Barcelona : Blog # 11

 

                                                            Blog # 11: Barcelona 

Our Port Terminal Is Minutes Away From An Old Custom House

     There's A Majestic, Old World "Feel" To This Building

           The Tour Started With A Look At Barcelona From A Mountain Top.

At This Point, There Was an "Ah Ha" Moment. We Were On The Wrong Tour.

       Left The Bus - Got a Taxi And Headed To The Town Center

Found A Large, Upscale Store. Looks Like Barcelona Has The Same Theft Problem As We do At Home. (Interesting Purse!)

                     Motorcycles and Scooters Are Everywhere!

Arlene Celebrates With An Aperol Spritz. She Made It Through The Cruise !!

 Elaborate Entertainment And Fantastic Costumes  - Argentina theme

                             Highly Technical Routines 

         Wonderful Tango Dancing - Almost As Good As "Dancing With The Stars!"

                                                    Is This Las Vegas, Or What?

                Once The Dancers And Singers Are Selected...

They Have To Practice For Six Months Before They Perform On A Ship

   6:00 AM Room Service - We Leave For Paris In Two Hours

                Very Efficient Luggage Handling At The Port

                                            Lounge Snack

Jerry Has A New Friend (Sol-Luna) - They Shared A Tram On The Way To The Gate

Jerry Tries Out His New Phone. This Is A Normal Picture From About 15,000 Feet

This Is Using The Phone's Telephoto Lens. Given The Plane Was Moving, Shaking A Bit From Turbulence And The Photo Was Through The Window, Still It Is A Remarkable Shot!

American Carriers Barely Give Passengers A Bag Of Peanuts Or Pretzels. Foreign Airlines Typically Offer A Meal Even On A Short Flight. We Were On A 90 Minute Flight. Meal Came With A Choice Of Red Or White Wine Along With The Perfectly Prepared Salmon! Yum!

We've Stayed At Most Of The High End Paris Hotels. However, Perhaps One Of Our Favorite Places To Stay Is Francois I -- A Small Boutique Hotel Steps Away From The Champs-Elysees

                            What Do I Want For Breakfast?

YSL Always Has Fantastic Store Windows. Yes, It Was A Bit Chilly. The Day Started In The High 40's!

Snacking On Sandwiches  - Having Fun Watching The People Go By

   Our Traditional Photo - We Started Taking Pictures In Front Of 

   The Arc D' Triomphe Since The early 1980's. It Hasn't Changed          Over The Years. However, We have...Just A Little!!

It Was A Struggle. Yet, Jerry Finally Decided... He'll Take The Red One

                When In France...Had To Have A Chocolate Crepe!

Fun Local Bistro - Lots Of Energy - Tables Were Close Together - Met People Next To Us From Serbia, Canada And The United States. The Serbians Were Two Girls Celebrating Their University Graduation As Environmental Engineers. Two Girls Were From Santa Monica And The South Bay Area. Got Invited By A Grandmother For A Long Weekend. Then, There Was A Mother From Montreal. Her Eight-Year-Old Son Just Won A National Math Contest. As An Award, He Had a Choice of Places To Visit. He Selected Paris. Yes, He Confirmed One Of The Math Questions Was, "If A Train Is Going 45 MPH In One Direction And Another Train Is Heading Toward That Train At 25 MPH, At What Point Will They Meet? 

Typical Board Menu. We Had A Bottle Of Table Wine Which Was Delicious And Inexpensive.

                                    Onion Soup? Of Course
            OMG!!! The French Fries Were Fantastic! Ooh La-La
                    People Behind Us Celebrating A Birthday

Spent Time With Sophie In Her Apartment. She's A Good Friend Of Our Daughter, Heather. By A Fluke, Met Sophie's Parents Years Ago - Did An Exchange With Our Two Oldest Children - They Went To Paris; Sophie Stayed With Us. Celebrated Many Happy Occasions - Sophie's Bat Mitzvah, Wedding, Birthdays, etc.

    Popular Restaurant Near Our Hotel Had This Display In Front

                        On Plane From London To LAX

                        Looking Down At Greenland

     We Were Surprised. British Airways Meals Were Quite Good!

Some Of Our Friends Know We Present Our Company Frisbee To People That Are Special, Have Done Something Nice To Us Or To The Sweet, Young Child That (Out Of The Blue) Never Expected Anything. The Smiles, Tears And Appreciation Are Always Worth More Than The Trip. This Time, We Gave A Frisbee To A Young Man From South Africa Who Helps Coordinate Ship Tours For The Guests. He Was Always Trying To Help Us Find The Best Tour, Make Changes Or Even Exchange Thoughts About The World Around Us. When Handed The Frisbee With Our Thanks, He Was So Touched. No One Had Ever Thanked Him For His Work. He Never Had A Toy Like This Frisbee. He Mentioned, Rather Than Playing With It, He Will Treasure It With The Other Items He Collected Over The World.

This Was A Great Way To Finish A Wonderful Trip And Thankfully There Were No Medical Issues During Our Travels. Thanks To Everyone For Their Comments.

Our Bags Are Packed Is The Name Of Our Blog. Once The Clothes Are Washed And We Get Caught Up With All Of Our Typical "Things To Do," Hopefully We Will Re-pack Our Bags And Off We Will Go To Meet People And Further Explore The World!

Blog # 10: Alicante & Valencia (Spain)

 

                                                                        Alicante (Spain)

                                            Waking Up To A Beautiful Sunrise

      The Ship's Walkway Is Assembled Like Using "Legos!"

It Appears Pro-Sailing Racing Occurred In This Town

This Building Was Designed/Constructed Out Of Spite. The Wealthiest Man On This Island Was Not Permitted Entry Into A Nearby Hotel Because He Was Not Dressed Appropriately!  So the story goes...

            There Are Beautiful Walkways Throughout The Town

                    Heading To The Santa Barbara Fort

                Stunning Views From The Mountain Top. 

                The Ocean And Beaches Are Behind Us

We're Surmising The Fortifications Are Decaying. Rock Material Is Falling Onto People Below. Climbers Are Installing Metal Chains Across The Face To Keep People From Getting Hurt

                                        Layout Of The Fort

          Prisoners Used This Area For Obvious Reasons!

        Fort Could Be Used For Movies With Historical Theme

Royal Flags And What Looks Like Some Sort Of Clock

            Town Center (Older Part) Has Many Ornate Buildings

Old Government Building And Small Museum - Fascinating Metal Door

                            Old Ficus Tree Behind Jerry

Years Ago This Narrow Street Was A Heaven For Drugs. Recently Cleaned Up - Now The Area Has A Frolic Feeling

                                One Of Many Pretty Parks

                                Fountains Are Everywhere

A City Beautification Program Was Taking Place. Flowers Were Being Placed in Stands. Left Over Potted Plants Were Given Out To Passerby's

                                Nice Looking Manhole

                                Walking Around The Ship

             We Had A Long (And Happy) Day Of Touring

                            Valencia Port Area Very Early In The Morning

Before We Actually Started Touring, There Was Lots Of Activity: A Freight Train Loaded With Containers From The Cargo Ships  





       Cars Were Being Unloaded From The Vehicle Carrier Ships


Valencia Is A Fabulous Town. We Could Live Here - Enjoying The Beautiful And Historical Buildings, The Layback Atmosphere And The Overall Vibe!

                               Beautiful Tree-lined Streets

It Was Interesting Watching Mothers Walking Their Children To School. Most Of The City Center Has Bike Lanes. Many People Were Taking Advantage / Not Using A Car

            Valencia Has a Bull Ring - Bull Flights Twice A Year

        Historically, This Gate Was Used To Welcome Dignitaries 

Evidence Of Fighting: Many Buildings Throughout The City Have Bullet Holes

                            More Interesting Manholes

Everywhere We Turned/Looked - Something Interesting To See

                        Many Festivals Take Place In This Plaza

The Statue Is Made With Flowers - Represents (In Part) - End Of Winter/Spring Has Arrived (Mid-March). After a Couple Of Days Of Festivities, The Floral Float Is Destroyed

                                    The Old And The New

                                Mass At A Nearby Church

                                    Spectacular Ceiling

                                         Interesting Design

                                                      Roman Ruins Everywhere - Even Under Water

We Learned That The Door Knockers Are Located Higher Than Normal To Accommodate Men On Horseback


                                                   Home Of A Wealthy Person

By Spending Time And Looking Closely There Are All Sorts Of Interesting Things To See On Buildings

Front Of The Cathedral. It's Supposed To Be Amazing. Not Enough Time To Visit - We Were On A Tight (Almost) Five-Hour Walking "Challenge!" Yes, We Were Exhausted When The Touring Finished!

Notice The Narrow (Salmon Color) Building. Historically, People Paid Taxes Based On "Width" - Thus The Narrow Building!

                                                      Great Looking architecture

                                                                  City Hall

The Area In Front Of The City Hall Was Also Used To Bring-on The Spring Time Of Year. Large Figures Are Constructed With Paper Mache Than Destroyed After The Festivities!

                                         Wonderful Looking Architectural Designs

                        This Almost Looks Like A Sand Castle

                     Squeezing Wet Sand Through The Fingers

The Figure On The Left IS To Warn Men To Keep Their Zippers Closed! The Actual Building Was Set Up For Silk Merchants, Judges (And Courts) As Well As The City Jail. The Silk Industry In This Town Collapsed (Mid 1800'S) Due To "Cheap" Silk Coming From China, An Insect That Attacked The Worm, The Industrial Revolution And, Probably Cotton Becoming An Inexpensive Commodity

                     We Came Across a Photo-Shoot!

We Were Not Bashful! The Young Woman Was Willing To Have Her Picture Taken With Arlene

              1400's Era University - Way Before Harvard (1600's)

                                           Central Market

            The Bird Symbolizes Kibitzing, Talking, Gossiping, Etc. 

                                            Lots Of Activity

                                            Beautiful Building

                            The Entire Area - Very Clean

             Unlike SoCal, Most Eggs Are Brown Rather Than White

            Guess Where Valencia Oranges Originated From???

                                                    Anyone For Paella?
                            Huge Selection Of Beer And Wine

                        Many Meat And Cheese Selections

                                      Assorted Salads

                            We Had One Hour To Explore

                      We Could Have Spent The Entire Day

                    Check Out The Size Of These Radishes
                              This Little Piggy Went To The Market...

All Of The Veggies Were Constantly Sprayed With Water To Keep Fresh

                                                    Huge Selection Of Olives

                                        Food Ready To Go

                Just In Case You Don't Know Your Cuts Of Meat

                    People Standing In Line For Fresh Fish

                                        Street Entertainer

        Old Train Station Now Used For Small Stores, Cafe's, etc.

                                                                The Artist That Designed This Building Was A Friend Of Gaudi. The Artist Used Some Of Gaudi's Techniques And Designs

Perhaps, One Of The More Interesting Aspects Of Valencia Is The University Of Arts And Sciences -- Actually A Group Of Museums And Aquarium.

Unfortunately, There Was Only 35 Minutes Allocated To Visit. It Could Have Been An Entire Day

The Budget To Construct Everything Was $300 Million Euros. It Ended Up At $900,000 Million Euros. Still, It Was Worth The Expenditures - It Has Become A Tourist Attraction

             Quite A Difference Between The Old And The New!