Home again, and I have to admit, I’m happy to be here. I did arrive home safe and sound several days ago, September 1st. The house was intact. A fair number of weeds had built a barrier around the place. I guess in my absence, they felt the place needed their protection. Thanks, but no thanks.
The trip this time was really great, but I think I’ve found my limit for being away. Not to say the trip wasn’t enjoyable. It was. But it began to feel as if I was repeating what I’d done the day before, just in a different location. Ending the trip in Menorca did put a bright light on the end of it. Menorca was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
Moving on. I last wrote on Thursday afternoon, and I was sacrificing my siesta. Well, on Friday I sacrificed again, not to write, though, and the sacrifice was worth it. To start the day, Pepe, los ninos and I headed for an abandoned fort, Castell de Santa Agueda, dating back to the time of the Moorish conquest of Spain.
This one wasn’t one that had been rebuilt to look like the original. It had been left to the mercy of wind and rain, and looked the part. It sat atop the second highest peak on the island. Some view! The island is about 45 K by 20K at the widest. We could see at least 1/2 of it. Over the years, the area has been used for farming and grazing. The road to it had been paved with stones when the fort was built. A good bit of the road was still in good shape, as the farmers had maintained it over the years.
In the early afternoon, Magdalena and los ninos attended a birthday party. Pepe and I used the time to have a delicious meal in a local restaurant. This was a very Mediterranean meal, both in content and time. A bottle of wine, some delicious tapas, two dishes, squid, I believe, and peppers. Then the outstanding main course of monkfish. This was followed by desert, and Pepe didn’t do his part, so I had to finish both his and mine. Then coffee and a Menorcan after dinner drink. Quite a meal!
Then he took me to Ciutadella, the second largest city on the island. Ciutadella was, I believe, once the capital of Menorca, but Mao (Mahon), with the better harbor took over that function in more recent times. Ciutadella has the charm you would hope for in a Spanish city, bright, old, narrow streets, busy, flowers. I think you get the idea.
The rest of the time in Menorca wasn’t nearly as interesting; pack, sleep, eat breakfast, goodbyes, and a trip to the airport. The goodbyes were the best part.
The flights back home weren’t exciting. Menorca to Barcelona, Barcelona to London, and London to LA. I guess I should be thankful for that. My flight from London was late taking off, and we must have been fighting headwinds, because we were even later landing. We must have landed at the same time as several other intercontinental flights, because it took about an hour to get through customs.
Which reminds me. Europe isn’t as rigid on passport control as I’d anticipated. Once within the Scandinavian countries, they didn’t check my passport. They stamped it in Austria, on my day trip to Hungary, on entry to Denmark, and on my visit to Estonia. Leaving Estonia was the last time my passport was stamped. I expected it when I left Denmark for Spain, but neither country checked it. . And when I arrived in LA, they only looked at my passport. No entrance stamp. Sort of disappointing, as I’d hoped to be able to show off all the entry and exit stamps. Asi es la vida.
Found out that I did have a few problems with finance when I returned. I thought I’d done a good job making sure all my bills were covered. But I didn’t anticipate the registration renewal for one vehicle. I was gone long enough for the penalty to reach the maximum. Adding insult to injury, the highest penalty step started only 2 days before I returned. And the insurance expired on another vehicle. Forgot to put that one on the automatic payment schedule. That turned out OK, though. It was in the garage all the time, and I didn’t have to pay insurance for it for two months. The author, however, does not recommend the practice.
I often wrapped up my travelogues with some random thoughts and observations. Now that I’m home, I don’t seem to have any, though. Just good to be home again. Keep an eye on the blog. As time permits, I’ll add photos of places I think some of you may find interesting
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Random Photss from the Trip
Here´s one of the Church ships I´ve mentioned
Helsingor Castle, or Hamlet´s Elsinore
And nearly last, but not Least, Spelunking
Yes, Spelunking. At least I think that´s what it´s called. But first, as always, at least one event has to intervene. Such as, after we woke from the siesta, it was time to go to the beach. This time it was at the beach where we´d been searching the night before. A nice sheltered cove with very calm water, and again it was delightful. I´ll probably never swim in the Pacific again. At least that´s the thought until the opportunity arises. Then, head for the surf.
The next day, Tuesday, was the boat trip. Pepe mentioned a cueva (cave) that we could enter. I anticipated pulling up on the beach and looking into the mouth of a small depression in the cliff. Wrong! Our first stop was one large enough for the boat to pull into. And deep enough that we came out a different entrance. The boat wasn´t huge, an outboard that held three adults and three kyds, but still. A bit further on, we reached our ultimate destination. Another cueva, and we pulled up and tied the boat securely to a rock, and dropped anchor. Then flashlights were passed around. Are you getting the idea?
Turns out this was a true cueva, with stalactites and stalagmites and everything else you expect to find in a limestone cavern (not being a geologist, I just assume it was limestone). Quite the sight, I really must say. We were in it for a good hour or more. I´ve been on cave tours in the past, but always on guided ones. Defined pathways, rope barriers, built in lighting, you get the picture. Not here. This was truly "Up close and personal". If the lights went out, we´d have known what true dark really was. My light had a wind-up charger, and I wound it up a lot. There were some places that we had to go through on all fours. We also climbed up/down some pretty steep inclines. My head and the ceiling collided a time or two. Some of the material looked as if it was soaking wet, but it was dry, just nearly as smooth as glass. There were several water pools, though. In several places there was a distinct change in color, with all the rock below a given point a reddish-orange color, and above, more a grey-white. I´ve posted several of the photos on the blog under the heading "Photos from Menorca". Quite a nice excursion, if I do say so myself. Did I mention that at the innermost point, Tomeo, the boat owner, said we´d go out a different way. Uh-Oh. Then I noticed a string along the way. Fine, until I realized I didn´t know if the string led further in, or to the exit. Fortunately, it was the exit. As an afterthought, there was no string on the way in. I guess Tomeo has been there more than once.
From there, it was into a quiet bay for a little swimming, then into the village of Fornells for a lunch. Since the primary purpose of this trip was to get to know Scandinavia, I ordered salmon. And a good one it was. We wandered around Fornells for a while, and Pepe insisted on making my return trip luggage heavier than when I started by getting me a Menorcan T shirt. Thank you, compadre. For our evening snack, we went to a friend of Pepe and Magdalena´s. They had a pool, so Pepe and the kyds dove in. I elected to sit this one out. The snack was delicious, and much more than a snack. I´m becoming a bit rolly-polly, I think
Wednesday rolled around, and we headed off on another adventure. This time it was to the rock quarry. Not the one we investigated the night of the lost Englishman, but an actual working sandstone quarry. You may not think that´s too exciting, but then, you´re not me. In fact, there were two quarries. One had been abandoned, and the bottom filled in with earth. Then trees were planted. Quite an abundant forest. It has it´s own little micro-climate, below the surrounding terrain by perhaps 20 or 30 metres, and sheltered from the wind. Among others, there were fig and olive trees.
Then in the newer quarry, in areas not currently being worked, we were able to see some of the machinery used to cut the sandstone, and understand a bit about the process. Until about 30 or so years ago, all the stone was cut by pure manual labor, picks and pry bars and such. Just like the Egyptians used to get the material for the pyramids. Some pretty interesting photos of the quarry, at least to me.
Then, after a short (1.5 hours is short???) siesta, Pepe asked me if I wanted to take a bath. I sniffed, somewhat self-consciously. Then I realized he meant did I want to go to the beach for a swim. Can you guess the answer? Remember the sheltered cove with the calm water? Not Wednesday! The wind was from the south, and the cove is on the south shore of Menorca. Some surf! We had a really great time, diving into and trying to ride the waves. And again, the water was delightful.
But the day wasn´t over. At 8:30 PM, we attended an equestrian show near Ferreries, where Pepe lives. First, demonstrations of the training the Menorcan horses go through to prepare them for the jaleos. Then demonstrations of several training techniques followed by some very intricate riding demonstrations. Renee, I think you´d have loved it. Since it was night, my usual abuse of the camera didn´t produce too much of merit, but I did get some photos that may be worth while..
So now it´s Thursday. This AM we headed for an ancient ruin near Ciutadella on the western end of the island. It was initially settled in about the 13Th century BC, and abandoned sometime around the Roman conquest of the island, in around the 2Nd century BC. Not too much is known about the life of the inhabitants, nor are any of the structures intact. But it really stirs up the imagination. And made me marvel at the intense amount of labor that went into building it. Lots and lots of rocks were cut and then moved from somewhere.to this location. It never ceases to amaze me at the amount of work early humans did to provide shelter and protection.
On the topic or rocks, the entire island is subdivided by rock walls. And if you really look at them, you marvel at how well the rocks fit in place. By no means haphazard piling of rocks to make a barrier. No mortar used, either. They stay in place because they fit.
It´s now Thursday afternoon, and I´m using my siesta time to create this. Probably the second to last edition of my travelogue. I may get another episode in before I leave, but Friday is the only day left for anything to happen. I leave here on Saturday AM around 10, and arrive in LA on Saturday evening at around 7 PM. Only 9 hours, right??? Hope my luggage keeps up with me on the two changes I have to make. Of course, it´s not nearly as bad to loose your luggage on the away home as it is to loose it on the way out, as happened in Copenhagen.
In case this is the last edition, I really want to say thanks to Pepe and Magdalena on the tail end of my trip, and to Pamela, Rolf, Rudi and Traude at the beginning. It was really wonderful, and makes the trip so much more informative and enjoyable, to spend time with someone who lives in and knows the area. I had a great time in Scandinavia, but it would have been so much better if someone local had been as kind and generous as these folks have been. Thanks again.
The next day, Tuesday, was the boat trip. Pepe mentioned a cueva (cave) that we could enter. I anticipated pulling up on the beach and looking into the mouth of a small depression in the cliff. Wrong! Our first stop was one large enough for the boat to pull into. And deep enough that we came out a different entrance. The boat wasn´t huge, an outboard that held three adults and three kyds, but still. A bit further on, we reached our ultimate destination. Another cueva, and we pulled up and tied the boat securely to a rock, and dropped anchor. Then flashlights were passed around. Are you getting the idea?
Turns out this was a true cueva, with stalactites and stalagmites and everything else you expect to find in a limestone cavern (not being a geologist, I just assume it was limestone). Quite the sight, I really must say. We were in it for a good hour or more. I´ve been on cave tours in the past, but always on guided ones. Defined pathways, rope barriers, built in lighting, you get the picture. Not here. This was truly "Up close and personal". If the lights went out, we´d have known what true dark really was. My light had a wind-up charger, and I wound it up a lot. There were some places that we had to go through on all fours. We also climbed up/down some pretty steep inclines. My head and the ceiling collided a time or two. Some of the material looked as if it was soaking wet, but it was dry, just nearly as smooth as glass. There were several water pools, though. In several places there was a distinct change in color, with all the rock below a given point a reddish-orange color, and above, more a grey-white. I´ve posted several of the photos on the blog under the heading "Photos from Menorca". Quite a nice excursion, if I do say so myself. Did I mention that at the innermost point, Tomeo, the boat owner, said we´d go out a different way. Uh-Oh. Then I noticed a string along the way. Fine, until I realized I didn´t know if the string led further in, or to the exit. Fortunately, it was the exit. As an afterthought, there was no string on the way in. I guess Tomeo has been there more than once.
From there, it was into a quiet bay for a little swimming, then into the village of Fornells for a lunch. Since the primary purpose of this trip was to get to know Scandinavia, I ordered salmon. And a good one it was. We wandered around Fornells for a while, and Pepe insisted on making my return trip luggage heavier than when I started by getting me a Menorcan T shirt. Thank you, compadre. For our evening snack, we went to a friend of Pepe and Magdalena´s. They had a pool, so Pepe and the kyds dove in. I elected to sit this one out. The snack was delicious, and much more than a snack. I´m becoming a bit rolly-polly, I think
Wednesday rolled around, and we headed off on another adventure. This time it was to the rock quarry. Not the one we investigated the night of the lost Englishman, but an actual working sandstone quarry. You may not think that´s too exciting, but then, you´re not me. In fact, there were two quarries. One had been abandoned, and the bottom filled in with earth. Then trees were planted. Quite an abundant forest. It has it´s own little micro-climate, below the surrounding terrain by perhaps 20 or 30 metres, and sheltered from the wind. Among others, there were fig and olive trees.
Then in the newer quarry, in areas not currently being worked, we were able to see some of the machinery used to cut the sandstone, and understand a bit about the process. Until about 30 or so years ago, all the stone was cut by pure manual labor, picks and pry bars and such. Just like the Egyptians used to get the material for the pyramids. Some pretty interesting photos of the quarry, at least to me.
Then, after a short (1.5 hours is short???) siesta, Pepe asked me if I wanted to take a bath. I sniffed, somewhat self-consciously. Then I realized he meant did I want to go to the beach for a swim. Can you guess the answer? Remember the sheltered cove with the calm water? Not Wednesday! The wind was from the south, and the cove is on the south shore of Menorca. Some surf! We had a really great time, diving into and trying to ride the waves. And again, the water was delightful.
But the day wasn´t over. At 8:30 PM, we attended an equestrian show near Ferreries, where Pepe lives. First, demonstrations of the training the Menorcan horses go through to prepare them for the jaleos. Then demonstrations of several training techniques followed by some very intricate riding demonstrations. Renee, I think you´d have loved it. Since it was night, my usual abuse of the camera didn´t produce too much of merit, but I did get some photos that may be worth while..
So now it´s Thursday. This AM we headed for an ancient ruin near Ciutadella on the western end of the island. It was initially settled in about the 13Th century BC, and abandoned sometime around the Roman conquest of the island, in around the 2Nd century BC. Not too much is known about the life of the inhabitants, nor are any of the structures intact. But it really stirs up the imagination. And made me marvel at the intense amount of labor that went into building it. Lots and lots of rocks were cut and then moved from somewhere.to this location. It never ceases to amaze me at the amount of work early humans did to provide shelter and protection.
On the topic or rocks, the entire island is subdivided by rock walls. And if you really look at them, you marvel at how well the rocks fit in place. By no means haphazard piling of rocks to make a barrier. No mortar used, either. They stay in place because they fit.
It´s now Thursday afternoon, and I´m using my siesta time to create this. Probably the second to last edition of my travelogue. I may get another episode in before I leave, but Friday is the only day left for anything to happen. I leave here on Saturday AM around 10, and arrive in LA on Saturday evening at around 7 PM. Only 9 hours, right??? Hope my luggage keeps up with me on the two changes I have to make. Of course, it´s not nearly as bad to loose your luggage on the away home as it is to loose it on the way out, as happened in Copenhagen.
In case this is the last edition, I really want to say thanks to Pepe and Magdalena on the tail end of my trip, and to Pamela, Rolf, Rudi and Traude at the beginning. It was really wonderful, and makes the trip so much more informative and enjoyable, to spend time with someone who lives in and knows the area. I had a great time in Scandinavia, but it would have been so much better if someone local had been as kind and generous as these folks have been. Thanks again.
Menorca at Midnight
Mysterious me, you´ll again have to skip forward to find out what the title is about. Or just read on, you´ll get to it eventually.
The day after the jaleo, there was another, though it really was a mock jaleo. This time the participants rode donkeys, rather than the grand Menorcan horses. And the donkeys were less than willing participants. Neither Pepe nor I were very impressed. But the town turned out again, and everyone seemed to have a really good time. I think it was the socializing more than the donkeys.
After enjoying the flavor of the town for a while, we headed back for the house for lunch, or rather, dinner. The main meal is in the afternoon, and is followed by a not too light snack late in the evening. For dinner, we had baked chicken. It was baked in coca-cola. I have the recipe if anyone is interested. It doesn´t sound like something that would appeal to American tastes, but I found it very tasty. And no, it didn´t taste of coca-cola. I specify Coca-cola rather than coke to make certain you don´t get the wrong idea.
After dinner, we followed an old Spanish custom, the siesta. I think I could get used to that. I was the last to finish my siesta.
In the early evening, there was a performance put on for the children of the town. Several actors in clown suits really got the kyds going. And it was one that the kyds could participate in. Singing, dancing, a good time was had by all. Then late that night, at midnight, the weekend fiesta was topped off by a fireworks display. But that´s not the Menorca at Midnight in the title.
The next day was beach day. Pepe and the family took me to a beach on the north side of the island. There was a nice beach, in a large bay with quite a few beach-goers. There were a number of smaller coves in the bay, and we found one that looked good. The swimming here was excellent. Water temperature was fine, and the water was as clear as you can imagine. There were perhaps 20 or 30 bathers there. And to confirm your suspicions, clothing is optional here. Most of the women had tops, but there were those without. And most of the bathers had bottoms, but not all. No, I didn´t, in case you were wondering. What struck me as funny was that it looked like all those who were in the altogether were families. And it was the adults without. The kyds, except for the very young, were all wearing bathing suits. Turns out, bathing in the altogether is not allowed at the resort beaches near the major hotels, only at the smaller, more local beaches.
We broke the afternoon up by going to a restaurant neat the beach. It´s owned by Magdalena´s uncle. There we had a fine meal of paella. Then back to the beach to finish off the day. Didn´t head for home until around 8:30 or so.
Later that evening, just as we had all said buenos noches to each other, the phone rang. Pepe answered, and said it was the police calling. Yes, that stirred my interest. Pepe is the local head of the civil defense group. Turns out there was an English tourist in a nearby town that had gone missing. They were organizing a search team. I picked up on the English part, and volunteered my services, offering the one skill I have that is probably better than anyone else here, my vast command of the English language. Weak point, but Pepe checked, and they accepted me.
So we picked up another pair of volunteers and headed out. Out first assignment was to check on a remote beach and park area. Really good thing the state has provided the volunteers a 4WD truck, because it was really necessary. One of the places we looked was in an abandoned quarry. I hope we get the chance to see it again by daylight. We later patrolled a section of the town, with no luck. They retired us at around 1:30 or 2:00AM, They decided we couldn´t really accomplish much in the middle of the night.
And it turns out that he was located at around 4:00AM. In a town about 25KM from where he was last seen. The police there investigated a possible burglary attempt, and it turned out to be our lost Englishman. No one knows how he got there, least of all him. He was apparently subject to panic attacks, and diabetic as well They suspect he may have blacked out and perhaps hitched a ride to the town where he was found. So there´s Menorca at Midnight.
Today´s plans were to pick up some vegetables at a friend´s garden, then head out to explore the quarry we´d seen last night. But the friend had a swimming pool, and Eder and Marina convinced dad that swimming was a good way to spend part of the morning. And the friend was in the process of preparing a batch of tomato sauce, so we helped in that. I turn a mean juice extractor.
From there, it was back home for dinner, and then, because of our strenuous night last night, a good siesta was in order. The quarry will still be there day after tomorrow. Tomorrow is the boat trip.
The day after the jaleo, there was another, though it really was a mock jaleo. This time the participants rode donkeys, rather than the grand Menorcan horses. And the donkeys were less than willing participants. Neither Pepe nor I were very impressed. But the town turned out again, and everyone seemed to have a really good time. I think it was the socializing more than the donkeys.
After enjoying the flavor of the town for a while, we headed back for the house for lunch, or rather, dinner. The main meal is in the afternoon, and is followed by a not too light snack late in the evening. For dinner, we had baked chicken. It was baked in coca-cola. I have the recipe if anyone is interested. It doesn´t sound like something that would appeal to American tastes, but I found it very tasty. And no, it didn´t taste of coca-cola. I specify Coca-cola rather than coke to make certain you don´t get the wrong idea.
After dinner, we followed an old Spanish custom, the siesta. I think I could get used to that. I was the last to finish my siesta.
In the early evening, there was a performance put on for the children of the town. Several actors in clown suits really got the kyds going. And it was one that the kyds could participate in. Singing, dancing, a good time was had by all. Then late that night, at midnight, the weekend fiesta was topped off by a fireworks display. But that´s not the Menorca at Midnight in the title.
The next day was beach day. Pepe and the family took me to a beach on the north side of the island. There was a nice beach, in a large bay with quite a few beach-goers. There were a number of smaller coves in the bay, and we found one that looked good. The swimming here was excellent. Water temperature was fine, and the water was as clear as you can imagine. There were perhaps 20 or 30 bathers there. And to confirm your suspicions, clothing is optional here. Most of the women had tops, but there were those without. And most of the bathers had bottoms, but not all. No, I didn´t, in case you were wondering. What struck me as funny was that it looked like all those who were in the altogether were families. And it was the adults without. The kyds, except for the very young, were all wearing bathing suits. Turns out, bathing in the altogether is not allowed at the resort beaches near the major hotels, only at the smaller, more local beaches.
We broke the afternoon up by going to a restaurant neat the beach. It´s owned by Magdalena´s uncle. There we had a fine meal of paella. Then back to the beach to finish off the day. Didn´t head for home until around 8:30 or so.
Later that evening, just as we had all said buenos noches to each other, the phone rang. Pepe answered, and said it was the police calling. Yes, that stirred my interest. Pepe is the local head of the civil defense group. Turns out there was an English tourist in a nearby town that had gone missing. They were organizing a search team. I picked up on the English part, and volunteered my services, offering the one skill I have that is probably better than anyone else here, my vast command of the English language. Weak point, but Pepe checked, and they accepted me.
So we picked up another pair of volunteers and headed out. Out first assignment was to check on a remote beach and park area. Really good thing the state has provided the volunteers a 4WD truck, because it was really necessary. One of the places we looked was in an abandoned quarry. I hope we get the chance to see it again by daylight. We later patrolled a section of the town, with no luck. They retired us at around 1:30 or 2:00AM, They decided we couldn´t really accomplish much in the middle of the night.
And it turns out that he was located at around 4:00AM. In a town about 25KM from where he was last seen. The police there investigated a possible burglary attempt, and it turned out to be our lost Englishman. No one knows how he got there, least of all him. He was apparently subject to panic attacks, and diabetic as well They suspect he may have blacked out and perhaps hitched a ride to the town where he was found. So there´s Menorca at Midnight.
Today´s plans were to pick up some vegetables at a friend´s garden, then head out to explore the quarry we´d seen last night. But the friend had a swimming pool, and Eder and Marina convinced dad that swimming was a good way to spend part of the morning. And the friend was in the process of preparing a batch of tomato sauce, so we helped in that. I turn a mean juice extractor.
From there, it was back home for dinner, and then, because of our strenuous night last night, a good siesta was in order. The quarry will still be there day after tomorrow. Tomorrow is the boat trip.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Photos from various locales
Told you Sagrada Familia is impressive
Catch the converging contrails
Barcelona, Sagrada Familia on the left
Told you there are 100,000 people on La Rambla
Several photos of the Jaleo in Menorca
Menorca, what a fine way to end a trip
Well here I am, the last stop of the trip. And did I ever arrive at the right time! But you´ll have to skip down a few paragraphs to find out why. Or read all the way through.
I finished my stay in Madrid as I planned, visiting all the interesting places to the west f my hotel. Again, I stayed away from the museums, and just wandered around seeing the sights. I did go in one museum, as it was a church, and I wanted to see the inside of it. Church for part of the day, and museum for the rest. With very limited hours.
I won´t bore you with the names of the places I visited. Suffice to say that there is enough in Madrid to keep you busy all day long for several days. And I could have easily spent several more there and gone into the city in a little more depth.
I got from Madrid to Barcelona with no problems. If I didn´t know where I was, I could have sworn I was traveling through southern California for most of the trip. There were a few spots that reminded me of the north central AZ landscape and a few that looked like southeastern AZ. The last segment was along the coast, and it could well have been CA´s central coast along the southern portions of Highway 1.
Within an hour or so of my arrival in Barcelona, I was settled into a hotel. The Barcelona Tourist Info Center helped on that. More on the TI later. I used the metro to get around town, and found it to be very easy and efficient. And the metro staff are really helpful, as are the Renfre (Spain´s railroad system) personnel. For some reason, I adapt to the underground systems much better than I do surface transportation. I guess that may be because there´s nothing to distract me from finding my station, such as scenery, buildings, etc.
I decided that with just one day in Barcelona, the Hop-on Hop-off bus tour was the best choice, so I signed up for one. It did get to see most of the highlights, I guess. Not too sure, as there wasn´t a great deal of info on Barcelona available at the TI.
The highlight was a visit to the Sagrada Familia. It´s a church designed by the architect Gaudi. If you can believe this, construction started in 1883, and has been going on ever since. It´s scheduled for completion in 2020. Doesn´t seem like anything should take that long to build, does it? I didn´t take the inside tour, as I´d seen it about 8 years ago. Besides, I´ve been inside buildings under construction, and they aren´t all that interesting. But the outside is really something to behold. When I get around to posting some photos again, I´ll be sure to include some. Quite the sight!!!
Another stop on the bus tour led to a tram ride to a view site. The waiting line for the tram was about a block long, and the tram could probably hold about t a half block´s Worth, so i decided to hike up the hill. For you BVS folks, think of the first portion of Jacaranda. For the rest, it was all uphill. But worth the view once I got there. I sat in an open air bar, had a soda, and marveled. The aforementioned Sagrada Familia stood out prominently.
Other than the above, the most memorable parts of the Barcelona stay was "Rambling La Rambla". La Rambla is a long, wide pedestrian street from one of the main plazas, Catalunya, I believe, to the Marina. I don´t think it ever has less than 100,000 people in it, or so it seems.
A comment or two about the TI´s. The one in Madrid was OK, but could have had a bit more information about what each of the locations they mentioned was about. Nearly all they provided was the name, opening hours, location and price. The best descriptive info I found was in a booklet in the hotel room. For some reason, the TI was stingy with maps. The first I got didn´t do much for me. So I asked if there was a better one. There was, and they gave me a copy, but it still didn´t identify much. So the third time, I got the good map, but all the descriptive text was in Japanese. So with that and the hotel info, I got by.
Barcelona was another story. With the exception of the very good help in locating a room, they were not much more than a shill for the bus tour company. No booklet of any sort describing the highlights of the city. The map they provided was a poor quality map of the entire city, with only the major streets identified. When I paid for the bus tour, I was given a better map, primarily highlighting the stops the bus made, and a booklet describing those stops. When I asked for a better map, they told me I could buy one in their gift shop. I did, but it still didn´t compare with the free maps all the other TI´s I´ve been to offer. Do you think I´m disappointed with the Barcelona TI?
And part of it may simply be that in Spain, I didn´t have my Lonely Planet guidebook. Lonely Planet has been my companion on all my international trips so far. This time, I left the European one home, as I had one on Scandinavia. Big mistake. The European one covered Spain, and I think it would have helped a lot. Next time, I won´t be without one. Does this sound like a testimonial? Lonely Planet, are you listening?
And now I´m in Menorca. After an uneventful flight across the Mediterranean, Pepe met me at the airport in Mao, or Mahon. From there, we headed straight for his home in Ferreres, deposited my luggage and headed for the town center. There had been a fiesta for the last several days, and I arrived at the finale.
There is a horse breed unique to Menorca. A beautiful all black horse, and today´s celebration centered around the horses. Pairs of riders rode into the town square dressed in formal riding attire, peaked hat, black coat, white shirt, bow tie, riding boots, you get the picture. The band played, the crowd cheered, and the horses pranced and reared in the midst of the crowd. Quite a sight to behold! The Spanish name for it is "jaleo". I´ll put photos on the blog as soon as I can. Probably the most exciting day I´ve had on the entire trip. I wish I could adequately describe it, as it´s something to see. Something like the bulls in Pamplona, but the horses aren´t chasing anyone. Almost as if the people are chasing the horses.
The local drink for this celebration, at least is called the pomada. It´s made with gin and lemonade, proportions vary, depending on who mixes it. Pepe introduced me to several friends, and they offered pomada. Fortunately, we didn´t get to meet too many friends, and the portions were small.
After a break to join up with the rest of Pepe´s family, Magdalena, son Eder and daughter Marina, and have a bite to eat, we went back to the town center. One the stage in the plaza, there was entertainment, clowns, dancers, magicians, you name it, all by the same three performers. Then, to the carnival. We didn´t get back to the house until almost midnight. Did we sleep well? I´ll let you figure that out.
Time to close for now. Pepe has graciously let me use his computer with it´s high speed connection, so I´ll try to post a few photos. Hopefully, there will be one or two of the jaleo good enough to post.
I finished my stay in Madrid as I planned, visiting all the interesting places to the west f my hotel. Again, I stayed away from the museums, and just wandered around seeing the sights. I did go in one museum, as it was a church, and I wanted to see the inside of it. Church for part of the day, and museum for the rest. With very limited hours.
I won´t bore you with the names of the places I visited. Suffice to say that there is enough in Madrid to keep you busy all day long for several days. And I could have easily spent several more there and gone into the city in a little more depth.
I got from Madrid to Barcelona with no problems. If I didn´t know where I was, I could have sworn I was traveling through southern California for most of the trip. There were a few spots that reminded me of the north central AZ landscape and a few that looked like southeastern AZ. The last segment was along the coast, and it could well have been CA´s central coast along the southern portions of Highway 1.
Within an hour or so of my arrival in Barcelona, I was settled into a hotel. The Barcelona Tourist Info Center helped on that. More on the TI later. I used the metro to get around town, and found it to be very easy and efficient. And the metro staff are really helpful, as are the Renfre (Spain´s railroad system) personnel. For some reason, I adapt to the underground systems much better than I do surface transportation. I guess that may be because there´s nothing to distract me from finding my station, such as scenery, buildings, etc.
I decided that with just one day in Barcelona, the Hop-on Hop-off bus tour was the best choice, so I signed up for one. It did get to see most of the highlights, I guess. Not too sure, as there wasn´t a great deal of info on Barcelona available at the TI.
The highlight was a visit to the Sagrada Familia. It´s a church designed by the architect Gaudi. If you can believe this, construction started in 1883, and has been going on ever since. It´s scheduled for completion in 2020. Doesn´t seem like anything should take that long to build, does it? I didn´t take the inside tour, as I´d seen it about 8 years ago. Besides, I´ve been inside buildings under construction, and they aren´t all that interesting. But the outside is really something to behold. When I get around to posting some photos again, I´ll be sure to include some. Quite the sight!!!
Another stop on the bus tour led to a tram ride to a view site. The waiting line for the tram was about a block long, and the tram could probably hold about t a half block´s Worth, so i decided to hike up the hill. For you BVS folks, think of the first portion of Jacaranda. For the rest, it was all uphill. But worth the view once I got there. I sat in an open air bar, had a soda, and marveled. The aforementioned Sagrada Familia stood out prominently.
Other than the above, the most memorable parts of the Barcelona stay was "Rambling La Rambla". La Rambla is a long, wide pedestrian street from one of the main plazas, Catalunya, I believe, to the Marina. I don´t think it ever has less than 100,000 people in it, or so it seems.
A comment or two about the TI´s. The one in Madrid was OK, but could have had a bit more information about what each of the locations they mentioned was about. Nearly all they provided was the name, opening hours, location and price. The best descriptive info I found was in a booklet in the hotel room. For some reason, the TI was stingy with maps. The first I got didn´t do much for me. So I asked if there was a better one. There was, and they gave me a copy, but it still didn´t identify much. So the third time, I got the good map, but all the descriptive text was in Japanese. So with that and the hotel info, I got by.
Barcelona was another story. With the exception of the very good help in locating a room, they were not much more than a shill for the bus tour company. No booklet of any sort describing the highlights of the city. The map they provided was a poor quality map of the entire city, with only the major streets identified. When I paid for the bus tour, I was given a better map, primarily highlighting the stops the bus made, and a booklet describing those stops. When I asked for a better map, they told me I could buy one in their gift shop. I did, but it still didn´t compare with the free maps all the other TI´s I´ve been to offer. Do you think I´m disappointed with the Barcelona TI?
And part of it may simply be that in Spain, I didn´t have my Lonely Planet guidebook. Lonely Planet has been my companion on all my international trips so far. This time, I left the European one home, as I had one on Scandinavia. Big mistake. The European one covered Spain, and I think it would have helped a lot. Next time, I won´t be without one. Does this sound like a testimonial? Lonely Planet, are you listening?
And now I´m in Menorca. After an uneventful flight across the Mediterranean, Pepe met me at the airport in Mao, or Mahon. From there, we headed straight for his home in Ferreres, deposited my luggage and headed for the town center. There had been a fiesta for the last several days, and I arrived at the finale.
There is a horse breed unique to Menorca. A beautiful all black horse, and today´s celebration centered around the horses. Pairs of riders rode into the town square dressed in formal riding attire, peaked hat, black coat, white shirt, bow tie, riding boots, you get the picture. The band played, the crowd cheered, and the horses pranced and reared in the midst of the crowd. Quite a sight to behold! The Spanish name for it is "jaleo". I´ll put photos on the blog as soon as I can. Probably the most exciting day I´ve had on the entire trip. I wish I could adequately describe it, as it´s something to see. Something like the bulls in Pamplona, but the horses aren´t chasing anyone. Almost as if the people are chasing the horses.
The local drink for this celebration, at least is called the pomada. It´s made with gin and lemonade, proportions vary, depending on who mixes it. Pepe introduced me to several friends, and they offered pomada. Fortunately, we didn´t get to meet too many friends, and the portions were small.
After a break to join up with the rest of Pepe´s family, Magdalena, son Eder and daughter Marina, and have a bite to eat, we went back to the town center. One the stage in the plaza, there was entertainment, clowns, dancers, magicians, you name it, all by the same three performers. Then, to the carnival. We didn´t get back to the house until almost midnight. Did we sleep well? I´ll let you figure that out.
Time to close for now. Pepe has graciously let me use his computer with it´s high speed connection, so I´ll try to post a few photos. Hopefully, there will be one or two of the jaleo good enough to post.
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