Arrivederci Roma, Hola Espana!

Hola from Talavera de la Reina, Spain! I've covered a lot of ground in the last week so there is quite a bit to update you all on...

But before I dive into the post I would like to encourage all of my readers who are US citizens to vote on November 4th. I voted last week at the American Embassy in Rome, Italy. I've had to go through quite a bit to be able to exercise my right to vote (sign up for an absentee ballot, find a location in Italy to have the ballot faxed to, travel to Rome to vote, and then send the ballot back to the US in time to be counted for the election...) so if you are able to this Tuesday, please go VOTE!

Ok, let's get rolling.... After Salerno I traveled to Rome with Miki where I spent 3 days with him exploring the city. My visit and stay in Rome was very laid back and relaxed as I have seen the city before but I saw all of the "sights": the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Castel D'Angelo, the Colosseum, the "wedding cake" monument Vittorio Emanuele II, te Spanish Steps, Vatican City and St. Peter's Basilica and many other places. One Saturday in Rome we ran into a national protest or "Manifestazione" of the center-left party against Berlusconi's conservative party. It was estimated that there were almost 2 million people who converged on Circus Maximus to protest and Miki and I found ourselves in the middle of it all! It was an interesting experience and a great display of democracy in action even though the protest will have little to no influence in producing change. Better to try than to not try at all...

From Rome I took a train to Nice(Niece), France which was a long day of traveling (10 hours on trains) with a lot of distance covered. The weather was not the greatest but the views along the Ligurian coast in Italy were great. I arrived in Nice quite late a night but managed to find a hostel and get some much needed sleep. The next day (my only day in Nice) I spent it walking, people watching, and catching some sun on the Promenade des Anglais before it began to rain. My short visit to Nice was basically a day of rest during my travels from Rome to Barcelona, Spain as Nice is roughly a half-way point between Rome and Barcelona.

The next day I spent approximately 12 hours on numerous trains to get to Barcelona. I arrived very late at night/early in the morning and went directly to bed. I must say, Barcelona is a great city! While it is in Spain, Barcelona is not "Spain", it is in Catalunya a region that has a unique and independent identity from the rest of Spain. Because of this Catalan identity people in Barcelona speak Catalan which is a mix of Spanish and a variation of French; it is a very interesting sounding language... The weather was not the best during my visit but I tried my best to make the best of my time. I explored Las Ramblas which is a 1 kilometer long stretch of road bulging with pedestrians, flower vendors, street performers and more; I wandered the Barri Gotic neighborhood which is a winding maze of unique old buildings; I climbed Montjuic which is a hilly area in the southeast of the city that has impressive views of the sea and Barcelona, a neat castle and is also where the '92 summer Olympics Stadium is located. The majority of the remaining sights I saw were designed and or built by Antoni Gaudi who was a well known architect and designer from Barcelona who came to fame in the 1870's. His creations are very whimsical and are made entirley out of concrete and tile/mosaic. His most famous creation is La Sagrada Familia which is a cathedral that is still under construction and is not expected to be completed until 2026 or so. I believe construction started on it in the late 1870's... A long time. I also saw Gaudi's homes in La Manza de la Discordia, his Palau Guell, and his impressive and imaginative works in Parc Guell. What I really like about Gaudi's works is that at first glance they look like they are melting or very old, but when you look closely at the buildings' facades you discover creations and sculptures that emerge from seemingly nothing.

Barcelona is an incredible city with a relaxed, Bohemian vibe and a very multicultural and diverse population. I did not know what to think before arriving in Barcelona but I really enjoyed my time in the city and would recommend it to anyone looking for a exciting and interesting travel destination.

From Barcelona I traveled by high-speed train to Madrid and then on to Talavera de la Reina which is located south west of Madrid in central Spain. The train reached speeds of 300km/hr or 186 miles per hour! The landscape and countryside were incredibly beautiful! I think some of the best scenery on my trip (in competition with the Irish and Scotish landscapes). The landscape was very diverse with interesting contours, areas of broad, flat plains that then rose up in to large mountains or dropped away in to rugged canyons. There were very few towns but the towns I saw blended in with the hills they were perched on thanks to their stone construction and muted, earthy colors.

A good friend from high school, Emily, met me at the train station in Talavera. Emily is teaching English language at an elementary school in the city on a grant from the Spanish Government. It is great seeing Emily again and I will visit her until the middle of this week before moving on. Talavera is a small city of approximately 84,000 people and is well known for ceramics. The region around Talavera de la Reina is where Miquel Cervantes based his novel "Don Quixote" and when I was on the train I could easily imagine Don Quixote riding his horse across the countryside. Emily's apartment also has great views of distant snow capped mountains.

Well that is a brief overview of the past week's travels. I am continually amazed at the things I see and learn while traveling and feel very fortunate to have this amazing opportunity. From Talavera I will next travel to Madrid.

Adios y vaya con Dios,
NPL

P.S. Go Vote!