| Bump, Crash, Oh____ |  | 22 January ’06, Sunday.
Yesterday morning we left Benidorm and headed north. Our calculations told us we would most likely land close to Barcelona for the night. Our drive was uneventful with the exception of a little rain in the first hour. We stopped just outside of Benidorm, for a replenishment of groceries at Lidl (Liidle), a little butter, wine, and some bread…does that sound familiar???. Then it was onto Barcelona. About 4, we pulled into Vilanova I la Geltru, and our campground for the night. This put us about 25 km short of Barcelona, but at a very large and nice campground. This morning after my shower, I went up to the camp store and bought a couple of nice “sweet rolls” to go with our coffee. After packing, we pulled out of our pitch, but found we were heading into a dead-end street. Stopping, I put “Bumble Bee” into reverse and immediately turned into a stone wall. Upset over that, I pulled forward, put her in reverse again and backed into a Palm tree. This time I did some damage…I broke out the back window and put a big enough dent into the back door that it won’t open….S___ . Glass everywhere and I wasn’t a “HAPPY CAMPER” !!! Not only that, I did it in front of someone…why weren’t they still in bed??? Louise and I got out and started picking up all the glass from the ground and around the window frame…sure enough, we both ended up with blood dripping from our fingers, and a lot of smoke from my mouth…I was pissed !!! Here we are, after traveling through a ton of different countries, thousands of roads and back ally-ways, countless campgrounds, and finally heading “home” we back into a damn palm tree… what more can I say??? Now we are behind “schedule”, so we head out towards our “new” destination…Toulouse, France, and it is after 10:30 in the morning. We are looking for our next highway C-31. C-32 is a “Toll” road, so we want C-31…a non-toll. Finding C-31, we motor on towards Barcelona and then to the French border. Funny thing, as we get onto C-31, it all of a sudden becomes a very narrow, winding and twisting, edge hugging, bicycling, little “ole lady”, “Sunday morning”, sightseeing roadway…I need SPEED!!! We were stuck…for just about 1 hour we were on this wonderful (for those that didn’t have a care in the world) road, and couldn’t get off. Finally, after entering Barcelona, we had a chance to jump to the “Big Man’s” highway, and motor on at our fast clip of 100km (60 MPH). What a morning !!! Now we only had 2 more slight inconveniences…we only had $20 Euros in cash, we needed gas, and we were about ready to pay some heavy duty “highway tolls”. Gas would take up to $50 Euro, and the tolls, about $30 before we could leave Spain. Once on the “toll” road we couldn’t get off to get to a cash machine, so we had to hope that one of the “convenient” service/restaurant stops had one. On our 3rd attempt we found one, but they wanted to charge us a $2 Euro service charge…OK, TAKE IT, JUST GIVE ME MY MONEY !!! Escaping into France, taking a last glance into Spain (which we really liked), we headed off to Narbonne. Turning right toward Carcassonne and Toulouse we were heading into “new territory”. We had wanted to find a way to take this route, but we hadn’t found enough campgrounds open to be able to. Finally, after examining some more campground information, we found what we needed…a campground in Toulouse and Limoges that were open year around. Now we had a different route to Paris and some additional sites in France to see…all is good. We arrived in Toulouse about 4:30, set up, and feeling like Don Quixote and Poncho Sanchez, we had some very good Champagne and snacks to drown our sorrows. A hell of day !!!
| |
| January 26, 2006 03:24 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| Penyal d'Ifach... |  | 19 January ’05, Thursday.
The final week here in Benidorm has just flown by. Fortunately for us, the weather has really been great. We looked at the extended forecast about 10 days ago and it looked like we would have at least 4 days of rain. How lucky can we get, we haven’t had but one night with a little wetness, and the days have been in the mid to high 60’s, sun and…beach weather. One of our neighbors, whom just arrived, heard about our “garage sale” and the fact that we had sold our lounge chairs, so they grabbed two of theirs and offered them to us until we leave on Saturday…that’s great neighbors… We stayed home on Tuesday sitting in our new borrowed lounge chairs and did our laundry. Yesterday we packed up and drove 6 miles down the coast to Calp. From just beyond our campground, we can see the magnificent limestone rock formation called Penyal d’Ifach. This large rock formation sits out at the end of a small peninsula from Calp, and looks like a small Gibraltar. Looking from Benidorm towards Calp, Penyal d’Ifach just seems to rise vertically (1087 feet) out of the sea. On a bright sunny day like today, the Penyal d’Ifach looks like it is on fire…really a pretty site. A point of interest about the rock is it was privately owned until 1987 when it was sold to the government. As Louise and I walked to the base of the rock, and around the marina, we were shocked by the amount of sea birds that have made this rock their home. They put on this little display, when one bird lets out a squawk, they all sound off and bound off the rock ledge and circle by the hundreds above our heads….”let’s see how many tourists we can ____ on”. Driving towards Calp, we went through Altea and Alfas, a couple of other towns that line the shoreline of the Mediterranean. The highway goes right through the middle of both towns, and is a complete bottle neck for both of them. For a “highway” that carries heavy trucks, buses, and a load of other vehicles, the streets are very narrow with the buildings going so high as to block off the sun, stop lights every 50 to 75 yards, and pedestrians coming from everywhere to cross the signed crosswalks…it takes time, so you had just better sit back and enjoy the ride. Once we pulled into Calp, we found a parking place and headed off by foot toward the boardwalk and a coffee con leche. Calp really felt like a place you could spend some “serious” time in. Both of us felt this was a smaller town that not only was clean, had some wonderful beaches, great food and shopping, it just made you feel good to be there. We’ll put this one down in our books to come back. For lunch, we found an outdoor restaurant that had a large display of seafood that we just couldn’t pass up. It was one of the best displays of food we have ever seen, and the prices were very reasonable as well. I had a plate of 4 different fish that were served whole, with fries, a drink, and desert of great tasting melons for $7.40. Louise had a ½ “portion” of extra small squid and a drink for $4.50. When we eat a meal like this, we accept it as our dinner, so anything later is light or nothing at all (except maybe something from our “treat” box). Today (Thursday) we finished breakfast and headed into Benidorm to do some “shopping”. This was a shopping trip for us… things new, things that we will wear home or at home…things to make us feel good…things that were wonderful deals. We know prices have boomed upwards in Spain for years, but they still have some great bargains. Tomorrow being our last day in Benidorm we are just going to stay close…to the beach anyway…
| |
| January 19, 2006 01:36 PM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| A Great Hike... |  | January 14th, sun is out, 60+ degrees, and we feel it is time for our hike to the top of the hill. If we wait any more, we may not be able to do it. Rain will be arriving tomorrow and it looks like it will last almost to the day we leave. At the top of the hill, is a large cross that we noticed the first night we were here. At night, it is lit up so that all the city of Benidorm can see it. It took us about 45 minutes to reach the cross. After leaving the campground, we headed into town, grabbed a left turn and started our climb up. Fortunately we could follow the road all the way. It was steep and twisting, but at least it was smooth. About 75 feet above the road, stood the cross, so we found a dirt and rock path to take us to the top. What a stunning view!!! Then wouldn’t you know it, Louise saw that there was another trail heading off across another hill that over-looked the sea. The decision was made, off we go. Fortunately, we had stopped by one of the markets and picked up our lunch at a British deli. When we arrived at the summit of the second hill (Hell, it was a MOUNTAIN !!!), we took a few minutes of rest time and had ate our lunch. I brought a steak pie and Louise had a chicken and mushroom …both were terrific and filling. The cliffs were a beautiful sight as they dropped straight down hundreds of feet into the Med. The water was so clear, blue-green, and very calm. The cliffs that we looked down on, looked like gold as they entered the surf. Then, as we turned and looked back, we had a marvelous view of Benidorm, the beach, and the mountains surrounding it. Now, what goes up must go down… it was time to head back down. Toes being pushed to the end of our shoes, a small rock or pebble slips out from a secure foothold, and the sun directly in your eyes…IT WAS GREAT !!! We did have a good time, a little tired, but a good time. Unfortunately, as we sit here tonight, Louise has come down with a cold. Hopefully, with a little luck I can dodge the “cold germs” long enough to get back to Seattle in good health….then they can have me.
| |
| January 14, 2006 01:36 PM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| Garage Sale...Boot Sale...Te Koop...Se Vende |  | 13 January ’06, Friday.
First full moon of the new year…FRIDAY THE 13th… We were up early this morning and had our “Garage Sale” set up before 9am. Yesterday we went into town, and had about 50 flyers printed (about 40 to many) advertising our Garage Sale…”We are selling out to head back to the USA”. By 10:30 everything was sold and people were still coming by late in the afternoon looking for a bargain. One thing for sure, this is a sure quick way of meeting everyone in the park. Now as we walk out to the gate or even to the banõ, people we've said hello to before, now meet you with a larger smile and “neighbor” hello. I think it's just that they are a little more relaxed and feel they know you now more as a neighbor, instead of just a camper. Well besides the garage sale, we have been busy. Whether it's staying home because of a day of rain (we only had 1 of these), or walking into town just to get some exercise. Sunday's and Wednesday's are market days here. This is something that we both enjoy. On Wednesday, there are 2 market locations in Benidorm. This last Wednesday we walked to the one that is on the far side of town. I think it took us about 45 minutes to get there. Once there, we found it to be much larger than the one closer to the campground. Walking back, we came across a Tony Roma’s one of our favorite rib restaurants. We just couldn’t walk past it…Baby Back Ribs ??? Oh my God, were they ever good. Fortunately for me, Louise couldn’t eat all of hers, so I was able to have a great “left-over” lunch today. Not only are we selling things prior to heading home, we are also buying??? Yep, we both have found a deal or two that we just couldn’t pass up. My purchase today, was a pair of shoes !!! Now you know how hard it is for me to find shoes. They may not be a perfect fit, but for $49 Euro, I can limp a little. Besides, I just wanted to have a regular pair of shoes, not just tennis shoes or sandals. One of our “neighbors” introduced us to Skype, a phone system that we can use through our computer. After up-loading their free program, we were making phone calls to everyone…calling the states from here cost us less than 2 Euro Cents a minute. We call from our computer to the house phones of our family and friends. Boy, do we like this !!! OK, now I am caught up.
| |
| January 13, 2006 11:34 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| Are Those Turkeys ??? |  | 6 January ’06, Friday.
Well tonight is it, Los Tres Reyes Day !!! A national holiday for Spain, with all the stores, banks, and just about every other type of business closed. For those on vacation down here, a lot of the restaurants and most of the bars remained open. January 6, the last day of Christmas, comes with its own traditions, rituals and symbols. Carolers are going from house to house. In many homes around the area, Christmas trees are taken down and in some areas, burnt in a big bonfire. For the children this is an especially happy occasion because, associated with taking down the tree, goes the "plundering" (or raiding) of the tree. The sweets, (chocolate ornaments wrapped in foil) and cookies, which have replaced the “sugar plums”, are the raiders' rewards. Of course, the 12 days of Christmas end with the Feast of Epiphany (The Adoration of the Magi). It was the 3 kings that saw the Star of Bethlehem and found the Christ child. Last night Louise and I went into Benidorm to watch the arrival of the 3 Kings and the start of the Celebration. The crowds were thick, the kids excited, and the adults anticipating a great time for all. The parade wasn’t to start until just after 6pm, so we went into town about 3:30 to make sure we could find a good location (and hopefully a seat) to watch the excitement. We were a little early…well hell, we were a lot early. It started to feel like the town hadn’t got the message about the parade being at 6. As far as finding a seat…no problem…we had our choice of about 1200+. Feeling a little awkward, we found a seat and sat…sat for a long time before anyone else started to do the same. Finally, about 2 minutes before 6, people started to come out and find a chair. Now we are feeling much better, colder, but better. Now let’s get on with the parade. Just before 7, we heard our first indication that there really was going to be a parade…a “Boomer”, and then about 3 more to announce the night had started. Our chairs weren’t free ($4ea), but they sure were worth it. We enjoyed seeing camels, donkeys, cattle, horses, sheep, a flock of geese and turkeys?... What is it with the turkeys? There were about a dozen of them, they were all right at our feet and wanting to get through us to freedom…go turkey go. I wanted to grab one for dinner, but Louise grabbed my hand just as I was about to score a nice one…. Oh yes, then there was the marching bands and dancers, floats and many other exciting things and people to see. All were dressed beautifully in “Gladiator” type costumes. There was even a baby tiger that was led by on his leash…sooo cute. Finally the last to come were the 3 Kings, mounted on their highly decorated camels, and making the night for all the kids in attendance. We jumped right in behind the Kings (as did everyone else) and followed them through the rest of the parade route. Finally at the end, they dismounted from their camels (with a little difficulty) and went up onto a huge stage. Already there, was a baby (a real live one) waiting in a cradle. As the Kings came up and made their presentation of gifts, the sky lit up with incredible fireworks that seemed to last for ever. What a great night… we missed being home with the family, but being here was wonderful.
| |
| January 06, 2006 11:30 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| Swisssssh…. BANG !!! |  | 2 January ’06, Monday.
It has been a few days since I’ve written so let’s see what we did…
Just outside of Granada, the road started a pretty steep climb (that is for “Bumble Bee” it was a steep climb) and headed for our first pass. Going over the top, we saw the sign that told us we had just passed over 3600 feet and that was the first of 3 such passes we would go through before heading into the valley areas. At some points we were struggling along at 40km in third, and then there were the flats that I had to let off the pedal to keep us from going over 100km. As we were coming to a small town called Guadix, we started to notice some caves. Then it went from 2 or 3 to 2000 or more. Some of these caves have stone fronts and others, stucco facades. This made a very interesting find for us, but unfortunately we just didn’t think we could take the time to stop. I had miscalculated the time and distance we had to go (from Granada to Benidorm) so we passed. Looking later at the travel books that we have, we found that some of these caves date back to the time of the Moors (10th century). It would have been a good stop. The soil is soft to dig, but once it is, the walls turn almost rock hard and give a constant year round interior temperature of 55 degrees. The whole day was spent going through some of the best “natural” views we have yet to see in Spain. Then to my surprise, we were going by Alcante and only had another 15 miles to Benidorm. That was a quick trip!!! We found Benidorm to be just what a lot of Brits had said it was…A High Rise Beach Club that is filled with so many loud and rowdy pubs that it is like a 24 hour party. As you know, we kind of like that kind of stuff, so we were off to find the campground and settle in for 3 weeks. Our first duty was to head off to town (about a 12 minute walk to the beach) and check it out. The sun was out bright, the temp was wonderful (70+- degrees) and Benidorm looks new and wonderful. Having an early dinner of sea food paella was a great way to start our visit. The next day, the clouds came in for the morning, but ever since we have had wonderful sunny days. On New Years Eve, our plans were to head into Benidorm to enjoy a great fireworks display while dug into the beach sand with a bottle of the bubbly. We did get to the beach, but decided to leave the “bubbly” at home. The fireworks display didn’t let us down. First of all, it was centered in one of the city plazas. They had “boomers” (huge fire crackers that are hung on a line one after another) that were so loud that it sounded like you were in the middle of a war…at times there must have been 60+ going off one after another. Then mixed in between they sent up the huge star burst pieces that would light up the sky for minutes on end. As each sky rocket was fired, it went right up past the windows of the high rise condominiums….SHWISSSS !!!! BANG !!! The crowds were excited, we were excited, and the dogs of the city left town… Well now that we are all set up, we are starting to sell off some of our things that aren’t needed any more. Today we sold our Camper Van tent, an electric drill, and one of our portable tables…”come one, come all, we have a “deal for you $$$”… We also signed up for 3 weeks of Wi-Fi that will give us 24/7 internet…I love it.
| |
| January 02, 2006 12:11 PM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| Alhambra !!! |  | 28 December ’05, Wednesday.
Every travel book we have read and every person we have been talking to since arriving in Granada have said the same thing…”if you want to visit the Alhambra, and you must, you MUST have an appointment”. Well, I went to the office at the campground and asked if they would call for us. “You want it for today???” Fortunately she made the call for us and we were able to get a time for 3:30 this afternoon. That gave us plenty of time to see some of the other sites we wanted to fit into the morning. From the center of Granada you look to the right, and on top of the hill you find the Alhambra…you look to the left, and you find at the top of hill the Albayzin neighborhood. We will see the Alhambra later, so we took off hiking the narrow streets of the Albayzin neighborhood and to making our goal of the St Nicolas viewpoint. The Albayzin area is the oldest and best Moorish quarter in all of Spain, and we really enjoyed walking through it. We walked past many colorful corners, courtyards, flowery window boxes, shady lanes, and a small plaza market. At the top, we visited a Muslim school and Mosque and then walked across the plaza to the St Nicolas church and viewpoint. The views over the city and across the valley to the Alhambra were wonderful. Fact is, in 1997, President Clinton and his family made this one of their stops as well. Further up the hill is another area we had interest in, but with our time getting short all we could do was just look from a distance. That is the Sacromonte, the area of the Gypsy caves. There are many caves dug into the mountainside that have now been fronted with windows and a doorway. This is their home and in some cases, their businesses. Finding our way back down, we had a quick tapas lunch along side the river and then caught the bus that runs to up to the Alhambra. We were to tour the Alhambra in 4 different parts…Charles V’s Palace, Alcazaba Fort, Palacios Nazaries, and the Generalife (hen-ne-raw-LEEF-ay) gardens. We saw so many things we could write about, but I will just have to give the highlights. First, all of this sits high on a hill overlooking Granada and the valleys below. The snow topped mountains of the Sierra Nevada sit high above the Alhambra, and almost totally surround Granada…a beautiful setting. The Generalife was used as a summer home of the Moorish Kings. The Palacios Nazaries was the Moorish Palace that was built in the 14th century. The rooms that we visited were decorated from top to bottom with carved wood ceilings, stucco “stalactites”, ceramic tiles, molded plaster walls, and filigree windows and passages. Now it wasn’t just in the palace, it was the same throughout every building we saw today. The work that was done by the artists is absolutely unbelievable. All of the designs are taken from the Koran’s symbol of Heaven. In the designs that the Moorish used, there were no images of “man” anywhere. The open air areas always have a water feature, a fountain, elongated and square pools, flowing water troughs along the walkways, and more. The vegetation is always sculptured, and the pathways are inlaid bricks or stone. One of the most photographed parts of the Alhambra is the Court of the Lions which features 12 lions holding a large fountain on their back. Each of the lions used to spout water from its mouth. It was a way for the Moorish King and court to tell time by which lion was spouting the water. 4 hours later, we boarded the same bus that took us to the Alhambra and rode it down the hill and into town. When we got there, we decided to stay put and see just where this bus would go. It ended up taking us back up to the Albayzin area through some of the narrowest streets you could ever imagine. There were places that were so close to each side that the mirror would all most touch on each side at once. Don’t rock the bus !!! Then it was down the hill on the other side… What a wizard… One more bus to catch and we had to get on our way. Tomorrow, check-out and head across country to Benadorm
| |
| January 01, 2006 07:29 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| Very Impressed With Queen Isabel... |  | 27 December ’05, Tuesday
This morning we walked across the street and caught a bus into Granada. As always, the first time you step off the bus, train, or metro you stand there for a minute or two just to see if there is anything that might look familiar. Of course it wouldn’t look familiar because we had been there before, it would be because we saw a picture of it in one of our many tour books. Today wasn’t any different, we had no idea of which way to go first, so watching the locals disperse from the bus, we just watched which way most of them were going. It works most of the time, and it worked again today. Within 25 minutes, we were talking to the TI office, have a map in our pocket, and received some of the other important pieces of information….the internet cafes, cathedrals, palaces, etc. The old town and the new town of Granada come together easily. There are good signs to find your way around. The city isn’t too large so you can walk to just about everything that you might want to see in just no time. We did do a lot of hill walking today, but that was interspersed with stops throughout the day. We visited the Cathedral, which is one of two Renaissance churches and the second largest in Spain. They are doing some repairing on the interior, but we still had a good chance to see most of it. The pipe organ is one of the largest we have seen yet. All the trumpets, huge to tiny pipes, and all the gold…wow. The interior columns are gigantic. They look the size of a very old giant red wood tree, and they form their own forest for all there are in the church. Next door is the Royal Chapel. This is the 16th century Gothic chapel with the tombs of Queen Isabel, King Ferdinand, and their heirs to the throne, their daughter Juana “The Mad” and her husband King Philip “The Fair”. Prior to taking this trip, I had a life that I thought had been somewhat trained in the histories of Europe, but now that I’ve been here I can see just how little I did know. Yes, I knew some about King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel, Christopher Columbus and on and on. Now that we have stood at the foot of the tombs of all three of them, and many more Saints, Popes, Kings, Queens, Pharaohs, and others, it has kindled a need to know more. Fortunately, I have a good teacher in my wife.
Lucky for us, we decided to take the umbrella with us, for like last night, it rained off and on most of the day. We weren’t bothered too much by it because of the time we spent visiting all the sites. One of the churches we did get into today wasn’t even mentioned in the tour books, and I thought it was absolutely beautiful. It was un-like any other we have seen. It was called Nuestra Senora de las Angustias. It would do it an injustice to describe what we saw, so if my pictures turn out, you will have a chance to see what I’m talking about. Now a little about some special people that live here in Granada…the Gypsies or “Gitano”. They have found a special home here in Granada. The people of Granada not only tolerate them, they have made them feel welcome (as long as they stay in the Sacromonte. There are about 50,000 Gitano’s living here and we have come across them with just about every corner we have come to. Some of the ladies are selling sprigs of rosemary and the men are trying to shine your shoes. The downfall from their sales techniques is that while they are doing that, they are also trying to get into your pocket…really, “their” hands into your pockets… We were approached many times, but when I waved the umbrella at them, they got the heck out of the way. On the other hand, it was fun to watch them work on the unaware. We didn’t see them get into any ones pocket or purse, but it wasn’t for not trying. Ok, that’s it for the day, but tomorrow we will be back. We are going to have to finish our site-seeing in Granada soon, as this morning we had some pretty heavy snow fall all around us and the forecast is for a lot more to come this week.
| |
| January 01, 2006 07:25 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| Spain's Black Olives... |  | 26 December ’05, Monday.
We were leaving Ronda just as the weather was changing. The rain had been with us off and on most of the night, so when it came time to pack, we got a little lucky. The rain let up and didn’t show up again until last night. We had a nice drive to Granada through the mountains and foothills. It is amazing to us the amount of olive trees that they have in Spain. When we were traveling through Turkey, we thought they had a bunch, but now that we’ve had a pretty thorough look in Spain, we know what we had heard was true. Most of the time we were on the road yesterday, all we could see from the top of one mountain to the valley of the next and then on up to the top were olive trees. We were surprised at the amount of them that hadn’t been picked yet. The olives are black on the tree, but we have learned that these are most likely going to be used for olive oil, as the older the fruit, the more oil available. That was new to us, because when we visited the olive pressing plant just outside of Sparta, Greece, they were pressing green olives for the oil…OK, who’s telling us the truth ??? As we pulled on to the last portion of the highway coming into Granada, we could only tell by the signs telling us we were close. Trying to see the “City” of Granada from the major highways is either tough to distinguish or you just can’t see it. So, we just followed the signs far enough to find our campground. We are camped in a suburb of Granada called La Zubia. We had a wonderful dinner at the campground restaurant last night. We were there last night because we didn’t get to a grocery store prior to setting up. I think I will blame that one on Louise…naughty, naughty. Tomorrow…Granada
| |
| January 01, 2006 07:24 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| Merry Christmas !!! |  | 24/25 December ’05, Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday morning (well after 10 when we finally rolled out of bed) we put our walking boots on and headed into town. This time is was just to be a part of the Christmas shopping crowd most of all. With nothing in mind to spend our money on, we just went from shoe store to shoe store (Louise’s idea…). Naa, it wasn’t exactly like that, we did go into a couple of clothing stores as well. Fact is, I was the first one to buy anything. I thought I needed a pair of pants for our Christmas “Lunch”, so finding a pair of cords I felt that I was ready. This was the first pair of “cords” I’ve had for over 30 years. OK, I’m ready… Now it was off to see every shoe store in town. Actually I had a good time walking through the stores and pulling shoes off the shelf and asking…”How about this one ???”. I’m sure you know the answers I was getting… Finally successful, we headed off to the grocery store and then strolled our way back to “Bumble Bee”. We ( I ) thought it was time for lunch, but Louise had a good idea for lunch at home, so after finding out what she had in mind, I agreed. After a quiet evening, we settled in for the night in anticipation for Sundays “lunch”.
I don’t know what it is, but since we have been in southern Spain, we have been staying in bed until well after 9 am…fact is, it’s 9:30 at least before “I” roll out and head for the shower. This had better improve before we head back to the states.
Merry Christmas !!! Its Christmas morning (and again after 9:20). A “wonderful breakfast”
purchased a wonderful sweater in a small mountain town outside of Valencia, and decided this morning that it just wouldn’t work with the new cords, so I put the cords away and pulled out my black jeans (heck, I really didn’t need the cords anyway…). Louise got all dressed up in her bright new hot pink sweater and black shawl and together we headed off to town one more time…lunch was waiting. I had mentioned earlier that we had made reservations at the “Parador de Ronda” for their Christmas Lunch. When we got there, the tables were all set up with 3 large wine glasses, a champagne glass, 4 different forks and 3 knifes, and some wonderful table accessories…now this is going to be a special lunch. The menu read like a book: Each person was to receive 6 different appetizers, a sub main course, main course, first desert, second deserts (6 different ones at once), as much white wine as you would like with the first half of lunch, as much red wine as you would like with the last half of lunch, and then it was into the champagne that never found the bottom of the glass, and finally a cup of coffee. Just to give you a sample of the menu;
Appetizers
Iberian Cured Ham
Acorn Iberian Pork Loin
Cured Goat Cheese from Ronda
Sweet Duck Wrapped in Crisp Pastry
Home Made Meat Croquettes
Sub Main
Stuffed Piquillo Red Peppers with Sea Crab
Main
Grilled Tenderloin of Veal
First Desert
Warm Ice Sabayon with Wild Fruits
Christmas Cake and Almond Nougats
And, And, And…
I’m afraid I have a slight guilty feeling right now, but one thing I know, IT WILL PASS !!!
Tomorrow, we move onto Granada…tonight, I try to recover from this afternoon…
| |
| December 27, 2005 05:00 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| The Three Kings and Papa Noel... |  | 23 October ’05, Friday.
We found out about an arrival of “The Three Kings” for tonight, so we decided to stay around camp until later tonight and then go into see the arrival ourselves. That also gave us a chance to do a little laundry. It seems that doing the laundry is almost a daily routine. For the two of us, we do seem to go through a lot of clothes washing, but you know the old saying… ”Cleanliness is closer to Godliness”… The weather has changed a little by the wind calming and the sun coming out off and on. The temperature seems to have increased as well, but I’ll bet it was just the difference in the wind chill. We had a pork roast that I was to barbecue, so at 3 I put that on to grill. Putting that together with some great pasta, we had an early dinner and then dressed for the night in town. We missed the first part of the Three Kings arrival, but made that up by being early for the second. The second part “Benlen Viviente” (The Live Nativity), took place in a courtyard beside the old city walls. We climbed the rock step to the top of the city walls to see the view and watch things get set up below. The crowds arrived slowly, but as we looked down into the valley below, we could see people coming out of their homes and walking toward the walls. The little kids jumping all around in expectation of the evening ahead. Every once in awhile, there was a large firecracker sent into the air for an explosion that would rock you where you stood. At an area of the wall that was used as an entry into the wall, they had a crib set up and a couple of young teenagers had dressed as Mary and Joseph. Just outside of the entry, there was a cow, mule, and about 15 sheep. In a niche above the entry stood an Angel. Further up on the wall a star lit the way to the crib. Out into the grounds beyond the wall there were a “smithy”, woodcarver, potter, and women working a spinning wheel. To keep the people warm, they had built 3 bon-fires scattered around the area (boy, can you see the lawyers handing out their business cards in the states on this one??? Oh yes, the stairs leading to the top, and all along the wall, didn’t have a railing to hold you back from falling either, which was about 30 feet at the highest point). There was a large stage set up for a group that sang and danced Spanish folk and Flamingo songs all night. Along the back of the courtyard they were serving sweet bread that they cooked in a hot oil pot, home made sausages, olives, other meats and cheeses, and 2 different home brewed sweet liquors that tasted wonderful on a cool night around an open bon-fire. When the crowd got to the largest, the arrival of the Three Kings and Papa Noel was just what the kids was looking for. It was wonderful to see the excitement of all those kids, or should I say most of … Just like home, there are some that just don’t want anything to do with “that strange looking person”… Now at last, the kids could pull out their “List” and present it to the Kings in great anticipation that come the 6th of January, every item on it would be delivered to them because they had been “The Best Kids In The Whole World”… All and all, WE ALL had a great time and now have some additional memories we can look back on…Christmas in a small town in Spain…Ronda.
| |
| December 27, 2005 04:56 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| Bring On The Bulls... |  | 22 December ’05, Thursday.
“There is a place in Spain that is the ideal spot to watch a bullfight for the first time…” (Ernest Hemingway). I must say, I would really have liked to have had the chance to see my first bullfight while here. I don’t know, maybe I’ve been in Spain too long, but I would. After seeing the “Bull Fighting Arena” here in Ronda, and going through the museum under the grandstands, walking the fighting arena and kicking up the dirt, taking time in the bull pins, I felt the urge. It must be the history or the architecture or maybe the personality of the arena. This bullring is one of the oldest and most “monumental” of its kind. Ronda is noted as the “cradle of bullfighting in Spain. True bullfighting didn’t start until the early 18th century, but in the late 1500’s, they used to train the horsemen that went into combat, by riding in defense around and through the fiercest bulls. The Bulls were quick and would make the rider and the horse a quick adversary if given a chance. Well I guess you can see, I have been impressed… Now it was time to see if we could find a grocery store. We need a few things to tide us over the holiday season, so we went on the hunt. Walking the main pedestrian shopping area, we were taken with all the local shoppers and the holiday music that seemed to come from every store…it was a busy day for the shoppers of Ronda. Finding our grocery store, we filled my backpack +, and headed back to camp. As we were walking through town, I happened to look into a doorway and saw a crowd. Now this doorway was no more than a doorway…a standard door with a window, and that was the most of it. It was a “Tapa’s Bar”, and with the crowd of “locals” crowded tightly into this establishment, we just had to wiggle our way in and have lunch. Let me tell you, it was a good choice. We had a skewer of salmon and shrimp, white fish, potato salad with fish, and a skewer of barbequed pork. To go along with that we had 2 beers and a glass of wine…All for $9.10 !!! OK, now the long walk back up the hill, into the wind and back to “Bumble Bee”…it’s getting colder too !!! It looks like we both will wear our socks to bed tonight. Then in the morning…I just love getting out into this cooler weather, wind howling, and have to get into the shower in the COLD shower block, hot water or not, it is tough on the bod…
| |
| December 24, 2005 09:06 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| I Hope That Gas Gauge Is Broken... |  | 21 December ’05, Wednesday.
The moment we left the city limits of Marbella, we were climbing into the mountains. A nice 2 lane road, but it was one of those that would drive some drivers absolutely nuts…impossible to pass on. If a car or VW van just can’t run up the steep hills and make the sharp turns quite as fast as those that end up behind you, well it’s just too bad. The turns come at you so fast and plentiful, it leaves no distance even for a quick car to get by. That was the case for telling me, I couldn’t take the time to look…). One of the only distractions I had on my mind was the gas gauge. I have said it before, and I’ll probably be saying it the rest of the time I’m able to drive…”I will never let the gas gage show below the 1/3 mark without getting it FILLED !!! But for some reason it still gets down to the point that I get into those “No Gas Sweats” too often. Every time we got into a real steep climb, the gage went down below empty, but then when we kind of leveled out it went just above the “E” mark. One of my saving points was we only had 50 miles to go and I was in hopes that half of that might be down hill. Fortunately we found a gas station about 10 miles out of Ronda, so from that point I could be rest assured that I wouldn’t have to walk for gas through the mountains. Oh yes, then there was the wind. Did I say wind, hell it was a hurricane and it was pushing us from the front back down the hill for the whole trip. After pulling into the campground here in Ronda, we found out that the wind was going to stay with us for at least 3 or as much as 6 more days. If the wind quits it will rain…what do you want??? OK, we will live with it. After setting up camp, we headed out for town. We were told it was just a 1.7km walk to the walls of the old town, but by the time we walk into the “new city”, we might want to call a cab to get back. All bundled up for “Winter” walking, we headed off. Both of us looked like a couple of heavy weights walking down the road. It felt strange to have all those clothes on all at once, and still feel comfortable. The wind was pretty much at our back going into town and it was down hill all the way. Now lets talk about 3 hours later when we want to head on back to “Bumble Bee”. It was tough going, but I guess it wasn’t tough enough because we plan on doing the same tomorrow… I guess I should say a little bit about Ronda, and what we were able to see the first afternoon there. Ronda is set in a spectacular location, one massive rock outcrop that straddles a limestone gorge. Because of its impregnable position, Ronda was one of the last Moorish “bastions” to fall to the Christians in 1485. There is still a lot of “Moorish” influence shown here in the architecture, whether be it new or old. Of course we have the cobbled streets and sidewalks?, narrow streets?, white washed buildings with window grilles, small patios with lots of flowers streaming colors and fragrances everywhere. There are very few dogs or cats around this town, which is quite unusual. Walking the “Old Town” from one end to the other doesn’t take a lot of time, but there is a lot to see. The 1st stop I wanted to make was at the Puente Nuevo (New Bridge). Built in the 18th century, this bridge spans the huge Tajo gorge. It is 330 feet deep and about 200 feet across. It is spectacular, and I’m glad I had a chance to see it. Then it was off to see the Casa del Rey Moro. This was a castle for the Moorish King, when the Moors were in power prior to 1485. The Santa Maria la Mayor church, which was built on the foundations of a Muslim Mosque. Of course, there were a couple more churches, a convent, 2 more palaces, 3 gates, 3 bridges, and etc, etc… This is a town that we are having a good time in and if the wind would let up for a while it would even be better. Well, we’ll be back tomorrow….
| |
| December 24, 2005 09:03 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| Splurged... |  | 20 December ’05, Tuesday.
We’ve been staying close to camp the last couple of days, and have made a small change in our itinerary. With the weather deteriorating a little bit, but so far no rain, we have decided to pass on Gibraltar and head directly to Ronda and await Christmas. Everyone we have talked to and most of the books we have been reading have indicated that Gibraltar is not worth the hassle and the time it takes to make it a worth while stop. With that being the case, we have just stayed close, did some laundry, and walked the beach, to the grocery store, and a few times to the internet across the street. Since we are staying close, it has given us a chance to meet more of our “neighbors”. This is a large campground and a winter destination for most, with staying times going out as far as April. Most of the campers are motor homes from 20’ to 38’ (24’ avg.), with a few caravans (camping trailers). Just about all have an attached tent, but there are a few that have up to 3 or 4 tents spread all over their pitch. I would guess that about 20-25 are “permanent campers” the way they are set up. There is a wonderful pool for those that come in the “high season”. The grocery store is nicely stocked, and the prices are not too bad. This morning I was sitting out side as this couple walked by. Seeing our little Seattle sticker on the bumper, they stopped to talk. They have been to the northwest recently to visit friends on Vancouver Island. There are 5 of them all together ( mom, dad, and 3 teenagers) from Sweden. Their plans for the rest of the winter are to rent a home here in Marbella and just enjoy the Spanish hospitality for the winter, and write a book. The book is going to be about their most asked question…”How Can You Afford To Travel Like You Do” (or something like that…”buy a VW Van”…). Even if the sun hasn’t been out for 2 days, the temperature is still comfortable enough, with the lows of 50+ and the highs reaching 65+-.
I barbequed chicken last night (I still think the chicken we have gotten here in Europe is by far better tasting than that we have at home), and Louise made a wonderful pork stew for tonight’s dinner…we really do eat well, and we MUST keep walking or we will swell like a balloon. We even splurged tonight by buying some ice. Unfortunately, it will all be melted by morning, but what we were able to have tonight made it worthwhile. We have also been gorging ourselves on Mandarins. This is the same time of year that we did the same in Turkey…they are REALLY good and cheap as well. Louise has also found her favorite cookies, and our shelf is pretty well stocked of “Spekulatius” cookies…they are pretty good…
| |
| December 24, 2005 08:59 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| Is That Your Hand In My Pocket ??? |  | 18 December ’05, Sunday.
We were at it again, this time we were heading off to Fuengirola (OK, you pronounce it…). It is about 20km the opposite way from yesterday’s trip (East). Our trip must have been longer, because it cost us $1.56 (fifty six???, were do they come up with the six ?), instead of the $1.16 yesterday. We had heard that there was a “market” on the beach today, and it might be fun to go too. Fuengirola is definitely a tourist town, but far from what we saw yesterday in Marcella. This is a Spanish beach front town from the get-go. Being a Sunday, most of the stores were closed except those closest to the beach front. All the local families were out to enjoy the day and doing just what we were doing. We had come for the market so no sooner had the bus stopped and we were headed straight for the beach. Fuengirola also has a nice boardwalk, and the market was being held at one end of it, just off the sand. I would guess that there were about 100 booths, selling anything from clothing, shoes and boots, tourist “junk”(trinkets), and food. We started working our way through one row and then on to the next. At the end of the second, it was time for a “coffee break” (her idea, I wanted to keep looking..). This little beach coffee/snack bar, had great coffee but what it is now known for, is their chocolate cake and ice cream !!! I must admit, I had both, and it sure was good. Then, it was time to get back to walking the market. I bought a pair of pants with zip off legs for $8, and Louise bought a rhinestone T-shirt. Finished, we headed out, but just as we were reaching the boardwalk, a couple of ladies came up to us with white carnation flowers in their hands. They wanted to sell us one for five cents. Well, that is a good deal, so I reached into my pocket and got out a nickel. Louise was doing the same, when all of a sudden, the lady that was talking with me, took the flower from my hand and put it into my pocket…now wait a minute, what is your hand doing in my pocket ???...yep, she tried to get my wallet !!! Fact is, while this one was trying to get my wallet, the other had done the very same thing to Louise, and had put her hand into Lou’s purse…we were among the fortunate ones, we didn’t lose anything, but we did learn just how quick they can be, and also one of their ploys. Well, that done, we headed off hand and hand, walked the rest of the boardwalk soaking in the sun, sea, and surf and saying a little “Thanks”. Just prior to sunset, we ended up back to the market area, where everyone was just packing up, and found another restaurant to have a light dinner. Did I say light, well, I ordered those sardines that are either fried or barbequed, and some great little squid, while Lou order a wonderful avocado and tuna salad…we shared it all. Boy, this is getting more like a “vacation” all the time…ain’t it great. Day at an end, we headed out to find our bus back…”Do you know were we catch it ?”…”Right were we got off..”, “Were is that?”… Fortunately, it wasn’t too hard to find, but when it came time to get off…we missed our stop. It could have been worse, because we only missed it by ½ mile, so it was easy enough to walk the highway back. It was noisy, it was dusty, but we made it…another adventure….
| |
| December 19, 2005 03:43 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| The Old...The New... |  | 17 December ’05, Saturday.
Marbella, probably the most “polished” or “glitzy” town we have been in yet. There is no doubt that there are lots of people with loads of money living in and around this town. The newness of everything in the “new” town in contrast to the old of “old town” helps make this an enjoyable outing. Yesterday we caught our bus into town about 11am. Driving down the freeway, Louise mentioned a terrible noise that was coming from the engine compartment of the bus. “It’s just a fan belt slipping”… About 30 seconds later, the bus driver was waving us off the bus… I don’t know what it was all about, but about 40 of us were escorted by foot to the next stop and were told to wait for the next bus. Well, that’s another first for us… Arriving in Marbella, we had a small street market going on at the plaza right in front of us. One of the stands was operated by the Tourist Information Office, so we got our faithful map and headed off for the “old town” first. “A” typical old town, buildings from the 14th to 15th century, narrow streets, lots of little stores and restaurants on the main floor, apartments above, and everything painted white. About 6 churches and more than a dozen “plaza’s” make up the rest of the area. There is a small portion of the old walls, but the castle is gone. There were a few people walking the streets and plaza areas, but overall it was pretty quiet. We found a table in the main square that had half sun and half shade and decided that it was lunch time. Nothing exciting, a chicken salad and tuna salad sandwiches that did their thing in filling the tummy, but unfortunately that was about it. Then it was time to head for the new part of town…the “polished and glitzy”. This part of town runs from the main road that splits the town in half, down to the boardwalk and the marinas. The new part is also divided in half, the east side and the west side, and in between them is a beautiful green space, fountains, water feature that runs down the street about 200 yards, and about 20 bronze sculptures that are placed every 20 yards or so until you reach the boardwalk. All the shops, hotels, apartments, and condominiums are priced for those the “have”, but those that don’t can sure enjoy looking… The beach that runs for miles both ways is absolutely beautiful. The golden sand and the green/blue crystal clear water make you want to stop and enjoy immediately were you stand. One thing interesting, yesterday we walked down the beach from the campground (which is about 75 yards from our van) and we came upon a sailboat that had washed up on the beach. Unfortunately it is now a total loss to someone, but this afternoon, while walking the boardwalk here in Marbella, we came upon another sailboat. This one had run aground on the breakwater in front of the town…complete write-off… It would be interesting to know the story behind both of them. Last time we came upon a sailboat beached, was 2 years ago in Cabo San Lucas…it seems like just yesterday. About 5, we caught the bus back to “Bumble Bee”, and got ready to make dinner…one of my favorites, spaghetti. A note of interest (our at least it was to us…), we met one of our neighbors, and they have quite a story to tell…they have shipped their motor home to the states twice, and traveled extensively in the US, Canada, and Mexico for over 2 years total. They even drove the highway to Alaska one year. The favorite place that they visited was a little village area just north of Puerto Viagra….(just checking to see who’s reading this…) They are from Switzerland, and have also visited each and every country that we have been in…now that is vagabonding !
| |
| December 19, 2005 03:41 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| A Little Catch Up... |  | 15 December ’05, Thursday.
Driving from the Seville area and heading south we travel through low rolling farm lands that have just been plowed, then into the mountain areas of South Spain that make poor “Bumble Bee” get down and dig, pass areas of sand dunes that are whipped about by the wind, white hill top villages that seem to hold on by sheer guts, herds of sheep, cattle, and the prized “fighting bulls”. As we got closer to the coast, we came upon millions of the huge windmills twirling to generate the electrical power that is demanded of them. You could even hear the “hum” in the distance. We are now paying about $4 US dollars a gallon for gas, and feeling it is a bargain. The food costs seem to bounce back and forth from being “reasonable” to pretty expensive. The camp site costs are pretty good, by averaging less than $18 Euro a night. If we eat a “Dinner” out (our lunch, but a heavier one), it will about $28 average…3 or 4 courses with wine, beer, or a coke. When we do eat out like that, we tend not to have any thing but “treats” for the rest of the night… That probably isn’t the best, but … The sun has been with us for quite some time now, with today being the exception…it rained pretty good earlier morning/afternoon as we were pulling into Marbella. Marbella is a coast town with the mountains right at the back side. When the rain comes, the torrents of rain rush down the hills and right into the Med and making the green/blue water look like it is “dirt brown” for a while. This campground is about 100 yards off the beach, and about 6 miles from Marbella to the west. This is the first campground that we have been in that is definitely a “winter” home for a lot of Europeans. I think the campground can hold about 400 campers, and right now it is about 95 percent full. Most of them seem to be from Germany and Great Britain. Tonight Louise and I went out for a walk around the site to see all the Christmas decorations that they have put out around their “pitch”. Some are pretty elaborate, while others have stayed pretty simple if any thing at all. Some of those that make this their 2nd home, have their camper/caravan, plus one to 3 out buildings as well. Most of the “out buildings” are tents like the bigger one that we use once in awhile, and others have built wooden structures...
The grocery store here on site is one of the best we have had, and the prices are very reasonable. The restaurant/bar is nice, but so far we have only seen a couple of people use it. Our plan is to stay a couple of days, head up to Gibraltar for a day, and then a few days in Ronda for Christmas.
| |
| December 16, 2005 03:07 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| Yes Mario, There Is A Carmona... |  | 14 December ’05, Wednesday.
We received a very timely email from Mario, telling us that his mother’s family was from a village in Spain called Carmona, and “if” we were to get close to it, could we drop in and check it out…well Mario, we were and we did. Carmona is a beautiful walled village that is situated on a hill overlooking a wonderful valley. The city walls are not complete anymore, but 2 or the main gates, a large portion of the defensive walls, the Alcazar del Ray D. Pedro I, (the Alcazar is now a Parador, which is a historic building, and one of many that Spain has turned into very nice and popular hotels) and many more prominate buildings and churches from the 11th century. Mario, Carmona even dates back further than that. In ancient times (like a thousand years before Christ) it was one of the main enclaves of the Guadalquivir areas. For over a half million years people have lived on this hill which they now call “Carmona”. Yes Mario, you most likely have some relatives that still live here… Louise and I were really taken with Carmona, the position that it holds on this hill, the natural beauty of way, they all say “Hi”, and await a visit from you next time. We walked just about every little passageway that made its way around inside the walls, looking at just about every building that is there. We tried to visit those beautiful churches, but unfortunately, they were all closed. During our walk, we came to the conclusion that most of the living quarters have been completely remodeled inside, and now belong to the famous and wealthy of the area. You could see many signs of their wealth, although if you were to look at the exterior only, you could be fooled into thinking that nothing has changed for many years. The main gate area holds the TI (Tourist Information) and a little store which we had a chance to visit. About in the middle of the village, sits the main plaza. We found a perfect restaurant/bar to have lunch in at the Square San Fernando. Louise had chicken filet and I had fried sardines. Together we shared a serving of egg-plant that was deep fried, placed on top of sliced boiled potato’s and then served with hot honey spread on top of it all…the house specialty, and boy was it goooodddd !!! We took lots of pictures and have lots of memories, so Mario…
Now that was a quick afternoon. Tomorrow…Marbella
| |
| December 16, 2005 03:04 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| What Stamp ??? |  | 13 December ’05, Tuesday.
It was one of those nights when either one of us got much sleep. I guess it was that built-in alarm clock that just kept us thinking about having to get up a little earlier to catch the ferry. I don’t know why the built-in alarm started out so early, but it did. Finally about quarter to eight, we both jumped up and headed for the shower. By 9 we were walking the 2 miles into town to catch the 11:30 ferry…I know, a little early, but we didn’t want to miss it either. Our ride across the Straits of Gibraltar took just over an hour. While on the ride, we met another couple that was taking this tour as well, so although the boat had just a few people on it, we knew that we had at least one more couple going on this tour. Arriving at the pier in Tangier, we found that there were 2 more couples, so now we were 4. Of course Lou and I had a little problem, but fortunately it was taken care of quickly with the help of our tour guide. We were told that prior to leaving the boat, a “policeman” would stamp our passport, and that must be done prior to leaving the boat…well, a “policeman” did come by our seat, and told us to “get our passports out”, at least that’s what we both heard. It turned out that I was to take the passports to his “office” and he would stamp our “TICKETS”, not our passports. Well, neither one got done until we walked “OFF” the boat and got our help. Ok, now we are on the bus, or should I say van. It was nice to have a small group because we got a little more personal attention (another good reason to travel off-season). We were told that there would be aggressive attention to us by young to old venders that were selling just about everything you could possibly want and then some. Once we were out of the van and touring the “Kasbah” (the old fortress of Tangier, and now a place for that “photo moment” as we wandered through the narrow passageways.), they seemed to come out of the ancient walls and settle upon us in groups of 4 and 6. I think the idea was one to attach himself to the women, while another would pull the husband away and try to sell him at a different position of the group while still walking through these VERY narrow passages, and all the time walking a circle around you to keep your attention…quite an art !!! It was amazing to watch them work, because when someone in the group finally found something they wanted to buy, they all converged on her with in a second or two. Our tour guide was pretty good at making them back off, but then in the next few paces, they were all back…it is a game, and I kind of have fun with all of it. I didn’t buy anything, but watching it all happen is great fun. This tour was like a lot those we took in Egypt and Turkey, where the guide will find the opportunity to take you in to “this special place”. There you will find yourself sitting for a “demonstration or explanation” of “hand made carpets, or the second stop, a “Naturalist” who has special recipes for herbs that will heal any and all ails you may have (for me, he wanted to grow hair for me with his special oils…) and of course, our guide gets his cut from anything that is purchased.
We did have a good “local” 4 course lunch included. We started with a great soup, then couscous with chicken, skewers of lamb, and desert. All that was topped off with mint tea. During lunch, we were entertained with a 6 piece musical group that played typical Moorish music. While walking the passageways, we saw some women carrying bread dough wrapped in cloth. they were heading for the “baker”. He has a little stall in the wall that has a wood burning oven built into the back wall. He does the baking of the dough and after a while, she comes back and collects it. Each woman has a special “mark” that she puts on her bread to keep hers separate from the others. Also, as we walked these passages, we had to constantly be aware of string that was strung from one end “street” to the next corner. Sometimes, there were as many as 6 different strings at 6 different levels and angles. These were strung tight for the young man who was twisting them together to make thread for embroidery work. Another item of interest, ONLY men can do embroidery…a woman’s eyes are not strong enough to handle the work required. Again, there were lots of little “shops” that were cut into the walls of the passageways that had these men sitting on pillows embroidering. Our next stop was to see the “snake charmer” do his bit, and then it was across town for those of us that might want to ride a camel. I did the snake thing, with a snake draped around my shoulders, but passed on the camel. Fortunately, the snake he used to place on us wasn’t the cobra, or I most likely would have passed on this experience. We covered Tangier from one end to the other over 4 to 5 hours, and when it came time to leave, we all felt much better about the idea of coming into Tangier on our own someday. For some reason, that bit of insecurity that was there prior to this trip over. During our ride, we were told of some of the traditions of the Muslims of Morocco. For instance, if a husband was to die, his wife is forbidden to attend the funeral. He told us that the idea behind this, is that the woman gets too over whelmed and throws herself all over the body and this makes the ceremony too difficult for the men that are attending. She can go to the grave site, but only after the 3rd day. One other interesting thing, she wears only “white” clothing (robes) during the mourning period of 3 months. After that point, you can wear any color she wants and she can also get married at that time as well..but only if she has refrained from having sex. It seems that the 3 month period of refraining from sex has to do with the possibility of being pregnant while her husband was still alive. Darkness is arriving, so back to the boat, across the Straits, a little stop at the internet, and finding one of the BEST pizzas we have had in a very long time, and last but not least, finding a taxi to take us back to “Bumble Bee”. Tomorrow…CARMONA
| |
| December 16, 2005 03:00 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| Tarifa To Tangier ??? |  | 12 December ’05, Monday.
We loaded “Bumble Bee” back up this morning and drove into Tarifa, which is the furthest south you can get in all of Europe. I could hardly believe that until I checked out our chart of Europe. Sure enough, you can’t go further south than this… Our first stop was to see if it was still possible to take a “Day Trip” by ferry to Tangier from Tarifa. Well, we found that not only was it possible, but easy, so we bought our tickets. We will board the high speed ferry to Tangier about 11 in the morning and find our “guide” in Tangier. The package deal is fast ferry to Tangier, guided English speaking tour by bus, lunch, and return by fast ferry about 7 the same day. Just enough time, although we wish we would have checked this out earlier, because there is a 6 day tour that we both would have liked to take. The only problem with that, it only leaves on a Sunday morning. If we wait around till next Sunday, we will be getting back on Christmas Eve, and that just wont work for us this time. Getting the tickets taken care of, we went looking for an internet café. Finding one, we took care of the emails and tried to up-load to the web. Unfortunately, the systems were so slow it just wouldn’t get the job done… Now to find the next one and we’ll hope for a better system. Tarifa has a population of about 10,000 people, buildings are all white washed, has a small castle surrounded by a wall, and sits right at the edge of the Atlantic. The village is very much like so many we have seen lately, as the streets are no more than little passageways that run in a pattern that takes years to understand. There is a small market within the walls, 4 or 5 churches, and many businesses and plazas. We found one of those plazas when we were looking for lunch. Sitting there kind of reminded us of sitting in any number of small villages in Mexico and having lunch. The warmth of the sun (about 70 degrees today), the sea, and of course the similar language. While in town this morning, we ran into a guy from Great Britain we had met in Seville. He was telling us about the campground that they had found and how much they enjoyed it. As it turns out, it was the same one that Bruce and Peg had stayed at when they were here 5 years ago. Well, we had to try it out too, so here we are. We will be here for at least 2 or maybe 3 days and then head to Gibraltar. Until then…tomorrow, Tangier | |
| December 13, 2005 11:17 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| Finally Perfect Tapas... |  | 11 December ’05, Sunday.
Going through our copy of Bruce and Peg’s diary the last couple of days, we found that for the first time we are following in their foot steps, only 5 years later. I think we are about 1 or 2 days behind them now, but as I said, 5 years later. It’s fun to read their diary and then write one for us. Peg, if you ever read this, please don’t feel that I am plagiarizing your work… This afternoon we pulled into Cadiz just after noon, and headed for the “old town” that was established in 1100 BC, although what we see today only dates back to the mid 1500’s. Being a Sunday, I was shocked at how many local people had come into town. It was packed and parking??? Non-existent… We thought about parking in the bus zones and even some of the other areas that we know are trouble, but we opted not to because we saw for the first time, a motorbike that had a “boot” attached to the wheel. Now most often a motorbike has pretty much carte blanche, but seeing the boot…we opted to keep looking. Finally, after traveling the main route, and the narrow alleyways, we found a spot just long enough for us to squeeze into. To top that off, Sundays are free… Cadiz is a town of about 150,000 +, and the old city is pretty much right on the water. The town is built out on a spit, and fills it in completely. Another 100 yards out into the water is an old fortress that is linked to the mainland by a narrow walkway. In the city a small part of the fortress wall is seen here and there. Huddled between are many of the ancient buildings of the old town and most proud yet, are the basilica and the churches of Cadiz. We really enjoyed our time by visiting the churches, walking the “pedestrian” areas window shopping, browsing the street markets, and finding a “perfect” Tapa’s Bar for lunch. Fortunately we took the time to visit Cadiz, because it was one town that we had almost passed. In leaving, we found ourselves fighting a head wind for the next 60 or so miles. Just prior to arriving in Tarifa, we came upon a mountain completely topped with the huge windmills that were generating power for most of the towns of the area. You would think that this was “The” power supply for all of Spain… Tonight we are spending a night in a campground that has about 3 “day campers” and 40 “full time” campers registered. With the wind coming into this area, it makes this coastline one of the finest areas for windsurfers in all of Europe. The beach is about 400 meters down the road. On our walk after arriving, we saw about 10 camper units sitting at the beach and every one of them was there to enjoy the wind and surf. About 100 yards back off the beach are some huge sand dunes that attracts the dune buggies and ATV’s. Well, it’s been a nice walk, a nice day, and we’ve seen some great sites…tomorrow…Tarifa | |
| December 13, 2005 11:15 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| Hi Issy, Hi Christ... |  | 10 December ’05, Saturday.
If we are going to spend a “whole day” in town we are going to have to get up earlier… We caught the 11:30 bus so when we got down town, we were hustling to get things covered before dark. We choose to go to the cathedral first, seeing as how it closed at 1:30pm, and it would probably take us at least 2 to 3 hours there. Prior to being a Christian church in 1401, a Mosque stood there on that foundation. “We will build a cathedral so huge that anyone who sees it will take us for madmen”, is what the Reconquista Christians bragged. Well, they did, but it took them 120 years to build it. There is a stained glass window that is towards the top of the cathedral, and it stands over 9 feet high…from the ground it looks like it could be 3 or 4 foot max…it is a long way up there!!! There are a few huge pillars that they have in braces that are there to hold the building in place. The pillars are cracking, and without restoration soon, the whole place could come down…they are working hard at fixing it. We saw the tomb for Christopher Columbus in this cathedral, an amazing organ that has 7,000 pipes and is finished in carved walnut from Cuba. The gold, art work, carvings and sculptures, and the total enormity of the cathedral are amazing. Then it was time to climb the bell tower. The Giralda Tower was formally a Moorish minaret from which the Muslims were called to prayer. Instead of steps to the top, there is a ramp that takes you up over 12 stories in height. Five times a day, a rider would ride his horse up the ramp to the top of the tower, make the call to prayer, and return down the ramp…it is quite a trip, even if you walk it. Today, it sounds a wonderful call from the 24 bells. On each side of the tower, there are 4 bells that are twirled in a complete circle each time they are called to ring. Louise and I had no more than made it half way down, and the bells started to toll…we were both glad to have the distance between us and them. Then we walked across the plaza to enjoy a walk through the “Alcázar”. The entrance fee for the Alcazar was $7 Euro each, except if you were a “pensioner”…then it was FREE…that’s $14 and, we had already saved $4.50 each at the cathedral. Being a pensioner sure is fun !!! This was originally built as a 10th century palace for the governors of the Moorish state. Not built by the Moors, but by Christians, for Christians, and in a Moorish architectural design. As far a “Palaces” go, this one was different. Not bad “different”, because it was absolutely beautiful. The big difference was it wasn’t like any other we have had the opportunity to visit, not even those in Turkey or Egypt. We visited the chambers were Christopher Columbus met with Queen Isabel after he made his New World discoveries. Fact is, I even got a personal autograph from Chris…(if you believe this, I’ve got a bridge I want to talk to you about…). Well, after having a cup of coffee on the terrace with Issy at the palace, we headed over to catch a bus. This time we were heading across town to see the Macarena district and the Basilica de la Macarena. By the way, did you know this is where the song was written and became the hit in 1996 ??? Our bus ride took us around the 1992 Worlds Fair grounds, across the river, through different parts of the city and finally into the Macarena District. We got off the bus right at one of the longest parts of the old city walls. Passing through the gate we immediately had the Basilica of Macarena in front of us. In the celebration of Easter every year, the basilica has a major part. The basilica has the “Weeping Virgin (Virgin de la Macarena) and the Sentencing of Christ sculptures being carried through the streets on the strong shoulders of the faithful. The Virgin weighs in about 1.5 tons and the Sentencing over 3 tons. A group of 48 men carry the Sentencing on their shoulders while wearing a hooded drape over their bodies that only shows their feet. The Madonna is shown crying, and the tears are crystal droplets. They say that if you were to look around you while sitting in one of the pews, you would find many around you with that same tear coming down their cheeks. This stop was one that we will not forget, but it was getting late, so we had to move on. Instead of catching the bus back, we decided to find our way back through the old city streets…that can be a challenge, but fortunately Drew, “we didn’t get lost because we had a map in our pocket”… Tomorrow we move on down the coast heading south…Cádiz and then onto Tarifa for the night or more… | |
| December 13, 2005 11:13 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| Are We Stuck ??? |  | 9 December ’05, Friday.
Arriving in Seville wasn’t with out a little mishap. The highway we came in on, gave us an exit 8-A, and we were looking for “8”. Well, I guessed that we would find “8” after 8-A, so we continued…Wrong… So now I’ve got to go down the freeway to the next exit and come back. Well, it didn’t work out quite like that. It took us 2 tries to get back onto the freeway going the right direction and then when we did we still took the wrong turn again ( a very confusing intersection). This one ended up going down under the road through a small tunnel and coming out at a hospital. “Ok, that’s OK. We will just work our way through the parking lot and turn back onto the freeway going the right way”. About halfway through the parking lot, we came to a tunnel that passed under a walkway. “Are we going to go under that OK?” “I don’t know…better go slow..DID WE HIT ???” … “Tell the guy in back of us we have to back up…” “Who the hell HONKED their horn ???” Well, we were able to back out without any damage, except maybe my ego…and the guy with the horn, I would like to talk to him…
Pulling into the Seville campground about 3 pm gave us enough time to set up and head into town. We are camped in Dos Hermanos, which is about 12 km south of Seville and we have a city bus that will take us right into the middle of the areas we will be touring. It really is nice to have a secure location for “Bumble Bee” and not have to pay a bundle to the transportation systems to get us anywhere. This bus ride only costs us $2.30 for the two of us, and if we were to purchase a 10 ride pass, it would come to a total of $5.00. Seville was at one time, one of the most prosperous cities in Europe. The wealth of the city came from the trade with India and the Americas. As the bus brought us into the “city”, we were blown away by all the huge mansions/palaces that lined the road on both sides. Over 90 percent of these are still being lived in, and they are “BEAUTIFUL”. You feel humbled at the site of them, and the architecture…WOW !!! The Moorish influence is really felt and wonderful to see. As most of our journeys start, we went looking for the TI (Tourist Information) booth. Here in Seville, we found something else first…STARBUCKS !!! Yep, 4 in the afternoon and I wasn’t going to let the moment pass…”Double Decaf Latte, un Carmel Frapuccino Por Favor”… It was one of those perfect moments…Great City, Warm Sunny Day, Starbucks, and a Sidewalk Table available… I really don’t know why we get so excited about having a Starbucks, because every espresso drink we have had on our trip has been just as good and about 1/3rd the cost…Oh well, it’s Starbucks… Finishing up, we headed around the corner, found the TI, got our maps and questions answered, and went on our “fishing trip”. Our first stop was at Seville’s Cathedral. This is the 3rd largest in Europe, but the largest Gothic church “anywhere”…are you impressed yet? The Santo Maria de la Sede (the cathedral) was just about ready to close when we walked in, but we did have a quick walk through. Fortunately, we will have a chance to really explore it in the morning. Seeing as it was getting fairly late, we decided to take a walk around the “Jewish Old Town”, pop into a bar for a quick glass of wine and a little later a dinner at a little restaurant across the street from the University…no wonder it was so cheap. The sun had set, and the lights of the city and the sites had come on, so now it was time to see just what kind of “night photos” were available. We had a real nice time walking the narrow streets that always found their way to a “Plaza, Courtyard, or Patio”. You can’t believe the plazas, and parks that this city has, they are everywhere. While in Lisbon last week, we saw quite a bit of the city lighting up the Christmas lights, but so far here in Seville, we have seen very little evidence that Christmas is coming. On the other hand, the Old City Walls, Cathedrals, Churches, Palaces, Fountains, and any other “site” is lit up really well in the evenings. Well seeing as how we got a late start into town, we headed off to find the return bus about 8:30pm. Coming from Portugal, we had forgotten that we had crossed the time zone again, so we had lost an hour, and we were both ready to head home. Tomorrow…Seville | |
| December 13, 2005 11:10 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| Living In A Hotel... |  | 28 November ’05, Monday.
Nobody said that every day of this “journey” was going to be wonderful. The unfortunate thing for me is my being impatient. I know we have had it pretty good overall, but when we are sat down with car problems, like we are now, I get very anxious to get on the road again. Living out of a hotel room is starting to take it toll as well. Like not being able to control the heat, like eating out at restaurants for every meal, like watching too much TV and the same programs on the 2 channels are playing the same news over and over and over… Saturday and Sunday we took advantage of still being in Madrid to see some more of the city. Now we feel like we have seen pretty much all that is worth seeing. Yesterday we saw the Egyptian Temple Debod. This temple was given to Spain for their help in moving a very large area of ruins (Abŭ Simbel) from an area around Aswan. This area is now completely under water because of the Aswan High Dam. Fact is, when we were there in Aswan, we visited Abŭ Simbel to see the rebuilt ruins and then took a sailing fluka boat across the area where it once was. I don’t remember just how many countries helped with this Egyptian project, but all that did received such a gift.
We just got our phone call from our mechanic…”Your Van is ready to pick up”… Well, tonight we will stay here in the hotel and then in the morning we are finally off to Portugal. By the way, when "Bumble Bee" went by way of the tow truck, I found a web site that I found interesting and helpful. They indicated that if I was to email them with my problem, they may be able to help me with an answer or a fix. I received a return email the next morning and I went to the mechanic with it... Their email saved me a longer diagnosis and helped in getting the van out of the garage faster...Thanks Ken @ www.vanagain.com
| |
| November 28, 2005 08:42 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| Monday???....MONDAY ???? |  | 25 November ’05, Friday.
Well, I was bowled over this morning…I went to the mechanic that is doing the work on “Bumble Bee” and he told me it would be Monday noon or possibly even later before he would have the work completed. Sooo, we went to the front desk of the hotel and set up our accommodations through the weekend. Yesterday we left with a days clothing change and today we went back to pick up what we needed for a weekend. We also picked up the videos and some very important “snacks” that will be so important while watching those videos. Now don’t get the wrong idea, we will get out of the room…at least to replenish the snacks. Just kidding…we were already out for an hour and a half walk and I’m sure we will be doing a lot more of that tomorrow.
| |
| November 28, 2005 08:37 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| Happy Thanksgiving !!! |  | 24 November ’05, Thursday.
Happy Thanksgiving !!! We hope that everyone is there enjoying the turkey and all the other goodies that make up this favorite menu. For Louise and me, we had one of those days that you just didn’t want to happen…”Bumble Bee” broke down again… We had just finished packing the van and getting ready to pull out, when I put my foot down on the clutch peddle and found nothing there. It was just like pushing on a soft spring, there was no resistance as normal. Thinking it may not be too bad, I walked over to a VW dealership and found them not to be of any help what so ever… I then called a tow truck, found another shop that would “possibly” find time to look at it if, it could be taken in. About noon, the tow truck showed up and I gave him the address of the place I had talked to…”I wouldn’t go there, they charge too much and may not get too it for days”… “I have a 24 hour place that will be able to get right to it”…(me) “How far ???” (him) “About 10 KM”… “OK, but call first…” (Supposedly) “we can get right on it and most likely have you done today”… 50 km later, we pull up to this shop (which it seems is WAY OUT in the toolies), and find that it is now closed until 3:30 (siesta time). Now, I’ve got to say something good about the tow truck driver…he stuck around, fact is, he stuck around for at least another hour and ended up taking Louise and I to find a hotel. Yes, to find a hotel…once the “heffe” got there, there was no way they could or would look at our poor van until the next day…that’s why the hotel… Now here we are, 99% of what we have in the van, will have to stay in the van…way out in the toolies. We did pack a partial suitcase, grabbed the computer, camera, coats and hat, and left the rest behind. They did tell us that they would “park the van inside, and they are open for 24 hours”… Well, what do you do…we don’t speak the language (maybe a word here and there…), and we have to put trust in what they say and will be doing, that’s all we can do now… Tomorrow… ???
| |
| November 25, 2005 06:06 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| A Madrid "Breakfast"... |  | 23 November ’05, Wednesday.
Yesterday was a light travel day. We had the oil changed in Toledo before heading North up to Madrid. It was only about 60 miles, so we had plenty of time to get there. The campground in Madrid was easy to find, although it is old and not really in the “best” neighborhood. It is located right next to one of the many freeways and it seems like the only one that the big trucks use. To say its quiet is not quite telling the whole story, although we haven’t had any trouble sleeping. Wake up time was just after 8am, so after a shower we headed over to the main road to catch a bus that would take us to the metro. Between the traffic and ALL the construction, the bus ride took us about 45 minutes instead of the prescribed 20. I know, why would we (I) be watching a clock??? Force of habit… We rode the bus to the end of the line and then went across one of the many streets and with a little luck, we found the metro. Madrid has many parks and plazas, but the only one we had interest in this morning was “Puerta del Sol”. Fortunately it was easy. The Puerta del Sol has a plaque in the street that indicates the starting point for all the kilometer (mileage) markers throughout the country. All roads start here… Our first stop was to find breakfast…a “Madrid” breakfast…a cup of THICK Hot Chocolate and a serving of Churros. After the chocolate “high”, we headed out to see the sites. First the Plaza Mayor, a large plaza that is surrounded with a 3 story building from the 1600’s. I’m sure it is normally very nice, but right now, there is a large building project going on taking up the whole plaza. We think it has something to do with Christmas, but right now it’s an eyesore. Our next stop, the Palacio Real. The books tell us that this is one of the 3 most beautiful Palaces in Europe. Construction started in the early 1700’s, and took over 25 years to build. It is large… As we didn’t have a formal invitation, we just wondered up to the door and knocked…”sorry, today we are not seeing commoners, we are having a “private royal party and your invitation got lost””. OK, we’ll take our time elsewhere. Across town (30 minute walk) is Madrid’s version of Louver, and we were ready to spend the rest of the day there. We did enjoy the “Prado” and all it’s wonderful collections, although I must admit, after a full day of looking at all this art I’m not too sure I am ready to spend another 10 minutes doing the same for a while. This morning we purchased a 10 ride ticket for the bus/metro that would give us about a 50% discount on these rides. Going back to the campground, we were told about a secondary option to get back. This would be a train ride for about 15 minutes and then a bus ride right to the front door of the campground. Well, because we were closer to the train station from the Prado, we headed off to catch our train. When we went to go through the turnstiles, we had a little difficulty, but finally it worked…we were on our way. A funny thing happened after we arrived at our destination…we had to put our ticket through the gates again to get out, but the machine wouldn’t take it… Finally a lady a few years our senior, came up and motioned to us to sneak through with her on her ticket…it was tight, but all three of us made it chuckling all the way. As it turned out, our bargain tickets were for the bus and metro system in the “city” only… Well, live and learn, just so we stay out of jail.
| |
| November 24, 2005 12:18 PM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| A Day With The "Masters"... |  | 21 November ’05, Monday.
Yesterday we traveled through the rice paddies, orange orchards and the grape and raisin vineyards from Valencia to Toledo, from the sea shore, then through the mountains and across the plateaus. The weather was overcast, but there were areas in the fields that looked like the sun was shining directly on them and their colors were absolutely beautiful. The soil was mostly a deep red, the leaves from the grape vines multi-colors, and the new crops showing the many colors of green. We had a wonderful show to travel through. I wasn’t looking forward to this crossing, but as all this passed by us, my attitude changed and what looked like more than a day’s drive only took us 6 hours. Fact is, after we set up camp in Toledo, we decided to take a walk into the “Old Town” and do a little exploring. The walk from the campground to the “Town Walls” took us 20 minutes at the most, and then it was the climb up the steep roads and steps into the town. Once we were there, the climb was all worth it. Toledo is another hill top town, but in this case, one that is larger than most…67,000 people with some of the largest calf muscles you have seen. They build these because of the hills and steps that they have to climb every day. This morning we put our walking shoes on again, and headed to the town one more time. We have heard and read so much about the Cathedral of Toledo (1226-1493), that we made this our first stop. Ric Steves was right when he said that this cathedral is “shoe-horned” into the town. It is very large, but as you look at it from the exterior, you are so close to it you lose the full scale of the structure. It’s when you move inside that you really get that “WOW” feeling. It’s not only the building that gives you that inspiring “wow”, it’s also the collections of paintings from the “masters” (Greco, Goya, Titian, Rubens, Velazquez, Michelangelo, and Bellini), the elaborate wrought iron work, wonderful wood carvings, and the stained glass windows from over 500 years ago. We walked into the cathedral about 10:30 and left just before 4…it was worth it to say the least. One other stop to see some awe inspiring art, and we were off to do some shopping. We walked across town to the Santo Tome chapel. Inside is Greco’s masterpiece…The Burial of the Count of Orgaz. I know, I had no idea what Greco had painted prior to coming on this trip, but this has really opened up a new appreciation for me. I’d heard of Michelangelo, Greco, Goya, and a few others, but I had only heard of them. At most, I had possibly had a chance to see one of their paintings or sculptures in pictures of magazines…now I’ve had a chance to even touch some of the originals (sculptures not paintings), let alone sit and study them for as much time as it takes. The “Walled City of Toledo” is one that we won’t forget. We had a ball, but now we head off to Madrid
| |
| November 24, 2005 12:14 PM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| Watch That "Rope" |  | 19 November ’05, Saturday.
By 9:30 this morning, we were on the bus to Valencia. It’s kind of nice to feel comfortable in catching the bus, tram, train, or what ever mode of transportation it takes to get around these different cities in the different countries. Although after saying that, this one was really easy and cheap. In about 30 minutes we were off the bus and looking for the Information booth at the train station. It’s hard to comprehend that Valencia was established as a city in 138 BC…Seattle, 1851 AD. Just a couple of years difference… Our first thought was to catch the “Hop-on and Hop-off” bus, so after finding out were they stopped, we were off. Seeing as how we are into the “off season”, there was a lot of room available on the bus. As most of the other tourists, we headed up to the open top of the bus, dug out our “woolies” and settled in for a couple of hours. We were glad we had the clothing we had and wished for more…it was cooolll. As the other bus tours, we did see and learn a lot. After getting back, we headed to the first latte we could find. The one we did find was just large enough to get maybe 6 standing at a small bar, and that was all. Very good coffee, tight quarters for us and the rest of the customers, but just what we were looking for. Across from the small plaza from where we were, was a church. There was a group of people coming out, and it was evident that these were a part of a wedding. We thought we would stop and watch the bride and groom come out. As we stood there, we noticed a “rope” lying on the pavers. It was about 50-60 feet long and was strung out to form a large “U”. About every 2 feet it looked like it had something tied into it. It turned out to be a rope tied onto large fire crackers. Also there was a 1’ square X 2’ high canister on the ground. When they lit the “rope” they also lit the canister. I’m glad there wasn’t anyone standing close to the rope, because when it took off blasting the fire works, it REALLY took off. And the canister…it EXPLODED into about 10 shorts of confetti that blew into the air about 50 feet and spread over an area of about 30 feet. Now that was a celebration and we were right in the middle of it !!! We did find a couple of great churches to go into and admire, and then it was off to see the Mercado Central. This one is one of the largest in Europe. It was built in 1928 in an “Art Nouveau” style. Inside there are at least 1000 stalls filled with all the goodies you could possible want. Across the street from the market, we found this little sidewalk restaurant that serves up “tapas”, and I had wanted to try them since we got into Spain. Our lunch was good, but I was still a little disappointed. I’ve got to keep trying. The bus ride gave us a lot of areas we wanted to revisit, so after lunch we went in search of those of highest interest to us. It wasn’t only the sites we wanted to see, but the small stores, restaurants, bars, and the people all along the way. We had a real good afternoon, and still made it back to the campground before dark. Neither one of us was hungry for a “dinner”, so we opted to watch a movie that Ann had brought with her when she came. Danzel Washington in “Man on Fire”…Powerful !!! Tomorrow…Madrid
| |
| November 24, 2005 12:10 PM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| “No Gracias, No Necesidad” |  | 18 November ’05, Friday.
We made our rounds saying goodbye this morning, and by 10:30 we were on our way heading south to Valencia. The weather was sunny, which gave us a good day to travel. Our choice today was to keep off the autostrase and stay close to the coast. This wasn’t going to be a long day on the road, so we just kind of took our time. If I got over 90km, it was because a truck was coming down on us and making me feel like he just may run us over. We did see a very bad truck accident, and I hope there wasn’t a car under him as he went over the hill. We had heard so bad things about this road, but for our ride today it was the right one. We got into Valencia about 1, and headed out to find the campground that we had thought we would like to stay at. It wasn’t hard to find, but when we pulled into it, we came to the realization that it was a long way from nowhere and then, when I ask about the charges, I couldn’t get back out on the road fast enough. We had just spent 10 days camping, and it cost us $8.90 a night…this one wanted $27.80 per night, and all the services were closed. Besides, it was about 3 miles from ANYTHING… We did find another campground with out any trouble, but it wasn’t what I wanted to pay either. We ended up paying $23.00, which still is highway robbery for the services and the time of year. Overall, Spain has been consistently more expensive to camp. We’ll keep looking for the best deals, and hope we can find them. The campground restaurant here is also closed, so we walked the ½ mile into the little village for lunch. The only businesses open, were 2 of the restaurants. They both had lots of people in them, so we opted for the first one. When we were seated, the waiter gave us menus and then walked away. He wasn’t gone but a minute and he came back asking “would you like “English” menus? Me? “No Gracias, no necesidad”…I said with a smile. With a smile he walked away. It wasn’t 2 minutes, and I tried discreetly to ask another waiter to translate a certain meal option for me. He said he would get me an “English menu” and walked away…well I was trying to crawl under the table when the original waiter came by with this huge grin on his face, saying “did you order this “English Menu ?” I thought I was being so smart. As it was, we both ordered the item that I couldn’t translate, and the “fish” plate was great. Now I want you to know it wasn’t “pescado”, it was something else !!!
The area we are in now is south of Valencia about 15 km, and is called El Saler. It’s about a 20 minute bus ride into Valencia. We will be on this bus first thing in the morning to explore… Valencia
| |
| November 24, 2005 12:01 PM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| Theunis, Nellie, and Peniscola |  | 17 November ’05, Thursday.
I wasn’t even out of my pajamas and I was heading out to the campground office. The sun was out, and it looked like a perfect day to wash the sheets. One of the problems, was I had to run to the office to get a token for the machine. By the time I had gone the 50 yards both ways, someone had beaten me to the washer…damn, now I’ve got to wait another hour. As it was, we did get the sheets into, out of, and hung before 10:30. Now we have time to head off to Peñíscola. On the way to Peñíscola we drove right by a farmers market in Vinaros. The booths were filled with all the goodies, and the crowds were big, but the parking space for “Bumble Bee” was missing… we just had to drive on and miss out on all the fun. About 10 miles down the coast is Peñíscola, and high up on the rocky promontory, surrounded by water on 3 sides, and held captive inside of it’s own high walls, sits the Castell del Papa Luna. This castle is in wonderful condition and is great for a days outing. There are lots of areas for those who want to hold a picnic or just roam through a lot of history. The foundations of this castle go back to the Arab times, but the castle as we see it now, was built by the Knights Templar in the 13th century. It was also the residence of Pope Benedict XIII while he was being protected from those who wanted to dispose of him. He was known as the “False Pope” to some in the Catholic Church back then. Another recognition for this castle…it was used in the 1961 movie “El Cid”. As we drove into the beach area of Peñíscola, we were knocked over by the condos that lined the beaches and the surrounding hills…Miami all over again. The beach is long, wide, and filled with great sand. Parallel with the beach is a wide brick and cement boardwalk that is lined on one side with a million little sidewalk restaurants. Now that we are in the winter, the crowds are gone and the sidewalk restaurants are closed. We could just see the mass of people and traffic that summer brings here…incredible.
I think I mentioned our next door neighbors…the ones that have the 1985 yellow VW campervan. This is the young man (he says he’s 80, but no one believes it…) came over when we started putting up our tent…if we needed help, he was there to pitch right in. Anyway, his name is Theunis Snel, and his wife is Nellie. They have been a joy living right next to us the last 9 days. You just can’t believe the smiles that are constantly on their faces. They will be here until March, and then they head back to The Netherlands. We will miss them when we leave in the morning. Tomorrow…Valencia
| |
| November 24, 2005 11:57 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| Wet Laundry And All... |  | 16 November ’05, Wednesday.
First, a little bit about yesterday. Yes, there were clouds, but there was the sun as well. Yes, we have laundry that is wet. No, we didn’t put it on a line outside…we put it on a line inside the tent (the tent that we normally attach to “Bumble Bee”). Then, we head off for town (Venaros) to use the internet and do some shopping at the “supermacado”. Fortunately after we found a parking place in town, Louise said “we had better take our umbrella”. What good advise that was, because just as we were stepping out of the internet café, the rain just let go… it was a total down pour. In a minute, the streets were totally flooded, lightning strikes close by, and we were about 3 blocks away from “Bumble Bee”. This was only the first of many down pours throughout the day. The laundry was safe from getting wetter than it was already, but it wasn’t getting any drier either. By the time we got back home, we decided to just stay put…pick up a book and get a little more informed. This morning we awoke to a bright and sunny day. A couple of wispy clouds, but we were in for a good sunny day. We got the clothes dry, wiped all the wet and mud from the tent and tarps, and stored everything away. About 3, we had everything done and settled into a chair in the sun before the sunset. The night we arrived in this campground, we went out to dinner at the campground restaurant. We saw a number of plates of lamb chop being served, and decided right then we would be back…tonight was the night. Normally you will find 2 or 3 lamb chops on your plate, but here I had 7 very nice chops… I ate very well. You know another thing that we like about this camping and traveling, the people you have a chance to meet. Tonight we met another wonderful couple (Kris and Peter from GB). The opportunity to meet, exchange travel stories, offer places to see and explore, hold a book exchange, or just have a good ole conversation together makes this whole trip worthwhile. It would be very nice to have a day like today tomorrow. Only the next 9 hours will tell. Our plans are for a trip to Peñíscola, so hold your fingers crossed for us…
| |
| November 17, 2005 05:00 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| We Really Wanted Winter In Spain... |  | 14 November ’05, Monday.
Yuck, it’s still raining and it just doesn’t seem to want to give it up. Yesterday was the same as it was today…thunder, lightning, rain, and more rain. Heck, I checked the weather report over and over again prior to this weekend, and it showed that we had some good sunny days coming….WHEN ??? I am really getting discouraged, because I was looking forward to Spain being all we had heard and read…a great winter vacation area…not hot, but sunny and warm. Sunday mornings, the campground restaurant has a breakfast special that just about everyone goes to. We were told about it by one of our neighbors, “it is a really good British breakfast, and it is cheap”. I wasn’t sure what a “British breakfast” was, so I ask…juice, 4 strips of good British bacon, 2 eggs, a chunk of blue cheese, bread, and coffee for $3.50. Well, it sounded like it was just what we were looking for. When we walked through the door, there were 3 different plates of food set up to show what our choices were. We both chose the bacon and egg dish. Our coffee turned out to be a coffee latte, and the juice was fresh squeezed. There was even refills on both… What a great start. Then the main dish arrived. It looked exactly like the dish we saw at the front door, but as we didn’t study it too closely, we didn’t notice that the eggs were not quite done and the bacon was thick, but 99% fat. We could hardly eat any of it, but the juice and coffee were sure good… The Brits and most of the others found the bacon just to their liking…lots of fat protein I guess. After sitting in the van most of the day with the weather doing it’s thing, we had one of the other campers come by and invite us over to their “canopy” for a stew dinner…”just bring your own chairs, glasses for drinks, and if you want, you can bring that brandy too…” (we had just fixed a small glass before he arrived). We accepted their invitation, and of course brought our brandy. We had a great dinner and wonderful conversation with them and another couple that they had invited as well. We have 2 more days here in this campground, so lets hope that one of them will be a dry one, we would like to put the tent away dry more than anything else.
| |
| November 17, 2005 04:58 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| Side Trip To The Hill Town of Morella |  | 12 November ’05, Saturday.
We woke this morning to the sound of rain hitting the top of “Bumble Bee”, but by the time I was out the door for my shower, it had stopped. From that point throughout the rest of the day, it was slightly overcast, but overall a nice day. One of our fellow campers had been telling Louise about this hill top village about 65 km away that they had found to be very interesting. Well, with nothing else planned, we put “Bumble Bee” in gear and headed out. 35-38 miles doesn’t sound so far, but when it is in new territory, it gets longer. Besides, we had to go over a 3600’ pass that wasn’t exactly straight. While climbing, we noticed the tall red and black poles alongside the road. These are used by those that have the job of removing the snow from the roads. Funny thing, when we were just about to the top, I noticed across the valley something that looked like snow to me. Louise said no, it was some low white buildings…it was snow. Our first snow sighting this year. A little further past the pass, as we came around a corner, we saw our hill top village destination. Morella. The hill is like an upside down funnel, and at the very top on a solid rock formation, is The Castle of Morella. The village sits below and is completely surrounded by the castle walls. The castle is of Muslim origin, and for centuries has been a strong strategical location for many Spanish battles. As we drove up the gates of the walled village, we were met by a young lady that sent us off to another area for parking. There are no vehicles allowed inside the walls (except those that live there, and most of them don’t have a car). As we walked through the gates of the village it was like stepping back to the 13th and 14tgh centuries. The little shoppes were all set up and looking sooo inviting. The specialties of the village were some of the finest wool sweaters, scarves, ponchos, and blankets of all descriptions (fact is, I bought myself one of those sweaters). Also it was easy to find the local wines, cheese, and meats (I bought some of that toooo). Making our choice of a restaurant turned out to be our toughest job of the day. After making that decision, we then had to make our decision on what grand items we wanted to choose for our lunch. We have found that ordering the “Daily Menu” has been the way to go. We get 4 or 5 separate servings and a bottle of wine, desert, and coffee for about $10 each. Today for our main entry, Louise had pork filet, and I had a Tuna steak (we have also adopted the European way of eating…larger meal in the afternoon and a small snack for the evening). Now, charged with food, we head out to see the town, shoppes, cathedral, convent and castle. We needed that energy boost, as everything we wanted to see was straight up hill, and most of that was using steps. At the top of the town we found the The Royal Convent and the Cathedral of Sanata Maria la Major…both were very nice and special, although it has been a long time since the convent has seen any sisters living or teaching there. Then about another 200 feet of shear rock above them was the castle. The castle was in fair condition, and what we saw was worth the walk to the top. We walked through every doorway, tunnel, crawl space, gate, nook and cranny and had a blast. We saw more of the castle than most of the invaders ever saw, because it was so well fortified. Again the short days have caught us taking too long, so off we go. As I sit here now, I can hear that we have some more rain coming down. Let’s hope it will only last a short time…we need sun…SUN…
| |
| November 17, 2005 04:56 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| Snow in Spain ??? |  | 11 November ’05, Friday.
It turns out that we have had our first snow come into Spain. It didn’t hit here, but further up into the Pyrenees. With that, we received lots of cold wind and rain. It did rain most of yesterday and through the night. This morning about 11, it showed signs of the sun coming out. It is interesting, as the sun came out, and looked like it might stay, so did all the campers. The sun wasn’t out 15 minutes and there were campers out in their shorts and tank-tops, all kicked back in their deck chairs soaking up the rays. We stuck pretty close to the van staying warm. Our solo venture out was to the internet and the farmers market, and that was it…we both had books we wanted to finish. The weather report looks pretty good for the next 4 or 5 days, so maybe we can get our shorts and tank-tops on too…
| |
| November 17, 2005 04:55 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| What A Good Combination.... | | 10 November ’05, Thursday.
A rainy day and a good book… I’d rather have the sun, but seeing as how it’s raining and COLD, I’ll settle in with “Brunelleschi’s Dome” and see what all the commotion is all about.
This is a book that both of us wished we had read before our visit to Florence and Rome. It is about Filippo Brunelleschi, his struggles with the politics, laborers, friends, and competitors, in his building the largest dome (up to modern times) onto the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral in Florence, Italy. This took place in the early 1400’s. If you get a chance, pick up a copy, it does make for good reading and a want to go back and see it again. Wow, it has turned cold. We have pulled out our heater but unfortunately, we keep blowing our circuit breaker at the electrical panel outside. We are supposed to have a 6 amp circuit, but it keeps blowing it every time the heater goes on. Finally about 5ish we pulled up stakes and went to find another heater that would take less amperage to use. The one we have is a 1000-2000 watt, that is fan forced, and the new one is 800 watt radiant. So far so good. It wasn’t a huge purchase ($18 Euro), so let’s hope it works.
| |
| November 17, 2005 04:39 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| A Cold Coming On.... |  | 9 November ’05, Wednesday.
Just a day of checking things out. We picked up a loaf of bread at the campground store this morning before having a quick breakfast of toast, peanut butter, and jelly. The sun is out, but it is a little cool. I would guess about 65 degrees. We found 3 grocery stores just up the road a little bit, but we also heard of another one down by the beach. Not needing anything from the store, we headed off to see the beach. Right here, there isn’t much of a “beach”, but a bank that is showing signs of falling into the sea with rough surf. We walked for over an hour, before heading back. I feel like I maybe coming down with a cold and I needed to take something to help my stuffy nose. Louise had just finished reading “Brunelleschi’s Dome”, and had suggested that I might enjoy it too. So finding this to be a perfect day to just sit back with a good book….
| |
| November 17, 2005 04:35 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| We've Had Better Days.... |  | 8 November ’05, Tuesday.
Not a good way to start out a day…Louise missed a step and fell. Fortunately besides a scraped arm and a little soreness from falling, she is doing great. It’s times like that that make you aware of how quick things could possibly change. We finished with our stay in Barcelona, and unfortunately we probably won’t be getting back. We really enjoyed our stay and for those of you who haven’t been here, if you come, you won’t be displeased. We are continuing south and following the coast. Our destination is a campground in Vinaros, which is just about halfway between Barcelona and Valencia. We had read about this campground in one of our camping guides, and thought this might be one we would stay at for a week or more. This is a very small town with a lot of villages all around. It is also situated right on the coast, although the campground is inland about ½ miles. We can walk to at least 4 grocery stores, one of the villages, and the beach. Most of the campers here are staying from 8 days up to 4 or 5 months. There is a restaurant that we ate at last night, here on the campground, and not only did we enjoy a good meal, it was really quite affordable. When we found our new pitch, it just happened to be right next door to another 1985 yellow VW van from the Netherlands. They are staying here until March before heading back. Our stay in the Barcelona was in an older, fairly clean and convenient campground, and it cost us $27.50 Euro per night. Our stay here is in a much nicer campground. The pitch is very large, with tall hedge on 3 sides, the washrooms are excellent, and this is costing us $8.50 Euro per night…go figure…
| |
| November 11, 2005 02:06 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| Boy Was It Nice To Have A Starbucks... |  | 7 November ’05, Monday.
It was cold as heck last night, but as we awoke this morning, the sun was shining again and warming everything up. When we started our train ride into Barcelona this morning it was 16 degrees, but in the next 30 minutes as we approached the city we were already at 20. We decided earlier this morning that we were going to skip breakfast at home with “Bumble Bee”, and have our breakfast at “STARBUCKS” !!! I think I had the best latte I have ever had…but again, maybe it was because it was the first in a couple of months at least. Anyway, following breakfast, we headed over to the Catalan Concert Hall (Palau de la Musica Catalana). On our trip we haven’t seen many concert halls, but in the realm of concert halls we have see in a life time, this rates by far the best !!! It wasn’t the biggest, and it wasn’t the smallest, but as we walked into it, it was like just knowing you were seeing something special. It was built in 1908, and the construction only took 3 years, which was remarkable. You would just have to see it to believe it. As you took a seat in theatre, you felt like it was only one of maybe 3 or 4 hundred. Well, the fact is, it will hold over 2,000. We were treated to a short pipe organ concert, and the acoustics were outstanding. The performances that are preformed here are from just about every end of the music spectrum. And the tickets for a performance are priced so that all could come and enjoy good music. The décor of the interior was really different, but it also really fit. The highlight was the glorious stained glass done that sits high above the seats. The hall was designed so that it could be lit with natural exterior light, and it does a good job of that. The skylight is one of the most beautifully designed and functional pieces of stained glass I have ever seen. All the unique pillars of broken pieces of ceramics, busts of the great composers, the “angelic choristers”, and the stunning “Muses of the Palau” (a group of 18 stylized instrument playing maidens). This magnificent hall was designed and built by Lluis Domenech I Montaner. I only tell you that because I think that his work should be recognized. It was great. Seeing as we had purchased the Hop on bus tickets yesterday for 2 days, we jumped aboard again to head across town for our next stop. The Sagrada Familia Church. I’ve got to you, this was a day of awe…
And the Sagrada Familia was to top it off. I mentioned a little of the Sagrada Familia last night. Now we have the time to really explore it. When we purchased our entry tickets, we also picked up the audio tour. That was worth the ticket price on its own. This is described as “Europe’s Most Unconventional Church”, and it lives that description… The structure is crammed with symbolism that comes from nature. Just about everything you look at, has a design that was taken from nature. The huge columns throughout the building come from California’s Redwood forests. You have to really see the column and have known prior that that was the case, because he used his unique portrayal of all the nature pieces used in the building. I mentioned yesterday that he was killed by being hit by a tram, but at that same time, he was living in a small room at the construction site. He had been living there for 16 years directing the work. Today there are 8 of the final 12 spires, one for each of the apostle, have been built. Each is topped by Venetian Mosaics. We were able to walk through all the construction areas, with the workers going on with their jobs, working to complete this project sometime in the future. We saw full sized pieces raised and put into place, and we also saw the crew who do all the miniature work. These people make every piece in miniature before it is made in full size. They also work in plaster and rubber molds. I wish you could hear what we heard on the audio tour, because there is just too much for me to put here. We did take a short elevator ride up to a platform on one of the spires, and then we had to walk up another 300 steps to the top. The views over the city were fantastic, but the views down onto the construction were even better. THIS GUY WAS A GENIOUS !!! Well after getting to the top and seeing all the views, we had to go all the way down without the elevator. Single file in a very narrow staircase, going around and around and around and….for well over 400 steps…
All we can say is “What a day”…it was one of those we will never forget. Barcelona has a lot of those days if you want to take the time.
| |
| November 11, 2005 02:04 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| "Hop-On" |  | 6 November ’05, Sunday.
The plan for the day was to catch one of the “hop on – hop off” buses. For Barcelona, we felt it was really needed to get a feel for what was available. The censes figures are hard to pinpoint, but it seems to be somewhere around 4 million population. There are hardly any single family homes, but apartments and condominiums abound everywhere throughout the city. The “tourist sites”, are inter-mixed through it all, and that is why we decided to take the “hop” bus. There are two routes that take about 2 hours each to cover all. After a full day of bus rides, a Mexican lunch, and a hardy walk for another hour, we were ready to head back to the barn. Tonight we will go over all the material, maps, and the remembrances of the day to decide just what we want to re-visit over the next day or two. Unfortunately a couple more days just won’t do Barcelona justice. Without going into a lot of detail about anyone of the sites we saw today, I’ll just give a small sample. We really enjoyed seeing the Eizample neighborhood with all the “Modernisme” (Catalan Art Nouveau) buildings by Antoni Gaudi and others from the mid 1800’s to 1926. These buildings are very unusual in exterior design, but yet fit so well with everything that was built, and it still being built side by side of each other. We also saw most of the 1992 Summer Olympics grounds and buildings, including the stadium and the Olympic city where every athlete lived and shopped. It was spread all over the city. There were so many parks and boulevards that it was easy to lose track of them. And the beaches…Barcelona has some wonderful beaches that spread from one end of the city to the other…all with wonderful sand and clear blue waters. The National Palace…Wow !!! Then the one site we have put on the “must see” list. The Sagrada Familia (Holy Family) Church. Gaudi’s most famous and persistent work, and yet still unfinished. The work on the Sagrada was started in 1883, and unfortunately before it was finished, Gaudi stepped in front of a tram in 1926 and was killed. There is no doubt, the work stopped on the church for a number of years. Then others picked up Gaudi’s dream and continued building this magnificent church. Like I said, it still isn’t finished, but the word on the street says it will be finished in 20 years. We have met people that were here 4 years ago and told us that they have seen a great deal of change. One of the reasons that it is taking so long now, is that it is being funded by private donations and entry fees. I’ll save the additional information until after we have a chance to visit tomorrow.
| |
| November 11, 2005 02:00 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| I Love This City.... |  | 5 November ’05, Saturday.
Now this is a big city that I could really get into. This first day in Barcelona was more than I had expected by a long way. It’s not that we did so much as it was that it just fit. I’m sure the weather had something to do with it, and the fact that it was Saturday, and the city had as many locals as tourists walking their way through the streets. Yep, it was crowded but yet comfortable. We saw all the mimes doing what mimes do, we thoroughly enjoyed all the street markets and the larger “farmers” markets, and we taste tested all the goodies that they offered us. After stepping off the train at Placa de Catalunya, we started our first walk down the Ramblas. The Ramblas is the main boulevard that runs from Placa de Catalunya for a mile to the waterfront and the Monument of Columbus. The Ramblas is a wide tree lined boulevard that has hundreds of sidewalk cafes, millions of mimes, musicians, a few beggers, and everyone that is anyone walking and enjoying a great day in Barcelona. After walking the full length of the boulevard, we turned around and started back. After reaching the halfway point, we ducked into the “la Boqueria Market. This was like walking into the Pike Street Market on a bright and sunny Sunday…people everywhere. Yes it was a crowd, but it was run. There are the stalls that sell poultry, stalls that sell produce, meat, and fish. An explosion of chicken legs, bags of live snails, stiff fish, delicious oranges, and samples after more samples. Also some of the most popular are the stalls that sell food from the counters. We were there at 11:30am and weren’t ready for lunch yet, but the seats were already taken and people waiting two deep. That is “THE” place to eat. As you know, I am into olives, so I had to find the stall that was known to have over 30 different types of olives available. After doing my “taste testing”, I made my decisions and left a happy man carrying his booty of the finest. Finally having the “Ramblas” under control, we went in pursuit of Barcelona’s Basilican Cathedral. Unfortunately for us, the exterior was completely covered with scaffolding, so we couldn’t see the magnificent façade. For us, we could only enjoy the beauty of it through pictures. The cathedral took over 600 years to complete after starting in 1298. The very spacious interior is very plain, but most of the 28 side chapels made up for being plain. They were sponsored by the wealth local guilds. We even saw the baptismal where Columbus’s captured North Americans were baptized. In the cloister they still maintain 13 geese. These geese were used as an alarm system during the early years of the church, but now they are just a reminder of those times. Leaving the cathedral, we went in search of a “local” restaurant. Finding one, we both enjoyed some local fare at local prices…a good value and a good meal. A little more sightseeing and we were ready to head home. At 5:36pm we caught a train…thinking it was the right one…here we go again…WRONG !!! It didn’t take long to realize we had made a mistake, so at the next stop we jumped off and ran to catch the next train back to where we had come from. Ok, we had that out of the way. Now to catch the right one and get home…which we did… Tomorrow..day 2 in Barcelona
| |
| November 11, 2005 01:58 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| Where Has My Wi-Fi Gone ??? |  | 4 November ’05, Friday.
I’m already going through “wi-fi” withdrawal…I really liked having it available every time I started my computer. Silly, I know it, but…. After checking the email one more time, we put “Bumble Bee” in gear and headed out. Our first stop wasn’t too far away. Figueres is the home of Salvador Dali, born here, buried here… We headed right to the Dali Museum to explore some of his work. Dali personally designed, decorated, and painted his museum. It was to showcase his life’s work. Some of the highlights we saw started right at the entry…his 1947 Cad convertible with the largest hood ornament I have ever seen. Some of the other art we saw was the “larger than life Mae West room” (complete with nostrils), a fantastic work that shows Abraham Lincoln if you squint hard enough. I could go on and on, but you have got to see his work yourself to believe it. I would say it was genius, but on the other hand it could have been done by a man in need of help. We spent over 2 hours there and we could have spent days. Most of his work took time in studying it to see if you could understand what he meant, but when you took the time, it was still something you questioned. Moving on, we hit the big road and headed onto Barcelona. We pulled into a campground just outside of the city about 4. Seeing as it was too late to go into Barcelona, we headed on down the sidewalk towards the marina. The beach is right across the metro tracks and the road. We had nothing better to do, so we checked it out. We won’t spend any time at the beach while we’re here, but we will spend a lot of time in Barcelona. Barcelona has a lot to see, and we will most likely spend 3 to 4 days here just trying to see as much as we can.
| |
| November 11, 2005 01:56 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
| Spain...Boy Does That Sound Good... |  | 3 November ’05, Thursday.
We did spend another day here. We are just outside of Figueres, or just down the beach from Roses, Spain. This is another campground that has stayed open all year around, but next year it will start closing about the end of October. It is right on the Med, has one of the best “Facilities” we have enjoyed, and something that is closed and looked like it was great as well, the restaurant. The camp grocery store is really one of the better we have had too. Over all, it is good to be here, although we will be moving to Barcelona in the morning. Oh yes, I have wi-fi available from the van for $8 Euros for a 24 hr day. I have got my monies worth on that for sure !!! This afternoon, we took a long walk along the beach. Louise was in her prime as she found more shells than she has seen for a long time. Fortunately for me she has refrained from bringing any home.
| |
| November 03, 2005 06:29 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Spain
|
|
Locations
Egypt
Austria
Belgium
Bosnýa
Croatia
Czech Republic
England
Estonia
France
Germany
Germany 2
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Scotland
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Switzerland
Turkey
Utrecht NL
Wales
Mexico
Mexico BCS
MX - Cabo San Lucas
USA - Seattle, WA
USA - Snohomish, WA
USA-Alabama
USA-Arizona
USA-California
USA-Florida
USA-Georgia
USA-Idaho
USA-Indiana
USA-Kentucky
USA-Louisiana
USA-Michigan
USA-Mississippi
USA-Montana
USA-Nevada
USA-New Mexico
USA-Oregon...
USA-South Dakota
USA-Tennessee
USA-Texas
USA-Utah
USA-Washington
USA-Wyoming
Countries
Archives
August 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
July 2006
June 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
Galleries
Austria
Belgium
Bosnia and Serbia
Croatia
Czech Republic
Egypt
England
Estonia
France
Germany
Germany 2nd Time
Greece
Holland...
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Mexico
Mexico BCS
Moselle Valley Germany
Poland
Scotland
Slovakia
Spain
Switzerland
Tangier
The Giza Pyramids of Egypt
Turkey
USA -Nevada
USA-Alabama
USA-Arizona
USA-California
USA-Florida
USA-Georgia
USA-Idaho
USA-Indiana
USA-Kentucky
USA-Louisiana
USA-Michigan
USA-Mississippi
USA-Montana
USA-New Mexico
USA-Oregon
USA-South Dakota
USA-Tennessee
USA-Texas
USA-Utah
USA-Washington
USA-Wyoming
Wales
|
