travel | Still Carrying On

Saturday, March 28: Barcelona

Posted on March 28, 2015 by Susan

I began today reading emails and Facebook, and Twitter, and the newspaper headlines over a cup of coffee in the hotel restaurant. Facebook reminded me that one year ago at this time, I posted birthday wishes to my son. I figured they knew what they were talking about, so I posted birthday wishes anew and carried on, believing that today was March 29. Of course it’s not (and last year I posted at night, the day before, because I had scanned a photo). In any case, vacation is taking its toll. We only have tomorrow, and leave early Monday morning.

Today we went to the Picasso museum. He was born in Spain and spent much of his adolescence here in Barcelona. The museum isn’t as big as the Picasso museum in Paris, but it does have about 3,800 of his works. He set this museum up during his lifetime ( in 1963) and his widow donated more to the collection after his death in 1973.

It was overwhelming to see this huge chunk of his work, and I’m not sure all of the collection was even displayed. I enjoyed seeing how his style and focus changed through his life. If I lived closer, I think it would be great to be able to look at even just a wall at a time since it is too much to take in in just a few hours.

From there we walked around in that part of the city, went down to the water for lunch, bought a new piece of luggage to hold everything we have bought over the past two weeks, and ended up at a very small leather goods store, owned by a husband and wife.

Roger wanted to buy a belt and the selection displayed was nice,but not exactly what he was looking for. Rafael, the owner said he’d make a belt and brought out a nice piece of leather. He asked us to come back in two hours.

So we walked around, window-shopped, actually shopped, people-watched, and came back for the belt a little early. Carmen, his wife welcomed us back with excitement. She dragged two chairs out for us to sit down, gave us water, Spanish magazines to read, and opened Google translator on her laptop to help us communicate. We found out that she and Rafael have also been married for thirty years, and that they’ve had the shop for 28. He makes beautiful briefcases, purses, wallets, and other goods and seems to do well.

We talked for a while and eventually the belt was ready. After we said goodbye, they asked where we were going next. I said we were going to dinner, but we were not sure where. Carmen jumped up, waved to her husband, and escorted us to a really nice tapas restaurant about ten minutes away. We were sort of amazed that she brought us in, walked us downstairs, and showed us the unique setup before hugging and kissing us goodbye and returning to Rafael.
We enjoyed dinner at this place we never would have found on our own, and sat with a nice couple from Frankfurt who were there for a long weekend.

Tomorrow we need to wind things down: pack up and prepare for an early start for our journey home on Monday.

Adios,
-Susan

The clever restaurant Carmen led us to. You walk up and select with tapas you want, then they write up a bill based on the number of toothpicks you've placed in a holder on your table.

The clever restaurant Carmen led us to. You walk up and select the tapas you want, then they write up a bill based on the number of toothpicks you’ve placed in a holder on your table.

At the waterfront after lunch

At the leather shop. I wish the photo with Carmen had come out. She was adorable and so kind.

At the Picasso museum today

Wednesday, March 25 p.m. : on to Barcelona

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Susan

We left Laguardia at about 10:30 this morning. It was snowing pretty hard about an hour before that, and it turned to rain as we were packing up. We have a six-hour drive to Barcelona and hotel reservations for tomorrow so we will drive for a while today to make a dent in that. We need to return the rental car tomorrow before 3pm, and that probably won’t be a problem. (We finally figured out that a warning light that was going on intermittently meant that the road was wet. It had been cause for concern.)

We drove out of the rain and of course the more south we went the warmer it got. We stopped for gas about an hour into our drive. I got out of the car and the wind was so strong it lurched the car door open when I pushed it. It easily would have blown away a small child. We noticed that there are wind-breaking trees in that section of the highway, and the doors there are all sliding, pocket doors. It must be extremely windy all the time. I wouldn’t be able to stand it.

We drove to about an hour outside of Barcelona, to the city of Lleida. It seemed a good place to stop because it was written in LARGE letters on the map. It is a busy little city and we drove all around it looking for a place to stay. We found a “hotel and spa” that looked fine, but was it very strange once we got inside. It reminded me a bit of the bar in Lisbon: there, with random collections of CDs, toys, and other sort of random things. These were all around the lounge and made it (at least to me) uninhabitable.

But the room is very nice and it seems a comfortable place to spend the night. I tried to check out the spa part of the hotel, but it is in a separate area and I couldn’t find it (the sign outside an elevator said it was on the 5th floor, but the elevator only went to the fourth (?) The pool is temporarily closed. Still,it seems fine.

We went into the city at 6:30 to find a restaurant (first, a place to park – sheesh they were scarce. We parked at the soccer stadium) and were happy to find a terrific-sounding place for dinner, Xalet Suis. We learned that it, and the other ones here, don’t open until 9. That’s typical of all of Spain, but we’ve been going to places that open earlier, probably to accommodate Americans.

So we walked around, had some coffee, checked out the city, and went back for a delicious late dinner. We were the only ones in the old, very good restaurant for most of the evening. We enjoyed the whole dinner and this little, busy city.

Tomorrow we will check out Barcelona. (See photos in post that follows)

Adios,
-Susan

Monday, March 23: Laguardia, Spain

Posted on March 23, 2015 by Susan

I had heard it raining overnight, but was surprised to see it was snowing this morning. Yesterday it had been sunny and warm south of us and now, in the Rioja wine region of northern Spain, it was much, much colder.

I haven’t bought any clothes for below-freezing temperatures, but bundled up with what I have. Our plan was to walk to the gated entrance to the village (it turns out our hotel is right outside it, maybe a ten-minute walk) and check out Laguardia. We couldn’t do that because the snow turned to pouring rain. We waited it out, then drove to the entrance and dashed in through a gate.

Laguardia is over a thousand years old and is like another world. Surrounded by huge stone walls, it is easy to see how it provided the people of the city safety from attack. What is remarkable is that 1,500 people live there in these modern times.

It is a totally inclusive walled village made of blocks of stone. By “totally inclusive” I mean that the people never have to leave the walls of the city and few, if any they have cars. There are shops, restaurants, bars, services – it seems as though they have anything they need.

As soon as I dashed in, I marveled at the narrow stone-lined streets. I couldn’t take pictures since we were running in the rain. We were not really sure where to go since there are just doors within stone walls. Everything looks very similar. Some doors are people’s homes, others are businesses. There are no storefront windows, so you have to know where you’re going. This posed a problem because of the rain, since we couldn’t just walk casually around. And of course we had no idea where we were going.

We ducked into one tiny shop that had some nice sweaters displayed near the open door. The saleswoman/owner was nice although she spoke almost no English. She was able to direct us to a great restaurant after I bought a sweater there, and we dashed up the street because it was still raining.

After a delicious lunch, the waiter suggested we check out the restaurant’s cellar. Underneath the entire walled city are wine cellars. They have been separated under businesses and homes now, so are not connected as they were when they were first built as one huge place to safely store the village’s wine. It was interesting to see the small connected rooms that snaked underneath the building.

Tomorrow we are going to tour a winery and check out more of the inside of the walled village. We are hoping it is not raining or snowing so we can walk around.

Adios,
-Susan

The old and grand restaurant where we had lunch today.

The wine bar was not open when we were there in the late afternoon, but it was interesting to see the setup. We may go back tomorrow evening to see what it’s like with people there.

A sweater and pashmina I got today in the walled city

At lunch today

The caves underneath the restaurant. Wine is stored there, but it is also a wine bar at night.

Sunday, March 22: Laguardia, Spain

Posted on March 22, 2015 by Susan

Today was long and uneventful. I really hated to leave Portugal and hope to be back – aside from it being a beautiful country, the people there are extremely kind. They seem to not have a care in the world. (They may not.) It would be great to live there a few months a year.

We left Sintra, Portugal at about eight this morning and drove all day to reach Laguardia, a small city in northern Spain, at about eight this evening. We stopped just for gas, and for lunch mid-afternoon.

Laguardia is in the Rioja wine region, and it still has its medieval entrance gates and walls. As of this evening, we have seen none of that (we probably didn’t come in through the entrance) and I was just thrilled we found our hotel in the dark on the long and winding roads. It’s very easy to miss road signs even when it’s light out.

Tomorrow we will go on a wine tour and walk around to check out the city. We are staying here three nights, because it’s a really nice hotel and because we don’t want to drive anywhere any time soon.

Adios,
-Susan

Wine from the Rioja region, and Cantabrian anchovies = I am content.

Thursday, March 19: Lisbon

Posted on March 20, 2015 by Susan

Today was a wonderful day!
I had read an article that suggested a number of must-see places here in Lisbon. Yesterday we went to that crazy bar and today I wanted to visit the Pasteis de Belem, a bakery that sells the traditional Portuguese custard tarts. Although these can be found all around the country, this particular place is supposed to make the best ones. They have a secret recipe that only three people know in its entirety and the exact ingredient list is in a safe with “100 keys,” as a woman told me today.
We got there at about 11 and there was a long line out the door and into the street. I noticed that there was a sign for Table Service and an arrow to go indoors. We found an empty table and enjoyed a snack of the delicious tarts. They are small pastries filled with a lemon/vanilla custard, and served warm, right out of the oven. I could have eaten 10 easily and understood right away why people queued up for these tarts.

President Silva’s house is not far away on the same street and it was amazing to see, with guards in uniform standing at attention in front and police directing traffic in that area. I think this was because he was there, at home today. There were demonstrations across the street but it was nothing like Washington D.C.: much smaller and generally calm. Portugal is a peaceful country and seems remarkably safe. This feeling of safety is noticeable right away (although there are pickpockets like any big city, of course).

Next we went to the Conserveira de Lisboa, a little shop that sells a variety of canned fish: salmon, octopus, tuna, mussels, sardines. They are canned in Lisbon, then labeled and wrapped in the shop. I enjoyed this unusual place and got some tuna, octopus, and mussels to (hopefully) bring home. (I read up on the customs restrictions just now and fish products seem ok to transport.)

We did some shopping and I got running shoes but no bathing suit. I still hope to swim while I am here but at least I can run now.

We went back to the seafood restaurant on the water for dinner tonight, mainly because we loved it for lunch yesterday. I had grilled squid. We met a super-nice young couple there who live in Lisbon. They made reservations for us for tomorrow night at one of their favorite traditional Portuguese restaurants that plays live fado – music of their culture. It sounds like fun.
We are also taking a tour of the opera house here tomorrow . It is hundreds of years old and still used during their opera season.
I am loving Lisbon!
Adios,
-Susan

…..

It is remarkable that the city keeps these stone sidewalks maintained. Laying rocks seems so tedious but two workers were adding rocks very quickly.

The Conserveira de Lisbon

Pasties de Belem! Two coffee, two bottles of water, two pastries =a bargain

Pasteis de Belem! Two coffees, two bottles of water, two pastries =a $6.25 bargain. Everything here is very inexpensive

The cans of fish are all wrapped by hand.

Wednesday, March 18: Lisbon

Posted on March 18, 2015 by Susan

We drove to Lisbon today and arrived at about 2. It is a big confusing city and even with directions it was hard to find our hotel. We drove around and around looking for the particular street and I really wished we had gotten a car with GPS. We did finally find it though, and we are happily living in our hotel in Lisbon until Saturday.

We haven’t walked around the city yet because we immediately went to lunch at Five Oceans, a restaurant at the port. We had delicious sea bass and sat outside since it was nice – just a little chilly. It was nice to be right on the water.

Next we went to Pavilhao Chines, a bar we had read about. An article said it was a must-be-seen-to-be-believed place, and that was sure true. The walls are lined with cabinets – every wall of every one of the five rooms – and these are filled with all sorts of toys, knickknacks, battle helmets, small toy army men, ceramic dolls, fans – I can’t even remember everything I saw. There are easily thousands of collectibles on display, organized well. We got there at about eight and when we left about 90 minutes later it was starting to really get busy. It was a strange and interesting place.

Tomorrow we will do some shopping and walk around to see what Lisbon is all about.

Adios,
Susan

At the port where we had lunch today

Seafood is pulled from the water and plunked on the plate (pretty much)

Every wall in every room had cabinets covering it. These were completely filled with collectibles of all kinds. It was nuts!

At the Pavilhao Chines

Monday, March 16: last day in Madrid

Posted on March 16, 2015 by Susan

Today we went to the Prado, the main national art museum in Spain. They are featuring a Goya in Madrid temporary exhibit, but the classic (Goya and Velasquez) masterpieces were what we wanted to see. There are over a thousand pieces of art on display (out of a collection of about 7,500) at any given time, and the building is (of course) huge.

As soon as we got there, a tour guide approached us and asked whether we wanted her to show us around. I was apprehensive but the price was right so Ana escorted us through the museum.

What a wealth of very interesting information she shared! There is no way to take in everything in the hours we planned to be there, but Ana showed us the highlights, or the must-see works. She had details and trivia about each one and I found it all fascinating. I left there thinking I may take an art history course, and that I want to learn more about the Spanish royal family. Some of them were characters and I haven’t read any Spanish history in decades.

Next we went to the barrio de La Latina – the Latin neighborhood of Madrid. It has narrow streets, old shops and restaurants, and is buzzing with people and action. (There’s a picture below of a street performer who looked like a gold statue. He was just sitting in front of a chess board. It was only after a few minutes that he stared out and revealed the whites of his eyes. He drew quite a crowd and I wondered how many hours he sat there motionless.)

We had lunch at a little Latin cafe and did a some shopping (to include the peach-colored sweater pictured) then headed back to the center of the city. Dinner was light: some tapas (small plates to share) and a bottle of wine at a restaurant near our hotel.

Tomorrow we pick up a car and drive toward Lisbon. We won’t make it there in one day, but I’m not sure where we’ll stop. I’ve really enjoyed Madrid!

Adios,
-Susan

After dinner tonight

Cafe con leche is why I’m awake right now, at one a.m.

A very-believable street performer posing as a statue.

Sunday, March 15: Madrid

Posted on March 15, 2015 by Susan

Sunday, Madrid.

(We are here until Tuesday morning, then we pick up our rental car and begin driving – to Lisbon, then back into Barcelona, stopping all along the way. We have to finalize our route there, and may figure that out later today.)

It is nice weather to walk around Madrid, and that’s what we’ve been doing. That, and drinking more coffee than I ever drink in an effort to get myself on Spanish time.

Last night we had a delicious dinner at a restaurant sort of close to the soccer stadium, Asador Donostiarra. We shared some Spanish wine and appetizers first: prawns, anchovies, croquettes – and could have left it at that.
But, no. We ordered more food.
Me: squid. Him: steak (cooked at the table, which was interesting) . We should have left it at that and I certainly intended to. I had seen nothing chocolate on the menu, and mentioned that to the waiter as my excuse for skipping dessert. He told me they had chocolate cake in the kitchen and it was fantastico, and that I had to have some. Backed into a corner, I heard myself say “Really? Great! Uno slice, por favor,” as Roger ordered rice pudding.
It turned out the cake was good as he claimed, but it turned out I was glad we didn’t skip dessert. The young couple sitting next to us got chatty after agreeing to take our picture. They were on a weekend getaway from their home in Israel and were very interesting to talk with.
(This is known as Justifying Dessert.)

Today we went to the Museo Sofia, a contemporary art museum in a beautiful, very old building. It was fun, but some art just annoys me (did those colored wood pieces really need to be under the protection of glass?) and causes me to ask myself whether I could have made a name as an artist had I just realized a painting can be finished after drawing just a simple line down the center of the paper.

Tomorrow: the Prado museum!

I bought a couple of shirts/blouses this afternoon (but am nowhere near being wardrobed) and we had lunch at a very good tapas place. I’m loving Spanish food! Since I’m eating so much of it, I need to find and buy running shoes, shorts, and a bathing suit pronto, then put them to work!

Adios,
-Susan

This painting could be of me: jet lagged (still), eating too much (this will continue), and physically inactive (must change that).

I should have glued down my kids’ creations and sold them!

At dinner Saturday evening.

Welcome

Posted on March 9, 2015 by Susan

On March 13, I left for Spain and Portugal. I carried one suitcase. It only contained toiletries.

Yes, that’s right. The only clothes I have brought on this 17-day trip are the ones I wore on the plane. Packing was amazingly stress-free.

My plan is to buy clothes as I travel. That may or may not be the smartest idea I have had in a long time. Regardless, this blog will document my trip.

Thanks for reading and sharing!

-Susan