Ahh the Vin Chaud

Well, apparently, it is an acquired taste.  Vin Chaud is a taste of hot red wine with a splash of cognac, usually a drink for winter occasions, such as Navidad.  When last in France, I toured several plazas, most often near the Hotel de Ville is the Navidad display of shoppes.  There are food vendors as well as sellers of wares, such as scarves and toys.  On this night, Patrick and I elected to go to the tourist dinner spot.  The dinner was so so, but the market was fun and the night was cool and we had a good walk.

Back to the Avignon tour.

Notre Dame Avignon

From Ile De LA Barthelassee

Dusk is upon us on the Rhone

The day is over, yet there is so much untold.  Family discussions, tour directions, street debates, sights too detailed to describe.

And yet, there is nothing normal about an American family touring the lovely sights of Avignon.  Squabbling or not, most Americans never see the centuries old buildings or the Rhone.  They do  appreciate the hot water limitation or carrying your trash out every day.  They do know the limitations of the city roads.And they do know how much a taxi is over a metro ticket.

It is the same here.  Though we haven't talked to any farmers, I am sure you would hear the price of gas or replacement parts.  The city folks are smoking on the doorsteps and waiting for the metro to get where they live far away from the city center.

But here, there are no tips.  People have healthcare.  They have a living wage.  Not an impressive one, just one to have a roof and food. We have seen several homeless and we have seen beggars.  We have also seen the scams and that is another issue to address. Bur for the most part, the streets are clean (except for the dog stuff which is an issue all its own).  People feel safe around the streets, I know I did.

And the trip is what it is supposed to be: a vacation of the brain from the metronome of everyday life.  Patrick said to me, " Mom, it is nice to see you in a different space and relaxed,"   and he said I was not so paced and wound up.

The funny part is that he told me what he does not like about Europe is how laid back it is.... hmm seems like there is a contradiction somewhere.

of the Testy Travelers

Train ride to Barcelona and Avignon

We rose this Friday morning slowly as we needed not be at the Nord (train station) until 12:30 or so.  We walked to the store to buy plastic and pack our lunches for the long train rides ahead.  The walk took us in a different direction than we normally used.  Rolls Royce and Jaguar are the first stores we see and the neighborhood changed quite suddenly to a more Coral Gables, Florida feel, rather than Valencia, Spain.  The well-dressed senior ladies were out and about, waiting for pastries and coffee at the small tables.  The neighborhood felt “older” as if south St. Petersburg, Florida met Coral Gables.  Wish we had discovered this before.  It was so pleasant and seemed to say, “good morning”.

The small Mercado, called Consum’ had enough for us to pack some Valencia tangerines Navidad candies, the left overs from the night before and two quart water bottles.  Valencia apparently has terrible water and even the locals don’t drink it.  Perhaps one more thing in common with South Florida?  The walk back was very pleasant and we finished packing.  After assessing our wares, we decided against a taxi and walked the 9 blocks with luggage in tow.  Charles, with the lightest load, bragged about how much he has learned about packing and traveling.  I thought he blended in the environment well, but Patrick said no, he looked like a tourist.

The Nord is a large impressive building that our hostess referred to as the pride of Valencia.  It was very busy, with travelers going to and fro.  I walked the shops and looked at the beautiful young women that staffed them.  Charles wanted to mail post cards, so we went on a trip to find stamps.  Turns out they sell stamps at tobacco stores so off across the street to the tobacco store we go.  We get the four stamps for the cards and pay 3.9 euros.  I realize that to mail the five the other day, I only paid 2 euros.  Which probably means, the ones that we bought stamps for yesterday will never reach their destination due to lack of postage.  Drats!  Getting the stamps is one thing, but mailing the cards is another.  No one knew where a box was to drop the cards in.  They kept telling us on the street, which one unknown or un cared.

The train came and we embarked on coach one and we were lucky to be in first class.  There is no free coffee like in California first class trains, but there is a nice seat.  Charles insisted on having the single seat by the window.  An hour into the ride, the lady behind him starts playing Christmas videos in English rather loudly.  Charles looks at us across the aisle with that, “what the heck” face.  The lady started the second one and Patrick and I could not help but bust out laughing!  Divine intervention in taking the lone window seat…  The lady stops the videos long enough to have a long conversation and then back to the videos she goes.  Patrick and I dry our eyes and try to concentrate on reading.

The trip is four hours or so, even on the fast train.  Spain is bigger than it looks on the map.  It appears smaller thank Georgia, but I am not so sure.  It may be closer to Texas in size.  Something to research next time I have internet or wifi.  Unfortunately, the trains do not offer it.  On the other hand, it makes one take more time in writing and the opportunity to review before hitting the forever “post” button.  Never a bad thing, especially if you are an FSU lecuturer with strong opinions.

The lay of the land is much the same as the ride from Madrid to Valencia, except the occasional water views.  Tall condos or apartments in short stretches and then orange groves and olive trees and fields of plowed ground with small adobe like buildings.  Many of the fields appear to have a block tower on them, which could be a water cistern of some kind.  They are tall, built of large blocks of sand colored stone and have a castle like top.  It could be fanticized to be left over castle parts, but there are too many for it to be true.

We travel up through the mountains so our ears are popping.  The elderly man in front of us is now playing his Mexico video of himself and his family for anyone willing to watch.  It would not be so bad, but they attached musak to is that is slightly better than a dental drill spinning noise.  But only slightly.  Thank goodness the third person tells him to turn off the sound.

There will be a change in Barcelona and then another four hour ride to Avignon.  I am looking forward to the change, though the weather will be much colder.  Patrick says he is through interpreting and now it is all me.  I laughed.  Me and my Pimsleur tapes will probably on get us to the train, to food and to drink.  But what else do we need?

Avignon

We arrive at Avignon TGF in tired but reasonable shape.  Now, for the difficult part of navigating in a foreign language without a phone:  the phone allow for sms texting and wifi research on the fly.  The computer, not so much.  Moods grow testy as I try to identify our location relative to the apartment, contact the hostess and figure out the ride into town.  Patrick gets the internet to work and Dominique answers.  We finally understand her and head out to the taxi that Charles finds.  Dominique meets us in the dark in a narrow street very close to the Rhone.  We enter a gated courtyard and the find the dark door.  The code is something or another she says.  She knows the numbers, not the sequence.

She shows us the wifi and the hot water and off she goes.  Oh yes, and open a window and toss the keys in after you leave….

We find macaroni and have some herbs so we have the lovely meal of tea and macaroni, olive oil, basil, oregano, garlic and pepper.  No salt.  But it was enough to get the testy travelers to bed!

Next morning, Charles decided to head out for pastries and we waited for awhile.  After an hour, Patrick and I decided he wasn’t coming back and loaded up.  Just as we were leaving, Mr. no pastry shows up.  Hmmph!  He ate them all!  So Patrick and I insisted on going for a walk to get our pastry.  Charles tagged along.

But, one second out the door and the world of Avignon charm takes our attention.

Pastries and cafe located and consumed, we are off for the busy day.

We start out to go to Le Palais des Papes as recommended by the Madison County France Travel guide.  But before we can get there, we sneak up the back side of a tower on the Rhone.  The views are amazing.

View of the Rhone and Le Pont d"Avignon

The climb eventually ends up on the back side of Notre Dame.  We walk and walk on the parkway in the sky with the most beautiful vista we have seen so far.  And the light played perfectly for my lens.

And the Christmas market and vin chaud are calling me now, so more later on!

Rising to the Occasion of the Map and Being lost in Madrid

Saturday night and early Sunday morning could not have been louder.  The clanging of bottles from nearby restaurants into the recycle bins was relentless.  And then, just when you thought sleep was upon you, the garbage trucks rolled in.  The reason they come that late is easily explained, they absolutely could not possibly get in the road for the throngs of Navidad revelers.  My respect to the men and women cleaning the streets of Madrid.  Our late rising is of course due to the late retiring.

We picked out locations for the day and headed out.  Starting with the west side of Madrid and heading to the Palacio Real.

The thing about using a tour book, is that it is published in a place in time.  The reality of boots on the ground is subject to the local construction schedule,  Which is everywhere.  When buildings and streets are this old, something is always in a state of restoration.  Not to be deterred we made it to the the Plaza de la Ameria. It is the space between the most expansive palace that I have ever seen and the largest cathedral in Madrid.  We stopped next to a couple in trekking sandals and socks to take pictures.  Th unfortunate part of this visit is the balcony overlooking the entire City was under construction and you could not look out to the beautiful Campo Park.  We did go north to the Camp Del Moro gardens with the long reflection pond and lovely gardens and statutes.  Charles said that he saw the aerial trams crossing the large park, but we could not figure out how to get there to ride them.  The views must utterly beautiful based on what we could see from the palace.

We then headed back down Calle Mayor because somehow we had missed the Plaza Mayor itself.  We were to miss it again as we don't know which of us made the turn, but we ended up far south and east from our destination.  We had originally thought we would go to the Plaza and then down to the El Rastro flea market of some fame.

But, alas, we headed down a wrong path leading us to quite different neighborhoods than before.  The changes were subtle, then I noticed there were fewer and fewer children, more young adults and a much different vibe. Many closed disco bars and small mercados. It reminded me of parts of Costa Rica.  There was no Feliz Navidad in the air, in fact there was curry in the air and the Indian restaurants were streetside, with cooking going on by the tables.  We realized that we were not in the tourist district and stopped to look at the map.  Unfortunately, our street and tiny plaza was not on the map or in the guidebook.  Quandaries and druthers.

We walked toward the setting sun and Charles decided which way was north and we headed out.  when we reached the Laviapes Plaza, we had a location.  Whew!  Darkness was soon and we had walked miles from our apartment.  Not speaking Spanish is definitely a huge disadvantage.  However, we did get to see a Michael Jackson act.

When we finally figured out where we were and how far it was, there was nothing else to do but duck into a pastry shop and drink hot coffee and eat empanadillas.  They were fabulous. I practiced how to order, went up to the counter and said it correctly (so I thought).  The lovely person behind the counter says, "you mean this one?"  So much for my Spanish.  We ate with glee.  All things taste better after duress, stress and then relief.

Last night, after eating we went downstairs to the little bar.  We bought a bottle of wine and I ordered what I thought were baked plums.  Turns out the  waiter was saying "prawns" and we ate shrimp for desert.  In case you ever need to know, gambas are prawns!  But the wine was excellent, the company great and the sleep of a Sunday night so very welcome.

Rising to the Snakes and Incredible Impressionists and All the Other Art of Madrid

Rising slowly after the initial first day and the City Plaza and noise below us till two a.m., we started with coffee and left over sandwiches for breakfast.  The bars below our apartment were now closed and the banging of bottles into the recycling bins had stopped around two thirty. Staying close to city center on a busy plaza certainly has benefits of proximity, but the European hours differ very much from the US get up and go to work early hours.  Although, I can tell you that honking and truck roaring and garbage removal was in full swing by ten a.m.

Our windows look over the block connecting to the plaza and the Navidad lights are beautiful.  The little Navidad mercados are everywhere and lights on all buildings along with wreaths.  It is amazing to see so many people out and about on foot.  Doesn't happen in Tallahassee Florida unless you are near the stadium after an FSU Footbal game.  Of course, there are 3.3 million people in Madrid.

Our cute apartment is called the blue room and is quite well appointed with cutlery and kitchen and all things comfortable except English subtitles on the tv.  We have wifi though, so we have a general feeling of the news in US.

We returned to the Paseo Del Prado side of town.  Yesterday touring the Museo Del Prado, today the El Museo Naval and the Museo Thyssen Borremisza.

The Naval museum was fascinating with replicas of ships and canons and maps of america oh so long ago.  The display of knots and canon balls, and the elaborate quarters of Admiral Jose
Gonzalez is  amazing. On a ship, the ones that had, had a lot.  And the ones that made the canon balls and fired the weapons on the Brits had short lives.  I hasten to really understand that hard of a life.

I have to say that I do not remember looking at a painting and starting to cry. until today  The Impressionist of America were on display as well as Renoir, Degas, Cassat, and then of course the floor for Andrew Wyeth and did I mention Picasso and Dali and Goya? Oh my goodness, it is so moving to see the real thing.  Smaller or sometimes larger, never disappointing.  So many rooms.  No wonder that Anthony Ham said to pace yourself.  He has plans in his Madrid book and is very specific.  While I prefer to wander through museums and surprise myself at every step and glance, his guides to parks and locations and maps are fabulous.  Thanks Anthony!

The days start out crisp and bright but by four pm they are waning with cloud cover and very cool winds.  At one point Charles wrapped his head to keep his ears warm and he looked sort of like a Spanish Conquistador with a scarf.  Only the ladies stared at him, and many approached.

We discovered our differences in the museo of art: he likes dark Dutch and German 1300's work, I like impressionists and the romance era...  at least both were there to see.  I apologize in advance for no photos of the artwork.  The signs ask you not to take the photos, and I did not have a phone to be stealth with, only my daughter's 35 mm.  So. it would be too obvious, not to mention unwieldy in a museum.  So, we will have to adjust to the outside photos.

Then off to El Retiro to see the fallen angel, sometimes referred to as Lucifer.

Charles says I did not capture his best side.  Does Lucifer have one?  I think he wanted to more clearly see the snakes holding his feet and arm.  Figures that Charles would seek out the only snake in Madrid...

The sunlight on the city was wonderful on the walk back to our apartment.  Night two and we have adapted to stopping by the market and picking up food and wine for the night.  We have had the local squash, onion, cabbage and root stew with chicken broth, cumin, garlic and a few other ingredients.  It is the local dish, except that they add chicken backs or guts for flavor and a little meat.  We ate the jamon in a paper cup for protein and skipped the chicken backs.  Charles was ready for bed by nine and that left me time to write and put up photos.  So far, I can tell you most people do not speak English, why would they in their normal lives.  But cashiers and other who have to interact with tourists try to have a few lines down in several languages.  My experience is that if you try, they will too.  Just give it a whirl with a smile and shrug if all fails.

Wonderful day with lots of walking!  Think it was a ten mile day.

Buenos Noches and Feliz Navidad