Europe 2018

March 15 - 19, Switzerland

We were met at the Basel airport by our friends; eventually. i say that because the immigration area of the airport has two exists labeled Swiss and French. Most people were going out the French exit but because we  were visiting people people in Switzerland I assumed we should exit via the Swiss exit. NOT! (a la Borat) Our friends were waiting at the French exit (without knowing it) so it took a while to find each other. You could not cross over from one section to the other outside the airport or in arrivals; only at the departure level and inside the airport; no one was supervising the cross-over point however.

This is a shot from their home, which looks much like the others in this picture.

The one piece of tourism we did in Switzerland was to visit Lucerne the next day. It is a beautiful city with lots of old and new. We took a boat ride and then climbed a mountain (Rigi) by train. we came down by cable car.

The city

Ursula and Hans-Jacob

The lake.

Going up. There were no skiers. Apparently the snow was too soft and granular for good skiing.

At the top fog had set in and we saw absolutely nothing.

Going down.

This is a shot of Ursula and Hans home. They live on the bottom floor, we are on the top floor and Ursula's daughter Martina, lives in the middle. Her first career was as a woodworker and now she is becoming a software developer.

We awoke this morning to this.

Here is an idea for firewood. A self-starting single log with a rope handle

Hans cuts almost all the way through with a chain saw (3 cuts). He then wedges a piece of fat-wood into the space near the top and carries it to the fire with the rope handle. Just light the fat-wood and you are ready to go.

Tonight we are cooking for everyone - Peruvian seco de carnero (lamb). 

March 10 - 15, Marrakesh

Very nice weather; hot in the sun, cool in the shade and cool in the evening. The hotel was very good for the price. We really had no complaints about it. And it couldn't have been better located.

Our first day we went to the Yves Saint Laurent Museum. There are actually two museums and a garden and like anything with his name attached to it you expect it to be very classy; and it was.

The garden was started by a man called Majorelle. When he died it was abandoned and about to be turned into apartment blocks when YSL bought it and he and his partner brought it back to life. It is sustained now by the income from visitors. The blue you see is called Majorelle blue. We can't show you pictures from inside the museums, only the garden, but everything in good taste and not overwhelming in size. 

The next day we took a tour of the city - the Medina, the souk, etc. 

olives

a palace

entrance to wife #1's quarters

her main room

and ceiling 

another ceiling in a different room. 

The craftsmanship of the old woodwork is beautifiul.

At lunch we sat with a British couple.

And afterwards we visited am apothecary shop (our first of 4 in Morocco) that specialized in Argan Oil products. We had a good lecture 

Originally goats climbed trees to eat the fruit of the argan oil tree and spit out the seed, which was collected and processed into oil. This is not a Kopi Luwak process. The goats spit out the seeds. Today the dried fruit pulp is removed, the nut shell is created, the nut is removed and ground by that thing at the bottom of the picture; at least if it is done artisanally.

The oil is used in cosmetic and food products.

The next day we went into the foothills of the Atlas Mountains.

Another British couple - Aziz and Betty.

We told Betty about Freida Kalho so the next time she goes to a costume party she'll put flowers in her hair. 

home made sugar

water jugs made from old tires

Olga had to make a choice. 

We climbed up to a waterfall 

and then went on to other valleys.

Our last full day on Marrakesh we took a tour to Essaouira on the coast. We stopped along the way to see the initial phase of traditional Argan Oil production.

This was a nicer place to see the souk; smaller, fewer people, lots of tourists but you still feel there is a local life there.

old Portuguese fortress

entering the souk

wall surrounding the old city

nothing but streets like this

nice old doorways

more olives

You saw lots of indications that Jews, Christians, Arabs and Berbers lived together (not in separate areas) in these communities once upon a time. Sounds like a fairy tail; doesn't it. The little flower-like symbol above the old doors actually represented this aspect of the communities. 

The fields in this area of Morocco seem best suited for the production of stones. Like in New Paltz, the stones have been collected to clear the field and turned into building materials for walls and buildings. This picture shows the initial and final wall product.

The final wall is perfectly square and sometimes it is even plastered. Here you see initial piles of stones in the center; a rough wall on the right and a piece of finished wall on the left. 

When we got back to Marrakesh we had a reservation in Al Fassia, a fancy restaurant near our hotel - our hotel was not fancy but near such places. This was our chance to eat with our eyes.

a tasting menu of Moroccan salads.

Everywhere in Morocco you see the traditional male dominance. The market places are full of men, not women; the waiters are men, not women; etc. This restaurant was not only a bit exclusive but the entire wait-staff was female. We had mixed results from our male guides while in Morocco so I told the woman who set up our tours that if she ever wanted to start her own tour agency she should advertise only-female guides and the word would get around. We found the men had just no patience for me in particular - too many questions I guess. 

So we left the next day. Like everywhere else where we went through an airport - Madrid, Lisbon to pick up our rental car, Faro to drop it off, Sevilla and now Marrakesh, the airports were new, spacious, elegant and so unlike American airports, which are rather shabby things. 

On to Switzerland and our friends Hans and Ursula from Prince Edward Island.

Saturday, March 10, Sevilla

Today we leave Sevilla for Marrakesh in a flight at 10PM. But before we left we did a little more tourism, heading into the old city near our apartment.

This is a really pretty city square. When the leaves come out it will be very beautiful.

The people sitting on the fence here were waiting for seats to open up in the terrace of the small bar.

We found a palace and visited it. IT is called Palacio de Pilatos. There is some very tenuous relationship between the original owners and Pontius Pilot. Something mathematical. 

Friday, March 9, Sevilla

Today we stayed home in the morning; resting after the day before and in the afternoon we met with Anna Mazo and her family - Jackie Georges and their two daughters. All from New Paltz you might say. They live in a town about 2 hours from Sevilla.

Don't ask me why, but I only have a picture of the girls. We went  to a tapas bar and ate very well. It is hard not to do so here.

Thursday, March 8, Granada

Olga wanted to see Granada so we did the whole trip in 1 day - 3 hours there, 4 hours of tour and 3 hours back. A long day.

The south of Spain is simply covered with olive orchards. I wonder where the workers come from for harvesting.

Perhaps you read that the Day of the Woman was a big deal in Spain. In Granada the main street was shut down and lots of people marched in the rain.

Granada is famous for the Alhambra palace. It started as a Moorish castle and was eventually taken over by the Castellanos. In the end the last Moor holding the palace surrendered it rather than have it destroyed in a battle. We all benefit from that decision.

Lots of beautiful pictures.

March 7, Sevilla

We took a free walking tour of the old part of town. Lots to see and none of it boring.

We took the morning tour and then went to the home of Felix Gainza, the brother of our good friend Javier Gainza who lives in San Jose, Costa Rica. Felix is limited physically to a wheelchair but mentally is completely there. 

We took Felix for a tapas lunch. The locale was really great. it was an old fish market, on the river, and each stall was individually operated and specialized in different tapas. However, the waiter made all your purchases for you and you only had to pay one bill.

That night we went to a flamenco show at a place called Casa de las Memorias. It was very intimate and entertaining. We were able to walk from our apartment.

The only picture of the show we were allowed to take.

Casa de las Memorias from the outside. 

We passed by an architecturally very interesting plaza. 

March 6, Our First day in Sevilla

We breakfasted on yogurt and fruit and then headed to a cafe for tostada con jamon y cafe - 2 Euros.

We then went to the Plaza de Espana where it officially began. It is a beautiful place and was open for the first time in 5 days. Apparently they had very heavy rains just before we arrived. it rained on and off today but didn't hold us up.

When we were last here it was 10PM and we had the place to ourselves. The inspiration of the moment took me over and the rest is history. 

This is the place. The Barcelona bench. 

Later we walked into the tourist area of Sevilla. It is so nice to see so much of the city without cars. We visited this cathedral, had a coffee and went home.

Tomorrow we are visiting with Don Javier's brother (who sounds just like his brother)  and going to a flamenco show in the evening. 

March 5, Heading for Sevilla

Here we are crossing the border (at 120 kph).

March 2 - 5, Last Days in Portugal

We visited a small town north of Lagos called Aljezur. It has a castle, a nice museum and beaches. 

The castle is just a ruins but it reminded me a lot of pictures I have seen of Mont Sejour in southern France where the Cathars made their last stand. The castle pre-dates the 13th century by a few hundred years since it was built by the Moors.  it has a nice view of the town.

There is actually an old town (at the foot of the hill) and a new town across the river. 

The old town has a museum and in it there is a display of something I had heard about all my life but had never really seen. In the early days of coins in Europe the coins were of such high value that that it was impossible to buy anything but the most expensive things with a coin. So in order to pay for most of the purchases one made it became necessary to pay with "bits" of a coin, a small corner (French word for 'corner' is 'coin') of a coin; as long as it had some recognizable piece of the coin's 

imprinted lettering. Here is a photo of a whole bunch of these "bits". 

The beach was nice but I wouldn't want any young children of mine to romp in the waves.

The next day we took Debbie to the restaurant where Olga and I ate the roasted pig. 

Once again, the crackles were amazing.

Our last day in Portugal we spent in Lagos, showing Debbie where to find stuff.She'll be on her own for a month before her next visitors arrive. She has a date for  bridge this week with some Irish people so she should be good for company.

March 1, 2018 - Sand Festival

Today we went back to Silves where we had ordered a ceramic plaque for for our cottage - "Casa de Olga y Andy". 

From there we drove to a locale that was offering a sand sculpture festival. It was impressive although the tourist season was just opening so it needs a lot of repair. 

The theme this year is arts and entertainment. I'll just show you some pictures.

Feb 22-28, a Week in Algave

We have been out most days but today it is raining so I have some time to update this blog. 

First thing. Portugal has round-abouts like we have stop signs and round-abouts win hands down. Traffic flows so much better and there is much less wear and tear on the car - less stopping and starting. 

On Friday, the 23rd, we visited Ferragudo. It has maintained its sense of village while highrises go up on the horizon. 

For lunch we went to Guia and ate at Teodosio - O Rei do Frango. The King of Chicken.

We visited a friend of Debbie's (Gail) in Ferragudo. She comes from Halifax. Perhaps we'll see her this summer.

The chicken in Portugal is sold in a much smaller size than at home. The bird is cut into relatively small pieces, bone included, and then grilled. It comes out very tasty.

On Sunday, Olga went to mass. That's the church in the background.

On Monday we went to Faro to buy our bus tickets for Sevilla. The bus actually stops at the airport where we need to return our car so that is easy. We visited the old town and ate hamburgers.

We had wine with lunch. The label caught our name. 

Yesterday we visited John and Dianne McDowell from the Rattenbury Road on PEI. They stay in Albufeira, where Debbie stayed last year. 

The towns here are set up for tourism and one thing is sure - the car is not king.

We visited a church in Faro. The tiles are beautiful.

It also had a very nice organ.

Both in Portugal and Spain, people refer to the Age of Discovery. Colonialism doesn't sound like quite so nice a word. My point is that the old beauty here owes much to the exploitation of the Americas.

Even today, the wealth we see around here is due in part to external wealth; this time brought here by tourists. 

The beaches we have visited have been little coves where you get to climb over rocks. They are really beautiful.

Debbie was taken by these two. 

They live quite close to our apartment.

A farmer has chopped the tops off the trees that surround his field and these birds - cranes? -  have built nests on the tops of every tree. It is quite a site.

Wednesday, Feb 21, visiting Silves

This small town is in from the coast about 10 miles. It used to be a port so the traffic came up the river that far. Apparently that is not possible any more. My guess is silting from a lot of agricultural runoff over the centuries.

This is a shot of Silves from the castle it has. Actually just half od Silves. You can barely see the river but it is there.

The important thing to do today was to eat seafood at a restaurant called Rui in Silves. 

They even had something on the menu called grilled fish heads. 

Olga and I ate a "arroz con mariscos" but in Peruvian terms it was closer to sopa de mariscos. It was very good. 

They supplied us with bibs since we were expected to make a mess. Doesn't that look like Lou in the background?

After lunch we walked up the hill to the castle. It was a good climb. The castle originated with the Moors I think and was taken over by Christians in the 13th century.  Apparently Silves had its golden age under the Moors. 

The entrance to the castle is a beautiful boveda. A boveda is a room with a semi cylinder for a roof. This is a beautiful example. 

The castle itself is pretty empty of buildings, like most castles we have seen.

but these ruins are of a Moorish palace. This is the remains of the ground floor of a two story palace. The second floor was at the level of the door of the keep in the background. 

Perhaps you've noticed. The main building material is sand stone. Here is an idea of what sand stone looks like after it has been exposed to the elements for eight centuries.

The was an exhibition inside a large, underground storage boveda. Here is a photo of the roof.

The Portuguese king who conquered the castle from the Moors has his statue for everyone to take  a a selfie with. It isn't quite as satisfying. he doesn't smile.

That is not a boy. It is a man standing beside Rei Sancho I of Portugal, bigger than life. Really.

To end this, I am giving you a short comic strip on part of the history of Silves, I haven't read it myself so I can't comment on whether it is good or not. But I intend to. If I get through it I will put a synopsis here.

Tuesday, Feb 20, visiting a beach -  Praia do Camilo

Today I Googled "best beaches in southern Portugal" and it came back with 10. 9 of them involved hiring a boat to get to the beach. One beach was free and a 12 minute drive from our apartment. Inside the town limits of Lagos, even.

So we went to Praia do Camilo. A short drive from home.

The coast line is very rocky and here and there are little coves with sandy beaches. Praia do Camilo is one such cove. The nice part about the beach is that there are stairs down to the beach. I assume that the other beaches mentioned by Google don't have stairs. We estimated that we walked down, and of course back up the stairs of a 20 story building today.

There's the beach.

It's a log way down. 200 steps we are told.

Once on the bottom it is really nice. Sheltered from the wind, especially.

The water is quite cold and while we were on the beach we saw a young couple dive and and spend an hour swimming around those rocks.

There are actually 2 beaches and the municipality has carved a tunnel between the two beaches so that you need not get your feet wet.

Debbie, in her element,

Lots of worn through passages like this

Saturday, Feb 17, arrived at Lagos

We showed up at Debbie's location around noon. We met at the supermarket. Debbie has a really nice spot but since it is not tourist season the neighbourhood is rather quiet. 

She lives beside a marina and that looks fancy.

Friday, Feb 16, heading for Monchique

Soon after we started out we stopped for breakfast. The breakfast we buy is pretty standard - cafe con leche and buttered toast.

Lots of storks/cranes(?) in Portugal and they do like to see you coming.

Like lots of Europe, Portugal is a combination of old and new. There are old cottages and new villas side by side

We stopped for lunch in Marmelete at a restaurant called Tasca do Petrol. That is one big pork crackle and I ate the whole thing.

We ate with a nice Portuguese couple and got recommendations for a couple of other restaurants that we will be sure to try. 

We stayed over night at a lovely little place at the end of a dirt road. It is called Quinta do Tempo. The room was very nice.

and the gardens were a delight.

Nearest neighbour

The owner had an outdoor wood oven and he baked bread but had no plans to do so in the next three weeks.

Monchique, the nearest town, is known for its thermal baths  but they were closed.

This is a view of the country side. We'll go back to a festival in March.

Tuesday, Feb 13 - 15, driving south

The next day we picked up a rental car and headed south. We stopped at a winery whose favourite colour was blue. 

they even put up a display commemorating the Xian terra-cotta warriors 

We arrived in Setubal and took a ferry  for an hour.

We stopped at a restaurant whose specialty was roast duck and it was great.

Olga, me and half a duck

Sines, our destination, was just winding up Carnaval. There were still some diehards in the street but it was pretty empty.

This is a picture of the municipal library

We found a castle and some young scouts learning to belay.

Us the the battlements

The next day we drove down the coast to visit Porto Covo. The little beaches along the way were beautiful

Monday, Feb 12, Lisbon

This is our last full day in Lisbon and we really filled it up. We left home at 8AM and didn't arrive back until 7:30PM. We did a tram ride to the end of the line and two walking tours. The guide in the morning was so good we took a second tour with her in the afternoon.

So what I have here are a lot of photos of Lisbon streets.

This is the tram car we took. I don't know if you can make it out but the front wheels and back wheels are really close together. They are 1/3 the way in from the front and back respectively.

We started our tour in front of this house in the Praca Luis Comoes. Of course it is a tiled house so that is what makes it attractive.

Our guide, Rita Jardim. She was easy to find in a  crowd. She gave the tour in English but there were Brazilians, Portuguese, Peruvians, etc in the tour. I am pretty sure the word got out to take the tour with her regardless of the language, she was so good.

In 1755 Lisbon suffered from an estimated 9.0 earthquake. Few buildings withstood  the shock. A church in this square did, but not its roof. it was decided to leave it without a  roof in remembrance.

We walked a bit and viewed Lisbon from this  tower. Then we went into an old church that has only had the roof restored so that has left it in a rather curious state.

Sao Domingo

This church was the starting point of the worst pogroms against Jews and Moors in the time of the Inquisition. Rita did not shy away from talking about such things. It is fitting that the church shows a good deal of what you could call rot.

The morning tour ended up in the main square of Lisbon. We were given many history lessons during the day but the fall of the dictatorship in 1972(?) was the most dramatic. Most of that fall happened in this square.

For lunch we had bacalao relleno. Sort of like papa rellena but with cheese in the middle.

Here are the women making the pasteis (pasteles).

 We had lunch in the Plaza de Comercio. It is the principle plaza of Lisbon and a lot of history has been experienced there; not the least of which was the end of the dictatorship in the 1070s.

After lunch we took a second tour with Rita. This to the only part of the city that survived a terrible earthquake centuries ago. It was the red-light district then but has gentrified quite a bit since then.

Portugal also has a Moorish history and this house shows tile work from Moor and post-Moor eras.

This is Rita, our guide. Anyone who goes to Lisbon and takes the free walking tour in the morning should sign up for her tour.

Lisbon is just full of nice neighbourhoods.

This tunnel should the history of Portugal, very much ala Astorisque.

Lots of narrow streets and buying home-made liquor at someone's door.

Here is a balcony where someone actually rests her arms on a padded railing.

Feb 10-11, Lisbon

We'll we arrived in Lisbon around 8AM on the overnight train from Salamanca.

It was easy to get on the Metro and get off at our station. We then walked up a cobble-stoned street to out building and were met by our AirBNB host.

The room was not desoccupied so we hung out in the living room for a while and then Artur took me for a walk around the barrio.

Then we started to explore on our own. Lisbon is built on seven hills so we decided to tackle two of them on day one and then avoid hills after that. 

Climbing the first hill took us to a church. The monuments themselves have avoided graffiti but not the public stairs

From the church you could look across to the fort, which we visited next.

The church had a courtyard that was being fixed up. It also have a model of a Corpus Cristi parade. There must have been 500+ figurines in the tableau. In the same room there were tiled walls telling the stories of colonial Portugal. Included was the image of a nun having her breasts cut off by a Moor, all the time smiling blissfully. 

So after the church it was down hill, across a couple of streets and climb again. You sit down to rest and then list your head and see a beautiful tiled facade of an old house. From the second hill, looking south we saw Lisbon harbour.

And off to the east, the church we had just visited. You are supposed to be suitably impressed by all the walking we did.

The castle itself was mostly ruins. If you wanted the view from the parapet you had to climb some more. I did it but Olga didn't bother.

Olga, waiting for me to come down.

The interior of the castle was essentially empty except for a few trees. It dates back to the Moors and has had a few Christian make-overs.

The big attraction in the castle gardens were the peacocks.

Men are such showoffs.

As we left the castle there was a carnival celebration. Lots of noise and costumes. Today we also saw different people dressed in costume but nothing particularly organized.

We ate in a small cafe, nothing special.

I couldn't figure out the last word, unless there is an 'N' missing. It was made with wire.

The next day we visited Belem; a part of the city with lots of museums. 

First thing we did was go to mass. I slept for some of it I'm afraid.

We were seated next to the choir and it was beautiful. 

After mass we went to a park along  the river. Lots of beautiful tiles and mosaics.

Signs of the zodiac.

Hey, Prince Edward Island in Lisbon!

And Rio de Quilimane

Finally a monument to colonialism; or "discovery" as they called it.

Our last stop for the day was an exhibit of MC Esher's work.

This was one work you were encouraged to take a picture of. Look familiar?

I took this for Andre. Aiko you'll need to show him what a Mobius strip is.

Just some fun.

That's my back in the window at the bottom left. 

After the exhibit we wandered back to our apartment, 

saw a wooden bicycle along the way. The tires were not wood.

And just as we were opening the door to the apartment, the tramvia went by - three feet from the door.

Feb 8, La Alberca

Today we took a bus to La Alberca, south of Salamanca. It took about 90 minutes to arrive and the hotel was right beside the bus stop. 

La Alberca is a very old village. It's name is arabic - "place of the water". It was a refuge for Jews and Moors who didn't want to abandon Spain when ordered to do so by the Inquisition.

You will see Christian symbols over many doors. These symbols were put there by the original builders of the homes to indicate that within lived a Christian family regardless of what their origins were. 

We ate lunch at our hotel.

We then had time to walk around.

La Alberca is just one street after another of very old buildings that have been restored.

This street leads to the Plaza Mayor and so is the main way to get onto town. 

Years ago the construction put mud between the boards but now in La Alberca the walls have stones embedded as you can see here.

Here is a door with a Christian symbol.

And another. "Ave Maria, purisima, sin pecado concevido".

Side streets. Those are garage doors. People bring their cars up these streets and indoors at night. In centuries past, this area of the house what where the animals were housed. 

The Plaza mayor.

And a sense of humour.

"We love your dog but not his poop".

A good example of very old construction.

A couple more side streets. Although all the streets look like side streets if you think about it.

We visited the church. I saw this Madonna being carried through the streets 41 years ago when I visited La Alberca for the Corpus Cristi Parade.

Today La Alberca is famous for its hams. That's the only reason I can think of for there being a statue of a pig outside the church.

And right across the street from the stone pig was this little gem.

It is the sign of the Inquisition. This was the jail and torture site for the Inquisition in La Alberca back in the day. Where else would it be but right in front of the church.

The last thing we did today was go to the  Museo del Jamon. We tasted various kinds of hams from all over western Spain. The pigs all spend most of their lives eating acorns. The difference between one type of ham and another is the part of Spain it comes from, the percentage of the pig's lifetime spent under oak trees and the pureness of the pig's blood lines. 

Tomorrow we spend the morning here and then take the bus back to Salamanca. We will go back to the house where we stayed for 2 nights just to rest until it is time to go to the train station at midnight. Then it is on to Lisbon.

Feb 7, Salamanca

Our second day in Salamanca. We visited a church and a museum but both involved walking back to town from the home where we are staying so we were on our feet for 6 hours or so.

Salamanca has such beautiful old buildings that any construction in the city center needs to leave the existing building facade as it is. 

Just a nice little street.

I studied Spanish is this school, called Colegio de  Espana, in 1977. I spent a little less than two months here. This was the reason for coming to Salamanca rather than some other city in Spain.

The main cathedral in Salamanca is really beautiful; especially the stone work. This comes from the fact that there is a local stone excavated from the river bed that is quite soft when wet so can be worked in great detail. Then once it dries it hardens nicely so survives the ages. This is the church we see from our bedroom window.

These are just various pictures from inside the cathedral. There is a much older church beside it and although I didn't take any pictures the iconography us much older

Salamanca is famous for a Roman bridge that crosses the Rio Tormes. 

Today it is only for pedestrians but until 1948 it was part of the main road between France and Portugal. They build a new bridge back then only to discover it wasn't strong enough to handle heavy trucks so until 1972 or so all cars crossed the new bridge and heavy trucks continued to use the Roman bridge. In 1972 they built another bridge and the Roman bridge could finally rest. 

There is a famous story called Lazarillo de Tormes from the 16th century. It is about a young boy who gets hired as the guide for a blind man. The first day the old man takes the boy to the bridge where there is a stone bull. He asks the boy to put his ear up to the belly of the bull to hear its stomach rumble. The boy does this and the old man gives his head a crack against the stone belly telling the boy that as the guide  for a blind man, he has to be quicker than that. Lesson learned.

This is what is left of the bull, put on a pedestal where people can't touch it. 

There is a museum of arte nouveau  and art deco objects in Salamanca. A nice place to visit.

There is a lot of mullioned glass work in the building.

This little fellow sitting on the left in the middle (about 1 inch tall) looks a lot like Peter Rabbit, blue jacket and all.

A nice cafe where we rested before walking home. 

Feb 6, Salamanca

There was a lot of snow crossing the mountains between Madrid and Salamanca. I was really happy I had studied Spanish in Salamanca and not Avila or else we would have been ankle deep in snow.

snowy hills

We arrived in Salamanca around 2PM. Our AirBNB host, Joaquim, picked us up at the station. Very nice of him. Joaquim is a psychologist and his wife is a dermatologist on her way to a one year post-doc at Yale. 

Once we arrived in their home they fed us a light lunch and treated us very, very well.

Salmanca cathedral

The view from our room.

The streets of Salamanca are some of the most beautiful to walk around in. Lots are only for foot traffic. 

The piece de resistance in the the Plaza Mayor. It is the most beautiful plaza mayor in Spain. Nothing compares to it. 

All around the plaza there are terraces but with the cold they are empty at this time of year. Inside the cafes were filled with people our age.

We kept walking around as it got dark and even that is beautiful

In this picture we are standing outside the school where I learned Spnaish.

This building is called La Casa de Conchas. It was built around the time of Columbus. The interior is a large patio open to the sky.

Finally our first selfie that turned out not so bad. A glass of wine is 2 Euros 

Feb 5, Madrid

Our last full day in Madrid. We had the typical  breakfast in a nice, elegantly European cafe 

Olga in Cafe Comercial, Plaza Bilbao.

and then were picked up at our apartment by my thesis supervisor, Luis Ribes, and his wife. The plan was to visit Alcala - the birthplace of Cervantes.  It was cold, rainy day but Luis brought umbrellas for everyone and we tried to stay under the portales (covered sidewalks incorporated into a building's construction.

garden photo

sidewalk statues

This sidewalk statue of Don Quijote and Sancho Panza was one of the few things we saw that brought us back to Cervantes. 

manicured trees

This is the main square in Alcala and you see how years of training have made the trees grow into each other. 

tower in plaza mayor

In this picture, top left, you can see birds on the roof. These are some kind of stork. This answers the question I had about those nests in Pedraza. 

Luis, Mariza and Olga

I may not make it into many of these pictures on this trip. I tried to take a selfie a few days ago. it was a disaster.

Alcala is known for its university so we took the campus tour of the old buildings. 

premio Cervantes room

This picture, taken by our guide, shows us in the room where the Premio Cervantes is awarded each year to Vargas Llosa, among many others.

model of old city

This shows the city at a time when there were 20 "colleges" and one graduate faculty. This was in the 1600s. 

inner patio photo

This pictures shows one the many inner sanctums. 

We had a great visit in Madrid but it was a very personal visit, seeing old friends and not getting to any museums. The weather was not the best but it was not as cold as New Paltz so not too bad for us. Out AirBNB was fine. The apartment had radiant heat so walking on the stone floor was nice.

Feb 4, Madrid

Today we spent time with Rosana Salas, her husband Tony and Isabela, one of their 3 daughters. We attended Rosana's wedding in Valencia in 1999. She is the daughter of Hector and Claudia Salas, our friends and former colleagues at New Paltz.

We went into the hills north of Madrid, about 100km away. It was snowing; that soft wet snow that goes away in a day or so but can be a bother the day it falls, especially if you don't have good footwear.

We were heading for a small town called Pedraza but when we reached the turn-off the road hadn't been plowed so we stopped for a coffee and a bit of a snowball fight.

Isabela making snowballs

After an hour or so the plow came along and we followed it. The town is a medieval town and the main tourist attraction, a castle, was closed but we walked around and eventually found a good restaurant.

The town from the last hilltop.

Pretty view in the snow.

That's the castle we never got to see.

This tower in town had gigantic nests but I don't know for what birds.

All the streets are pretty much one way.

These shots are of the Plaza Mayor - the main square. 

Tony with his daughter inside the restaurant. 

Tony has lost  30 kilos in the past year or so. He says he is under the care of a gordologo. 

Despite the weather there were lots of people eating. I saw a lot more of people putting chains on their cars just for the day than you would see in the States.  I am going to think about that.

The food. A quarter+ of roasted lamb.

The roasting oven. Each of those dishes is a meal for 2. Pre-cooked and heated up for serving.

As we left I stopped to take a picture to the town entrance. Just big enough for a small van. Nothing bigger gets in. 

Feb 3, Madrid

Our friends, Mario and Teresa, came to our apartment this morning and we went for a long walk. 3 restaurants and 7 hours later we were home again. A beautiful day. Our first stop were some gardens (de Sabatini) beside the royal palace.

Just beside that is the royal palace

After that we went to another plaza, La Plaza de Villa.

and then we visited a little garden in an old home.

A good number of churches during the day. Including the one in which Mario's parents were married and the church that is the mother church of Opus Del

I think Mario said this is the only 15th century church in Madrid.

And this, of course, is the Plaza Mayor.

After that we headed back home and are  now resting.

Feb 2, Madrid

The flight was uneventful although they really squeeze you in.We flew American from JFK.

The international terminal at the Madrid airport is what New Yorkers dream of. The metro comes right to the airport is the last stop so even with luggage you get a seat. It took an hour but we got to the street of our apartment with just a 2-minute walk. It is a very pretty street and I'll take a photo tomorrow.

The apartment is very nice. We just have a room but the owner is flying back from Thailand tonight so we won't meet him until tomorrow.  Some nice ideas for decorating.

Wall Garden

After a short rest we header for a train station to buy tickets to Lisbon. The station had a little garden in the middle.

Garden in Atocha Train Station

Then we headed back home; mostly on foot. First stop

Plaza del Sol (soleada)

Nice streets along the way.

Prromenade

And nice balconies along the way. You can see where Peruvian balconies come from.

Balconies

We ate at a restaurant near our apartment. The meal was a fixed menu for $15 each. Olga had a salad and me a small paella to start and then she had a bifstek and me a pork adobo type of dish called magro de cerdo. The meal came with an ample glass of wine or a small beer and Olga had a crepe for dessert and me an espresso.

To Start

The picture doesn't show a lot of wine but that was because Olga stopped the waiter from pouring more.

So tomorrow we have breakfast with our friends who will come here around 10:30AM - 4:30AM New Paltz  time. We are resting well tonight to get over the time difference ASAP.