Valencia
I'm writing this while lying on the beach in Valencia, Spain, fresh
from a dip in the Mediterrean! The beach is pretty crowded, but with a
good mix of people just enjoying the sun and sea. The water is just
chilly enough to cool you off, but not too cold, and the sandy beach
is really clean. Long story short, it's pretty nice here!
Jessie and I spent the morning touring the historic district. Notably,
we visited the Cathedral of Valencia, which, in addition to some of
the earliest Renaissance paintings in Spain and two works by Goya,
holds the mythic Holy Grail! The cathedral and its art were really
beautiful and an audio tour was included in the admission price, so we
were able to hear all of the history, which I love. My favorite area
was the chapel containing the Grail. The chalice itself was neat, but
I was more impressed by the circular stained glass window above it! it
was really simple, with an image of the chalice in the center
surrounded by a colorful background, but with the light streaming
through, it looked pretty magical! Also, we couldn't find a single
angle in the chapel from which to photograph it. It just shows up as a
circle of light. Very cool to go with the Grail. No, we didn't spy
Indiana Jones or any evil Nazis, so I think it will safely be there
when you visit.
Yesterday, we were very hot and very tired by the time we arrived at
our hotel (I don't recommend Ryanair), so after some showers and air
conditioning, we spent the evening exploring the Turia Riverbed Park
across the street from our hotel. Open a new browser window and Google
Image search "Ciutat de les Arts i de les Ciencies' and Valencia. You
will hopefully see what we discovered on our walk - It's actually year
2025 in Valencia, and everyone lives in a biodome with perfectly
manicured parks and buildings that look like spaceships! We took our
baguette and cheese dinner to the park and enjoyed the evening breeze
and the super cool surroundings. One interesting thing was that since
the sun doesn't set here until almost 10pm, regular people were out
jogging, biking, and walking their dogs at 9:30pm like you'd see
people do after work in the states. I wonder if people are more tired
due to the long days or have more lively lives because there's time to
do all those things we say we'll do but never have time for.
--update--
After the beach, we walked along the shore until we found a restaurant
just opening for the evening (at 7:30pm) that serves paella, the
famous dish of Spain that originated here. Since we were the first
ones in, we got a prime table on the patio facing the sea and had
seafood paella cooked just for us! I wasn't a fan of the crayfish, but
the rice and shrimp were bueno, and the whole ambience was wonderful.
The perfect way to end our visit in Spain!
We leave for Paris in the morning! Can't wait for our biking tour!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Segovia - May 30, 2010
Segovia - May 30, 2010
An hour bus ride from Madrid, Segovia is a historic little town with
great character, and a welcome relief from the bustle of the capital.
It's hard for me to write a quick blog about this place because I
loved everything about it. The historic part of town is located in
what was a walled castle village, so as you walk up from the bus
station and through the walls, it's like going back in time. Nearly
every building we passed was marked on the map as a historical
landmark, and the whole town is a UNESCO World Heritage site! To top
it off, it's in the running to be the 2016 ambassador of culture for
Europe (or something like that). Jessie and I both agreed we'd move
there if we were to live in Spain.
We were greeted by a brass band that happened to be playing in a plaza
outside a really old church, and marched up the cobblestone street to
see the remains of the town's Roman aqueduct. I hear they're not
uncommon here, but I was just blown away. Roman engineers were
geniuses! And so were the laborers! How did they build them?? Amazing.
Next, we wandered to the main plaza, Plaza Mayor, where there was more
music, dancing and kids playing soccer (which, by the way, is the only
state I've seen kids while in Spain). Just off the main plaza is a
15th century cathedral filled with art from an even older cathedral
there before it. Old churches are everywhere, but this one was
especially neat because though it's definitely a tourist spot, there
was hardly anyone else in there with us, so it was calm and at our own
pace.
We had lunch at an outdoor cafe. I had a chorizo omlette on baguette
(sandwhich) with a bottle of coke and Jessie had machego cheese
sandwhich and sangria. Very tasty.
Then, it was on to the best spot - the castle!!! The town was favored
by the Castile family in the Middle Ages, and Isabel and Ferdinand
made the castle their home during their reign. We saw their throne!
People like Columbus visited there! Backing up, the castle is situated
on the top of a hill, as all castles should be, and the view from it
is of lush valley fed by two rivers. The scenery kind of reminded me
of Northern California because there were a lot of the same trees. I
don't know how to describe the actual castle - the outside looked like
Sleeping Beauty's castle, and the internal layout, etc was really
interesting. The only of castles I've visited are in Japan, so it was
a neat comparison - there are a lot of similarities! We could take
pictures throughout, so those will tell the story better. Short
version: awesome! We got to climb a long spiral staircase to the top
of the tower. Jessie doesn't enjoy spriral staircases, we've
discovered, but the view was fantastic!
This was all within three hours, and we spent another five wandering
around the town, checking out the old Jewish Quarter, having ice cream
sundaes (Jessie's favorite part because our waitress was nice and some
girls from Texas spoke Spanish to us thinking we were locals!), and
just enjoying "real" Spain.
If you ever come to Spain, Segovia should be at the top of your list!
An hour bus ride from Madrid, Segovia is a historic little town with
great character, and a welcome relief from the bustle of the capital.
It's hard for me to write a quick blog about this place because I
loved everything about it. The historic part of town is located in
what was a walled castle village, so as you walk up from the bus
station and through the walls, it's like going back in time. Nearly
every building we passed was marked on the map as a historical
landmark, and the whole town is a UNESCO World Heritage site! To top
it off, it's in the running to be the 2016 ambassador of culture for
Europe (or something like that). Jessie and I both agreed we'd move
there if we were to live in Spain.
We were greeted by a brass band that happened to be playing in a plaza
outside a really old church, and marched up the cobblestone street to
see the remains of the town's Roman aqueduct. I hear they're not
uncommon here, but I was just blown away. Roman engineers were
geniuses! And so were the laborers! How did they build them?? Amazing.
Next, we wandered to the main plaza, Plaza Mayor, where there was more
music, dancing and kids playing soccer (which, by the way, is the only
state I've seen kids while in Spain). Just off the main plaza is a
15th century cathedral filled with art from an even older cathedral
there before it. Old churches are everywhere, but this one was
especially neat because though it's definitely a tourist spot, there
was hardly anyone else in there with us, so it was calm and at our own
pace.
We had lunch at an outdoor cafe. I had a chorizo omlette on baguette
(sandwhich) with a bottle of coke and Jessie had machego cheese
sandwhich and sangria. Very tasty.
Then, it was on to the best spot - the castle!!! The town was favored
by the Castile family in the Middle Ages, and Isabel and Ferdinand
made the castle their home during their reign. We saw their throne!
People like Columbus visited there! Backing up, the castle is situated
on the top of a hill, as all castles should be, and the view from it
is of lush valley fed by two rivers. The scenery kind of reminded me
of Northern California because there were a lot of the same trees. I
don't know how to describe the actual castle - the outside looked like
Sleeping Beauty's castle, and the internal layout, etc was really
interesting. The only of castles I've visited are in Japan, so it was
a neat comparison - there are a lot of similarities! We could take
pictures throughout, so those will tell the story better. Short
version: awesome! We got to climb a long spiral staircase to the top
of the tower. Jessie doesn't enjoy spriral staircases, we've
discovered, but the view was fantastic!
This was all within three hours, and we spent another five wandering
around the town, checking out the old Jewish Quarter, having ice cream
sundaes (Jessie's favorite part because our waitress was nice and some
girls from Texas spoke Spanish to us thinking we were locals!), and
just enjoying "real" Spain.
If you ever come to Spain, Segovia should be at the top of your list!
Monday, May 31, 2010
Madrid Travel
May 29, 2010 - Spain Day 2
After our rough welcome Friday night, we were really looking forward to the fun part of the vacation to start, so a full day of walking around Madrid and seeing the sites was just what the doctor ordered. We were on our feet trooping around for a good 8 hours straight, and we got to see all of the "Madrid Essentials" (according the the guide book). Andreana served as our most excellent tour guide took us the most scenic and fantastic routes. We saw so many things, I can't remember all of the places right now, so I think I'll just write about my favorites right now.
One of the first places we went was the rose garden in a park I can't remember the name of at the moment. Summer just hit, so the flowers were in full bloom and it was so beautiful! Not to mention the light rose fragrance that filled the area. I've heard the garden in Paris are unparalleled, but this rose garden may have them beat - we'll see!
The next highlight for me was an Egyptian tomb transplanted right in the middle of town. It was a gift from the Egyptian government in 1968 for Spain's help in protecting some other temples. Basically, they shipped the temple over and rebuilt it stone by stone on a hill in a park. It's small and not that exciting to look at (except the neat hieroglyphs inside), but so incredibly cool when you realize there's a thousands years old tomb in the middle of Madrid. I kept commenting, "This is so cool!" - all my years of schooling and that's the best I could come with!
Next, we toured the Royal Palace of Spain - a residence still used by the royal family. It looks almost fake from the outside, since I've never seen anything so magnificent in real life. We had to wait in line almost an hour to get in, and we had no idea what we were going to be able to see inside, so we had low expectations. Those were blown out of the water in mere minutes. There are three main areas you can see. The first the royal pharmacy. We had no idea what that meant until we went inside and saw room after room filled with glass and porcelain jars gilded with the royal crest and labeled with Latin and Spanish names - everything from medicinal herbs, distilled water, and arsenic to crocodile skin. There were floor to ceiling shelves filled with the containers and information on the royal doctors of the past. It was all really neat, but nothing compared to what we saw next!
We went into the main palace and were totally awestruck! There was a grand staircase where we entered with a huge tapestry of the Spanish crest on the opposite wall, and walls and ceilings covered with paintings and carvings. All three of us walked up the stairs with our heads back checking out the ceiling and our mouths hanging out! Wow. Later, when we looked out one of the windows, Jessie and Andreana wondered how we got to he second story because they didn't remember the stairs part of the staircase! We saw several rooms upstairs including Carlos V's dressing room and bedroom, Isabel's dining room, and the silver "closet" (a huge room), each more opulent than the next. My favorite of all though was the throne room! There were the king and queen's chairs! Right there! I was imagining all of the famous Spaniards who probably knelt before the royals in that very room. It gave me chills. Unfortunately, we couldn't take photos at all inside the palace, so you'll just have to take my word for it. I know this is a kind of a lame comparison, but since we try to contextualize our experiences with what we know or have experienced, I kept thinking about Hearst Castle in southern California. I finally get the kind of extravagance Hearst was trying to capture, but his version doesn't even come close.
The last museum in the palace was the armory, which was really neat on its own. The knight's armor looked just like pictures I've seen. I know that shouldn't be a surprise at all, but somehow those things surprise me every time!
As I said, we walked everywhere, so a lot of the day was just taking in the surroundings. I absolutely love the architecture here. I like the plazas and all the balconies. Once again, it's no surprise, but everything looks so Spanish! I know I sound silly, but I love when the things I've read and the pictures I've seen turn out to be real. I had he same reaction the first time I went to Japan, too.
May 30, 2010 - Spain Day 3
We took a bus to Segovia to see the castle that inspired Disney's "Sleeping Beauty," some Roman aqueducts and more.
--More on this later!--
After our rough welcome Friday night, we were really looking forward to the fun part of the vacation to start, so a full day of walking around Madrid and seeing the sites was just what the doctor ordered. We were on our feet trooping around for a good 8 hours straight, and we got to see all of the "Madrid Essentials" (according the the guide book). Andreana served as our most excellent tour guide took us the most scenic and fantastic routes. We saw so many things, I can't remember all of the places right now, so I think I'll just write about my favorites right now.
One of the first places we went was the rose garden in a park I can't remember the name of at the moment. Summer just hit, so the flowers were in full bloom and it was so beautiful! Not to mention the light rose fragrance that filled the area. I've heard the garden in Paris are unparalleled, but this rose garden may have them beat - we'll see!
The next highlight for me was an Egyptian tomb transplanted right in the middle of town. It was a gift from the Egyptian government in 1968 for Spain's help in protecting some other temples. Basically, they shipped the temple over and rebuilt it stone by stone on a hill in a park. It's small and not that exciting to look at (except the neat hieroglyphs inside), but so incredibly cool when you realize there's a thousands years old tomb in the middle of Madrid. I kept commenting, "This is so cool!" - all my years of schooling and that's the best I could come with!
Next, we toured the Royal Palace of Spain - a residence still used by the royal family. It looks almost fake from the outside, since I've never seen anything so magnificent in real life. We had to wait in line almost an hour to get in, and we had no idea what we were going to be able to see inside, so we had low expectations. Those were blown out of the water in mere minutes. There are three main areas you can see. The first the royal pharmacy. We had no idea what that meant until we went inside and saw room after room filled with glass and porcelain jars gilded with the royal crest and labeled with Latin and Spanish names - everything from medicinal herbs, distilled water, and arsenic to crocodile skin. There were floor to ceiling shelves filled with the containers and information on the royal doctors of the past. It was all really neat, but nothing compared to what we saw next!
We went into the main palace and were totally awestruck! There was a grand staircase where we entered with a huge tapestry of the Spanish crest on the opposite wall, and walls and ceilings covered with paintings and carvings. All three of us walked up the stairs with our heads back checking out the ceiling and our mouths hanging out! Wow. Later, when we looked out one of the windows, Jessie and Andreana wondered how we got to he second story because they didn't remember the stairs part of the staircase! We saw several rooms upstairs including Carlos V's dressing room and bedroom, Isabel's dining room, and the silver "closet" (a huge room), each more opulent than the next. My favorite of all though was the throne room! There were the king and queen's chairs! Right there! I was imagining all of the famous Spaniards who probably knelt before the royals in that very room. It gave me chills. Unfortunately, we couldn't take photos at all inside the palace, so you'll just have to take my word for it. I know this is a kind of a lame comparison, but since we try to contextualize our experiences with what we know or have experienced, I kept thinking about Hearst Castle in southern California. I finally get the kind of extravagance Hearst was trying to capture, but his version doesn't even come close.
The last museum in the palace was the armory, which was really neat on its own. The knight's armor looked just like pictures I've seen. I know that shouldn't be a surprise at all, but somehow those things surprise me every time!
As I said, we walked everywhere, so a lot of the day was just taking in the surroundings. I absolutely love the architecture here. I like the plazas and all the balconies. Once again, it's no surprise, but everything looks so Spanish! I know I sound silly, but I love when the things I've read and the pictures I've seen turn out to be real. I had he same reaction the first time I went to Japan, too.
May 30, 2010 - Spain Day 3
We took a bus to Segovia to see the castle that inspired Disney's "Sleeping Beauty," some Roman aqueducts and more.
--More on this later!--
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