Spain: Igualada and Barcelona Adventuras

So here I am again sitting in the Barcelona airport waiting for my suitcase from baggage claim as I was two January's ago. Last time I was nervous because I was without wifi waiting to be picked up by someone I had never met before. Today I've already taken a peek outside and saw that the entire family was here to pick me up. I'm incredibly excited to see them again and want the baggage claim to turn on and release my suitcase so I can go see them. I had no idea the kids would be here too to greet me and I'm trying to figure out what I want to say to them. It's been more than a year since I've seen them and as I said goodbye to them last June, I thought that may be the last time I'd ever see them again. Luckily, my suitcase was the first to come out and I immediately went outside to say hello. After hugs we all got in the car and headed to Sitges. I have never been to Sitges before but that city is very popular during the time of carnival.

Just a sample of what Google images had to offer for "Sitges Carnaval"

This is what Sitges was actually like when we were there

Today it was less crazy and we got some pizza and gelato then walked along the coast. After a few hours, we drove back to Igualada and I was happy to hear that they remembered many of the words to English songs I had taught them. They even had the CD I made them in the car. Like many children in the US, they had also seen Frozen and of course their favorite character was Olaf. Once we arrived home they were determined to go swimming. I never had the opportunity to swim with them when I was an Au pair because I was there during the winter and spring. Half my size with much less body fat for warmth, they jumped fearlessly into the water, so obviously I had to go too. We didn't last more than 5 minutes though because it was quite cold. We played a little more than all passed out that night.

The next day, I went to another one of my friends houses. When I was an Au pair here I joined a gym and swam each week and my friend was the swim coach there. I stayed with his family the second day and I played board games, uno, and some dragon ball z. During the day, I visited some of my English students from the year before. We had coffee and pastries and filled each other in on our lives during the past year. That night, my old swim coach and his family had casteller practice so I joined! It was so much fun because they let me be a part of the soca, which is the very bottom part of the tower. Basically, my job was to keep my arms by my side and pack in with everyone else like a sardine. Then we all pushed toward the middle to make a stable base for the tower. This is the most difficult tower because the base has two parts: the soca and folre. The folre is the second base that is on top of the soca so the entire tower ends up having 8 different levels. It's an enormous tower and the Pom, which is the top two levels, are always very brave children. I may have mentioned this is another blog post but the bottom of the tower looks very unorganized. In reality though, it is extremely organized and each person has a place with a specific job. When you see everyone's hands reaching up, normally they are holding the wrist or elbow of the person in front of them and pushing up in order to provide stability. After practice ended at 10 I visited another woman I used to swim with at the gym. It was such a great opportunity to come back to Igualada and see everyone. Not much had changed around the town except that a few shops have opened and few have closed.

Casteller Practice

Casteller demonstration in the town square.  Unfortunately I missed this event but my friends sent me a picture!

Main plaza in Igualada

The next day I stayed with one of my English students and saw more people throughout the day. We had the traditional tapas night, filled with tortilla (Spanish omelet with potatoes), boquerones fritos (small fried fish), pan con tomato (bread with tomato), calamari, pan con jamón (bread with the typical Spanish ham), and a surprise chorizo looking meat that turned out to be whale! (Purchased in Norway). I even helped make some of the dinner! That night was a great time as we talked and laughed over dinner and I did my best to talk in spanish.

Tapas!

The next day I took the train back to Barcelona and met my friends at our apartment. I saw another one of my friends that day for lunch and we all relaxed that day until the fiesta for Hayden's birthday!

Visiting Judit in Barcelona!

After that night, the next few days were full of walking around, seeing the sights, and relaxing. We went on the bike tour as we had a year previously (see last years blog for Barcelona), visited the beach and played in the waves, walked to the park, tried chorizo, crepes and smoothies in the boqueria, meandered down the rambla, etc. The boqueria was one of our favorite places to visit because it was an enormous area filled with fruit, the typical jamón, chocolates, fish, etc.  A couple of my friends sprung for the expensive crepes that they claimed were the best they'd had in their lives.  I'm convinced I will eventually buy a special stove top to make crepes.

Google images from the Mercat Boqueria

I saw the Font Mágica (Magic Fountain in Catalan) for the first time in Mont Juic.  It is a fountain with a light show and music and an incredible experience when seen in front of the lighted Mont Juic.

Font Mágica!

Hayden in front of Sagrada Familia on our bike tour

Ryan and I enjoying Parc de la Ciutadella.  In front of "Gaudí Fountain" even though Gaudí was only an apprentice on this structure

I didn't take many pictures of Barcelona this time around, knowing that I had all the same pictures from the previous year.  There's more information of my older blogs of Barcelona, Igualada, and Catalonia.  It was a wonderful way to end our vacation but I am quite excited to get home and see the family. I can't believe I had the opportunity to travel to Europe again as I had not been expecting to do so for many years.

Until next time!

Sorrento Avventure

Let's just say we had quite an adventure getting to Sorrento. We landed in Naples and wanting to save money, we were determined to take the train to Sorrento. We traversed the streets with our rolly suitcases in tow and paused at a bus stop to read the map. The bus driver, who spoke no English, was kind enough to drive us to the train station free of charge (thanks Hayden for learning "train station" in Italian). He brought us to the nearest stop, when another passenger walked another 15 minutes with us through the vibrant yet dangerous and trash ridden streets of Naples until we reached the train station. We most certainly took the shortcut as we zigzagged in and out of tiny streets in a city with seemingly no traffic laws. If cars were moving too slowly, Vespas would drive in between the two lanes of traffic in order to go their desired speed. It was certainly a free for all driving wise but definitely interesting to watch. We got to the train station and stuffed ourselves onto a hot and sticky train that looked as if it was built 50 years ago. You had the pleasure of getting to know the other tourists as well as the locals really well as you were forced together in the train. Knowing beforehand that this was one of the most dangerous trains regarding pick pocketing we all huddled together, circling our belongings. One girl passed out and everyone around was so helpful giving her water and helping her up. After an hour or some made it to Sorrento, walked a bit more, and made it to our hostel. We were exhilarated to say the least. We spent our first night walking quickly through the markets so we could watch the sunset over the ocean. Just that one moment was worth the entire day of stressful traveling. Since Sorrento is a small city, we all didn't need to stick together the entire day. A few of us visited a coffee shop that morning that had delicious pastries. We no longer had places to be at specific times, so we took our time, enjoyed our cappuccinos/cafe maraschino and read our books.

Sunset on the Amalfi Coast

I love markets so I spent the majority of the rest of the day visiting the shops. I came back to show all my friends my gifts and then relaxed by the pool with a good book.

Sorrento is known for its lemons and lemony things.  Just one example of the markets with all the lemon amenities you could ever need.

The inlaid wood shop where I bought some presents

In many of the wood shops, they demonstrated how they hand made all of the woodwork with the inlaid pieces of wood. 

Hayden had previously traveled to Sorrento with his family and had a wonderful experience through a tour he had done of the Amalfi Coast. We signed up with the same service and the following morning, our guide was at our hostel to pick us up. We all piled into the comfy, air conditioned, Mercedes van and began our adventure with our expressive and friendly tour guide, Bernardo. He drove along the coast, stopped at the pretty places to take pictures, and took us to three different cities. He dropped us off to let us explore the different cities: their shops, historic buildings, and the culture.

Small art gallery in one city along the Amalfi coast

A great view from the van

One of the Amalfi coast cities. Picture taken from a dock.  Lauren and Kadee were gracious enough to duck so I could see the view

The last city we visited Bernardo brought us to a wonderful restaurant hidden away down one of the alleys. We were all incredibly hungry by this point and looking forward to the food we were about to devour. Most of us ordered the house sample, trusting that these Italians knew their stuff and would bring us a great assortment. Spoiler alert: we were not wrong. Before the pasta however, they brought out the best tomato salad I have ever had in my life. Was it because of secret ingredients that somehow could only be attained in Italy? Nope. It was tomato, olive oil, olives, probably some oregano, basil, salt and pepper and that was it. What makes their plates so great though is the fresh ingredients. I never thought olive oil and tomatoes could taste so good but believe me they can. As we were eating this deliciousness, a band came in to serenade the restaurant in hopes of selling a few CDs. It was everything that stereotypical Italy would seem like. So next up was the pasta. The combination of cannoli, pesto pasta, marinated pasta, some type of meat pasta, and the best cheese baked pasta thing that I can't even describe but was my favorite out of all of them. We thanked the restaurant, thanked Bernardo for the suggestion, and made our way back to Sorrento. Carbo-coma kicked in and many of us took a wonderful nap on the way back.

The next day, we were determined to go to the beach. The free beach near our hostel was a slab of concrete so we splurged on the 2.60 euro bus ticket to take us to a farther away beach. I think we were all apprehensive about our decision when we laid down and immediately starting sweating from the heat. Don't think about touching the sand because it will scorch your feet. Our smarts got the better of us so we ventured out into the initially freezing ocean. After just a minute it felt fantastic and extremely salty. You could easily float on your back and enjoy the beautiful view of the cliffs surrounding you.

Google images came up with this when I typed in Meta Beach.  Though this doesn't look extremely familiar, you get the point: pretty beach next to big cliffs.

Walking along the sidewalks in Sorrento

Sorrento!

And that brings us to right now as I'm writing this entry, post showered and waiting for our last real meal of Sorrento. It's a rather nice place so we all got dressed up for the occasion. We planned it just right so we'll be eating on a dock at sunset. The food was phenomenal. It started off with bruschetta and bread with olive oil and vinegar. Risotto with clams, mussels, octopus, and prawns was paired with the nice house red. All of this was on the coast watching the cliffs change colors as the sun set and the lights from a small mountain a few miles off become brighter as the night was getting darker. I promised myself that I would get gelato one more time after dinner since that would be my last time in Italy for I don't know how long. I failed myself however because I literally could not fit anything else in my stomach and I was extremely thirsty by this point. We got home and I chugged some water which made me even more full and I laid in bed the rest of the night feeling sickly full. I didn't even have the energy to change out of my dress in fear that if I moved I would puke. The parasympathetics kicked in however and over night I had digested a bit and felt better the next morning at 5:30am when we all woke up to catch our early transportations.

Eating dinner at a great restaurant next to the ocean

Near the center of the picture, you can see a restaurant with hanging lights above it.  This is the restaurant seen in the picture above.

Off to Spain!

Munich Abenteuer

Though we only knew a few words of German, it was nice to return to Germany. After traveling we were exhausted so we bought some wine and headed to the English Gardens. These gardens are ENORMOUS, and contains statues and a beer garden. We found a nice place on the grass and relaxed for a bit. That night, we went to the bar in our hostel to watch the World Cup: Brazil vs Mexico.

Watching the World Cup in our hostel 

KD admiring my wonderful log cabin

Surfers taking advantage of the current in the middle of the park in Munich

The boys enjoying the beer garden

That next day we all went to Dachau, the site of one of the many concentration camps in Western Europe. At one point in our tour, she showed us a map indicating all the concentration camps, extermination camps, etc. I was surprised to see how many establishments were actually made in order to confine or exterminate people of a different race or background.

Maps of Concentration Camps

The entrance to Dachau

A german phrase meaning "Work makes you free." An obvious lie but it is posted at the entrance to the camp.

Here is a summary of the timeline for Germany and Dachau listed in the museum:

1933: National Socialist dictatorship is founded, Dachau Concentration Camp opens initially only for political prisoners

1935: Nuremberg Laws institutionalizing racial discrimination, new prisoner groups are send to Dachau such as Jehova's Witnesses and homosexuals

1936: System of concentration camps becoming more organized, conditions in Dachau worsens

1938: 11,000 Jews sent to Dachau

1939: Attack on Poland: start of WWII, hundreds of Sinti and Roma sent to Dachau

1940: 13,000 from Poland sent to Dachau

1941: Attack on Soviet Union, mass shootings of more than 4,000 Soviet POWs

1942: Start of medical experiments at Dachau, Poison gas used

1944: 10,000 Jewish prisoners killed through forced labor at Dachau, horrible living conditions lead to a typhus epidemic in Dachau full of 63,000 prisoners

1945: April 29: liberation of Dachau May 8: Germany surrenders

One of the weirdest feelings while being there was the beautiful weather, the beautiful sky and trees, yet just 70 years ago, this place was full of horror

Example of a barrack.  Each door leads to a small room

Panoramic of Dachau. Place where barracks would have stood on the left and gas chambers on the right

This entire experience was emotional, not surprisingly so. We ventured through the rows upon rows of where barracks once stood, the gas chambers and the subsequent cremation rooms. It was a surreal experience to walk through those.  It was difficult to imagine the prisoners at the time not understanding what was going on because the Nazis were highly secretive and all outside information came by propaganda and newspapers controlled by the Nazis. It was important to see the amount of barracks and realize there were many more compounds just like that around Europe. It put into perspective just how many people were kept here and how horrible it was.

The next day a great friend came to visit. Both of us worked as Au pairs just a year earlier in Igualada and so happens she studies just 45 minutes outside of Munich! I was so excited to see her as she arrived at the train station that morning and we immediately began exchanging stories, as we had a lot to catch up on over the past year. She joined us on our last day of adventures throughout Germany as we visited the "German museum" which had boats, ships, science, etc. We paused for some lunch at an oriental restaurant then continued to the BMW museum which had some quite impressive cars. Half of it was an enormous showroom with the newest BMWs showing off their electric hookup capabilities.

Jasmin came to visit! Top left: us trying out a motorcycle at the BMW museum

The Royal Rolls Royce ridden in by Kate Middleton at her wedding

Next day: flight to Naples!

Prague Drobodružství

We were riding to Prague in a Harry Potteresque train cabin wishfully hoping for some golden chocolate frogs to pass by on the snack cart. Though there were no jumping chocolate frogs to be found, the trip was quite enjoyable. We were beginning to realize why people had described Prague as beautiful. Rolling hills of bright green grass with interspersed quaint tudor houses and houses topped with the typical orange slats. We've been adjusting to the 19 hours of sunlight here in the Germany area, so thankfully we arrived in Prague at 9:30pm and the sun was still shining. After some slight confusion with trains, taxi drivers trying to rip us off, and the metro, we walked to our hostel. Our friends greeted us at the door as they had arrived in Prague earlier that morning. We showered, we settled, and we planned the following day. The next morning we had a free guided tour of the city. We met at the infamous astronomical clock, one that tells time, the position of the moon, the day and year, etc. Each hour, the clock has a mechanical puppet show that has been running for over 600 years. There was an old legend about the creator of this clock, Hanus. It is said that after Hanus made the clock, the government did not want him to create another one elsewhere so they blinded Hanus.  Not a great thank you for this detailed piece of art if I do say so myself. When Hanus was near death, he wanted to touch the clock just one last time. His apprentice brought him to the clock and when he touched it, the clock stopped and then he died.

Astronomical Clock

Prague has had a bit of a rough time over the last century. In 1918, the Austria-Hungary Empire fell.  Despite very different cultures, the liberated Slovaks and Czechs banned together and created Czechoslovakia.  They were then ruled by the Nazis from 1939-1945, then communists (Soviets and other communist parties) from 1948-1989. Finally, in 1990 they yet again gained independence.  In 1993 Czechoslovakia split and the Czech Republic was created.  Though they became part of the EU in 2004, they continue to use Czech koruna instead of euros.

These retro looking trams were built during Soviet rule and all the parts were obtained and assembled right there in what is now the Czech Republic

Located in the town square opposite to the astronomical clock

This balcony (of the photo above) is the place where the prime minister proclaimed in 1948 that it was under the power of the communists. A hundred or so year ago this building served as a German elementary school for boys. It happened to be the school that Franz Kafka, philosopher and author of Metamorphosis, attended as a child. Kafka relayed his last will to his friend Maz Brod. He told Max to destroy all of his unpublished work and fortunately for us, his unfaithful friend went against his wishes and published some great works that are still cherished today.

Kafka's birthplace

Three main types of architecture that can be found in Prague: Renaissance, Gothic and Baroque.

Renaissance: horizontal, symmetrical, repetitive 

Gothic

Baroque: our guide pointed out that there were no smiling faces in this statue that is on the side of a church.  Other characteristics of Baroque: ornamental details and dramatic central projections

The old story goes that there was once a thief hiding inside the church, waiting until nightfall to collect the goods. Night arrives and as he reaches toward a certain item, the statue of Mary grabs him. The church men find him the next morning attached to this statue and the only option was to cut off the thief's forearm. As a reminder, the forearm was hung from a string near the back of the church. I walked inside the church expecting to see a replica but alas, it was a 400 year old preserved yet dilapidated forearm looking like it was on its last leg, or arm if you will.

Mummified forearm

Let's back up a little and make a chronological order of things: The Jews were possibly the first settlers of the city of Prague. Throughout history, Jewish people have had it rough. In 1215, the Lateran Counsel made Jews responsible for the death of Jesus Christ (coined Jewish deicide). Not sure how they decided that since Jesus was Jewish. They were forced to live in the ghettos and wear yellow tall caps to signify their religion. They were property of the king which sounds a whole lot worse than it may have been at the time. One advantage of being owned by the king was that if any violence was done against a Jew, it was considered violence against the king. Then there was the Golden Era under Joseph II's decree, which promoted equality and education. This decree gave Jews their freedom back, allowing them to attend public school and do jobs they previously were banned from doing.

Built in 1270, the Old New Synagogue is the oldest active synagogue in Europe

There is a legend regarding this synagogue. Once upon a time there was a Rabbi who made a monster out of clay, named Golem. His purpose was to protect the Jewish people during their time of oppression. This man put the secret formula to life inside Golems mouth and after a while, Golem became aggressive and was not fulfilling his duties as Jewish protector. The secret formula for life was taken out of his mouth and he crumbled.  It is said that the body of Golem still lies in the attic of this synagogue.

Around the mid 1200's, the Church of Our Lady was built in the town square. You'll notice if you look close that one tower is wider than the other, representing Adam and Eve.

Church of Our Lady

This is Charles University, the oldest university in Europe (Founded in 1347).  When it was first established, there were no buildings associated with the university so classes were held in churches

Charles Bridge: construction began at 5:31 on July 9, 1357.  Exact time important because Charles IV believed in the power of numerology: 1357, 9, 7, 5:31)

Charles Bridge at a distance

1621: The crosses on the ground commemorate the 27 Czech noblemen that were executed after the rebellion against Habsburg.

Before the 1700's, houses weren't marked by numbers.  Instead, they were marked in other ways.  As you can see in this picture, the house was marked with a green frog

Another "hunger wall." Built during a famine, the workers were paid and well fed.

During soviet rule, a huge statue was built of Stalin in 1955. Just seven years later, it was destroyed. Since it was illegal to destroy statues by dynamite, however, it took 2 years to chisel away the statue.

Old Stalin Statue

Modern Prague: Prague is full of classical pianists and violinists, opera singers, orchestras, street musicians, etc. Prague has more than 100 theaters and outside some of them are pianos for public use.

Video of Prague Police Officers: This is a video of Prague police officers playing one of the pianos outside of a theater.  The quickly became a youtube sensation with over a million views.  While their commanding officers weren't happy they were not doing their police duties, they were happy about the new publicity brought to Prague.

There were shows in beautiful theaters each night around Prague and we had the opportunity to attend Carmen, an opera, one night. Unknowingly, we experienced quite a few cultures that night: a French play set in Spain performed in Prague translated to Czech and English. Safe to say I was quite happy I had learned the plot before attending. I'm so glad I went, not only to see the intricate architecture of the theater but the amazing voices produced by a ridiculous lung capacity.

The State Theater

We spent out last day at the largest ancient castle in the world (founded in 870).  The buildings surrounding it are all part of the castle, allowing it to hold that prestigious title. 200 or so steps later, we reached the castle that overlooked the entire city.

Prague Castle. Photo cred: google images

Prague

Prague

As I'm planning a trip, I try to have enough days in each city that allows for relaxation after I have already visited all the tourist spots. That last day in Prague was wonderful, meandering through the gardens at a slow relaxing pace and having the rest of the day to do what we wanted. After those 200 steps up and down, we were in need of some food so somehow we found the most cost effective meal of the trip so far in a small restaurant at the foot of the castle. Our three course meal consisting of onion soup, duck, dumplings, the best cabbage I've ever had, and some bundt cake was a little less than 200 koruna (ie about $8). Post lunch, we waddled back to the markets and the Charles bridge to find some last minute gifts and spend what was left of our koruna. Later that night we headed to The Pub. Ie a pub that had a tap at every table. Each table had a monitor where you'd press your number, fill your beer mug, and then it would measure how much you were drinking throughout the night. You could also order food through this system. That, ladies and gentlemen, is what I think the future will be. More and more restaurants will have monitors or iPads at each table and you will order your food and swipe your credit card right then and there. Moving on: not only did we have a beer tap in the middle of our table but something you may or may not have heard of...The World Cup was on! It was Germany vs Portugal and a couple of our friends sported German jerseys, flags, and scarves. The night ended happily when Germany won 4-0.

The PUB where you can tap your own beer

Like I said, Prague is a musical city so that night, there was a free outdoor orchestral concert with music from Hollywood movies. They had all of the best: Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, Rocky, Mission Impossible, Indiana Jones, and of course some James Bond. Thousands of people showed up to see a concert we were all so surprised was free.

Concert