Day 73 to 81

Day 73: Thursday 1^st September

Today was our first full day in Madrid and in true Katherine and Cait style - we did the free walking tour provided by our hostel. The tour was really good. We learnt quite a lot of Spanish history in a really short period of time.

The tour started in the main square of Madrid which is known as Plaza de Sol. It translates as “The Gate of the Sun” because originally the gate way into the city was in this plaza and the sun use to rise over the gate way. This however, was knocked down when the city was to be extended past the gate. The plaza currently, is where the majority of the protests in Madrid are held. I don’t know if many of you know, but Spain has only been a democratic society recently so the people protest quite regularly as a reminder that they have a say.

Plaza De Sol

Any way, enough of the history lesson…..  The tour was fabulous. We wondered through the main shopping areas, saw the Opera house, saw the Royal Palace and learnt that apparently Madrid was chosen as the capital by the royal family in one day and the whole movement of the upper society to Madrid was completed in the day.

The Royal Palace

We finished the tour about mid afternoon and then Katherine and I had a lovely long nap before then heading to the common area of the hostel to play free drinking games! Basically, the aim of the hostel was to make sure that we all had a brilliant time so that we’d leave good reviews and so they’d get more people. Part of this included them organizing activities for us.. so the free walking tour, free drinking games, pub crawls etc etc. The free drinking games involved them giving us an unlimited amount of Sangria (which is like the Spanish version of goon.. cask wine) and playing a version King of beers with it. The coolest difference was that you had to make a roof made of cards when you finished with a card.

The cards

There was a wide variety of people playing the drinking games and one guy from Australia.. I think Melbourne, had taken it on himself to make sure that all the ladies had enough to drink. Katherine and I had been watching him all day trying to chat up girls and finally he tried to chat us up… let’s just say he got that we were not impressed at all and he did not try again for the rest of the time!

The pub crawl was entertaining as usual. Once again, we had the free shots and the free entry after paying a basic amount. It was totally worth it. We also met these lovely American girls who we ended up dancing with for ages and they informed us about a club known as Kapital which I seven floors high.

Day 74: Friday 2^nd September

As we didn’t get many photos the day before, Katherine and I decided that we needed to get more photos of Madrid so set out so basically the same places to get photos.

  

Once again Madrid was full of couples. Which was rather uncomfortable for Katherine and I so… so else could we do but make it more awkward for them by taking photos with them in the background

Katherine

That evening we met up with Tara (friend from Sydney), her boyfriend Cam and then a friend of Cam’s (Rob) and Tara’s cousin (Amanda). We went out for dinner at this restaurant called Ginger which was recommended to Tara by her Bus About (Tour thing around Europe) leader however…. The exact location of the restaurant was unknown. So we spent a good hour looking for it. In the end we found it and it was totally worth the search. It had really reasonable prices and really nice food.

We then headed back to their hostel where we bumped into two girls from Monte which was rather bizarre to have a drink before heading out. What they didn’t realize, was that the terrace where we were sitting closed at 10 and so one of the staff came and yelled at us in rapid Spanish which I will inform you is rather scary, so we bailed. On the way back to our hostel we ran into a bunch of English boys who Katherine had decided to trick – as she was telling them we were Australian she was doing it with an English accent… Tara and Amanda both caught onto it. But me… being as oblivious as always just picked up the accent accidentally. It was hilarious to watch as they were incredibly confused.

We headed back to our hostel where we had another drink before going out. Katherine and I went to the seven story club with Amanda and Rob. It was so cool. It was really expensive to get in (18 euro) but there were bars on every level and 3 dance floors and right at the top was a huge terrace area. Definitely worth a trip. We then met up with the American girls and who we danced with for a bit and then went back home at about 5:30ish.

Day 75: Saturday 3^rd September

So, we spent today wondering through the many, many shops. I bought a new iPod because mine had broken and both Katherine and I did the crappy touristy shop which is ever so fun!  So, that was about 5 hours of our entire day in one paragraph… Today truly wasn’t that interesting.

We also took pictures with the Bear and Tree ("El Oso y El Madroño”) which is the official symbol of Madrid. There isn’t an exact known reason just theories about why it has become that. Our tour guide informed us that the bear eating the fruits off the tree represents the people of Madrid as the bear gets drunk off the fruits and the people during the ages were always drunk because it was safer to drink wine then to drink the water.

Us and the El Oso y El Madroño

Day 76: Sunday 4^th September

After breakfast, we both spoke to our relative families before then heading off to the station which was apparently a short walk…. The receptionist lied. We had to wait in line to buy the train tickets for at least an hour but in the end it was all good. We got a really nice, fast train at 2:30 to Barcelona. Once at the main train station we caught the metro (which was incredibly efficient for public transport) to our hostel. Walking out of the metro at first we weren’t sure if we were in the right area because firstly, it was a huge shopping area and secondly, there were four star hotels everywhere. But in fact we were in the right area.

The hostel we stayed at was on Passieg de Gracia which apparently is the 2^nd most expensive street in all of Spain and we stayed there in a hostel for not even an 8^th of what most people would be staying on that street for. It was brilliant. You can imagine that our first impression of Barcelona was a good one.. and honestly, it did not decrease for the entirety of our stay.

View from our Room 

So, we checked in at about 6:30ish and dumped all our bags and then went and had a wonder around the area. And as we first thought it was a really nice area. At about 8ish we went and had tapas for dinner. Tapas is like… small tastes of meals that the Spanish have with their drinks. So, in their culture you always have some kind of food with every drink. We had some really nice seafood, chicken, cheeses and the most delicious potatoes. After desert, we went back to the hostel where we had a drink in the bar before heading to bed.

Day 77: Monday 5^th September

After breakfast, Katherine and I did a free tour of the gothic region of Barcelona. The Gothic region is the old parts of the city… so the narrow, cobble stone streets. Compared to the rest of Barcelona the Gothic region is a lot cooler in temperature because of the tall buildings surrounding the streets, so not much light reaches the streets. It is a much needed relief from the heat!

Narrow Street 

The tour took us to the various churches and cathedrals in the area as well as showing us good local areas to grab a drink or something to eat at night. The city is absolutely gorgeous. All the details in the buildings are definitely something marvelous. For example, in the photo below the designs on the building below - the building is a simple apartment block.

There are constantly reminders throughout the area about how old the city is. The exact foundations of Barcelona are unknown. There are not sure whether the city was there before the Romans inhabited the area.  We also learnt that Barcelona is a very proud Catalonian city. Catalonia is a community in Spain that is recognised as a nationality within Spain and was born in the early 1100’s. Basically, what surprised us was that the people of Barcelona call themselves Catalan before Spanish and the most spoken language is that of Catalan followed by Spanish and English.

Santa Maria Del Mar 

We also got told about the Spanish Civil War and about how even Hitler thought that Franco (the Facist leader in Spain) was an evil man and wouldn’t work with him.

War Memorial from the Civil War

 Damage on a Church from the Civil War 

We got to see the Cathedral of Barcelona which has had the statue on the top of the tower fall off!

We got dinner on the way home and then went back to chill at the hostel for a bit. At 11 we headed off to the first bar of a pub crawl with a Iranian guy from our Hostel. Fun fact – Pub crawls are illegal in Barcelona… so it was known as a “Party Tour”. The first bar was really cool. Instead of one free shot, the tour guide was coming around with a bottle of flavoured vodka (I think vanilla) and pouring it into everyone’s mouths until we said stop.

 The Pouring of the Vodka

We lost the Iranian guy after the first bar because his phone and wallet got nicked which was such a shame. So, he left but the rest of us continued onto the next two bars and then finally a club. The club was really confusing… as it had many different rooms and levels and we all got lost within it.

The Club

Day 78: Tuesday 6^th September

So, Katherine and I had a bit of a sleep in before then heading to the port of Barcelona. To get there we had to walk done La Rambla, which is the main touristy street in Barcelona. It is a pretty cool street, as it is filled with all types of street performers, shops and restaurants.

La Rambla 

Street Performer 

After pushing our way through we eventually got to the water. Which was filled with all types of boats.

Katherine and I by the Water

We wondered along the port for a while and through the shops before then heading to the Aquarium! Apparently, Barcelona’s aquarium is the biggest in Europe. To be honest, both Katherine and I were slightly disappointed because it was slightly smaller than Sydney’s aquarium and really.. it wasn’t up to that standard either. But to be fair, it was still a really cool aquarium and a lot of fun. I’m not going to bore you with loads and loads of photos of fish… because trust me.. we have a lot, but here are some of the cooler animals.

It was generally a lot of fun. So, after the aquarium, we then headed towards to beach. Apparently, the beach is actually man made and was made in the early 90s to prepare Barcelona as a tourist city before the 1992 Summer Olympic Games.

After getting a quick bite for afternoon tea, we then headed back towards our hostel which took us about an hour to walk. We past a supermarket on the way home and got pasta to make for dinner, which ended up being rather yummy.

Day 79: Wednesday 7^th September

This morning we did the other free walking tour – The Gaudi Walking Tour. For those of you who don’t know, Antoni Gaudi is an Architect who was born just outside of Barcelona who eventually moved into Barcelona in hope of rising his career. To give you an idea of his success – Barcelona is known as the “City of Gaudi”!

Gaudi’s first job in Barcelona was designing lamp posts for the Barcelona City Council. He was given many, many restrictions and as you will see with the majority of his works – he completely ignores his restrictions.

Photo of the Lamp Post

The Council then decided that as Gaudi was just out of Architech school, they could pay him less than was written in the contract. Eventually, Gaudi took the Council to court and won. So, the reason for this story is that Gaudi never worked for The Barcelona City Council ever again and so he was able to work with a much higher budget and for a larger amount of money as he was working for private investors.

The next piece of Gaudi’s works we saw was Palacio Guell. It was a house designed for a man known as Guell who was an incredibly wealthy man. He is important as he funded a huge amount of Gaudi’s works for example, Park Guell, which I’ll show you pictures of later.

Palacio Guell

Palacio Guell is most famous for the 20 chimneys which are all unique and hand made by Gaudi himself. This building was built in the early years of his career, hence he didn’t have enough money to hire workmen.

The Chimneys

Casa Batlló is another house designed by Gaudi and this is on Passieg de Gracia (the second most expensive street in all of Spain). It was designed for the Batlló family, who are in fact, in the family who first created Chupa Chups!

Casa Batlló  

The original structure of the house was already there before Gaudi started working on it. He just designed the bottom two floors, added the top floor and decorated the remainder of the front.

The third building we visited is called Casa Mila. It was a house designed for a rich couple and it was the last building he completed before working on his master piece – La Sangrada Familia Cathedral.

Casa Mila

We then all took the metro to La Sangrada Familia. Our tour guide made sure that our first view of the Cathedral was all together and when we did finally turn around to look, we were all in shock. The Cathedral is gorgeous, absolutely bizarre, but gorgeous.

La Sangrada Familia 

And yes, it is still in construction and has been for about 100 years! The Barcelona Council plan to have the whole cathedral finished by 2026 as that will be the 100^th anniversary to Gaudi’s death but the popular opinion held by the Spanish is that it won’t be completed by then and the Council will prolong the finish as long as possible. A major reason for this is because when the Cathedral is finally finished, they can no longer charge an entry fee.

The greater part of the inside of the Cathedral is finished. It is mainly the outside that needs completing. Only 8 out of the 18 spires are currently finished and the main spire, which will be 150 metres tall, hasn’t even started!

Inside La Sangrada Familia

After La Sangrada Familia, Katherine and I left the tour and we went to Park Guell. Park Guell is the park designed by Gaudi with the intention of becoming a major suburb for the rich within Barcelona. However, the rich thought that the park was not close enough to the centre (it is now considered to be close) and that the idea of a suburb in a park (so including shops, schools, work etc) would not work and as a result, Gaudi went almost bankrupt and spent the remainder of his years living in a house within the park.

Pictures of Park Guell

After returning to the hostel, we had a really early night as the two of us were absolutely exhausted after walking around all day.

Day 80: Thursday 8^th September

After breakfast, Katherine and I went to the Picasso Museum. Before we actually got to the museum we realized that we forgot… okay, I forgot the battery of the camera. I brought the camera and no battery. To fix the problem because neither of us could be bothered walking all the way back to the hostel, we bought a disposable camera! So, point of this story is that apologies but there are no photos of this day to show you all.

Back to the Picasso Museum – it was pretty amazing. It had works from when he was just 16 right up until his death and the transformation between his various artistic styles are unbelievable. He moves from portraits, to landscapes, to abstract and through to even pottery. We spent a good couple of hours browsing through the museum so before we knew it, it was lunch time!

We found this amazing café for lunch where we had a really delicious quiche and a sandwich. Once finished, we caught the metro to a stop known as “Espanya” and here there are the botanical gardens, a museum and the Magic Fountains. I urge you to google to magic fountains of Barcelona, they are absolutely gorgeous and as the museum is on top of a hill, it has an incredible view over the city.

What was a little frustrating was that the fountains were not turned on. Katherine had even researched what days the fountains were on but unfortunately they still weren’t on. To be honest, they were still quite lovely.

After marveling at the fountains, we headed to the botanical gardens which were so serene and peaceful. It was a strange thing as it was like another world within the city. There was no artificial noises – only birds, water and the wind through the trees. It was seriously very, very bizarre.

We then caught the metro back to the hostel and packed our bags as we had managed to spread our stuff absolutely everywhere!!!

For dinner, we did a tapas tour which was provided by the hostel. We had five different dishes (very small mind you) and a glass of sangria. If I am completely truthful, sangria just reminds me of goon. The dishes were absolutely delicious and we met many other travelers who were also staying in Barcelona. After dinner we went to a Flamenco show.

The Stage 

There were two main dancers and they were supported by a live band consisting of four males – two singing, one on guitar and one playing a box thing. 

Their talent was truly amazing to watch. It was such a lively performance and it would take so much energy that each of the dances is not that long.

After the performance, the two of us walked back to the hostel and went to bed!

Day 81: Friday 9^th September

Today was our shopping day. I don’t actually have much to say about today really. We walked around for about five hours doing general clothes shopping and tourist shopping.

We went back to the brilliant little café we had found the day before and got these amaaaaazing quiches. The owner even recognized us from the day before and gave us each a free fruit juice!

That night, we got a 12 hour bus ride to Nice! I would never, ever recommend it. To start off with, the bus left at 11:59 except in reality the bus didn’t actually arrive until 12:30. We kept seeing all these lovely coaches at the bus station and Katherine and I were thinking… this might actually be okay. Our bus came and to be honest.. it was a  piece of poo. It was old, cramped and completely full. 

For those of you who don’t know, I get terribly, terribly bus sick, so the best place for me to sit is right at the front. However, the bus driver wouldn’t let anyone sit in the two front seats. The only other available seats in the entire bus were the two right at the BACK. Needless to say, I was not impressed. Katherine and I then thought… this is okay. No one will walk past us when getting off, we may actually be able to sleep for the majority of the bus trip – this idea was completely shattered due to the fact that at least once an hour, all the lights on the bus would turn on for people to get off or for us to have a “FIFTEEN MINUTE BREAK” as the bus driver would say.

Right, so that finishes day 73 to 81. I shall finish the bus trip and the rest of our expedition in the next entry!

Nos Vemos!

Cait and Katherine xxx

Day 65 to 72

Day 65: Wednesday 24^th August

So, we got breakfast whilst walking into the centre of Paris which consisted of an half a chocolate croissant and half an almond croissant each! (When in France… eat as the French do!) Which were absolutely divine!

We originally had planned to do the walking tour… however, we got terribly lost and so missed the beginning of it. So instead, we just wondered up and down the river (which is in the centre of the city) and saw the Louvre (we didn’t go inside), the Eiffel Tower, the Arc De Triomphe and once again the Notre Dame.  There isn’t much to say about what we did because it was us walking around being Tourists for about 6 hours – which for us was incredibly fun but sounds really boring when we describe it.

We got a baguette and two croissants to share during the day. So, we halved a croissant for breakfast and ate the baguette for lunch and had the remaining croissant in the park in front of the Eiffel tower!

Outside of the Louvre 

Inside the Court Yard of the Louvre 

Paris is an absolutely gorgeous city. The architecture is beautiful and the skyline is all basically one height so the point of the Eiffel tower can be seen from almost any where in the city. 

Arc De Triomphe

Eiffel Tower

After six hours of walking around Paris, we decided that we were completely shattered and got food from our bakery on the way home and then went to bed relatively early.

Day 66: Thursday 25^th August

Today we went to Disneyland!!!

Honestly, it was one of the greatest days. It was so so so much fun. We had vegemite and butter baguettes (true Aussie/French style) and had packet chocolate croissants so we ensured that we could last the entire day! We caught the train from the main station in Paris and arrived at Disneyland at about 11:30am. We bought our tickets and the first thing we did was watch the Tarzan Show which was pretty cool. The performers had to be gymnasts or acrobats as their tricks were incredible.. their dancing was average but the flipping was amazing. Not going to lie… Katherine and I definitely appreciated Tarzan’s body ;)

The first ride we went on was called “Big Thunder Mountain” and it was a rollercoaster that “hurtles through an abandoned gold mine at breathtaking speed aboard a runaway mine train” – Basically it was a really fast rollercoaster that went around a mountain. It was brilliant.

Us and the Rollercoaster

We then went on a Haunted House ride. Sometimes we feel utterly ridiculous about the things we do. This time, it was us being utterly petrified and unbelievably paranoid about going on the ride. I mean to start off with you enter a pitch black room and they yell at you in French – I understood NOTHING whilst Katherine got “You can never escape”, so, to begin with it was pretty frightening. However, as the ride went on and we got onto the train thingo, the ride got less frightening and we began to feel ridiculous as we were more scared going on the ride than the majority of the little kiddies.

Us before the ride

One of the coolest things about Disneyland I thought, was the different lands and how different they all looked. The first two I thought had the most obvious difference between them. The Frontier land was like the Wild West whilst Adventure land was about Pirates and Indiana Jones.

Adventure Land

So, the third ride we went on was known as “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril” and once again, it was a rollercoaster which went at high speeds and this one went through and around a “temple”. Such great fun!

As well, in Adventure land they had like tree houses and areas where you can explore caves and such. Honestly, I felt like a kid on Christmas day – Katherine and I were just ridiculously excited about everything! The next ride we went on was a Pirate’s of the Caribbean ride. It was a water ride that went through a place that looked like the set of the movie. Very, very cool.

So, we then moved onto Fantasy Land and went on the Peter Pan ride. Which was us in a boat flying over London and Neverland. Also, very cool!  

Flying over London

We did the Snow white ride, the Pinocchio ride and then we watched the parade. I thought the parade was rather cheesy… but Katherine loved it and I do admit it was pretty entertaining and looked like so much fun to be in.

The Parade

We went on a Buzz Lightyear ride which was us shooting Zurg (the bad guy). Let’s just say that our score… was rather low.

The Last ride we went on was by far the best. It was another rollercoaster but it was really different from the last couple. It is described as “blast off on a spinning, rocket-powered rollercoaster ride to the edge of the universe”. You go in a rocket thing which speeds you up so much that… how do I explain it… okay picture a pug dog with their face outside a window in a car and their skin gets pushed back… that’s what our faces looked like! And then you go on loop-d-loops, and twisty turns all in pitch black. It’s absolutely brilliant.

The Space Mountain Ride

We eventually got home at about 10:30, got Maccas really quickly and then slept!

 Day 67: Friday 26^th August

We actually made the walking tour today! Even though we had already seen the sights, the walking tours are always good because you get to know the history of a place. So, we went from the Notre Dame all the way down the River Seine, past the Louvre to the Grand and Petite Palaces.

Katherine and I at the Louvre

So, yes, we walked around for another three and a half hours seeing places we had already seen. But we did learn a lot more about them. The triangle in the Louvre was built as an upgrade to give more space to the Gallery and originally, the Parisians hated it. As well, the Eiffel Tower was only meant to be standing for 10 years or so, however the Parisians decided they liked it and kept it up!

That night, we went for dinner with Peter (Katherine’s family friend) and his girlfriend, Vicki in the Montmartre region, where the Moulin Rouge is. I’d show you the picture of us with it…. But it’s on Pete’s camera!

Then, the four of us did a pub crawl. Funnily enough, we started the French pub crawl at an Australian bar which we all found hilarious. The night was good fun, we had lovely cocktails all night and the crawl finished at a club where we danced for hours and hours before walking home!

Day 68: Saturday 27^th August

This morning, we caught a train from one of the main stations in Paris to a town called Reims which is the capital of the Champagne Region in France.

We got there just after lunch time, and so we check in to our hotel and then after dumping our bags we had a quick walk around the town to see what was there and then had a long nap!

After our nap, we got up and went to find the Tourist office so we could get phone numbers to book Champagne tours for the next day. After eventually finding the Tourist office, we went and had a drink before going to have Asian food for early dinner so we could have an early night.

Day 69: Sunday 28^th August

We started the morning off by ringing several Champagne labels to book tours and tasting. We booked one and then noticed that all the English tours were all at very similar times so we only could do one, which we were a bit disappointed about.

So, we bought our morning chocolate croissant and almond croissant to share and wondered towards the town’s Cathedral, which is known as Reim’s Notre Dame. It is honestly, gorgeous. The amount of detail in the structure is unbelievable. It must have taken years and years to build.

Notre Dame of Reims

After the cathedral we went inside the Palace of Tau which was a place of residence of the Monarchy of France.

The Palace of Tau and Notre Dame of Reims

26 of the Kings of France were coronated in the Cathedral which is connected to the palace. Inside the palace we saw many statues and many tapestries from the Royal family of France. We also saw the hall where all the banquets and such were held after the coronations!

Inside the Palace

We then went for a walk towards the place where the Champagne tour was going to be held, but as we were early we stopped by a French Garden (characterized by straight lines) and were annoying tourists taking photos of everything!

We then had a Champagne tour of the label G.H. Mumm. We had a tour of their cellars and an explanation of how their champagne is made and the difference between traditional and vintage champagnes. Vintage champagnes are made from grapes only from that season’s grapes whilst traditional champagnes can be made from grapes from a range of seasons to gain the right taste.

14 metres underground in their cellars 

After going through their cellars, we got to have a tasting of two of G.H. Mumm’s champagnes. One was stronger than the other, whilst the other one was slightly sweeter. Both rather nice though.

We spent the afternoon wondering through the centre of Reims before eventually having a baguette for dinner and we finished our evening by watching Pirates of the Caribbean in French!

Day 70: Monday 29^th August

Back to Paris

So, we caught the train back to Paris at about lunch time and met up with Peter Schell (my uncle) who we would be staying with for the two remaining nights in Paris. After dumping our stuff at the hotel, the three of us wondered down the road to grab a baguette for lunch. We then went to La Fayette Galleries – which is the equivalent of a really fancy Myers. It had floors and floors of clothes – very cool!

We wondered through the Louvre and past the Opera House before spending the next hour wondering through a really nice shopping district and we finished the afternoon with a chocolate frappe in a cute French café.

We also saw Mary Magdalene’s church in Paris. It is this beautiful old building with gorgeous detail throughout.

That night, the three of us went out for dinner before then meeting up with Jeremy (cousin) who was just passing through Paris for the night. We went and had a drink before heading back to the hotel.   

Day 71: Tuesday 30^th August

Today, we found out that most Parisian museums close on Tuesday – including the Louvre. So those of you heading off to Paris…. THE LOUVRE IS CLOSE ON TUESDAYS. We were all terribly disappointed so after finding out that lovely piece of information, we headed off towards the left bank where we wondered around. A thing we really liked about Paris is that it is truly a beautiful city. In saying that, I mean that it is highly picturesque. You are able to get a stunning photo of the majority of the city. So, wondering around almost mindlessly doesn’t worry either of us at all as we can look at the city.

We managed to see the Pantheon of France which is where they celebrate the greats of the country. For example, Marie Curie is buried here as well the author of The Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas.  Before being a Pantheon the building was originally built to be a church, so you imagine how gorgeous the inside is.

The Roof of the Pantheon

After visiting the Pantheon, we did some basic tourist shopping and shopping for Peter, and then we went and had a nap after hours and hours of walking around. After the lovely nap, the three of us went out for dinner before then heading to bed.

Day 72: Wednesday 31^st August

Off to Madrid

As Katherine and I arrived at the airport at 8:00am to get a flight to Madrid! The flight itself was alrighty… we slept for a bit and then chatted to the French guy next to us who was going to study in Madrid for a semester!

Once in Madrid, we checked into our hostel, dumped our stuff and then went and had a wonder around the centre of the city to get some kind of directional bearings. Lucky for us, our hostel is literally a five minute walk from the centre. After a long walk, Katherine and I went for a shop… not actually buying things – but we had fun trying clothes on.

To finish our evening, we got some Spanish food at some restaurant near the hostel and then had a relatively early night.

Any who,

Adios,

Cait and Katherine