Avilà, Spain: walled city

Avilà is a one hour train ride side trip from Madrid.  Its claims to fame are its medieval walls; it’s the birthplace of Saint Theresa and Yema desert treats made by the nuns.

Like with the country in general in mid-July, Avilà is incredibly hot at midday as the only shade to be found comes from the buildings depending on the angle of the sun! Avilà’s walls reminded me of the little town of Castellino in Italy. Though it seems that built in 1100, Avilà’s walls are Spain’s oldest, most well preserved and most complete.


The first view of the walls after the 10 minute walk from the train station

Main gate

 I would recommend a few hours stopover in Avila if you're in the area. By the way, as for Yemas, the famous desert, we bought some at the nun's bakery and had some on the way home.  I'm not sure if we bought the wrong thing but they are litterally a fried egg yolk covered in sugar.  It's not bad, but it has a weird texture and wasn't what I was expecting at all!

Madrid, another city that never sleeps

Madrid is the city where I quickly discovered that you have to learn to pace yourself. It’s incredibly hot, 37 or 38°C before the humidex and at midnight it’s still over 30!  Also, Spaniards seem to come to life around 5 in the evening, have dinner around 10 or 11 and at midnight are still walking the streets with young children. The heat is exhausting and even with breaks during the day, you really either need to get a very late start or you need to siesta in the middle of the afternoon as it’s quite easy to get into the rhythm of eating late and staying up late.



The Royal Palace



I can’t say Madrid is impressive because of its monuments.  The Royal Palace is nice but it’s not Versailles. After the Royal Palace we did the hop on, hop off bus.  Though, there are quite a few gates, I can’t say that it rivals Barcelona’s architecture and its sheer number of monuments.  We did, however, take the time to visit Real Madrid’s Stadium Bernabeu.  Our tour included access to the stadium seating at various levels, the pitch, a trophy room, the player’s bench and the locker room.  It was quite interesting to be able to see all the trophies and to discover that Real Madrid was named the best team of the 20^th century by FIFA.

On the pitch

We had a great late night at a place called Bulev’art where Heineken is 6 for 5E! Even at 3am there are still many people walking the streets.  It’s been great but exhausting.

At Mile 0, the center of Spain

We tried a great restaurant yesterday that was recommended in the guidebook called El Caldero where we had a great chicken and vegetable Spanish rice dish which we had with the fantastic house Sangria.  They served us a digestif called Karlova which is a caramel vodka drink!  It was fabulous.  If ever you’re in Madrid near Puerta del Sol and Plaza Santa Ana look for this restaurant you won’t regret it.

Speaking of Puerta del Sol, I stood at mile ‘0’ which, according to the, plaque in the square, marks the spot for the center of Spain. 

So if ever in Madrid, enjoy the strolls through the streets, enjoy the cooler evenings and nights, grab a spot on a terasse to people watch. Or, like me, you can enjoy listening to a guy following you along down the street, telling you how beautiful you are and how much he would like to come to Canada ;)

Barcelona, a city not unlike Montreal

We had 2 days in Barcelona, well 1 full and two half days including the arrival and departure days.  I didn’t know much about the city besides the fact that it is in a region called Catalunya which considers itself a distinct society within Spain much like Quebec.  There are two official languages; Catalan and Spanish.  Catalan is like a Spanish version of French, for example please is si vos plaus, closer to s’il vous plait then por favore.

At my last blog, I posted that we were going out on the tourist bus; we caught the red line and enjoyed the city from the top of the open double decker bus.it was really starting to sink in that A-I’m on vacation and B- how wonderful it is to be in Barcelona. 

Our first jump off was at Place d’Espanya. It was the setting for the 1929 world fair as well as the about our whirlwind first afternoon and evening. 1992 Olympics. Next stop for us was the Teleferic de Montjuic which brought us up Montjuic (about the same size as Mont Royal it would seem to me, where we got to visit the castle where we enjoyed some wonderful views of Barcelona. Since we got on the last bus tour, we hopped off at the stop at the bottom of the Ramblas to that we could stroll it and find a place to eat dinner.  We went to a restaurant called La Fonda recommended by Rick Steves.  We had a great meal including wine and desert for 16.5E.  After dinner, exhausted, we made our way up the Rablas as were amazed but the sheet number of people out even close to midnight! So much for our early nigh!

Saturday we were up and out for about 11:00 and headed back to the touristic bus.  We got on at Placa de Catalunya and made our way North.  The plan was to head to Barcelona’s most iconic landmark, Gaudi’s Segrega Familia.  When we got there, we headed for the ticket line and were dismayed to see that the line to buy tickets wrapped around three sides of the Church.  Now I have to mention that my trusty Rick Steves’ guidebook had recommended that we skip the line by buying our tickets online, I don’t know want possessed me not the take the advice especially given my experience skipping the 4 hour line at the Coliseum thanks to the same guidebook.  Anyhow, we decided to continue on the route and loop back to the hotel, buy the tickets and go back late afternoon.

Me in front of the Passion Facade of Segrega Familia

Our next stop was at Parc Güell, another of Gaudi’s creations.  It was meant to be a 30 acres, park-like gated community.  The project never took off and the 15 acres that contain Gaudi’s work were donated back to the city by the Güell family.  I didn’t think I would be a Gaudi fan, but I can now appreciate his use of engineering and his desire to replicate what is seen in nature.

Main Entrance at Park Gruell

We had a nice lunch sitting on a terrace just outside the park and had sangria, Spanish ham sandwiches and a salad.  What a wonderful way to take a breather!

Our next hop was at the Barcelona futball stadium, the largest in Europe, with a capacity of 100,000 and home to Club Barca.  Europeen Soccer is currently on hiatus due to the Euro Cup and the Olympics in two weeks. So the only way we were going to see the inside of the stadium was to buy a 23E tour that lasted 1.5 hours.  So we skipped given that it was already late afternoon. 

Back at the hotel Reding for 6pm, I jumped on the computer to buy our Segrega tickets and saw that the last pre-purchased entrance is at 7pm.  Since it didn’t leave us enough time we adapted our plans We headed to the beach!  I love any excuse to go to the beach, so we spent the last 2 hours of the sun sitting on the beach, I went for a quick dip and read while Josee rode the waves for a while. 

We did manage to go home to change and then headed back out at midnight to enjoy the Barcelona nightlife.  We stood in line for half an hour at the Opium Mar, apparently THE place to go in July 2012 but were turned away at the door because we were wearing flats though the excuse was that it was a VIP only night. What can I say?  We got the once over and when he got to our feet, said do you have a VIP invitation?  No, sorry, tonight is VIP only.  Some got rejected as soon as they were seen, no scan so at least we past part of the audition! So ladies, if you’re ever in Barcelona and want to get into Opium Mar, wear a dress and heels!

But seriously, we ended up at Catwalk bar where 20E buys you admittance and a drink.  Nice place, good music and lots of people!  It was great.  Managed to stay out and awake until 3h30!

This morning was difficult, I was exhausted but we dragged our lazy tired bones out to our 11am ticket reservation at Segrega Familila which is Gaudi’s greatest work and the most iconic landmark in Barcelona. What I didn’t know is that Segrega is unfinished.  It was started in 1909 by Gaudi and has been under construction at various times since his death in 1926 to be completed according to his plans.  It should be complete in 2030.  BTW, something else I learned, Gaudi died in his early seventies when he was hit by a tram.

Our 3hr high speed train ride from Barcelona to Madrid allowed us to catch some sleep and recoup a little.  We found our hotel relatively quickly, 2 lines and about 5 stops from the train station.  It’s in a cute neighbourhood that looks to be bustling with activity.  We’re looking forward to going out to explore it whilst we scavenge for food!

Hasta Magnana!

Day 1 Barcelona, Spain

So far, so good. An easy flight with only minor turbulence that got us Barcelona an hour early, only to be put into a holding pattern for 30 minutes! We found the shuttle busses really easily and we deposited 4 minutes from the hotel.  Since our room wasn't ready, we dropped our bags and headed out to Rambla, the main tourist street that reminds me a lot of Champs Elisees but narrower.  We were looking for a nice terasse to enjoy a drink and some tapas and ended up eating at this interesting restaurant just off the Ramblas.  A prosciutto sandwich and a sangria for 5.6 Euro seems reasonable to me!

We decided that we wanted to tr the hop on, hop off. So we went back to check into our rooms and get ready to go out.  Josee needed a power nap, so I decided to start writing.  So for those who were wondering, we're here safe and sound. 

More later when I'm not posting from a public computer! Hasta Luego!

Getting Ready for Spain

Back in February, I started itching to plan my next adventure. I hadn't traveled since my Mediterranean Cruise and though I knew I would be going to Daytona Beach for Easter and Fort Lauderdale for business in June, I really wanted to explore somewhere new.

At Bobbie's surprise 30th birthday party Josée suggested that she was also looking for a travel partner.  Europe this summer was as far as we got that night.  Over the next few months, we planned this ambitious trip.  Over 17 nights and 18 days. we will be making our way from Barcelona to Malaga and stopping in at least 14 towns, sleeping in 9 different hotels, taking 3 high speed trains, negotiating a rental car through the hill towns and Southern Spain and visiting Morocco.

T - 5 days. Planning phase is done, now to packing.  Trying to pack light, yet be prepared for everything might prove to be more difficult than I originally thought!

I'll try to post short impressions and the best of the pictures frequently!  Hope you'll follow along with us!

Key West, Florida, June 2012

At the beginning of June, the entire division of MCC took off to Fort Lauderdale for 5 days of planning and, of course, fun in the sun! I decided to head out a day early so that I could tag along with a colleague and discover Key West. 

We flew down to Fort Lauderdale on Sunday afternoon, and had planned to make the 4 hour trek in a Jeep bright and early Monday morning.  The plan was to leave at 5am to get to Key West by 9 am so that we could spend 4 hours and then be back at 5pm with an hour to spare before the kickoff BBQ.  Well even the best laid plans are bound to change!

 

At the ungodly hour of 4:30 am, I woke to the awful sound of my Blackberry wake up call. By 4:50 at was in the parking waiting for my colleague.  By 5:10, they had located the Jeep and we were on our way.  

In front of the tourist information site announcing the beginning of the Keys

The trip took a little less than 4 hours.  My sole plan was to take a picture at the southern most point of the continental US and take in the sights. 

Once at the Keys most of the road was like this, on a bridge surrounded by water

Southernmost Point: Check!

Interesting Find while exploring Key West

And, given that I'd been in my new job for about 5 minutes, I did a few store checks to see what Suncare looked like in Key West. After some exploring and some shopping, lunch was in order before we made the trip back to Fort Lauderdale.  A supplier had suggested the pier which turned out to be a great suggestion.

So where did our best laid plans go wrong you may be wondering?  Well about 45 minutes into our drive back on US1, two lanse highway surrounded by water, traffic came to a complete stop.  Engines off, nobody moving for 30 minutes.  Turns out an accident on US Route 1 brings traffic to a complete stop as emergency crews clean up the highway.  What this meant for us is that even as traffic starting rolling again, it wasn't until Key Largo that we starting rolling at reasonable speeds.  We left Key West at 12:45 and rolled into the W Fort Lauderdale hotel parking lot at 7:45.  Lucky for us, the weather was beautiful, sunny and hot. Unfortunately, both our blackberries died and we ran out of music to listen to.  

In the end, despite the painfully long drive back, I don't regret my excursion.  Key West was beautiful and I'm glad I took the time to visit. 

Notre-Dame and the Louvre, oh my!

Today was quite the busy day. 

We woke up to a beautiful albeit chilly 4 degrees and walked to the local coffee shop and bakery for breakfast.  I think by tomorrow they should have our orders memorised :)

We decided to go straight to Notre-Dame Cathedral and take advantage of the first sun we've seen so far in Paris.  Notre-Dame has always been one of my favorite places and remains one of the most impressive churches I have ever seen. The architecture and all of the Gothic design elements are quite literally impressive.  We walked around the church and got different vantage points of the beautiful church and wandered around the very eclectic and artsy streets that surround it.  We even had a Parisian-style lunch of a panini on the go, purchased from a restaurant window on the restaurant alley beside the Notre-Dame. 

After a few hours we decided to make our way to the Louvre by foot, it was a beautiful day and it's not that far.  Surprisingly, for a Saturday, the line-up at the Louvre wasn't bad, we only waiting about 10 minutes at the main entrance and no wait at the automatic ticket machines. 

We only wanted to spend a few hours and really only wanted to see one part of the Denon wing of the museum, we wanted to see the Mona Lisa, the Wedding of Cana as well as the Venus of Milo.  I must admit, we aren't good museum visited, we glances at paintings and sculptures and really just paid closer attention when something that pleased our eye caught our attention.  Or sometimes when something was really bad (to our eyes) we wandered over to see whose masterpiece we were witnessing.

I was happy to see the Mona Lisa with more mature eyes.  I was 14 when I first saw her and I remember being very disappointed. She's not quite as small as I remember her being but she is surrounded by as many people. I believe they've moved her since I last saw her because she's now in the same room as the wedding of Cana which is still as impressive as the first time I saw it.  It takes up a full wall and you could easily spend hours interpreting the details and the subtleties of the painting.  I noticed that only two characters are looking directly at the audience, Jesus and a women on the left of the painting, I wonder who she's suppose to be given that Mary Madeleine is on Jesus' left. 




Venus of Milo





Veronese's Wedding of Cana



You can't get a good picture of the Mona Lisa who's behind 6 inches of plexi glass and behind a barricade 10 feet away!

We saw a lot in the three hours we were there and was quite satisfied with my visit to the Louvre.  I was even happier when I found a Starbucks in the Louvre.  What better way to end an afternoon like we had then with a tall vanilla latte???

The metro ride home was quite the experience.  I thought yesterday was an adventure this evening was even worse.  If ever you're in Paris at rush hour, even on the weekend, and are at a station with plastic wall barricades along the track be forewarned, the platform will get full and the train will arrive at full capacity.  It's every man, woman and child for himself as you try to negotiate for a place on the train.  I wish I had been able to take out my camera to take a picture because I don't think I could ever draw an accurate portrayal in words.  Dad and I squeezed into the train that was already full much to the dismay of the people already on the train, but then 5 more people threw themselves onto the train.  The guy closest to me was less polite than I was last night when I backed in with mom.  He used his elbow as he literally plowed in.  I was already sandwiched against the other people on the train  so this literally knocked the wind out of me.  My yelp of surprise and pain did little to stop him, he kept pushing until he was certain that he was staying on the train.  But I think the most surprising to me was at the next stop.  As we waiting on the platform that filled with people, two older Chinese ladies that were about 4foot8, 80 pounds dressed to the nines and all made up, came up along side us.  When the train arrived, full of course, and people jostled to get on, one of them literally pushed me into the train, it was like I had a 200 pound linebacker behind me!  Even once we were on the train and sardined together, I guess she wanted more room for herself because she planted both her hands on my lower back and pushed.  I really couldn't believe the moxie, and to think, I almost offered them help on the platform because they looked a little lost.  I don't know how Parisians do this every day without getting into fights.  I can't see people getting away with behaviour like this in Montreal, there would be brawls all the time.  It's way too stressful and physically demanding!

We decided to have a night in the apartment so we ordered pizza from the restaurant next door and bought a bottle of wine for 3.8E that was really quite good and had mille-feuilles from the local bakery.  Overall, an excellent way to end the evening.