Vacation: Spain, France and Andorra!

Man, I feel so guilty for not updating this blog more often! I swear I will get into some sort of routine as soon as my life calms down a little...assuming that it ever does! I feel like I'm always running around, merely getting through the weeks, so there also isn't a whole lot to blog about that's new. Traffic still sucks. Work hours are still long. Etcetera. BUT I did spend all of last week out of the country, so now I definitely have something exciting to talk about. And this weekend is St. Patrick's Day, one of my very favourite holidays, and I have big plans in the works so there will be an update about that forthcoming as well!

I never did get around to posting that entry about the elections here. Cliffnotes version is as follows: Last week (March 4) was the election to determine Kenya's fourth president. The last elections, held in 2007, were rife with corruption and tribal disagreements, which lead to widespread ethnic violence for months after the winner was declared. Over 1,000 people were killed, and hundreds of thousands were internally displaced. It was awful, and I distinctly remember my heart breaking as I watched violence wash over a country I had fallen so deeply in love with just two years earlier on Semester at Sea.

Kenya has come a long way since then, but many of the wounds have only started to heal, and the root causes of that violence (tribalism, corruption, etc) are still very much alive and kicking in Kenya today. Suffice it to say, many (Kenyans and expats) were nervous about how this election would turn out. Fanning the flames of concern was the fact that one of the two front runners in this election, Uhuru Kenyatta  is currently under investigation by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity...based on his alleged role in inciting violence after the last elections. Oh, and his VP is also being charged. A little disquieting. Although there were six people in the race, Kenyatta's only real competition was Raila Odinga. Interestingly, Kenyatta's father was the first president of the country, and Odinga's father was the first vice president. The world of Kenyan politics is quite small. Anyway, there were (frankly, I think founded) concerns.

D and I (and her parents) discussed the political climate and potential for things to go bad, and came to the consensus that it would probably be best and safest if we were not in the country during the elections. Better safe than sorry. After some deliberation and discussion, we decided to (why the hell not) spend the week in Barcelona. Honestly, it was D and her dad's choice, and I am not entirely sure how we ended up landing on Barcelona, but it was decided that we would fly up from Kenya, and her dad would fly out from the US.

After spending some time on Saturday relaxing and packing, we watched Life of Pi and hit the sheets. My alarm going off at 4:30am the next morning was TOO EARLY. We loaded our stuff into Jackson's car and headed off to the airport. We flew Kenya Airways/KLM for the 7 hour flight up to Amsterdam, and thanks to a delay on the way, we had to book it through Schipol Airport in order to make our second flight. I am pleased to report that on the second leg (only two hours) I no longer had a child I wanted to murder behind me, kicking my seat every few moments. Seriously, I wanted to do him bodily harm.

We landed in Barcelona (lovely airport, by the way) and met D's dad, who had landed about 3 hours before us) near baggage claim. We hailed a taxi, and headed in to town, to an apartment we had rented through AirBNB. This was my first time using AirBNB and it was GREAT! Our flat was wonderfully located, very comfortable, and just generally better than a hotel would have been. We waited for a few minutes for the owner to come by and drop off the keys, and then settled in for the night.

Our street in Poble Sec.

When I plan trips, I rarely use tour companies, unless it is for a special thing I don't think I can organize on my own. This trip we did quite a few tours, which really made the planning super easy! We booked all of the trips through Viator, which D's parents have used a lot in the past, and I was quite happy with the quality of all of them.

On Monday, we went on the Three Countries in One Day trip, which was administered by Explore Catalunya (a company we had multiple great experiences with). This was probably my favourite tour. All Explore Catalunya's tours are small group, so it is basically a van and a driver that you are with all day, not a bus with a million people. We had a mother and daughter from California, two friends from Colorado, and the three of us, with our absolutely fantastic tour guide, Fabian. Since carsickness has become a very real concern for me as I have gotten older, I opted to sit up front with Fabian, and we just had a series of really interesting, fun conversations. He was raised in multiple countries, and speaks like 8 languages (SO JEALOUS) and was incredibly knowledgeable about what we were seeing and doing, in addition to just having a really good rapport with the people on the tour. Really great guide.

We started our morning by driving out of Barcelona EXACTLY on time (I love a prompt departure!). It took about an hour and a half to get to our first destination, and even though it was cloudy, it was absolutely beautiful. As you head towards France and Andorra, you are basically driving right into the Pyrenees Mountains.

Good morning, mountains!

Lovely views.

Our first stop, after about an hour and a half of driving, was in the little Spanish town of Baga. Baga is a pretty little medieval town with narrow, winding churches, old squares, and churches. It also has a coffee shop with a restroom, which was a welcome sight, haha. It was also just fascinating because it is yet another victim of urbanization in Spain...veritable ghost towns are scattered all over the countryside. As Fabian explained, first, the population doesn't support a school, so that closes. Then the hospitals and police stations. Then, everyone leaves. Something like three-quarters of the homes in Baga are uninhabited. It's crazy!

Church in Baga.

Buildings along the central square. The flag you see is the Catalunya Independence Flag.

Border street of Baga.

Overlooking the Cadi mountains.

These would be steps of death in the snow.

Shortly after, we headed off to France. Borders between countries in the EU are basically nonexistant. Heading into France, for example, there was a sign that said "France, 1 km"...but never a sign that actually said we entered France. So random. We arrived in Mont-Louis, France, about an hour and a half after leaving Baga. Now might be a good time to talk about what the Catalonia/Catalunya area is. Catalunya is an area spanning parts of France, Spain, and Andorra, which has a rich history, used to be independent, and wants to be independent again. Catalunya and the Basque Country are two areas in the center of the Iberian Penninsula who have their own languages (Catalan and Basque, respectively) and distinct cultural traditions. Catalunya is one of the richest counties in Spain, so there is no way that they are letting them gain independence, but this is a legitimate thing (not like Nami Island in Korea, for example). They could exist as their own country (financially and culturally). It is kind of fascinating, and probably one of the reasons I really liked the area. For 40 years they were oppressed under the Franco Regime, with harsh punishments for speaking Catalan, forced intermarriage with other ethnic groups, etc but they managed to keep their language and culture alive and thriving, and I think that is pretty damn bad-ass. (This also led to a very interesting conversation with Fabian about America's treatment of the native populations in our country, and how very good we are at destroying cultures we want to subjugate.)

Anyway, Mont-Louis is a fortified city in the French part of Catalunya. It is quite high up in the mountains, so there was a lot of snow on the ground (keep in mind less than 36 hours earlier we were in 80 degree Nairobi!) and it was really beautiful. After walking around for a bit and checking out the fort, we sat down for a fabulous breakfast of pan au chocolat (seriously, I ate chocolate croissants every chance I had and they were ALL AMAZING) and coffee/tea. 

Heading for the mountains!

Now with snow!

I've been missing winter and this was lovely.

Entering Mont-Louis. Flags are the EU, France, and Catalunya.

Such a pretty little town!

Pretty views.

Road were a teensy bit treacherous with ice and snow, but I didn't die. So that's a win.

Looking back at the town through the wall's entrance.

Next we had to briefly drive back through Spain on our way to Andorra, the sixteenth smallest country in the world, and the sixth smallest in Europe. 

I think mountains are pretty. Could you tell?

I have seen US state borders with more fanfare than European country borders.

Cute little towns along the road to Andorra.

Andorra, frankly, is a quirky ass little place. First, the capital (and, frankly, only) city, Andorra la Vella is nestled smack dab in a little valley, surrounded by mountains on all sides. The city itself is like a giant outlet mall, with stores from all sorts of major brands from around the world. It is just so random. In winter they do big business with ski resorts, as well. Andorra is ruled by "co-princes" (think it sounds fake? just wait) and both titles are non-hereditary. One prince is the Bishop of Urgell, a town just outside of Andorra. The other prince is the President of France. Yes, if you are elected as president in France, you also get to be prince. It gets more bizarre. The princes are not princes at the same time...their power switches off every six months. WHAT KIND OF SYSTEM IS THAT? What a crazy, fun, little country. While in Andorra we did a little shopping, walked around, visited an old church (running theme on any trip to Europe, I think), and ate a fantastic meal where we accidentally ordered (and finished) two BOTTLES of wine instead of glasses.

Ski resorts seen while driving into Andorra (which had a legitimate border as it is not part of the EU).

Streets of Andorra la Vella.

Such a strange juxtaposition of consumerism and nature.

D and I.

How many menus does it take to order one lunch? Apparently one in English, one in Spanish, one in Catalan, and one in Russian  (on the back).

After lunch it was time to head back to Barcelona. We stopped along the way to visit a little town and get drinks, and arrived back in Barcelona around 7:30pm. It was a fantastic day.

The road home to Barcelona.

 Tuesday we had a two hour morning walking tour of the Gothic Quarter scheduled, and were disappointed wen we awoke to find rain. But we headed out anyway, and thanks to the conveniently located Metro, got to our meeting point early enough to go have a croissant and coffee. I learned something very important on what turned out to be a nearly three hour walking tour: I don't really care for Gothic architecture. There, I said it. Anyway, we got to see some pretty cool places in the city, so I really can't complain.

Flags of Catalunya, Spain, and Barcelona.

City Hall. 

Old Roman columns that are now inside of a building.

A rainy stroll through Barcelona's back streets.

Inside Barcelona Cathedral.

People from powerful guilds, such as the tailors' or shoemakers' guilds, were buried in the church with symbols depicting which group they belonged to.

The church is dedicated to St. Eulalia, who was apparently martyred at age 13. In her memory, 13 white geese are kept inside the church's courtyard. I appreciate his little fauxhawk.

Surprise! A church. Gothic style is very...pointy.

The old palace of the king.

Inside the chapel. Very pretty.

I have an ABSURD number of pictures of Spanish streets.

After the walking tour and getting some lunch, D wasn't feeling well, so she and her dad went back to the apartment and I bought a hop-on-hop-off ticket for the Bus Turistic so that I could go explore La Sagrada Familia. Now, as you may have sensed from my above references to the Gothic style, I'm not exactly an architecture person. As Johnna said, "I know I like some buildings and don't like others...but I don't really feel the need to know why." Truth. BUT, everyone and their mom said Sagrada Familia was an absolute MUST SEE. So I figured I'd go. Here is the second thing I learned on Tuesday: I kind of love modernist architecture, and perhaps even more specifically, the work of Antoni Gaudi. I should have taken THAT walking tour. Everything on the modernist side of town looks like it leaped from pages of a Dr. Seuss book. It's all rounded corners and interesting shapes. I love it!

Sagrada Familia, however, is in a world of its own. I got there, really just planning to look at the outside. Everyone kept talking about how long the lines are. I arrived and walked around outside for a bit, and it was pretty...in a gaudy, overwhelming, something-to-look-at-on-every-square-inch kind of way. Thankfully, I happened to check out the line and there was (for some unknown reason) barely anyone in it. So I paid my 18 Euros and went in.

Never, ever in my life, have I have literally had my breath knocked out of me by a building. As I stepped into the interior of Sagrada Familia, all my breath left me in the form of a single exhaled expletive. It is...stunning. Truly. It's other-wordly. As my friend Jess said "Once I accidentally spent 4 hours in there. Time just...stops." It really does. The inside of that church is honestly like nothing else I've ever seen in the world. The whole thing belongs in the Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore. Gaudi lived and breathed Sagrada Familia, beginning work on it in 1883, devoting much of his life to it until his death in 1926. And it still isn't done. Wikipedia says that construction "passed the mid-point" in 2010. It is a massive, breath-taking testament to one man's vision, and if you're in Barcelona and don't go inside you're really missing out.

The modernist side of Barcelona, on my way to Sagrada Familia.

Seriously, how fun is this?

La Sagrada Familia.

The side depicting the passion is all angles and hard lines.

I think these sculptures are a super fun style.

Gorgeous front door to the cathedral.

Abstract stained glass all over the place!

Looking up.

Tell me this place couldn't be a setting for Dr. Seuss book.

It is just incredible.

And MASSIVE.

Man, even just looking at the pictures astounds me.

And the pictures don't even begin to do it justice.

Gaudi was heavily influenced by nature, and you can see it in his colour and shape choices. 

So very beautiful.

This is the other side, depicting the birth of Jesus.

It is much more flowery and flowy.

After I walked around Sagrada Familia for a while, I was all hopped up on Gaudi so I went to Parc Guell, an architectural garden complex designed by Gaudi for his patron, Guell. Sadly, the weather had steadily gotten worse, so I missed the vistas that this park is known for, but it was still really cool. If you take the Bus Turistic, just be prepared to walk uphill for about 15 minutes from the closest stop.

Entrance to Parc Guell.

Fun buildings! 

I think I also loved it because I am all about mosaics and there were a ton here.

Loopy roof.

After Parc Guell, I had the bright idea to just walk to the nearest metro station...it took FOREVER and I was totally 100% exhausted by the time I got home. D, her dad, and I went out for dinner (ate some rocking paella and had SUPERB sangria to wash it down) and hit the sheets. I will take a moment to point out that our apartment, which stepped forth from the pages of an Ikea catalogue, had the MOST COMFORTABLE BED EVER. I miss it nightly since my return.

Wednesday morning we headed back out with Explore Catalunya on the Traditional Food and Wine Tour. We basically spent all day going from restaurant, to restaurant, to winery. It POURED for much of the morning, but luckily you don't need sunshine to enjoy a variety of delicious foods in charming little restaurants in the Spanish countryside. Unfortunately my camera died at the first restaurant...while taking a (perhaps) excessive number of pictures of a potbelly pig named Pavarotti. He was so endearing! He greeted us at the car like a dog, and then led us into the restaurant. When the owner spotted him she said "Pavarotti! Out!" and pointed out the door and he proceeded to look at the rain and then back at her like she was crazy. She ended up having to physically pull him out the door. He didn't like getting wet; could you blame him? At the first restaurant we had a cheese plate and wine...for breakfast. Then we drove up through the mountains, and stopped at Montserrat for a bit to view the "Black Virgin" in the monastery there, and gaze at the cloud impeded view. Then we popped into a tiny little Roman church before continuing back down the other side of the mountain to a restaurant amid olive groves where we had a fantastic lunch. We shared a bunch of appetizers, and I got a tajine (miss the crew from Morocco!) followed by a local dessert of a soft cheese covered in phenomenal fresh honey. It was so good. Afterwards, we went to a winery and did a short tour (as the sun finally started to show its face!) and and had a tasting of some good local wine and cava. It was a full day, but a lot of fun. This time we had a guide named Enrique who was also wonderful, and we only had to share the van with one other pair: a mother and daughter from Florida. Thankfully Carrie, the daughter, took a bunch of photos and sent them along to me so they are included below.

Pretty pastoral views from our first restaurant, which was in an old farm house.

Enrique giving us the cheesy rundown.

D, her dad, me, Carrie, and Kolleen.

Discussions about Spanish history and food.

The three of us at the winery where we spent part of the afternoon.

Wednesday night I was still stuffed from a day of eating and drinking, and I knew I had to leave eaaaarly in the morning for the airport, so I passed on dinner and went to bed early. Unfortunately D and her dad had to leave on Thursday during the day to fly back to the states and attend to a medical emergency, so we said our goodbyes on Wednesday night.

I was really looking forward to Thursday because I had arranged to go out and visit my friend Johnna, who now lives on the island of Mallorca/Majorca. Johnna is one of only two people that I went to school with from kindergarten all the way through twelfth grade. Here is an awkward picture of us after we performed in a play in second grade, haha.

Erik (he got a cactus because he was a boy...and looks pretty psyched abut it), Stephanie, Johnna, Christina and I.

Anyway, Johnna now lives in Mallorca where she is finishing up her PhD on plankton communities (stop thinking about Spongebob, this is serious stuff) and the effects that climate change have on them. She can make it sound infinitely more interesting than I can, I promise you that. Anyway, I was really excited about getting to see her and spend the day with her, even if it was just a quick day trip.

Ryan Air flies out of Barcelona to Mallorca, so I booked a cheap flight that only took about a half an hour and put me on the ground in Palma de Mallorca around 9:20am. Johnna met me at the airport and we headed off on a bus to downtown Palma where we ate breakfast at an adorable cafe, and then walked around downtown, enjoying the GORGEOUS weather, before heading back to Johnna's apartment and preparing to pick up her friend's car.

Streets of Palma de Mallorca.

Totally awesome city hall.

Love the old buildings.

Another church! But this one is really cool.

And MASSIVE. 

This church has a group of cloistered nuns that bake cookies. Sadly they did not answer the bell when we rang.

Pretty coloured buildings downtown along the Plaza Espanya.

La Rambla. Many Spanish towns apparently have a street call La Rambla, where the river used to flow before being diverted.

After we picked up Johnna's friend's car, we headed out to explore more of the countryside of Mallorca. It is really beautiful. We started by stopping at a demon themed restaurant (apparently that is a thing in Mallorca) where we had some delicious rice soup (the name could not do a worse job of conveying deliciousness) and talked for a long time. Then we headed out to Valldemossa, a picturesque little village in the countryside, on the side of a mountain. We walked around a bit, through winding, cobblestone streets, before heading to the beach. The road to the beach was an absurd, 1.5 lane road, that had more switchbacks and curves than any road I've ever been on. Thankfully we didn't run into any other cars!

Lovely Valldemossa.

I have an addiction to photos of Spanish streets, ok?!

So pretty.

Close up by one of the doors. Santa Catalina Thomas is the patroness of Valldemossa, as she was born there (you can visit her house in a row of homes on a residential street!).

Quaint little town

I miss the ocean dearly.

You can't see it in this picture, but the water right by the shore holds the sea grass that Jason, Johnna's partner and a good friend of mine from high school, is studying for HIS PhD.

Love!

On the way back to town we stopped to take in the sunset. It was prettier than it looks here. Trust me.

Also windier.

Throughout the day we had discussed what a bummer it was that D and her dad had to leave before our scheduled hot air balloon ride on Friday morning. Because it was too late to cancel, I was still going to go, and the other two tickets were just going to go to waste. After thinking about it for a bit, Johnna decided to fly back to Barcelona with me and hang out until I left on Saturday. Since I wasn't like super thrilled with the idea of being all alone, this was the perfect solution. Plus, it gave us more time together. Her flight left about an hour before mine, and we met in the Barcelona airport and headed back to the apartment.

All week I had been worried about the weather on Friday, especially since we'd had two days of pretty awful rain and gross weather. Thursday I called ahead and they said our flight was a go, and that we should meet at 7:00am the next moring. Friday dawned absolutely beautiful, with bright blue skies and sun, so Johnna and I eagerly went to our meeting place downtown and boarded a van with a crazy driver and a couple from France. We drove about an hour outside the city, where we met up with a group of about 11 people from maybe Russia? and then headed out to the field/park where the balloons take off.

Watching them put together the balloons was super interesting. I oscillated between being really excited and questioning my sanity. Frequently. We helped unroll and start to inflate the balloons, and just as we were getting set up, the winds really picked up. In fact, one of the balloons had people in it, and it was just getting TOSSED around. Finally, they decided that it was just too dangerous and they would have to cancel and refund our money. It sucked. Especially since Johnna had dropped a bunch of money basically to come ballooning. BUT, it was definitely a better safe than sorry situation, so there wasn't really much we could do about it.

This is how the balloons Travel.

They put on the top pieces, and then take it off the trailer.

The balloon itself is all rolled up inside a big bag that weighs a million pounds.

They unroll it an start to lay it out.

They flatten it all out on the ground.

And start to blow it up with cold air, using a fan.

Predictably, it inflates.

Johnna and I were tasked with helping hold the balloon open as it inflated. One of the French tourists took a photo of the two of us...only she didn't actually take it. Sad.

Just to convey the size of these things.

Once it is full....

They hit it with the heaters....

And the balloon starts to rise.

Then the wind picked up.

They were able to right it.

Until the next gale came up.

I love this picture. Look how tiny the guy is inside!

The decision is made that it is too dangerous.

And we watch all that hard work deflate.

These are the power lines we would have been blown into, so we dodged a bullet on that one....

 After the van took us back to town and we ate like the starving people we were, we decided to take advantage of the weather and take a train out to Montserrat. I had been there earlier in the week when the weather was atrocious, but I could tell that it was probably gorgeous on a good day. I was not wrong. We got on the train in Barcelona, but failed to notice that the track is like a Y. Both lines 5 and 6 start in town, but at one point they split, with only like 5 going to Montserrat. Oops.

So after we were about 5 stops past where we needed to switch trains, I noticed the problem. We ended up getting of line 6 and spending a half an hour laying in the sun and talking while we waited for a train going back towards Barcelona. Then we got to the switch point and waited at least another 30 minutes for the line 5 train to come. Never a dull moment. 

Middle of Nowhere, Spain, where we spent part of our afternoon.

We finally made it to the mountain! It is called Montserrat because of its jagged, serrated top. It is a really really really cool mountain. When you get there, you have two choices of ways to make your way up. You can take a cable car, or a train. We decided on the train, and were not disappointed. It scales the steep mountain with beautiful views, and drops you off at the monastery I had visited earlier in the week. Once we got there, we took a funicular (actual thing, Google it) to the very top. It was stunning. You could see all the way to the Mediterranean Sea in one direction, and the Pyrenees Mountains in the other. I am so glad we went back. Since we got there so late, we only had about 20 minutes to walk around (and almost missed the last train to the bottom, which would have SUCKED because you would have to walk down) but it was really beautiful. When we got back down to the mid-point Johnna went in and checked out the church while I did some people watching and general relaxation. It was a really great afternoon.

View from the train heading up the mountain.

Seriously, what a FUN MOUNTAIN!

The monastery.

I think they're really missing out on an advertising opportunity by not saying "We put the 'fun' in 'funicular'." Amiright?

Gorgeous views.

Serrated, indeed.

Johnna and I, and our friend the sun flare.

The light blue in the distance is the Mediterranean.

Looking towards Barcelona.

Johnna looking "like a raggamuffin." <3

Using Montserrat and the Pyrenees as a backdrop.

Heading down the steeeeeeep funicular track.

Really guys? Why does the Montserrat symbol look like it is flipping me off?

See that line going up the middle of the mountain? That's the funicular track.

Awesome day with one of my oldest friends.

Johnna and I made our way back to Barcelona, where we had delicious tapas and cava sangria at a random little restaurant in Poble Sec. Then we went back to the apartment and packed up our stuff. I also threw in a load of laundry, which was one super helpful aspect of staying at an apartment instead of a hotel. My alarm went off at 3:30am, because I had a 6:00am flight, and Johnna had a 7:00am one. We taxied over to the airport, said our goodbyes, and I was off. The flights were uneventful, though I did have the seat next to me free on the long flight so that was AWESOME.

Landed in Nairobi about an hour later due to delays, and I met up with Jackson who drove me back. Thankfully, Kenya peacefully elected a new president while I was gone, and, in fact, the winner was only announced on Saturday, the day I returned. Uhuru Kenyatta is now the president elect of Kenya, and while there are disagreements about whether or not it was fair (and appeals are being filed in the courts) and there are certainly a great deal of obstacles and challenges to having an ICC indictee as president, the most important thing is that Kenyans rose above violence, and exercised their right to vote and choose a new leader. And that is great.

This week at work has been busy as I've been playing catch up for the week that I missed. We have a few deadlines coming up next week, so I am just trying to get all of my ducks in a row for that. The long rains have also started...periods of torrential downpours throughout the day and night. It has rained more (in frequency and volume) today than it did my entire first two months here! Hopefully I can get through the next two months! Ok...off to bed.