UADarthMaul #14- Home

The Madrid airport was very spacious.  First, we had to go through what I dubbed "rainbow hallway." Near our terminal was a small kids' play area with a slide.

The flight was nine and a half hours, but with an hour delay and the time change, we were completely wiped when we got home.  The first thing Miles said to me the next morning was that he wished we were still away on vacation.  I was thrilled to hear that, as I was worried that he might not enjoy himself.

The last few days I have been resting, as my shoulders and neck have been a bit screwed up from the travelling and transferring of luggage.  Tonight we unpacked all of the little knock knacks that we picked up while away.  We bought way too much!  We have a pretty small place, so I am not sure how we will display it all...



Within the next few days I will be making a post about my thoughts on how Spain, Portugal, and Italy compare.

UADarthMaul #13- Alhambra at night and now, across from the airport

Last night we grabbed a quick dinner at a local take out place.  Miles and I tried falafel for the first time.  At 8, we went into the Alhambra palaces again.  Unfortunately, it was a much shorter route than the daytime, but it was still beautiful, and fairly empty.

Then, we stumbled upon the Palace of Charles V, which we somehow missed during the day.  It was nearly empty and felt magical having it all to ourselves.  We went back to its the next morning as well to see it in the daylight.


Before we went to bed, however, we all played five games of Linko, which Miles and I had enjoyed in Obidos.

We went through as many local shops we could find.  While waiting for a really neat looking local Arabic themed restaurant to open, we walked to the Granada church, which unfortunately had a crane interfere with one of my camera shots. On the walk, it struck me how you could be walking down a narrow cobblestone street that looks like you are in the old world, and then you could come out of an alley and be right back into the modern world, with tons of cars and traffic lights.  Cross the street and you can be right back in the old world.  It is very bizarre, but I am sure the local residents think nothing of it and are completely used to it.

Back at the restaurant, I ordered chicken and couscous, the latter of which I had never ordered in a restaurant before.  Like every dish with meat in it that I have ordered in both Portugal and Spain, it came on the bone, inside the dish.  I do not like this!  I stripped off the meat and extricated the bones.  Much better!  Before I left, I used the bathroom and found the most awesome sink I have ever seen.



We took a taxi to the train station.  Took the bus back to the station where we had to switch over to the bus initially, on the way here.  Then, we loaded onto the high speed train to Madrid.  We went at speeds nearing and slightly over 300 kilometers.  The dining cart had great food and the seats were very comfortable.  I played a few games of Snorkels with Miles, but forgot to take pictures!  I was, however, able to get one picture of the speed with some glare on it instead.



We took a taxi from the train station to our airport hotel, located across the street from the airport.  Feels like we are headed home.  Lame.

UADarthMaul #12- Alhambra

This morning we had a few breakfast snacks and went to turn in our email confirmation for Alhambra tickets.  Since we were right there, we decided to check out the Generalife, one of the three main attractions that Alhambra tickets let you enter.  Luckily, I booked our tickets months ago.  All tickets had been sold out.  The Generalife is the main garden area.  We took the wrong path at the beginning and so, ended up going through it backwards.  Whoops.  An interesting thing that we found throughout the Alhambra castle and even just outside, is that there are tons of small gutters with rushing waters, coming in and out of the fountains.



As we exited, we followed a back path below the Alhambra to take a shortcut back to the Museo Cuevas del Sacromonte.  We were able to look into the caves to see how people used to live in the area.  There was also a lookout area onto Alhambra.



We headed back toward town, stopping first at a well known centralized lookout at the Alhambra.



At the main street, we had lunch.  I chose paella, my new favorite dish  Vegetable this time.  I'm not a big fan of meat on bones in my dishes.  Then, it was time for our 3:00 appointment with the Palacios Nazaries.  This is the only one of the three Alhambra exhibits that is appointment based.  It looked bland from the outside, so I was surprised that it was a huge complex.  The ceiling of a few areas were particularly magnificent.  I also booked us for the night tour through this area, so we go back tonight at 8.


The last of the three areas is the Alcazaba.  This is a series of towers with ridiculous views of the town.  It also had an area in the center that looked to be the bases of buildings.  I sent Miles to his room here, as you will see in the pictures.


On our way back to the hotel to rest, we found a bunch of cats sitting on the benches attached to the Alhambra buildings.  Miles sat next to one for a picture.

Tomorrow is an odd day.  We hang around here and then catch a train at around 5ish.  Except there is no train, so we board the bus at that time, go back to the transfer station from last time, and then take a high speed train to Madrid.  We get into our hotel late.  Then, the next morning is when Spain does Daylight Savings, so we lose an hour.  Then, we fly home at around 3, the new time.  I will have one last trip post before we leave, and then do a country comparison, between the three countries I have visited thus far.

UADarthMaul #11- The long trip to Granada. Fix the frakkin tracks!

We woke this morning, had some snacks, packed up, and took a taxi to the train station.  Stephanie woke up with a sore throat, but she is very good at not complaining and not letting it get to her.  I, on the other hand, am not so good at this.

I booked the train tickets months ago.  It clearly stated on the ticket that it was a straight shot from Seville to Granada.  Halfway through the trip, I was woken up to everyone leaving the train, at a different station.  Apparently, they've been building a high speed track from there to Granada, but after two years, have not finished it.  We were packed onto a nice bus for the rest of the trip.  This should have clearly been listed on the ticket.

After another taxi ride, we arrived at the Parador de Granada.  I've learned a lot from this vacation.  Castles and palaces, while nice on paper, are a longer walk to local restaurants and everything else you are interested in.  They are also extreeemely overpriced with the exception of the one in Obidos, because we were able to get the off season rate.  The palace in Sintra was a rip, but this one takes the cake.  Never again.  At least Miles got to experience it while I gave it a try...  From now on, I will stick to well located bed and breakfasts or small hotels, if at all possible.

In any case, we started by walking into town for dinner and then walking up Carrera del Darro, a street that walks underneath and along the side of the Alhambra castle complex.  I wanted to reach the area known as Sacromonte, an area known for having its homes and restaurants that are caves in the mountain side.  We walked up near the outdoor museum of the area, but it had just closed.  We got some good pictures of Alhambra from the side in the process.

We looked in shops, had some dessert, and came back into Alhambra, then abandoned for the night.  We tried a new dessert, which is known in the area, called piononos.  It is a combination of almond, egg, and cinnamon.  Egg is in everything, it seems, in both Spain and Portugal.  It was very squishy and decent.  Tomorrow we have both day passes and night passes for viewings of the three sections of the complex that you need tickets to enter.

UADarthMaul #10 Seville

Our hotel in Seville is a cute little place right near the center of town.  Its theme is music, with instruments adorning the lobby.  We used the hot tub on the roof, with views of the surrounding church roofs and the big cathedral in town.  The room has a shower behind closed doors, and bizarrely, a tub right in the middle of the room.  If only it kept the internet up reliably...



We started the day, on Tuesday, at the Royal Alcazar.  This 1000 year old palace and gardens has been used and reused throughout the years.  The gardens were interesting, with a small maze in the center.  One hallway in one of the buildings had massive tapestries hanging from ceiling to floor.  I made the mistake of asking a guard where the bathrooms were, in Spanish.  He replied in Spanish, which was not very useful to me!


In the afternoon, it was time for the surprise planned for Miles: a two hour Segway tour.  We were shown around most of the city on Segways.  I had never used one before, and it was surprisingly easy to use and quite mobile.



After dinner, we finished the day with a quick trip to the local archaeological museum, which ended up being free.  It wasn't massive, but it did have some interesting exhibits.

This morning, we immediately went to the final attraction of Seville, the cathedral.  It is apparently the third largest church in the world, and the largest Gothic style.  It held Christopher Columbus' tomb.  I did some quick google research on him, and apparently he was a scumbag who tortured his own people when he was governor.  I'm glad he got commemorated as he so clearly deserved to be.  We climbed up the tower, and were greeted with nice views of the city from behind the safety of many, many guard rails.
 

Miles has been drawing up a storm on his sketchpad, with some really beautiful creations.  Stephanie had the idea that Miles might enjoy sketching some real vistas, so we went back to the Plaza de Espana, to bird island, where there are obviously a lot of birds.  He got a bit frustrated with trying to draw based on real life, but we did enjoy seeing the swans and having him feed the birds bread.



Seville is the first city of the trip, since Lisbon was only visited on the outskirts while staying a hotel across from the airport.  While it is a cute city, with quite a few interesting things to see, I just dont feel riveted when in a city.  Maybe it is because I grew up so close to New York City.  Honestly though, I was never too interested in New York City either.  I went to concerts there occasionally, went to a few museums, saw a few plays, but I never had a draw of going into the city just for the city.  What I feel about smaller locations is that they are more personal, and therefore, I feel more connected to those experiences.  Even though their attractions have plenty of tourists visiting, it is much easier to catch a place all to yourself and give you that illusion of exploration.  Being in Sintra and Obidos at night was magical.  Here, I just feel like I'm one of an infinite amount of tourists trying to see the same points of interest, every day.  Maybe my disinterest in cities, including apparently, historical cities, stems from more than that, but this is the conclusion I have come to after spending time thinking about it over the last few days.

Tonight, we will be relaxing and then taking a walk through a few more shops in town.  Tomorrow, in the early afternoon, we board a train for Granada.  We aren't scheduled to arrive until around 3, and then have to take a taxi to our hotel.  The weather this trip has been fantastic overall, staying mostly from 65 to 75.  In Granada, it is supposed to drop to a high of 50 and a low of 30.  For a Floridian, this will be a struggle.  I brought a winter coat for Miles, since it is smaller than an adult jacket.  I only have layers for myself.  Luckily, I did bring warm hats and gloves!

I am uploading all of the pictures that I have taken over the last few days to - https://www.flickr.com/gp/13109399@N07/UX5U8R

UADarthMaul #9- Goodbye Portugal, Hello Spain

I missed last night's post due to stomach problems.  I have a lot to catch up on today!

Yesterday, we woke up to fog again, which blocked our view of Pena Palace.

We went back to Regaleira, and discovered a few more pitch black tunnels.  Very fun.  We packed up our bags and moved to the hotel across the street from the Lisbon Airport.  First, we headed to the supposed number one destination in Lisbon according to Tripadvisor, the Jeronimos Monastery.  Apparently, we arrived just as a marathon had finished!  We got super lucky finding a spot after a police officer was nice enough to help us turn around.


Before heading into the monastery, we decided to head into the attached church, Igreja Santa Maria de Belem.  We walked in, took some pictures, and walked back out.  A service was just finishing.


The monastery was up next.  Honestly, the outside was more impressive than inside.  We walked around the cloister a bit, took pictures, and that was all that was inside.


I read that there was free admission to a popular local art museum, called Museu Calouste Gulbenkian.  It was created from the Will of the first person to exploit Iraqi oil, who became one of the wealthiest men in the world and died in the 1950s.  It wasn't amazing, but it was a good way to spend the day.

We got back to the hotel and played a board game that I hadn't played before, named Red7.  It was surprisingly clever for a game made up of only forty nine cards.  Miles drew a little in his sketch pad.

We went to bed early, as we had to wake up at 5:40 in order to eat breakfast, hit our shuttle to the airport, and get to the gate in time.  We took off for Seville in a tiny plane with just 18 rows.  

It was a high of 77 and Sunny in Seville.  Our hotel is right in the heart of the old town.  We started walking towards the Plaza de Espana.  We passed a bakery which had bread in the shape of animals.  I've never seen anything like that, so it was definitely worth taking a picture of!


The Plaza was incredibly beautiful.  It has been used in a few movies, including Star Wars:  Attack of the Clones.




We rented a rowboat to mess about with in the polluted waters around the Plaza.

The Archaeological Museum that I had intended us to go to was apparently closed on Mondays.  Whoops!  We redirected ourselves northwest, following the river to Torre del Oro, a defensive tower built eight hundred years ago.  We climbed to the top and took photos of what appeared to be the massive Cathedral in the center of town.  We would not be making it there today.


We went west, across the river, to visit Triana, which is known for its pottery.  We bought some small pieces to take home.  Miles was more entertained climbing a nearby stepped wall.

We crossed the nearby bridge, Puente de Isabel II, which had an interesting circular underpinning.



Before dinner, we continued journeying towards Last Setas De Sevilla, a truly bizarre structure built over Roman ruins.  The Roman ruins were disappointingly blocked behind a glass wall.  We paid a small fee, however, to be able to take an elevator up to the top of the structure, which had a serpentine pathway that lead to magnificent views of the city.  The whole place was super bizarre, but very cool. Walking across the top caused vibration.  It did not feel sturdy at all, which did not lead to a feeling of safety.




We walked by dozens of shops on our way to find a place suitable for dinner.  We chose an Italian restaurant, which had pizza for Miles, and a dish that we had been interested in trying for the first time, paella.  This was the second restaurant today that had it, and the second one that only sold it as a meal for two people.  It ended up being extraordinary.  Artichokes, zuchini, carrots, tomato, asparagus, and rice.  Stephanie found some meat in it, which didn't please her, but I was thrilled!  I plan to order it again tomorrow.

We walked past the Cathedral before finally retiring to our room for the night.