And Just Like That, We Are Gone

In a few hours, we are leaving for home - going from Barcelona to London, London to New York, and finally New York to DC., totaling twenty-four hours. On the eve of our departure, we thought we would make some brief reflections and share some anecdotes from our trip.

1. This is the best trip of our lives.
2. Fariha loves audio guides. She would often listen to all the commentary available about the same thing.
3. Fasiha is a true blue Bengali the way she photographs EVERYTHING from every single angle humanly possible. She should've just gotten a fanny pack to seal the deal.
4. Fariha cannot stand dirt on her feet.
5. Wherever we go, Fariha makes sure to scout out all possible food options. If she is not planning the next meal, she is explaining in detail her concurrent meal experience or reminiscing on a past one.
6. We found our Bengali bretherin everywhere - manning souvenir shops and halal restaurants. Some would talk in Bangla about us thinking that even though we were Bengali, we didn't understand.
7. Fasiha decided to be a bit of an explorer during a guided tour at St. Peter's Basilica among thousands of people. Let's just say the man with the umbrella was not happy.
8. There will never be more perfect flan than that which we found at a corner restaurant in Barcelona.
9. After halal Subway in London, we will never be able to return to tuna and veggies.
10. Although neither of us are art fans, particular modern art, we have on more than one occassion gone to an art museum in good faith to pay our respects. On one occassion, Fariha kept muttering, "Picasso, what are you trying to tell me?"
11. Fasiha fully embraced the siesta in Barcelona.
12. Daddy/Uncle wins the best email correspondence award. We convey our whole hearted affection.
13. Fasiha took nearly 3,800 photos.
14. Rick Steves has been a true friend and guide. We couldn't do it without him. (Don't worry Daddy/uncle, he is just the author of our guide books).
15. Fariha's kind soul manages to attract all sorts of creepies everywhere we went. Fasiha had a poliy of non-engagement.
16. Despite Fariha's considerable map reading skills, there were two phantom hot spots we were unable to find: one of the mosques in Toledo and the Assembly rooms in Bath.
17. The U.S. is really missing out on the waffle and crepe market. Forget cookies, guys, this is where it's at.
18. Fariha learned the word for "sale" in every language we encountered.
19. Fasiha can fall asleep anywhere.
20. We are coming back.

Superlatives
Best English attraction: Roman baths
Best English Park: Regent's Park
Best London activity: Wicked
Best Castle: Leed's Castle
Best Castle Experience: Hampton Palace
Best Scenic View: Sacre Couer
Best Meal: Grill Ephes (Paris)
Best Spanish Park: Parc del Retiro
Best Madrid attraction: Parc del Retiro
Best Spanish attraction: Cordoba Mezquita
Best London attraction: Westminster Abbey
Best Rome attraction: Coliseum
Best Paris attraction: Sacre Couer
Best Amsterdam attraction: the fries
Best Cathedral: Sagrada Familia
Nicest People: Spaniards
Best Airline Carrier: British
Worst Airline Carrier: Alitalia
Best shopping: Barcelona
Best Waffles: all of them

Thanks for following along, hope enjoyed it. We will see you soon. :)

Love,

Fasiha & Fariha

Parc de Guell

Absolutely enchanting and whimsical.

Chocolate Museum

Our ticket was a bar of chocolate :)

Rome

Rome was eventful. At the airport, the lady at the counter refused to check us in because Air Italia's policy was to refuse check-ins forty minutes before take-off. We had arrived an hour and some change before our flight. However, it was a little too late to teach this lady math and her expression became increasingly mulish so we spoke to another man who seemed to be reasonable. He had a third person check us in despite her protestations, telling us next time to be on time because it wasn't "nice." Our flight with Air Italia was delayed both ways.

Our Rome weekend included a tour of the Vatican (including the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica), the Coliseum, the Roman forums, and some ruins around the center of town. It was pretty fantastic seeing live ancient history. Our tour guide was this old half ornery half charming historical embellisher who carried a multi-colored umbrella so we could find him among the throngs of people. Although the tour guide and signs warned us that taking pictures and video were forbidden at the Sistine Chapel, there were plenty of people taking both while the guards watched on, only to intone "No flash, be quiet!" every few minutes. It's pretty crazy imagining Michelangelo meticulously painting for hours the entire chapel on his own for years. Apparently one of the bishops disapproved of his work during a preview and Michelangelo painted his face on one of the characters going to hell. Ouch - talk about having trouble taking criticism, Michelangelo don't play.

We are going to go on a rant now. Everywhere we have gone, we have seen street vendors or, as is the case in Rome, men carrying their merchandise, such as fans or umbrellas, who approach you to make a sale. Yes, it can be uncomfortable when a seller is persistent, but they are just doing their job and all you have to do is decline or buy. One of the members of our tour group, however, thought it would be funny to counter-bargain with the street vendors by offering sips of beer or pieces of gum, which absolutely enraged us. They, who stand in the unforgiving heat day after day, making a pittance from their goods, learning three, four or five languages sufficient to be persuasive, subjected to the mercurial moods of entitled tourists and this man thinks he needs to teach them a lesson about manners. How incredibly patronizing, as he chased them and shoved gum in their faces, mimicking "one Euro" while they smiled uncomfortably. And worse, the men doggedly kept their game expressions and continued bargaining because they could not afford to turn off the rest of the crowd watching the farce. Absolutely disgusting.

As a side note, we recognize some of these pictures do not have one or either of us making appropriate faces, which is often a problem for us. But we give up.

Sevilla

We explored Sevilla the day we were leaving back to Barcelona. We took a carriage ride with Chico (the Horse) around town, which included a large plaza and famous park. Our horse driver (?)/tour guide gave us detailed background information of all the places we passed... in Spanish. We made all the appropriate noises and acted like we knew what he was saying. He was very nice. We then went to Sevilla's famous cathedral, which was formerly a mosque. The only remnant of it's Moorish past was the bell tower, which was originally a minaret. We climbed thirty-four winding ramps (not stairs) to get to the top. It was hard. And then we had to race back to catch the bus to the airport.