Chasing the Sun

The best way to begin this last post of the Spain trip would be to say that everything was easy and we had no problems getting home.
If it were true. But......

I will mention that the check-in process at the airport began very smoothly, but with some unexpected questions, when we checked our luggage. The folks at the American Airlines counter asked--- If we had any electronics in our luggage. then they wanted to know how long we've had the camera/phone/ipod, etc and also if it had been repaired recently. They asked how long we'd had the luggage and then the regular questions that we are used to---did you pack your luggage, has it been out of your sight, etc.

As I said this was relatively easy, if a little unusual--the rest was yet to come. Security went smoothly--shoes off, jacket off, carry-on x-rayed, Same ole stuff we are used to. No problems--- then around the corner ANOTHER SECURITY CHECK. This one was very personal. The majority of passengers were lined up, men on one side, women on the other and we were individually searched. Patted down, and everything taken out of carry on bag and purse and inspected. I said the majority of passengers, because some of our group and other groups as well, were waved through for seemingly no reason. I guess Spain is really getting serious about its security.

Our plane was to leave at 11, so we boarded at 10:30 and the cheap seats on the plane were only about 1/3 to 1/4 full. Eash passenger had several seats to stretch out in. The first and business classes were full. I hope this doesn't mean that American Airlines is in trouble financially--more than other airlines. It was great for us, but i kept wondering if they could pay for the flight with so few folks onboard.

The flight was long as expected, but not too uncomfortable. Meals were adequate, but not wonderful. We arrived at JFK with barely enough time to make our connection--then the plane sat on the runway waiting our turn to get to the gate for, OH about 30 minutes. When we finally deplaned, we had to go thru immigration, then get our bags, then go thru customs, then recheck our bags , then find the gate to get to the plane that would take us to Dallas. When the last of us made it to the gate, the plane was loaded and waiting for 5 more minutes before take-off.
NOTE TO COLLETTE SCHEDULERS---we need more time to get all that accomplished.
This leg of the trip was a full flight and we were packed in, so I suppose I shouldn't worry about American Airlines too much after all.

On this flight, they offered to SELL us a Boston Market sandwich for $10, no free food here. Four hours later we were picking up bags in Dallas in preparation for our 3 hr. bus ride to Bwd.
But wait,----- 4 people's bags were missing. Probably when we were in the mad dash to get bags rechecked and get to the correct gate, those 4 bags were put in a different pile. Anyway, the airlines folks "found" the bags in the computer and promised that they would be sent to Bwd and San Angelo by Thursday. [ March 6- some bags have been returned to owners, some have not yet--some went to Louisiana, not sure about the others]
We got on our bus, made a stop at Whataburger and drove home.

Good trip--a little wet, and awfully busy, but we saw things that were unusual and had Once-In-a -Lifetime experiences. Thanks, to those who share the trip via this blog--I appreciate your interest and enthusiasm for our trips.
Vaya con Dios

Be patient--no longer

STREET PERFORMER

Readers,
Earlier in this space, I asked you to be patient while I placed pictures where they seemed most appropriate in the Spain travel blog.
WELL, They are done, except for a video clip of the Flamenco dancing, which needs to be made shorter. I tried to download the 4 min clip and it continued to bog down, so when the clip is trimmed, it'll be added.

A reminder to those readers who traveled with us, this is a "snapshot" of my experiences on the trip, I'm sure yours are different, but this is the way I remember the experience.

Last chance shopping

After the Barcelona tour, we went back to the hotel to get a little organized then met some Bwd folks for a lunch and shopping expedition. We got just a little lost looking for Rambles street, but got help and our bearings. We ate at a nice little place that had great pizza and just okay spaghetti. Then the shopping began, one of our folks had a definite mental list of things that needed to be bought and she dickered the shop folks down to what she considered a more reasonable price for the items she wanted. My concern is how she will get them back to Bwd---but that is not my problem, is it?

We found a Gelato store and sat and enjoyed some refreshment while others finished their shopping. Then we walked back to the hotel. N is napping as I finish this. We have organized our suitcases for the flight back tomorrow. We must have bags out by 6:30 am even tho we don't fly out til 11am. We'll have some time to kill in the Barcelona airport tomorrow.

Tonite is the "Farewell dinner" and then we part company at the airport in the morning. I will try to post my last Spain comments when I get back, perhaps Wed. I hope everything goes so smoothly, that I have little to tell you. We expect to be back in Bwd between 10 and 11 Tuesday night.

Barcelona and Gaudi

Monday, March 1--Tour of Barcelona

There is a “new” part of Barcelona which is directly beside the old part of the city. Our local guide told us that some of the old churches, and other old buildings were moved stone by stone to another part of town and then put together like a puzzle to make way for more modern buildings.

They have three events for which they have built large impressive buildings. The first was the 1888 World’s Fair which caused the first elevator to be built in Barcelona, the 1929 World’s Fair and the 1992 Olympics.

We drove by the Olympic-type stadium originally built for the 1929 World’s fair. The outside has been “restored” but the inside has been completely changed to accommodate modern crowds and modern telecommunications. The renovated stadium holds 20,000 spectators. Over 30 new hotels were built for the 92 Olympics. To help the population navigate the city, a metro system of transportation was opened in 1926 and is brought up to date frequently.

We saw a university which serves 120,000 students, who pay approximately 20% of the actual cost of their education.

Since there is NO free parking for cars, the city is home to over 300,000 motorcycles. Parking for autos costs approx 2.5 Euros per hour, however motorcycle parking is free.

Since this is such a desirable location on the Mediterrane over 850 cruise ships dock here during the season.

I plan to find a novel which was mentioned about the building of the basilica named Cathedral of the Sea.

Guell Park is an amazing place which was donated to the city of Barcelona in memory of Anthony Gaudi, a very famous architect. Sr. Guell was Gaudi’s patron There is no charge to enter the park and it was planned to be a community with a market place, lovely gardens, and houses. There are very few houses because Barcelonians did not want to live that far from the center of the city.


We left the bus and walked into the park which was filling with individuals, tour groups and groups of school children. Interestingly each small group of children had colored streaks of “paint” on their faces as did the teachers/escorts. We were guessing that if a child were lost he could look for someone w/ the same color streaks on the face. In the park musicians played, vendors tried to hawk their wares (sunglasses and necklaces) and street performers entertained.


One particular musician playing an instrument (that looked a lot like a wok) with his hands interested us. He told us that the instrument was “invented” in Switzerland about 8 years ago, was called a hang, pronounced HONG, and that only two people in the world make them. How do I describe the sound? It didn’t sound like someone was thumping a metal pot, but sounded rather Oriental and harmonious.



When we got up on the top level of the market place, we found benches built into the wall around the side. They were VERY comfortable. We saw our first of many street performaers for the day. This was “the invisible man” The glasses and hat were connected with a wire and he could see, cuz when a coin was put in his cup, he bowed.


As we were leaving other street performers were setting up, a flamenco dancer, a cave man, a bull fighter, etc.


We got back in the bus after a pleasant hour in Guell Park. I didn’t mention the architecture in the place. It was all designed by Gaudi and there are NO straight lines anywhere.

Loops, waves, lumps, bumps and decoration which is absolutely colorful, but not to my personal taste at all.



While driving to the Holy Family Church, we were told that it was a pet project of Sr. Gaudi. He began the church when he was in his 30’s and it was not finished when he was killed in 1926 at the age of 73---and it is not expected to be finished until 2030-2040. It is built solely on donations and since this church is the most visited monument in Spain, more and more donations have been given toward finishing the construction. We were told that 26 Million Euros were donated last year.

As we were getting ready to disembark, we were reminded about pickpockets. The guide said they are called Chorizo here. I don’t think she explained why.


OH MY GOODNESS1 This is the “huge-est” looking church I’ve ever seen. And it probably isn’t---it just looks like it. We didn’t go in, but walked around, with our guide explaining the façade The first side we saw was the Christmas door, showing angels, shepherds, wise men, the holy family, a “Christmas tree with doves on it” and pelicans. I said door, but this covers the entire side of the building—the front has yet to be built.

Close up


We walked around to the back and the only decoration were depictions of serpents with their heads down, as if it was the evil leaving the building.

We walked around to the other “side” of the building which depicts Easter events and were startled by a COMPLETELY NAKED MAN holding a guitar and asking for money from tourists who wanted to take his picture. (Do I need to mention that more than one of my fellow travelers have his picture--N has him on video) To say we were startled is an understatement. Several of the ladies asked the tour guide (a very attractive woman) if that was legal, just walking around without any clothes and she told them that nakedness is not against the law, but if he causes a scandal, he would be arrested.

Back to the Easter façade of the building—There was a depiction of the Last Supper, the kiss of Judas, the apostles’ denouncing Jesus, the centurions gambling for Christ’s robe, the Crucifixion (naked), the burial, and Ascension. Even though we did not go in, the outside is amazing. It almost looks like melted wax or a nightmare. You decide what you think.

close up view

FREE

The best thing about the Hotel Colon in Barcelona is that they offer FREE WIRELESS INTERNET! And we have some time to use it!

Tour of Valencia and trip to Barcelona

Sunday, Feb. 28, 10


The big deal in Valencia that the guide was proudest of is the 2004 Americas Cup- a sailing event that cost the People of the city 200 million Euros to get their infrastructure in place to deal with the crowds.

In one area of the city we walked around and through a group of buildings by the architect Santiago Calatrava. His creations are ultra modern and absolutely unusual. When you see the pictures, I’m sure you’ll agree. One of the buildings is the largest aquarium in Europe. There is a Science and Arts Museum, an Opera House, a building that includes an I MAX theatre and planetarium. The Purple (or blue) building has no designated purpose, but is rather just a multi-purpose building which can be used for expositions, fashion shows, concerts, or whatever. They are just amazing looking.









This morning about 7 am we heard loud booms and thought it was some heavy machinery. We heard later from the local guide that since tomorrow is Mar. 1, the fireworks signaled the beginning of the Fallas celebration which lasts until March 19.

Many stalls around the streets, when we took our walking tour, had people selling books, coins, paper money, stamps and comic books.

We toured the Longha building. Built in the 15 Century, it was a building set aside for merchants to meet together and make their deals. Along with the main meeting room, there was an “orange” courtyard, filled with orange trees (of the sour variety)



Also later added to the building were two rooms for use as a Maritime Court. It had a really intricately carved ceiling.


Toward the end of our walking tour, we had some time to do a bit of shopping. I saw a large meringue (cookie?) with two colors. I was trying to figure out how to recreate it, but I never bought one to get a close look.

As our walking tour was over, we all met upstairs in a “horchateria” and enjoyed a glass of the Spanish “national” drink HORCHATA (or-cha-ta). It was rather like a really thin vanilla milkshake and very tasty. I may have to go online to get a recipe. Our tour manager, Greg, mentioned that one ingredient is tiger nut. Not sure what we could grind up to replace that, hmmmmmm . ------ This site explains the ingredients and process of making horchata.
We walked around the Cathedral, but did not go in. This is around noon on a Sunday morning and the area in front of the church was packed. There were families, and there were tourists, and more than one musical groups (sort of like a marching band in uniform).
We visited the Serrano Towers, the only part of the original wall around the old city still standing. It had various uses, as a prison, and a warehouse.

Well, back on the bus and we’re headed to Barcelona. During some of the ride, Greg, the Tour Manager told us what to expect on Tuesday, when we head back home. He talked about forms we need to fill out, about VAT receipts, and about the Collette evaluation forms that need to be filled out and returned to him before the end of the trip. It was helpful when he reminded us about each hotel and the major meals we ate at each. He reminded us to be clear and thorough in our responses, because they are read and attended to.

Since it is set in Spain and was such a famous movie of its day, he showed the EL CID movie w/ Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren from 1961. ------- It is a L O N G movie with an intermission. I did not pay attention to most of it, instead finishing my Baldacci book. We had another rest stop to keep our driver “legal” with rest breaks and then finally drove into Barcelona about 6 pm.

Three of us ventured out on our own for supper. The Gelato was wonderful and the souvenir buying was quite satisfying.

We don’t have to have bags out in the morning and the bus doesn’t leave for the Barcelona tour until 9….. so….........YAWN
I’ll see you tomorrow. Hasta Luego.

Sangria, Paella and Oranges

Our evening excursion today was to a Paella cooking demonstration. I think it was misrepresented but since we were the first group to have this perhaps Collette didn't know just what was going to happen. It was a paella explanation, not cooking demonstration. We were bused to the center of town and went down alleys and around corners and saw the local skateboard folks in action and finally we were there.


A lady with a soft voice and very accented English tried to tell us about the process of making Paella. By the way--it is a rice dish with some kind of meat and veggies and saffron. We were finally ushered into a large room with long tables and plastic ware on the tables. We were given plates of salad and instructed to put salad on top of our paella. As the folks were serving the 50 plates--one at a time--pitchers of Sangria were put on the table. It was better than just wine ( I don't like the taste of wine), but could have used lots more fruit juice. After eating the Paella, which was good, we had home grown Navelos (navel oranges) which were WONDERFUL. They were peeled and sliced and so, so sweet. If I were going to prepare Sangria, I would bone and de-skin the chicken before putting it in the dish. The typical Valencia paella is made with rabbit, which would be an interesting taste, and I have heard of folks using sausage and all sorts of fish and shell fish. I suppose it can be adapted to all different tastes. It may originally have been a way to use up left overs.

A festival is about to be celebrated in Valencia to celebrate Spring. March 15th, brings a carnival-like atmosphere to the city with bonfires and a procession to the Basillica. This is called Fallas (fai-as) and was originally a celebration of St Joseph, the carpenter.

After finishing our oranges, we trooped back the way we came through now really dark alleys to wait for our bus. We must have our bags out in the morning at 7, and will have a city tour (some riding in the bus and some walking) of Valencia, before heading to our last stop in this tour Barcelona. More tomorrow------------