The science of Spanish Weekendology
Today is a very important day. It's important not because it's the day of Immaculate Conception and an official holiday in Spain, but because it is one of two pillar days in an Aqueduct Weekend. But, let's take it slowly as the Aqueduct is definitely the more advanced element in Spanish Weekendology. How about starting with the basics before we move in to this.
The Bridge
A much-loved type of weekend throughout Spain or just about anywhere in the world for that matter. This is a weekend where you have a holiday that falls on a Tuesday or a Thursday and naturally this means that taking off the respective Monday or Friday by spanning it and giving yourself a four day weekend makes a lot of sense. Before I see the "lazy freakin' Spaniards" thought cross your mind, let me remind you that we love doing this in the US with the 4th of July. If it's on a Tuesday or Thursday then shabam-presto, a four day weekend is made.
These Bridge Weekends happen quite a bit and travel planners look far down to the road to anticipate them, offering packages for what they assume will be a four day weekend. Can't say that I blame them.
The Aqueduct
This is less a weekend and more a weekoff, but it is the Holy Grail of time off. In Spain, there are two holidays that fall one day apart from each other. The first is the aforementioned holiday for the Immaculate Conception. The second is the Constitution Day on December 6th. So, you get the 6th and the 8th which, if they fall on a Tuesday and a Thursday form the central pillars of the Aqueduct with the starting and ending weekends forming the other sides. Naturally, if you have off two days off in the middle of the week that are a day apart, then what is really the point of those other three days? The point is to take them off as well and have a nice, nine day holiday at the beginning of December if you can afford it.
The next one of these is going to happen in 2011 and you can bet that there are people who have already planned for it. The Spanish plan these things way, way down the road and I think that they're one of the few things in Spain that might be valued higher than jamón, although that's a pretty strong thing to say, so I put it forth with reservation.
Other Weekends. Other Places.
What I like about Spain is that they don't really try to hide the fact that they do these weekends. On the contrary, how it's done in the US is a bit more annoying as there's the Fatass Weekend wherein people just spread the Thursday and Friday off for Thanksgiving in to being a whole week but don't admit to it. Then of course there's the Silent Nights Weekend where people work it out to take off either the week between Christmas and New Year's or just take two full weeks off during that time altogether. No one ever wants to admit that they're doing this and because of email they can act like they're in the office all the time. We know that it happens and really, just fess up to it or better yet, just close down the place for a week. We all know that we like holidays.
08 12 2009 0 comments
Tags: holidays, spain, the europe
Spanish 'easy open' technology still in beta; maybe alpha
If you glance below, you'll see the result on my tempting fate and using the 'obertura fàcil' (or 'abre fácil' in Castellano if you will) tab for a package of pasta. Didn't turn out so well. This is not a surprise. Spanish food vendors know that 'easy-open' is the shit because they see it everywhere in the US. But that being as it may, they still have some back-to-the-drawingboard time to spend on their actual implementation of non-knife-needed packaging systems. Of course Spaniards are no where near as fat as Americans, so maybe it's for the better that you gotta fight to get at your food in Spain.
29 11 2009 0 comments
Tags: food, packaging, spain, the europe, us america
The approach of a people
Every other day, I've been trying to go on a run around the castle above my in-laws house. Unfortunately my knee has been giving me problems lately, so I haven't been running as much as I'd like. This period of idle exercise time has made for an idle mind and there was something that was pissing me off every time I'd go for a run which was the graffiti that some bored kids had decided to spray on the back of a power substation tower. Naturally, it was pretty weak graffiti as it was painted by pretty weak hoodlums. In theory it wasn't that big of a deal, but it was getting to me as it had been there for a long time.
I went down to a general store on the Rambla, bought a can of cheap white paint, went up the hill and painted over it. All told it took about 20 minutes of my time and a couple of Euros of my money. No one saw me paint over it and no big deal was made of it. I did it because it bothered me and because no one else was doing anything about it. I did it because despite my split nationalities, I grew up as an American and my grounding in all things practical lies with the can-do attitude of the US.
This is an element of the US that I like a great deal. By and large, it's missing in many Europeans countries. It's obvious why as all of us in the US are descended from those who came to the country with this spirit in mind. There is a downside to this way of doing things though in that can-do leads to a head down, self-centered manner of thinking that is concerned about the individual first and everything else second. It doesn't have to, but it is often the case. When it gets out of hand (and up until the recent economic meltdown, this attitude had gotten so out of hand) it was rending at the foundation of the country. One can only hope that in that strife, there is progress and advancement; not just dead-end polemics.
As way of an alternate example, Spain is a great deal different than the US. Beyond canonization of the pig, this is a socialist country. Yes, for an American that brings up all kinds of allusions to the Red Scare, but socialism is an absolute necessity. It's just a shame it has been forever tainted in American English by shortsighted individuals half a century ago and now as a very thinly-veiled racial insult towards Obama. But Spain looks after its people. If those in power don't, they are quickly not in power. People don't tolerate a malfunctioning government. They expect that if they're ill, the state is there for them or when they're unable to work, again, the state is there. Education is free because it is for the society. This is sorely reminded of when seeing that my former university in California is now $10,000 USD a year to attend when it was 25% of that a when I graduated nine years ago.
The society like the one in Spain seems ideal. But much as how the can-do individualism of the US can too far in one direction, so can the faith in the state. People get complacent. They stop fighting for what they get and those who are power hungry slowly erode away all that was gained. So you end up with some American-Croat with a can of paint going nuts on cleaning up the neighborhood because not only is the local government not cleaning it up, no one is even calling anyone to come clean it up.
Every two or three days I make a run for croissants (and occasional xuixo, god those are good...) and I pass the Rambla in Figueres. There, beneath the shade of the trees in the lingering breaths of summer in an atypical November sit the old men discussing the latest construction projects and the old women talking about how bad their son's wives are. I watch it and realize that as important as I think painting out some minor graffiti is, if in Spain there exists Death's Waiting Room, then help me find a number so that I may sit on a Rambla bench and wait my turn when I grow old.
26 11 2009 0 comments
Tags: catalonia, spain, the europe, us america
Watch the winds across Empordà
I've mentioned the Tramuntana before. It's a wicked wind that blows through Empordà pretty much all the time. Apparently it also exists with the same name up in Southern France, which makes sense as the name is a derivative of "from the mountain" meaning that it's a cold, bastard wind. It's hard to really put it in to words though, which is why I took a video from the terrace of my in-laws place in Figueres to show how it sweeps across the plane. This video is obviously sped up a great deal, but at the same time, it illustrates the constant churning of this wind and why it tosses around any flight I take when coming in for a landing in Girona or Barcelona.
12 11 2009 0 comments
Tags: catalonia, figueres, spain, the europe, weather
Castell del Montgrí: Throwing in the towel, in 13th century style.
Driving around both Alt and Baix Empordà there is seen, off in the distance this small square structure that rests atop a decently tall mountain. If you stay to the main cities of the region, rarely do you ever get close enough to see that it is a small castle called, Castell del Montgrí. A structure that had construction started at the end of the 13th century, it sits alone atop the mountain. A defensive structure for a battle that never came, its construction was abandoned in 1301, just seven years after it was started. And there it was to sit since that day, beckoning to me to come for a visit. When I was at Quermançó Castle I saw it off in the distance some 60km away and it reminded me that I still had yet to make it up there. After all, it isn't just a hop off the road like Quermançó. It's a 300m climb that take 1-2 hours to reach the top of. While not the most arduous thing I've ever done, it isn't the most easy climb in the world, but the top is well worth it.
You arrive in Torroella de Montgrí to park. This town sits at the bottom of the mountain, with a constant view of the castle. It looks almost ridiculous, like something from a movie set seeing as how it's the only thing on the top of the mountain and it's just the outer structure of the castle. The initial park of the hike is quite easy, winding up gentle trails that pass through the rocks. You reach the cross and suddenly things get a great deal harder. It's advisable to a break and take in the view of all of Empordà as it's quite stunning, especially if you go up just after it's rained like I did.
Then the fun begins. The trail falls apart quite quickly and has numerous dead-ends that I'm not sure if they're natural or something that was devised to fool potential marauding armies. But as I scrambled up the rocks, I was thinking that this must have been all kinds of fun for the guys working on this thing back in 1294:
"Hey, Jaume."
"Oh hey, Josep. What's up?
"Nothing much, just a Monday. Scrambling up the mountain again to quarry some rocks and then scramble back down tonight. Same shit, different day, but always from from the caganer."
"Beats farming."
"True, and drywalling."
After a lot of twists and turns, I finally did come to the top. The view is nothing short of amazing. You see out to all of the mountains that border the Empordà Plane and across to the Mediterranean Sea. And then, there's the castle itself. It's basically the most impressive half-assing I've ever seen and this is 700 year-old half-assing at that. The walls are all there and can be walked around, which is quite cool as they're 31m high. But beyond this, you can actually see all the structures and initial supports that were to frame in the rest of the castle interior. Typically, these are encased in a well-preserved structure or they're demolished in ruins. It's quite interesting to see how it is that they built a castle and all the planning that went in to the engineering of it.
Then of course walking around the back shows the moat. Why on earth a fortified castle 300m above the closest building on the top of a barren mountain peak needed a moat was beyond me.
"Jaume, we've got the towers in place. The crenelations are pretty solid. The interior cistern is capped off. We're sitting on the top of a barren mountain that we made incredibly steep while quarrying the rock for the castle out of it. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Josep, if you're thinking, moat equals molt chulo, then yes I am!"
"Ah yeah! This is why my daughter is marrying your son."
"That and the dowry."
"Ah yes, the dowry..."
And that's about it. You walk around this castle that they stopped building because the Counts who decided that they needed it realized that it was freakin' insane and not worth the cost. Of course you can't just go, "Stupid castle! Why must you be so unnecessary?!!" and then proceed to kick it down. No, you just leave it and leave it they did for all of us to see and enjoy while taking this great hike up above this little piece of Catalonia. Oh yeah, pick up this bread as you're heading out of Torroella de Montgrí on the way back. It's the ultimate in convenience and taste.
04 11 2009 0 comments
Tags: castles, catalonia, history, spain, the europe
Welcome to Catalunya
If you want a larger version of this fine plate, go here.
03 11 2009 0 comments
Tags: catalonia, food, meat, spain, the europe
Because the best waters come from goats
Whenever out eating in Catalonia, it is often the case that when ordering water, it will be water from Solán de Cabras or basically, "spring of the goats". Oddly enough, as fancy, schmany water goes, it does taste pretty good. It's just unfortunate that basically no one in Spain drinks the tap water for some reason as that is free. Admittedly, it doesn't taste amazing, but you can drink it or so it seems to me. But no, everyone, when out, they need their goat water in its fancy blue bottles.
06 08 2009 0 comments
Tags: better buying, catalonia, spain, water
La Tramuntana, you are the devil's fart
La Tramuntana is a wicked, wicked thing. It is for all purposes, a wind. It's a wind that blows across the Empordà plain in the far northeastern corner of the Catalan province. But it is like no other wind. It blows straight down from the Pyrenees that the plain sits at the base of. It blows all the time. It doesn't matter if it's summer or winter. But yes, it will be blowing no matter what the time of year.
In the winter is probably the nastiest as I experienced last year. It's this nasty, shrill cold that when it hits you just right, it pierces every cell. It brings rain that flies at you sideways and sometimes, even snow. It makes the cold winter of Catalonia all the colder.
In the summer, La Tramuntana is a mixed bag. At times it can be refreshing, dusting off the heat and humidity of an otherwise overbearing day. Those are the good days. The bad days are when it kicks up all kinds of dust and doesn't cool anything, just making it feel like you've stuck your head in a blow dryer for kicks. The worst are the nights when it bangs around everything on the house no matter what you do to try and lock everything down. There will always be some loose piece of a ribbon that gets continually slammed in to the side of the house with the force of a wrecking ball, keeping you awake.
In case you didn't get my gist, I hate this damned wind which probably makes me an honorary local to curse at something I have no control over. If you spend all your time in Catalonia running around Barcelona, you'll never get a taste of it. Well, that's not true. About 20-25 minutes before you land at BCN airport, you'll probably get tossed around a little bit. I believe that that is the work of La Tramuntana. It makes me realize that I could never live in this bastard for any length of time, thus completely legitimizing my need to find a place to live in Barcelona for that day I finally get to move to Spain permanently.
Oh, sorry for all the Catalan Wikipedia links. There isn't too much on this wind in English. Use Google Translate for some good times.
03 08 2009 0 comments
Tags: catalonia, emporda, spain, the europe, weather
When you decide to get serious about recycling...
I was impressed with this stand in the center of Figueres, Spain. The current government in Catalonia is quite environmentally friendly and to a large degree makes any "Green" party in the US look pathetic. On the Rambla of Figueres (think of it as something like Main Street in the US) there are these recycling stands. Everything on this list with its cute little slot is something I pretty much have no choice but to throw away in the US. They're a bit hard to read, but from left to right, they are: CD/DVDs, printer cartridges, batteries, mobile phones, corks, low wattage light bulbs, and standard light bulbs. I especially like the slots for mobile phones and wine bottle corks. Someone in city government paid attention to the two highest consumables in Spain and figured out a way to properly recycle/dispose of them. Oh, in case you're wondering, by the neighborhood dumpsters, there are already containers for glass, aluminum, plastic, paper, and whole bunch of other, large items.
30 07 2009 0 comments
Tags: better buying, catalonia, figueres, spain, the europe
Found amongst the digital rubble
While out of town for last Christmas, I spent a few days in Barcelona (my wannabe home) and I cleaned up pretty much everything on my last tourist to-do list, including seeing these Roman columns. That was back in January. It's just today that I finally dug through all the scraps of picture and video on my Spanish mobile and I found that there was a video to go along with the photos. I present it to you below in all its pixelated glory. Still cool columns though despite the quality.
