Barcelona a Madrid

I fell in love with Barcelona! I will definitley schedule a few days there before heading home. I went out for tapas and flamenco with some friends from the Hostal :Marrianne, Jenn, and Magda from Sweden, Marco from Finland, and Rohini who has a radio show in Bombay. They served us pitcher after pitcher of Sangria, which may explain some of the singing and swaying that is going on in some of the pictures later that night. The flamenco show was super sultry and passionate. The singers voice was phenominal, and the one female dancer commanded the stage. Very strong and sexy!

The next day I ventured up to the Montjuïc area, where I toured the Fundació Miró and the NMAC (Nacional Museu de Art de Catalunya). I got lots of postcards of Miró art work for the mini art unit I do with my students on Joan Miró, then walked through some botanical gardens on my way to the MNAC where I took an obnoxious amount of pictures (which I posted on flickr). For some reason I really liked asll the little demons in the Gothic art- very reminiscent of Where the Wild Things Are- so i took a lot of photos of things like that and other details that caught my eye. (Brian, you would have loved some of the tile works and mosaics there.) The picture of the tantdum bicycle was my favorite.

Over all, Barcelona was clean, easy to navigate, hot, and uncongested. The longer I was there, the more I wanted to see and do. I dont think I had to wait in a line once, and while i was at the NMAC, I was often the only person in the room.
I took the train through the Pyrennes and countryside to Madrid.The train was smooth, fast, and airconditioned. For train travel, i suggest buying your Euro rail pass in the states, and making your reservactions once you get here... its about half the money, but you have to wait in line for a while. Since i am traveling alone, I have had no problems getting reservations for trains or Hostles.
Got to Plaza De Ort last night, which is more of a hotel. I have a cute room with remote controlled air conditioning, and a full bathroom to myslef. Last night I took the advice of my Let´s Go travel book (which hasnt failed me yet!) and went to a place called Cuevas de Sésamo. I walked down into this little tavern, where piano music and smoke filled the air. I entered during the pink panther song, ordered some olives and a small pitcher of sangría. As I was finishing off the pitcher, a girl came up to me and, in spanish, invited my to sit with her and her friend. Turns out they are both Americans, both named Sarah, and they went to Harvard together, and now are getting PhDs in spanish . One of them worked for Lets Go, and the other is now teaching a class through NYU at the university here in Madrid. We drank more Sangría, and enjoyed the music. We have plans to meet up for a rooftop sunset dinner at Casa Granada.

Tomorrow i will go to Malaga, take the bus to Ojen, then follow the yellow painted rocks up the trail to La Cascada where I will be WWOOFing on the Higienist and Raw food retreat.