We left Ft. Lauderdale on April 22, on the cruise ship Royal Princess. We stopped at several ports in Spain, but I covered them with the cruise. Once we landed in Barcelona, we spent another 17 nights in Spain, followed by 5 in Southern France before we split up with Joe and Casey, with us going to Paris and them going to Germany.
Barcelona
Saturday, May 7, 2016 –
We arrived in Barcelona in the morning, in the rain. We couldn’t check into our hotel until 3:00, so we left our luggage there and went walking around the neighborhood. I bought a fold-up umbrella for three euros (3€) – the best 3 something I ever spent! We went to the Picasso Musem, but there were so many people trying to get in, we changed our minds. We were searching for a bar, but walked by the Mammoth Museum, so decided to go in there. We saw skeletons of Wooly Mammoths and Wooly Rhinos. We also saw the remains of Musk Oxen, an ancient horse and a Cave Bear – believe me, you would not like to run into him! It is a very small, but interesting museum, you can learn more about it by going to http://museomamut.com/en
After that short visit, we found a tapas bar where we shared a bottle of wine and something to eat. On our way back to the hotel, we went into a very inexpensive shoe store where Casey bought some boots for 12€. After lunch, we checked into our hotel (the Chic and Basic Zoo). Rick and I rested while Joe and Casey went across the street to walk through the park and zoo.
Sunday -5/8 – Happy Mother’s Day to all. Casey’s children sent her flowers and champagne.
Barcelona is cool and has been raining/drizzling since we arrived yesterday. But, it is a slight rain and does not keep us from walking about the city. After having a breakfast of crosissants and mimosas (for Mother’s Day), we took a taxi to Sagrada Familia.
This church was started in 1863 and it is still underconstruction. It was designed by Antoni Gaudi and is unlike any other church. Unfortunatly, they had sold out of entrance tickets for today, but we were entranced by the outside.
From here, we took a taxi to the Ramblas where we had a nice lunch then continued walking. We went into the Cathedral of Barcelona
and then into the Barcelona History Museum which was mostly underground and very interesting. We returned back at our hotel around 7:30 and put our feet up for a while. We walked a few blocks to find a restaurant called “Little Italy” www.littleitaly.es Rick broke his temporary briddge this morning, so he thought pasta would be a good choice for supper. Rick, Casey and I ordered spaghetti and meat balls while Joe had a veal dish that he declared was extraordinary! In addition to the really good food, they had a live jazz band as well.
Monday – 5/9 – We started our day walking to the nearest dental clinic, but they said that they couldn’t see Rick until tonight, so we continued our search ending up in a charming part of town known as Barceloneta. Here we found a dental clinic that could take Rick in one hour and they had a doctor who could speak English – Hooray! We walked across the street to an open bar where the three of them had a beer and I had a cappuccino. The doctor saw Rick as soon as we walked in, he confirmed that the temporary bridge was broken and then he fixed it. He was also kind enough to write down what materials he used, so Rick could give it to his dentist at home and then gave Rick his e-mail and told him to get in touch with him if he needed anything else while we are in Spain. We left the dental office about 12:15 with instructions that Rick was not to eat or drink for one hour. We walked to the beach and found a hut with the warmers turned on. Joe, Casey and I had a glass of sangria until Rick’s hour was up, then we all ordered lunch.
After eating and enjoying a strolling serenade by a guitar player, we walked a couple of blocks and caught a taxi to the Palau de la Música Catalana (aka Palace of Catalan Music). This concert hall was built in 1905-1908. Because the surrounding buildings blocked the natural light, the architect, Lluis Domenech Montaner, was challenged to come up with new ways of brining the light inside – which he did eautifully through many stained glass windows. The concert hall is dedicated to the Catalan patron saint, St. George – the Dragon Slayer. It is said that when he slew the dragon, its blood went into the ground and red roses grew there. So,there were red roses incorporated into the stained glass, mosaics and other ceramic embellishments throughout the hall. We took a 50-minute tour to see the practice hall as well as the multi-level concert hall. We even got to hear a selection played on the pipe organ. It was very impressive.
Tuesday, 5/10 – After breakfast we met our tour guide in front of the Barcelona Hard Rock Café. Soon, we loaded up into a bus and started our trip to Montserrat – the serated mountain – about an hour’s ride northwest of Barcelona.
There is a monastery, by the same name, at the top of the mountain. Although there has been a church there since the 11th century, the current Basilica was built in 1850 and holds an ancient carving called the Blas Virgin (La Moreneta).
We went inside this beautiful Basilica but did not stand in line for the additional 45 minutes to touch the carving.
We saw the tombs of 2 very important ple. After the monastery, we went down to lunch and then walked about 5 minutes to a winery where we had a tour ending in a very informative wine tasting at Oller del Mas, a fantastic wine estate at a 10th century castle.
We returned to Barcelona about 8 p.m. We rested for an hour and then went across the street to an Italian Restaurant for supper. It was raining the hardest it has rained the who time we’ve been in Barcelona.
Wed – 5/11 – Zaragoza – After breakfast we picked up a rental car and hit the road. On the way to this evening’s destination, we made a stop in a small town called Sant Sadurni D’anoia to tour Cavas Freixenet www.freixenetgroup.com
Cava is the champagne of Spain. After the tour and wine tasting, we stopped in the town at Il Picarolo Ristorante and Trattoria for a late luch. The food and views were excellent. We drove along a great highway (with tolls) through beautiful countryside for a few hours to arrive at the AC Marriott in Zaragoa where we ate a quick bite before turning in.
Thurs -5/12- Fiente la Reina – Before leaving Zaragoza, we took a cab downtown. We stopped at the Tourist Information Center at the Plaza Del Pilar then visited the Basilica del Pilar – Our Lady of the Pilar Basilica. www.basilicadelpilar.es We took some pictures of the outside, but unfortunately no photos were allowed inside. It was the prettiest/most impressive cathedra we have been in yet. We stopped to hae a snack and drinks. I got a cup of their thick hotchocolate with churros. Then we caught a cab back to our hotel where we had left the car parked and ready to go. We left Zaragoza headed to the small town of Olite where we ate our lunch and then visited the Royal Palice of Olite. They gave us a map which pointed and explained over 20 rooms. www.guiartehavarra.com or www.facebook.com/palaciorealdeolite
We continued on to the village of Puente La Reina which is situated on the Camino de Santiago – the “Way of St. James”. This is one of Europe’s ultimate pilgramage routes. This particular camingo is also called the Camino Francés as it starts just inside France and goes about 500 miles across northern Spain ending at Santiago de Compostela.
In addition to this town, the camino also goes through Pamplona and Burgos. Puente La Reina was named for a bridge in the center of town. There is a church in town called the Church o the Crucification with a stork’s nest on its steeple which was founded by the Knights of St. John in the 12th century. There is a distinctive “Y” shaped crucifix in the church which is believed to have been carried here from Germany. The main street leads to the “Bridge of the Queen” for which the town was named. Since many pilgrims stay in the Hotel Jakque, there was a laundry and we got to do a load and have clean clothes again.
Fri – 5/13 – Laguardia by way of Pamplona – When we left Puente la Reina, we decided to backtrack a little by going to Pamplona – famous for its running of the bulls. We were looking for a bust of Ernest Hemingway along the route of the bulls – but finally found a full-size statue of him in one of his favorite restaurants, Café Iruña. (Sorry, the picture is a little blury)
We ate lunch at a restaurant called Olé Pamplona which is right across the plaza from the city hall where the fiesta de San Fermin begins on July 6 of this year.
After lunch, we drove to Laguardia where we toured Bodegas Carlos San Pedro Pérez de Vinaspre. This is a small family-operated vineyard. They have moved their winemaking to a new facility outside of town, but still store about 50 barrels of wine in the caves under the building. There are over 300 caves under this town. The family has been making wine in this area for over 500 years. The wine stays in barrels for 22 months, the all of the barrels are transferred into large concrete vats.
They use oak from both the U.S. and France as they impart different flavors. Those flavors blend naturlly in the concrete vat – they do not agitate it. After 8 months in the concrete, the wine is transferred to bottles for 14 more months of aging. We were given a tast of the wine taken out of the concrete vat. Our guide explained that they choose to do that because no one else but visiters to their facility get to taste their wine at this stage.
They also sellwine cosmetics: anti-wrinkle fluid; abdomen reducer, exfoliant, and body milk. They don’t wxport, but you can order on-line for shipment to the U.S. www.bodegascarlossampedro.com We checked into our hotel – Hotel Wine Oil Spa Villa de Laguardia and immediately went to schedule appointments at the spa. All options for food on-site – the restaurant, the bistro and room service – wereno open for supper until 8:30 p.m. We went to the Bistro just before 9. After supper – bedtime.
Sat – 5/14 – Lerma – Before leaving the Hotel Wine Oil Spa Villa, Rick and I went to the on-site spa to use their jacuzzi pol 90-minute circuit which included many different types of bubbles in addition to showers, sauna and steam room. It was very nice. While we were doing that, Joe and Casey had a session in a jacuzzi filled with wine. They both liked it, but Casey said the wine stained her bathing suit. We drove to Lerma where the two couples had reservations in different hotels. El Zaguan was our destination. It was about 5 short blocks away from Joe and Casey’s hotel. El Zaguan was a lovely old hotel, but the ower didn’t speak any English. Rick managed to commnicate with him with the help of his son via the telephone. We met Joe and Casey for supperat their hotel where Joe and Rick got the roast lamb and said it was delicious.
Sun – 5/15 – La Vid y Barios – After breakfast we returned to the car with a mid-way destination of a small town called Peñafiel to see a castle and wine museum.
The castle was built high on a hill in the shape of a boat.
We paid 9€ each for a tour of the 16th century castle, entrance to the Provincial Wine Museum of Valladolid and a wine tasting including 1 white and 3 reds.
We liked the white so well that we bought a couple of bottles to take with us. After lunch in town, we continued on to La Vid y Barrios and checked in to El Lagar de Isilla and had supper on the grounds. This was a very interesting Hotel as they used parts of wine bottles for lots of unusual things. For instance, the neck of a wine bottle was a toilet tissue holder. This door into a conference room was also decorated with parts of bottles.
Mon -5/16 – After eating breakfast in the hotel dining room, we took an on-site win tour. The tour was very interesting. We learned that this vineyard moves the wine into about 3 diffent barrels in the first year because each manufacturer’s barrel imparts a little different taste to the wine.
Most of the wine stays in a barrel for 1 year and then is transferred to a bottle for another year of fermentation.
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Madrid
Mon -5/16
We arrived at our hotel, the Ibis Madrid Central, about 4:30 in the afternoon and got settled in for our 3-night stay. Later, we walked a few blocks down to a plaza filled with people and ate a pizza at an outside table enjoying the nice evening.
Tues – 5/17 – We took a taxi to the Royal Palace and were very impressed with its size and contents. According to Rick Steve’s guide, this is the third largest palace in Europe. Philip II made a wooden fortress on this site. When it burned down, the current palace was built by King Philip V. He was the grandson of Louis XIV and was raised in Versailles, so he wanted his palace to match its oppulance. Today’s palace has 2,800 rooms and though the royal family does not live here, it is used for formal state receptions, as well as royal weddings and funerals. One of the rooms was being set up for a concert later in the day.
Our next stop was the Museum of Ham which is not really a museum – but a lunch place. Ham, aka Jamón, holds a very special place in the hearts of the Spanish. We were seated in a very nice dining room.
From there we walked to the Plaza Mayor and then took a long walk (downhill) to the botanical gardens. But, we managed to miss the entrance to the walled garden, so we went to the much larger Park del Buen Retiro. Casey had heard that there was a lake in this park, so we set off to find it.
We were very pleased to find a bar next to the lake where we could sit in the shade for a few minutes sipping a cool drink. We also got to listen to some nice guitar music while resting.
Then, after a short walk, we caught a cab to the Plaza de Toros. Madrid usually only has bull fights on Sundays, but they have a festival in May/June where they have bull fights every evening. We arrived about 5:30 – thinking the fights started at 5:00 and lasted until 7:00. But, when the guys got up to the ticket window,there were told that the fights (6 each night) started at 7 p.m., so we walked across the street to find a place to sit and sip a cold drink.
We had a really good view from the 3rd row in the 3rd tier of the stadium and all agreed that the fights were not as grusome as we expected. We stayed for 3 of the 6 fights, but people were smoking cigars and cigarettes all aroud us, so we decided to leave early.
After supper a block away from the hotel, we walked a block in the other direction to have desert at Crepes and Waffles – um, um, good. www.crepesywaffles.com.es
Wed – 5/18 – We started our day at the National Archeological Museum and then got on the hop-on-hop-off bus to get a 1-hour tour of the historic part of city from the top of a double-decker bus with descriptions of the sights in English. We got off the bus to have lunch and then returned for a second trip – this time to the modern section of town. We returned to our hotel and after a short rest, we gathered up our dirty laundry and went to a launderette. While the clothes were washing and drying, we enjoyed a couple of glasses of wine at the corner bar.
Thurs -5/19 – Burgos – We said goodbye to Madrid and were all ready for a slower pace. We drove through the country-side for about an hour when we stopped for fuel and noticed a restaurant next door. Casey was hungry, so we decided to make it our lunch stop. Each couple ordered a pork and cheese sandwich and we were pleasantly surprised that to find that the “pork” was what we think of as a slice of ham. All the other ham we have eaten has been paper thin, but this slice was almost ½ inch thick and it was good. Back in the car for another hour and a half, we reached our destination, Mesón El Cid which sits directly across the square from the amazing gothic cathedral of Burgos www.cathedraldeburgos.es The cathedral was started in the 13th century and worked on for hundreds of years after that. It seems to take up an entire city block.
We had supper in the hotel’s restaurant. The restaurant is in an old house. The pamphlet says that the house was used in 1483-1489 as a printing house publishing the first edition of the Celestina newspaper. www.mesondelcid.es
Fri – 5/20 – Bilbao – Before leaving Burgos, Rick and Joe went out for coffee and pastries and brought some back to Casey and me. Then, we all went shopping around the square. Rick and I bought a new suitcase because one of our hangup bags got ruined in the rain in Barcelona. Joe and Casey left something for Stephanie Zokos who will be walking the Camino de Santiago later this month. Stephanie aka Eleni, is our friend Bill Baker’s granddaughter. We stopped somewhere between Burgos and Bilbao for lunch. There was no menu – just order from a list of first course, second course and desert course for 10€. We explained that the 4 of us wanted to share 2 meals and they were happy to accommodate us. After lunch, we piled back into the car and headed for the Atlantic coast. We drove into Bilbao (rhymes with cow) and checked in to the very nice Carlton Hotel www.hotelcarlton.es which was right across the plaza from the Governor’s mansion. Then we walked several blocks to the Guggenheim Museum.
The building, itself, is just as interesting as the art displayed inside. It was designed by Frank O. Gehry and is a combination of many shapes and materials including limestone, titanium and glass walls. It has artwork displayed on 3 different levels including masterpieces and Any Warhol art. At the current time, they have a temporary exhibit, on the second floor, of art by Louise Bourgeois. She apparently had a very traumatic childhood and that is reflected in her art.
The tickets are normally 13€, but our hotel gave us free tickets. Then we had to pay 2€ for the audio guide of the museum. They also had several large art pieces displayed outside of the museum. You can learn more about this museum at www.guggenheim-bilbao.es
Sat -5/21 – Elorrio – We left Bilbao and arrived at Elorrio before 1:00. Our hotel – Hotel Elorrio – said that their restaurant was closed for a wedding, so we walked a short distance to a restaurant called Navarra which was just next to a very old church. The dining room was not open yet, so we shared a bottle of wine in the downstairs bar before going up for lunch.
We have reservations this evening in a “world famous” Michelin two-star restaurant tonight, so we wanted a light lunch. They were gracious enough to let us order off of the bar’s snack menu which was not normal. When we finished our lunch, we looked around the church which had a plaque indicating that it had been there since 1003. We were picked up by a private car and taken to the restaurant Etxebarrifor the 8:30 seating. In the bottom floor of the building there is a small lounge where everyone congregated until 8:30. Then we were all taken to the second floor to be seated for dinner.
We ordered 2 tasting dinners which included about 15 different items. Casey took a picture of the menu. If you click on the picture, you might be able to read the menu.
We couldn’t believe that we ate everything. We didn’t get back to the hotel until 12:30 a.m.
San Sebastion
Sun – 5/22 – We awoke to rain and a chill in the air. We drove through the mountains and down to the shore of the Atlantic Ocean where we checked into our hotel HUSA EUROPA www.husa.es. After getting settled in our rooms, we walked about 2 blocks down to the Bay of Conchos. Even with spitting rain and gusty wind, it was beautiful.
We ate lunch overlooking the water at La Pearla and then walked the promenade to the old town which is famous for its tapas bars, so we felt like we had to visit a few. We walked into a plaza where they were setting up a stage for some kind of concert. We noticed big numbers over the balcony doors of all of the apartments. I read in Rick Steve’s guidebook that this is the Plaza de la Constitution and that they used to have bull fights in this plaza. Even if you owned one of the apartments, the city retained the right to use the balconies as box seats for people to sit and watch the fights. The apartment owners could stand and look over their shoulders. This evening we walked to a nearby Italian restaurant called Momma Mia aka La Mamma www.lamammadonosti.com . San Sebastion is in the Basque region of Spain and they also speak a Basque language. In that language, the city is called Donasti which the Basques shorten to Donosti.
Mon – 5/23 – We had a lot of nice weather today. We walked to two markets, both old and new and a very pretty cathedral with an amazing gothic steeple. We wandered through Old Town some more, then rested in our room for a few hours before going out to supper. Joe had found a restaurant he thought we’d like, so we walked a couple of blocks and went in. We were greeted by a nice young man who asked if we preferred Spanish, French or English. When we said English – he said you’re in luck. Every Monday night they serve only one themed dinner and tonight it was American food. We said thank you but goodbye. We ended up eating at a Chinese restaurant where we enjoyed our last supper in Spain.
Next stop – France
