I know I know. It's been more than a month since I've last blogged. But come on, did anyone that knows me really expect me to be everyday about this? After Barcelona I really hit a everyday kinda rhythm where nothing too exciting happened. I was getting in some good cycling, going to classes, and going out with friends when I had some spare time. That's my past month in a nut shell.
However, two weeks ago the family came to visit me for Semana Santa (Easter Break). They flew in the 7th ( my birthday - woo hoo) and hung out in Bilbao until the 9th when my classes let out. They quickly learned that Bilbao isn't much of a tourist city. It has the Guggenheim and that's about it. Don't get me wrong, I love Bilbao, but it's a good place to live more than a place to visit. I did take my family to the Murakami exhibit at the Guggenheim, which was eventful. My dad's face when he saw a life-size anime sculpture of a man masterbating was priceless. I tried to warn them that some of the exhibit was a bit offensive, but they wanted to see it anyways. Once I was done with classes, we left on Thursday for Barcelona.
This being the 3rd time I had been to Barcelona, it was less eventful, but I still love that city. It was also entertaining being the official tour guide for my family and being able to show off some of my spanish skills. Honestly I still think I'm aweful, but to my parents, who speak absolutely no spanish, I sounded pretty impressive. Pat, Bry, and I had some fun making fun of how my mom was pronouncing everything. "The rambles, the famiglia, tapas" - just kidding we love ya mom. We saw La Sagrada Familia, Parq Guell, and a walked around las ramblas and the old quarter a bunch. If you want to know what those are about look back at my Barcelona entry. The only new thing that I saw was the Olympic Stadium and the Olympic Museum, which were really cool. However, we spent about 2 hours walking around the park looking for the damn place. Then, when left the museum we saw that there was a metro stop that practically brings you to the museum. So we basically wasted about 2 hours walking around, but whatever. We had some really good Paella and wine at this restaurant close to our hotel. They also had these really good cod fritter tapas. I was excited to get to Valencia, though, because I couldn't handle the tourists in Barcelona anymore.
However, two weeks ago the family came to visit me for Semana Santa (Easter Break). They flew in the 7th ( my birthday - woo hoo) and hung out in Bilbao until the 9th when my classes let out. They quickly learned that Bilbao isn't much of a tourist city. It has the Guggenheim and that's about it. Don't get me wrong, I love Bilbao, but it's a good place to live more than a place to visit. I did take my family to the Murakami exhibit at the Guggenheim, which was eventful. My dad's face when he saw a life-size anime sculpture of a man masterbating was priceless. I tried to warn them that some of the exhibit was a bit offensive, but they wanted to see it anyways. Once I was done with classes, we left on Thursday for Barcelona.
This being the 3rd time I had been to Barcelona, it was less eventful, but I still love that city. It was also entertaining being the official tour guide for my family and being able to show off some of my spanish skills. Honestly I still think I'm aweful, but to my parents, who speak absolutely no spanish, I sounded pretty impressive. Pat, Bry, and I had some fun making fun of how my mom was pronouncing everything. "The rambles, the famiglia, tapas" - just kidding we love ya mom. We saw La Sagrada Familia, Parq Guell, and a walked around las ramblas and the old quarter a bunch. If you want to know what those are about look back at my Barcelona entry. The only new thing that I saw was the Olympic Stadium and the Olympic Museum, which were really cool. However, we spent about 2 hours walking around the park looking for the damn place. Then, when left the museum we saw that there was a metro stop that practically brings you to the museum. So we basically wasted about 2 hours walking around, but whatever. We had some really good Paella and wine at this restaurant close to our hotel. They also had these really good cod fritter tapas. I was excited to get to Valencia, though, because I couldn't handle the tourists in Barcelona anymore.
Our place in Valencia was this 5 star resort on the beach outside of Valencia. It was beautiful, but it really wasn´t us. You had to pay to use everything. The hot tub was something like €18/hour, WiFi was €15/day, the lunch buffet was €35/person, etc. So needless to say we didn´t buy anything at the hotel. It was just a bit ridiculous, considering how much that place cost per night, you would think some of the other stuff would included. There was definitely a bit of snobbery at this place. Some guy yelled at Pat during breakfast while he was telling a story. I guess he thought we were being too loud. Normally I try not to be the loud obnouxious American, but we weren´t being that loud and this guy was a real prick. Although, I suppose anything would seem rude to a man who expects complete silence and respect from his mail order bride and daughter. He wasn´t worth causing a scene, but he really pissed me off. Other than that, it was good just to hang out on the beach and relax for 2 days. Then we were off to Madrid, or so we thought.
I was sleeping in the car when I heard my mom say we´re here and I woke up to take a look. I was really confused because I had no idea where we were. I just said, "this isn´t Madrid." To give you an anology, our hotel was to Madrid as Newark is to New York City. We gave mom a hard time, but really I have no complaints because I didn´t have to plan anything and I don´t really like Madrid all that much anyways. That night the family experienced a true Spanish dinner. It started at about 9:30 and went past 11:00. I thought my dad was going to fall asleep in his food. Then Pat, Bry, and I hopped a metro into Madrid to meet up with Mel Riv, a friend of Bryan´s and mine from camp. We met up at this very American bar where they had the biggest beers I had ever seen, at least in Spain. They were also in plastic cups which is really weird for Spain. Mel told us that they give the Americans plastic cups after some dumb ass felt like breaking the glasses. I just thought, "Great, another idiot that proves everything that the rest of the world thinks about Americans." Anyway, we had a good time there, and particularly enjoyed watching a very portly, bearded, grizzly bear of a Spaniard grooving all by himself. Man he was having a party. The next day we went to Toledo, which was a great way to wrap up the trip. Saw all the usual stuff - catedral, sword shops, sweet architecture and narrow streets. We also tried some marzipan, which was really good and I had never had before. I forget exactly how they make it, other than it involves grinding up almonds with a lot of sugar. Either way it was delicious, and combined with the kebab we had a few hours early, I was feeling pretty satisfied.
The family left the next day, and I caught a bus back to Bilbao. All in all, it was a great trip, but I was actually looking forward to getting back to Bilbao. I was beginning to feel too much like a tourist. Granted, I have a similar feeling everyday, but I do think there is a difference between students and tourists. Anyways, I got a little more than a month to go, so i really got to buckle down on school work. I´m not going to lie, I haven´t been taking school all that seriously here, and I may pay for it now, but oh well. I´m also getting really anxious to race this summer, so I´ve been trying to train as much as possible. The cycling here really is fantastic, but I´ve learned that the whole traveling abroad hasn´t been as conducive to training as I thought it would. I´m always trying to do so much here, travel, learn the language, train, do school work, and try not to get sick. I´m back on schedule though and spending as much time on the bike as possible, so I´m hoping I´ll be in form by the time I get home. I´ll try to write at least one or two more entries before I leave. See you all soon. Hasta luego.
-Mike
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