Day 58
PARIS, FRANCE
First, HAPPY BIRTHDAY Charles!!! We remember last year..and the Egyptian night...what a night. Hope this birthday is as wonderful and colourful!!! xx
After recovering from our major event. Seeing the Eifel Tower we were outta our room on a tour of Paris. Took a sightseeing bus and saw all the major monuments. MONUMENTAL alright. Geepers...i was starting to wonder how amazed i could continue to be. Everywhere we go, is truly amazing. My jaw is just open, gobsmacked all the time.
Notre Dame.
We went inside and ok..neither of us are 'religious', spiritual yes, but not catholic which i always thought was the prerequisite for going into these wonderful cathedrals. But it's not. People respect you for your curiosity, for your interest, for your respect of the architecture, for the history..and for the potential faith that you may have.
So..we went in...and after admiring the huge leadlight windows...the gothic art and gargoyles (mainly outide on the roof and the flying butresses) and the sheer overwhelming size of hte cathedral...we saw the candles....
And we both thought of our parents. Not knowing whether people light these to say a prayer, or to rememember the passed, we thought we would like one each. For Greg's Mum. My Dad. It was special. Poignant. Greg has a different history to me, with him only in his twenties when his Mother died....and me with Dad, in his later years...and upon reflection with each other later i recalled what i was thinking when i lit the candle for Dad...
I thought of the last time we were in Church together. It was in the Anglican church that his parents, my Grandma and Grandpop helped to fund in Perth...Dad was so comical. So they were happy thoughts. Some of the things he said..ring in my ears, at the oddest moments!
Notre Dame is a very special chuch. There were two black priests singing and holding the mass...it was so enchanting. Their voices harmonised and echoed out in the cathedral enthralling and mesermerising everyone there...those taking mass and those inquisitives like us. We took heaps of pics of them.
Later, when we checked our photos...we could only see the white cloaks! No people! The backdrop was in dark iron and wood!
We did have a nervous giggle about that!
Afterwards we ate our supper..cos it was getting late and it wasn't dinner...could only call it supper....outside the cathedral, under the gargoyles!
Honestly, it's TRUE!!!!!
And dinner was yummy. Previously i'd been thinking, Who said Europe was expensive, because it's been so far really cheap..in Spain, in Portugal and southern France..but ohlala...Paris is EXPENSIVE! For supper..we had (shh don't tell our doctors...lots of cholesteral in this) cheese laden hotdogs and sheese and ham sandwiches, french fries, orange juice and icecreams after!!!!! All for thiry euros. And Euro wise....it's 1.5 Aussie dollars to the 1 euro!
We resolved to eat out of supermarkets for a week!!!!!
Next. THE LOUVRE.
Artist paridise. What a place. It's massive. We spent almost 7 hours there. Took heaps of pics.
The MONA LISA.
Now this is THE LOUVRES gem for sure. In the past i'd heard comments about Leonardo Da Vinci (Leonard de Vinci according to the plaque in France) and how small it was. In comparison to what they'd seen in books. So. I was expecting a really small painting. But it was actually bigger than i thought! A1 size. Talk about security. There was two security guards protecting it alone. With security guards in every corner of the room. It was housed behind bullet proof glass. Which was behind a table so people couldn't touch the glass. Which was behind a rail so people couldn't touch the table. The security guards set up another barrier in front of the wooden rail so people couldn't surge forward.
Da Vinci's other paintings were outside hanging on the wall. No special security, yet famous but not infamous.
Think it was an important painting?
I THINK SO.
More so since Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code. Greg saw this famous painting 20 years ago and it was not protected like this.
Thought of the Da Vinci Code and Sam. I gave this to him when he went to work in the Antarctic the year he turned 21. He loved the book, and the authors other books.
Rembrandts, Reubens, Renoirs, Rodin. Goya. All the European famous painters. And the French room...i just can't describe it all. I have a lot of my favourite paintings written down..and a lot of non flash pics taken of our favourites as well as some of the HUGE paintings....took pics just to reflect the sheer size of them.
Contemporary art missed out at the Louvre. Some, but not many. Mainly traditional painters.
Talk about incredible. We were in a maze, amazed. It was a maze too..we got lost so many times. What a HUGE place.
The next night we did have dinner at 'our favourite Paris restaurant' ... We found a beautiful place called Killy Jen!!
Oh dear....gets bad doesn't it. Got a favourite restaurant after 3 days. We are such homeless souls. Nowhere to call home.
Anyway...Paris was wonderful.
Got a little homesick here..thinking of the kids...and thinking mum would have loved the art galleries and the ceramics and just to be there..but i also thought...it would be a hard thing for older people....because having to climb all the steps and stairs would reduce being enjoy it (i took heaps of pics for you mum). I honestly have never seen so many stairs in one place. As in the Louvre. A sheer feat of human endurance just to see all the rooms and all the artwork and sculptures.
We can't wait to come back! Go to Moulin Roug. See Rodin and Picasso. Have a better look at the Opera House. See Brittany and Normandy and the wine areas..champagne, burgundy..ohhlala..and everywhere else we want to go..just generally absorb this whole French culture.
Perhaps we'll come back and live here for a year one day!!!!!!!! Like Mary Moody.
Anything's possible.
PS GO DOCKERS. You can do it. Adelaide. Easy peasy. AND..for Greg. And Andy. And Elise. And Sam! KEEP UP THE SPIRIT EAGLES!!!!! 5 straight wins...geeeeeepers...thank goodness they're my second team....and i can 'go for them' in the finals when and if the Dockers are knocked out. Which i doubt of course!
Sunday, 29 April 2007
ROMANTIC PARIS - EIFEL TOWER
Day 57
PARIS, FRANCE
After we arrived in Nimes we thought..well why the heck not, let's go to Paris. We'd already psyched ourselves up to go when we thought we were going...
So that night, the night on the train station as soon as we arrived in Nimes, we booked a 3 day ticket to Paris! THE city, approx 600km's away...that we nearly ended up in before we got our reprieve by the conductor with the big smile as he waved us off the day the express train to Paris stopped for little ol us!
It took only 3 hours away on a high speed train.
And after spending time in Nimes seeing the Place Des Arenas (the huge 2005 year old amphitheatre) which was absolutely spectacular..and experience Nimes, the medieval southern French town that we almost missed....we were off to the romantic Paris!
Left Nimes, was initiated into French food, chicken roll with french fries which we got takeway to eat on the train..
THEN. UH oh, more dramas. As only we have! When we got on the 'right train to Paris' we searched for our booked seats. And there was someone in them!! What? Get out! We thought and didn't verbalise. The frenchman defiantly got out his pass...and yep, he had the same seats.
What was wrong?????????
Gulp. We didn't double check the dates. We just assumed that 'tomorrow' was the next day. She must have heard TO MORROW as TWO. TWO DAYS AWAY. We got the wrong date. We were supposed to be leaving that day..but with the language barriers there was a slight communication breakdown............
Right seats, wrong day.
Bit like in Nimes...when we said we wanted wine - vino - WINE! (As we lifted our hands to our mouth with the drinking movement). And the waitress looked at us in horror..."WINE!" "What is WINE?"
Wine? In Paris. What is wine? GOSH.....wine is your honey..your drink...the english word every French waitress should know.....
Anyway....that's another story. We should also know french shouldn't we. Afterall, wine is english, vino is Spanish...what's wrong with us!
We arrived at the Blue Planet Hostel, after searching for somewhere to stay and thinking we didn't really want to be roamning around Paris at night! And believe me, when you make mistakes like us, and accidently go down French train station tunnels and see the homeless set up with tents between pillars you really get a bit nervous...especially when they're peering at you........
We were pretty lucky really, to get the accomodation. It was a twin, toilet and shower in the corridor, and basic...no sheets or towels or anything. But the guy did say we could hire sheets and towels (we had our own).
There was no electricity. The place had internet though, the only consolation. And breakfast was included in the 63 Euro a night (because we had three beds, a bunk and another single!)...Really, the place that Lonely Planet recommends..is a total rip off. Due to the demand, they can ask their price.
All the accomodation recommended by Lonely Planet all of a sudden costs more. I wonder why. Well. Wouldn't you if your hostel was advertised in the Travellers Bible. Mental note. Don't go anywhere recommended by them. Find our own in future. It's cheaper. As we found out when we were booking for our return in a couple of months.
AND, it was a place to sleep, it was the weekend and it's 2 minutes from the railway station. And everywhere else was booked. Hostels don't take bookings. And the next night it all got a bit better. We were shifted to another room with toilet and shower (douch and wc) were included in the room.
The first thing we did in Paris (gosh, still can't believe we were in PARIS!!!!!) was to............see the EIFEL TOWER. Of course!!!!!!!!!
So off we go..maps in hand. A quicky prasy of where we were and how to get there (well, not so quick..long for Greg, quick for me cos i just watched while he navigated!) And....ohlala...we find the place where Moulin Roug was playing. Quick stop. Can we get in? We line up. Hopeful. Found we were in the line that was for a broadcast advertising thing that the people had to register prior for (according to the gorgeous helpful Frenchman in front of us) and so...back to another line....geepers...we act like sheep sometimes!
We found out it was booked for months...so we will book ahead for when we get back here in a couple of months!
So....off to the EIFEL TOWER.
Ohhhhh....we charged along the beautiful streets, soaked ourselves with the atmosphere and ambience of France..Paris...and walked the Champs Elysees...looked at all the monuments..dodged the cars....took in the view of the River Seine......got overwhelmed by everything French..looked beyond the carefully cultivated hedges..and...
THERE IT WAS!! Peaking out....from over the bridge and across the river...and past the ferries on the Seine.
Ohhhhhhh.
The Eifel Tower. The alluring Eifel Tower. The tower that I was to stand on with Elise when she was 15.
I thought so much of her.....(hi Elise my gorgeous, i know you're reading this!) and.......well.......Greg and i just took it in. And took pictures at every step as we moved closer. I got tears. Sounds weird. I mean..why was this so important? I dunno. Just always wanted to see it....since i arrived in the UK when i was 15 and knew France was just 'over there' from England. Just wanted to get here..and it took me a further 30 years (ok not quite) to get to Paris. To see the Tower. To see the Louvre. To breath in French air.
As we approached the tower...and took more pics..looked at the sillohuette on the river.....there it was...lighting up before us. How perfect could this be? Weather just beautiful....and the night equisite.
Then..it started twinkling...at exactly 9pm every light on the tower twinkled. We just loved it.
Fancy seeing the Tower like that. It was so romantic. We kissed. Ohhh......
Then he asked me to marry him.....
And i said yes!
So. We're getting married in Las Vegas...ohhhh
THEN
We got to the Tower. Lined up for 45 mintutes (just like you did Cazza..same sign i reckon..i took a pic so we can compare when we get home!) Booked our ticket for the top tower (of course....!) and we fought the crowds to get in the lift...and away we went. Gustave Eifels amazing tower had us onboard, very excited. We were in awe. It's a manmade wonder of the world alright. Very maginficant. Very worthwhile. And well..magical in a way. We spend until closing time on the tower ... and somehow managed to drum up some energy after our adventurous day and got the stairs down the second level. Didn't climb up cos the stairs had closed after 6pm to the second level (that's our excuse anyway) BUT we did climb down.
Magical night. Lights of Paris staring at us on a perfect, clear night. What a night to be asked for a second time to get married. Oh dear. Who wants to meet us in Vegas for the wedding?
The trip home, around screaming french cars, on trains, fighting people at odd hours, eating dinner from a scary, deserted underground vending machine, scattered with homeless and knowing we just had to move, fast, outta there, and falling into bed at 2.30am was worth it.
We saw the TOWER. FINALLY. And yes Elise..it's something you and David should see together, and yes Cazza i can see why your night there with Keith was romantic..it's a place for lovers. Especially at night.
Our first night in Paris.
Still can't believe it.
PARIS, FRANCE
After we arrived in Nimes we thought..well why the heck not, let's go to Paris. We'd already psyched ourselves up to go when we thought we were going...
So that night, the night on the train station as soon as we arrived in Nimes, we booked a 3 day ticket to Paris! THE city, approx 600km's away...that we nearly ended up in before we got our reprieve by the conductor with the big smile as he waved us off the day the express train to Paris stopped for little ol us!
It took only 3 hours away on a high speed train.
And after spending time in Nimes seeing the Place Des Arenas (the huge 2005 year old amphitheatre) which was absolutely spectacular..and experience Nimes, the medieval southern French town that we almost missed....we were off to the romantic Paris!
Left Nimes, was initiated into French food, chicken roll with french fries which we got takeway to eat on the train..
THEN. UH oh, more dramas. As only we have! When we got on the 'right train to Paris' we searched for our booked seats. And there was someone in them!! What? Get out! We thought and didn't verbalise. The frenchman defiantly got out his pass...and yep, he had the same seats.
What was wrong?????????
Gulp. We didn't double check the dates. We just assumed that 'tomorrow' was the next day. She must have heard TO MORROW as TWO. TWO DAYS AWAY. We got the wrong date. We were supposed to be leaving that day..but with the language barriers there was a slight communication breakdown............
Right seats, wrong day.
Bit like in Nimes...when we said we wanted wine - vino - WINE! (As we lifted our hands to our mouth with the drinking movement). And the waitress looked at us in horror..."WINE!" "What is WINE?"
Wine? In Paris. What is wine? GOSH.....wine is your honey..your drink...the english word every French waitress should know.....
Anyway....that's another story. We should also know french shouldn't we. Afterall, wine is english, vino is Spanish...what's wrong with us!
We arrived at the Blue Planet Hostel, after searching for somewhere to stay and thinking we didn't really want to be roamning around Paris at night! And believe me, when you make mistakes like us, and accidently go down French train station tunnels and see the homeless set up with tents between pillars you really get a bit nervous...especially when they're peering at you........
We were pretty lucky really, to get the accomodation. It was a twin, toilet and shower in the corridor, and basic...no sheets or towels or anything. But the guy did say we could hire sheets and towels (we had our own).
There was no electricity. The place had internet though, the only consolation. And breakfast was included in the 63 Euro a night (because we had three beds, a bunk and another single!)...Really, the place that Lonely Planet recommends..is a total rip off. Due to the demand, they can ask their price.
All the accomodation recommended by Lonely Planet all of a sudden costs more. I wonder why. Well. Wouldn't you if your hostel was advertised in the Travellers Bible. Mental note. Don't go anywhere recommended by them. Find our own in future. It's cheaper. As we found out when we were booking for our return in a couple of months.
AND, it was a place to sleep, it was the weekend and it's 2 minutes from the railway station. And everywhere else was booked. Hostels don't take bookings. And the next night it all got a bit better. We were shifted to another room with toilet and shower (douch and wc) were included in the room.
The first thing we did in Paris (gosh, still can't believe we were in PARIS!!!!!) was to............see the EIFEL TOWER. Of course!!!!!!!!!
So off we go..maps in hand. A quicky prasy of where we were and how to get there (well, not so quick..long for Greg, quick for me cos i just watched while he navigated!) And....ohlala...we find the place where Moulin Roug was playing. Quick stop. Can we get in? We line up. Hopeful. Found we were in the line that was for a broadcast advertising thing that the people had to register prior for (according to the gorgeous helpful Frenchman in front of us) and so...back to another line....geepers...we act like sheep sometimes!
We found out it was booked for months...so we will book ahead for when we get back here in a couple of months!
So....off to the EIFEL TOWER.
Ohhhhh....we charged along the beautiful streets, soaked ourselves with the atmosphere and ambience of France..Paris...and walked the Champs Elysees...looked at all the monuments..dodged the cars....took in the view of the River Seine......got overwhelmed by everything French..looked beyond the carefully cultivated hedges..and...
THERE IT WAS!! Peaking out....from over the bridge and across the river...and past the ferries on the Seine.
Ohhhhhhh.
The Eifel Tower. The alluring Eifel Tower. The tower that I was to stand on with Elise when she was 15.
I thought so much of her.....(hi Elise my gorgeous, i know you're reading this!) and.......well.......Greg and i just took it in. And took pictures at every step as we moved closer. I got tears. Sounds weird. I mean..why was this so important? I dunno. Just always wanted to see it....since i arrived in the UK when i was 15 and knew France was just 'over there' from England. Just wanted to get here..and it took me a further 30 years (ok not quite) to get to Paris. To see the Tower. To see the Louvre. To breath in French air.
As we approached the tower...and took more pics..looked at the sillohuette on the river.....there it was...lighting up before us. How perfect could this be? Weather just beautiful....and the night equisite.
Then..it started twinkling...at exactly 9pm every light on the tower twinkled. We just loved it.
Fancy seeing the Tower like that. It was so romantic. We kissed. Ohhh......
Then he asked me to marry him.....
And i said yes!
So. We're getting married in Las Vegas...ohhhh
THEN
We got to the Tower. Lined up for 45 mintutes (just like you did Cazza..same sign i reckon..i took a pic so we can compare when we get home!) Booked our ticket for the top tower (of course....!) and we fought the crowds to get in the lift...and away we went. Gustave Eifels amazing tower had us onboard, very excited. We were in awe. It's a manmade wonder of the world alright. Very maginficant. Very worthwhile. And well..magical in a way. We spend until closing time on the tower ... and somehow managed to drum up some energy after our adventurous day and got the stairs down the second level. Didn't climb up cos the stairs had closed after 6pm to the second level (that's our excuse anyway) BUT we did climb down.
Magical night. Lights of Paris staring at us on a perfect, clear night. What a night to be asked for a second time to get married. Oh dear. Who wants to meet us in Vegas for the wedding?
The trip home, around screaming french cars, on trains, fighting people at odd hours, eating dinner from a scary, deserted underground vending machine, scattered with homeless and knowing we just had to move, fast, outta there, and falling into bed at 2.30am was worth it.
We saw the TOWER. FINALLY. And yes Elise..it's something you and David should see together, and yes Cazza i can see why your night there with Keith was romantic..it's a place for lovers. Especially at night.
Our first night in Paris.
Still can't believe it.
Friday, 27 April 2007
THREE DAYS IN PARIS!!!!
PARIS, FRANCE
Day 56
We're here!
Will write more later..don't ask why we're here..but we ARE! For 3 days only!!!! hehe
Day 56
We're here!
Will write more later..don't ask why we're here..but we ARE! For 3 days only!!!! hehe
NIMES
Nimes, Southern France
Day 55 ANZAC DAY 25th April 2007
Cesar Hotel, Nimes
The train left at 8.10am from laTour de Carol so off we headed, fresh beautiful french morning, stomachs filled with french sticks, fresh orange juice and espresso.
The train was absolutely quaint! A old electric 'steam' train that was going on the scenic route to Villa de Franche. Fast flowing rivers, ruins, greenery, pastures, blossoms...so french!
Changed trains to Perpignan. We stopped us 20km out of town due to security threat. We were rounded up, and ushered to a connecting bus to the Perpignan Station. Security guards and military met us at the station...we got tickets straight out, no question of staying. And we didn't ask any questions.
Organised a ticket to Montpellier via Nice. BUT! We overran Montpellier!!!! Somehow we thought we'd be smart and catch it directly to Nimes as we saw it was on the way....BUT.....
When the conducter came around....we found out the train was an express train. Direct to PARIS. 600km's away.
What to do?
WHAT could we do?
Stay on the train.
We'd resolved we were going to PARIS...yay. And we got excited. Non tourist season. We could see the Eifel Tower without the July crowds......it might be good. We're on Eurail, we can go on any train for 24 hours so why not go...and come back the next day...yeah WHY NOT!!!!!! I was going to see the Eifel Tower............was about to message Elise to tell her we were going......yeahhhhhhhh.........my dream, to stand on top of the Eifel Tower with Elise....(on her 15th birthday..and now she's 20! hehe)
And now....i'm going to do it with Greg!!! Yes! LOOK OUT!
THEN........the train stoppped at Nimes! I ran out...looked. Why was it stopping?
Comotion.
The conductor was running down the train isle. Lady on mobile phone at the door opening, me there looking out to see whether we could get out..just in case it was for us...but nah..surely not...
"GET OFF" the conductor yelled at us!
We scooped up our luggage.....and out we went...the lady on the mobile phone flowing out as well, distracted..by her talking on the phone..."No no!" the couducter admonished her.
We were off the train!
IN NIMES!
We held up an express train to Paris!
Nimes: Spent the day at Place Des Arenas....
Sorry , will have to write more when im not on an upside down, inside out Euro keyboqrd;;;thqtùs not asdf§§!!!!!!
Day 55 ANZAC DAY 25th April 2007
Cesar Hotel, Nimes
The train left at 8.10am from laTour de Carol so off we headed, fresh beautiful french morning, stomachs filled with french sticks, fresh orange juice and espresso.
The train was absolutely quaint! A old electric 'steam' train that was going on the scenic route to Villa de Franche. Fast flowing rivers, ruins, greenery, pastures, blossoms...so french!
Changed trains to Perpignan. We stopped us 20km out of town due to security threat. We were rounded up, and ushered to a connecting bus to the Perpignan Station. Security guards and military met us at the station...we got tickets straight out, no question of staying. And we didn't ask any questions.
Organised a ticket to Montpellier via Nice. BUT! We overran Montpellier!!!! Somehow we thought we'd be smart and catch it directly to Nimes as we saw it was on the way....BUT.....
When the conducter came around....we found out the train was an express train. Direct to PARIS. 600km's away.
What to do?
WHAT could we do?
Stay on the train.
We'd resolved we were going to PARIS...yay. And we got excited. Non tourist season. We could see the Eifel Tower without the July crowds......it might be good. We're on Eurail, we can go on any train for 24 hours so why not go...and come back the next day...yeah WHY NOT!!!!!! I was going to see the Eifel Tower............was about to message Elise to tell her we were going......yeahhhhhhhh.........my dream, to stand on top of the Eifel Tower with Elise....(on her 15th birthday..and now she's 20! hehe)
And now....i'm going to do it with Greg!!! Yes! LOOK OUT!
THEN........the train stoppped at Nimes! I ran out...looked. Why was it stopping?
Comotion.
The conductor was running down the train isle. Lady on mobile phone at the door opening, me there looking out to see whether we could get out..just in case it was for us...but nah..surely not...
"GET OFF" the conductor yelled at us!
We scooped up our luggage.....and out we went...the lady on the mobile phone flowing out as well, distracted..by her talking on the phone..."No no!" the couducter admonished her.
We were off the train!
IN NIMES!
We held up an express train to Paris!
Nimes: Spent the day at Place Des Arenas....
Sorry , will have to write more when im not on an upside down, inside out Euro keyboqrd;;;thqtùs not asdf§§!!!!!!
ANDORRA and the CALDEA SPA
Andorra
Independent country on the border of Spain and France
Day 54
What a drama getting to Andorra!!!!
The french hostess at the Mirasol tried to organise a bus for us in the morning and she said it left at 9am but didn't know what time it returned.
We got to the bus stop and the Spanish bus driver said, 'Si, Andorra! Hospitalate" So off we went. But we didn't know we had to change busses at Hospitalate before we got to Andorra. Luckily the bus driver was kind! He stopped the bus, on a clifftop after talking on his mobile, and intercepted the other bus going to Andorra. He literally got out of the bus and led us over the steep cliff road and waited for another bus to come, loaded us on and said, " ciao ". We said, "Muchos Gracias!"
On our way to Andorra!
Once in Andorra we headed for the Tourist Office..and found out we had to catch another bus to Andorra le Villa which is the central part of Andorra. And once there, we found out about Peta's spa. Caldea. It's the biggest spa bath in Europe. It looked beautiful. But would it be crowded?
Walked along the man made fast flowing river, from the snow, medieval buildings...
We arrived, me in a bit of trepidation really. I didn't know what to expect, how we go about things, what exactly it was. Greg was excited. It's his thing, being pampered! Once inside, my trepidation turned to fear. I got lost in this huge complex trying to find a toilet!!! There were more than a thousand showers, no toilets. A person needs a toilet after travelling from another country! haha. Gawd...
Once i got over the feeling i just wanted out of there..and no one being able to speak English...and found what i needed, i got lead back to Greg in one of those thousand showers, went through the cleansing process we entered the spa...
AND IT WAS WONDERFUL! 3 hours of complete relaxation in the roman baths....hot sauna, spas, jets, towers of water...and bathing in warm water with beautiful music (enya) in the background, overlooking the Pyreness mountains...ohh...everything you could imagine but on a very grand scale...go to www.caldea.com to see it...
On the way home, we got checked by customs in case we were smuggling alcohol and cigarettes...i was so glad we didn't buy the bottle of whiskey we saw for 1.95!
It was so worth it....dinner was late....but it was a fulfilling, glorious day...
Independent country on the border of Spain and France
Day 54
What a drama getting to Andorra!!!!
The french hostess at the Mirasol tried to organise a bus for us in the morning and she said it left at 9am but didn't know what time it returned.
We got to the bus stop and the Spanish bus driver said, 'Si, Andorra! Hospitalate" So off we went. But we didn't know we had to change busses at Hospitalate before we got to Andorra. Luckily the bus driver was kind! He stopped the bus, on a clifftop after talking on his mobile, and intercepted the other bus going to Andorra. He literally got out of the bus and led us over the steep cliff road and waited for another bus to come, loaded us on and said, " ciao ". We said, "Muchos Gracias!"
On our way to Andorra!
Once in Andorra we headed for the Tourist Office..and found out we had to catch another bus to Andorra le Villa which is the central part of Andorra. And once there, we found out about Peta's spa. Caldea. It's the biggest spa bath in Europe. It looked beautiful. But would it be crowded?
Walked along the man made fast flowing river, from the snow, medieval buildings...
We arrived, me in a bit of trepidation really. I didn't know what to expect, how we go about things, what exactly it was. Greg was excited. It's his thing, being pampered! Once inside, my trepidation turned to fear. I got lost in this huge complex trying to find a toilet!!! There were more than a thousand showers, no toilets. A person needs a toilet after travelling from another country! haha. Gawd...
Once i got over the feeling i just wanted out of there..and no one being able to speak English...and found what i needed, i got lead back to Greg in one of those thousand showers, went through the cleansing process we entered the spa...
AND IT WAS WONDERFUL! 3 hours of complete relaxation in the roman baths....hot sauna, spas, jets, towers of water...and bathing in warm water with beautiful music (enya) in the background, overlooking the Pyreness mountains...ohh...everything you could imagine but on a very grand scale...go to www.caldea.com to see it...
On the way home, we got checked by customs in case we were smuggling alcohol and cigarettes...i was so glad we didn't buy the bottle of whiskey we saw for 1.95!
It was so worth it....dinner was late....but it was a fulfilling, glorious day...
BARCELONA - LA TOUR DE CAROL
Day 53
Mirasol
La Tour de Carol, France
We were so excited to be going to France! Off to Nice! That was our plan...
Left hostel in Barcelona early, to go to Post Office to send stuff from Spain home (mum, should get there soon, just brochures and stuff sent to us!) and caught the train to La Tour de Carol, on our way to Nice. We didn't know how far we'd get but we were on our way.
We caught two metros to get to the train and hopped on, using eurail, then the train broke down, so we changed trains and landed at THE SPOT. To find there were no trains out to Perpignan which was on our way to Nice! So....we fumbled around for an hour wondering what to do because everything here was closed! It's off tourist season. Went to the tourist office, closed. Hotel next to the station, closed.
So off we trekked, adorned with backpacks and frontpacks! We saw a sign saying there was ONE hotel open and we were already prepared to use this an an emergency fund trip where we weren't going to worry about the price..what else would we do? We had already listened to three young American girls at the station using terms like, "What a sleeper town!" We used tin pot town as our description!
Another couple looked for the camping area, which we saw on our way to the hotel. We have sleeping bags, sheets, towels and cups and cutlery...BUT NO TENT! So that wasn't an option....especially not when you can see snow capped mountains and it was a bit frosty!
We saw signs leading UP to the hotel. No kidding.....70 odd stone steps up.....geepers. We're well and truly getting fit, cos we went up, no problem!
And....ohhhhhh the Mirasol Hotel was so quaint and the backdrop was just beautiful. And cheap. 38 Euro per night. We booked dinner and breakfast too!
And what a GORGEOUS two nights stay........the leaves were just forming on the trees, blossoms, snow and ice on the hills, white snow peaks on the Pyrenees Mountains that surrounded the Mirasol, friendly French couple running the hotel...(which was also a half pensione and pub as well). Ducks wondering on the roads, friendly cats, tulips and irisis on the local garden fronts, friendly local people saying, "Bonsieur".
And even tho it was a little frosty, when sheltered the weather was equisite. How lucky were we?
The food was yummy too..salads, spaghetti bolognaise and carbonara served french style...(with elegance)...and wine that really was not as good as the spanish we'd had! Bread sticks for breakfast!
It was a two day paradise.
We enquired about going to Andorra...which is a little independent country that Peta had recommended (Greg's step sister). She told us, via her mum, Margie, it had a wonderful spa..and who were we to not take up a suggestion to have a spa. Even though I was a little cautious, thinking it might be crowded.
So on day two of being at the Mirasol we decided to go to ANDORRA!!!!
But! How to get there?
Mirasol
La Tour de Carol, France
We were so excited to be going to France! Off to Nice! That was our plan...
Left hostel in Barcelona early, to go to Post Office to send stuff from Spain home (mum, should get there soon, just brochures and stuff sent to us!) and caught the train to La Tour de Carol, on our way to Nice. We didn't know how far we'd get but we were on our way.
We caught two metros to get to the train and hopped on, using eurail, then the train broke down, so we changed trains and landed at THE SPOT. To find there were no trains out to Perpignan which was on our way to Nice! So....we fumbled around for an hour wondering what to do because everything here was closed! It's off tourist season. Went to the tourist office, closed. Hotel next to the station, closed.
So off we trekked, adorned with backpacks and frontpacks! We saw a sign saying there was ONE hotel open and we were already prepared to use this an an emergency fund trip where we weren't going to worry about the price..what else would we do? We had already listened to three young American girls at the station using terms like, "What a sleeper town!" We used tin pot town as our description!
Another couple looked for the camping area, which we saw on our way to the hotel. We have sleeping bags, sheets, towels and cups and cutlery...BUT NO TENT! So that wasn't an option....especially not when you can see snow capped mountains and it was a bit frosty!
We saw signs leading UP to the hotel. No kidding.....70 odd stone steps up.....geepers. We're well and truly getting fit, cos we went up, no problem!
And....ohhhhhh the Mirasol Hotel was so quaint and the backdrop was just beautiful. And cheap. 38 Euro per night. We booked dinner and breakfast too!
And what a GORGEOUS two nights stay........the leaves were just forming on the trees, blossoms, snow and ice on the hills, white snow peaks on the Pyrenees Mountains that surrounded the Mirasol, friendly French couple running the hotel...(which was also a half pensione and pub as well). Ducks wondering on the roads, friendly cats, tulips and irisis on the local garden fronts, friendly local people saying, "Bonsieur".
And even tho it was a little frosty, when sheltered the weather was equisite. How lucky were we?
The food was yummy too..salads, spaghetti bolognaise and carbonara served french style...(with elegance)...and wine that really was not as good as the spanish we'd had! Bread sticks for breakfast!
It was a two day paradise.
We enquired about going to Andorra...which is a little independent country that Peta had recommended (Greg's step sister). She told us, via her mum, Margie, it had a wonderful spa..and who were we to not take up a suggestion to have a spa. Even though I was a little cautious, thinking it might be crowded.
So on day two of being at the Mirasol we decided to go to ANDORRA!!!!
But! How to get there?
Monday, 23 April 2007
SPAIN, THE FOOD, THE PEOPLE!
We´ve loved being in Barcelona. Loved being in Spain, in the Iberian Peninsula.
After a few hiccups in the old cultural and at times arrogant Madrid, a place with smoking cafe´s and tapas, a spiritual awakening in Santiago de Compestela, an enlightening stop in medieval Seville, we´ve come to the beautiful Port Barcelona and are about to leave it...knowing that maybe we won´t be returning, but maybe we will.
How many people always want to return to Spain. I know many do. And we do..if time and situation allows. It´s just that kind of place. And for me, Spain is the first European place i´ve been to, so it will always be special. I won´t include Portugal here because...that deserves it´s own reflection.
Seeing the bullfight in Madrid and Flamenco in Seville have been special.
In Barcelona, we´ve seen the harbour, experienced the old, ingrown culture that is part of Spain, learned about the wonderful artists and turbulent history and just tried to absorb what is sometimes a place of medieval mystery, yet other times a place that has a clarity and freshness about it that defies words.
Wé´ve heard the ambulance sirens sounding off, about every half hour, alerting to us to the Road Scooter injuries and deaths. Listened to buskers in the metro, museums, parks playing Patchables Canon, reminding us of our special day and the red carpet at Cotts Civic Centre. Admired the hooks on the buildings that carry furniture up 6 storeys. Scorned the grafitti, even on our front hostal door. Smelled the stench of drains. Breathed the refreshing ocean smells. Felt the claustophobia of metros. Saw the thousands of cured Jamon legs hanging from cafe windows.
We´ve been surprised with the information that Barcelona Harbour has the biggest freezer in Europe. The Harbour. I could go on. The bridge, the restaurants, the shops and most of all the fantastic boats that are moored there. Magical.
The food has been delectable. The tapas, which we have experienced in every place, even though very GOOD in Seville, were very nice here. Certainly a variety here. Yet expensive. As was the Sangria which you can buy in a supermarket for a third of the price as that in a restaurant.
The caramel crunch biscuit which we ate at the harbour, then had to run back to get two more of were TO DIE FOR. They were sort of like a butterscotch snap (not the drink, the biscuit!) only better! OH YUM. With chocolate on of course.
Jamon (ham) and queso (cheese) have been something we´ve eaten regularly. Breakfast, lunch and dinner!!! Vino Tinto rioja rates a mention. Good red wine! Oh, and the donuts. Who could forget them. They have a different texture to Aussie ones, soft and fluffy and not so sweet. Very noiice. Wé´ve also sampled the icecreams that are not as good as Seville but the waffle smell SO GOOD. Wafts down the street just capture your senses! The Paella. Mostly eaten in Madrid, but also experienced here, could maybe be better...
And we´ve seen the modernisation of the city. The design of the city infrastructure is cleverly laid out. The cycle ways, the metro, road systems, cable way, buildings and museums. Post 1992 Olympics i know there´s been great developments but it´s also a city of progress that doesn´t seem to be going to stop.
Of course i have to mention Gaudi´s Sagrada Familia again. I´d love to see the huge tower in the middle at it´s completion, in about 30 years. Wouldn´t that be a dream?
The people have been really friendly here too. In the shops, restaurants and in tourist spots. There´s a more jovial sense of humour not seen in other parts of Spain. In just this hostal alone, Mario, the spanish who was schooled in Virginia, has been really helpful and friendly, as has his wife.
Our senses have been assaulted. And we´re about to leave.
Goodbye Barcelona, goodbye Spain.
PS CONGRATULATIONS to the MIGHTY DOCKERS on their win against Melbourne!! :-)
After a few hiccups in the old cultural and at times arrogant Madrid, a place with smoking cafe´s and tapas, a spiritual awakening in Santiago de Compestela, an enlightening stop in medieval Seville, we´ve come to the beautiful Port Barcelona and are about to leave it...knowing that maybe we won´t be returning, but maybe we will.
How many people always want to return to Spain. I know many do. And we do..if time and situation allows. It´s just that kind of place. And for me, Spain is the first European place i´ve been to, so it will always be special. I won´t include Portugal here because...that deserves it´s own reflection.
Seeing the bullfight in Madrid and Flamenco in Seville have been special.
In Barcelona, we´ve seen the harbour, experienced the old, ingrown culture that is part of Spain, learned about the wonderful artists and turbulent history and just tried to absorb what is sometimes a place of medieval mystery, yet other times a place that has a clarity and freshness about it that defies words.
Wé´ve heard the ambulance sirens sounding off, about every half hour, alerting to us to the Road Scooter injuries and deaths. Listened to buskers in the metro, museums, parks playing Patchables Canon, reminding us of our special day and the red carpet at Cotts Civic Centre. Admired the hooks on the buildings that carry furniture up 6 storeys. Scorned the grafitti, even on our front hostal door. Smelled the stench of drains. Breathed the refreshing ocean smells. Felt the claustophobia of metros. Saw the thousands of cured Jamon legs hanging from cafe windows.
We´ve been surprised with the information that Barcelona Harbour has the biggest freezer in Europe. The Harbour. I could go on. The bridge, the restaurants, the shops and most of all the fantastic boats that are moored there. Magical.
The food has been delectable. The tapas, which we have experienced in every place, even though very GOOD in Seville, were very nice here. Certainly a variety here. Yet expensive. As was the Sangria which you can buy in a supermarket for a third of the price as that in a restaurant.
The caramel crunch biscuit which we ate at the harbour, then had to run back to get two more of were TO DIE FOR. They were sort of like a butterscotch snap (not the drink, the biscuit!) only better! OH YUM. With chocolate on of course.
Jamon (ham) and queso (cheese) have been something we´ve eaten regularly. Breakfast, lunch and dinner!!! Vino Tinto rioja rates a mention. Good red wine! Oh, and the donuts. Who could forget them. They have a different texture to Aussie ones, soft and fluffy and not so sweet. Very noiice. Wé´ve also sampled the icecreams that are not as good as Seville but the waffle smell SO GOOD. Wafts down the street just capture your senses! The Paella. Mostly eaten in Madrid, but also experienced here, could maybe be better...
And we´ve seen the modernisation of the city. The design of the city infrastructure is cleverly laid out. The cycle ways, the metro, road systems, cable way, buildings and museums. Post 1992 Olympics i know there´s been great developments but it´s also a city of progress that doesn´t seem to be going to stop.
Of course i have to mention Gaudi´s Sagrada Familia again. I´d love to see the huge tower in the middle at it´s completion, in about 30 years. Wouldn´t that be a dream?
The people have been really friendly here too. In the shops, restaurants and in tourist spots. There´s a more jovial sense of humour not seen in other parts of Spain. In just this hostal alone, Mario, the spanish who was schooled in Virginia, has been really helpful and friendly, as has his wife.
Our senses have been assaulted. And we´re about to leave.
Goodbye Barcelona, goodbye Spain.
PS CONGRATULATIONS to the MIGHTY DOCKERS on their win against Melbourne!! :-)
I WONDER WHAT THEY WERE ON?
Catalunya,
Barcelona, SPAIN
Day 52
Hiya´s!
You´re probably asking why i said, ¨What are they on?¨ well...it´s because after a day of Gaudi and Picasso, this was the question that was formulating in my mind! They were so futuristic in their thoughts and endeavours...and well, i´ll tell you later what we saw at the Picasso exhibition, called Picasso´s Museu. Mind Boggling.
When we did finally get out yesterday we headed straight for Gaudi´s Temple - El Tempo de la Sagrada - which is about 2km´s from where we´re staying. I was feeling so good we decided to walk rather than catch the metro.
Not sure if that was such a good idea because just looking through his temple was quite a feat. If we thought the facade was amazing, with it´s spiers and fruit in the knaves and unique architecture that was just mind blowing, the INSIDE was even more amazing!
It looked like a forest! The columns that hold up the incredible spiers look like trees and the ceiling is reminiscent of leaves! He´s awesome. Of course, his love is nature and the natural environment and all his work is inspired by this, so the way it actually looks is nothing short of...well, a forest in architecture. There were models of his beloved Sagrada Familia which were so intricate and detailed and you just have to think what a briliant mind this man was.
He spent the last 14 years of his life totally fixated on building this temple, devoting his life and soul to it. He was such a religious man, so full of faith and wanting to honour God that you could really see it in this incredible building. An inspiration. He even used lead gun pellets in bags on strings to create the stress levels and angles for his spiers. He then took photos and inverted them so he calculate these levels and see how the towers would look. Such a perfectionist. All built on donations from the people.
A lot of his work was unfinished before he died. His dreams were beyond money. He would have seen some of it started but not completed. Today, we went to the Gaull Park which he designed and started builing from 1900 to 1914 when it was stopped due to lack of money. And it´s just as amazing as the Sagrada Familia. The thing that is really great is that his work is NOW being finished.
His use of ceramics, both in his Park and his Sagrada Familia is just amazing. What words do i use to describe his genius? The colour that peaks through the broken tiles at just the right angles in just the right places is just design at it´s best. Who could ever think of the colours and the shapes and the way he implemented birds, fruits, trees, colour, animals and just the wonderment of nature into his work.
We also saw where he lived, which is in the Gaull Park (named after an English Park because was, originally what it was supposed to have been until it later changed) and we learned that he was a furniture designer as well, winning awards for some of his furniture.
He was the first person to actually desgin and build furniture that was ergonomic! What an amazing man! We really were enthralled by his work. So much more i could tell about him too, but i won´t bore you with all the details because really, unless you are there, it doesn´t mean as much as perhaps hearing about it.
One thing i have learned is ´being there, is everything´. I have learned about all this history and historical people, but it´s only now that i realise it´s all real. Being there helps tie it all in..it clicks. The written word becomes real. It´s just wonderful to actually see it all.
I sometimes wish i´d been to Europe when i was younger so i could have a better understanding of the world, but it´s only now that i think i can truly appreciate what we´re seeing. It´ll be interesing to revisit London after being there when i was 15 because that made an impact for the rest of my life, but i don´t think i truly appreciated the history back then.
OK Picasso. When we were in the El Prado in Madrid we saw Picasso´s work. A lot of it, becuase they have quite an extensive collection there and we were very impressed. BUT. To go to Picasso´s Museu here, one dedicated purely to Picasso, is a revelation! There are works there that we just never thought we´d see and only someone with an imagination could think up the themes he did.
It was SO FASCINATING.
As we know he is known as a surrealist, cubist. But what we didn´t know was that he was so young when he started, 15 when he ´came out´in the art world, thanks to his father who was a teacher in the fine arts, and also the fact that he was so diverse in his skills as an artist, not unlike Gaudi who touched on a lot of areas of design.
Picasso was born in 1881 and what a life he had. His personal life was just weird in my impression. He had wives and mistresses and kids from different women and just seemed to live the life of a gypsy artist! I guess he was just a free spirit. But offbeat, whacky and slightly insane as well, as we could see in his art. Well, i´m not sure insane is the word but eccentric and with a touch of the deviat!
He started off as a portraitist. At 15 he did a lot of work for the art schools he was in, in Barcelona, before he headed off to Paris later on. He seemed to always come back to Barcelona, where his mother and father both lived and died.
He had periods of painting. One of the periods was the Blue Period in his later teens and the Pink Period later on when he was in his 20´s. And when i asked Greg what was one of the most memorable aspects of Picasso he did have to bring up some of the work he did in his Pink Period!
NO KIDDING.
There were paintings that demonstrated his absolute boldness in art. They were no less than pornographic. I wonder what the traditionalists thought at the time! One picture that had Greg and i laughing, even when those around us had their serious art appreciation looks, that had a guy holding a siver tray with a naked chicken on it with one hand, and the other hand was choking his own chicken! The end of him was doing number twos! GEEPERS. Talk about offensive yet comically hilarious!
And there were others, just as bold and graphic. He was out to shock that´s for sure. I´ve seen this type of work in art books, but to see it for real, is quite mind blowing.
I loved the biography they had in the museum. Fascinating man. I was itching to get a book about him and read more right there and then, but we can´t, because ´what we buy we carry!¨and i have book about the surrealists at home!
There was a room of posters that he graffitiéd over as well! Hilarious. He really did have a deviate sense of wickedness i think.
Cubism, which he developed with his mate, Braque, was the thing he was most known for, but there´s so much more. His sculptures were also there, inspired by his friend, Julio Gonzales. There were heap of ceramic pots, donated by his late last wife not that long ago, that had him called a Ceramist at the end of his life.
Anyway, we were VERY OVERAWED by both of these great Spanish geniuses. And felt quite privileged to see their work, RIGHT THERE. And as to the question, Ï wonder what they were on?¨ Must have been something they and their mates shared because it was certainly a period of extreme creativity and artistic output to which we are lucky to be able to witness.
I´m so glad we´ve come on this reconnaiscence. So far, it really has been a trip of a lifetime. And it gets better all the time, even amidst the pitfalls. (ie ¨The Rose¨ drama has yet to be resolved!)
Oh yeah, on the way home, in a nostalgic, arty mood, when both of us were thinking we should don our caps, take out or easels and create some genius brush strokes (hahaha) we decided why not go into a cathedral.
Afterall we hadn´t been to one that day, we´re become addicted to these holy places and exquisite architecture, leadlight windows and beautiful awe inspiring interiors...and it was a famous one, the gothic cathedral of Santa Maria.
And we witnessed a wedding. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....the extravagent, no expense spared wedding of Julie. (That was the only word we could make out as of course, it was all in Spanish!!!!)
The things you see when you do impromtu spare of the moment things....
Barcelona, SPAIN
Day 52
Hiya´s!
You´re probably asking why i said, ¨What are they on?¨ well...it´s because after a day of Gaudi and Picasso, this was the question that was formulating in my mind! They were so futuristic in their thoughts and endeavours...and well, i´ll tell you later what we saw at the Picasso exhibition, called Picasso´s Museu. Mind Boggling.
When we did finally get out yesterday we headed straight for Gaudi´s Temple - El Tempo de la Sagrada - which is about 2km´s from where we´re staying. I was feeling so good we decided to walk rather than catch the metro.
Not sure if that was such a good idea because just looking through his temple was quite a feat. If we thought the facade was amazing, with it´s spiers and fruit in the knaves and unique architecture that was just mind blowing, the INSIDE was even more amazing!
It looked like a forest! The columns that hold up the incredible spiers look like trees and the ceiling is reminiscent of leaves! He´s awesome. Of course, his love is nature and the natural environment and all his work is inspired by this, so the way it actually looks is nothing short of...well, a forest in architecture. There were models of his beloved Sagrada Familia which were so intricate and detailed and you just have to think what a briliant mind this man was.
He spent the last 14 years of his life totally fixated on building this temple, devoting his life and soul to it. He was such a religious man, so full of faith and wanting to honour God that you could really see it in this incredible building. An inspiration. He even used lead gun pellets in bags on strings to create the stress levels and angles for his spiers. He then took photos and inverted them so he calculate these levels and see how the towers would look. Such a perfectionist. All built on donations from the people.
A lot of his work was unfinished before he died. His dreams were beyond money. He would have seen some of it started but not completed. Today, we went to the Gaull Park which he designed and started builing from 1900 to 1914 when it was stopped due to lack of money. And it´s just as amazing as the Sagrada Familia. The thing that is really great is that his work is NOW being finished.
His use of ceramics, both in his Park and his Sagrada Familia is just amazing. What words do i use to describe his genius? The colour that peaks through the broken tiles at just the right angles in just the right places is just design at it´s best. Who could ever think of the colours and the shapes and the way he implemented birds, fruits, trees, colour, animals and just the wonderment of nature into his work.
We also saw where he lived, which is in the Gaull Park (named after an English Park because was, originally what it was supposed to have been until it later changed) and we learned that he was a furniture designer as well, winning awards for some of his furniture.
He was the first person to actually desgin and build furniture that was ergonomic! What an amazing man! We really were enthralled by his work. So much more i could tell about him too, but i won´t bore you with all the details because really, unless you are there, it doesn´t mean as much as perhaps hearing about it.
One thing i have learned is ´being there, is everything´. I have learned about all this history and historical people, but it´s only now that i realise it´s all real. Being there helps tie it all in..it clicks. The written word becomes real. It´s just wonderful to actually see it all.
I sometimes wish i´d been to Europe when i was younger so i could have a better understanding of the world, but it´s only now that i think i can truly appreciate what we´re seeing. It´ll be interesing to revisit London after being there when i was 15 because that made an impact for the rest of my life, but i don´t think i truly appreciated the history back then.
OK Picasso. When we were in the El Prado in Madrid we saw Picasso´s work. A lot of it, becuase they have quite an extensive collection there and we were very impressed. BUT. To go to Picasso´s Museu here, one dedicated purely to Picasso, is a revelation! There are works there that we just never thought we´d see and only someone with an imagination could think up the themes he did.
It was SO FASCINATING.
As we know he is known as a surrealist, cubist. But what we didn´t know was that he was so young when he started, 15 when he ´came out´in the art world, thanks to his father who was a teacher in the fine arts, and also the fact that he was so diverse in his skills as an artist, not unlike Gaudi who touched on a lot of areas of design.
Picasso was born in 1881 and what a life he had. His personal life was just weird in my impression. He had wives and mistresses and kids from different women and just seemed to live the life of a gypsy artist! I guess he was just a free spirit. But offbeat, whacky and slightly insane as well, as we could see in his art. Well, i´m not sure insane is the word but eccentric and with a touch of the deviat!
He started off as a portraitist. At 15 he did a lot of work for the art schools he was in, in Barcelona, before he headed off to Paris later on. He seemed to always come back to Barcelona, where his mother and father both lived and died.
He had periods of painting. One of the periods was the Blue Period in his later teens and the Pink Period later on when he was in his 20´s. And when i asked Greg what was one of the most memorable aspects of Picasso he did have to bring up some of the work he did in his Pink Period!
NO KIDDING.
There were paintings that demonstrated his absolute boldness in art. They were no less than pornographic. I wonder what the traditionalists thought at the time! One picture that had Greg and i laughing, even when those around us had their serious art appreciation looks, that had a guy holding a siver tray with a naked chicken on it with one hand, and the other hand was choking his own chicken! The end of him was doing number twos! GEEPERS. Talk about offensive yet comically hilarious!
And there were others, just as bold and graphic. He was out to shock that´s for sure. I´ve seen this type of work in art books, but to see it for real, is quite mind blowing.
I loved the biography they had in the museum. Fascinating man. I was itching to get a book about him and read more right there and then, but we can´t, because ´what we buy we carry!¨and i have book about the surrealists at home!
There was a room of posters that he graffitiéd over as well! Hilarious. He really did have a deviate sense of wickedness i think.
Cubism, which he developed with his mate, Braque, was the thing he was most known for, but there´s so much more. His sculptures were also there, inspired by his friend, Julio Gonzales. There were heap of ceramic pots, donated by his late last wife not that long ago, that had him called a Ceramist at the end of his life.
Anyway, we were VERY OVERAWED by both of these great Spanish geniuses. And felt quite privileged to see their work, RIGHT THERE. And as to the question, Ï wonder what they were on?¨ Must have been something they and their mates shared because it was certainly a period of extreme creativity and artistic output to which we are lucky to be able to witness.
I´m so glad we´ve come on this reconnaiscence. So far, it really has been a trip of a lifetime. And it gets better all the time, even amidst the pitfalls. (ie ¨The Rose¨ drama has yet to be resolved!)
Oh yeah, on the way home, in a nostalgic, arty mood, when both of us were thinking we should don our caps, take out or easels and create some genius brush strokes (hahaha) we decided why not go into a cathedral.
Afterall we hadn´t been to one that day, we´re become addicted to these holy places and exquisite architecture, leadlight windows and beautiful awe inspiring interiors...and it was a famous one, the gothic cathedral of Santa Maria.
And we witnessed a wedding. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....the extravagent, no expense spared wedding of Julie. (That was the only word we could make out as of course, it was all in Spanish!!!!)
The things you see when you do impromtu spare of the moment things....
Saturday, 21 April 2007
BAILED UP IN BARCELONA!
CATALUNYA
Barcelona, SPAIN
Day 49,50 & 51
Congrats Alan and Jodie on your baby boy! We know he´ll be beautiful and can´t wait to hear all about it!
Well! What a few days it´s been. If you think we´ve been galavanting around this beautiful city of Barcelona..eating paella and drinking sangria, looking at all the wonderful monuments, going to all the fabulous museum´s (art galleries)..and cathedrals and temples, namely Gaudi´s spectacular and brilliant Sagrada Familia, then you´re wrong...........
We´ve been bailed up in our rooms, recovering from ´something´. Greg had terrible gastric problems and i ended up on antibiotics..something i fear because some varieties make me break out in awful hives, due to allergic reactions...so we´ve taken it easy.
Been resting, drinking heaps of filtered water, lots of organge juice and we bought vegetables to cook here in the self catering kitchen. (Pity we weren´t in Portugal - they had orange machines in every restaurant we went to and fresh juice, it was quite incredible. It was also more expensive than wine!).
Thank goodness we´re in nice accomodation. The guy we met at the train station, Mario and his wife have been so wonderful. In fact, the set up is very different here because the communal kitchen, is their kitchen. And it´s like their sharing their house. Also, a few english people in here as well. 9 rooms.
Been thinking of you too Alena, and your experiences here in Barcelona...we loved your email about it all!
Yesterday...Greg recovered enough to go back to the Sagrada Familia, the genius Gaudi´s spectacular structure which has all the towers etc (took photos but you´ll have to wait until we are able to develop them to a disc before posting, i´d recommend you go to google and do a search, it´s just amazing!)
I heard that Antoni Gaudi died in 1926 after his structure, started off as a cathedral originally by another architechure and when Gaudi started redesigning it, it became a temple..the El Temple la Sagrada Familia, known to the locals just as ´Gaudi´s temple´ which apparently should be finished in 30 years!
Other architects are finishing his dream and there was a lot of contention as to whether it should just be finished quickly or built according to how Gaudi wanted it, thankfully the latter happened. There are 2 schools of thought with the Spanish tho, depending where they come from.....it´s very funny!
There are eight cranes working on it at the moment! Started being built before Gaudi died...and also interestly, and little known apparently, is that Gaudi actually got struck down by a car, here in Barcelona, in 1926 and died as an unknown in an out of town hospital. Sad. But that is apparently who he was, a bit of a recluse and an eccentric. And you can see that in his work, the playground he designed, in the rooftops and houses he designed.
It´s also known as one of the most spectacular works of an architecture in history...from the outside, when i saw it on our city tour we did after we first arrived, it looks gothic at the base, art nouveau in the middle and Picasso, cubist at the top!) You have to go look at it on the net to understand.
It´s meant to have 18 towers, six representing the central family with an eventual 174m tower representing Jesus and twelve spiers representing the 12 apostles...and the fruit at the top on the knaves is his tribute to nature. He was a religious man with an extreme love of nature. The way the structure peaks out from all sides of Barcelona...is quite overwhelming.
Anyway, its wonderful and today we´re going to go back and look INSIDE it! IT´s something that is very alluring. Over the past two days while we´ve been resting, i haven´t stopped thinking about it, knowning it´s just ´there´...certainly feel compelled to visit again. Can´t wait.
First day out to really look at it and not feel like crap! The other thing we really want to do here is see Picasso´s museo. Joan Miro has one too which is out of town a bit and so does Salvatore Dali, so we´ll see how we go. All the surrealist artists seem to come from Spain! Picasso has a whole history here..which i know will be fascinating to see in the museu dedicated to him.
Barcelona is a gorgeous city. So fresh and beautiful. And so medieval with a long history. And friendly too. This is the Spain our friends have said they love. Not the Spain that has arrogance and an unwillingness to change. If Madrid was the heart, this is the soul.
When we first arrived we knew we´d be here a while. Not knowing it´d be longer than we thought cos we were sick..arrgh. We had PLANS to go to Montserrat to see the monastary and to Sitges to try the liquers and to Andorra to have a spa, but that´s all gone with the wind.
But as Mum said, there are always places you miss, and other places to see. And i´ve had a chance to have direct email contact with my family and to read Mauve Binchéy´s epic book set in Ireland as well as devour some of the history books they have here at the hostal, all about Spain´s history, which is fascinating, so hey...there´s always a positive to being cooped up! Good hearing from you too Andy Pans :-)
The Las Ramblas is bustling and has artists on the streets and people and the port..it´s just beautiful. The harbour is gorgeous. The bridge going to all the restaurants is beautiful, called the Rambla de ma.
Okies...wé´re finally off to explore, now that we´re out of our cocoons! Not sure how long we´re here before we go to France, will let you know!
Meanwhile...can´t help singing...Oh Barcelona.............oh, oh oh...
Barcelona, SPAIN
Day 49,50 & 51
Congrats Alan and Jodie on your baby boy! We know he´ll be beautiful and can´t wait to hear all about it!
Well! What a few days it´s been. If you think we´ve been galavanting around this beautiful city of Barcelona..eating paella and drinking sangria, looking at all the wonderful monuments, going to all the fabulous museum´s (art galleries)..and cathedrals and temples, namely Gaudi´s spectacular and brilliant Sagrada Familia, then you´re wrong...........
We´ve been bailed up in our rooms, recovering from ´something´. Greg had terrible gastric problems and i ended up on antibiotics..something i fear because some varieties make me break out in awful hives, due to allergic reactions...so we´ve taken it easy.
Been resting, drinking heaps of filtered water, lots of organge juice and we bought vegetables to cook here in the self catering kitchen. (Pity we weren´t in Portugal - they had orange machines in every restaurant we went to and fresh juice, it was quite incredible. It was also more expensive than wine!).
Thank goodness we´re in nice accomodation. The guy we met at the train station, Mario and his wife have been so wonderful. In fact, the set up is very different here because the communal kitchen, is their kitchen. And it´s like their sharing their house. Also, a few english people in here as well. 9 rooms.
Been thinking of you too Alena, and your experiences here in Barcelona...we loved your email about it all!
Yesterday...Greg recovered enough to go back to the Sagrada Familia, the genius Gaudi´s spectacular structure which has all the towers etc (took photos but you´ll have to wait until we are able to develop them to a disc before posting, i´d recommend you go to google and do a search, it´s just amazing!)
I heard that Antoni Gaudi died in 1926 after his structure, started off as a cathedral originally by another architechure and when Gaudi started redesigning it, it became a temple..the El Temple la Sagrada Familia, known to the locals just as ´Gaudi´s temple´ which apparently should be finished in 30 years!
Other architects are finishing his dream and there was a lot of contention as to whether it should just be finished quickly or built according to how Gaudi wanted it, thankfully the latter happened. There are 2 schools of thought with the Spanish tho, depending where they come from.....it´s very funny!
There are eight cranes working on it at the moment! Started being built before Gaudi died...and also interestly, and little known apparently, is that Gaudi actually got struck down by a car, here in Barcelona, in 1926 and died as an unknown in an out of town hospital. Sad. But that is apparently who he was, a bit of a recluse and an eccentric. And you can see that in his work, the playground he designed, in the rooftops and houses he designed.
It´s also known as one of the most spectacular works of an architecture in history...from the outside, when i saw it on our city tour we did after we first arrived, it looks gothic at the base, art nouveau in the middle and Picasso, cubist at the top!) You have to go look at it on the net to understand.
It´s meant to have 18 towers, six representing the central family with an eventual 174m tower representing Jesus and twelve spiers representing the 12 apostles...and the fruit at the top on the knaves is his tribute to nature. He was a religious man with an extreme love of nature. The way the structure peaks out from all sides of Barcelona...is quite overwhelming.
Anyway, its wonderful and today we´re going to go back and look INSIDE it! IT´s something that is very alluring. Over the past two days while we´ve been resting, i haven´t stopped thinking about it, knowning it´s just ´there´...certainly feel compelled to visit again. Can´t wait.
First day out to really look at it and not feel like crap! The other thing we really want to do here is see Picasso´s museo. Joan Miro has one too which is out of town a bit and so does Salvatore Dali, so we´ll see how we go. All the surrealist artists seem to come from Spain! Picasso has a whole history here..which i know will be fascinating to see in the museu dedicated to him.
Barcelona is a gorgeous city. So fresh and beautiful. And so medieval with a long history. And friendly too. This is the Spain our friends have said they love. Not the Spain that has arrogance and an unwillingness to change. If Madrid was the heart, this is the soul.
When we first arrived we knew we´d be here a while. Not knowing it´d be longer than we thought cos we were sick..arrgh. We had PLANS to go to Montserrat to see the monastary and to Sitges to try the liquers and to Andorra to have a spa, but that´s all gone with the wind.
But as Mum said, there are always places you miss, and other places to see. And i´ve had a chance to have direct email contact with my family and to read Mauve Binchéy´s epic book set in Ireland as well as devour some of the history books they have here at the hostal, all about Spain´s history, which is fascinating, so hey...there´s always a positive to being cooped up! Good hearing from you too Andy Pans :-)
The Las Ramblas is bustling and has artists on the streets and people and the port..it´s just beautiful. The harbour is gorgeous. The bridge going to all the restaurants is beautiful, called the Rambla de ma.
Okies...wé´re finally off to explore, now that we´re out of our cocoons! Not sure how long we´re here before we go to France, will let you know!
Meanwhile...can´t help singing...Oh Barcelona.............oh, oh oh...
Thursday, 19 April 2007
SOME PICS!
CATALUNYA
Barcelona
Day 48, 18th April, 2007
(The day Jodie and Alan´s babe is due - what did they have???)
Hi guys,
We´ve uploaded some pics in past blogs too if you want to look!
Jen & Greg xxx
Here´s a boat for ya Sam! (Moored in Barcelona Harbour..)It´s called the Aventi! From George Town, South Africa. Want it for your birthday??? It´s not quite the Princess Mariana which had a heli pad but it will do..won´t it? hehe
Went on city tour...on a Hop On, Hop Off bus which has a good system. It takes you to all the major sites and you just get on and get off wherever you like, all day. ALso has a good commentary on board. Also just walked around this beautiful port city. This was where the Olympics were held in 1992 so it´s been really done up. Especially the water areas...where they did the sailing, and the port. Beautiful!
Not feeling great today, so took it easy..will tell you more later..
Barcelona
Day 48, 18th April, 2007
(The day Jodie and Alan´s babe is due - what did they have???)
Hi guys,
We´ve uploaded some pics in past blogs too if you want to look!
Jen & Greg xxx
Here´s a boat for ya Sam! (Moored in Barcelona Harbour..)It´s called the Aventi! From George Town, South Africa. Want it for your birthday??? It´s not quite the Princess Mariana which had a heli pad but it will do..won´t it? hehe
Went on city tour...on a Hop On, Hop Off bus which has a good system. It takes you to all the major sites and you just get on and get off wherever you like, all day. ALso has a good commentary on board. Also just walked around this beautiful port city. This was where the Olympics were held in 1992 so it´s been really done up. Especially the water areas...where they did the sailing, and the port. Beautiful!
Not feeling great today, so took it easy..will tell you more later..
Tuesday, 17 April 2007
SEVILLA - BARCELONA
Seville and train sleeper to Barcelona
Barcelona, CATALUNYA, Spain
Pension Palacia Hostal
Day 46, 47
We´ve arrived in Barcelona! What a gorgeous seaside city, from what we see so far!
I´m so glad Greg booked a sleeper for the train trip to Barcelona! When he booked it on Saturday, i was stuffed up with the flu and spent 3 hours in bed trying to recover and today feel so much better.
It bumped, screeched, rattled, knocked, swayed and rocked while we tried to sleep but after a 12 hour journey, here we are in our ´new home´a hostal that was recommended to us by a guy at the train station when we arrived! It´s €40 for the night, has internet access, a kitchen, is central and close to the Ramblas and beach! The double bed is tiny tho..but Greg and i are known to fit in a single! haha!
We´ve survived our first Eurail journey!!! We have 2 months to use it and 15, 24 hour periods to use it. This is the first of two Eurail tickets we have. This one we´ll use for southern Europe with a month break in the UK. Then we have another two month pass that we´ll use for northen Europe.
It wasn´t so bad though. We were in first class with a sleeper. I pity those going on a long trip like that sitting up a seat. We paid an extra €49 each to be upgraded in our Eurail ticket but it was worth it. At least we don´t feel like something the cat has dragged in now!
So here we are....and we´re going to go search the town now!
Columbus' monument
Will let you know what Barcelona is like next time...love to all xx
PS Margie and Peta - we´re ¨hoping¨ to get to Andorra! Silvia, we´ll be going to Italy soon! Jaak, we´ll be in Belgium in July!
Barcelona, CATALUNYA, Spain
Pension Palacia Hostal
Day 46, 47
We´ve arrived in Barcelona! What a gorgeous seaside city, from what we see so far!
I´m so glad Greg booked a sleeper for the train trip to Barcelona! When he booked it on Saturday, i was stuffed up with the flu and spent 3 hours in bed trying to recover and today feel so much better.
It bumped, screeched, rattled, knocked, swayed and rocked while we tried to sleep but after a 12 hour journey, here we are in our ´new home´a hostal that was recommended to us by a guy at the train station when we arrived! It´s €40 for the night, has internet access, a kitchen, is central and close to the Ramblas and beach! The double bed is tiny tho..but Greg and i are known to fit in a single! haha!
We´ve survived our first Eurail journey!!! We have 2 months to use it and 15, 24 hour periods to use it. This is the first of two Eurail tickets we have. This one we´ll use for southern Europe with a month break in the UK. Then we have another two month pass that we´ll use for northen Europe.
It wasn´t so bad though. We were in first class with a sleeper. I pity those going on a long trip like that sitting up a seat. We paid an extra €49 each to be upgraded in our Eurail ticket but it was worth it. At least we don´t feel like something the cat has dragged in now!
So here we are....and we´re going to go search the town now!
Columbus' monument
Will let you know what Barcelona is like next time...love to all xx
PS Margie and Peta - we´re ¨hoping¨ to get to Andorra! Silvia, we´ll be going to Italy soon! Jaak, we´ll be in Belgium in July!
FLAMENCO IN SEVILLA
Seville,
ANDALUCIA, Spain
Day 44, 45
After missing out on seeing the flamenco two previous times - once because it was full and the other time because we arrived from Portugal and didn´t realise Spain had day light saving, we finally got to see the Flamenco! And it´s so beautiful, what a treat!
We arrived at the El Arenal Tablao Flamenco Restaurante a little earlier to find everyone else had arrived at the same time..so we lined up..and as we were approaching the door this young spanish trio turned up to go to the front of the long queue and just as we were wondering what made them so special....we were told they were part of the show! Ooops.
Anyway..we got seated, in the very front row, and a guy came and put a serviette on our knees, expertly flipped out...and started serving Tapas. In our €53 we had tapas included..
They were prawns and fish and like an entree...two more plates of these came...chicken etc and finally a dessert. We watched a couple attempt to eat the more expensive meal and decided it was a good thing to do...not have the dinner. Especially seeing the show started at 22.30!
The main act was fabulous, included an older female and male flamenco singer, 2 flamenco guitarists and 2 main male flamenco dancers and 4 main female dancers. So much passion, clapping from soft to loud and energetic, to singing, to clicking with the tongue..to just the expression on the faces.
A wonderful night! Good Food, good wine, good dancing!
Seville (Sevilla as they call it here) is such a beautiful city. Founded by the Venetians and has a long history of takeovers from Roman to Iranian to Spanish.
We did a city tour and went on a ferry cruise..saw a perfect boat for Sam sitting in the marina! Princess Mariana. Luxury boat that has a helicopter and launching pad!
We´ve been lucky..the weather was beautiful, the place is beautiful. And a city we´d definately love to come back to .. to experience Holy week and the Abril Faire.
ANDALUCIA, Spain
Day 44, 45
After missing out on seeing the flamenco two previous times - once because it was full and the other time because we arrived from Portugal and didn´t realise Spain had day light saving, we finally got to see the Flamenco! And it´s so beautiful, what a treat!
We arrived at the El Arenal Tablao Flamenco Restaurante a little earlier to find everyone else had arrived at the same time..so we lined up..and as we were approaching the door this young spanish trio turned up to go to the front of the long queue and just as we were wondering what made them so special....we were told they were part of the show! Ooops.
Anyway..we got seated, in the very front row, and a guy came and put a serviette on our knees, expertly flipped out...and started serving Tapas. In our €53 we had tapas included..
They were prawns and fish and like an entree...two more plates of these came...chicken etc and finally a dessert. We watched a couple attempt to eat the more expensive meal and decided it was a good thing to do...not have the dinner. Especially seeing the show started at 22.30!
The main act was fabulous, included an older female and male flamenco singer, 2 flamenco guitarists and 2 main male flamenco dancers and 4 main female dancers. So much passion, clapping from soft to loud and energetic, to singing, to clicking with the tongue..to just the expression on the faces.
A wonderful night! Good Food, good wine, good dancing!
Seville (Sevilla as they call it here) is such a beautiful city. Founded by the Venetians and has a long history of takeovers from Roman to Iranian to Spanish.
We did a city tour and went on a ferry cruise..saw a perfect boat for Sam sitting in the marina! Princess Mariana. Luxury boat that has a helicopter and launching pad!
We´ve been lucky..the weather was beautiful, the place is beautiful. And a city we´d definately love to come back to .. to experience Holy week and the Abril Faire.
Sunday, 15 April 2007
SEVILLA
Seville,
ANDALUCIA, Spain
Day 44 (wondering how your kitchen is going Mum???)
Sevilla to the locals..
Moved our gear to our new home for the next two nights! €13 cheaper than Zahira but no bathroom. Only a sink. Shower and toilet down the hall. Called El Gloria Hostal.
Going to the Flamenco tonight! 3rd time lucky. The only times in the whole trip that we´ve gotten dressed up is to go to the Flamenco (show and dinner) and twice we haven´t been successful.
Old aqueduct in Sevilla, 1500 years old
Greg & The Round House in Sevilla
So fingers crossed for tonight!
Will let you know how it went from Barcelona...We´re kickstarting our Eurail pass in a couple of days...which means we have 2 months to use it..and as many journeys as we like in 15 24 hour periods.
Will let you know how this works more when we´ve used it!
Thanks Margie for your long newsy email..we love to hear all the goss from home..please let us know when Jodie and Alan have had the babe! Love to you all!
If anyone else wants to write us newsy long emails from home..please do..!!! Thanks to those who have...We appreciate them so much! It´s not so one sided then! And we hope it´s ok if this blog is our repy! Don´t have alot of time for emails as well as blogging! xx
xxx
NB Have a lot of other stuff in my diary to include here and in other posts..and photos and things..and when we get a decent computer and more time, I´ll do this!!
ANDALUCIA, Spain
Day 44 (wondering how your kitchen is going Mum???)
Sevilla to the locals..
Moved our gear to our new home for the next two nights! €13 cheaper than Zahira but no bathroom. Only a sink. Shower and toilet down the hall. Called El Gloria Hostal.
Going to the Flamenco tonight! 3rd time lucky. The only times in the whole trip that we´ve gotten dressed up is to go to the Flamenco (show and dinner) and twice we haven´t been successful.
Old aqueduct in Sevilla, 1500 years old
Greg & The Round House in Sevilla
So fingers crossed for tonight!
Will let you know how it went from Barcelona...We´re kickstarting our Eurail pass in a couple of days...which means we have 2 months to use it..and as many journeys as we like in 15 24 hour periods.
Will let you know how this works more when we´ve used it!
Thanks Margie for your long newsy email..we love to hear all the goss from home..please let us know when Jodie and Alan have had the babe! Love to you all!
If anyone else wants to write us newsy long emails from home..please do..!!! Thanks to those who have...We appreciate them so much! It´s not so one sided then! And we hope it´s ok if this blog is our repy! Don´t have alot of time for emails as well as blogging! xx
xxx
NB Have a lot of other stuff in my diary to include here and in other posts..and photos and things..and when we get a decent computer and more time, I´ll do this!!
FARO - SEVILLA
Bus to Seville today
Day 43
Zahira Hostel
Packed up our gear and headed to the train station at 8am to catch the bus to Seville, Spain. Back in Spanish territory..and not really looking forward to it after being in beautiful friendly Portugal. Sad to say goodbye to a special place.
And..left knowing we wouldn´t get to the Azores! Sorry sissy, couldn´t fulfil your dream for you, by going there. We went to a tourist centre in Faro and asked about these islands and she said they were situated mid Atlantic, between Lisboa and the US! And she did say they were a beautiful group of nine islands that we could only go to from Lisbon. Next time...
The trip from Faro to Seville was full of orange groves! Saw birds nesting on power towers.
And we met a bigoted 71 year old yank! (I know they´re not all like this..but he was a true blue redneck!) Our first aquaintance was at the train station when he commented on my being English as i was buying ham and cheese rolls for our journey. Yes i was. No more conversation. (just got a feeling about this guy).
Then somehow he spotted us again as we got confused trying to work out which bus we should be catching to Sevilla. (no signs on buses and we were given wrong bus numbers). He mentioned he had been in Seville the week before for the first bullfight of the season.
SO. We got talking about the bullfights.
The he sat next to us. Closer to Greg. hehe (I was smart, sat next to the window!)
And he talked. And talked. And talked. About his beliefs...his alternate word for negros, for the chinese, how Miami was built by the Cubans, about all the US presidents from Eisenhower to Nixon to Clinton, to Bush.
And when he got off, halfway to Seville, he said he enjoyed our conversation! We commented on how, after he asked where we were from in Britain and we said we were Australian he got a blank face and just began his one sided talkage!
Anyway, after a 4 hour journey, and a fight with a lady and the bus driver for not stopping for a toot stop, we arrived not that keen about being back in Spain. I guess we left with ashtray in our faces!
We trudged along with our packs to find accomodation and found a place called Monte Carlo, 2 star, that had rooms for €100 a night. No too expensive. Although, Greg took the card just in case. Afterall, we´d heard, due to Holy week and the Abril Faire here, the place gets very booked out and prices double in April.
We trudged on. And just when i was complaining about how the pack was hurting my shoulders..and i was feeling very low (which later turned into a cold!) we stumbled upon the Zahira Hostel for €53 a night. Yes please. But the guy very emphatically said it was for ONE NIGHT ONLY. He was completo!
But his wife was gorgeous. She spoke English but also had a gentle nature. Lovely lady. I wish we could stay longer!
We dumped our stuff..organised a Flamenco night with the lovely lady, through their hostel, for that night 22.30pm and went searching for accomodation for the following 2 nights.
And we found people to be so friendly and warm. Madrid is obviously not indicative of the Spanish overall. They are beautiful warm people here. Faith restored!
The previous feelings of hostility was soon to be forgotten. Thank goodness. Not good to be left feeling like that. Now i´m looking forward to Barcelona, our last Spanish stop.
Seville is just beautiful. Old buildings. Ornate. Intoxicating almost. Bustling at all hours.
We went to the Cathedral and Giralda, built on a Moslem Mosque, built between 1401 - 1507,which was spectacular and one of the biggest in the world. I believe it! IT´s massive. We walked over Christopher Columbus and his brother´s tomb! Accidently! Oops. Well, not literally, but it was only later we realised that was what they were......
We also climed the tower....(mosque minaret) 35 ramps up! Sat in the orange grove in admiration.
Even though we are not as overawed by the incredible cathedrals now..we were still very impressed by this one. I´m beginning, honestly, to love these cathedrals..and if we don´t see one..it´s not complete!!!
Found accomodation too! (pensaos) For the two nights...(twin again) closeby so we don´t have to pack it too far..
Went to the Flamenco............BUT!!!! Because we were still on Portgal time, we missed it...god, story of our lives. They were very accomodating and said we could go to it on Saturday night insead, sill at the ungodly starting hour of 22.30pm tho!
PS Drats! Dockers got the crap belted out of them by the Eagles! Thanks for the news Elise!!! (Hugs to you my gorgeous!) Damn. Greg´s happy tho!
xxx
Day 43
Zahira Hostel
Packed up our gear and headed to the train station at 8am to catch the bus to Seville, Spain. Back in Spanish territory..and not really looking forward to it after being in beautiful friendly Portugal. Sad to say goodbye to a special place.
And..left knowing we wouldn´t get to the Azores! Sorry sissy, couldn´t fulfil your dream for you, by going there. We went to a tourist centre in Faro and asked about these islands and she said they were situated mid Atlantic, between Lisboa and the US! And she did say they were a beautiful group of nine islands that we could only go to from Lisbon. Next time...
The trip from Faro to Seville was full of orange groves! Saw birds nesting on power towers.
And we met a bigoted 71 year old yank! (I know they´re not all like this..but he was a true blue redneck!) Our first aquaintance was at the train station when he commented on my being English as i was buying ham and cheese rolls for our journey. Yes i was. No more conversation. (just got a feeling about this guy).
Then somehow he spotted us again as we got confused trying to work out which bus we should be catching to Sevilla. (no signs on buses and we were given wrong bus numbers). He mentioned he had been in Seville the week before for the first bullfight of the season.
SO. We got talking about the bullfights.
The he sat next to us. Closer to Greg. hehe (I was smart, sat next to the window!)
And he talked. And talked. And talked. About his beliefs...his alternate word for negros, for the chinese, how Miami was built by the Cubans, about all the US presidents from Eisenhower to Nixon to Clinton, to Bush.
And when he got off, halfway to Seville, he said he enjoyed our conversation! We commented on how, after he asked where we were from in Britain and we said we were Australian he got a blank face and just began his one sided talkage!
Anyway, after a 4 hour journey, and a fight with a lady and the bus driver for not stopping for a toot stop, we arrived not that keen about being back in Spain. I guess we left with ashtray in our faces!
We trudged along with our packs to find accomodation and found a place called Monte Carlo, 2 star, that had rooms for €100 a night. No too expensive. Although, Greg took the card just in case. Afterall, we´d heard, due to Holy week and the Abril Faire here, the place gets very booked out and prices double in April.
We trudged on. And just when i was complaining about how the pack was hurting my shoulders..and i was feeling very low (which later turned into a cold!) we stumbled upon the Zahira Hostel for €53 a night. Yes please. But the guy very emphatically said it was for ONE NIGHT ONLY. He was completo!
But his wife was gorgeous. She spoke English but also had a gentle nature. Lovely lady. I wish we could stay longer!
We dumped our stuff..organised a Flamenco night with the lovely lady, through their hostel, for that night 22.30pm and went searching for accomodation for the following 2 nights.
And we found people to be so friendly and warm. Madrid is obviously not indicative of the Spanish overall. They are beautiful warm people here. Faith restored!
The previous feelings of hostility was soon to be forgotten. Thank goodness. Not good to be left feeling like that. Now i´m looking forward to Barcelona, our last Spanish stop.
Seville is just beautiful. Old buildings. Ornate. Intoxicating almost. Bustling at all hours.
We went to the Cathedral and Giralda, built on a Moslem Mosque, built between 1401 - 1507,which was spectacular and one of the biggest in the world. I believe it! IT´s massive. We walked over Christopher Columbus and his brother´s tomb! Accidently! Oops. Well, not literally, but it was only later we realised that was what they were......
We also climed the tower....(mosque minaret) 35 ramps up! Sat in the orange grove in admiration.
Even though we are not as overawed by the incredible cathedrals now..we were still very impressed by this one. I´m beginning, honestly, to love these cathedrals..and if we don´t see one..it´s not complete!!!
Found accomodation too! (pensaos) For the two nights...(twin again) closeby so we don´t have to pack it too far..
Went to the Flamenco............BUT!!!! Because we were still on Portgal time, we missed it...god, story of our lives. They were very accomodating and said we could go to it on Saturday night insead, sill at the ungodly starting hour of 22.30pm tho!
PS Drats! Dockers got the crap belted out of them by the Eagles! Thanks for the news Elise!!! (Hugs to you my gorgeous!) Damn. Greg´s happy tho!
xxx
LAGOS
The Algarve, Lagos
Population: 10,500
Day 42
I´ve heard of Lagos...but what on earth is it?
That´s what i thought before we got here. And as we got off the train i realised it was a beach place and marina and we were excited. Of course we packed our bathers!!!
Along the marina were so many signs! Dolphin tour signs. After saying no thanks half a dozen times we just ingored the vendors. Talk about insistant. It turned us off even wanting to go on a dolphin tour!!! Not that we wanted to....we´ve seen lots of dolphins off the WA coast.
Greg wanted to take a boat out tho!!! But we didn´t have time for that..
Ended up looking around this gorgeous little town...felt fresh and exciting. Clean and just well...´noice´!!!
High cliffs, hugging little beaches. So scenic. Pretty.
But! What to do here?
We looked for cathedrals...but couldn´t find any. haha. Just joking. Oh wait. We found one little chapel 4m x 3m in a small fort. And we did a tour of Marina school that wasn´t in the fortress guarding the port of Lagos! That was interesting....Lagos is named after S. Goncalo de Lagos! (1360 - 1422)
Really, there were some extraordinary artistic tiles, on the streets and pavements as only the Portuguese can design..
Go eat!
It was too cold to swim. A lot of people were, British, but we just couldn´t...it was still only 25C! I know i need at least mid thirties (or forties) before it´s hot enough for me!!!! The cold weather...(sorry to disagree Silvia who is sizzling in Brizy), but...the sun is still what i yearn for! I just couldn´t stand living in the cold!
Was beautiful weather!
We found a restaurant bar called, Nautragio which overlooked the cliffs and had some Vino blanco.....haven´t had white wine for ages! Gosh the wine is cheap here i tell ya! They cater to the British tho..sandwiches full of butter..ew. I´m partial now to ham and cheese on fresh buns, no butter!
The beach did overlook the swimmers below..and after Greg had said that the photos in Portugal were all a myth (beach babes who were topless!) I looked below...saw some topless bathers, pointed them out to Greg..who couldn´t see them cos he didn´t have his glasses on! HAHA!
Got home at 9.30pm and bombed! Did 500km today....
Population: 10,500
Day 42
I´ve heard of Lagos...but what on earth is it?
That´s what i thought before we got here. And as we got off the train i realised it was a beach place and marina and we were excited. Of course we packed our bathers!!!
Along the marina were so many signs! Dolphin tour signs. After saying no thanks half a dozen times we just ingored the vendors. Talk about insistant. It turned us off even wanting to go on a dolphin tour!!! Not that we wanted to....we´ve seen lots of dolphins off the WA coast.
Greg wanted to take a boat out tho!!! But we didn´t have time for that..
Ended up looking around this gorgeous little town...felt fresh and exciting. Clean and just well...´noice´!!!
High cliffs, hugging little beaches. So scenic. Pretty.
But! What to do here?
We looked for cathedrals...but couldn´t find any. haha. Just joking. Oh wait. We found one little chapel 4m x 3m in a small fort. And we did a tour of Marina school that wasn´t in the fortress guarding the port of Lagos! That was interesting....Lagos is named after S. Goncalo de Lagos! (1360 - 1422)
Really, there were some extraordinary artistic tiles, on the streets and pavements as only the Portuguese can design..
Go eat!
It was too cold to swim. A lot of people were, British, but we just couldn´t...it was still only 25C! I know i need at least mid thirties (or forties) before it´s hot enough for me!!!! The cold weather...(sorry to disagree Silvia who is sizzling in Brizy), but...the sun is still what i yearn for! I just couldn´t stand living in the cold!
Was beautiful weather!
We found a restaurant bar called, Nautragio which overlooked the cliffs and had some Vino blanco.....haven´t had white wine for ages! Gosh the wine is cheap here i tell ya! They cater to the British tho..sandwiches full of butter..ew. I´m partial now to ham and cheese on fresh buns, no butter!
The beach did overlook the swimmers below..and after Greg had said that the photos in Portugal were all a myth (beach babes who were topless!) I looked below...saw some topless bathers, pointed them out to Greg..who couldn´t see them cos he didn´t have his glasses on! HAHA!
Got home at 9.30pm and bombed! Did 500km today....
SILVES
Silves The Algarve, Portugal
Silves Population 5000
Day 42
We took the one hour journey by train to Sives which is on the Faro - Lagos train line. Big houses, grafitti on every station in between. Beautiful weather. 3 layers of clothing instead of the usual 5..singlet, tanktop, skivvy, jumper, coat!
Once we arrived we walked the 2km from the bus station to the town centre and looked around...saw the wonderful ´fairytale castle´from a distance and decided to eat before we did the steep climb up.
We found a gorgeous restaurant to have brunch as we left for the bus station at 9am and arrived in Silves at 10am. Pastelaria Fabrico propr. Had yummy omelettes and coffee. €11.40
Once we got to the castle we found it was being restored. The castle was basically in ruins and there was an archaelogical dig going on which was quite exciting. Men yelling, people digging, signs being erected. A buzz. No fairytale castle though..more like a tall story.
The history was interesting though. Apparently Silves was once a bustling little town in the 12th Century that was on the main road along the Algarve coast from Seville to fartherest western tip.. And because of this became the capital city of the Algarve under the rule of the Moors. Abbadids.
Took a pic of Greg next to the large statue of the first Portuguese King who conquered the Moors, with his sword, which read. Sancius Dei Grtia Por Tugallis Silves et Algarb 11 Rex 1189.¨
Ran to station, to get the 2pm train to Lagos...stripping down to one layer of clothes!
Silves Population 5000
Day 42
We took the one hour journey by train to Sives which is on the Faro - Lagos train line. Big houses, grafitti on every station in between. Beautiful weather. 3 layers of clothing instead of the usual 5..singlet, tanktop, skivvy, jumper, coat!
Once we arrived we walked the 2km from the bus station to the town centre and looked around...saw the wonderful ´fairytale castle´from a distance and decided to eat before we did the steep climb up.
We found a gorgeous restaurant to have brunch as we left for the bus station at 9am and arrived in Silves at 10am. Pastelaria Fabrico propr. Had yummy omelettes and coffee. €11.40
Once we got to the castle we found it was being restored. The castle was basically in ruins and there was an archaelogical dig going on which was quite exciting. Men yelling, people digging, signs being erected. A buzz. No fairytale castle though..more like a tall story.
The history was interesting though. Apparently Silves was once a bustling little town in the 12th Century that was on the main road along the Algarve coast from Seville to fartherest western tip.. And because of this became the capital city of the Algarve under the rule of the Moors. Abbadids.
Took a pic of Greg next to the large statue of the first Portuguese King who conquered the Moors, with his sword, which read. Sancius Dei Grtia Por Tugallis Silves et Algarb 11 Rex 1189.¨
Ran to station, to get the 2pm train to Lagos...stripping down to one layer of clothes!
FARO - THE BEACH
The ALGARVE, Faro, Avenido Residencial
Portugal - 3rd day here
Day 41
Caught a bus to the beach! Weird how a pensinsula with estuaries has a beach so far away. Took half an hour to get to Pria de Faro, a resort style beach town which has a one way bridge to town. (Stop lights at each end). Went via airport of Faro - saw some great statues of people outside looking up to the aeroplanes..kids, families, couples..very innovative. It reminded me of when we were kids..Andy and i would go running outside to the field when we heard a plane and yell out, ¨Hello Father Christmas!!!¨ Geepers...
It was raining and cold but the beach, in the summer, would be beautiful. We enquired to see how much per night and they said €55 including breakfast. How reasonable is that. It´s right on the beach! Must be offpeak prices and definately cheaper when you book from the street.
That´s one thing we´ve discovered. WHen you book in off the street it´s MUCH cheaper. Booking on internet or prior can up to double the price!
Met a young american girl who looked a lot like Alena who´d been travelling for 24 hours and her luggage went astray. She didn´t even have a coat to put on. She caught the bus back to Faro with us to buy some clothes, poor thing! Made me think it was a good idea Greg checking in our luggage only to the destination and not transferred to the final destination like we had from Vic Falls, to Joburg to Madrid! (At the time i thought...why do we have to go to all the bother doing that!!!)
Had coffee at a gorgeous little cafe underneath our accomodation and the guy couldn´t stop showing us his extensive coffee cup collection. Quaint. So cheap here. Coffees are €1 each. And yummy. Pastries are also about that. And we´ve had a lot of those. Just as well we´re walking heaps, otherwise we´d both be like the sides of houses!
Portugal - 3rd day here
Day 41
Caught a bus to the beach! Weird how a pensinsula with estuaries has a beach so far away. Took half an hour to get to Pria de Faro, a resort style beach town which has a one way bridge to town. (Stop lights at each end). Went via airport of Faro - saw some great statues of people outside looking up to the aeroplanes..kids, families, couples..very innovative. It reminded me of when we were kids..Andy and i would go running outside to the field when we heard a plane and yell out, ¨Hello Father Christmas!!!¨ Geepers...
It was raining and cold but the beach, in the summer, would be beautiful. We enquired to see how much per night and they said €55 including breakfast. How reasonable is that. It´s right on the beach! Must be offpeak prices and definately cheaper when you book from the street.
That´s one thing we´ve discovered. WHen you book in off the street it´s MUCH cheaper. Booking on internet or prior can up to double the price!
Met a young american girl who looked a lot like Alena who´d been travelling for 24 hours and her luggage went astray. She didn´t even have a coat to put on. She caught the bus back to Faro with us to buy some clothes, poor thing! Made me think it was a good idea Greg checking in our luggage only to the destination and not transferred to the final destination like we had from Vic Falls, to Joburg to Madrid! (At the time i thought...why do we have to go to all the bother doing that!!!)
Had coffee at a gorgeous little cafe underneath our accomodation and the guy couldn´t stop showing us his extensive coffee cup collection. Quaint. So cheap here. Coffees are €1 each. And yummy. Pastries are also about that. And we´ve had a lot of those. Just as well we´re walking heaps, otherwise we´d both be like the sides of houses!
NITTY GRITTIES OF TRAVELLING
This is the post that got deleted last time i blogged. How frustrating. I was sitting in the internet cafe, typing like mad, asked the guy for half an hour more, Greg came in, asked for half an hour more and paid (another half an hour) and after the first half an hour they shut me down...grr..
Anyway..it was all about how travelling is WONDERFUL...BUT! it has it´s definate pitfalls.
Ie when you go on ´holidays´ generally you go for a couple of weeks, or up to six weeks, prebook everything, have wonderful accomodation, take great clothes, buy lots of souvenirs and take a heap of pics. And ít´s great!ª (I LOVE to travel like this).
But when you´re travelling for an extended time...it´s very different! So i´ve found out! Every time we go to a fantastic place i´m really tempted to buy mementos....and have so far bought one ¨Paddle or Die´- I´ve survived the Zambezie¨ teeshirt in Zimbabwe. And i bought a table cloth and a painting at the markets at Blyde mountain in South Africa (that i sent back!) and that´s IT. Imagine. That´s all i´ve bought.
Because...what we buy...we carry. Or send back. And the stuff we sent from South Africa cost us more than what the contents were worth. We´ve decided to only sent back things that i can scrapbook later (Jilly, you´d love all the tickets and stuff i´ve got..inspired by all your albums!¨)
Also, the mode of travel is different. Buses and trains have people who splutter, cough, spit, vomit, fart, and make all sorts of bodily sounds...that is enough to turn anyone off! Planes are just so much better!!! Well, some of them..we´ve had experiences there too...Trains are the worst! People just let it loose! Ew.
Accomodation can be well....different. For instance the accomodation we´re staying in at the moment has twin beds. And a basin. Shower and toilet down the hall. Some don´t have towels, some don´t have soap. And we can´t really just go upmarket when we like..because if we did that..we´d be doing it every time we get new accomodation!!! So. We´ve stuck to our budget and we´re proud of ourselves. The more we do, the longer we can stay away and experience the world!
Luggage is another thing. In our packs, we have a sleeping bag, towels, sheets, toiletries, medical kit, clothes, diary and notebook and Lonely Planet guide (which is heavy, ask Greg!) maps, shoes and a few other things like coffee, tea, sugar etc
When we can finally post our pics (it´s a procedure..we have to download them to a disk and then upload them on here and at the moment we can´t find a computer with english comands so i´m not sure what i´m doing...might have to wait till Barcelona or France to do that.)
Food is the other basic necessary evil. Well, it seems like that sometimes because you can´t just go to your fridge. Everything is either bought at cafe´s or at a supermarket and the latter is more difficult because we have to find them first! Then. Everything is in a different language..so, like one time, you might think you´re getting olives stuffed with capsicum only to find they´re stuffed with anchovies..ew.
When we buy stuff at supermarkets we have to make sure we eat it before we backpack somewhere else because it´s heavy. So what we´re trying to do is buy the stuff when we have a two day or more stay and keep it in the room. Of course there is usually no fridge, but so far, at least in Spain and Portugal, the temperature has been low so it hasn´t been a problem. In Africa, it was too hot to keep food.
Tourist cafe´s are a no no. Too expensive. SO we´ve had to go looking for food.
It takes up a lot of our time. Looking for food and accomodation!
MAPS are so important. We just couldn´t do anything without them. So whenever we´ve arrived anywhere we´ve looked for accomodation to drop our luggage off...then we´ve looked for food because we´re generally starving, then we´ve looked for the tourist office to find out the best sites and monuments and features of the town we´re in to visit.
Washing and laundry is another necessary evil. Of course we have to wash our clothes!! I´ve been the washing lady seeing Greg´s doing the navigating everywhere and each time we´ve got two days or more i wash undies, socks and shirts. When we´ve got 3 days we look for a laundry to do our long pants and long shirts.
There´s a heap of other things...the nitty gritties...and i´ll write more later....now i want to fill in what we´ve been up to since Faro...
Oh Zac, you asked about the round-the-world ticket. What happens, with ours, is you book the ticket and pick the 5 continents (varies depending on what ticket you get...Ours are are Asia (Hong Kong), Africa (South Africa), Europe, North America (USA) & South America. ´We could stop at Hawaii or NZ on the way home, we chose NZ as we´ve both been to Hawaii and Greg hasn´t been to NZ.
Once you pick the continents, then you pick the 20 destinations. And then lock them into temporary times. We´ve got a general outline of the times for each destination but these are flexible. We can change the times with a small penalty for reissuing the ticket but the destinations are not negotiable once locked in.
But that´s no hassle as we have our fights but can just get other flights and transport in between. Ie when we went to Vic Falls we just got another flight there and back and still stuck to our itinerary.
And for Europe..we landed in Madrid and take off to the US from London! In between, we find our own way.
It´s a very cheap way to do it..It cost more to go to South America, there and back, than it does for a round-the-world ticket!
By the way, thanks Jilly for all your contacts..you´re a darl. We´ll see how we go :)
Greg´s travel advice: Plan only a day head..at the most, 2 days, any further is a headache as things change!!!!
Tuesday, 10 April 2007
FARO, SOUTH PORTUGAL
Day 39,40 (forty days in the wilderness!!)
Happy Birthday Sham!
And..the day that mumºs car was found by Rob at the train station! And mostly undamaged, other than a lock! Thank goodness! Glad you got it back Mum!! :-)
We caught the bus (autocarro) to Faro and halfway here the bus stopped, we looked out, and saw that the people were transferring their luggage to another bus! And Greg ran outside to inspect..and found, yes, we had to change busses!
The announcement had been made in Portuguese so we were left unaware until then. Language barriers are really a hindrance arenºt they. But...body language, for us, is becoming a vast reality. Always LOOK. LISTEN TO INTONATION and ASK!
Anway, we arrived in one peace, 4 1/2 hours later, passing the orange and olive farms and arrived in the street (again) to set out on our ºfinding accomodationº adventure!
Luckily, there was accomodation closeby! And...it has a shower in the room, fluffy towels, CNN (donºt know if thatºs a good thing or not..itºs all dismal news!) and a double bed that is NOT lumpy or hard!
BLISS!! Itºs a sleepy little, southern most port of Portugal, port which is in a estauray surrounded by beaches. What more could you ask for? Itºs like Mandurah in appearance and ambience really. Just laidback and lovely.
And itºs only €37.
And...the weather is absolutely beautiuful. 24 degrees. We had lunch just a while ago and had only singlets on! Oh bliss.....................we want to stay here...
And have decided to for 3 days.....
Greg got his haircut today - €8! Asked for short back and sides, layered on top, and got his money´s worth! Nothing left! (Looks good tho! Up with the trendies!!)
Took pics of the paving, so ornate, Portuguese know how to design that´s for sure. And..great clothes shops too..and i haven´t bought a THING!
Interesting here, there´s no smoking (nao fumadores) in restaurants unlike Spain and was reading in the paper how a new rule has just been passed in Portugal where 20 public places will be smoke free which is fantastic.
News: Anna Nicole´s baby father named! Uproar over Fay Turney´s story re 15 Miltary Navy being captured by Iranians.
Happy Birthday Sham!
And..the day that mumºs car was found by Rob at the train station! And mostly undamaged, other than a lock! Thank goodness! Glad you got it back Mum!! :-)
We caught the bus (autocarro) to Faro and halfway here the bus stopped, we looked out, and saw that the people were transferring their luggage to another bus! And Greg ran outside to inspect..and found, yes, we had to change busses!
The announcement had been made in Portuguese so we were left unaware until then. Language barriers are really a hindrance arenºt they. But...body language, for us, is becoming a vast reality. Always LOOK. LISTEN TO INTONATION and ASK!
Anway, we arrived in one peace, 4 1/2 hours later, passing the orange and olive farms and arrived in the street (again) to set out on our ºfinding accomodationº adventure!
Luckily, there was accomodation closeby! And...it has a shower in the room, fluffy towels, CNN (donºt know if thatºs a good thing or not..itºs all dismal news!) and a double bed that is NOT lumpy or hard!
BLISS!! Itºs a sleepy little, southern most port of Portugal, port which is in a estauray surrounded by beaches. What more could you ask for? Itºs like Mandurah in appearance and ambience really. Just laidback and lovely.
And itºs only €37.
And...the weather is absolutely beautiuful. 24 degrees. We had lunch just a while ago and had only singlets on! Oh bliss.....................we want to stay here...
And have decided to for 3 days.....
Greg got his haircut today - €8! Asked for short back and sides, layered on top, and got his money´s worth! Nothing left! (Looks good tho! Up with the trendies!!)
Took pics of the paving, so ornate, Portuguese know how to design that´s for sure. And..great clothes shops too..and i haven´t bought a THING!
Interesting here, there´s no smoking (nao fumadores) in restaurants unlike Spain and was reading in the paper how a new rule has just been passed in Portugal where 20 public places will be smoke free which is fantastic.
News: Anna Nicole´s baby father named! Uproar over Fay Turney´s story re 15 Miltary Navy being captured by Iranians.
LISBON + SINTRA
Lisbon, Portugal
Day 38
Easter Sunday
Coimbra E Madrid (name of Hostel)
We got up really early to get on our tour (that wasnºt booked so we figured if we missed out, bad luck!) and headed down to the plaza, with no breakfast. Greg did finish off the port that we brought from Porto, but thatºs another story!
We waited where we thought the tour was leaving from...and then realised we were at the wrong spot, again! And walked over to where we saw a crowd...and booked a city tour, and Sintra!
We hopped on the small, cosy bus and had our English speaking tour guide, Catarina, tell us all about Portugal. Honestly she was so gorgeous. We just felt so at home and she spoke 3 languages to accomodate everyone on the tour (French, German and English). I reflected how tourism is obviously important to Portuguese people.
And about the people, they are so happy, friendly and just gorgeous. So different to the Spanish which surprises us, given how close the countries are. I wonºt go into the history here but i read about the history of the celtics, Moors, Spanish and Portuguese last night and i recommend anyone reading about it. Itºs fascintating and gives a good perspectives as to why the people are so different in their temperaments.
The tour told us about more of the history and we stopped at Belem. Where the Portuguese national custard tart is made. Ohlala....itºs yummy. So funny though because Catarina told us we could go and see the Cathedral or go to the pastry shop and we chose the latter motivated by the fact that we hadnºt had breakfast and also because, it was Holy Day, Easter Sunday, and the church was full totally.
I lined up at first with all the others from a tourist bus then decided to peer into a side door..and walah, i was able to order our delicate pasty. THE thing to eat. And so i said..Dos. Spanish for two. Not portuguese for two. And i got two cylindral boxes of these special treats!!!!!
Which meant we had 12 to eat!
THEN....how to eat them. We heard Catarina say that they were best accompanied by cinnamon and icing sugar and we couldnºt see any. When we took them out they looked like pies! Later we found out weºd eaten two stuck together...and the sachets in the bag held the cinnomon and sugar! Duh. Silly.
We ate the next cylinder in style. At a cafe, with coffee after the tour was finished and while we waited to go to Sintra! THEY ARE SIMPLY DELIGHTFUL!
We took off to Sintra at 2.30pm and arrived home later that evening, 4.30pm and what a day it was. It was fantastic. Sintra is a fascinating place. Everything was closed, the monuments etc, being Easter and a National holiday but that didnºt matter. There was a museum open..the Toy museum, and we did go to that. And it had a bear (took photos) like the bear that i inherited from Dadºs estate in 2000. I took a photo of that, i was so excited! (1920´s bear...it must have been Dadºs childhood bear!).
We also went to the western most tip of Europe - Cabo da Roco - and to Cascais fishing village and saw their craypots there. Took pics to show Sam and Elise. We also went to Setuval - the third largest Port on the Atlantic side and also passed the casino where Casino Royale was based on. Casino Studio!
Was a very fitting Easter Sunday. We did think we were actually going to get away wiht not having any Easter eggs or chocolate for the day and probably the only Easter ever but we found a supermarket that had CHOCOLATE!! So we indulged! Bought some neslte chocolate and porto!! Why not..............
Day 38
Easter Sunday
Coimbra E Madrid (name of Hostel)
We got up really early to get on our tour (that wasnºt booked so we figured if we missed out, bad luck!) and headed down to the plaza, with no breakfast. Greg did finish off the port that we brought from Porto, but thatºs another story!
We waited where we thought the tour was leaving from...and then realised we were at the wrong spot, again! And walked over to where we saw a crowd...and booked a city tour, and Sintra!
We hopped on the small, cosy bus and had our English speaking tour guide, Catarina, tell us all about Portugal. Honestly she was so gorgeous. We just felt so at home and she spoke 3 languages to accomodate everyone on the tour (French, German and English). I reflected how tourism is obviously important to Portuguese people.
And about the people, they are so happy, friendly and just gorgeous. So different to the Spanish which surprises us, given how close the countries are. I wonºt go into the history here but i read about the history of the celtics, Moors, Spanish and Portuguese last night and i recommend anyone reading about it. Itºs fascintating and gives a good perspectives as to why the people are so different in their temperaments.
The tour told us about more of the history and we stopped at Belem. Where the Portuguese national custard tart is made. Ohlala....itºs yummy. So funny though because Catarina told us we could go and see the Cathedral or go to the pastry shop and we chose the latter motivated by the fact that we hadnºt had breakfast and also because, it was Holy Day, Easter Sunday, and the church was full totally.
I lined up at first with all the others from a tourist bus then decided to peer into a side door..and walah, i was able to order our delicate pasty. THE thing to eat. And so i said..Dos. Spanish for two. Not portuguese for two. And i got two cylindral boxes of these special treats!!!!!
Which meant we had 12 to eat!
THEN....how to eat them. We heard Catarina say that they were best accompanied by cinnamon and icing sugar and we couldnºt see any. When we took them out they looked like pies! Later we found out weºd eaten two stuck together...and the sachets in the bag held the cinnomon and sugar! Duh. Silly.
We ate the next cylinder in style. At a cafe, with coffee after the tour was finished and while we waited to go to Sintra! THEY ARE SIMPLY DELIGHTFUL!
We took off to Sintra at 2.30pm and arrived home later that evening, 4.30pm and what a day it was. It was fantastic. Sintra is a fascinating place. Everything was closed, the monuments etc, being Easter and a National holiday but that didnºt matter. There was a museum open..the Toy museum, and we did go to that. And it had a bear (took photos) like the bear that i inherited from Dadºs estate in 2000. I took a photo of that, i was so excited! (1920´s bear...it must have been Dadºs childhood bear!).
We also went to the western most tip of Europe - Cabo da Roco - and to Cascais fishing village and saw their craypots there. Took pics to show Sam and Elise. We also went to Setuval - the third largest Port on the Atlantic side and also passed the casino where Casino Royale was based on. Casino Studio!
Was a very fitting Easter Sunday. We did think we were actually going to get away wiht not having any Easter eggs or chocolate for the day and probably the only Easter ever but we found a supermarket that had CHOCOLATE!! So we indulged! Bought some neslte chocolate and porto!! Why not..............
LISBOA!
Lisbon, Portugal
Day 37
Saturday
Trekked to bus station 2kms and left Porto to Lisbon at 11.15am-
The trip to Lisbon was quite amazing really. Unlike Western Australia where the land is vast and desolate..the scenery is amazing. So many Eucalyptus as well. Tasmananian Blue Gums everywhere. I wonder why?
Reminisced, being that the journey took 3 1/2 hours about why we were doing the trip and how weºve accomplished what iºd been dying to do for a lifetime. I remember when Annie was 19 and left home with Pamela to go to London. And ended up staying overseas, seeing so many places, with me, the little sister, 6 years younger, putting my big sis on a pedestal, always dreaming about someday, travelling. And now itºs real. Weºre really doing it. And itºs just a big accomplishment. I really get emotional when i think about the history leading up to this trip and the reality of what weºre doing.
Greg feel slightly different because he has travelled before, in his youth when he left home to seek job opportunities when he graduated, to also working overseas later on for his work. But he says heºs never travelled as weºre doing. Where we donºt know what accomodation weºre heading for, what town weºll seek out, where weºll go and when itºll end. Itºs an exciting way of travelling and itºs true travelling. No stopping to work, just to seek the next spot.
Luxury of working and life for the last 20 years have enabled us to do this. We could never have afforded it or yearned to do it this way in our youth. Itºs the right time, now, in the present, in the now and the current. Itºs now that matters and itºs wonderful doing it together as we just completely fit together.
The first thing we saw, entering Lisboa was the 3 huge sails on the bridge! Which depict Vasco De Garma, the ocean marine explorer and navigator. We also saw monuments with him on it..as well as their most famous poet. Louizde Canios.
Arrived at Rossio metro and looked for accomodation! Went to 2 places and we were told, ªAll Completo!ª so we went back to a place we saw near the metro and went up the 75 steps to see if they had a place for us in the INN!~
They did! What a deadbeat place! Beggars at the doors, beggars at the plaza below, shower that was really dodgy and a bed that was as hard and lumpy as stone!! But! We got somewhere, so we were happy!
We went to the Square to find do some tours seeing there are English speaking people here and found two tours we could go on. But one place said we could book there, anther place said we could book there, another place said just turn up to the bus in the morning but we thought, well itºs Easter Sunday, weºll just end up in the Square looking lost! Which we did in the end! Went to dinner at the restaurante after both saying how starving we really were and found a place...and they were closed for lunch! They all seem to have lunch between 12 and 3pm!!!!
Found another place finally and had dinner there. I had cod...Sam, believe me, when i sent that message to you saying the cod was crap and Abrolhos cod is THE best in the world, i meant it! It really is!!! I couldnºt eat it. Greg had chicken and shared with me....what a guy!!!
Climbed our hundred stairs, minus the pack, and slept like logs...(on the ground!)
Day 37
Saturday
Trekked to bus station 2kms and left Porto to Lisbon at 11.15am-
The trip to Lisbon was quite amazing really. Unlike Western Australia where the land is vast and desolate..the scenery is amazing. So many Eucalyptus as well. Tasmananian Blue Gums everywhere. I wonder why?
Reminisced, being that the journey took 3 1/2 hours about why we were doing the trip and how weºve accomplished what iºd been dying to do for a lifetime. I remember when Annie was 19 and left home with Pamela to go to London. And ended up staying overseas, seeing so many places, with me, the little sister, 6 years younger, putting my big sis on a pedestal, always dreaming about someday, travelling. And now itºs real. Weºre really doing it. And itºs just a big accomplishment. I really get emotional when i think about the history leading up to this trip and the reality of what weºre doing.
Greg feel slightly different because he has travelled before, in his youth when he left home to seek job opportunities when he graduated, to also working overseas later on for his work. But he says heºs never travelled as weºre doing. Where we donºt know what accomodation weºre heading for, what town weºll seek out, where weºll go and when itºll end. Itºs an exciting way of travelling and itºs true travelling. No stopping to work, just to seek the next spot.
Luxury of working and life for the last 20 years have enabled us to do this. We could never have afforded it or yearned to do it this way in our youth. Itºs the right time, now, in the present, in the now and the current. Itºs now that matters and itºs wonderful doing it together as we just completely fit together.
The first thing we saw, entering Lisboa was the 3 huge sails on the bridge! Which depict Vasco De Garma, the ocean marine explorer and navigator. We also saw monuments with him on it..as well as their most famous poet. Louizde Canios.
Arrived at Rossio metro and looked for accomodation! Went to 2 places and we were told, ªAll Completo!ª so we went back to a place we saw near the metro and went up the 75 steps to see if they had a place for us in the INN!~
They did! What a deadbeat place! Beggars at the doors, beggars at the plaza below, shower that was really dodgy and a bed that was as hard and lumpy as stone!! But! We got somewhere, so we were happy!
We went to the Square to find do some tours seeing there are English speaking people here and found two tours we could go on. But one place said we could book there, anther place said we could book there, another place said just turn up to the bus in the morning but we thought, well itºs Easter Sunday, weºll just end up in the Square looking lost! Which we did in the end! Went to dinner at the restaurante after both saying how starving we really were and found a place...and they were closed for lunch! They all seem to have lunch between 12 and 3pm!!!!
Found another place finally and had dinner there. I had cod...Sam, believe me, when i sent that message to you saying the cod was crap and Abrolhos cod is THE best in the world, i meant it! It really is!!! I couldnºt eat it. Greg had chicken and shared with me....what a guy!!!
Climbed our hundred stairs, minus the pack, and slept like logs...(on the ground!)
Friday, 6 April 2007
THE BEAUTIFUL PORTUGAL
Porto
Day 35, 36 (Good Friday)
Portugal is just simply GORGEOUS!!!!!!!
The people, the scenery, the food, the everything....oh! Itºs bliss here!!
We had a bad start when we got dumped off at the bus stop at 7.30pm last night and didnºt know where to go or what accomodation we might get but it all turned out really well!
We found a map at a bus station nearby (after trudging up the hill for about 2 kmºs and then back again - packs on back!) and asked a guy if he could help us, which, in English, he said he couldnºt because he wasnºt quite sure where we were himself!
But he spoke English!
We looked at the 4 star hotel and thought, well this might be where we stay for hte night while we work out what is available in this little known place. We did some more searching and found a hotel that was 2 star. And it was close to where we were. So uphill we trudged, and thatºs what it felt like. The last few days was catching up with us at this point!
When we found it, it was a four star hotel and the price was €200 per night!!!!
Should we catch a taxi and head for another hotel? The Peninsular was apparently a 2 star.
No. We asked. WHen stuck, ask. A good motto we found out!
THe lovely lady behind the desk said in perfect English, ªThis is not the real price! We have 3 hotels, a 4 star, a 3 star, a 2 star!ª We asked about the 2 star, always aware of our budget and knowing if we overspent in one country, weºd be deprived in another. And we really wanted to stretch our dollars out for the year of travelling. As you would!
`Howºs €32 a night sound?`
Howºd it sound. Perfect to us! And for 37 Euros it included a buffet breakfast for us both! We were actually quite staggered by that price. It was only 2 Euros more than the backpacker hostal in Spain and this was a hotel with CNN and BBC!!! (iºve missed the news so much!)
We got ourselves settled and decided to stay 3 nights! Thereºs also a bidet in the room! (first one weºve encountered in Europe!).
We saw on CNN how 15 British Military Service Personal released from Iran. 4 killed in Basra. Contrasting joyous and sad news items.
And Gregºs checking emails on the puter next to me and said Mumºs car was stolen from the pool!!! Bloody hell....
Off to Lisbon next! Will write from there!
xx
PS GO DOCKERS!!!!!!
Day 35, 36 (Good Friday)
Portugal is just simply GORGEOUS!!!!!!!
The people, the scenery, the food, the everything....oh! Itºs bliss here!!
We had a bad start when we got dumped off at the bus stop at 7.30pm last night and didnºt know where to go or what accomodation we might get but it all turned out really well!
We found a map at a bus station nearby (after trudging up the hill for about 2 kmºs and then back again - packs on back!) and asked a guy if he could help us, which, in English, he said he couldnºt because he wasnºt quite sure where we were himself!
But he spoke English!
We looked at the 4 star hotel and thought, well this might be where we stay for hte night while we work out what is available in this little known place. We did some more searching and found a hotel that was 2 star. And it was close to where we were. So uphill we trudged, and thatºs what it felt like. The last few days was catching up with us at this point!
When we found it, it was a four star hotel and the price was €200 per night!!!!
Should we catch a taxi and head for another hotel? The Peninsular was apparently a 2 star.
No. We asked. WHen stuck, ask. A good motto we found out!
THe lovely lady behind the desk said in perfect English, ªThis is not the real price! We have 3 hotels, a 4 star, a 3 star, a 2 star!ª We asked about the 2 star, always aware of our budget and knowing if we overspent in one country, weºd be deprived in another. And we really wanted to stretch our dollars out for the year of travelling. As you would!
`Howºs €32 a night sound?`
Howºd it sound. Perfect to us! And for 37 Euros it included a buffet breakfast for us both! We were actually quite staggered by that price. It was only 2 Euros more than the backpacker hostal in Spain and this was a hotel with CNN and BBC!!! (iºve missed the news so much!)
We got ourselves settled and decided to stay 3 nights! Thereºs also a bidet in the room! (first one weºve encountered in Europe!).
We saw on CNN how 15 British Military Service Personal released from Iran. 4 killed in Basra. Contrasting joyous and sad news items.
And Gregºs checking emails on the puter next to me and said Mumºs car was stolen from the pool!!! Bloody hell....
Off to Lisbon next! Will write from there!
xx
PS GO DOCKERS!!!!!!
VIGO - PORTO, PORTUGAL
Tuela, Porto
Day 34
Left Santiago de Compestela at 10am and headed to the train station.
Off to Vigo on the train. Vigo is a little port. Pretty, but the help was unbelievable. We were trying to get a map to decide whether to stay or not and the woman just said, ºspeaka no english!ª I mean, this was the woman at the Tourist Centre. Just got the feeling we should be heading to Portugal as soon as we could. The hostility was just getting to me.
From Vigo, we decided weºd go to Porto, in Portugal or at least see if we could get there! The unfriendly woman in Vigo told us we had to go to the bus station to get there, so off we went...backpacks on board, and walked 3kmºs to the bus station!
We were lucky enough to get tickets to Porto!
And the journey there was SO pretty. Lots of houses in the country, with no fences dividing them, and lots of vineyards and just so green and pretty. I could feel myself thawing already. Out of the city. And near water. Isnºt it funny, when youºre not around water for a while you start to crave it. And i was certainly craving it....river, ocean, creek...i dinºt care...just something!
AND PORTO WAS IT! FINALLY IN PORTUGAL!
The blissful place we were destined to be for Easter.
About Porto!
The metro is above ground because itºs built on solid rock. It has a fantasic bridge which looks like the Sydney harbour bridge! The first sight we saw when entering porto the bridge.
Itºs a port town, that produces Porto wine. We went on a history of Port Wine tour and went on some port wine tastings as well. One of them was the Callem wine. So interesting to see the process in action. They produce 3 types of port - Ruby, Tawny and white port wine.
We also went to the Sandeman Porto wine tour as well which had a video explaining the process further. Apparently the fermentation process is halted and brandy is added to kill the yeast and retain the sugar which all porto wine has at 20% and it makes it sweeter. Very nice!
Porto also has washing hanging out of all the windows making it quite a landmark. We took a pic of this nude woman outside one of the villas...which, hey..we might reproduce on our balcony when we get back!!! haha!
NB Shower went full pelt here! We canºt win i tell you...regarding the showers!! Flooded bathroom!
Day 34
Left Santiago de Compestela at 10am and headed to the train station.
Off to Vigo on the train. Vigo is a little port. Pretty, but the help was unbelievable. We were trying to get a map to decide whether to stay or not and the woman just said, ºspeaka no english!ª I mean, this was the woman at the Tourist Centre. Just got the feeling we should be heading to Portugal as soon as we could. The hostility was just getting to me.
From Vigo, we decided weºd go to Porto, in Portugal or at least see if we could get there! The unfriendly woman in Vigo told us we had to go to the bus station to get there, so off we went...backpacks on board, and walked 3kmºs to the bus station!
We were lucky enough to get tickets to Porto!
And the journey there was SO pretty. Lots of houses in the country, with no fences dividing them, and lots of vineyards and just so green and pretty. I could feel myself thawing already. Out of the city. And near water. Isnºt it funny, when youºre not around water for a while you start to crave it. And i was certainly craving it....river, ocean, creek...i dinºt care...just something!
AND PORTO WAS IT! FINALLY IN PORTUGAL!
The blissful place we were destined to be for Easter.
About Porto!
The metro is above ground because itºs built on solid rock. It has a fantasic bridge which looks like the Sydney harbour bridge! The first sight we saw when entering porto the bridge.
Itºs a port town, that produces Porto wine. We went on a history of Port Wine tour and went on some port wine tastings as well. One of them was the Callem wine. So interesting to see the process in action. They produce 3 types of port - Ruby, Tawny and white port wine.
We also went to the Sandeman Porto wine tour as well which had a video explaining the process further. Apparently the fermentation process is halted and brandy is added to kill the yeast and retain the sugar which all porto wine has at 20% and it makes it sweeter. Very nice!
Porto also has washing hanging out of all the windows making it quite a landmark. We took a pic of this nude woman outside one of the villas...which, hey..we might reproduce on our balcony when we get back!!! haha!
NB Shower went full pelt here! We canºt win i tell you...regarding the showers!! Flooded bathroom!
SANTIAGO de COMPESTELA
Santiago de Compestela
GALACIA, Spain
Mafer Hostal
Day 33
We caught the train last night thinking we were going to have an overnight sleeper, but when we got onto the carriage we realised we were going to have a 9 hour journey sitting up! We got lost in translation there! At least we were stocked up with foot and a bottle of wine for the journey! Spanish wine is to die for! Vino Tinto - Rioja is the one weºre finding weºre really enjoying...
The one thing we were really thrilled about was the fact that, yes, we got to see AVILA! After missing it 3 times and deciding we werenºt meant to see it..we DID! How cool is that!
(By the way, i canºt seem to find the apostrophe on these euro keyboards so bear with me!)
Avila had the wall we were dying to see....a fortress like castle wall that surrounded the old town. And there was a smaller wall surrounding the newer town. Anyway, that satisfied our desire to see Avila and we were able to continue our journey feeling like weºd actually seen all we wanted to see from Madrid afterall!
We arrived in the morning - at 7.30am in Santiago de Compestela and quickly put our luggage in the luggage locker at the train station so we could explore the town and find accomodation. But first, we sat down to breakfast at the train station. Gee, i tell ya, weºve had a lot of meals at train and bus stations!!!!
We walked about 2kmºs into the centre from the train station and found a hostal. 30 Euro for the night! Which we thought was pretty good!
We walked back to the train station and loaded ourselves up with our packs and walked back to our accomodation! THEN we walked 53 spiralling steps up to our room! Phew! Weºre getting fit! (And eating heaps to compensate so donºt think weºre fading away..NOT!)
We dumped our stuff and decided to explore. Why we werenºt totally exhausted after our night on the train i donºt know..but we were just so entranced by this beautiful city we had to get out and see what it had offer. And we were not disappointed. We knew we wanted to see the Cathedral, the palace and the museum. Are we getting addicted to all this history? I think so, I love it!! It feels so cultural, so real, so entrenched in tradition, i well up in tears just thinking about it. Honestly, there seems to such a spirituality to these architectural marvels.
We bought a €10 to enter the museum, which included entry to the other places in Santiago de Compestela.
The cathedral was awe inspiring. The beauty and grandeur were just stunning. When we first entered we expected a cathedral. One like weºve seen previously in Spain, which have been just stunning in architecture and history and art. But this one, was just beyond words.
How to describe it. Well, apart from the extreme reverance of the place the word i can only think of is bewildering.
At the entrance there was a statue which i assume, not being a catholic and not knowing much about catechism, was Jesus and the hand of God. There was a place to put your hands and a place to kiss his head. I followed the masses and got a photo but iºm sure it wonºt be until later that iºll realise the relevance of all of this.
The thing that touched us was there was a service in progression and i assume, being the first day of passover, it had something to do with that. But it was amazing! ANd the singing...was just so beautiful.
I loved being in the cathedral. We stayed and listened to the whole service and in the end, followed the masses as we do, and ended up at this shrine that said Horatio and we went in to find there was someone in there blessing people and another head to kiss which i didnºt and Greg did. He saved the day, doing the customery thing! I think his training at Wesley heled him know what to do!? (Even tho thatºs Methodist)
One thing i did understand was the apostle James was very revered in this church. His remains were buried here in the first century AD and rediscovered in 813.
My knowledge of the Bible from studying it for 10 years when i was baptised into the Church of Christ in 1985 has certainly helped my understanding of the church! And i think, from the time I left the church i have also gained a far greater understanding of other religions and cultures, because iºm not locked into one.
If thereºs one place to be for the Holy week, it has to right here, at Santiago de Compestela. The pure worship is just outstanding. During the night we heard the singing come alive again. And it was the procession going through the streets. Greg said they looked like the Ku Klux Clan!!! Because our hostel was right in the centre of town, we could see everything - the buses stopped, the people following the procession, the noise! Very exciting.
This is the place where the catholics come as pilgrims. The pilgrimages are 750km long and pilgrims do all or part of it. It´s amazing, they are here with all their backpacks on from all over the world. We wondered at first why there were so many backpackers, that looked like us, on the roads here in the city. Then we were told they were doing their annual, or lifetime, pilgrimage. A bit like when Rob and Guity, as Bahai´s went to Haifa I imagine. Quite a personal and spiritual experience.
Went to the Museo Peregrino which was a modern place where they show photos of all the pilgrims that visit Santiago de Compestela. They thought WE were pilgrims from AUstralia and let us in free! ANd honestly, in a way we felt like it, being that we seemed to be the only ones there. The map of all the pilgrims was interesting. Pilgrims had been there from all over the world, except Australia and New Zealand!
Do they know what Aussies and Kiwiºs are? The forgotten ones...........
Even the weather doesnºt show our end of the world. Itºs so weird.
Tomorrow weºre off to Vigo.
GALACIA, Spain
Mafer Hostal
Day 33
We caught the train last night thinking we were going to have an overnight sleeper, but when we got onto the carriage we realised we were going to have a 9 hour journey sitting up! We got lost in translation there! At least we were stocked up with foot and a bottle of wine for the journey! Spanish wine is to die for! Vino Tinto - Rioja is the one weºre finding weºre really enjoying...
The one thing we were really thrilled about was the fact that, yes, we got to see AVILA! After missing it 3 times and deciding we werenºt meant to see it..we DID! How cool is that!
(By the way, i canºt seem to find the apostrophe on these euro keyboards so bear with me!)
Avila had the wall we were dying to see....a fortress like castle wall that surrounded the old town. And there was a smaller wall surrounding the newer town. Anyway, that satisfied our desire to see Avila and we were able to continue our journey feeling like weºd actually seen all we wanted to see from Madrid afterall!
We arrived in the morning - at 7.30am in Santiago de Compestela and quickly put our luggage in the luggage locker at the train station so we could explore the town and find accomodation. But first, we sat down to breakfast at the train station. Gee, i tell ya, weºve had a lot of meals at train and bus stations!!!!
We walked about 2kmºs into the centre from the train station and found a hostal. 30 Euro for the night! Which we thought was pretty good!
We walked back to the train station and loaded ourselves up with our packs and walked back to our accomodation! THEN we walked 53 spiralling steps up to our room! Phew! Weºre getting fit! (And eating heaps to compensate so donºt think weºre fading away..NOT!)
We dumped our stuff and decided to explore. Why we werenºt totally exhausted after our night on the train i donºt know..but we were just so entranced by this beautiful city we had to get out and see what it had offer. And we were not disappointed. We knew we wanted to see the Cathedral, the palace and the museum. Are we getting addicted to all this history? I think so, I love it!! It feels so cultural, so real, so entrenched in tradition, i well up in tears just thinking about it. Honestly, there seems to such a spirituality to these architectural marvels.
We bought a €10 to enter the museum, which included entry to the other places in Santiago de Compestela.
The cathedral was awe inspiring. The beauty and grandeur were just stunning. When we first entered we expected a cathedral. One like weºve seen previously in Spain, which have been just stunning in architecture and history and art. But this one, was just beyond words.
How to describe it. Well, apart from the extreme reverance of the place the word i can only think of is bewildering.
At the entrance there was a statue which i assume, not being a catholic and not knowing much about catechism, was Jesus and the hand of God. There was a place to put your hands and a place to kiss his head. I followed the masses and got a photo but iºm sure it wonºt be until later that iºll realise the relevance of all of this.
The thing that touched us was there was a service in progression and i assume, being the first day of passover, it had something to do with that. But it was amazing! ANd the singing...was just so beautiful.
I loved being in the cathedral. We stayed and listened to the whole service and in the end, followed the masses as we do, and ended up at this shrine that said Horatio and we went in to find there was someone in there blessing people and another head to kiss which i didnºt and Greg did. He saved the day, doing the customery thing! I think his training at Wesley heled him know what to do!? (Even tho thatºs Methodist)
One thing i did understand was the apostle James was very revered in this church. His remains were buried here in the first century AD and rediscovered in 813.
My knowledge of the Bible from studying it for 10 years when i was baptised into the Church of Christ in 1985 has certainly helped my understanding of the church! And i think, from the time I left the church i have also gained a far greater understanding of other religions and cultures, because iºm not locked into one.
If thereºs one place to be for the Holy week, it has to right here, at Santiago de Compestela. The pure worship is just outstanding. During the night we heard the singing come alive again. And it was the procession going through the streets. Greg said they looked like the Ku Klux Clan!!! Because our hostel was right in the centre of town, we could see everything - the buses stopped, the people following the procession, the noise! Very exciting.
This is the place where the catholics come as pilgrims. The pilgrimages are 750km long and pilgrims do all or part of it. It´s amazing, they are here with all their backpacks on from all over the world. We wondered at first why there were so many backpackers, that looked like us, on the roads here in the city. Then we were told they were doing their annual, or lifetime, pilgrimage. A bit like when Rob and Guity, as Bahai´s went to Haifa I imagine. Quite a personal and spiritual experience.
Went to the Museo Peregrino which was a modern place where they show photos of all the pilgrims that visit Santiago de Compestela. They thought WE were pilgrims from AUstralia and let us in free! ANd honestly, in a way we felt like it, being that we seemed to be the only ones there. The map of all the pilgrims was interesting. Pilgrims had been there from all over the world, except Australia and New Zealand!
Do they know what Aussies and Kiwiºs are? The forgotten ones...........
Even the weather doesnºt show our end of the world. Itºs so weird.
Tomorrow weºre off to Vigo.
Monday, 2 April 2007
OUT OF SPAIN INTO PORTUGAL
Madrid
Day 32
After our day yesterday of contrasts - the contrast of mankind´s passions. From the beauty in the artists we´ve gotten to know to the raw reality of the Bullfight and the homeless we are preparing now to go to the north of Spain and Portugal.
Madrid has been an city of intense passions and of long traditions. By travelling the way we are, we´ve seen a side of the life here that we wouldnt´see on tours.
We´ve walked the streets, experienced public transport and the local shops and restaurantes as well as ventured into some of the smaller villages and mingled with the non english speaking spanish natives and tried to communicate the best we can.
In such a short time we´ve experienced so much. A lot that can not be written in here due to time contraints but will remain with us as we continue along our journey.
We´re off to the north of spain now. We´ve checked out of the ¨Riosal¨and are heading for Santiago De Compostela then to Portugal. Unfortunately we´ll miss seeing my art teacher friend who is working in Portugal...such bad timing!!!
But we´re excited. We´re on the move again and don´t know where we´ll stay, or where we´ll go. We´re loving travelling this way. And the more we are together, the more we learn about ourselves and each other. I feel moved. We´re moving as one. As i´ve never done before. I feel very blessed to have such a special time as this time right now. Living for the now.
We haven´t started our Eurail pass yet but will when we get to Seville.
We´ll write from there!!
Love to all!
xxx
Day 32
After our day yesterday of contrasts - the contrast of mankind´s passions. From the beauty in the artists we´ve gotten to know to the raw reality of the Bullfight and the homeless we are preparing now to go to the north of Spain and Portugal.
Madrid has been an city of intense passions and of long traditions. By travelling the way we are, we´ve seen a side of the life here that we wouldnt´see on tours.
We´ve walked the streets, experienced public transport and the local shops and restaurantes as well as ventured into some of the smaller villages and mingled with the non english speaking spanish natives and tried to communicate the best we can.
In such a short time we´ve experienced so much. A lot that can not be written in here due to time contraints but will remain with us as we continue along our journey.
We´re off to the north of spain now. We´ve checked out of the ¨Riosal¨and are heading for Santiago De Compostela then to Portugal. Unfortunately we´ll miss seeing my art teacher friend who is working in Portugal...such bad timing!!!
But we´re excited. We´re on the move again and don´t know where we´ll stay, or where we´ll go. We´re loving travelling this way. And the more we are together, the more we learn about ourselves and each other. I feel moved. We´re moving as one. As i´ve never done before. I feel very blessed to have such a special time as this time right now. Living for the now.
We haven´t started our Eurail pass yet but will when we get to Seville.
We´ll write from there!!
Love to all!
xxx
THE BULLFIGHT
Madrid
Day 31
It was 4pm and we were looking at the last of the wonderful impressionist artists as well as examining the baroque and cubist era´s of art when we decided we´d better get going.
Tonight was the first bullfight of the season. 1st April 2007. We wanted to see this sport for ourselves, and experience the whole culture of Spain.
So much has been said about The Bullfight. Somerset Maughan writes about it in great detail. The spanish are proud of it and yet don`t publicise it to tourists for fear of recrimination. The Tourist Centre seemed hushed about it. People have their thoughts and ideas about it.
We briskly move out of the museum to catch the metro to Las Ventas where the Bullfight will be held. We wondered how crowded it would be, whether it´d be a replay of the Flamenco from the night before where we didn´t get in.
The train was full and we thought we were on the right track. We were. People seemed excited somehow. The air was brisk. We were clad, once again, in our warm clothes. Thank goodness for my pashmina Annie brought back from Turkey. Instead of being in all black at least i had pink about me, and warmth.
We disembark from the train, and we were right thereª! In the square at the entrance to the Bullfight. PLaza Toros De Madrid. At the Corrida de Toros.
We took the pics, as you do, in front of the bull in the square. Bought our tickets. The best seats. Why not get a good view.
We hadn´t eaten and were hungry. We´d by food there, we thought.
The doors were open for us to go in.
In we go. The arena was old and dark. No food anywhere. Bar in the corner with only alcohol, ´wickey´ in abundance (whiskey). Smokers, pipes and cigars everywhere. Mostly men. Spanish. A few tourists. We enter the huge granite stadium and realise we need cushions because we would just be sitting on granite. Nothing flash. Just a huge arena.
Our seats were right behind the main gates where the matadors came out. Where all the action was. I started to feel a bit nervous. What would we be subject to? We were only 20 metres away from them.
From where we sat in the stalls we could see the royal boxes and the band playing. We waited for the stadium to fill but it only half filled. Seemed to be a sport that only the diehards attended.
The music started. The bull appeared in the stadium. The Corrida. The Bullfight was to begin. The majestic looking animal with what looked like a bow on his back came out charging. He saw the various matadors and charged at them. They were dressed in all different colours and had pink and yellow capes. The bull charged, they showed their capes. Tested by peons. He looked fierce. Nothing to be sorry about as he charged on and ran around the arena.
Next the music starts and a horse appears. There is a picador on the horse and the horse is heavily armoured. It must entrance the bull and make him charge even more. He heads for the horse and his huge horns are thrust into the armour. The horse stands stoic as if he knows he won´t be hurt. His eyes are covered. The bull charges further, agressively and the picador thrusts a long spear into the bull´s back. The lance that makes the bull erupt with blood. The crowd claps if the bull goes to his knees.
The madadors lead the bull away from the attacked horse. More men come with the colourful bandarillas and spear them into the bull´s back. Three lots. They hang out in colours and the bulls bucks and defends himself trying to be rid of these spears that are searing his skin.
One of the matadors dropped his cape and rolled expertly away so the bull would head for this rather than him.
The bull is already dying.
The main matador, dressed in tight white úniform comes out with his red muleta, the red cloth and hugs his fellow matadors. As if he may not live should the bull outwit him.
In artisic form the main matador uses his red flag and teases the bull. Behind the muleta he has a sword. The one that will kill the bull.
When he got a chance, and after teasing the bull with his muleta, he thrust him with his sword in the back of his neck with one thrust and it brought the bull to his knees. He then rolled over.
The crowd goes silly. The matador is revered. The bull lays down. And dies. His legs up. Greg and I were filled with emotion and i couldn´t stop crying. Greg was choked.
We werent ´the only ones. I heard the spanish man next to me start snivelling as well. Really Snivelling. It was sad. Yet it was inevitable. Planned. A sure thing. That the bull would die at a bullfight.
It touched a raw nerve within us. How could we be here watching this? How could be be so transfixed on this oldage tradition and in some way not be able to take our eyes off the action. Getting caught up in the atmosphere, just like at the football. Wanting the end to come with a spectacular result.
The majestic bull was brought to his knees and didn´t have a chance. It was a brutal killing.
He was then tied to the back of four horses and paraded in the arena. Dragged for everyone to see. He was in his glory. People stood up and gave their respect to the brave matador. ´He´d won the respect of his crowd. People honoured the mighty Bull.
After this happened they brought out another bull. He was teased by the matadors and his back pierced by the picador on the horse, but he was saved and was brought back into the arena by a series of other bulls that lured him back.
This was repeated 3 times. The two acts.
One thing we did find humouros and almost like the bull was getting his own back was during the second round, when the second unkilled bull came out and was to be lead back by other bulls, he bucked and decided, no, he was going to stay in the arena. They brought the bulls in to get him 5 times! Finally the bull ringer man had to run along the inside of the arena to get the bull to go back inside. It seemed like the Bull´s revenge.
After the third round, when it was too cold and wet and our raincoats and umbrella´s were drowned and our adrenalin was saturating us, we decided this was the first and last Bullfight we´d attend.
No repeat was needed.
It was extraordinary.
Day 31
It was 4pm and we were looking at the last of the wonderful impressionist artists as well as examining the baroque and cubist era´s of art when we decided we´d better get going.
Tonight was the first bullfight of the season. 1st April 2007. We wanted to see this sport for ourselves, and experience the whole culture of Spain.
So much has been said about The Bullfight. Somerset Maughan writes about it in great detail. The spanish are proud of it and yet don`t publicise it to tourists for fear of recrimination. The Tourist Centre seemed hushed about it. People have their thoughts and ideas about it.
We briskly move out of the museum to catch the metro to Las Ventas where the Bullfight will be held. We wondered how crowded it would be, whether it´d be a replay of the Flamenco from the night before where we didn´t get in.
The train was full and we thought we were on the right track. We were. People seemed excited somehow. The air was brisk. We were clad, once again, in our warm clothes. Thank goodness for my pashmina Annie brought back from Turkey. Instead of being in all black at least i had pink about me, and warmth.
We disembark from the train, and we were right thereª! In the square at the entrance to the Bullfight. PLaza Toros De Madrid. At the Corrida de Toros.
We took the pics, as you do, in front of the bull in the square. Bought our tickets. The best seats. Why not get a good view.
We hadn´t eaten and were hungry. We´d by food there, we thought.
The doors were open for us to go in.
In we go. The arena was old and dark. No food anywhere. Bar in the corner with only alcohol, ´wickey´ in abundance (whiskey). Smokers, pipes and cigars everywhere. Mostly men. Spanish. A few tourists. We enter the huge granite stadium and realise we need cushions because we would just be sitting on granite. Nothing flash. Just a huge arena.
Our seats were right behind the main gates where the matadors came out. Where all the action was. I started to feel a bit nervous. What would we be subject to? We were only 20 metres away from them.
From where we sat in the stalls we could see the royal boxes and the band playing. We waited for the stadium to fill but it only half filled. Seemed to be a sport that only the diehards attended.
The music started. The bull appeared in the stadium. The Corrida. The Bullfight was to begin. The majestic looking animal with what looked like a bow on his back came out charging. He saw the various matadors and charged at them. They were dressed in all different colours and had pink and yellow capes. The bull charged, they showed their capes. Tested by peons. He looked fierce. Nothing to be sorry about as he charged on and ran around the arena.
Next the music starts and a horse appears. There is a picador on the horse and the horse is heavily armoured. It must entrance the bull and make him charge even more. He heads for the horse and his huge horns are thrust into the armour. The horse stands stoic as if he knows he won´t be hurt. His eyes are covered. The bull charges further, agressively and the picador thrusts a long spear into the bull´s back. The lance that makes the bull erupt with blood. The crowd claps if the bull goes to his knees.
The madadors lead the bull away from the attacked horse. More men come with the colourful bandarillas and spear them into the bull´s back. Three lots. They hang out in colours and the bulls bucks and defends himself trying to be rid of these spears that are searing his skin.
One of the matadors dropped his cape and rolled expertly away so the bull would head for this rather than him.
The bull is already dying.
The main matador, dressed in tight white úniform comes out with his red muleta, the red cloth and hugs his fellow matadors. As if he may not live should the bull outwit him.
In artisic form the main matador uses his red flag and teases the bull. Behind the muleta he has a sword. The one that will kill the bull.
When he got a chance, and after teasing the bull with his muleta, he thrust him with his sword in the back of his neck with one thrust and it brought the bull to his knees. He then rolled over.
The crowd goes silly. The matador is revered. The bull lays down. And dies. His legs up. Greg and I were filled with emotion and i couldn´t stop crying. Greg was choked.
We werent ´the only ones. I heard the spanish man next to me start snivelling as well. Really Snivelling. It was sad. Yet it was inevitable. Planned. A sure thing. That the bull would die at a bullfight.
It touched a raw nerve within us. How could we be here watching this? How could be be so transfixed on this oldage tradition and in some way not be able to take our eyes off the action. Getting caught up in the atmosphere, just like at the football. Wanting the end to come with a spectacular result.
The majestic bull was brought to his knees and didn´t have a chance. It was a brutal killing.
He was then tied to the back of four horses and paraded in the arena. Dragged for everyone to see. He was in his glory. People stood up and gave their respect to the brave matador. ´He´d won the respect of his crowd. People honoured the mighty Bull.
After this happened they brought out another bull. He was teased by the matadors and his back pierced by the picador on the horse, but he was saved and was brought back into the arena by a series of other bulls that lured him back.
This was repeated 3 times. The two acts.
One thing we did find humouros and almost like the bull was getting his own back was during the second round, when the second unkilled bull came out and was to be lead back by other bulls, he bucked and decided, no, he was going to stay in the arena. They brought the bulls in to get him 5 times! Finally the bull ringer man had to run along the inside of the arena to get the bull to go back inside. It seemed like the Bull´s revenge.
After the third round, when it was too cold and wet and our raincoats and umbrella´s were drowned and our adrenalin was saturating us, we decided this was the first and last Bullfight we´d attend.
No repeat was needed.
It was extraordinary.
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