Airport bound in five hours

View of Lisbon from above!

It is hard to believe, but our four-week sojourn across Europe has come to an end. In about four hours, Chris and I will check out of the hostel (4 a.m. Lisbon time, 11 p.m. Indiana time) to head to the airport to catch our fist of three flights back to Fort Wayne. We will arrive at 9:30 p.m. Indiana time (2:30 a.m.) Lisbon time ... almost a 24-hour travel day.

It is a bittersweet day -- we have had an incredible trip across Europe and have enjoyed every day, but I am also looking forward to seeing family and friends, and I'm excited to get back to work ... and squeeze in a Cedar Point trip, as well as some skydiving!

We spent our last day hanging out in Lisbon. We made a day trip to a suburb of Lisbon called Belem. It was a 30-minute bus ride from central Lisbon to Belem. We walked around the neighborhood for a few hours, had lunch, did some souvenir shopping, climbed almost 300 stairs to get an overview of the area, and had some pastries at one of the most famous bakeries in Lisbon. Here are a few pictures from our day trip.

Lisbon

Square in Belem

Statue in Belem

Dessert a Pasteis de Belem, a Spanish and French custard

We returned to the hostel around 4:30 p.m. and began packing ... a task that took about an hour. Here are the pre and post packing pictures:

When I started...

When I finished...

We went out to dinner around 8 p.m. and enjoyed one last meal in Europe at a place called Chapitô. Once again, we were treated to some delicious European cuisine.

Well, I need to be up in about four hours to catch a taxi to the airport. Tonight's blog is a little short, but I will post one more tomorrow after we get home with some interesting numbers and facts from our trip. Stay tuned for one more update tomorrow night from Bluffton.

Thanks so much for reading this blog these past four weeks! I have really appreciated all of your messages, comments and support.

¡Chau!

Justin

12 countries in 28 days

Lisbon with the Tejo River in the background 

Chris and I arrived in Lisbon, Portugal, around 8 a.m., the 12th country we have visited since we began our European journey June 29.

We took an overnight train from Madrid, and it was a comfortable ride. We were in a sleeper car that had four beds, and the AC worked well. It was an uneventful ride, and I managed to sleep for part of the trip.

Our sleeper car in the train hotel

Once we arrived, we took the metro to our hostel so we could drop off our backpacks since it was too early to check in. Afterward we explored Lisbon on foot and found a Starbucks for breakfast.

We came back to the hostel around 11:30 a.m. to check in and rest for a little while since we didn't get a lot of sleep on the overnight train. 

Later in the afternoon we did another walking tour of Lisbon and made our way to the harbor to get a good view of the river. Here are a few images from Lisbon.

We also found a great place for dinner called Santo António de Alfama. It was located on one of the narrow streets that decorate Lisbon. The street wasn't on our map and we only had a general idea of where it was located, but we managed to find the restaurant as we walked around the old part of town. We both had steak for dinner, and it was wonderful.

We returned to the hostel afterward. We had hoped to find some live Portuguese music tonight, but we couldn't find any places as we walked back. Perhaps tomorrow. 

Tomorrow is our last full day in Europe ... we fly back early Sunday morning and return to Fort Wayne around 9 p.m. that evening. This month has gone so fast and has been such an incredible experience! 

See everyone soon!

Justin 

Last post from Spain

Madrid!

We are about to depart for the train station in Madrid to take an overnight train to Lisbon, Portugal. This will be the first night train we have taken, and it will also be the last train ride of our trip across Europe! 

Speaking of trains, I am sure you have all heard about the devastating train accident in northwest Spain last night that killed at least 78 people and left many more injured. It has been a sad day here and our thoughts and prayers are with the families whose loved ones were killed or injured. I can't imagine what they are going through right now.

Thanks to all of you who have texted,or sent Facebook messages checking on us.

We spent the day exploring Madrid so that Chris could see some of the places I discovered when I was here two years ago during my Lilly grant trip. We had a good time ... but it was a scorcher here ... 99 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.

First we walked to the Plaza de las Cibeles because the Palacio de Comunicaciones building is located near-by. I posted some pictures of this building last night. It is absolutely stunning. Its construction is a mix of North American monumental style from the Gothic period but it also has a Renaissance look to it. The building is used for the central post office, as well as the city hall. I visited the building last summer and in 2011 and had the chance to go to the top of it, where you can walk around and get a great overview of Madrid from the tower. Chris and I spent 15 minutes at the top and were treated to some great views of Madrid.

Next, we walked to Retiro Park,  Madrid's biggest area of green space and one of my favorite parts of the capital city. All across the enormous park are monuments, beautifully landscaped lawns and gardens and even a big lake where people were taking boat rides. The landscaping is perfect, the gardens and flowers are colorful and all the trees provide several patches of shade where you can just sit down and watch the world pass. The monument to Alfonso XII looks over the lake, including the enormous marble lions.

After visiting the park, we took the metro back to the Sol stop and found a small restaurant for lunch. We ordered some tapas and salad ... the perfect lunch when it is almost 100 degrees outside!

We boarded the metro again to go see the Plaza de Toros (Bullfighting ring). We walked around the perimeter of the ring but didn't go in. There are bullfights in Madrid every Sunday from March to October. When Madrid celebrates the Fiesta de San Isidro in mid-May, there is even a bull fight every day. Built in 1929, the bull fighting ring's exterior is made of bricks and has ceramic titles. It's a Moorish edifice. 

We returned to the Puerta de Sol afterward and thought about seeing a movie but instead found a Starbucks with AC and WiFi. We finally wrote some post cards and mailed them, but I think we will make it home before they do!

It is almost time to head to the train station ... look for an update from Lisbon tomorrow! (And we are both hoping that we can sleep tonight in our four-person train car!)

Thanks for reading,

Justin

High speed trains and hotel drama

At Parque Güell in Barcelona

We made it to Madrid tonight after traveling from Barcelona via train at speeds up to 188 mph, but it took nearly an hour to check into our hotel because of a "name" problem.

We spent most of the day, however, in Barcelona, visiting two places Antoni Gaudí designed: The Sagrada Familia church and Parque Güell.

 

Sagrada Familia

Parque Güell

We left the hostel around 8:15 a.m. to take the metro to the Sagrada Familia. We bought tickets online a few days ago to enter the church and go to the top of the towers at 9 a.m. When we arrived at 8:45 a.m., the line to buy tickets was already long. There were at least 300 people in a line that stretched around the church. If you ever visit Barcelona and plan to see the church, be sure to buy tickets online ahead of time to avoid the lines. 

Work has been underway on and off for more than 100 years on this awe-inspiring church. It's expected to be finished sometime this century, perhaps by 2050. Modernist architect Antoni Gaudí dedicated the later part of his life to working on this church that is 312 feet long and 197 feet wide. The church can seat 13,000 people. We began by taking the elevators to the top of one of the church's towers. Since we arrived at 9 a.m. and already had our tickets, we were among the first inside the church. The views from the top were incredible as we looked at Barcelona. You also get amazing views of the church from the towers, as there are a plethora of lookout points. When I was here as a student, we also went to the top of the towers; however, we were able to climb up the narrow staircase instead of taking an elevator. I discovered that they no longer let visitors climb up to the top, as too many people started the journey up but then couldn't make it. Now, you take the elevator up but walk down. When the work is completed, the church will have 12 towers in all, representing the 12 apostles.

View from the top of the tower

A view of Barcelona  from the top of one of the towers. Gaudí designed the church with 18 towers -- 12 bell towers and six higher towers to symbolize the approach between earth and heaven.

View from the top of the tower

We then came back down and spent more time exploring the inside and outside of the church. The northeast side of the church, the Nativity Facade, depicts the birth of Christ. Gaudi supervised this part of the work before he died (On June 7, 1926, he was run over by a tram at an intersection in Barcelona.). The southwest side of the church, the Passion Facade, shows the death of Christ. This side of the church has been built since the 1950s.

Inside La Sagrada Familia

The death of Christ, as seen on the church's southwest side

After leaving the church, Chris and I decided to visit Parque Güell, a 37-acre park. Gaudí was given the job of turning it into a city garden around 1900. He worked at the site for 14 years until work was stopped. It became a public park in 1923 and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. We walked around the park, starting at the top where we saw some amazing views of Barcelona. We made our way down the trails and eventually arrived at the part where several benches designed in Gaudi's style decorate the landscape.

Parque Güell

Parque Güell

Parque Güell

We spent the rest of our time in Barcelona shopping for soccer jerseys, having lunch, going back to the market to buy some snacks and then taking the metro to the train station to catch our direct train to Madrid.

Chris eyeing the sweets before buying a bag of them

Our train left Barcelona at 5:25 p.m., and it was by far the most luxurious train we have taken all month. Our EuRail pass is first class, so we were in the first class cabin on this trip. They served us drinks three times and two snacks. There was plenty of leg room, and they even showed a movie. It was the first direct train we have taken all month, and it was also the fastest train. At one point we were traveling at 188 mph as we headed west across the Iberian Peninsula. We arrived in Madrid around 7:45 p.m.

After we arrived in Madrid, we took the metro and then walked the rest of the way to our hotel. We booked a room about two weeks ago under my name and used my credit card. Once we arrived, however, the receptionist could not find my name on the list of guests, and she could not find it in her computer either.

I pulled out my smartphone to show her the two email confirmations I had received, but she still couldn't find our reservation. She asked me to forward her the email confirmations, so I did. Ten minutes later, she still had not received my two emails, and she still could not find my reservation.  Another 10 minutes passed, and she asked me to go upstairs to print the confirmation I had received via email. It took another 10 minutes to do that, and when I returned she still had not found our reservation.

I pulled up my credit card transactions and showed her that I had already been billed for the room. We have been using different websites to book our hostels, but the receptionist was not familiar with the one we had used for this reservation (apparently a site out of Istanbul, Turkey). The receptionist began making some phone calls as the one hour mark approached. We were both getting a little worried and frustrated. I just happened to look down at the paper copy of reservations that the receptionist had printed and saw a familiar name on top: Christopher Ray!

The reservation somehow was under his name even though I booked it and we used my credit card. An hour had been wasted because the receptionist was looking for the wrong name since we only gave her my name, but we were all relieved that everything worked out in the end.

We had a late dinner at a sandwich place that serves more than 100 types of sandwiches on small buns. We also did a short night walking tour of Madrid around the Gran Via area where we are staying.

La Cibeles Fountain. The fountain is named after the Roman godsess of nature and is one of Madrid's most important symbols. It shows goddess sitting on her chariot that is being pulled by two lions. The lions represent the power of the Spanish monarchy. 

 The Palacio de Comunicaci​ones. It used to be the home of the Post Office. Today, it serves as Madrid's City Hall. 

Tomorrow, we have all day to explore Madrid. We are taking a night train from Madrid to Lisbon ... our last train ride of the trip! 

Hasta mañana,

Justin

A day at the beach, an evening in Barcelona

We spent most of the afternoon at Sitges, a beach town located about 40 minutes from Barcelona via rail.

Today was our first full day in Barcelona, and we had a great time visiting the beach, walking along The Ramblas, visiting a market, shopping for souvenirs and visiting the Sagrada Familia church at night.

We only have two full days in this gem of a city, so we started the day early by making a day trip to Sitges, a small beach town located along the Mediterranean Sea about 40 minutes from Barcelona via train. 

Sitges was the first beach I visited in Spain when I traveled here as a student, and it is still my favorite beach in Spain. The water is warm, the sand is just like the beaches in Florida and the surrounding scenery is stunning, as a myriad of small and narrow streets in Sitges all lead to the beach. Today was an ideal beach day: clear skies, sunny, warm but not hot temperatures and a breeze. We could not have asked for a better day to swim, soak up the sun and enjoy the beach. Here are a couple of pictures from Sitges.

Sitges

Sitges

Sitges

We spent about three or four hours at the beach and then went into town to find some lunch. We went to La Oca for some rotisserie chicken. Sra. Bailey took us to this same restaurant when we visited Sitges on our high school trip, and I still think they serve some of the best rotisserie chicken I have ever eaten. Here is how they prepare it.

Lunch at La Oca in Sitges

After lunch, we caught the train back to Barcelona. We returned to the hostel first to shower and afterward decided to explore Las Ramblas. La Rambla is Barcelona's most famous street. It is lined with restaurants, cafes, stores and more, and it is always filled with pedestrians. It was crowded tonight as Chris and walked. 

Las Ramblas

While walking along Las Ramblas, here are a few of the sights we observed: 

• Several men sitting on a bench just watching passers-by. 
• Several men selling these little devices that are about 1 inch long and shaped like a tube. You put them in your month and use them as whistles. They make the most annoying sound in the 
• People dressed up as wizards, dragons, princesses, skeletons, etc. -- complete with make up, face paint, glitter and costumes. They find a spot on the Ramblas and stand as still and as quiet as one of the Queen's guards ... until someone drops a coin in the collection box they have sitting in front of them. Afterward, they do something. The dragon, for example, makes a quick move and flaps his wings toward the person who deposited the coin, often catching the person off guard and causing him to jump, scream or scurry off.

We visited the Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria, a famous public market in Barcelona that is located on the Ramblas. The vendors sale fruit, meat, seafood, candy, flowers and more, and it was very busy as people were walking through and snapping pictures. I'll post some pictures below so you can see just how colorful of a place this is. I visited this market when I was here in 1997, and my friends and I at the time couldn't believe that vendors were selling fruit, meat and seafood out in the open. We had only seen grocery stores before, never a public market. This time, however, I couldn't wait to go back and walk through the maze of a market to see all the sights!

Ham for sale at the Mercat de Sant Josep

Fruits and nuts for sale at the Mercat de Sant Josep

Candy for sale at the Mercat de Sant Josep

Fish 

for sale at the Mercat de Sant Josep

We continued walking down Las Ramblas all the way to the port, where there is a famous statue of Christopher Columbus. Columbus returned to Barcelona after his first voyage to the Caribbean. 

Columbus statue at Barcelona's busy port

A lion near the Columbus statue. The lion is a symbol of the monarchy's power.

We returned to La Fianna for dinner again tonight. We both ordered more tapas ... but could not finish all of the small plates of food. We have eaten quite well in Barcelona.

After dinner, we decided to hop on the metro to travel to La Sagrada Familia to see it at night. We have tickets to see the church and go to the top of its towers tomorrow, but we thought it would be cool to see it at night ... and it was. Work has been underway on and off for more than 100 years on this awe-inspiring church. It's expected to be finished sometime this century, perhaps by 2050. I'll write more about the church tomorrow once we visit it.

Here is one picture of what we saw tonight.

La Sagrada Familia at night

 

Tomorrow, we will tour the church, visit a famous park in Barcelona and spend some more time along Las Ramblas. We take a train to Madrid around 5:30 p.m. and will spend one night and one day there before departing for Lisbon Thursday night.

Thanks for reading!

Justin

The Amazing Race in Spain ... the Chris and Justin version

Casa Milà (also known as La Pedrera) ... Antoni Gaudí designed this edifice in the early 1900s ... I don't think there is a straight line anywhere in the design of this Barcelona landmark.

We made it to Barcelona, Spain, and it feels so good to be back on the Iberian Peninsula! I fell in love with the Spanish language when I traveled to this city for the first time in 1997 when my Spanish teacher Angie Bailey brought a group of us here for almost two weeks. Little did I know at the time that it would set the stage for my career and much more. And I owe it all to Angie Bailey!

Chris and I made it here around 5 p.m. after another adventurous travel day -- a day that reminded us both of an episode of "The Amazing Race" following a power walk from one end of a city to the other with our heavy packs, small backpacks and a map in order to catch a train. I was half expecting to see Phil Keoghan at the end waiting for us ... but more on that in a minute.

The first part of the journey was rather uneventful. We left Marseille, France, a little after 8 a.m., and took a train to Montpellier, France. Once there, we had to transfer trains so that we could travel from Montpellier to Figueres, Spain (the birthplace of Dali)! Figueres is located in northeast Spain near the French border. Our train to Figueres, however, was 50 minutes late, which turned out to be a problem.

By the time we arrived in Figueres, it was too late to make a reservation for the train that was about to leave for Barcelona. So, we walked down to the ticket counter to make reservations for the next train, as well as reservations for our upcoming trips from Barcelona to Madrid and from Madrid to Lisbon, Portugal. We got in line at the perfect time, as there were only two people in front of us. Within five minutes, however, the line had grown to more than 20 people, and there were only two employees working at the ticket counter.

We discovered that the next train to Barcelona wasn't leaving for almost three hours, and it is a two-hour trip from Figueres to Barcelona. There is another train station on the other side of Figueres, and a train to Barcelona was leaving from there in 50 minutes. There was a bus from our train station to the other, but it had just left and the next one wouldn't be there for another two hours.

"How long would it take us to walk," I asked. "Quince minutos," or 15 minutes, the employee said. She then told us where to get a map and we decided to walk.

Perfect ... or so we thought ...

Before leaving, however, we booked tickets from Barcelona to Madrid on Wednesday and then from Madrid to Lisbon for Thursday night in a sleeper car, as it is a night train. There is only one train each night from Madrid to Lisbon, and we were worried about not being able to get on board. There were only three beds left on the train, and we booked two of them. We both let out a sigh of relief as we left the ticket counter and made our way to the little tourist booth to find a map so we could walk the 15 minutes from station A to station B.

Chris watched our bags while I went to speak to the employee to get directions. She pulled out the map and showed us where we were and where we needed to go -- literally from one side of the town to the other. "About 15 minutes walking, right?" I asked in Spanish. 

"No no ... 40 minutos."

Oh, yeah, and she gave us one last piece of advice: "Be careful in this part of town not to go on the other side of the street. It is not the best part of Figueres."

It was 2:10 p.m. and the train to Barcelona was leaving at 2:59 p.m. If we missed that one, we would have to wait another hour.

We both strapped on our packs, determined to make this train. Map in hand, we took off on foot to cross the city. It felt like we were on an "Amazing Race" episode. These crazy moments of backpacking make traveling so adventurous. 

We kept a close eye on our watches and realized that we were making really good time. It was hot and we were sweating from the fast pace, but we made it to the station with about 12 minutes to spare -- enough time to buy a Fanta and cool down before boarding the last train of the day. And the so called bad part of town we crossed was not dangerous at all. In fact, besides a cat, we didn't see anyone.

Two hours later, we were walking through the streets of Barcelona searching for our hostel. It took a few minutes to get our sense of direction, but we soon arrived at the hostel to check in. We had to wait about 45 minutes, however, as the employees were busy.

Besides a couple of snacks this morning, we had not eaten all day and were ready for dinner. We had planned to explore Barcelona on foot for about an hour or two and then have dinner, but we decided to have dinner first and explore a little afterward.

We went to La Fianna, a restaurant Srta. Bills and I visited two summers ago when we were in Barcelona. Friend and colleague Gregory Fryzel recommended the restaurant to us two summers ago, and it was so good that we ate there two nights in a row in 2011. Chris and I ordered six tapas tonight: a quesadilla, nachos, patatas bravas, croquetas, pita bread and hummus and a chicken curry. We ate almost all of it ... and decided that we are returning to La Fianna tomorrow night. Here are a few pictures from dinner.

From left, front: patatas bravas, croquetas and hummus dip. Back: quesadilla and chicken curry with rice.

Chris is ready to eat!

Dinner at La Fianna. Friend Gregory Fryzel recommended this restaurant, and we liked it so much that we are going back tomorrow.

On the way back to the hostel, we stopped at Häagen-Dazs for tres boles ... three scoops of ice cream. It is the same Häagen-Dazs that my friends and I visited every night when we traveled to Spain in 1997 with Sra. Bailey. In fact, Chris and I are staying in the same neighborhood where my classmates and I stayed in 1997. It is very nostalgic for me.

Tomorrow, we are off to Sitges to spend a few hours at the beach. Afterward, we will return to Barcelona to explore the Ramblas.

Did I mention how nice it is to be back in Barcelona?

¡Hasta mañana!

Justin