Well, I'm afraid the post-vacation glow has almost completely faded. So sad. But what a WONDERFUL experience! As a first visit (I hope there will be more.) to Europe, I couldn't have asked for more. Thank you, G, for making it so special.
I learned lots of relatively inconsequential things: a little more of Spanish history, culture, odd and interesting little bits and pieces. What remains with me more, though, is the impact that seeing something in real life has as opposed to pictures and words. It's something else to see people still using buildings that were built hundreds of years ago or to stand just a few feet away from centuries-old masterpieces of art and suddenly understand why they ARE masterpieces.
I've thought for many years that if I were going to live for awhile outside the US, Spain would be my first choice. My brief visit didn't change my mind. There was so much I enjoyed and so much I didn't get to see; I feel like this trip just whetted my appetite.
So, it's back to school and back to work...and saving up $ and vacation time for another trip some day!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Still more photos
You know how we have signs here saying 16'3" or something similar to advise drivers of trucks, buses, etc. that their vehicle needs to be under that height to get under an upcoming bridge, overhang, etc.? Well, note that in some of these towns with streets and buildings from medieval years or earlier, they not only have to show the height, but the width.
The Segovia aqueduct: 10 miles long; built by the Romans in the 1st or 2nd century; until recently carried water; no mortar. Clearly those Romans knew what they were doing...and this is a geologically stable region.
The last two are in La Mallorquina, ah-h, home of the heavenly napolitanas chocolates. It was always packed, body-to-body stuffed with people. There are no lines. You just sort of shove your way to the counter and place your order louder than the person next to you. I learned this technique from a woman probably in her 70's, several inches shorter than I am, and wearing (what else?) a full-length fur coat.
More photos
Here's looking in one direction from the top of the Segovia alcázar tower. That's the cathedral in the distance and the wall around the city is centuries old. The highest mountain--covered with snow and off to the right--is said to look like a dead woman. Why not a sleeping woman? The Spanish perspective is a little dark.
...and here's from the other direction (over the top of the rest of it). This is apparently the castle that inspired Walt Disney's Cinderella castle. We went down in the "basement" and saw where the Romans started the construction of it. Over the centuries it was added onto any number of times. It...well, I could write about it for awhile, but I'll spare you the history and descriptions, no matter how fascinating. And this was just ONE of the castles we toured!
I seem to have lost the photo where I got all of the building, but you can still tell that Madrid's city hall is a lot more impressive than Seattle's.
This is in Sol, in the center of Madrid. Lots of people, as you can see. Every time I was in Sol--day or night--there were lots of people. Yes, it's crowded, but it didn't drive me crazy. Maybe it's because I wasn't trying to get anywhere in a hurry, just on vacation. Everyone is with a group or at least another person. Everyone's talking. There's a kind of energy, a sort of buzz. It's alive.
Photos?
OK, let's see if I can figure out how to add a few photos.
Whoa, look--there it is!
The first day was pretty drippy. This is in Madrid and that thing I have my foot on is El Kilometro Cero--where all the roads in Spain are measured from.
Even doing his drowned rat imitation he's dang good-looking, isn't he?
He's even domestic! There are probably some dryers somewhere in Spain, but everyplace I went everyone was hanging their laundry out to dry. Sometimes it's in an interior courtyard like here, but I saw lots of laundry hanging from balconies over the street, especially in smaller towns.
Well, I can't figure out how to get the pictures interspersed with explanations, so you're just going to have to figure out which paragraph goes to which photo. Sorry.
I'll put the others in separate posts so it'll be a little easier.
Odds 'n' ends
Ha! You thought I was finished with this blog didn't you? Well, not quite. Here are a few odds 'n' ends that I wrote waiting for my flight back:
-Given the masses of people on the streets in Madrid, they’re surprising clean. This is because everywhere you go—Metro, parks, sidewalks—there are people in, um, let’s say “very noticeable” green suits constantly sweeping and picking up.
-I was really glad I brought a nice warm jacket. It isn't that cold in Madrid (A few mornings there was a thin sheet of ice in the fountains, but it was usually sunny and within a couple of hours it was in the 50’s.), but I really appreciated it while tromping around for a few hours in chilly castles and I now understand why all those women wear long fur coats to mass—those cathedrals just suck the heat out of your body.
-On the other hand, the nice warm nightgown I brought was a mistake. I was way too warm every night I slept in Madrid. Both apartments in which I stayed were heated by radiators. Apparently the management decides when to turn on the radiators in the Fall and once they’re on, they’re on 'til Spring. Neither place was ever under 72 degrees F. When I stayed with the widow, the thermometer on my clock occasionally registered as high as 79.5 degrees. At G’s, the windows were frequently open, so it was much more comfortable, although sometimes still pretty stuffy, especially when there were a bunch of smokers puffing away.
-The Spaniards are very proud of their jamón, which is usually translated as “ham”, but it’s not anything like what we think of as ham. Yes, it’s from pigs, but the pigs are a different variety, they’re fed/raised differently, the meat is processed differently, and the result is a very dry, very dense, fine-grained meat product that has a different flavor. They slice it literally almost paper thin.
-Tortillas are common enough to almost be considered a staple, but they’re not what we think of as tortillas. Spanish tortillas are, well, I guess you could say they’re potato omelets—not eggs with a few fried potatoes, but fried potatoes held together by a little egg. Since they’re mostly potatoes (plus a little egg, onion, and salt), they’re somewhat bland, but rather tasty nevertheless.
- Bocadillos are a type of sandwich and they’re everywhere—sort of Spanish fast food. People grab them for snack, for lunch, even for breakfast. The only bread I've eaten here was baguettes—long, thin loaves of white bread with a crunchy crust (what we sometimes call “French bread”). A bocadillo is usually made with a section of a baguette sliced horizontally, often containing a couple of paper-thin slices of jamón and maybe a little bit of mustard, so you’re getting quite a bit of white bread with a little bit of meat. Another very popular type of bocadillo, though, is a tortilla bocadillo—essentially a potato sandwich. If you’re on a low-carb diet, forget this one. I shared one with G: lots of potatoes with a little bit of egg surrounded by lots of white bread. OK, I tried it, but I told him I was not interested in repeating the experience.
Oh, there's so much more--I'm not ready to go home yet!
-Given the masses of people on the streets in Madrid, they’re surprising clean. This is because everywhere you go—Metro, parks, sidewalks—there are people in, um, let’s say “very noticeable” green suits constantly sweeping and picking up.
-I was really glad I brought a nice warm jacket. It isn't that cold in Madrid (A few mornings there was a thin sheet of ice in the fountains, but it was usually sunny and within a couple of hours it was in the 50’s.), but I really appreciated it while tromping around for a few hours in chilly castles and I now understand why all those women wear long fur coats to mass—those cathedrals just suck the heat out of your body.
-On the other hand, the nice warm nightgown I brought was a mistake. I was way too warm every night I slept in Madrid. Both apartments in which I stayed were heated by radiators. Apparently the management decides when to turn on the radiators in the Fall and once they’re on, they’re on 'til Spring. Neither place was ever under 72 degrees F. When I stayed with the widow, the thermometer on my clock occasionally registered as high as 79.5 degrees. At G’s, the windows were frequently open, so it was much more comfortable, although sometimes still pretty stuffy, especially when there were a bunch of smokers puffing away.
-The Spaniards are very proud of their jamón, which is usually translated as “ham”, but it’s not anything like what we think of as ham. Yes, it’s from pigs, but the pigs are a different variety, they’re fed/raised differently, the meat is processed differently, and the result is a very dry, very dense, fine-grained meat product that has a different flavor. They slice it literally almost paper thin.
-Tortillas are common enough to almost be considered a staple, but they’re not what we think of as tortillas. Spanish tortillas are, well, I guess you could say they’re potato omelets—not eggs with a few fried potatoes, but fried potatoes held together by a little egg. Since they’re mostly potatoes (plus a little egg, onion, and salt), they’re somewhat bland, but rather tasty nevertheless.
- Bocadillos are a type of sandwich and they’re everywhere—sort of Spanish fast food. People grab them for snack, for lunch, even for breakfast. The only bread I've eaten here was baguettes—long, thin loaves of white bread with a crunchy crust (what we sometimes call “French bread”). A bocadillo is usually made with a section of a baguette sliced horizontally, often containing a couple of paper-thin slices of jamón and maybe a little bit of mustard, so you’re getting quite a bit of white bread with a little bit of meat. Another very popular type of bocadillo, though, is a tortilla bocadillo—essentially a potato sandwich. If you’re on a low-carb diet, forget this one. I shared one with G: lots of potatoes with a little bit of egg surrounded by lots of white bread. OK, I tried it, but I told him I was not interested in repeating the experience.
Oh, there's so much more--I'm not ready to go home yet!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)