Our final day...and here we are at the Best Western Alfa Hotel by the airport. Rental car is safely returned and the shuttle is booked for 6:00am tomorrow morning. That will be an assault on our senses as we have quite adapted to Spanish time and rising at 8 or so in the morning.
Our last day was rather surreal...we followed a bit of Salvador Dali's life. A trip out to Cadaques, the easternmost town in Spain and Dali's haunt at least for the summers. The usual search for a parking place and a quick walk to the seashore where his famous Miratim restaurant was the scene of gatherings for his artist friends. Rain fell intermittently and made our quick walk a little quicker.
Back towards Figueres where the famous Salvador Dali Museum was our goal. On the twisty roads we watched oodles of cars heading for Cadaques and its lack of parking...no idea what it would be like there. Then in Figueres we spent lots of time searching out that one little 12 ft spot we could fit the Skoda into. Traffic was awful...and we circled round and round. Then finally a spot! we headed for the lineup to buy the tickets for entry...so many other Dali seekers. Apparently it is a 3 day weekend here...didn't know and didn't factor that into our plans. We viewed the most unusual museum among hordes of others...seemed rather unDaliesque. Hard to appreciate the surreal when one is living it.
On the way back to the car we passed the parking garage near the museum...never a sign anywhere for that.
Now...safe in the Best Western, a glass of Cava consumed and the suitcases reorganized...home is hard to imagine after almost 5 weeks away. But it does feel rather good to think of being there.
Hasta luego...Espagne
Saturday, May 1, 2010
France into Spain
A Medieval city before breakfast. ..now that is the way to start your day! The city of Carcassonne is at its best then before it gets inundated with tourists-only the delivery vans are racing in and out. From what we could see, the castle inhabitants had their choice of eating, drinking, sleeping or shopping. No armour makers or crossbow fixers anywhere. The one bit of history was a movie shown in the castle (tour of castle 8.50 euros) and the movie machine was broken. So, it seems all we know is that this old city was restored in the 1800's by a guy just nutty for medieval stuff and may not be entirely to the original plan. But the restoration is now old enough to be designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is interesting and beautiful...but very commercialized- at least after 9:30 am when we had retired to our Hotel du Chateau across the road for breakfast.
Time to travel through the centuries...at least to 1960 as we headed east for Narbonne and area where Jurg had spent some of his early 20's on a work placement with a French Vintner. The vintner had been interned in Switzerland during the war and was so grateful for the way he was treated that he just had Jurg chauffer his family around and have fun. Jurg had great memories of cafe's on the streets of Narbonne and days spent at the beach at St Pierre Sur La Mer.
With the help of Edeltroute, our new name for the GPS, we found both places. The cafe area in Narbonne is still shaded by wonderful trees alongside the canal, but the isolated beach is now totally surrounded by development. The old outhouse with the heartshaped cutout that you held close with two fingers to signify "occupe" is long gone! The road out to the beach is through wine country and seems much the same as the days 50 years ago...but the rest has vanished with our dark hair.
We took advantage of the new infrastructure to have moules and frites with deux bieres and moved on to Perpignon and down the little coastal road.
Magnificent views as we crossed the end of the Pyrenees as they tumble into the sea in a maze of cliffs and rocks. And then...back in Spain...the old customs house turned into a bar. The marker raised by Franco to commemorate his taking of all of Spain is covered in grafitti...
We find a small hotel in Llanca...seems unchanged since the 1970's...a fitting end to our day of timetravel. Tapas and drinks as we watch night fall over the Mediterranean Sea.
Time to travel through the centuries...at least to 1960 as we headed east for Narbonne and area where Jurg had spent some of his early 20's on a work placement with a French Vintner. The vintner had been interned in Switzerland during the war and was so grateful for the way he was treated that he just had Jurg chauffer his family around and have fun. Jurg had great memories of cafe's on the streets of Narbonne and days spent at the beach at St Pierre Sur La Mer.
With the help of Edeltroute, our new name for the GPS, we found both places. The cafe area in Narbonne is still shaded by wonderful trees alongside the canal, but the isolated beach is now totally surrounded by development. The old outhouse with the heartshaped cutout that you held close with two fingers to signify "occupe" is long gone! The road out to the beach is through wine country and seems much the same as the days 50 years ago...but the rest has vanished with our dark hair.
We took advantage of the new infrastructure to have moules and frites with deux bieres and moved on to Perpignon and down the little coastal road.
Magnificent views as we crossed the end of the Pyrenees as they tumble into the sea in a maze of cliffs and rocks. And then...back in Spain...the old customs house turned into a bar. The marker raised by Franco to commemorate his taking of all of Spain is covered in grafitti...
We find a small hotel in Llanca...seems unchanged since the 1970's...a fitting end to our day of timetravel. Tapas and drinks as we watch night fall over the Mediterranean Sea.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Carcassonne, France
So much in 2 days...even a new country. Hardly noticed as we crossed the border, only the map and the signs in French paid tribute to the change in government. To backtrack a little.
We visited Guernika yesterday..outstanding museum dedicated to peace. The people here have taken much the same stand as Hiroshima...peace-not vengeance. The museum analyzed peace and then had a marvellous explanation of what happened that day in 1937. Found out it was a joint force of Germans, and Italians aided by the Spanish. There was a moving video of the German apology in 1997. So far the Italians and the Spanish have failed to do anything to own up to their parts.
It seems that the Franco era in Spain was so aided by the Catholic Church that is still so strong, that no look at any of the atrocities of that era has happened. We have seen several demonstrations featuring calls for Justice for the victims of that time. Looks like Spain has a darker side that still lies in the shadows.
We moved along the coast and headed for overnight in Pamplona...and Jurg's most important soccer game on TV. There must be a day of mourning in Spain as they got eliminated by Italy from the semi finals...but we got to see the famous bull run city in the morning. Walked the run that takes the bulls about 3 minutes to cover.
Then on through the Pyrenees- a magnificent drive thru small towns and green hills to a height of 1000m over the pass. Then the descent to France. Along the way we passed lots of cyclists and pilgrims on the Camino. Both seems like incredible challenges...
We drove to Lourdes...huge crowd of pilgrims and lots of souvenir shops. Quite the place. Not sure what to make of it all.
Tonight we are at Carcossonne. Jurg was last here 50 years ago. We will see tomorrow morning what has changed...
We visited Guernika yesterday..outstanding museum dedicated to peace. The people here have taken much the same stand as Hiroshima...peace-not vengeance. The museum analyzed peace and then had a marvellous explanation of what happened that day in 1937. Found out it was a joint force of Germans, and Italians aided by the Spanish. There was a moving video of the German apology in 1997. So far the Italians and the Spanish have failed to do anything to own up to their parts.
It seems that the Franco era in Spain was so aided by the Catholic Church that is still so strong, that no look at any of the atrocities of that era has happened. We have seen several demonstrations featuring calls for Justice for the victims of that time. Looks like Spain has a darker side that still lies in the shadows.
We moved along the coast and headed for overnight in Pamplona...and Jurg's most important soccer game on TV. There must be a day of mourning in Spain as they got eliminated by Italy from the semi finals...but we got to see the famous bull run city in the morning. Walked the run that takes the bulls about 3 minutes to cover.
Then on through the Pyrenees- a magnificent drive thru small towns and green hills to a height of 1000m over the pass. Then the descent to France. Along the way we passed lots of cyclists and pilgrims on the Camino. Both seems like incredible challenges...
We drove to Lourdes...huge crowd of pilgrims and lots of souvenir shops. Quite the place. Not sure what to make of it all.
Tonight we are at Carcossonne. Jurg was last here 50 years ago. We will see tomorrow morning what has changed...
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Basque Country
This morning as we left out little posada in Santillana, we decided that we needed to make some distance and there would be no more little seaside or mountain diversionary drives. We almost made it- but more on that later.
First we headed to Santander, a big seaside city that is very modern as it was burned down by a major fire in 1941. For a modern town it was very lovely. It has a beautiful beach-El Sardiniero- that is right in the city and wonderful seaside promenades like so many of the Spanish cities. Toronto has much to learn about waterfronts and Guelph's view of its river walks are lamentable compared to what they do here. We didn't linger as our big agenda was to get to Bilbao and the famous Guggenheim designed by Frank Gehry.
A little aside- the roads are wonderful and getting better all the time. Most places are connected by 4 lane divided highways with excellent signage and the secondary roads are paved and in good condition. There is much construction going on to upgrade sections- hope that isn't part of the cause of the financial difficulties here!
Anyhow, we motored into Bilbao and found the museums with the help (and some hindrance) of our dear GPS system. Getting from the underground parking into the museum was quite complicated..there were no signs and we ended up walking totally around this fantastic building before locating the entrance. But the building is incredible! all curves and glass and titanium siding..odd shaped spaces and even odder modern art inside. Anish Koor is the main exhibit and his work is fascinating but outside the box to say the least...a cannon that shoots wax bullets against a corner? he has collaborated with other artists to create architectural creations in NYC and Chicago and other places. Certainly challenging to understand his work! After lunch in a shopping centre restaurant (actually was a pretty good salad!) we saw the more traditional work at the Museo Belles Artes. There was saw an El Greco, a Manet, several Rubens- and other amazing people from across the centuries. There were some other modern Basque artists with exhibits showing their culture.
This Basque city that was until the mid nineties and the building of the museum, just an industrial no name, has all sorts of incredible buildings now and more under construction..looks like things have really taken off!
Basque culture...quite amazing. The language is totally different from our language and is theorized to be closer to Finnish and some of those languages. The Basques are like the aboriginals of this area and are thought to have resisted conquest by both the Romans and the Moors and retained their own unique language and customs as they got pushed into the area around the border of France and Spain. They are seafarers and probably arrived in North America long before Columbus as they followed the whales...maybe even before the Vikings. One hears about them because of ETA, the so-called terrorist organization that is agitating for a separate Basque homeland and has been the cause of several bombings that have caused great damage in France and Spain. Their food is apparently quite amazing ( don't know yet as we haven't tried it) and they are still resistant to Spanish attempts to squash the culture. Apparently this came to a head under Franco and Hitler attacked a key Basque city-Guernica- in 1937 experimenting with cluster bombs and hoping to win Franco as an ally. The ancient city was destroyed, a thousand people died, and Franco stayed neutral in the war. Tomorrow we will visit that city.
As we left Bilbao, we read in Fodors about this spectacular seaside drive around to Guernica...well let me tell you. The spectacularness was a little spotty, the drive was very difficult to follow even with the GPS assistance and then with no warning the road was closed and we had to backtrack. We should have stuck to our original idea to avoid slow roads today! So here we are in Mundaka at Hotel Atalaya after checking in after 8 pm.
It is an important football game tonight..so dinner was a sandwich as Jurg watched the game in the bar. Sue will make sure that anticipated Basque meal happens tomorrow in San Sebastian...price be damned!
Hasta luego
First we headed to Santander, a big seaside city that is very modern as it was burned down by a major fire in 1941. For a modern town it was very lovely. It has a beautiful beach-El Sardiniero- that is right in the city and wonderful seaside promenades like so many of the Spanish cities. Toronto has much to learn about waterfronts and Guelph's view of its river walks are lamentable compared to what they do here. We didn't linger as our big agenda was to get to Bilbao and the famous Guggenheim designed by Frank Gehry.
A little aside- the roads are wonderful and getting better all the time. Most places are connected by 4 lane divided highways with excellent signage and the secondary roads are paved and in good condition. There is much construction going on to upgrade sections- hope that isn't part of the cause of the financial difficulties here!
Anyhow, we motored into Bilbao and found the museums with the help (and some hindrance) of our dear GPS system. Getting from the underground parking into the museum was quite complicated..there were no signs and we ended up walking totally around this fantastic building before locating the entrance. But the building is incredible! all curves and glass and titanium siding..odd shaped spaces and even odder modern art inside. Anish Koor is the main exhibit and his work is fascinating but outside the box to say the least...a cannon that shoots wax bullets against a corner? he has collaborated with other artists to create architectural creations in NYC and Chicago and other places. Certainly challenging to understand his work! After lunch in a shopping centre restaurant (actually was a pretty good salad!) we saw the more traditional work at the Museo Belles Artes. There was saw an El Greco, a Manet, several Rubens- and other amazing people from across the centuries. There were some other modern Basque artists with exhibits showing their culture.
This Basque city that was until the mid nineties and the building of the museum, just an industrial no name, has all sorts of incredible buildings now and more under construction..looks like things have really taken off!
Basque culture...quite amazing. The language is totally different from our language and is theorized to be closer to Finnish and some of those languages. The Basques are like the aboriginals of this area and are thought to have resisted conquest by both the Romans and the Moors and retained their own unique language and customs as they got pushed into the area around the border of France and Spain. They are seafarers and probably arrived in North America long before Columbus as they followed the whales...maybe even before the Vikings. One hears about them because of ETA, the so-called terrorist organization that is agitating for a separate Basque homeland and has been the cause of several bombings that have caused great damage in France and Spain. Their food is apparently quite amazing ( don't know yet as we haven't tried it) and they are still resistant to Spanish attempts to squash the culture. Apparently this came to a head under Franco and Hitler attacked a key Basque city-Guernica- in 1937 experimenting with cluster bombs and hoping to win Franco as an ally. The ancient city was destroyed, a thousand people died, and Franco stayed neutral in the war. Tomorrow we will visit that city.
As we left Bilbao, we read in Fodors about this spectacular seaside drive around to Guernica...well let me tell you. The spectacularness was a little spotty, the drive was very difficult to follow even with the GPS assistance and then with no warning the road was closed and we had to backtrack. We should have stuck to our original idea to avoid slow roads today! So here we are in Mundaka at Hotel Atalaya after checking in after 8 pm.
It is an important football game tonight..so dinner was a sandwich as Jurg watched the game in the bar. Sue will make sure that anticipated Basque meal happens tomorrow in San Sebastian...price be damned!
Hasta luego
Monday, April 26, 2010
the silence of Santillana
This morning we were in a beautiful seaside town with a magnificent beach...Gijon...staying in a beautifully redone little 3 star hotel...redone in a very modern way with a lift that took the car down to the parking! After a walk along the wide promenade at the edge of the beach, we headed east to go off the main roads and see a little of Los Picos del Europa.
This is a national park with magnificent snow capped mountains and big canyons. We drove along winding roads just on the edge of the park through green fields and small towns and beautiful vistas. All of this is very close to the sea..which complicates things. There is a lot of fog on the north side of this mountain range, and we could see that perhaps driving too high would bring us no view. This was confirmed when one of the miradors (lookout) where we expected to see the beaches and ocean in the distance was totally fogged in. The sea complicates many things, because we were torn..a drive along the edge of the sea or through the twisty turny roads..The sea won and we headed for Llanes for lunch.
This is another pretty seaside place...port, resort and pretty town. We found a little restaurant where we managed to order from the menu del dia and had fresh fish. Great!
After lunch our planned seaside drive ran into a little snag...we couldn't find the right road mentioned in Fodor's and neither could our GPS and all of a sudden we were on the main national highway and headed for Santillana Del Mer. Oh well! we got here in a hurry...and it was a good thing.
This is a beautiful little town with original buildings from the 15 and 16 hundreds. Everything is made from stone and it is hard to tell the difference between new and old. And it is quiet...finally, out in the country! Our little posada overlooks the town and the horses in the fields around it. The sun doesn't set until after 9 so the evening is long and the birds sing so beautifully. We have pine floors and a simple room. Tomorrow breakfast is at 8:30...guess we don't have to start too fast. Spanish speed tomorrow.
Though we haven't travelled too many miles here, we sure have seen a lot..so much packed into a small space. Jurg loves the little Skoda car...what it lacks in uphill strength it makes up for in gas usuage. Under 5 l/100 km.
Tomorrow we head toward Bilboa and the Guggenheim Museum...
Hasta Luego
This is a national park with magnificent snow capped mountains and big canyons. We drove along winding roads just on the edge of the park through green fields and small towns and beautiful vistas. All of this is very close to the sea..which complicates things. There is a lot of fog on the north side of this mountain range, and we could see that perhaps driving too high would bring us no view. This was confirmed when one of the miradors (lookout) where we expected to see the beaches and ocean in the distance was totally fogged in. The sea complicates many things, because we were torn..a drive along the edge of the sea or through the twisty turny roads..The sea won and we headed for Llanes for lunch.
This is another pretty seaside place...port, resort and pretty town. We found a little restaurant where we managed to order from the menu del dia and had fresh fish. Great!
After lunch our planned seaside drive ran into a little snag...we couldn't find the right road mentioned in Fodor's and neither could our GPS and all of a sudden we were on the main national highway and headed for Santillana Del Mer. Oh well! we got here in a hurry...and it was a good thing.
This is a beautiful little town with original buildings from the 15 and 16 hundreds. Everything is made from stone and it is hard to tell the difference between new and old. And it is quiet...finally, out in the country! Our little posada overlooks the town and the horses in the fields around it. The sun doesn't set until after 9 so the evening is long and the birds sing so beautifully. We have pine floors and a simple room. Tomorrow breakfast is at 8:30...guess we don't have to start too fast. Spanish speed tomorrow.
Though we haven't travelled too many miles here, we sure have seen a lot..so much packed into a small space. Jurg loves the little Skoda car...what it lacks in uphill strength it makes up for in gas usuage. Under 5 l/100 km.
Tomorrow we head toward Bilboa and the Guggenheim Museum...
Hasta Luego
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Segovia is so yesterday!
It was only yesterday that we left Segovia...a beautiful old city..but it seems so far away! we set the GPS for Leon Salamanca via Avila and set out. Avila is the one city with a complete wall around it. This is because it was built at the end of the wall building era and I guess nobody tried to invade. Now it is a great tourist attraction' and worth seeing. Then on to Salamanca which has the largest square in Spain. It was full of people and we decided it would be a great place to eat lunch. Lunch becomes quite important here as we usually have just a croissant and coffee for breakfast and if we are lucky fresh orange juice. Not too much of the healthy stuff!
So we plunked down at a table and asked for menu..the camararo looked at us and then reluctantly went and got one. It was about noon...we should have noticed that nobody else was doing anything but drinking coffee or wine. What arrived for our meal was a bun with either a few slices of ham or a bundle of friend calamari...the whole wheat craze does not extend to spain. Not a bit of spice or veggie...nada.
Now we know...lunch doesn't start until at least 1:30 and people always have aperatives before lunch and dinner.. As we left we passed much more interesting outdoor cafes that were getting set up. Another cultural lesson learned!
We changed all our plans and headed for Valladolid as I had read there was a sculpture museum there. This is a non-tourist town and the hotel we found was not all that friendly. The sculpture museum was interesting, but only had sacred stuff from churches..though it amazed me to see that some of the 16th century folks were doing amazing lifelike animated forms. Being a university town the before dinner stroll when everyone gets out in their best dress and meets in the square, went on all night outside the hotel. Those young folks never go to bed on a Saturday night- just like Guelph.
Then today we went through Leon where we postponed out lunch until 1:30 and walked around until we saw that people were actually eating and found the most wonderful little place with the best food of the trip!
In the afternoon we went off the main roads and drove through the magnificent mountains that define the area between Castille Lyon and Asturia. Incredible, snow capped, with windy roads that skirt the edges of rivers and the odd lake and go up into (unfortunately!) fog today. It was so similar to Switzerland and was a great diversion from the mesas and semi arid areas.
Tonight we are staying in Gijon on the Atlantic..a great place with a waterfront area developed into a park and historic area and with everyone out walking around again. We had the drink of the area...cider..in a tapas bar with a whole bunch of young folks who taught us how to drink it in one gulp..rapido, rapido..and we polished off a whole bottle for the big sum of 2.25 euroes.
So we plunked down at a table and asked for menu..the camararo looked at us and then reluctantly went and got one. It was about noon...we should have noticed that nobody else was doing anything but drinking coffee or wine. What arrived for our meal was a bun with either a few slices of ham or a bundle of friend calamari...the whole wheat craze does not extend to spain. Not a bit of spice or veggie...nada.
Now we know...lunch doesn't start until at least 1:30 and people always have aperatives before lunch and dinner.. As we left we passed much more interesting outdoor cafes that were getting set up. Another cultural lesson learned!
We changed all our plans and headed for Valladolid as I had read there was a sculpture museum there. This is a non-tourist town and the hotel we found was not all that friendly. The sculpture museum was interesting, but only had sacred stuff from churches..though it amazed me to see that some of the 16th century folks were doing amazing lifelike animated forms. Being a university town the before dinner stroll when everyone gets out in their best dress and meets in the square, went on all night outside the hotel. Those young folks never go to bed on a Saturday night- just like Guelph.
Then today we went through Leon where we postponed out lunch until 1:30 and walked around until we saw that people were actually eating and found the most wonderful little place with the best food of the trip!
In the afternoon we went off the main roads and drove through the magnificent mountains that define the area between Castille Lyon and Asturia. Incredible, snow capped, with windy roads that skirt the edges of rivers and the odd lake and go up into (unfortunately!) fog today. It was so similar to Switzerland and was a great diversion from the mesas and semi arid areas.
Tonight we are staying in Gijon on the Atlantic..a great place with a waterfront area developed into a park and historic area and with everyone out walking around again. We had the drink of the area...cider..in a tapas bar with a whole bunch of young folks who taught us how to drink it in one gulp..rapido, rapido..and we polished off a whole bottle for the big sum of 2.25 euroes.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Zaragoza to Segovia
We left Zaragoza after tramping around in our first day of rain. We had sloshed to the Moorish castle, only to find out it was now the seat of the Parliament for the state of Aragon which was in session...so closed until 4 pm. After one more look around the immense cathedral and a quick buy of 2 more oranges in the market we headed off. The countryside on the way to Segovia was wonderful. It changed so many times...from semi arid regions, to irrigated areas of grapes and fruit trees, to forests and hills and then some snow capped mountains in the distance. Small towns with red brick walls and tile roofs punctuated the journey..many had a large square church spire in the middle. Evidence of poverty in the smaller places- deteriorating homes and empty buildings, just like the hollowing out of small towns at home.
We stopped for lunch in Soria...but without a detailed map it was hard to find the beautiful river area described in Fodor's. So we settled for a small restaurant near an interesting square. We did not find the wonderful meal of Spanish food we had expected. The waiter sent over someone who supposedly spoke Ingles..he just read the menu to us aloud in Spanish..and I had forgotten my Spanish book in the car! A greasy, soggy disaster ensued..in fact the guy took my pork unmentionables back and brought me a chicken breast with the same amount of pre requisite grease. Ah well! the joy of travel...though the vino del casa was good.
On to Segovia and what a beautiful city it is! we just walked around last night in the old city with its small streets, beautiful churches and delightful cafes. The whole city is out at night walking- old, young, babes in arms, lovers...you name it, and you could find it. We had thought we might take a sidetrip to Madrid by train and visit the Prado, but couldn't get info and couldn't make the on-line ticket ordering work on the netbook. All tourist info here is only by the city and even though many tourists come on day trips from Madrid to here, the people here know nothing about Madrid. In fact, once we asked about Madrid, we seemed to get no more service. We found the tourist bus that gave us a 1 hr tour of Segovia on our own...no one suggested it!
One of the most interesting things here is the Roman Aquaduct which we can see out of our window. Unbelievable that it survives from the 1st century. It is almost 3000 ft long and has 118 arches...a portion which is 2 story where it crosses the dip in the valley that is now the centre of the city. It carried water at the rate of 30 litres/min and even had a special cleaning house where the debris in the water fell to the bottom of a deeper trench to clean it. Jurg is marvelling at the engineering involved and amount of manpower needed in the construction.
Tonight we go to a recommended place for a fancy $$$$ meal. We may have compromised it somewhat by eating too much at lunch. Let's hope our cruise ship training session will allow us to make the most of the options presented.
Tomorrow we move on to Salamanca and then hopefully end up in Leon...this will move us closer to seeing the northern Atlantic shore of Spain and the Basque country. We have decided not to go to the more well known southern area of Seville, Granada and Toledo...might have to be another trip someday!
Hasta Luego
We stopped for lunch in Soria...but without a detailed map it was hard to find the beautiful river area described in Fodor's. So we settled for a small restaurant near an interesting square. We did not find the wonderful meal of Spanish food we had expected. The waiter sent over someone who supposedly spoke Ingles..he just read the menu to us aloud in Spanish..and I had forgotten my Spanish book in the car! A greasy, soggy disaster ensued..in fact the guy took my pork unmentionables back and brought me a chicken breast with the same amount of pre requisite grease. Ah well! the joy of travel...though the vino del casa was good.
On to Segovia and what a beautiful city it is! we just walked around last night in the old city with its small streets, beautiful churches and delightful cafes. The whole city is out at night walking- old, young, babes in arms, lovers...you name it, and you could find it. We had thought we might take a sidetrip to Madrid by train and visit the Prado, but couldn't get info and couldn't make the on-line ticket ordering work on the netbook. All tourist info here is only by the city and even though many tourists come on day trips from Madrid to here, the people here know nothing about Madrid. In fact, once we asked about Madrid, we seemed to get no more service. We found the tourist bus that gave us a 1 hr tour of Segovia on our own...no one suggested it!
One of the most interesting things here is the Roman Aquaduct which we can see out of our window. Unbelievable that it survives from the 1st century. It is almost 3000 ft long and has 118 arches...a portion which is 2 story where it crosses the dip in the valley that is now the centre of the city. It carried water at the rate of 30 litres/min and even had a special cleaning house where the debris in the water fell to the bottom of a deeper trench to clean it. Jurg is marvelling at the engineering involved and amount of manpower needed in the construction.
Tonight we go to a recommended place for a fancy $$$$ meal. We may have compromised it somewhat by eating too much at lunch. Let's hope our cruise ship training session will allow us to make the most of the options presented.
Tomorrow we move on to Salamanca and then hopefully end up in Leon...this will move us closer to seeing the northern Atlantic shore of Spain and the Basque country. We have decided not to go to the more well known southern area of Seville, Granada and Toledo...might have to be another trip someday!
Hasta Luego
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)