In my previous blogs, I've written my trips, which were to Paris, Chicago and New York. Frankly I don't want to copy-paste those memoirs but now I'll talk about my recent trip to Barcelona and Madrid.
This country Spain was a country that was on my list of 'places that I most want to see' and I was always saying that ' Oh, I don't want to die, without being able to see Spain'.
Well, to tell you the truth I wasn't really expecting much, it was a part of europe what can be different than other places. It turns out it isn't. It was Europe, both cities have huge parks, big avenues, great museums or cultural heritage. But it did really charmed me.
We started our trip from Barcelona, the city that all Turkish and Istanbuliots admire the most. It's a beautiful city I must admit. The buildings are awesome, all aesthetic. Of course one should thank Gaudi for making the city an attractive place.
The part that most Turkish like is the la Rambla. It's always been resembled to Istiklal Avenue, since it's crowded.
I didn't really find it much attractive. All right we walk and there're restaurants around but it wasn't as crowded as Beyoglu. And I don't maybe that I was with my mom and aunt but I didn't really see any bars or people that enjoy themselves crazily. La Rambl starts from Plaça de la Catalunya and end on Port Vell, where there's a big mall, and aquarium and the Colombus statue that show America.
As you walk down the street there's a Carrefour Express that's the busiest store in the street. It is cheap. and if you don't want to pay to eat in the restaurants you can do the same that we did. We are seafood freaks so every sort of sea product is sold canned. So we bought a lot of those, from mulls to squids, to pulpos... and also a loaf of baguette and 1,5 L Sangria from there; went to the seashore- pity that we didn't go to the beaches since everytime we re so tired of walking that we decided not to walk to Barcelonetta region where there are beaches-. We sat on a bank and ate all. Yummy.
Since I'm mentioning food, la Boqueria the market is worth mentioning. It also on the right hand side as you walk down la Rambla... Beautiful fruits, different kinds of fish products are just awesome.
Along side of la Rambla, we mostly spent out time on Paseig de Graçia, an avenue full of shops. Also two famous houses of Gaudi situate on the avenue. Casa Battlo and la pedrera or casa mila. Oh this avenue also begins from plaça de catalunya until aveguda diagonal. Which is also a shopping district- and every where in Barcelona is actually a shopping district- but much more luxurious.
Another important part of the city barri gotic, gotic quarter, which is actually has buildings from Roman time and a gotic cathedral. This quarter starts from plaça de catalunya- again- and it starts from the left parallel of la Rambla.
This city has 2 big parks- of that I've seen. one is parc citadel, which has the zoo and a big water fountain. And the most important one is Parc Güell where you can see whole Barcelona from above and the house of Gaudi. It's a nice pass-time place....
There's also a part called MontJüic, where the comtemporary catalunian art museum and olympic village situates. We didn't really see this part, just glimpses so I can't comment on anything.
Ok, before I start talking about Madrid, I realized that I forgot to mention the most important building of the city, of Gauidi. Which is La Sagrada Familia, The Holy Family cathedral, which is not yet finished as you know. Strange building.. =D
The transportation of course very practical in this city. I didn't use the metro but used the suburban train and the buses. The city is big- of course not compared to Istanbul- so if you don't want to get tired like we did, buy daily passes.
ok, Madrid.
I fell in love with this city...
It doesn't have a much exciting scenery like of Barcelona but I love Madrid. The basic reason is people actually. I don't maybe it's because that I spent the weekend over there and there was la noche en blanco- on which all museums and attractions were open to public until late at night around 3 and free- people of this city lives. I mean youth, old, families everyone is outside, no matter what the time is. =D
Ok, the most important part of this city is Puerta del sol. It's a piazza which has 8 connecting streets that represents the rays of the sun =D.
The piazza with all 8 streets that unites is full of people. All are crowded, full of people and bars. So in this city I saw people having fun....
Madrid is famous for its art museums. Such as Museo del Prado, Thyssen- Bornemisza, and Reina Sophia. I only had the chance to see Prado and one exhibition of Thyssen since I didn't have much time in Madrid. Awesome. You can see the Palacio real and the main cathedral of the city which is right next to the palace.
We spent a half day in Toledo, the historical capital of Spain. The streets in Toledo are like a labyrinth and sometimes following the signs is not enough. Get a map and everything then becomes partly easy, once you figure out where exactly you are.
In Madrid I love the Retiro Parque the most. It's huge, it has a lake in it, many buildings.... I did something that I can never do in Istanbul. I slept on a bench in the park and had a siesta. Hah, impossible in Turkey...
The Metro is easy but if you stay in the center there's no need to use it since every important part of the city is close to each other.
Madrid's most important avenue is Gran Via. Actually that's the only part I can consider as a shopping district. There are shops in puerta del sol too of course.
And one more great example of Madrid... I put a picture to show
On each street sign, which are made of tiles, there's the picture of the street or what's on the street. If it's someone's name then the picture of that person is there.... It's just so adorable.
El Corte Ingles: the most famous department store in Spain. It's in every city. But not much luxurious as Galleries La Fayette...
Museo del Jamon: It's the cheapest place where you can eat in Madrid. On the bar, the beer is 1 euro and the fried seafood is 11 euros. - on a restaurant you pay more of course. we paid around 50 euros in Barcelona-
Sangria: Ok, something you need to taste. Fruit juice mixed red wine with fruits... Yummy
Paella: Famous dish of spain. It actually originates in Valencia but you can eat it in everywhere in Spain. Mixed Seafood one is ofcourse my suggestion. It's basically a pilav with safran and other ingredients.
Flamenco: You can't return without watching Flamenco. Of course the best can be watched in Andalucia but it's a touristic attraction. We watched it in Barcelona in Palacio de Flamenco but I saw the adds of Ballet- Flamenco de Madrid and the tickets were cheap too.
English: Don't expect to communicate in English. Spaniards don't know english. Not even the numbers. So at least learn those when shopping. Thank god me and my mom did know a little bit of Spanish. But if you ask something they're helpful and they try to explain whatever you're asking in Spanish. Generally you understand it from body language.
Spain is cheap considering other parts of Europe, especially France. Because of my looks people generally thought I was Spanish, wish that I could understand them. And Catalans don't consider themselves as Spanish, for you to know.
Viva Espana!!!!
=D