European vacations

The temperatures were already climbing in mid-June, but Barcelona, being next to the sea, felt less stifling and Sunny rather than Hot. (I couldn’t bear to imagine Spain in late July-August, when the temperatures reach famous highs and the streets are emptied of travellers.) My friends and I were excited to be there; it was the first Spanish city we were hitting. Lugging our stuffs to the dubious youth hostel through La Rambla in the cool of the night however, all we wanted was a warm bed. At first glance, Barcelona can pass off for any other city in the night, with its McDonald’s, citylights, big department stores (El Corte Ingles) and numerous metro stations. My friends and I even thought it might have been Singapore we were in, so busy still were the streets and bright the place.

I was just recently in Spain for the second time. I spent only 2 weeks there unfortunately, and managed to keep myself busy every single day. I was at the southern tip known as the Costa Del Sol, where the biggest city is Malaga, which has an international airport. We flew in, rented a car and we were out. We stayed in a condo in a little town known as Puerto Cabopino, which as a matter of fact is more British than Spanish. There are pubs all over the place, pool tables, and gourmet fish and chips. Of course you can still get the famous Andalusian Gazpacho, a cold tomato soup. But staying at the condo the whole time would have gotten tiring, so we decided to venture out. We decided to spend a day to drive out to Gibraltar.

My roommate from college and I visited Budapest in July 1998 for a few days during a 3-week whirlwind tour of Europe. Budapest wasn’t originally part of our itinerary, but a friend convinced us to go, and I’m glad we did.

We stayed at the Hotel Ernitus, formerly known as the Marco Polo Youth Hostel. $17/night. Mind you, we were on a budget. There were hardly any other guests, and the rooms were very clean. Breakfast was amazing: OJ, coffee, tea, bread, salami, cheese, jam, and cereal.

Perhaps, Madrid for a person who´s living in Madrid it is not different to other cities in the world, but when you´re not there, really you missed it. You have all you need: fun, knowledge, history, friendship, bargains,…

There are many places to visit depending on you want to see:

* "Tipical" places: Plaza Mayor, Palacio Real o Palacio de Oriente, Plaza de Toros, Madrid de Los Austrias, Museo del Prado,…

* "Fun"Places: depending on the money you have, and you want to waste:

e.g.:

* Moncloa: cheaper (students)

* Serrano: more expensive.

Madrid is a town which has to be experienced to be believed. It’s one of only four cities in Europe, the others being Amsterdam, London, and Sevilla, that I would consider abandoning life as I know it here in the U.S. for. And as a matter of fact, of the four cities I mentioned Madrid is the frontrunner. Every aspect of the city is amazing, from its wonderful, world-class museums to its fabulous food and nonstop party atmosphere.

Gibraltar is a peninsula that covers 6.5 square kilometers. That’s not much space, and yet there is a huge amount to do here for everyone. The peninsula includes good places for shopping, natural wonders, things for history buffs and easy access to two other cultures. The money used here is the pound. Gibraltar accepts pounds minted in England, and also mints its own. Be aware that before you leave, you may want to change your Gibraltarian pounds back to English pounds at a bank or with merchants as you will get a lower exchange rate once beyond its borders. (Within its borders, they are both the same.) The language spoken here is English though everyone also speaks Spanish. The local dialect is called Yanito/Llanito, but if you speak any variety of Spanish, it will work here, too.

I visited Andalucia (southern region of Spain) about a year ago, and it was by far the best experience I have had traveling abroad. I was visiting friends learning flamenco over the summer in Sevilla which formed our base for excursions across the region.

One bite of this tender, scrumptious, perfectly prepared steak will convince you that Casa Paco’s international reputation as a first-rate steakhouse is well deserved. This was, hands down, the best meat I have ever tasted, and my four dining companions concurred.

The Meal’s star was most definitely the meat. Four of us ordered the buey (ox) and one ordered the veal chop. The buey came in two sizes. I ordered the smaller one which was about 4×5 and 2 inches thick, plenty for me. The larger portions were almost double that size. We ordered them cooked "a su punto," which translates roughly as medium-rare.

If you are in the Madrid area and are looking for a small intimate town to visit, check out Chinchon located about 30 miles outside the city.

The Plaza Mayor in Chinchon hosts many special events throughout the year for anything from religious pageants to bullfights. We enjoyed seeing the painting attributed to Goya in the nearby church. From the plaza we also walked to a 17th-century restored Augustinian convent. We enjoyed walking around the convent’s manicured garden which is lined with cypress trees and roses. We enjoyed photographing the Renaissance murals, large windows and vaults, and the original swimming pool. We enjoyed a wonderful typical regional lunch in the restaurant of sopa de ajo (garlic soup), suckling pig and roast lamb. The colonnaded houses and galleries all have distinct and separate characteristics that make Chinchon special.

About eight years ago, I took a trip to Europe as part of a class in humanities. I ended up learning a lot more than I ever imagined. Everything I”m about to relate to you is true. It also goes without saying that I was a typical ugly American back then, being a freshman in college and pretty sure that I knew everything about everything in the world. I tell this account pretty much the way I saw it back then. It”s amazing how much my views have changed.