Never Been to Spain...
Well I never been to Spain
But I kinda like the music
Say the ladies are insane there
And they sure know how to use it
The don't abuse it
Never gonna lose it
I can't refuse it
....
Well I never been to heaven
But I been to Oklahoma
Well they tell me I was born there
But I really don't remember
In Oklahoma, not Arizona
What does it matter
I am singing the Three Dog Night song in my head as I wake up this morning. It seems fitting right now. I am scheduled to go on a 10-day trip to Spain starting tomorrow morning. It can't come soon enough right now. The only other time I've been to Europe was a trip to the UK in 2004. Its taken me a few years to get back.
I kept putting off a big vacation for reasons such as work and made excuses why I couldn't go. Finally, I decided this summer was the time and I remembered my friend Justin had invited me on his trip to go to Spain. When I realized I still had time to get tickets I went ahead and got the time off approved and purchased the tickets just about a month ago.
The plan right now is to leave out tomorrow from JFK at 8:30 AM and get to San Antonio, Ibiza about 3:30AM local time. I'll be in a country where I don't speak the language in the middle of the night; hopefully able to find my way to the hotel. The current plan is to stay there about 4 nights. It wasn't my first choice to stay there that long but the more I've read about it, it sounds like a fun spot. I read about this place and its sounds great right now, I hope to spend at least one evening at Cafe Del Mar. Also, the beaches on the Mediterranean lined with scantily clad women don't sound to shabby either. The club scene there is supposed to be crazy. While I'm not big into that sort of thing I'm sure I'll go at least a few nights to see what its like. The more relaxed destinations sound more appealing to me to start with.
After Ibiza, we will be flying to Barcelona.
From there the plan is to attend the running of the bulls with tentitive plans to actually run with the bulls at 8AM on Wednesday 7/11. I hear it is actually dangerous and you have to wear white pants and a white t-shirt to participate. I am trying to figure out how I can take photographs as well as run. We may be driving a good stretch across Spain from Barcelona to Pamplona to get there. Either that or take a train. It will be a game time decision but I like the idea of seeing the countryside by car and having the ability to stop along the way.
After a night in Pamplona and seeing and/or participating in the running of the bulls we will head back to Barcelona to finish out the trip on a supposedly swanky hotel on the beach that my buddy Justin got through a large amount of hotel points from traveling at work. I hope to at least have several days in Barcelona to see what its about and check out some museums. I've heard the most positive feedback about Barcelona when mentioning the trip to others who have been to Spain. I'd prefer to spend the most time there, but with the other things going on it may just be 2-3 days right now. We are considering shortening the trip in Ibiza to focus more on Barcelona. Either way it works out I'm fine with it at this point. I can always go back and concentrate on Barcelona on a future trip.
I am going to attempt to write in this journal as often as I can. Hopefully I can get access to a computer with internet most days and update on what's going on. I anticipate taking a lot of photos but I won't really have a way to process or upload them until I get back.