And Then There Was One

Well the game´s up! I am the last remaining Traveling Aggie. Whit headed home two days ago (took a couple days thanks to nasty weather in Chicago) as did Regan so that leaves me as the lone ranger in Spain! But more on that later. You know how we Aggies are on traditions, so we'll keep to the general pattern one last time and I'll give a recap from Barcelona and then we'll add some pics later. We finished off our travels in true Traveling Aggies style so here we go...

Madrid - 3 nights, 2+ days
We arrived in Madrid via a speed train from Barcelona that traveled up to 300 km/hr (around 200 mph) and had an amazing time. Located in central Spain, Madrid is a much smaller town than Barcelona and very easy to navigate. We visited the Royal Palace, which was a 1/2 the size wannabe of the Palace of Versailles, the Temple of Debod which was donated to Madrid from Egypt, La Placa de Espanya, shopped in Plaza de Mayor, and capped off our busy day at another amazing park, El Parque de Retiro. On the second day we went and visited the world reknowned Prado museum with Whitney (and the Rick Steve's guide to Spain book) as our wonderful tour guide!

But what made Madrid so fun were the people. Everyone in the shops, museums, restaurants, etc... were always willing to help and the Way Hostel was fantastic. There was a large, air-conditioned lounge room where travellers would hang out and get to know one another. We spent the majority of our time in Madrid with an awesome girl from Perth, Australia and also participated in a couple Hostel pub crawls with over 20 guests! The time flew by and before we knew it were hopping on the 3:25 am night bus to get to the airport for our 6:30 flight to Lisbon!

Lisbon - 2 nights, 1+ days
After an exhausting night of pub crawling, salsa dancing, and an early morning flight we were welcomed by the incredibly nice staff of the Travellers House in Lisbon. Water, soda, and beer were 1 euro a piece, they had 3 Mac computers with high speed internet, scrambled eggs for breakfast, guided tours, and did I mention Scrambled EGGS for breakfast! It was a welcome relief from cereal and toast every morning. With only a day and a half we did a fairly good job of seeing Lisbon. We walked around the historic part of the city, highlighted by a castle that overlooks Lisbon as well as several beautiful plazas. On the second day we took a tour of the city. The first stop was Sintra, just northwest of Lisbon. Here are the palaces and gardens of all the previous Portuguese royalty. We went with a hilarious tour guide Pedro, an aspiring film maker who will be studying in Austin this fall, two really cool teachers from Oregon, and 3 brazilian girls who are all in medical school! Needless to say it was beautiful scenery and an awesome time waking through the caverns and paths of these immense gardens. Our next stop was Cabo de Roca, the western most point of continental Europe - absolutely gorgeous! And lastly, we spent a little over an hour at an amazing beach outside the city of CaisCais (suburb of Lisbon). Beautiful cool, blue water with large waves to body surf was the perfect way to end the day. And then it was pack back up and head to Granada!

Granada - 2 nights, 1+ days
We then proceeded to Granada in true Traveling Aggie tradition - all day in a bus with two stops en route to break up the trip. We first rode in an amazing Mercedes Benz charter bus from Lisbon to the beach town of Lagos. There we had a quick 45 minutes to explore the town before we hopped on our Volvo charter bus to Sevilla where we had an amazing dinner as the sun set. Sevilla is definitely a place I would like to return to, absolutely gorgeous with very friendly people. We actually missed our stop for the bus station to Granada and a Spanish lady gave us for tickets (me, whit, and 2 girls from australia we met) and directions back to the station. And finally, at half past 3 am we arrived in Granada.

Granada was a beautiful city unlike any other we'd visited in spain. With large, rolling hills Granada is a melting pot of Christian, Muslim, and Moorish culture. We visited the massive Alhambra fortress for over 5 hours! Inside the city were 2 palaces, a spectacular garden, and the original fortress. On the second day we went on an amazing historical walk (can't call it ¨tour¨because its free) with another hilarious guide from England. Among many things, we saw the cave dwellings people have made out of the hill side. The caves maintain the same climate year round so no AC or heating unit required! And we also tasted some delicious, free tapas with every drink in Granada! After 2 quick nights we headed on out back to Barcelona...

Barcelona - 1 night
After flying in to Barcelona, we ate dinner with another Australian friend in Plaza de St. Jaume, met up with Whitney's friend Jaime, wandered aimlessly through Barcelona because we didn't book a hostel, and finished off the trip in true style by watching the sun rise over the Mediterranean over the beach! Then sadly, Whit hopped on a plane for New York! I've decided to stick around Spain for another week to do some more sightseeing, highlighted by the Running of the Bulls so stay tuned for pictures and another update!