Extremadura is the region just north of Andalucia (Seville, Granada, Cadiz, etc). We visited Roman ruins (obviously), Trujillo- Pizarro's hometown and the medieval town of Caceres. It was a fun trip and the best part was that Gtown paid for almost everything... so we are slowly getting our gtown tuition's worth out of this... meaning, of course, that we stayed not at hostels, but at a country estate and a remodeled monastery (called a Parador).
Barcelona this weekend was WONDERFUL! After an 11 hour, yes ELEVEN hour, train ride, I arrived on the eastern coast of Spain and the beautiful modern city of Barcelona. We saw Sagrada Familia (the cathedral Gaudi designed), Parc Guell (Gaudi's park, with the famous lizard and ceramics), las Ramblas, the Plaza Real and some beautiful beaches. The food was amazing, including our improptu picnic, tapas, and of course Sangria. Yet, the downside, or shall I say the tradeoff, was...
The hostel was relatively new and clean, with a family room area and computers. The first night we stayed with two nice UofM girls from Wisconsin, but at 10am the next morning, we were woken up to be told that we must move rooms due to some booking problems. So we moved into a room with two sleeping men and promptly left for the day. We came back to find these men just as we had left them, though they must have moved their smelly shoes toward the window by my bed b/c the room smelled of feet. These men lay in bed staring at us whenever we were in the room and not talking. So we stayed out of the room as best we could. Yet this posed problems as well... as I decided to take a shower and was not told of the separate men's and women's rooms. Assuming it was combined like the bathroom, I bravely walked into the shower room to find see-through shower curtains and a man already using the shower. I ran out but after my own pep-talk convinced myself that a shower was necessary and I would have to brave the elements. I walked back in but after standing in the shower fully-clothed, decided it would NOT happen. I ran out again to find my roommates who then informed me that there was a women's shower room... yes, a women's shower. Thank the lord, but wait, I left my shampoo in the men's room and had to sneak back in for that as the man still showering there looked at me strangely. Needless to say, I will think twice before showering next time...
