A great night's sleep did us all well and we were up and headed to the airport out of Santiago by 7 this morning! Well, we thought we all were back on track after a good night's sleep, but once we got to the airport we found that one of us.....NANA....might not have been as sharp as usual.
In an attempt to consolidate bags and manipulate all of the stuff we've acquired onto our Ryan Air flight while incurring as few costs as possible, Mom was in charge of packing two small duffles we bought to use as multi purpose carryon bags. She was carrying one on....Cait the other. Well, it was quite obvious as we passed through the security point at the airport that something was not right with our bags. Cait, more than a little irritated at the stir her bag was creating, thought that we had packed something liquid in with her stuff. Not quite so simple as that.
We have bought an assortment of trinkets and interesting items for people we love from different spots. Mom put all those into Cait's bag. What she didn't consider was that one of the items that Cait bought was an 8 inch Moroccan dagger! Its amazing what a stir a hooked dagger causes in an international airport. As soon as I realized what was happening, I claimed the bag as mine. At the same time, Cait was plaintively explaining that her grandmother had made the mistake...after all how could someone be upset with a grandmother. When there were four armed policemen huddled discussing the bag, I thought for just a moment that my stay in Santiago might be longer than I expected! I handed Mom and Cait all of my other stuff, their passports, my check-on bag...and told them to go on. All we needed was all three of us in trouble!
Well, they decided that it was, after all, a simple mistake.....so while they weren't going to make it into a bigger deal than it was, they were not, of course, going to let me take it with me. Since it was a gift for someone from Cait, I knew it was important that it not get left behind. After some pleading, some really bad spanish (again) and finally a local policeman who spoke a little english coming to my aid, they decided that they would allow me to add it to my checked bag. Possibly the funniest thing of all was when the Ryan Air staff person wouldn't call to have my bag brought out front again, the security officers took me back to the baggage loading area, point out my bag and stick the dagger in it! International incident averted and we were on our way with minutes to spare!
However, international incidents may still be forthcoming. You see, we have decided our road trip in Spain went so well, we are going to do the same thing here in the UK. Its a lovely country, and after all, all the road signs are in english. One big problem.....well, three problems so far.......they drive on the wrong side of the road, I have to shift with my left hand, and it took me 10 minutes to find the emergency brake on the vehicle they gave me!
Actually, its not been as hard as I thought it would be. I sort of get in line and just remember to follow the car in front of me...that keeps me on the right side of the road. Shifting is becoming more natural. I've decided that parking brakes are overrated (because while a flashing light on the dashboard told me how to disengage the parking brake after I tried to drive with it engaged multiple time, there is no light to tell me how to re-engage it!) Problems solved. We hope that they are solved.....Cait, in anticipation of future difficulties found a sticker to attach to the car window that identifies me as a "Learning Driver". Maybe people will steer clear of me!
Today we finished recuperating from our walk, did our laundry, ate some incredible fish and chips and are tucked in ready to hit the road in the morning on a three day road trip up to Scotland. Wish us well, and if you have friends or family in the UK, you might consider warning them for a redhead who just might be driving on the wrong side of the road, or a black Fauxhall that just might be rolling down a hill because the parking brake wasn't engaged!
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
We Three See.......just how strong we are.......
Continuing from the previous blog....days 4-6 of our Camino De Santiago......
Day 4 - 24 kilometers
The first sound we heard when we woke was rain. UGH! But at least we were starting with dry, not poopy smelling, clothes.
Our great discovery of the day was BREAKFAST. Bacon and Eggs. Albeit bacon greatly undercooked by our standards.....the eggs were so amazingly terrific that they made up for it. Cait hadn't had breakfast for 2.5 months and Mom and I since we had gotten to Spain, so we were all happy to find out that even if eggs weren't on the menu, most little places (if you could find them open in the mornings) would be happy to make you huevos frito. We had a glorious start to the day.
That quickly changed. It rained.....and rained....and rained. Soon our feet were soaked, our clothes were soaked....we were wet and cold. Mostly it was a slow steady rain, but at times driving rain so hard we had to wear our sun glasses to keep the rain out of our faces. We had no choice but to go on.
Wet feet made the going tougher. Our feet began to slip in our shoes and that made our feet sore. Sometime after mid day, we got to a small town and bought Cait and I walking sticks. This helped a lot as the roads and trails had become so slippery that keeping upright was becoming more and more difficult of us.....especially me, for those of you who know me well!!! I only fell once on the trip....well, twice if you count the time I was trying to go to the bathroom on a steep hill...but that is a better story told in person!. The one fall I had was on a hill, and I managed to catch myself after only one roll. I consider that a complete success!
Besides the stop for eggs and bacon and the stop for the sticks....we trudged on. Our pace became pretty slow, but we did manage to pass the German shirt stealers when they took refuge in a bus stop during a particularly bad rain storm.
As the day started coming to an end we found an aubergue. However, we were a few kilometers short of our goal for the day, so Cait and Mom thought we should move on. I relunctantly agreed......
We walked.....and looked for a place to stay....and walked....and walked.... Soon we had not only met our goal, but gone past it! We were miserable. So tired and cold and wet. No place to stay in sight, we just kept on walking. Finally we saw a little village at the bottom of a really steep hill, about a kilometer away. We were hopeful that there would be someplace to stay there, because the only way out of the village was up an equally steep hill on the other side. Mom even commented that there better be someplace to stay there, because she could never make it up that other hill. She was wrong.
There was no place to stay....and she made it up the next hill....and the next. We went on for nearly 4 kilometers more than we planned, when we got to a highway. Nothing seemed near...and we were becoming pretty worried about what we were going to do....when we followed the highway around a corner and there was a Pension.....A REAL HOTEL!!!!!! With beds....and sheets...and a bathtub!!! We were like school girls. We ran into the room, jumped into the beds and giggled. We each took about a 30 minute bath and Cait and I watched MTV reruns until I fell asleep mumbling something about the sheets....I've never been so happy to sleep on such low thread count sheets!
This had been a really tough day...with a really happy ending. We just new this would be our hardest day yet.
Day five - 18 kilometers
When we went down to check out of the hotel (after sleeping in until 9!! we made our second great purchase of the walk. Real ponchos!!!!! I spied them in a case near the front and we each got one. Thank goodness! Today was going to be our rainiest day yet!
At breakfast, we saw a group of Asian people.....they were chattering happily, but didn't speak to us. We would also meet the first of whom we refer to as "a cheater". A British woman was at the hotel waiting for a cab to take her down the road a bit to start her walk. The cab was then going to take her luggage on to her next hotel. She was doing bits and pieces of the walk.
Later that day we would run into two Irish men doing something similar. They walked a bit every day, then called a cab to come find them and take them back to their rented car. They then would drive to the next easy walk and walk a bit more the next day. When we first found out what they were doing we were almost resentful, but after mulling it over the next few days, we decided we shouldn't be so judgemental. We weren't sure what their circumstances were, healthwise or otherwise, and they might not be as fortunate as we were to be able to make this great trip. Still.....it was tough to see them along the trip looking fresh and rested as we plodded along!
Every day, we just kept thinking that the road would get easier soon. We were wrong. Day five was proving to be one of the toughest. We stopped for a bite to eat at a little spot and had two great treats.
First, the asian group we had seen earlier in the morning was there finishing up their tea. We found they were from Japan and expressed our sorrow and prayers for their country. They were so happy to meet us and to practice their english. They were so cute....all between 50 and 70, except for their young guide. They took photos with us and laughed and even gave Cait a massage because she was carrying the big pack. They stayed much longer than they had planned, talking to us...hugging us....and when we gave them each one of the crosses that we had brought to share, they were thrilled. We could not have made them any happier and they could not have made our day any better!
After they left the man running the little cafe asked where we were from. When we told him Texas, he excitedly told us that the Bush girls had stopped there at his place when they did the Camino. He said they bought lots of chocolate and one security guard came in with them while the others stayed outside. We laughed at how miserable the secret service guys must have been going on this walk! Still it was an interesting side story for our day.
That night we were right back on course, thanks to our long day the day before....and stopped at what we thought was a very nice aubergue. It was.....sort of. It was nice...but filled with 50 fifteen year old Spanish kids!!!! They laughed and talked until the wee hours of the morning....though we were so tired it only bothered us occasionally. Mostly we just snoozed away.
We had decided to try to get an early start the next day and maybe we could finish enough to make the pilgrim's Mass in Santiago the next day at noon. We were......again.....wrong.
Day 6 - 18 Kilometers
We got up at 6....only to find it was completely dark. Even after a leisurely breakfast, the skies were so dark at 7:45 that we couldn't really see the path. But we decided to go on anyway. This particular part of the journey was through a forested area....so it was sort of creepy...but added another dimension to our trip.
We started out great. Excited it was our last day...and as always, I was sure this day was going to be mostly down hill. Once again...I was wrong.
The first 5 kilometers flew by. Then the rain started again. And the road became tough. We went by the airport....we knew we were close...but not sure how far out of town we still were. At 13.5 we saw a marker......the sort of marker that had be along the road regularly since the onset. Almost every half of a kilometer there had been one.
We walked...and climbed....and walked. The wind picked up and was blowing the rain at us as it had a couple of days earlier. We worried that we were off the path....we hadn't seen a marker for several hours. Then....on a fence....there were literally thousands of hand made crosses.....we knew we were going the right way.
Every day seemed hard, but for some reason today seemed hardest. Our feet hurt...our pace had slowed.....we hadn't seen the German "hares" since the evening before...as a matter of fact we weren't seeing anyone else. We just kept walking. Because we were nearing Santiago, the path was now pavement....hurting our feet even more. Again we went a hour or more with now sign. Cait decided there weren't markers at this point because you had to move forward on sheer faith. We think she might have been right.
Everytime we became discouraged we would see something to move us forward. Another handmade cross....a glimpse of the city on the horizon.....a woman continueing the walk in one walking shoe and one bloody sock where the blisters on her toes prohibited her from wearing both shoes.....all of these things kept us going.
Finally....after 6 days.....
I learned so much on this trip...about history, about Spain, about myself. I was reminded how strong my Mother is. While she amazed everyone we met, Cait and I never doubted her. I was shown something about Cait I never knew. She was kind and helpful and loving.....soaking up this very special time with her Grandmother. She took the burden of the heavy load and never once second guessed her decision or whined about it. The trip was almost perfect......although Alexa was with us often in our thoughts and conversations, we all wished she had been old enough to come with us. That would have been the icing on the cake. Still.....Cait has promised to bring her sometime...and share with her the legacy that her Grandmother has left.
Now.....as the bagpiper is again playing on the streets below...and the rain is still coming down....I'm in bed. Mom is sleeping beisde me, Cait reading across the room......and I know I am blessed.
Day 4 - 24 kilometers
The first sound we heard when we woke was rain. UGH! But at least we were starting with dry, not poopy smelling, clothes.
Our great discovery of the day was BREAKFAST. Bacon and Eggs. Albeit bacon greatly undercooked by our standards.....the eggs were so amazingly terrific that they made up for it. Cait hadn't had breakfast for 2.5 months and Mom and I since we had gotten to Spain, so we were all happy to find out that even if eggs weren't on the menu, most little places (if you could find them open in the mornings) would be happy to make you huevos frito. We had a glorious start to the day.
That quickly changed. It rained.....and rained....and rained. Soon our feet were soaked, our clothes were soaked....we were wet and cold. Mostly it was a slow steady rain, but at times driving rain so hard we had to wear our sun glasses to keep the rain out of our faces. We had no choice but to go on.
Wet feet made the going tougher. Our feet began to slip in our shoes and that made our feet sore. Sometime after mid day, we got to a small town and bought Cait and I walking sticks. This helped a lot as the roads and trails had become so slippery that keeping upright was becoming more and more difficult of us.....especially me, for those of you who know me well!!! I only fell once on the trip....well, twice if you count the time I was trying to go to the bathroom on a steep hill...but that is a better story told in person!. The one fall I had was on a hill, and I managed to catch myself after only one roll. I consider that a complete success!
Besides the stop for eggs and bacon and the stop for the sticks....we trudged on. Our pace became pretty slow, but we did manage to pass the German shirt stealers when they took refuge in a bus stop during a particularly bad rain storm.
As the day started coming to an end we found an aubergue. However, we were a few kilometers short of our goal for the day, so Cait and Mom thought we should move on. I relunctantly agreed......
We walked.....and looked for a place to stay....and walked....and walked.... Soon we had not only met our goal, but gone past it! We were miserable. So tired and cold and wet. No place to stay in sight, we just kept on walking. Finally we saw a little village at the bottom of a really steep hill, about a kilometer away. We were hopeful that there would be someplace to stay there, because the only way out of the village was up an equally steep hill on the other side. Mom even commented that there better be someplace to stay there, because she could never make it up that other hill. She was wrong.
There was no place to stay....and she made it up the next hill....and the next. We went on for nearly 4 kilometers more than we planned, when we got to a highway. Nothing seemed near...and we were becoming pretty worried about what we were going to do....when we followed the highway around a corner and there was a Pension.....A REAL HOTEL!!!!!! With beds....and sheets...and a bathtub!!! We were like school girls. We ran into the room, jumped into the beds and giggled. We each took about a 30 minute bath and Cait and I watched MTV reruns until I fell asleep mumbling something about the sheets....I've never been so happy to sleep on such low thread count sheets!
This had been a really tough day...with a really happy ending. We just new this would be our hardest day yet.
Day five - 18 kilometers
When we went down to check out of the hotel (after sleeping in until 9!! we made our second great purchase of the walk. Real ponchos!!!!! I spied them in a case near the front and we each got one. Thank goodness! Today was going to be our rainiest day yet!
At breakfast, we saw a group of Asian people.....they were chattering happily, but didn't speak to us. We would also meet the first of whom we refer to as "a cheater". A British woman was at the hotel waiting for a cab to take her down the road a bit to start her walk. The cab was then going to take her luggage on to her next hotel. She was doing bits and pieces of the walk.
Later that day we would run into two Irish men doing something similar. They walked a bit every day, then called a cab to come find them and take them back to their rented car. They then would drive to the next easy walk and walk a bit more the next day. When we first found out what they were doing we were almost resentful, but after mulling it over the next few days, we decided we shouldn't be so judgemental. We weren't sure what their circumstances were, healthwise or otherwise, and they might not be as fortunate as we were to be able to make this great trip. Still.....it was tough to see them along the trip looking fresh and rested as we plodded along!
Every day, we just kept thinking that the road would get easier soon. We were wrong. Day five was proving to be one of the toughest. We stopped for a bite to eat at a little spot and had two great treats.
First, the asian group we had seen earlier in the morning was there finishing up their tea. We found they were from Japan and expressed our sorrow and prayers for their country. They were so happy to meet us and to practice their english. They were so cute....all between 50 and 70, except for their young guide. They took photos with us and laughed and even gave Cait a massage because she was carrying the big pack. They stayed much longer than they had planned, talking to us...hugging us....and when we gave them each one of the crosses that we had brought to share, they were thrilled. We could not have made them any happier and they could not have made our day any better!
After they left the man running the little cafe asked where we were from. When we told him Texas, he excitedly told us that the Bush girls had stopped there at his place when they did the Camino. He said they bought lots of chocolate and one security guard came in with them while the others stayed outside. We laughed at how miserable the secret service guys must have been going on this walk! Still it was an interesting side story for our day.
That night we were right back on course, thanks to our long day the day before....and stopped at what we thought was a very nice aubergue. It was.....sort of. It was nice...but filled with 50 fifteen year old Spanish kids!!!! They laughed and talked until the wee hours of the morning....though we were so tired it only bothered us occasionally. Mostly we just snoozed away.
We had decided to try to get an early start the next day and maybe we could finish enough to make the pilgrim's Mass in Santiago the next day at noon. We were......again.....wrong.
Day 6 - 18 Kilometers
We got up at 6....only to find it was completely dark. Even after a leisurely breakfast, the skies were so dark at 7:45 that we couldn't really see the path. But we decided to go on anyway. This particular part of the journey was through a forested area....so it was sort of creepy...but added another dimension to our trip.
We started out great. Excited it was our last day...and as always, I was sure this day was going to be mostly down hill. Once again...I was wrong.
The first 5 kilometers flew by. Then the rain started again. And the road became tough. We went by the airport....we knew we were close...but not sure how far out of town we still were. At 13.5 we saw a marker......the sort of marker that had be along the road regularly since the onset. Almost every half of a kilometer there had been one.
We walked...and climbed....and walked. The wind picked up and was blowing the rain at us as it had a couple of days earlier. We worried that we were off the path....we hadn't seen a marker for several hours. Then....on a fence....there were literally thousands of hand made crosses.....we knew we were going the right way.
Every day seemed hard, but for some reason today seemed hardest. Our feet hurt...our pace had slowed.....we hadn't seen the German "hares" since the evening before...as a matter of fact we weren't seeing anyone else. We just kept walking. Because we were nearing Santiago, the path was now pavement....hurting our feet even more. Again we went a hour or more with now sign. Cait decided there weren't markers at this point because you had to move forward on sheer faith. We think she might have been right.
Everytime we became discouraged we would see something to move us forward. Another handmade cross....a glimpse of the city on the horizon.....a woman continueing the walk in one walking shoe and one bloody sock where the blisters on her toes prohibited her from wearing both shoes.....all of these things kept us going.
Finally....after 6 days.....
- 42 hours of walking
- 112 official kilometers
- 29 roadside potty stops (3 of which were mine and all the others belonging to an unnamed person)
- 6 German, 8 Japanese, 2 Mallorcan, 1 French, 2 Irish, 1 Brit, Countless Spanish and some unidentified other travellers
- 2 herds of cattle
- 1 sleepless night
- thousands of laughs
- a few tears
I learned so much on this trip...about history, about Spain, about myself. I was reminded how strong my Mother is. While she amazed everyone we met, Cait and I never doubted her. I was shown something about Cait I never knew. She was kind and helpful and loving.....soaking up this very special time with her Grandmother. She took the burden of the heavy load and never once second guessed her decision or whined about it. The trip was almost perfect......although Alexa was with us often in our thoughts and conversations, we all wished she had been old enough to come with us. That would have been the icing on the cake. Still.....Cait has promised to bring her sometime...and share with her the legacy that her Grandmother has left.
Now.....as the bagpiper is again playing on the streets below...and the rain is still coming down....I'm in bed. Mom is sleeping beisde me, Cait reading across the room......and I know I am blessed.
We Three See.....That P 90 X is for Wussies!
We are back in Santiago.....6 days and 120ish kilometers later. Looking back, I would say that this was one of the most difficult things I've ever done and appropriately one of the most rewarding. I know many people will look at how we just spent 6 days and think that is not at all their idea of a vacation. Believe me, its not really mine either! Believe me, no one loves a pina colada next to a nice pool more than me. However, that being said, I don't think I will ever have 6 days represent such a priceless experience as I just shared with Mom and Cait. Even though I speak for them often in this blog, this particular post is my voice, my experience, my feelings. What a great gift these 6 days have been.
Mom and I began "training" for this pilgrimage months ago. Mom would take her backpack with her to the gym and walk on the treadmill. We spent a lot of hours walking the roads around home...even having Dad take us and drop us off, so that we could make our way home.....all in preparation for this trip. It is a GRAND understatement to say that we were not prepared. Had we known what to expect we might not have attempted it....and yet knowing how we feel now, we certainly wouldn't have passed it up.
I know this is going to be a long post.....but keep in mind as you are growing tired reading it, just how tired we were living it!!!!
Day One - Train trip to Sarria and 14 Kilometer walk.
Our day got off to a rocky start, as we had given ourselves plenty of time and arrived at the train station 30 minutes early. However, since Spain's version of daylight saving's time had started, we were actually 30 minutes late and missed our train. The next train would not arrive early enough for us to get started on our walk and we thought we probably needed the half day in order to finish in the time we had allotted, so I went out, flagged down a cab, and in my very bad spanish, talked him into taking us to meet our train at the next connection. He, of course, turned off his meter and drove us about 40 minutes, where we just caught the connecting train that would take us to Sarria, where we would start our walk. We were back on course.
Sarria is a moderate sized little city, built on a series of small hills. Unfortunately, when you get off the train, there are no clear directions as to how to begin the pilgrimage. We floudered around for a bit, then finally found a woman who directed us to the convent at the top of the highest peak, where we needed to go to get our "pilgrim's credentials" and officially start our walk. This not only added a few kilometers to our walk, but added several hills, which though didn't seem like such a big deal at the time, would later prove to be very important.
The pilgrim's credentials were passports of sorts, that require stamps from places you stay, eat or visit along the route in order to prove to the record keepers at the end of the walk that you completed all of the legs of the journey. Our first stamp was from the convent in Sarria....and we were off!
We had filled Caitlin's good backpack with all of her and my things....but Mom was insisting on carrying her own weight, so she had a school style backpack that she was carrying. Cait and I planned on trading the big pack every hour or so and we had some snacks in a third small little pack.
Things started pretty much like we expected....a pretty little hike down alongside a river. Passing the markers that showed us the way, we, like the travelers before us, dropped off rocks at each marker. These rocks were representative of the worries that we were leaving along the way, so that we would arrive at our destination with a clean spirit.
Very quickly, we figured out that maybe the walk wasn't going to be exactly what we had thought it was going to be. The nice riverside path turned into a goat path......rocky and hilly....up and down. When we did see a village or a house, there seemed to be only people who lived completely self sufficiently....no markets or stores.
We had read that there were some hotels along the way, but because we were doing the walk before the "season" actually started, we thought they might be few and far between. However, we knew that there would also be pilgrim's refuges called aubergues, where we could get a bunk for the night. Since we were not carrying sleeping bags, we had decided to try to make it to the hotels! Well, after seeing what the route was going to be, it became obvious that the hotel thing was NOT going to happen the first night.
About an hour into our walk, Mom picked up a stick to help her make it over some of the rocky places and through some of the water crossings. Well, the stick she chose was a little short...and as we got to the end of the day I noticed she was listing badly to the right. Just as we started to get worried that we might not even find an open aubergue as soon as we needed, we rounded a corner and there was a tiny little building...actually centuries old...and it had some wonderful smells coming from it. We were getting cold, were very tired and really hungry...so we went in....and found that there was also an aubergue at this spot, so we would have a bed for the night.
We ate what was called "the pilgrim's menu" for the day......and it was the first of what would be many great meals. They all started with a hearty soup....Caldo Galicea...everyplace in the area serves their version of this soup and it is a delicous mix of greens, white beans, potatoes and sometimes some sort of meat. Next they bring you the main course, usually a grilled fish or meat dish, always served with yummy fried potatoes. And every meal ended with an almond tart that we came to look forward to almost as much as a bed!!!!
We were joined at dinner by a German woman who was a mother of a 6 and an 8 year old....on the pilgrimage all alone. She was only trying to do about 10 kilometers a day.....but she was a fairly big girl, so often was our inspiration when things got tough down the road.
After dinner, we went to the aubergue.......where we found out they have no "ropas de camas" or bed clothes....no sheets and more importantly, NO BLANKETS!!!! Also important, this particular auberque had no heat. We spent an almost completely sleepless night. I cuddled with Cait and Mom alternately, trying to warm us all up as much as possible. Mom was shivering so at one time, that a German man who was sleeping near her, got up to try to find something to cover her with. We slept in all the clothes we had and covered with our towels.
We felt unprepared and exhausted after our first day.....but somehow just knew things would get bettter.
Day two - 18 Kilometers.
Our first lesson of Day 2 was to stock up on food when you found it! The great little spot where we had dinner the evening before was closed, so we set out...tired and hungry. Since Mom had the "standing erect" issue the day before, we found her a new bigger stick (pine cones attached) and decided despite her objections, we would not let her carry anything other than the small cloth pack any longer. We tried to distribute things a little better between the two other packs, but Cait's pack was still substantially heavier, probably weighing 35 pounds or so. We started the day trading off every hour or so, but Cait was taking longer and longer stints with the pack. This would prove to be a lifesaver for me.
The path was not quite as treacherous as on day one...but it was a fairly steady uphill climb. This suprised me, as I kind of thought that since we were heading towards the coast, we would be going mostly downhill. This would not be the first time I was wrong on this journey.
Mid morning, we reached our first decent sized city.....unfortunately to get into the city we had to climb a huge series of steps. However, our reward at the top of the steps was a supermarket where we bought fruit and chocolate....and a brand new walking stick for mom. That purchase alone was worth the walk up the steps as it made her journey so much easier.
By the time we finished our shopping, we thought we might grab some lunch since we had skipped breakfast. This is when we learned our second important lesson of the day......in Spain, places to eat open at noon....but won't serve you food until at least 1.....and then they close at about 2 for siesta. So you better be fast and timely! We were so hungry, and a bit tired...so we sat and waited nearly an hour and a half to eat. Mom read while Cait and I played cards....but this really put a damper on our progress for the day, and we had some catching up to do!
This day's walk was hard, but the scenery we saw, the medieval villages we walked through and the people we met along the way made it all worth it. And....our reward at the end of the day was an open aubergue with ....BLANKETS!!!! Though we didn't make it to a hotel, we did have a great night's sleep and Cait washed out our clothes. We ate our fruit and leftover bread from lunch for our dinner as we sat in our little "shanty town" that Cait made of our hanging clothes.
This was also our first stop to meet....."the German girls". They were two very young pilgrims who would keep pace with us throughout the rest of the trip. We would leapfrog back and forth, passing them and getting passed, along the route on the next 5 days. While our daily pace was about the same, the girls walked much faster than us but stopped often, thus becoming the battle of the tortoises and the hares. I can't believe how competitive we became even on this journey! We shared the aubergue that night with them, two girls from Mollorca Islands, a girl from France and one young man, travelling alone and staying quietly to himself.
Even though there was no food available at the aubergue, we were too tired to care....we slept so much better with our blankets.
Day three - 20 Kilometers
We started the day knowing we had to keep a pretty good pace, since we had 82 kilometers to go and only 4 left to do it in. Unfortunately the skies clouded up pretty early and by mid day we were getting wet. Now, when planning for the trip, Cait had reminded us to bring ponchos, as the weather was expected to be iffy. Well, being thrifty as Mom and I are....we decided that it was a good idea to get the great little 2 packs of rain ponchos that they sell at the dollar store. We were wrong. So very wrong. Not only were these ponchos not big enough to cover us and our packs.....but they were flimsy and didn't cover our arms at all. Abject failure seems to sum up our poncho purchase.
We tortoises started earlier than the German hares....but several times during the day the lead would change hands.
Today, in addition to the poncho failure, I would manage to leave our water bottle at a stop and then, within fifteen minutes, set the backpack down in a pile of some sort of poop. Yes, real poop. Right on the mesh part that rested against your shoulders. And unfortunately I didn't notice it until just as I was swinging it up to put on the second shoulder strap...way too late to stop the motion. So....poop all over my jacket and the backpack. Bad combination.
In addition to getting wet, we were showing signs of wear and tear. Cait was carrying the big pack almost exclusively. While the small pack was lighter, the weight was badly distributed.......but even so MUCH easier to carry than the big one. Cait was using Mom's stick some, to try to help take some of the load off...but when the trail was treacherous, Mom needed it back, so Cait had to go it alone.
As the day drew to an end, we were very wet and very tired. We got to what we thought was an aubergue, but it was closed. Trudging on.....we found another.....closed as well. Then it started to rain hard. No sign of a town or a place to stay, we were short on food, out of water, exhausted and soaked. Finally we found another aubergue...this time...open!!! Just before we were getting to the door of the aubergue, the "hares" zipped by us and checked into the place just before us.
Not only was this aubergue open, but a Godsend. It had a dryer to dry our wet clothes....and while it had no blankets, the woman running it went and found us some, and then, when she found out that we had lost our water bottle, she sent her husband to get water for us. The showers were hot and the only other two people in the aubergue were our two German girl friends.
We were so happy to be dry and to have water, we didn't even mind much when one of the girls snagged Mom's long underwear top. Well, Cait and I didn't mind much....after all it wasn't our top!!! The girls were no longer "the German girls" and now became "the shirt stealers". We figured it was only an accident, but gave us something to giggle about the rest of the trip.
continued......
Mom and I began "training" for this pilgrimage months ago. Mom would take her backpack with her to the gym and walk on the treadmill. We spent a lot of hours walking the roads around home...even having Dad take us and drop us off, so that we could make our way home.....all in preparation for this trip. It is a GRAND understatement to say that we were not prepared. Had we known what to expect we might not have attempted it....and yet knowing how we feel now, we certainly wouldn't have passed it up.
I know this is going to be a long post.....but keep in mind as you are growing tired reading it, just how tired we were living it!!!!
Day One - Train trip to Sarria and 14 Kilometer walk.
Our day got off to a rocky start, as we had given ourselves plenty of time and arrived at the train station 30 minutes early. However, since Spain's version of daylight saving's time had started, we were actually 30 minutes late and missed our train. The next train would not arrive early enough for us to get started on our walk and we thought we probably needed the half day in order to finish in the time we had allotted, so I went out, flagged down a cab, and in my very bad spanish, talked him into taking us to meet our train at the next connection. He, of course, turned off his meter and drove us about 40 minutes, where we just caught the connecting train that would take us to Sarria, where we would start our walk. We were back on course.
Sarria is a moderate sized little city, built on a series of small hills. Unfortunately, when you get off the train, there are no clear directions as to how to begin the pilgrimage. We floudered around for a bit, then finally found a woman who directed us to the convent at the top of the highest peak, where we needed to go to get our "pilgrim's credentials" and officially start our walk. This not only added a few kilometers to our walk, but added several hills, which though didn't seem like such a big deal at the time, would later prove to be very important.
The pilgrim's credentials were passports of sorts, that require stamps from places you stay, eat or visit along the route in order to prove to the record keepers at the end of the walk that you completed all of the legs of the journey. Our first stamp was from the convent in Sarria....and we were off!
We had filled Caitlin's good backpack with all of her and my things....but Mom was insisting on carrying her own weight, so she had a school style backpack that she was carrying. Cait and I planned on trading the big pack every hour or so and we had some snacks in a third small little pack.
Things started pretty much like we expected....a pretty little hike down alongside a river. Passing the markers that showed us the way, we, like the travelers before us, dropped off rocks at each marker. These rocks were representative of the worries that we were leaving along the way, so that we would arrive at our destination with a clean spirit.
Very quickly, we figured out that maybe the walk wasn't going to be exactly what we had thought it was going to be. The nice riverside path turned into a goat path......rocky and hilly....up and down. When we did see a village or a house, there seemed to be only people who lived completely self sufficiently....no markets or stores.
We had read that there were some hotels along the way, but because we were doing the walk before the "season" actually started, we thought they might be few and far between. However, we knew that there would also be pilgrim's refuges called aubergues, where we could get a bunk for the night. Since we were not carrying sleeping bags, we had decided to try to make it to the hotels! Well, after seeing what the route was going to be, it became obvious that the hotel thing was NOT going to happen the first night.
About an hour into our walk, Mom picked up a stick to help her make it over some of the rocky places and through some of the water crossings. Well, the stick she chose was a little short...and as we got to the end of the day I noticed she was listing badly to the right. Just as we started to get worried that we might not even find an open aubergue as soon as we needed, we rounded a corner and there was a tiny little building...actually centuries old...and it had some wonderful smells coming from it. We were getting cold, were very tired and really hungry...so we went in....and found that there was also an aubergue at this spot, so we would have a bed for the night.
We ate what was called "the pilgrim's menu" for the day......and it was the first of what would be many great meals. They all started with a hearty soup....Caldo Galicea...everyplace in the area serves their version of this soup and it is a delicous mix of greens, white beans, potatoes and sometimes some sort of meat. Next they bring you the main course, usually a grilled fish or meat dish, always served with yummy fried potatoes. And every meal ended with an almond tart that we came to look forward to almost as much as a bed!!!!
We were joined at dinner by a German woman who was a mother of a 6 and an 8 year old....on the pilgrimage all alone. She was only trying to do about 10 kilometers a day.....but she was a fairly big girl, so often was our inspiration when things got tough down the road.
After dinner, we went to the aubergue.......where we found out they have no "ropas de camas" or bed clothes....no sheets and more importantly, NO BLANKETS!!!! Also important, this particular auberque had no heat. We spent an almost completely sleepless night. I cuddled with Cait and Mom alternately, trying to warm us all up as much as possible. Mom was shivering so at one time, that a German man who was sleeping near her, got up to try to find something to cover her with. We slept in all the clothes we had and covered with our towels.
We felt unprepared and exhausted after our first day.....but somehow just knew things would get bettter.
Day two - 18 Kilometers.
Our first lesson of Day 2 was to stock up on food when you found it! The great little spot where we had dinner the evening before was closed, so we set out...tired and hungry. Since Mom had the "standing erect" issue the day before, we found her a new bigger stick (pine cones attached) and decided despite her objections, we would not let her carry anything other than the small cloth pack any longer. We tried to distribute things a little better between the two other packs, but Cait's pack was still substantially heavier, probably weighing 35 pounds or so. We started the day trading off every hour or so, but Cait was taking longer and longer stints with the pack. This would prove to be a lifesaver for me.
The path was not quite as treacherous as on day one...but it was a fairly steady uphill climb. This suprised me, as I kind of thought that since we were heading towards the coast, we would be going mostly downhill. This would not be the first time I was wrong on this journey.
Mid morning, we reached our first decent sized city.....unfortunately to get into the city we had to climb a huge series of steps. However, our reward at the top of the steps was a supermarket where we bought fruit and chocolate....and a brand new walking stick for mom. That purchase alone was worth the walk up the steps as it made her journey so much easier.
By the time we finished our shopping, we thought we might grab some lunch since we had skipped breakfast. This is when we learned our second important lesson of the day......in Spain, places to eat open at noon....but won't serve you food until at least 1.....and then they close at about 2 for siesta. So you better be fast and timely! We were so hungry, and a bit tired...so we sat and waited nearly an hour and a half to eat. Mom read while Cait and I played cards....but this really put a damper on our progress for the day, and we had some catching up to do!
This day's walk was hard, but the scenery we saw, the medieval villages we walked through and the people we met along the way made it all worth it. And....our reward at the end of the day was an open aubergue with ....BLANKETS!!!! Though we didn't make it to a hotel, we did have a great night's sleep and Cait washed out our clothes. We ate our fruit and leftover bread from lunch for our dinner as we sat in our little "shanty town" that Cait made of our hanging clothes.
This was also our first stop to meet....."the German girls". They were two very young pilgrims who would keep pace with us throughout the rest of the trip. We would leapfrog back and forth, passing them and getting passed, along the route on the next 5 days. While our daily pace was about the same, the girls walked much faster than us but stopped often, thus becoming the battle of the tortoises and the hares. I can't believe how competitive we became even on this journey! We shared the aubergue that night with them, two girls from Mollorca Islands, a girl from France and one young man, travelling alone and staying quietly to himself.
Even though there was no food available at the aubergue, we were too tired to care....we slept so much better with our blankets.
Day three - 20 Kilometers
We started the day knowing we had to keep a pretty good pace, since we had 82 kilometers to go and only 4 left to do it in. Unfortunately the skies clouded up pretty early and by mid day we were getting wet. Now, when planning for the trip, Cait had reminded us to bring ponchos, as the weather was expected to be iffy. Well, being thrifty as Mom and I are....we decided that it was a good idea to get the great little 2 packs of rain ponchos that they sell at the dollar store. We were wrong. So very wrong. Not only were these ponchos not big enough to cover us and our packs.....but they were flimsy and didn't cover our arms at all. Abject failure seems to sum up our poncho purchase.
We tortoises started earlier than the German hares....but several times during the day the lead would change hands.
Today, in addition to the poncho failure, I would manage to leave our water bottle at a stop and then, within fifteen minutes, set the backpack down in a pile of some sort of poop. Yes, real poop. Right on the mesh part that rested against your shoulders. And unfortunately I didn't notice it until just as I was swinging it up to put on the second shoulder strap...way too late to stop the motion. So....poop all over my jacket and the backpack. Bad combination.
In addition to getting wet, we were showing signs of wear and tear. Cait was carrying the big pack almost exclusively. While the small pack was lighter, the weight was badly distributed.......but even so MUCH easier to carry than the big one. Cait was using Mom's stick some, to try to help take some of the load off...but when the trail was treacherous, Mom needed it back, so Cait had to go it alone.
As the day drew to an end, we were very wet and very tired. We got to what we thought was an aubergue, but it was closed. Trudging on.....we found another.....closed as well. Then it started to rain hard. No sign of a town or a place to stay, we were short on food, out of water, exhausted and soaked. Finally we found another aubergue...this time...open!!! Just before we were getting to the door of the aubergue, the "hares" zipped by us and checked into the place just before us.
Not only was this aubergue open, but a Godsend. It had a dryer to dry our wet clothes....and while it had no blankets, the woman running it went and found us some, and then, when she found out that we had lost our water bottle, she sent her husband to get water for us. The showers were hot and the only other two people in the aubergue were our two German girl friends.
We were so happy to be dry and to have water, we didn't even mind much when one of the girls snagged Mom's long underwear top. Well, Cait and I didn't mind much....after all it wasn't our top!!! The girls were no longer "the German girls" and now became "the shirt stealers". We figured it was only an accident, but gave us something to giggle about the rest of the trip.
continued......
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
We Three See......The Catedral Santiago de Compostela out our Attic/Room window
What an incredible two days.....I feel like I'm using the words incredible and amazing a lot, but this has already been a trip of a lifetime, and there are only so many words that can be used to describe it.
I'm laying in bed, in our attic room of an old hotel, about 400 years old....where the window is in the roof, thinking about how to even begin this blog. This little hotel is about 50 meters from the most gorgeous gothic catedral, where we will end our pilgrimage 6 days from now....and our room is the only one that will sleep three....but it meant climbing three flights of stairs with all of our luggage, to find the "Charlie Chaplin" suite to be more than we could have hoped for. There is a bagpiper who is playing on the steps of the catedral and the early evening chatter from the streets is light and pleasant. The air is cool and the last bits of the afternoon sun are lighting the room.
Tomorrow we take a 7am train to Sarria....about 160 km away....where we will start our walk back to Santiago. The walk will take us through the ancient villages and into the old churches that pilgrims have visited for 500 years. For us to be able to do this, the three generations, sharing such an incredible experience....well, we just know how blessed we are. But....I am getting ahead of myself....back to how we got here!!!!
Yesterday we got up early and headed over to Gibraltar. Though "the rock" is actually a penisula attached to Spain, it is under British control. Because there is limited "flat land" on the rock, the airport and the road entering the city share the same land. Several planes fly out in the morning and so traffic was backed up quite a bit, waiting for the runway to clear so that we could drive out on the rock. We were interested in the tunnels and caves that have been used since the 1500 for various military purposes....but Cait was especially interested in the apes. She had heard me tell stories about them coming right up to you, and was anxious to see if those stories were true........she has no doubts anymore!!!
The road to the top of the rock is tiny, curvy and treacherous. When we got up to the entrance to the first cave, we noticed there were a few apes around. Cait was going to take the baquette we had brought with us and break off some to try to lure one to her. Well, as soon as she got out of the car, a medium sized ape, about 2.5 feet tall, came at her.....and grabbed the end of her bread bag. The tug of war that ensued was hilarious....with the ape winning only because he ripped open his end of the bag and swiped the entire baquette! He then perched on the wall beside us and leisurely ate his breakfast!!! We went in, hiked the cave.....and when we came back out, the funny guy was still eating the bread! Cait and Mom both ended up taking Moroccan bread over and feeding him some of that, just so they could get photos with him. He would put down the baquette only long enough to take the different bread from them.
As we drove around the top of the rock, looking at the tunnels and other sights, a couple of apes jumped on our car. One sat right on the passenger side rear view mirror and kept tapping on the glass trying to get the window open. Mom opened the window just a bit and went for her pocket, where she had some crackers........and we now know where the term ape **** crazy comes from! He was trying everything to get into the car with us....all the time while we are driving on a one lane road at the top of rock of Gibraltar!!!!! Calm heads prevailed....we put all the food out of sight....and the apes lost interest with us. But they certainly made our trip to Gib a lot more fun.
After leaving Gibraltar, we started making our way to Portugal. The towns and villages we went through, both in Spain and Portugal, all looked like they were off of postcards. Everywhere we stopped there was interesting food and people to meet and talk to. Lunch at a little "cafe" that was filled with laborers, where we just sat down and they brought us what they were serving that day....to snacks recommended by a girl at a little roadside store where we stopped....it just seemed like we ran into great things to eat at every turn. We will need this walk to work off some of the incredible food we have eaten.
Even today....when we wanted to eat at a time when everyone else was taking "siesta".....we found a little spot where the woman brought us an assortment of the leftovers from their lunch....and we shared a smorgasborg of yummy food.
We have found that our Spanish allows us to muddle through fairly well...better here in Santiago than in Barcelona and Valencia. There, their Spanish is Catalan, and not only are the words sometimes different, but they speak with a lisp...EVERYONE. For instance, instead of normal gracias.....they say grathiath.....which might not seem like a big deal, but when your ear is struggle to recognize words and phrases anyway, the "th" really throws you off! In Portugal, we pretty much just used smiles and sign language....as our pronunciations and word usage was so bad that no one really could understand us anymore than we could understand them.
We returned our Spanish rental car today....and while driving was sometimes just a bit stressful...it ended up being the perfect way for us to see Spain. We talked and laughed and pointed and giggled and ate our way from the north to the south....across the bottom....and back up north through Portugal. I know we still have some incredible times to come on this trip, but Spain will be a memory to last a lifetime.
The bagpipe music has given way to a flute...and the small talk of people making their way down the streets heading home from work has changed to groups eating at outdoor cafes or strolling toward a local bar. I just can't explain how perfect it is.
No blogs or communication for 6 days.....as we are walking and carrying everything we need on our backs....so a computer is one of the luxuries that is being left behind. I'm so excited to find out what we will learn about Spain, about the history of the pilgrimage, about each other...and mostly, about ourselves in the next few days.
I'm laying in bed, in our attic room of an old hotel, about 400 years old....where the window is in the roof, thinking about how to even begin this blog. This little hotel is about 50 meters from the most gorgeous gothic catedral, where we will end our pilgrimage 6 days from now....and our room is the only one that will sleep three....but it meant climbing three flights of stairs with all of our luggage, to find the "Charlie Chaplin" suite to be more than we could have hoped for. There is a bagpiper who is playing on the steps of the catedral and the early evening chatter from the streets is light and pleasant. The air is cool and the last bits of the afternoon sun are lighting the room.
Tomorrow we take a 7am train to Sarria....about 160 km away....where we will start our walk back to Santiago. The walk will take us through the ancient villages and into the old churches that pilgrims have visited for 500 years. For us to be able to do this, the three generations, sharing such an incredible experience....well, we just know how blessed we are. But....I am getting ahead of myself....back to how we got here!!!!
Yesterday we got up early and headed over to Gibraltar. Though "the rock" is actually a penisula attached to Spain, it is under British control. Because there is limited "flat land" on the rock, the airport and the road entering the city share the same land. Several planes fly out in the morning and so traffic was backed up quite a bit, waiting for the runway to clear so that we could drive out on the rock. We were interested in the tunnels and caves that have been used since the 1500 for various military purposes....but Cait was especially interested in the apes. She had heard me tell stories about them coming right up to you, and was anxious to see if those stories were true........she has no doubts anymore!!!
The road to the top of the rock is tiny, curvy and treacherous. When we got up to the entrance to the first cave, we noticed there were a few apes around. Cait was going to take the baquette we had brought with us and break off some to try to lure one to her. Well, as soon as she got out of the car, a medium sized ape, about 2.5 feet tall, came at her.....and grabbed the end of her bread bag. The tug of war that ensued was hilarious....with the ape winning only because he ripped open his end of the bag and swiped the entire baquette! He then perched on the wall beside us and leisurely ate his breakfast!!! We went in, hiked the cave.....and when we came back out, the funny guy was still eating the bread! Cait and Mom both ended up taking Moroccan bread over and feeding him some of that, just so they could get photos with him. He would put down the baquette only long enough to take the different bread from them.
As we drove around the top of the rock, looking at the tunnels and other sights, a couple of apes jumped on our car. One sat right on the passenger side rear view mirror and kept tapping on the glass trying to get the window open. Mom opened the window just a bit and went for her pocket, where she had some crackers........and we now know where the term ape **** crazy comes from! He was trying everything to get into the car with us....all the time while we are driving on a one lane road at the top of rock of Gibraltar!!!!! Calm heads prevailed....we put all the food out of sight....and the apes lost interest with us. But they certainly made our trip to Gib a lot more fun.
After leaving Gibraltar, we started making our way to Portugal. The towns and villages we went through, both in Spain and Portugal, all looked like they were off of postcards. Everywhere we stopped there was interesting food and people to meet and talk to. Lunch at a little "cafe" that was filled with laborers, where we just sat down and they brought us what they were serving that day....to snacks recommended by a girl at a little roadside store where we stopped....it just seemed like we ran into great things to eat at every turn. We will need this walk to work off some of the incredible food we have eaten.
Even today....when we wanted to eat at a time when everyone else was taking "siesta".....we found a little spot where the woman brought us an assortment of the leftovers from their lunch....and we shared a smorgasborg of yummy food.
We have found that our Spanish allows us to muddle through fairly well...better here in Santiago than in Barcelona and Valencia. There, their Spanish is Catalan, and not only are the words sometimes different, but they speak with a lisp...EVERYONE. For instance, instead of normal gracias.....they say grathiath.....which might not seem like a big deal, but when your ear is struggle to recognize words and phrases anyway, the "th" really throws you off! In Portugal, we pretty much just used smiles and sign language....as our pronunciations and word usage was so bad that no one really could understand us anymore than we could understand them.
We returned our Spanish rental car today....and while driving was sometimes just a bit stressful...it ended up being the perfect way for us to see Spain. We talked and laughed and pointed and giggled and ate our way from the north to the south....across the bottom....and back up north through Portugal. I know we still have some incredible times to come on this trip, but Spain will be a memory to last a lifetime.
The bagpipe music has given way to a flute...and the small talk of people making their way down the streets heading home from work has changed to groups eating at outdoor cafes or strolling toward a local bar. I just can't explain how perfect it is.
No blogs or communication for 6 days.....as we are walking and carrying everything we need on our backs....so a computer is one of the luxuries that is being left behind. I'm so excited to find out what we will learn about Spain, about the history of the pilgrimage, about each other...and mostly, about ourselves in the next few days.
Monday, March 21, 2011
We Three See......Morocco
This morning started like any other vacation morning....a few moans and groans at the early hour, but still, excitement with what the day might hold. Even our excited anticipation couldn't match what an amazing day we were about to have.....definitely a once in a life time experience, filled with events that one would come to expect when WE are travelling!
We got to the port and boarded our boat uneventfully enough. The passage over was on a "slow boat" and took about an hour and thirty minutes. I napped while Cait and Mom played gin and chatted with a couple of people from the states. As we were docking, the steward asked if we had our passports stamped yet. What??????? We, along with everyone else in our cabin lounge (about 11 people) had assumed that we would get them stamped as we disembarked. We assumed wrong. Apparently we were supposed to have had them stamped during the passage....but because the music in our cabin was playing spanish covers of songs like "If I were a Boy" so loud, no one heard the announcements. We couldn't disembark because the customs "policia" had left the boat already, so we were all stuck there for about an hour. During the hour, the "customer service specialist", interestingly enough named Mohammed, came by to scold us for not getting our passports stamped. Pointing out that there were 11 of us, all from the same lounge cabin, 4 American, 5 Middle Eastern, and 2 of some European descent.....we tried to tell him that we hadn't heard the message. He condenscendingly asked if we were American. When we replied yes, he ...again condescendingly...said...."yes this happens all the time with Americans because you don't listen to the announcements". I guess if we are going to be stereotyped, it is better to be stereotyped as a society who doesn't "listen" than to be stereotyped as something like a suicide bomber..........erghhhhhhhh.......No telling what Mohammed would have thought had he seen Mom peeking into the Mosque in Doha to "just take a picture or two". We hoped this wasn't setting the tone for the visit to North Africa!
When we were finally allowed to leave the boat, they had boarded the return trip, so we had to go down to the bowels of the boat and disembark out of the cargo hull. Now, this is a BIG boat....with three cargo levels....and tied up to a big commercial dock.....Thus leaving us standing in the middle of a big empty dock, looking a bit silly I'm sure, and trying to figure out how to get from the dock to a bus or taxi to take us the 30 kilometers to Tangiers. Thankfully, we met the first of what would be a series of great Moroccan men who would help us.....and he directed us to the customs entrance and then to the bus.
As we approached the bus, a man tried to approach us. The same official who had helped us stopped the man and wouldn't let him talk to us. We continued to go where we had been directed, but the man kept alternately screaming to us and screaming at the official. Apparently he had wanted to offer to take us to town and the official was not letting him. The screaming escalated and continued long past when we had boarded our bus. As we drove off, another policia had joined the scene and now all three men were screaming at one another!!
The bus ride to town was perfect. We went through a rural area....on a brilliantly modern road.....where everything BUT the road looked like centures gone by. Few of the hillside homes had access to power, and the people were moving about the countryside by donkey and afoot. There were goats and cattle being herded along small trails and burros carrying huge loads of produce to the market. It was very much like a movie....and yet strangely very different than what we expected, because instead of just sand and desert, the hills looked fertile and there were crops and groves of fruit bearing trees everywhere.
On the bus ride, we met a couple of men from Tangiers who were going home from work at the port. They spoke some English and spent the ride telling us about the countryside, the history of things we saw and what to expect when we got to Tangiers. Not only was it like having a tour guide on the trip, we got very useful information about how the best way to see the city was. The best information was that when we got off the bus, we would be approached by many men offering to "show us the city". They said it was best to wave off the first group of these men, and continue to the exchange office....but later allow a man to help us during the day.
Well, they were not exaggerating! As soon as we got off, men of all sizes, ages, and dress were trying to get our attention...asking us where we wanted to go, what we wanted to do.....it was certainly overwhelming. They were not quite grabbing...but certainly reaching for us....and all chattering in strange languages and accents. But one man was quietly persistent. He didn't yell to us...He didn't jump in front of us. He was a cute little man in a robe and colorful hat, with one single tooth left in his mouth, that he proudly showed off when he smiled. He just followed us along, telling us he was a family man, with a wife and two daughters....and then told us he was just like Coca Cola...everyone loved him!!!! When he told us his name was Ahmed, it was just too perfect...and we asked him to be our guide for the day....which would prove to be a great decision on our part.
Ahmed....who for some reason I began to call Abdul, leading both Mom and Cait to call him Abdul as well (and he always answered to it).....led us through the streets of the oldest, strangest city we had ever been in. There were few tourists, since it was the off season....fewer women (all local, none tourists)....and no other women without head coverings. We stood out...but Cait....with her mane of red flying wild, was certainly the center of attention for the day. Children and men of all ages gawked at her, but never in a disrepectful way. The streets were narrow....but not like narrow by our standards. They were so narrow that we had to walk single file at times. The smells were amazing, and mostly good, especially in the spice market, where there were over 10,000 spices for sale! The sounds foreign, but pleasant. We climbed steps and visited markets and made our way to the apex of the city ......to the Casbah.....where once we climbed through the gates of the ruin and out onto the cliff, we were treated to a site that is almost undescribable. You can see the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, Spain, Gibralter, France and Morocco from that point. The shoreline was breathtaking and the sea as blue as you imagine when you read about it.
Heading back down into the city, we shopped and bought fresh breads. We saw rugs and beadwork and metalwork that were all esquisite. We also noticed that because there were so few tourists, we had aquired a bit of an entourage. Here we were, three women, all bare headed, being followed led by Ahmed, who answered to Abdul, and followed by 5 or six other men. One man was sort of tricky. The city was a bit of a maze, and he just kept "appearing" at different turns in the maze. He always acted surprised to see us, but we finally figured out that it wasn't such a suprise!
When we stopped for a late lunch, it was at a quiet little local spot where we ordered a sampling of the local cuisine. We did have one little bit of excitement before we got to lunch.......when we were being seated, Mom's chair broke, and she fell just a bit, cutting her arm. Of course, it wasn't Cait or I who broke the chair...it was tiny Mom....making it even funnier, once we found out she wasn't seriously hurt. Not only did the waiter panic, but Ahmed (also known as Abdul) came running in...someone got the owner of the hotel, who took over serving us, sending away the waiter, who we never saw again! Then, as we ate, the men who had been following us during the day kept coming in to ask Mom if she was okay. The brought bandaids and fussed over her.......with the owner finishing our lunch service and bringing us one of everything!
One of everything entailed some of the best tastes ever! We started with a fresh baked loaf of round bread and locally grown olives that were the best I've ever had. Then we had a soup that was so good we all finished it, even though the day wasn't cold and we knew there was much more food to come. Next...a salad made with all the local vegetables, eggs, rice and tuna. Caits favorite course was the Pastella....a chicken filled pastry that was strangely topped with a powdered sugar and cinnamon mixture that was so much better than we ever expected. The main courses were a chicken stew mixture made with potatoes, olives, cabbage and carrots and a chicken couscous dish that was really rich and yummy. Finally, though we were all three stuffed, they brought us baklava (different from the greek version because it was much more like a candy than a pastry) and fresh mint tea.
More walking through the town helped us work off some of the massive meal we had, and we decided we would head on back to Spain, so asked Ahmed to take us to the port. He led us there, stopping only to write his address so that we could send him copies of the pictures we took....and left us at the entrance to the port.
We were sailing back from the small port right in the city of Tangiers so we didn't have to go back on a bus...but as we approached the dock, a man came running to me. He was trying to rush me, saying this boat that was leaving was going to be the last of the day. We knew the schedule said that there should be 3 or 4 more, but still, we trusted him and started to rush. Another man came to tell us to hurry as well, and I decided I better run ahead....which I did. After going through the exit station, I went to the boat, but the gangplank was already pulled away. I saw the cargo hull was still open so i ran down the cargo plank to the hull. The official there waved me to hurry....and told me he would let me on there. I said I had to wait for my Mother and daughter. He said to move away then, he had to raise the plank. Well, I figured at that point we couldn't be stranded in Morocco all night....so I jumped up onto the cargo gangway. He looked at me strangely and said... "you cannot leave your mother". I smiled as sweetly as I could....not leaving the gangway...and said....YOU cannot leave my mother. They waited....and once again we made our way through the bowels of boat and up to the place where we were supposed to be!!!!
After finding a seat, we found out the reason it was the last boat was because the seas had become so rough....but since this was a jet boat, our trip home was only about 45 minutes...albeit the roughest 45 minutes I have ever had on the water. It only made the day more interesting and the memories more lasting.
As good of times as we've had and as much excitement as we anticpate having the rest of the trip.....today will be hard to beat.
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| Cait on board boat to Morocco, with Gibraltar in the background. |
We got to the port and boarded our boat uneventfully enough. The passage over was on a "slow boat" and took about an hour and thirty minutes. I napped while Cait and Mom played gin and chatted with a couple of people from the states. As we were docking, the steward asked if we had our passports stamped yet. What??????? We, along with everyone else in our cabin lounge (about 11 people) had assumed that we would get them stamped as we disembarked. We assumed wrong. Apparently we were supposed to have had them stamped during the passage....but because the music in our cabin was playing spanish covers of songs like "If I were a Boy" so loud, no one heard the announcements. We couldn't disembark because the customs "policia" had left the boat already, so we were all stuck there for about an hour. During the hour, the "customer service specialist", interestingly enough named Mohammed, came by to scold us for not getting our passports stamped. Pointing out that there were 11 of us, all from the same lounge cabin, 4 American, 5 Middle Eastern, and 2 of some European descent.....we tried to tell him that we hadn't heard the message. He condenscendingly asked if we were American. When we replied yes, he ...again condescendingly...said...."yes this happens all the time with Americans because you don't listen to the announcements". I guess if we are going to be stereotyped, it is better to be stereotyped as a society who doesn't "listen" than to be stereotyped as something like a suicide bomber..........erghhhhhhhh.......No telling what Mohammed would have thought had he seen Mom peeking into the Mosque in Doha to "just take a picture or two". We hoped this wasn't setting the tone for the visit to North Africa!
When we were finally allowed to leave the boat, they had boarded the return trip, so we had to go down to the bowels of the boat and disembark out of the cargo hull. Now, this is a BIG boat....with three cargo levels....and tied up to a big commercial dock.....Thus leaving us standing in the middle of a big empty dock, looking a bit silly I'm sure, and trying to figure out how to get from the dock to a bus or taxi to take us the 30 kilometers to Tangiers. Thankfully, we met the first of what would be a series of great Moroccan men who would help us.....and he directed us to the customs entrance and then to the bus.
As we approached the bus, a man tried to approach us. The same official who had helped us stopped the man and wouldn't let him talk to us. We continued to go where we had been directed, but the man kept alternately screaming to us and screaming at the official. Apparently he had wanted to offer to take us to town and the official was not letting him. The screaming escalated and continued long past when we had boarded our bus. As we drove off, another policia had joined the scene and now all three men were screaming at one another!!
The bus ride to town was perfect. We went through a rural area....on a brilliantly modern road.....where everything BUT the road looked like centures gone by. Few of the hillside homes had access to power, and the people were moving about the countryside by donkey and afoot. There were goats and cattle being herded along small trails and burros carrying huge loads of produce to the market. It was very much like a movie....and yet strangely very different than what we expected, because instead of just sand and desert, the hills looked fertile and there were crops and groves of fruit bearing trees everywhere.
On the bus ride, we met a couple of men from Tangiers who were going home from work at the port. They spoke some English and spent the ride telling us about the countryside, the history of things we saw and what to expect when we got to Tangiers. Not only was it like having a tour guide on the trip, we got very useful information about how the best way to see the city was. The best information was that when we got off the bus, we would be approached by many men offering to "show us the city". They said it was best to wave off the first group of these men, and continue to the exchange office....but later allow a man to help us during the day.
Well, they were not exaggerating! As soon as we got off, men of all sizes, ages, and dress were trying to get our attention...asking us where we wanted to go, what we wanted to do.....it was certainly overwhelming. They were not quite grabbing...but certainly reaching for us....and all chattering in strange languages and accents. But one man was quietly persistent. He didn't yell to us...He didn't jump in front of us. He was a cute little man in a robe and colorful hat, with one single tooth left in his mouth, that he proudly showed off when he smiled. He just followed us along, telling us he was a family man, with a wife and two daughters....and then told us he was just like Coca Cola...everyone loved him!!!! When he told us his name was Ahmed, it was just too perfect...and we asked him to be our guide for the day....which would prove to be a great decision on our part.
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| Mom and Ahmed |
Ahmed....who for some reason I began to call Abdul, leading both Mom and Cait to call him Abdul as well (and he always answered to it).....led us through the streets of the oldest, strangest city we had ever been in. There were few tourists, since it was the off season....fewer women (all local, none tourists)....and no other women without head coverings. We stood out...but Cait....with her mane of red flying wild, was certainly the center of attention for the day. Children and men of all ages gawked at her, but never in a disrepectful way. The streets were narrow....but not like narrow by our standards. They were so narrow that we had to walk single file at times. The smells were amazing, and mostly good, especially in the spice market, where there were over 10,000 spices for sale! The sounds foreign, but pleasant. We climbed steps and visited markets and made our way to the apex of the city ......to the Casbah.....where once we climbed through the gates of the ruin and out onto the cliff, we were treated to a site that is almost undescribable. You can see the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, Spain, Gibralter, France and Morocco from that point. The shoreline was breathtaking and the sea as blue as you imagine when you read about it.
Heading back down into the city, we shopped and bought fresh breads. We saw rugs and beadwork and metalwork that were all esquisite. We also noticed that because there were so few tourists, we had aquired a bit of an entourage. Here we were, three women, all bare headed, being followed led by Ahmed, who answered to Abdul, and followed by 5 or six other men. One man was sort of tricky. The city was a bit of a maze, and he just kept "appearing" at different turns in the maze. He always acted surprised to see us, but we finally figured out that it wasn't such a suprise!
When we stopped for a late lunch, it was at a quiet little local spot where we ordered a sampling of the local cuisine. We did have one little bit of excitement before we got to lunch.......when we were being seated, Mom's chair broke, and she fell just a bit, cutting her arm. Of course, it wasn't Cait or I who broke the chair...it was tiny Mom....making it even funnier, once we found out she wasn't seriously hurt. Not only did the waiter panic, but Ahmed (also known as Abdul) came running in...someone got the owner of the hotel, who took over serving us, sending away the waiter, who we never saw again! Then, as we ate, the men who had been following us during the day kept coming in to ask Mom if she was okay. The brought bandaids and fussed over her.......with the owner finishing our lunch service and bringing us one of everything!
One of everything entailed some of the best tastes ever! We started with a fresh baked loaf of round bread and locally grown olives that were the best I've ever had. Then we had a soup that was so good we all finished it, even though the day wasn't cold and we knew there was much more food to come. Next...a salad made with all the local vegetables, eggs, rice and tuna. Caits favorite course was the Pastella....a chicken filled pastry that was strangely topped with a powdered sugar and cinnamon mixture that was so much better than we ever expected. The main courses were a chicken stew mixture made with potatoes, olives, cabbage and carrots and a chicken couscous dish that was really rich and yummy. Finally, though we were all three stuffed, they brought us baklava (different from the greek version because it was much more like a candy than a pastry) and fresh mint tea.
More walking through the town helped us work off some of the massive meal we had, and we decided we would head on back to Spain, so asked Ahmed to take us to the port. He led us there, stopping only to write his address so that we could send him copies of the pictures we took....and left us at the entrance to the port.
We were sailing back from the small port right in the city of Tangiers so we didn't have to go back on a bus...but as we approached the dock, a man came running to me. He was trying to rush me, saying this boat that was leaving was going to be the last of the day. We knew the schedule said that there should be 3 or 4 more, but still, we trusted him and started to rush. Another man came to tell us to hurry as well, and I decided I better run ahead....which I did. After going through the exit station, I went to the boat, but the gangplank was already pulled away. I saw the cargo hull was still open so i ran down the cargo plank to the hull. The official there waved me to hurry....and told me he would let me on there. I said I had to wait for my Mother and daughter. He said to move away then, he had to raise the plank. Well, I figured at that point we couldn't be stranded in Morocco all night....so I jumped up onto the cargo gangway. He looked at me strangely and said... "you cannot leave your mother". I smiled as sweetly as I could....not leaving the gangway...and said....YOU cannot leave my mother. They waited....and once again we made our way through the bowels of boat and up to the place where we were supposed to be!!!!
After finding a seat, we found out the reason it was the last boat was because the seas had become so rough....but since this was a jet boat, our trip home was only about 45 minutes...albeit the roughest 45 minutes I have ever had on the water. It only made the day more interesting and the memories more lasting.
As good of times as we've had and as much excitement as we anticpate having the rest of the trip.....today will be hard to beat.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
We Three See......Fires, Festivals and FINALLY....Cait!
Leaving Barcelona was great only because Mom and I were both so excited to get on the road to Valencia to meet Cait. We were packed and in our little car.... we had directions to the hostel where we would find Cait and we were on the road.
The roads, incidentally....amazingly good. Big, wide modern highways...well marked and easy to maneuver. We were SO happy. We now know how they can afford such wonderful roads, however, as the tolls for the 400 kilometers we travelled were $40!
The drive from Barcelona to Valencia is gorgeous! The road constantly surrounded by vineyards, olive groves, orange groves or the Mediterranean. There were centuries old wineries in the middle of the vineyards and all of the little villages had gorgeous Cathedrals with spires and towers that rose way above the small houses in the villages. The drive flew by.....with Mom and I both excited by the sites and chattering away solving the problems of the world.
We arrived in Valencia and found it to be bigger than either of us expected....and it was obvious that there was something exciting going on as there were people all over. We became so engrossed in following the directions to Cait's hostel through the small crowded streets that when we had to wait to turn right neither of us really noticed what we were waiting on. After we made our right hand turn and started moving slowing down the little street, we both started laughing, as we were right behind a band marching along....and in the middle of a parade!!!! So what do two Texas women do when they find themselves suddenly in the middle of a parade in Valencia Spain???? Well....of course....smile and wave....and smile and wave...and smile and wave!!!!!
Though it delayed us getting to Cait quite as quickly as we wanted, we loved being right in the middle of things...even if we weren't invited! Then....it was all capped off with us finding the hostel....and seeing Cait for the first time in over 2 months. She looked and sounded great and was excited to show us all the happenings in Valencia. However, we decided to go check into our hotel first, as it was 30 kilometers or so away.
On the way to Segunda (the small town where we had to get a room, because Valencia was booked up) Cait told us story after story about her trip. So much so that we weren't really paying attention to where we were going and found ourselves a bit...hmmm....bewildered about where we were. This little village was having a Fallas Festival of their own and so there was tons of activity, fireworks, etc going on. After driving around for a while, trying to follow a GPS that was confusing, at best....I suggested that we ask a Policia to help us. Cait sort of dismissed the idea, as she didn't think they would be much help....BUT....because I was the boss that particular day, I waved over some policia anyway. I knew they would be busy because of the festival, but though they might take the time to help us if we seemed desperate enough. Not only did they try to direct us, but when I didn't seem to really grasp what they were telling me....they told us to follow them and led us from their town, almost 14 kilometers to the next town to show us our hotel!
We got to our hotel and knew we had made a good choice to stay out of town. It was a wonderful resort on the Mediterean and though it was "off season" was just perfect.
After checking in, we considered taking a small siesta....but NOOOOOOOOOOO.....I thought we should go on to the festival. Big mistake!!!! We got back to Valencia about 3 or so and couldn't find a parking space on the road....so in the fashion of a true Spaniard, I backed up onto a sidewalk, we locked up the car and took off to the festival. Cait had explained briefly that the each neighborhood in Valencia builds a falla that is judged and then at the end of the festival (which was this very night) they were lit on fire and burned! A falla is a monument built of wood, styrofoam and paper mache that represents some theme.....sometimes something funny, sometimes a protest of sorts....and these monuments are big....some as big as a 4 story building!!!!! Someone who found out we were from the states told us about a falla from a few years back that was a big giant, pantless Bill Clinton, being.....entertained by a kneeling Monica Lewinsky! Nice to see US influence in foreign festivals.
The roads, incidentally....amazingly good. Big, wide modern highways...well marked and easy to maneuver. We were SO happy. We now know how they can afford such wonderful roads, however, as the tolls for the 400 kilometers we travelled were $40!
The drive from Barcelona to Valencia is gorgeous! The road constantly surrounded by vineyards, olive groves, orange groves or the Mediterranean. There were centuries old wineries in the middle of the vineyards and all of the little villages had gorgeous Cathedrals with spires and towers that rose way above the small houses in the villages. The drive flew by.....with Mom and I both excited by the sites and chattering away solving the problems of the world.
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| The band in front of us through the windshield! |
Though it delayed us getting to Cait quite as quickly as we wanted, we loved being right in the middle of things...even if we weren't invited! Then....it was all capped off with us finding the hostel....and seeing Cait for the first time in over 2 months. She looked and sounded great and was excited to show us all the happenings in Valencia. However, we decided to go check into our hotel first, as it was 30 kilometers or so away.
On the way to Segunda (the small town where we had to get a room, because Valencia was booked up) Cait told us story after story about her trip. So much so that we weren't really paying attention to where we were going and found ourselves a bit...hmmm....bewildered about where we were. This little village was having a Fallas Festival of their own and so there was tons of activity, fireworks, etc going on. After driving around for a while, trying to follow a GPS that was confusing, at best....I suggested that we ask a Policia to help us. Cait sort of dismissed the idea, as she didn't think they would be much help....BUT....because I was the boss that particular day, I waved over some policia anyway. I knew they would be busy because of the festival, but though they might take the time to help us if we seemed desperate enough. Not only did they try to direct us, but when I didn't seem to really grasp what they were telling me....they told us to follow them and led us from their town, almost 14 kilometers to the next town to show us our hotel!
We got to our hotel and knew we had made a good choice to stay out of town. It was a wonderful resort on the Mediterean and though it was "off season" was just perfect.
After checking in, we considered taking a small siesta....but NOOOOOOOOOOO.....I thought we should go on to the festival. Big mistake!!!! We got back to Valencia about 3 or so and couldn't find a parking space on the road....so in the fashion of a true Spaniard, I backed up onto a sidewalk, we locked up the car and took off to the festival. Cait had explained briefly that the each neighborhood in Valencia builds a falla that is judged and then at the end of the festival (which was this very night) they were lit on fire and burned! A falla is a monument built of wood, styrofoam and paper mache that represents some theme.....sometimes something funny, sometimes a protest of sorts....and these monuments are big....some as big as a 4 story building!!!!! Someone who found out we were from the states told us about a falla from a few years back that was a big giant, pantless Bill Clinton, being.....entertained by a kneeling Monica Lewinsky! Nice to see US influence in foreign festivals.
The Spanish are obviously very artistic...and also seem to have a real interest in ....parts! Body parts! Some of the fallas were nude people, all of the women in the fallas were topless....and funny enough, most of the women were redheads. Which was a little disturbing since I knew they would all eventually be burned! We walked for hours....7 hours to be exact....looking at all of the fallas, the huge crowds, the statue of the Virgin Mary that was covered in literally millions of flowers. There were people of all ages packed in the streets......children lighting fireworks everywhere. It was common to be walking along and have bottle rockets and roman candles going off all around you. It was amazing to us that no one seems to get injured and that children run through the streets setting off fireworks without anyone caring.
It was really interesting...and actually great fun. Everyone gets a fallas scarf....which is actually a bandana. We thought they were just for decoration...and later found that they are to put over your face when the fires start so that you can breath and not get sick from the smoke!!!! Bands played impromptu concerts all over...we heard everything from ABBA to "Oh My Darlin' Clementine" to countless Spanish tunes we didn't recognize. We ate delicious Churros, served with hot chocolate so thick it is more like hot fudge than hot chocolate! We ate incredible street food called durum kebab...which was shaved meat, tomates, lettuce and a spicy sauce wrapped in a flat bread.
Finally we decided on which fallas we would watch burn....and we found ourselves a seat. They light a miniature fallas (called the children's fallas) at each site first....so at about 10 they lit ours. It was set up in a little square wedged in the middle of 5 buildings ...and surrounded by 1000s of people...they poured gas over it....strung fireworks all around it....and lit it!!!!! The band played and the fireworks went off and the fallas burned! It was pretty exciting...and was happening at each fallas site (probably more than 50) all over the city. We thought our big fallas was going to be lit at midnight...so we sat to wait. When it hadn't been lit by 1, we finally found someone to ask, and the one we had chosen had won a big award so wasn't going to be lit until 3!!!! We gave up and started back to the car....watching the fires and the fireworks all over the city. Never would something like this go on in the states....it was a once in a life time experience....and we were so lucky to have gotten to see it.
After a very short night, we drove to Algeciras.....A beautiful 7 hour drive along the Mediterranean. We did have a short stop in Alhambra to visit a 800 year old castle that Cait had been telling us about. It was just amazing.....built by the Moors and lived in by Sultans until Ferdinand and Isabell chased them out of Spain in the mid 1400s.
Tomorrow we set sail..(well, okay, we set "jet engine", since we are going by jet boat not by sail boat) for Morocco and Tangiers!!!!! Talk to you after the Casbah!!!!!
Friday, March 18, 2011
We Three See......Barcelona....Well two of us do!
Mom and I arrive unscathed in Barcelona 13 hours and one London layover after leaving DFW. True to form, I was asleep before we were in the air, but Mom did manage to watch one movie before falling asleep herself.
Then....we saw our car. Hmmmm.....we managed to get our bags and us in the car, leaving us to wonder where we will put Caitlin tomorrow. In true southern fashion, we decided we would worry about it later....tomorrow is another day....and headed to the hotel.
When we checked in, the girl at the desk offered to upgrade me to two beds. I laughed, said "its okay...its my mother, we can sleep together", to which she looked sort of shocked and INSISTED on upgrading us. Well, when we got to the room, I was thankful she was so persistant. Each bed was a small twin....and while I love my mom....not ready to spend a vacation pushing each other out of a tiny little bed. The hotel is adorable, in a great area of town, and just what we were looking for......now that we have two beds!
We decided to go explore a bit and grab a bite to eat....found a perfect little tapas y desayanos place where we shared a Bistec y pepper and a Bikini (grilled ham and cheese). We headed back to the hotel....opened our window and listened to the sounds of the city....until 11.....then 12.....and then 2.....and finally about 4 the night was over for the Barcelonans and they started to quiet down! When we got up this morning we wondered how they do it.....and then figured it out.
We were out and in the streets at about 8:30. We were the only ones out and in the streets.....we went to the metro - almost empty - , rode down to the harbor - deserted - and started exploring - alone in the streets. Finally about 11:30 or noon people started stirring and hustling about...by 2 it looked like a city, alive and thriving. Now its 11 pm and people are out and about having dinner! The sounds coming from the street are so much fun to listen to.
Barcelona is an incredibly beautiful city.....with everything from a medieval portion of the city (still inhabited)...where the streets are narrow and the building built on a smaller scale and you expect to see a burly guy come busting out of a door with a chalice of grog....to incredible mansions designed by Gaudi that look like Alice in Wonderland should live in them.....to ornate cathedrals that make you give thought to the history of the Catholic Church in Spain and wonder what those walls have witnessed.....to incredible modern skyscrapers. We could have easily spent a week here...but managed to skim the surface of what Barcelona had to offer in a day.
The other couple started laughing and that started up a conversation which grew into a social event!!!! Rogelio and Sandra (Barcelona natives who had been coming to this restaurant for 35 years) ended up being great fun....they ordered us some additional tapas that they thought we should have...and insisted on paying for them...as well as an afterdinner shot of something that "would sooth our stomach"...that even Mom couldn't say no to. Rogelio was loud and funny and so happy to meet someone from Tejas. His English was slightly better than my Spanish...but we did just fine. Mom gifted Sandra with one of the crosses that she had made before the trip and you would have thought it was a precious jewel. What a great experience and time with new friends.
All in all, I would say that Barcelona was a GREAT DAY! We leave tomorrow to go meet Cait in Valencia, where we will get to see the finale of the Fallas Festival! We'll let you know just exactly what that entails!!!!
Only comment regarding the flight is that after the wonderfuly exotic food we got on Qatar Airlines going to China, AA's attempt at sustenance was terrible. Since Mom was still recovering from her bout with a nasty stomach bug and I was saving room for Tapas and Paella in Barcelona, everything worked out just fine.
So we arrive in Barcelona....and suddenly, as we are trudging along looking for our rental car, what seemed like a success story as far as packing goes turned into an epic failure!!! I loaded up our stuff on a cart and we looked like the "Beverly Hillbillies". I don't know where all that stuff came from!
Then....we saw our car. Hmmmm.....we managed to get our bags and us in the car, leaving us to wonder where we will put Caitlin tomorrow. In true southern fashion, we decided we would worry about it later....tomorrow is another day....and headed to the hotel.
When we checked in, the girl at the desk offered to upgrade me to two beds. I laughed, said "its okay...its my mother, we can sleep together", to which she looked sort of shocked and INSISTED on upgrading us. Well, when we got to the room, I was thankful she was so persistant. Each bed was a small twin....and while I love my mom....not ready to spend a vacation pushing each other out of a tiny little bed. The hotel is adorable, in a great area of town, and just what we were looking for......now that we have two beds!
We decided to go explore a bit and grab a bite to eat....found a perfect little tapas y desayanos place where we shared a Bistec y pepper and a Bikini (grilled ham and cheese). We headed back to the hotel....opened our window and listened to the sounds of the city....until 11.....then 12.....and then 2.....and finally about 4 the night was over for the Barcelonans and they started to quiet down! When we got up this morning we wondered how they do it.....and then figured it out.
We were out and in the streets at about 8:30. We were the only ones out and in the streets.....we went to the metro - almost empty - , rode down to the harbor - deserted - and started exploring - alone in the streets. Finally about 11:30 or noon people started stirring and hustling about...by 2 it looked like a city, alive and thriving. Now its 11 pm and people are out and about having dinner! The sounds coming from the street are so much fun to listen to.
Barcelona is an incredibly beautiful city.....with everything from a medieval portion of the city (still inhabited)...where the streets are narrow and the building built on a smaller scale and you expect to see a burly guy come busting out of a door with a chalice of grog....to incredible mansions designed by Gaudi that look like Alice in Wonderland should live in them.....to ornate cathedrals that make you give thought to the history of the Catholic Church in Spain and wonder what those walls have witnessed.....to incredible modern skyscrapers. We could have easily spent a week here...but managed to skim the surface of what Barcelona had to offer in a day.
And then....we had dinner!!! Of course I have to talk about dinner. We went down to Barceloneta...the old city of Barcelona on the waterfront...and decided we would just pick one of the little local places to try paella and the other fresh sea fare. Well, the place we decided on was really small....and the only reason we picked it was because when we slowed down to peek in, the young man who would be our waiter looked so hopeful to have some business that we felt compelled to go in. There was one other couple in the place at the time ( it was still very early for diner by Barcelona standards). There was a very large bald headed bartender, our waiter, and a short, round man who appeared to be the cook and the owner. We ordered the paella mariscos (seafood/rice specialty) and some papas bravas, at the waiter's insistence. I also ordered Sangria for one. Well, when my Sangria came...it was a pitcher full!
The other couple started laughing and that started up a conversation which grew into a social event!!!! Rogelio and Sandra (Barcelona natives who had been coming to this restaurant for 35 years) ended up being great fun....they ordered us some additional tapas that they thought we should have...and insisted on paying for them...as well as an afterdinner shot of something that "would sooth our stomach"...that even Mom couldn't say no to. Rogelio was loud and funny and so happy to meet someone from Tejas. His English was slightly better than my Spanish...but we did just fine. Mom gifted Sandra with one of the crosses that she had made before the trip and you would have thought it was a precious jewel. What a great experience and time with new friends.
All in all, I would say that Barcelona was a GREAT DAY! We leave tomorrow to go meet Cait in Valencia, where we will get to see the finale of the Fallas Festival! We'll let you know just exactly what that entails!!!!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
We Three See.....if we can actually NOT overpack!
Okay....so maybe just I am seeing if i can NOT overpack.
Mom and Cait already seem to have mastered that....but not me. No matter where we go, I lug around a suitcase that is too big and a carry-on that strains my back. Poker trips....China....a weekend in Austin....doesn't really matter.....I just simply over pack.
Well, this time, I have no choice. Because we are flying RyanAir while in Europe, I simply can't pack too much. Our airfare from Santiago to London is 12 Euros per person (about 16 bucks!!!!) The charge for ONE bag, weighing a maximum of 36 pounds is 15 Euro!!!! More than the ticket! Of course...we have to have one bag. However....an overweight bag, or a second bag costs 45 Euro.....changing the price of the ticket from $34....to about $90.
Additionally....we are renting a car to get around in both Spain and in the UK. In Spain we had some legitimate choices for cars...but in the UK...we are basically renting a butter tub on wheels....so unless I can convince Cait to ride on the hood, we won't have room for my normal excessive luggage.
SO....I'm packed. In one 24" suitcase. And I'm packed for the moderate weather we will find in Southern Spain and Morocco, as well as for the bitter cold we will find on the coast of Scotland. I'm actually taking only 3 pairs of shoes....I normally have more than that in my car when I go to Mom's for the afternoon and she lives just a mile from me!
I am, even now, fighting the urge to go fit "just one more thing" into my bag. But I have zipped it up....set it in the corner...and vowed not to touch it until I load it in the car tomorrow.
Hopefully this will be the beginning of a new trend for me. I might even make it to Vegas this summer with fewer than 11 pairs of shoes!
Mom and Cait already seem to have mastered that....but not me. No matter where we go, I lug around a suitcase that is too big and a carry-on that strains my back. Poker trips....China....a weekend in Austin....doesn't really matter.....I just simply over pack.
Well, this time, I have no choice. Because we are flying RyanAir while in Europe, I simply can't pack too much. Our airfare from Santiago to London is 12 Euros per person (about 16 bucks!!!!) The charge for ONE bag, weighing a maximum of 36 pounds is 15 Euro!!!! More than the ticket! Of course...we have to have one bag. However....an overweight bag, or a second bag costs 45 Euro.....changing the price of the ticket from $34....to about $90.
Additionally....we are renting a car to get around in both Spain and in the UK. In Spain we had some legitimate choices for cars...but in the UK...we are basically renting a butter tub on wheels....so unless I can convince Cait to ride on the hood, we won't have room for my normal excessive luggage.
SO....I'm packed. In one 24" suitcase. And I'm packed for the moderate weather we will find in Southern Spain and Morocco, as well as for the bitter cold we will find on the coast of Scotland. I'm actually taking only 3 pairs of shoes....I normally have more than that in my car when I go to Mom's for the afternoon and she lives just a mile from me!
I am, even now, fighting the urge to go fit "just one more thing" into my bag. But I have zipped it up....set it in the corner...and vowed not to touch it until I load it in the car tomorrow.
Hopefully this will be the beginning of a new trend for me. I might even make it to Vegas this summer with fewer than 11 pairs of shoes!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
We Three See.....ourselves!
An introduction seems in order. If we expect you to become vested in our adventures, you will have to know something about us before hand.
We three are women.......family......and interestingly enough....friends. We are actually three generations: Three first born daughters of first born daughters.......Mother, daughter and grandaughter.
Mother: Barbara. The matriarch of a close knit family, she has been married to her best friend for 55 years. She is the eldest of three girls as well as the eldest of 27 grandchildren. She grew up in a very different way than she raised her children. Attending 26 schools before she finished her 6th grade year, she has spent most of her adult life creating a stable environment for not only her two kids, but also for the hundreds of young people whose lives she has affected as an educator. Her doctorate in education and her years of experience in the classrooms and administrative offices of public schools are just the tip of the iceberg of what she has given to her community. At 75 she has the energy of a woman half her age......teaches college classes, is the president of the local school board, sings in her church choir, keeps the book for the girls basketball team and still has the time and energy to be the anchor of her family. Lucky for us, she is never afraid to voice her opinion, try something new or make a decision.
Daughter: Beverly.....me. Despite the accolades that I have received from my family and friends...I somehow have always felt like I had something to prove in order to make my place in the family and the world. I know my strengths.....as well as my weaknesses.....and sometimes find it difficult to not let the weaknesses outweigh the strengths. My background highlights my "jack of all trades" talent as I've done everything from Recreational Therapist, to running a hotel, to playing poker for a living. Socially, I like to lead...but in a manner more gentle than forceful. I find I feel most comfortable in the role of the peacemaker, the pleaser, the middleman. This should prove to be interesting on long trips......especially when fatique and stress make it difficult for me to try to balance everything.
Grandaughter: Caitlin. Brilliant, funny, opinionated.....Cait will always bring a new perspective to our trips. She loves cultural differences and history. She loves street food and shopping for bargains. What may prove to be a challenge is that she also loves to sleep late and do things her own way!!!! Cait is a wealth of information about endless topics. She has an ear for language and accents and an expert on British history. She has been a fervent reader since she first learned to read and that has helped her stockpile facts about all sorts of things....and she is able to share those facts in ways that make people laugh and enjoy learning. Cait can do anything she wants to do and has proven that over and over, even at her relatively young age. She will definitely make our trips more fun and more interesting.
Our first "documented" adventure starts in one week. Cait is already in Europe....and Mom and I will be flying over to meet her in Spain. Our adventure will take us from Barcelona to Gibraltar to Morocco.....up the coast of Portugal and back into Spain at Santiago, where will will do the Camino Del Santiago. We then go to the UK.....castles, coastlines and stories of Henry the VIII will fill our time there.
We can't wait to share our thoughts....our laughs......our photos....and even our failures with you.
Can't wait to share what WE THREE SEE...........
We three are women.......family......and interestingly enough....friends. We are actually three generations: Three first born daughters of first born daughters.......Mother, daughter and grandaughter.
Mother: Barbara. The matriarch of a close knit family, she has been married to her best friend for 55 years. She is the eldest of three girls as well as the eldest of 27 grandchildren. She grew up in a very different way than she raised her children. Attending 26 schools before she finished her 6th grade year, she has spent most of her adult life creating a stable environment for not only her two kids, but also for the hundreds of young people whose lives she has affected as an educator. Her doctorate in education and her years of experience in the classrooms and administrative offices of public schools are just the tip of the iceberg of what she has given to her community. At 75 she has the energy of a woman half her age......teaches college classes, is the president of the local school board, sings in her church choir, keeps the book for the girls basketball team and still has the time and energy to be the anchor of her family. Lucky for us, she is never afraid to voice her opinion, try something new or make a decision.
Daughter: Beverly.....me. Despite the accolades that I have received from my family and friends...I somehow have always felt like I had something to prove in order to make my place in the family and the world. I know my strengths.....as well as my weaknesses.....and sometimes find it difficult to not let the weaknesses outweigh the strengths. My background highlights my "jack of all trades" talent as I've done everything from Recreational Therapist, to running a hotel, to playing poker for a living. Socially, I like to lead...but in a manner more gentle than forceful. I find I feel most comfortable in the role of the peacemaker, the pleaser, the middleman. This should prove to be interesting on long trips......especially when fatique and stress make it difficult for me to try to balance everything.
Grandaughter: Caitlin. Brilliant, funny, opinionated.....Cait will always bring a new perspective to our trips. She loves cultural differences and history. She loves street food and shopping for bargains. What may prove to be a challenge is that she also loves to sleep late and do things her own way!!!! Cait is a wealth of information about endless topics. She has an ear for language and accents and an expert on British history. She has been a fervent reader since she first learned to read and that has helped her stockpile facts about all sorts of things....and she is able to share those facts in ways that make people laugh and enjoy learning. Cait can do anything she wants to do and has proven that over and over, even at her relatively young age. She will definitely make our trips more fun and more interesting.
Our first "documented" adventure starts in one week. Cait is already in Europe....and Mom and I will be flying over to meet her in Spain. Our adventure will take us from Barcelona to Gibraltar to Morocco.....up the coast of Portugal and back into Spain at Santiago, where will will do the Camino Del Santiago. We then go to the UK.....castles, coastlines and stories of Henry the VIII will fill our time there.
We can't wait to share our thoughts....our laughs......our photos....and even our failures with you.
Can't wait to share what WE THREE SEE...........
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