Spain in a Week
by Steve West on June 30, 2012
We're back in the USA after a week in Spain with layovers in Paris and Amsterdam. Barcelona and Madrid were incredible. We saw more things than my brain could catalogue and looking at the pictures we took I find myself repeating, "Where in hell were we when I shot this?" I'm okay with just knowing it was Spain. The guides for our tour were fantastic and now that I know about the city I could probably find a lot on my own but all of them (a team of about five) added a local flavor to the trip. They all spoke with Castillan accents which is refreshing and authentic to Spain. The food at the local restaurants was exciting and new if not always to our liking and many of the sights were unlike any I had ever seen, unique to that part of the world. The architecture was one of a kind because of Gaudi, you couldn't escape his influence throughout Barcelona. The thing that struck me most visually was the bus trip we took from Barcelona to Madrid. The landscape for hours at a time was largely scrubland with some farming (grapes, olives and almonds) and very few small villages. I had no idea that such large stretches of land were so uninhabited. And it was dry. Not a whole lot of green to be seen out there. Yet it was exotically beautiful nonetheless. Swimming in the Mediterranean was a highlight for Lauren even though she got a mild Spainburn and she adjusted to the beaches being topless. She was more concerned about what I was seeing, the little prude. So I'll stop writing before I write 20 more pages that will be meaningful only to Lauren and I but I will say that Spain is a place you must see given the opportunity. This may well be the only trip I'll take to Europe and if so, it was worth it.
Web Junkie
Steve West scours the Web searching for interest or absurdity and then shakes his head ruefully when he finds it. Read more »
Isn't That What You Asked?
When in college, I would go bar hopping with friends on occasion. We'd go to 5, 6, 20 different bars, dance clubs, etc. I've since reformed my ways and on a wild night may go to 1 1/2 (that's one and the threat of falling asleep at the second). Go »We Were That Close
Brenda and I looked at a house a few days ago and were very charmed by it. It was a ranch style home with four bedrooms, a large fenced yard and was selling at a reasonable price. Brenda was a little unsure of the size of the bedrooms but agreed to go back and specifically measure them with a tape measure and if they met her minimum standards, she would agree to make an offer for the house. Go »Christmas Post #9: Black Friday And Other Spending Matters
The day after Thanksgiving is nationally known as Black Friday for its capitalistic excess associated with open season Christmas shopping. This site is devoted to giving shoppers advance notice of various stores' Black Friday bargains. A lot of these "bargains" are available online , sometimes exclusively. Go »How Steve Proposed
Steve: I love you. Brenda: I love you more. Steve: NO, I LOVE YOU MORE! Go »Never Volunteer, Dummy
Ever since seeing Anthony Hopkins in Magic, ventriloquists and their evil dummies have given me the creeps. This guy does as well but I laughed nonetheless. I think I could sit through his entire act but could never get past the queasiness and actually volunteer like this guy did. Go »
