Tag Archives: Seville

anecdotes

My favorite European hotels… so far

Bill and I have been very fortunate to have spent a lot of time in Europe.  I’m very happy to be going back, if only because it means I can blog about the cool places we’re bound to see while we’re there this time.  One important part of traveling in Europe is finding a good place to stay.  Europe has an abundance of good hotels, but a few we’ve stayed in over the years stick out in my mind.  Here’s a list of some of my favorite hotels in Europe.

Corinthia Hotel- Budapest, Hungary

We were fortunate to be able to take one last quick trip before we PCS’d back to the US in September 2009.  I decided we should go to Budapest, because I figured the other places I wanted to see– mostly western European capital cities– were more accessible from the United States.  Budapest seemed more exotic and it was also cheaper than places like Rome and Madrid (both of which we visited later).  Corinthia Hotel turned out to be a wonderful place to spend three nights.  We sprang for a reasonably priced executive room, which gave us access to a lounge where we had generous access to snacks and drinks all day.  The hotel itself is beautiful and conveniently located.  It also features a fantastic spa.  We were left we a great impression of Budapest and would happily go back…

Parliament in Budapest

Bella Baita- Serre Marchetto, Italy

We visited Bella Baita in May 2008.  Run by American pastry chef Marla and her Italian husband Fabrizio, this adorable little B&B is located about five kilometers up a mountain side and offers stunning views of the French border.  Bella Baita is very reasonably priced, yet it offers a very authentic taste of Italian culture.  Marla and Fabrizio go to great lengths to give guests unique ideas on things to do.  When we stayed with them, we took a cooking class and Marla took us to the market in Pinerolo, a very charming little city where there are very few Americans.  We also visited Turin, which is where the flagship Eataly store is (a great place to visit if you’re a foodie), and Briancon, a charming Alpine French border town.  I hope we can visit Bella Baita again during our next stint in Germany.

View from Bella Baita

 

The Blue Beetroot- Bolaslaweic, Poland

Bill and I visited The Blue Beetroot in Bolaslaweic, Poland in November 2008.  At the time, it was a fairly new place that was just being discovered by American military wives on the hunt for Polish pottery.  Since then, it’s become a booming place.  Bill and I didn’t go there for pottery, though we did bring some home with us.  We went because it was our 6th anniversary and we wanted to visit Dresden and Prague.  I wasn’t so hung up on pottery as I was interested in The Blue Beetroot, which I had stumbled across on Trip Advisor and thought sounded like a neat place.  We spent five nights there and visited Karpacz, a ski resort area, the Borowski glass factory, Dariusz Milinski’s art gallery, and Legnica.  It was very cost effective and we kept surprisingly busy!

Mr. Milinski’s Puppet Theatre… across the street from his art gallery.  It’s an amazing place.

 

Hotel la Bonbonierre- Talant, France

We stayed at this charming, family run hotel near Dijon just a couple of months ago.  I wish we’d had longer than one night to enjoy this cute little inn.  We had an adorable room with a great view of the surrounding area and the hotel is located in a darling little residential area complete with a beautiful chapel.  It’s a healthy walk to Dijon proper, but I managed to do it despite being well past my 20s.  Breakfast is served in a parlor and includes a delicious fruit salad, croissants, and fresh coffee by the pot.  The couple who owns this hotel are very kind and gracious.  If you don’t mind being outside of the city center of Dijon, I highly recommend Hotel la Bonbonierre.

Breakfast near Dijon…

Hotel Casa 1800- Seville, Spain 

This is a nice hotel in the Jewish Quarter of Seville.  It’s located within steps of the cathedral and the maze like Santa Cruz neighborhood in Seville.  Bill and I really enjoyed this hotel’s stylish interior and helpful staffers.  It’s right in the thick of things without being too noisy.  If you visit Seville and enjoy spas, be sure to visit Aire, a very relaxing hammam within walking distance of the hotel.  And if you didn’t bring a bathing suit, don’t worry.  They have some there you can borrow.

Inside the Seville cathedral…

 

Hotel Marignolle- Florence, Italy

We found this gem of a family run hotel on Jetsetter.com and stayed there in May 2013.  It’s located outside the city limits of Florence on a beautiful private estate.  Step behind the gated entry and enjoy the beautiful, natural scenery, peace, and quiet.  The hustle and bustle of Florence is just a short cab ride away.  One thing that made this hotel extra special for us was the arrangement they had with a local trattoria owned by another family.  It was close enough to walk to from the hotel, but the owners of the restaurant would pick up hotel patrons because the road in front of the hotel was dangerous to walk along with its hairpin turns and heavy traffic.  The restaurant offers delightful and authentic Italian cuisine and a waiter who easily speaks four languages.

The view at Hotel Marignolle…

I may have to continue this post soon, but for now, these are just a few places we’ve enjoyed since our European adventures began in 2007.  I can hardly wait to discover more places when we go back to Germany in two weeks!

Standard
Uncategorized

Off to Rota!

The morning of Wednesday, January 22nd, Bill and I finally ventured to the tapas bar directly next to our hotel, Las Columnas.  We had noticed the place was often packed with locals.  That shouldn’t have turned us off, since any place where there are a lot of locals is usually going to be decent.  But I don’t like crowds and the place looked like it was one of those establishments where you sort of stand at the bar.  Nevertheless, we didn’t feel like spending 20 euros for a hotel breakfast, so we went to this place a stone’s throw from our hotel.

We weren’t disappointed.  Granted, all we had was bread, butter, orange juice, and cafe con leche, all of which tasted fine.  What made this place a winner for both Bill and me is that it has a lot of character.  The guys running the bar had a lot of personality.  I’m sure they get a lot of tourists during the high season, but the guy who helped us seemed genuinely surprised to see us.

I got a kick out of watching the barman flirt with the ladies.  Two middle aged women sat near us and he said, “Hola, ninas!”  Granted, my Spanish sucks, but I understood that he was calling them young ladies.  They giggled at the joke, as did I.  When another table opened up that gave them more room, they moved and said to the barkeep, “Nos cambiamos.”  It was at that point that I realized that the few days we’d spent in Seville had been good for me.  Not as much English is spoken there, so I was forced to use my crappy Spanish skills.  I told Bill that he would get some brownie points at his job, since he works with people who speak fluent Spanish and Portuguese, since they work with militaries in Central and South America.  It’s nice to know that neither of us sucks at Spanish as much as we thought we did.

After breakfast, we checked out of our hotel.  The lady who checked us out told us that her family had a home and a boat in Rota, which made me think it must be a nice town.  We then got a taxi to the bus station.  There, we would buy tickets to Rota, since the little town near Cadiz is not serviced by a train.  I went to Cadiz in 1997.  It’s very close to Rota, though you’d kind of have to go over water to get there efficiently.  Anyway, we went to the wrong building first.  A lady working there said, “La proxima edificio…” and I understood that to mean “The next building.”  Yea me!

We spent about 22 euros for our tickets to Rota, which would make a stop in Jerez de la Frontera.  I knew that as the place where Harvey’s Bristol Cream sherry is made.  I remember seeing the vineyards for the sherry in 1997 as the train passed.  Since we were on a bus, we went through a different part of the city.  It took a little over an hour to get there… Bill and I were one of maybe a half dozen people who were on the full sized bus.  He sat next to me, which he didn’t have to do… but it’s nice to know he doesn’t mind sitting next to me and my substantial ass.

No, that’s not an actual bull on the hill…  It’s a big billboard looking thing.  Only in Spain!

 

When we stopped in Jerez, the bus rounded a corner where a guy in a leather jacket was unloading his car.  The bus almost hit him and the driver honked.  I happened to catch the disgusted look on the guy’s face.  Wish I could have seen the driver’s face.  I’m sure it said a lot.

Jerez has a lot of weird “art” on the road… like this disturbing sculpture in the middle of a roundabout, and the horses and waving Michelin Man below…

 


The rest of the ride to Rota was easy enough.  In fact, it kind of reminded me of Texas.  I saw lots of cactus and crappy little shanties on the side of the road.  We pulled into the bus station, which is tiny and very close to Rota’s main gate.  Bill had planned on us taking a taxi to the gate, but it was so close we just walked there.  We got our passes and, since we already got stamped into Europe when we arrived in Lajes, all we had to do was get passes so we could get on and off the base.

After that little detail, we approached the gate guard, who asked if I had my ID.  I did, but it was in my purse.  The guy shrugged and said never mind, which kind of surprised me.  We started walking to what we thought was the Navy Lodge, where Bill had made reservations for two nights.  I must say, hauling the bags wasn’t so easy, though I’m fitter than I appear.  We stopped at the first lodging we came to, which was right across the street from the Naval hospital.  It turned out we were at “Navy Gateway”, which is not the Lodge but offers rooms.  The ladies running Navy Gateway said they had rooms available; they were slightly cheaper; and the Gateway was a tiny bit closer to the PAX terminal than the Lodge was.  She said the Lodge was really more suited to families anyway.  So with our approval, she called the Lodge and switched our reservation.

The Navy Gateway in Rota offered accommodations very similar to the Mid Atlantic Lodge in Lajes.  We had a bedroom, a bathroom, and a sitting room.  There were two TVs, a microwave, a fridge, and the free laundry room (except for the soap).  Better yet, the toilet flushed better and there was a tub/shower instead of a tiny shower.  Even the toiletries were better.

I commented to Bill, “Looks like it’s true that the Navy offers better shit than the other services do.”  I was kidding, of course, but this lodging was slightly better.

We dropped off our bags and started walking back toward the gate so we could get a better look at Rota, which happens to be a cute town.  I was pretty hungry, since we had a light breakfast with no protein.  When I do that, I usually end up ravenous after a couple of hours.  We had to walk a ways before we finally found a bar that had food.  Once again, we ate meat on a stick accompanied by large Spanish beers.  The barman didn’t speak much English, but he did bring out some delicious carrots marinated in some kind of brine.  We had a beef skewer and a chicken skewer.  I felt much better after we ate.  I find as I get older, my tolerance for hunger and dropping blood sugar is not so good anymore.

Waiting for food and beer…

The view from where I was sitting…

After lunch, we walked down toward the beach and discovered that Rota has a big castle and a lighthouse.  There’s also a ferry, an Irish pub, and an American bar called “Honey Don’t Cry”.

Honey Don’t Cry!

Rootbeer signs on the wall near the pub…

Irish pub.  Would have liked to have tried this place.

Standard
Uncategorized

An extra day in Seville… and a run in with Romas…

Since we were originally planning to get to Rota Naval Base by Wednesday, the 22nd of January, we only booked two nights at the cute hotel we stayed in.  But then we realized there weren’t going to be any suitable flights out of Rota on Wednesday or Thursday.  I didn’t want to get there early and be stuck behind the gates of the base, because I knew we would be staying in Navy lodging.  I was also hungover as hell.  So I told Bill we should stay another day in Seville and check out the cathedral.  Bill was fretting a bit, but managed to get his office on the horn and get his leave extended.

A word about this whole “leave extension” thing.  It seems that if one is on active duty, in order to be eligible for Space A flights, one must be on leave.  If you let your leave expire before you get out of wherever it is you are, you can’t use Space A to get home.  So it was very important for Bill to get the leave extended through the weekend to give us more time to get a flight that would get us in the vicinity of where we needed to go.  There was a Wednesday flight from Rota to Germany, which we could have taken to get to Spangdahlem Air Base or Ramstein Air Base, both of which offer Air Force flights.  But we decided to take a risk and plan to stay in Rota.  More on that, later…

So, with the help of a former Army co-worker and Facebook friend, Bill got word to his office that he needed the weekend.  His request was approved and he could finally relax a bit.  We asked for one more night in the hotel and naturally got charged a higher rate since I had booked a cheap room and we were put in a superior room (and charged the cheaper rate).  I was surprised the room was considered “superior”, but then I realized that we had a window that actually sort of had a view of the street as opposed the inside of the hotel.

The nice thing about being in Seville on Tuesday is that the cathedral stays open a bit later.  So once I had recovered more from my hangover, Bill and I headed over to Seville’s gorgeous, humongous, impressive cathedral.  I had been in the cathedral before when I visited Seville with my sister in 1997, but somehow I forgot you have to pay to go in there if you’re just going for cultural reasons.  It’s worth paying, I guess.  There is a small museum you walk through before you go into the massive structure itself.

A daytime view of the cathedral…

 

An evening view of the cathedral from another angle.

As we were looking for the appropriate door by which to enter the cathedral, we were approached by several older ladies who were holding out rosemary sprigs.  I wasn’t sure who or what they were, though I have run into gypsies before, most recently in Athens, Greece, when one of them said I look like Angelina Jolie (I really don’t.  She was either trying to flatter me or had serious cataracts).  But I hadn’t run into the scam these women were running.  They could have passed for Spanish women involved with the church.

There was a little voice in my head telling me to ignore these women, but they were very pushy and before I knew it, I was reaching for the sprig. So was Bill.  Then one of the women started to talk about Romanian blessings and got too close to Bill, who still has a wee touch of PTSD from his time in Iraq.  She pushed him toward the wall, alarming him.  He yelled “No!” and held up his hand just as I also stepped away from one of the other women.  Bill’s reaction apparently startled the women and they quickly walked away from us.

The side door is where you go when you want to visit the cathedral…  This is close to where we were accosted. 

I was merely annoyed by the encounter, but Bill was really shaken up.  We went to the front of the cathedral and there were a couple of flamenco dancers performing beautifully on the street.  I was enjoying watching them, oblivious to Bill’s lingering discomfort over his run in with the Roma women.

Front door of the cathedral, near where the dancers were.  Wish I’d gotten a photo.

We finally got into the cathedral and I was wandering around, snapping photos and looking at all the stained glass.  Suddenly, I turned to Bill, who had tears running down his cheeks.  This is a normal thing for Bill in cathedrals.  He is usually overwhelmed by their vastness and ornate decor.  I’ve seen him cry many times in many cathedrals in Europe.  But this time, he really seemed upset rather than moved.  I put my arm around him and asked him if he was okay.  He told me that he was overcome by a combination of powerful feelings… the beauty of the cathedral and his usual reactions to such beauty was colliding violently with his perception that we had been violated by the Roma women.

God’s eye…

He said, “I haven’t felt like this since I was downrange!”

I wiped his tears and listened to him tell me how angry he was about running into these women, trolling the touristed area around the cathedral, which is supposed to be a holy place.  Shame on them for screwing with people that way.

I asked Bill if they had managed to steal anything.  He said they hadn’t, other than the positive experience he was hoping to have in the cathedral.  Although he was very shaken up, he couldn’t deny that Seville’s cathedral is amazing.  But I’m afraid those Roma women gave it an unpleasant color he won’t forget anytime soon.

Beautiful stained glass and ornate sculptures…

I would have loved to have heard this organ…

 

The courtyard… full of orange trees!

 

On the way out…

On a positive note, I think we had our very best meal of the trip on Tuesday.  We happened to find a small restaurant/bar in a quiet section of the Jewish Quarter.  I was attracted to it by the way it smelled.  Leave it to me to follow my nose to find the best food.  I was a little tired of tapas, so you can imagine how delighted I was when we sat down at a table and I noticed one of the specialties of the house was dorada.  

 
Bill was still a little upset…

I discovered dorada when Bill and I lived in Germany and frequented Greek restaurants.  It’s a delicious, mild, white, flaky fish that is usually pretty pricey.  We spent a lot of money on dorada at a touristy restaurant in Athens, though I’d had it several times in Germany for less money.  It’s still usually  a rather expensive dish by my experience.  But at this particular place, I could have it for about 12 euros.  Cheap!

I love dorada!

Bill ended up with a skewer of beef and vegetables that hung from a hook over his plate and came with delicious fries.  I love the way fried potatoes are done in Europe.

That hook looks like an IV pole.

Check out the huge wine glass on the bar!

We drank fizzy water, since I was still nursing a hangover.  The waiter in this place, which was overwhelmingly populated with locals, was just awesome.  He was quick, cheerful, and friendly and he brought out the best meals of our trip.  We finished with a round of espresso and a couple of complimentary glasses of orange wine.  Needless to say, I recommend Casa Antonio- Bar Los Caracoles to anyone visiting Seville.  Here is a link to another appreciative blogger’s post about this establishment.

Outside of the restaurant…

As the day wore on, we were starting to wind down.  As much as I like Seville, I was kind of ready to get to Rota.  I wanted to see a different place and there always comes a point in a vacation when you start thinking about getting home and getting back to normal life.  The longest vacation I ever took was a month.  As much as I enjoyed seeing all I saw on that trip, I also recognized that after a couple of weeks, I start longing for a sense of normalcy and the ability to do laundry at will… and I missed my computer too, since I was wanting to write and can’t really so well on my iPad.  I think I need to invest in a laptop for our trips.  That will take care of at least one issue related to staying on vacation for “too long”.  Of course, since Bill has to retire, these long and frequent vacations may soon be a thing of the past anyway.

Flamenco dresses…

To make matters worse, I started my period.  That seems to be my custom on these trips.  We went out to buy some Spanish feminine hygiene supplies and ended up getting sidetracked by my sudden desire to buy a silk flamenco shawl.  I had been wanting once since 1997 and almost got one in 2009 when we went to Barcelona.  But I was always put off by how expensive they are because they are made of silk and there’s a lot of handiwork on them.  You can get cheap ones, but I wanted one that was better quality.  I found one I loved in the window, but the price was 390 euros…  So I opted for a less expensive one that was on sale for 150 euros (a little over $200).  It’s turquoise and very beautiful.  Maybe next time, I’ll spring for the really expensive one.  Too bad I don’t have anyone to pass it down to when I die.

I thought about taking Bill to a flamenco show.  I went to one the last time I was in Seville.  But Bill wasn’t into watching dancing, so we skipped it.  I kind of regret it now, though.  Seeing those two dancers near the cathedral reminded of me of how graceful and beautiful flamenco is.

I had to take a photo of this horse.  I used to have an Appaloosa, which is a familiar spotted horse here in the United States.  I am not sure, but I think the above horse might be a Knabstrupper, which is a Danish horse breed that shares some of the same genetics as Appaloosas do.  I believe the Knabstrups were a bit endangered at one point, so I think some Appaloosas were imported to help save the breed.  Anyway, regardless of whether this horse is an Appaloosa or a Knabstrup, it was very cool to see a spotted horse among all the bays, grays, and chestnuts.

One last shot…

 

We ended up at yet another tapas bar for dinner.  It was probably my least favorite of all the places we went to.  The bartender wasn’t all that friendly and the menu and the wine wasn’t all that exciting.  In retrospect, we should have gone back to Casa Antonio- Bar Caracoles again.  Won’t make that mistake again if we go to Seville.

Our last dinner in Seville…

After we ate dinner, we had a nightcap at the first tapas restaurant we came to when we first arrived in Seville.  Props to the waiter for remembering us.  Even though there weren’t too many American tourists around Seville during our visit, I don’t think we’re that distinctive.  I got a kick out of using their restroom because the toilets had a little target in them.  I’ve heard of them in men’s rooms, but even the women’s room had one.  It was a picture of a glass of beer.  I’m guessing it was directed toward women who insist on hovering over the seat instead of sitting down.

Standard
Uncategorized

Hammam, carriage ride, funny bum, and way too much wine…

I booked our appointment at Aire for 12:00pm.  That left us with our morning to wander around Seville.  It was Monday and Bill was starting to fret about how we were going to get out of Spain and make it back to Texas in time for his leave to end at 11:59pm Texas time on Thursday, the 23rd.  I, of course, was annoyed with Bill for not arranging for leave through the weekend.  He later explained that he wanted to get to the office to take care of some stuff for a briefing with his boss.  But as we watched the flights leaving Rota Naval Base in Rota, Spain, it wasn’t looking like we’d be able to get out of Spain in time for Bill to get home before his leave ended.

Breakfast!

Because Bill is hyper-responsible, he was super stressed out.  So we went for a walk and ended up passing a bunch of guys with horses and carriages.  One of them approached us and asked if we wanted to take a carriage ride.  They started at 11:00, when the cathedral opened.  I asked how long the ride would take, since we had the hammam appointment at noon.  The guy said it took an hour.  I said we’d have to do it in the afternoon because we didn’t have time at that point.

Alphonso XIII…  A very expensive hotel…

As we headed toward the Guadalquivir River, we were accosted by a pushy woman wanting us to sign up for a Hop On, Hop Off tour.  I was immediately turned off by her approach and also realized that for us, the bus tour would not be a particularly good buy, since we like to walk a lot.  I listened to her spiel and finally said, “I don’t think we’re interested.”  That seemed to piss her off, but at least we were able to cross the street.

We walked past the naval museum and along the river, then crossed into the beautiful park near the palace.  Bill and I were engaged in conversation when I got bombed by a pigeon of some sort.  Then I spotted some swans and ducks, so we turned toward there, just in time to see some guy hastily zip up his pants.  Apparently, we had interrupted him as he took a piss.

Rental bikes in Seville…

Naval museum

We walked along the street in front of the palace, then headed back toward the hotel, so I could pick up my bathing suit.  We went looking for Aire and, of course, got a bit lost in Seville’s narrow streets.  I think we might have been a little late when we finally found the place.

Aire offers two hour sessions in which you can get massages or other treatments and soak in one of five pools or sit in a eucalyptus scented steam room.  You’re supposed to speak in a low voice, drink lots of water and tea, and relax.  It was just what Bill needed.  Of course, it turned out that many staff members at Aire didn’t speak much English, so we had to rely on our crappy Spanish skills to figure out what to do.  I actually could understand a lot of the Spanish, but my ability to speak it is almost nil now.

The outside of Aire…

I wasn’t completely understanding what we were supposed to do, but managed to get into my swimsuit and found my way around the peaceful facility.  The lights were dim; there was relaxing music; and had it not been for a couple of chattering Spanish ladies, it would have been a very calming experience.  Bill and I only got fifteen minute massages.  I kind of wish I’d gotten a longer one, but I’d read on TripAdvisor that the massages weren’t all that great.  I ended up with a pretty good masseuse, though.  We rotated around the salt pool, jetted pool, and warm, hot, and cold pools until we heard the chime letting us know our time was up.

After we went to the hammam, we visited what turned out to be a chain restaurant called Robles.  Once again, we ordered too much food.  The restaurant was pretty quiet and I noticed a manager type walking around, looking like he was proctoring an exam or something.

Where we had lunch…

Bill’s avocado and goat cheese starter.  I skipped this because I don’t like strong cheese.

My starter… fried prawns!

Bill’s beef and potatoes.

Chicken and garlic.

Dessert!  Everybody loves a parfait, right?

After lunch, we took our carriage ride, though not from the guy who had asked us if we wanted one.  Our driver did not speak any English, but we were able to understand much of what he said.  He had a grey mare who seemed a little nervous in the heavy traffic we drove through.  As he was pointing out places of interest along our route, the driver got a call on his cell phone.  Bill and I chuckled, since the guy’s ringtone was a horse neighing.  The driver insisted on taking pictures of me and Bill in his carriage.  I’m grateful they mostly turned out okay.  I hate the way I photograph.  When we got back to the starting point, I managed to tell the guy that I used to have a horse.  We bonded and he told me his mare’s name is Rosilla.  I petted the horse and we went on our way.

That evening, we ended up at this great bar near our hotel.  Bill and I wanted some wine, though we were still pretty full from lunch.  Our server was a fatherly man who was intent on teaching me how to order shrimp fritters.  I was enjoying the music in the bar, which was all from the 80s, so we sat there and drank a shitload of wine.  The second bottle was from Jerez de la Frontera, which is where Harvey’s Bristol Cream sherry is made.  The quality was excellent and the bottle wasn’t too expensive, but it packed quite a wallop at 15% alcohol.

I ended up getting pretty hammered… and when a bum came in looking for handouts, I ended up in a funny exchange with him.  He flirted with me as a means of mock begging.  I laughed in response and Bill gave him a couple of euros.  Later, when he continued to engage, I laughed again and told him to “beat it”.  He took his leave with a courtly bow.  Sadly, I don’t quite remember the end of the evening… at least until we got to the hotel and my body kicked out some of the booze.

Information center…

There are buildings related to Spanish speaking countries in Seville…

Beautiful park

Swans!

Palace views!

Standard
Uncategorized

Beautiful Seville by bullet train!

The morning of January 19th, we awoke to chilly, rainy weather in Madrid.  Not wanting to hunt around for food, we decided to have breakfast at Pans & Company, a Spanish fast food chain that emphasizes “healthy” options.  I discovered Pans & Company in 1997, when my travel buddies and I found it in Barcelona.  It’s especially known for its bocadillos, sandwiches that Spaniards like eating as snacks.

I had orange juice, coffee, and a chocolate pastry.  Bill had a more savory option.  While we were in there, a young couple with a cute little daughter came in.  I was heartened to see how her parents cooperated in looking after her.  She was basically well-behaved for her age, but I could also tell she was a bit of a handful.  For fast food, Pans & Company offers an inexpensive yet decent quality breakfast.  It was a lot more economical than the 10 euro per person buffet the hotel was offering.

Eats from Pans & Company…

We checked out of the hotel and took a cab to the train station.  I have to say, the Atocha station in Madrid seemed a lot nicer this time than it was when I was last there in 1997.  We were there a bit early for our train, so we hit a wine bar and enjoyed a nice glass of rioja.

Nice palm garden at the Atocha train station…

The view from our table…

 

Bill enjoys his vino…

After we had our wine, Bill visited the one and only pay toilet we encountered on our trip.  The train station had an automated toilet that cost 60 euro cents, but allowed you to go twice if you needed to.  Of course, once we went through security to get on the train, I noticed there were free toilets.  I guess they do that to keep the bums from abusing the train station’s public bathrooms.  

 

I had taken the AVE train to Seville before and it was in second class.  I remember it being a decent experience.  It was this time, too.  The seats were comfortable and our car wasn’t full of people.  The 300+ mile journey was knocked out in about two hours and twenty minutes and we whizzed through beautiful Spanish countryside.  I listened to music the whole way, enjoying the ride immensely.

 

Bill prepares to take his seat on the train…

We arrived in Seville to sunny skies and relative warmth.  It wasn’t *warm* per se, but it was definitely not as cold and bitter as Madrid was.  A cab took us to our hotel, Hotel Casa 1800, a cute boutique hotel in the Jewish Quarter.  I promised Bill he would love Seville.  It is my favorite Spanish city.

Bill’s first gaze at Seville…

 

After we checked in, we went across the street for a late lunch, where we were immediately confronted by a waiter who had obviously dealt with a lot of Americans.  He was kind of pushy about what he thought we wanted.  We had some cava and he was pushing a fish platter, but I opted for a meat platter instead, which Bill and I shared.  It was actually very good.  There was chicken, skirt steak, and pork, as well as salad.  It really hit the spot.

Mucho meat!

 

We walked around the Santa Cruz area and I showed Bill the very no frills hostel Becky and I stayed in during our last visit.  Then we ran across Aire, a hammam (Turkish bath).  I had read about this spa as I was researching our Space A trip in 2012.  I thought we might end up in Spain then.  But then I forgot about it.  This spa/hammam is located on a very secluded street.  I knew I wanted to try it.  Bill hadn’t brought a bathing suit, but the hammam provides them if you need one.  I booked us an appointment for the next morning.

Camembert and strawberry sauce…

Tapas sized paella…

Potatoes and cheese…

Ham croquettes

Later, we went to another tapas place and ordered way too much food.  We actually went in there because I needed to pee, but stayed because it was kind of an interesting place.  A street musician came in and asked if he could play for money.  He turned out to be kind of a funny guy.  We gave him a couple of euros and watched as people went to mass.  A large chapel was close to the bar and it was easy to see people come and go to church.

As we walked back to the hotel, I gazed around Seville at the bountiful orange trees that hung heavy with fruit.  Some of the oranges had fallen and were smashed by passing cars navigating the winding, tight streets of Seville’s barrio.  We passed Seville’s enormous cathedral and enjoyed the sights and sounds of mostly local people.  January is a great time to visit Seville.


These tiles are all over the place in Seville…

The tower at Seville’s cathedral…

I had to take a picture of this… it’s kind of a Carlin quote.

 
Standard
Uncategorized

A month on a train in Europe… Spain

Dawn, Chris, and I marveled as we watched the insanely beautiful Spanish countryside fly by.  We had stopped briefly in Port Bou, France, because the train tracks in Spain are different than they are in France and we had to change trains.  A gaggle of American sorority girls were on our train, making me feel both old and slightly irritated.

I remember sitting in my second class seat and looking at the stunning landscape.  A Spanish native said “Welcome to Espana” with a proud smile on his face.

It was bright and sunny as we passed Girona and its cathedral on our way south.  We finally landed in Barcelona in the early evening.  We had been traveling all day and we were tired… and somehow, we ended up at a dirt cheap hostel a few blocks from Barcelona’s train station.  The room was dark, small, and had a window that literally opened into the elevator shaft.  But for three poverty stricken travelers, it would work.

Dawn, Chris and I walked around downtown Barcelona, strolling on Las Ramblas and meeting up with Chris’s friend, Javier, who lived in Barcelona.  I remember getting into his tiny compact car and going on a tour of the city, which highlighted the Olympic stadium.  I also remember eating paella for the first time and discovering bocadillos at Pan and Company, a Barcelona area healthy fast food chain.  We visited the cathedral and stood outside La Sagrada Familia, because we were too poor to pay the admission to go inside.

In 2009, my husband and I went back to Barcelona and stayed in a very nice hotel in Montjuic, which is an area on hill that overlooks the city.  Our 2009 trip was sort of a dream come true, since I had shown my husband my picture of La Sagrada Familia several years prior and he didn’t know what it was.  When I told him about it, he wanted to go there… and we managed to do that, courtesy of a “blind booking” on Germanwings, a discount airline in Germany that lets people book mystery flights (lots of fun– we’ve done it three times so far).

Taken in April 2009.  My husband cried when we went inside because he was overwhelmed by how cool it is…

 

After a couple of days in Barcelona, Dawn, Chris, and I went to Madrid, where I would be meeting my older sister.  We booked a stay in a comfortable hotel suggested by Rick Steves.  I got a single room and Dawn and Chris stayed in a double.  I remember going to the airport to pick up my sister, Becky, and then after lunch, Dawn, Chris, and I parted ways.  They were headed to see another one of Chris’s friends up north and then take Dawn to Salamanca.  My sister and I, on the other hand, planned to head south to Seville.

But first we spent a few nights in Madrid…  I remember on the first night, U2 was playing and I could hear their concert in my hotel room.  It was right around the time they had released Pop, an album I don’t own but should probably buy because I heard their concert in my Madrid hotel room.

La Plaza Mayor in Madrid

Courtesy of Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Plaza_Mayor_de_Madrid_06.jpg)

In retrospect, it probably wasn’t that smart to travel with Becky.  She’s a high maintenance person and immediately objected to the cheap places I had gotten used to staying at.  But we got along okay at first… I was excited about going to Seville, which I had heard was amazing.  We went to the Prado, which Becky insisted on because she’s an artist.  I don’t think we got to see much of it, though, because we had a train to catch.  We had book a bullet train to Seville, cutting down the travel time to something manageable.

When we got to Seville, we managed to find a small bed and breakfast in the maze-like old town, Santa Cruz (Jewish Quarter).  We saw a flamenco show, saw Seville’s massive cathedral, and took a carriage ride around the Plaza de Espana… and I remember it was about this time that Becky and I started to bicker.  She objected to the frantic pace I had been keeping and my cheapness.  And she also didn’t seem to like Spain that much, because people eat later at night.  My sister was an ugly American to the extreme and said Spain was like a third world country.  Having just come from Armenia, where 24 hour power still wasn’t guaranteed, I thought that was a pretty foolish remark.

Plaza de Espana

Courtesy of Wikipedia: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Plaza_de_España_-_Sevilla.jpeg)

Anyway, between stories about her love life and complaints about how dirty Spain was, I was quickly realizing I was better off traveling alone.

Becky and I went to Cadiz, Spain next.  Cadiz is in the extreme southern part of Spain, on the Mediterranean coast.  It was in Cadiz that we stayed in very poor accommodations.  I remember it being a simple room with crucifixes on the walls.  After a day strolling around the very hot city and taking a swim at the beach, we went to an Irish pub, where I proceeded to drink five Irish coffees.  I was up all night because there was a loud party going on in the building next to ours.

Cadiz Cathedral

Courtesy of Wikipedia

Though it was very cool to be so close to Morocco, we got up early the next day for a train heading to France…  Becky’s patience with Spain was wearing dangerously thin…  and my patience with Becky was also becoming pretty short.

Standard