My first travel outside Iberian Peninsula started with a long and ardous journey from Madrid to Innsbruck . Mode of transportation for first 28 hrs of journey was bus . Yes , you heard it rite a normal coach bus spanning across 3 countries. before this trip , the longest time i ever spent on a bus was between Kodad , a tiny village near vijaywada and Hyderabad, a journey of 300kms which took about 5 hrs . so coming with that experience , 28hrs of travel covering 3 countries on an uncomfortable seat was a slighly overwhelming initially . Anyway , i booked my trip with first leg: Madrid-Zurich on a bus via Barcelona, Montpelier, Grenoble, Geneva , Bern, Lausanne and then a Eurocity(EC) Express train from Zurich to Innbruck.
Starting the journey at 9am from Madrid Estacion de sur , as i bid good bye to my brother who was waving from the platform , it could not help but remember that i am starting another journey on to unknown. Leaving the known lifestyle of Iberia, it was hard to imagine i need start again on cultural journey this time in the unknown lands of alps and central Europe, the diversity of Europe hit me hard as i thought this .
Anyway bus started rolling over the streets of madrid, soon leaving the city and venturing into rugged landscape of spain , the next stop of the journey was Zaragoza( also known as saragossa) . This was the time Saragossa was hosting Expo 2008 with water and sustainable development as its main theme. So naturally 3 hrs later as we reach near the city limits , we are welcomed with great theme decorations of city for Expo. Zaragossa transformed itself into a mini globe with people, companies , around the world congregrating for the ocassion . It did look special with Water Tower rising high among the zaragoza landscape . With loads of shows , thematic squares displaying water as main theme and a river aquarium which became the biggest freshwater aquarium , Zaragossa was on the world map . Interestingly 10 years ago , It was another iberian city which got a chance to showcase its might , Lisboa. Till date Lisboa cherishes parques de nacioes as a historical landmark in its glorious history , a fact which ascertains the fact expo 98 was regarded as one of the best expo in the history
After Zaragossa , the bus started rolling and after sometime we stopped for a lunch break in a nearby motel. Since i packed my food while i left , i did not much issues with food on that day .
After lunch , the bus started its way to catalunya with barcelona its final destination where we change buses for central europe.
Barcelona , the vibrant city on med sea, one of the most popular cities on Europe, a true backpacking paradise, a walk through la ramblas , placa de catalunya could not help but think how different barcelona is diff from madrid
Rivalry between these two cities are unparalled as it is one of few countries in Europe which doesnt fall in primate city category , for more information on primate city . pls google primate city or check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primate_city.
Rivalry among barcelona and madrid in some ways resemble the rivalry which Mumbai and Delhi present . ( barcelona as mumbai and madrid as delhi ) . you can help but compare as u traverse across these cities . But in personal opinion i found both cities enchanting but will pick barcelona ( med sea tilts the balance here :) )
My stay in barcelona was short as i had to head to Zurich soon . But having been to barcelona a month before , i was very much familiar with cityscape and so no issues boarding the next bus .
My next post will cover the second leg of the journey ( Spain to Alps)
Just a final thought , If you ever intend to travel Iberia, make it a point to give atleast 10 days of tarvel if you are covering spain and portugal in total as spain is big , bigger than u think ,
So final one liners as i leave iberia
1. Dont talk rude about Football ( Real Madrid or FC barca or real vs barca ) . you are going to face music :)
2. Spain and Portugal are known to be most relaxed among all European countries . If a party is scheduled for 9pm . dont expect ppl to pour before 10 . both countries follow same pattern . It is a culture shock even for someone who is not from this region ( read central europe esp Germany and Austria)
3. Greetings to women : this is also another major culture shock ppl outside Europe see , pls follow proper etiquette here . maybe its unknown first time , but you will learn it .
4. Portuguese is not spanish , I know many people know this and yet many people dont know this . They are differnt langauges. similar sounding , latin grammar as base , part of romance lanaguges but they are essentially two different languages
5. Spain business hours are slightly different from European style , so this works well for some and doesnt for many . ( Read spanish siesta , )
6. Spain and Portugal are both famous for bullfighting , but there is essential difference between them . In spain , after the fight, the bulls are killed whereas in portugal the bulls are left free ( I could not think anything but the essential theme which these two countries show to the world)
7. Portuguese doesnt follow European time . odd one out in continental europe. some ppl do forget this :)
8. Veggie guys are going to face some prob . Ham rules in Spain , Sea food in portugal . Outside madrid, barcelona , lisbon and porto , it is very diff to get veg food. ppl rely on their own cooked food or basic salad, frites. Indian food availability outside big cities is still a dream :)
9. Coffee in portugal is another great experience . It is amazing but you have it say it right . if yoiu say coffee , you are going to get a black coffee in small 30 ml cup ( expresso ) . also coffee is served after every meal inlcuding dinner , doesnt matter whether dinner was served at 11pm :)
10. Wines rule in this part of the world. so make sure u get the best of rioja, porto wines.
11. Travel is still unfortunately a biggest handicap among cities in both countries ( more so in Spain ) , start difference from france ( similar country in area) .
12 . Buses are best ways to travel . unless ur are keen to try to the new AVE ,
13. from Travel perspective the most known path ppl take
Madrid-Toledo-Segovia -Lisbon -Sintra-Cascais back madrid . Expect to add Algarve or Porto if you have extra days in Portugal . Alternatively The spanish triangle of Cordoba-Granada-Seville can be combined with Algarve .
Off Beaten track for both countries is North . The douro valley , braga and viana de castelo are excellent trips , similarly a trip to guggenheim , asturias is a great experience
More travel tips, details, information use rick steves guide or lonely planet .
Thats all here .
here are some of the pics
Plaza Mayor, one of the largest squares in Europe
Puerta de Alacala
Placa de communicaiones
Prado Museum
Gran Via ,
The Royal Palace, Madrid
Nou Camp , Barcelona
Sagrada Familia
view from hostel , la ramblas
Next post Travelogue part 2 ep 2 : central european sojourn
Barcelona , the vibrant city on med sea, one of the most popular cities on Europe, a true backpacking paradise, a walk through la ramblas , placa de catalunya could not help but think how different barcelona is diff from madrid
Rivalry between these two cities are unparalled as it is one of few countries in Europe which doesnt fall in primate city category , for more information on primate city . pls google primate city or check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primate_city.
Rivalry among barcelona and madrid in some ways resemble the rivalry which Mumbai and Delhi present . ( barcelona as mumbai and madrid as delhi ) . you can help but compare as u traverse across these cities . But in personal opinion i found both cities enchanting but will pick barcelona ( med sea tilts the balance here :) )
My stay in barcelona was short as i had to head to Zurich soon . But having been to barcelona a month before , i was very much familiar with cityscape and so no issues boarding the next bus .
My next post will cover the second leg of the journey ( Spain to Alps)
Just a final thought , If you ever intend to travel Iberia, make it a point to give atleast 10 days of tarvel if you are covering spain and portugal in total as spain is big , bigger than u think ,
So final one liners as i leave iberia
1. Dont talk rude about Football ( Real Madrid or FC barca or real vs barca ) . you are going to face music :)
2. Spain and Portugal are known to be most relaxed among all European countries . If a party is scheduled for 9pm . dont expect ppl to pour before 10 . both countries follow same pattern . It is a culture shock even for someone who is not from this region ( read central europe esp Germany and Austria)
3. Greetings to women : this is also another major culture shock ppl outside Europe see , pls follow proper etiquette here . maybe its unknown first time , but you will learn it .
4. Portuguese is not spanish , I know many people know this and yet many people dont know this . They are differnt langauges. similar sounding , latin grammar as base , part of romance lanaguges but they are essentially two different languages
5. Spain business hours are slightly different from European style , so this works well for some and doesnt for many . ( Read spanish siesta , )
6. Spain and Portugal are both famous for bullfighting , but there is essential difference between them . In spain , after the fight, the bulls are killed whereas in portugal the bulls are left free ( I could not think anything but the essential theme which these two countries show to the world)
7. Portuguese doesnt follow European time . odd one out in continental europe. some ppl do forget this :)
8. Veggie guys are going to face some prob . Ham rules in Spain , Sea food in portugal . Outside madrid, barcelona , lisbon and porto , it is very diff to get veg food. ppl rely on their own cooked food or basic salad, frites. Indian food availability outside big cities is still a dream :)
9. Coffee in portugal is another great experience . It is amazing but you have it say it right . if yoiu say coffee , you are going to get a black coffee in small 30 ml cup ( expresso ) . also coffee is served after every meal inlcuding dinner , doesnt matter whether dinner was served at 11pm :)
10. Wines rule in this part of the world. so make sure u get the best of rioja, porto wines.
11. Travel is still unfortunately a biggest handicap among cities in both countries ( more so in Spain ) , start difference from france ( similar country in area) .
12 . Buses are best ways to travel . unless ur are keen to try to the new AVE ,
13. from Travel perspective the most known path ppl take
Madrid-Toledo-Segovia -Lisbon -Sintra-Cascais back madrid . Expect to add Algarve or Porto if you have extra days in Portugal . Alternatively The spanish triangle of Cordoba-Granada-Seville can be combined with Algarve .
Off Beaten track for both countries is North . The douro valley , braga and viana de castelo are excellent trips , similarly a trip to guggenheim , asturias is a great experience
More travel tips, details, information use rick steves guide or lonely planet .
Thats all here .
here are some of the pics
Plaza Mayor, one of the largest squares in Europe
Puerta de Alacala
Placa de communicaiones
Prado Museum
Gran Via ,
The Royal Palace, Madrid
Nou Camp , Barcelona
Sagrada Familia
view from hostel , la ramblas
Next post Travelogue part 2 ep 2 : central european sojourn
