My 3 Best Moments In Spain

A colleague asked me on my first day of work after my holiday in Spain what was my best moment there. I needed to think about this. The answer didn't come so easily as one would imagine. The fact that I was away from work for two whole weeks was a good moment already. That I was in Spain for that time was a blessing.

I started to recall the moments I had my jaw drop. You know, in utter amazement. Then the answer, well it happened more than once, so answers came to me.

1. The Aqueducts of Segovia. When you make your trip to Segovia from Madrid, a town a hundred miles or so away, you need to take a train then a bus. The two buses services, numbers 11 and 12, pull up outside the Renfe train station and wait for tourists to pour out. To the ordinary traveler, it's the middle of nowhere. You see a train line, an impressive building and these two long buses stationary yet breathing among grassland, some grazing cows and highlands yonder framed in bright blue sky. It was unreal for city dwellers like me.

The bus situation is cute. The drivers patiently manage each passenger with a 'Hola' and process payment. Cash is fine and there is change given. Everyone waits. The twinned services then pull away together, like siblings holding hands going to school, at the appointed timing towards the little town. And like siblings in a school, each has to go his own way. Service 11 goes to the Aqueducto. (I'm sure the buses meet up again soon enough).

There's an inadvertently impressive thing that happens when you're on the bus towards this ancient landmark. The bus route meanders around a short hill before the magnificence of the 2000 year old feat of Roman engineering is revealed. It just takes your breath away. My jaw dropped, still in the bus. I staggered out of the bus mouth agape and staring, bewildered and excited.

I had to touch the rock to make sure it was real. It was. The whole thing just beautiful and untouched. I'm so glad no war, earthquake or exuberant teenagers made a dent in the structure. The Segovians whose lives live out amidst this glory would shed buckets if any rock fell out of place.

(The sooner you book your train tickets, the cheaper they are. There's a fortress castle and a huge cathedral in Segovia too. So it'll be a day trip well spent. Make sure you know when the last train out to Madrid and which bus timing gets you there to catch it. Else you'll need to get a room for the night. Which may not be a bad thing.)

2. Picasso's early works. When you ask an average Joe about Pablo Picasso's paintings, more often not the reply would relate to his Cubist works, those unreal angular works of art that so enraptured our imagination. Well it was pleasant to find out he was more, way more, prolific.

In Barcelona we went to the Picasso museum. It was well worth the few hours staring and admiring his works.   He started drawing simple things like his surroundings and the people around him. He drew marvellous creations of the coastline and boats. What caught my eye was his works as a young teenager. At 13 or 14 he drew his father and mother. The realism and quality of the brushstrokes is astounding. At the same I was struggling to sketch an apple, what more apply colour to people's faces. At 15 he presented 'The First Communion' and at 16 he exhibited 'Science and Charity'. Mind blown.

Science and Charity, painted when Picasso was 16.
Image from http://www.pablo-ruiz-picasso.net

What I learned about artists when I toured the museum was they practised sketching and testing colours and strokes before they rendered their final artwork. Like me you might have the impression that artists just kept adding on and on to a canvas, with the final vision somehow taking shape over time. No, even Pablo sketched and sketched many time before.

Barcelona Rooftops, painted in 1903.
Image from http://www.wikiart.org/en/pablo-picasso

There was a Blue phase among the European painters. It lasted for about a decade in the early 20th century. Picasso was also caught up in the melancholy of the times and rendered some of pieces in the gloomy hues of the era. I loved a Blue painting of Barcelona rooftops at dusk. I stood there enjoying it, sucked into the encroaching darkness, subtle beauty and fine blends of navy, turquoise and azure against darkening brown walls.

(The Picasso Museum http://www.museupicasso.bcn.cat/en/ is located near the Gothic quarter of Barcelona. Old 3-4 storey buildings broken up by narrow cobblestone streets. Nearest metro station is Jaume, which is closest to the big Barcelona Cathedral as well).

3. Sunset at Granada. I love sunsets. I love how the hues in the sky change from blues and yellow to oranges, pinks and purples. The way the clouds splatter across, breaking the colours down or reflecting the sun's rays for impact. I like how the beauty unravels in minutes, that if taking your eyes away for a few seconds you'd miss an incandescent pink flare streaking across like a flung feather boa. It's a spectacle that plays out daily if you're lucky.

And it does in Granada. We were there primarily to see Alhambra, the palace of the Muslim kings. Yes, there was a time when Spain was conquered by the Moors from North Africa. They ruled most of the Iberian peninsula for about 600 years before the Christians managed to get their act together and booted them back. Granada famously didn't fight back - the King surrendered. What's interesting is that this happened in 1492, the same year Christopher Columbus founded America. Our night-time-tour-around-Granada-on-Segways guide told us that the Spanish forces that took Granada did so for the immense wealth the king had. They Christian reconquerers (reconquistadors) were out of money from all the wars they were fighting and the Queen at the time couldn't outright support an oceanic expedition. So occupying Granada unscathed was the deal made wih the Muslim King and his wealth help fund Columbus' voyage across the Atlantic. (She also told us that Granada water comes from the melting snow in the mountains. Very tasty.)

I so so recommend the Segway tours. The device is so easy to operate and fun to ride on. We were climbing the slopes of Granada streets with ease. We did the tight paths and tiny nooks and crannies. It was so so fun. And during the 2 hour plus evening tour we made our way up to Mirador San Nicolas. Lots of people gather here to enjoy the view of Granada, the Alhambra light up, the view of the Sierra Nevada mountains and the gorgeous sunset. It is stunning. All the city's lights were sparkling like they were candles. The sky was a magnificent deep blue accented by yellows and vermillion. Just enthralling.

Yes the Alhambra palace and fortress were great. Ancient architecture, Muslim motifs, pretty gardens. A must go indeed. After a while, it got a little tiring. Maybe I needed a guide to regale me with stories but we did it unaided. But man that sunset. I wish we spent another night or two there, to figure out the town and other places.

(The Segway tour I did is run by Play Granada www.playgranada.com and it cost 30 euro. The office is just off Plaza Neuvo near the tourism office. It starts at 6pm and ends at about 830pm. Nice people from many places. Damn fun!)