfast - I had absolutely the best croissant in the world that morning and then headed out of town towards Benidorm. Took a bit over an hour, or was it 1.5 hours, either way not a whole lot.
Ended up spending the whole time in Benidorm with my students. Weather was nice and warm, the sun was out and life was just beautiful. Lots of information had to be exchanged, status updates told, training plans reviewed, future plans discussed, next training camp to be planned ;), experiences to be shared and so on and so on. One student had swimming so figured to go and check out the facilities here, perhaps should attend one swim practice myself :) Either way, club crowd took good care of me the whole time. Training camp is going as planned and even better than expected (or should I say fared?). In the evening the whole club crowd, and friends, got together and we went out to eat. It was truly wonderful, wonderful to spend time with students, with other club members and friends. Good times!
My travel companions had been resting the whole time so it was time for them to start the evening. Stopped by for half and hour, wished them the best time of their life and headed to the hostel. Heard the next morning that their evening went till 6am and apparently Benidorm is THE place for partying. I simply can't believe how they manage to party every single night :) I definitely needed to get my beauty sleep :)
Ended up spending the whole time in Benidorm with my students. Weather was nice and warm, the sun was out and life was just beautiful. Lots of information had to be exchanged, status updates told, training plans reviewed, future plans discussed, next training camp to be planned ;), experiences to be shared and so on and so on. One student had swimming so figured to go and check out the facilities here, perhaps should attend one swim practice myself :) Either way, club crowd took good care of me the whole time. Training camp is going as planned and even better than expected (or should I say fared?). In the evening the whole club crowd, and friends, got together and we went out to eat. It was truly wonderful, wonderful to spend time with students, with other club members and friends. Good times!
My travel companions had been resting the whole time so it was time for them to start the evening. Stopped by for half and hour, wished them the best time of their life and headed to the hostel. Heard the next morning that their evening went till 6am and apparently Benidorm is THE place for partying. I simply can't believe how they manage to party every single night :) I definitely needed to get my beauty sleep :)
26.03 - Friday - to Valencia
Uh oh.. let's continue with ancient Spain trip story now :) So Valencia!
Morning was kind of slow. Luckily the guys picked up the car already last night while I was switched off :) Goal was to head out around noon, which meant getting out around 11 to have a quick breakfast and then out the town we go.
First 1.5hrs was major horror on the road - traffic jams and cars barely moving at all. There were 5 of us jammed into a rather smallish 4-door vehicle :D In the end it turned out to be fine, the first hour I was getting bit claustrophobic (just being me). Rest of the ride went a bit smoother. We stopped here and there for food and gas - was quite chill. Got to see a bit of the nature outside the cities and managed to enjoy the views most of the time.
Arrived in Valencia around 6 I guess. It took us forever to navigate to our hostel in the city center and it took about hundred times forever to find a parking spot. After going around the block about 30 times I politely excused myself, stepped out of the car :) and waited on a parking bench. Finally the car got parked and we managed to check into the accommodation place. Hunger was the next most important topic - got taken care of quite quickly.
During dinner time inquired about local culture - we were all quite surprised when we heard that there is another Spanish dialect in Valencia, called Valencian. Catalan is the official language of autonomous region Catalonia - in Valencia the two official spoken languages are Valencian and Castilian (so Spanish I guess).
Walked around in the city center a bit and then headed out to find the City of Arts and Sciences (Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciences) - somebody had heard something good about it. To get there we walked in this strange park like thing that seemed like an old river bed with bridges going across every now and then. The strangest thing was that this whole area was made into a park with wonderful decorations, sports areas, biking and running roads, fountains and sculptures. Now I read from wiki that there really used to be river at some point but has been diverted now - riverbed area is called Turia gardens. After walking forever and ever in this beautiful park we finally made it to the Arts and Sciences center. OH WOW. It was dark outside by now and all was closed, but oh wow! The complex was amazing! The architecture - the surroundings - the lighting - the shapes - the materials - the combinations of water and stone. Just amazing. One of the coolest things I've seen for a long long time. If you ever get to visit Valencia - take the time to stop by there, you will love it.
Next problem was getting back to city center. Decided to take the metro - we were all half dead by now of the long walk, so we gathered our last strength and walked to the metro station that was about 25 minutes away. And what do you know, by the time we got there it was closed - we missed the last metro by 10 minutes!!! I wanted to cry. And the city center was so far away. After walking around and trying to figure out the bus system ended up taking a taxi still.
It was Kaspar's birthday today so of course we had to celebrate :) And what is the best way to celebrate than find a place where one can dance - and dance we did. As custom in Spain goes, it is totally ok to go to eat at 1 or 2am, so that is what we did. Found this wonderful little restaurant that seemed to be run by the owner. He was so generous and seemed to be doing everything there by himself. Food, beer and wine kept flowing. Got back to the hostel probably around 3 or so - after trying to navigate back and taking a wonderful night tour in the city :) This was probably the most walking I have done in a day for years :)
Morning was kind of slow. Luckily the guys picked up the car already last night while I was switched off :) Goal was to head out around noon, which meant getting out around 11 to have a quick breakfast and then out the town we go.
First 1.5hrs was major horror on the road - traffic jams and cars barely moving at all. There were 5 of us jammed into a rather smallish 4-door vehicle :D In the end it turned out to be fine, the first hour I was getting bit claustrophobic (just being me). Rest of the ride went a bit smoother. We stopped here and there for food and gas - was quite chill. Got to see a bit of the nature outside the cities and managed to enjoy the views most of the time.
Arrived in Valencia around 6 I guess. It took us forever to navigate to our hostel in the city center and it took about hundred times forever to find a parking spot. After going around the block about 30 times I politely excused myself, stepped out of the car :) and waited on a parking bench. Finally the car got parked and we managed to check into the accommodation place. Hunger was the next most important topic - got taken care of quite quickly.
During dinner time inquired about local culture - we were all quite surprised when we heard that there is another Spanish dialect in Valencia, called Valencian. Catalan is the official language of autonomous region Catalonia - in Valencia the two official spoken languages are Valencian and Castilian (so Spanish I guess).
Walked around in the city center a bit and then headed out to find the City of Arts and Sciences (Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciences) - somebody had heard something good about it. To get there we walked in this strange park like thing that seemed like an old river bed with bridges going across every now and then. The strangest thing was that this whole area was made into a park with wonderful decorations, sports areas, biking and running roads, fountains and sculptures. Now I read from wiki that there really used to be river at some point but has been diverted now - riverbed area is called Turia gardens. After walking forever and ever in this beautiful park we finally made it to the Arts and Sciences center. OH WOW. It was dark outside by now and all was closed, but oh wow! The complex was amazing! The architecture - the surroundings - the lighting - the shapes - the materials - the combinations of water and stone. Just amazing. One of the coolest things I've seen for a long long time. If you ever get to visit Valencia - take the time to stop by there, you will love it.
Next problem was getting back to city center. Decided to take the metro - we were all half dead by now of the long walk, so we gathered our last strength and walked to the metro station that was about 25 minutes away. And what do you know, by the time we got there it was closed - we missed the last metro by 10 minutes!!! I wanted to cry. And the city center was so far away. After walking around and trying to figure out the bus system ended up taking a taxi still.
It was Kaspar's birthday today so of course we had to celebrate :) And what is the best way to celebrate than find a place where one can dance - and dance we did. As custom in Spain goes, it is totally ok to go to eat at 1 or 2am, so that is what we did. Found this wonderful little restaurant that seemed to be run by the owner. He was so generous and seemed to be doing everything there by himself. Food, beer and wine kept flowing. Got back to the hostel probably around 3 or so - after trying to navigate back and taking a wonderful night tour in the city :) This was probably the most walking I have done in a day for years :)
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
25.03 - Thursday - in Barcelona
First a bit of an introduction to the city. Barcelona is the capital of autonomous region of Catalonia, official language here is Catalan (all the signs are both in Spanish and in Catalan). Besides great architect Gaudi, this beautiful city is the birth place of Joan Miro, Salvador Dali and Antoni Tapies. Pablo Picasso spent his formative years here and Pedro Almadovar is also from here.
As mentioned - had a whole day to look around in the city and no plans :) Oleg&co took us around, we started from Eixample, walked down to old town and finished up by the sea. First stop was Sagrada Familia - greatest work of Gaudi, building of this Neo-Gothic church started year 1882 and it is not expected to finish before 2026. Passed by Arc de Triomf and walked through beautiful Parc de la Ciutadella. Arrived at Barri Gotic or the Gothic Quarter which is the oldest part of the city, Romans founded new 'colonia' or a town here during reign of Augustus (27 BC - AD 14). Enjoyed wonderful tapas in one tiny eating place with cava and wine. Next headed to El Born, walked down La Rambla - definitely the most famous street in whole Spain, it is a lively street full of newsstands, caged bird and flower stalls, musicians and mime artists. Good thing about being taken around with half locals is that they know all sorts of nice local eating places - chilled with a big bucket of sangria just a block from La Rambla. Final destination was Port Vell area, beautiful seaside complex. As you can imagine, this all meant loots of walking :)
Barcelona is wonderful - city made for people. Streets are wide, buildings are all about the same height, architecture is fabulous and everything just looks pretty. Houses at the intersections are chamfered to allow the buildings to overlook the squares or junctions. Oldest part of the city has very narrow streets, but majority of the streets are wide and city planning has quite rigid structure - streets are strictly parallel and form even squares, there are just few diagonals running through the city.
Evening was topped of with visiting absinth bar (yeah) and dinner + wine at the apartment. Yet another long day was put behind.
As mentioned - had a whole day to look around in the city and no plans :) Oleg&co took us around, we started from Eixample, walked down to old town and finished up by the sea. First stop was Sagrada Familia - greatest work of Gaudi, building of this Neo-Gothic church started year 1882 and it is not expected to finish before 2026. Passed by Arc de Triomf and walked through beautiful Parc de la Ciutadella. Arrived at Barri Gotic or the Gothic Quarter which is the oldest part of the city, Romans founded new 'colonia' or a town here during reign of Augustus (27 BC - AD 14). Enjoyed wonderful tapas in one tiny eating place with cava and wine. Next headed to El Born, walked down La Rambla - definitely the most famous street in whole Spain, it is a lively street full of newsstands, caged bird and flower stalls, musicians and mime artists. Good thing about being taken around with half locals is that they know all sorts of nice local eating places - chilled with a big bucket of sangria just a block from La Rambla. Final destination was Port Vell area, beautiful seaside complex. As you can imagine, this all meant loots of walking :)
Barcelona is wonderful - city made for people. Streets are wide, buildings are all about the same height, architecture is fabulous and everything just looks pretty. Houses at the intersections are chamfered to allow the buildings to overlook the squares or junctions. Oldest part of the city has very narrow streets, but majority of the streets are wide and city planning has quite rigid structure - streets are strictly parallel and form even squares, there are just few diagonals running through the city.
Evening was topped of with visiting absinth bar (yeah) and dinner + wine at the apartment. Yet another long day was put behind.
24.03 - Wednesday - Arrival
Flying in Europe is so quick and easy, 2+2 hours and boom you're there - very convenient. Haven't been really traveling only in Europe for many many years so makes you forget how it even works. Another major convenience is traveling with an ID-card :) I had never done that before either. I'm always going somewhere further away and passport is required. I don't think I have even gone to Finland with ID-card? Anyways, now I have - very easy and convenient.
Kaspar was already waiting for me at the airport as he arrived 2 hours before me. We quickly located bold convict looking Oleg as well :) and our journey began. Oleg lives in downtown and as we arrived just in time for the trainstation to close we ended up taking the night bus and then walking half way across Barcelona :) It was all good though, first sightseeing tour was on the way. Passed by Casa Batllo and Casa Mila - great works of Antoni Gaudi built around 1900 to 1910. He was the leader of Modernisme, a variant of Art Noveau that became means of expression for Catalan nationalism.
Once at the apartment I headed to sleep right away - it has been a long day with a whole day at the office + 2 flights and touring the city. Tomorrow we have a whole day for this wonderful place called Barcelona.
Kaspar was already waiting for me at the airport as he arrived 2 hours before me. We quickly located bold convict looking Oleg as well :) and our journey began. Oleg lives in downtown and as we arrived just in time for the trainstation to close we ended up taking the night bus and then walking half way across Barcelona :) It was all good though, first sightseeing tour was on the way. Passed by Casa Batllo and Casa Mila - great works of Antoni Gaudi built around 1900 to 1910. He was the leader of Modernisme, a variant of Art Noveau that became means of expression for Catalan nationalism.
Once at the apartment I headed to sleep right away - it has been a long day with a whole day at the office + 2 flights and touring the city. Tomorrow we have a whole day for this wonderful place called Barcelona.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Long weekend in Spain coming up
On Wednesday I will be leaving to Spain for a long weekend, will be back late night on Monday. You ask what the plan is? The plans are grand once again. Just as a side note, there will be a time when I'm gonna go traveling and I can say "there are no plans, absolutely none" :) Someday this will be the case - promise I have made to myself :D
My route will be Barcelona-Valencia-Benidorm-Barcelona. There are 3 goals for this trip:
1) to visit my friend Oleg who moved to Barcelona about a year ago and now happily lives there
2) to celebrate Kaspar's birthday, he is living in Ireland for a year and is flying down to meet me in Spain
3) to say hi to couple of my students who are in a training camp in Benidorm
Quite grand huh :) ?
But so the plans-plans:
- leaving Tallinn on the evening of 24th and will arrive in Barcelona just before midnight, meeting Oleg and Kaspar at the airport and will camp over at Oleg's place
- spending a day in Barcelona on the 25th
- renting a car on the 26th and driving south during the day with all three of us + Oleg's flatmate, hopefully will make it to Valencia in the early evening. Celebrating Kaspar's birthday and staying in Valencia for the night.
- will head to Benidorm on Saturday, morning of 27th, and will stay there till Sunday evening
- driving back to Barcelona on the evening of 28th
- flying back to Tallinn on Monday afternoon, on the 29th and arriving a bit before midnight
Wish me/us luck :)
My route will be Barcelona-Valencia-Benidorm-Barcelona. There are 3 goals for this trip:
1) to visit my friend Oleg who moved to Barcelona about a year ago and now happily lives there
2) to celebrate Kaspar's birthday, he is living in Ireland for a year and is flying down to meet me in Spain
3) to say hi to couple of my students who are in a training camp in Benidorm
Quite grand huh :) ?
But so the plans-plans:
- leaving Tallinn on the evening of 24th and will arrive in Barcelona just before midnight, meeting Oleg and Kaspar at the airport and will camp over at Oleg's place
- spending a day in Barcelona on the 25th
- renting a car on the 26th and driving south during the day with all three of us + Oleg's flatmate, hopefully will make it to Valencia in the early evening. Celebrating Kaspar's birthday and staying in Valencia for the night.
- will head to Benidorm on Saturday, morning of 27th, and will stay there till Sunday evening
- driving back to Barcelona on the evening of 28th
- flying back to Tallinn on Monday afternoon, on the 29th and arriving a bit before midnight
Wish me/us luck :)
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