My trip to Albany was very fun. It was nice to see my sister and to meet all her friends. We spent the 24th at Fernando’s house eating Ajiaco, drinking Aguardiente and dancing vallenatos, salsas and porros which made the night very colombian-style.
I forgot to bring my camera but my sister took some pictures.
This year ugly Santa is not gonna be able to wish you a Merry Christmas, but instead he is sending one of his Elves to do so. You can even watch the ugly Elf dancing!
As if going to Spain for two weeks wasn’t enough, my sister worked hard to convince me to visit her in Albany for the christmas weekend. I started by looking for tickets Austin-Albany and they were about $500 and I was not willing to pay that much. But then I looked for tickets between Austin and NYC and I found one for $300, but it was making 1 additional stop (Chicago) making the entire trip to last about 5-6 hours. Finally I found a JetBlue ticket that goes directly Austin-NYC (JFK) for $350 and I bought it.
I’ll be leaving on Sunday 24th at 7am and returning on Tuesday 26th at 8pm. The 25th and the 26th are holidays at work.
I still need to figure out the transportation from NYC to Albany but there are several options (trains and buses).
This is going to be the second christmas I’m going to spend with my sister. Last time was back in 2004 when we spend christmas eve at Eva’s house. I think I have NEVER spent a christmas without at least one family member. I must be very lucky!
I started posting a few comments from Spain during my trip, but then it became more difficult to find internet access. Now I’m back in Austin after a very loooong flight back home and I’m very pleased to say that my trip was fantastic. I think Spain is a beautiful country with very nice people, food, weather and things to do. I would love to come back again and see other places that I missed this time (San Sebastian, Bilbao, Sevilla, Córdoba, …).
Here is a summary of my trip:
November 16
Austin – Newark – Madrid – Barcelona
November 17 – Photos
Arrival to Barcelona
Caro’s Ajiaco for lunch!
Nap
Go to gallery / bar with Caro, Nati and Marco
Ultramarino Bar with Alejandra
November 18
Sagrada Familia
Paseo del Modernismo
Paseo de Gracia
Downtown Barcelona
Barrio Gótico
El Raval
Cathedral
Champañeria (1 bottle of champagne with cheese and ham for 7€!)
Latin Party
November 19 – Photos
Flight to Madrid
Mad Hostel
Meet with Idoia
November 20 – Photos
Bus to Toledo with Idoia
Back to Madrid
Chocolate with churros
November 21
Jardin Botánico
Museo del Prado (La Maja Desnuda – Goya & Las Meninas – Velásquez)
Su Majestad la Reina Doña SofÃa
Puerta de Alcalá
Plaza de las Cibeles
Palacio Real
Catedral (Almudena)
Noche de Flamenco en Casa Patas con Idoia, Monica y Vanesa
November 22
Museo Reina SofÃa
Parque el Retiro
Plaza de las Ventas
Lunch at Casa Alberto
Estadio Santiago Bernabeu (Real Madrid) – Photos
November 23 – Photos
Flight to Granada
Meet with Caro
Cathedral of Granada (graves of both Queen Isabel and King Fernando)
Walk around Granada
November 24
Walk around Granada
November 25
The Alhambra – Photos
Barcelona F.C 4 – 0 Villarreal – Photos
Lineup
FC Barcelona: Valdés; Zambrotta, Puyol, Thuram, Gio; Edmilson (Oleguer, m. 77), Deco, Iniesta, Giuly (Xavi, m. 67); Ronaldinho y Gudjohnsen (Ezquerro, m. 72).
Villarreal CF: Barbosa; Javi Venta, Fuentes, Cygan, Arruabarrena; Marcos Senna (Somoza, m. 88), Josico (Tacchinardi, m.45), Cani, Marcos GarcÃa; José Mari (Guille Franco, m. 45) y Forlán.
Goals
1-0, m. 34: Ronaldinho (PK)
2-0, m. 54: Gudjohnsen
3-0, m. 69: Iniesta
4-0, m. 87: Ronaldinho
November 27 – Photos
Parc Güell
Casa Batlló
November 28 – Photos
Figueras
Teatro Museo DalÃ
November 29
Museo Picasso y Sabartés
Puerto
Montjuïc
Fundación Joan Miró
