The amount of fuck Israel signs and Palestinian flags we saw all around in Spain was truly remarkable. I did not know Spain officially recognized Palestine state in 2024. Well done. It was also so poetic to see all the fuck Israel signs on trash cans in barcelona – people knew their assignments 😆. Couple that with strong LGBTQ+ and trans rights, Spain literally is beautiful not just geographically but in hearts and minds. Truly special country.
Macro
I saw the finale of last of us season 2 on flight back and I do not regret not watching beyond episode 2. Felt absolutely insufferable and drab and nothing in story felt like it moved. Even the finale also I fast forwarded some parts. This show is so over at this point.
Dune part 1 has literally become my favorite in-flight movie. I saw the movie again flying in (and I have lost count of how many times I’ve watched it on flights now). Every fucking frame of this movie is a masterpiece. Not one second feels like it was wasted or not needed. Every frame is art. I don’t think Dune 2 came close to the absolute genius of Dune 1.
This time we really lucked out with Rover. Last two times we had folks over living at our place while we went on vacation and in the two years this has become very expensive and non-affordable anymore. So I reluctantly looked at Rover again and found an asian lady very close to our house. I did a trial night with her with my doggo as well as an initial visit with doggo to feel out the space. It was clear from get go that doggo was comfortable and happy. So we booked her for 2 and half weeks, and my god, my dog legit didn’t seem thrilled he was coming back with us! She is wonderful, and she kept doggo and others busy. Just based on how comfortable and happy doggo looked, this lady is a keeper! For my doggo to be so happy and almost unwilling to come back home after 2 and half weeks says a lot. Phew!
WoofyClub is an interesting concept however just littered with non serious people. The idea makes sense as a marketplace for helping out people within your location with pet boarding, and they return your favor or someone else does. Except, every single profile I have come across or message I have received has been about asking for help with “pet boarding” but not actually offering any. Some have breeds like Golden Retrievers, Huskies, GSDs and all, but their profile will clearly spell out that they don’t want to board a hair shedding dog. Talk about cognitive dissonance; you want me to board your heavy shedder but oh, you won’t be able to board my dog because he sheds? No wonder this app and business model is not picking up. And oh, desks galore all looking for that “free” boarding service hehe.
I was telling my wife yesterday that the highest compliment I can give a country is it feels like home. I felt this in Costa Rica, and Spain is the second country I had the same feeling no matter where we went. We landed back in DC last evening, and had the joy of seeing a white man giving the bird to the Uber driver mouthing abuses just as we were leaving the airport. Both wife and I looked at each other and went Ugh. Ugh just about describes everything I feel about this country anymore.
I am so done with “boutique” hotels. I booked this 4 star boutique hotel in Lisbon thinking why not try something different. Turned out to be worst hotel of this entire trip. I lost a shirt and even the way the front desk handled it here vs the way h10 hotel from Barcelona did over phone was just night and day difference – this place sucks and is going to get a nice little one star review soon.
Getting lost in Alfama trying to find our restaurant last night was probably the best thing to happen to us. We explored a city below the city it felt like and it was beautiful. The restaurant was good, but it was the walk around in Alfama at night that was more fun.
We took a 4 hour tuktuk tour of Lisbon this morning due to shortage of time and plans for Sintra tomorrow which were cancelled coz Sintra is closed because of risk of fires. The tuktuk tour was a fantastic way of seeing all the most important parts of Lisbon without the need of climbing up and down the steep hills, and we probably would have missed doing a few things. That said, except a few view points, Lisbon honestly is such a let down. Nothing about this city makes me want to come back any time soon – and it was another of my bucket list city.
We did quite a few day trips in spain too. Ranking my favorites in order:
- Setenil de las bodegas
- Segovia
- Toledo
- Zahara de La sierra
- Ronda