Spain — Blog — The Towering Travelers

The day after Christmas, we took the train from Barcelona to Madrid for the remainder of our trip. High speed trains are wonderful - it was about 2.5 hours between the cities, and it was nice to be able to alternate between reading and looking out at the farmland around us. I’m always sad about our lack of trains when I’m in Europe or Asia.

We had seen something about a forest in the Madrid train station, so I dragged us over to it before we went to our hotel. The internal hallways between the trees were blocked off, but the forest itself was amazing - it gave a sense of calm to the area, and it was nice to see so much lush green right next to the hectic terminal.

I want a forest in every train station now (photo/Jason Rafal)

When we arrived in Madrid, we were struck by two things: there were beautiful lights everywhere, and the city was FULL of people. Apparently everyone has family in Madrid, and they seem to visit them over Christmas.

The holiday lights in Madrid are extensive, and I’m sure part of the reason that the city is so crowded over the holiday. There seemed to be a big strolling culture, and people spent the afternoon and evening walking through the central streets, shopping, and taking pictures.

Photo of lit up trees and a monument with a horse and rider on top across a lake. — Completely lit up trees across the Great Pond of El Retiro (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of Nicole walking down a street in a crowd of people toward a tree. — Walking toward the tree at Puerta del Sol (photo/Jason Rafal)

Statue of a man on a horse on top of a stone pillar with writing wrapped around it, riding toward a giant lit up tree. — Carlos III rides into a giant Christmas tree (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of an overhead light display between three buildings. — The most impressive part of the light display, IMO (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of crowds of people walking down a street with red light displays in the shape of ribbon overhead. — Giant ribbon loops of light over tons of people (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo looking down a crowded street toward a large Christmas tree. — More tree, more lights, more foot and car traffic (photo/Jason Rafal)

On our first full day in Madrid, we did a free walking tour. I’d highly recommend looking one up in a new city if you have time - we’ve always had great experiences and learned a lot of good information. Note that while the tours are free, you should definitely tip your guide (it’s a pay what you want system). If you’d like some overall Spanish history, Jason enjoyed these videos: The Animated History of Spain and Why 70% of Spain is Empty. We’re both fascinated by the fact that in the 1970s, after democracy was re-established at the end of the Franco regime, Spain actually reinstituted a constitutional monarchy.

Our actor-and-tour-guide, Paul, walked us through the different kings and quirks of Madrid’s history, which all revolved around his claim that the Spanish are superstitious and like things simple. The city was originally built by the resident Muslim forces to defend Toledo, the original location of the Royal Court, until the Royal Court moved to Madrid in the mid 1500s. The history that Paul walked us through was over the Habsburg reign of one Carlos, and then three Felipes, and then another Carlos (he illustrated this with a hamburger analogy, which was entertaining).

We spent some time in Plaza Mayor, the square in the center of the old city, was built and re-built from wood three times before they decided to rebuild using stone so it would stop burning down.

Photo of a circular bench with engravings of people walking and dancing. — A historical scene depicted on one of the benches surrounding a lamppost at Plaza Mayor (photo/Jason Rafal)

We learned that the first time the statue of Felipe III and his horse was erected in Plaza Mayor, the horses’s mouth was open wide enough that birds kept getting in and dying, and the constant noises made people think the statue was haunted. They redid it to fix the issue.

Photo looking up at a statue of a horse being ridden by a king. The horse has huge, weirdly shaped eyes. — Whoever was carving Felipe III’s horse’s head was struggling (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of two towers through an archway that leads to another street. — One of the archways leading out of Plaza Mayor (photo/Jason Rafal)

We also learned about a weird quirk of the city’s clocks, where the number 4 is represented by IIII instead of the more widely accepted Roman numeral IV. Upon some research, it looks like this was fairly common in old clocks and watch faces, and there are some theories as to why. The one Paul told us was that there’s a greater visual balance to using IIII across from VIII on the clock, so it was originally preferred and lasted into modern times.

Photo of a life-sized figurine leaning out of a second-story balcony and holding a clock. — A figurine of a watch maker with a clock representing 4 as IIII (photo/Jason Rafal)

Looping back to superstition, Paul told us about the traditions that people had in order to maximize their chances of winning the lottery. There is one shop that sells lottery tickets that is vastly more popular than all the rest because it’s sold to multiple winners. He also took us to a statue of a man, called “The Curious Neighbor,” who has a shiny gold butt from all the people trying to replicate the luck of a man who touched the statue shortly before winning the jackpot. Most of our group touched the butt.

Photo people looking at a statue of a man leaning against a railing. — The Curious Neighbor (photo/Jason Rafal)

Paul ended our walk with a quiz, which was surprisingly fun. We did much better than expected.

Photo of a man squatting in the center of a circle of people and holding up three fingers. — Paul asks us something about the superstitious number three in our quiz (photo/Jason Rafal)

One of Jason’s friends recommended the naval museum, which was pretty cool even as someone who is not super interested in the navy (Jason is much more into it). There were tons of boat models, and many of them were cut in half to see the inside of the boat.

Model ships in glass boxes in the naval museum (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a room with a tapestry and cabinets displaying jugs and plates, with a mirror on the ceiling reflecting the tapestry. — A collection of items found in the sunken *San Diego* in 1992 (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of three buildings, one with a mural of fruit, one pink, and one dark yellow, with a statue of a cross in the foreground. — A colorful view near Plaza Mayor (photo/Jason Rafal)

On one of the clearer days, we walked over to the Temple of Debod for sunset. Aside from having nice angles for photography, it’s also on a hill that has a nice view overlooking the city. The temple itself is a bit controversial; it was relocated from Egypt in the 1960s so it wouldn’t get flooded by a dam, but it was reassembled in a different order than the original setup, and it remains uncovered and exposed to the elements. It sounds like there’s a plan to cover it soon.

The view from the temple (photo/Jason Rafal)

Sunset on a building (photo/Jason Rafal)

One of many peafowl in the garden outside of the royal palace (photo/Jason Rafal)

Our hotel was near the giant and lovely Parque de El Retiro, which features beautiful buildings, museums, and miles of walking trails. In such a dense city area, it was great to have this giant piece of nature so close.

People strolling in front of the Palacio de Cristal (photo/Jason Rafal)

A nice lumpy fountain in the park (photo/Jason Rafal)

This empty path at dusk felt starkly different from the rest of the city (photo/Jason Rafal)

We happened across a feral cat colony getting fed (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a skyline of trees and buildings viewed over a full vessel of water. — Dusk reflections from the park (photo/Jason Rafal)

I was sick for part of the time we were in Madrid, so we didn’t do as much sightseeing as we’d like, but when we could get away from some of the crowds, the city was lovely. We’d like to go back and visit some of the museums we weren’t able to get into, and also take a day trip out to Toledo. We had a great time in Spain and are excited to do some more exploring in the future.

Photo of a man shopping at a small storefront of books. — One of the adorable book kiosks near El Retiro (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of Jason holding up a togo coffee cup that says "Feliz Coffee" and has a stamp of small shapes, including a moka pot, camera, and flower. — A cup from one of our favorite coffee shops (photo/Jason Rafal)

First, Barcelona is a great winter holiday destination. The weather was 60s and sunny, only a couple of attractions were crowded, and we were able to get into almost all the restaurants and bars we were interested in. We immediately loved the city for its walkability, great food, and highly available specialty coffee.

Barcelona is in Catalonia, a region of Spain that identifies as having a unique language, history, and culture. There have been off-and-on movements to separate from the rest of Spain. If you’d like to learn more about that, Jason found some videos that explained some of the history: Catalonia’s Independence Movement, Explained and The History of Catalonia.

Photo of Nicole and Jason taking a self portrait in an elevator. — Our customary jetlagged-in-a-tiny-European-elevator picture (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a park with two tall buildings in the background and a structure with a golden chariot pulled by golden horses on top. — The view from our hotel room (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of two exterior walls, one colorfully painted and one covered with ivy. — A colorful corner in Barcelona (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a butcher stall in a market. — A butchery in a market (photo/Jason Rafal)

In our explorations of the city, we went up to Montjuïc, where we had lunch overlooking the city and then went up to the castle. I wouldn’t consider the castle a must-do, but there’s a beautiful walking trail around the outside of it, and the views from the top of the hill are lovely. We took the gondola back down into the city.

Photo of a path with grass on one side and wide, lumpy trees on the other. — The park at Mirador de Miramar (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of Nicole ducking to go through a tower door on the castle. — I’m too tall for this (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of the Montjuïc castle wall. — The Montjuïc castle (photo/Jason Rafal)

We also spent some time at Christmas markets, where we struggled to understand some of the local jokes.

Photo of a market stall with a figuring of a man pooping on the roof. — We kept seeing this figurine everywhere, in various sizes (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of the Fira de Santa Llucia. — The market (photo/Jason Rafal)

Black and white photo looking down a walking street toward the Arc de Triomf. — A nighttime view of the Arc de Triomf (photo/Jason Rafal)

I don’t usually go out of my way to recommend bars and restaurants, but we had a really wonderful experience at Two Schmucks, which is a top 10 cocktail bar in the world. It was pretty empty so we were able to chat with the very friendly bartenders, and the drinks were unusual and incredibly good. The decor was also very fun, and they sent us home with stickers and restaurant recommendations.

Photo of a wall in the Two Schmuck's bar, with writing all over one side. — The decor at Two Schmucks (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a light brown cocktail next to a glass of water. — A delicious drink with the longest ice cube we’d ever seen (photo/Jason Rafal)

We also had absolutely wonderful coffee, and we didn’t even make it to all of the places that looked good. The coffee shops were often adorable as well.

Photo of a small coffee trailer in an industrial space. — The adorable and infrequently open Skye Coffee (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of the inside of a small coffee shop with a stone and brick interior and a green espresso machine. — The equally adorable Xiloteca Coffee + Botiga (photo/Jason Rafal)

We also paid the entrance fee to go into la Palau de la Musica, which is just a very beautiful concert hall. The ceiling has a massive dewdrop of glass, and the entire thing is colorful and impressive.

Photo of an intricate ceiling with elaborately carved stairs going up in the background. — The staircase going up to the auditorium (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of two rows of colorfully tiled columns with Nicole in the background. — Beautiful balcony columns (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of an auditorium with stained glass windows on one side and a huge stained glass skylight in the center of the ceiling. — The inside of the auditorium at la Palau de la Musica (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of the the ceiling of the auditorium, with the stained glass skylight surrounded by carved roses. — Another shot of the amazing ceiling (photo/Jason Rafal)

On Christmas Eve we took a day trip out to Montserrat, which is wonderfully accessible by train and has great hiking around the monastery. The landscape is vast, dry, and full of giant lumpy rocks. It vaguely reminded me of the American southwest. There were many well-established paths (though the map was not as helpful as I hoped) and we took the Sant Joan funicular and climbed up to a viewpoint to see all the way to the Mediterranean Sea and watch the climbers on one of the giant rocks near us. It was a nice way to get some fresh air and see more of the area.

Photo from the inside of a cave looking out over a concrete wall and toward the landscape. — Our lunch spot at Montserrat (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of Nicole ducking to go under a rock overhang. — One of the more challenging parts of the trail (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo looking down a steep trail toward a small chapel. — Looking down the steep trail toward the Sant Joan Chapel (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a large rock wall with two climbers working their way up. — Climbers on one of the big rocks (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a building on a rocky outcropping with rocks and trees in the foreground. — The Ermita de Sant Miquel (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo looking down a mountain from a gondola, with the other yellow gondola coming up in the distance. — Taking the gondola back down the mountain (photo/Jason Rafal)

One of the surprises of the trip was how much we fell in love with Gaudí’s creations. We first went to Casa Batlló, where we were struck by the beauty, livability, and natural elements of the apartment. He prompts a sense of wonder and surprise that is missing from most (all?) other architecture, and it was so fun to walk through the rooms and see how everything was done.

Photo looking up at the facade of a building. — The facade next to Casa Batllo (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a curved ceiling with intricate skylights. — Skylights in Casa Batllo (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of an elaborate chandelier in the middle of a spiraled ceiling. — The spiral ceiling and chandelier in the living room (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of ventilation built into the ceiling. — Some of the ventilation in the apartment (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a door and two windows in a blue-tiled room. — Beautiful doors and walls in the central staircase (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo looking up through the central staircase area of the house. — The under-the-sea feel of the apartment (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a wooden door with a weird, curvy doorknob. — One of the doorknobs that Jason fell in love with (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of two artistic sculptures on the roof deck of the house, one similar to a cross and one to a ridge. — Some of the tiled work on the roof of the apartment (photo/Jason Rafal)

We also went to la Sagrada Familia. I’m not at all religious, and I regard most cathedrals as very pretty (I loved stained glass) but vaguely uncomfortable. It’s usually a 5-minute in-and-out experience. From the outside, the building is very weird but not very appealing to me - it’s a bit brown and lumpy, and there are lots of religious carvings.

Photo of the outside of la Sagrada Familia with a lake and trees in the foreground. — The current state of the outside of la Sagrada Familia (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of 6 spires, the central tower under construction, and a crane. — Some of the weird spires (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a carved facade of Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus with a pigeon roosting on the baby's head. — A pigeon rests on the baby Jesus’s head (photo/Jason Rafal)

When we walked into la Sagrada Familia, however, my jaw literally dropped. It’s one of the most incredible human feats I’ve ever seen. First, the scale is insane. Both of our necks hurt from looking up by the time we left. The columns, which I could only reach halfway around, reach impossibly high before branching like trees against the intricate ceiling. The stained glass, instead of clearly depicting scenes, is made up of abstract shapes, enforcing the feeling of being in a gigantic indoor forest. One side of the cathedral has cool shades of stained glass, mostly blues and greens, while the other has warm yellows, oranges, and reds. All of the stained glass brings in light that reflects off the columns and ceiling in a beautiful rainbow of light. Sainte-Chapelle in Paris has an impossible amount of stained glass, but the beauty and intentionality of la Sagrada Familia’s stained glass is like nothing I’ve ever seen.

Photo of the high, elaborate ceiling and upper stained glass in the cathedral. — The remarkable ceiling of la Sagrada Familia (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a corner between two walls of stained glass. — The cooler-toned side of the cathedral (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a dark figure between two columns in the cathedral. — A slightly ominous figure (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of a corner of the cathedral with yellow and orange light pouring in and reflecting off of the ceiling. — The incredible warm wall of the cathedral (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of stained glass projecting a rainbow of colors onto a column. — I loved the rainbow reflections on this column (photo/Jason Rafal)

Photo of one side of a curved row of organ pipes with walls of stained glass in the background. — Some of the organ pipes in the church (photo/Jason Rafal)

Our third Gaudí exploration was Park Güell, outside of the city center. It’s a beautiful park, but it was quite crowded on Christmas, especially in the tiled areas. There are times in the morning and evening when it’s only open to locals, which sounds like a wonderful experience. It has a great view of the city, and more fun architecture throughout.

The Sparkling Lights of Madrid

Christmas in Catalonia