Well, I obviously didn't get anything written from the airport on the way home! I can't believe I last wrote in this on July 22nd and today is September 3rd...I know this will be a long, and my last, entry so bear with me, please: Laura's arrival in Vigo, trip with Laura and Jon(her boyfriend) through northern Spain and my reentry into US.
Laura arrived exhausted in Vigo from her last minute fundraiser at work, starting to pack for her apartment move upon her return and just getting ready for her trip to Spain. We took it easy and I showed her around Vigo, including my school. My friend, Sole, invited us out to her home for comida with her daughter, also named Laura! Then she drove us out the beaches and up to a high point to see a beautiful view of Vigo.
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| Laura, Sole and Laura ! |
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| View from hilltop of Vigo - water in background |
We also rode the train up to Santiago to show Laura the town and all the famous buildings there. And, of course, we had to check out the bars and restaurants! Spanish food is not Laura's favorite because she doesn't like seafood, ham or eggs which are all staples in Spain. We spent a good amount of time looking for acceptable food for her! In this picture, we found croissants at a hotel cafe where we picked up some items for a friend in Austin who had left them there on her trip. Notice the smile!!
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| Croissants! |
And, an even bigger smile when 6 days after she arrived, some guy named Jon arrived from LA! I, then, had the incredible privilege of traveling with them for a week across northern Spain. Poor Jon, no time to adjust, we threw him in the backseat of the car the next morning and headed north...our first stop was a brief one in Santiago de Compostela, to show architect Jon all the historic buildings. Having him travel with us was like traveling with an architecture professor who knew interesting tidbits about so many buildings. After Santiago, we headed northwest via Lugo where we stopped for a menu del dia and a look at the Roman walls which still totally encircle the center city.
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| First meal on the road and wall in background |
On the drive there, we saw many "peregrinos" (pilgrims) on their walk to Santiago. If you haven't seen The Way by Emilio Estevez and starring his father, Martin Sheen, you need to...it is an inside view of El Camino (The Pilgrimage) and of the Galician landscape. We continued our drive toward our first night's stop in Oviedo, Asturias. We stopped at La Catedral de las Playas where we saw the incredibly beautiful coastline and wished we had more time to swim and enjoy it.
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| Top of the beach, Playas de los Catedrales |
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| this is low tide.. |
Onward in our Spanish SEAT to Oviedo, the capital of Asturias and known for its cidra - an alcoholic cider served in a special manner where the waiter pours from his outstretched hand in the air to the glass held as low as possible in the other hand. Asturias is also the dairy capital of Spain. Oviedo is a smaller city but very clean and full of historical church-related buildings.
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| Monasterio de las Benedictinas |
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| Dairy hands in Oviedo |
When we left Oviedo, we headed north again to the coast of the Cantabrian Sea (or, Bay of Biscayne) and drove along such incredible coastline until we stopped for lunch in Ribadesella, a small town on a ria (or very large sea inlet). We ate at a local cafe looking out over the water, and had cidra, of course! Laura was thrilled because she found spaghetti bolognesa!
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| Ribadesella-view towards the sea |
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| Pouring our cidra for us |
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| Lunch in Ribadesella |
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| Now, children... |
We continued along the coast to the small village of Comillas that our book said had a house by Gaudi. And, did it ever!! Of course, Jon gave us a quick bio of Gaudi and when this particular private home was constructed in his career...all of which made it even more interesting. I'll let my pictures do the talking:
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| garden of Gaudi house |
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| house by Gaudi |
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| Jon in his man-cave (actually built for that purpose for homeowner) |
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| Aren't they cute? |
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| chair by Gaudi |
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| horseshoe garden by Gaudi-cave at 11 o'clock |
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| close-up of spire |
Onward to Santillana del Mar where we spent the night in one of the nicest and most bargain hotel of our trip. Los Hidalgos is located on the edge of a park so it's very quiet and we had a huge room. That evening we ate in a cute courtyard restaurant with very good food.
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| cute courtyard...cute guy! |
As we left the next morning, the manager noticed it was my birthday and asked me what presents I was getting? I assured him my present was traveling with my daughter and her boyfriend and that I knew they had made special dinner plans at our stop that night. Evidently, that wasn't enough for him because as we walked to our car, he rushed out with a can of the famous local Santoña anchovies and a handful of hard candy , all in a bag and insisted I take it for my birthday present!! Only in Spain, is all I can say!!
Next stop on our road trip is the place Jon said he has wanted to see since he was 14 years old: the Guggenheim in Bilbao. We spent about 4 or 5 hours in the museum and its environs...it was definitely as spectacular as promised:
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| Guggenheim |
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| another angle of G. |
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| El Pupy (puppy) |
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| all the flowers |
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| watch out, Laura! |
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| spider created by sculptress to show strength of her own mother |
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| Weird Richard Serra mazes in G. |
We left in the late afternoon for our short drive to Donostia-San Sebastian, the best known city in the Basque area...known for its beauty and incredible tapas! We had a reservation to stay right in the old quarter in what turned out to be a very friendly place with an updated room in a very old building. The city was as much fun as promised and the food was extraordinary, starting with my delicious birthday dinner at Bodega Alejandro that Jon had researched and chosen online. It was every bit as good as promised!! Our only negative was that the weather was a bit drippy and cloudy so the beach was out but we still enjoyed the city very much.
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| old quarter in San Sebastian |
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| unusual buskers! |
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| very famous and old Hotel Maria Cristina...and statues! |
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| garden in San S. |
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| surfing in San S. |
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| beach on east side of quarter |
Now, going south from the coast and therefore, inland, we headed out for Pamplona. We were a few weeks late for the running of the bulls which was just fine with us! But we did see the entrance to the bullring where they end up and we walked the route that they ran...we also enjoyed a nice meal in one of the main plazas. I have also included a photo of the current Spanish political signage.
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| route of the bulls |
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| entry into the bullring |
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| no more cuts! |
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| Pamplona city hall |
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| lunch on the plaza |
We headed west again on the road to Logroño, capital of the Rioja region, but made a couple of interesting stops along the way at smaller towns. First one was the tiny village of Puente de la Reina with only one street and a famous bridge...it was nice to get off the beaten track and see this little jewel that was full of peregrinos.
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| only street |
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| old bridge |
Our next stop was a bigger small town that we had read about called Estella. Upon arrival there, we discovered that later that night their festival of running the bulls was set to start. Consequently, the entire town - except us - was dressed in the traditional red and white. There was a parade for the children and lots of local dancing exhibitions. We stopped for an ice cold drink and to enjoy all the activity.
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| It's a family affair! |
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| for sale everywhere (Sunday so couldn't buy our own) |
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| parade |
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| couple of chicks |
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| eating and swimming(check out fountain) |
Back on the road and we arrived shortly in Logroño. I think we all enjoyed this town because it was not so big but had a wonderful old town with good tapas and good,cheap wine since Rioja is the main wine region of Spain. Also, our hotel was located well and had great A/C - a must in the inland cities!
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| Jon's favorite pincho place |
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| mushroom pinchos being cooked |
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| give me 5! |
Off again, still heading west to Burgos and then, Leon, but with a stop in Santo Domingo de la Calzada to check out another town written about in our books. It had a famous church with a tower that Jon walked to the top of and Laura and I were content to go for cold drinks and a snack. The church was known because it had live chickens that lived in a glass box set into the interior wall of the cathedral - I think to say thanks for some sort of past miracle? It also had a Parador (a government owned and run inn located in a historic building) on its plaza.
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| pilgrim with her chicken |
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| those cute chicks again! |
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| parador is behind us |
And off to Burgos, to see probably the largest cathedral I've ever seen!! Of course, we had to enjoy a meal, first! Laura picked on me but I had fun taking pictures of the people in the different wedding groups - it was a Saturday and the Cathedral was very busy marrying people!
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| one wedding |
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| entrance |
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| main plaza by Cathedral |
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| organ |
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| dome |
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| one of many gorgeous ones |
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| cloister |
We also found the judias(beans) that Jon's father had requested in a small store in Burgos! It's getting later in the day now but since it doesn't get dark until about 11 PM, our days are delightfully extended into the evening. We arrive in Leon at dusk and hungry! We fortunately found a very nice restaurant on the square where they served excellent Italian food. The next morning, Jon got up early to go see the cathedral and Laura and I slept a little later because we were "cathedraled out" and tired. After breakfast at a Valor chocoloteria, we hit the road for the 4+ hour ride to Vigo.
It really felt good to be back in my little apartment even though it was for my last night :(. Of course, when we arrived in the early afternoon, Teresa called to tell us it was a special, annual religious holiday and there would be a parade, celebration, etc that night as they carried a special Jesus statue around the city. She would be by to get us in an hour or so! No time for grass to grow under your feet in Vigo!
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| local costumes |
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| parade down my street in Vigo |
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| close-up |
We enjoyed the traditional costumes and the pageantry of all the famous people and everyone else marching, carrying a candle, singing and paying homage to Christ. A rather strangely satisfying way to spend my last night in Vigo. The next morning, Jon and Laura left by cab for the bus station to catch their bus to Portugal and the start of their week traveling together through Portugal.
Teresa helped me carry everything I wasn't taking with me to her house to be distributed to various other people...like Fernando and Cristina's camita that Jon had slept on just the night before! Teresa inherited fairly well in the food department as well! We went for a nice lunch and then I returned to do last minute stuff before she came by at 8 PM to help me walk to the train station with my 2 large, 1 small suitcases, a backpack and a purse! I had a reservation on a litera(berth) for the late night train to Madrid. 10 hours after we left at 10 PM, we arrived in Madrid...I even managed to sleep with my feet hanging of all night! A nice Polish girl helped me walk my luggage to a cab so I gave her a ride with me to the airport...a win-win arrangement! At 3 PM, I boarded the airplane for Austin and thus ended one of the most amazing, incredible, wonderful years of my life! Now, to figure out to get back there with a job again....I'll stop here because if I dwell on my departure from Vigo, I will get sadder and more maudlin. Did I say it was an incredible experience??
And, did I say that my friends in Austin are also incredible?? This is the "what" I found upon arrival home from the airport...along with all the "whos" who did this! Muchas gracias amigos...
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| my whole home decorated - this is just one room |
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| and 60 roses for some strange reason?? |
