Chapter 2: St Croix

Thursday, June 9, 2011

F1 GP at Catalunya

Even before we reached the race track, I could feel the energy in the train ride and the excitement vibrating through the crowds as the air grew thicker and hotter in Barcelona's sun... this was the beginning of the weekend that many people traveled to Barcelona for, to support their driver, their country and to show the world that the Spanish really know how to rock the show.

It was an exciting change to be part of that mass of people, that mass that had to walk the 3 miles (possibly even more) from the train station to the circuit, that mass that passed through all the bakery stands selling crusty baguettes filled with local cheese and salami, freshly mixed sangria and of course all the souvenirs that one could possibly think of.

For those who dont know, my only experience with the Grand Prix is working at it.. which is a whole different level excitment - I've mingled with the rich and famous right at the finishing line, across from the pits but I was also stuck in a little box for 10-12 hours/day so being able to be not only one of the 'fans', but one of the loud, vibrant and energetic Spanish fans was a real treat.

It got so hot during those 2 days were there, that the crowd stripped down to not much more than their swimsuits - and the queue for the men's (i wont even go to the ladies) was longer than I've ever seen a men's bathroom line before!

Barcelona Pt. 2

A few more pics from our first night in Barcelona...

Night Market by an old church

Beautiful old cathedral - of course under construction like all other cathedrals in Europe

The beautiful harbour downtown Barcelona

Just one of the many narrow little alleyways.. you never know what surprises they may bring!

Barcelona Pt. 1

I've decided to do Barcelona is a few posts, as there is so much to write and we have so many beautiful pictures! These pics are just a snapshot of our first day there. We opted to stay in a Renaissance (Marriott) hotel as we got super cheap deals, even though it was a bit out of the city. It didnt matter though, there were shuttles going to and from the city throughout the day, and the public transport in and around Barcelona is excellent, so we never had a problem making our way around.

It was a lot of fun challenging ourselves after speaking German for a week, to dig deep into our brain and pull out our Spanish vocab once again. Although very different from Puerto Rican spanish, words were still similar and we got by quite well.

As you can see from the market picture, Geoff isnt wearing any shoes...our layover in Paris ended up being so short (20mins!) due to a plane delay and so we raced to catch our next flight..

By the time we landed in Barcelona, we were sick of airports and so we just headed straight to our hotel...luckily Barcelona is such a modern, eclectic city that anything goes in terms of fashion, so Geoff with his bare feet fitted right in (dont worry, we did find him a pair after a few hours!)

My first mission was to find good tapas and sangria, so we spent several hours on a self-guided walking tour, soaking up all the sights of the beautiful architecture and the harbor, whilst keeping a lookout for a tapas place.. we went off La Rambla (the main drag) and down some little alleyways, trying not to get ourselves lost but ended up at the best restaurant of our whole trip! The doors opened at 6pm, we got there at 5:55pm to make sure we were the first ones in (also our stomachs were rumbling after all that walking!) and ordered about 8 tapas between us, ranging from calamari to spicy meatballs to roasted peppers with rocksalt. Yum! You could've rolled both of us out of the restaurant afterwards... I couldnt wait to see what other culinary delights the next few days would bring....

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Rheinfall

Enter Schaffausen, the tiny little historical town leading up to the famous Rheinfall, located on the upper Rhine river in northern Switzerland.

The Rheinfalls are the largest plain waterfalls in Europe, and are a big tourist attraction today. Instead of paying the entrance fee to go in and just see them, we paid a little bit more and did an hour's boat trip around the falls, which was well worth it. We're so lucky that we had nice weather when we were there too!

Off to the land of Movenpick and great skiing!

Our second week landed us in Zurich, which is located close to the German border, in the south. As we came down from Munich, we crossed through Austria and hugged the southern side of Bodensee (Literally meaning, "Bottom Sea"), eventually bringing us to the city famous for author James Joyce, amazing architecture and beautiful views of the Alps on clear days.

We went out for fondue that night, and enjoyed with it a bottle of local Pinot Noir - which was delicious and made us realize that the Swiss dont just do chocolate and cheese right :-)

We wandered around the "Altstadt" (Old City) a little and checked out many of the gothic buildings before it finally got dark.

The next morning we found ourselves at a huge antique market where we could've literally spent all day had our wallets lasted that long! We picked up a few beautiful pieces, some yoghurts for the road and then we were on our way again, enjoying the lovely countryside Switzerland has to offer!