Italy, Barcelona farewell, and a grand homecoming

Well, I'm home. By my body language, you wouldn't be able to tell if I was relieved or reluctant. On one hand, I'm finally home after a long journey on Lufthansa and Air Canada through 5 countries in a 24 hour period. I'm finally home after throwing up 9 times on 3 flights and in one expensive hostel (take that for overcharging us!). I'm finally home in the good ol' US of A where I speak English pretty dang well if I say so myself.

On the other hand, it's hard to believe that four months on a dream trip in Europe are finally up. In the last 8 days, Megan and I went from Pisa to Cinque Terre to Florence to Rome on a whirlwind tour of Italy. It was a great way to cap off our time in Europe - great food, sights and tons of history.

First off - the tower really does lean. It doesn't disappoint. You walk onto the mown green lawns that host the Leaning Tower, the Baptistry of Pisa, and the Duomo (each very impressive), and you think to yourself "this tower better be about to fall over or I'm outta here." It's built on unstable soil and they give it about 300 more years. Pisa gets a bad rap for being a tourist trap, but it's actually worth the trip if you take the time to appreciate the history it has to offer - plenty of frescos, an impressive walled in cemetery that houses some of Italy's renaissance elite, and the cathedral next to the notorious tower.

Next off, we headed to Cinque Terre. If you haven't heard of it, Google it. Google it for a while and start planning your trip. The Cinque Terre consist of five towns along the Ligurian Coast that hang precipitously over 12 kilometers of cliffs. Directly arching over the towns are green coastal mountains filled with manmade terraces from the middle ages that are still used for small vineyards. Each town has no more than 1000 people (except for the 5th, Monterosso) and has been there for over 1000 years. Megan and I hiked between each of the 5 towns, and I think the hike between Manarola and Corniglia (#2 and #3) before sunset had some of the most amazing sights I've ever seen. Hopefully the pictures help.

Then, we headed to Florence...the birthplace of the Renaissance and the current home of cheap, authentic, non-touristy Italian food. We visited the unique Duomo in the center of the city, and it was huge (Duomo is Italian for dome, and it also sounds cooler). I'm not an expert on Cathedrals, but that was one large dome, and it was green and white on the outside (atypical) and the outside was entirely marble. It was impressive. We also visited the Basilica of Sant Croce, which is home to the tombs of a couple wiseguys like Galileo, Dante, and Michelangelo. I think Galileo invented peanut butter and Michelangelo was definitely the leader of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. But I could be wrong. The most beautiful sight in Florence was the sunset over the Arno river and the Ponte Vecchio Bridge.

Oh, and we saw the Statue of David by Michelangelo, which was very impressive and much larger than expected. And not bad for a turtle, I might add.

Lastly, we headed for Rome and the Vatican and the Colosseum for a few days. Rome makes you dizzy with how old everything is. Imagine Los Angeles - complete with all its modern buildings, cars and smog - and throw in tons of ancient ruins right in the middle of the city. It looks like a large child left out his Roman Legos. Our time in Rome was soured by Megan getting the stomach flu, and then a day later I decided to do the same thing. Before the storm came on, we went to the Colosseum - built 2000 years ago and used for executions, "hunts," and epic, 100-day long gladiator fights for 500 years. Beneath the sand of the arena, slaves worked in passageways to lift lions and bears onto the surface. It was the sight of all out carnage. Nowadays, we watch things like American Idol.

Before I got sick and after Megan had recovered mostly, we visited the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Basilica. We arrived in the plaza while the Pope was giving his Holy Thursday mass on the Jumbotrons. I was surprised by how open the plaza was, as well as how many columns surrounded it in all directions.  In the museum, we saw the Sistine Chapel, the Raphael Stanzas, and some famous Renaissance sculptures. Both of the former are indescribable in terms of detail, meaning and size. As for the rest - that museum was huge, and about-to-be-sick me mostly smiled and nodded as the audio tour guided us through.

And that was that. We rushed to the Metro, to the plane, to the hostel, to more planes, and all the while I was tossing cookies. It was a miserable trip back. But you know what? As bad as I felt, I didn't have scurvy. It only took me a day to get back to comfortable Westlake. Only 100 years ago, people had to take boats for weeks to travel overseas. 500 years ago, a long trip of that distance was a high risk of disease and death. It's a new world of traveling now where being "home" doesn't mean you're too far from anywhere else. With the right plane tickets and a smartphone, you could be in the most remote cafe in Europe within 24 hours.

It's good to be home because I know how easy it is to get back again when the time comes. Until that time, my adventures abroad are on hold and so is this blog.

Thanks for reading, happy travels, and hasta luego.

Chris 

The thin, steep streets of Riomaggiore - the first of the Cinque Terre.

Manarola from the side...built right into the cliff.

Vineyards 1500 feet above the sea below.

Manmade terraces that have been around since the Middle Ages.

Megan looking down on Corniglia after our hike.

Sunset in Corniglia.

Morning in Vernazza (the 4th of the towns).

Sunset in Florence from the Piazza di Michelangelo overlooking the city.

Me and Megan from the Piazza.

Me and Megan in front of the marble Duomo.

Michelangelo's tomb!

The Vittoriale - built right in the center of Ancient Rome. This one's from the 19th century though.

Megan in the Palatino - the Ancient Roman hill that housed emperors and elite.

Me at the Colosseum. 

Megan at the Spanish steps - a gift to Italy from Spain! I want a gift from Spain...

The Trevi fountain...built right into the building behind it.

The famous creation of Adam in the Sistine Chapel.

View of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

The impressive altar inside the Basilica...only the Pope can teach here!

A view of the Plaza from the Basilica.

Ain't No Groundhog in Barcelona

I'm not sure how Barcelonans acknowledge the shift from winter to spring. There definitely isn't a man with a monocle in an oversized trench coat waiting for a groundhog to run from its fearsome shadow. So far, there hasn't even been a fashion change - no local would dare wear flip flops or short sleeves. All I know is that spring is here, just in time to give us sunburn and T-shirt weather before we fly back across the pond.

The energy has grown along with the leaves. Just by walking down Las Ramblas or towards the Port, there seems to be more people out and about. Gelatto places are overflowing. The line for Bo-de-B is out the door and then some. The street vendors walk up to you with dollar beers and offer "cerveza beer, something else?" Trees are somewhere between green and purple or both. This is the Barcelona weather we've been waiting for.

Yesterday, we were so excited that the weather was finally nice that we decided we didn't need sunscreen at the beach. Bad idea.

Here's something worth noting - in Spain, Frisbees are like UFOs. They never throw them and they're scared when one comes towards them. We've busted out the frisbee the last two weekends, and more people than you can count stop to watch this foreign, flying disc. I think they're amused by how much we like it. In Europe, father and son don't go out to the backyard to play catch...just to play kick I guess?

A day at the beach in Barcelona is like a day in the bazaars in Morocco. If you ever want to be in a situation where you can buy beer, coconut, henna tattoos, shawls, five euro massages, or maybe some sort of suspicious drug without getting up from your beach towel, Barcelona is the place for you. Who knows, you might even get to see the token naked weirdos walking up and down the shore. It's no doubt great for people watching.

The DeGennaros at Parc Guell. One of the first days of springlike weather we've had!

Dave and I in what seems to be a posed conversation at Parc de la Ciutadela. 

Walking towards the port and we ran into this funkadelic bridge. Who would have thought that it would swing out sideways to let a boat go through. 

These are the types of trees taking over the streets nowadays. Pretty cool, I must say.

Plazas getting more and more crowded.

Kelly and I at the Plaza of Parc Guell. Palm trees make it look like home!

One of the more famous views from Parc Guell.

Steve roughing out back surgery 3 days before coming to Barcelona. You wouldn't know it from this picture!

Gaudi's two Gingerbread-like houses presiding over the entrance to Parc Guell.

Megan in front of Gaudi's famous lizard!

Me and Megan at the cross atop Parc Guell.

Even the apartments look like spring!

Around this time of the year, you start seeing some of these big people walking around on the weekends. 

One of the worlds largest super yachts - Anastasia - at Port Vell. We stopped and starred at this for a good 10 minutes, and we thought about bribing the crew to let us on. I'm sure we weren't the first.

One of these is not a tree. Try and figure out for yourself.

Me, Dave and Alex at Ciutadela.

Grass grass grass!

With 10 days left in Barcelona, I plan to take advantage of the perfect, 70 degree weather forecasted for the rest of my stay. After that, it's off to Italy for a week...let's hope the weather is on our side there too!

Golf in the Old World

Before heading back to the mainland, I knew I had to golf here at least once. So yesterday, I asked Google maps where the nearest, nicest, cheapest golf course was and I headed there on the metro.

After an hour and a half trek on metro, train, and foot, I arrived at the Sant Joan Golf Course  - the first public golf course in Catalunya. I read that the green fee for a junior is 19 euro, and seeing the I have 5 more days being under 21, I wanted to take advantage of the junior rate one last time. They hit me with two charges I wasn't expecting though - club rental was a whopping 21 euro, and the fee for not having a license to golf in Spain was 8 euro. That's right...they charged me a fee for not having taken the mandatory 10 lessons to acquire a license. It felt very ironic as someone that has golfed for over 3/4 of their time on this earth.

The course was exceptionally nice, especially for being public. The regular-flex shafts on the rental clubs made the tight, dog-legged fairways pretty difficult to hit, but I managed to find a way. I ended up figuring out that the ball would always go right, and I played it that way.

To my disappointment, I didn't have any Spaniard to play with. The course was empty because the weather wasn't very nice, so I went at it alone. I wanted to play with a Spaniard to authenticate my European golfing experience and practice my Castellano. My prayers were answered, however, when the marshall pulled up on the 6th hole. He saw that I had hit a tee shot to 6 feet on a par three, and he offered me a ride. From then on, he accompanied me on every hole until I reached the 17th tee. His name was Pablo and he was from Peru, and it was nice to not have to walk the hilly course. He made me focus more on my game, because I obviously wanted to impress my Euro-audience of one, and I shot 1 over for the 10 holes he accompanied me on. According to him, I should be on the PGA tour. Well, Pablo, there are many other kids that can hit the ball much, much straighter than me.

Nonetheless, he couldn't have been nicer and it was much better than spending the day alone. I am proud to say that I played a beautiful course outside Barcelona. Who knows when the next opportunity will come for me to golf in Europe - I'm glad I took advantage of it now!

A view back down the fairway of the 3rd hole.

A distant view of Montserrat from the 4th tee.

A closer view of Montserrat.

The dark green color of the grass, coupled with the grey clouds, reminds me that I'm in Europe.

Me in my hastily put together golf outfit. Photo credit - Pablo.

Me next to the "Buggie" as they call it in Barcelona.

Pablo - the man, the myth, the Peruvian legend. He couldn't have been nicer.

Walking back to the metro from the course. It was a 40 minute walk!

This is the Hewlett Packard Barcelona campus. Pretty nice!

Countdown - only 2 more weeks left in Barcelona!

Day Trip to Costa Brava

There's something I haven't been willing to accept as a Californian in Barcelona - it's cold here. Not New York cold, or Simon Cowell in the first audition cities cold (outdated, I know),  but just cold enough to keep you in long sleeves and pants. Despite many people warning me before I came to Barcelona, I refused to believe them. I thought I'd put in my jacket wearing time and be back in flip flops by the beginning of March, but this hasn't turned out to be true.

Well, partly. I wore flip flops as a form of denial that it was still cold and rainy in March. In any case, we took advantage this weekend of the start of Spring weather (or so we thought) to head up the coast of Catalunya, Costa Brava. This is the rugged shoreline filled with little secluded fishing towns that has inspired the likes of Dali and Picasso. After a full day at the beach and exploring the coves, I can say that Costa Brava is a must visit while here in Barcelona.

We caught a bus that took us straight from the city center, through the coastal mountains and into Tossa de Mar, about an hour and a half outside the city. Once we got there, Amir, Megan and I put our Catalan knowledge to use. Thanks to our 101 class, we knew to follow the sign to the "platges" and soon found ourselves in the sand. It had been a long time since the weather aligned with our schedules to allow us to enjoy the beach, so we all sat down and relaxed for a little. This is where Dave enlightened us on the process of rock picking in Minnesota. It's where you dig out the rocks that have risen to the surface to make way for new crops. "You've never done that before?" Maybe one day, Dave. Maybe one day.

The 6 of us guys then set up an impromptu field for ultimate frisbee. We ran around and realize how out of shape we were. This is also where the weather took and abrupt change, and the sky turned grey and the wind picked up. I blame the wind for my rogue throw that almost hit a small child. I felt terrible.

We picked up our things and decided to go explore and get the blood moving. The beach had an awesome castle and wall built into a hill on one side, and on the other were huge climbable rocks. We decided to head for the huge climbable rocks. After climbing up one huge rock in particular in my converse, I could see why Dali and Picasso had the hots for Costa Brava. It's rugged, cliffed, and it's got rugged cliffs. The mountains meet the sea abruptly in Tossa de Mar, but not before the squeeze in a little village with colored houses and fancy places to eat. We sat at the top and felt like kings for a bit before we carefully climbed down. It was at this point that Dave and Amir fought with bamboo sticks.

Before heading back to Barcelona, we went to eat at a beachfront restaurant. We got denied at several others because 5 PM is a very awkward time to eat in Spain. The restaurant that finally agreed to serve us did so awkwardly and reluctantly, but at least the food was good. It had started to rain a little outside, and we all wondered what happened to our perfect beach day. I'll never forget the Tossa de Mar beach nonetheless. It was nothing like California - since when would there be a real castle on a hill in Malibu? Wait...maybe just in Malibu...

Well, hands down the best movie slogan I've seen in a while. 

This is the shot they recommend...frames the hill with the castle.

Me and Megan in front of the awesome rock with a lone tree coming out of it.

Me conquering the rock tree hill with Alex.

Me and Megan with the rocky coast in the back.

Exactly as I found it.

Hey, I thought this looked very blue.

It gets cooler the longer you stare at it.

In the beginning, when the weather was nice!

Rockin' the Fantas. They're very popular here in Spain.

Me and Megan with the castle in the back.

We wanted to take this dog with us. It had some spunk.

An apartment building that looks like the rocky hills behind it.

The highlight of the day was first arriving at the beach and realizing how awesome it is to stumble upon a place like that just an hour outside of the city. It felt like a reward for not being lazy but rather seeking adventure instead. More posts to come!