Spain

I spent so much time in Spain it was beginning to feel like home. I developed friendships, learned the ways and adapted to the lifestyle i.e. siestas. :-) My Spanish comprehension has improved considerably as well but unfortunately my ability to speak it is still limited to a few key words and phrases. So far I've spent over two months in this wonderful country, where there seem to be at least three churches in even the smallest of villages and it's not uncommon to see nuns walking down the street. Thirty-nine days on the Camino de Santiago with a side trip to Bilbao to eat delicious food and see the impressive Guggenheim Museum. The "art" inside isn't worth the €10, nor is the building itself so interesting from that viewpoint but the outside was absolutely worth the trip there. The structure is made out of 3mm thick titanium plates pieced together to look like a futuristic ship. It's very cool!

The best meal I've had in all my travels outside the U.S. was in Bilbao, and it was a salad! The other best was blue fin tuna tartare in Barcelona. Other than that I've not eaten much here besides salads (with hard boiled egg and tuna-because that's how they are made everywhere here) and tuna empanadas. If I liked eggs I could eat tortillas-an egg and potato 'pie'- but those are the bulk of vegetarian options in this meat-heavy country. Thank goodness I do eat fish! But the wine flows--cheaper than a cup of tea in most parts of the country, costing between €1.00-2.50 a glass depending on if you are in the country or a major city. Some places even include a tapas with that 1.50 glass of wine. A bottle in a restaurant can be purchased for five euro! With a nearly 1:1 exchange rate it's the best deal out there, encouraging you to drink even if you don't want to. And the Spanish do drink. Not heavily- I've never seen them drunk-but they can be seen at any time of day, even 9:00 in the morning, enjoying a beer, vermouth or glass of wine. A half bottle of wine per person is offered with the lunch menu of the day and the evening starts out with a small beer and tapas before switching to wine and more tapas--many of which are meat. Pig parts, actually. Flesh and blood to be exact. Pig ears, fried pig skin, pig lips and the specialty, morcilla-bread and pig blood stuffed in an intestine...you name it they've made tapas out of it. Then there is octopus and other strange creatures from the sea. And they are all specialties. Mmmmmm... But what is surprising to me is that with all this fatty, high-cholesterol food, the Spanish don't seem to have weight problems. Perhaps it's because they eat in moderation and they walk a lot or because they smoke. Unfortunately the vast majority of the population does smoke.

The architecture here is superb. I admit I really didn't know anything about Spanish architecture prior to my arrival and find it very underrated. I'm a huge fan of the chunky baroque, the unique works of Gaudi in the north and the Moorish influence in the south. Gaudi´s creative genius created great works-buildings, parks, churches-that immediately became timeless, and a personal favourite of mine. I think what makes greatness is clever uniqueness. And Spain has produced a lot of Greats: Gaudi, Dali, Picasso to name a few. I realize my good fortune to be able to visit the Parc Guell and Sagrida Familia (among others) in Barcelona, the Dali Museum in Figures and see (admittedly I wasn't a fan before this) great works of Picasso at the Sophia Riena Museum in Madrid. In Madrid I also very much enjoyed the Crystal Palace in the expansive Retiro Park and the hour-long changing of the guards ceremony at the palace. Toledo was very nice, a great show of how the Jews, Muslims and Christians lived together, but very touristy. I much preferred to just wander around the small, lesser-known areas of O Porriño, Puebla de Sanabria and the walled towns of Avila and Girona. The latter has a fantastic well-preserved Jewish quarter.

Spain has also been a great history lesson, inescapable through the architecture alone. A subject I always found incredibly boring in school, in my adult life I often regret not knowing more about it. But the Spanish are very well versed in their past and love to share. I find the history of this country fascinating yet very sad. So many wars. For five hundred years the Muslims, Jews and Christians lived together peacefully and in harmony until everyone had to convert to Catholicism or die. Unfortunately too many people died. Too many senseless wars the world over in the name of God. Then and still today. More and more I find myself drawn to the Jewish past, their story. I sympathize with the plight of a peaceful, highly intelligent and self-sufficient people and feel a greater respect for their culture that I've always admired.

The traditional Spanish city "culture" of going out drinking until 4:00 in the morning is one in which I did not partake. However I did enjoy chancing upon some old women making lace and drinking champagne outside a cafe at 10:00 on a Sunday morning. I also had the good chance to be there during a festival weekend and really enjoyed the local dancing, theater and up-and-coming technology exhibits contrasted with man-powered carnival that went on in the spectacular Parc Castillia. In Barcelona, besides just wandering the streets with your mouth agape there is a great market to explore and the coastline is beautiful with the many palm trees. There was a detectable pride of being Catalunyan and their desire for independence from Spain was palpable and visible with their Catalunya flags flying from windows everywhere.

Before I moved on to Portugal I spent a week near the mountains in Barco de Avila participating in an English immersion program. It was strange to constantly be referred to as an "Anglo" but it was how to differentiate us. For six days-12-hours per day I did little else but speak and listen. I'm not a chatty person by nature but it seemed effortless after the first day. Once again I got to meet native Spaniards and once again I fell in love with the people. So warm and kind. I can't believe that I have allowed a negative childhood experience taint my feelings towards all things associated with the Spanish language for so long. I'm thankful that after spending time in South America and Spain all that negativity is gone.

I'm not done with this country yet. I'll explore the south of Spain after I'm done with Portugal and Morocco. I'm already looking forward to going back.