Puzzleology

Days 12-14: Cannes and Monaco

We arrived in Nice late in the afternoon on the 14th. July 14th is Bastille Day in France, so we were met with a military parade, starting at the Promenade des Anglais and moving to Plaza Massena. Unfortunately, we missed the fireworks that night, because we discovered that the rooftop viewing party that our hostel was holding was cancelled moments before the fireworks went off.

Thursday we went to Cannes. When not during the film festival, is simply a beach town. I was disappointed by the fact that so many of the beaches were privately owned, and as a result covered with umbrellas. The view from the Croisette was underwhelming, because the beach was full of white umbrellas. There was a small exhibition dedicated to photographs from the film festivals of past, and a hill in the old town where you could look over the harbor, but other than that, I didn’t find Cannes to be very impressive. Perhaps May is a better time to visit.

We went to Monaco on Friday, quickly understanding where we were upon seeing a titanic cruise liner in the distance. Our first stop was the Aquarium, which if you’ve ever been to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, is not worth the 13 euros to enter. The actual aquarium consists of a medium size tank in the center and two wings with about 30 display tanks each. I was able to get snapshots of Marlin and Dori (of Finding Nemo fame).

Perhaps the highlight of Monaco was our visit to the Monte Carlo Casino. Unfortunately no pictures were allowed on the inside, but this is what it looked like on the outside:

It’s very classy inside. No fancy lights in the style of Las Vegas, no loud noises, no waitresses coming around with drinks. (Well, perhaps there would be later in the night, but we didn’t stay that long.) Just two rooms, a slot machine area, and a few private salons.

Oh, and we saw a woman turn 30,000 euros into 80,000 euros on roulette. Talk about the rich getting richer.

Days 9-11: Marseilles

Before Marseilles I spent a day at the Barcelona airport (10 hour layover). I was a bit sad knowing I would miss the second half of the World Cup game, but at least I could enjoy the fans at the airport watch the first half. I was pleasantly surprised when at the half I checked the board and my plane was delayed by an hour, which meant I could watch the second half. As I watched each Spanish goal opportunity pass by, I wished desperately that they would score before regulation ended. Alas, my luck was not present, and I spent extra time sitting on the plane. We were waiting to leave the gate when suddenly, a passenger behind me shouted, “GOL ESPAÑA! GOL ESPAÑA!” and the plane erupted in cheering and applause. Minutes before we took off, the captain announced that Spain was new world champion.

That was my World Cup final experience in Spain.

Now onto Marseilles. Marseilles is a port town, the second largest city in Paris, and home to the famous bouillabaisse dish. Sightseeing-wise, there are few places to see. Notre Dame on the hill affords a panoramic view of the city, Chateau d’If is famous for it’s appearance in Alexander Dumas’s The Count of Monte Cristo, and Palais Longchamp is breathtaking.

Palais Longchamp

The major shopping area along Rue de la Republique is pretty commercialized, but beyond that the city is like a web of older buildings.

Bouillabaisse, according to Wikipedia, is Marseille’s specialty dish that is, put simply, a fish stew. Guidebooks direct you to the Miramar restaurant by the Vieux Port; the bouillabaisse there will cost you 58 euros. We got ours as part of a fixed priced menu for 20 euros…it might have been an “imitation”, but it was certainly an experience. We spread rouille on a toasted slice of bread and dipped it in the soup, then ate the rest of the broth, which contained fish, mussels, and potato. It had quite a salty, and fishy, taste.

Bouillabaisse

Days 6-8: Ibiza

Ibiza. Known for it’s gorgeous white beaches and more so for its summer nightlife, Ibiza does not disappoint.

The nightlife is centered around the two towns of Ibiza Town and San Antonio. I stayed in a small hotel in the latter, which, rumor has it, is the less expensive, more lively area more suitable for English speaking students. I spent part of a day in Ibiza Town, and enjoyed San Antonio a lot more. It had a more familiar feeling. Its roads were small, uncluttered, and more like pedestrian walkways. It took just 15 minutes to walk from one end of the town to another.

Despite my reservations, I found people to be very friendly and easy to talk to. Most tourists are actually English — I met no more than four fellow Americans.

The nightlife is exactly as you read about in Ibiza travel guides. People get dinner at 9pm and then hit the bars, before going to the clubs, staying up all the way until 6am. Something interesting I found was how attuned to the club music everyone was. Coming from the US and not really being into the the club scene, I didn’t really know much about the listed artists, but the Europeans certainly knew who was playing in each club, and what kind of music there would be.

But not everything in Ibiza is about the nightlife. In fact, it is as just as easy to be completely removed from the music and partying as it is to be enraptured by it. Saturday, tired from staying up the nights before and not wanting to oversleep my flight today, I took a slow day, went to the sunset area in San Antonio (which is conveniently on the west side of the island), and watched the sunset. When the sun disappeared, everyone cheered.

Sunset in San Antoni

Day 5: Madrid

Spain won. That is all.

Days 3 & 4: Madrid

I finally decided to go to the tourist information center, something I should have done the first day I arrived. They have a bunch of pamphlets explaining where to go for shopping, tapas, and museums, among other things. They also have short, inexpensive guided tours. For English speakers, they have two tours daily, one at noon that goes west through Old Madrid, and one at 4pm that goes east to towards the Prado. I ended up taking the one through Old Madrid on Tuesday.

Madrid is very much a walking city. Both Monday and Tuesday I spent a good portion of the day just walking through the streets and checking out the different neighborhoods. Finding specific stores can be difficult without a map. With a map, it’s very easy to walk from place to place, and each area can be very different from the next. You could walk one street over and go from a very lively plaza to a very tranquil, quiet terrace.

The Reina Sofia museum has been by far my favorite of the places I’ve gone. After a walk through Gran Via and the Botanical Gardens by the Prado, I spent the rest of Monday in the museum. It’s got a huge collection of Picasso, Miró, and (a smaller one of) Dali. I was more interested in these works than the ones in the Prado. Each gallery in the permanent collection also had a handout that explained the history and theme of the gallery.

A Miró painting. Art?

Incidently, there is currently a photography festival happening in Madrid, and one of the exhibits, photographs about Manhattan in the 1970s, was on display in the Reina Sofia. There were two other exhibits inside the Botanical Gardens that I checked out.

Tuesday night I went to Casa Patas for a flamenco show. This place was recommended as the best place to go to see flamenco by two different sources, and was conveniently located a block away from my hostel. It was more pricey than the show advertised by the tourist information office but very entertaining. One woman behind me was particularly enthusiastic for shouting “Olé!” often and arhythmically, and such enthusiasm was welcome.

Only a day left in Madrid, which happens to be Spain’s semifinal match. Sorry Germany, gotta root for Spain here!

Days 1 & 2: Madrid

Finally reached Madrid. First order of business was to find a SIM card. Of course, the only place at the airport that sold SIM cards (outside security) was sold out, so I had to wait until I reached the hotel to find card.

Madrid’s metro, despite running at 50% due to the strike, is still very nice: it’s clean and fairly frequent.

My first step into the city of Madrid was unfortunately met with rain. Luckily, after checking in, the weather cleared up, and it’s been terrifically nice for the last two days. No signs of rain again.

Day 1 began with a frantic mission to obtain a SIM card, and then a leisurely stroll via Calle Serrano (the 5th Ave of Madrid) to the Parque del Buen Retiro, which is gorgeous. There was one point, walking through, when I felt that I was having the quintessential park experience: tree-covered paths to explore on the right, a pond with families in rowboats on the left, and artists down the esplanade, set to the cool rhythms of a jazz saxophone.

Saturday also happened to be the Paraguay-Spain game, so I went to the city center, Sol, to find a place to sit and watch the game. In fact, there was a crowd watching on the display TV of a department store; it was a pretty entertaining sight

A crowd outside a department store, intently viewing the Paraguay-Spain World Cup match.

Unfortunately for these fans, the store closes at 9. I captured a video of the screen going black, and everyone yelling in dismay, before they all move to the sports arcade next door. I wish I had a video of people’s reactions to Spain scoring though. Maybe I’ll get a second chance on Wednesday.

Day 2 involved a move to a hostel, and some more touristy things. I took a tour of the Palacio Real, ate in Plaza Mayor, and explored the Prado Museum. Protip: the Prado is free from 5-8pm on Sundays, and 6-8pm Tuesday-Saturday. It’s nothing like the Louvre, but holds a gigantic Goya collection and an impressive Velásquez collection, if you’re a fan of those two painters.

It’s crazy how fast these two days in Madrid have gone by — I feel like I won’t be able to see everything I want to see, as jet lag and getting used to travelling solo have slowed down my adventuring. Only 3 days left here; time to make the most of it.

Edit: A few notes about Madrid

* I seriously seemed to be the only Asian in Madrid until a large Japanese tour group stumbled into the restaurant I was eating at for dinner yesterday.

* It is far easier to get around if you know Spanish. I wish I remembered more from high school.