Barcelona

I arrived in Barcelona Wednesday afternoon.  I am heading to Malaga, Spain and it is cheaper for me to fly from Lisbon to Barcelona and Barcelona to Malaga than Lisbon to Malaga.  The difference is about two thirds more so as I wanted to come to Barcelona I took it as a sign and here I am for a couple of days.  I have been flying on Vueling airlines and it has been working out quite well.  Barcelona is a big city but with a friendly feel - lots of tapas bars and a huge influence by Gaudi.

I believe this is an office building - not sure how much you can see but it is really cool.

the Gothic area is the oldest area of the city with very narrow lane ways full of shops, cafes and tapas bars. 

you turn a corner and there is a little plazas

I mentioned my evening with Barcelona Taste in the previous post - I found this company on tripadvisor and I can definitely recommend them.  I was told to meet in the Placa del Angel at 7:00 and was greeted by Jo and Jill.  There were 8 of us on the tour plus the leaders.  We went to four little tapas bars in the Gothic area of the city.  We started at a cheese shop - cheese made the Catalonia way - we sampled cow, goat and sheep cheese accompanied by a glass of wine - yum.  They then showed us Catalonia and Basque style of tapas - Catalonia style is small plates served at your table - olives, peppers, blood sausage, cheese, Catalonia sausage, tomato bread (can't remember the real name).  I tried their homemade vermouth - very sweet but not bad with soda water added. The Basque style of tapas is things on a slice of baguette - all prepared and presented on platters on the bar - they all have a toothpick things include ham, sweet pepper & goat cheese, pate, crab salad, tuna, cured sausage and more.  You help yourself and when you are ready to go - you present the toothpicks and pay your bill - yes a bit of the honour system.  The final location was for dessert and Cava - sparkling wine.  Again I don't know the names but we tried a drunken cake - cake soaked in orange liqueur - yum! chocolate molten cake and ice cream - not traditional but Jo's favourite, a ricotta type cheese with honey with a pine nut and honey ice cream and a fried bread similar to french toast with honey and cinnamon.  All were delicious.  I really enjoyed the food and company - 2 Americans living in Sweden, 1 Australian living in London, 2 Australians living in Singapore, 2 Australians living in Sydney, 1 Canadian (me) and the tour leaders were American and French - a rather international and eclectic group which allowed for great conversations.  I have been very fortunate on travels and have met very interesting people.

Pictures from Porto

I promised some pictures from Porto and and I am finally getting them to you.  I am currently in Barcelona (with free wifi in the hotel - yippee) and just in from an evening tour with a company called Barcelona Taste - yes food and drink was involved - more on that in the next post but first some photos from Porto...

Porto City Hall - pretty impressive eh...

I climbed that hill - several times - my hotels all seem to be up...

this is the start of the Douro River which runs through Porto

the Atlantic ocean just up the road from downtown Porto about an hours walk or so

 note the tile work on the church - Portugal is proud of its history of covering their buildings with tiles

Porto is all on a hill...

Regardless of the hills I quite enjoyed Porto - it has a different feel than Lisbon - I am told that the north is the true Portugal and I am very glad I made it to Porto.  From Porto I caught the train back to Lisbon - really easy and relatively inexpensive - $24 euros.  The train was full - mostly with business people - most had on suits and not much in the way of luggage.  Off to Barcelona...

Fado - the music and heart of Portugal

I love Fado - the music is beautiful and haunting. Go to www.youtube.com and search for fado and an artist called Mariza - even if you don't understand the language - the music and feelings come through.  I was fortunate to have an evening of fado while in Lisbon, I did not hear Mariza but did listen to 4 sets, each by different singers 2 women and 2 men - each different but similiar. 

From what I have read, some call fado Portugese folk music, but it is more than that, it combines elements of Portuguese country folk music with Moorish and African influences, among others.  The Portuguese language has a word, saudade, which I understand doesn't translate into English. I found this meaning -'it roughly means "nostalgia" or "homesickness", but implies a bittersweet longing. This word, and its adjoining concept, form the basis of the lyrical content of fado music. Songs are often about lost or unrequited love, death and general sadness.'  Most of the music has a very longing feel.   I was also told that the best way to listen to fado was with good food and wine which I did.

 

 

Porto, Portugal

Ola from Porto in northern Portugal.  I took the train from Lisbon - very easy to figure out and relatively inexpensive - luckily I 'talked' with a lady at the station who told me how to read the ticket.  I say 'talked' as she only spoke portugese and I only spoke english so it was an interesting conversation with lots of acting out and pointing. 

Porto is quite beautiful and all on a hill too -  I really must look at topography in city seletion - lots of up and down for me - ;)  I don't have wifi so am at an internet cafe and did not bring the usb key for photos - so will upload some later.  I spent yesterday wandering the city and took in the Serrvaes comtemporary art museum and gardens -  I have to admit I did not understand most of the exhibits but it was interesting and the gardens were lovely.  I then made my way down to the watefront and did a bit of people watching - fascinating.  I am now off for another wander and a tour on the River Douro.

Fatima, Nazaré and Obidos

I joined a tour to Fatima - the funny part is that when the guide invited us to introduce ourselves - all of us were from Toronto! What are the odds!!  We headed out of Lisbon to the Sanctuary of Fatima - a very important site for Christians in particular Roman Catholics - it is the site of the marian apparitions by 3 children.  In 1917, the children were visited by a woman now known as Our lady of the Rosary of Fatima. The lady is to have imparted 3 secrets to the children.  It is an interesting story - just google Our Lady of Fatima.  The Basicila has a huge square - the leader said that today was quite a slow day - Sundays are busier but the dates around May 13, June 13 and Oct 13 - the crowds are huge. 

We then went to the 14th century Batalha Monastery - very impressive gothic architecture.

We had lunch in Nazaré - stunning views from the cliffs overlooking the town and then from below near the ocean - the surf was up and mesmerizing.

Following along the coast line and passing beautiful views we then came to Obidos - a quaint medieval village surrounded by castle walls with narrow streets, beautiful flowers and its own castle (now a hotel)

my Canadian tour mates...

Overall a great day in beautiful Portugal.

Lisbon

Lisbon is a city of hills  - up and down I go - I dont think I can get buns of steel in 4 days but I am trying... ;)

Lisbon has the old electric trams and a company has a bunch of them that they use for tours so I jumped aboard and took the tour.  Very interesting.

Here are some of the views:

Sé

the public gardens across from Sé

Praca do Comécio

 I think this is City Hall - it is the Municipal Square

I am limiting myself to one pastel de nata (custard tart) per day yummy!!! and just for Nancy - I had chocolate mousse tonight for dinner - very decadent! 

I talked about bells ringing earlier - walking around today I heard the church bells ringing again - it is a bit of a theme that I hope continues.

Au revoir Paris - Ola Lisbon!

My last couple of days in Paris flew by - a trip to the Musée Orangeriere - beautiful Monets - there was a sign at the entrance of the room - Please enjoy the room peacefully - hmmm... perhaps we should have more signs like that.

Speaking of signs - the locks on the bridges are love signs - couples attach a lock to one of the bridges and throw the key in the River Seine - locks are big and small, engraved with their names or marker, some quite elaborate and heart shaped - even combination locks.  I am told it is illegal to do this now but many people still do it. see the photo

Not necessarily a sign but I have really enjoyed the church bells in Italy and Paris - too soon to know if the bells ring in Lisbon.  Not unlike a Muslim call to pray the bells would ring out just before a service would start calling all to attend or reminding people of the time. 

We took a evening cruise on the Seine - but before the boarded - we enjoyed a little café.

The Eiffel tower at night...

Sunday I went to Versailles - while I was not really impressed with the Chateau - the gardens are wonderful - soooo very large - they seem to go on forever.  Unfortunately no real photos of the gardens as the camera died after a few shots inside but I did manage one of one of the fountains.  They definitely thought more is better...

Sunday was my last day in Paris as I headed off to Lisbon early Monday morning (I am rather proud of myself for making my way on my own to the airport via subway and train - and connecting with the right trains)

So Ola Lisbon - I just had time for a brief walk to the centre of the city and to find dinner and of course I had to have a custard tart - yum!! (dangerous food in every country!) but I am looking forward to exploring Lisbon.