"We will be arriving much later than we expected; Can we still check in that late?"
"Oh, yes, that is perfectly acceptable. We can send a car for you. It will be 50£. Is that OK?"
"Yes. We would like you to send a car."
"OK, he will meet you at the airport. What is your flight number?"
"We are arriving by ferry at the port of Tunis."
"Yes, yes, yes; OK. What is your flight number?"
"We are not flying. We have no flight number. We are coming by ferry from Palermo."
"By ferry. OK. What is your flight number?"
"We arrive at the port of Tunis on Grandi, that's G R A N D I, Navi, N A V I, Veloci, V E L O C I ship Majestic. Boat, embarco, ferryboat, ship, OK"
"Uh....yes, yes, yes, I see. Majestic. He will meet you.
That was the conversation I had with our hotel last week. We caught the ferry early Saturday morning in a torrential downpour. Most of southern Europe has been experiencing some funky weather, so we were happy to be heading to Africa. We met some really interesting folks on the ferry, but I spent most of my time asleep. Because of last year's experience with vertigo, I had taken some anti-sea sick med that made me drowzy. Little did I know what was making me so tired.
Two couples we met were headed for a camel ride/camping trip through the desert. I feel for them because the weather followed us here. Thankfully, we had an indoor place to stay; when we finally got there. We really were expecting to see our driver at the ferry dock, but knew there was a pretty good chance he wouldn't be there. After clearing customs, we found several drivers waiting, but none for the Olsons. We eventually found a phone that works, called the hotel and had a conversation similar to the last one: "Our driver isn't here."
"Oh, yes, yes, yes, he is there. He has a sign with your name on it."
"He didn't meet us."
"He called me to say he is there. What is your flight number?"
I grabbed a nearby person who spoke Arabic and French, they spoke for a while and when I got back on the line she directed us to a nearby caffé where our driver picked us up about an hour later. Since then, our Tunisian trip has been less than the best. The weather has been terrible until yesterday and I came down with, what I thought, was the flu.
We did do some traveling here. We visited some Roman ruins in an area that has evidence of population going back 200,000 years. The ruins are very intact of a city of 20-30 thousand people in the B.C. times. This area was a bread basket for the Romans. It is so amazing to think of the extent of the Romans. We stopped at a site (which is being rebuilt) where the Romans captured water out of the Atlas Mountains and sent it by aquaducts to all of there cities in Tunisia. We also passed through the town of Jedidi. The STAR WARS movies were shot in Tunisia and they used a lot of the local names in the movies. A lot of the costuming in the movies looks very similar to the way locals dress in the cold rain.
We did miss seeing the city which was our main reason for coming to Tunisia, because our tour group forgot to pick us up yesterday. This became a good thing. My fever had returned, plus extra symptoms and I would have had a misserable day. It gave us time to go to a doctor where I found that I had picked up a systemic infection and needed to start antibiotics right away. Today I feel great, the sun is shining and everything is fantastic! We are headed to Cairo tonight. See you soon.
Dan & Gail
Friday, October 26, 2007
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
What day is it? Where are we?
Boy, do we have some catching up to do! Before we do- We must apologize for leaving out part of the trip. When we traveled from Genoa to Sorianno a couple of weeks ago, we stopped for a few days in Cinque Terra. We hiked through each of the villages-took us two days, but we did it. There are a lot more people there than there used to be. Just about everyone in the C.T. was carrying a Rick Steves guide. He is still our travel hero (He has convinced us we can do a trip like this), but he sure has been successful at getting a lot of people into some small, out of the way places and making them very crowded. With all the people, C.T. is still beautiful and the food was fantastic. And in all fairness, there are some pretty crowded places that Rick had nothing to do with.
We followed our week in Sorianno with a few days in Sorrento on the Bay of Naples. We went into Naples for a day to go to their museum. It is SO full of Greek and Roman statues, paintings and murals that were removed from Pompei (Gail's not here check my spelling, so forgive any errors) It is one of the very best museums in Europe. If you are near Naples, do not miss it! Naples is a pretty interesting place to visit just for itself. It is a grimy, gritty real-live city. We have been warned about thieves and pick-pockets, but have never had any trouble there.
While there, we stopped at a typical little bar for a soda while waiting for a special neighborhood gelateria to open. A lady in an upper apartment across the street was yelling, "Geno! GENO! GEEEENOOOO!" Then a guy started yelling the same from the same window. A motorcyclist heard them as he was riding by, spun a u-turn, stopped in front of the bar and yelled in, "Geno!" The owner came out, shouted back and forth with the couple upstairs, walked back inside, came out with a couple of packages, put them in the bucket the couple lowered to him and returned to the bar with a wave and a, "Cioa!" as they raised it to their home.
While in Sorrento (which is so fantastically beautiful with the town built at the edge of a cliff a few hundred feet down to the sea) we went to Capri. It is so beautiful that we will return on a day when all other travelers are banned. It was so crowded that there was a three hour wait for the Blue Grotto (sp?) and you got to see it for about ten seconds. If you go, just take a sight-seeing cruise around the island and go back home. I must say, we did have about the best ever Capresse salad in the Capresse Ristorante.
ON TO THE EAST COAST
We traveled to Bari and found it to be a completely beautiful place. Then, on to a week at the Cala Corvina Resort in Monopoli. It was past their season, so most of the facility was closed. It was too far out of town to walk easily. Two buses a day ran between the resort and town. Most of the staff acted like the 40-50 guests were invading their free time. They have a beautiful infinity pool, but it is unheated and very cold. The week was saved by some wonderful people we shared time with. We now know some really nice people in Kelowna/Phoenix and in Washington, D.C.
We are now on Sicily. We've spent time swimming in the Med., sun-bathing and seeing Greek ruins. We are still amazed that we can be in shirt-sleeves and swimming in the middle of October. Our highlight here has been Syracuse. The old town is on an island surrounded by fortified walls that, today, were battered by huge surf. We are on our way to Polermo to catch a ferry to Tunisia. We have gotten tired of city-hopping in Italy and look forward to being completely lost in a new culture. We will have a week in Tunisia, a couple weeks in Egypt, then; on to Dubai for some R&R (I hope!) Ciao for now!
We followed our week in Sorianno with a few days in Sorrento on the Bay of Naples. We went into Naples for a day to go to their museum. It is SO full of Greek and Roman statues, paintings and murals that were removed from Pompei (Gail's not here check my spelling, so forgive any errors) It is one of the very best museums in Europe. If you are near Naples, do not miss it! Naples is a pretty interesting place to visit just for itself. It is a grimy, gritty real-live city. We have been warned about thieves and pick-pockets, but have never had any trouble there.
While there, we stopped at a typical little bar for a soda while waiting for a special neighborhood gelateria to open. A lady in an upper apartment across the street was yelling, "Geno! GENO! GEEEENOOOO!" Then a guy started yelling the same from the same window. A motorcyclist heard them as he was riding by, spun a u-turn, stopped in front of the bar and yelled in, "Geno!" The owner came out, shouted back and forth with the couple upstairs, walked back inside, came out with a couple of packages, put them in the bucket the couple lowered to him and returned to the bar with a wave and a, "Cioa!" as they raised it to their home.
While in Sorrento (which is so fantastically beautiful with the town built at the edge of a cliff a few hundred feet down to the sea) we went to Capri. It is so beautiful that we will return on a day when all other travelers are banned. It was so crowded that there was a three hour wait for the Blue Grotto (sp?) and you got to see it for about ten seconds. If you go, just take a sight-seeing cruise around the island and go back home. I must say, we did have about the best ever Capresse salad in the Capresse Ristorante.
ON TO THE EAST COAST
We traveled to Bari and found it to be a completely beautiful place. Then, on to a week at the Cala Corvina Resort in Monopoli. It was past their season, so most of the facility was closed. It was too far out of town to walk easily. Two buses a day ran between the resort and town. Most of the staff acted like the 40-50 guests were invading their free time. They have a beautiful infinity pool, but it is unheated and very cold. The week was saved by some wonderful people we shared time with. We now know some really nice people in Kelowna/Phoenix and in Washington, D.C.
We are now on Sicily. We've spent time swimming in the Med., sun-bathing and seeing Greek ruins. We are still amazed that we can be in shirt-sleeves and swimming in the middle of October. Our highlight here has been Syracuse. The old town is on an island surrounded by fortified walls that, today, were battered by huge surf. We are on our way to Polermo to catch a ferry to Tunisia. We have gotten tired of city-hopping in Italy and look forward to being completely lost in a new culture. We will have a week in Tunisia, a couple weeks in Egypt, then; on to Dubai for some R&R (I hope!) Ciao for now!
Friday, September 28, 2007
Wow! What a week!
Picture the opening dinner scene from an Agatha Christy murder mystery-set in the castle of a small, foreign village. Accents from around the world are heard as small talk begins around the table. There is the retired military commander who spent his career in exotic foreign postings; the manager of the large international corporation whose territory involves all of Europe and the Near East; the doctor from America; the quiet, prim school teacher from England and the mysterious couple from ....... we're not quite sure, because their accent is unfamiliar and they keep to themselves. This was our week in Sorriano nel Cimino.
After leaving Switzerland, we spent a few days traveling through Aix-en-Province, Genoa and Orvieto on our way to the Palazzo Catalani in Sorriano nel Cimino, Italy. Aix is beautiful. We hit it on a festival week-end which featured every organization in the province putting on a display of their work. It was great fun- lots of good food and entertainment. Genoa has the biggest collection of wealthy yacht owners I have ever seen. There were eight cruise ships in the harbor, besides a few freighters. Orveito is one of those beautiful hilltowns that everyone has discovered with lots of tourist shops and beautiful views of towers, churches and quaint, narrow streets. This leads us to Sorriano.
Sorriano sits high above the Tiber River Valley midway between two main arterials leading to Rome. Because it is not on a main line, it is a little difficult to get to, hasn't grown as much as it should and hasn't been discovered by many.
Our hotel is the only one in town. It has only eighteen rooms of interesting travelers (the characters from our Agatha Christy play) who appreciate what they have found here and a staff that any business would die for. There are no other visitors in this town, unless they are staying with friends or family. The main square is filled with locals until 1:00 pm, at which time everyone disappears and all businesses close (except caffes) until 4:00 pm, when the town gets temporarily crowded.
A great cup of capuccino costs £.90, an out-of-this-world pastry is another £.90; the wine and olive oil are locally produced. A great, multi-course dinner for two with a couple bottles of really good wine can run to £25-30. A really good dinner for two with a bottle of wine can be £12-15.
While here, we have been treated to a night of dinner-opera, tours of a wine cava and olive pressing works and a beautiful park in nearby Bagnaia which was a castle hunting grounds. It has a series of water features cascading down a hillside which was the model for Versaille.
Last night we had dinner in some local people's home. It was the nicest, fun-filled evening. We were treated to home-made aptipasti, tons of home-made wine and , while the homemade sauce cooked, the men had to make the pasta from scatch.
We have walked thousands of steps in and out of our city. We have sat for hours in the square and watched people. We have made a transition from strangers to be watched to visitors to be spoken to. The people here are so friendly and helpful. We have made some new friends from around the world. Interestingly, two of the people we met and enjoyed most tremendously are from Chelan, WA. They are over here on their first visit and we are hoping to spend time with them on their next visit here.
Tomorrow, with a lot (and I really do mean a lot), of sadness we will leave Sorriano. We are headed for Sorrento on the Amalfi coast, probably getting into Naples for a day. They have a good museum that we missed last time because of a labor strike. We are looking forward to more great places and more great people.
Now, disregard all the good things I said about Sorriano nel Cimino. It is a terrible place and you never want to come here. Don't tell anyone else about it and don't look up info or pictues on the internet.
See you!
After leaving Switzerland, we spent a few days traveling through Aix-en-Province, Genoa and Orvieto on our way to the Palazzo Catalani in Sorriano nel Cimino, Italy. Aix is beautiful. We hit it on a festival week-end which featured every organization in the province putting on a display of their work. It was great fun- lots of good food and entertainment. Genoa has the biggest collection of wealthy yacht owners I have ever seen. There were eight cruise ships in the harbor, besides a few freighters. Orveito is one of those beautiful hilltowns that everyone has discovered with lots of tourist shops and beautiful views of towers, churches and quaint, narrow streets. This leads us to Sorriano.
Sorriano sits high above the Tiber River Valley midway between two main arterials leading to Rome. Because it is not on a main line, it is a little difficult to get to, hasn't grown as much as it should and hasn't been discovered by many.
Our hotel is the only one in town. It has only eighteen rooms of interesting travelers (the characters from our Agatha Christy play) who appreciate what they have found here and a staff that any business would die for. There are no other visitors in this town, unless they are staying with friends or family. The main square is filled with locals until 1:00 pm, at which time everyone disappears and all businesses close (except caffes) until 4:00 pm, when the town gets temporarily crowded.
A great cup of capuccino costs £.90, an out-of-this-world pastry is another £.90; the wine and olive oil are locally produced. A great, multi-course dinner for two with a couple bottles of really good wine can run to £25-30. A really good dinner for two with a bottle of wine can be £12-15.
While here, we have been treated to a night of dinner-opera, tours of a wine cava and olive pressing works and a beautiful park in nearby Bagnaia which was a castle hunting grounds. It has a series of water features cascading down a hillside which was the model for Versaille.
Last night we had dinner in some local people's home. It was the nicest, fun-filled evening. We were treated to home-made aptipasti, tons of home-made wine and , while the homemade sauce cooked, the men had to make the pasta from scatch.
We have walked thousands of steps in and out of our city. We have sat for hours in the square and watched people. We have made a transition from strangers to be watched to visitors to be spoken to. The people here are so friendly and helpful. We have made some new friends from around the world. Interestingly, two of the people we met and enjoyed most tremendously are from Chelan, WA. They are over here on their first visit and we are hoping to spend time with them on their next visit here.
Tomorrow, with a lot (and I really do mean a lot), of sadness we will leave Sorriano. We are headed for Sorrento on the Amalfi coast, probably getting into Naples for a day. They have a good museum that we missed last time because of a labor strike. We are looking forward to more great places and more great people.
Now, disregard all the good things I said about Sorriano nel Cimino. It is a terrible place and you never want to come here. Don't tell anyone else about it and don't look up info or pictues on the internet.
See you!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
This has to be the set of "The Sound of Music"
Wow! Can you believe we've been on the road for a month and we're still speaking to one another. We've been too busy to be homesick, so we can probably last another few months. Here's a catch up for everyone.
WE ARE IN HEIDI LAND!!! There is not a flat space in 30 kilometers. We are in a little ski village (winter) that becomes grazing land for cows and goats in summer. Each animal hs a bell on its neck, the bigger the animal, the bigger the bell; so we have a chorus all day and into the night. It is really beautiful music.
We traveled from Paris to Geneva by train last Friday and stayed in a hostel so we could pick up a rental car for this week. We traveled through flat farmland that became rolling hills filled with grape vineyards. Vineyards in every direction as far as you could see. This changed to high hills and mountains with vineyards as high on the mountains as they could be supported. The architecture changed from all stone to stone and wood to mostly wood chalets. It's like a giant Leavenworth.
In Geneva, we stayed in a very nice, clean, efficient hostel. The co-ed shower and toilet rooms were kind of culture shock for us. You yound people are probably used to the co-ed dorm stuff, but for us old-folks, stepping out of the shower to be greeted by a bunch of young people of both genders doing their hair, shaving and putting on make-up at the same sinks is kind of.... uh......... interesting.
We picked up our SMARTCAR and drove beside Lake Geneva with the top down, snow covered mountains above us and a warm sun on us. How can you beat that?
The Alps are so fantastic! I just can't believe how high and steep they are. I really don't think any mountains in the US are as rugged. And I can't believe how high the people live on the sides. We have a 20K, steep, windey drive up out of the valley and and all along it there are driveways that just disappear over the edge of the one lane road. AND I can't believe the number of bicyclists that are riding UP these mountains.
Tuesday, we did the most exciting trip. We went by gondola (two different ones, actually) up from Chamonix, across the Alps to Italy. The ride is straight up, then you cross glaciers beside Mount Blanc. You can almost reach out and touch it. Do not ever miss that ride if you get near Chamonix.
This week end we are off to southern France and on into Italy. See you soon.
WE ARE IN HEIDI LAND!!! There is not a flat space in 30 kilometers. We are in a little ski village (winter) that becomes grazing land for cows and goats in summer. Each animal hs a bell on its neck, the bigger the animal, the bigger the bell; so we have a chorus all day and into the night. It is really beautiful music.
We traveled from Paris to Geneva by train last Friday and stayed in a hostel so we could pick up a rental car for this week. We traveled through flat farmland that became rolling hills filled with grape vineyards. Vineyards in every direction as far as you could see. This changed to high hills and mountains with vineyards as high on the mountains as they could be supported. The architecture changed from all stone to stone and wood to mostly wood chalets. It's like a giant Leavenworth.
In Geneva, we stayed in a very nice, clean, efficient hostel. The co-ed shower and toilet rooms were kind of culture shock for us. You yound people are probably used to the co-ed dorm stuff, but for us old-folks, stepping out of the shower to be greeted by a bunch of young people of both genders doing their hair, shaving and putting on make-up at the same sinks is kind of.... uh......... interesting.
We picked up our SMARTCAR and drove beside Lake Geneva with the top down, snow covered mountains above us and a warm sun on us. How can you beat that?
The Alps are so fantastic! I just can't believe how high and steep they are. I really don't think any mountains in the US are as rugged. And I can't believe how high the people live on the sides. We have a 20K, steep, windey drive up out of the valley and and all along it there are driveways that just disappear over the edge of the one lane road. AND I can't believe the number of bicyclists that are riding UP these mountains.
Tuesday, we did the most exciting trip. We went by gondola (two different ones, actually) up from Chamonix, across the Alps to Italy. The ride is straight up, then you cross glaciers beside Mount Blanc. You can almost reach out and touch it. Do not ever miss that ride if you get near Chamonix.
This week end we are off to southern France and on into Italy. See you soon.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
We know it's not just about the food, but we found the world's best bakery!
PARIS
BIG, BIG, BIG!
Monuments, parks, boulevards and traffic
A bagette under everyone's arm
Everyone carries bags-many stores don't give them away;
We are staying in a suburb east of Paris; Vincennes is noted for it's flowers (tons of beautiful gardens, hanging planter boxes from any type of pole and small floral centers in the middle of any odd-shaped intersection) and it's Bois de Vincennes, the largest forest in Paris. It is a lovely little town with street-corner restaurants, boulongieries (best bread anywhere on Earth), fresh fruit markets and fun little stores. We are 20 minutes from downtown Paris on the Metro.
We have been to see everything and I think we walked everywhere there is to walk in Paris. The Metro system is fantastic. You can get anywhere, quickly and easily. All you need to know is the destination's station name, the number of the line you want to ride and the names of the stations at each end of the line (So you know you are going in the right direction.)
Of everything to see in Paris, do not miss Versailles. This is about the biggest monument we've ever seen. The gardens go on forever and they are all free. You have to pay to see the king's apartments, which are so impressive! Skip the queen's apartments unless you really groove on the historical aspect of being in Marie Antoinette's house. You have to pay extra for it and it's really not that impressive.
Bring a picnic lunch and explore the grounds. There are rental boats available on the lake and hundreds of monuments, fountains, statues and ponds to sit around while enjoying lunch. I bet you couldn't see the whole grounds in a week of hiking.
After a week of non-stop, today is laundry day, internet day, sit and drink coffee on the corner day, with some time out for a relaxing walk in the Bois, stopping to read in the sun when the mood struck us.
We will finish the evening with the very finest bagette, a selection of cheeses, some fresh vegetables and fruit and a couple bottles of wine. We have to have two bottles because Gail likes white and I have found a delightful red table wine that costs less than a buck a bottle.
Tomorrow we are of to Switzerland on the train.
Bye for now!
BARCELONA
We forgot to say anything about Barcelona. We only had one night and one long day of sightseeing, but OH! What a beautiful city! The buildings are soooo beautiful. The Sagrada Familia (Gaudi's fantastic church) and the Piccaso Museum are great. The paseo at night along the mail street was the most beautiful (people, clothing, entertrainers) We will return here!
BIG, BIG, BIG!
Monuments, parks, boulevards and traffic
A bagette under everyone's arm
Everyone carries bags-many stores don't give them away;
We are staying in a suburb east of Paris; Vincennes is noted for it's flowers (tons of beautiful gardens, hanging planter boxes from any type of pole and small floral centers in the middle of any odd-shaped intersection) and it's Bois de Vincennes, the largest forest in Paris. It is a lovely little town with street-corner restaurants, boulongieries (best bread anywhere on Earth), fresh fruit markets and fun little stores. We are 20 minutes from downtown Paris on the Metro.
We have been to see everything and I think we walked everywhere there is to walk in Paris. The Metro system is fantastic. You can get anywhere, quickly and easily. All you need to know is the destination's station name, the number of the line you want to ride and the names of the stations at each end of the line (So you know you are going in the right direction.)
Of everything to see in Paris, do not miss Versailles. This is about the biggest monument we've ever seen. The gardens go on forever and they are all free. You have to pay to see the king's apartments, which are so impressive! Skip the queen's apartments unless you really groove on the historical aspect of being in Marie Antoinette's house. You have to pay extra for it and it's really not that impressive.
Bring a picnic lunch and explore the grounds. There are rental boats available on the lake and hundreds of monuments, fountains, statues and ponds to sit around while enjoying lunch. I bet you couldn't see the whole grounds in a week of hiking.
After a week of non-stop, today is laundry day, internet day, sit and drink coffee on the corner day, with some time out for a relaxing walk in the Bois, stopping to read in the sun when the mood struck us.
We will finish the evening with the very finest bagette, a selection of cheeses, some fresh vegetables and fruit and a couple bottles of wine. We have to have two bottles because Gail likes white and I have found a delightful red table wine that costs less than a buck a bottle.
Tomorrow we are of to Switzerland on the train.
Bye for now!
BARCELONA
We forgot to say anything about Barcelona. We only had one night and one long day of sightseeing, but OH! What a beautiful city! The buildings are soooo beautiful. The Sagrada Familia (Gaudi's fantastic church) and the Piccaso Museum are great. The paseo at night along the mail street was the most beautiful (people, clothing, entertrainers) We will return here!
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Beautiful Granada
Granada
Hot! Motorcycles, motorbikes, motorscooters! Plazas, fountains, parks!
Granada is so beautiful. The city is so full of quaint plazas with fountains and outdoor restuarants. Why can´t we have sidewalk restuarants in Shelton? Oh, yeah, I forgot the rain.
We have gotten sprinkled on here in Granada. It clouded up yesterday and the temp dropped to the low 90s. Good thing because I force-marched Gail up a very steep hill to the Moor area of town and to the Gypsy area. More quaint plazas and little stores and shops. There was a great view across the valley to Alhambra.
We did the "complete" Alhambra experience Monday. You can get reservations on-line if you know when you are going to be in Granada, which we didn´t, or you can line up about 7 AM for the 1200 tickets they reserve for same-day sale. When we arrived there were already about 200 people in line for the opening of the ticket office at 8:30. The line grew to a thousand by opening time. IT WAS A GREAT EXPERIENCE! A thousand people from all over the world speaking so many different languages. We met some very nice people from Switzerland and a man who is starting to sell wines in the US for a group of wineries in Spain. Our opinion is: Even if you have tickets, go early and enjoy the early morning line.
The Alhambra was an all-day experience. It is huge and beautiful. It was the last stronghold of the Moors in Europe, falling to the Christians in 1492. It was a walled city of 2000 people, their homes and businesses, so you can understand how big it is.
We are off to Barcelona this evening on a sleeper train. We got our reservations too late and the "Matrimonial" car was filled, so tonight we travel separately; Gail in the "señoras´" coach and me in the "caballeros´" coach. We have to be in Paris on Friday, so we will only have one whole day and one night in Barcelona. We have been visiting many cities the last two weeks and staying in many hotels (most of which have been very nice), so it will be nice to call our hotel in Paris "home" for a whole week.
adios
Hot! Motorcycles, motorbikes, motorscooters! Plazas, fountains, parks!
Granada is so beautiful. The city is so full of quaint plazas with fountains and outdoor restuarants. Why can´t we have sidewalk restuarants in Shelton? Oh, yeah, I forgot the rain.
We have gotten sprinkled on here in Granada. It clouded up yesterday and the temp dropped to the low 90s. Good thing because I force-marched Gail up a very steep hill to the Moor area of town and to the Gypsy area. More quaint plazas and little stores and shops. There was a great view across the valley to Alhambra.
We did the "complete" Alhambra experience Monday. You can get reservations on-line if you know when you are going to be in Granada, which we didn´t, or you can line up about 7 AM for the 1200 tickets they reserve for same-day sale. When we arrived there were already about 200 people in line for the opening of the ticket office at 8:30. The line grew to a thousand by opening time. IT WAS A GREAT EXPERIENCE! A thousand people from all over the world speaking so many different languages. We met some very nice people from Switzerland and a man who is starting to sell wines in the US for a group of wineries in Spain. Our opinion is: Even if you have tickets, go early and enjoy the early morning line.
The Alhambra was an all-day experience. It is huge and beautiful. It was the last stronghold of the Moors in Europe, falling to the Christians in 1492. It was a walled city of 2000 people, their homes and businesses, so you can understand how big it is.
We are off to Barcelona this evening on a sleeper train. We got our reservations too late and the "Matrimonial" car was filled, so tonight we travel separately; Gail in the "señoras´" coach and me in the "caballeros´" coach. We have to be in Paris on Friday, so we will only have one whole day and one night in Barcelona. We have been visiting many cities the last two weeks and staying in many hotels (most of which have been very nice), so it will be nice to call our hotel in Paris "home" for a whole week.
adios
Saturday, August 25, 2007
London & Spain
LONDON
We are into our third week of travel. We have been in London for a week and Spain for the last two. London was so amazingly full of history. Like one tour guide said, "If you Americans had just paid your taxes, this history could all be yours!" We ran our legs off seeing museums, castles, historical points and attractions. Gail´s favorite was the Tower of London because of all the intrigue, deaths and important decisions about world history that happened there. Dan´s favorite was the Churchill Museum and World War II War Rooms. They captured, so well, the drama and sacrifice that went on in London during that time. The war rooms have been left exactly as they were as the war ended.
There is a computer catalogue of events which happened during Churchill´s life. It is on a table about 50 feet long which is touch sensitive. You touch a file folder for a particular date and it opens with text and photos which you can enlarge. If you happen to open a significantly exciting date something will happen the entire length of the table. For instance, when I opened the day of the Pearl Harbor attack a Squadron of Japenese bombers flew the length of the table with an attack sound track. Someone else opened the day of the first atom bomb test and all of the data was temporarily blown to pieces. I know, it was goofy kid stuff, but it was informative and fun.
The London Metro system was fantastic! You can get anywhere very quickly, very easily and very inexpensively. We rode the bus to see different neighborhoods, but an hour bus ride could be done in 15 minutes in the Tube.
SPAIN
We had planned to see a lot more places in Spain, but everywhere we go turns out to be the most beautiful place we´ve ever been and we spend more time there than planned. Rick Steves would be really mad at how slowly we are traveling, but it sure is nice to linger in beautiful gardens and museums.
MADRID
Madrid has a great Metro system also. We were warned about pick-pockets on the Metro and we were fortunate enough to experience one. We are carefull, especially in crowds, but walking down stairs between trains a lady came down behind us, matching us step for step. We waited for her to pass, but she just stayed behind us. I finally stepped aside to let her by as she was reaching into Gail´s bag. She quickly removed her empty hand and moved off. She had been able to unzip the bag both directions from the middle and reach in without Gail feeling it. Needless to say, we have learned that pick-pockets are not busy just in a crowd.
Our hotel in Madrid was fantastic. It was located near the Prado Museum with tons of restaurants, stores and parks nearby. The management is SO great. Javier, the owner´s son, is so helpful. We arrived late in the day to discover that he had given our room away. A teacher and several students from Italy had arrived and needed to be together, so he gave them our room. That was his first statement to us and you can guess we were a little excited about the situation. Then he told us that they had a nearby apartment they only rent for longer periods, but, as he had given away our room, we got to stay in the apartment for the same price as our original room.
We don´t spend a lot of money on hotels, so it was very nice to have a real one bedroom apartment with kitchen, living room, full bath with A/C for a budget price. It was located on such a nice, narrow street with beautiful apartment buildings, each with wrought-iron balconies.
While in Madrid we visited The Prado. It has such a collection of great art. I am a new enthusiast of El Greco. He does the best eyes and facial expressions! The Royal Palace was beautiful and, for some us, a great amount of money and energy just for a royal family. A day trip to Toledo taught us that it needs more time. Such a beautiful hilltown. It matches anything we´ve seen in Italy.
CORDOBA
Two days in Cordoba was not enough. The history there involves Chris Columbus. We visited the fortress where he negotiated his America trip with Isabella and Ferdinand. The night-life there is great. We´re getting into the land of Flamenco. We attended a Flamenco night in the park. The moon was up, stars were out on a warm night with stone towers as a backdrop to the stage. We need more exposure to Flamenco because it is a very intensely emotional production with the crowd yelling, "Ole!" at crucial moments in each performance while Gail and I just tried to figure out what was going on.
The Mezquita, originally the largest mosque in existence, turned into a Christian cherch, is a most interesting building. It is one story, with 800 columns supporting the roof. Each column is topped with a double arch of red and white striped stone. When we get the photos up you will see how amazing it is.
SEVILLE
This really is the most beautiful place we´ve been. HONEST! The cathedral is the world´s largest Gothic church. It´s bell tower is the minaret of the original mosque which stood there. There are not steps to climb it (except for the 17 right at the top, but they don´t really count when you´re climbing that high.) The top is reached by a 36 flight ramp along the wall of the tower. It was desinged so a rider could go by horseback fives times a day to make the Muslim call to prayer. A hard climb, but the wiew over Seville is marvelous.
We are goofing off today. After a two hour visit to the Alcazar, which was supposed to be a half hour, we´re catching up on the blog, followed by a visit to another garden. The gardens at the Alcazar we visited this morning are about the biggest we´ve ever seen. Besides the orange groves which are getting to be common now, there were pomagranate trees and so many kinds of palm. You could wander those gardens for days. And tonight, we are attending another evening of Flamenco. We intend to be asleep early, but people don´t start coming out until 10 or so and the night life continues until dawn. It´s Saturday and we understand people stay out very late because they don´t have to get up tommorow morning.
We´ll get photos on here as soon as we can.
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