We are sitting in a restaurant called "Jumbos" waiting for our Chilli crab. Andy says it is the best. The cab driver did not take credit cards! Overpaid him in US dollars. As usual,did not sleep a wink on the planes. Good seats. Had a heavy metal person next to me on Barcelona to London. Very smelly, still drunk, but,thankfully, did not throw up on me. Why,why, are they not all like Kelly,s Andrew? I am now an expert on all new release movies,plus several art house movies. As well,watched an entire series on Michaelangelo. There are benefits in not seeping on planes. Of course,the young German female backpacker beside me,going to Singapore, slept the whole way. Have now had a nice nap in the airport hotel in Singapore, and after dinner here at East Coast Park,will board the plane at 11.30pm and arrive home tomorrow,Sunday, at 9.30am. Have had a fantastic time, see you all soon,love,Maureen
Have just given back the car, and checked into a hotel near Barcelona airport. We have certainly given Spain and Portugal a good once over! There is so much more to see and do, but there comes a time when one must go home and face the Visa card bill. Last night we arrived in Valencia. Have never seen so many sets of traffic lights in a row,in one long street. Hated the many,many, 4 or five lanes wide roundabouts. A real free for all with no painted lines. The hotel was fantastc. Not only did it have free internet,free parking, and a spa tub,but it included razors,combs,toothbrushes ,slippers,bath robes and ,wait fot it... Scented rosewater! All for 65 euros double. It looked out on to their very nice,wide, sandy beach,as well. After the horrible day driving,and our little car accident,it was heaven.
We are very sick of cathedrals,cobblestones, and old city centres. Went to see the new arts and science centre. Unbelievably fantastic . The best modern architecture I have seen in the world. In our history,it is up with the Pantheon in Rome,and Macchu Pichu. The whole site is 2 kms from the city centre, and occupies 350,000 sq metres. Just beautiful. We have spent very little on toll roads so far,but decided to take the toll road from Valencia to Barcelona. Never do that! It was thirty euros in tolls. Once again we saw realistic human dummies at road works,directing traffic. Not very messy if hit by a car.
So..what are my memories of Spain and Portugal?
Clean toilets(mostly free),bidets,narrow roads,crazy parking,olives,cathedrals,cobblestones,fortresses,bulls,oranges and more oranges! Good prices, great motorways,speedsters,moorish architecture,lots of cranes and building,great weather,walking for hours and hours,taking way too many photos and lots of Catholic stuff.
Instead of leaving on the 7am plane tomorrow,we realize that we really should go back to Fatima, and cancel the prayer for rain in Australia,as we hear on CNN that we were answered very strongly on that one!
We cannot believe that we had only a half day of rain in 3 weeks. As the Finn brothers lyrics state:"always take the weather with you". So we did!
Will be back in Australia on Sunday,after a 15 hour lay over in Singapore. Unfortunately,there are no earlier flights.
adios,
love,Maureen
Big day today. First of all decided not to go through with the advice of the Cosmetic surgery clinic next to our hotel in Granada. Firstly, they reckon it would have taken a minimum of two years. And that,s for just the basics. Secondly,saw that the All Ords was below 4000, and I will now have to retire at a minimum age of 105,even without the expense of plastic surgery. The Medical School was around the corner from the hotel, and it looked rather elegant. Like good old Herston.
Made our way out of beautiful Granada,around the plethora of double parked cars. Ploughed through the yellow and red autumn leaves,falling from the trees in showers of colour.
Went south of the Sierra Nevadas and did a very slow drive through beautiful mountain villages and countryside. Have never done such a tortous road in all my life. This area,calle The Alpujarras,includes Spain's highest mountain,(Melhacen). Snow topped,of course. Beautiful, white knuckled drive. Then,past hundreds of square kms of plastic covered hot houses.(The Costa del Plastico). Really looks ugly in this arid coastal Mediterranean area. Went to Capo de Gato. Beachside town on Mediterranean. Not horrible,but you can see why overseas people love Aussie beaches.
Had Calamari,disguised as rings of rubber for lunch. Cavier prices. I will send the cook to "Springwood Towers" restaurant to learn how it should be done. Overall , as I have said, food in Spain is not great. Even taking into account our budget!
Spain does have a huge Police presence. Despite this,they speed like crazy,and many are very aggressive drivers. Roadworks diverted us through a town and Mike was pulled over and breathalyzed. Zero,of course. We are getting by with our limited Spanish fairly well, and could understand the police officer,s road directions. Later this afternoon,we came across a large segment of a truck tyre in the middle of a high speed motorway. Cars right beside us,and nowhere to go. Had to hit it head on, and it was a big bugger! Some minor damage to the front of the BMW, and the number plate was left trailing on the ground,hanging on by one screw. Talk about lucky! For once, taking out full insurance,without excess on a hire car,has been worth it. This holiday we will have had 7 no driving days, and 10 driving days. Total of 4000 kms of driving. At the moment, we are 190 kms outside our destination, Valencia , and i t is 7.15 pm. Our biggest day yet.
love to all, Maureen (still sending emails by my phone,as hotel internet very expensive)
love,Maureen
Another beautiful cloudless day. Crisp in the morning. No jumper needed at lunch time,partially due to climbing lots of stairs.Spent over 4 hours at the Alhambra. Wow! It is like a fortress on the outside, set against a backdrop of glistening snow and yellow autumn leaves, leading up to the Sierra Nevada. It is second only to the Prada as the most visited site in Spain, and visitors are strictly controlled. It is the largest Muslim monument in Europe,and is simply stunning in it,s use of water as an art form, timber and plaster design and tile work. The gardens are delightful. There is just so much to see,including a museum of ancient Muslim artefacts, and a fascinating modern art exhibition. we finally caught the bus back to the city centre at 3pm, and had lunch in the sunshine,listening to a great busker. Finally found a post office! GRANADA is a lovely city. Off for more driving in the Sierra Nevada region tomorrow, and on to Valencia. Love,Maureen
Another cloudless day. We hear on the news that Brissie has had a lot of rain. Spain has luckily been very dry, Travelled from Cordoba to Granada. Seventeen degrees and very still and sunny in Granida. Went 26 kms uphill to the Sierra Nevada, and at 2000m the temp dropped to 7.5 degrees. Very still and sunny. Snow everywhere and people skiing and chair lifts operating. Mike wanted to go on the chairlifts. I was the pain who complained about being in thin summer slacks,and said we would perish. Everyone else was in a ski suit. The trees had nearly lost their yellow autumn leaves,on the lower levels.
Walked around Granada,and trudged up to Mirador San Nicolas - a lookout with views of the Alambhra-fortress- the snow clad Sierra Nevada and the city below. Very hot work! lots more cute old Jewish district etc., lots more Moorish architecture. Many places with bellydance costumes. So near Morocco. The only thing we are tired of , is the inability to order dinner before 8.30 pm. They all work from 9 or 10am to around 2pm . You are lucky if they open up from 5pm for shops, and 8.30 for restaurants,for a few extra hours. We work so much harder in Australia. On the other hand,they are so polite and helpful. In the daggiest cafes, they always give table service. All service stations give drive way service. Have still not found a post office. All my post cards will end up being mailed in Shailer Park. Public services are limited, although police seem plentiful. Food is not great. This may be due to my stingy budget. Honestly,though,I could beat them with my paella recipe any day.
Tomorrow,touring Granada some more. Especially the Alambhra.
best wishes,
love,Maureen
A little cloud around the rock of Gibraltar this morning. Then- another sunshiny cloudless day.Very unseasonally warm. They keep mumling about the ozone layer. Lots of mega sea gulls around "The Rock". there is so much building and renovation in Spain and Portugal,it is mind blowing. ? EU money? Went to a town called Ronda. On the way,the scenery was magnificent. They had a bridge built by the Romans spanning the 100 metre Gorge,still on the original foundations. We drove over it,walked over it, and photographed all precipitious views of the town around it. Met some nice Italians who had toured extensively in Australia. Everywhere we go, we meet people,on a daily basis,who have visited us Aussies. We are so popular, that near the Rock of Gibraltar, there is a theme park, with a bloke performing tricks with crocodiles! A la,Steve Irwin! Also,meeting quite a few Aussies over here. Ronda has a very old bullfighting ring and young,aspiring bullfighters dream of appearing in Ronda. It is apparently way scarier than the sissy scene in Seville. One bloke,in the 18th century, killed 6000 bulls. Where on earth would you put more than 6000 bull ears? They must have some incredible "pool rooms" in Spain.
More stunning scenery then Went on to Cordoba. Our hotel is directly opposite the Mezquita (mosque). This dates from the eighth century. It was taken over by the Christians in the 16th century, and they built a Cathedral in the middle of it.You should see the 1000 marble,japer and granite columns with double Mudejar arches. Another monstrous monstrance. They have another palace (Alcazar),here,and another Roman bridge supported by the original foundations. It is nowhere near as high ,as the one in Ronda.Going to Granada tomorrow. Have only brought a tiny bag this time,and so looking for very small souvenirs. Thought I saw the world's smallest bird baths. Oops. Holy water fonts! These souvenirs are too complicated for me! Back to the old souvenir tea towel, I say. Hope you are all well, love MaureenDear Friends, Went to Britain today. Gibraltar to be exact. You know you are in G. Britain when you have to pay $10 for a plate of watery soup with a tiny bit of bread. Cheapest thing on the menu. Petrol there $6 per litre. Luckily had filled up at 90 odd cents (euro) per litre, recently. Nevertheless, Gibraltar was great. Brilliant day. Again.Interesting to see the tunnels in the rock, and quite funny to see the monkeys jumping on the car roof, ready to pounce on you when you opened a door.
Since we had that one wet day, driving from Oporto to Lisbon, and went and bought an umbrella (in Fatima), we have not actually had to open it. It probably doesn't even work. Talk about miracles. Hope this brilliant weather persists.
Went to a town called Arcos de la Frontera. The streets were terrifying. Precipitiously steep and almost less than a car width. Fantastic views, and we decided the terror was probably worth it. The driving in Spain and Portugal is much harder than France. Even narrower streets; mirrors folded in etc., and also steep.
Went up the road on Gibraltar and we could do even more there tomorrow, but neither of us are game to tackle the road down. So narrow, with parked cars! Even at the hotel, Mike did a reverse park with 10 cm at the front of the car and 20 cm at the back. Maybe the Germans are good at manufacturing cars with good turning circles.
Went to Cadiz on the way to Gibraltar. Twenty degrees celcius, and clear blue skies. Everyone was at the beaches. And Cadiz is surrounded by them. We tried parking in one parking station. You would not believe how narrow the spaces are. Eventually parked some distance away. Cadiz was sparkling in the sunshine.
Gibraltar is huge, but the town is very tacky. There are a few nice streets near the rock, but the back streets are littered and look quite poor. We are in a dirt cheap hotel with fantastic views over the sea and to the rock.
Tomorrow,n on to Cordoba.
Love, Maureen
Just returned from a Flamenco show. Best guitarist we have seen for a very long time. Very aerobic dancing. It must be hard to frown all the time (as the style demands). Not like us bellydancers with our sparkling smiles, who get into big trouble from Debbie if we look at OUR feet. It was all very good.
Getting very talented at drinking Sangria. It takes a lot of practice. Have discovered it has great analgesic properties after walking around more than 8 hours constantly, like today.
Brilliant blue skies all day, with slight crispness in the air. Seville is a truly lovely city. We are in an apartment in the old Jewish quarter. The laneways are only about a metre wide. We could reach out and touch the neighbours across the road. Had to put the car in a parking station a couple of hundred metres away. There are so many little lanes that you could be stuck in the maze and not re-emerge for quite a while. Not quite as bad as the Medina in Fez. And no donkeys thundering along ready to trample you to death.
However, the Cathedral has a tower called the Giralda. this is a square tower, which was the old minaret of a mosque, build in the 12th century. Instead of steps inside, there are ramps - 40 floors of them. We witnessed the running of the bulls, primary school style. A huge contingent of school children were running down, screaming and shouting all the way. Bulls might have been less scary. We pinned ourselves against the walls, closed our eyes and hoped for the best.
The cathedral itself is massive. 128 metres by 83 wide. The most impressive Cathedral we have seen. And that is saying something, considering that we have now seen 1723 of them (Give or take a few). The wall behind the altar has over 1000 figures from the Bible carved and coated with gold.It is packed with art work and amazing side chapels.Not to mention Christopher Columbus. He is in a big tomb held up by four huge stone pallbearers representing the kingdoms of Spain at the time,
The Alcazar (Palace) is a stunner. Just the gardens alone are breathtaking. The tilework and architecture reflect the Moorish origins. Just what you would expect after progressive home renovations by both Muslim and Christian rulers. It was started in 913, and it's owners have been following instructions in "House and Garden" magazine ever since.
We did a tour of the oldest bullring anywhere and it's museum. When our children were small and misbehaved we threatened boarding school. Here they must threaten bullfighting school. If you do a really good bullfight, the deal bull is carted away, but the bullfighter gets to keep an ear. Two ears if he was really spectacular. Not much of a prize, if you ask me. The museum had all these stuffed bull heads with ears missing.
South of the place, is the most amazing plaza we have ever seen. Plaza de Espana.It has fountains, a moat, bridges over it, and a huge, curved, gradiose 1929 building , with the most elaborate tilework possible. There are dozens of "booths", each representing a spanish city.
On top of all this, are all sorts of towers. Moorish in every way.
Tomorrow, off to Rock of Gibraltar, on Malcolm Rutledge's suggestion. A few interesting stopovers along the way.
Adios, Maureen
Sadly, left the beautiful B and B on the ocean at Sintra in Portugal. Lovely Russian man and his mother who ran it. Went to Evora, in Portugal. Cutesy town. We are learning that a number of "attractions" in Spain and Portugal are not open over Siesta. Nor too upset here. Have seen so many Cathedrals, monasterys etc.,, that missing out one one is not too bad. Enjoying more the walking around in the glorious sunshine and soaking up the atmosphere.
It all melds together here. Roman ruins, beside Moslem ruins, beside Christian churches on top of it all. Minarets turned to Catholic Church towers etc., Aqueducts joining them all up.
Stopped at a truckie stop between Avora, and Seville in Spain. Table service for meals. A full bar and dried meats hanging all around the edges. Different. More blinkin bidets (at a truck stop!!)
Driving into peak hour Seville took nerves of steel. We are in a medieval area where the streets are lucky to be a metre across. Parked the car in a public car park (at seventeen euros a day!!). Lovely apartment, with WiFi for the first time without charge. For once, I am not doing this Email to you on my mobile phone, but on my laptop! What luxury!.
Tomorrow, a full day walking around Seville.
Cheers,
Love, Maureen.
Awoke to a cloudless sky. Unseasonally warm. Breakfast at the b & b looked out on to crashing clear blue waves only metres below. Drove to the local station and caught the train to Lisboa (Lisbon). Moseyed around on the trams all day.Also up and down the funiculars. Very steep,narrow streets. Wonderful buildings.Everywhere in Spain and Portugal buildings are under renovation, or wrapped up for cleaning. Otherwise,they are so sparkling clean. People very laid back. They park across the tram line all the time. Our tram waited for quite some time as a removal van loaded up. No one cared. They hardly ever indicate to change lanes on the motorway. When they do,they often put on the left indicator and go right. At 140 km per hr (in a 120 max zone). In the cities,3 or 4 stories above the street, washing is hung out to dry,precariosly strung outside buildings. A real bugger if you drop a peg or an item.
On the trams,the pick pocket gangs are so obvious. This holiday,Mike is only allowed five dollars max. I carry the rest! The cemetery has great views of the bridge. It also has massively elaborate mausoleums,just like Ricoleta in Buenos Aires. Inside each,the coffins were just tossed in,and cracking due to heat from the sun penetrating their windows. The bmw has way too many stupid gadgets. Every time you are too close to an object, it "beeps" like crazy. The streets here are often unbelievably narrow. So the stupid car beeps all the bloody time.
Only got chummy with one lot of Aussies today. The poor souls admitted they lived in Victoria. Glen is now here in lisbon as well. Wandered around Sintra (7km from our b & b), at the end of today. Just so beautiful. You could spend weeks here,and be frantically busy seeing everything the whole time. Tomorrow,going to Evora and the Seville.
Keep well
love,Maureen
Bloody GERMANS! No wonder we won the war! Rotten BMW hit a bump (kerb), and - viola!- a big warning light appears on the dashboard. Lots of trying to read the manual (in spanish) .Managed to ascertain that it all related to tyres. Checked tyres. Still showed the warning symbol. Stopped at a service station. Customers and staff conferred. Go to Leiria! They know! Rang hire company. Carlos was very helpful. Spoke english. Also told us about bmw geniuses in Leiria. Drove there. Found a lovely delivery driver in a car park.He spoke english! Directed us to bmw. Every time tyres are bumped ,elaborate resetting of controls are requird. No wonder they lost the war!
In the meantime, we had our first showery day.Stopped in Aveiro. It has cute boats which collect seaweed commercially. Also canals with sweet bridges over them. More toilets with bidets. They have a wetlands bird paradise with very limited hours for tourism. As it was raining,we did not feel we were missing too much. Went to a laundry,and had 5 days laundry washed and dried by a nice man with a cute little son, for five euros.
Then,went to Fatima. Heard it was tacky. The souvenir shops certainly are that. Like Lourdes. But the site itself was very well done. In the Chapel of the Apparition(where the Mass at the time was in English).the crown of the Virgin Mary carried the bullet used to try to assasinate Pope John Paul II. One of the famous 3 children who were said to have heard 3 messages from Mary at the site, apparently predicted the assasination attempt,as well as a war bigger than ww1 ,and even saw a vision of hell.(also known as Shailer Pk Med Centre). Two of these chilren died in the flu epidemic in 1919 and 1920. lucia became a nun and is still alive and 101 years old. The new basilica at the site is architecturally fantastic. Pure,simple lines in white marble. The square outside is twice as big as the one in front of the Vatican. The only tacky stuff is in the souvenir shops.
We were going to go to other medieval and monastery sites ,but the BMW fiasco took too much time. Arrived at our b &b outside Sintra ,near Lisbon. Right on the Atlantic Ocean. Met a lovely young couple at the local restaurant,who gave us great travel tips for Lisbon tomorrow. Everyone is so helpful and amazed that we have travelled all the way from Australia.
Love,Maureen
There I was this morning, strolling along in Vila Nova de Gaia (on the opposite side of the river bank to Oporto), when I heard someone call out "Maureen!" Of course, it was our neighbour directly across the road in Foliage Ct for many years, Glenn Taylor. Robbie's great friend for so many years! Plus two friends from Ormiston College. Would you believe it! Glenn, and brother Matthew, with parents Claire and Kim, moved to the Clevland area some years ago, and we spent many weekends sharing the cross country driving allowing Glenn and Rob to have sleep overs.We were car poolers together to St Matts for years. Glenn's cousin and aunt are still patients at SPMC. WEnt port tasting with them. Naturally, we chose "Taylor's" port house. So much for six degrees of separation!
We went on a river cruise and chatted with a French couple whose cousin lives in Maleny. He even showed me pictures of the cousin and his wife on his camera! Strangely, we did not recognize them! There were only 8 people on the boat, and we met two who are going to stay in Brisbane next year!
The weather today was even more spectacular than usual. Short sleeves for much of it. Went on the hop on, hop off bus, and it got a little cool late in the afternoon in the breeze on top of the bus. Mary Malone was right. Porto is just lovely. Fantastic bridges. All very high. The major one, Luiz I, has a train line and pedestrian path across a very high part of it, and car lanes much lower. There are such huge sides to the Duoro river. Engineers have their work cut out. Since Portugal joined the EU, they have much more money for bridges, roads etc., and we have found the roads excellent.
We walked around everywhere this morning. Just beautiful. The architecture is stunning. Lots of buildings with tiles all over them telling stories. Especially blue tiles. Trams running around the streets. Very hilly. Found a "Fitness First" in Madrid. Let me tell you, there is no need for one in Oporto. Very aerobic stuff just walking a little way.
Oporto is much cheaper than the rest of Europe, and, indeed, looks much cheaper than Australia. We are in a four star Mercure, right in the middle of the action, and it is $114 AUS double with a big breakfast, which lasts us until dinner. It is very, very, nice.
Am still annoyed, that after months of learning Spanish and Portuguese, just about everyone seems to know as many words of English as we do of Spanish or Portuguese. And, unfortunately, the same words!
Back to driving tomorrow. We are going to tour many little towns,and end up 35 km outside of Lisbon in Sintra. All the blogs warned not to drive into Lisbon, so we will go to the local station and catch the train into town.
Hope all is well with everyone.
Love, Maureen.
Dear Friends, Had a marathon drive today from Salamanca in Spain, through the border mountains with Portugal, and on to various villages in the Duomo River region where all the Port comes from. Took over 10 hours with only brief stops on the way. Some hair raising drivers enchanted us along the way.
If we would have been a week or two earlier or a week or two later, we would have missed the magnificent autumn colours. To see the reds, brilliant yellows, peaches, oranges with bright greens is breathtaking. All of the vines were red and yellow. All against a brilliant blue sky.
In one town,(Lamego)the Technology students were celebrating the beginning of their courses. They were all decked out in their academic gowns and paraded through the streets with loads of empty soft drink caqs strung together clattering along the streets.
In some villages, the car could barely fit between the very old houses. In one instance, we went the wrong way down a one way street. It was clearly marked as going our way, but the local villagers had different ideas. The area was decribed as one of the most remote in Europe. Somehow, I don4t think this competes with "remote" in Australia.
There are so many "cute" Medieval villages with magical bridges, ducks on the river, and fairytale castles in the background, we have UNESCO overload syndrome.
One area was about to be flooded by a dam. The dam was half constructed and the largest collection of paleolithic paintings in the world was found. (10,000 to 40,000 years old)LUckily, the government changed, and the dam was stopped. Watch out Anna!
Some quirky things. The toilets are very clean. Even at service stations, they seem to have bidets! Wonder who uses them? Also, you always get driveway service at the service station. Most shops are still closed on Sundays (and even in Madrid, siesta is observed in at least 50 per cent of shops on normal days.) People in Portugal have large ceramic tiles with religious scenes on each of their houses, at least near the front door. And they are mad about dogs.They are everywhere. There seems to be a law prohibiting dogs in cars, and loads of cars have these tiny trailers carrying the family pooch. Apparently, the dogs are a distraction, and therefore illegal in the car. I have a new idea for Australian children! The worst thing here, is the amount of smoking - allowed anywhere at all in a restaurant. Food is fairly cheap here, and the sort of places we eat in (like cafes) are the same. Tonight I had salmon cutlets with a huge plate of vegetables for 5 Euros. Wine (aqd Sangria) is also very cheap. (3 Euros for a jug)
We are now in Oporto, which is on a huge hill. Walked down at least 1000 steps (in the dark) to the waterfront, and luckily, found a funicular to take us half way to the top. (Or Mike would have croaked it!)More exploring in Oporto tomorrow.
Hope all is well at home. We see Brissie temps are only around 24 C. What happened to the usual scorchers at this time of the year? Here it was 18 today.
Perfect for travelling.Love Maureen.
Killed off that bloody Italian woman in the GPS. She kept on screaming at us. Now,Mike just screams at me. Not both of us.
Drove to Toledo. Georgeous. All that Catholic education sure comes in handy in places like France and Spain. The Spanish have a church way,way bigger than St Stephens about every 50 metres. The French were more restrained. More like 70 metres there. Any churches newer than the year 1400 we now look upon with distain. Modern rubbish!
Toledo took cute Medieval to a new level. Saw a couple of Synagogues. But the Micks left the poor Jews way behind in the Wow! Competition. You should have seen the Monstrance in the Cathedral. Talk about monstrous! It weighs over 200Kg in gold and silver and is paraded around the streets in a special vehicle during Corpus Christi- 9 weeks after Easter. The Sacristy was composed of many large rooms packed to the ceilings with El Greco paintings. Throughout the Prado, in Madrid,and in Toledo were many artworks showing saints with the keys to the kingdom of heaven. And, all the keys looked different. So scary. Someone keeps changing the locks! In one room in the Cathedral in Toledo,were pictures of all the bishops since 500AD.There was space for about another 10 in the future. More than enough by far if the current Catholic regime continues their stance on celibacy etc., Good old Ferdinand and Isabella insisted on building a whacking great Catholic church right in the midst of the Jewish sector of Toledo,just to stick it up the poor old Jews (again).
Moved on to Avila. Best Medieval walls ever. Centre of the St Teresa cult. Many St Teresa groupie haunts,now museums.She is just so my favourite saint! Now in Salamanca. University town. Totally alive with young people on a Saturday night. Went to a cafe,and the waiter was singing to a "Crowded House" CD and knew every word of every song. University founded in 1218. The facade is astounding. Driving into Portugal tomorrow ,after walking the hills of Salamanca again in the morning. Only did about 8 kms today, Mike was delighted that it was all extremely hilly. Shame that I could not remember the Spanish word for "taxi".
Love,MaureenYep, it was gruelling. My feet are killing me. If I sit down, I may never get up. Mike is comatose. Again. Madrid is much lovlier than expected. Beautiful buildings in the city, and it is all so big. In the burbs, everyone lives in five story walk ups, or high rises. Even where we are, there are big stretches of wasteland then huge clumps of apartments . Not much housework. The prices of real estate look comparable. No architectural niceness in the burbs. Kxquisite architecture in the city.
Walked up the famous Gran via past all the swishy shops and art deco and other elaborate buildings. Colder than expected. Wished I had taken a jumper, and not just a light coat. Warm inside. Lots and lots of elaborate statues and fountains and squares. Cervantes, Don Quixote and all the royalty have their own personal pidgeons. The Palace Real was the most elaborate I have seen. Beat Versailles and Schonbrun in Vienna. And that4s saying something. So much gold, sculpture, and even a room entirely decorated in porcelain all over the walls and roof. We only saw 50 of the 2800 rooms, so maybe the others were furnished by IKEA in Logan. Just to make up. Directly opposite the palace, the cathedral was only completed 16 years ago, taking one hundred years all up. Very modern stained glass etc.,
Wandered into a cafe in the Moorish area, where the bar/cafe was also the family4s dining room. We were the only ones there and grandma cooked us Spanish soup and a chicken dinner. Lovely. Advertised for 12 euros including wine. We had to force them to take money for the cuppucino we ordered on top of this! the people are just so nice here.
Wandered through the former Moslem area. Got lost. The police were very polite. Eventually walked to the famous Prado Museum. Mike got revenge and saw every painting in every room. Goya is also a bit overrated, if you ask me. And they are queueing up to ask. They love him here. Rubins was much better. The Dutch Masters were fantastic.
Tomorrow, off to Toledo, then Avora, then overnight in Salamanca. Big day again.
Love, Maureen.
Dear Friends, For those of you actually interested in our antics in Spain, Peter is putting all Emails up on my web site: Fitzsimon.com.au/Maureen.
Forgot to mention that we spent time in the Picasso Museum in Bacelona. He did a few ok paintings. Got a real leg up, what with his daddy working at the Art Museum. Otherwise... who knows. Then he got lazy and churned out all those stupid geometric people. Very overrated. His pottery was just one notch up from the chick on (The Castle(.
Have arrived in Madrid. Hired a car from a German firm, in Barcelona, through an Irish agent. The attendant was a lovely French girl. Unfortunately, the GPS can only speak Italian, French or Danish. We are going with Italian, but it could be confusing. Luckily, Spain is so well set up for tourism, and is well signposted.The trains even have an indicator showing the side of the next platform.And even video of the line ahead as the driver sees it. The waiting time stretched to a lengthy 4 mins on one occasion, but is usually one to two minutes! When you consider Bacelona has one million people and Madrid 3 million, you wonder what is wrong with us!
As we looked so old, the French girl upgraded us to a BMW, rather than a crummy Renault. hOW the other half live! Diesel is almost exactly Aus$2 A Litre. We expected far worse.
Drove from Barcelona to Madrid. In a lovely hotel 20 kms from the city next to a train station, just metres from where we last stayed in Madrid. Saves driving into the really big smoke. Public transport is also so cheap and fast. Went into Madrid tonight and had our first meal vut(". Lovely buildings, stunning fountains and arches, huge wide boulevards all lit up beautifully. Friendly people again. As the motel is not in the real tourist area, my months of learning Spanish are helpful. In the tourist areas, the Spanish know all the English words that we know in Spanish!
Tomorrow, training into Madrid again. Have seen a great walking tour in "Lonely Planet(which they describe as "gruelling". Mike is pretty excited about the prospect.
Love, Maureen
Dear Friends, Had another lovely day. Walked around Bari Gotthic (the medieval area). Very nice. Tiny lanes with overhanging gargoyles almost touching each other. Everyone very friendly, except the two pickpockets we spotted on the train from the airport to the city when we arrived. Saw them again, and stared them out. They didn4t like us. Didn4t score, and we must have looked like we would be a chance! Obviously, they ride the trains all day looking for the vulnerable.
Saw the old Medieval Cathedral. That makes about number 1023 for European CAthedrals we have seen. Also the Basilica - built in 57 years - a medieval record. Walked up and down La Rambla. Very nice. Our hotel is just off there near the water. Mediterranean very clean and blue.
Have not seen one fat person who uses the subways. This is obviously because you have to walk at least 1.5 km between station interchanges and up and down a thousand steps at each station. Only walked about 10 km today. Have bright red heels with blisters from my newish shoes. Pity I had to put the old ugly boots in a bin in Buenos Aires after 3 resoles. Loved them.
Went to a big local market to buy salmon steaks and salad and rolls. The food is cheap, and fresh. (iF you cook it yourself, which we can here.)
Heard that Obama won. Trust us to miss the speech etc., What a surprise result. Not.
Mike leaves his phone on and has calls all night and I am ready to throw it in the mediterranean. Had one patient ring me in the middle of the night last night and I am now turning mine off.
tomorrow morning we pick up our hire car and drive out of Barcelona. How exciting. Going to Madrid.
Would highly recommend Barcelona. A beautiful clean city with a great soul. Very livable. One of the best we have seen in the world. Georgeous architecture. Nice people. Great climate.
More boring Emails to come.
Love Maureen
Extreme old age arrived early. Today,in fact. Ten hours of almost solid walking and stairs. It appears that mike has actually fossilized. He is rigid and unresponsive. I told him that 3 minutes on the treadmill,on two occasions,was insufficient preparation. Does he ever listen? It is all fantastic. A week here would not be enough. The architecture is mind blowing. And it goes on for kms. Today,we decided to really "do"Gaudi. Still can,t decide if he was a genius or a nut case. After all,he was a devout Catholic who met his end when hit by a tram !The famous Sagrada Familia is incredible. It is on an even par with the remarkable Hassan II mosque in Casablanca. Of course, it is still very much under construction. So you can see all of the artisans at work when you visit. Also,saw Gaudi,s famous apartment building Casa Mila (La Pedera).and Casa Batllo. Very wierd stuff. These days,he would definitely qualify for a Mental Health'Care Plan. Went to his famous park(Guell). Different. Unusual. nice. Lovely day for it. Waled uphill 1.5 kms to the park in short sleeves. At this point, Mike qualified for oxygen therapy under Australian Govt subsidy criteria. And we all know how tough that can be. Came across a Spanish bloke (hombre) doing a fairly good job of playing a didgeridoo. Also,pretty tough stuff. Finally,went to the Columbus Monument,just metres from our hotel. Walked across a large floating walkway on Port Vell. Campbell Newman'should come over here and see how to do the job properly. Surely, the Mediterranean is a tougher task than the Brissie river! Am now watching Spanish news and Australian sharks are on the screen. The map of Australia on the tv shows the issue to be in Canberra,which has strangely moved to where Melbourne was when we left home. Sounds like a real calamity. Love Maureen.
Arrived in Bacelona to a spectacular day. Freshly fallen snow over the Pyrnees, and a sparkling blue Meditteranean! So warm. Probably about 22celcius. How i wish i could sleep on a plane like the young man beside us. He snoozed for 13 hours without even a loo stop. I probably got 13 minutes! Have caught up now, and can hardly wait to see the sights. b. Looks amazing. Need to see all this before I am really old-probably next year. One would not want to be disabled or carry too much luggage. We landed at one end of B airport,walked 2 km - no kidding- to get our bags,then walked 2 km back to get the trains to our hotel. Then- up stairs, down stairs,up stairs,down stairs, over and over carrying bags ,to catch the train. Repeat the above at central station.then walk around another 2 kms trying to find the hotel,which,of course, was only 20 metres from the metro stop after all that! trust me,Diane - I was very grateful that my bag was only 12kg. Including heavies like cutlery,mugs, plates etc. American election today. Melbourne cup too. Strangely,the front page of the paper in London today featured the M. Cup! The Pommies certainly get their priorities right! bore you again soon. Love Maureen.
Arrived in Singapore. Only 23 hours to go to Barcelona. Watched a few movies on the plane.. as you do. About 20 minutes into Tropic Thunder (war spoof movie), the screen froze and the Captain interrupted. A message appeared "We have a problem. A large number of American Military aircraft are approaching." Somewhat did a mini freak. Alert and alarmed. Turned out this was the very first sub title of the movie, appearing at exactly the same time as the Captain's message. Good on you, Qantas. Will bore you silly with lots more mishaps. Love Maureen.
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