Category: Travel

Vienna

Having left Budapest first thing in the morning, we were heading west across the Pannonian plain for Austria. After just a few hours on the road we saw the Austrian Alps rising along the horizon, and then we were back alongside the Danube River, just outside Vienna.

After we grabbed lunch we were on our way around Vienna on foot. The first stop was St. Stephan’s Cathedral, a beautiful gothic church in the middle of Vienna. A children’s choir was practicing as we walked through, adding a wonderful backdrop for the high vaulted ceilings, beautiful windows, and gothic architecture.

Like most of the cities we’d visited so far, Vienna has many walkable boulevards. The central part of the city is littered with statues and fountains. From the church, we walked over to Grabenstraße and past the Pestsäule, a beautifully sculpted column, built to commemorate victims of the plague. We saw one street where a famous shoe store catered to the very wealthy (thousands of dollars for shoes made especially for your feet.) Not much further down Grabenstraße was another statue fountain, this one of St Joseph. From there we headed for Michaelplatz and the Hofburg Palace.

Hofburg Palace

Throughout the trip, we’d been hearing about the Austrian based empires that had controlled the area currently made up of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. Now the Hofburg Palace (home of the Austrian empire) was right in front of us; it was kind of weird. Until the end of WWI, this place was the political center for the Austrian Empire. Today, the palace is home to the offices of the Federal President and other important departments of the Austrian government.

Spanish Riding School

Around the corner, we walked by the Spanish Riding School and then stopped by the stables. Here in Vienna was a riding school with horses from the former Yugoslavia. The school didn’t originate in Spain and there aren’t any Spanish instructors…? We found that curious until we discovered that the horses were originally from Spain, hence the “Spanish” riding school. The Lipizzaner horses are now bred in Piber, Austria. Incidentally, you can also catch a carriage ride (without Lipizzan’s) just around the corner from here.

After the riding school, we followed our guide through a tangled web of streets and reached a set of painted stairs outside the Albertina Museum. Apparently, there’s a tradition of painting or repainting the stairs periodically. On our trip, they were painted in rainbow colors. And then we were back on the bus and headed for the hotel.

Our Hilton

The Hilton Vienna Danube Waterfront, in my opinion, was the nicest accommodation for the trip. The rooms were spacious and the location was beautiful. While the prior hotels were located centrally in the various cities we visited, the Hilton was a bit on the outskirts of the city. It actually sits right on the Danube River with a nice view of Vienna International Center across the river to the North. The first thing Julie and I did was jump in the pool to cool off after the warm afternoon hiking around the city.

Vienna Revisited

While the Hilton was along the Danube, the Stadion (Stadium) U-Bahn station was within easy walking distance. So, the following day Julie and I headed into the city on the UBahn – once we figure out how to purchase our tickets from that infernal machine… Once we finally had our tickets, we took the U-Bahn to the Karlsplatz station and explored parts of the city we’d not seen during the Friday trek and revisited other sites.

We made our way back to St. Stephan’s church and then began to explore streets we hadn’t seen the day before. Where we’d gone left on Friday, we turned right on Saturday. At one point we found ourselves in the gardens behind the Hofburg Palace; this is a beautiful and peaceful place to just walk or sit and relax. A short while later we stumbled upon another statue of a lion to get my picture taken with… bonus! We took our time exploring and looking at the public art and architecture of the city. Before we knew it, it was lunchtime!

We grabbed lunch at a cafe near the Opera House and then struck out for the Karlplatz U-Bahn station. Julie wanted to see the Naschmarkt before we returned to the hotel. The Naschmarkt dates from the 16th century with scores of stalls, loads of produce and many restaurants. The market was a short walk from the Karlsplatz U-Bahn station so we wandered through there. Modern and clean, at the same time authentic and novel, the market retains some of its heritage from prior centuries. I’m not big on markets, so let’s just leave it with this; Julie enjoyed herself there.

The next morning we headed out again, this time for Salzburg. Ah, onward to the home of the Sound of Music!

More photos from Vienna are available here and on Flickr.

Onward to Hungary

It was still early June, warm and sunny as we rolled into Budapest. After leaving Prague we headed south, stopping on Bratislava for lunch and a quick look around. Leaving Bratislava we entered the Pannonian plain as we continued south in Hungary. The Pannonian plain was previously a prehistoric basin of lakes. That was long before I was born… even before Julie…. Now it’s a broad agricultural region that is sometimes referred to as the breadbasket of Europe.

As our bus cruised towards Budapest we saw hundreds of wind turbines dotting the landscape. Wind power currently supplies only a fraction of Hungary’s needs, but you’d never know that from the number of towers we saw. The drive from Prague to Budapest took us about six hours; the last several hours were through miles of farm country before we finally came to Budapest.

Budapest – Two Cities

Like Prague, Budapest is split by a river. In this case, it’s the Danube River that runs north and south through the city. Buda, on the west side of the Danube, and Pest on the east side collectively form Budapest – pronounced Buda-pesht by the locals. These were two separate cities until 1873 when they were ‘unified’. The ‘Pest-side’ of the city is where you want to spend your time from a cultural and architectural appreciation perspective. This part of the city hosts most of the hotels, restaurants, museums and many of the monuments.

Hero’s Square

On our first evening in Budapest, we visited two icons of the city – Heroes’ Square and Vajdahunyad Castle. The castle was originally built for the millennial celebration in 1895. Because of its popularity, it was rebuilt as a permanent structure. An interesting statue we found there is ‘Anonymous’ (chronicler). The statue recognizes the efforts to document Hungarian history by a notary for a Hungarian king in the 13th century. Hero’s Square is also situated at the end of Andrássy.

Hero’s Square is a broad plaza with statues that was also constructed as part of Hungary’s Millennial celebration in the late 19th century. During the Communist era, it frequently hosted orchestrated demonstrations on holidays. Leaders of the 1956 revolution were ceremonially reburied in Hero’s Square in 1989.

Andrassy Street

Andrássy út or Andrássy Street is a beautiful street that begins at Hero’s Square and heads to the river. It was originally named after the Hungarian Prime Minister (Gyula Andrássy) who played a key role in the modern development of the city. The boulevard was also a pawn of the communist era politicians. It became ‘Stalin Street’ in 1950 during the Soviet occupation and ‘Magyar Ifjúság útja’ (Avenue of Hungarian Youth) in 1956. Just one year later, the Hungarian communists changed the name to ‘Népköztársaság út’ (People’s Republic Street). The former name of Andrássy Street was finally restored in 1990 at the conclusion of the Communist Era.

Today, trees, impressive homes, and commercial buildings line the boulevard. Under it runs the oldest subway line on the European continent. The subway construction began in 1894 and finished in 1896, in time for the millennium celebrations of Hungary. They built the subway line under the boulevard to provide easy access to the millennial site near Hero’s Square.

Our last stops on this busy first day were photo opportunities. The first photo spot was alongside the Chain Bridge and the other was in Buda, overlooking the Danube and the city at sundown. They were both classic photos, but unfortunately, I’d only brought my phone along – no camera. I got some decent pictures, but sure wish I’d brought my camera along instead.

Day Two

We returned to Hero’s on our second morning in Budapest and our local guide, “Arpod” explained the statues and the history of the Hungarian people. Settled as a town in the 9th century, Budapest officially becoming a city in 896 AD. That explained the ‘Millennial Celebration’ in 1896. The square was also the site of anti-communist protests in 1956.

University students protested communism at the square and sparked the dawning of change in the government and society. Over the following week, the country’s borders were opened and 250,000 fled the country. The freedoms were short-lived as the Soviet Union cracked down and occupied Budapest with Russian soldiers and tanks. Even today, the square is the frequent site for political rallies and social activism.

Culture and Architecture

The city of Pest was flooded and large sections destroyed in 1838. The rebuilding of the city took many years and was accomplished with a great deal of input from the citizenry. I found the Dohany Street Synagogue impressive. It was completed in 1859 and was designed using the Moorish style influenced by Moslem architecture. It can hold 5000 and is the second largest synagogue in the world.

Across the river in Buda, we visited the Matthias Church. Actually, the real name is Church of Our Lady of Buda, but it’s commonly referred to as the Matthias Church since he was married there twice in the 1800s. The original church was built in 1015 AD, but I lost track of how many times it was destroyed, rebuilt, renamed, occupied, etc.

We heard the story of how in 1686, after 150 years of Turkish occupation, Buda was under siege in an attempt to drive the Turks out. During the siege, a cannonball caused a wall of the church collapse. A sculpture of the Virgin Mary was behind the wall and was revealed to praying Muslims in the church – converted to Mosque. Legend has it that morale of the soldiers collapsed and the city was quickly liberated.

Walking around Budapest

Julie and I spent the afternoon exploring the east bank of Budapest. Upwards of 70% of the city was damaged or destroyed at the end of WW2. The German Army occupied the city when they sensed that Hungary was preparing to surrender to the Allies. Even when surrounded by Soviet forces the Germans refused to surrender. They rendered the bridges across the Danube unusable and held out under ongoing artillery that caused much of the damage to the city.

Today, the city we saw is a mix of modern and historical buildings but one that retains the historical charm of an old Eastern European city. We had lunch and dinner along the street at sidewalk cafes and strolled past parks, classic buildings and along the Danube. We also took a boat ride on the Danube and saw the city from the river. There were so many beautiful sights.

On our way back to the hotel, we ran into Louis and Iliana as they were relaxing in their own sidewalk café. The four of us enjoyed a couple of beers as we chatted away about how wonderful Budapest was. Before we knew it, Julie was telling us it was after 11 PM and we had to have our suitcases packed for the morning. And off we went…

Onward to Eastern Europe – Prague

Having been on self-directed travel for over two months, we started June with a welcome change. Today we’re headed to Prague with new friends as part of a Globus tour. I remember this part of Europe mostly for its isolation until the fall of communism in 1990. For me, Prague, Budapest, and Vienna are places you read about in spy novels and watched in movies. Now this region had totally remade itself with new countries, new ‘free movement’ borders and a welcome openness to tourism.

Prague is in the northwestern portion of the Czech Republic. The main part of the city is on the east bank of the Vltava (Moldau) River that cuts through the city. As soon as we crossed one of the seven main bridges into the old part of the city, the eastern European/old world ambiance soaked in. The old stone bridges across the river, the cobbled streets, and even the trams told me I was in Prague – the Prague I’d read about in books. We navigated through narrow streets with classic stone buildings rising up on both sides until we got to our hotel in Old Town Prague. This was going to be great.

Prague at Night

That first evening we headed north across the Moldau River to visit the Strahovský klášter (Strahov Monastery) in Strahov. The monastery sits on a hill, north of the city and has an awesome view of the river and the main city of Prague. Curiously, they produce a beer there that reportedly has ‘antidepressant’ qualities. Sadly, we didn’t get a chance to sample any. The monastery also has two ghosts that we heard about. We were warned against returning at midnight lest we would get to meet the two in person. And these were just the first of many ghosts in Prague… welcome to Eastern Europe.

The Charles Bridge is a 500-year-old bridge for pedestrian traffic only. We climbed the stairs to the bridge after learning of another ghost, a beautiful woman dancer that preys on men. From the bridge, we were reminded that this was the location of the Prague Bridge scene took place in Mission Impossible I. Crossing the bridge gave us beautiful views, one after another as the sun was setting. If you go to Prague, walking across the Charles Bridge is a definite sunset activity!

Meeting the Locals

Our tour guide arranged for a local musician to meet us in a pub. We spent about 45 minutes drinking local brews and singing along with the skilled accordion player. While none of us got up and started dancing, it was interesting how much our knowledge of local songs improved as we drank more beer. It was a great way for the members of our tour to start to get to know each other.

Castles and History

The parks and architecture in the city are wonderful. Most of the city was undamaged from WWII, leaving many classic Eastern European neighborhoods and a great many well-maintained older buildings. On our second day in Prague, we visited the Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral. The castle is home to the Czech president and includes the cathedral. This is one of the oldest European castles, dating back to 870 AD. It’s also the site of some of the most significant historical events in the region.

The Second Defenestration of Prague in 1618 took place at the castle. I missed many of the details in the tour, but it had something to do with throwing people out a window. (defenestration noun – the action of throwing someone or something out of a window.) Being defenestrated was not overly popular with those getting thrown…. Regardless, that sparked the Bohemian Revolt and a resulting war. Like I said, there’s lots of history here. Julie and I also walked many of the streets and neighborhoods and especially enjoyed Václavské náměstí (Wenceslas Square).

Wenceslas Square

Although it’s referred to as a square, Wenceslas Square is really a half mile long wide boulevard with a park down the middle. While having dinner one night we found out that it is a traditional setting for demonstrations, celebrations, and other public gatherings. Several thousand peaceful demonstrators gathered to voice concerns that we never quite figured out. The large TV screens, speaking platforms, flags, banners and public speakers left us feeling like we were in the middle of a documentary. There was a continual flow of more and more people into the square as we dined. The crowd in the square was still full of energy and enthusiasm as we walked back to our hotel after dinner.

There was so much more to this city that I could go on and on. Prague is an easy city to get around in on foot and we found it friendly and offering a lot to visitors. As we headed out of the city for Bratislava in Slovenia we’d already decided that it was going to hold a top spot on our list of favorite cities in Eastern Europe.

Prague Photos (Flickr)

Goodbye Spain

On Thursday afternoon, last day of May, we headed out of Valencia for the last time. Our flight took us first, over the Mediterranean and then over the Alps to Munich, Germany. With a late arrival in Munich, we had a room in the airport hotel. That turned out to be a good decision because I somehow managed to leave my phone on the plane. (In my defense, I was listening to an Audible book and had placed it in the seatback ‘in preparation for landing’.)

Lufthansa was very helpful and organized. The phone had already been secured and was being forwarded to the office that handled items left on planes. About 20 minutes later we stopped in to check on the phone. The woman pulled out the box for phones left on planes from that day and started going through them. There had to be over a dozen phones and that was just one day, for one airline in one airport! The good news is that mine was there. I showed my passport, signed some forms and we were off.

Welcome to Munich

First, let me tell you that the Flughafen München (Munich airport) is located in Franzheim, about 25 miles NE of Munich. The cost for a taxi from the airport to downtown Munich runs around €70 or about $80 and takes about 40 minutes. The good news is that the S-Bahn (Train) takes about the same amount of time and costs about €23, or $26. Since our hotel in Munich was across the street from the Munich Hauptbahnhof (main train station), it couldn’t have been more convenient. Additionally, we discovered that our S-Bahn ticket was valid on all public transit in Munich for 24 hrs. – bonus! On Friday morning we grabbed our bags and took the S-Bahn from the airport into Munich.

Bavarian Motor Works – BMW

After checking into our Munich hotel we used our transit pass and struck out for the BMW Museum. This museum is in a very modern building adjacent to BMW headquarters and BMW Werks. (BMW Museum Exterior). There is an incredible collection of cars, motorcycles and auto technology in this place.

From a design perspective, we saw how the clay models were built and used and we even saw how BMW used wind tunnel testing to improve vehicle design in the first half of the last century. I found the cutaways of the vehicles, vehicle interiors and even engines especially interesting.

As far as I can remember, my recollection of BMWs starts in the mid-1970’s when we lived in Belgium. Seeing the collection of BMW 2002 Sedans brought back memories for me. There were many older models, but the focus is on newer cars and their progression over the last 40 years. The technological developments and integration of technology are showcased, especially when it comes to Formula 1 cars and motors. Even Julie was interested, but before we knew it, we’d reached the last display. Time for the BMW Welt!

Across the street from the museum is another modern building – BMW Welt. All the BMW brands are located here under one fantastic roof. You can see, touch and climb inside BMW, Rolls Royce, Mini and more. (I hadn’t realized these were all BMW brands now.) It’s all show and tell, no one is trying to sell, that made it enjoyable. If you’re buying a BMW, you can also pick it up here courtesy of BMW and their white glove treatment. The nicer the white glove, the nicer the experience!

New Luggage!

Do you remember that Julie broke the handle off her suitcase as we were leaving Clarence in April? Well, not to be outdone, I managed to bend a wheel on mine in Spain. Once we packed up and headed for Germany, it was immediately apparent that I was going to be repacking my suitcase as well. Leaving the glamor of BMW behind, we struck out for the shopping district.

No glamor. No white gloves. Not even a luggage museum to wander through. It was just – select a bag, pull out a credit card and drag the new purchase back to the hotel. They cut the tags off for me and placed them in the outside compartment. I thought that was a nice touch. We celebrated with a glass of wine and some wasabi covered nuts at the hotel.

Dinner at the Bier Garten

We checked with the concierge for a restaurant recommendation. It was a Friday night and he said most people would be heading to a bier garten. Lucky for us, there was one within walking distance of the hotel that he said was pretty good, so off we went. For those of you that have not been to a Bier Garten before, let me take a moment to explain how it works.

Think of a Bier Garten as a park with beer. The majority of the park has tables and benches. Around the edge are various vendors selling food and beer. In the one we visited, there were two restaurants with nicer accommodations as well. You get in line and when you get to the various vendors, you get your schnitzel, wurst (sausage), sauerkraut or whatever. Then you get your beer… big beers in huge glasses or even huger beers in even bigger glass mugs. You pay at the checkout counter and you’re off to find a table.

Julie had currywurst (sausage with curry) with pommes (fries) and I had wurst mit sauerkraut (you can figure that one out on your own). We grabbed an open table and enjoyed the food – it was awesome. It was nice to be there eating with the locals, enjoying a nice evening and good German beer. What a great way to start this newest adventure.

Welcome to Munich.

Amsterday – Great Dam City

As I thought about the today’s blog on Amsterdam, I considered starting with “It was a dark and stormy night….” On reflection, it was still the afternoon. More on the weather later; let me tell you about Amsterdam first.

Amsterdam is a wonderful city that’s got a great deal to offer visitors and is very easy to get around. We arrived from Munich on and Inter-City Express (ICE) train – the trains travel at speeds up to 180 mph and have fewer stops. The trains are more comfortable than flying by a wide margin, and most stations (including Amsterdam) are located close to downtown making it easier than navigating through airports. Consider this – the Munich’s airport is a $90 taxi ride from downtown. The Munich train station was a 3-minute walk from our hotel. In Amsterdam, our hotel was a 10-minute ferry ride (free) from the train station.

Freedoms and Tolerance

A city that prides itself on freedoms and tolerance, Amsterdam gave us some interesting experiences early on. For example, directions to pick up museum tickets included ‘… and we’re just past the Sex Museum on the same side of the street…” That, my friends, was in the nice part of the city. Some of the nicest hotels are in the same neighborhood as the Hash Marijuana and Hemp Museum and only blocks from the Museum of Prostitution. These are nice, respectable neighborhoods. They’re not lying when they say that they’re tolerant.

Walking Tour

After walking around on our own for the morning, we took a three-hour walking tour of Amsterdam with Free Dam Tours (freedamtours.com). It was great! Our guide was Charlotte, whose English was excellent and her passion for the city was evident. We got great historical insight around the origin of the name (dam on the river Amstel) and how prostitution came to be tolerated there. Oh, and yes, she took us through the red-light district – the tales are true. Unless I saw it myself I wouldn’t have believed it, but the Salvation Army has offices right next to an ‘establishment’ and across a canal from the Museum of Prostitution.

Rather than dwelling on that portion of the tour, I’ll mention that we also saw other cultural and historical portions of the city. Charlotte’s explanations of the expansion of the city over time and the role of the East India Trading Company in making the Netherlands a world power were interesting. As she talked we walked past historical buildings and monuments. It was awesome. She also spoke of the hardships of WWII while we walked through the Jewish quarter.

Anne Frank

After the walking tour, Julie and I hiked past the palace and across several canal bridges to the Anne Frank house. The original house remains, but there is a much larger and more modern museum just around the corner. If you want to visit, plan ahead. At times the wait list to see the house is over a month long. The house itself looks like any of the hundreds of other homes we saw. However, looking at it I had a flashback to reading the Diary of Anne Frank in school. It’s almost spooky how close the home’s appearance matches the memory my mind’s eye created. Even without going inside, I recommend stopping and seeing the building for yourself.

Thursday – Different Weather

Having been traveling across Europe for nearly two months, I have to say that we had great weather. Today turned out to be different. We headed out after breakfast and jumped on the ferry to the train station downtown. The sky was overcast and the wind was cool. Julie and I both wore our light rain jackets because of the wind and the chill. We had our list of activities for the day, so first, we headed off to visit the NEMO Science Museum.

NEMO

NEMO is an interactive science museum that is focused on kids, but we had a great time there as well. They structure activities for kids and make it fun to learn. For example, learning about the importance of water and how water is purified for drinking. The exhibit has kids pumping water into buckets and moving it through stages of purification. And next to that you have to build dikes out of plastic blocks as water flows down the ‘river’. Being Amsterdam, there was a section dedicated to teenager development, puberty, and teen ‘relationships’. After a quick walk inside and a peek at some of the exhibits, we fled to another floor.

After lunch, we spent several hours in another fascinating hangout, the National Maritime Museum. They have a replica sailing ship to explore (and try not to bump your head) and other great exhibits. Their map collection is incredible. We got a real sense for how maps evolved and their impact during the 15th and 16th centuries. There are some fantastic original maps on display there. Put this place on your list for kids and adults.

The Weather

While we were in the Maritime Museum, the clouds had dropped, winds picked up and there was a misty rain falling. We had about a mile and a quarter walk to the Centraal Station Ferry Terminal. Not so far that we needed a taxi, and the misty rain was not so bad, so off we went. As we walked, the clouds dropped further, the wind picked up and the mist became a bit denser.

The misty rain muted sound of the ever-present bicycles, leaving only the soft hiss of the tires on the wet pavement. Even the bells on the trams seemed softer. We made it to the ferry terminal, but the mist saturated any clothing not covered by our rain jackets. On the ferry ride, I was struck by how the weather seemed to drain all the color from the city. It was like riding through a blurred impressionistic painting of Amsterdam. Yesterday’s brightly colored buildings all merged into the muted landscape of misty colors and gray horizons. Even the brightly painted red channel markers appeared drab as they bobbed in the light chop as the ferry slipped by.

Regardless of the weather, we had a good day. Back at the hotel we changed into dry clothing and elected to have dinner in the hotel. After all, now it was “a dark and stormy night…”.

More Amsterdam photos here.

We needed a few day get-away and Mallorca was the answer! Julie had just returned from a couple of days in Barcelona where she saw Sharon off to the airport. Unfortunately, Sharon was returning to Rochester and wouldn’t be sharing our remaining adventures. We had a week to kill before moving on to Munich and our Globus tour of Eastern Europe and we were wondering what we were going to do. We’d seen so much of the Valencia area during the month and so we were looking for something different to do.

At some point, Mallorca came up; heck, it’s just across the water, so we decided to give it a shot. We always thought of Mallorca as a small island, but it’s really not. It’s actually a pretty good size, over 1400 square miles. We flew from Valencia to Palma, Mallorca – the flight took less than an hour.

Mallorca is warm and sunny in May. We decided to stay in the old city, away from the beaches. That was a great decision since we really enjoyed exploring the city and the architecture. We got in late Saturday afternoon and started exploring – Palma is a wonderful city for walking. We walked through the shopping area and down to the marina. There was a small sidewalk market to explore and then, before you knew it, I was ready for dinner. Nearby is Caballito De Mar, a fantastic restaurant with a great seafood menu. Julie had “Suquet”, a stew with monkfish and shrimps with Mallorcan potato and seaweed in tempura while I had baked codfish with a spicy honey sauce. (Whoa – I’m sounding like a food critic – gotta stop that….)

One interesting thing we ran into on Saturday night was a large crowd filling the town square. There was a huge TV set up at one end showing a soccer match. People were cheering, waving banners, chanting and dancing. It was exciting. We hung out there for a while soaking in the energy and excitement but then had to head off to dinner.

Sunday we planned a trip to Sóller. That was a good idea because the majority of the town shuts down on Sunday except for some of the more hardcore tourist shops. We caught the historic Ferrocarril de Sóller (rough translation – the train to Sóller). This is an old wooden train that runs between Palma and Sóller. Once we were outside of Palma the countryside and mountains were beautiful. There were over a dozen tunnels, one nearly 3km long, and plenty of tight turns. However, the trip was a great deal of fun and arriving in the Sóller train station was like walking into a different time.

The train station sits, literally, at the edge of the town. The tracks end there and you can either walk down the cobbled streets or take an equally interesting tram to the Port of Sóller. We walked through the town exploring and stopped for coffee at a small café in the town square. Then we took the tram to the port. The port is picturesque with a good sized marina and modest beach. The hills rising around the port give it a classic Mediterranean appeal.

We were feeling adventurous and walked up the hill heading out of town to a traffic circle with a bus stop sign. Bus 210 and 211 go to Palma. We jumped on 211, paid less than E10 and ‘enjoyed’ the ride along twisting roads through the hills back to Palma.

Monday morning saw the town alive and active. There were a couple of cruise ships in the port and the place had a lively feel. Again, we went exploring. Walking through a different part of the town, we ended up along the water and headed back towards the huge cathedral that dominates the hillside above the port. Julie toured the cathedral, which gave me time to explore the streets, alleys, and shops in the area. We spent the remainder of the day soaking in the city before heading back to Valencia on Tuesday.

Castell de Xàtiva

We headed south out of Valencia to Xàtiva (sha-tea-va) on a train this past week. Xàtiva is about 45 miles southwest of Valencia, about 45 minutes by train. This is a place that has a history. It’s mentioned in Roman poetry in the first century BC, so it’s been around for a long time.

Taking the train

First, we had to catch a train. You’d think this was easy, but for regional trains, you buy your ticket the same day from a machine in the station. That went pretty good, given that we’d made a practice run of buying the tickets the day before… that was an adventure in itself. But, in the end, we had it all figured out. We bought our ticket and were directed to track 7 and there was out train! We’re starting to feel like veteran international travelers.

Tourist Information

We got off the train and walked into the town to the local tourist information office. We came to Xativa to see the town and specifically to see the twin fortresses and walls that defended the city during Roman times and into the middle ages. The folks in the tourist office spoke English very well and provided lots of information on the castles and the town itself. For expediency, we took a taxi to the castle, and we were glad we did. Whoa!

That would have been one heck of a hike up to the top. I’m guessing there’s at least 400′ elevation change to the summit from the town. It’s no wonder they built up there. Once we got into the site we had a hardy hike to the top of one fortification and then to the other.

The Castle

The castle at Xativa runs east and west on a significant ridge just south of the city. The western site is higher and more significant, but both have a strategic view of the town and surrounding area. There are walls along the east side of the ridge and additional walls heading north from the two ‘castles’ or towers. I would not want to be an invader when these were in use. We headed to the west end first.

We definitely got our workout in as we hiked up and down the hills between the two ends. About 400 meters (1300′) from end to end – there’s about 150′ of elevation change that goes up and down several times. All three of us were snapping pictures along the way. Inside the walls are fountains, stairs, and trees. This is a beautiful site that’s well maintained and there’s a restaurant at the ticket office where you can get lunch or just a drink.

About a third of the way to the western tower there’s a nice fountain with a set of cannon overlooking the approaches. These were obviously added in the middle ages.

Looking back at the lower tower	Looking north from above the fountain plaza

We wound around to the western end of the ramparts facing the city. That was a pretty easy trek once we took a rest at the fountains. Then we headed up a stony path to the watchtower at the western end of the tower. That was an up and down adventure. Once we were there, we hung out a while to rest and have a snack. The view is awesome from that end as it looks out over the town of Xativa. Once we were rested we headed down and prepared to tackle the other tower.

Eastern Tower

First, we had to get there. We were already tired from the first hike we’d just finished. There was actually some debate as to heading to lunch or taking a stab at the east tower. Heck, we’re most likely not going to be back here again, so up we headed. Again it was arduous, but we made it. The view back to the distant western tower was worth the treck.

You can see more of our pictures here.

Understanding Europe

We’ve been here over a month now, and today I was struck with a new level of understanding regarding culture on this continent.

Spain

In Spain, everyone keeps Iberian Time. They get up late, go to bed late, eat dinner late and then wonder why they all need a nap in the middle of the afternoon. With all this going on, they want to be more like Germany… they desire a stronger economy and all that comes with it. At the same time, Barcelona was complaining last month that they had too much tourism! What the heck?

Germany

Speaking of the Germans, everyone knows how uptight they all are. They’ve got this Teutonic thing going and it seems like they want to be the boss of Europe. They all want to go to Spain because they want to have a chance to act all laid back in Barcelona for a few weeks so they can then go back to being…, well, German.

France

And then you have the French. I know you’ve all heard the common jokes about the French. Admit it, some of you have actually laughed at them or passed them on yourselves. Like Germany, they want to be the boss. They get grouchy because no one lets them be the boss and they make that “pweffpew” sound and turn up their nose.

Crackers

So what’s the common problem? It crackers. Nowhere can you find decent crackers. We Americans take Wheat Thins, Triscuits, Ritz Crackers and various other kinds of crackers for granted. We ‘assume’ that everyone has access to these… WRONG!

Keebler makes Club Crackers, Cheez-its, and TownHouse crackers. Nabisco has their own trove of quality – Ritz Crackers, Graham Crackers, Sociables, Vegetable Thins, etc. The crackers we can buy over here in Europe (‘somewhat limited’ in Julie’s parlance), to me, make dry toast look like a breakfast sandwich at Tavern on the Green.

The Cracker Solution

If the Europeans had access to quality crackers, they could take this great array of cheeses they have and turn them into incredible snacks or even dinner! Rather than sleeping their afternoon away, the Spaniards would be looking forward to appetizers of crackers and cheese with their amazing red wines! The French and their pate would have something other than baguette to smear brie on. (Pate with an excus-eyou on the end, a squiggly line climbing like an eagle over the letter ‘e’, according to Sharon Lally, our local expert on the French culture).

We should appoint the Keebler CEO as the ambassador to the European Union and the CEO to of Nabisco as the ambassador to France. Can you imagine how the French would rally around Vegetable Thins with brie?!? We’d have them, literally, eating out of the palm of our hand! Vive la Craquelins Américain!!!

(Long Live American Crackers!!!)

On Thursday (May 11th) we left the downtown portion of the city and headed for the Valencia Oceanografic, the largest aquarium in Europe and one of the top four rated aquariums in the world.

The Oceanogràfic de València (Valencia Oceanografic aquarium) and Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe (science museum) are both part of the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències Valencia (Valencia City of Art and Science).

Tickets were available at the site and cost us about 30 Euro each. We purchased the two-day pass that includes both the Oceanografic and Museu de les Ciències. We figured (correctly) that we’d need two days to get through both.

This place is huge, covering nearly 30 acres and multiple levels to more than 30′ underground. What you see on the surface doesn’t prepare you for the views through the many glass walls alongside and the glass tunnels under the sea life.

We started with a dolphin show in, where else but the Dolphinarium. A beautiful outdoor facility with seating for 2000 and every seat is great. Let me tell you, the show starts off with a bang – six or eight dolphins swimming and leaping into the air in sync with the music. Awesome. The presence of hundreds of kids with various school groups added to the enjoyment as their excited cheers let you know that they were obviously thrilled with the show.

The site is laid out by region of the world, so we sought out the penguins next. This was our first venture into one of the many underground venues. The cool temperature and artificial snowfall made the penguins feel right at home and reminded us of the wonderful winter weather in Western NY.

Moving on, we next moved to the Belugas, Seal Lions and Walrus exhibits. This is a huge tank, three levels deep built around the central viewing area. The huge glass walls cover about 80% of the outside surface and provide excellent views. Moving on there were different section after section with incredible displays. There are so many I can’t describe them all, but what I thought was the best feature were the underwater caves.

Walking through the water

There’s a maze of underwater glass tunnels or caves that let you seemingly walk among the sea life. As you walk through the tunnels you see turtles, sharks, fish, aquatic plants – you name it. Best of all, you can experience this at eye level or even from below. It was like being underwater but with the advantage of remaining dry.

Valencia Ocenaografic

We had a fantastic time at the Valencia Oceanografic aquarium. You can find more pictures
here.