Note: The journal was written by Sharone Oren.
12-18-98
We left yesterday at 7:55am from LAX and arrived at Madrid today at 8am.
The flights (2) were good and we both got a lot of sleep. We arrived to hotel Anaco after a couple of hours (because we had to get our car, hotel reservations, and we got lost).
We left the hotel and got some brunch at “Pan & Co.” We then walked to Plaza De Espana – a beautiful little park. Over there two ladies came up to dad and I and tried to put flowers in our pockets. Dad said no but I thought I could understand them. After a few minutes I gave up and said no, and they left (rather quickly). Dad said to make sure they didn’t steal anything and I noticed they took 11,000 pesetas (pta.) from me (that is $90).
I ran after them and when I caught up to them, they gave it back right away. Dad yelled at them and then we kept on walking. We arrived at the Real Palace and saw a garden. It is where the king’s house is. We kept walking to Santa Maria church and went in. After that we passed a Christmas Market at Plaza Mayor and Puerta Del Sol.
We also went to the Cibeles with lions square and to Plaza Independencia (arches). We headed down Paseo Del Prado and saw many beautiful buildings. We walked around more (taking in the culture of Madrid) and stopped for lunch. I had a veggie sandwich and dad cheese. He ordered a side of cheese and we both thought he will get a quesadilla or bread with melted cheese. However, he just got a plate full of cut cheese. It was pretty funny. We ate and walked back to our hotel and took a nap.
We awoke at 8:45pm and went to dinner. We ate at La Panera and ordered Paella with fish.
We thought the waiter will split it before he served it to us so that I won’t have to eat the fish. Instead, he brought out a huge pot with lobster, clams, and shrimp already in it and split it there. I ate two bites (it tasted too much like seafood, hence I didn’t like it). But, dad ate a lot. He says it was delicious, but he didn’t like having to crack the lobster. I then ordered a salad, but it too had tuna. The bill came out to $60.
We walked around after that and dad said that if he doesn’t throw up, then it was worth it (he is allergic to clams). He didn’t – so it was.
We called mom and wanted to see a flamenco show, but couldn’t find one. We kept walking up and down little streets (there were tons of people out – even at midnight) and then headed back to the hotel. I planned our route for the next day and went to sleep.
12-19-98
Waking up at 9am I showered and we left. We ate a good breakfast at the café next door to the hotel and then left for the monastery that contains art work. We found it fairly easy but it was closed. So we decided to go to the flee market (El Rastro) but got lost on the way, so we just walked around and saw lots of outdoor sport stores and stores and when we got to the place where the flee market was supposed to be we discovered it was closed.
Well, seeing that we didn’t want to go to museums or any more churches, we went to a cafeteria and sat and relaxed. Our next move was to go to our hotel, drop off the stuff, and head to Museo Del Prado. We did just as we planned, and when we got to the museum we found out that if we waited ½ hour, we can get in for free. So we bought some postcards and ate and drank and went in at 2:30pm. We were there for 1 hour – very nice, and then we walked to Parque Del Retiro (AKA Jardin De Buen Retiro). We saw a lake and some statues and left.
On the way out we realized that we had been at the exit of the park yesterday, but didn’t realize it. We decided to walk back to the hotel and we figured that we walked 12 miles just today. At the hotel we talked to the reception desk guy about seeing a flamenco show, and the prices he gave us were way too high. So we decided to wait until we get to Sevilla to see a show like that. (P.S. dad said that if we kept walking as much as we did today that he could be a model because he will be so skinny).
We woke up at 8:30pm and left to eat dinner. The streets were crowded with 1,000’s of people. We stood in lines to walk!!!!
We waited to go to Plaza Mayor to eat some vegeterian paella and getting there took twice as long as it did during the day. On the way there some guys spit on dad’s jacket and tried to clean it up. But I read about those people who do that and then they try to steal from you. So I told them it was ok. There was nowhere to go though. We were stuck in a mass of people and so his friend tried to clean it off too, going in front of dad, but I told him firmly that it was OK, and then they walked back. (Minutes before they did this, I told dad to put his wallet in his jacket – if he had not done so, it would have been gone for sure).
We got to the restauratant – totally crowded. There were so many people in there that we couldn’t even order. We left the place and tried to find cheap and good restaurants, and we did – Restaurante Rodriguez – it was both really good and cheap ( we also saw “Hava Nagila” being sung on TV by the spanish people).
After dinner we walked more and then went to sleep.
12-20-98
After breakfast we left Madrid with our car at 9:45am. We were on our way to Segovia but we got lost, and it took us longer to get there. We did like the drive though, as we passed some towns such as Guadarrama and San Rafael.
At Segovia we saw a Roman Aqueduct and got a few maps and walked up a windy pebblestone road. We passed many shops and reached a church. We wanted to see Alcazar and I thought it was on the other side of town so we walked back down and at the bottom we asked a man where it was and he showed us. It turns out we were right next to it when we were at the church.
The church ended up being the church we wanted to see – the Cathedral of Segovia (last gothic church built in Spain). So we walked back to the car and drove to Alcazar.
It was beautiful – we saw where Isabell slept and where Ferdinand where meetings.
Afterwards we had some coffee at a little cafeteria and were on our way to Bilbao. On the way we stopped at two places. The first “Centro De Tourismo Rual” is where dad had the best steak in his life (At a city called Matabuena). The second, a little side of the road place to have coffee and tea.
We arrived at Bilbao after many hours of travelling (about 5) and found a hotel – Ercilla – which cost $110 per night. Dad said you only live once, so we stayed (on the way to Bilbao we sang songs in Hebrew – the radio sucks, and saw fake bulls, were rained on, saw a car accident, and had to pay a toll fee of $20!).
12-21-98
We woke up at 8am and had breakfast and then checked out of the hotel. We wanted to see the old city, but driving was unbearable. After an 1 and ½ hours of driving (there was much construction and a police man made us go the wrong way because there was no entrance to the street we wanted to get to). We gave up and decided to head to San Sebastian. We were so glad we did so…
At San Sebastian (an hour and a half later) after stopping for gas – we didn’t know how to open the gas door). We walked on the promenade of La Concha (the beach) and headed for a tourist info Place. There they gave us a map and told us what there is to see.
We found out that today is a holiday – Festival De San Tomas – and so headed to the old city. The place was packed – we couldn’t even walk anywhere. We saw the tons of booths and lots of friendly people. We ate and drank (the best was a “talos” a cornbread filled with either meat, cheese, or chocolate).
People were dressed up (even little babies) and everyone was happy. We walked to Jardin Public Castillo De La Mota and saw Bateria De Napolean. This is the place where there were lots of cannons and the people tried to protect themselves here. We understood why they wanted to do so – San Sebastian is like a dream city – the beach, the culture, the little streets – absolutely fabulous. Afterwards we went to have something to drink and dad fell in love with the music in the bar. We got the name of the CD and left.
We saw the main church and decided to find a hotel. We found a pension with only one single room left. But she said that her sister has a pension with two single rooms. A young boy came to get us and we went there and got two room (not very spacious but with a bath) for 3,500 pesetas each. Since we weren’t right next to the garage – which held the car for us – we went to the car, got our necesities ( toiletries and underwear) – went back to the hotel, dropped everything off, and left.
We walked to the other side of the promenade and we saw a statue and a movie being made and then bought some CD’s and medicine for my nose. By then it was dark, but we decided anyway to take a side trip to Basai Danibane (a fishing port). We got on the bus, but when we arrived there was nobody there. Nothing was open, but we decided to walk the streets anyway.
We left after ½ hour, got back to San Sebastian, ate, and went to sleep, each in our own room.
12-22-98
We woke up at 7:30am, had breakfast, and left to Barcelona. On the way we passed Pamplona (The Sun Also Rises was written about this city) and dad was sad we didn’t stop after I told him that this place is where famous scenes of bulls chasing people is filmed. We then got to Zargoza (thar-go-tha) and big city and ate lunch. Lunch consisted of a bagette, cheese, chips, and yogurt – all bought at a supermarket.
We ate at a park and then got some coffee and tea and left to Barcelona. (oh yeah (1) yesterday on the way to the palace at the top of the mountain I helped a lady get her dog down from the side. She was very happy. (2) the people at San Sebastian are called the Basque people or Euskala and their culture is very different and fun).
At Barcelona we found a place to park (very expensive – 240 pesetas per hour) and then walked around to find a hotel. The first one we found, we took ($80 per night, including breakfast). Because we figured that for $10 less and more searching, wasn’t worth it. So, we went back to our car, parked it in a new garage (3.185 pesetas per day) and then went to our room.
We changed our clothes and mailed postcards and took bus #14 to Les Ramblas. There at Plaza Catalunya we walked around with the 1,000’s of people there. We saw a flamenco place, but they didn’t accept Visa and it looked bad. We then saw an inside market (it made me kind of sick looking at all the dead animals) and walked down small streets and breathed in the fast pacing, not as friendly city.
We called mom and then ate dinner at “Pita Inn” which was filling but not great. We then saw beautiful fountains and drank some coffee and tea. After this it took ½ hour to find bus #14 again and we finally did. It didn’t even take us to place we needed to get off. We had to take another bus (and pay again) to the right place.
We went to our hotel, had Sandra tell us how to use the subway system, drank some gross complimentary “cava” (a Barcelonian champagne) and went to sleep.
12-23-98
We ate breakfast at 7:45am – a buffet in the hotel (it was so quiet I felt as if I was in the library) and then left to explore the city. This time we took the subway to Plaza Catalunya – much faster – bought some stamps and went to Barrio Gotico (Gothic old quarter). We saw churches and squares and even went into a Picasso Museum. It was great.
We then took the bus to Montejic Mountain, where we saw the national palace, and then walked up to the Olympic Stadium – where people practice. We had lunch and then headed to Poble Espanyol – an artificial village made up of all the different communities in Spain. In there, we bough some stuff (for mom and gary) and walked the streets.
It’s really a great place. We found an internet bar and emailed our friends and family and left (the video camera battery wasn’t working, so we did not tape anything). We took the metro to Sagrada Familia – the unfinished church – and climbed 175 meters high, just to find that the stairs end at a gate. We walked back down and went into the museum and then left.
We were so thirsty and sweaty by then (the climb was hard) so we got some Fanta to drink and then went back to the hotel. At the hotel we made reservations for a flamenco show and went to nap (we bought one metro card that lasts 10 metro trips for both of us and it seems really useful).
We left the room and 8:20pm, and went to find a place to eat dinner. We found it at 8:40 but we didn’t get out of there until 9:55pm. (Good thing it was close to the flamenco show).
Dinner was ok for me (there were huge chunks of salt on my veggies) and good for dad. He had fish – as always. The flamenco show at a place called “El Patio” was good. At the end of the show I went on stage to dance with the guy!!!! Afterwards, we went back to the hotel and to sleep.
12-24-98
We ate breakfast and left to Parc Guell. It took 4 tries (4 different buses) to get there, but when we did, it was worth it. We saw the park, which Gaudi (the guy that planned the unfinished church) built and it was a very nice walk. We then were going to sit and have coffee and relax, but I noticed that the olymic gallery at the olympic village closed in an hour and a half. So, we drank quickly and went there. We passed the village walking, so had to turn back only to find out that the gallery wasn’t even there. So we walked around and found a restaurant that has veggie paella and ate there.
The village is on the water and it has many restaurants, shops, and a promenade. It is very nice. Afterwards we went to Barrio Gotico again and saw many people on La Rambla including people who performed. We videotaped the church from yesterday and found that the palace we wanted to see was closed. We then went to Sagrada Familia again, videotaped that, and then to Plaza Espanya again to video tape the palace.
We called mom and Gary, had coffe and water, and went back to the hotel (dad felt like he was going to throw up because he had clams for lunch). At the hotel we watched TV and read and went to sleep until the next morning.
12-25-98
We had breakfast at 7am (we were the only ones there), and left to Granada (dad said his favorite place thus far is San Sebastian-because it is like the real thing-no english spoken there and no commercial for tourists). We stopped at Valencia on the way and saw the church and an open market and walked around trying to find the palace – but never did.
We bought some stuff and had lunch and enjoyed the tiny streets and big plazas. We then headed to Granada – it took us 6 hours to get there. Once there, we drove around to find a hotel and ended up on a street only 1.5 meters wide. Dad thought the car couldn’t make it through, so we decided to back up. Just then a taxi pulled up behind us, so we couldn’t back up. Some people walked by and said that we will make it – so we pushed in the side mirrors and with the help of 10 people – got through. At the end everyone clapped.
We finally found a hotel – and an elevator took our car to the bottom. We got a room for 8.000 pesetas and headed out to the streets. We found another open air market and walked through it and ate at a restaurant that was very small and cheap and family like and good. (as soon as we would say what we wanted he would yell to the cook what to cook).
Afterwards we walked on Carrera De Darro – a street full of venders and then walked to a coffee shop. Afterwards we called mom, went to a plaza with more merchants and went to the hotel to sleep.
12-26-98
We woke up at 7:30am and left to eat breakfast after checking out of the hotel. After breakfast (we finally ate standing up – like the spanish people), we took the Alhambra bus and headed to Alhambra. We walked around the beautiful palace and then we went to Generalife. (We saw the same asian group from Barcelona). We then went back down with the bus and went to Capilla Real, where Ferdinand and Isabella’s body parts are buried.
We then wanted to eat some arabic food but didn’t find any open restaurants in the arab section because it was ramadan. So we ate lunch at the same we ate breakfast at. It was good and cheap. Afterwards we walked the tiny streets of Granada and walked above the river and then left to Algeciras (the city next to Gibraltar that has the ferry to Morocco).
On the way, we stopped a few times to take pictures and then went to Gibraltar. There was a line of car to get in and a man wanted money for parking tickets, but dad said no and we kept driving. We ended up cutting in and everybody was honking. A man came to our car and said we had to go to the end of the line and then he yelled at the car behind us for letting us in. The line ended up being there because we crossing into British territory.
We crossed (showing our passports) and drove up to the top where we saw apes, caves, and tunnels. We were able to see Africa and the Strait of Gibraltar. We went to the bottom (it was dark by then) and parked at a parking structure and walked to the main street. Only a few shops were open and the one that sold watches, we went in (dad lost his watch while throwing a cigarette out of the window – the watch went with it). We bought a watch for him and me and cologne and a beer mug and talked to the owners of the shop who are very, very nice. They told us to stay in Gibraltar instead of going to Algeciras and even made reservations for us for a discount at a five star hotel – the name of the hotel is Elliot.
We drove around and found it ($110/night) and put our stuff away. We were hungry so we decided to go out and have dinner. There was no one on the streets, and we ended up eating at a little place called Copacabana. Inside there were two old ladies and three prostitutes. Dinner was ok.
Then we went back to the hotel. There they told us that it is Boxing day (2nd day of Christmas) so people are at home celebrating and won’t come out at night until Tuesday or even after the new year.
We went to the room at 9:30pm, watched TV and went to sleep.
12-27-98
What a crazy morning! We woke up and our plans for the day were to go to Tangier, Morocco. We ate breakfast at the hotel (good) and asked the waiter what there is to do at Tangier. He said there are only a few things and because it’s Ramadan, not too many stores and restaurants will be open. So then we went outside and we asked Saad (the friendly bellboy) if that was true, and he said that maybe some things will be open, but that we shouldn’t go there – it’s not that great. So we asked about Tarifa and he said that it was a beautiful city.
So after much debate and thought we decided to go to Tarifa. Right when we got to the border control, dad turned the car back around, for he figured that we should first do our shopping and later sightseeing. So we went back to the hotel, parked the car, and went to Main Street.
Not only was there no one on the street, the stores weren’t even open. Also it was 9am and the sun had just risen (probably the cause for the absence of people). We walked and walked and since we were just walking aimlessly, we headed for the synagogue. That was closed too.
We met two Israeli people and went back to Main street, to the store from last night. (he told us that the man from yesterday at the border was a crook – good thing we didn’t pay). He told us to wait 1 hour, until a camera store opened (dad broke his) so we walked the little streets, bought ties and more. When the hour passed and the store for the cameras still wasn’t open, we went to a different one. We almost didn’t go because someone else told us it was closed, but at the end we made it. We were there for almost 2 hours (we even to call the hotel to extend our checkout). And at the end we bought a camera, a video camera, and I got sunglasses for free (all for a good price).
We left Gibraltar and went to Tarifa (most southern spot of spain) to have lunch. We sat at a busy, no menu restaurant. It was fish or meat, so we had to leave (dad was mad). We went to another restaurant (I had two salads and dad fish) and it was very good and very cheap.
We then headed to Seville where we found a hotel – hotel Plaza De Armas – very cheap and nice. We walked around – over a bridge and back to the center to some churches, and a market. We also called mom and ate a cheap and light dinner and then went to our hotel. I bought two beeswax candles.
12-28-98
Today in Spain is the same as April Fool’s day in the U.S. but we did not see anything unusual or funny. We left the hotel at 8:30am and went to a great little bar for breakfast. Afterwards we went to Museo to Bellas Artes only to find that it is closed on Mondays, so we went to the cathedral and got in for free (it was morning mass) and then went to Alcazar (also closed on Monday’s) so we walked to Barrio Santa Cruz (old Jewish quarter) had coffee and walked back to the center.
We went to a palace (no tourists allowed) and then to Archivo to Indio – where letters from Columbus to Isabelle are. Then to Plaza De Toros (got a tour of the stadium and museum) and on to Plaza Espanya (beautiful). We then had lunch next to the University (good and cheap) and then went back to the cathedral (this time we paid money and got to the top of Giralta (tower) and saw more of the cathedral. We then called mom and walked back to the hotel to rest (I had to get a new map because I lost my other good one).
We woke up at 8:30pm (barely woke up without an alarm clock) and set out to ride the ship that goes on the river. We got there ½ hour too late – the last one left at 9pm, so we walked around trying to find a Tapas bar, and did – it was great. There was one waiter and he would yell the order across the restaurant. They didn’t have coffee or dessert, so we went to another place. They didn’t have dessert either, so we just had expensive coffee and tea and went to our hotel.
There we planned our last two days L and went to sleep. (this is my favorite city thus far).
12-29-98
We woke up and checked out and decided to take our to where the ferry is, so that we don’t have to walk all the way back to the hotel after Alcazar. We also thought of maybe taking the ferry and thus the car will be right there. We got lost on the way to the ferry, but made it and paid a mere 75 pesetas to park (I was so scared our car would be broken into).
We toured Alcazar – beautiful – and then rode the ferry (also very nice). We then left to Cordoba and on the way we had lunch and when we got there we parked real close to the Mosque (we paid only 100 pesetas this time). We went to the mosque – cathedral and ended up joining an English speaking group who helped us understand all about the history of the mosque.
We then followed them to the synangogue (it was closed). We left them then and went to Alcazar – which has beautiful gardens (the only bad thing was that it was raining). We then went to the center of the city, but nothing was open, so we went back to the old part.
We walked around the narrow cobblestone streets, bought souvenirs, drank coffee and tea, and left to Toledo. It took us 2 hours and 50 minutes to get there, and it was already 10pm.
We got a hotel near the old city and went to a restaurant. The restaurant was expensive and didn’t have Tapas, so we got up and left. We went to our hotel café – closed – and then to a good little bar. We had a light dinner and went to sleep.
12-30-98
We woke up at 8am and left to explore the city. We had a breakfast (croissants) and then went to the tourist office and left for the old city.
We first went to the Sephardic Synagogue and museum – very nice. Then the tape for the video camera ran out so we went back to the hotel to get a new one.
This time we took a new route to get to the Jewish Quarter. We saw the other synagogue (now a church) and it was a big disappointment (just a big room). We then went to El Greco museum and house (the painter) and I saw the pictures.
Then we went to the cathedral and saw the beautiful inside and then went to have lunch (I got to choose the place). Then we saw Alcazar – free to get in – and walked around the little sreets. We saw statues and a garden and took pictures of the scenery. Then we went to Museo De Santa Cruz – also free – and that too was lovely.
We decided that there was nothing left to see in the city, so we walked around and around the old city, bought souvenirs, stopped for coffee, and found ourselves in the actual city of Toledo, where the people live. It was siesta time, so we just walked around and looked at the shops and headed back to our hotel.
On the way we bought some mazapan (yummy). We took a nap from 6-8 and then headed out for dinner. We had a very good last meal, but with a bad waiter. Then we called mom and Gary and then went back to the hotel to pack our stuff and go to sleep.
* note to dad – thank you for taking me to spain. It was great. I will never forget it.
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