Lagos, Portugal. Home of more expats than anywhere else in Western Europe. I have been here for a few days now and will end my vacation here. It is this absolutely beautiful beach town that has grotto's and 40meter cliffs that overlook the Atlantic ocean. This side of the Portuguese coast is called the Golden Coast. It is stunning.
This beach town also happens to be a rather large party town. The town itself consists of a few streets, some historical sights(like the first slave trade sight) and a few churches. I honestly walked the entire town in under an hour. But I didn't come to Lagos for the churches. Although beautiful in themselves, the coast line is what brought me here. It is filled with grotto's, caves, steep cliffs that plunge into the teal ocean and small coves filled with white sand. I have spent most of my time exploring the caves and secluded beach with a few new friends. And the nights have been spent eating great(and cheap) food and drinking masses of great(and cheap) wine.
I've met some great Scottish guys staying in the hostel and it's been loads of fun. The girls in my room are all Kiwis and we've picked up some British and Aussies along the way to round out the group of about 10. There are a few Americans here as well, mostly Texans(yay Texas!) but they are still in school(Tech) and quiet a bit younger than the rest of us. Some of the Scots have rented an apartment not far from the hostel(everything is honestly about 10 minutes away) so it's become the place to hang out at and have fun. The only thing I'm sad about is that I only have a week here. OH and my camera(the point and shoot, not the DSLR) got wet on the beach so hopefully some of my pictures are salvageable.
Last night Portugal played Turkey in the opening of the Euro Cup(futbol people) and the town came alive. The game was fantastic with Portugal making a last minute goal to clinch the victory and securing the advancement in the tournament. I have never heard such a collective roar come up from the entire town. It was fantastic. The entire town went out to celebrate afterwards with people dancing in the streets and every car and motorbike honking. People were waving the Portuguese flags and chanting something in Portuguese. Futbol is THE sport in Europe and I absolutely adore the atmosphere that it comes with it. Two of the Scottish guys play for Scotlands futbol team so it's been nice getting the 411 on futbol rules and regulations that confuse me. And one of them will play for Liverpool next season(very cool) which would be even greater if I was a Liverpool fan. ;)
Celebration ended sometime this morning. I'm about to head out to Sagres, which is this small town on the tip of Portugal. It's supposed to have some amazing views of the cliffs and ocean. I was thinking of renting a Scooter with one of the Scott's, but it's so amazingly hot right now, with no wind, that we're gonna take the bus. I'm hoping for a bit of wind to break up the heat. Breakfast this morning was brutal with the sun beating down on us. On the plus side, I have gotten a fantastic tan.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Luxury Cabs
I hardly take taxi's in Austin. I think the only time a taxi is required is when a night on the town is called for and no one wants to be DD. But usually some nice guy volunteers to be our DD for the night, so I cannot remember the last time I saw the inside of a cab back home. But in Europe, taxi's have become my new best friend. It's a pain to get to a new city and try and figure out the public transportation while lugging all of the supposed "light packing" that I managed to do. So..my new rule is to take a cab from whatever airport/bus/train station that I have manage to arrive at, to whatever hotel/hostel/bed and breakfast I'm staying at. I think its been well worth the few Euros this is costing me.
And only in Europe do I get to ride around in a Mercedes Benz SL500 and pay a cab fee. I chuckle to myself every time I get into yet another luxury vehicle that works as a taxi here. I have been in some very nice Mercedes, BMW's, Volvo's during my time here. America wouldn't dream of making the every day taxi a foreign luxury car.
I've been in Portugal for a few days now and decided to stay at a nice resort hotel in Lisbon for a few days. I was told that although Lisbon does indeed have a metro station a cab ride would cost me about 5 euros each way and that my safety would be insured. Apparently Lisbon ranks high on the list of cities with alot of petty crime. I decided the cab idea would be best. My favorite ride was the daily cab from the hotel to the center of town...all in a very sleek black S class that didn't even have a taxi sign on it. Apparently it was part of the hotel's fleet or something. The very nice cab driver spoke some English so we communicated rather well. Lots of hand gestures(on my part) and speaking slower(his part) but we managed to have some very informative discussions on Portugal politics.
Portuguese is a language that baffles me. It's a romance language and shares some similarities between the other romance languages, but it sounds a little German with a bit of French and Spanish thrown in for good measure. Needless to say I have managed to learn only a little Portuguese. The Spanish most definitely helps, BUT the Portuguese are very offended if people automatically assume they speak Spanish as well.
I enjoyed my time in Lisbon(having my own room for a few days was quiet nice) and the city of Lisbon is beautiful. A very underrated European capital. The people are friendly and the food is delicious. The pastries, oh Portuguese pastries rival the Italians. The signature pastry is this little sweet custard tart that gets sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon. Pure heaven.
And only in Europe do I get to ride around in a Mercedes Benz SL500 and pay a cab fee. I chuckle to myself every time I get into yet another luxury vehicle that works as a taxi here. I have been in some very nice Mercedes, BMW's, Volvo's during my time here. America wouldn't dream of making the every day taxi a foreign luxury car.
I've been in Portugal for a few days now and decided to stay at a nice resort hotel in Lisbon for a few days. I was told that although Lisbon does indeed have a metro station a cab ride would cost me about 5 euros each way and that my safety would be insured. Apparently Lisbon ranks high on the list of cities with alot of petty crime. I decided the cab idea would be best. My favorite ride was the daily cab from the hotel to the center of town...all in a very sleek black S class that didn't even have a taxi sign on it. Apparently it was part of the hotel's fleet or something. The very nice cab driver spoke some English so we communicated rather well. Lots of hand gestures(on my part) and speaking slower(his part) but we managed to have some very informative discussions on Portugal politics.
Portuguese is a language that baffles me. It's a romance language and shares some similarities between the other romance languages, but it sounds a little German with a bit of French and Spanish thrown in for good measure. Needless to say I have managed to learn only a little Portuguese. The Spanish most definitely helps, BUT the Portuguese are very offended if people automatically assume they speak Spanish as well.
I enjoyed my time in Lisbon(having my own room for a few days was quiet nice) and the city of Lisbon is beautiful. A very underrated European capital. The people are friendly and the food is delicious. The pastries, oh Portuguese pastries rival the Italians. The signature pastry is this little sweet custard tart that gets sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon. Pure heaven.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
And the adventure continues...
So it had been decided the night before that three from our room were going to share a cab to the bus station. The other girl and were headed to Malága on the same day so it made sense that we share a cab to the bus station. We looked up the buses and it left at 10:30 for an 3 hour bus ride. And this other lady from our room just wanted to share a cab because it was cheaper for her(and easier) than taking the bus to the station. This should have been easy, cab to bus station.
Our cab arrived at about 10am, so we theoretically had plenty of time to get to the station and get our tickets and be on our way. Well I´m inside checking out/drinking my coffee when the cab arrives. I get called outside and as it turns out the third lady had 2 suitcases, I have my rolling duffel and the other girl has a hiking backpack. The lady´s luggage is already in the back of the cab, which leaves no room for our stuff. The cab driver is upset at her for some reason so I try and smooth things out. As it turns out the three of us are not going to fit in the cab. The lady wants to wait for another one, but me and the other girl need to get to our bus. I explain this to the lady and she insists on waiting for a bigger cab. I argue with her and explain that cab´s in Europe are small, they don´t have alot of van type of cabs. I turn to the other girl and we decide to take this cab that is still waiting for us to make a decision. The lady hears that we are going to leave her and throws a huge fit! As I´m trying to explain the bus that we have to make and how waiting for another cab is probably going to make us miss the bus and the next one leaves at 4pm I turn around just in time to see the cab pulling away. I´m pretty ticked, knowing rightfully so that we just missed the bus to Malága. As I go inside to call yet another cab, the lady storms off towards the bus stop.
We catch the cab to the train station and get there at 10:35am...just in time to miss the bus. I might add that the cab driver completely ripped us off. I know for a fact that the cab was supposed to cost around 6 euros and it cost us 11! He heard us speaking English in the back and took every back road to the station, I was just plain mad by the time I realized what he had done. I tried arguing, but to no avail as he wouldn´t pop the trunk until he got his money. And So we miss the bus and the next bus is at 4:00pm. I refuse to wait around until 4:00(because that´ll put us in Malága at about 7pm) so we cross the street and head to the train station where the next train is at 1:00pm. there´s nothing we can do so we sit and have breakfast while I peruse the magazine stand. I spend my time reading my book and playing peek a boo with this adorable baby in front of me. Finally it´s time to board the train! An hour later and we arrive in Malága.
Malága, home of Antonio Banderas. Really, he´s from here. The hostel is somewhere in the center and it´s quicker to take another cab. I chat with the driver and he informs me of the theft problem that Malága has. Great...now I have to be uber uber aware of my purse. He says that major crime like murder and the like aren´t that common but that pretty girls such as myself shouldn´t be out at night by myself. Thankfully I had read something about the pickpocketing of Malága and I had decided to only stay two nights.
We finally reach the hostel at around 2:30 and I´m pleasantly surprised that the bathrooms at this place are huge!! I´m tired of tiny tiny bathrooms, with tiny showers and hand held shower massagers that make it impossible to say...shave your legs. So this was a relief that the bathrooms are huge! And it gets better, I´m in a four bed room, but I´m the only one that´s actually staying in the room. Even better. I quickly get out of my sour mood and decide to do one of two things that I wanted to do in Malága. The first is the Picasso museum(he was born in Malága) and the other is the beach. Now I had heard that the beach here wasn´t too fantastic as this is a port city, but nevertheless I have yet to see the sea on my vacation.
I go to the Picasso Museum and I´m quiet surprised that it´s not as large as I thought it would be. It´s supposedly the third largest in the world(the other two being the one in Paris and Barcelona-both that I have been to) but the actual building itself isn´t that big. It´s a fairly good collection, as most of his paintings were donated by Picasso himself and one of his daughters. I´m a bit of a Picasso fan so I liked the collection. Afterwards I head to the beach. As expected the beach wasn´t too wonderful. I think it was the cloudy overcast that gives the city a grim appearance. But it´s still an ocean(well sea) and I walk along the coast letting the waves break over my feet. I love the mountains, but the beach is like heaven to me. I collect a few shells and stones, but don´t find many. This side of the Mediterranean is more rocky than shelly. And the sand on this side is more crumbly, taupe color than white fine sand. I like it, but most American´s expect to see white, Florida type of sand so they tend to be a bit dissapointed.
It´s starting to get dark so I head back to what I think is the right street. But it´s not the right street at all and it´s growing darker so I´m starting to get a bit antsy thinking about what the cab driver said. I finally find my way back and I have to go through a darkish tunnel to get to the main plaza where my hotel is at. I´m really antsy by this point as my pepper spray is back in Austin. All I have on me is this tiny bottle of Lysol spray(you may laugh.) So I put that in my coat pocket and quickly walk through the tunnel while passing some shady characters that make comments as I go by. I ignore the comments and leave my head up as I walk, making no eye contact. I finally find my hostel and head upstairs to the terrace where dinner is being served.
I met some very nice people from all over at dinner so we hung out on the terrace and drank some wine. The cool thing about staying in hostels is that you get to meet so many different types of people. The couple across from me were from Slovakia(my first Slovakians) and the one girl was from the Czech Republic and the other guy was Swedish. Amazingly enough we had alot to talk about and had long chats about everything from politics to social welfare in our respected countries. English is spoken universally, so a language barrier it´s not a problem.(The majority of Europeans are at least bilingual) I learned that the Slovakians have mixed emotions about introducing the Euro next year and what life was like when the Iron curtain was down. Sweden has a wonderful healthcare(the entire rest of the modern world has wonderful healthcare....) We spent about three hours talking with our little group and some others that joined in later. And after a few bottles of wine(see the wine trend) I was very glad to head to bed in an empty(well almost..) room. :)
Our cab arrived at about 10am, so we theoretically had plenty of time to get to the station and get our tickets and be on our way. Well I´m inside checking out/drinking my coffee when the cab arrives. I get called outside and as it turns out the third lady had 2 suitcases, I have my rolling duffel and the other girl has a hiking backpack. The lady´s luggage is already in the back of the cab, which leaves no room for our stuff. The cab driver is upset at her for some reason so I try and smooth things out. As it turns out the three of us are not going to fit in the cab. The lady wants to wait for another one, but me and the other girl need to get to our bus. I explain this to the lady and she insists on waiting for a bigger cab. I argue with her and explain that cab´s in Europe are small, they don´t have alot of van type of cabs. I turn to the other girl and we decide to take this cab that is still waiting for us to make a decision. The lady hears that we are going to leave her and throws a huge fit! As I´m trying to explain the bus that we have to make and how waiting for another cab is probably going to make us miss the bus and the next one leaves at 4pm I turn around just in time to see the cab pulling away. I´m pretty ticked, knowing rightfully so that we just missed the bus to Malága. As I go inside to call yet another cab, the lady storms off towards the bus stop.
We catch the cab to the train station and get there at 10:35am...just in time to miss the bus. I might add that the cab driver completely ripped us off. I know for a fact that the cab was supposed to cost around 6 euros and it cost us 11! He heard us speaking English in the back and took every back road to the station, I was just plain mad by the time I realized what he had done. I tried arguing, but to no avail as he wouldn´t pop the trunk until he got his money. And So we miss the bus and the next bus is at 4:00pm. I refuse to wait around until 4:00(because that´ll put us in Malága at about 7pm) so we cross the street and head to the train station where the next train is at 1:00pm. there´s nothing we can do so we sit and have breakfast while I peruse the magazine stand. I spend my time reading my book and playing peek a boo with this adorable baby in front of me. Finally it´s time to board the train! An hour later and we arrive in Malága.
Malága, home of Antonio Banderas. Really, he´s from here. The hostel is somewhere in the center and it´s quicker to take another cab. I chat with the driver and he informs me of the theft problem that Malága has. Great...now I have to be uber uber aware of my purse. He says that major crime like murder and the like aren´t that common but that pretty girls such as myself shouldn´t be out at night by myself. Thankfully I had read something about the pickpocketing of Malága and I had decided to only stay two nights.
We finally reach the hostel at around 2:30 and I´m pleasantly surprised that the bathrooms at this place are huge!! I´m tired of tiny tiny bathrooms, with tiny showers and hand held shower massagers that make it impossible to say...shave your legs. So this was a relief that the bathrooms are huge! And it gets better, I´m in a four bed room, but I´m the only one that´s actually staying in the room. Even better. I quickly get out of my sour mood and decide to do one of two things that I wanted to do in Malága. The first is the Picasso museum(he was born in Malága) and the other is the beach. Now I had heard that the beach here wasn´t too fantastic as this is a port city, but nevertheless I have yet to see the sea on my vacation.
I go to the Picasso Museum and I´m quiet surprised that it´s not as large as I thought it would be. It´s supposedly the third largest in the world(the other two being the one in Paris and Barcelona-both that I have been to) but the actual building itself isn´t that big. It´s a fairly good collection, as most of his paintings were donated by Picasso himself and one of his daughters. I´m a bit of a Picasso fan so I liked the collection. Afterwards I head to the beach. As expected the beach wasn´t too wonderful. I think it was the cloudy overcast that gives the city a grim appearance. But it´s still an ocean(well sea) and I walk along the coast letting the waves break over my feet. I love the mountains, but the beach is like heaven to me. I collect a few shells and stones, but don´t find many. This side of the Mediterranean is more rocky than shelly. And the sand on this side is more crumbly, taupe color than white fine sand. I like it, but most American´s expect to see white, Florida type of sand so they tend to be a bit dissapointed.
It´s starting to get dark so I head back to what I think is the right street. But it´s not the right street at all and it´s growing darker so I´m starting to get a bit antsy thinking about what the cab driver said. I finally find my way back and I have to go through a darkish tunnel to get to the main plaza where my hotel is at. I´m really antsy by this point as my pepper spray is back in Austin. All I have on me is this tiny bottle of Lysol spray(you may laugh.) So I put that in my coat pocket and quickly walk through the tunnel while passing some shady characters that make comments as I go by. I ignore the comments and leave my head up as I walk, making no eye contact. I finally find my hostel and head upstairs to the terrace where dinner is being served.
I met some very nice people from all over at dinner so we hung out on the terrace and drank some wine. The cool thing about staying in hostels is that you get to meet so many different types of people. The couple across from me were from Slovakia(my first Slovakians) and the one girl was from the Czech Republic and the other guy was Swedish. Amazingly enough we had alot to talk about and had long chats about everything from politics to social welfare in our respected countries. English is spoken universally, so a language barrier it´s not a problem.(The majority of Europeans are at least bilingual) I learned that the Slovakians have mixed emotions about introducing the Euro next year and what life was like when the Iron curtain was down. Sweden has a wonderful healthcare(the entire rest of the modern world has wonderful healthcare....) We spent about three hours talking with our little group and some others that joined in later. And after a few bottles of wine(see the wine trend) I was very glad to head to bed in an empty(well almost..) room. :)
Cow´s brain.
Day two in Cordóba wasn´t too exciting. It was pretty cloudy and overcast outside so museums were the way to go. I managed to make it in one piece(almost got hit by a bus...no joke) to the Popular Costumes and Traditions Museum. It was pretty interesting....but I´m starting to think I need a break from museums for while.
I spent the better part of the morning at the museum just wandering. It was a very blah type of morning. I woke up with a massive headache and it looks like my cold hasn´t yet resided. Boo. After the museum what I wanted to do was go back to sleep, BUT I hate wasting a day like that. So I walked around the town all afternoon. Thankfully the rain didn´t come...it looked like it was going to pour, but it didn´t start raining until I was finishing dinner.
Most of the old town of Cordóba is influenced by the Arabs...this entire region of Spain is influeced by the Arabs. I was excited to see the gardens in peoples homes...but was sadly dissapointed when I came across a poster for the garden tour that stated that it had happened LAST weekend. Bummer. I still enjoyed my walk around the town. Visited the old Jewish synagogue(one of only three left in Spain) and was surprised by how small it is. But it was very pretty on the inside. Unfortunately it didn´t have any souvenirs or I would have bought some for my Jewish friends.
It was right after siesta here and the stores were opening up again so I stopped at this quaint bar by the river and had myself a glass(or two) of wine with a small tapa. Tapas here are either the appetizer or the entire meal. I´m a secret foodie. Really, it´s not that big of a secret. I have a love/hate relationship with food. And when I´m on vacation I´m into trying the native cuisine. So instead of me trying to decide what to eat for tapas, I have the waiter bring me out his favorites. I alos let him pair my food selections with the wine. I have had great luck this way in discovering new and delicious wines.
When my tapas arrive I´m a bit skeptical. One is this yellow-white piece of what looks like meat. The other are meatballs(Spanish style...just like mamá) and the other is Andalusian ham wrapped around melon cubes. I´ve had the meatballs and the ham and melon combo before, so my interest lies in the meat like dish. My curiosity is piqued...and you know how curious I can be. I ask the waiter what the name of the dish is and he says some long name I can´t remember right now. But it definately did not describe the dish. The wine he pairs it with is this delicious rose wine, more of a sherry than a wine. Delicious. So I dive into my tapas. I enthusiastically go for the unknown meat and I´m pleasently surprised. It´s meaty, but not chicken or fish. A bit more rubbery, yet satisfying. And it´s covered in olive oil(everything here is covered in olive oil) and garlic so it´s pretty good. I have some of the unknown meat and the meatballs, saving the ham and melon combo for last. I quickly devour the tapas as they are pretty tiny dishes and combined make a very satisfying meal. The waiter was very kind and kept topping my glass with wine while making chit chat with me. As I´m finishing the ham and melon(very good combination I might say) and just take the view of the river in. I pretty much finished the bottle of wine that was placed in front of me so I´m feeling pretty good. When the waiter brings me the check he asks how everything was and I say it was delicious(because it really was) and I inquire at the origin of the unknown meat. He gives me this puzzled look because he clearly thought he had explained it earlier. As it turns out what I just consumed is a delicacy here and the rough translation is COW´s brain. Yup folks, that´s probably the weirdest thing I´ve eaten. It does explain the rubberiness to it. I had a good laugh with the waiter and while it was pretty good I know I would have never ordered it myself.
I make my way slowly along the river as the sun is setting over the clouds and get back to my hostel. I really have no plans for the night seeing as how nightlife in Codóba is pretty nonexistent and really, I just had a bottle of wine to myself. But the other three girls in my room are going to the fair, so I decide to join in.
We cross the river to the fair and it´s a pretty exciting little fair that has come to town. It looks like the entire town is at the fair. All the girls and women are dressed in traditional Flamenco dresses(which are beautiful) and hundreds of people are milling around, despite the cold rainy weather. We walk around and head into one of many covered areas where music is playing. We stumble across a tent with spanish music and people dancing Flamenco! It was awesome, we kind of join in, but not really. I rather take some pictures of the atmosphere. The lighting was pretty aweful and I didn´t have my tripod but hopefully some will turn out. We continue walking around the fair and going in and out of tents, it was actually alot of fun seeing all the people dressed up and being merry. As we were leaving the fair they had fireworks. Fireworks always make me think of home and of an old friend who´s birthday was July 4th. We just stood on the bridge, in the light rain and watched the fireworks.
I spent the better part of the morning at the museum just wandering. It was a very blah type of morning. I woke up with a massive headache and it looks like my cold hasn´t yet resided. Boo. After the museum what I wanted to do was go back to sleep, BUT I hate wasting a day like that. So I walked around the town all afternoon. Thankfully the rain didn´t come...it looked like it was going to pour, but it didn´t start raining until I was finishing dinner.
Most of the old town of Cordóba is influenced by the Arabs...this entire region of Spain is influeced by the Arabs. I was excited to see the gardens in peoples homes...but was sadly dissapointed when I came across a poster for the garden tour that stated that it had happened LAST weekend. Bummer. I still enjoyed my walk around the town. Visited the old Jewish synagogue(one of only three left in Spain) and was surprised by how small it is. But it was very pretty on the inside. Unfortunately it didn´t have any souvenirs or I would have bought some for my Jewish friends.
It was right after siesta here and the stores were opening up again so I stopped at this quaint bar by the river and had myself a glass(or two) of wine with a small tapa. Tapas here are either the appetizer or the entire meal. I´m a secret foodie. Really, it´s not that big of a secret. I have a love/hate relationship with food. And when I´m on vacation I´m into trying the native cuisine. So instead of me trying to decide what to eat for tapas, I have the waiter bring me out his favorites. I alos let him pair my food selections with the wine. I have had great luck this way in discovering new and delicious wines.
When my tapas arrive I´m a bit skeptical. One is this yellow-white piece of what looks like meat. The other are meatballs(Spanish style...just like mamá) and the other is Andalusian ham wrapped around melon cubes. I´ve had the meatballs and the ham and melon combo before, so my interest lies in the meat like dish. My curiosity is piqued...and you know how curious I can be. I ask the waiter what the name of the dish is and he says some long name I can´t remember right now. But it definately did not describe the dish. The wine he pairs it with is this delicious rose wine, more of a sherry than a wine. Delicious. So I dive into my tapas. I enthusiastically go for the unknown meat and I´m pleasently surprised. It´s meaty, but not chicken or fish. A bit more rubbery, yet satisfying. And it´s covered in olive oil(everything here is covered in olive oil) and garlic so it´s pretty good. I have some of the unknown meat and the meatballs, saving the ham and melon combo for last. I quickly devour the tapas as they are pretty tiny dishes and combined make a very satisfying meal. The waiter was very kind and kept topping my glass with wine while making chit chat with me. As I´m finishing the ham and melon(very good combination I might say) and just take the view of the river in. I pretty much finished the bottle of wine that was placed in front of me so I´m feeling pretty good. When the waiter brings me the check he asks how everything was and I say it was delicious(because it really was) and I inquire at the origin of the unknown meat. He gives me this puzzled look because he clearly thought he had explained it earlier. As it turns out what I just consumed is a delicacy here and the rough translation is COW´s brain. Yup folks, that´s probably the weirdest thing I´ve eaten. It does explain the rubberiness to it. I had a good laugh with the waiter and while it was pretty good I know I would have never ordered it myself.
I make my way slowly along the river as the sun is setting over the clouds and get back to my hostel. I really have no plans for the night seeing as how nightlife in Codóba is pretty nonexistent and really, I just had a bottle of wine to myself. But the other three girls in my room are going to the fair, so I decide to join in.
We cross the river to the fair and it´s a pretty exciting little fair that has come to town. It looks like the entire town is at the fair. All the girls and women are dressed in traditional Flamenco dresses(which are beautiful) and hundreds of people are milling around, despite the cold rainy weather. We walk around and head into one of many covered areas where music is playing. We stumble across a tent with spanish music and people dancing Flamenco! It was awesome, we kind of join in, but not really. I rather take some pictures of the atmosphere. The lighting was pretty aweful and I didn´t have my tripod but hopefully some will turn out. We continue walking around the fair and going in and out of tents, it was actually alot of fun seeing all the people dressed up and being merry. As we were leaving the fair they had fireworks. Fireworks always make me think of home and of an old friend who´s birthday was July 4th. We just stood on the bridge, in the light rain and watched the fireworks.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Cordóba
I arrived in Cordóba at about 9 am. The train left Granda about 6:50 and I was pretty tired from the night before. I dozed some on the train, but I can´t really sleep on trains because I fear either getting my purse stolen or missing my stop and ending up somewhere really random.
The latter almost happened. I was trying really hard not to sleep but I managed to nod off about 45 minutes away from Cordóba and literally opened my eyes as the conductor announced the stop for Cordóba. I was still in that half awake stage as I rushed to grab my bag and managed not to fall off the train, which was a very good thing, considering it was like a meter up from the platform.
Cordóba is a small city, more like a large town, situated between Granada and Seville. It´s a very pretty town with windy little roads and it´s well known for the hidden terraces and gardens that live amongst the houses. The houses or flats are traditionally Arab and all face a central courtyard that houses a garden and usually a fountain of some sort. During the month of May the city holds a contest to see which courtyard can outshine the others. It´s taken very seriously here and I was looking forward to touring the courtyards.
I manage to find my tiny(but clean) hostel located on the street that runs by the river. Ok I didn´t really find the hostel, but my very nice taxi driver did. I checked in around 930 and was told that my room wasn´t ready. There isn´t a whole lot of things to see in Cordóba, but probably the main sight is the Mezquita, or the old Muslim mosque that the Christians converted into a cathedral. It happened to be about a 15 minute walk from the hostel so I decided to grab some breakfast along the way. The weather was slightly cold and overcast so I threw my pashmina scarf on and set off for the Mezquita.
As I´m walking along the river I stop at this small café that is ran by a husband and wife team. They have been running this café for the past 30 years and as I have my croissant and café con leche I´m amused by their interactions with each other. I talk to the man for a little bit and we chit chat about life in Cordóba. I finish my coffee and notice they have freshly squeezed orange jouice(my absolute favorite) so I treat myself to the juice....it´s the little things that make me happy. I continue onwards towards the Mezquita and quickly find it. It´s the old, half ruined building surrounded by tourists. Not hard to miss.
I take a quick tour around the courtyard outside and take some shots of the tower. The outside of the Mezquita isn´t really that impressive so I get my ticket and head inside. Now, I had seen pictures of the inside, but I was completely and utterly blown away as soon I stepped inside. The Mezquita is the old Muslim mosque when the Moors controlled Andalusia(here´s the mini history lesson of the day) and when the Christians took control of the region in the mid 1400´s they decided to build the cathedral on top of the mosque. So essentially the outer area of the mosque is the old Muslim part and the very middle is the Cathedral part. Apparently, before the Moors were kicked out of Spain completely both Muslim and Christians shared the mosque/church by using a partition between the sections. Inside the old part is slowly being restored and it´s absolutely amazing. But as you are walking around and admiring the different color arches and large doors, you see the chapels of Saints all along the wall, so it´s a bit of a contrast. And as you are rounding towards the middle of the building all of a sudden you come upon this HUGE altar. The Catholics certainly wanted to make a statement. Overally the place is spectacular, but the church weaved it´s way into the mosque and architectully it´s not very aesthetic. I spent a good amount of time inside the Mezquita. Mass was starting so I stayed for mass and it was nice to get to experience mass in such a historic place.
Afterwards I head to the Alcazab which is the old palace and tour the crumbled down palace and gardens. I, honestly, wasn´t too impressed with the place. But I had just seen the palaces in Seville and Granada, so maybe I was expecting too much. I didn´t spend much time inside, but did spend a considerable time out in the gardens. It was early morning back home so I spent some time making a few calls back home to family.
Afterwards I decided to go to the Archeological Museum as I had heard it was one of the best in the country. As usual I get lost trying to find the thing but accidently stumble upon it. Literally, I tripped on an ancient rock and as I was getting up the museum was in front of me. One of the best things about the museum is that it´s FREE...hardly anything here is free so this made me very happy. Photography was not allowed inside so I was made to leave my bag at the front, boo. I grab my museum guide and take off, not really knowing what to expect. I´m quickly surprised at the amount of detail and artifacts the museum houses. The English pamphlet I have is nice, but the wall descriptions are all in Spanish so I spend a considerable amount reading those. I definately learned alot about the history of Spain. I spent the better part of two hours inside the museum. It was incredible, the only downside is that all the wonderful detail is in Spanish, so the English speaking people miss most of the wonderfulness of the museum.
I´m pretty tired at this point as it´s mid afternoon and it´s already been a long day. I grab a snack and decide to go out for dinner later. I head back to the hostel and get to my almost empty room and take a nap. I´m sharing a room with three other women and by the time I wake up it´s dinner time. Me and another girl from Canada decide to head out for dinner. We end up at this restaurant on the plaza and end up eating a very nice meal. I had fabulous paella and wine. The paella here is a bit different from the paella my mom makes. She makes the paella Valenciana which has seafood and chicken with vegetables. In the south of Spain you find Paella Andalusia which is filled with all types of seafood. It´s also delicious. Especially paired with a great bottle of wine. :)
The latter almost happened. I was trying really hard not to sleep but I managed to nod off about 45 minutes away from Cordóba and literally opened my eyes as the conductor announced the stop for Cordóba. I was still in that half awake stage as I rushed to grab my bag and managed not to fall off the train, which was a very good thing, considering it was like a meter up from the platform.
Cordóba is a small city, more like a large town, situated between Granada and Seville. It´s a very pretty town with windy little roads and it´s well known for the hidden terraces and gardens that live amongst the houses. The houses or flats are traditionally Arab and all face a central courtyard that houses a garden and usually a fountain of some sort. During the month of May the city holds a contest to see which courtyard can outshine the others. It´s taken very seriously here and I was looking forward to touring the courtyards.
I manage to find my tiny(but clean) hostel located on the street that runs by the river. Ok I didn´t really find the hostel, but my very nice taxi driver did. I checked in around 930 and was told that my room wasn´t ready. There isn´t a whole lot of things to see in Cordóba, but probably the main sight is the Mezquita, or the old Muslim mosque that the Christians converted into a cathedral. It happened to be about a 15 minute walk from the hostel so I decided to grab some breakfast along the way. The weather was slightly cold and overcast so I threw my pashmina scarf on and set off for the Mezquita.
As I´m walking along the river I stop at this small café that is ran by a husband and wife team. They have been running this café for the past 30 years and as I have my croissant and café con leche I´m amused by their interactions with each other. I talk to the man for a little bit and we chit chat about life in Cordóba. I finish my coffee and notice they have freshly squeezed orange jouice(my absolute favorite) so I treat myself to the juice....it´s the little things that make me happy. I continue onwards towards the Mezquita and quickly find it. It´s the old, half ruined building surrounded by tourists. Not hard to miss.
I take a quick tour around the courtyard outside and take some shots of the tower. The outside of the Mezquita isn´t really that impressive so I get my ticket and head inside. Now, I had seen pictures of the inside, but I was completely and utterly blown away as soon I stepped inside. The Mezquita is the old Muslim mosque when the Moors controlled Andalusia(here´s the mini history lesson of the day) and when the Christians took control of the region in the mid 1400´s they decided to build the cathedral on top of the mosque. So essentially the outer area of the mosque is the old Muslim part and the very middle is the Cathedral part. Apparently, before the Moors were kicked out of Spain completely both Muslim and Christians shared the mosque/church by using a partition between the sections. Inside the old part is slowly being restored and it´s absolutely amazing. But as you are walking around and admiring the different color arches and large doors, you see the chapels of Saints all along the wall, so it´s a bit of a contrast. And as you are rounding towards the middle of the building all of a sudden you come upon this HUGE altar. The Catholics certainly wanted to make a statement. Overally the place is spectacular, but the church weaved it´s way into the mosque and architectully it´s not very aesthetic. I spent a good amount of time inside the Mezquita. Mass was starting so I stayed for mass and it was nice to get to experience mass in such a historic place.
Afterwards I head to the Alcazab which is the old palace and tour the crumbled down palace and gardens. I, honestly, wasn´t too impressed with the place. But I had just seen the palaces in Seville and Granada, so maybe I was expecting too much. I didn´t spend much time inside, but did spend a considerable time out in the gardens. It was early morning back home so I spent some time making a few calls back home to family.
Afterwards I decided to go to the Archeological Museum as I had heard it was one of the best in the country. As usual I get lost trying to find the thing but accidently stumble upon it. Literally, I tripped on an ancient rock and as I was getting up the museum was in front of me. One of the best things about the museum is that it´s FREE...hardly anything here is free so this made me very happy. Photography was not allowed inside so I was made to leave my bag at the front, boo. I grab my museum guide and take off, not really knowing what to expect. I´m quickly surprised at the amount of detail and artifacts the museum houses. The English pamphlet I have is nice, but the wall descriptions are all in Spanish so I spend a considerable amount reading those. I definately learned alot about the history of Spain. I spent the better part of two hours inside the museum. It was incredible, the only downside is that all the wonderful detail is in Spanish, so the English speaking people miss most of the wonderfulness of the museum.
I´m pretty tired at this point as it´s mid afternoon and it´s already been a long day. I grab a snack and decide to go out for dinner later. I head back to the hostel and get to my almost empty room and take a nap. I´m sharing a room with three other women and by the time I wake up it´s dinner time. Me and another girl from Canada decide to head out for dinner. We end up at this restaurant on the plaza and end up eating a very nice meal. I had fabulous paella and wine. The paella here is a bit different from the paella my mom makes. She makes the paella Valenciana which has seafood and chicken with vegetables. In the south of Spain you find Paella Andalusia which is filled with all types of seafood. It´s also delicious. Especially paired with a great bottle of wine. :)
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Train to Cordoba
It is about 545am here...so it´s 1045pm at home. I am waiting for my cab to pick me up to take me to the train station. I´m leaving Granada today for Cordoba. I´m still a little sick, but feeling loads better.
Yesterday wasn´t very exciting. Relaxed a bit on the hammocks up on the terrace. I spent some time wandering the streets of Granada and taking some pictures, not a lot as I do not want my camera to become a target. Bought some souvenirs for people, really excited to get home and share! The weather was cool but at least it wasn´t rainy. There was a strange odor that was coming into our room all day yesterday that I figured out was hashsheesh. I had no idea what hashsheesh was either. But aparently it´s a cross between sheesha and pot. I can´t stand the smell of pot. Sheesha is flavored tobacco so it´s not horrible. BUT I did not want my clothes to reek of smoke. So I had to go tell the receptionist. I normally would put up with it, but I don´t smoke pot and although it´s pretty well accepted in Spain, I don´t tolerate it too well. Especially if you´ve been smoking in a room that others are sleeping in. Anyway the receptionist took care of that pretty fast.
My cab is here..well down the road because the road outside the hostel isn´t wide enough for a car. It´s early and dark and raining. Perfect.
Yesterday wasn´t very exciting. Relaxed a bit on the hammocks up on the terrace. I spent some time wandering the streets of Granada and taking some pictures, not a lot as I do not want my camera to become a target. Bought some souvenirs for people, really excited to get home and share! The weather was cool but at least it wasn´t rainy. There was a strange odor that was coming into our room all day yesterday that I figured out was hashsheesh. I had no idea what hashsheesh was either. But aparently it´s a cross between sheesha and pot. I can´t stand the smell of pot. Sheesha is flavored tobacco so it´s not horrible. BUT I did not want my clothes to reek of smoke. So I had to go tell the receptionist. I normally would put up with it, but I don´t smoke pot and although it´s pretty well accepted in Spain, I don´t tolerate it too well. Especially if you´ve been smoking in a room that others are sleeping in. Anyway the receptionist took care of that pretty fast.
My cab is here..well down the road because the road outside the hostel isn´t wide enough for a car. It´s early and dark and raining. Perfect.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
The Alhambra
Monday morning my alarm went off at 6am. One of my roomates from Canada and I had agreed to get up early and get in line for tickets to the Alhambra. I was advised before I left to book my tickets in advance because they only let a certain number of visitors into the palace every day. Clearly I had not planned this far in advance so I had to wake up early to get tickets. I had been assured that if I was in line by 730am I would have a ticket for the palace. The palace is really the reason people come to Granada and I was not leaving until I had seen the palace. Some historians say it´s one of the wonders of the world, so it´s a big deal.
We ended up leaving right as the sun was rising and I was glad that I had someone with me on the walk to the bus stop. Those maze like streets in the early morning fog are even more eerie than before. We depated about catching the bus up the mountain or climbing it. It´s not an easy climb but we opted for the bus. Warm, safe bus. We finally get up to the palace around 745 and the line is a good 200 people in. I knew that usually the palace has about 2000 tickets reserved for the day of, so we were good. I start noticing people in line with coffee. Oh how I was dying for some expresso and a croissant so I set out to find breakfast. I turn the corner and about 100 yards in front of me is the coffee and bakery. Praise the heavens! I was a very happy Kelly with my expresso and chocolate croissant.
We get tickets for the 9:30 opening and line up at the entrance. The Palace is incredible from the outside, but even more incredible on the inside. It was a fort before it became a palace and has a rather interesting history. It was built by the Moors so it´s architecture is very arab like. Very intricate with details and all around the palace are water wells and fountains. The arab´s are big on water and cleanliness. The very cool thing is that from all around the palace you can hear running water. The design of the place is outstanding. I took hundred of pictures of the place including the details, so I´ll post them when I get home. We walked around the palace and spend a considerable amount of time in the gardens. It was rose season so they were in full bloom and beautiful. The gardens spand a little over two thirds of the land and are full of fountains, streams, and flowers. And the best part was that the weather was finally, FINALLY warm and sunny. It was a perfect day.
I ended up spending about five or so hours in the palace. It´s an incredible place and has made this entire trip to Granada well worth it. I ended up back at the hostel for a little siesta. I love the Spaniards and their siestas. I´m gonna miss them back home. That evening the hostel was hosting a little Spanish fiesta with paella, salad and sangria. The food and drinks were good and I ended up meeting some very interesting Australians. The guys had been travelling for a few months. The stories they had were adventurous and fun to listen to. The hostel has a ping pong table so I spent some time playing ping pong and it reminded me of the winters in Vermont. WE had a good time, but I was exhausted from the day at the palace and went to bed fairly early.
We ended up leaving right as the sun was rising and I was glad that I had someone with me on the walk to the bus stop. Those maze like streets in the early morning fog are even more eerie than before. We depated about catching the bus up the mountain or climbing it. It´s not an easy climb but we opted for the bus. Warm, safe bus. We finally get up to the palace around 745 and the line is a good 200 people in. I knew that usually the palace has about 2000 tickets reserved for the day of, so we were good. I start noticing people in line with coffee. Oh how I was dying for some expresso and a croissant so I set out to find breakfast. I turn the corner and about 100 yards in front of me is the coffee and bakery. Praise the heavens! I was a very happy Kelly with my expresso and chocolate croissant.
We get tickets for the 9:30 opening and line up at the entrance. The Palace is incredible from the outside, but even more incredible on the inside. It was a fort before it became a palace and has a rather interesting history. It was built by the Moors so it´s architecture is very arab like. Very intricate with details and all around the palace are water wells and fountains. The arab´s are big on water and cleanliness. The very cool thing is that from all around the palace you can hear running water. The design of the place is outstanding. I took hundred of pictures of the place including the details, so I´ll post them when I get home. We walked around the palace and spend a considerable amount of time in the gardens. It was rose season so they were in full bloom and beautiful. The gardens spand a little over two thirds of the land and are full of fountains, streams, and flowers. And the best part was that the weather was finally, FINALLY warm and sunny. It was a perfect day.
I ended up spending about five or so hours in the palace. It´s an incredible place and has made this entire trip to Granada well worth it. I ended up back at the hostel for a little siesta. I love the Spaniards and their siestas. I´m gonna miss them back home. That evening the hostel was hosting a little Spanish fiesta with paella, salad and sangria. The food and drinks were good and I ended up meeting some very interesting Australians. The guys had been travelling for a few months. The stories they had were adventurous and fun to listen to. The hostel has a ping pong table so I spent some time playing ping pong and it reminded me of the winters in Vermont. WE had a good time, but I was exhausted from the day at the palace and went to bed fairly early.
Granada- la segunda parte
Sunday morning I awoke with the sound of the cathedral bells ringing. Very Spanish(and Italian) where there is a church pretty much on every corner. I think to myself that they sound awfully loud, compared to yesterday. And the room is much much colder than when I went to bed.
The weather here has been sporadic and either cold and rainy or warm and sunny. I´m staying in this hostel that is quiet pleasant, but hostels tend to be a party atmosphere because most people that stay there are college students. This hostel was no different, actually it was worse than most due to the city of Granada being a party town. Usually if I´m travelling by myself I tend to stay in hostels or some type of bed and breakfast. With family and friends, we do hotels because it´s plain easier.
Anyway-back to Sunday morning. I awoke terrible terribly cold because some drunk college girl had left the balcony door open. My bed happen to be by the balcony door and all I brought to sleep in was shorts and tshirt. I had not anticipated southern Spain to be cold and rainy. It´s southern Spain for goodness sake, warmth and sunshine. Needless to say my sundresses and shorts have largely gone unused. But over the course of the night the temperature´s had dipped into the 40´s and it had rained most of the night. Sooo... I woke up with a head cold and a rather big headache. I hate being sick, I hate it even more when I get sick on vacation. I pretty much felt awful and for the first time was terribly homesick. So much of the morning I spent sleeping, kinda. The hostel was loud and people were going in an out of the room so I didn´t get a good deep sleep.
Early afternoon I decide to make the most of the day and showered and got dressed. The cathedral was about a 10 minute walk so I figured I could hang out at the cathedral and the Capilla Real that was next door. I spent some time online looking for a hotel(that´s how awful I felt) but the only one that was within a reasonable amount(I´m talking under 150 euro a night) didn´t have any openings for two nights. Ugh. I was pretty much stuck.
I took some medicine I had brought and wondered over to the cathedral. It´s an impressive structure and was actually surprised at the size, because it doesn´t look that large from the outside. It´s architeture is pretty outstanding with vaulted ceilings and a gothic appeal to it. I spent a good chunk of time inside the cathedral, it´s quiet and not filled with loud drinking college kids. I left the cathedral mid afternoon and headed over to the Capilla Real, which is essentially the chapel next to the cathedral. The structure is pretty but the only really cool thing is that King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella(wildly important figures in Spanish history) are buried at the chapel. AND you can climb down and see their coffins and the immense mausoleum that they built for themselves. Yes a tiny bit morbid, but overall pretty cool.
I was feeling a tiny bit better and decided to wander around the town for a bit. I need some medicing for the night so I do a quick stop at the pharmacy. N ow I had forgotten how different pharmacies are in Spain and some other countries. In the states we have CVS, Walgreens, HEB, etc where most people can go and pick up some over the counter medicine that supposedely helps the symptons of an array of ailments. Not here. There is a pharmacist behind a counter and behind HIM are the so called over the counter medicines. I had to ask him for bandaids as well. So I chat with this man and look, I know what works for me and doesn´t, but he spends the better part of 20 minutes trying to convince me of this drug that I´ve never heard of. I´m not one to try new drugs when I´m 4000 miles away from my doctor. So we have this back and forth conversation that I´m not really up for and simply hand him 20 euro and point to the box of Tylenol Cold behind the counter and cross my arms and wait. He sighs and grudginly hands me the box. Finally. I have relief in my hands. I have a quick dinner at this middle eastern place down from the hostel(delicious baklava) and go back to the hostel.
That night was a tapas tour that I wanted to join in on, but the following morning me and another girl were waking up early to get in line for tickets to the Alhambra. So we decided to pass on the tapas tour.
Took some medicine and drifted off the sleep. What an exciting day.
The weather here has been sporadic and either cold and rainy or warm and sunny. I´m staying in this hostel that is quiet pleasant, but hostels tend to be a party atmosphere because most people that stay there are college students. This hostel was no different, actually it was worse than most due to the city of Granada being a party town. Usually if I´m travelling by myself I tend to stay in hostels or some type of bed and breakfast. With family and friends, we do hotels because it´s plain easier.
Anyway-back to Sunday morning. I awoke terrible terribly cold because some drunk college girl had left the balcony door open. My bed happen to be by the balcony door and all I brought to sleep in was shorts and tshirt. I had not anticipated southern Spain to be cold and rainy. It´s southern Spain for goodness sake, warmth and sunshine. Needless to say my sundresses and shorts have largely gone unused. But over the course of the night the temperature´s had dipped into the 40´s and it had rained most of the night. Sooo... I woke up with a head cold and a rather big headache. I hate being sick, I hate it even more when I get sick on vacation. I pretty much felt awful and for the first time was terribly homesick. So much of the morning I spent sleeping, kinda. The hostel was loud and people were going in an out of the room so I didn´t get a good deep sleep.
Early afternoon I decide to make the most of the day and showered and got dressed. The cathedral was about a 10 minute walk so I figured I could hang out at the cathedral and the Capilla Real that was next door. I spent some time online looking for a hotel(that´s how awful I felt) but the only one that was within a reasonable amount(I´m talking under 150 euro a night) didn´t have any openings for two nights. Ugh. I was pretty much stuck.
I took some medicine I had brought and wondered over to the cathedral. It´s an impressive structure and was actually surprised at the size, because it doesn´t look that large from the outside. It´s architeture is pretty outstanding with vaulted ceilings and a gothic appeal to it. I spent a good chunk of time inside the cathedral, it´s quiet and not filled with loud drinking college kids. I left the cathedral mid afternoon and headed over to the Capilla Real, which is essentially the chapel next to the cathedral. The structure is pretty but the only really cool thing is that King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella(wildly important figures in Spanish history) are buried at the chapel. AND you can climb down and see their coffins and the immense mausoleum that they built for themselves. Yes a tiny bit morbid, but overall pretty cool.
I was feeling a tiny bit better and decided to wander around the town for a bit. I need some medicing for the night so I do a quick stop at the pharmacy. N ow I had forgotten how different pharmacies are in Spain and some other countries. In the states we have CVS, Walgreens, HEB, etc where most people can go and pick up some over the counter medicine that supposedely helps the symptons of an array of ailments. Not here. There is a pharmacist behind a counter and behind HIM are the so called over the counter medicines. I had to ask him for bandaids as well. So I chat with this man and look, I know what works for me and doesn´t, but he spends the better part of 20 minutes trying to convince me of this drug that I´ve never heard of. I´m not one to try new drugs when I´m 4000 miles away from my doctor. So we have this back and forth conversation that I´m not really up for and simply hand him 20 euro and point to the box of Tylenol Cold behind the counter and cross my arms and wait. He sighs and grudginly hands me the box. Finally. I have relief in my hands. I have a quick dinner at this middle eastern place down from the hostel(delicious baklava) and go back to the hostel.
That night was a tapas tour that I wanted to join in on, but the following morning me and another girl were waking up early to get in line for tickets to the Alhambra. So we decided to pass on the tapas tour.
Took some medicine and drifted off the sleep. What an exciting day.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Granada
I arrive in Granada, this picturesque town nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada's, in the mid afternoon. The train ride was nothing adventurous. I really like train travel and the mountains in the distant were wonderful to see.
This is not a city, it's more of a large town. Population around 250,000. I somehow manage to miss my bus stop to my little hostel and take a cab their instead. I have to ration out my cab rides as 5 euros here and 5 euros there really start to add up. I'm thankful that I did take a cab here as there would have been no way that I could have found this place on my own. It's on the south side of the Albaicin(the ancient Arab district) and the streets are tiny mazes. The cab can't drop me off at the door so he directs me up this very pebbly side street and assures me that it's up the hill. I don't really believe him given the location, but my options were slim. So I set off. I manage to find the hostel. Only because they have signs pointing to it. I settle in and decide to take a walk around the Albaicin as I read that it's a maze of Arab streets. The receptionist tells me to head to the Placa de St Nicholas which is supposed to have the most amazing view of the Alhambra. (The Alhambra is the ancient Moor palace where King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella lived in the 15th century....and the reason people come to Granada.)
I was directed to head up the hill because that would take me to the plaza(supposedly) so I set off. Immediately I feel uneasy. I'm not gonna lie, the Albaicin is a bit dodgy. All the white washed houses and the tiny maze like streets give me a not so good feeling. I had seen alot of hobos at the train station and around the Albaicin(not that all hobos are bad...) Mostly Arab shops line the street and sell stuff from Morocco and India. Very cool souvenirs, but the men sitting outside yell out lines towards me as I walk. I have my big sunglasses on and manage to avoid the I'm starting to get a bit antsy, and I hardly ever get antsy, but the farther I walk up the hill the less crowded it becomes. Suddenly I find myself very alone on a street and I have no clue where the hell I'm going. Not good.
As I continue walking up I run into a Spanish family and a bit of chatting on where this plaza is leads me to tag along with this family. They are from the north of Spain, but now live in London and they are visiting Granada to show the daughters British boyfriend the Alhambra. I ask if I can tag along with them and the mother insists chiding that these streets are not very safe for young pretty girls. The dad had grown up in Granada so he knew where going. I was thankful that I had company on the lonely streets. We talk and get to know each other and find out that the girls boyfriend is going to law school with one of my friends in London. Small world. So we climb the rather large hill, full of cobblestone, and arrive at the Plaza of St Nicholas. As promised the view was well worth it. The palace is in the background and the Sierra Nevada's are behind the palace. Breathtaking. The Plaza itself is lined with gypsy and hobo looking men smoking what sheesha and what was most definitely NOT cigarettes. The family is climbing down on the other side of the hill and let me know that I am not to stay at the plaza by myself. I was most definately not planning on it. We make our way down the plaza and I quickly figure out that going down the hill is much more difficult than going up the hill. The roads are all cobblestones, and not cobblestone that's been worn down to the cement in between the stones. Nope, these are tiny, very smooth rocks sticking out of cement. Having had millions of people walk over them over the thousands of century the rocks are all very smooth and slick. Naturally, I was wearing my flip flops and kept loosing my footing. I almost had a bad tumble a few times. I definitely do not need to break my other foot, especially not in Spain. Yes, health care is free, but getting back home would be horrendous. Thankfully, we all managed to make it down safely.
The family was going to dinner with some other friends and they invited me to go with them. I hesitated as it would be dark soon and did not want to be out after dark. I ended up going with them to dinner at this nice Spanish restaurant and meeting the entire family. It was very nice to spend the evening with them. It was still light outside after dinner so I bid my farewell and headed off to the hostel. I wander over in what I think is the right direction, but find myself in a plaza that is full of families celebrating the Feast of Corpus. The plaza has kiddie rides and balloon animals and clows(I hate clowns.) I manage to push my way through and keep walking. An older looking well dressed man approaches me and in Spanish asks where this street is. I answer that I'm not from around here. He inquires as to where I'm from and I tell him that I'm from Barcelona(my spanish accent is so so Spaniard.) He then proceeds to tell me how pretty I am(uh thank you) and ASKS me to spend the weekend with him. I was caught so off guard that I mumbled some sort of thanks, but not thanks and quickly sped off. I was speechless! Outraged too, but have to quickly get over my shock as it is starting to approach dusk. I keep walking down the street and come across this rock band behind the cathedral rocking out popular spanish songs. Old couples are dancing in the square to the music and families are swaying their children back and forth. All really fun to watch, but I decide to keep walking. The rock band starts a new song and I recognize it as the Camisa Negra! This hugely popular song by the Juanes(Columbian rock group), of which me and one of my favorite people had gone to see back in April in Austin. So I stay and kinda dance along with the music.
I finally manage to find the main street and find my hostel right before the sun sets. Crawled into bed and fell into a deep sleep until the morning.
This is not a city, it's more of a large town. Population around 250,000. I somehow manage to miss my bus stop to my little hostel and take a cab their instead. I have to ration out my cab rides as 5 euros here and 5 euros there really start to add up. I'm thankful that I did take a cab here as there would have been no way that I could have found this place on my own. It's on the south side of the Albaicin(the ancient Arab district) and the streets are tiny mazes. The cab can't drop me off at the door so he directs me up this very pebbly side street and assures me that it's up the hill. I don't really believe him given the location, but my options were slim. So I set off. I manage to find the hostel. Only because they have signs pointing to it. I settle in and decide to take a walk around the Albaicin as I read that it's a maze of Arab streets. The receptionist tells me to head to the Placa de St Nicholas which is supposed to have the most amazing view of the Alhambra. (The Alhambra is the ancient Moor palace where King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella lived in the 15th century....and the reason people come to Granada.)
I was directed to head up the hill because that would take me to the plaza(supposedly) so I set off. Immediately I feel uneasy. I'm not gonna lie, the Albaicin is a bit dodgy. All the white washed houses and the tiny maze like streets give me a not so good feeling. I had seen alot of hobos at the train station and around the Albaicin(not that all hobos are bad...) Mostly Arab shops line the street and sell stuff from Morocco and India. Very cool souvenirs, but the men sitting outside yell out lines towards me as I walk. I have my big sunglasses on and manage to avoid the I'm starting to get a bit antsy, and I hardly ever get antsy, but the farther I walk up the hill the less crowded it becomes. Suddenly I find myself very alone on a street and I have no clue where the hell I'm going. Not good.
As I continue walking up I run into a Spanish family and a bit of chatting on where this plaza is leads me to tag along with this family. They are from the north of Spain, but now live in London and they are visiting Granada to show the daughters British boyfriend the Alhambra. I ask if I can tag along with them and the mother insists chiding that these streets are not very safe for young pretty girls. The dad had grown up in Granada so he knew where going. I was thankful that I had company on the lonely streets. We talk and get to know each other and find out that the girls boyfriend is going to law school with one of my friends in London. Small world. So we climb the rather large hill, full of cobblestone, and arrive at the Plaza of St Nicholas. As promised the view was well worth it. The palace is in the background and the Sierra Nevada's are behind the palace. Breathtaking. The Plaza itself is lined with gypsy and hobo looking men smoking what sheesha and what was most definitely NOT cigarettes. The family is climbing down on the other side of the hill and let me know that I am not to stay at the plaza by myself. I was most definately not planning on it. We make our way down the plaza and I quickly figure out that going down the hill is much more difficult than going up the hill. The roads are all cobblestones, and not cobblestone that's been worn down to the cement in between the stones. Nope, these are tiny, very smooth rocks sticking out of cement. Having had millions of people walk over them over the thousands of century the rocks are all very smooth and slick. Naturally, I was wearing my flip flops and kept loosing my footing. I almost had a bad tumble a few times. I definitely do not need to break my other foot, especially not in Spain. Yes, health care is free, but getting back home would be horrendous. Thankfully, we all managed to make it down safely.
The family was going to dinner with some other friends and they invited me to go with them. I hesitated as it would be dark soon and did not want to be out after dark. I ended up going with them to dinner at this nice Spanish restaurant and meeting the entire family. It was very nice to spend the evening with them. It was still light outside after dinner so I bid my farewell and headed off to the hostel. I wander over in what I think is the right direction, but find myself in a plaza that is full of families celebrating the Feast of Corpus. The plaza has kiddie rides and balloon animals and clows(I hate clowns.) I manage to push my way through and keep walking. An older looking well dressed man approaches me and in Spanish asks where this street is. I answer that I'm not from around here. He inquires as to where I'm from and I tell him that I'm from Barcelona(my spanish accent is so so Spaniard.) He then proceeds to tell me how pretty I am(uh thank you) and ASKS me to spend the weekend with him. I was caught so off guard that I mumbled some sort of thanks, but not thanks and quickly sped off. I was speechless! Outraged too, but have to quickly get over my shock as it is starting to approach dusk. I keep walking down the street and come across this rock band behind the cathedral rocking out popular spanish songs. Old couples are dancing in the square to the music and families are swaying their children back and forth. All really fun to watch, but I decide to keep walking. The rock band starts a new song and I recognize it as the Camisa Negra! This hugely popular song by the Juanes(Columbian rock group), of which me and one of my favorite people had gone to see back in April in Austin. So I stay and kinda dance along with the music.
I finally manage to find the main street and find my hostel right before the sun sets. Crawled into bed and fell into a deep sleep until the morning.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Friday
Friday was good. I had managed to see most everything that I had wanted to see so I had some time to relax before heading out to Granada.
I rented myself a little bicycle and spent most of the morning riding around the park and town. In the afternoon I went back to garden at the Alacazar because I had somehow missed them on my first tour of the place. I spent a considerable amount of time walking around these magnificent gardens and just getting lost in them. The gardens have peacocks, so naturally I went hunting for peacocks. Not literally, but I definitely wanted a picture of the peacocks. It took me a while to come across some. I tried chasing them to see if they would spread their beautiful wings, but nothing worked. I tried flapping my arms, running quickly over to them and stopping, jumping in their vicinity, but nothing worked. Dumb birds. The only shots I got were of them eating. Not very exciting.
I then ventured over the the Archives of India. I liked that a) it's free and b) not across town. I was very very impressed. The Archives are housed in this beautiful government building and include the original works of some of the most important Spanish explorers. It had original maps from the explorations into North America. Spain conquered quiet alot, and the vast amount of historical documents were impressive. They even had an old map of Texas! Oh how I miss home. The entire archives were really impressive and by far had some of the most interesting documents that I had seen in an exhibition. Right as I was leaving, a group of Spanish school children were coming in. They were about 6 or 7 and looked giddy to be out of class. I'm always a little jealous of the Europeans on how lucky they are to have history literally around the corner from them. These kids get to read about Cortez and then get to take a field trip to see his letters to the King and the hand drawn maps of the new world. Amazing.
I sat in a plaza for a while and just took in the atmosphere of the place. I have loved my time in Seville. It's a vibrant small city that is truly unique. I walked back slowly over the river and noticed the dark clouds above. Great, more rain. I hurried to the market to pick up some dinner and snacks and as I was leaving the market the skies opened up. Thankfully, the market and the hostel were about 5 minutes apart or I would have been drenched. Made some dinner with some friends and packed up for the night.
As I write this I'm about to head out to Granada. The train ride is about 3 hours or so and my cab is due in a few minutes. I'll post an update on Granada when I get settled in.
I rented myself a little bicycle and spent most of the morning riding around the park and town. In the afternoon I went back to garden at the Alacazar because I had somehow missed them on my first tour of the place. I spent a considerable amount of time walking around these magnificent gardens and just getting lost in them. The gardens have peacocks, so naturally I went hunting for peacocks. Not literally, but I definitely wanted a picture of the peacocks. It took me a while to come across some. I tried chasing them to see if they would spread their beautiful wings, but nothing worked. I tried flapping my arms, running quickly over to them and stopping, jumping in their vicinity, but nothing worked. Dumb birds. The only shots I got were of them eating. Not very exciting.
I then ventured over the the Archives of India. I liked that a) it's free and b) not across town. I was very very impressed. The Archives are housed in this beautiful government building and include the original works of some of the most important Spanish explorers. It had original maps from the explorations into North America. Spain conquered quiet alot, and the vast amount of historical documents were impressive. They even had an old map of Texas! Oh how I miss home. The entire archives were really impressive and by far had some of the most interesting documents that I had seen in an exhibition. Right as I was leaving, a group of Spanish school children were coming in. They were about 6 or 7 and looked giddy to be out of class. I'm always a little jealous of the Europeans on how lucky they are to have history literally around the corner from them. These kids get to read about Cortez and then get to take a field trip to see his letters to the King and the hand drawn maps of the new world. Amazing.
I sat in a plaza for a while and just took in the atmosphere of the place. I have loved my time in Seville. It's a vibrant small city that is truly unique. I walked back slowly over the river and noticed the dark clouds above. Great, more rain. I hurried to the market to pick up some dinner and snacks and as I was leaving the market the skies opened up. Thankfully, the market and the hostel were about 5 minutes apart or I would have been drenched. Made some dinner with some friends and packed up for the night.
As I write this I'm about to head out to Granada. The train ride is about 3 hours or so and my cab is due in a few minutes. I'll post an update on Granada when I get settled in.
Friday, May 23, 2008
The King and I
Thursday morning I woke up with my little plan of all the wonderful things to see. No more getting hopelessly lost was at the top of my list. Thankfully the weather was AMAZING and decided to cooperate with me.
I set out on the 10 minute walk through the cobblestone streets to cross the bridge over the city. I was headed to Plaza de Espana, this extensive building that was built for the 1929 Ibero-American Expo. It also happens to be one of the places that George Lucas used for the Star Wars Episode Two filming. Not that I've actually seen the film, but I hear it's pretty neat. The Plaza was about a 20 minute walk from the bridge, so I decided to take a little stroll along the river. Halfway there, I hear this snap and feel my right sandal slide out. The top strap had broken. Fantastic. What's worse is that this was a pair of cute new brown wedges that I had just gotten before I left. I can still more of less wear them, but not very well. I think to myself, that this is the perfect excuse that I've been looking for to buy myself a cute pair of shoes. I'll just find a store later on and buy some shoes.
I make it to the Plaza and it's an impressive structure. The building has a Renaissance flair to it that makes it seem larger than life. The actually building is not open, but it has breezeways all around it that people can climb and walk around in. It's a beautiful day and people are milling around everywhere. Oh the bus loads of tourists that come to this spot. Naturally there are street vendors selling souvenirs with Seville stamped all over. But along with the souvenirs there are women who come up to you and try and hand you a flower or herb. Never take these "gifts" from the women. As soon as you do they demand money! I saw some poor elderly lady take the "gift" and then get demanded to hand over some money. The elderly lady clearly did not speak Spanish and was a bit stunned. I felt bad so I headed over to the lady and grabbed the sprig of rosemary out of her hand and shoved it back to the gypsy woman and led the elderly woman away. She was thankful and we would have communicated more except she was speaking German. And I don't.
The plaza is situated in this gorgeous garden/park that takes up a few city blocks. It has trails for running and biking and small lagoons with streams and gazebos. It's absolutely beautiful. I meandered around and headed towards the two museums that the park has. The Archaeological Museum and the Popular Cultures Museum. The Archaeological museum wasn't too bad. Half of it was closed for renovations, so I was glad that my entrance was free. It has some impressive statues from the Romans that were found around Seville. Now the Popular Culture Museum was pretty cool. Half of it has rooms dedicated to what life was like in Andalusia centuries ago. And the other half is set up with a typical upper middle class apartment in 18th century Andalusia. The first part has rooms that hold several day to day items of centuries ago. You can see toys, bathroom items, vases, cookware and more, all from historic times. I like this type of museum. The second half is the apartment of this wealthy family in Seville that donated the family household to the museum. All the rooms are arranged like they were back in the 18th century. And in the side room there is a giant room full of hand embroidered lace. It is stunning to see glass case after glass case of beautiful lace. It must have taken years to finish some of the pieces in there. I was taking my time admiring the lace when the security guard starts turning off the lights...guess they were closing early.
Afterwards, I take the bus to the Casa de Pilatos(remember that palace) and upon arriving I do a little dance because this time it's OPEN. I tour the house and I'm glad that I decided to go there. It's a 15th century mansion that has a along history with royalty. I spend some time in the chapel and lay down on the bench to take some pictures of the ceiling. Somehow I must have drifted off for a little bit, because when I opened my eyes, some people were looking at me funny. Oops.
I finish the tour and ask the guard for directions to the bus stop to get back to the center of town. He tells me that there's no need for a bus and to follow the street down and make a left at the plaza(which one I'm not sure...) and he promises it's like a 10 minutes walk back. Right, I think to myself, remembering the hour or so the first time I tried to find the Casa. But I decide to listen to him and follow the signs. Sure enough about 15 minutes later I end up behind the cathedral. As I'm walking around the cathedral back to the plaza that I've been normally having lunch at I notice that many of the stores(almost all) are closed. Weird I think to myself. It's not siesta time.
As I'm rounding the cathedral and the plaza I start noticing alot of police men. And some rather attractive men in suits with ear pieces. What in the world is going on? All of a sudden the crowd on the street is pushed back to the sidewalks and this black town car with Spanish flags drives down surrounded by the men in suits. I ask the woman next to me and she says that the King is in town for the feast. Feast? As it turns out today is the Feast of Corpus Cristi. Literally, it's the catholic feast of the body of Christ. No wonder there were alot more people on the streets than usual. It's a holiday here and everything is closed. I didn't have a chance to pull out my camera to snap some shots of the King, but I was excited that I had been in the same city as the King!
After I eat something for lunch, I head to the Hospital de los Venerables that is supposed to have a beautiful courtyard. I arrive about the same time that a group of American business men are awaiting for their tour of the place. One of them asks me about the holiday closing and I mention the little that I know about the feast. We chat for a while and I end up tagging along on their private tour of the place. The place is as amazing as I had read about and I'm glad that I got to it. The group of men were researchers from NYU in Spain for a conference on molecular cell biology. And Seville was their last stop before heading home. One of the younger ones(Matt) mentions this tapas bar in the center of town and we agree to meet for a drink later on. Yay!
I head over to the City Hall where the Saint of the feast is placed and is to be moved to the corresponding church. Let me explain this saint statue that is placed in the square. It is probably around 5 feet tall made of silver and gold and it's sitting on a good 5' by 5' base made of what appears to be silver. This base is sitting on a large wooden table of sorts that has a white cloth draped over it that falls to the floor. The entire thing is covered(and I mean covered in) flowers, mostly white roses and lily's. And the entire contraption is sitting on a wooden platform with ramps on either side. I sit and wait for the festivities to start at 7pm. I chat with an older lady about the Feast and she explains what the feast is all about. She says that earlier in the morning the saint had been paraded around the town and was now placed in the city square. At 7pm she was to be paraded again around town until she was delivered to the church of St Joseph. I was a bit confused, because generally we don't celebrate feasts like these in the US. As a catholic, I have some recollection of each of the big feasts, but it's only a vague recollection. Sure enough, a crowd starts gathering around the statue a little before 7pm. I join the crowd not really know what to expect. The guy standing next to me is wearing a medallion matching the medallions of some of the other guys standing around. I ask him the reason behind the medallion. I pepper him with questions about what is going to happen in a few minutes.
He explains that in a bit about 30 men will get will get under the table and lift the statue and walk it off the ramp and make their way to the church. And of course they are led by the priest, some important officials and the local school band. Sure enough about 7:30(it was supposed to start at 7) the priest walks out and I smell the aroma of incense. The band gathers behind the priest and officials and about 30 men dressed in white get up under the table. I see this table slowly be lifted off the ground and the saint starts to sway. Ever so slowly, they manage to walk the statue off the ramp and the processional begins. I got some video of it that I'll post later.
After this was all done it was time to meet Matt for a drink before dinner. We met at this tapas bar off of the cathedral and had a nice drink. It was nice and little weird to be speaking English in a foreign country. I had plans for dinner with some friends that I had met, so unfortunately I had to leave. we exchanged contact information and such. It was a very nice drink. :)
I met my new Irish friend and we had dinner at a middle easter restaurant out on the river. Food was delicious and we had a nice view of the bridge at night. After dinner we wanted some churrascos, so we crossed the river and ordered some churrascos. I was thinking that the churrascos were like the Mexican ones back home, the cinnamon and sugar ones. Nope, these were the fried doughy ones that you dipped in a chocolate sauce. Still good, but we were full from dinner.
We were both exhausted from a day of walking and went to bed early.
I set out on the 10 minute walk through the cobblestone streets to cross the bridge over the city. I was headed to Plaza de Espana, this extensive building that was built for the 1929 Ibero-American Expo. It also happens to be one of the places that George Lucas used for the Star Wars Episode Two filming. Not that I've actually seen the film, but I hear it's pretty neat. The Plaza was about a 20 minute walk from the bridge, so I decided to take a little stroll along the river. Halfway there, I hear this snap and feel my right sandal slide out. The top strap had broken. Fantastic. What's worse is that this was a pair of cute new brown wedges that I had just gotten before I left. I can still more of less wear them, but not very well. I think to myself, that this is the perfect excuse that I've been looking for to buy myself a cute pair of shoes. I'll just find a store later on and buy some shoes.
I make it to the Plaza and it's an impressive structure. The building has a Renaissance flair to it that makes it seem larger than life. The actually building is not open, but it has breezeways all around it that people can climb and walk around in. It's a beautiful day and people are milling around everywhere. Oh the bus loads of tourists that come to this spot. Naturally there are street vendors selling souvenirs with Seville stamped all over. But along with the souvenirs there are women who come up to you and try and hand you a flower or herb. Never take these "gifts" from the women. As soon as you do they demand money! I saw some poor elderly lady take the "gift" and then get demanded to hand over some money. The elderly lady clearly did not speak Spanish and was a bit stunned. I felt bad so I headed over to the lady and grabbed the sprig of rosemary out of her hand and shoved it back to the gypsy woman and led the elderly woman away. She was thankful and we would have communicated more except she was speaking German. And I don't.
The plaza is situated in this gorgeous garden/park that takes up a few city blocks. It has trails for running and biking and small lagoons with streams and gazebos. It's absolutely beautiful. I meandered around and headed towards the two museums that the park has. The Archaeological Museum and the Popular Cultures Museum. The Archaeological museum wasn't too bad. Half of it was closed for renovations, so I was glad that my entrance was free. It has some impressive statues from the Romans that were found around Seville. Now the Popular Culture Museum was pretty cool. Half of it has rooms dedicated to what life was like in Andalusia centuries ago. And the other half is set up with a typical upper middle class apartment in 18th century Andalusia. The first part has rooms that hold several day to day items of centuries ago. You can see toys, bathroom items, vases, cookware and more, all from historic times. I like this type of museum. The second half is the apartment of this wealthy family in Seville that donated the family household to the museum. All the rooms are arranged like they were back in the 18th century. And in the side room there is a giant room full of hand embroidered lace. It is stunning to see glass case after glass case of beautiful lace. It must have taken years to finish some of the pieces in there. I was taking my time admiring the lace when the security guard starts turning off the lights...guess they were closing early.
Afterwards, I take the bus to the Casa de Pilatos(remember that palace) and upon arriving I do a little dance because this time it's OPEN. I tour the house and I'm glad that I decided to go there. It's a 15th century mansion that has a along history with royalty. I spend some time in the chapel and lay down on the bench to take some pictures of the ceiling. Somehow I must have drifted off for a little bit, because when I opened my eyes, some people were looking at me funny. Oops.
I finish the tour and ask the guard for directions to the bus stop to get back to the center of town. He tells me that there's no need for a bus and to follow the street down and make a left at the plaza(which one I'm not sure...) and he promises it's like a 10 minutes walk back. Right, I think to myself, remembering the hour or so the first time I tried to find the Casa. But I decide to listen to him and follow the signs. Sure enough about 15 minutes later I end up behind the cathedral. As I'm walking around the cathedral back to the plaza that I've been normally having lunch at I notice that many of the stores(almost all) are closed. Weird I think to myself. It's not siesta time.
As I'm rounding the cathedral and the plaza I start noticing alot of police men. And some rather attractive men in suits with ear pieces. What in the world is going on? All of a sudden the crowd on the street is pushed back to the sidewalks and this black town car with Spanish flags drives down surrounded by the men in suits. I ask the woman next to me and she says that the King is in town for the feast. Feast? As it turns out today is the Feast of Corpus Cristi. Literally, it's the catholic feast of the body of Christ. No wonder there were alot more people on the streets than usual. It's a holiday here and everything is closed. I didn't have a chance to pull out my camera to snap some shots of the King, but I was excited that I had been in the same city as the King!
After I eat something for lunch, I head to the Hospital de los Venerables that is supposed to have a beautiful courtyard. I arrive about the same time that a group of American business men are awaiting for their tour of the place. One of them asks me about the holiday closing and I mention the little that I know about the feast. We chat for a while and I end up tagging along on their private tour of the place. The place is as amazing as I had read about and I'm glad that I got to it. The group of men were researchers from NYU in Spain for a conference on molecular cell biology. And Seville was their last stop before heading home. One of the younger ones(Matt) mentions this tapas bar in the center of town and we agree to meet for a drink later on. Yay!
I head over to the City Hall where the Saint of the feast is placed and is to be moved to the corresponding church. Let me explain this saint statue that is placed in the square. It is probably around 5 feet tall made of silver and gold and it's sitting on a good 5' by 5' base made of what appears to be silver. This base is sitting on a large wooden table of sorts that has a white cloth draped over it that falls to the floor. The entire thing is covered(and I mean covered in) flowers, mostly white roses and lily's. And the entire contraption is sitting on a wooden platform with ramps on either side. I sit and wait for the festivities to start at 7pm. I chat with an older lady about the Feast and she explains what the feast is all about. She says that earlier in the morning the saint had been paraded around the town and was now placed in the city square. At 7pm she was to be paraded again around town until she was delivered to the church of St Joseph. I was a bit confused, because generally we don't celebrate feasts like these in the US. As a catholic, I have some recollection of each of the big feasts, but it's only a vague recollection. Sure enough, a crowd starts gathering around the statue a little before 7pm. I join the crowd not really know what to expect. The guy standing next to me is wearing a medallion matching the medallions of some of the other guys standing around. I ask him the reason behind the medallion. I pepper him with questions about what is going to happen in a few minutes.
He explains that in a bit about 30 men will get will get under the table and lift the statue and walk it off the ramp and make their way to the church. And of course they are led by the priest, some important officials and the local school band. Sure enough about 7:30(it was supposed to start at 7) the priest walks out and I smell the aroma of incense. The band gathers behind the priest and officials and about 30 men dressed in white get up under the table. I see this table slowly be lifted off the ground and the saint starts to sway. Ever so slowly, they manage to walk the statue off the ramp and the processional begins. I got some video of it that I'll post later.
After this was all done it was time to meet Matt for a drink before dinner. We met at this tapas bar off of the cathedral and had a nice drink. It was nice and little weird to be speaking English in a foreign country. I had plans for dinner with some friends that I had met, so unfortunately I had to leave. we exchanged contact information and such. It was a very nice drink. :)
I met my new Irish friend and we had dinner at a middle easter restaurant out on the river. Food was delicious and we had a nice view of the bridge at night. After dinner we wanted some churrascos, so we crossed the river and ordered some churrascos. I was thinking that the churrascos were like the Mexican ones back home, the cinnamon and sugar ones. Nope, these were the fried doughy ones that you dipped in a chocolate sauce. Still good, but we were full from dinner.
We were both exhausted from a day of walking and went to bed early.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
And the love affair starts...
Woke up today(Wednesday) fairly early and decided to set out to see all the major sights. Grabbed a quick breakfast and was on my way. I had decided early on that I was in dire need of a compass. I don't know how I left without one really. And I was mad at myself for never paying attention to the guys when they tried to show me their compasses along with the hiking stuff they had ordered back in college. Now I was really wishing I had paid more attention to both of them. It took a while, but finally found an affordable compass. It's not pretty, but I wasn't going for looks....just efficiency.
I went to the Cathedral first as it happens to be first on my list of things to see. It's the largest cathedral in Europe and pretty impressive on the inside and outside. Spent some time wandering around and listening to the audioguide. I'm a big fan of audioguides in some places, they usually give a good synopse of the history of the place and explain what in the world you are looking at. This cathedral also has a bell tower that you may climb. Never being one to miss a good photo op I decided to climb the tower. It actually wasn't too horrible. The tower has slanted walkways going up and a small set of steep stairs at the top. The reasoning behind this was because a man on horseback would go to the top of the bell tower should an emergency occur(ie. city being invaded.) The climb was fairly steep, but nothing compared to the Campanille tower in Florence that was hundreds of stairs in a nice circular pattern within maybe a four feet enclosure. And along the way they have little openings with some historical pieces from the tower and the corresponding explanations. The view from the top is most definately worth the climb. Thankfully it was a beautiful day in Seville. Sunny and warm, felt like mid 80's. I didn't think it was too warm, but I heard lot of people complaining about the heat.
After the cathedral I found my way to the Real Alcazar, an ancient Moor palace. Yet another audioguide tour and a walk around the palace. Absolutely impressive structure with even more impressive gardens that I didn't fully explore. The palace has lots of fine Moorish detail that has been well conserved. Overall a pretty impressive structure. Afterwards I grabbed some lunch on the nearby plaza and people watched for a while.
I've come to some rather interesting observations about Seville:
- The Spaniards tend to be very family oriented. I noticed alot of men out with their children or pushing the stroller while their wives shopped and did their own thing. It was very nice and a bit surprising to see.
- A good percentage of the population smokes. I would say closer to 80% does so. I'm very much in the minority here. In general Europeans smoke more than Americans, but Spaniards are probably the worse. I think I've inhaled at least a pack of cigarettes in the short time I've been here. I wonder what the statistics are for lung cancer here?
- People are very friendly. Granted a smile does go along way here, but I've generally found that people are willing to help you out with directions and such.
- People are also very well dressed. I like to dress well, but nothing compared to what I see here. I'm talking skirts, hose and heels fo the ladies and nothing short of slacks and button downs with a tie for the men. Throw in a sweater around their shoulders and you got the complete ensemble. I don't know how the women do it with their heels on these cobblestone streets. My feet are hurting in my flip flops and boat shoes. I'd break my other ankle in heels.
- Oh and pedestrians here definately do not have the right of way on the streets. The bus drivers and cab driveres do not think twice about nudging you with their car. This is difficult considering Austin is pedestrian friendly(for the most part.) Unless of course you hit a homeless man on a bike with your car. :)
I managed to squeeze in the Hospital de los Venerables and I was very glad that I did. It was one of the prettiest Moorish structures I've seen. There was nothing else within walking distance left that I could get to before closing so I spent some time at yet another plaza people watching and shooting some of the culture around the plaza and the old section. I love watching the old couples walking hand in hand during the paseo and watching the kids run after pigeons. I feel more at home in Spain than any other part of Europe. Part of it is the language, but I noticed that people in southern part of Spain look more alike to my family. Physically we have similar characteristics. The curly hair is a classic spanish trait and the curve of the body is similar.
It's been nice being able to identify with a culture. Not that I don't identify with American culture, but I don't look characteristically American. this one little girl on the plaza was the spitting image of me as a child. Blond curly hair, golden skin and big smile. She was dressed similarly to what I was dressed like as a child. Blue embroidered dress with cute blue mary janes and a big blue bow in ther hair.
Made my way back along the river around sunset(which is around 9:30) and grabbed some tapas and sangria with some new friends. Pretty awesome day I'd say so. Oh I'm down to about 2300 pictures left for the rest of my trip. Somehow I have managed to take roughly 1300 pictures in about a week. Thank goodness for digital, but now I feel like I have to ration my pictures out for fear of running out by the end of my trip. I should have brought an extra card. Oops.
I went to the Cathedral first as it happens to be first on my list of things to see. It's the largest cathedral in Europe and pretty impressive on the inside and outside. Spent some time wandering around and listening to the audioguide. I'm a big fan of audioguides in some places, they usually give a good synopse of the history of the place and explain what in the world you are looking at. This cathedral also has a bell tower that you may climb. Never being one to miss a good photo op I decided to climb the tower. It actually wasn't too horrible. The tower has slanted walkways going up and a small set of steep stairs at the top. The reasoning behind this was because a man on horseback would go to the top of the bell tower should an emergency occur(ie. city being invaded.) The climb was fairly steep, but nothing compared to the Campanille tower in Florence that was hundreds of stairs in a nice circular pattern within maybe a four feet enclosure. And along the way they have little openings with some historical pieces from the tower and the corresponding explanations. The view from the top is most definately worth the climb. Thankfully it was a beautiful day in Seville. Sunny and warm, felt like mid 80's. I didn't think it was too warm, but I heard lot of people complaining about the heat.
After the cathedral I found my way to the Real Alcazar, an ancient Moor palace. Yet another audioguide tour and a walk around the palace. Absolutely impressive structure with even more impressive gardens that I didn't fully explore. The palace has lots of fine Moorish detail that has been well conserved. Overall a pretty impressive structure. Afterwards I grabbed some lunch on the nearby plaza and people watched for a while.
I've come to some rather interesting observations about Seville:
- The Spaniards tend to be very family oriented. I noticed alot of men out with their children or pushing the stroller while their wives shopped and did their own thing. It was very nice and a bit surprising to see.
- A good percentage of the population smokes. I would say closer to 80% does so. I'm very much in the minority here. In general Europeans smoke more than Americans, but Spaniards are probably the worse. I think I've inhaled at least a pack of cigarettes in the short time I've been here. I wonder what the statistics are for lung cancer here?
- People are very friendly. Granted a smile does go along way here, but I've generally found that people are willing to help you out with directions and such.
- People are also very well dressed. I like to dress well, but nothing compared to what I see here. I'm talking skirts, hose and heels fo the ladies and nothing short of slacks and button downs with a tie for the men. Throw in a sweater around their shoulders and you got the complete ensemble. I don't know how the women do it with their heels on these cobblestone streets. My feet are hurting in my flip flops and boat shoes. I'd break my other ankle in heels.
- Oh and pedestrians here definately do not have the right of way on the streets. The bus drivers and cab driveres do not think twice about nudging you with their car. This is difficult considering Austin is pedestrian friendly(for the most part.) Unless of course you hit a homeless man on a bike with your car. :)
I managed to squeeze in the Hospital de los Venerables and I was very glad that I did. It was one of the prettiest Moorish structures I've seen. There was nothing else within walking distance left that I could get to before closing so I spent some time at yet another plaza people watching and shooting some of the culture around the plaza and the old section. I love watching the old couples walking hand in hand during the paseo and watching the kids run after pigeons. I feel more at home in Spain than any other part of Europe. Part of it is the language, but I noticed that people in southern part of Spain look more alike to my family. Physically we have similar characteristics. The curly hair is a classic spanish trait and the curve of the body is similar.
It's been nice being able to identify with a culture. Not that I don't identify with American culture, but I don't look characteristically American. this one little girl on the plaza was the spitting image of me as a child. Blond curly hair, golden skin and big smile. She was dressed similarly to what I was dressed like as a child. Blue embroidered dress with cute blue mary janes and a big blue bow in ther hair.
Made my way back along the river around sunset(which is around 9:30) and grabbed some tapas and sangria with some new friends. Pretty awesome day I'd say so. Oh I'm down to about 2300 pictures left for the rest of my trip. Somehow I have managed to take roughly 1300 pictures in about a week. Thank goodness for digital, but now I feel like I have to ration my pictures out for fear of running out by the end of my trip. I should have brought an extra card. Oops.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain
Soo... I woke up this morning and guess what the forecast is? Cloudy and some rain for the day...high of about 26C(still trying to figure out the math conversion...its somewhere in the 60's)
After a traditional Spanish breakfast(pastry and coffee) I embarked on my new Seville with not a clue of what I was going to do. I haven't planned much of this trip as I'm trying to slowly let go of my need to plan details out. So I decided to take a little walk around the city. I do have a guide book, but accidentally left my big DK book on Spain neatly on my coffee table....at home. I have only my Top 10 book for Andalusia. I take a quick peak and decide to go to the Hospital de la Caridad, which used to be a charity hospital in the center of town. It was nicely redone and the architecture is traditionally Moorish. It's a cool little spot and not too hard to find. Afterwards I try and go to Casa de Pilatos which is supposed to be a mansion that has Christian-Islamic, Gothic and Renaissance architecture. It appears to be at the top of my map(east of the city as I later realize) and not too terribly far, 30 minute walk is what the guard said. I'm thinking that it cannot be THAT difficult to find.
After a traditional Spanish breakfast(pastry and coffee) I embarked on my new Seville with not a clue of what I was going to do. I haven't planned much of this trip as I'm trying to slowly let go of my need to plan details out. So I decided to take a little walk around the city. I do have a guide book, but accidentally left my big DK book on Spain neatly on my coffee table....at home. I have only my Top 10 book for Andalusia. I take a quick peak and decide to go to the Hospital de la Caridad, which used to be a charity hospital in the center of town. It was nicely redone and the architecture is traditionally Moorish. It's a cool little spot and not too hard to find. Afterwards I try and go to Casa de Pilatos which is supposed to be a mansion that has Christian-Islamic, Gothic and Renaissance architecture. It appears to be at the top of my map(east of the city as I later realize) and not too terribly far, 30 minute walk is what the guard said. I'm thinking that it cannot be THAT difficult to find.
Sure the streets thought the old section is slightly confusing, but they have signs pointing to the tourist destinations. Surely I'll find my way. I wander through the plazas and just have a look around. Trying to get my bearings strait...but all the small streets look the same to me. All cobblestone, all with orange trees(the region is full of orange trees) and all with picturesque brightly colored buildings.I follow my map and think I'm getting close. I've been walking for a while now, so surely I must be getting close. Columbus had a better time finding India. Naturally I stopped for directions, thank goodness I speak Castellano, Castilian Spanish(which is the main Spanish.) Unfortunately, alot of people speak Andalus, a dialect of Castillian Spanish, and the Castilian they do speak is fast and Spaniards drop their 's' with every word. Thankfully I've been slightly used to this for a while now because of family, but it still take time to adjust. Once I find out where I am on the map I realize that I am a good 2 miles from my point of destination. Fantastic. I manage to make it to the Casa de Pilatos(it's one of the greatest examples of Moorish architecture they say) and I do a little happy dance when I find it. An hour and half later I'm there. As I walk to the massively large front door I notice a white piece of paper taped to the front. "Oh no" I think. Yup, the building is closed(just for today) for a private event. But I am assured that it will reopen tomorrow. Fantastic. I can't help but chuckle at my luck. But I try not to be upset, seeing as how I did get to know the city's atmosphere during my little trek. I turn around and decide to do the Bella Artes art museum as it closes at 8 and it's around 6pm or so now. It's supposed to be the second best art museum next in Spain next to the Prado in Madrid. I'm tired, lost, getting kind hungry and on the totally opposite side of the museum. So I decide to be lazy and take a cab to the museum.
I probably should walk, but figure that it'll take about 30 minutes to cross the city, provided I don't get lost. And only and hour in an art museum is not really enough for me. Five euros later and about 20 minutes I'm outside the museum. I go in and use my student ID(hey it's not my fault I still look so young) and save myself the entrance fee. It look around until close and really enjoyed it. It's full of mostly Spanish artists and does have a few modern pieces, namely Impressionism and Neo Classicism which I tend to favor over the Renaissance portraits. OH and it does have a very good selection of El Greco paintings if you like his expressionism. Overall, a rather solid art museum for a smallish city.
After I leave the museum I meander my way back to the center and heart of the city. It's time for the paseo a time where spanish couples go for walks around the city.
Mostly I see elderly couples hand in hand strolling the streets. Very sweet. It's still bright outside and the sun doesn't set until 930ish or so. I stop at the Plaza Nuevo which is more or less the main plaza in the city. There are about a hundred plazas, but this one is the biggest. Not many couples are out because it's been drizzly on and off throughout the day and the sky looks like it's about to open up any second. I decide to head back and see what my new friends are up too for dinner. Dinner here isn't until about 9pm or so, so it's still pretty early. Meet up with them and go for tapas nearby. I love spanish food, it's stuff I grew up on so I wasn't too surprised with the menu. We ordered some potatoes, squid, meat and vegetables and some sort of meat dish that we find out later is cow liver and rib meat. It was tasty I'll have to say, but not something I'd order again. Paired with some sangria(delicious) and we made for some happy times. Headed back early due to the rain and I went to bed, tired and pretty exhausted. But happy.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Sunrise over Stanstead
So my arrival in Seville was an adventure. This entire trip is turning out to be full of surprises. I flew RyanAir(pretty cheap flights...cost me $50 or so for a one way flight from London) and my flight was leaving Stanstead airport, 45 minutes from London, at 7am. Considering that I had had an hour of sleep before my mini cab picked me up at 4am to get me to the train station by 4.45 I was a bit tired. Thankfully the train to the airport left on time because I was running pretty close to the flight time.
Side note- One of my favorite things to do when I travel is to talk to the cab driver. I luckily I got a rather chatty cab driver named Earnest. He and I chatted about daily stuff around London. I tend to ask questions surround daily living in the place I'm at and he was happy to talk about London and continue with his life story. I found out that in London(UK really) people get 20 days paid vacation...generally speaking. I had no idea, he laughed at my two week vacation period. He was also the one that mentioned that Senator Kennedy was in the hospital as I have been lax on my US news. The topic turned quickly to politics and the upcoming American elections. The consensus that the driver said that was that the British are interested in US politics because it affects so many area of their own country, but that since the new Prime Minister was elected(wildly unpopular here in Britain) people have shifted their gaze more towards home. He was a rather nice chap and made the drive through the dark streets of London enjoyable. Thank goodness I paid for the cab as the streets of London at night would have scared me a bit to navigate on my own.
We passed lots of lovely green pastures and farm looking land on the way out of London. It was about 15 degrees C when we left so it was quiet chilly outside...thankfully the train was a bit warmer. I always sit on the window side in trains, because frankly I adore train travel. It has such a romantic feel to it that really attracts me. About 20 minutes into our 55 minute ride IO started to see signs of sunshine. Looked down at my watch...yup 5.30am. The sun rose slowly over the green hills and because of the rain the night before, the rays shot through the dewiness with a soft look. It was stunning and looked like a scene out of a Jane Austen novel. Actually it reminded me of that scene in Pride and Prejudice(the Keira Knightly one), the scene at the end with sunrise over the hill with Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy coming over the hill. Breathtaking.
I thought that due to the earliness of the flight to Seville, I thought that the flight would be pretty empty. Wrong again. I'm pretty much getting used to being wrong in Europe. The flight was booked solid and while checking in I found that my bag was 4 kilos over limit(stupid kilos) so I was forced to take some stuff out and stuff them in my already full carry on. I managed to waddle(yes waddle) resembling a penguin because of my carry on and my purse and grabbed a chocolate croissant and some coffee at a nearby coffee place. I turn around and see the immensely long line for security and join the others for the standard security checkpoint. Normally I have no problems with security, I pack my 3oz plastic bag brimming with a myriad of glosses, face cream, lotions, perfume, a water mister for the plane, etc. But this time was different. Considering I had taken stuff out of my checked pack and chucked it in my carry on apparently I was tagged for a complete search. I got patted down by a security guard and my carry on and purse were dissected with the scrutiny of medical student. Every lip gloss, compact, piece of paper was pulled out and inspected. My camera equipment and each lens was carefully assembled onto the camera body and tested to make sure it worked. Apparently the curly hair has signs of "imminent threat" to the British. I was patient and complied with security. I know it's their job to be so thorough but when he dropped my new wide angle lens I made smirked and made a comment. Finally they were finished checking for Kelly made weapons of mas destruction and I was on my way. I think I walked easily a half mile to my gate.
Now I had hear that RyanAir was a cheap flight and that I shouldn't expect much but I was not prepared to have to walk on the tarmac to board the flight. I thought it was pretty much the coolest thing and slightly annoying at the same time. I'm so used to the giant arm that greets you at the plane's door and the stairs leading up to the plain aren't too horrible, just a bit steeper. I'm a little scared of stairs as I tend to fall on them quiet a bit. And given that my center of weight was uneasy due to my bags the plane stairs weren't so bad going up. The flight was uneventful, no drink service or anything, but it's a relatively short flight(two hours or so.) Thankfully when we got to Seville and as we debarked the plane it was sunshine and warmth that greeted me. Yay no more cold, wet weather! Welcome to Espana.
Took the bus and finally found the little hostel I decided to stay at. It's in the Triana quarter of Seville along these tiny streets. The hostel itself is very beautiful as it used to be an old house where 10 families lived together. Very pretty courtyard and terrace with hammocks. Got settled and and went walking around the neighborhood just taking in the feel of Seville. There was a flamenco show scheduled for 10pm so I decided to take a little nap in the hammocks on the terrace. That night a group of us went to the Flamenco show. We(including me) were expecting the traditional flamenco music coupled with the flamenco music. Apparently, it was only the music and although I enjoyed it some of the others were not too pleased. I met a nice young married couple from Canada(there's alot of Canadians on vacation now) and we chatted rather well. I worked as their translator and they bought me drinks. I learned that in Canada you get 20 days paid vacation as well and a whole year at 80%pay for maternity leave(the couple wanted children after this vacation...that's how we ended up on the topic.) And apparently in the Czech mothers get FOUR years maternity leave. How sad that the US only get three months and sometimes that's not even paid.
Anyway- The show ended around 1am and we had a nice comfortable walk back to the hostel and nice comfortable, much needed, sleep.
Side note- One of my favorite things to do when I travel is to talk to the cab driver. I luckily I got a rather chatty cab driver named Earnest. He and I chatted about daily stuff around London. I tend to ask questions surround daily living in the place I'm at and he was happy to talk about London and continue with his life story. I found out that in London(UK really) people get 20 days paid vacation...generally speaking. I had no idea, he laughed at my two week vacation period. He was also the one that mentioned that Senator Kennedy was in the hospital as I have been lax on my US news. The topic turned quickly to politics and the upcoming American elections. The consensus that the driver said that was that the British are interested in US politics because it affects so many area of their own country, but that since the new Prime Minister was elected(wildly unpopular here in Britain) people have shifted their gaze more towards home. He was a rather nice chap and made the drive through the dark streets of London enjoyable. Thank goodness I paid for the cab as the streets of London at night would have scared me a bit to navigate on my own.
We passed lots of lovely green pastures and farm looking land on the way out of London. It was about 15 degrees C when we left so it was quiet chilly outside...thankfully the train was a bit warmer. I always sit on the window side in trains, because frankly I adore train travel. It has such a romantic feel to it that really attracts me. About 20 minutes into our 55 minute ride IO started to see signs of sunshine. Looked down at my watch...yup 5.30am. The sun rose slowly over the green hills and because of the rain the night before, the rays shot through the dewiness with a soft look. It was stunning and looked like a scene out of a Jane Austen novel. Actually it reminded me of that scene in Pride and Prejudice(the Keira Knightly one), the scene at the end with sunrise over the hill with Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy coming over the hill. Breathtaking.
I thought that due to the earliness of the flight to Seville, I thought that the flight would be pretty empty. Wrong again. I'm pretty much getting used to being wrong in Europe. The flight was booked solid and while checking in I found that my bag was 4 kilos over limit(stupid kilos) so I was forced to take some stuff out and stuff them in my already full carry on. I managed to waddle(yes waddle) resembling a penguin because of my carry on and my purse and grabbed a chocolate croissant and some coffee at a nearby coffee place. I turn around and see the immensely long line for security and join the others for the standard security checkpoint. Normally I have no problems with security, I pack my 3oz plastic bag brimming with a myriad of glosses, face cream, lotions, perfume, a water mister for the plane, etc. But this time was different. Considering I had taken stuff out of my checked pack and chucked it in my carry on apparently I was tagged for a complete search. I got patted down by a security guard and my carry on and purse were dissected with the scrutiny of medical student. Every lip gloss, compact, piece of paper was pulled out and inspected. My camera equipment and each lens was carefully assembled onto the camera body and tested to make sure it worked. Apparently the curly hair has signs of "imminent threat" to the British. I was patient and complied with security. I know it's their job to be so thorough but when he dropped my new wide angle lens I made smirked and made a comment. Finally they were finished checking for Kelly made weapons of mas destruction and I was on my way. I think I walked easily a half mile to my gate.
Now I had hear that RyanAir was a cheap flight and that I shouldn't expect much but I was not prepared to have to walk on the tarmac to board the flight. I thought it was pretty much the coolest thing and slightly annoying at the same time. I'm so used to the giant arm that greets you at the plane's door and the stairs leading up to the plain aren't too horrible, just a bit steeper. I'm a little scared of stairs as I tend to fall on them quiet a bit. And given that my center of weight was uneasy due to my bags the plane stairs weren't so bad going up. The flight was uneventful, no drink service or anything, but it's a relatively short flight(two hours or so.) Thankfully when we got to Seville and as we debarked the plane it was sunshine and warmth that greeted me. Yay no more cold, wet weather! Welcome to Espana.
Took the bus and finally found the little hostel I decided to stay at. It's in the Triana quarter of Seville along these tiny streets. The hostel itself is very beautiful as it used to be an old house where 10 families lived together. Very pretty courtyard and terrace with hammocks. Got settled and and went walking around the neighborhood just taking in the feel of Seville. There was a flamenco show scheduled for 10pm so I decided to take a little nap in the hammocks on the terrace. That night a group of us went to the Flamenco show. We(including me) were expecting the traditional flamenco music coupled with the flamenco music. Apparently, it was only the music and although I enjoyed it some of the others were not too pleased. I met a nice young married couple from Canada(there's alot of Canadians on vacation now) and we chatted rather well. I worked as their translator and they bought me drinks. I learned that in Canada you get 20 days paid vacation as well and a whole year at 80%pay for maternity leave(the couple wanted children after this vacation...that's how we ended up on the topic.) And apparently in the Czech mothers get FOUR years maternity leave. How sad that the US only get three months and sometimes that's not even paid.
Anyway- The show ended around 1am and we had a nice comfortable walk back to the hostel and nice comfortable, much needed, sleep.
An American in London - Finale
Awoke on Sunday morning witha terrible headache from the nights festivites. Oh and the sun was streaming in through my window around 5:30am....way to early for me. I was meeting my friend Joanna for lunch at Waterloo station at 12:30 for lunch so I had to hop to to get there on time. My time mangement skills have gone array since my arrival in Europe. I somehow end up running late and then proceed to get lost inside Waterloo station, but finally meet up with Joanna.
We walk towards the river and chat along the way. We end up eating at this pizza place right on the river and get to people watch while catching up. It was a very good lunch, I´m glad I got to talk to a friend. We laughed about the culture across the pond and she told me about Scotland. I´m thinking next year Scotland will be on my itinerary. She had to get back to studying for her exams so I ventured out on my own.
I took my time walking down the river from Millenium bride towards Westminster bridge. Surprisingly it was a very nice day out. Still cold, but sunny and little cloudy. Passed the London Eye and decided that I didn´t really want to wait in line, considering that London weather is so unpredictable. I got some good shots of the street performers and Parliament. Crossed the bridge and walked around Parliament and Westminster Abbey.
We walk towards the river and chat along the way. We end up eating at this pizza place right on the river and get to people watch while catching up. It was a very good lunch, I´m glad I got to talk to a friend. We laughed about the culture across the pond and she told me about Scotland. I´m thinking next year Scotland will be on my itinerary. She had to get back to studying for her exams so I ventured out on my own.I took my time walking down the river from Millenium bride towards Westminster bridge. Surprisingly it was a very nice day out. Still cold, but sunny and little cloudy. Passed the London Eye and decided that I didn´t really want to wait in line, considering that London weather is so unpredictable. I got some good shots of the street performers and Parliament. Crossed the bridge and walked around Parliament and Westminster Abbey.
I had already done the tour last time, and just felt like walking London. I walked around the abbey and got some shots of the street and of lost looking tourists. I hope they came out well.
I hadn´t really planned my day out but decided to take on the Notting Hill and Hyde Park district. Managed to take the right tube this time and walked down to Notting Hill. Instantly fell in love with that area. The houses and the side streets were beautiful. The trees along the sidewalk and the cute shops with enticing window displays. Stumbled upon Portobella road and spent a few hours browsing the market. Met the most interesting shop keeper that sold tiny versions of famous statues. Naturally I was fascinated. I love miniture stuff. Spent some time talking with him and his wife about the statues. Almost bought one, but decided against it considering the state of the dollar.
I was supposed to call my friends work cell phone when I was headed to Kensigton gardens to meet up with him and hang out. But my phone was acting up and none of the calls went through, don´t know what was going on with that. I´m able to receive text messages at no charge to me(so people feel free to text me) but sending them cost me. As does outgoing calls. I´ve only talked to my mom and sister since my arrival, so please don´t feel left out if I don´t call to chat. DO feel special with text´s. :)
I wandered through Kensington Gardens and was trying to find flowers to photograph. Sadly, I found none. Lots of large picturesque trees surrounding a lake, but no flowers. I ventured over to Kensington Palace and would have toured it had it not been for the even that people were setting up for. It looked like a black tie affair, because most of security was dressed in tuxes and outside the gate the performers were getting ready. The performers(or the two that I saw) were on stilts and had bird feather looking costumes. Very cool. I made my way around the lake and sat and watched a group of guys play futbol. I also got to see a dad and his young daughter feeding the swans on the edge of the lake. Nice pictures to follow.
By the time I left Kensington garden it was getting dark and I decided to take the bus back to Picadilly Circus and then catch the tube out to the flat. Picadilly Circus is absolute chaos to me. The noise coupled with the vast amounts of people is too much for my senses.
My favorite sight are the flock of Japanese tourists buying outrageously priced souvenirs. A note on Japanese tourists: they have a stereotype of always hanging their cameras and money pouches around their neck. I have not been dissapointed on this trip. Every Japanese man has had a camera similar to mine dangling from his neck. It´s screaming "Please steal me!" My uncle is Japanese and he does the same thing. I asked him once why he travels with his expensive camera around his neck, showcasing to the world his valuable possesion. He said that if it´s in the front and not in his bag then people aren´t likely to steal it. Doesn´t make sense to me, but hey, to each their own.
Finally get back to the flat and grab dinner at the pub where we had made friends with the bartender the night before. He remembered me and I got my pint for free! Got back to the flat and I needed to rearrange my suitcase and stuff because the mini cab was coming for me at 4:00am to take me to Stanstead airport for my flight to Seville. What time did I actually get to bed? 2:00am.
Finally get back to the flat and grab dinner at the pub where we had made friends with the bartender the night before. He remembered me and I got my pint for free! Got back to the flat and I needed to rearrange my suitcase and stuff because the mini cab was coming for me at 4:00am to take me to Stanstead airport for my flight to Seville. What time did I actually get to bed? 2:00am.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
An American in London - Part Two
So what do most people do on cold, wet Saturday. Stay in right? Clearly not for me. Spent pretty much all day outside walking around with my friend.
Side note. I would like to point out that the weather in London upon my arrival was cold, wet and very rainy. I think the temperature hovered around 45F or so, dipping into the high 30´sF at night. I couldn´t tell you for certain because the British)like the rest of the world) use the metric system, so 17C means nothing to me. I should take a quick lesson in the metric system. Hell, America should join the rest of the modern world and use the metric system.
Back to Saurday. We went to the nearby pub for a traditional English breakfast, yum! Had my tea with it and it was delicious. I had brought a guidebook with me, but hadn´t exactly read it, so my friend just led me around the city. Last time I was in London I did most of the touristy things. The tower of London, tower bridge, Tate modern, etc. So this time around I wanted some time exploring the city like the locals do. I´ve very much the traveler that likes to absorb the culture of a city. This trait leads me to stay at non chain hotels and eat local food at mom and pop places. It´s also led to stumble across some neat places and meet some really interesting people.
We end up taking the tube to central Londond(he lives in north London) and walked around Borough Market. He had mentionesçd this market and I wasn´t sure what to expect. I guess I was thinking that it was like the Farmers market at Sunset Valley. I was dead wrong. This market was amazing! It´s set up with a maze of food stalls. But along with the traditional fruit and vegetable stalls, you find fresh fish on ice, dried fruits, chocolates, italian desserts and loads of other food related items. AND they let you taste the food, so you get samples! I love sample day at Central Market, but this was sample day on crack. Everywhere you turned there would be yet another man with a sample tray. I took some time wandering the market and getting great shots of the stall and the atmosphere. I can´t wait to post some when I get back. If I go home.
After the market we wandered along the Thames and in and out of alley´s. Saw Millenium bridge(very cool design.)
Grabed some coffee at Café Nerro and made out way to London and Tower bridge. It started raining pretty hard and the wind was blowing which made taking pictures dificult. But I managed to pull off some shots without ruining my camera. I was freezing so we stopped at an H&M(reason number 17 to move to London) to buy a sweater. We continued to Tower bridge and crossed it on foot! I had no idea that you could cross it on foot. Got some good shots of the bridges structural detail....which probably no one except my best friend-the architect- will be interested in seeing. Made our way around the Tower of London amongst the hundreds of American high schoolers. Funny quote of the day from one of the American kids.
High schooler guy: " Man I´m starving but I don´t want any of that awful British food. Who the hell thinks fish and french fries go together? Stupid British...hey there´s the McDonalds!" Oh my. No wonder the rest of the world stereotypes Americans. I struggled not to laugh as we walked by. 
Below is the famous Globe Theatre and the detail on the iron gate. I just like the iron gate shot.
Side note. I would like to point out that the weather in London upon my arrival was cold, wet and very rainy. I think the temperature hovered around 45F or so, dipping into the high 30´sF at night. I couldn´t tell you for certain because the British)like the rest of the world) use the metric system, so 17C means nothing to me. I should take a quick lesson in the metric system. Hell, America should join the rest of the modern world and use the metric system.
Back to Saurday. We went to the nearby pub for a traditional English breakfast, yum! Had my tea with it and it was delicious. I had brought a guidebook with me, but hadn´t exactly read it, so my friend just led me around the city. Last time I was in London I did most of the touristy things. The tower of London, tower bridge, Tate modern, etc. So this time around I wanted some time exploring the city like the locals do. I´ve very much the traveler that likes to absorb the culture of a city. This trait leads me to stay at non chain hotels and eat local food at mom and pop places. It´s also led to stumble across some neat places and meet some really interesting people.
We end up taking the tube to central Londond(he lives in north London) and walked around Borough Market. He had mentionesçd this market and I wasn´t sure what to expect. I guess I was thinking that it was like the Farmers market at Sunset Valley. I was dead wrong. This market was amazing! It´s set up with a maze of food stalls. But along with the traditional fruit and vegetable stalls, you find fresh fish on ice, dried fruits, chocolates, italian desserts and loads of other food related items. AND they let you taste the food, so you get samples! I love sample day at Central Market, but this was sample day on crack. Everywhere you turned there would be yet another man with a sample tray. I took some time wandering the market and getting great shots of the stall and the atmosphere. I can´t wait to post some when I get back. If I go home.
After the market we wandered along the Thames and in and out of alley´s. Saw Millenium bridge(very cool design.)
Grabed some coffee at Café Nerro and made out way to London and Tower bridge. It started raining pretty hard and the wind was blowing which made taking pictures dificult. But I managed to pull off some shots without ruining my camera. I was freezing so we stopped at an H&M(reason number 17 to move to London) to buy a sweater. We continued to Tower bridge and crossed it on foot! I had no idea that you could cross it on foot. Got some good shots of the bridges structural detail....which probably no one except my best friend-the architect- will be interested in seeing. Made our way around the Tower of London amongst the hundreds of American high schoolers. Funny quote of the day from one of the American kids.High schooler guy: " Man I´m starving but I don´t want any of that awful British food. Who the hell thinks fish and french fries go together? Stupid British...hey there´s the McDonalds!" Oh my. No wonder the rest of the world stereotypes Americans. I struggled not to laugh as we walked by.
Below is the famous Globe Theatre and the detail on the iron gate. I just like the iron gate shot.
I think it was at this point we started to get hungry. My friend´s friend was meeting us for lunch so we decided to grab lunch at this place called Wagamama....an asian fusion place near the Tower. Yup, I had Asian food in London. I was quiet surprised and had a very good noodle dish with chicken and shrimp. Afterwards we took the bus to St. Pauls Cathedral. I have to say that I think St. Pauls is one of the most beautiful structures I´ve seen from the outside. Now if I could only go to London when the place was not under construction and closed. Alas the cathedral was closed for renovations when we got there. It was closed for renovations two years ago when I went also. Hurry up and finish it! Anyway we walked down the street and decided to go to Harrods. I had never ben to Harrods before. Clearly I being such a good shopper that I am knew all about the wonderfulness that is Harrods. But it was still a shock when I walked in. I had found my Mecca.
As soon as you walk in, all you really notice is the hundreds of people walking around and the Harrod employees dressed to the nine´s handing out maps. This place has a MAP with rooms outlined and numbered. We wandered the food halls for a while. I was impressed. More than impressed actually. The ornate ceilings, the crown molding, the exemplary attention to detail. The entire place is a tad bit overdone really. But it´s not cheesy, just shockingly admirable, considering American stores arent´t decorated a tenth of how Harrods is. We wandered the store just in awe. We hit up almost every floor. I was dragged to the sporting equipment level where I was amused to find riding equipment alongside soccer equipment. My friend is a huge Chelsea fan and so we spent a considerable amount of time looking through the Chelsea gear. Next we wandered to the home furnishings level because it was on the same level as instruments and I wanted to see the grand pianos. The bedroom sets were grand. There was a bed frame that was straight out of the Henry XIII era that was 130,000 POUNDS. That´s $260,00 for a bedframe, actual bed not included. The grand pianos weren´t much better price wise. But they were beautiful to look at, all shiny and black. I touched a key, just one and got a very dissaproving look from the employee that was hovering around.
Next came the electronic section combined with the movie/DVD section. The guys went crazy in there. They each bought a Wii game and a couple DVD´s. I wanted this DVD that was on sale, and was actually really cheap when translated back to dollars. But it would be one more thing for me to carry so I passed. After Harrod´s closed, we went back to the flat and unwound with a movie and a bottle of wine before going to the local pub. Oh how I love the pub atmosphere. So very laid back and chill. It reminds me of the Cain and Abel´s near UT campus, which was a favorite hang out in college. We drank some beers and made friends with the locals. British guys are fun guys. Had some fun discussion on British futbol and rugby teams. Good times.
Next up...Sunday wanderings...
As soon as you walk in, all you really notice is the hundreds of people walking around and the Harrod employees dressed to the nine´s handing out maps. This place has a MAP with rooms outlined and numbered. We wandered the food halls for a while. I was impressed. More than impressed actually. The ornate ceilings, the crown molding, the exemplary attention to detail. The entire place is a tad bit overdone really. But it´s not cheesy, just shockingly admirable, considering American stores arent´t decorated a tenth of how Harrods is. We wandered the store just in awe. We hit up almost every floor. I was dragged to the sporting equipment level where I was amused to find riding equipment alongside soccer equipment. My friend is a huge Chelsea fan and so we spent a considerable amount of time looking through the Chelsea gear. Next we wandered to the home furnishings level because it was on the same level as instruments and I wanted to see the grand pianos. The bedroom sets were grand. There was a bed frame that was straight out of the Henry XIII era that was 130,000 POUNDS. That´s $260,00 for a bedframe, actual bed not included. The grand pianos weren´t much better price wise. But they were beautiful to look at, all shiny and black. I touched a key, just one and got a very dissaproving look from the employee that was hovering around.
Next came the electronic section combined with the movie/DVD section. The guys went crazy in there. They each bought a Wii game and a couple DVD´s. I wanted this DVD that was on sale, and was actually really cheap when translated back to dollars. But it would be one more thing for me to carry so I passed. After Harrod´s closed, we went back to the flat and unwound with a movie and a bottle of wine before going to the local pub. Oh how I love the pub atmosphere. So very laid back and chill. It reminds me of the Cain and Abel´s near UT campus, which was a favorite hang out in college. We drank some beers and made friends with the locals. British guys are fun guys. Had some fun discussion on British futbol and rugby teams. Good times.
Next up...Sunday wanderings...
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