One Of ThE BeSt HoL(a)iDAy!!

HolA ALL,

THis post is delayed but trust me its much deserved. It comes straight from the heart and is bound to be a long one.

We always thought and heard that Spain would be nice but I personally feel it was better. Better and I believe it could have been more fun :-)

We planned this trip for 6 days on a very special week in France, the French transport employees were striking and we were out holidaying.... We headed straight to a city just across the border from France called Irun, where we caught a train to madrid.

A pleasant surprise when the train stewardess gave us an earphone set each. Expecting its for music, we noticed the TV screens light up for Garfield II and then another movie called the Skeleton KEy. Though they were both in Spanish we were very happy with the change and the surprising welcome to Spain.

We got to Madrid at around 3 and were told there is no Night Train to Sevilla, we finally found a hostel and then headed out to see the city and the lights. Now people may calll me crazy, but I think Madrid was more like any other London or Paris or Major city. Lotsa mayhem, tourists and fun :-) Though we couldnt see much, we walked the entire centro of the city and liked it quiet a lot.

A peculiarity in Spain were the large number of fountains everywhre and that began from Madrid itself. We slept peacefully that night to catch an early train to Sevilla, further south. Now the train we took was the AVE which is the best Spain has to offer and I sure felt out of place.

We were 2, 20 somethings in a compartment full of executives and professionals. The best part about this train was they showed an English Movie in ENGLISH!! which was really nice.... :-)

Sevilla was bound to be super and it really was, catching the cathedral we saw amazing things there and also the palace. Starbucks was there to help us and the weather was perfect. Not Hot ans surely not chilly, it offered the perfect background for the day out in the sun and we surely enjoyed a lot. Just walking by the city, we saw several street cafes, flamingo dancers, fountains and gardens... plus those tiny shops which sold loads of stuff from spanish dresses to Tshirts.

We wanted to go out and party in Sevilla but unfortunately we ate a very heavy meal and fell asleep. Only to head to Granada next morning, which in my opinion was a let down mainly becaue the Alhambara is the main attraction there and rather the only attraction. It was not something unique for us as we have seen Arabic cosntruction back home in parts of India.

From Granada we headed to barcelona by the Tren hotel which sadly didnt have a TV or the movie. Reaching barca next morning we hit the streets early to catch up on the Cathedral, Gaudis creations and the Sagridia Familia. Now barca is a place that desrves a more detailed
mention....

It has beautiful beaches, a port full of yachts of all sizes, cobble stone streets in the Bari Gothic and an amazing night life... at 2 am people were shouting and partying on the streets... something thats rare in Europe atleast... and surely Illegal in Mumbai :P

From barcelona we had a train to Montpellier on Saturday only to realise its cancelled cause the strike is still going on...we took the Eurolines bus there ans amazingly it had the same travel time as the train though we took 2 halts for a total of 1.45 hours.

By afternoon 3 we were in Montpellier and it felt like home, France surely feels good and familiar now. The bonjour and Merci Aurevoirs are now strongly a part of me :-)

We took a train to Valence in the evening which is just an hour away dfrom Lyon, but however once we got there , there were no trains or buses to Lyon that night and we put up in a nice hotel to take the nest train in the afternoon on Sunday.....
I was very impressed with Valence considering its size and the gardens and fountains they had. A great city !!!

MY pics are uploaded and all there to view on http://picasaweb.google.com/pranav10/BarcalonedFoReVeR

Getting home in 2 weeks... the countdown is on and so is exam season.....
Love you all and thanx for reading....

PrAnAv