Fortresses, Gaudi, X-rays Oh My!

Sunday night: And so I believe Tori left off right before we went out to explore the Madrid night life with our new friends. Our 3 companions are all traveling solo. It was also their last night in Madrid. We went and ate tapas and had sangria. We explored, got lost, and even found ourselves in a "eurotrash" club! The night went on pretty late and that sure made our early train to Toledo the next morning hard to catch. But hey! It was awesome and so were our new friends.










Monday: Toledo was hot! It was a bit overwhelming at times. I really enjoyed the landscape and architecture: a city built on a hill surrounded by water on 3 sides. The colors of the buildings fit the desert landscape. The high speed train took us only 30 minutes to get there from the Madrid station.

Tuesday: Off to Barcelona on another high speed train! Yet another metro system to figure out. It took us a few minutes to figure out which stop to go to but the system was basically the same as Madrid and Paris. Tori and I were craving a cheap but good meal so we hit up a grocery store to make sandwhiches. It may have been the sandwhich meat, I'm not sure. But oh man did Tori's stomach decide to take her for a rollercoaster ride. She was in pretty bad shape for the rest of the night so we took it easy.


Wednesday: A day to explore! Poor Tori was still feeling pretty terrible but she's a trooper and we went out. We visited the church of Sagrada Familia. Truly amazing. I can't wait to come back and see it when it is finally complete after centuries of construction.We used my friend Adeline's amazing tour instructions to direct us on a great walking tour of the city. We visited the house of the Sagrada Familia's former architect, Antoni Gaudi, who envisioned and constructed "fantasy" like buildings. Tori and I felt he was 150 years before his time in the sense of modernism in architecture.

The heat of the day wore on us and we decided to go back to the hostel and relax for a bit. By evening, Tori and I decided it was time to visit the local hospital. Luckily it was within walking distance. Tori checked in and disappeared for a long time. I was getting worried when I looked up and saw her being pushed across the hall in a wheel chair to the other room...? Finally, after a blood test, some x-rays, and a constant struggle with the language barrier (especially with medical lingo) I was able to go see her. The doctor told her it was mostly likely gastrointestinal... and gave her a prescription. They let us leave the hosptial without a co-pay or without getting any insurance information!? I´m still confused about that one. Oh and the medicine at the pharmacy cost only 1 euro!

Thursday: Tori feels better! Her sense of regained strength was also the fuel of her passion to get me moving out the door and into the city. I was happy to see that. We had a busy and amazingly productive day. We visited the market, the ocean front, the museum of Pablo Picasso, the market again (for my vegetarian burrito), Hard Rock Barcelona (for some nachos), the castle ontop of Montjuic, and saw an amazing fountain show near Barcelona's Olympic village. The view from the top of the castle (Castell de Montjuic) overlooked the entire city and the Mediterranian; it was incredible.

Tomorrow (Friday) we will be flying to Venice! Our time in Espana was unforgetable. It was a great introduction for the both of us, and I definitely know I will have to come back. But onward to Italy we go! I´m pretty excited for the Italian food, but not nearly as excited as Tori.

Hasta Luego Amigos,

- M