Southern Spain, Southern France, & THE WATER EXPO!
Trip Start
Jun 19, 2008
1
13
29
Trip End
Oct 11, 2008
Aix-en-Provence,
Provence,
France
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Then we made our way to Zaragoza, Spain. We only had one night there, and we wanted to make the best of it. We had heard from several people about the world-renowned "Expo Zaragoza 2008: Water." An expo about water....we had no idea either, but took the bus there anyway. We were soon confronted with a staggering 52 precious euros entrance fee. Ryan and I figured that since we had gotten that far, we may as well give it a try. We also (naively) assumed that 52 euro (80ish USD) would get us a Disneyland or Six-Flags-like experience. We were WRONG. How to explain the Expo Zaragoza....I just can't do it. We don't have pictures, but here are some things we learned at "EXPO ZARAGOZA 2008: WATER:"
Just because people are lining up for hours to see something does not mean it is worth seeing. Here some of the exhibits we saw:The Aragon Pavilion: We waited for 1 hour to be taken by elevator to see a pathway lined with big sticks holding postcards of the region. There were also flat screen TVs showing repeat video footage of running water. Hundreds of tourists sat transfixed. We were confused. The Japanese Pavilion: We waited for 1.5 hours to eventually be led into a movie-theater-ish room where we were promptly greeted by a Spanish-speaking Japanese anime frog who spoke to us (with bad animation accompanying) about the different uses of water in Japanese history. Snore. Ryan was so weirded out (and disappointed) by this "exhibit" that he couldn't even translate the frog's story....not that I really wanted him to anyway. The Malaysia Pavilion: We walked along a path lined with pictures of Caucasian tourists really really really enjoying themselves in Malaysia. We were also "lucky" enough to see some "Malaysian" animals (plastic sloth with rotating head, plastic otters, plastic birds, etc). Next, we were astounded by a slew of Japanese tourists VIDEOTAPING this experience...although to be fair, they didn't even seem as interested as usual.The Yemen Pavilion: 20 stands sold the exact same assortment of cheap and massive jewelry. That is all. Water? Apparently Yemen has nothing to share with the world about water, but they do have humongous cheap beaded necklaces.We'll stop torturing you there, but we had similar experiences in the Chinese, Hungarian, Bulgarian, etc. pavilions. I have to say that I was proud that the US had not made an appearance. The theme of the expo seemed to be: "We've got water! Look! Come to our country and support our tourism industry!" It failed on us. The only thing the manager of our hostel could say to us was, " Well...it's not Sea World..." Understatement of the year.When standing in a line in Southern Spain, don't just be defensive, be offensive if necessary. Protect your space, or you will be shoved/edged out/hit in the butt with shopping bags/shouldered/just plain cut in front of by little old Spanish ladies, all while they are pressing you to "move forward!" into the one foot of free space in front of you. When attending performance art in Spain, beware of extreme irony: wasting tons of water in a techno water-battle (for 20+ minutes) trying to inform people that they are wasting water. After the performance, when exiting, keep your elbows out or you will be trampled (see #3) An expo about water (in the middle of the hot Spanish desert) may have 10 or more huge signs about the importance of staying hydrated yet only have one free water spout on the grounds.No matter how long you stay at a boring water expo, you will never feel like you really "got your money's worth."
From Zaragoza, we made our way to Barcelona, a city we have seen before but wanted another glimpse of. Despite staying in a hostel that smelled like humid human excrement, we had a pretty good time exploring Gaudi's park, Park Guell. A long, steep walk that was well worth the climb. Landscapes in the park are linked together by natural-looking architecture that you may not even notice on first glance. Viaducts spring from bluffs, and hallways rise elegantly against rough rock. In the center, wavy benches and staircases are decorated with perfectly-placed pieces of colorful, broken ceramic tiles. The pictures will do it more justice than we can with words.
Now, we are in Aix-en-Provence, and it is one of our last nights in France. I am actually (surprisingly) a little sad to say that. Aix-en-Provence is beautiful, quaint, and classy. It's a mini-Paris with nicer people, better markets, cuter boutiques, prettier fountains, etc. A chic little Provencal town. We had some of the best food of the trip (from markets and restaurants) on the last 2 days of the trip. Nevertheless, I must say that the number one thing we have learned in our 2 days in Provence is: You must wear a speedo to enter the pool. Let me explain. After a rough day of market-shopping and lounging in local cafes, we returned to our campsite a bit warm. Naturally, we decided to take a dip in the pool near our designated camp spot. We had only performed a couple cannonballs, when an 8-year-old obnoxious Irish antichrist disappears from the poolside where he had been scowling at us. He disappeared so quickly that we felt obligated to check the bottom of the pool to make sure the little shit hadn't drowned. He soon reappeared with the campsite manager (in her golf cart). She sternly told Ryan that he couldn't be in the pool because he had shorts on. "But they're swim trunks..." he protested, confused. There was a gruff French response of "Too LONG!" Ryan replied, "But they're above my knees?" To which, she responded, "No! Too long. Not sanitary. In the rules," and gestured to her high upper thigh. With a mixture of genuine confusion and forming anger (the little monster had gone all the way to the office to tell on us!!), we left the pool and looked at the "rules" posted near the pool. Sure enough, there was a picture of a pair of shorts with an X through them. The caption read, "For sanitary reasons." WHAT!? If you can think of the appropriate "sanitary reason" why swim trunks are not allowed in the pool, please let us know. Anyway, we followed that experience with a delicious salad-mixed-in-a-shopping-bag (we don't have a big bowl) from the market. Now, we sit outside our tent (in the site next to the Irish antichrist's...he continues to scowl at us, but now I glare back, and he seems to walk a little faster then...good. Haha.) Tomorrow we'll make the drive to Nice and enjoy our last city in France. Bon soir. More soon.
