Espana! Espana!

Last night R and I walked by the Mushroom structure in Seville (I forget its official name) and were surprised to find an incredibly long line. Intrigued and struck with a severe case of FOMO (fear of missing out), we waited in line for what seemed like an entire hour to get up the stairs and into the platform underneath the mushroom.

The wait, however, was worth it. There was a giant projection of the Spain vs Portugal game and hundreds of people squished together watching. The smell of cannabis in the air and crushed cans and cups of alcohol under my feet made me feel like I was back at Electric Daisy Carnival. Every other minute groups of people were chanting or cheering; it was what sport spirit should feel like.

The best part was when we first entered and a guy stopped R and pulled out a Spanish facepaint stick - red on two sides and yellow in the middle. He drew on R's left cheek, and before R could respond, gave him a kiss on the right. As he walked away he constantly looked back giving R a few waves.

Spain won the match in penalty shoot outs and the crowd went crazy. A great way to end a day in Seville.

The Mushrooms on a normal day

The line was super long! It stretched out way behind this

But we had ways to make the wait more entertaining

Ah, finally we're in. A couple of beers to celebrate

Spain's doing well

Richard and his Spanish spirit gear + newly acquired face paint

Battle of Alhambra

Today, the troops of Marukat stormed Alhambra. The search for an entrance was difficult, but after a strategic retreat and re-cooperation at a nearby hostel, we soon resumed our march. The climb was steep and the lines were long, but eventually we penetrated the Moorish palace's defenses.

Once inside, things became hot and steamy. The rewards were many as we went from chamber to chamber viewing the Alhambra's many architectural wonders. The palaces stood largely untouched by Spanish influence (only lots of Spanish tourists).

Beautifully ornate ceiling (bigger version in other room)
Looks like upside-down cathedrals

Hallway surrounding an open courtyard

Wall detail with gorgeous ornamentation
Certainly something AT would like!

At the climax of our conquest we reached the pinnacle of the Alhambra. From the highest turret we could see all of Granada with its washed-out white facades and identical rooftops. Victory was sweet.

The green of the Alhambra at the center
of a white washed city

As we walked out of the Alhambra, tired but satisfied, I thought I might go onto Wikipedia and research her past a bit more. Am I starting to get attached? This was only supposed to be a one day deal.

You won this battle, Alhambra, you won.

Trigger happy

The past few days have been a feast for the eyes. I'm sure that all the reaching for the camera will become a compulsive habit soon enough. Although this is my last day in Barcelona, the visual imagery will last me for a long time. It's too bad that images can barely do experience justice.

Gaudi's works - all extremely interesting.
This one reminds me of rage faces.

Inside the Gothic Cathedral. Absolutely breath-taking

Creeper picture of a couple enjoying the view from Mont Juic 

Even the Modern Art building itself was a work of art

Setting sunlight reflecting off Olympic stadium

Detail shot with R

Last night I had a taste of true Spanish revelry. After the Spain-France Euro Cup match, where Spain won 2-0, R and I took 2 steps over from the bar to the beach. (There was another bar and tequila in there somewhere - tequila being the foreshadowing for a good time) The beach, due to the celebration, became a mine field of sparklers and even full blown fireworks. Inebriated, we found ourselves going to the one safe zone - the ocean!

Thoroughly soaked, we headed home. Sometimes leaving the camera behind is a good idea. 

Barthhhalona!

RL and I arrived in Barcelona on Tuesday evening - one ~20 hr plane ride, a 7 hour bus ride, and many time-zone-disorienting naps later. We celebrated by getting going to an Irish bar (cultural immersion, one step at a time) and watching the England vs. Ukraine Euro Cup match. I only seem to watch soccer outside of the US.

An Irish bar obviously calls for Irish car bombs. Except... the waitress had NO CLUE how to make them and instead asked me.
"Um... a cup of Guinness, one part Baileys, and one part Jameson" I responded, bartender in the making. The result:

That night RL and I wandered around, lost in the streets of the Barri Gotic (Gothic Quarter). Luckily we had played a detective game on the DS earlier and used our new-found observation skills to piece our way back.
"No, not down that street. There's an Adidas, I would have recognized such an iconic American brand" (we were wrong, we just didn't see the Adidas before)
"Oh, Caixia, that I recognize, let's go this way" (an extremely common bank, it turns out, but we were right this time)
"Hey, this weird chain structure... it looks familiar"
"That's because we just stumbled on the same one 2 minutes ago!"
and so on. Somehow, we found our way home.

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A surprise around every corner

Barcelona's many pedestrian only walkways make for an intricate maze. Businesses are forced to be smaller, confined to the buildings created back when Barcelona was its own country. Meandering, it seems, is a way of life. Somehow, throughout all of Wednesday, we managed to walk by all the places we noticed while lost on Tuesday.
The days have been relaxing. Not waking up past noon, siestas in the late afternoon and fiestas at night. We're like the even lazier versions of the typical Spaniards.


A couple more photos of what we've been up to:

Sneakily touching 2000 year old excavated wine jugs

Eating delicious Paella by the beach

Finding out that Barcelona beaches are very liberal
and rather topless (not pictured)