The Exotic Spanish Experience!

If you ask me to name my favorite movie, one movie that will always feature in that list would be Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (ZNMD). Not just for its superlative star cast, emphatic dialogues and refreshing music but equally so for the locations where the movie was shot, SPAIN. Ever since, it has been a dream to visit this beautiful country and soak in the scenic landscape with best of your friends. So when we were planning for our next vacation sometime back in middle of December, Spain topped the list not just for the relatively convenient weather but even for the ZNMD hangover that had engrossed all of us for some time now. So Spain was zeroed in and we all were super excited to celebrate our new year in this magnificent country. With just about a week to go all the plans were finalized in a hush-hush manner and the short timeline and the looming Christmas and New Year’s break made our booking a bit too expensive, but then we were prepared to shell out that extra bit for the very thought of going to Spain J.

So as the D day approached, everyone was busy in their own way to prepare for an amazing vacation week ahead. So where I was struggling to keep my last minute leaves plans at office in check, Shalini was busy shopping for her beloved son, Avyaan’s food and clothing, Mayank, the planner in charge, was efficiently finalizing all the bookings, Harshita the chief itinerary and catering manager was giving final touches to the finer details of our vacation and our little princess, Charu was busy polishing her Spanish skills, as she was our only hope when it came to interacting with the locals out there J. However, the start of our trip wasn't that memorable, it was a chilly Saturday morning when we stepped out to board our cab for the airport and it was so windy that only after we have boarded the cab I realized that the wind has blown away my favorite Roger Federer cap L. Probably, a gush of wind from east of Spain to remind me the fact that we are going to the land of Rafael Nadal, so I better stay behaved J. To make matters worse, we got delayed to the extent that the flight had to delay its departure because of us, much to the dismay of our fellow passengers and howling flight staff.

Nevertheless, we landed on to a bright and sunny Barcelona, which was in itself a huge reprieve vis a vis a gloomy and cold London. Despite, an early and a hectic morning, we were super charged up as soon as we came out of the airport to witness a beautiful city shining bright with palm trees all across the streets with mountains on one side and not too far off, the coast on the other. It was a gentle reminder that the vacation has well and truly started J. We have booked ourselves a huge Spanish style apartment which was our luxurious abode in the heart of the city for next 2.5 days. Not that we spent a lot of time in there but whatever time we spent there was truly relaxing. For the next two days or so we explored the city in detail and experienced its rich cultural heritage, plentiful of beautiful monuments, breath taking coast line, unique food and a stark sense of pride among people where they want to be identified as Catalans and not Spaniards. We mostly explored the city on foot so it gave us a real sense of the Spanish culture and the prevalent lifestyle.

On the third day we had our plans to take our rented Car around midday and leave for our next destination, Valencia. Earlier, while we were planning for the trip there were lot of discussions around whether or not we should do a road trip, I was a bit apprehensive about the idea as it involved kids as well but then the overwhelming thought was that unless we do the road trip we won’t be able to see the real Spain. Finally, we finally agreed on taking the plunge with some confidence from our previous road trip to Wales and in the hindsight it was indeed a very good decision. Though, the shift from the usual right hand drive to left hand drive was a funny one, Mayank who proved out to be the best driver in the trip mastered the art pretty soon, however I kept banging the door with my left hand searching for the gear (as in a traditional right hand drive setup) J. It was indeed a super experience and the overall road trip of over 1500 kms made it all the more memorable. Although, the car that we hired (a brand new Volkswagen Caddy) was such a huge vehicle that it almost seemed that we were driving a bus and more often than not the person sitting at the back-most row had to literally shout his/her way to make himself/herself audible to the driver J.

Our journey to Valencia was very scenic and we reached our destination late in the evening and checked in to our apartment, which was once again a beautiful accommodation. For the next 2 days we covered the length and breadth of the city (thanks to our car), which included exploring the beautiful architectural masterpieces, pristine beaches, and buzzing city center. But our (mine and Mayank’s) main agenda of the stay here was to spend a gala time in the local Casinos and make a killing through it at least to an extent of sponsoring our trip through it. So what really happened when we actually ventured out on this mission was nothing surprising, we lost a lot, but neither of us repented doing it at allJ. It was indeed a relaxing time in Valencia and the relatively slow pace of the city added to the leisure. On the third morning we set out for Madrid, and after a rejuvenating 5 hrs drive reached the capital city well in time to celebrate the New Year’s eve.

We relaxed a bit in our hotel and drove out  for the dinner post which we had plans to embrace the New Year on the streets of Madrid. And I must confess, where all this while I was boasting highly about the Christmas and New Year’s decorations/lightings/preparations of London, Madrid was certainly a notch or two higher. The entire city was literally glittering and basking with the new year festivities and the scenes on the city center streets were truly mesmerizing and that surely made our new year very special. One unique new year tradition that we came to know out there was that the people leave there houses just before the midnight and meet at a common place and welcome the new year by eating exactly 12 grapes, as the clock strikes 12. We went on to debate on things like why grapes, why twelve and why eating on the street but yes, it was interesting indeed. The next day was spent in exploring the historic capital city and we were enchanted by the magnanimity and opulence of the metropolis. That being our last night in Spain we were out till late and treated ourselves to a sumptuous dinner and relished exploring the beautiful skyline of Madrid.

The next day we had targeted to leave for Barcelona by 4 am, as it was long 8 hour drive and with kids we didn’t want to take any chances. We did manage to execute our plans to success and by the time kids woke up we were on the outskirts of Barcelona. With our flight being at 10 in the night we almost had half a day at our disposal after returning the car, we decided to spent that day lazing around in the beach and enjoy every bit of the serenity on offer. And those last few hours on the  beach were so relaxing, comforting and memorable that we hardly felt any sense of tiredness even after that long ride back from Madrid.

As our vacation came to an end, there was evidently a sense of disappointment in everybody’s heart. There are some places that are so beautiful that you remember them for the rest of your lives and then there are some which are so memorable that you yearn to go there again and again. Spain is certainly one such place. Beautiful beaches, scenic landscapes, magnificent cities, sumptuous food and cheerful people make it one of the most preferred holiday destinations globally. In many ways it reminded me of Goa, as like Goa it may not be THE most exotic place in the world but that sense of calm, a ting of laziness and an overwhelming symphony of happiness in the air makes you instantly fall in love with it forever. This fantastic road trip would remain etched in our memories forever and those countless windmills across the large expanse of beautiful landscape would  surely get us back there, very soon.

Gracias Española!

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