Amalfi - A Dream

Wednesday, I set the alarm for 6:15, and was out of the room by about 6:30 to see the sun rise and get some pictures and video. It was a beautiful morning, and I walked around a bit, then came back to the hotel to see what Vee was up to.
(Vee reporting) Our first full day in Amalfi was exploratory for the most part. We were happily surprised to learn that breakfast is included in the daily room fee, so we took full advantage of that. Afterwards we headed towards the city. Alfami is a very old town with a happy energy about it. Tourists and young students filled the small streets and stores. We walked all the way until reaching the end of town where we found an open market.
The views of the incredibly blue-greenish waters are so breathtaking that we decided to sit on the main beach and take in the beautiful view. At the same time we realized that an eclipse was scheduled to occur and we were able to witness a partial disappearance of the sun for a few minutes, as well as a pack of crazy kids running into the ocean for a swim.
After a delicious lunch break, where we shared pizza, calzone and dessert we decided to walk towards the next town (Ravello). We didn't get to the center of the town, but we escalated the Ravello-steps all the way to the top! We must've walked 1km upwards, even though it felt like 10 km. At the top were some beautiful views of the water and town below, as well as terraced lemon trees, orange trees, building ruins and waterfalls.
By the end of the day we stopped at the grocery store for some wine, bread, and all kinds of delicious toppings to share for dinner. The night ended quietly in our hotel room, just like we wanted.
Today, Thursday was the very first day in a long while that we actually relaxed pretty much all day. It was so needed. It gave me time to finally work on the videos that you'll hopefully enjoy very soon. Cliff spent his time sitting on our gorgeous balcony taking the warm sun and reading his 800+ pages book "The Historian".
Besides a short lunch break in town we stayed "home" all day. Tomorrow we are heading to Florence...the butterflies in my stomach are already flying high :-)
What would I say about Amalfi if anybody would ask me about it? It is truly a dreamy place, gorgeous beyond words, a piece of paradise, the perfect landscape for a fairytale. I've loved every second I have spent here with my prince.

Rome - Tuesday - To Coastal Amalfi

Tuesday, we got to know Sue and Ernie a bit better, as well as another mother-daughter team from Philadelphia (daughter from Lansdowne, mother now up in Maine) of all places. After hugs and goodbyes and settling up the bill with Anne and David, they took su to Zagarolo station, where we missed our first train, but made the second, and were soon back at Termini Station where we bought our tickets to Salerno on the Amalfi Coast. We had an hour or two to kill, so we went in search of a new electrical adapter since the one we've been using successfully for the last week or so seems to have kicked the bucket. Finally, we found alittle tobacco shop that sold them, and bought a "fancier" model that will work all over Europe. We had some coffees at our little "Illy" shop, and I had a sandwich, we browsed books in English at the bookstore, and then ran to the train. The train ride was very pleasant and comfortable, and once deposited at the train station in Salerno, we had to figure out what bus to take to get to Amalfi, where we had reserved a room for the next 3 nights. With some help from a few friendly guys in the station, we bought our tickets, found our stop, and then headed across the street for a snack while we waited for the next bus to arrive. Late, we boarded the bus, and were off to Amalfi. We learned about having to validate our bus tickets, by writing our origin and destination cities on them, and were reminding of the importance of doing this when the ticket validation agent fined the girl seated in front of us 35EUR or so for not having hers correctly validated. The ride to Amalfi was absolutely staggering. It was a full-size bus, and the road was a cliff-hanging twisty-turny hairpin-curvy little two-lane stretch populated with other buses, scooters, trucks, cars, and pedestrians. With only a little concrete wallk about 3 feet hight for protection from the rocky edge, we could look straight down the edge of the jagged cliffs into the waters below. The views were from the bus were some of the most amazing I've seen. The water a deep green-blue, with mountains that explode out from underneath. After about a breath-taking ride of about an hour and half, we arrived to the gorgeous seaside town of Amalfi. And, our hotel, "La Bussola" was right there, just a few hundred feet away, right on the water. I honestly was quite leary of how our accomodations were going to turn out because of how ridiculously cheap the room was (60 EUR/night) in comparison to how the pictures looked online. Well, it is much more than we could have expected. I guess because it is in the midst of some painting, and renovations, and because it is still off season, the price was lowered. But our view is amazing, and the whole place appears immaculate. What a find!!! And, when we got off the bus, and guy from Austrailia told us about a little pub, Willie's Place, just up the hill, that served bitters, ales, stoudts, lagers, etc., with free Internet, cheap long-distance International calls and all the sports on satellite TV...guess where we were going?!?!?! After checking in, taking some video, and unpacking, we headed out for a walk, and lounged out on the beach, and the pier, taking lots of pictures, and then hiked up the side of a cliff up to Willies. Inside, we met David, a friendly, but difficult to understand English chap, who set us up with a Tetley's better and a StrongBow cider. Eventually, the rest of his crowd, Steve and Willy, showed up, and another mother-daughter duo from the States (Alabama and Chicago) to indulge in a few pints. Willy was quite a trip, and actually quite helpful with restaurant recommendations and instructions about getting to the supermarket. After a few, we said our goodbyes and promised to return. It was dark, and so we carefully navigated our way back to the hotel, and called it a night.

Rome - Monday - Vatican Museum and Spanish Steps

Monday, it was back to finish Rome. Our goal was to do a guided tour of the Vatican Museum (Sisteen Chapel), and to experience the Spanish Steps. Despite our efforts to get their early, taking the 9am train and then the Metro across town, we did not get to the Vatican until after 10am, and by that time, the line was wrapped around the Vatican, block after block. We didn't get quite to the end of the line when a rep from a tour company told us about a tour starting in 10 minutes. Realzing that the wait in line would probably be a few hours, and already being prepared to spend the bucks on a tour, we quickly agreed to do the tour. Another rep lead us to an ATM and back to the tour office and within moments, we were rounded up with a group of 25 or so other folks, and lead into the museum without any further delay. With our tickets in hand, and wireless headsets on and functional, the tour began, our guide being a pleasant Italian young lady. I don't think I've every experienced a more crowded museum, in fact, I don't think it could have been any more crowded because if it was, you'd have to double-up on people's shoulders to get around. We litterally shuffled, shoulder-to-shoulder, nose-to-neck, down the halls, into the gallerys, until finally reaching the Sisteen Chapel where we were left on our own. I thought it was a shame, since there was so many amazing pieces to see. It is my opinion, in hindsight, and after talking to some other folks (specifically, Sue and Ernie, some super-friendly new guests at Anne's Place) that we may have been better off waiting until the early afternoon to get into the museum, when the lines were almost completely gone, and foregoing the guided tour. Maybe, at that time of day, there would have been fewer people shuffling around, and we would have been able to see more of what we wanted to see. On the flip-side, we would not have had the thorough explanations of the pieces we were looking at, but, we could have just rented the self-guided audio tour headsets, and accomodated that issue. Anyway, crowds and expense aside, it was a very worthy experience and the Sisteen Chapel is spectacular, as is the Rafael room, which I enjoyed even a bit more. We walked back through the other leg of the museum, and exited for a small snack, before walking over to another section of the city that Han and Trudie recommended, for an afternoon lunch. We loved this part of town, with it's plethora of sidewalk cafes, bars, pizzerias, and ristorantes. After perusing a number of menus, we finally found just the right spot, and for 10 EUR each, had a tasty 4 course meal of bruschetta, pasta(penne, lasagna), meat(chicken, veal) and dessert(flan, tart). To finish the day, we hiked it back over to the Spanish Steps and with the sun shining brightly, lounged on the steps and people watched for close to an hour. We got a kick out of the young Italian guy with his huge gold-rimmed dark sunglasses, tight blue pants and gold jewelry, playing his guitar and singing like he was an outtake from "Italian Idol" (if there is such a show). Also, the smooching German couple to our left had Vee in a tizzy, and they finally had to take their smooching elsewhere before it got even MORE out of control. We had a bit of ice cream, then crammed into the Metro for a quick ride back to Termini, and headed "home". Luckily, Anne's sixth sense kicked in, and she just happened to think that we might be there at the train station, and sure enough she was right, and we got a quick ride back from Zagarolo station. Since our lunch was quite filling, we weren't hungry for dinner, even though we had planned to go into the little town for a meal at the restaurant David recommended that everyone has been raving about. Once again, after some computer-work and reading, off to bed.
(Vee reporting) Adding on to Cliff's notes of the day, here are some of the highlights that personally had the strongest impressions on me. This section of the log might be a bit boring, so please feel free to skip this part and move on to the next day, since this is mostly a recollection of impressions meant to be a document for ourselves over time.
- Unfortunaley it was forbidden to take pictures in the sistine chapel. This explains the bad quality of the 2 most famous pictures that I was able to take (under the table). Sorry :-(
- Most of the Vatican museum's floors, walls and ceilings were decorated with marble and finished stones stripped from the Roman Coliseum.
- Michelangelo as well as Leonardo Da Vinci was obsessed with perfecting the human body in their sculptures and paintings. Most of their learning came from working with cadavers (forbidden at the time!) to understand the anatomy of men and women, and they also used as primary inspirations some of the original Greek sculptures of Hercules, Neptune and Ulysses.
- It took 4 years for Michelangelo to complete the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (alone!). He painted STANDING on his feet rather than laying on a hanging platform. The restorations of this same ceiling were done from 1981 to 1990 (more than TWICE the amount that it took to paint it).
- Raphael and Michelangelo worked at the same time in different parts of the Vatican Museum. While Michelangelo was charged with the Sistine Chapel, Raphael was assigned with painting the walls and ceilings of the preceding galleries. A strong sense of competition emerged between these two; however after Raphael saw some the finished ceiling in the Sistine chapel, his jealousy turned into admiration and respect towards his colleague. When painting an homenage to the greatest philosophers of all times, he used Leo Da Vinci and Michelangelo as faces for Aristotle and ..respectively.

Rome - Sunday - Small Town Living Outside the Big City

Sunday, we needed a bit of a break from all of the Rome activity. We got up for a bit of breakfast with the gang, then came back to our room to do some reading, and computer work, and get some more sleep. All of the late nights, relatively early mornings, and nonstop walking during the day has been taking a toll. Around 1pm, David drove us to the top of the mountain in town, which is just a few kilometers away. At the very top, we were able to see a 360 degree view of the area. David pointed out a few landmarks so that as we wandered back down the mountain, we'd hopefully end up in the direction that would get us back to their place. On our way down, we got all twisted up, and had a tough time finding the trail. A few dead ends, and we finally agreed to take the road down as far as we needed to just so we could know that we were going in the right direction. We got to see a side of little Italy that was quite interesting. Little old ladies struggling to get up and down the steep steps but then quickly slipping inside their front door, a little old googly eyed man poking his head out from his doorway to watch us go by, a young father playing with his daughter as she drove her toy car atop the bumpy stone road. We finally found our way, actually, by following some other folks that looked much more local than us. We found the museum, and the old temple, and did an audio tour. Once back into town, we tried to get into the restaurant David recommended, but it was not going to open for a few more hours. We were getting really hungry, since we didn't have any lunch, and we'd been hiking most of the afternoon, so we found a corner pizzeria instead where we shared delicious rectangular slabs of plain cheese, naked, onion, mushroom and sweet pepper pizzas, and the biggest can of Coke we've ever seen. With our bellies full, we found a little sweets shop and loaded up on a few munchies for late night, and then with Vee's amazingly detailed memory and keen sense of direction, made it back to Anne's Place, even foregoing David's offer to drive us the last two kilometers, as he just happened to be driving by with some new guests. It was getting dark by the time we got back, and it was not long before we were ready for bed.

Rome - Endless Sights, Humbling History, and New Friends

Our train ride to Rome from Naples was a snap, and after a few phone calls to Anne, who is the keeper of our next destination, "Anne's Place" about 40 KM outside of Rome, we arrived to Zagarolo, and were met by her wonderful husband David, and whisked off for a good nights sleep in the country. The kind of absolute silence in the middle of the night there is something I had not experienced in quite a while, and when the sun came up early the next morning, the views of the countryside and surrounding mountains were amazing and exhiliarating. She fixed a very nice breakfast, and we met the other two couples around the breakfast table, Han and Trudi from Holland, and Joe and Alex from England, all of them being fantastic people and alot of fun. Anne drove us to the train station and got us situated with our train tickets. The 6 of us stuck together and talked some more on the trainride into the city, and then went our separate ways for the rest of the day. It was so much fun to have a group of folks to be a part of, despite our different backgrounds, nationalities, etc., we all felt linked in our foreign-ness, and excitement of being here in Rome.

So far in Rome, it has been wonderful. Although the weather on Friday was not completely compliant, and we were soggy most of the day, we got to see and do alot. The highlight being a wonderful guided tour (worth every cent) of the Colliseum, Palatino and Foro Romano. Our first guide was and English-speaking Italian with a biting sense of humor and captivating in his own way. Our second guide, Tony, was a PhD student from England, having 22 years experience studying Roman history, and a first-rate whiz! Tony's knowledge of EVERYTHING Rome was astounding, and his passion was unmistakeable. Tony was able to explain, with dates, and names, and full context, just about anything you might want to know. As usual, most of the day was spent walking and walking and walking, and the next day, Saturday, was no different except that the weather was fantastic. We've been to and through so many important and historically significant buildings and monuments that it would be silly to try to list them all here. Alot of them, we've captured on video and in photos, so we'll let those explain. The main point is that Rome has to be one of the most extraordinary cities in the world. It is beautiful, and just so literally significant to so much of what we in the Western world take for granted. Our heads were spinning, literally and figuratively, from the get go. Around every corner is another amazing something or other demanding your attention. Just when you think you've seen everything you realize that you have hardly seen anything yet as there is always something more to see and learn about. Some of the highlights for Saturday include the Pantheon, Vatican City (we got to see the Pope himself during the 12 o'clock's service in Plazza San Petro), the Fontana di Trevi, the "Time Elevator" show and the walks through the lively piazzas. After an exhiliarating day, we were happy to meet up with Han and Trudi at the train station and spend some time getting caught up before Anne picked us up for the ride back to our "home sweet home away from home". All day long, we were kept looking at the tops of the sightseeing buses, hopeing we'd see Joe and Alex, and we were sad that they were leaving, as we would have liked to get to know them better.

(Becky, if you are reading this, you were right, the food and beauty here in Rome is amazing!!!)

Naples - Wrap up

After a long sleep, feeling mostly recovered from the travel follies of the prior 48 hours, we began our exploration of Naples, which took us through the next day, Thursday. Vee hit the nail on the head in her description of Naples as a FRENZY. The city is beautifully situated on the coast, but the large industrial-looking port is most of what you can see along it's coastline. There is a large castle that we walked through on Thursday, and from there, you have very nice panoramic views of the city, marina and water. The pizza in Naples is excellent, as that is where it was invented, and we had it for lunch both Wednesday and Thursday. Pretty much all we did was walk, when the weather cooperated. Actually, our first full day, Wednesday, it started raining, very heavily, early in the afternoon. We tried to brave it, but it was coming down so hard, with no letup in sight, that we decided to call it a day, and head back to the hotel to read, write, and relax. Finally the rain eased up, and we walked around some more, and had a very nice dinner, although not exactly what we thought we ordered. On the menu, we chose a "pizze", assuming it was just a different spelling for a pizza. But, it really was something different, a bit like a calzone, except it seemed to be fried, and had no sauce or veggies in it. Fairly tasty, just very rich. Thursday, we had to check out, but they let us keep our bags there, so we made a full day of it, exploring more of Via Toledo, the main shopping and business district in the old city, and the waterfront.

Overall, Vee enjoyed Naples more than me, and was better able to appreciate it's beauty than I was. I tried, and I wanted to like it. It was very hard for me to get past the city's overwhelming roughness. It is rough in its architecture. For instance, not even the trendiest, touristy streets were spared from graffiti, garbage, crumbling walls, dog crap, hanging laundry, etc. And the non-trendy/touristy areas, are dark, very narrow, dirty and just plain "shady". It is rough in it's manners, where we witnessed screaming, arguments, hand gestures, etc. It is rough in it's traffic. Whether you are on foot, in a taxi, or on a scooter, the rule is that there are no rules. It is just plain survival; try not to kill anyone, and try not to get yourself killed; always be first, at any cost. We felt pretty insecure the whole time, and always "on guard", so as not to be run over or mugged.

On a more positive note, eating is inexpensive, and pizza is good anywhere you go. It was a good experience for us, as it opened our eyes to the uniqueness of the South of Italy, and it's specialy personality, love it or hate it. Also, it was good for us in that it have given us more of an appreciation of the other places we've been, and those that we still look forward to visiting.

Barcelona to Naples through Rome: Travel Turmoil!!!

This is a long one. Knowing full well that few will have time to read such a long entry, for cathartic reasons, I needed to get this all out.

It started before we ever got to the airport. In fact, when we were booking our tickets online, Vee commented on how strange it was that this airline wanted us to pay for checking in our bags at the time we were purchasing our tickets. Checking in baggage is an additional fee, of course, with this particular airline. The check-in fee is nearly double if you choose NOT to pay ahead of time for checking your bags, and instead, choose to pay at the airport for checking your bags. And, as an extra kicker, they’ll tack on an additional cost per kilogram of any additional weight over their limits. With a limit of a single carry-on bag, weighing no more than 10 KG, and a total checked-in weight of 20 KG, chances are decent that you’re going to get charged. We also thought it was pretty slick that during the online ticket purchase process, the “optional” travelers insurance was presented in such a way that it looked more required than optional. Only after pointedly de-selecting the optional insurance, and then re-confirming my decision to not purchase the optional travelers insurance, was it eliminated from the cost of our tickets. From the very beginning, things didn’t smell right, but giving this discount, point-to-point airline the benefit of the doubt, we purchased our tickets, and paid ahead of time for the privilege of checking in our single additional bag each that ordinarily, on most other airlines, could be carried on board. Then, things got even more interesting, put it mildly.

We got our email notification of the tickets we purchased, a confirmation number, and flight itinerary. Since the flight we purchased via the website was the Barcelona to Rome flight, we did not think twice about the itinerary airport being named “Girona”. We assumed that was simply the name of the airport in Barcelona. We had flown into the Barcelona airport just a few days ago, and when checking out of our hotel, we asked for a taxi to the airport, and there was no further query into which airport we wanted to go to. So, after a 20 EUR taxi ride from the hotel to the airport, you might imagine our surprise to see absolutely nothing about our flight, nor the airline on which we were flying, on any of the departure schedule notification boards. We eventually made our way to the airport’s information desk, and learned that our airline flies out of a different airport, NOT the Barcelona airport, but one in a city named Girona about 100 kilometers away. Always trying to be as prepared as possible, we were luckily quite a bit early. We were told that in order to get to the Girona airport, we had to take a taxi or bus to a train station back into the center of the city of Barcelona, then take a train to a bus station outside of the city, and then a bus from there to the airport. Our flight was scheduled for 9:55pm and at that moment it was about 8 o’clock. We already had a hotel booked and paid for in a hotel near the Rome airport, and we knew that adjusting our flight itinerary would probably cost an arm and a leg, so we decided to go for it. To increase our chances of making it to the Girona airport in time for our flight, we got a taxi headed back into the city to the train station (that would then take us to a bus station, that would then get us to the airport in Girona…). On the way, we asked the taxi driver his opinion about the length of time he though it would take, best case scenario, to get to Girona airport this way. It sounded pretty unlikely we’d make it, although theoretically possible. We then asked how much it would cost for him to drive us directly, and how long that would take. Our chances sounded alot better, but still nothing was certain, and it would cost us over 100 EUR. Without a real definitive option, we asked if he’d drive us directly to Girona airport, and he agreed. Despite a few minutes of city traffic, once on the highway, we flew. The driver was literally blowing by every other car on the highway and and got us there at 9:20pm, and we were at the check-in gate at 9:25pm. With a small tip, the cost to get there was 137 EUR. Given the circumstances, and the efforts he made to get us there on time, we were happy to pay. And, although we were cutting it close, we were sure that with 30 minutes to go before take-off, we had made it. Whew! What a relief! Right!?

WRONG!!!

RYAN AIRLINES would not let us check in. They would not take our bags. They would not issue us boarding passes. They would not let us on the airplane. Note, there was not a single person in line for check-in, so it was not like they were too busy to accommodate us. And, although we were supposed to check in our bags, and had paid to do so, we bought these bags purposefully so they would be within the size requirements of the vast majority of airlines carry-on limits (length = 22 inches) and could very easily have been brought on board with us, if it was the bag check-in process that was the problem. It was a very small airport, with only 7 active gates, and maybe 3 to 4 airplanes on the ground at a time. But, as they stated with not an ounce of compassion, as per their policy, once the captain decides to close the airplane, there is no way for any more passengers to get on board. Not even with 30 minutes to go before our scheduled take-off. We begged, and explained our situation, and what we had done to get there, and how much money we had already spent. They made a phone call, and only re-confirmed their policy to us. No exceptions. Then I offered a bribe. No takers. “It’s not the money”, they said. Still, 30 minutes to take-off. And we were not allowed to fly. I considered raising my voice, and making a scene, but then I’d be the “stinking American”, and decided to bite my tongue. The next flight to Rome was at 9:00am the next morning. With no better option, and with no help from the airport help desk, Vee and I agreed the only rational thing left to do was to ask if we could re-schedule our flight for the morning. For a bit of icing on the cake, they charged us a 120 EUR “rescheduling fee” to do so. Thanks RYAN AIRLINES.

End of story, right?

WRONG!!!

It gets better.

With our blood still boiling, we wheeled our bags over to one of the benches, and tried to calm down and accept what had just happened, and all that it meant (lots of money down the toilet, little sleep, long uncomfortable night, ruined first day in Naples, etc.). A young lady seated on the opposite side of the bench asked us what happened, and she said that she had a similar story, and would be joining us there in the airport overnight…so at least we’d have some company. Turns out, I didn’t know sleeping at the airport was so “normal”, there were LOTS of people sleeping overnight at the airport. Mostly young backpacking folks, like us. In fact, there were so many of us, that it turned into a competition for bench real estate with the cleaning people, who were cleaning the benches and the floors beneath the benches. We kept ourselves busy with reading our books, Vee is reading the Da Vinci Code, and I am reading The Historian. We sat at the café some, ate cookies, drank coffee, ate pastries, all the real healthy stuff. We made it through the night, Vee with no attempts to sleep, and me with maybe 30 minutes or so of sleep. At 7am, we dragged ourselves to the check-in counter, checked our bags, and by 8:30 we were in the airplane, and by 8:40, the airplane had pulled away from the gate. The flight was scheduled for 9:00am, and that’s when it made sense to me. This airline’s “on-time” numbers must be really good. Situations like ours were just collateral damage.

Anyway, we arrived, squeezed ourselves onto the bus that would take us from the airplane to the terminal, got our bags, and regrouped to see what we had to do to get to the train station for the next leg of our trip to Naples. We found a bus on the other side of the airport that would take us to the train station, but they would not sell us tickets on board, and so we had to go back to their ticket sales desk, back where we came from, to purchase our tickets, which we did. With ticket receipts in hand, we walked back to the bus, which by this time was completely full, and got in line for the next one that was to arrive in about 20 minutes. Then, it started pouring rain. Vee whipped out our compact umbrella to keep us from getting completely soaked, and eventually the bus arrived. We crammed into the bus, and an hour or so later, we arrived somewhere within the vicinity of Termini train station, and we even found it, eventually.

The next thing was to buy our train tickets to Naples. We eventually found the ticket lines, and made our reservations. Trains to Naples run regularly so it was not that big of a deal to get seats. With tickets in hand, we made our way to the platform, only to find out that the train had already left. Turns out, the ticket agent, at 12:45pm, sold us tickets for a train scheduled to leave at 12:45pm. In desperation, we chased down another train, leaving at 12:49pm, but it pulled away as we ran down the platform. Thanks.

So, back in line again. We tried to wait for the same ticket agent, but that didn’t work out. We had to pay another 6 EUR to re-schedule our reservations for a later train. Finally, at 1:45pm, we got on board a train to Naples. I think it was about 90 minutes later that we arrived in Naples. We got off the train, exhausted, and hailed a taxi. We showed the driver the name and address of our hotel, and he explained that we got off at the wrong train station, but that he’d drive us to the hotel, no problem. Great. Could it get any better? How long would this take, and how far were we from the “right” train station? Who knows. At that point, I think we would’ve agreed to anything. After a harrowing ride through impossibly narrow winding streets, barely avoiding multiple possible collisions with other cars, people, scooters, etc., he dropped us off in a narrow, very sketchy looking alley, at our hotel. Arrived. Finally. And with TREMENDOUS relief, once inside the gates of the hotel, it was fantastic. This little gem of a place is sooooo cool. Tucked away, you’d never every think it could exist among the ruins of this dinghy street. But it does. And we are in Naples. We were in bed within 10 minutes, and slept until the following morning.

Barcelona - Last Day

It was our last day in Barcelona, and of course the first day with a beautiful sunshine!
Cliff got up earlier than I did (9 am or so fully inspired to write another poem). I got up 30 minutes later. We packed our stuff and got ready for our check out.
After having walked 3 full days from north to south and east to west almost all of Barcelona city, my body really needed a break. My legs and arms were aching, and I felt exhausted despite the good nights of sleep.

Cliff agreed with my request of having a relaxed day, and after checking out and leaving our bags at the reception of the Silver Aparthotel, we headed out in search of a hang-out place where (after having a delicious coffee) I would be able to continue reading my book (The Da Vinci Code) and Cliff could write some more.
Being this our last day, we did what we were hoping not to do throughout our whole stay here in Europe: We went into a Starbucks!
Why? Well, despite the many AWESOME coffee places we have been and seen throughout Spain and Portugal there is once concept that Starbucks has advantage over all of them: Comfortable chairs and couched to sit, lay or nap on.
I’m sure it is related to the cultural aspects of European versus American.
Regardless, I needed a comfy place to hang out and where I could read my book, WHILE having a coffee: Starbucks met all the specs!

Since we arrived, I had been telling Cliff that I would really love to watch an authentic Almadovar movie. Pedro Almadovar is the Steven Spielberg/Martin Scorcese of Spain. He is responsible for launching Penelope Cruz’s and other Spaniard actors to fame in the American movie market.
After having spent a few hours in Starbucks Cliff surprised me with the idea of watching Alamdovar’s latest movie in the theater: VOLVER (which happened to be with Penelope Cruz as the main character).

The movie was beautiful and Penelope was simply fantastic. After watching this performance she has gained a whole lot of more of my respect as an actress.

Anyway. It was 6:15 pm by the time the movie ended. We were both starving, but fortunately Cliff had already eyed-out the place where we would go next: A dinner-buffet restaurant that had a little of everything: Pasta, salads, chicken, pizzas, desserts, etc.
It wasn’t the best food we ever had, but it was good and filled our bellies.
Next destination: the airport.
Since from here on things went quite different from what we imagined, you’ll have to read the next blog to see exactly what happened.
All in all, Barcelona was a beautiful place to visit. I’m sure that for people with tremendous love for fashion, shopping, fine eating and drinking, this can easily be one of the favorite cities to live in or visit. In our case, we were happy to be here, and we appreciate its beauty, but we are very much looking forward to our next destination: Italy.

Poem: Paper Walls

Paper walls
We build between us
Hoping that
They do not fail

Sharing words
For our ears only
Expecting
Sound to be curtailed

But our thoughts
Escape us often
On our sleaves
They lie in wait

For the chance
To burst wide open
Tear down walls
That separate

Hard we try
We take great measures
Bound them up
Our thoughts inside

Paper walls
Seemingly betray
We hear things
That others hide

If they burn
Or come tumbling down
Then we´ll need
To get along

So for now
Inside we burrow
Paper walls
Though thin prove strong

Barcelona - Gondola Rides, Raval, and more Diagonal and Ramblas

Today, Sunday, March 19, we continued to confirm our gradually sliding sleeping schedule. Not getting to bed until close to 4 in the morning, we did not get out until after 9:30 or so. Probably even later than that. I think yesterday, was more like 10:30 or so, with a similar bedtime. We don't care much about dates or times anymore. What a luxury!!! Only when we have a plane or train to catch, or a hotel check-out to abide by, do we really check our watches with any frequency. Isn't this the way it ought to be? Hahaha, yeah, right. We live in the moment, letting our whims steer our decisions, and just try to take in as much of what comes our way as possible. It probably sounds pathetic, but it is not always so "easy". Taking it all in I mean. Of course it's EASY, in that, no, we aren't "working", we don't have any "deadlines", and no one is telling us what we need to be doing. But, with so much beauty around you all the time, and so much newness, it is NOT easy to take it all in. It gets to be a sensory overload. It is a luxurious position to be in, for sure, and we are well aware of that. But, regardless, you get to feel guilty, having such an amazing opportunity, being in such amazing places, when you start to feel yourself occasionally blocking bits and pieces of it out, as a sort of natural response to the enormity of the stimulae coming at you from every direction. One of the kazillion fantastic things about being here with Vee is that although many times we perceive the same things, there are as many times that we are paying attention to totally different things, and that way, when we share our perceptions, we are reminded of everything that we are NOT perceiving, in addition to the things we ARE. This helps us refocus, and try to re-attune ourselves to our environment. For example, I see motorcycles, Vee sees scarfs, I see pizza shops, Vee sees haircuts, and so on.

We took care of a few last minute scheduling details for our next journey to Rome, and Naples, and then headed out with a flexible itinerary for the day. Since we did Cafe di Roma yesterday, we did "Cappuccinnos" cafe today. It was excellent, but a bit pricey for coffees and sandwiches. We strolled down the Diagonal, through the Ramblas again, but then veered towards a part of the city called El Raval, where there is a Museum of Contemporary Art we were hoping to see. Disappointingly, they closed early, since it was Sunday, and we could not get in. They had some kind of TV, surround sound setup going on in the entryway, and we sat down to check it out, but they had the speaker system all messed up, so that the sound for the tv we were watching was coming out of the speakers next to the tv we were NOT watching, and vice versa. So we left, and wandered a bit through the El Raval neighborhood, not liking it much, and left for more certain territory pretty quickly. Continuing down towards the water, Vee suggested we ride one of the gondolas over the water to the Montjuic part of the city that sits high atop the crest of one of the surrounding mountains. I could not believe she even suggested such a thing, since it involved being crammed inside a little box dangling from a cable hundreds of feet over the water, but she did, and I eagerly agreed before she could have a chance to withdraw the idea. Actually, I would later find out, the idea seemed perfectly fine to her, and she was actually surprised that I was surprised at her suggesting the idea. Being Sunday afternoon, the crowds were very light, and we hardly had to wait even just a few minutes before our gondola showed up, and we were whisked away. The ride only took a few minutes, and we were off and trudging through the "jardins" on our way, hopefully, to the Castell de Montjuic. Our legs were a bit sore and stiff from all the walking we did the prior two days, but after a brief sitdown at the foot of the gardens, we endured a long, confused, sometimes totally maligned journey upwards, eventually reaching the summit where the castle was perched. It was huge, and in fantastic condition. We had a bit of trouble finding our way in, but did, walked around, snapped a few pics, shared an orange drink, took in the expansive views, did some people-watching, and decided to head back to the gondola. One of the cool things we saw on our way was the Olympic swimming and diving facility that was used in the 1992 Olympics. Once back to our initial starting point, the long journey back to the hotel began. For some reason, my jeans have been starting to annoyingly slide down, so I needed a belt. The plan was to stop into El Corte Ingles, but I found a cheap touristy Barcelona belt for 2 EUR that I bought, which was a fortunate find since it turned out El Corte Ingles was closed anyway. Vee got a delicious ice cream, which she shared with me, and we made it back to our hotel by about 7pm, with a quick stop at the SuperCor for some bread, cheese, beer, water, etc. The rest of tonight is creative time. I finished the Da Vinci code yesterday, and now Vee is reading it. I am writing some stuff. Tomorrow, we'll try to find something low key to get into before we fly to Rome.

Poem: A View from Castille Gibralfaro, Malaga Spain

A View from Castille Gibralfaro (Malaga, Spain)

The tragedy of one young soldier
Put on guard atop this hill
Too few years to understand
His time cut short at El Castille

If he knew his days were few
Would he permit a small intrusion
To gaze upon the most grandiose view
Releasing guilt for life's infusion

Or would he reaffirm his duty
And fortify his stance against
The enemy still quite far away
Reproaching beauty at his own expense

Maybe for a soul so new
With hardened mind and experiences few
The only conflict he would perceive
Is with the ships that approach by sea

Now with many years gone by
I stand on this same hill so high
Where so many lives were lost before me
And wonder if they saw what I see

Confettiid gulls on blue green waters
Plazas, gardens and surrounding mountains
Vistas more profound than words allow
No better place than here and now

I hope in fact that was the case
And they stole some time to enjoy this place
For life is short and chances few
You've got to look, to see the view

A Letter to Pop Pop

Pop Pop, you went away too damn soon. We could have had so much more to talk about. Here in Europe though, I feel that you are still quite near.

I can so easily see you in your Renault Le Car, Citroen or Peugot, rag-top down, or sunroof open, wind blowing all around. I can remember you making sure my seatbelt was buckled, and telling me to hold on tight, so you could show me a little bit more of what that good foreign-powered engine could do. Now, I can better understand why you chose to drove those kinds of cars back home. I feel a similar draw. Something special to stay connected to the amazing experiences you must have had here. Something built into your daily life, something experiential, something that brings the thrilling memories back every time you turned the key.

I can smell the mix of gasoline, the leather seats and the warm rubber from the tires of your exotic cars inside the garage where you kept them. I remember being so curious, sneaking into the garage to steal a peak, being so careful around them because we all knew how important they were to you. Probably not even big enough to touch the pedals, I pretended to work the gears and turn the wheel, hoping you wouldn't come in and catch me. But, also, a little, hoping you would. I was reminded of this each time I walked by one of the small auto repair shops tucked into the side streets of Lisbon, and Malaga, where the smells brought it all back again.

I can see you in your driving cap, the one you kept in the foyer closet in the house on Mitchell Rd. It is the same one I saw a group of gentlemen wearing in Nazereh, standing on the sidewalk in a group of 5 or 6, chatting away, with the string of waterfront shops and seafood restaurants in front of them, and the huge ocean at their backs.

I can hear your Big Band music blaring in my mind. I must have felt that same electricity you felt when you listened to it, when Vee and I were in Cafe Central, in Madrid, listening to an amazing live, late night jazz band performance.

I can see you reading your newspaper, sitting at a cafe, with your 5 o´clock cocktail, just like so many of the gentlemen I see here, reading, while keeping an eye on all the wondrous activity around them.

I can see you in the warming sun, looking upwards, eyes closed, impossibly trying to take it all in, before a cloud could get in the way. I did the same, sitting on an old wall next to Fisherman's Bay in Cascais, wondering if maybe you had been there too.

I can remember how each time you returned from a trip, you'd bring me back something special, a wood carving, or something else that would connect me to you, and the times you had abroad.

And now, I think I feel more connected to you than ever before. I feel like maybe you are keeping tabs on my whereabouts, checking off the places where you had been, and those where you still wanted to go, but ran out of time. Maybe you're the one in the back of my mind, encouraging me to keep going, exploring, trying new things, seeing new places, seeing different kinds of people, their wonderfully interesting cultures, and their amazing histories.

I would like so much to share all of this with you. Maybe now I am. I miss you.

Barcelona - Friday, Saturday, and our Impressions

After landing in Barcelona, we really needed a full day, like we had in Malaga, for us to catch up with everything. So, that was Thursday. We just stayed in our room, read, worked on the computer, etc. We got some groceries and ate in our room and looked forward to checking out the next morning.

Friday, we checked out of the hotel, and taxiid to the new one which was in a much better location. The last two days (I am writing this late Saturday night) we have been on foot all day long exploring the city. Yesterday, Friday, we visited the northern part of the city, and most importantly the Sagrada Familia designed by Goudi, and still not finished. What a fantastic place! Architecture like we have never seen before. It was awe-inspiring and despite the cost, we were very happy to have visited. We also saw the Casa Vicens, just behind our hotel, and then walked the streets, including much of the "Diagonal" the rest of the night, finally returning around 7pm.

Saturday, today, in the morning, we made some big decisions and confirmed arrangements for the coming week. The first big decision is that we are NOT going to Greece on this trip. We are going to have to come back at some point in the future (not on this trip), and just do Greece, because to get there, get around, and then return back to Italy, or elsewhere will just take too much travel time, cost alot of money, and waste our Eurail pass usage. So instead, we decided to fly directly from Barcelona to Rome, and will continue on from there, mostly as planned, minus Greece. We bought our RyanAir tickets to Rome, where we will fly on Monday night, and confirmed our accomodations in a Bed & Breakfast outside the city for Th/Fr/Sat. Tuesday morning, we'll take the train to Naples, and return to Rome on Thursday.

After all the planning stuff in the morning, we headed out for the day, had a delicious lunch and energizing conversation at Cafe di Roma, and then conquered the south part of the city, including the waterfront, more of the Diagonal, the Gothic part of the city, the Ramblas, including such landmarks as Santa Maria Del Mar, the Catedral, and the Rambla Del Mar.

(Veruschka reporting) After 2 full days of sightseeing we must say that a definite highlight is the architectural works of Antoni Gaudi, which have influenced the city's unique style. The Sagrada Familia is obviously his masterpiece, but by seeing some of the homes that he designed, we got a close-up of his ideas and inspirations. He loved nature, forests, the ocean, and he let their unique shapes become his muses.
Unfortunately we've had only claudy days, so our pictures and video may not capture the beauty of these places.
Another main highlight is the people. This is hands down the most friendly place we have visited so far. It all started at the airport, but it happened with every single encounter we've had since then with Barcelonians. The waiters at the coffee shops, the staff at both of our hotels. The people on the streets, etc, etc. They always have a big smile, and will try to have a brief conversation.
Barcelona the city is definitely metropolitan. However, different from Madrid. It is characterized by its large and broad main avenues, that are like a gallery to show the beautiful buildings all with georgous balconies and flowers. It seems that one of the main businesses is fashion. For anybody who loves clothes, shoes and shopping in general, this is a shopping paradise!! There is one store after another; each with unique decors and ways to get peoples' attention. For instance we saw today a big clothing store where they had a semi-stripper/dancer, showing some sexy moves at the rythym of techno-music.
The importance of fashion is also shown in its people and the type of tourist we have seen over the last 2 days. Everybody looks so trendy, men and women alike. Colorful shoes, tight jeans (men and women) and the funky haircuts!!! It is time to talk about the hairstyles in this country.
Of course I pay more attention to these things than Cliff, but when looking at the magazine stands, I've noticed that no hollywood or european movie stars are on them for the most part. Instead it is mostly female and male models. The influence of models I believe is very strong. The extreme and crazy haircuts are not just for photoshots and pictures. You see them on the streets!!! For instance the "bangs"....the style that is "IN" is the ultra-short bangs on girls (with chopped-up short or long hair); and for guys? The mullet is back, fullblown, AND with gel!!!
Cliff and I must look so conservative that we have noticed people staring at us. Looking at our shoes, clothes and with a strange look in their eyes, as if trying to figure out why we look different or where we come from.
Anyway, it's all part of the experience.
That's it for tonight!

Portugal to Barcelona, Spain

Yesterday, we sadly left Cascais, Portugal behind. We had a wonderful time there and can hardly wait to go back sometime in the near future. In the morning, I got up around 7am, showered, packed, and then went down to the lobby to do some computer work. Vee showered, got packed and later came down to join me. The night before, we had a really nice conversation with the owner of the hotel, and when he arrived in the morning, we continued our conversation in the lobby. It turns out, he and his parents of Barcelonians, and so we talked alot about that since we were flying to Barcelona in the afternoon. He is an excellent businessman, very friendly and attentive, and his hotel and staff are extraordinary. The hotel is the Hotel da Vila and located in the center of Cascais. The hotel opened just 10 weeks ago. This hotel is just one of his many businesses, with his main business being a software vendor and consultant to the hotel industry in Europe. At 9:30, Jose arrived, and we walked to a nearby cafe for a light breakfast and conversation. We were sad to be saying goodbye, and also about not being able to get together for dinner the night before as planned, but I'll discuss that in a bit. After our goodbyes, Vee and I walked to find the pick-up spot for the shuttle to the airport, but absolutely could not find it, and everyone we asked pointed us in different directions. Exasperated, we ran into the hotelier (embarassingly, I never got his name, though he knew ours) on our way back to the hotel, and reassured us that his staff would take care of us if we went back to the hotel. So, we did a quick scan of our room, and went to check out, and by that time, he was already back behind the desk. We paid the bill, and then he had his assistant actually walk us to where the shuttle stop was a few blocks away. This is just one example of how we were treated the whole time during our stay at the Hotel da Vila. The shuttle ride was alot of fun because we got to see parts of Estoril, which is beautiful, and right next to Cascais. We also got to see more of the "suburbs" of Lisboa and some of the futbol stadiums. The shuttle only stopped a few times, and so it was a nice direct trip to the airport for 8.5 EUR each. The airport signage was excellent, and the layout was easy to navigate and seemingly well designed. We attempted check-in at a Vueling gate, but we were still too early. Since we had some time to kill, and I was starving and thirsty, we found a little sandwich place where we shared a salmon sandwich, a chicken sandwich for very surprisingly reasonable prices. They even had lettuce and tomato and mayo on them!! Eventually, it was time to check in, and head up to the departure gate. The security folks wouldn't let Vee on board with our wine bottle opener because of the cork-screw, so that was confiscated...grrrhhhhh!!!! We walked all over Madrid to find that! Anyway, despite the annoying designated smoking area right next to our gate, the whole process of getting on the plane, flying, and landing in Barcelona via Vueling Airlines was a non-event. The flight attendants were very friendly and helpful, much more so than I am accustomed to, and the seats were quite comfortable, though tight, and they showed some videos of Friends episodes, and then some extreme sports so we were well entertained in addition to our mp3 players, books, computer, etc. One back on land, a bus took us from the plane to the terminal. We thought we'd have to go through customs, coming from Portugal back into Spain, but that was not the case. It was a breeze, no customs, no checked bags to pickup. We went to the info desk and got a map to try and figure out how we could get to our hotel. It was around 7pm by then. We found a place to sit, plunked down and open up the huge map. Within seconds, a very friendly Catalan (spelling is probably wrong, but the idea is that people from Barcelona are called Catalanes, and are very proud of this...they also speak their own language, Catalanian, with Spanish being a second language) man asked us if we needed help, and of course we said we did. For the next 20 minutes or so, he told us all about the City, it's problems, it's beauty, things to do and see, etc. He even asked us how "Mr.Bush is doing", which launched a whole other entertaining conversation.

Portugal - Cascais - Recovering from Fado

(Veruschka reporting) Alright. Let’s see how to frame this day. It all started the night before, after we arrived from a long trip to Nazareh and Obidos.
The hotel turned out to be fantatic! The staff was so friendly and welcoming. We couldn’t be happier. To me, the night was over. I was simply exhausted. To Cliff however, the night was just starting. Jose talked about an “amateur FADO bar” right across from our new hotel, and Cliff was too tempted to not go that night. Without me.
I learned the next day (3/14/06) that he did have a fantastic time. He got to listen to numerous fado singers, he had 5 delicious beers, and he was also very well taken care of by his bartender, who not only gave him a few beers for free, but asked Cliff to join him for a few crazy shots. By the end of the night Cliff had had 8 beers and 4 flaming shots.
The next day the expected thing happened. We have another beautiful day in Cascais, but Cliff is terribly sick.

It was a good time for me to catch up on some email, and work on the pictures we had accumulated from the last week.
Regrettably, we also had to cancel our good-bye dinner with Jose, Ernesto and Mira. We were really saddened to have to cancel, but with Cliff’s condition, it just would not have been enjoyable for anyone!

The day ended actually nicely. By 5pm Cliff was finally able to get out of bed. After a nice shower we both headed to town, and consumed a delicious pizza and dessert.

Portugal - Nazereh and Obidos

(Veruschka reporting) Just as previously arranged, we met with Jose and Mira at the Plaza Figueira to begin our travels of the day. We were headed to the town of Nazareh; a very old and quite traditional fisherman town that has become a favorite place for Scandinavians, Britons and Germans over the last couple of years. We were certainly intrigued. The trip started smoothly, but after an hour or so all of us felt like we needed a little coffee. Sweet Mira decided that she was going to treat us all for a quick coffee-break, and no matter what we would say, she wouldn’t accept a refusal. This exemplifies in a way the Portuguese hospitality. From there on the trip seemed to get a bit longer than planned. Sure enough, we got lost! The road signs were of no help either, and even though Cliff and I got a kick out of the situation, we learned later that poor Jose got actually very stressed. A few wrong turns later and a couple of stops to ask for directions, and we were in Nazareh! It is a beautiful little village, filled with white homes and terra-cotta-colored roofs built on a hill facing an omnipresent beach and ocean that caresses its borders. Unfortunately because we got there a bit too late, we couldn’t stay very long. However we did have a typical seafood lunch at a fisherman’s small restaurant. It was a huge bowl of fresh caught chopped fish, mussels, clams, shrimp and vegetables in a tomato based sauce, with rice or potatoes. Obidos was to be our next destination. Only 40km away from Nazareh (around 30+ miles), it is not a beach village. Instead it is a gorgeous very old roman town, still surrounded by the castle walls that sits atop the highest point in the area. Every home seemed as old as the town is, yet the people living in them have kept them very well maintained. Jose insisted on taking us into one of the cute bars to have a typical Portuguese drink called “gingha” (sp?). Basically a very tasty (and sweet) type of cherry wine. By now it was close to 7pm. We still had a long way to go home. Cliff and I were lucky to change our hotel arrangements the night before to stay in a brand-new Hotel in downtown Cascais. We were looking forward to that.

Portugal - Belem: Royal Treatment

This was another amazing day. The weather was perfect, getting up into the mid 70's fahrenheit, with perfect blue skies and white streaks of clouds. I wanted to be wearing my shorts, but I was afraid that the weather would turn and I'd be left vulnerable to the cold. Now that we are in a hotel with a common bathroom and shower, we had to be more aware of our morning activities, but it turned out not to be a problem at all, and we were out and about pretty much on time. We walked to the Prata Da Figueira and bought tram tickets for the #15 to Belem. Once on board, we struggled to figure out how to use our tickets as the ticket punchers were machines that we've not seen before. An old, disabled man in the front got up out of his seat and showed us exactly how to do it. Later, he threatened a pack of 3 thieves that boarded the tram and yelled at them to get off the tram, which they did. He also assumed, correctly, where we were headed, to the Monastarios Dos Jeronimos, and told us exactly what stop to use, and exactly how to get there from the stop. He made us feel GREAT! We got off at Belem, went to a nearby cafe for some breakfast of coffees and pastries, and then toured the Monastary, which was in immaculate condition. We skipped the attached museum, and did not make it over to the Palacio Belem, or to the Museu Nacional do Coches, but, we did make it to the Padrao Dos Descobrimentos monument to the Portuguese explorers of the 15th century, and all the way over to the Torre de Belem, which was a fantastic structure situated in the water and was used as a political prison by the Spanish when they temporarily took over Portugal. We took the tram back to Cais Do Sodre and bought tickets for the train to Cascais, and after asking a few people, figured out which train to get on. Another older lady sitting in front of us verified that we were in fact on the right train, and which stop we were to get off, and waived goodbye to us after she got off at her stop. What a day! Cascais is just a dreamland. By this time it was 2:30pm or so, and we needed something more substantial to eat, so we found an outdoor restaurant with umbrellas and had a fantastic meal of fresh fish, veggies, potatos, olives, bread, and drinks. Once finished, we walked up and back down the coastline for over 3 hours straight just taking pictures and video. Everyone was out enjoying the weather and the traffic reflected that, so it was nice to be on foot. We met Jose at the train station at 7pm, and he took us back to his place in Cascais to meet Ernest and to have dinner. He has a beautiful, completely remodeled flat, and Ernest is spectacular. Their hospitality was absolutely unbelievable. We started with beer. Then bread and a special portuguese cheese from Setubal, Jose (and Marina's) family's original homes, and thin sliced prosciutto. Then, white wine, and huge plates of a seafood dish Ernest invented, made of clams, shrimp, fish, onions, peppers and spices, absolutely delicious. I have never eaten clams in my life, but tonight was a first, and they were not bad. Actually, I am sure they were excellent, but being my first time, I was just quite happy to have eaten them at all. They loaded our plates twice, and we finished everything. Next, more bread and cheese. And finally, fresh pineapple slices, and then special "sand cookies" and a huge box of other very special tasty cookies, a 2nd and 3rd bottle of white wine, and to top it all off, two small glasses (I know there is a formal name for them, but I don't know what) of port that was aged for more than 20 years. I have only had port a few times, and this stuff was AWESOME!!! I helped them do some planning for their trip to San Francisco later this year, and Vee chatted with them about all kinds of things. They even presented Vee with a gift, absolutely unbelievable, of two CDs, one of Antonio Chainho fado guitar, and the other of Amalia Rodrigues a famous singer. Jose wanted to know what our plans were and asked us if we could postpone our flights to Barcelona tomorrow, and after explaining we needed Internet access to do so, he called a good friend to see if we could borrow her computer with Internet access, and drove us there after dinner to see about making the itinerary changes online. His friend was a very sweet woman, and her Internet connection was very good. I was able to make the changes, with a small fee, and now we are flying to Barcelona on Wednesday, instead of tomorrow. So for the next two days, Jose is going to take us to a whole bunch of other special places outside of Lisbon, and we are PSYCHED!!! We said goodnight to his friend (she is going to join us for the day tomorrow) and then Jose drove us all the way back to our hotel. Tomorrow, it starts all over again at 10:30! Although I did not describe Cascais at all, I will just let our pictures do so. It is a very special place, let's just say that. The kind of place you dream about.

Portugal - Sintra: Exploring places outside of the big city

So let's start with the most comedic part of this fantastic day, before I forget. Tonight, we were either going to see Ive Mendes in concert, a Brazilian artist similar to Sade, or go to a fado bar in the Bairro Alto section of the city. I tried to figure out where the venue was where Ive Mendes was performing, but I could not find it on our map, and thus we decided to head to the Bairro Alto district for the night. Since we are staying at a different hotel the next two nights, in a new location in the middle of the center of the city, the walk would be a short one. On our way to find a fado bar, while we were walking up some steps to the Bairro Alto district, I happened to step in a huge pile of dog *&^%. I tried to scrape it off on the edge of the steps, but was unsuccessful. It was already dark outside, so I couldn't see very well either, and was unable to assess the scope of the damages. As soon as we got to the top of the steps, we found ourselves right close to a fado bar that I had seen advertisements for in our Lisbon entertainment magazine. We walked towards the entrance of the place, called Cafe Luso, and the guy out front ushered us inside as if we were illegal immigrants trying to cross the Rio Grande into Texas from Mexico. He told us it would be okay, but just to make sure NOT to tell anyone that we did not have reservations. Of course once inside, the matre'd (is that the right name and description of this kind of person...like a hostess, but a man) asked us immediately if we had reservations, and unable to lie, I said that we did not have reservations, and he said that was fine, and he seated us at a table for two, in the back of the cafe, where there were maybe a total of 4 more seats left in the entire place. We were told that we were to pay for our meal, and the fado show was included in the price. Well, the first thing we noticed, after being smuggled to our table, was that the place was very much high-class, we felt quite underdressed, the prices on the menu were quite alot more than what we wanted to spend, and that the atmosphere of this place was REALLY cool and trendy. All of the tables were aligned in rows, very close to each other, and as soon as we sat down, I could immediately smell the dog *&^% on my shoe. It didn't help that the 20+ people sitting close to our table were shamelessly staring at us. Here we were, with expensive food on the menu, underdressed, smelling like dog *&^%, and feeling like we wanted to crawl under the table and disappear. After debating, with forced smiles plastered on our faces, what the heck we should do, I said that we needed to escape before they brought anything to our table, and so that's what we did. We put our jackets back on, and quickly scurried out, apoligizing to the "border-runner" and walked back out into the night, embarassed, but deeply relieved. As we continued searching for not-too-shady-looking fado bars, a guy handed us a brochure for his fado bar, which we looked at, and after realizing they did not have fado players there on Saturday night, we continued on our way. But, the brochure, we realized, could prove to be a useful instrument in trying to scrape the dog *&^% off my shoe. So, leaning up against the outside wall of a bar, I strategically folded the brochure, and began scraping the bottom of my shoe. As I was scraping, and people were walking by, a bird sitting on the edge of the roof above took a *&^% onto Vee's head. Nice. Of course, we couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of what was happening to us, and at the same time feeling quite disgusted with our current condition. Eventually, after wandering through some pretty sketchy, scary, graffittied parts, we found a place that was still somewhat empty, but looked like a really cool, laid back place to have a drink and some appetizers. And it was fantastic. Our server was a sweet girl who loved our positive comments about the appetizers (smoked salmon, cheeses, olives) and kept our drinks filled the whole time. The best part though, was that in the mens bathroom, they had a toilet bowl scrubber, which was precisely what I needed, since the folded fado bar brochure was not very effective, to scrape the dog *&^% off of my shoe. And, the womens bathroom had everything Vee needed to clean out the clump of white pasty bird *&^% from her hair too. Cleaned up, we had a fantastic evening, and by the time we were finished with our drinks and apps, the place was packed, and it seemed as if the Bairro Alto area was just then getting started. Apparently we were early. Maybe that is why we got *&^% on so thoroughly. Anyway, on the way back to the hotel, we walked by a pasteleria, and purchased a late night pastry that would be our final treat for the night.

As for the rest of the day, it was fantastic, and our pictures really tell most of the story. Jose, Aunt Marina's cousin who lives in Cascais just outside of Lisbon, picked us up at 10 am. He was a half hour early, but we were not ready, and so unfortunately he had to wait in his car for a while. Jose turned out to be a fantastic guy, very thoughtful, very sweet, patient, and so giving of himself, and his time. We had an amazing day, driving in his beautiful Peugot, through downtown Lisbon, through Belem, into Cascais, stopping to see the Boca do Inferno and have quejeda and coffees, then to Sintra and a delicious lunch and to the palace and then back to our hotel. I cannot begin to describe the beauty of these places, and will defer to our pictures and videos. All I can say is that before today, after last night, I was ready to leave Portugal behind. But now, I want, so much, to be able to spend a few more days here, but we already have our flight booked to Barcelona for Monday night. Sintra was pure magic. Cascais was a coastal paradise. And Belem is full of interesting treasures. Tomorrow, we plan to take the tram to Belem, then the train to Cascais, meet up with Jose again, and have dinner at his place. We are both really looking forward to our day. I think the ticket to this part of Portugal is to enjoy Lisbon for it's nightlife and some of it's historical, and monumental sites, but to get outside the city for the truly wonderful stuff. Too bad we can't stay longer. But then, there is alot that awaits us in Barcelona, and Italy, and ...........

Portugal - Lisboa - Out and About

Last night, we had a fantastic dinner. Our intent was to find a fado bar in the Bairro Alto area of the city, where we could here some music, have a few drinks and something to eat. Another goal was to figure out the Metro system. Our hotel was far enough outside of the center city area to make it quite obvious that we would need a better way for getting there than walking, taking a taxi or a bus. We did successfully figure out the Metro system, and made our way down to the Restauradores neighborhood without any problems, and it is quite a nice Metro. On our way to the Bairro Alto area, we saw a restaurant that had fresh fish laid out, and a nice cozy authentic portuguese seafood kind of atmosphere, so we couldn't resist. Dinner consisted of a small bottle of white wine, cheese, bread, olives, mixed vegetables, and a huge platter of 4 grilled fishes, and shrimp. For dessert, we had a tangerine sorbet, and vienese layered ice cream. Everything was delicious! By the time we finished, we were ready to call it a night, and opted to go back to the hotel instead of to a fado bar.

Today, we got up early enough for the complimentary breakfast, a first. After breakfast, we popped into a cyber cafe for about a half hour of free kiosk Internet access and reserved our next hotel for two more nights in Lisbon, and bought our plane tickets to Barcelona on Monday. Then we got the Metro back down into the Restauradores area, and walked to the Alfama part of the city. Alfama is known for its narrow winding roads, giving birth to Fado music, and the Castelo do Sau Jorge. On the way, we found a correio, or post office, and mailed all of the postcards we've been hoarding since we arrived 2 weeks ago. On the way to Alfama, we discovered a fabulous art gallery, probably the most beautiful one I've ever seen. It was an old building, completely restored, with perfectly white concrete walls, recessed and track lighting, exposed brick, arched entryways, concrete floors, and glass floor inserts. I asked if I could video the gallery, but was told I couldn't, which I expected. We continued on towards the castle and found it pretty quickly. The castle was full of beautiful little nooks, trees, stone walkways, towers, and ramparts. We walked the entire area, but forgot to visit the multimedia display, and when we tried to get back in later to see it, they would not let us. We had a coffee, dulce de leche pastry, and vegetable roll for a snack at a friendly small cafeteria and visited some of the shops. One was selling portuguese wines, spirits and port. Some of their port was produced in the late 1950's and sold for almost 800EUR per bottle. Needless to say, we left that shop empty-handed, but it was quite interesting. After our failed attempt to get back into the castle grounds to see the multimedia history of Lisbon show, we walked to the monastary. It was in pretty poor condition on the inside, though still pretty, and they had a dedicated visitors area that we skipped because it would have cost 4 EUR each to get in and it did not seem all that compelling. I really wanted to find the Museu do Fado, and I asked an old man smoking a cigarette in what I assumed was the doorway to the front of this house if he could tell us how to get to the Museu. He was very friendly, and very willing to offer us directions, and we eventually found our way there. The Museu was extremely impressive, with beautiful displays, lots of audio and video, and collections of record albums, photos, magazine and newspaper clippings, and even a life-size fado bar. We continued walking around the Alfama area, going into some shops, a few more churches, plazas, and took alot of pictures. Ending up down in the Baixa area, we considered taking one of the cable cars for a ride through the city, but missed the last one, and it turned out to be pretty expensive anyway. We enjoyed the Praca do Comercio, with the huge equestrian statue of Dom Jose I, and the opposing Arco do Rua Augusto. The downside though was that I was aggressively solicited to buy a pair of sunglasses, and then within the next half hour, solicted 4 times to buy cocaine, marijuana and hash. Not the best feeling in the world. We thought about riding the Elevador de Santa Justa, but decided against it, as we were feeling somewhat insecure and watched. We also wanted to buy some of the street artist's paintings, but we really have nowhere to put it, and decided not to. Soon, we took the metro back towards our hotel, stopped into a supermercado for some snacks, and then went to our room to indulge in some wine, bread, cheese, fruit and beer. This'll be a quiet night, as we've just decided that we're not feeling real good about being out on that same part of the town after our experiences late this afternoon.

Some of our general impressions including the following. The people in Lisbon are polite enough, but don't seem to have a joy about them. This has been our consistent experience in each place we visit. The folks are not mean to us, or impolite, but just not very friendly either. I'd be willing to say that we don't feel quite welcome here. Not because of being American, but more because we are obviously not from Portugal. We also feel the least secure here of any place that we've been. People are not afraid to stare, and we have a constant feeling of being watched, and being measured up for an opportunity to be taken advantage of. We both felt that this might be the main reason why we were not able to fully absorb the magic of this city. The city has so much beauty to offer, but it is all with a rough edge to it. I'd compare the beauty to that of dried flowers. Dried flowers are beautiful, but not in the same way as freshly cut flowers. Not necessarilly more or less beautiful, just a different kind. Lisbon is like this. Beautiful in a melancholic and unique way.

Portugal - Lisboa - Leaving Madrid

Another late night, so another late morning. We got cleaned up, packed, and checked out at noon, and went on a mission to find a new cafe. The Jamaica Cafe was not quite what we had in mind, so we continued on past the Plaza Mayor to the Ital Cafe, our favorite place we discovered during our first few days in Madrid. We noticed a definite buzz about the place, and Vee speculated that there was going to be some kind of film-making going on. After sipping our coffees for a bit, it turned out that Vee was exactly right, and we had a front row seat to all the action right there in the little plaza outside the cafe. The weather was absolutely perfect, as it has been the majority of the time we've been here, and so we were sitting outside to enjoy it. We ended up spending most of the rest of the day there, and got to see an entire set put together, filming, and set teardown. It must have been some kind of cheezy tv commercial being shot. There was no dialogue and they kept shooting the same two scenes repeatedly. The directors appeared to be American, the support staff Argentinian and the actors and extras Spanish. It was alot of fun people-watching and the sun was keeping us nice and warm, so we had no reason to leave anytime soon. Our hotel had allowed us to keep our main packs with them, and our train to Lisbon was not leaving until 10:45pm, so we had all day to do whatever we wanted. I wrote some poetry, and Vee did some sketching. Once the filming stop, and the set was torn down, we walked to the Plaza Mayor and wandered around there for a while, then went to a SuperCor and got some bread, cheese, beer, sketching paper, pen, and a magazine. Then we went to the little shop where we bought our electric adapter and bought a little beer bottle opener that was also a refrigerator magnet in the shape of the Plaza Mayor. We went back to the Plaza Mayor and found a great sitting area where we ate our bread and cheese. A couple of dogs came over to beg for some bread, and wouldn't let us alone, so we left and went to the Plaza Santa Ana and hung out there some more. We tried to find areas in the city center where we hadn't yet been, but after looking at the map, we realized that we have already been just about everywhere. At the Plaza Santa Ana, there is some playground equipment where a bunch of little kids were playing with the Moms and Dads watching and laughing close by. There was also a pack of dogs having a good ole time in chasing each other around the plaza while there owners congregated in a little group chat. The Plaza Santa Ana was a bit dirty and there was a bunch of construction nearby, so it we didn't stay long, and headed back to the hotel where they have a beautiful lounge with comfortable furniture and Internet.

--*!##!*--

We eventually made our way to the Metro, taking the #1 towards Chamartin Station and huffing it the last few blocks since construction has the last leg of the metro line shut down. We had some time to kill as we were a bit early, so we shared a coffee and pastry, bought a bottled water, and boarded the TrenHotel. We mistakenly walked into the wrong train car, and it smelled a bit funny, but then someone told us where we were supposed to be, and that car was just fine. The seats were nice and wide, with 2 on one side, and 1 on the other. I read Time magazine, and listened to Noam Chomsky lectures on my MP3 player, while Vee attempted to sleep. I guess around 2 or 3, I finally decided to try and sleep, but it was difficult. It wasn't much longer before the sun started coming up, and after the train guys, now portuguese instead of spanish, checked our tickets again, the train finally pulled into Lisboa. It was a somewhat rustic train station, with pigeons walking and laying around inside. A few people tried to solicit us to stay at their particular hotels, but already having reservations and Italian Residence, we declined. We bought a map, which may or may not have been sold to us at the posted price (5.5 EUR seems expensive to me for a map), and found out exactly which train station we were in from one of the hotel solicitor people, then went walking towards the Restauradores area of the city. We were both hungry, and groggy from a lack of sleep, and stopped in a little cafeteria for some breakfast of coffee, fresh squeezed orange juice, and pastries. I sure could go for a big fat cheezy Western omelette with home fries!! We paid up, strapped the packs back on, and started walking in the general direction of the hotel, hoping that we might be able to get in early, clean up, drop off our packs and create a plan of attack. It was quite a trek, taking about 2 hours, and almost all uphill. We didn't realize how far it would be, but we were pretty proud of ourselves for doing it. We are growing confident that we are really going to enjoy Lisbon. Once at the hotel, we picked up a few touristy materials describing things to do, and it looks like there is a TON of things we'll be getting into. Tonight, hopefully a fado bar. For now, we just need a rest, and showers.

Madrid - El Prado

We woke up late and had coffees, chocolate danish and smoked ham bocadillo at Cafe di Roma, right around the corner. Actually, before going out, we spent a good bit of time researching the next leg of our trip. Our original itinerary was to fly from Madrid to Vigo, then take the train down the coast to Porto, Coimbra, and then Lisbon. We've now decided that we are going to take a train directly to Lisbon instead, and spend 4 nights there and then fly to Barcelona. It was a very difficult decision as we really wanted to see more of Portugal, and Porto is supposed to be beautiful. However, we are feeling like we need to think about the amount of time we are going to have in May and June to see the scandinavian countries, England, Scotland and Ireland, and really wanted to try and do what we can to make sure we have time to experience those places. Also, the trip to Portugal is fairly long via train, and not as inexpensive as we had hoped via airplane, so that changed things too. Regardless, we are very excited to get to Lisbon. After our late breakfast, it was El Prado for the rest of the day. Admission was 6 EUR each, and we saw the entire collection. It was amazing to see all these famous works that we've studied in Art History classes by El Greco, Titian, Tintoretto, Valesquez, Goya, Reubens, Rafael and many many more including Roman sculptures dating BC. The amazing thing is that there is nothing protecting the works. They are literally just hanging on the walls, with nothing between you, and the work but a rope, and plenty of opportunity for someone to get right up next to the work. It was overwhelming to see so much important artwork, but we were very proud of ourselves for sticking it out the entire afternoon until we saw everything. We decided that as much as we appreciated the work, their historical and cultural significance, we wouldn't want any of it hanging on our walls...it was just not that kind of art. On the way back to our room, we stopped at the little market around the corner, and got some red wine, bread, cheese, and grapes. They kindly opened the bottle for us, and then we indulged for a bit back at the hotel. Perfectly dreamy. Just the kind of evening we spoke of when trying to imagine what kinds of things we'd like to be doing during this trip. The clock was ticking, and we still had to run up to the Chamartin Train Station to buy our train ticket reservations for Lisbon. We had no problem getting the right Metro, and it took us to within a few blocks of the train station. The clerk explained the various trenhotel options to us, and then ultimately, we decided on the cheapies, and will hope that we can sleep sitting up, instead of in one of the nice all meals included trenhotel rooms. After buying our reservations, we metroed back to Puerto Del Sol, and went out for some nighttime fun, turning down offer after offer for entrance to the dance clubs, and instead, went to a little lesbian bar where we had some delicious smoked trout, and cheese tapas, a beer for me, and a Coke for Vee. The cigarette smoke got to be too much for me, so we left for the Irish Pub across the street from our hotel, where I had been wanting to go. They extorted 7.5 EUR out of us for a draft Heineken and a Pepsi, and after finishing up, we quickly exited. I was in the mood for some more fresh bread, but our local market was closed. It's now 1:40 am, and I'm heading to bed. Another fantastic day.

Madrid - Back to the Center of our Spanish Universe

Back in Madrid, and absolutely loving it. We got a tremendous deal on our hotel in Malaga, even better than we originally thought, and found another fantastic deal here in Madrid in a beautiful hotel with a fabulous location just a few blocks from La Puerta Del Sol. We are both really falling in love with Madrid. There is just so much vibrancy here. These little streets are packed full of bars, restaurants, and all sorts of shops. The train ride from Malaga today was pretty long, at 4 1/2 hours, but as usual, very comfortable, and a pleasure. It was great for Vee to get some video work done, and for me to observe the landscape. One thing that struck me is that the areas outside the cities are very much like what I've seen in Bolivia. Very agrarian, poor, and the lands seem very exploited and worn out. I've noticed that so much of the land is utilized, and has been carved out, mined, farmed, or left behind. The hillsides are terraced and farmed. There are areas where it looked like rivers once existed that are now either completely dry, or the remnants of a river barely trickle through. It is sad to see how much damage there has been to the land. Once in Madrid though, it's as if none of that ever existed. This city has a racing pulse and there is no end to the activity. Tonight, we explored our hotels surroundings and discovered a little microbrewery where Vee enjoyed un vino tinto de la casa, and I had dos cervezas tostadas(dark), and dos cervezas rubias(blonde), both of which were delicious. We also shared a plate of five appetizers consisting of bread pieces with various spreads, and some papas "bravas" which were fried potato pieces in a spicy creamy sauce and delicious! Afterwards, it was just a very short walk back to the hotel, with a very quick stop in a small market where we picked up some bread, apples, water and nutella spread. Back in our room, we are enjoying our snacks, and getting pumped up for our night out at Cafe Central, where there is going to be a jazz quintet playing tonight. It is a place listed in our book, Lonely Planet's Europe On A Shoestring, and we are very excited to go. It is going to be a bit pricey, but how often are we going to get to see jazz in Madrid in our lifetimes. More later.--*!##!*--It's 12:30am, and Madrid is still going strong. We just got back from Cafe Central where we got to witness a blazing performance by the Jose Antonio Ramos Grupo, a quintet from the Canary Islands featuring a frontman playing a timple, which is tiny guitar type of instrument. They tore it up! It was one of those performances that you just want to go on and on. Cafe Central is a quaint little joint with a corner stage, yellowish lighting, excellent sound, and attentive servers. The band was an instrumental jazz band, with a percussionist, flautist, bassist, guitarist and timple player. They finished their set with Stings "Englishman in New York", and for the first time all night, the bassist took the lead with vocals that sounded identical to Stings'. It was another FABULOUS night in Madrid. I don't want it to end.

Spain - Malaga - Chilln in our Room

We are having our first down day, meaning, nothing artsy, cultural or historical allowed. We needed this very much. We found a supermercado closeby and indulged in fresh warm bread, bottles of beer, cheddar cheese, yogurt drinks, gala apples, bottled water, 99% cacao chocolate, fried corn nuts and a tasty snack mixture of peanuts, etc. After shopping, we popped into the cafe and each had a delicious cafe con leche, our stomachs first visitors of the day. We came right back to the hotel, giddily carrying our bags of sin, and headed straight back to our room for a day of doing not much of anything. That's actually not true, since Vee wrote emails, and I wrote postcards. It just felt like we were doing "nothing" since we weren't out exploring historical and/or cultural sites. I went a bit nutso at the market, and bought 5 bottles of German beer, of which I have finished 3 so far. Each has been delicious, inspiring pipe-dreams of opening a beer-and-baguette boutique in Philly upon our return. How much fun would it be to travel the world, tasting beer, eating bread and cheese, and shipping the best of it back for premium sale in the City? If someone is not doing it already, someone will. So, we're just enjoying our time together, doing not much of anything in our hotel room. Bonus, the wee-fee (Wi-Fi) Internet connection actually works here in this hotel, just not rip-roaring fast like at the Internet cafe that we had to pay for in Sevilla. We took a still-life snapshot of our indulgences that you can check out in our photo gallery in case you are curious about the beers I am enjoying. We also just went online, to bookings.es, and booked another night for even LESS here at the Zeus Hotel. Tomorrow, we're actually going to get out and experience the city. There is a Picasso museum that I am excited to see, as they have more than 200 of his works. Maybe, we'll also hop a bus to some of the beaches and see what that's all about.--*!##!*--Last night, we made another trip to SuperCor, to get some ham, more bread, mustard, marmalade and more beer. I finished the first group of 5 delicious German beers, and bought 5 more bottles, all Czech and one Argentinian, and finished those too. We watched Nadal beat Federer in the Dubai Open, and then shot a quick video of my beer bottle opening technique since we do not have a bottle opener. We are going to have to invest in a combo wine and beer bottle opener if we expect to survive this trip. With all of our newly purchased provisions, we made ham & cheese sandwiches, bread with marmalade, and ate some other munchies. Vee finished up alot of video, and we moved those to the website, then went to bed around 1am.This morning, we walked into the city's historical center, and had a quick couple of cafes con leche and pastries. Next, we went to the information center and learned about how the bus system worked, where some pretty beaches are, and what to do and see in the historic section of the city. Our first stop was the cathedral, and although they had a big sign out front asking people not to enter for tourist purposes because they were having church services, everyone was going in anyway, and we did too. It was actually very inspiring to see the service going on, with a congregation seated, 5 or 6 priests, singing and organ playing. This cathedral was different from the others we've seen, and actually, I think it may be my favorite so far. The architecture was just so beautiful, yet simpler. It resembled a huge romantic tastefully decorated mansion. The walls were tastefully adorned with paintings and wood and/or marble carvings but not to the extreme that has been the norm in the other cathedrals. The marble used was particularly colorful and unique. We watched the service some, and walked around the insides, then exited and took some pictures from the gardens outside. Next, was the Picasso museum which was just across the street and down an alley, in a place called the Palacio de Buena Vista. The building itself was magnificantly restored and a wonderful place for art to be displayed. The security was tight, and we left our bags with the security people. As for the art, hmmmmmmm... Maybe Vee and I have different opinions and appreciations here. I personally am not a huge fan of Picasso, and I have a very difficult time "getting" his genius. Many of the works we saw were "woman seated on chair", or "naked woman on chair", or "woman with hat and chicken", or "indecently exposed fat man and naked woman on chair". Not to degrade Picasso, and I mean no disrespect to him or his work. I just don't like it. And that is the beauty of art. I am allowed to say that no matter how respected he and/or his body of work is by those who are supposed to know better. So, after the Picasso museum, which housed about 200 pieces, we went to La Plaza De La Merced and shared some bread and did some people watching. I even fed a few hungry looking pigeons, showing particular favor for a pure white one that seemed to be doing figure 8's between my feet. Next, as it would be our lucky day, we entered the Castillo de Alcazabar, for free, which is the case each Sunday. It was a huge ancient palace built by Romans, with many gardens, pools, and beautiful views of the city, in amazing condition considering it was originally built in the 6th century B.C. After wandering the grounds, we continued up the hill and into the Castillo De Gibralfaro, which was at the very top of the mountain, providing breathtaking 360 degree views of all of Malaga. The wind was quite strong at the top, and it was somewhat unnerving when trying to navigate the narrow ramparts. I did walk down into a very tight twisting tower stairwell that took me down a few levels to a whole new series of winding ramparts, but the wind was blowing too strong, and the walls were too low for me to continue on much further. It was quite a thrill to be at the top, and the views were captivating. The walk was tough too. It was quite a steep trek, and a good leg workout. We got lots of video and photos, then made our way back to the hotel for a bit of a break, then back out for a bit to eat. The distance back to the city center was an unattractive option, so we stayed closeby, and actually ended up right back at the Pizza Pino, as we really enjoyed it the first time, and didn't want to spend much on our meal. Vee had a salad with chicken (and too much mayonnaise...whats up with that?!) and I had a delicious spinach and ricotta cheese stuffed pasta in a red sauce. After dinner, we went across the street and capped off the evening with some coffees and dessert at the Jamaica Cafe. Tonight, we'll be reserving our room online in Madrid, and figuring out where exactly we'll be going next and how to get there. Until next time, buenas noches.

Spain - Sevilla to Malaga

I don't know what is the best way to do this. I am way behind in blogging, and now I am not going to have the time, nor the detailed recollection to get it right. We've been on the go constantly, and only very recently have we had good Internet access. When we have had bits of downtime, we both need the computer, and so I've not been able to keep up, what with all the photos to download and edit, videos to download and edit, blah blah. So, here we are in Malaga, and I have not even written a bit about Sevilla. And oh what a magnificant time we had in Sevilla, I'll rewind a bit, and try to pick up where I left off in the last blog.After we figured out the electricity situation in our beautiful room in Sevilla (insert access card into little slot just inside the door in order to complete the circuit), we were soon off to explore the city on foot. We were both tired, and hungry, so our first motivation was to find a bite to eat. We found a place called Pans & Company just a few blocks away, and seemingly on the cusp of alot of buzzing activity. Pans was a chain fast food joint offering long baguette sandwiches, of which we had one each. Mine was a tasty mixto of blue cheese, tomatos, gargonzola and Vee's was a tunafish mixto. My orange Fanta tasted particularly good. With bellies that were somewhat more satisfied, we continued exploring and found Sevilla to be a city of contradictions, charming, quaint and historic, modern, chaotic and chic. Emphasis on chic, because it has been a while since I have seen so many fashion retail stores. Not stores like TJMax and Marshalls, which is my kind of fashion, but instead, REAL fashion stores, exotic womens clothing, shoes, jewellry, accessories, perfumes, belts, and on and on, street after street, a whole extensive grid of this stuff. We were not expecting that. Once beyond all this shopping, and people watching, we found the river that cuts through the city, and along its banks, crossed a bridge, walked along that side of it, crossed back over, and continued towards what looked to be some beautiful old buildings, including a cathedral, and assorted castle-like structures. We had no idea what we were looking at, but we found ourselves surrounded by beautiful architecture. The muslims had enormous influence on the city, and you could tell by alot of what remained architecturally, and we loved it. The sun was beginning to hit the point in the sky that just made everything around us even more beautiful as the light was that late afternoon golden orange glow that enriches all the colors you see. With the light the way it was, and the buildings we were among, it was as if every time we turned our heads, we were facing something amazingly beautiful. We would be saying "Wow" in unchoreographed unison, scurrying from street to street, snapping pictures of as much as we could, as quickly as we could, knowing the light would soon be gone. We took a breather in a plaza situated at the foot of the cathedral and watched groups of tourists, packs of kids, couples and workers do their thing. Wanting for a coffee, we found a great place, of which we eventually learned there were plenty of in Sevilla, called the Cafe de India. We each had cappuccinos, and shared a sweet ice cream and a slice of cake. One thing we are finding difficult to do is eathing healthy. We are not finding any fruit stands, which would be really nice, for Vee anyway. For me, I could really use a great big green salad. Anyway, with a much fuller afternoon than we expected, we headed back to the hotel. Our original goal for Wednesday, our first day in Sevilla, and only a half day since we would be travelling from Toledo, was to get all caught up with our blogs, photos, videos and the website. The hotel claimed to have Wi-fi, and so once back at the hotel, we napped a bit, and then I ventured down into the lobby to get the password and get online. The guy behind the desk gave me what he said I needed, but it would not work. I asked again to make sure I had the right information, and he confirmed as much, but it still would not work. After an hour or more of complete frustration, I gave up, and Vee asked for directions to an Internet cafe closeby, where we were able to sneak in for an hour before they closed, and at least get caught up on emails. Afterwards, we tried finding a place to eat, and quickly learned that Sevilla is NOT Madrid, and that after about 10 o'clock, almost every restaurant and bar is closed, or about to close. We asked a couple of young girls on the street if they knew where we could go, but their recommendation was for an area of the city we had explored earlier in the day, and would have been a pretty long hike from where we were. So, we resigned to starving some more, and heading back to the hotel. Luckily, this hotel had a mini-bar, and the prices were cheap. I quickly gulped down two beers, a small bag of peanuts, and we shared some chips. Then, it was time to do the laundry. One mistake so far has been to not to have done much laundry. I only had one more set of clothes to wear the next day, and so for another hour or so, we washed clothes in the sink, wrung them out in the shower and hung them anywhere we could find in the bathroom. By 1am, we were exhausted, and went to bed.Thursday would be our full day in Sevilla. And what a day! It started with a tasty traditional breakfast in a local pub consisting of a fluffy roll cut as a sandwich, loaded with olive oil, little slices of ham, and tomato puree. It was delicious, along with the coffees, and fresh squeezed orange juice. We contemplated ordering more, but I did not want to come across as an American glutton, so we decided to go on with bellies temporarilly satisfied, knowing we'd probably be indulging in some sweet pastry during our walk. We walked to the Cathedral, paid the admission fee, which I thought was a bit expensive, and spent the next hour or so there. It was magnificant, but in a different way from the cathedral in Toledo. The cathedral in Sevilla seemed more approachable because of it's many imperfections. There was work being done to two of the main supporting columns, and these were the first two big ugly things we saw upon entering. It was also a cathedral that was very obviously added to, in different styles and materials over time, having gone from in islamic mosque, to roman style, to gothic style, etc. But, it was absolutely beautiful, and once again the carvings, paintings, stained glass, artificts, etc. were staggering in their intricacy and artisanship. The part that was most fun was climbing the 35 levels into the tower and seeing the views from the top. There were only stairs at the very top, last level, with the rest of the way being a gradually inclining series of ascending/descending perimeter walkways. I really don't know how to describe it accurately, but it was really simple. There were people of all ages making there way up and down, which was heartening to see. One sweet lady was really huffing and puffing her way, while her husband would march ahead, stop, and patiently wait for her to catch up. So sweet. We got alot of pictures and video from the top as the views of the city were beautiful and expansive, from each of the four sides of the tower. I could have staid there much longer, but you were always having to jostle for position, and we had enough, and made our way back down, which was much easier than the climb up. Next, we took a little break sitting on the steps surrounding the grounds of the cathedral and watched the guys with the horse and carts situate themselves in various parts of the street so as to not be in the way of the passing cars, motorcycles and pedestrians. We had the urge for some croissants, and found a corner pasteleria where we picked up a chocolate filled one, and a vanilla filled one. Next was the bullfighting stadium. The weather was perfect, and warm, and the walk was refreshing. We finished our croissants and joined a quick tour of the stadium where we learned about the history of the stadium, it's acclaimed fighters, it's acclaimed bulls, and such. A bullfight lasts about 2 to 2 1/2 hours, and there are 6 bulls and 3 bullfighters, with each bullfighter responsible for killing 2 bulls. I am not sure if my recollection is right, but I think that the matador (bullfighter) fights with the bulls for about 2 hours, and the last 20 minutes to half hour is when they actually end up killing the bulls. In this stadium, there were 2 picaderos, and 1 very famous matador killed by the bulls. We go to see the infirmary area where they attend to anyone injured in the show, and this was a pretty serious looking place with lots of equipment looking quite ready to be used for some really serious injuries. Being gored by a bull is not on the top of my list of ways to die, that is for sure. After our tour, we knew we were close to some places that would have flamenco shows, and so we went hunting for one of them. We found the one we were looking for, and then decided to walk back towards the river to relax a bit in the sun there. We considered a river boat cruise, but they were way expensive, and instead, we headed back towards the Internet cafe near the hotel, with an indulgant stop into another Cafe de India for two cappuccinos and a sweet slice chocolate-mocha cake. In the Internet cafe, we got alot accomplished, and that was quite a relief. We quickly stopped in our hotel room, and then headed back out in hopes of landing tickets to the flamenco show we found earlier. We arrived about an hour early, got our tickets, and excellent seats in the very front of the flamenco theatre. The beers were expensive, so we only had one each, and a small complementary bowl of mixed tasty crunchy peanuts. What would unfold before us was something for which I have no words to express. I can only say that it left us both floored. All choked up, glassy-eyed, and awestruck. I've never seen a live flamenco performance before, so I didn't know what to expect. Vee's grandmother on her Mom's side was a flamenco-dancer in Sevilla, and Vee and her sisters dance flamenco, so Vee knew what was coming. Either way, with or without expectations, it was AWESOME. The dancer's name was Carmen, and she was EXACTLY what an authentic Spanish flamenco dancer should be. She was part of a 3 person team, with the other two being the singer and guitar player. All of them were amazing. I'll never forget this. Their performance burned into our souls. Once it was over, and it was about an hour, we went to a place we saw earlier in the day for paella. Luckily, they were still open, and our waiter was quite a performer too, a young Canadien self-proclaimed alcoholic, speaking fluent Spanish, English, French, and apparently Arabic. Our meal was delicious, a large pan full of chicken paella, rolls, beers, and individual house salads. Finally FULL!!! Then, back to the hotel, exhausted after another day packed full of activity. Asleep in no time.Now, we're in Malaga. The train ride from Sevilla was beautiful. Mountains, green hills, rivers, terraced fields of crops, etc. Upon arriving, we walked to our hotel, called Zeus, just a few blocks from the train station. Immediate reaction to Malaga not a very positive one. Dirty, smelly, not well kept. Zeus is perfectly adequate though, clean and neat, but a pretty far walk from everything but the train station. Not having eaten anything all day, and already it was mid-afternoon, we sought out a place to eat. We ended up in a corner cafeteria where smoking was very obviousl permitted. We ordered a pasta salad, and a potato salad. When served, I thought our plates were loaded with a New England Clam Chowder-looking type of stew. Nope. It was mayonaisse. Yep, my meal, pasta salad, consisted of a plate of mayonaisse, with some bowtie pastas, and little ham cubes mixed in. Vee's potato salad was a plate of mayonaisse, with pieces of potato and onion mixed in. Luckily, they also put a large bowl of bread, and some fresh olives on the table, all of which we devoured. We did our best with the mayo plates, and tried to disguise the amounts leftover as having been thoroughly picked over. Luckily, the size of the bill was commensurate with the tastiness of the food. We left to explore the city, and found a few things we'd like to see tomorrow. But really, our initial impressions of the city were further confirmed. I believe though, by looking at some of the posted maps of the city, that the nice parts are outside of the city center. It is a coastal town, and I think that you have to be at the beach resorts to enjoy the city more. We'll see. Back to the hotel for a long nap since we were both feeling worn out, and want to also get caught up on our videos and blogging and website duties. Hungry again.--*!##!*--It is Saturday morning in Malaga. We went out late last night in search of an atm machine, and a grocery store to get a light sandwich, fruit and water. The guy at the front desk told us about a large store that was supposed to be open until 2am, and a block where there were lots of atms. We had no trouble finding an atm (2 EUR charge to extract money), and then headed for the grocery store. After double-checking, and triple-checking our map, still no grocery store. We ended up wandering through a mall that was open late and packed full of youngsters hanging out on the steps, and people of all ages inside in the many restaurants. Back outside, I convinced Vee to ask to ladies standing near us if they knew about the market, and they did. It was closed for business, and used to be directly right across the street from where we were standing. We'd have to wait until the morning, and find another one that we had seen before, and knew was open for business. Still hungry, we went to a Pizza Pino on the corner, that advertised it's other location as being on the Champps di L'Essys (spellings wrong, I know) in Paris. I wonder if we were there for pizza a few summers ago. The place was packed, and by this time, it was after 11pm. We each got a pizza, and mine was excellent, a super thin crispy wheat crust with a light tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, artichokes, black olives, and red peppers. Poor Vee only wanted some fruit and a water, but under pressure when the waiter came to take our orders, felt obligated to order whatever she saw first, and that turned out to be a cheese pizza, salty with anchovies and capers. I was still hungry enough, after finishing mine, to help her with hers, and I ate my first anchovie. Ummm, you can hold the anchovies for me, for life. No me gusta. The capers were good though. Salty, fishy fish on pizza is not what I'd want topping my pizzas. Well, now at least I know. Before, I just always assumed I wouldn't like them. So anyway, I loved my pizza, and the beers, and the speed with which it was all delivered to our table. We paid up, and headed back to the hotel. Nothing else to report, except a long good nights sleep, and now we are up and showerered, and heading out to find Vee some fruit, me some water, and maybe some mouthwash for the remains of the anchovies.