Notes from my couch as I sleep off this jetlag......
* Barcelona
- gotta be the cleanest, nicest big city i've ever been to. people literally sweeping the streets with brooms and dust pans 24 hours a day.
- gaudi is the mf p.i.m.p.
- parc guell and particularly the sagrada familia are amazing
- best city of our trip for the upscale/classy/high ends shops/restaurant crowd
* Montserrat
- a 1,000 year old abbey that sits at 4,000 feet wedged perfectly into a crevice in the mountains of Catalonia.
- just a day trip
* Granada
- gotta be the hipster capital of spain. tons of little alley ways and dive bars/restaurants that drew a crowd at all hours of the day/night
- the alahambra was the highlight of the trip for me. an amazing islamic castle high on a mountain with pristine gardens and palaces
- best city of our trip for the nulu type/american-going-on-a-european-backpacking-trip crowd
* Ronda
- Puente Nuevo is a bridge that connects the city of Ronda across a 400-foot chasm
- hiked both from the top down, and went to the bottom and hiked up and around the base
- saw an old guy who was hanging out around the bottom painting the bridge. retired. from toronto. was in spain for 3 weeks traveling around painting. as we walked by and struck up a conversation he happily laid in the grass and thoroughly enjoyed having a nice chat. occasionally sold his paintings but mostly just gave them away. if you're looking for goals in life, that's it.
- best city of our trip for the small town, quaint, romantic crowd
Sevilla
- got to town just as La Fieria was beginning -- it's their version of Mardi Gras. women in traditional flamenco dresses, men sharply dressed in nice dark blue suits. carnival rides and huge tailgating type parties
- Royal Alcazar -- aka the Water Gardens of Dorne.
- best city of our trip overall -- very clean, great bars, extremely affordable....basically the perfect combo overall
Lisbon
- i wasn't overly impressed. that city was dirty af, and by the time we got there we were exhausted, the weather was bad, and our air bnb sucked.
- best city of our trip for catering to the english speaking, partying crowd. tons of bachelor parties (english, irish)
Overall thoughts
- didn't see 3 fat people the entire trip. lots of walking and biking in their lifestyle, and small food portions
- managed to drive a 5-speed around those hilly ass, tiny little city streets. talk about nerve wracking
- you can definitely see the difference in culture/lifestyle. when your cars and housing and food is all smaller, you can afford to take a break for 3 hours in the middle of the day. socialism, ftw.
Next European trip --> Berlin/Prague/Vienna in September.