Tuesday, 14 October 2008
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Currently Listening
Personas
By El Canto del Loco
see relatedContinuation of Summer 08'
So, I left Granada for a week-long trip to some cities I had not been to yet. Cordoba was first, the mosque was gorgeous, beautiful architecture and ambience, I spent two hours in there and it felt like ten minutes. The Palacio de Reyes Catolicos is also very beautiful, especially the gardens and fountains in the center. Did not get to see more in Cordoba because I had a bus to Madrid in the afternoon. After hours of arid, dry Spanish terrain I got to the capital of the nation. I have said this before and I still believe that Barcelona is a much more beautiful city. People like either one, I met many people who preferred Madrid, because it was more 'Spanish' and less pretentious and touristy. I guess everyone has their taste. Madrid does have its fair share of beautiful squares/plazas though. Plaza Mayor is huge and very beautiful, also Plaza Real and Porta del Sol. I stayed in Mad and Cat's Hostel, owned by the same people. I would recommend Cat's, the staff is not the best but there is a bar downstairs in the basement and it gets pretty happening. On weekends they have DJs and when I was there the music was great. I met a lot of cool people and we had some fun nights out. As always the Aussies represented well and we partied till the morning and drank god knows how much tequila! They also have a different way of taking tequila shots where they snort the salt and squeeze the lemon/lime juice in their eyes!! I did not try it but I watched along with the dumbfounded Spanish bartender! I did a day trip to Toledo, on a friend's recommendation, it took us ages to get there. Firstly, it takes almost an hour for your turn to come at the train station, and we could not buy the tickets from a machine since it was too close to Madrid! So we walked twenty minutes to the bus station, got a bus, which ended up stopping before getting on the highway and the driver called for a new one. That bus came half an hour later and finally we were on our way to the former capital of Spain. Toledo was an interesting, little town, perched on top of a hill, very dry and full of medieval guns and armor. I guess its their thing, every second shop sold trinkets of the sort. After a few days I headed back to Granada and had one last night with my friends before heading to the UK. After a change of plans for graduate school, I ended up deferring it till next year due to a number of reasons I headed back to Madrid for a week to try and find a job, or get a work visa, which I discovered is almost impossible for Americans unless one is sponsored by a company or transferred from the U.S. Had a great time in Madrid this time around though, stayed in the same hostel and met a lot of great people and had some fun, long nights! I went to the much talked about 7 floor La Capital, and also a very cool, 'silent disco', where everyone gets portable radios and headphones and dances on different music! I took a great city, walking tour through 'Madrid Nonstop' which I highly recommend. My last few hours there I had a great conversation with Lucho from Valencia and in talking about myself and my experiences I ended up learning a lot and seeing myself from a different point of view. I also realized how lucky I was being a Pakistani-American in Spain speaking with an Argentine accent! I really wanted to stay in Spain but it did not happen, there is always the future, however. After Madrid I spent a week in Brussels visiting one of my oldest friends Meera and her husband Marcus. Tried a little job searching there but to no avail, same problems I faced in Spain. I ended up hurting my toe pretty badly so stayed in and watched the rain outside and did some thinking. Also rested my body and mind after a great, full summer! Here's to more adventures in Chicago or wherever else life will take me!
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