Friday, September 23, 2016
First Day in Burlington
Halifax to Burlington
Ann and I were in a relaxed mode while winding down from our Road Scholar tour of the Maritime Provinces. We were able to sleep in and then go to breakfast at our leisure. No more intense schedules to meet. We saw many of our tour group at breakfast so we were able to say our good-byes to them. All of them were leaving Halifax today, trickling out the door two-by-two to take taxis to the airport. Our ride arrived at 11:00. Airport taxis are not typical. They are nice private cars similar to those of Uber drivers. They are expensive because of the long distance to the airport. It takes well over a half hour to get there. The route goes past lots of vacant land where you would think that an airport could be built much closer to the city.
Ann and I had separate flights. She was traveling to San Francisco via Toronto. I was traveling to Burlington via Newark. We checked in at our different airlines and then went to the small food court to have lunch. After that we had to split up. If you fly from Halifax to the US, you go through US customs before going through security. It seems strange to see US agents in Canada. I was able to use my new Global Entry for the first time. It was flawless. I still had to talk to the customs agent which was eerie. He asked me some basic questions and then asked me to identify my checked bag which showed up on his monitor. I didn't know that they could do that.
Both of our flights left around 2:00. My two planes were configured with a single seat on one side and double seats on the other side of a very narrow aisle. It took two hours to get to Newark where I had over two hours to walk around and have a good sandwich at the Earl of Sandwich. Then I had another 1 1/2 hours flight to Burlington. I arrived in very warm temperatures. The hotel picked me up in its van. I checked in, picked up my bicycle which had been shipped earlier and went to the pub that is attached to the hotel. Being Thursday night with the Patriots playing on TV and being in New England where there are avid Patriots fans, I couldn't find a seat to order a snack and a beer. So I went back to my room, found something to eat in my backpack and dumped all of my dirty clothes from the previous tour into the hotel's washing machine, caught up on Internet things and read a book until my laundry was done. I also had a couple of freshly baked cookies that the hotel puts out every evening.
Bedtime was early.
Friday, March 11, 2016
March 11 - Ft Lauderdale
We had a late breakfast this morning. We had it outside on the dock. Almost the same menu as yesterday except Ann had oatmeal. Coffee, fresh berries, English muffins, etc. The couple sitting next to us were from Holland. They are going on the same cruise as we are. This is where we ate:
We needed some exercise, so we took a long walk over to the shopping/restaurant area along Las Olas Blvd. We crossed a couple of bridges and passed several waterways with nice houses and large yachts.
Coconut palms lined the road. Our goal was to walk far enough so that we would be hungry enough for lunch. Our secondary goal was to see as much as we could of this district which was touted as the best shopping and eating area of Ft Lauderdale. We were a bit disappointed. There were some nice shops and galleries. Ann even browsed one of the stores to see if she could get a fancy dress for gala nights on the cruise. No luck. We managed to get hungry, though. We stopped at a cafe where Ann had a good flatbread open-faced sandwich with sweet potato fries. I had half of a Cuban sandwich and a salad. Our lunch specials included a large and very tasty brownie.
We debated whether to take the bus back or to walk. We decided to retrace our route and walk back to the beach. Along the way, we crossed the same bridges as before. This time I took a photo of the control house for the drawbridge with a water taxi going underneath it.
Our route back to the hotel included a stop at CVS for a few supplies. Then we lazed around the pool until it was time for dinner.
We had an OK meal at the Quarterdeck. My blackened shrimp tacos were pretty good and the local mango IPA was tasty. Ann's turkey burger was blah and her margarita was weak. We ate outside on a slider table. (Ask when we get home). There were some tanked up obnoxious people around us and we'll as major traffic passing us. This was one of life's experiences.
Our walk back to the hotel was along the beach. The bars were active.
Posted with BlogsyThursday, March 10, 2016
March 10 - Ft Lauderdale
This morning we had a very good breakfast - mixed fresh berries, granola with yoghurt, English muffins and coffee. We ate in the small dining room. Tomorrow we will have our breakfast on the "dock" watching the boats sail past.
As we walked back to the hotel, we couldn't help but notice how the crowd on the beach had multiplied. Hundreds of kids were milling around doing what kids do. Lots of posturing and posing. We are happy that we left that art of our lives 50+ years ago.
It's now getting close to bedtime so I am signing off. Hopefully this post will go out tonight. Internet is a bit flakey here.
Monday, August 17, 2015
Reedsport to Bandon
I rode out to the end of the road today. Because I couldn't go any farther, I stopped at Cape Arago State Park. I didn't see the Golden Hinde. Sir Francis Drake pulled out in 1579. It's a good thing that he did because the Pacific was acting up driven by strong winds coming from the north, I think. The skies were clear, though and the temperatures were in the 60s. It felt colder than that.
Let me start from the beginning of the day.
Some of you know that I have been off of my bicycle for about four months so that my clavicle could heal. That has gone well. I feel little pain in my shoulder while riding. The pain that I feel is concentrated in my theighs and in my rear end. I am tempting fate on a multi-day ride with only a couple of weeks to prepare. That's why it's nice to have an accommodating sag driver who can shuttle me when I am ready to get off of my bicycle. Today's ride was scheduled to be 64 miles starting in Reedsport and ending in Bandon. We decided to shuttle to North Bend, 25 miles into the route. We got on our bicycles there and rode on a very scenic part of the route through the picturesque harbor town of Charleston. From there we continued on to the state park passing several beaches and viewpoints. Stopping at one viewpoint, we saw hundreds of California Sea Lions and other seals making lots of noise on the rocky islets near the shore.
Eventually we reached the end of the road where Ann was waiting with the sag wagon and our lunch. My legs and my rear end told me that it would be prudent to stop riding here and shuttle to our next hotel. So I did. Jeff rode on.
When we reached Bandon, we made a strategic stop at the Face Rock Creamery where we had a child's size serving. If you ever stop here, don't order anything larger. The small portion is about a pint of ice cream. And and I lazed here for a while until Jeff showed up. Then we drove to tonight's Best Western.
It was still pretty early, so we decided to take a walk on the beach. The wind was blowing so hard that we didn't last very long.
We had a very good dinner tonight at Alloro Wine Bar and Restaurant, a surprisingly upscale restaurant. My steelhead trout with tapenade was cooked almost perfectly. The sunset on the way back to the motel was spectacular.
Note: I am having a difficult time adding photos using this blogging software.
Sunday, August 16, 2015
Cottage Grove to Reedsport
"The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior that administers more than 247.3 million acres (1,001,000 km2) of public lands in the United States which constitutes one-eighth of the landmass of the country.[2] President Harry S. Truman created the BLM in 1946 by combining two existing agencies: the General Land Office and the Grazing Service.[3] The agency manages the federal government's nearly 700 million acres (2,800,000 km2) of subsurface mineral estate located beneath federal, state and private lands severed from their surface rights by the Homestead Act of 1862.[3] Most BLM public lands are located in these 12 western states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.[4]"
A lot of this land is in Oregon. My son Jeff knows this because he had to get permits to have his bicycle tours go through BLM territory. We saw a lot of this land today as we rode the route for Day 2 of Via Cycling Tours Oregon Coast and Crater Lake tour. The ride started in Cottage Grove and ended in Reedsport. We cut out the first 40 miles of this 90 mile ride by shuttling to the top of the last steep hill.
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Covered bridges, Dorena Lake, Rails-To-Trails Bikeway
I know a lot. I always suspected this but I wasn't reassured until I took a test on Facebook. I was rated at the Phd level. We all know how accurate these tests are. When one of my friends was rated at the Professor level, I was disappointed that my wealth of knowledge was not as rich as hers. I think that I forgot the capital city of one of the African nations. So today I added to my knowledge database.
Did you know that Oregon has 50 historic covered bridges which are among the greatest number in the U.S.? I saw four of them today on the first day of my bicycle tour with Via Bike Scenic Tours on an 8-day ride along the Oregon Coast and up to Crater Lake. My son, Jeff, is the founder of this company. We were far away from the coast today on a beautiful loop from Cottage Grove that circumvented Dorena Lake.
The first half of the ride was on a bicycle trail that followed an old railroad line. It was fairly flat with a gentle rise up to the dam that created the lake. It wandered through heavy fir and alder forests. We saw many other recreational cyclists along the way. They ranged from old like me to very young like my grandchildren were 10 years ago.
When we reached the end of the trail, we retraced our route for a couple miles and then took a main road to cycle back on the other side of the lake. There was only one climb. After reaching the top, we were rewarded with a long fast descent.
The weather was perfect. The sky was clear with only a trace of smoke from the many west coast fires. Temperatures ranged from the low 70s to the low 80s.
The four covered bridges that we saw were not on the heavily traveled roads. Three of them were blocked off from through traffic.
Appropriately, dinner tonight was at Stacy's Covered Bridge Cafe. Salmon and shrimp were our orders.
Saturday, May 30, 2015
May 30 - Vaison to Paris CDG
We said goodbye to our beautiful old hotel this morning. After loading our car with our luggage, we set the GPS to the Avignon TGV station. It got us there in plenty of time to meet our train, but we had to take a few detours because of road construction. A few new (to us) villages were on our route. We checked in the car and walked to the station. On the way, we noticed that a red carpet was laid on the ramp from the platforms. We didn't stand around to see who was coming, but we were curious. It was probably a local politician.
We were lucky to find some of our BAC group in the station waiting for the same train. We killed time with Gail Blanco, Alberto Lanzas, Kathy Koos, Gary Koos and John Petterson. Susan Carroll showed up on the platform just before boarding time.
The train we were on was a high-speed TGV train. The coach that we were on, as well as most of the others, was a double decker. We lugged our bags to the top deck and settled into our reserved first class seats. Even though we rode backwards all the way to CDG, it was very comfortable. Some day I will learn how to reserve seats so that we are seeing where we are going instead of where we have been.
When we arrived at CDG, we were confused because it looked like we hadn't pulled up to the platform. As we realized our mistake, we hustled off of the train before it left for the next stop. Leaving the train station we found the airport's shuttle train, took it to Terminal 3 and went on a short walk to citizenM, our airport hotel. This is a new high tech hotel. We checked in at a computer kiosk. Our room key cards are programmed to work in the elevator, on our room door, in the casual restaurant/bar and other things we are not aware of yet. A mini iPad controls everything in our room including the blinds and shades, the TV, the air conditioning, the lights (on, off, color, etc.) and others. The room is small - similar to a basic stateroom on a cruise ship. Our huge king-sized bed is squeezed into the end of the room with the walls on both sides and the window at the end. It's going to be interesting answering nature calls in the middle of the night. The shower is terrific with a hand-held spray as well as a wonderful large overhead sprayer.
We had dinner in the restaurant/bar. The buffet wasn't too bad.
We will be up early tomorrow to prepare for our 10:40 flight.
Friday, May 29, 2015
May 27-29 - Vaison and Vicinity
On Wednesday the 27th, we took the express bus into the Avignon TGV station and picked up a rental car after a quick lunch at the station. We programmed the GPS to take us on part of the first day cycling route. This worked well as we saw some good scenery from nice cycling roads.
Back in Vaison, I had to navigate the car through very narrow cobblestone streets, under an ancient arch that must have built for skinny horse cart, around two sharp turns and into our hotel's parking area. I did all of this while skirting pedestrian traffic. The parking area is perpendicular to the street with five long slots. Cars double up in each strip, so there is room for ten. When people with one of the boxed in cars wants to leave, the desk clerk must move the blocking car. When we come out in the morning, our car is in a different a lot.
On Thursday the 18th, we went on a road trip with Marlene Wong and Gary Hsueh. We decided to follow two of the cycling routes. The first one was to the gorges. This was supposed to be an out-and-back route, but fortunately our GPS routed us out a different way through beautiful alpine country. We found our way to the real route after having lunch in a small village. The gorges were gorgeous. The road wound down between high cliffs through tunnels and around switchbacks. Lots of cyclists were on the road going both ways. Several of them had electric assisted bicycles.
Our second route had lots of climbing with marvelous vistas. We joked about the many different views that we had of Mt Ventoux. The highlight of this route was our stop at Gary and Marlene's favorite boulangerie. We had some very good pastries.
At Happy Hour, we took our group photo. It is difficult to fit 40 people into a photo where everyone's face is visible. But we did it on a steep pathway across from the hotel. I will have to photo-shop my face into it later.
On Friday the 29th, Ann and I took another road trip on the Nyons loop. The route was on several outstanding cycling roads with very little traffic. We saw a bunch of vineyards and olive groves. New vistas were very scenic. We had lunch on a patio in Nyons under a canopy. That was fortunate because it was getting very warm and we needed the shade. Ann had another salad while I had mini ravoli. The food was very good.
We followed the cycling route back to the hotel.
Final Happy Hour tonight and final dinner in the patio. Afterwards, we went to Dan and Emily's cafe for tea and music.
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
May 26 - Vaison la Romaine Market Day
For the cyclists, this was an official rest day. For everyone, it was market day. Each Tuesday the streets are blocked off and vendors from everywhere set up their booths. People from everywhere come to town to shop. Food, clothes, appliances, plants and more are being sold. More specifically, we saw pottery, clothes, soap (mostly lavender), candy, roasted chickens, hardware, many varieties of sausage, honey, olives, belts and wallets, mattresses, sewing machines, fruit, vegetables, fish, meat, sun glasses, purses, hats, kitchen supplies, spices, flowers, plants, garden supplies and more.
We spent at least three hours there before heading back to the hotel.
Dinner was on our own tonight. We went to La Lyriste which was recommended by the hotel owners. Our meal was very good. I started with a mousse of some kind of cheese. The color was pink. Even so, it was very tasty. I had veal as a main course while Ann had salmon. Dessert was a wonderful chocolate concoction for me a creme brûlée for Ann.
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
May 25 - Vaison la Romaine
We had an interesting day. After sleeping in and having a late breakfast, we decided to walk into town to find a pharmacy that might have some drugs to fight my head cold. We discovered that today was a holiday and the pharmacies were closed. We then trudged up the hill to the Super U, The local super market. We thought that we could buy some decongestant and Tylenol there. The French laws say NO to that. Luckily, there was a pharmacy across the street that was open. We got some drugs and were a bit unsure about them. (I used the expectorant and it worked really well to diuretic. Not as well as a decongestant).
Back in town, we stopped at a cafe on the town square for a long lunch. I had a salad nicoise while Ann ate a whole eggplant pizza. We sat outside on a warm afternoon. I wore shorts for the first time in France. The reason the lunch was long is because several people from our cycling group sat next to us. We schmoozed.
We had some downtime at the hotel. Then we walked around our ancient town area dropping into a couple of art galleries thinking that we might find a print as a souvenir. The prints that we saw were too abstract or of non-Provençal scenes. We did not buy any. Watercolors by an artist who we liked were not in the galleries that we visited.
It was time for Happy Hour and then dinner al fresco on the dining terrace. We started with three colors vegetables terrine. Our main course was cod Isabelle sauce. For dessert we had oven-grilled raspberry zabaglione.
Returning to our room, we followed up on unhappy messages about our dog, KD. We had a difficult time sleeping.
Katherine Dog - 2001(?) - 2015
KD has herded her last person. Old age in dog years caught up to her. We received several messages last night when we were enjoying ourselves in Vaison la Romaine. When we contacted our house/pet sitter, we found that KD was in emergency care. We talked to the veterinarian and learned that her condition was serious. We had to make the difficult decision to end her life. We are tremendously grateful to Mary Jackson and Ellen and John Benson who comforted her in her last moments. We were happy that part of her tribe was there. We are very sad that we were not.
KD was a sweet dog. She loved all of our friends and relatives, especially our grandchildren. She was protective of us in her later years and once chased buglars out of our house.
We will miss her a lot, but we will bask in the good memories of her.
Monday, May 25, 2015
May 24 - The Assault of Mt Ventoux
This was the day all of the cyclists were training for. It was the day of the climb of Mt Ventoux. This is one of the most famous climbs in Europe and is often featured on the Tour de France. Today the tour wannabes could show that they could climb with the pros. The weather could not have been better. It was warm at the bottom and cool at the top without any of the infamous winds that the mountain is known for. I was insanely jealous that my broken clavicle kept me from riding.
Syd was nice enough to drive four of us along the route. We passed all of the BAC riders on our way to the summit except Vic Deornelas. Vic decided to climb the whole way without a rest stop. The summit was in chaos. Being Sunday and having nice weather, the legion of cyclists (More than 1000) were making the ascent. In addition a lot of cars and motorcycles were doing it. It was crowded but the chaos was controlled without any short tempers or accidents. We were able to find a parking place. We got out of the car and found Vic sitting down and smiling. After congratulating him, we walked over to the top of the hill and began taking photographs of our riders as they arrived. This took a couple of hours and we could gradually feel the 40 degree temperature penetrating our layers of clothing.
Each of our riders stayed at the summit to cheer the next ones up. Before everyone descended, I took a group photo. This is only 11 of the riders, mostly from the Bay Area and mostly Valley Spokesmen. Several others made it to the summit but had not reached it before we left.
The five of us got back into the car, drove on the route down another road from the mountain to Malaucene for lunch. Our restaurant was one where Syd had become friends with the owner after going there for several years. Pasta carbonara for me and tomato and mozzarella salad for Ann. Lots of wine, too. Did you know that good rose is made here?
At Happy Hour, our hotel owner talked about the history of the hotel.
Dinner was in the enclosed patio again. We started with salt cod "brandade" milfoil with fine herbs. Our main course was preserved lamb with onions and tomatoes. Desert was golden apple and bourbon vanilla in batter pushing. We had quiet dinner conversations although I am losing my voice due to a head cold.
May 23 - Vaison la Romaine
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| The Roman Amphitheater |
A fact that I should have known is that Vaison has the largest archaeological site in Europe. Because we were not cycling, we decided to visit these ancient Roman ruins. We walked down the hill from our hotel, crossed over the river on the old Roman bridge, walked up the pedestrian street toward the visitor center and entered the first archaeological site. Paying our entry fee, we walked to the museum and rented audio guides. We toured the museum first where we saw many relics dug up from the site. Next, we walked to to huge amphitheater that seated at least 2,000 people. Then we walked past ruins of huge houses of wealthy people and exited the site to find lunch. We kept our audio guides because there was a lot more to see in the city.
We had a decent lunch on the main square at the same cafe that had the piano bar the night before. We then set off to discover more Roman ruins and some very old churches. I was surprised to see the large size of the second set of ruins.
We covered a lot of ground in our archaeological tour and were tired from walking. So we went back to the first archaeological site and turned in our audio guides. Then we walked back to the hotel for some downtime.
We had a special Happy Hour tonight. Syd invited an owner of a local tea shop to entertain us. He is Dutch and now lives in Vaison. He played a guitar and harmonica to accompany his singing. We heard several songs. Some were his own and some were folk classics.
We adjourned for dinner. It was warm enough to have our meal in the hotel's enclosed courtyard. Our meal was started with sweet red pepper bavarois and green couloirs. The main course was filleted guinea fowl breast with thyme juice. Dessert was caramel custard. It was really pleasant to eat outside away from the echo chamber in the main dining room. We could hear each other and have a normal conversation.
Saturday, May 23, 2015
May 20 - 22 Avignon and Vaison la Romaine
May 20 - Avignon to Vaison la Romaine
There was no pressure to get up this morning. Our next deadline was at 3:00 when we needed to leave for the TGV station to meet our BAC tour. After breakfast, we checked out of our room, left our luggage at the hotel and went exploring. Our first stop was at Musee Calvert. We were given audio guides as part of our entry fee. The guide led us into a section of Northern Masters - paintings by Flemish, Dutch and German artists in the 15th century and later. I have seen enough of this style in the many museums we have previously visited, so I was disappointed. Then we entered a section of French impressionists. It was a good collection of Paris painters in the late 19th through the mid-20th century. I really enjoyed this exhibit.
When our museum tour was finished, it was time for lunch. We tried to eat at a recommended restaurant close to the museum, but it was sold out. We walked a short distance to E. A. T. - Estaminet Aromes et Tentations. The temperature was a little cool so we wanted to eat inside. No luck. We sat at a table outside on a very quiet street. The sun was out, so it slowly warmed up and was comfortable. Our food was wonderful. Ann had chicken breast with couscous. I had grilled pork with quinoa mixed with fresh vegetables. Our sauces were very good. For dessert, I had chocolate fondant while Ann had cheesecake. While eating our meal, two couples from our tour and Bay Area residents walked by and chatted for a few minutes.
After lunch we went back to our hotel for downtime. Then we gathered our luggage and took a taxi to the TGV station to meet our tour. Gail Blanco and Alberto Lanzas were there with their BAC signs so we had no trouble finding our group. A good percentage of our group is from the Bay Area and members of Valley Spokesmen. After several weeks in Spain and France, it was nice to see some familiar faces.
We loaded our bus and were on the road to Vaison la Romaine right on time at 4:00. Heavy traffic and a detour caused us to be a bit late arriving in Vaison. Syd Smoot and Ken Keeler, our ride directors, were so organized that the late arrival caused no problems. The people that rented bicycles were fitted and the people that brought their bicycles assembled them in short order. Our Happy Hour and dinner at the hotel were on time. We sat at a dinner table with Gail and Alberto along with Sandy Owen and Mike Tiller from Bloomington, Indiana. We had a good dinner conversation but some of it was lost in the loud noise of 40 people talking in a small room.
May 21 - Vaison
Because Ann and I were not riding, we had an opportunity to sleep in this morning. Our breakfast was in an empty breakfast room because everyone else was ready to ride. The weather was cold and very windy. We were happy to be in a warm hotel. Our hotel, Hostellerie le Beffroi, is a wonderful place to stay. We have a large, antique-furnished room called Jumelle. There are no room numbers. We get to it by climbing an old narrow irregular circular stone staircase. It is very quiet both from the street and from the other guests. Here is a short description of the hotel: "A residence built in 1554, this family house has been modernized and lovingly furnished by the owners of the past fifty years". We love it.
Ann and I spent most of the morning trying to find our way around the newer section of the city. Our objective was to find somewhere where we could rent a car so that we could explore the surrounding area. The recommended place was strangely in a supermarket. When we finally found the market, we discovered that there were no cars available. Thinking positively, we were not too disappointed because we got a walking tour of the city and we can discover it in depth in the next few days.
The cold wind was getting to us, so we trekked back to our hotel and dropped off maps, cameras and non-essential items. Then we went to lunch at a restaurant just below the hotel. We sat at a table next to the window and had a wonderful view of the city and the river far below us. We split a large salad and a salmon pizza with dill sauce. It sounds odd but it was tasty.
We older folks need downtime, so we spent most of the afternoon in our room by reading and dozing.
Happy Hour was at 6:00. Our theme tonight was self-introductions. We now know who everyone is in theory. It will take a couple of days to verify that. We had a fresh salad for dinner along with chicken and a pear tart for dessert.
May 22 - Vaison
It was sunny this morning and the hotel decided to serve breakfast on its patio. We arrived after the cyclists had left. The wind had started to pick up and it was too cold to eat outside. So we had breakfast inside with Gary Hsueh, Marlene Wong and Cathleen Deornelas. Gary and Marlene were just engaged in a romantic setting at the Eiffel Tower.
Ann and I went on a walk in our ancient part of the city. We climbed cobblestone streets and rocky paths to the medieval fortress at the top of the hill. The decaying fortress was boarded up to keep people from going in and getting hurt. The panoramic view from the hill were fantastic.
We slowly picked our way down from the fortress and wandered back to our hotel on ancient paths past beautiful gardens and very old stone buildings. By the time we arrived, it was close to lunchtime. We ate at a creperie below the hotel. Spinach, ratatouille and sucre were our choices. Although the restaurant had outside seating with a panoramic view, it was too cold for us. We ate inside.
Downtime was welcome until our batteries were recharged. We decided to stretch our legs and walk down the hill and over the Roman bridge into town. Our objective was to find some souvenirs. We didn't find any that we liked, but we did find some of our cycling group that had returned from the day's ride. We had various chats to get acquainted and to pass the time.
Happy Hour was at 6:00. Dinner was at 7:00. We sat with Kathy and Bob Strain and talked about their post-Provence plans in France, Spain and Germany. Our meal started with melon with Beaumes de Venise Muscat (carved melon with Muscat wine). Our main course was Saumon a l'oseille du jardin (salmon with sorrel sauce from the garden). For dessert we had fresh fruit salad.
Someone announced that there was a piano bar in town, so a bunch of us walked to the main square to the cafe with the music. We all ordered drinks and started conversations. It was much easier to hear what people were saying than it was in our dining room. We never heard the music because the musicians were either on a break or had stopped for the night. When Ann and I finished our wine, we walked back to the hotel. Bedtime was after 11:00.
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
May 19 - Avignon
Whenever I go to a city that is new to me, it takes me a day or two to get oriented. I keep telling myself to take a designed walking tour or a guided one on the first full day. And if I take a guided tour, it should have a theme and fill one of my major touring objectives. So I signed us up for the Avignon Gourmet Tour. Most of you know that food is an important focus in my travels and this tour was perfect. It wasn't offered on our first day. If it were, we would have visited more Avignon secrets while we were here.
Our guide was a local resident. She spoke perfect English which she immersed herself in during a four-year stay in Ireland. It was an overcast and sometimes rainy morning in our three-hour walk. We not only learned some history of Avignon and Provence, but we visited several artisan shops in the narrow winding streets of the old part of town. We visited and sampled products from a chocolate maker, a coffee seller, a bakery specializing in Fougasse, a patisserie for croissants, Les Halle - an indoor market where we sampled olives, cheese, tomatoes, breads, a pork spread and strawberries - and a wine shop. It was a fantastic tour and it filled us enough so that we didn't need lunch.
Around mid-afternoon, Ann and I needed a snack. We wandered into the narrow streets again and found a creperie where we had some decadent sweet crepes.
After that we had some downtime at the hotel.
Dinner was at a restaurant recommended by our guide. At Le 46, Ann had grilled duck while I had pasta with shellfish. I am not sure what shellfish I had, but they might have been cockles.
It's now closing in on 10:00 and looks likes a rare early bedtime for this trip.
Monday, May 18, 2015
May 18 - Avignon
I skipped blogging on May 17 because it only involved a train ride from Madrid. When we arrived at the TGV station, we had prepaid tickets for the short train ride into the city. It was so late that we decided to take a taxi instead. The cab ride was less expensive than our train tickets and the driver was very friendly. We checked into our hotel and immediately went to dinner across the main square from our hotel. Ann had lamb shanks and I had duck breast. We were really hungry after the train ride with awful cafeteria food to eat. Bed time was after midnight.
We started our morning with the hotel's breakfast buffet. It had lots of fresh fruit and eggs along with breads, cereals, coffee, etc. Then we toured the Pope's palace which is the main attraction here. Then it was back to the Place de l'Horloge for lunch. Eating outside on the square, Ann had chicken and a cheese plate. I had smoked salmon and a French traditional steak with fries.
After lunch we walked to Pont d'Avignon to see the view of the palace from the end of the bridge. From there we climbed to gardens above the palace and meandered back to our room.
Dinner was on a side street away from the touristy square. Ann had a really good vegetarian pie while I had a hamburger. Afterward, we stopped for ice cream.
Saturday, May 16, 2015
MY 16 - Madrid
I was still dozing this morning when I noticed that Ann was sitting up in bed reading her emails on her iPhone. When she told me that it was almost 9:00, I couldn't believe it. But believe it I did and we hustled down to the breakfast buffet and squeezed in with all of the other tourists. We had booked a "free" walking tour with OGO Tours and were under pressure to meet it on time.
The tour started in the Plaza Puerto del Sol which is just outside our hotel. The photo on the left is Ann waiting for the tour to start. Notice that she has on a long sleeve shirt. It was a little cool.
Our tour guide was very good. She spoke excellent English and relayed a lot of information to us. She pointed out all of the historical sites that we passed and gave us good background about them. She also pointed out the popular restaurants and snack places. I wish we could have taken this tour when we arrived, but it would have been too hot. Free tours like this one usually have entertaining and informative guides because they love their city and they are working for tips so they try harder. I recommend this one.
When the tour was done, it was lunchtime. Ann and I went back to one of the spots the guide recommended. Museo del Jamon has 0,90€ cervesas and 1,00€ ham sandwiches balled bocadillos. That's what we had while standing up in a very crowded bar. Two friendly matrons were looking out for us and made sure that our camera and purse were protected. It's not a museum. It's a bar.
Ann went back to the room while I walked to Calle Cadiz to get a haircut from Luis, an immigrant from Taiwan. He renamed himself because he didn't think that anyone could pronounce her s real name. This was a a real contrast from haircuts that I get at home. He first washed my hair. Then he used scissors and several types of clippers to cut my hair. When he was finished with cutting, he washed my hair again and then touched up several spots with scissors and clippers. All of this for 10,00€. Super Cuts can't compete. Ann says that I look younger which is a real compliment to him.
At snack time, we went down the street to Chocolateria San Gines for churros con chocolate. Churros are long thin tubes of deep fried dough. They are served with cups of very thick hot chocolate in which you dip them. It's a good sugar high that you don't want to take your kids to have.
We had another tapas dinner tonight. We shared a big salad, eggs Florentine with chorizo and pimentos with anchovies. From our guide this morning we learned that if there are lots of servettes (napkins) on the floor of a tapas bar, it is popular. They get swept up periodically. That means that the first tapas bar that we went to last night with its dirty floor was retry good. You could have fooled me. Tonight's bar was fairly clean.
After dinner, we strolled with the locals. It's now around 10:30, so we are closing down for the day.
Friday, May 15, 2015
May 15 - Toledo
We were the first guests at the breakfast buffet. It was much calmer. After that we took Metro to the train station and caught the train to Toledo. The temperature had drastically cooled off, so we decided to walk from the station up the hill to the town center. Our destination was the famous cathedral. We had trouble finding it because signage was bad and the streets were so narrow and the buildings so high that we couldn't see the steeple. We eventually found it.
We paid our entry fee and with the included audio guide, we entered the building. I can't describe it. It is one of the best gothic cathedrals in the world. I will add more on our website later. We were impressed with its size and with all of its ornate decorations.
Lunch was at a very good vegetarian restaurant. Moussaka and lasagne were a welcome change from tapas.
After lunch we walked to the main square and visited the Museum of Santa Cruz. There were a few el Grecos on display. We enjoyed the special exhibit of paintings of people during the Spanish Inquisition better.
We took a bus back to the train station, rode the train back to Madrid and rode Metro back to our hotel. Dinner was at a small restaurant nearby. We split a salad, some croquettes and roasted pimentos. A really good meal. We walked back to our hotel amidst thousands of other people. Our hotel is on the Puerta del Sol which is Milan's equivalent to Times Square without the bright lights. Huge crowds of people stroll here each evening. The normal street entertainers are out, too. This goes on until early morning. We are happy to have sound resistant windows. It's now after 10:30 and we are hearing fireworks and police sirens.
Thursday, May 14, 2015
May 13 - May 14 Madrid
Ann got me going late in the afternoon on the 13th. We noticed that the Prado had free entree from 6:00 to 8:00. Instead of walking there in the heat, we bought Metro tickets and rode the underground. When we surfaced, it took us a while to find the museum. We lined up with a few hundred bargain hunters and entered the museum about 6:15. We soon were bored with Northern European paintings, so we focused on Harry Bosch, el Greco and Pablo Picasso. This was enough for us as we were herded out of the museum at 8:00.
Rick Steves steered us to a street near the museum for tapas. We went into one of his recommendations and had some good white bean soup. As we were served Ann's salad and my octopus, the place started to fill up. Everyone was turned to the TV were Real Madrid was playing Juventas. It had the same atmosphere as watching the Niners at home. We left with RM leading by 1-0. I don't know who finally won.
We returned to the hotel and got a good night's sleep waking up near 8:00. Our breakfast buffet was adequate and the breakfast room was filled to capacity by all of the tourists staying here.
Our day was loosely planned. We first dropped off our laundry at a nearby laundromat. Everthing that I brought with me needed washing after three weeks or so on the road. Ann was ready too. After that we went to a travel agent in the huge department store near our hotel to make train reservations for Toledo tomorrow. The store also had a supermarket where we bought bananas and oranges for snacks. Then we walked down to the Royal Palace for a spectacular tour. Madrid's Royal Palace is one of the best in Europe. It is still being used by the Spanish monarchy for special occasions. Ann and I agreed that the rooms are much nicer than the ones we saw at Versailles. The audio tour was better, too. There were far fewer tourists.
Back at the hotel for some downtime, we were interrupted by lots of noise outside on our street. There was a parade going on with gigantic figures of kings, queens, attendants and others marching and dancing down the street - kind of like Macy's Thanksgiving parade scaled down. I grabbed my camera and fought through the crowds to get some photos and videos. They will be posted on our website after we get home.
Dinner was at a couple of tapas bars nearby that Rick Steeves recommended. At the first one, I was reluctant to stay because there was a lot of trash on the floor and the wait person was coughing and sneezing. We decided to have one tapa - fried eggplant with a sweet sauce - and leave. The owner saw our Rick Steeves tour book and treated us to some Marsala wine. Hopefully, this killed the cold germs. At the second tapas bar, Ann had BBQ pork skewers and I had some grilled shrimp. We were also treated wth some after dinner liquor. A peasant evening.
It's now after 10:00. The window in our room is open and we can hear the beginning of the night's activity.