Seville

As I reported yesterday, it is very hot here. But not very humid. Each of us did a load of wash and everything was dry in about 2 hours. The temperatures are not terrible really, around 85.  Early morning and after sunset are almost cool, especially if there's a slight breeze.  It is the direct sun that is miserable and it is sunny every day.

While we were out today, our rep had the wifi fixed so everything is fine in the apartment and it has made its way into my top 10 apartments I have ever rented. Tons of storage, good location, loads of room. For example, here's the living room with the Eames chair.

                                                                                       

Living Room

And here's that picture of the chocolate Pieta from the Chocolate Museum in Barcelona. I couldn't find it yesterday.  You can't tell from the picture, but it is almost life size, unlike the small Don Quixote scene:

The touristy part of Seville which is close to the Cathedral and Alcazar has some fine restaurants.  Most of them have very few tables outside but that's where everyone wants to eat because the inside of most of them is not air-conditioned. That's all very pleasant except for the fact the sidewalks are narrow and the tables are 2 inches from the street. So you're taking your life into your hands because cars will parallel park one inch from your table.

Yesterday, we wondered who in their right mind would stand in a long line and wait to get into the Cathedral, especially when it was going to close in a half hour. We found out that in order to get the no-line tickets, you had to buy them the day before so we bought them at a tourist information shop. Then we ordered tickets online for the Alcazar for today which you can download onto your phone. So we spent a few hours touring both of these sites.

Another magnificent cathedral here in Seville. It has a tower which we did not go up because it takes climbing many steps to get there. One of its claims to fame is that Columbus is buried there (supposedly) after having been moved around from country to country. It is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world and the third largest church.

This blog is doing that weird thing where it won't let you caption so above is the tower of the Cathedral and to the right is a representation of Columbus' funeral which is in the cathedral.

The Alcazar royal palace is a two minute walk from the cathedral. Again, we bypassed the long line and went directly in although we had to produce our passports to prove we were old enough to have purchased the senior tickets. The palace was originally a Moorish fort; it is the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe. The palace is huge and contains beautiful tile work in every room as well as some ancient tapestries. It is the garden, however, which is the highlight of this place. The garden has various sections with some kind of fountain or waterfall as the center of each one. If you had the time, you could spend a day roaming around the gardens.

Below is a picture of some of the arches in the Alcazar and one of the ceilings.

                                         

For dinner, we went to the oldest bar in Seville, El Rinconcillo which serves traditional Spanish cuisine. It was originally a convent but has been a restaurant since 1860, passed down through 7 generations of the same family.  It is famous as a stand-up tapas bar but we decided to sit at a table and eat a meal.  That was the wrong choice; the food was mediocre. We also got a little turned around getting there. Lola had made the solemn vow never to get lost in Seville even though the streets are narrow and windy and almost as confusing as Venice or Prague.  She has been a perfect navigator until tonight but we had strayed just a little from the correct path. It is not so bad getting turned around or lost at night since it's much cooler then. 

Tomorrow we are going to Granada to see the Alhambra. The train takes about 3 hours so we are taking an overnight bag and staying there one night. We're going to walk to the train station because that seems to be about 10 minutes less than by taxi or bus. When we originally were driven from the train station, even the driver laughed about how, because of all the one-way streets, we drove in a gigantic circle to get to our street. Besides being one way, the streets are so narrow that those without sidewalks force pedestrians to go into a doorway to allow cars to pass. 

Late Nights in Barcelona

While it's really fun to meet up with people in Europe, it often leads to late nights of drinking. On Tuesday night, we were to meet up with the recently-wedded couple for dinner but earlier Nicole had discovered that one of her college friends, who now lives in Berlin, happened to be in Barcelona. He was traveling with a friend so we decided to meet on a rooftop bar for drinks and pica pica.  Later, another friend who had been at the wedding joined us.  It would have been an earlier night but it started to rain which was not only not predicted, but also unusual for this time of year. It rained much longer than usual, according to the Barcelona people. We stayed under some umbrellas on the roof until we could all go home, ok, actually, until we were kicked out.

The first day back to Barcelona (Sunday), we visited the two most famous cathedrals, the Barcelona Cathedral and Santa Maria del Mar (the Sailors chuch), and the Music Palace. To see inside the Palau de la Musica Catalana, you must take a tour. Probably so they can keep an eye on you. The outside of the building is spectacular but it's hard to see all of it because it is hemmed in location by other buildings.  We got to hear the pipe organ which has over 3700 pipes. The main auditorium seats over 2000 people.  We were told that all types of music are welcome in this venue. The stage was not planned to accommodate opera, however, since there was already an opera house in Barcelona. Besides the main stage, there are several smaller auditoriums.

Skylight in the Palau de la Musica

Santa Maria del Mar

Monday was museum day. We visited the Picasso Museum and the Chocolate Museum which are very close to each other.  The Picasso Museum was actually a disappointment. I think it's the biggest collection that any Picasso museum has but his stuff is spread out all over the world. There were a lot of drawings for some of his major works and a lot of his earlier stuff. Also, there seemed to be a lot of doodles.

The chocolate museum is very small and fun. It contains a lot of information about chocolate--how it is made, how it got to Europe, how it was used in advertising and culture. But the highlight of the museum is its chocolate sculptures. There are various figures made of chocolate; probably the most interesting is the Pieta but we don't have a picture of that.

Don Quixote in Chocolate

In the afternoon, we walked Las Ramblas. Nicole had joined us by this time and showed us where she used to stay in a hostel in Placa Reial which is a beautiful square but not so safe at night. There's a lot of junk for sale on Las Ramblas but the highlight is the market. All types of food are for sale there, from exotic fruits to fresh fish. You could spend the whole day there but we bought some chocolate and ice cream and finally left.

Lola's Artsy photo of a scene in the Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria (on Las Ramblas)

Our last day in Barcelona we spent the entire day in Montjuic. We took a bus to the top of the mountain where there's a gigantic fort which has served to protect the various ruling class from wars and other conflicts. The cannons were last used in the late 1800s but it had been used as a prison and execution site until 1901. It was hot up there but the views are amazing. There are also acres of gardens you can walk through if you know the way.  A lot of people walk down the entire mountain but we made about half of it. First, we had to stop at a small roadside refreshment stand and later at a fancy restaurant for lunch. The area around the restaurant complex included a municipal pool which was built for the Olympics. The restaurant is Michelin recommended and very fancy. We guessed business people probably bring groups there for dinners. After we ate, we took the bus the rest of the way to Plaza Espanya and then the metro home.

Later, we walked to see the Arc de Triomf and had a light dinner of crepes.  Sounds French, but these were Spanish ones. Really.  Then we all packed to leave today; Nicole flew home to Chicago and we took a 5 hour train ride to Seville. And that's when the trouble started.

Arc de Triomf--Barcelona

We had the service from our Home Away rental pick us up because I was assured the drivers knew all the rentals. He did and we met with the representative who showed us the apartment. It's fantastic. There's 2 bedrooms, 2 great Spanish bathrooms, living room, kitchen, patio with huge plants and a washing machine and more storage than most huge homes have. It's very interesting. After the rep left, I happened to nottice I couldn't find my backpack which always has my computer, the alternate credit cards in case I get pickpocketed again, all the electronic stuff, etc. I thought I had a memory of having it in the van but feared I left it on the train.  So we called our contact person who said she'd make the driver return it but she never called us back to say he found out. Meanwhile, we discovered we couldn't make the wifi work so we called again.  Lucky for me, the bag was in the van and I got it back. The wifi problem, however, has not been solved but I can plug this computer into the router. Doesn't help the phones, though.

After the drama, we walked to the cathedral which had a long line and so did the Alcazar (a royal palace that was originally a Moorish fort). We bought no-line tickets to see both tomorrow. Spain gives the best deals to old people of any country I've ever been in. The reduction is at least 50%, sometimes more.  We're paying 4 euros to get into the cathedral while young people are paying 9.5. We do have to show ids though since no one can believe we're over 65.

 It is very, very, very hot here; in fact, I read that it is the hottest city in Europe. But we stopped at a restaurant that was recommended by our rep and had the best meal and the best wine ever so that made up for all the travel woes.

The Wedding

I am running a day or two behind because of writing a post and accidentally erasing it which led to much pouting.

The day of the wedding involved much champagne and wine. The first event of the day was a meet and greet at a mountain which was not the mountain where we were staying so we took a cab down our mountain and then up another mountain which the cabbie said was the ritziest part of Tortosa. There were many fancy houses sitting on that mountain.This event was outside at a restaurant/church (really). We had tapas and champagne. Several new people arrived, bringing the total number of wedding guests to around 25. At the dinner the night before, we figured out we had 11 nationalities represented and I asked everyone to toast with the toast word(s) from their individual countries. That led to a lot of toasts and drinking. We acquired 2 more nationalities once the new guests arrived.

The pre-wedding reception

After that, we went to the center of town where the civil ceremony in a municipal building was taking place at 5:00. But the officials were not ready to have the wedding so we all went across the street for a shot of a liqueur called d'arroz or rice liqueur which is very sweet but good.  Finally, we went to the wedding. For a civil ceremony, the wedding was very nice. I was responsible for walking the bride up the aisle and did a very good job of it, I'm sure. The ceremony was in Spanish but one of the witnesses translated. What was most interesting about it was they read some of the civil codes associated with marriage. It went something like this:  Code 6.1. Both parties will be equal in all things. Code 6.2 The couple will live together and share all things equally.  We later found out that the official left out most of the code but apparently in Spain, when you sign the official papers, you are agreeing to all the codes.  People from other countries were surprised to learn that in the US, we don't have civil codes to agree to. Of course we might, for all I know, since who reads those papers you have to sign, but I must say I remember nothing about promising to be equal.

V playing the role of father of the bride

After the ceremony, we went back across the street for the traditional Spanish cake//pie and champagne. Then we went back up the mountain to the vicinity of our hotel, and walked up another mountain to some ruins for over an hour of picture taking. That was tedious. However, the ruins are amazing. I've climbed around on ruins before in different countries and as ruins go, these are in fairly good shape.  The fortifications were originally built in the 10th century but the various groups who conquered the city kept reinforcing them, all the way up to the 17th century. Parts of the walls are in very good shape.

Traditional Spanish pie/cake

Bride and Groom, Beata Pilch and Michael Garvey

After pictures, we went to the dinner which was in our hotel. It lasted from 9-12. The steak entree was tender and delicious but most of us were too full by then to eat it since it was about the 4th course. Except for the entree, I must say the food was better at the little restaurant in the city the night before the wedding.

The young people had rented a room for dancing from midnight until 4 a.m. I think that went on until 6 a.m. but at no point did Lola or I check to see. BTW, when I say young I mean anyone younger than us. The bride and groom are around 50 but they can still hang with the younger set. In fact, there were several guests close to our ages. We are embarrassed that we are no longer on the partying "A team."

The next day, we walked down to the city to see their claim to fame which is a cathedral. It is huge and stunning and in perfect condition. Unlike many cathedrals in Europe, there were no additional requests for money outside of the 3 euro admission cost.  We got kinda lost getting back up our mountain so we climbed through more ruins which were also in good shape. Before we got there, we stopped at a sculpture garden that we had wanted to see but thought it was at the other end of town. The garden used to be a spa but was converted to the sculpture garden in about 1975 so the sculptures, which portray the life of man in society, are modern. We did not climb up another mountain to see the sculptures at the top.

Sculpture Garden

The sculpture Garden

 Photography is not allowed in the cathedral so you have to believe me when I say it's in my top 10 list.  It's really surprising such a small city can keep this cathedral in such good shape.

The Cloister

 We had a later train which arrived in Barcelona after 7.  It was practically empty at Tortosa but at the next stop, it seemed hundreds of people got on and it was standing room only. The people in our car seemed to be younger people who were returning from a weekend at the beach but frankly, we have no idea who all those people were. They all seemed to know they would be standing all the way to Barcelona which is over a two hour trip.  The taxi line at the airport was quite long and it was raining so it took awhile to make it to our new apartment. It is at the top of an apartment building. It's modern and once again, the bathroom is great with a huge shower. I don't know why these bathrooms in are bigger than what you typically see in Europe but those Spanish people really know how to build a bathroom.

It is Very Hungover Here

and we haven't been to the wedding yet.

Our first event last night was dinner at a restaurant in town. It lasted from 9:30 until 12:30.  There was tapas, tapas, tapas, and wine, wine, wine. We were back after 1 but the rest of the guests went to a bar and danced all night.  We got up at the crack of 10:30 this morning, missed the big breakfast at the hotel restaurant, but managed to find coffee at the bar in the hotel.  As nice as these rooms in Spain are, they do not provide coffeemakers which is a major disappointment.

Wedding Guests

The only other thing we've accomplished today is walking around the grounds of this parador. Beautiful scenery. Great weather today after it stormed for several hours last night.

View of the River from the hotel

Wall around the Hotel

The Road to Tortosa

But first, can we talk about the weather?  The weather has been perfect here in Spain.  We were watching temperatures for the past couple of weeks and it's been hot everywhere. It was around 74 degrees and overcast in Barcelona and even cooler here in Tortosa. It has been storming here in Tortosa for about an hour but we don't mind because we have nothing to do until the 9:30 dinner and we have a lovely balcony to watch the storm from. If the weather continues to cool off, we can have a perfect record of always bringing the wrong clothes to Europe.

The train ride to Tortosa said "express" when I got the tickets but by that, they meant there were only about 8 stops before we got here. Tortosa was the end of the line.  We got the one taxi that was sitting outside the station and made our way up to the castle. The castle is at the top of a mountain, of course, because that's the best place from which to defend yourself. We have yet to find out from whom these people were defending themselves.

The castle was built in the 10th century. We want to find out when it was renovated. The rooms are spacious, there's a beautiful pool, and the bathrooms are huge. I realize we've stayed in only two places so far but we have concluded that Spain has the best bathrooms in Europe.

V & Nicole at the castle hotel

There is a nice restaurant here as well as a bar that serves tapas and sandwiches. The restaurant is closed for lunch so we had sandwiches in the bar.  It may sound boring that we have eaten sandwiches for lunch everyday but honestly, European sandwiches are the best. They're always multi-layered with meat, cheese, lettuce and often egg. Lola's club sandwich had chicken, bacon, ham, cheese, lettuce, and a fried egg on it. My roast beef sandwich had lettuce, cheese, and a sliced hard-boiled egg.

Nicole and some of the other wedding guests just spent three nights camping at a nearby delta. Nicole said it was beautiful. By camping, they mean staying in 2 bedroom bungalows with private baths. The campground has a pool and store. The price is 15 euros a night.  It sounds like my kind of camping.

This pre-wedding dinner at 9:30 is actually early for the Spainards. If you want to eat at 10 or later, it is best to make a reservation.  Most of the restaurants in Barcelona reopen for dinner at 8 or 8:30.  Tonight, dinner is down the mountain in the town. Here's some of the town:

View of Tortosa from the Parador de Tortosa

Return to Humanity

After many hours sleep (like 9), we gave up zombieism and returned to feeling human. We had tickets to the Sagrada at 11:15.  Since it's just a two minute walk from the hotel, we weren't late. For breakfast, we stayed in the hotel and ate at the bar which serves mini-breakfasts as opposed to the huge breakfasts in the restaurant. We made the mistake of ordering coffee which comes as espresso. After we drank that in one gulp, we ordered cafe con leche which wasn't much bigger than the espresso. In the afternoon, we stopped at a bakery and ordered cafe con leche and got huge mugs of delicious coffee.  That was after the gigantic glasses of sangria blanca that we had with lunch.

The Sagrada is as impressive inside as outside. Construction is evident both inside and outside. It was sometimes so noisy it was difficult to hear the audioguide.  The plan is to finish the cathedral by 2026 and it seems every effort is being made to see that that happens.

Inside the SF

We spent about an hour touring the cathedral and then had a ticket to go to the top of one of the towers. There was an elevator to go up but you have to walk down 400 steps to get out.  There are landings along the way where you can see parts of the cathedral from above.  And at one point, views of Barcelona:

View of Barcelona from the SF

As it turned out, the 400 steps were about 200 too many for me. Lola did fine but by the time I got to the end, my legs were shaking and I could barely walk.  I think the reason was the steps are too far apart and also, because of the way the light came in, I had to bend over and look down to see the next step. I am open to other excuses.  My legs are still sore tonight.

After siesta and coffee hour, we decided to take a Hop On/Hop Off bus since I can't walk.  I usually hate those buses but this was very nice because it covered a lot of the city and certainly some parts we would never see on our own.  We never hopped off so the tour was over 2 hours. The bus traveled along the sea for a long time  so we got to see all the tourist attractions and yachts. Also the rich people's apartments.

We also got a view of La Pedrera. I'm sure a tour would be lovely but we probably won't have time for that..

For dinner, we went to a place called La Paradeta and not just because it's located in the alley behind the hotel. We saw it earlier in the day and it looked like an adventure.  There are about 6 of these in the city and they probably appeal mostly to tourists but we wanted to give it a try. It's a cafeteria-style seafood restaurant. You point to the fresh seafood you want and someone weighs in and takes it to be cooked the way you choose. They had a lot of fish we didn't recognize as well as some we didn't want, like octopus. They even had live lobsters. We ordered prawns and mussels and a salad. You go to another station and order drinks and pay.  Then you go sit at a table. Someone calls the number on your bill as each dish is finished. Our salad came out first, then the mussels, then the prawns. As reviews say, it is noisy and has little to no ambiance. Still, the food was delicious and it was an interesting experience.

La Pedrera

Tomorrow morning, we're off to Tortosa for a wedding. The city is about 2 hours south of Barcelona.  We have a lot of train travel on this trip and tomorrow's is the first.

Barcelona: It's All About the Sagrada Familia

After many tiring hours of traveling, we arrived in Barcelona. The flights themselves were on time and pleasant enough; it's just that it's impossible to sleep on a plane.

So far, it is all about the Sagrada Familia because that's where we are. In a hotel that's a 3 minute walk from it. All we managed to do once we got here is walk around it, go to the gift shop, and sit in the park across the street.  The top picture is actually from the hotel room. When we arrived, we saw a sign at the check-in desk that said you can have a room with a view of the Sagrada for an extra 25 Euros.  Or, it seems,  you can just go to the room you booked and have the view. I think all the rooms face it.

This structure is truly magnificent. Tomorrow we have tickets to tour it. The lines tonight to get in were going strong at 5:00 so even though it's starting to be "off-season," it remains the major attraction of Barcelona.    Because of the time change that we're not accustomed to yet, we decided to eat early, figuring everyone has tapas at 5 or 6. Most of the bars/restaurants we passed that served tapas and dinner were serving drinks only and opening at 8 for tapas or dinner.  We ended up back at the hotel bar for some sandwiches and wine.  That was fine since it was about our 5th meal in 15 hours. We kept taking whatever they gave us to eat on the plane which, as everyone knows, is a really bad idea.

It's an early night tonight since we both feel like zombies. I guess we'll skip the rooftop pool. Actually, it's a little cool and breezy for a swim and that is great news. The next legs of the trip will be hot and humid so this weather is a nice beginning to this trip.

Going to Spain

Barcelona, Tortosa, Seville, Granada, Ronda, Cordoba, Madrid.  Sightseeing, museums, cathedrals, parks, and even a wedding.  Stay tuned for the play-by-play.