My busiest travel year ever! Final stats:

Trips: 35
Days:189
Distance: 94,515 mi
Cities: 45

When I was in Seattle last week, I made the point to go to the Experience Music Project because I’m a nerd for Frank Gehry designed buildings and I wanted to see the Nirvana exhibit. For those not familiar, the EMP is in Seattle Center, home of the Space Needle and the Bumbershoot fest that happens over Labor Day weekend each year.

I took a bunch of photos of the building…one of my faves (besides the one above):

I had been to the EMP before and was looking forward to seeing the guitar sculpture again:

Okay, it’s not just guitars, but it’s mostly guitars and it’s two stories high.

The Nirvana exhibit was a multi-media history of the band. Posters, photos, instruments, video, commentary from their peers, etc. My favorite things in the exhibit were definitely the In Utero angels, used on the album cover and as stage props while on tour:

The other thing about the exhibit that I thought was great was the music listening stations - ipods set up with tracks from the definitive albums from the Seattle scene, from Mudhoney to Bikini Kill to Soundgarden and even the soundtrack to Singles. A very well curated exhibit and a worthy way for any music fan to spend some time while in Seattle.

As part of my “go to all 50 states” initiative, I spent the last two days on the Empire Builder train from Chicago to Seattle. You travel over 2000 miles through Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho and then through Washington to get to Seattle.

As you travel out of Chicago, there is nothing really striking until you get to Milwaukee. There were a lot of old brick buildings, some of them abandoned. Then you see Brewers stadium - such a contrast with it’s modern design. As we headed west through Wisconsin, there were quite a bit of farms, but no obvious dairy farms, which I thought was kinda weird. Wisconsin was the first place we saw abandoned cars in fields, but it was not the last. Seems that they don’t have junkyards for cars, they abandon cars in fields. Quite a sight to see cars from decades ago just rusting away in a field. By nightfall, you are in Minnesota and stop in St. Paul for a bit. Then back on the trail west where the next major stop is Fargo. Once the sun rose in North Dakota, you were able to see the remains of all the flooding they have experienced. Some photos for reference:

(flooding near Devils Lake, ND)

(more flooding near Devils Lake, ND)

(Rugby, ND - the geographical center of North America)

We made a maintenance stop at the closed Minot station, which they were still cleaning up. Lots of mud all around and you could see the water lines on the houses around the station.

Next was Montana, which was beautifully boring. Miles and miles of farms and grain silos. Plus cell phone reception was super spotty, a problem we did not have before then. I was really bummed that our train was running so late because it meant that we would not see Glacier Park. Instead I slept and saw the shadows of huge mountains out the windows whenever I woke up.

(somewhere in Montana)

(somewhere else in Montana)

We travelled through a small sliver of Idaho and then by sunrise we were in Spokane. The route takes you along the Columbia River to the Rock Island Dam and then along the Wenatchee River (and Wenatchee, the Apple Capital of the World) through the Cascades. As you head west, you pass under the Cascades at Stephens Pass through the Cascades Tunnel, which at 7.8 miles is the longest in the U.S. After the tunnel, the train follows the Skykomish river, then the Puget Sound north of Seattle through Everett and Edmonds. The end of the line is King Street station which is adjacent to Seattle’s baseball stadium.

The train is definitely not for everyone, but I rather enjoyed the experience (even Montana now that I’ve had time to think about it). I don’t think I would take the same route again - though I would seriously consider the California Zephyr (Chicago to Northern CA) or the Chicago-Memphis-NOLA route.

I’ve been using TripIt to track my travel and I love it. One of its features is a handy tally of your travel. Here are my stats at the halfway mark.

Trips: 15
Days: 84
Distance: 47,916 mi
Cities: 27
Countries: 2

The last 24 hours have been a whirlwind. Last night I went on a short bus tour of Madrid which was great because it gave me a better sense of the central area. Plus I got to see some places I had no intention on seeking out. Then it was a visit to the Torres Bermejas - a flamenco dinner show. I lucked out and was seated with two couples, one from Australia and one from Delaware. We were all happy to be able to speak in English all night.

The flamenco show was fabulous - there were 4 lady flamenco dancers and one dude. They never danced together (maybe later in the show?) but it was quite a sight. There was an older lady dancer who was way saucy and put her castanets in her cleavage for a bit! Can’t wait to be able to post some of the photos when I return.

Today was the Reina Sofia, which houses Picasso’s “Guernica”. Seeing it was truly the pinnacle of all my art museum experiences. It was just absolutely stunning.

After the Reina Sofia (I saw a lot more there but am trying not to get bogged on the details), I headed to the Mercado San Miguel - a recently renovated upscale food market - think the Ferry Building in SF and that’s the vibe. Total love there and I was able to buy the rest of what I wanted there. Except olives to go…they only had plastic containers, not sturdy enough for a flight home.

And now I get to organize all this stuff so I can get out of here tomorrow. Making a detour in Chicago to see the reinstalled Chagall stained glass windows at the Art Institute. I’ll be back in SD on Saturday.

I’m on the home stretch and I’m feeling it. This morning I headed to “El Paseo del Arte” for some intense art viewing. I started at the Thyssen, one of Madrid’s trio of grand art museums. I knew I was on the verge of art burnout so I spent more time in the modern galleries where I especially enjoyed a Degas and a Lichtenstein.

Then it was off to The Prado. I used my guidebook’s “see everything in 2 hrs” recommendations which really made for a better experience. I could have stared at Velazquez’ “Las Meninas” forever. It completed one of my art full circles since I saw Picasso’s “Las Meninas” in Barcelona.

After some helado, I high tailed it out for some down time. Tonight, I am doing an evening walking tour and a Flamenco show. And tomorrow the Reina Sofia to see Guernica.

A pretty non-eventful day. Woke up too late to hit the mercats so I went with it and just lazed around before heading to the train station. Not a bad thing. So then the (mercifully) 3 hour ride to Madrid on the high speed train called AVE. The speed of train is posted and I saw it reach as high as 300 km/hr. The train to Madrid was pretty plush. Yes I am a train snob and I sprung for the highest class available (Club) but it was worth it. They served cava from the get go and your choice for lunch was veal or salmon. Not kidding around! My favorite part of meals here is the olive oil and red wine vinegar that you use for bread, salad dressing and extra seasoning. I so need to bring some home. During the train ride, they play a movie and for kicks I watched it even though it was dubbed in Spanish. I don’t think I would have suffered through “The A-Team” in English but in Spanish it was kinda fun.

So I am staying close to the airport because it’s the only Hilton here. This could be a bad idea but supposedly there is a shuttle downtown, wherever that is. I’m sure it will be fine. More adventures tomorrow.