Spain On The Horizon

Spain, Travel / By

It’s getting to be that time again. Soon enough I’ll be off and on my way to Spain to see a number of new cities in such a beautiful country. I’ve only been once before, and did a quick stint in Barcelona and a longer stay in a more remote town in the Costa Brava. This time I’ll be seeing a much larger variety of cities, and I’m eager like a child on his first vacation. In addition to sorting out last-minute logistics and planning my packing, I sat down for one of my favorite pre-travel rituals – watching some informational footage by Rick Steves.

Rick does an excellent job on his travel shows, and they served as formational videos for my childhood. I even crossed paths with him once in Athens – I didn’t have the opportunity to introduce myself unfortunately, but just being in his presence made my spine tingle and filled me with joy. It brought me back to my early childhood.

I particularly like this video, as it is a bit of a shift from the normal travel videos and, I find, a bit more candid. It’s pretty cool to think about the history of the country, and how much influence the Moors had in forming the country. Naturally, they have a bit of a bad reputation in terms of the history books, but their impression on the country’s culture brought a unique flare. This comes through particularly in the architecture of the south of the country, and hopefully I’ll be seeing some of that along the way.

I will be spending some time along the south eastern coast, seeing a few of spots that are high on my list for relaxation purposes. However, I’m really looking forward to seeing some of the other cities – Madrid in particular. I have only been to the Catalonian region of Spain before, yet I don’t speak any Catalan. My background, like most people who learn Spanish language in high school in the US, is in the Castilian language. Castilian is spoken in Madrid, and basically anywhere that more to the north and/or west of the country. I always enjoy a city more when I am able to immerse myself at a deeper level so I’m quite excited.

So, what’s on the schedule for me?

Well, I’ll be staying a nights in Valencia, just to get a quick feel for the place. Then I’ll be off to Alicante, which is a beautiful seacoast town. I’ll be there for a while so perhaps I’ll be making some day trips when I have a chance. Then I’ll be off to Seville, passing through Madrid as the train system necessitates. This has been on my bucket list since learning about it over a decade ago, and I am very excited to see what this quaint and romantic village has in store. Finally, I’ll post up in Madrid for a while before my trip comes to a close – it will be a sad day indeed, but unfortunately it is inevitable.

Well, back to travel prep for me. I’ll make sure to stay up to date!

Welcome! (and some photos!)

France, Travel / By

Welcome to Adventure Sauce! My name is Jeremy and I will be using this site to document my travels – past and future – so that I can share my favorite experiences with the world.

I want to thank my friends and family for encouraging me to take this step, your support (and sometime relentless nagging – you know who you are :)) has made it happen. Normally I’m not much of a writer, but hopefully this is a helpful way to get my foot in the door.

In the interest of getting started, here are a few pictures of my trip to Paris back in 2014.

First and foremost is the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris. This was my first stop in the trip, and as my first impression it is certainly one of my stronger memories. It was built in the medieval times, and (as you can clearly see) is considered a prime example of gothic architecture. Bejeweled with gargoyles and pointed structures, it was not only quite impressive but also invoked a strange, eery feeling just being in it’s presence. If it weren’t in the middle of the city and thoroughly populated with people, I’m sure it would be actually quite creepy. Pretty cool though, and definitely some of the more complex architecture I have come across.

Next up is the Louvre, which obviously speaks for itself. I really liked this night photo capturing the reflection off the water, but it doesn’t quite capture the sheer impressive size of the structure that you see in the daytime photos. Standing in the building’s presence it was hard to imagine how humans could have possibly built something so huge without all of the construction technology available today. How did they even get that many huge rocks to the center of France, let alone make such beautiful buildings out of them? I’m sure historians know how it all worked, but being there and trying to imagine it was simply stunning. I didn’t make it inside during my short stay, but I’m told there are tons of museums and artifacts that may be worth a trip.

Then, of course, there is the Arc de Triomph, with the hectic rotary circling it. In order to actually get up to the arc you have to go into an underground tunnel and come up through the stairs. Also a very impressive structure, as with seemingly all things Paris.

The last two photos for today are of the opera house, called the Palais Garnier. What’s really cool about this photo is that the green hue reflecting off the the face of the building is not from a photo filter, but it was actually happening as the sun was starting to set. I was so proud that I could actually capture it, because it was truly an amazing site.

We actually went in and saw an opera showing. While I don’t speak French very well, I’m pretty sure the show was terrible. We left after the first act. It was a nice experience nonetheless, the opera house was pretty impressive. Plus, it was my first time in an opera house.

Well, that’s enough for today. I didn’t get to the point of talking about the wonderful food, or the time spent at the notorious cafes, but perhaps that’s for another day. Thanks for stopping by, and please come back soon!