Spain: 40 Years On

Bonnie, John and Sue

We were last in Spain in the spring and summer of 1975, nearly 40 years ago.  We and Spain have changed considerably. Spain was still under the iron rule of Generalissimo Franco, and the European Union was a Utopian dream.

For much of our 1975 trip we managed to stay within our $100 a week budget; this time around we are struggling to manage on a $200 a day budget. We were so naive in 1975; so young and foolish that we were up for almost anything.  Now, we are old, out of shape, and avoid too much excitement. We can no longer claim naivete, but we certainly remain pretty gullible.

Sister and Brothe

Frank Gerhry's big fish at seaside in Barcelona

One of our goals in '75 was to learn to speak Spanish--we are still working on that; most of the time we can understand and be understood, if we stick to the present tense.

 Barcelona, the first stop on our new Spanish tour, is, however, the capital of Catalonia--and the Catalan people are fiercely proud of their history and language.  So although everyone speaks Spanish, you are more likely to hear Catalan in the streets of Barcelona and most of the signs are in Catalan.  Still we were able to practice our Spanish quite a bit with our first test being our rapid fire talking landlady. She was full of information, suggestions, and helpful hints so it was a good to understand her.

In May 1975, Barcelona was our next to last stop, and we were running out of time on our Eurail Pass, so we only had eight hours to see all of its sights and attractions. We remember very little of our visit except walking along the sea side and looking for a restaurant where we could afford the paella.  There were few high rise buildings and the people seemed a lot less prosperous than they are today, despite Europe's economic malaise.

Gaudi's Sagrada Familia

We are so glad that we now have had the opportunity to revisit Barcelona--what a wonderfully beautiful and vibrant city. 

Barcelona seems to us, more than anything,  to be a city of incredibly beautiful buildings and architectural wonders. Everywhere you turn there are interesting buildings, both new and old.

 Barcelona's most famous hometown architect is Antoni Gaudi.  We didn't have the time or energy (remember the part about being older) to see all of his more famous and well known endeavors, but we were able to see both the lovely and inspiring Sagrada Familia Cathedral and the Park Guell: both well worth the visit.

Columns shaped like trees

Facade sculptures

The Sagrada Familia is truly awe inspiring and marvelous to behold, and we were able to spend an afternoon exploring its beauty.  Although Gaudi died more than 90 years ago, the Neo-Gothic Cathedral is still under construction.  He devoted the last years of his life to this building, living by himself in a small cottage workshop on the building site.

Plants atop columns in Park Guell

Sue and Bonnie on our bus tour

View from the Park

Park Guell, which started life as a planned housing development, provides an opportunity to walk through a lovely park-like, but urban setting and to admire Gaudi's building genius. On the day of our visit to the park, the sky was a clear blue and the sun was delightfully warm, although overall the weather during our Barcelona visit was surprisingly cool.  

Art Gallery atop Montjuic

 On our second day in the city we took a city tour on a double decker bus with an open air top deck.  We opted to stay on the upper deck so we could see more, but were chilled to the bone after our two hour ride.

Still it was the best way to take in this huge city and its many different neighborhoods with their interesting buildings and historic sights, like the beautiful national art gallery that sits atop Montjuic, one of the city's two small mountains.

In addition to housing Catalonia's artistic heritage, the museum's front steps provide a lovely view of the city of nearly two million people spread out before you.  It was not hard to relax, listen to some of the best street musicians around, buy a beer or two from one of the illegal street vendors, and watch the sun slowly set.

Market fare

Barcelona, like so many other major European cities, prides itself on its culinary heritage and the food you can find in its markets and restaurants. In our few days there we were unable to really take advantage of all that the city has to offer.

Meat vendor

A walk in the city's "Mercat St Josep La Boqueria,"however, gave us some glimpse into what gustatory delights await a return visit. The crowded, often raucus market was filled with incredible sights and sounds

Dried beans and other dried foods

One restaurant,  Mussol, we discovered on our first day and went back three times because we liked the ambience, food and service so much.

Mike, Larry, Sue and Dona at Mussol

We ate great gazpacho, good grilled meats and vegetables, and our favorite, "Pan con Tomate", grilled bread (which was described as Catalonia "caca" bread) on which a tomato spread was applied very lightly.

It was served with a whipped garlic and olive oil paste that was finger licking good. Discovering that our nice little neighborhood diner was part of a Catalan chain didn't spoil our enjoyment of the restaurant.  We even invited some friends, Dona and Mike Morgan, whom we had met on the Cruise to join us for drinks and Pan con Tomate.

Woman With Bird

Speaking of our neighborhood, our AirBnB apartment was one of the nicest we have rented.  It had two very comfortable bedrooms, two baths, a well appointed kitchen and a delightful patio.

It was a short distance to the metro and easy walking distance to shopping and other amenities. One of the neighborhood landmarks is a 35' sculpture of "Woman with Bird" after a work by one of Barcelona's native sons, Joan Miro. One of the extra added treats was that we could walk through a park and past an elementary school where we were often greeted by playing children.

You can see from the photos that Barcelona, like Spain and many other parts of Europe, is home to people originally from many other parts of the world. We really loved our time in the Catalan Capital, and we hope to come back for a longer, more leisurely visit.

Cute kids

Cruising across the Atlantic

Sunset at sea

Count us among the Converted.  We had sometimes disparaged cruising-- but our 16 day repositioning trip across the Atlantic has totally changed our minds. A repositioning cruise is when the cruise line moves its ship from one area to another--usually with the change of seasons.  This one aboard the Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas started in New Orleans and ended in Barcelona, Spain.

Our ship, dwarfed by a 220,000 ton behemoth

With only four ports of call: St Martin, Tenerife, Malaga and Cartagena; it meant that we had 11days of relaxing and invigorating days at sea. If you watch your onboard spending, not always the easiest thing to do, we think it is just as economical to travel this way as to fly and it is certainly a lot more enjoyable.

Towel Creature

We were joined by Sue's brother John and his wife Bonnie, and we were pampered and coddled, overfed and entertained the entire time.  There were about 2000 passengers and some 800 crew.  The ship was in nearly pristine condition, as a result of the very hard working crew.

Sue a poolside

Someone was always varnishing, cleaning or painting on the decks; room stewards visited your room at least twice a day, including re-making your bed with clean sheets every night and leaving you a "towel animal" for your delight.

The food was plentiful, readily available at all hours of the day and night, and surprisingly delicious, given the fact that they make some 14,000 meals a day.

John & Bonnie with Urzula

Breakfast and lunch we usually ate in the Windjammer Lounge, a buffet cornucopia with a open-air seating on the rear of the boat, but we chose to be served dinner every night.  Every dinner included three courses--appetizer, entree and dessert served by a delightful team of two young women, Ana Maria and Urzula, who were from Peru and Chile respectively.  Like the rest of the crew, they sign on for an eight month contract, and from what we were able to gather, work every day of that contract, although when the ship is docked, they sometimes are released for a few hours on shore.

Once their contract is finished, they have 10 weeks of paid home leave.  Many of the crew have worked five, ten or 15 or more contracts.  Ana Maria has a three year old daughter, who stays with her mother in Peru--that must be incredibly hard.  Urzula's husband, Christian is also a waiter on the ship and we got to meet him as well.

Besides being fed like kings, the crew does its best to make sure that every hour of the day is full of excitement and diversion--bands and combos play at various venues throughout the ship; bingo and trivia games as well as language classes and self-improvement lectures are offered every day. Each night, a song and dance review or variety act is performed in the 1000 person theatre. Many of the acts were outstanding and rival what you might see in Vegas or some other resort.

White People in the Tropics 

When the ship docks at one of the ports of call, you can elect to take one of their extra cost excursions or explore the port on your own.  At our first, we chose a sailing and snorkeling junket that was great fun and provided a view of the St Martin we probably wouldn't have found on our own.

Larry & Pablo Picasso

Although the snorkeling was kind of ordinary, it did give us another opportunity to realize once again how much we liked it.  The sailing trip around the island on the large catamaran was really extraordinary and exciting. The water was crystalline blue and the sand on the beaches was as soft as confectioner's sugar.

The ship excursions in Tenerife and Malaga were more disappointing, so when we got to Cartagena we chose to entertain ourselves with a visit to a restored 12th century castle that provided great vistas of the town and harbor.

In Cartagena

One of the best surprises about the trip was how much we enjoyed our fellow passengers.  Sitting down at a bar or waiting for a lecture or game to start, you invariably would get involved in a conversation with your neighbors.  Almost all of them seemed to have interesting stories to tell, but they were also interested in our story as well.  Of course, many of them are veteran cruisers and are delighted to provide tips on traveling and booking.  Like with the airlines, no one seems to pay the same price.  We now know that you need to research the best deals, shop and compare, or work with a travel agent.

Many cruises, like the ones in the Caribbean and Mediterranean involve stops at a port every night. Based on our experience in this cruise, we don't think that would like that, but we really, really liked the days at sea--looking out on the blue, blue waters surrounding you on all sides, feeling the wind, and marveling at the great big sky overhead.

Sitting on the deck, reading a book or more likely nodding off in a nap, was idyllic and made us realize how fortunate we are that we have the time and resources to be able to do something like a 17 day cruise across the Atlantic. As you can tell it looks like we are hooked and cruising may well be in our future plans--the 21 day trip across the Pacific is really tempting.

Charlie in Audubon Park, New Orleans

Our only regret with the cruise and with our planned three month stay in Europe is knowing how much we will miss Charlie and his family--we know he already has changed and learned lots of new things since we last saw him nearly a month ago.

Charlie and his Mom and Dad, AKA Bryn and Grant, traveled to New Orleans for Jazz Fest 2014 and a visit with the ever-welcoming Simpson Family. We are told that he liked the music and especially his special day with Auntie Lois.

A Few Months in Denver and Off Again

Charlie at a local playground

 It has been a while since we last posted.  We have been in Denver since just before Christmas, but our sojourn this time is just about over--we leave for our Transatlantic Cruise and European Adventure on April 19th.

Test driving his big wheel

But we will be back! We have decided to make Denver our semi-permanent home. We plan to keep traveling, but we know we will always be coming back to Denver as our home base.  To make it easier to do that, we decided to buy a place in Brooks Towers, a high-rise condo building in the heart of downtown Denver.

We have stayed in the building several times during our frequent visits and have found it the ideal location.  Just a block from the great Denver theater and performing arts center and an easy bus ride to Bryn & Grant's house in the the Highlands neighborhood. In the good weather--which is often the case here in Denver, even in the middle of winter, we can walk along the Cherry Creek walking trail or window shop on the 16th Street Pedestrian Mall

Charlie & his two Grandmas

 We are also beginning to explore more of the environs.  Recently, Shirley Llafet--Grant's mom and Bryn mother in law, introduced us to Boulder.  Just a 45 minute auto ride away, Boulder has lots of fun places to shop and eat.

The Pearl Street Mall is a great place to take a toddler like Charlie--lots of little pocket parks and plenty of other little ones to play and interact with. Charlie really like climbing on the beaver sculpture. We enjoyed our visit to Boulder so much that we took our friend Belinda Acre there when she visited with us for a few days.

Belinda & the Big Blue Bear

You guess? Giant's feet?

Among our favorite attractions in downtown Denver is the big blue bear standing in front of the Convention Center.  We really love showing visitors around the area.

Although Denver is not as old as some of the eastern  cities, there is still a lot of history-- and local landmarks make for fun tours and interesting city walks.

 So what else have we been doing? Larry recently was a guest of Greg Llafet (Grant's Dad), along with Grant and family friend, Dave Wall, at a nearby pheasant hunting ranch.

The last time Larry shot a firearm was when he was in the Army (1972), but he surprised himself and avoided embarrassment by bagging one bird sitting in a tree, just waiting to be shot.

He was not sure what the experience was going to be like, but it was fantastic--walking in the Colorado countryside and the companionship and camaraderie were terrific. All of us had a great time--and it was a wonderful gift on Greg's part--so much so that all of us have signed on for a return visit next fall! Is an NRA membership in the future?

Charlie & Delilah

 But, of course, the best part of being in Denver is being with Charlie and watching him grow and develop.  He continues to enjoy his daycare experience, but he's also up for any outings that Oma and Opa might come up with.  A couple of weeks ago, we invited his BFF, Delilah, to join us for a visit to the Denver Art Museum.

The museum is a great child-friendly locale.  It can easily provide entertainment and interest for children and grandparents for several hours at a time--truth to tell, more fun and entertainment than we find at the local children's museum.  Charlie loved showing the museum and its exhibits to his friend.

Denver also has a superb Zoo--just last Saturday, on a bright, early spring day, Charlie, his Dad, Grant, and Oma and Opa visited it. Again, the zoo does a great job of making the experience one that is safe and child-friendly.

Charlie particularly liked the gibbons, who have a great open air aerial walkway over the elephants, rhinos, and hippos' compound.

As we said, being with Charlie and his mom and dad make our time in Denver so very special.  We know that we will miss them when we hit the road again, but we are looking forward to our upcoming travels.

If you are wondering, here is our planned itinerary:

April 19: Leave Denver for a visit with Larry's mom and siblings in north Georgia
April 23: New Orleans--visit with friends, Lois & Martin Simpson
April 26: Leave New Orleans for a 17 day "Repositioning Cruise" to Barcelona, Spain
May 12:  Arrive in Barcelona; we will then be two weeks traveling to Granda, Seville and Madrid with Sue's brother and sister in law, John and Bonnie Roschy
May 24:  10 days in Germany visiting with the German Roschys (Sue's ancestral relatives)
June & July: Mostly in Italy--Tuscany and the Veneto, with a side trip to Istanbul to see Erin

We will return to Denver in August--where we are sure Charlie will be so big and grown up we won't recognize him!

Mexico City

Our apologies to those of you who follow our blog and have been wondering what has happened to us. Although we have been back in Denver since the middle of December, we have fallen behind on our blogging, but before we talk about our fun times in Denver, we want to share some thoughts about our time in Mexico City.

How to describe Mexico City? Huge, teeming, traffic choked, and full of wonders.  All of these, but a lot more.

Everyone in MC loves Christmas

Living and touring in Mexico City, we were constantly aware that we were in a city of 28 million people.  We stayed in the Historic Center, near the Zocalo, and at that time of year (December), especially, there always seemed to be hordes of people on the sidewalks and in the streets; some obviously doing holiday shopping, but many just going about their daily activities, but always hordes.

Getting into and out of the Zocalo often was a nightmare.  Once we finally had to abandon a taxi just three blocks from our apartment after nearly an hour stalled in traffic--we got trapped in a market area that seemed to have expanded exponentially for the Christmas season.

Our fallback transportation was the Metro, which functioned quite smoothly, even if it could be incredibly crowded. The Metro is a great bargain; with the recent fare hike, it costs $3 pesos a ride, or about 35 cents. There's a great free app that clearly shows you how to use the Metro most effectively.  We found that a Metro ride will get you to your destination in less than half the time of a taxi and far more cheaply.

Larry, Sue, Mart & Bob

Mexican People and Culture

The Mexican people are invariably polite and kind.  Almost everyone, both in Mexico City and San Miguel, was patient with our attempts to speak Spanish, and often went out of their way to help us.  They are very loquacious—you hear chatter everywhere; but it is not loud or obnoxious, just omnipresent.  It is pleasant, as most speak in a low tone of voice.  Most places seem welcoming and inviting as a result, and an atmosphere of joviality is felt.

Many are beautiful and have such classic features that you want to stop and stare.  If you catch anyone’s eye, they will smile and give you a “Buenos Dias” or “Buenas Noches” and always a “Hasta Luego” when you leave.  We felt quite at home in Mexico.  Like Americans, the Mexican population has gained weight over the last decade or two, and especially in MC you see quite a few overweight and even obese people. Sue fit right in (that's me, not Larry, speaking).

Sun Pyramid, Teotihuacan

The culture is rich and varied.   We North Americans really have no idea of the extent and diversity of Mexico’s rich history and culture. as well as the level of sophistication. During the Dark Ages in Europe, Mexico had a tremendously organized and high level of culture and government; actually, there were several such centers throughout Mexico and Central America.  

Larry & Mart at the top of the Sun Pyramid

Cortes arrived in 1519 and the Spanish invasion changed everything often decimating populations with war and new diseases, always forcing European culture and religion on the indigenous peoples. One of our favorite excursions while we were in MC was to the pyramids of Teotihuacan, about an hour outside of the city. Sue, feeling a little under the weather stayed home, but Mart, Bob and Larry marveled at these incredible ruins and the civilization that was able to create them.

When we were in San Miguel de Allende, we enjoyed listening to music—often mariachi, but there were a lot of different other types as well.  We very much liked the “tuna” groups which usually consisted of a group of eight or ten men, playing various stringed instruments and singing traditional, or at least well known Mexican songs.  We, of course, knew very few of them except for “Cielito Lindo.”  Our favorite was “Piernas de Carolina” to which our most memorable group, Tuna Real, played and danced.  We have a short video of Tuna Real on a previous blog.

Our last night in San Miguel we walked to the Jardin after dinner and found a local university group performing an exciting dance program with multiple costume changes and a variety of choreographies. Much of the dancing included some form of tap, with the men and women often doing a type of call and response with their dancing. The young people were tremendously energetic and talented.  It was intriguing just watching them perform, but also exhilarating and exciting.

Coming to MC, we decided to go see the Ballet Folklorico—and were surprised to see that much of the same choreography and the variety of dances were repeated on the beautiful stage of the Bellas Artes center.  The main difference between the performances was the fabulous, colorful costumes of the professional dancers.

Mart, Sue, Carole & Bob

We did some incredibly interesting things in MC, mostly thanks to Mart and Bob’s friend, Carole Reedy. Fortunately, we can now call Carole our good friend--and we plan to visit her many more times in the coming years, because there are just too many things to see and do in Mexico that we just didn't have the time or energy to take in. 

But some of the other highlights from Carole's tour of the city include: Chapultepec Park and Castle, which introduced us some of Mexico's incredible history. The Soumaya and Jumex Museums which are world class art museums. All of us thoroughly enjoyed the Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera homes and studios and the surrounding neighborhoods. The National Anthropology Museum would require perhaps a week just to take in all of its different exhibits covering the many, many civilizations that have flourished in Mexico.

With Nicola

 Besides spending time with Carole, we so enjoyed re-uniting with Erin’s good friend, "in loco parenti," and driver, Rosalio, who to this day carries her phone number in his taxi’s visor and a note she wrote him when she left.   

On one our final days in Mexico City,  we were able  re-connected with Erin’s good friend, Nicola Souter, and enjoyed one of our best meals at Casa Portuguesa. We look forward to seeing her again this summer in Basel, Switzerland.

Felinni does San Miguel

Larry & Sue in front of city Christmas tree

Procession

We are told that San Miguel is a city of some 80,000 people; that's hard to believe.


We have not explored even a small fraction of the city, but in many ways for us, it seems like a small village.

Bike racers

We are a block from the main square (Jardin) and walk to the market, supermarket, public library, restaurants, and even a French-style bakery in less than 10 minutes.


When there is something happening in the Jardin, and there always seems that there is something, often involving music and dance, we can easily stroll there in two minutes or less; and if we are bored, too cold or too warm--we can go back to our place just as easily. What an easy life!

Just last night, around 10:00 p.m., we heard music and laughter in the street.  Stepping out our door, we were delighted to see Tuna Real, a band of strolling musicians, leading a group of fifty or so celebrants--all singing along with the band. We followed them to the Jardin--wishing we understood the Spanish language songs, but enjoying it tremendously anyway. Tuna seems to be the name for a type of band featuring mandolins and guitars.  They are often dressed in "renaissance style costumes" and entertain with beautifully executed traditional songs and dance.  Tuna Real is one of our favorites.

Dance demonstrations

This past weekend there was a three day music festival, a street theater production, a dance demonstration, the finale of a 1000 person bike race, a native Indian religious procession, and, of course, throngs of tourists who in turn attract street vendors and local artisans hawking their wares--much of it occurring simultaneously. The city also decided to finalize its Christmas decorating and to light the official city tree on Friday evening.

Street theater performers

Bob said it made him feel like he had stepped into a Felinni movie--and we all agreed!

Balloon vendor

One of our favorite recent activities has been the three day Festival de la Sierra.  While we did not appreciate every act, there was so much to listen and dance to.


In this video, you can see the fun of watching the "mojigangas" or large puppets dance to the music of the band and entertain the crowd.  Earlier we had thought the puppets  were called catrinas--but we have since learned that catrinas are the beautifully dressed female skeletons that you see on Day of the Dead celebrations.

Unfortunately, our time here in San Miguel has come to an end. San Miguel is such a great city, all four of us are sad about having to leave it. 

Return to El Charco

A collage of our experience in El Charco

El Charco Ingenio

This week we paid a return visit to one of our favorite places in San Miguel de Allende, El Charco Ingenio-- the Botanical Garden.

What a wonderful place! Our guide on a recent tour, Lorie Topinka, told us that the garden is only about twenty years old: very young for a botanical garden.

Despite that, the garden has grown and matured to become a remarkably beautiful and unique place, with hundreds of varieties of cacti, dessert plants such as mesquit and acacia, and wild flowers galore.



Centered around a hundred year old reservoir, the garden and preserve provides a habitat for many migratory waterfowl. It also includes a very, very deep, vertigo inducing gorge.

San Miguel is semi-arid and averages about 22 inches of rain annually, mostly during the period from June to October.  This year has been unusually wet, with the rainy season extending into November.

Thus the garden is a lot greener than usual, and some of the cacti and annuals are actually re-flowering. With Lorie as our guide, we explored parts of the garden we had not seen before and thoroughly enjoyed our two hour walk. Joining us for the walk were Mart & Bob Larson & their long time friend, Carol Reedy, who lives in Mexico City but came for a visit this week.

Celebrating Thanksgiving, a Birthday & our 43rd Anniversary

Larry, Sue, Carol, Bob & Mart at the Rosewood

This year, Thanksgiving coincided with our 43rd Wedding Anniversary. It was also Carol's birthday.  With no functioning oven, it was impossible to attempt to cook a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, even if we had known how to find a turkey here in Mexico.

Still, we had a wonderfully celebratory day.  After our inspiring tour and walk in El Charco, we all came back to our house, rested, cleaned up and then headed out to the Rosewood Hotel--possibly the nicest hotel in San Miguel--for cocktails and sunset viewing.

Sunset at the Rosewood

 It was a mild evening, with just enough clouds to make the sunset interesting.  We talked and lingered for a couple of hours.  After awhile, Sue and I decided to order a round of Cuarenta y Tres (43) on the rocks for everyone, explaining how we had been introduced to this delicious banana liquor when we were young newlyweds in Spain in 1975.  It seemed only natural to celebrate our 43rd anniversary by introducing our friends to this tasty liquor.

View of SM from the Rosewood Terrace

Finishing our time at the Rosewood, Carol wanted to treat us all to dinner at one of her favorite San Miguel eateries, La Fenicia--a Lebanese restaurant.

Perhaps because it was Thanksgiving, we were the only clients in the restaurant--so we felt free to talk and laugh as loud as we wanted.  The food was wonderful, rivaling any Lebanese restaurants we have been to in the States or elsewhere.

 

 

Toy Museum

Pancho Villa & other revolutionarios are heros

Friday morning, we said goodbye to Carol, but we are looking forward to seeing her when we are in Mexico City the week of December 8th--she has promised to be our own private tour guide to the city she loves the best.

In the afternoon, we decided to visit the Toy Museum, or the Museo la Esquina, based on recommendations from some friends we have met here in San Miguel.

Tiny circus

We were so very glad we did.  It is located in a 300 hundred year old house, that has been beautifully restored and renovated to accommodate the extraordinary collection of Mexican handmade toys, the fruit of fifty years of collecting by a local teacher, Angelica Tijerina.

Caballeros that move with a clip-clop sound

In room after room, we marveled at the amazing craftsmanship and creativity the toy makers showed both in design and in the materials they used to make the toys.  Some were made of clay, others of straw, tin, fabric, or wood and most were intricately put together, often painted in a kind of pointillist manner.  Also, we thought about the incredible patience and love it took to make each one.

Lots of Frida dolls

With Mexico's growing prosperity and the availability of cheap imports from China and elsewhere, many of these toys are no longer made (we see a lot of cheap, plastic toys in the tiendas).  The knowledge, skill and patience to make them is probably a thing of the past.  We hope not--perhaps people in the countryside retain the skills and desire.


We took some photos of the house and toys--but as is so often the case, they really don't do justice to the reality.

Every day there seems to be something new and wonderful to discover and experience here in San Miguel--there's not enough time or energy to see and do everything!