Una Experiencia Espanola

15 years and five days after leaving Madrid I finally set foot again in my adopted homeland. And this time I had a beautiful wife and three semi-Italian kids with me. A lot can happen in 15 years.

We flew to Barcelona and went almost straight to Park Guell, the aborted residential community that Antoni Gaudi designed. Here are Georgie and I in front of the famous lizard.

Ashley and Georgie with psychedelic gingerbread houses in the background.

This is the promenade, with trippy pillars mixed with vegetation.

Inside the promenade. Juliet is out cold.

The view from the large plaza that is above the marketplace. Just to the left of the gingerbread house roof on the left you can seen the cranes and the towers of the Sagrada Familia basilica.

Jubie finally woke up and I decided to give her a tour, since we had paid for her to enter and nap the whole time. This house is now the gift shop.

A promenade pillar in the shape of a woman with a basket on her head.

Jubie is ready to take Barcelona by storm.

This enterprising young man (not pictured) makes bubbles all day long for tips at Park Guell. I think he had to apply for a special permit to do it and he seemed to be making pretty good money. 

That evening the kids turned in early while I watched Spain get trounced 5 to 1 by the Dutch. Last World Cup I watched in Spain (1998) they were likewise terrible and booted at the group stage. By contrast, when I was in Oklahoma they won the Euro Cup twice and the World Cup once. I guess I am not supposed to watch Spain play from anywhere except the Dust Bowl.

The next morning we set off for Las Ramblas, the touristy boulevard that runs from Plaza de Catalunya to the beach.

Just off Las Ramblas is Palau Guell, the mansion built by Gaudi for his patron, Eusebio Guell. This is the tower on top of the roof.

And these are the various chimneys that surround the roof. In the background you can see the Cathedral of Barcelona.

The kids each got their souvenir on Las Ramblas as well: fans for the girls and a Spanish national team jersey for Isaac.

We then caught the Metro and met up with our famici from Italia, the Crandalls and Edstroms, at the Sagrada Familia. I was prepared to be blown away, and I was. The Nativity facade is spectactular, but is unfortunately falling apart. The day before we went the leg of a sculpted soldier fell off. Luckily no one was hurt. The Passion Facade is very interesting as well, but was not designed by Gaudi and lacks his charm.

The scene depicts the slaughter of the innocents when Herod commanded all infants be killed. 

This is the facade close up. We have seen over 30 churches in the past two years. None even comes close to this one. The interior is possibly even more stunning than the exterior, but sadly no pictures.

After a guided tour in English we headed to the park just across the street to take pictures. Jubie is rocking that fan.

Georgie being coy. Where the crane on the left is will be the Glory Facade and where the crane in the middle is will be the Jesus tower. Someday. They hope to finish it by 2026, 100 years after Gaudi was killed after being run over by a street car.

Where did you go on your summer vacation?

Family picture, Spain 2014.

Our next destination was Passeig de Gracia, the famous street where Guadi's apartment buildings are. This is the smaller one, the Casa Battlo. The larger and more famous one, Casa Mila, was covered with scaffolding.

Thus concluded our 24 hours of Gaudi tour. He really is the highlight of Barcelona. We finished our marathon walking day in the Gracia neighborhood at a fantastic tapas bar, joined once again by our faithful famici.

The next morning we saw the Cathedral and walked the Barri Gotic, or Gothic Quarter. We kept on walking all the way out onto the pier that houses the aquarium.

The highlight of the aquarium is the circular tunnel that gets you right up close to sharks, rays, and a moon fish, the oddest fish I have ever seen.

We walked from the aquarium to Barcelonetta, the peninsula with great restaurants and beaches. We ate some fantastic seafood (dietary codes do not apply in Spain) and found the beach.

That is a W Hotel in the distance. If only Bryant still worked for them...

Jubie wanted to have her body buried, so we obliged.

Which set off a cascade of body buryings.

So if you had just returned from swimming in the ocean and being buried in the sand after three days of walking all over Barcelona, wouldn't you want to go straight back to your apartment building (the yellow one behind the tree) to shower and go to bed? Not if you are an Italian Merback child. You would much prefer to play on the playground located on the median of one of Barcelona's great avenues. And you would whine about being told to pack it in and head home.

Dinner that evening consisted of home made tapas with Spanish bread, chorizo, and cheese with some fruits and veggies on the side. This was our go-to meal for two weeks.

The next morning we took the train back to the airport to collect our rental car for the drive to Madrid. The countryside from Barcelona to the capital looks like the American southwest. Except for the massive black bull silhouettes every 50 miles or so.

After I put gasoline in our diesel rental, paid 168 euro to have the car towed and the gas pumped out, and wasted four hours in the process, we finally made it to our apartment in Madrid at around midnight. We caught a bus the next morning that went straight from our apartment to the Plaza Oriental in front of the Royal Palace.

Here are Ash and the kids in front of Carlos V (I think)...

And here am I, 15 years earlier. Nice scowl and Caesar cut, buddy.

King Juan Carlos had just abdicated and they were preparing for the coronation of his son, Prince Felipe, in two days, so the palace was closed to the public.

Here we are in front of the royal palace.

And here is my former self. The bushes are gone! Just a little note about this area between the palace and the cathedral. It has a great view to the west and before I was assigned to this area in the center of the city the elders and sisters in the district used to meet here every Friday at sunset. When my new companion told me that I replied,"You mean you have a group date every Friday night?" That tradition died a sudden and painless death.

We toured the cathedral, which is one of the newest in Europe and very modern in its decor. Isaac says it is one of his favorites. Afterward we let the kids have some free time at a playground in Plaza Oriental before we started our serious walking tour of Madrid. 

I have to make one comment about that playground. Besides the typical moms and toddlers there was a group of Catholic school teenagers in their uniforms hanging out on the swings and talking. One couple was overly affectionate and somewhat making a spectacle of themselves. I remember seeing the exact same thing and being tortured by it as a celibate 20-21 year old. Now, as I approach middle age and have a smokin' hot wife, it merely disgusted me.

We then made our way slowly, very slowly, distracted by every futbol jersey shop and shoe store along the way, towards the center of town, La Puerta del Sol.

This is the famous symbol of Madrid, the brown bear eating fruit from a madrono tree, the statue of which is in the plaza. Atletico de Madrid, my futbol team, have this on their team crest/shield on their jersey.

I remember strolling through Sol one evening and happening upon a fashion show put on by El Corte Ingles, the huge department store. One girl had a heckler who would yell "Guapa!" (meaning beautiful or gorgeous) every time she walked down the elevated runaway. After a few times people started to anticipate it and chuckle. And the last time he yelled it, with real Spanish feeling, she lost her composure and smiled widely. He loved it and the crowd laughed.

We then made our way to Plaza Mayor, which is some of the most exclusive real estate in the city.

We found a fantastic vegetarian restaurant on Trip Advisor and then made our way north to La Gran Via, the wide boulevard that runs from Plaza de Espana with the monument to Miguel Cervantes to the famous Metropolis commercial building.

Georgie with the Metropolis building on the left. 

And a 22 year-old me in the same spot 15 years earlier.

It is just a short walk from La Gran Via to Plaza de Cibeles, which is where Real Madrid players and fans gather after winning trophies such as the Copa del Rey or Champions League, both of which they won this year, beating Barcelona and Atletico in the respective finals.

The statue in the middle is of the goddess Cybill with a carriage pulled by two lions. Georgie was able to pick out the major flaw: no reins. The building in the background is a government building that houses the ministry of the post office.

La Puerta de Alcala. There are three large gates in Madrid, this one and the Puertas de Toledo and Segovia, which are not as impressive.

This is the outside of the gate, thus the slightly different facade.

And La Puerta de Alcala is right next to el Parque del Buen Retiro. A former royal garden, one of the kings opened it up to the public. The statue in the background is of Alfonso XII, which I actually remembered.

A better view, although with that same scowling Caesar wannabe. We used to set up a "pan carta" (signboard) in the park on Sunday afternoons and contact Spanish families.

Georgie did her own contacting of Spanish families at the amazing playground that was definitely installed post-1999, probably for Madrid's failed 2012 Olympic bid. She made friends with the two girls to the right of her. Georgie almost always does this at random locations like playgrounds. They communicated via some English, some Spanish, some Italian, and some sign language. Georgie kept running back to me to ask me how to say certain words in Spanish.

Georgie and Jubie with their new friend.

After saying goodbye to the ephemeral playmates we strolled back through Retiro, past El Museo del Prado (closed by that time), past Plaza de Neptuno (no good pictures), past the Parliament building where the prince would be crowned king in two days' time, and all the way back to Sol. We bought tortilla bocadillos from a bar for dinner and shoes from El Corte Ingles for Georgie. It was a pleasant evening with tons of pedestrians and we couldn't believe that some shops were already closing. Until we noticed that it was past 9 o'clock. Time sneaks up on you this far west in the Euro time zone. We called it a day and rode the bus back home past Plaza de Espana, La Puerta del Toledo, El Campo del Moro, and across the Rio Manzanares to our apartment.

The next day was our Toledo day, and we headed out early for the one hour drive south. I lived in Toledo for four months from Feb to June 1998. In that time I made a few really good friends and learned to love this ancient city.

Here is Isaac at Alcazar, the castle of Toledo where Franco's forces held out against a Republican siege for months until el Generalisimo sent reinforcements to wipe out the Republicans. It thus became a symbol of Spanish nationalism and fascism and was rebuilt by Franco as a monument and museum. Despite its checkered past it adds a splendor to the Toledo skyline.

This is the former music store where my friend Maria Jose worked. We used to meet up with her here to teach her English classes, since she was our only student for a while. She was preparing for a long term stay in the UK and spent several months there. She told me that while she was there she heard a knock on her apartment door and opened it to find two LDS missionaries standing there. She excitedly invited them in and told them she had great friends in Spain who were missionaries. They were probably as shocked as I would have been had ANYONE done that during my two year sojourn.

Here are Georgie and Ashley in front of the Cathedral of Toledo, a true gothic masterpiece. The interior is also stunning and has several masterpieces by El Greco, Caravaggio, and Velazquez.

The streets were covered and decorated for the festival of Corpus Christi which was the next day. They have an enormous structure of gold and silver that is usually kept in the Cathedral treasury but is paraded throught the streets one day per year for Corpus.

Ashley loved this particular street. The magic of Toledo is not just the castle, cathedral, and skyline, but also the tiny, randomly arranged cobblestone streets. Not fun with a stroller, but perfect for wandering, exploring, and getting lost. You can find random convents that sell homemade mazapan, a Toledo specialty. You can also spend a ton of money on locally made knifes and swords. I got my Spanish sword from Toledo and used to know the shop owner. I went by his place but he wasn't there.

The next day was something of a reward for the kids for putting up with all of the walking and sightseeing. We took the bus out to the Madrid zoo and paid a king's ransom for the entry fee.

Isaac and Juliet with the giraffes. Our experience there was very unusual. Spaniards don't obey posted regulations such as "Don't feed the animals". People were literally bombarding the baboons with nuts and fruit and other snack foods. It was really cool to see a baboon sitting on a pole and motioning to the people with his hand with the universal sign for "come on". Then every once in a while, because Spaniards can't throw, the baboon would catch something and start eating it. No zoo officials anywhere to be seen. It made for much more entertaining exhibits, as the giraffes came right up to us and were begging for handouts just like a dog would in your kitchen.

Same thing with the bears. They were sitting right on the edge of the trench, pacing back and forth, begging for scraps. Very fascinating how all animals are such slaves to our desire for food.

Food and other resources. While at the zoo, we got a call from our friend Daniella. The doors and windows of our house were all open. She sent us these pictures to enjoy while we toured the animal exhibits.

Lovely. They always go for the underwear drawer, apparently.

And they open the windows so they can escape in case anyone comes back to the house or sees them. They got Ashley's diamond ring, my graduation ring, our laptop, and a few other small things. No big deal. We are insured. And the laptop came up on my Find My iPhone app a few days ago so we gave the location to the carabinieri. We'll see what happens. Whatever, we didn't let it ruin our vacation.

After the zoo and a nap, we headed to the Reina Sofia modern art museum to see some Picasso, Dali, Miro, and other masters of the 20th century. It used to be a mental institution (and some would say it still is...).

We stayed until late and then made our way up through my old neighborhood to a highly rated restaurant. The fried eggplant was fantastic, and we weren't the only family there with young kids eating dinner after 9:00. The kids are holding up better than me, though.

A little out of order here, but just before dinner we went by my old apartment from the summer of '99. I thought it was one of the first two floors just from memory, but from pictures it seems like it was the top floor. Very weird to be back there with my wife and kids.

The next day we set off for Segovia to the north. I visited Segovia twice but never lived there. It has one of the largest and best preserved Roman acqueducts in the world.

And there you have it. Look at the pillar above Isaac's head and you can see the bell tower of the cathedral framed in the space to the right.

Isaac and Georgie doing their part to hold the acqueduct up. After all, there isn't any mortar between those stones. Take a good look. They are all exactly the right shape. The Romans built things to last. I have a picture very similar to this with my former missionary companion but I couldn't find it.

A great picture taken by Georgie. To the upper right is where the acqueduct enters the old walled city.

And here I am in the almost the same spot with my former companion Craig Bench. He grew up in Scarsdale, NY and was friends with the Blair & Sue Garff family.

The gothic Cathedral of Segovia. This was the last major gothic cathedral ever built (it fell out of fashion even before construction started, I think). Not as impressive as Toledo, but a great halfway point between the two major attractions.

Here is a close up view of the bell tower with the kids playing on a playground in the foreground. I bought a ton of savory and sweet pastries for lunch at a bakery close by and the guy suggested that we try a typical Segovian pastry made with (what else?) mazapan.

Here the the second major attraction, Alcazar de Segovia. The location is spectacular, which you will see in a moment. The tower of St. John is one of the most typically castle-like structures in Europe, in my opinion. We crossed a bridge over the old, dry moat and went throught the entrance you see behind us. Queen Isabel was crowned here and then holed up inside the castle to avoid assassination until her reign was recognized as legitimate. She was queen of Castilla and Leon, and when she married King Fernando of Asturias they united most of the Iberian peninusula into what we think of Spain today. They are the power couple that kicked the Moors out of Iberia and funded Colombus' expedition to the New World. Both of which occurred in 1492. What a year.

This is one of the towers that looks down on the river (and highway) below.

This picture was taken in the armory by Georgie, which I asked her to take specifically because I knew I had this following picture from over 15 years ago:

The exact same spot. My neck was a little thicker back then, and my waist probably a little thinner.

Ashley really doubted me because of the elevation loss/gain of the hike, but I promised her that the view of Alcazar from below was worth it. 

There is a large grassy field and a river that flows between the field and the castle, making it a fairly idyllic setting for a picnic or just frolicking in the grass. Which we did. Georgie took this picture also. Quite the photographer.

The side view of Alcazar from the road below. The hike back up was brutal, Eiffel Tower-like even. Jubie once again got a ride on the Daddy Express. Someday she is going to have to walk on her own.

Our farewell shot of Segovia and central Spain. The next morning we were off for the coast.

We drove straight to Valencia and ate both a seafood and a vegetarian paella on the beach. We let the kids play in the water for a little while and then finished the day's drive to Creixell, just south of Barcelona. The campground where we stayed had a great restaurant and we once again ate paella on the beach while we listened to the ocean and watched the World Cup.

The water was decently warm and not too rough. The best part was that it was shallow until over 100 yards out so we could walk beyond the breakers. The kids collected tons of seashells and used them to decorate sand castles.

Here we dug a big pit and built castle turrets around it. We used the drip method to build the turrets in a Gaudi style. Behind us is the campground where we stayed. We had a cabin which was very comfortable but not very soundproof. And Spaniards like to party.

Georgie requested a mermaid tail with a seashell belt. It was a total family team effort.

Here we are working on Isaac's request. We were definitely the palest people on the beach, by far. There were quite a few adherents to the top-optional ethos but at this point our kids are completely used to it and don't even look twice. Thankfully none in the picture. Except Juliet!

And here is Isaac as a Lego mini figure. It makes you realize how disproportionately big their yellow heads are.

Our final night in Spain happened to be the festival of St. John, which in Spanish translates to "stay up until 5 am setting off fireworks right outside the Merback family's cabin." No one slept well that night and we had to wake up early to make our flight home from Barcelona. Everything went well until we were sitting at the gate and every Ryan Air flight was cancelled almost simultaneously. A strike by the air traffic controllers in France was preventing any airplane from crossing French air space. We had to exit the secure area and stand in the enormous line of furious people being helped by no more than three total employees. It was ridiculous. We took the initiative and on our own booked a last minute EasyJet flight to Milan, a hotel in Milan for the night, and a train ride back to Venice the next day. €650 and 24 hours later we were home. Ryan Air reimbursed us the €180 we had paid for the flight. Great customer service. You get what you pay for.

Well, I finally did it. I went back to Spain. Not without a few bumps along the way, but such is life. On one hand, I had a huge smile on my face almost the entire time and annoyed everyone with stories of how this or that particular spot was important or memorable for me. On the other hand it was sort of anticlimactic. As I left each spot, especially in Madrid, Toledo, and Segovia, I had the sick feeling that I would never see it again. 15 years of anticipation will do that to you, I suppose. My Spanish was pretty terrible but we survived. Maybe we'll go to Sevilla or Pais Vasco before we leave Europe, but I doubt it. I love Spain and I always will. Hasta luego, tierra mia.

Il Giro d'Italia!

On May 31st the Giro d'Italia came to Maniago, a town just 30 min northeast of us here in Friuli. Il giro, also known as "la corsa rosa" (the pink race due to the pink leader's jersey), is the three-week Italian equivalent of Le Tour de France.

I met up with some cycling friends in the center of town and we walked just south of there to where the team buses were. All of the buses had the riders' bikes outside while the riders themselves were inside the buses getting dressed, listening to music, and trying to avoid the gawking fans just outside.

This is the Garmin-Sharp team bus, the only American team in the race. The directeur sportif is Jonathan Vaughters, who rode with Lance Armstrong on the US Postal Cycling team and who has admitted to doping in the past, along with pretty much every other former Postal rider (Hamilton, Hincapie, Landis, Andreu, Vandevelde, Heras, Ekimov, Rubiera, etc. etc.) Vaughters started this team in the mid-2000s with the goal of riding clean. In 2012 Ryder Hesjedal, a Canadian rider who has also admitted to doping in the past, won the Giro d'Italia riding for Garmin, proving that you can win a race clean these days. Ryder wasn't doing so well in this year's Giro, but was still in the top ten, and I really wanted to see him. Alas, all I saw was his bike.

There it is in the center, number 91. Pretty amazing Cervelos that they are riding.

This is team Europcar, one of the top French teams with their rising star Pierre Rolland. He won Alpe d'Huez at the Tour de France a couple of years ago and has been pegged as a potential French winner of the race, which they haven't had since...1985! Bernard Hinault. When really, Le Monde should have won it that year, but he was on Hinault's team. See Chris Froome and Brad Wiggins, 2012 Tour. Rolland was also doing pretty well in this year's race. His bike is second from the right, number 191.

BMC! The Swiss bike team that is home to the Aussie Cadel Evans, winner of the 2011 Tour, Taylor Phinney, the next great Amercian hope (along with Tejay VanGarderen), and Thor Hushovd, owner of the best name in the pro peloton. Only Cadel was in the Giro of those three. He had been leading the race for a few days at the beginning, and got to enjoy some time in the maglia rosa, but he had suffered in the Dolomites and was vying for a top ten finish at this point. Also in the bus, also got to see his bike.

There it is! Not the commuter one, the one just to the left, number 51.

Speaking of the maglia rosa, there is the bike of its owner, Nairo Quintana, a tiny mountain goat of a rider from Colombia. Check out the pink handlebar tape, very cool.

Quintana rides for the Movistar team, which is a mobile phone company in Spain. This is the former Banesto team of Big Mig, Miguel Indurain, who won five straight Tours de France from 1991-1995. Also doped.

This is the leader of the Belkin cycling team from the Netherlands, Wilco Kelderman, riding from his bus to the starting area. It was so cool to be right there, seeing the pros coming out of their buses and taking off on their two-wheeled steeds. I missed Ryder and Cadel, but I caught the biggest fish of all.

Before the big reveal, one last picture of bikes, this time from Team Sky, the British team that is home to Tour winners Brad Wiggins and Chris Froome, who is the reigning champion. Neither were in the race, but it was cool to see the team Pinarellos up close. The Tour will probably be won on this bike this year.

Here is the moment of glory. Listen for when I say "Bravo, Nairo, buena suerte hoy!" (Good luck today)

Here are Tann Jones and I at our spectator spot along the route just up from the team buses.

And here come the riders! I saw Cadel Evans on my side of the road and couldn't help myself from yelling some encouragement to him.

This is the piazza in Maniago after the race had left and everything was closing down. The stage is where the riders would sign in and the area in front of that was where they started from.

I haven't ridden in almost two years, which is sad, and I am pretty ticked off about all of the doping going on for the past decade-plus that I have been a cycling fan, but it was still amazing to be there in the thick of the second-most important grand tour in the world, with a former Tour de France winner and many of the most elite teams in cycling. Probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So glad I was here to do it!