Who wants some Spanish omelette??

Don’t think I forgot about you guys, once again I'm really sorry for disappearing but hey I'm back.

So as I was saying after Paris we took a night train to Madrid, Spain. This journey wasn't going to be as smooth as the previous one because we had to change trains after the boarder. We didn't know what to expect because it was the only train we could find, so fingers crossed.

The first half of the ride was alright, nothing special really. We reached the border, we got to our next train and oh no, it wasn't a night train anymore with cabins and a nice place to sleep. No, no, it was a normal train with seat, extremely uncomfortable ones. Usually it was me taking care of the papers, the passports, checking directions and making sure we got wherever we were going. But that night my Aunt Silvia was holding everything because when they asked to check our tickets I was sleeping.

So yeah we finally arrived to Madrid, got off the train and, as usual, I double check that we had everything before leaving the station. I realised that we didn't have our passports or train tickets, then my aunt remembered she left it in the pocket that you've got on the seat in front of you. She rushed in the train, check what she thought were our seats and couldn't find them, so she got really nervous and she came out freaking out saying that they weren't there anymore. So I went in, staring at her, walked to our REAL seats and find the missing documents. What my aunt forgot was that we couldn't get off from our wagon, so we had to get off the one behind it.

To be completely honest, I don’t remember much of Madrid. It is a big city, a capital, which remind me a lot of Buenos Aires. We were only there for a day and a half so there’s not much for me to tell.

But then we took a day trip to one of my favourite places, Toledo. An amazing town with medieval architecture, small streets and a beautiful Cathedral. You can also go visit the castle, of course there is a castle what medieval city wouldn't have one, I LOVE castles. We spent a day here, just walking around and enjoying the view. It was just so beautiful, everywhere we looked it was unbelievable. Definitely a city that I want to revisit and keep searching for new things to see.

After Toledo we went to our last destination, Barcelona. We stayed with my cousins, well they are not actually my cousins they are my cousin’s cousins but we grow up together, so you get what I mean.

We finally had a nice comfy bed, a great bathroom and homemade food.  During this last week of our trip we enjoyed car trips to nearby towns and a nice tour around a great city like Barcelona.

You've got a lot of things to go see here. We went to the Park Güell, Palau Güell and the Sagrada Familia Cathedral (one of the biggest icons of the city), all designed by the architecture Antoni Gaudí. They are all weird looking, some kind of modern architecture with ceramic and stained glass. It’s cool, I would totally recommend it.

 

We walked down the Rambla, went shopping and I also went to the Aquarium with my cousin, Agustina. We saw a dancing water show in the Magic Foutain of Montjuic, which is a very interesting thing to go see.

They took us to Sitges, a town just 35km away from Barcelona. It’s known for its Film Festival and Carnival. We spent a day walking around on the beach. But, as I said before, it was winter so we couldn't enjoy the sea because it was too cold. But we did have a coffee while we enjoyed the view.

In Barcelona I also have one of my oldest friend, Candela. We used to go to school together but after Argentina’s economic crisis in 2001 her mum Marisa decided that the best thing was to relocate to Spain. So this was my turn to go see her, back then she visited Argentina once a year.

So we arranged to meet and Candela and her then boyfriend, now husband, Sebas picked me up and showed me some new places. We first went to Montserrat, a multi-peaked mountain. Here there is an abbey that hosts the Virgin of Montserrat Sanctuary. The view was amazing and there also was a little market with local food, I just remember having some delicious goat cheese.

After that they took me in the car and showed me some vineyards. Sebas is an oenologist, he studies viticulture, the whole process of the wine making from the vineyards to the selling of it. So we were driving around the hills and we stopped in a small restaurant, very local, very simple and just awesome. The menu was in Catalan so I didn't know what to choose so I told them to decide for me.

For a starter I had calçotada, which is some kind of grilled green onion and that you then dip it in romesco sauce, a nut and red pepper sauce. I even had to wear a bib to eat it, which is fun. For main course we had some sort of sausage that I don’t remember. For dessert we had crema catalana, a custard base dessert with cinnamon and citrus peel, similar to the crème brulée. Of course we had wine, and the specialist was the one picking one, so we had some nice rosé.

After almost an entire day out, we went to Candela’s house. I saw her mum, Marisa and her brother, Ramiro. We haven’t seen each other for 3 years, so it was really nice. They were really welcoming, as usual, they had a table with a lot of food, lots of different cheeses and different types of sausages and some pa amb tomàquet (my favourite thing ever), which is bread with olive oil brushed with a tomato mixture, which is amazing. We enjoyed a great evening together with Paco, Marisa’s husband, and they told me more about the Catalan situation and about trying to be independent. A lovely family which I care a lot about.

I couldn't thank enough to the Devoto family for being so welcoming and caring. I had an amazing time and I loved every second of it. Luis, my uncle, used to work at the port so we had a lot of fresh sea food, lots of bread and Spanish omelette. But the trip had to come to an end so we took a flight back to Rome just for a day.

On our last day we went and took some more pictures but unfortunately when we were on the metro going back to the hostel, just hours before taking the plane, somebody stole my camera with most of the pictures of my last week. Sadly doesn't matter where in the world you are there’s always people like this. The police was friendly and helpful but they couldn't do much.

So we headed back to Argentina and as soon as we landed they there were, my parents were waiting for us. And that’s when I told my mum “Next time I'm going for longer”.

Spain is an incredible country with a lot of history and is very different depending on the region you are visiting, people are friendly and the food it’s just amazing. So if you haven’t been there yet, put it on your list because you are not going to regret it and to be honest it’s not even that expensive.

Next post is going to be about my latest trip. At the beginning of October I went to visit a new city, a new country. So hold on guys I swear it’s worth it =).