Onto Arles and meeting an old friend....

Today, we packed up and left Barcelona.  The weather was sunny and nice.  The terrain changed when we crossed the border.  We ran along the coast, catching glimpses of the Mediterranean much of the way.

We found our way to our friend's house in Arles.  After Jerry got home from work, we went into Arles and walked around.  We had a wonderful meal outside in one of the squares.  It was relaxing and we had a long philosophical discussion, or rather, discussions, late into the night.

May Day: Tibidabo, Miro, dinner with family

Today we got up pretty early; we were disappointed to find Ikea closed as we'd planned to eat breakfast there again.  But, the city was asleep, so we took the car up Mt Tibidabo.  Mark had forgotten his wallet back at the hotel, so we had to go back to get it, but...even then, the city was still asleep.  We parked right across from the Miro Museum.

We enjoyed several hours in the museum.  We watched a film which explained his life and philosophy of art.  The Spanish Civil War and then, WWII, had a major impact on his art, pushing him away from realism and toward surrealism.  We like his colors and whimsy.  The day was glorious and we went up to the top of Tibidabo and looked down on the city and sea.

En route back to the hotel, we stopped at a big flea market for fun.  After a lie down, to give our feet a well-needed rest, we took the train/subway back into the city and meet Chris and Ken.  They had spent much of their day at Parc Guell.  We ate paella and drank sangria outside, enjoying the sun as it set.

These sneakers are made for walking....April 30

Today was definitely a walking day.....more miles than we have put on our feet in a long, long time.

We started our day with a trip to the IKEA store, which is almost next door to our hotel, the Solvasa hotel.  So, instead of the 14 Euro breakfast offered by our hotel, we ate for about 3 Euros each, which included fresh squeezed orange juice.

Then - train and subways to meet Chris and Ken outside the Sagrada Familia, the tallest church in the world.  In a day where most of Spain was in the rain, we had a lovely, sunny, warm day.  Ken chose to go into the church (12.5 E).  As Mark and I have been in before, we opted to wander outside with Christine.  I bought Henry a Barcelona Football jersey.

In the square outside the Sagrada Familia, hundreds of people, mostly elderly women, were making lace in long tables in the sun.  It was amazing.  Dozens of bobbins and intricate designs.  We chatted to one younger woman about her work.  Evidently, it is traditional for these women (we saw one man) to come together on Saturdays this time of  year.  They were not selling their work, just working.  It was very interesting.

Then, we walked from the Sagrada down to the Catalunya Ramblas, which eventually meets up the the Rambla.  We ate at a lovely restaurant that Ken found in his Rough Guide, La Mossel.  It was really good.  Mark and Ken had lamb skewers; I had a spinach salad that was excellent.

Then, we walked down to the harbor and then, along the beach front, marina, much of the area created prior to the Barcelona Olympics - miles of sand brought in from Egypt!  We had never walked along there before, so it was interesting to see the architecture, the  Frank Gehry Fish sculpture.  But, we walked for miles, trying to find a restaurant for dinner, which we never did find.

We walked all the way to Pablonu district near Ken and Christine's hotel and ended up at a tapas bar where they had eaten before where we had a load of tapas and wine and, then, walked some more to the subway(s) and train and then the walk from the train to our hotel, getting us home by around 11 p.m.  Whew!  Our feet are incredibly tired and Mark's knees are hurting, but it was a great day with sites around Barcelona which were new to us. Basically, we walked all day!

Friday, 4/29 - On to Barcelona!

With some reluctance to give up our lazy ways, we headed today to Barcelona, about 600 km.  It was a good driving day - cloudy, cool.  That's good as it helps Mark's eyes not to have it bright.  I also gave up my wussy ways and drove for about 2 1/2 hours.  Sigh.

We are staying in an industrial area of Barcelona at a fairly nice, modern hotel, Hotel Servasa.  We were lucky to find it with just following Google Map written direction, no actual map.  As usual, Mark was able to find it with his unerring sense of direction.

We took the bus into Plaza Catalunya which took quite a while.  We met Chris and Ken and we strolled down the Ramblas for a bit.  Ken found a restaurant, Elizabets in his guide book which it said had good local food.  So, we went there and it was pretty good.  We had tapas, beer and wine.  Lots of laughs.  Then, we took a subway and a train back to our hotel and they took the subway back to theirs.  We are tired and about to collapse.

As a note - we missed the royal wedding of Kate and William completely as we were driving most of the day.

Three idyllic days in the sun...warm enough for a swim!

We have enjoyed beach weather for three days, as well as long walks along the boardwalk.  We have done a lot of reading and have watched a fair amount of snooker on tv, as well as some Spanish soap operas! We have eaten a lot of ham and cheese sandwiches. Mark just finished The Shadow of the Wind, a mystery set in Barcelona.  I just finished The Story of Edgar Sawtelle and have begun The Madonnas of Leningrad.

Yesterday, we discovered a new area along the boardwalk - a park with some waterfalls.  It is quite lovely and was unexpected as we had walked close to it with Michael and Nancy on several occasions.

We talked with Maura on the phone and she helped us to rent a car for our last days in London next month.  We await word from Chris and Ken that they have arrived in Barcelona where we will meet them on Friday.

On our last full day, we at lunch at a restaurant at the top of the waterfall area, made from an old Mississippi River boat.  We also, at long last, were brave enough to go for a swim.

Rain...then sun on Day 44, in the south of Spain

We woke to rain today.  So, we decided to read and be lazy.  But, by mid-day, the weather had cleared and I did my first drive in the six-gear, manual-shift car.  I have been a total wuss so far in wanting to drive.  But, Mark's eyes are really bothering him, so it was time for me to come to grips.  I didn't take a long drive - just to the supermercado in Torrevieja.  Other than a few herky-jerky moves with both the shifting and the breaks...it was okay.  The car has a pretty big blind spot for someone my size, but....I know I can now drive if I need to.

By the end of the day, it was sunny and warm, so we laid on our upper deck and sun-bathed.  Very nice!

And, we thought about Nicholas all day, as it is his birthday.  We hope that this next year will be better for him than the last.  Happy Birthday, Nick!

Happy Easter to All....Mike and Nancy take the bus to Madrid

Today we all got up bright and early so that Michael and Nancy could catch the bus from Torrevieja to Madrid.  The bus was fully booked and they were not slated to sit together.  We hope that they were able to talk someone into moving seats.  Nancy wrote down the words in Spanish!  We heard from them mid-way as their bus had wi-fi.  They were hoping to get to Mass at San Francisco Church in Madrid which has a ceiling painted by Goya.

Mark and I had a lazy day; I did some washing and we sat on our rooftop reading and eating left-over spaghetti...rather a strange Easter dinner!  I took a nice long walk along the boardwalk, too.  The weather got cooler and grayer all day long.

Another beach day; a move to a new apartment

Today we moved from 'the dungeon' to a new apartment,upstairs this time.  There is a rooftop area which will be nice to sit in and to hang our wash out.

We sat at the beach for most of mid-day; Michael once again braved the waters alone!

Nancy and I took a nice walk to the salt lake behind us where there is a park.  It was lovely and warm.  The area also grows grapes which were not affected by the disease which affected grapes years ago due to the dry and sandy soil which prevented the disease from spreading through the roots.

Mark and Mike made a delicious spagetti dinner with a nice bottle of Rioja.  We all took a nice evening stroll along the boardwalk on Michael and Nancy's last evening with us here.

Sunny and warm day...at last! A day at the beach!

Today, finally, we had a beach day!  Hurray!  So, we all sat on the beach and soaked up the sun.  No one bothered to go in the water, though, as the water was cold and rather rough.  Only a very few people went in, but the beach was crowded with sun-starved sunseekers.  As it is Good Friday, Michael and Nancy are fasting.  Mark is making a big seafood paella for their one meal of the day.

Castillo Santa Barbara, Alicante

Today we journeyed to Alicante in the rain.  We were all pleasantly surprised by how nice the downtown was with tree-lined boulevards and a pretty waterfront.

We had cafe and some tapas or raciones at a waterfront cafe and lingered over the food & drink in hopes the rain would pass.

When the rain let up, we drove up to the Castillo Santa Barbara which is way up a mountain overlooking the harbor and the town. It is called Santa Barbara because it was captured from the Moors on the Feast Day of Saint Barbara on December 4.  (David's birthday!) The rain let up and we wandered all through the ramparts.  The view was amazing and we had a lot of fun.

Then, we wandered around the shopping area, but little was open due to both siesta and Holy Week.   We hung around for quite a while, hoping to take in a religious procession, but it appeared that the procession would not reach the area where we were until around 10:30 and it was only 7:30.  So, we drove home, concluding that we had had a really nice day, despite the weather forecast.

Michael swims in the Mediterranean...

Today was the first day where the wind dissipated, at least until the evening when it started up again.  Michael was determined not to go home without having swum in the Mediterranean.  So, after Mark made some yummy chicken noodle soup, we all walked down the boardwalk to a spot where there was less seaweed and brown turbulence and we all watched as Michael went in.  No one else braved the cold.

So, we finally had our beach day and we all got some sun.  We walked the beach several times and had a relaxing day.  Ah!  The life of 4 retired teachers.....

Siestas for everyone....

Today we had a lazy day, choosing only to go into Torrevieja.  The first thing we had to accomplish was booking Michael and Nancy a way to get to Madrid for their flight next week.  As they are traveling on Easter, the trains are totally booked which is the way that they wanted to travel.  And, it began to look as if even the bus was full, so we were talking about planes or rented cars.

We went to the information bureau and they said that we had to go to a travel bureau for tickets.  So, we found one and he was able to book Michael and Nancy the VERY LAST TWO bus tickets of the day.  Whew! And, they won't even be able to sit next to each other for the 5+ hours.  Nevertheless, they were very relieved.

Then, we strolled along the waterfront and had a nice lunch with a compris menu.  As it included a glass of beer, we all came home and fell fast asleep for the rest of the afternoon!  We are all lightweights in that area.

Later, revived, we walked around La Mata and got some sponge cake and came home and pigged out on strawberrys, cake and whipped cream.

Archaology in Cartagena...

Today it was still windy and chilly. Unfortunately, we all had a pretty terrible night's sleep.  The apartment next to us has 4 guys who came in around 3 a.m. drunken and loud; clearly, they had also picked up some women.  The sounds of furniture being moved seemed to go on for hours. Eventually, Michael got up and complained and the night watchman told them to quiet down, but they didn't.

Our expedition was down the coast to the old port city of Cartagena.  We did quite a bit of walking, trying to find the Roman amphitheater. But, we persevered.  First, we went into a museum that explained how  the town did not even know that the town HAD a Roman amphitheater until 1990! It had been buried under layers and layers of other civilizations,  as the amphitheater was built on a hill.  The museum did a good job showing the evolution.

It has a deep water port that was used by the Carthaginians, the Visigoths, the Byzantines, the Moors and the Spanish.  The amphitheater area had evidence of those civilizations, except the Carthaginians.

After the museum, we walked into the amphitheater which is still being excavated.  It was pretty impressive. Then, we walked up on the heights into the castle gardens where there was quite a large flock of noisy peacocks.  We did not go into the castle, and wended our way down the hill, not quite sure if we'd end up near where Mark parked the car.  As Nancy had taken a spill in the slippery marble shower in the morning, she was quite sore and we did not want to do extra walking.

Let's hope that the party guys are quiet tonight.  We have been told that they will be kicked out if they are noisy again.

Windy Day along the Mediterranean....

Today was sunny, but the wind was persistent with a nip to it.  Michael and Nancy got up and went to the local church for Palm Sunday.  They came and got us to see the procession of the statue around a few of the blocks, which was very interesting. They had very elaborate palm fronds.

Later we went in to explore Torrevieja, an old port.  The population is 13% British ex-pats.  As it is Holy Week, it was fairly crowded. We walked through an open air market; I bought an English-Spanish dictionary.

We drove back along the salt collection areas, something for which the area is famous.

Mark, Michael and I watched some bocci, or boules in the village square.  Mark made a delicious shepherd's pie.  We are hoping that the weather improves so that we will be able to sit on the beach.

From castle to...overbuilt Spanish coast....

Today we all were reluctant to leave Alarcon and the castle we called home for a night.  We lingered over our luxurious breakfast, packed slowly and took more photos of the gorge and the castle, from both inside and outside the walls.

We drove south to Torrevieja along the the Costa Blanca from Alicante.  Unfortunately, the area is very, very built up with high rises.  The timeshare is not great, I am afraid.  We are on the beach, but...not our unit.  In fact, our unit is quite peculiar.

 The bedrooms are underground - no windows at all.  And, there is no privacy.  The room Mark and I are in does not have walls that go up to the ceiling.  If we wanted to throw a ball over to Michael and Nancy, we could.  And, their room is even worse - no walls at all!  It is just an open area at the bottom of the narrow circular staircase.  Oh well, we will all make do.

And, the resort has NO amenities.  There was supposed to be an exercise room with sauna, but....all closed for reconstruction.

We went out and got supplies for the next few days, including a coffee pot.  Mark made a nice stir fry with shrimp.  Then, we watched Rafa Nadal defeat Andy Murray in the semi finals of the Monte Carlo tennis tournament.

Oh, and it is COLD and windy!

Sleeping in a Castle - no damsel in distress!

Today we got up and left the apartment pretty early.  We paid 87 Euros for the 3 days of parking!  Yikes!  City living has its expenses.  Mark got out of the city amazingly easily - naturally, much of it was due to Barbara's navigation!

We only drove for a few hours south, but got a bit lost at a turnoff at a village called Honrubio. We stopped there for a few minutes as they were having a market day.  Nancy bought some sunglasses for 10 E.  We ended up back on the highway at a nice restaurant reststop where 3 of us had pork on skewers and Nancy bought some souvenir plates.  We also got directions and went back to Honrubio, but, this time took the right road to Alarcon.

Wow!  Alarcon was magical!  It is an amazing castle built in the 14th century on the spot where a Moorish castle, built in the 8th century previously stood; reputedly it was the spot where the Visigoth, Alaric, established a castle in his son's name.  The castle sits high above a ravine.  The paradore was the best one yet - only 14 rooms.  Mark and I have a corner room overlooking the gorge. The room is called the Constanza de Aragon, the daughter of Jaime II of Aragon.  She died in 1327.  From our window, we can see a tower, "Alarconcillos", a very old star observatory.

We all got the key for the ramparts and walked along the wall. Later,we walked around the small town and by an old Spanish cemetery to overlook the gorge.  Scary heights!

We had a drink in the beautiful castle's bar and had a 9 p.m. dinner in a restaurant in a plaza near the castle.  It was called Don Julio's.  It is amazing that kids are with their parents eating out so late.   (We are becoming very Spanish in our hours of eating, too, and did not return to 'our' castle until past 11.

Another Sunny Day in Madrid....wandering around

Today, Julia and Michelle left very early on the bus to the airport.  Julia headed back to England  and Michelle headed back to Miami.  Mike and Nancy went with them to catch the airport bus.  I, however, was still recovering from a rough night and never even heard them leave.

Later, the four of us walked around for most of the rest of the day. First, we walked by the Royal Palace, but opted not to go in.  We strolled to a church, but arrived just as the gates were closing for siesta time.  (San Francisco Church where Michael and Nancy are considering going for Easter Mass next week.)  Our feet took a break at Starbuck's where we all had expensive iced coffees.  But, we had grilled cheese and ham at the flat, so...saved money that way.  My stomach is definitely not feeling adventerous today!

Later, we went on a quest to find a statue of an angel that marks the spot where there was an attempted assassination of the king and queen in the early 1900's.  The assassin was the uncle of a friend of Mark's on the Theatre Board on Nantucket. But, we were unable to find the spot, unfortunately.  However, we all had a nice ramble and Michael talked a man who was hanging up posters into giving him one for Nancy, which was nice. 

In addition, we filled out a complaint form at  Ginger, the restaurant where we got sick.  They were not happy to give us the form, but they did and we filled it out and will mail it in a place not quite as busy as Madrid.