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Weekend in Catalonia

May 9th, 2012 | Posted by Erin in Erin | Traveling outside Madrid - (0 Comments)

I’ve been to just about every last corner of Spain but, until recently, I hadn’t really spent a ton of time in Catalonia. Yeah, I’d done Barcelona, and bathed on the beaches of Begur (amazing!), but hauling my culo so far northeast just wasn’t high on my list of Iberian priorities.

But, a couple of months ago, I had the opportunity to spend several days traveling around the Catalan countryside like it was my own personal playground. In doing so, I realized it could quite possibly be one of my very favorite regions in Spain (err, or not in Spain, depending on who you talk to).

So let’s take a little journey around Catalonia, shall we?

 

Girona

My excursion to the northeast region began in the city of Girona. The hillside town dazzles new visitors with its houses hanging on the Onyar River’s edge, and vibrantly hued buildings that glow in a slew of faded candy colors. I weaved through the Jewish quarter, made a little lap around the cathedral, and finally into the restaurant Divinum, where I dined on a nine-course meal fit for a queen. It was quite the first stop, and all I could think was “it’s a shame we didn’t save the best for last.”

 

Cadaqués

Uncertain that the visit could get any better, I took a winding journey up and over the hills to the coastal enclave of Cadaqués. Along the pebbled shores of neighboring Port Lligat, I watched the sunrise as fishermen came and went, wrapping myself in the sounds of the breeze as it rustled the rows of olive trees criss-crossing the hills. Even more intriguing than the sun rising in front of me, was the house perched on the shore’s edge behind me. It was the home of Salvador Dalí, which, the day before, I discovered hid all sorts of quirky treasures; a jewelry-wearing polar bear, decked-out mannequins, and precariously balanced egg sculptures.

Despite the area’s fame, the morning beach maintains the quiet rhythm of a pueblo untouched by the outside world. And perhaps this isn’t all that surprising given that until about a century ago, Cadaqués was only reachable by boat. Considering it takes a potentially queasy mountain drive to get there, it’s seems a boat arrival probably made good sense.

 

Besalú

The final stop on my Catalán tour was Besalú, but I was confident that my ability to be impressed had run its course. But I was wrong again. Framed by a massive arched bridge, the pueblo hit me like a pile full of the ancient bricks it was made of. If first impressions were everything, then Besalú’s mission had been accomplished.

But there was so much more to the little town than just the initial wow-factor. Apart from the reliably cozy small streets, the city teased my imagination with peculiar chairs. Yes chairs. One hung dripping from a building wall. Another stood some ten feet tall like a giant’s high-chair. Then there was this two-dimensional one to the left, seated along the banks of the river.  I also visited the oddly awesome Museum of Miniatures, which, to its credit is a whole heck of lot more rad than I can even bring myself to admit (a high-wire walking ant with an umbrella? Wha???).

 

The villas

The highlight of all this gallivanting around Catalonia was that after the days passed trekking around spectacular towns, I spent nights in my own personal villas. Yeah, you read that right. I was brought on this journey by Charming Villas Catalonia, who housed me in a stone countryside mansion, a city center apartment, and a modern beachside paradise.

Essentially, each villa is like a little hotel-meets-palace, but authentic and private, and PERFECT for a decent-sized group of friends (say 6-10 couples, sometimes more) to rent out. Beyond that, they also come equipped with fat kitchens (i.e. nothing like what you’re used to in Madrid) that basically beg you to hit up the market and make yourself a feast full of local fare.

Yes, it’s true, Catalonia may be a pricey AVE-ride away from Madrid, but with Mediterranean beaches, a border with France, and nearby Barcelona, you can’t really go wrong. Do yourself a favor and don’t wait as long as I did to discover what the region has to offer.

*Visit my blog, La Tortuga Viajera, to read about my experiences in Catalonia.

**Disclosure: As mentioned above, I traveled through Catalonia as a guest of Charming Villas Catalonia. Rest assured that I’m keeping it real – all opinions are entirely my own.

In search of snow

February 28th, 2012 | Posted by Shana in Shana | Transit and Transport | Traveling outside Madrid - (0 Comments)

So close, yet so far...

Though it may not feel like it this week, believe it or not it isn’t summer in Madrid. Down here in the city it’s sunny and warm and it seems like spring has come a bit earlier than expected. However, a glance north to the sierra shows that it is indeed still winter! I’ve always traveled to Chicago at Christmastime, so a winter without snow is very strange to me. A few weekends ago I decided to hop on the Madrid Cercanías train to see some of the white stuff in the mountains.

The C-8 train from Madrid leaves from Atocha or Nuevos Ministerios and makes it up to Cercedilla in just over an hour. I took this time as an opportunity to drool over Madrid’s skyline and desertlike surrounding areas while the folks around me rode along anxiously in their snow gear. Upon arrival in Cercedilla, I approached the ticket counter to ask about continuing train tickets to Navacerrada on the C-9 line to Cotos, a small mountain town on the border of the Comunidad de Madrid and Castilla-La Mancha. The Cotos station is currently closed due to some construction work, so Navacerrada was about as far as I could hope to get.

Ticket Counter Guy informed me and the 25 or so people in line behind me that tickets for the C-9 train could be purchased on the train that would be leaving in two hours. I took those two hours and walked up into Cercedilla to enjoy the sun and have a quick lunch. From town I enjoyed beautiful mountain views and quaint small-town charm, complete with ridiculously cheap cañas and abundant aperitivos. After two hours passed, I returned to the train station to find an enormous crowd of snow-seekers decked out in their finest cold-weather attire waiting to board the C-9 and purchase their tickets. A different train employee walked to the front of the crowd and announced that only those passengers holding return tickets for line C-9 would be allowed to board the train, and that there were no available tickets to be purchased. A few people boarded the C-9; the majority boarded the C-8 back to Madrid. The moral of this story: I should have bought my ticket in advance!

So, how do you do that? Well, the C-9 has different rules from the 4th of December to the 24th of April this year. This means it will be 100% mandatory that travelers purchase their return tickets in advance at Cercanías stations before leaving. The C-9 tickets are different from C-8 tickets, as they’re in a different transport zone. There are a few ways for you to purchase your ticket up to the snow:

  • If you have an Abono Transporte, you can ask for an ampliación at ticket windows that will allow you to pay the difference between your Abono’s zone and zone C2.
  • If you do not have an Abono Transporte, I recommend that you purchase an Abono Turístico, or a Tourist Pass. A return ticket from Madrid to zone C2 costs 12 euros, but a single day Tourist Pass in “Zone T” also costs 12 euros, and this will allow you to take as many forms of public transport as you like, all over Madrid, for one day.
  • If you have an Abono Transporte for zone C2, you must still reserve a space at the ticket window. In the winter, this route is extremely popular but there are very few trains running on the weekend. Be sure to get your seat!!

Now that I know this information, I suppose I’ll have to try again very soon… if the recent weather patterns mean anything for the snow on the mountaintops, we don’t have much more time to see snow!

Tapas Weekend in Logrono

December 20th, 2011 | Posted by JLynch in Jamie | Traveling outside Madrid - (4 Comments)
Last week I posted about the spectacular wineries I visited during my trip to La Rioja earlier this month. I wanted to expand on that post this week and dedicate some well-deserved space to one of the other highlights of our trip – the 24 hours we spent in Logroño, the capital of La Rioja.

The scene on Calle Laurel early Friday afternoon

 
We arrived at this small but lively city of 150,000 early on a Friday afternoon. My last minute Google research in the car indicated that the city had a street famous for tapas (Calle Laurel), so we decided to head there for lunch. To our surprise, it was absolutely crammed with people spilling out of the more than 40 bars that are on this tiny, pedestrian street. We strolled down the length of the calle (it only takes about a minute, to be honest) and quickly deduced how it worked – each bar has its own specialty tapa, which is advertised on the outside of the bar. Since trying the local specialty everywhere I go is one of my favorite pastimes, Raul and I went from bar to bar trying the advertised “especialidad de la casa” accompanied by a small copa de vino (Rioja of course).
 
The specialties in this tapas paradise included such things as patatas bravas, roasted garlic mushrooms on bread (this was the highlight for me), matrimonios (small sandwiches with anchovies and grilled peppers), zapatillas (a hunk of bread with olive oil, tomato and jamón serrano), and sepia. They ranged in price from about €1-3, making for some cheap meals. In fact, we had such a great time and enjoyed the food at lunch so much that we went there for dinner the same day. The wine was also easy on the wallet, making for arguably some of the best and most enjoyable eating and drinking I have ever done in Spain (which says a lot).

The glorious "champis" at Bar Soriano

Our time in Logroño was such a pleasant surprise. While we were there tapeando our hearts out, we were already planning our next trip. The combination of the architecture of the wineries, the wine itself and the tapas of Logroño made this a weekend I will never forget!

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The lights in Madrid are Twinkling

December 17th, 2011 | Posted by Courtney in Entertainment | Guiri Guest | Traveling outside Madrid | What's Happening Madrid - (0 Comments)

My fellow Guiris, as I’m sure you’ve all noticed, the holidays are upon us. If you haven’t yet noticed, a quick paseo through the center or barrio Salamanca will certainly show you. Numerous Spanish designers such as Agatha Ruiz de la Prada have created arrangements using over 3 million LED lights that have flooded the streets of Madrid, from the skylines above Gran Vía to the gift boxes floating over Calle Goya.

As the sun sets and the cold air creeps in every night, the best way to see the lights is to hop on the bus–but not just any bus! The Navibús is an open-top double-decker bus that follows along the most illuminated streets in the city while playing the sounds of the season through the bus speaker system. The Navibús runs every night from 6-10pm and costs €1.50 to ride. The approximately 45-minute ride leaves fairly often from the corner of Calle Serrano and Calle Jorge Juan (metro: Serrano; exit C/Goya pares), just next to the Jardines de Descubrimento. The Navibús will run daily until the 6th of January, except for the 18th, 24th, and 31st of December, as well as the 5th of January.

After you ride the Navibús, head to Plaza de Cibeles this Sunday around 8pm to experience a show of coordinated music and lights projected on the beautiful Palacio de Comunicaciones. In addition to the children’s story preceding the light show, there will also be numerous holiday events for children all around city until the end of the Christmas season. Check the official Madrid Christmas events website for more detailed information.  Be sure to come back to Plaza de Cibeles on the 5th of January to catch the Cabalgata de los Reyes as well as the sweet treats that the Three Wise Men will throw into the crowd!

Christmas would not be Christmas in Spain without an abundance of belenes. A belén, sometimes referred to as pesebre, is a representation of the scene of the birth of Jesus. Setting up a belén is a tradition dating back to the 1200s, and even today it would be difficult to find a Spanish household celebrating Christmas without one set up somewhere in the house. During this time of year, Spaniards flock to see the belenes on display all over the country. This year in Madrid there are belenes set up in the Palacio de Comunicaciones (metro: Plaza de España), Museo de la Ciudad (metro: Cruz del Rayo), Casa del Reloj (metro: Legazpi), and the Royal Palace (metro: Ópera), to name a few. Click here to see a full list of belén locations in the city.

As for all of your last-minute shopping, don’t miss the mercadillos navideños scattered throughout Madrid. The one in Plaza Mayor has a bit of everything, including a carousel for the kids to ride, but be sure to stop by the mercadillos on the sidestreets of Gran Vía, and as always, be sure to visit El Rastro as more and more gift-worthy items begin popping up this time of year.

Whether you’re spending your holidays in Madrid or heading back to the guiri motherland, the decorations and holiday activities here in town definitely merecen la pena. Felices fiestas!

 

Shana came to Madrid in 2009 for a brief summer study program and couldn’t stay away for long. Immediately after finishing university, she came back in September 2010 and has since been spending her time navigating the English language with primary school children and constantly rediscovering all of the charms that captured her for the first time.

Bodega Hopping in La Rioja

December 13th, 2011 | Posted by JLynch in Jamie | Traveling outside Madrid - (0 Comments)

Raul and I took advantage of the puente this past weekend and decided to take a trip to Spain’s wine country – La Rioja. Although we have already written about La Rioja on two other occasions, since I went to three wineries that were not yet commented on, I could not resist writing another post. The province of La Rioja is about a 3-4 hour drive from Madrid, depending on what part you go to, and is jam-packed with bodegas. We visited four of them on our trip, and I have to say La Rioja is the best kept secret in Spain!  The fact that Spain has great wine is no secret, nor is the fact that a lot of it has denominación de origen from La Rioja, but I have met very few people (Spanish or otherwise) who have enjoyed first- hand this enchanting journey to the land of vino.

Our first stop was Marques de Riscal in the tiny village of Elciego. Over the past few years I have admired the architecture of this masterpiece in photos, so to see it up close and in person was surreal; nobody could take their eyes off of the stunning Frank Gehry design. The 1.5 hour tour included plenty of opportunities to take pictures and also explore the old and new parts of its impressive wine production operation. The total cost was €10 and included 2 glasses of wine at the end.

The next morning we headed to Bodegas Ysios in the nearby village of Laguardia. After seeing Marques de Riscal I was unsure I could be impressed again, but Ysios blew me away. Designed by Santiago Calatrava (the man behind the Ciudad de Artes y Ciencias in Valencia), the combination of the modern, creative edifice against the gorgeous backdrop of the Cantabrian mountains was mesmerizing. The tour of this boutique winery was also interesting, as it was all very new and state-of-the-art.  The €6 fee also included a glass of wine at the end, enjoyed along with a breathtaking view of the vineyards.

That afternoon, since we were en route to Logroño, we stopped at Bodegas Darien (just outside the Logroño city limits). Another winery, another magnificent, modern structure. Since they did not give tours in the afternoon, we were allowed to do a self-guided tour for €3 that included a glass of their reserva at the end. Even though the tour was less informative than the others (since it consisted of us walking around for a few minutes reading signs), the wine was our favorite of the bunch and the building was new and beautiful, making it well worth a visit.

We concluded our wine route the next day at Bodegas Muga in the village of Haro. Going into the trip, Muga was our favorite of the 4 wines, so we were especially excited for this one. The first thing we noticed was that Muga, as opposed to the other 3, had more traditional Spanish architecture as well as production. It was interesting for us to see the contrast and we really admired the history. The €6 fee included the tour (about 1 hour), 2 glasses of wine (we were able to keep the glasses afterwards) and a burlap wine bottle holder.

I highly recommend this trip to even the casual fan of wine and/or architecture.  My best advice would be to make reservations for tours in advance (we saw many people get turned away at the door for not having a reservation). In addition, the region is a bit spread out, so plan your route wisely.  Next week I will write a post about where we stayed and the various highlights of each pueblo (food, wine and otherwise) that really rounded out our fabulous trip.

¡Salud!

 

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