Month: February 2017

We reached London a week ago taking the EuroStar from Paris.  The train was quite comfortable, but the waiting area was a mob scene!  I think the train had 18 cars with between 39 and 58 passengers per car, and every seat was full! But, even with that crowd, the train left and arrived exactly on time.

We have both been to London before but not for some time, so we’ve been shameless tourists during this trip.  We bought a 7-day pass that we could use on the Underground, trains, buses and boats. (They call it a Oyster card here…not sure why…) And, of course, we’ve done a lot of walking. We visited parts of the Victoria & Albert Museum as well as a large  Rauschenberg exhibit at the Tate Modern.
   

The weather has been alternately gray and sunny, but pretty windy and chilly during our week here.  So, some of the time, we’ve just enjoyed taking it easy…which was facilitated by the fact that we’re staying with our friends Avivah & Tim in their lovely and well-located South Bank home…close to theaters, pubs, a great bakery, and Waterloo Station.  AND, they have one of the cutest dogs ever…dear Daisy.
        

We even went with them to a dancing class one night!  Look at what dapper Londoners they are!
     
Tim is a very talented sculptor whose piece, The Gardener’s Hand, is in Archbishop’s Park.  There I also got to see that Spring really is coming…
  

One of the things we have sorely missed in the last 5 months has been going to the movies.  Well, we scratched that itch here by seeing both of the two top Oscar contenders – Moonlight and LaLa Land – both within easy walking distance.

Rick Steves has a relatively new app with guided audio tours, including several in London that we used – Westminster and a London City Walk.  These took us to many of the major sights and to a couple of good pubs for lunch.
  
We have seen many war memorials in our travels, but here we saw the first memorial to the Women of WWII.

And did you know that London cabs are no longer all black??

It’s been lovely to be here and to know that we can understand the language without using Google Translate.  They do have some funny names for things, though.  And we notice that, once you’re in an English speaking country, the decibel level in restaurants amps up.  We observed that, throughout France, even when we were seated near large groups of (mostly) men, we were never bothered by their loud conversation.  But here in London, it sounds more like the US…

Tomorrow we’re on a plane for the first time since September…and heading back to the States.  Kids and grandkids, here we come!

After about ten days in Barcelona, our friends Lish Banks and Jim Butler joined us for a few days on their way to Malta and Majorca.  Lish is a high school classmate of mine who initiated the meet up after reading this blog!

Together we ventured out to Barcelona’s wonderful Museu Picasso, the only museum of his works to open in his lifetime.

No photography is allowed in the museum, so you’ll have to take my word for what a remarkable collection this is.  From his early works, you are taken sequentially through the many periods of his paintings.   Picasso is now much more understandable for us after seeing the progression in his works.  For example, in three rooms are 57 works – painted in a 16-day period – inspired by one painting by Velázquez, Las Meninas. .  The audio guide for this museum was outstanding!

From here, we embarked on sort of a Gaudi orgy. Casa Battló (pronounced bye-yo) is a beautifully restored and maintained example of a residential building designed by Gaudi. It is right in the center of Barcelona on the Passeig de Gracia in a block full of remarkable buildings, all in different styles.  The block is sometimes referred to as ‘Discordia’ because of the lack of harmony among the structures, apparently built by wealthy people in the early 20th century trying to show each other up!  The audio-visual guide was the best we’ve ever encountered, taking you through the house at just the right pace and providing photos of rooms you were in with furniture as it would have been long ago, and pointing out unique features of each room.
        

Of course we included a visit to Sagrada Familia, Gaudi’s famous, and still unfinished, church.  We bought tickets for a guided tour in English on line so we avoided the lines AND had a great tour.  This place is so massive that it’s impossible to capture in iPhone photos, but I tried.  The crucifix over the altar is quite unusual and the stained glass windows present a palette of colors (blues and greens on one side of the church, and reds and oranges on the other).
           

Our final Gaudi stop was La Pedrera, also referred to as Casa Milá.  Also in the center of Barcelona, this is a large apartment building where people still live.  It is most remarkable for its roof terrace and its chimneys, but the building itself is cool to look at…kind of like a petrified wave!
  
       

And now, finally I’ll get to Betty Ford’s!! This was a lively bar in our neighborhood that we discovered on our second night in Barcelona.  We met the owner (an Aussie) and his girlfriend (a Brit) at a sushi bar and they invited us back to the bar for a drink after dinner.  We were there at least every other night thereafter, and we took Lish & Jim there one night, too.  We got to know most of the bartenders and, once again, Rick was able to walk into a bar and they knew what he wanted (a Negroni Spagliato, if you please!).
    

On our last Barcelona night, we went with Lish & Jim to Tickets, an upscale tapas bar owned by Albert Adría, the younger brother of Ferran Adria of el Bulli fame.  Reservations are hard to come by, but Lish went on line a couple of months ago and snagged these.  It’s a fun place with a sort of movie theater theme and an amazing array of beautifully presented tapas.  We opted for the ‘surprise’ menu…’just bring it’… and we were not disappointed.  I took a photo of each of the twenty (!) courses (I’ve only provided a sample here…), but a few picture of the place will give you the idea.  It was a very special Valentine’s Day treat!
                 

After leaving Barcelona, we drove to Paris, stopping one night along the way.  We turned in our wonderful leased Peugeot (with over 10,000 km on it) and spent the weekend in Paris.  The highlights – beside were reconnecting with our friends Anne & Jeff and going with them to see a wonderful art exhibit at the new Fondation Louis Vuitton.  The FLV building is a Frank Gehry creation rising up out of the Bois de Boulogne.  Both the art collection – a remarkable array of modern art (from Impressionists to Picasso to Matisse and several Russian artists) amassed by a Russian collector named Chtchoukine – and the building were worth the visit.
     

We are leaving the continent now, headed for a week in London and then back to the states for a month…Baltimore, Oregon and Colorado.  If we are lucky enough to see you during that time, we’ll be glad.  If not, I hope you’ll keep following along.

We are in Barcelona for two weeks and there is so much to see and experience.  It was wonderful to arrive on a weekend because the city was bustling with locals and the many students from all over the world who come here to study.  Our tiny but well designed apartment is in the El Ravel neighborhood, just northwest of the Gothic Quarter and very near Plaça Catalunya, a huge open area. It is basically one room with the bathroom behind the kitchen and separated from it by a glass wall!

We signed up for two walking tours in our first days here to get oriented to the city.  A lovely young art historian took us through the Gothic Quarter and shared a lot of information about Catalan culture while showing us many historic buildings.
  
Did you know that the primary language in Barcelona is not Spanish, but Catalan, which has many similarities to French?  We each know a little Spanish, but we’re grateful that Google Translate includes Catalan or we wouldn’t be able to read menus or communicate much.  Shops and restaurants usually have English speakers.
Our second walking tour was a Foodie Tour that took us to many of the historic shops selling typical Catalan food items.  One of particular note was a shop that roasts hazelnuts in the same wood fired oven that they have used for 165 years! The nuts have a distinctive smoky smell and taste.
   
We visited the famous Mercato Boqueteria, a bustling market that is open every day but Sunday and sells everything you could want. We found that moving off to one side or the other kept us sort of out of the crush of tourists which made the visit more pleasant.  Rick found some of the largest oysters he has ever eaten here – 3 for 5€.
       
Being in Barcelona on a Sunday has several distinct advantages.  One is that the City Hall is only open to the public on Sunday.  It is free and worth a visit.
      
Another reason is that the locals really come out on Sunday and there is dancing in many of the public spaces.  We observed a traditional Catalan dance in the plaça outside the Cathedral and swing dancing in the gazebo in Cuitadella Park.

The park, referred to as Barcelona’s ‘Central Park,’ is a lovely place for a stroll.  Families were gathered here on the weekend to enjoy the nice weather – chasing bubbles, rowing on the lake, and enjoying the beautiful fountain.

Of course, what would a European city be without a cathedral.  This one has a beautifully painted choir, a lovely altar with a crypt of St. Eulalia below and a cloister that houses 13 geese along with the usual statues, etc.
                        

For our ventures outside the city, we chose to sign on for two guided tours conducted by Catalunya Bus Touristic.  We’re usually not fond of bus tours, but these provided access to places we couldn’t have gone on our own accompanied by wonderful explanations (in English).
One day we went to Montserrat, stopping on the way in Colònia Güell. This is an industrial estate from the 19th century built by a wealthy textile manufacturer and merchant.  The town was self-contained, providing housing, schools, recreation and, of course, a church for the workers.
   
Güell commissioned Antoni Gaudi to build the church.  According to our guide, this is where Gaudi experimented with several architectural solutions that he later used in building Sagrada Familia (the famous church in Barcelona that we’ll visit later). He draws on nature for the shapes of windows (the pine cone) and columns (like palm trees).
    
The church that stands today was originally envisaged as a crypt with a bigger church on top.  The church itself was never finished (seems to be common among Gaudi buildings…) but the crypt is a beautiful small church.

The monastery of Montserrat dates back to the 9th century.  It is located in a remote area of the Monserrat mountain range, so named for its ‘serrated’ appearance.  The bus took us to a train station from which we rode a’rack railway’ up the mountain to the monastery. Later, we went even farther up by way of a funicular.
  
We toured L’Escolania de Monserrat, a religious and choir school where 50 boys study. This included an exclusive perch near the front of the Basilica for the prayer service at 1:00 when the boys sang.  They will be touring in Washington DC and San Francisco this year.
   
The reason many pilgrims come to Montserrat is to see and honor the Black Madonna. It is a rather small statue that dates back to the 12th century and has a complicated legend that surrounds it.  You can get close enough to touch the statue but photos are strictly forbidden.

Our next bus tour took us to three wineries in the Penedés region.  Our first stop was Bodega Jean Leon, the first winery to produce Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay in Spain. We tasted both and especially enjoyed their premium Chardonnay, ‘Gigi,’ which we have learned is quite available in the US.
       
Next stop, Bodegas Miguel Torres.  This place is so big that they took us around on a small train!  Torres makes wine in many other countries, but Spain is the main operation. We enjoyed a pairing of 4 of their wines with 4 different Spanish cheeses…interesting and instructive.
   
We were told at both of these stops about a method they use to fight insects without chemical insecticides called “sexual confusion.” They hang this little gadget filled with pheromones on each row of vines and the male insects apparently become so frustrated looking for the females who aren’t there that they leave the grapes alone!  Go figure!

Last stop was Freixenet, a large Cava producer.  We have really enjoyed the Cava, as we did the sparkling wines in many other regions we’ve visited thus far.  They all use the methode champenois and produce a quality product.  Here we toured the caves that were deep underground, and finished with a plate of Iberian ham accompanied by a glass of brut Cava; and delicious carquinyolis, the Spanish version of biscotti, with a rosé.
     

There is more to come in Barcelona, especially seeing the Gaudi buildings. Stay tuned…

Our first stop after leaving Tuscany was Genoa, a gritty port town on Italy’s Mediterranean coast with a bustling industrial harbor next to a redeveloped family friendly, touristy Porto Antica…think Baltimore’s Inner Harbor…filled with shops, restaurants, playgrounds alongside working fishing boats, small pleasure craft and whale-watching boats.   We enjoyed strolling around here on a Sunday evening, but found it was almost deserted during the day on Monday.
    
Our apartment is a rather cool loft in an old industrial building very near the port.
     
We encountered a nasty bump in the road when we discovered on Monday morning that someone had stolen two suitcases from our car (along with sundry other small things). When we are on these road trips staying one or two nights in a place, we pack so that we have everything we really need in one suitcase while the other holds out of season clothing and other things that won’t be needed until our next long stay (like checkbooks, airline reservations, receipts, larger size cosmetics, etc).  Fortunately, we always keep our cash, credit cards and passports with us.  It was these ‘extra’ suitcases that we lost.  We spent much of the day finding the Polizia and reporting the loss, then calling USAA and reporting it to them. What a pain!!  I guess it’s fortunate that there’s really not much to see in Genoa because we sure didn’t have time to see it!

Next stop: Nice.  The drive here from Genoa was quite short and, so we were able to take our time today.  We took the Autostrada as far as San Remo and drove down to the coast. We then meandered along (much to the consternation of our GPS gal, who kept trying to get us back on the Autostrada…), taking in the scenery, weaving among motorcycles and bicyclists.
   
We then drove through Monaco, along the route of the Monte Carlo Grand Prix…though not nearly as fast…
    
We arrived in Nice by early afternoon with plenty of time to walk down to the old town and get a bite to eat in a sidewalk café.  I must say, it’s nice to be back in France, but now we have to remind ourselves to say ‘Merci!’ and not ‘Grazie!’ Our apartment is high on a hill with a fabulous view of the city.
   

Only one night in Nice and then on to Montpellier, with a stop in Aix-en-Provence along the way. This town is filled with young people…40,000 students, we’re told! Perhaps that’s why there is giant Apple store in the main square!  Here we also saw probably the strangest church altar ever…it looks like a surreal movie set…
   

Montpellier is a rather large city (8th largest in France and fastest growing in the country). We are staying outside the city center but have easy access with the extensive tram system.  The large Place de la Comedie is a lively square surrounded by beautiful Renaissance buildings and lots of cafes spill out onto the square.
       
The weather is getting warmer (58° today) but the skies have been gray during our stay.  The consolations include good baguettes again (!!) and a return to the country of foie gras!
   

Next stop Barcelona!