Walking around Ile de la Cite

We walked around the island Ile de la Cite in the Seine and into the Latin Quarter today. The weather was intermittent rain and cold wind with a bit of sunshine at times.

This is the narrowest building in Paris.

An artistic view of Notre Dame and the cherry blossoms.

Another pretty view of Notre Dame

The one without the head is St Denis. He allegedly walked 3 miles carrying his head after being beheaded by Roman soldiers for the crime of spreading Christianity.

Really in Paris

Well actually the resort we are staying in is in Vincennes at the end of Metro line one. Today we took in the local street market--combo flea and farmer's market and just walked around this small area.

William bought me some flowers at a flower stand. The clouds look like a painting.

This darling playground was built over the railroad tracks.

William spotted these Corvettes in an auto shop.

Walking in Basque Country

San Sebastian is really laid out for walking with wide sidewalks and a fantastic promenade next to the water. We had a gourmet 3 course lunch from the menu of the day at La Perla at the edge of the bay.

A Little Rain

A Little Wind

A double-decker Carousel-closed this early in the season-but open since 1900

Who is this Basque guy?

This bicycle sculpture was to commemorate the 25th anniversary of San Sebastian and Weisbaden, Germany being sister cities.

Up the funicular to the top of Mount Igeldo

Up at the top

There's that Basque again

We saw team trucks from Milram, Quick Step and Saunier Duval. A mechanic was working on bikes for the time trial tomorrow (last stage of the Vuelta al País Vasco). The mechanic told us that riders from these teams were spending the night at the hotel up here. Nice view but the hotel itself looked a bit old and funky from the outside.

Back down in the funicular and a brisk walk back to our digs at the cute Pension Bellas Artes. Best wireless internet yet.

Up early tomorrow to catch the 6:30AM train to Paris.

Two more Museums and some Walking

We went to El Prado yesterday and the Thyssen today. All this museuming is good background for Paris. We are actually beginning to feel like we know at least a bit about art and art history. We also have done some walking in Madrid, when it wasn't raining.

Some street theater in front of the Post Office tent celebrating stamp collecting.

A nicely decorated building with TP sculpture on air vent.

For those with special feet

This picture is to give ideas for trimming for those with large cedar bushes. Squint to pick out a few tiny people.

These are special wedding suits.

More Madrid Adventures

A full day at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia was highlighted by a huge Picasso exhibit. Favorites included "Head of Bull"

"The Goat"

"Two women running on the beach"

And of course the huge anti war canvas "Guernica"

In the permanent collection we found wonderful works by Miro and Dali. We even watched part of a very strange movie that Dali collaborated on with Brunel.

Thieves are Alive and Well in Madrid

Good-bye little PDA
So we arrive at our hotel after a lovely train ride followed by a crowded metro and I see my purse has been unzipped and the Z22 is gone. So sad. I am busy changing passwords and hoping for the best. I had quite a bit of information in it, but I did have it password protected. It won't open without the password. But I am changing my other web passwords just in case.

Best of Sunsets

Great sunsets just no Margaritas, but Sangria is OK.

Across the street

Yesterday we moved across the street and up the mountainside a bit, the vagarities of timeshare trading. We will be here at the Club Calahonda for eight days in a two bedroom walk up to the 3rd floor in a fairly quiet resort. Reception said that occupancy had been down this winter by rather high percentages. But we have wireless internet access in the room. It has its ups and downs speed-wise, but at least I can do my blog. We overlook a quiet pool and have a vista view to the sea.

From Tarifa to Tangier's or Back to Africa

3/25/2008
We took a tour from the resort to Tangier's. First a bus to the fast ferry then a Moroccan Bus. Our guide in Tangier's was Muhammad and our driver was also Muhammad. A very popular name.
The Cave of Hercules. Used as a dwelling in ancient times and as a quarry for mill stones for grinding olives for olive oil.
Marks of quarrying on walls
William with a half finished stone
the famous outlet
At the lunch stop first a horse show
This horse liked me

The smoke from the shots of the long rifles (I hope they were shooting blanks--probably not)
The belly dancer
Into the Souk where the walking vendors are more persistent than even the ones in Puerto Vallarta
Our guide in traditional jalaba and fez
A show of carpets in a huge shop
Then on to the herb shop where the herbalist will cure all.

Day Two: 3/23/2008

Dawn is clear and beautiful. We have a large one bedroom suite. We meet lots of friendly people at the introduction meeting (free sangria), even some from the USA, though most are Brits. We watch a demo of making paella and have some for lunch.Sunbathing on our grass is relaxing,
then we watch the sunset over Gibralter and Africa (Mt Moses) from the roof. Together known as the pillars of Hercules from the myth that he made the strait at this point.
William tries to spy out something in Africa.
I make a version of paella for dinner. We had bought a raw 1/2 of a small chicken at the Supermercado. I think the chcken had been chased down and run over as it is terribly tough. Usually small means young, but in this case I think it meant stunted.

On the Beach at Mijas-Costa

Arrival: 3/22/2008
Our arrival in Malaga is uneventful until we get to the Avis car rental place. They are on break.
When the girl comes back things go poorly. We want to extend the contract we obtained in France to April 6th, the date of our final return to Malaga. After she tears up the paperwork 4 times, we finally get the price we agreed to in France as a daily rate, extended to the number of days we want now. We are given a lousy map, a ticket for the garage, vague directions to the car, and out the door.
Then we can buy the train tickets from Malaga to Madrid to San Sebastian to Paris. This takes 2 ticket agents, a supervisor, and a long time.
Then we try to find the car. Finally. Of course all the operating instructions are in Spanish.
As we try to exit, the ticket the Avis girl has given us does not work on the unmanned gate. Avis is closed. William buys another ticket and the machine eats it. As William is trying to pry the ticket back out of the machine with a pop top from a soda can, a worker comes by and opens the gate for us.
As we exit the train station, we immediately head in the wrong direction and circle around in Malaga. Every time we try to head toward what looks like a highway we are stopped and redirected by road construction. Signage is minimal. A sign to Cadiz points a way, then no more signs. Finally after numberless rounds and rounds we enter a highway and immediately get on A7 in the wrong direction. We drive a few miles until we find a place that has a clear off and on as that seems the simplest solution.
It is dark as we arrive near the resort, but we spot it, get off at the proper exit, and arrive unscathed at our destination.
As William is unloading the car a wind storm starts to howl.

Blogging in the lobby

I even got a flash drive so I could put up pictures, but this place has no way to use it. We are in the sun at Dona Lola resort on the seaside at Calahonda on the Southern coast of Spain. We are mostly resting and sunning. We did go to Tangier, so we could say we went to Africa. Also saw some flamenco dancing at the resort last night. Saturday we move across the street to another resort for another week. Will see what type of access they have or maybe we can find an Internet cafe. Those are usually cheaper and more accommodating.

Flores de las Fallas

Arrived too late for the fireworks and the bonfire of the Fallas, but the floral tributes to Our Lady of the Forsaken are still on display in the Plaza de la Virgen. The crowd is so thick that we are unable to get further than the doorway of the Basilica of the Virgin. So we crowd watch while sipping dos cafes.

Also we meet up with one of the Holy Week processionals purely by chance.

Valencia Cathedral,
the home of the Holy Chalice, gold with jewels, and the left arm of Santo Vincente the Martyr, patron saint of Valencia, is a study in light white and gold with high windows filled with white and gold mottled glass. The stone pillars, crossed arches and walls are a white/beige sandstone. The crowd is thinner here so we get in to see the chalice and the arm.

Trouble is that most of the city is closed for Holy Week, except for a few restaurants. Even the great Central Market is closed. We tour the restored Silk Merchants Hall and settle for lunch at a Pan's.

Barcelona on the Bus

As with many large cities, Barcelona has a hop on hop off tour bus system. Since we were going to be here for a short time we decided that the bus was the best to get an overview of the city.
Art and fantastical architecture best describes Barcelona.
Hard to get a good shot of the Sagrada Familia Cathedral--under construction for more than 100 years now.
Vichy water at lunch
Notice the ubiquitous security camera
William was ready for this store (really just candy).
Can you find the pigeon ready for a nap?
This heroic statue was labeled Barcelona. A really heroic city.