I traveled through a big chunk of Europe when I graduated from university but I didn't make it over to Spain at that time so I was really excited to get the chance to see it now.
My meetings were scheduled over two days in Madrid but I flew into Barcelona for the weekend before going to Madrid.
Barcelona is a really lovely city, between the Gaudi architecture, beautiful parks and beaches on the Mediterranean, you can't really go wrong. I stayed in a hostel near La Sagrada Famila so I was able to capture many glimpses of this 150 year old work in progress. I also spent a lot of time just walking the streets of the city, taking it all in (and stopping periodically for a frappaccino at Starbucks, because I couldn't help myself - it was hot and there are no Starbucks in South Africa!).
It's a good thing I did pop into Starbucks though because I ended up seeing a woman steal someone's purse right off the back of her chair and I was able to alert the girl who chased the woman down and got back her purse. Thank goodness because her passport was in there! I actually was so naive that I didn't even recognize at first what the woman was actually doing, I guess it seemed unbelievable to me that she was doing so right there in the open, but she was. The sad part is that its so common to have thieves and pickpockets in Spain that the girl just yelled at the thief but then walked away and there weren't any real consequences. Word to the wise traveling in Spain: keep a hand on your purse at all times. A colleague also had her wallet stolen from her in a busy square of Madrid, right out of her bag without her noticing.
One of the best parts of spending my weekend in Barcelona though was going stand up paddle boarding in the Mediterranean. I have wanted to try it for so long and I really enjoyed it! It can be so relaxing to just paddle around in the sunshine and it's great practice for your balance; I feel in a couple of times. haha
I did a walking tour of the old city, which is always once of my favourite ways to get to know a new city and I learned a lot of interesting history while taking in the city. A very bizarre thing I learned about Catalonia, the region in which Barcelona lies (whom are also trying to get independence from Spain), is their affinity for strange traditions involving poo. One tradition they hold (although there are others!) is to have in their nativity scenes at Christmas, a little shepherd who is taking a poo behind a tree. I'm not even kidding. They put up a huge nativity scene in the main square of the city every year and without fail there is a shepherd hidden in the background taking a dump behind a tree. So OF COURSE I had to buy a little shitting shepherd of my own. Dad - you're welcome in advance for sprucing up your nativity scene.
I took the train from Barca into Madrid on Sunday night and a friend of mine who lives there picked me up at the train station and we were for dinner on the rooftop of a building and did a walk around some of the main sites in Madrid, like the royal palace, city hall, etc. It was quite lovely and I was impressed by how beautiful and clean Madrid is. On the last day of my meetings in Madrid our whole group had lunch in the beautiful Parque del Retiro. A charming end to a short European stay.
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