There were times when it felt as if Kootenay took Di, Ro and I to Sevilla. The people of Spain loved her. Before we left she had her hair cut. She went from a cut shaggy mess to a fancy poodle wannabe. As we wandered from beautiful sight to beautiful sight we were followed by comments and stares. If I was younger and a few pound lighter I might have thought they were staring at me. Instead of catcalls and whistles the soundtrack to our walks through Sevilla was… Muy elegante, grande perro. And we heard it a lot.
We cruised through town looking at the most amazing scenery. I loved the orange trees that you see everywhere. Taking pictures proved difficult. How do you choose what to take pictures of when it is all so incredible? There is the Seville Cathedral, Torre del Oro, and more plazas than you can imagine. Every few blocks you round a corner and find a park with benches, people and tapas bars. I started to experience beauty overload. Everywhere I looked the architecture seemed to scream to be recorded. Eventually I just put down the camera and enjoyed the sights. In one plaza we came across a museum. Kootenay got to hang out in the park across the street while we looked at all the paintings. It was interesting given the city’s Moorish heritage, how white all the people in the paintings were. And the cherubs had faces that seemed designed to scare people rather than comfort them. There were oddly shaped and shaded adult faces on wee little bodies with wings and arrows. Kootenay missed all this. Instead she hung out in the park and tried to get passerbys to stop and pet her. I am not sure how she made out while we were inside, but when we came out of the gallery she had a gaggle of school kids petting her and feeding her the remains of their lunches. I don’t think she minded being alone out there. I was a bit worried about leaving her there. She is a beautiful dog and while she loves me I don’t think it would take much encouragement for her to wander off with someone. But, when I decided to travel with me dog I had to be prepared to make compromises.
Before I left Nazare I made one of those compromises. Sevilla has some great places to stay in the heart of the city. But, I couldn’t find any of them that accepted dogs. Often places that will take the dog and I if we show up and they see her. She seems to know when she needs to put on her good manners. She does it when we are checking into hotels, in airports, and meeting new people. Once she is comfortable with the people around her she is a maniac, but when she needs to she can pull out the manners. But, I didn’t want to show up in Seville and not have a bed so I made a reservation at an Ibis Hotel that advertised that it accepted pets. So while Di and Ro got to stay in a quaint place in the center of town I stayed in a chain hotel devoid of uniqueness, but with a space for me and the pooch. Luckily the cost of cabs into and out of the town center came to the same about it would have cost me to park the car in the downtown, so I can come and go without resenting Kootenay and second guessing my choice to bring her to Europe with me.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
How to Squeeze a Week into Three Days
Combria. What kind of town has a jail inside its borders and one that is right beside a major university? When you see the jail’s cobblestone roads, turret, and palm trees it is hard to remember that it is a jail. Although, having lived without central heating for a while now the thought of rooms in a stone building have no romance for me. Di, Ro, and I looked like crazy tourists. Here we were taking pictures of a jail. It looked remarkably similar to the crumbling castles and stone churches that are found in every town you stop in Europe.
We had our guidebooks and our town maps to direct our wanderings. We headed through the Botanical Gardens of the University, the University of Coimbra, along the old city wall and the Mondego River bank and then when the day was ending we made our way to the centro commerical. Hello H&M! I have been wearing the same four pair of pants and three skirts all winter. At H&M I added a new skirt, new pair of pants, and four new t-shirts. All for under 50 euros! While we were travelling thru Spain and Portugal our first stop in every town has been the Turismo Information building. They will answer questions in english and provide maps. Just follow the target signs, if you can.
Signs and traffic circles make European driving a challenge. It all seems easy. You look for the town you want, you plot a course on your map and off you go. Then the city you are looking for falls off the signs, the traffic circle confuses you, and the guy behind you is blinking his lights to pass because you are only going 140 km/hr and you are not sure where you put the toll ticket you picked up at the entrance to the highway… But, enough about our drive to Coimbra.
The next day we headed off to Porto, or Oporto as it is known on the map. This is a seriously old city, and I had my guidebook with me to fill Di and Ro in on all sorts of friendly facts. Like the story about the Revolt of the Drunks. There is a revolution to get behind. Our first stop was to be Vila Nova de Gaia. Vila Nova de Gaia and Porto are separated by the Douro River. There, along the riverbank, are all the Port houses. Although this was our destination, we ended up there quite by accident. After half an hour of driving in circles and getting lost in narrow windy streets we decided to head into Porto. We could see the Don Luis Bridge which connects to two cities. It bares more than a passing resemblance to the Effiel Tower. Which is probably because one of Eiffel’s students built it. We just had to figure out how to get onto it. While we were trying to get to the bridge we drove right in front of the port houses and there was a parking spot waiting for us. A shout out to the parking gods! Poor Ro. Our tour of the port house was very touristy. A man in a cape recited the history of Sandeman sherry and port in heavily accented English to us, and 15 of our closest family and friends. There was nothing very local or even Portuguese about it. We got to see the kegs, hear the lecture and watch a movie about the history of Port and the region. The saving grace for Ro was the free port at the end of the tour.
Then we were off to Porto. After we settled into our hotel for the night we headed out to see the town. The center of Porto is odd. There doesn’t seem to be a plan to maintain the fantastic old buildings that line the streets. And at street level it is not uncommon to see the bottom two floors of a building abandoned with crumbling walls. Then when you look up you the top floors of the building will have laundry hanging out and lovely plants climbing down the walls. My old strata council would have a stroke at the sight of some of the balconies. Laundry! And out of control plant growth! You walk through some really abandon streets and the grey stone buildings seem to soak up any light the little streetlights put out. That along with the buckets of rain we experienced made for a ghostly evening.
We wandered past the Sao Bento train station, city hall, the fanciest McDonalds I have ever seen and ended up down on the shores of the Douro river. While we were wandering along the rain started. I rained so hard you could have stayed dryer standing in your shower. So we headed into a restaurant for dinner and to try and warm up. I think the fact that they were playing a football/soccer game on the television swayed the decision making process.
After dinner we had to hike up the wet streets to get back to our hotel. Roberto has a great internal compass. I was lost. But for Ro leading the way, I would have been lost in the bowels of Porto forever. I will confess. I didn’t believe in him, and was ready to hop a cab, but just when I lost all faith we ended up back at our hotel. Tired, damp and full.
The next day was equally busy. We managed to see Torre dos Clerigos, Oporto Cathedral, Lello Bookstore, Igreja dos Clerigos, and Palacio de Cristal. These feet were made for walkin’. All that and then we headed back to Nazare. This time the drive went a little faster. We made it back in time to go out for dinner and drinks with friends. Di and Ro chose to go home at a better hour than I did. I ended up at Abiliu’s café Concerto until way too late listening to the Spanish Guitar and Portuguese singing. Anyone heading to town should check it out. The address is Ru Gil Vicente, 38. Or you can call me and I can meet you there if you want.
And Kootenay missed it all. She stayed home and had a sleep over with her friends Spock, Sofi and Vitor. Sometimes it doesn’t pay to be a dog.
We had our guidebooks and our town maps to direct our wanderings. We headed through the Botanical Gardens of the University, the University of Coimbra, along the old city wall and the Mondego River bank and then when the day was ending we made our way to the centro commerical. Hello H&M! I have been wearing the same four pair of pants and three skirts all winter. At H&M I added a new skirt, new pair of pants, and four new t-shirts. All for under 50 euros! While we were travelling thru Spain and Portugal our first stop in every town has been the Turismo Information building. They will answer questions in english and provide maps. Just follow the target signs, if you can.
Signs and traffic circles make European driving a challenge. It all seems easy. You look for the town you want, you plot a course on your map and off you go. Then the city you are looking for falls off the signs, the traffic circle confuses you, and the guy behind you is blinking his lights to pass because you are only going 140 km/hr and you are not sure where you put the toll ticket you picked up at the entrance to the highway… But, enough about our drive to Coimbra.
The next day we headed off to Porto, or Oporto as it is known on the map. This is a seriously old city, and I had my guidebook with me to fill Di and Ro in on all sorts of friendly facts. Like the story about the Revolt of the Drunks. There is a revolution to get behind. Our first stop was to be Vila Nova de Gaia. Vila Nova de Gaia and Porto are separated by the Douro River. There, along the riverbank, are all the Port houses. Although this was our destination, we ended up there quite by accident. After half an hour of driving in circles and getting lost in narrow windy streets we decided to head into Porto. We could see the Don Luis Bridge which connects to two cities. It bares more than a passing resemblance to the Effiel Tower. Which is probably because one of Eiffel’s students built it. We just had to figure out how to get onto it. While we were trying to get to the bridge we drove right in front of the port houses and there was a parking spot waiting for us. A shout out to the parking gods! Poor Ro. Our tour of the port house was very touristy. A man in a cape recited the history of Sandeman sherry and port in heavily accented English to us, and 15 of our closest family and friends. There was nothing very local or even Portuguese about it. We got to see the kegs, hear the lecture and watch a movie about the history of Port and the region. The saving grace for Ro was the free port at the end of the tour.
Then we were off to Porto. After we settled into our hotel for the night we headed out to see the town. The center of Porto is odd. There doesn’t seem to be a plan to maintain the fantastic old buildings that line the streets. And at street level it is not uncommon to see the bottom two floors of a building abandoned with crumbling walls. Then when you look up you the top floors of the building will have laundry hanging out and lovely plants climbing down the walls. My old strata council would have a stroke at the sight of some of the balconies. Laundry! And out of control plant growth! You walk through some really abandon streets and the grey stone buildings seem to soak up any light the little streetlights put out. That along with the buckets of rain we experienced made for a ghostly evening.
We wandered past the Sao Bento train station, city hall, the fanciest McDonalds I have ever seen and ended up down on the shores of the Douro river. While we were wandering along the rain started. I rained so hard you could have stayed dryer standing in your shower. So we headed into a restaurant for dinner and to try and warm up. I think the fact that they were playing a football/soccer game on the television swayed the decision making process.
After dinner we had to hike up the wet streets to get back to our hotel. Roberto has a great internal compass. I was lost. But for Ro leading the way, I would have been lost in the bowels of Porto forever. I will confess. I didn’t believe in him, and was ready to hop a cab, but just when I lost all faith we ended up back at our hotel. Tired, damp and full.
The next day was equally busy. We managed to see Torre dos Clerigos, Oporto Cathedral, Lello Bookstore, Igreja dos Clerigos, and Palacio de Cristal. These feet were made for walkin’. All that and then we headed back to Nazare. This time the drive went a little faster. We made it back in time to go out for dinner and drinks with friends. Di and Ro chose to go home at a better hour than I did. I ended up at Abiliu’s café Concerto until way too late listening to the Spanish Guitar and Portuguese singing. Anyone heading to town should check it out. The address is Ru Gil Vicente, 38. Or you can call me and I can meet you there if you want.
And Kootenay missed it all. She stayed home and had a sleep over with her friends Spock, Sofi and Vitor. Sometimes it doesn’t pay to be a dog.
Friday, April 18, 2008
A Visit Starts
I have been loafing around lately. Sorry to all my dedicated readers. But the tale I am about to tell you will give you some idea what I have been up to and why a bit of down time was needed.
Diane (a friend for many years) and Roberto (her devoted manservant) came to visit. They were only here for three weeks, but they packed in the sightseeing. While they were here we went to Porto, Coimbra, Tavira, Obidos, and various other towns that placed themselves between our daily destinations and us.
Di and Ro saw even more of Portugal. They added Evora and few small towns in the Algarve to their schedule. And this was all done before we hit Spain.
In Spain we managed to see Ronda, Gaucin, Sevilla, Malaga, and Jerez. The Spanish weather was challenging. While we were visiting Ronda, the wind blew so hard the rain accompanying it seemed to be coming at you horizontally. The umbrella merchants were pleased because that day umbrellas lasted between five and ten minutes. Then the wind would turn them inside out. There were a lot of garbage tins filled with discarded umbrellas around town.
But, back to Portugal... Di and Ro turned up a few days early and few dollars short. Kootenay and I were doing one of our many nightly walks on the beach, when a head popped out of a car and called her. I turned and there they were, arriving early, and me with a dirty bathroom. Damn. Their first few days on vacation had been challenging. First their luggage was lost, and in the course of getting it back they learned that in Spain not only is the customer not always right, but also the customer can actually be an inconvenience. I shudder at what UBC’s “secret shoppers” would say about interactions with Spanish customer service workers. But,they got their bags back eventually, and headed to Lisboa. They hadn't reserved a place to stay so they came straight to Nazare to regroup. Unfortunately I didn’t realize they were doing this or I would have given them my Portuguese highway tip. Always Always Always get a ticket at the toll center when you enter a highway. Or, you will end up donating to the “Portuguese Road Improvement Fund”. So after lost luggage, toll fines, and some generally crappy weather they unpacked in Nazare and we headed out to have dinner and celebrate Roberto’s birthday.
One of my earliest memories of hanging out with Diane, outside of the UBC Bookstore where we worked, was of going to a Crowded House concert. On Roberto’s birthday we headed down to NBar where Carlos kept our glasses sociably full and there was a band. Almost twenty years after we met Diane and I sat and enjoyed a drink listening to Crowded House songs. These ones were sung with a bit of a Portuguese accent, but that only made the experience better.
And this was just our first day together. Wait until i tell you about trying to follow them through Seville's rush hour traffic in a rented Fiat.
Diane (a friend for many years) and Roberto (her devoted manservant) came to visit. They were only here for three weeks, but they packed in the sightseeing. While they were here we went to Porto, Coimbra, Tavira, Obidos, and various other towns that placed themselves between our daily destinations and us.
Di and Ro saw even more of Portugal. They added Evora and few small towns in the Algarve to their schedule. And this was all done before we hit Spain.
In Spain we managed to see Ronda, Gaucin, Sevilla, Malaga, and Jerez. The Spanish weather was challenging. While we were visiting Ronda, the wind blew so hard the rain accompanying it seemed to be coming at you horizontally. The umbrella merchants were pleased because that day umbrellas lasted between five and ten minutes. Then the wind would turn them inside out. There were a lot of garbage tins filled with discarded umbrellas around town.
But, back to Portugal... Di and Ro turned up a few days early and few dollars short. Kootenay and I were doing one of our many nightly walks on the beach, when a head popped out of a car and called her. I turned and there they were, arriving early, and me with a dirty bathroom. Damn. Their first few days on vacation had been challenging. First their luggage was lost, and in the course of getting it back they learned that in Spain not only is the customer not always right, but also the customer can actually be an inconvenience. I shudder at what UBC’s “secret shoppers” would say about interactions with Spanish customer service workers. But,they got their bags back eventually, and headed to Lisboa. They hadn't reserved a place to stay so they came straight to Nazare to regroup. Unfortunately I didn’t realize they were doing this or I would have given them my Portuguese highway tip. Always Always Always get a ticket at the toll center when you enter a highway. Or, you will end up donating to the “Portuguese Road Improvement Fund”. So after lost luggage, toll fines, and some generally crappy weather they unpacked in Nazare and we headed out to have dinner and celebrate Roberto’s birthday.
One of my earliest memories of hanging out with Diane, outside of the UBC Bookstore where we worked, was of going to a Crowded House concert. On Roberto’s birthday we headed down to NBar where Carlos kept our glasses sociably full and there was a band. Almost twenty years after we met Diane and I sat and enjoyed a drink listening to Crowded House songs. These ones were sung with a bit of a Portuguese accent, but that only made the experience better.
And this was just our first day together. Wait until i tell you about trying to follow them through Seville's rush hour traffic in a rented Fiat.
Friday, April 04, 2008
Road to Sevilla
I am finding myself really torn. Until recently I have always believed that I was a city girl. Yet here I am in rural Portugal and I love the silence. I love the smell of the flowers and I love the sound of the birds. It is beautiful. They have combined rosebushes with rosemary. When I walked up to reception the smell of the roses and rosemary reminded me that I was breathing.
I sit here and watch the new wind turbines rotate, and the solar panels soak up the heat and wonder why I ever believed that the city was the place to be. I guess I will want to be back in the city when I run out of my favorite shampoo or perfume, but right now shopping is the only thing that I miss about the city. It helps that I am staying in a nice hotel with a pool and a beautiful deck. Kootenay could not be happier. She has her summer hair on and is prancing about the property as if she is the queen. The owners of the place are treating her like she is a queen and that is just feeding her ego. They even let her swim in the pool. That is where my feet are soaking right now. Ahhhh.
Driving here was great. I love to drive fast and listen to loud music. While we were on our way here I stopped at a truck stop to get some food, water and walk K. Then I was back in to car heading south to Tavira and Di and Roberto. When I started the car and rolled down the windows I realized that I had the stereo really loud. I was playing a cd of rap song covers by alt-rock / alt-country bands. The four guys getting into the BMW with blacked out windows parked next to me stopped and stared. The sight of a white woman getting into a grey four door fiat with a giant white dog listening to what at first listen seemed like a nice average song only to hear the lyrics from an NWA being harmonized to was too much for them. They all took very long looks at K and I trying to fit us into their understanding of the world. We were obviously entertaining because they caught up to us on the highway and unrolled their windows to wave to us as they zoomed past us.
I sit here and watch the new wind turbines rotate, and the solar panels soak up the heat and wonder why I ever believed that the city was the place to be. I guess I will want to be back in the city when I run out of my favorite shampoo or perfume, but right now shopping is the only thing that I miss about the city. It helps that I am staying in a nice hotel with a pool and a beautiful deck. Kootenay could not be happier. She has her summer hair on and is prancing about the property as if she is the queen. The owners of the place are treating her like she is a queen and that is just feeding her ego. They even let her swim in the pool. That is where my feet are soaking right now. Ahhhh.
Driving here was great. I love to drive fast and listen to loud music. While we were on our way here I stopped at a truck stop to get some food, water and walk K. Then I was back in to car heading south to Tavira and Di and Roberto. When I started the car and rolled down the windows I realized that I had the stereo really loud. I was playing a cd of rap song covers by alt-rock / alt-country bands. The four guys getting into the BMW with blacked out windows parked next to me stopped and stared. The sight of a white woman getting into a grey four door fiat with a giant white dog listening to what at first listen seemed like a nice average song only to hear the lyrics from an NWA being harmonized to was too much for them. They all took very long looks at K and I trying to fit us into their understanding of the world. We were obviously entertaining because they caught up to us on the highway and unrolled their windows to wave to us as they zoomed past us.
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