Difficulty
Culture Shock
Remoteness
Risk
Dates 27 Aug '12 to 10 Sep '12
Flexible? Somewhat
Est. Cost 500 - 1,000 USD (USD United States Dollars)
Type Travel Partners Wanted
Name 2 week trip
i'm looking to travel aug 27 to september 10 around france and spain. likely starting in paris and moving our way down to spain. i'd like to hit lots of cultural places and see the sights. ultimately, i'll end up in southern spain for a 2 week kitesurfing camp (yay) but i'd like to see the sights beforehand. hopefully we can make our itineraries match up!
my widely traveled buddy has put together some things i should do and i'm going to try to tackle them. sometimes seeing old buildings/architecture bores me after a while, i love eating authentic cultural food, i love taking it easy and i'm really flexible, not being super rushed to seeing all the cathedrals etc. there's also some tomato fight? more research is required!
Madrid (2 days):
see a bullfight
try the churros and hot chocolate Madrid is famous for
try the Jamon de Serrano cured ham, also famous for
relax for an afternoon in El Retiro (their central park)
Barcelona (3 days)
spend a morning exploring the Gothic quarter (they have nice walking tours), lots of history
spend an afternoon at the awesome beaches,
spend an afternoon at Park Guell, Gaudi's famous trippy artsy park
spend an afternoon/evening checking out the rest of Gaudi's architecture, walk down La Rambla (the big street), go see the huge cathedral La Sagrada familia
eat some of the specialty dishes of Catalonia (the region where Barcelona is, which considers itself different than the rest of Spain): Seafood Paella, Spanish omelette (potato and eggs), calimari, olives (try to eat at a hole-in-the-wall cafe that is NOT located near a large touristy street to get the authentic food)
Paris
there's always the famous stuff: Llouvre, Eiffel Tower, Versailles
to me, the Parisian experience is about relaxing and enjoying food. Two experiences that were great were 1) having a nighttime picnic with wine in the grass beneath the Eiffel tower as you wait for the "Champagne effect", which is when the tower's lights go apeshit and sparkle and 2) walking along the Seine river (also at night).
spent a day in the cafe's and alleys of Montmartre, the bohemian neighborhood on a hill that inspired the movie "Moulin Rouge". This is where all the lovers and writers of the 19th century went to write and be inspired, also has an amazing panoramic view of Paris on the top of the hill, which is great since Paris is "the city of lights"
try some of the weird meats: travel host Anthony Bourdain loves going back to Paris because they have amazing ways of cooking weird meats like Pigs hooves and stomach. The food is rich, cooked with incredibly complex techniques, and considered by many to be the best in the world
sit on a sidewalk sipping coffee, eating a baguette, and people watching
Morocco
DISCLAIMER: I never made it to Tangier (we did all the other cities)
Foods to try in Morocco: Tagine (staple dish of Morocco), couscous, kabobs, street pita with fish and eggplant, street breakfast bread with goat cheese and honey (the best thing ever)
Salam (hello), Shukran (thank you), Insh'allah (God willing, peace be with you)
2 week trip
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