Honeymoon in Spain

Well we made it back from Spain and with that we can put a close to all wedding related activities since the honeymoon is the "omega" to the engagement's "alpha." Of course that doesn't mean we aren't finished with the wedding since there are still pictures to compile and a video for me to work on. However, this blog post is just going to focus on the Honeymoon in Spain. Since my like/dislike post from the wedding was well received I will try the same format for the Honeymoon.

Liked

Mojitos - This great, summer drink was the featured beverage at many of the bars in Spain that we visited. We were both fans and would enjoy sipping a mojito while people watching especially in Palma.

Disliked

The expensive hotel we had in Barcelona that was smaller than my tiny freshmen year college dorm room. The fact that we had used a travel agent (which could also be in the dislike section, but I think I have talked/written enough about that experience) made me think we might have better accommodations. That was a faulty assumption since our Barcelona hotel (Petit Palace) was small and also had a bathroom door that wasn't set up to close all the way.

Liked

European beaches liberal dress policy - I wish I could have the self-confidence as some of the beachgoers that we witnessed in Spain.

Disliked

The quality of the beaches. The sand, water and overall feel of the beach is nothing compared to Florida. From a pure beach perspective the beaches in both Barcelona and Mallorca were not nearly as the nice as where my family would vacation in Florida.

Liked

Pigs blood mixed with rice. The surprising delite was part of my favorite meal of the trip. We ordered a tapas platter and were surprised when one of the things on the plate looked to be a brownie....pictured below:

When we tried it out it wasn't sweet and it was definitely not a brownie. Still it was really tasty and went well with the random pot of beans we were also served. We thought it could be something strange and that feeling was confirmed the next day when our food tour guide the next morning confirmed to us that it was pigs blood mixed with rice. Anyway, the place we went was expensive, but it was worth every penny. The wine was what I expected from Spain and the steak was unique and extremely tasty. Still the pigs blood mixed with rice was unexpected and good.

Disliked

Having to admit to my Dad that it might have been better paying more attention in Spanish class. In all I took 5 years of Spanish between middle and upper school, which is surprising based on my ability to actually communicate with people who spoke Spanish. Generally speaking our best best was to just speak in English and point. Thankfully you can get pretty far with that strategy even though it probably would have been better to actually know the language.

Liked

Gaudi's park and his unfinished Cathedral. Both were more impressive than I thought and my only complaint is that they were surrounded by tourists. I would have loved to have been able to relax at the park and enjoy Gaudi's work at a slower pace.

Disliked

The efficiency of the unfinished Cathedral - Sagrada Familia. It has been under construction since 1882 and the optimistic projection of when it will be completed is 2026. You mean to tell me that they couldn't complete a church in the time the following things have been invented: Coke, radio, TV, planes, *bra, microwave, calculators, computers, and the Ipad. They don't even have pews yet. I know that it is a really nice looking church, but I think that even the most ambitious of projects should be completed in 10 years.

*Invented in 1913 by Mary Phelps Jacob

Liked

La Rambla (for a day) - For those of you unfamiliar with Barcelona there is one main street of bars, shops and restaurants that seems to be designed specifically for tourists. The best comparison I can think of is Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Anyway, this street is really exciting for about a day. The energy and the amount of people walking around is amazing. It is great visiting the tourist shops and seeing the street performers. However, after a day it made me want a more quiet hotel that was not near La Rambla. It just seems like most of La Rambla isn't authentic and while it is something to see and experience it isn't something that is best enjoyed over a long period of time.

Disliked

La Rambla (for longer than a day) - Explained above.

Liked

Sundresses - I am a big fan of how the July heat in Barcelona brought out the best in women's attire in Spain. In fact I was a big proponent of M getting a nice dress that I financed the purchase of one near the end of the trip. It was worth the money.

Disliked

College/high school students. I felt very old walking around Spain next to a bunch of kids that were probably backpacking across Europe. It amazed how much English was on the streets and how so many of the people we ran into seemed to be much younger than us. It made me wish that I had study abroad for a semester in Europe at Miami since my time for backpacking across Europe has likely passed.

Liked

M making the best of sometimes less than ideal situations - I appreciate how M can be resilient in her attempt to have a good time on a trip. It is almost like she realizes that things might not be going perfect, so she amps up the energy and enthusiasm. I like this because it prevents me from wallowing in poor decisions and not moving on. During the middle of a long day of seeing the tourist sites she helped pep me up at just the exact moment when I was starting to lose my enthusiasm. She is a fun person to travel with and I think we complement each other well.

Overall the trip to Spain went well. I can see the appeal though of going to one of those all inclusive resorts in the Bahamas and we already have talked about that as a possible destination for next year.