Madrid- Spain's Capital

After Granada, it was back on the train to head to Madrid, Spain's capital city.  After finding our hotel, Hostal Helena, on the top floor of a building on the main street downtown, we walked quickly over to the Prado Museum, one of the most visited in the world.  We had to be quick because we had tickets for a bullfight later in the evening and the museum would be closed the next day.  Our guidebook incorrectly told us that entrance was free on Sundays, so we were quite bummed when we found out we'd still have to pay full price, but this was a museum not to be missed.  The Prado featured masterpieces by many world-renowned artists, including Francisco de Goya and Diego Velasquez.  This was my favorite museum to visit
because through my Spanish studies I'd learned about many of the pieces I was able to see, particularly "Las Meninas" by Velasquez and "The Third of May" by Goya.  Having a background and understading of the pieces you're looking at makes it much more personal and very memorable. 



After spending a few hours at the museum, we headed over to where the bullfight would be held and got some dinner (fancy-shmancy Burger King).  Then we headed to the "Plaza del Toros," the largest bullring in Spain.  It was quite impressive with beautiful architecture and tile mosaics.  We went inside to find our seats, which were just concrete blocks (no wonder those people were renting cushions!) that were about 10 inches from the concrete blocks in front of and behind us.  Needless to say, it got pretty crowded!  I will definitely say that witnessing the bullfight was a cultural experience, and I am glad to have been able to go to one.  I did not particularly enjoy it, however.  It was interesting to hear and see the reactions of the crowd and the spectacle itself, which I found to be rather cruel.  I guess I knew it wouldn't be pretty, I just find it interesting that others get such joy from witnessing these events.  6 bulls were killed at the fight we were at, and each fight follows the same traditional routine.  First, the bull comes out to find 4-5 men with pink sheets to taunt it.  I believe this was to get the bull worked up.  When the bull would run at them, the men would run behind wooden walls that were on the edge of the ring.  After a few minutes, 2 men would come out on horses with spears.  They would draw attention to the bull, who would then ram into the horse.  Thankfully, the horses were wearing protective gear, and they had blinds on so they couldn't see what was happening.  Most of the time, the horse was able to withstand the bull's blow, which is when the man on the horse would push it
back by stabbing it between the shoulder blades.  Sometimes, however, the bull would hit the horse with such unexpected force that the horse would be flipped over.  It was terrible to watch.  We later learned that some bullfights happen completely on horseback and sometimes the horses aren't protected (glad I wasn't there to see that).  After the men feel the horses have had enough, they leave the ring.  At this point, more men are taunting the bull with 2 smaller spears that are decorated with ribbon and sparkles.  They run
directly at the bull and are successful if they can stab the bull, again between the shoulder blades, and the 2 spears stick.  At the end of this portion, the bull will have 6 spears sticking from it, along with the stab wounds inflicted by the man on horseback.  This is when the actual matador shows up.  He will taunt the bull with his red cloth, I believe in an effort to tire it out.  After a while, he will get out his sword, and put it right into the bull's back.  Sometimes before this point, the bull was already collapsing from weakness, and the men would taunt it until it got back up.  After the matador gets the sword in him and the bull collapses, another man comes and uses a knife to stab the bull in the brain, finally putting it out of pain. After the bull was killed, horses pulling a cart would come out.  The bull would be attached to the back of the cart and dragged from the stadium.  The matadors seem very cocky and arrogant, and put on quite a show.  One of them actually got gored in his inner leg, and stayed in the ring for the kill.  After, he was carried from the ring by his comrades. The whole evening was definitely difficult for me to watch, especially since it seemed to be the same thing over and over.  I eventually just resorted to people watching and listening to the music.
I did ask about what happens to the bulls after they are killed, and thankfully we were told that they are butchered and used for meat.  The matador might keep the ears if it was a particularly good kill, and sometimes the head will be mounted on someone's wall.  We also learned that sometimes the bull can live, although it is quite rare.  If the bull puts up a good fight, the president of the bullfight can allow the bull to live, which the crowd also enjoys from what we heard.  I am definitely not an expert in bullfighting, but this appears to be the process just from what I saw and heard.





The next day, we stayed quite busy!  We did another free walking tour in the morning.  We walked through most of the town, learning about Spain's history and seeing lots of great landmarks. We viewed the Royal Palace, the cathedral (every European city has one!), the Opera House (which is one of the best in the world acoustically), and much more.  We saw a statue of Miguel de Cervantes, arguably the best Spanish writer in history, who authored "Don Quijote: Man of La Mancha."  This book is the most translated non-religious, fictional book in history.  We also saw the symbol of Madrid, a statue of a bear climbing up against a Madrona tree.  This symbol can be found throughout the city, including on the sewer grates and the city flag.  The madrona tree produces a berry that is used to make a sweet liquor, which Jon and I later tried in a chocolate/sugar cone shot glass.  It wasn't bad, but I preferred to eat the glass!  After the tour, we stopped and tried some tapas, which consisted of Spanish tortilla (a type of egg omellete), squid, vegetables with ground pork, and fried calamari. 

When we were finished, we left the restaurant to a ghost town.  It was siesta! Spaniards truly do take a daily siesta, usually sometime between the hours of noon and 4ish.  Everything shuts down, the streets are quiet,
and there is so much calm in a city that was buzzing just hours ago.  Part of me loves the idea of siesta, a midday break that allows you to rest up for an evening of fun and social activities (when it is much cooler).  Part of me would get frustrated because everything was shut down, and it seemed we always needed things during this time.  So, we wandered and were lucky to happen upon a store called El Corte Ingles that was open, and just so happened to be very near our hotel.  We found these stores throughout Spain, and also one like it in Berlin.  They are basically "all you could ever need in one stop" shops.  They are a department store, pharmacy, restaurant, electronics, and sporting goods store.  It's basically a multi-leveled Target!  And the strangest thing?  There is always a grocery store in the basement.  In Berlin the store even had a post office inside.  So, we were on a mission for snacks, grabbed some in the basement grocery store, and then I remembered I needed to stock up on a few things.  I grabbed a bar of soap, and really, really, needed floss.  We had not been able to find floss for under $5, so we finally just gave in and bought some. That's right, $5 for floss.  I wonder if Spaniards just don't floss their teeth at that price! Plus, it isn't even good floss, and the very next day in Pamplona we found floss in a grocery for only 1 euro... ok, moving on...

So, we took our own siesta in Madrid and then it was back on the road.  Our tour guide had given us some great tips on things to do and where to go.  He told us that the Museo de Reina Sofia is free to get into every day from 7 to 9 at night.  So we walked there and were able to see some fantastic modern art for F.R.E.E!  The highlights from this museum were the Salvador Dali's, Joan Miros, and my favorite, Pablo Picasso's "Guernica."  Guernica was a small town in northern Spain that was completely annhialated by the German Luftwafa and Italian air forces in 1937, who supported the Spanish Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War. Picasso wanted the world to know about the horrors that happened to the innocent citizens of Guernica, which is why he painted this huge masterpiece.  Pictures are courtesy of my sneaky husband, who took these photos against orders. 


After the museum, we headed across town to view the sunset from a recommended spot, atop a hill in a beautiful park that highlights an Egyptian temple (gifted to Spain for their assistance in unearthing many Egyptian artifacts and tombs).  It was wonderful!  It had cooled off outside, we had a beautiful spot to watch the colorful sunset over the mountains in the distance, and there was such wonderful people watching!  It was so nice to see Spaniards in their everyday life.  Men playing catch.  People running with their dogs (most often unleashed).  Couples cuddling on blankets. Friends laughing and drinking.  Children playing around the fountain.  Old men standing in circles talking.  Jon and I noted that in the states people in parks at sunset or after are usually viewed quite suspiciously, but here it was just what people do. After the sunset, we headed back to rest up for our early trip to Pamplona!

Adios Madrid!

Greetings from Granada

Our guidebook informed us that if we were to see any city in Spain that it should be Granada.  Situated in the south of Spain, Granada is absolutely lovely.  Occupied by the Moors of North Africa for much of its history, the city has a tangible Muslim influence.  After getting off of our night train, we headed to find our hotel, Hostal Atenas.  It was situated very close to the center of town, which was very convenient!  We dropped off our bags and got to exploring.  We found the tourist office to get some information (there wasn't much), but did find some possibilities for flamenco music and dancing, one of the things high on our list of things to see.  Then we just wandered around.  The streets of Granada are narrow, cobblestoned, and uneven (Granada is situated in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range).  There were lots of stairs connecting streets and houses, which made it very easy to get lost!  We made it to the top of the street and happened upon a beautiful lookout point, overlooking the Alhambra (read more about that later), the mountains, and the city of Granada.  It was absolutely lovely!  We hung out there for a bit, Jon took pictures, and we enjoyed listening to a woman playing castanets for the crowd.

A view of the Alhambra from our viewing area

We then headed back down to the street that our hotel was on.  We walked to the cathedral and the burial tomb of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand.  As we approached this area, we were "greeted" by lots of women trying to put rosemary sprigs in our hands.  This not being our first rodeo, we knew not to accept anything and to just ignore it.  Later on we learned that these women use their rosemary to give you a fortune.  They whisper sweet nothings in your ear and tell you nice things will happen to you, and then demand outrageous amounts of money for their unwanted "services."  If you refuse to pay up, they will put a curse on you! 

We continued wandering and looked through a few shops.  Then we stopped at our first tapas bar.  One of the things I loved about Granada was that we ate nothing but tapas there, besides a quick breakfast when we first arrived!  Tapas are delicious little snacks served with drinks.  In Granada, most of the tapas restaurant offer a free tapa with any drink.  The tapas here mostly consisted of some combination of bread and ham, but we got a few delightful and colorful salads and sometimes some cheese or french fries.  The origin of the word "tapas" is quite interesting.  In Spanish, "tapa" means a cover or lid.  In the past, restaurant owners would top their drinks with small plates to keep out dust and bugs.  Then they started putting a small amount of food on the plates, which is where tapas were born.  For me, the continual snacker, tapas are a fantastic way to eat!  You get a drink at one bar, eat the tapa, linger, then move onto the next bar or order another round (most restaurants offer a different tapa for each round of drinks).  By the end of the night, you've had your fill and you're ready for some late-night ice cream! Yummo. 

Enjoying a tapa

After our first tapas experience, it was time for our appointed time to use our tickets to the Alhambra, which is a complex of buildings, gardens, and ruins used by the Moors when they occupied Granada.  It is the most visited site in Spain.  We climbed up the seemingly neverending hill to the top where the Alhambra was built so as to be a good lookout.  We visited the Alcazaba, which is a town in ruins.  We saw the city walls, main streets, dungeons, bathrooms, and the bell tower, which offered a stunning view.  Then we visited the  palaces, which were the homes to the Sultans ruling over the area.  The palaces were quite stunning, a marvel in Moorish art and architecture.  Beautiful archways, tile mosaics, and fountains filled every room.  Washington Irving lived at the Alhambra in the early 1900s for one summer and wrote about his experiences in his book, "Cuentos de la Alhambra," or "Stories of the Alhambra."  After the palaces, we visited some more fountains and ruined palaces, and then found our way to the Generalife, which houses the main gardens and the summer residence of the Sultan.  It offered a beautiful view of this "white city," known as such because many of the buildings are whitewashed.  Lovely!  After about 3 hours of walking around the grounds, we were tired and quite hungry, so we headed out and trekked back down the seemingly neverending hill (much easier this time of course).

The view of Granada from the Alhambra

An interior garden in the palaces

We found a few more tapas bars to snack at, and I found the drink I'd be enjoying for the rest of our time in Spain.  It's called a "tinto verano," which is red wine mixed with a lightly carbonated lemon soda.  It is the most refreshing and delicious thing.  I could not get enough!  Later that evening, we headed back to the hotel to freshen up for our flamenco evening.  We'd made reservations at a small place that offered an intimate setting in which to enjoy the traditional flamenco music and dance, which originated with the gypsies in the caves in which they lived.  The music and dance was originally meant to express the pain and suffering that the gypsies endured, but became a staple in the culture of Southern Spain.  We arrived early and were able to get front row seats to the show.  There were probably about 10 people there total.  The music was provided by a keyboardist, Spanish guitarist, percussionist (who played the strangest kinds of drum), and 2 singers, a male who sang in a very Arabic tone, and an older lady who had the huskiest smoker's voice I've ever heard.  The dancing was lovely.  I would watch her feet and just get lost in the rhythm and movement.  After the show, we headed out for a nightcap of tea and chocolate crepe (nowhere near as good as France's!).  Then it was off to bed!

 The next day, Jon tried to organize a biking tour in the mountains, but it was difficult without having a phone readily available.  We kept having to find a pay phone or internet service to get in contact with people, and finally he decided that mountain biking in the Sierra Nevada wasn't meant to be (at least not on this trip).  We were quite lazy, and simply wandered around town a bit.  One of the interesting things we saw in Granada were the tea sellers.  They would set up tables with lots of baskets filled with tea leaves. Each basket was labeled with the type of tea and the ailments it would cure.  Mint, for example, could cure upset stomach, and star anise could cure "wind."  It was quite an impressive display! 



Later in the day, we headed out for our last round of tapas.  We went to about 4 different tapas bars, and were quite pleased that we felt among locals.  The tapas, drinks, and company were all a highlight of our brief stay in Granada.  Francisco Alarcon de Icaza once wrote "there could be nothing more painful in life than to be blind in Granada," and I think we would have to agree.

Bar"th"elona

I was so excited about Spain I could hardly stand it, and it has turned out to be worth waiting for!  We arrived in Barcelona around 4 in the afternoon, but unfortunately when we got our "Please Take a Number" ticket to order our other train passes (here we go again), there was up to a 3-hour wait!  Plus, we were hungry.  Plus, we didn't have a hotel yet.  So, we decide we're going to get back on a train and go to a different station to buy tickets.  Brilliant!  Only not so much, because we got to the first staion we were told to go to, then directed to a different one, where we could only buy local tickets and not long-distance ones.  Good. Grief.  So back to the original station we went.  Thankfully, by the time we got there, over 150 numbers had gone by and we wouldn't have too long to wait.  We grabbed some McDonald's quickly, and by the time they called our number, we were sure that our "plan" wouldn't work out because it hadn't so many times in the past.  If I heard "it's not possible" from one more person that worked at a train station I probably would have gone beserk.  But God knows how much we can handle, and thank goodness the man who worked at the counter was able to get us every single train we needed. At this point I didn't even mind as much that it cost us over $100 dollars extra (on top of what we'd already paid for our train passes).  We ran back to McDonald's for free WI-FI, found a hotel, and headed on our way.

We were lucky to get an inexpensive hotel very close to all the action in Barcelona.  The main street there is called "La Rambla."  It is a pedestrianized area full of shops, restaurants, street performers, and great people watching.  We wandered a bit, found some good live music, and ate some tapas at a local restaurant.  We were excited to find that Spain was actually less expensive than the other places we've been. A can of Coca-cola for only 65 cents? I'll take 14! The next day, we had to check out as we were taking a night train to Granada that evening.  Our hotel was nice enough to let us keep our bags there during the day, and there was even a laundromat down the street that did our washing, drying, and folding for us while we were out and about.  It did cost $12 (OMG), but we decided our clothes really needed a good washing, and it was worth it for the time it saved us.  We went out to explore this beautiful city, starting with an inexpensive
breakfast and a free city walk.  We have found free city walks in many of the cities we've gone to, and have found them to be our best experiences.  The one city walk we paid for in Prague wasn't so great, but when people work for tips they seem to work that much harder to give you a good experience.  We really liked our tour guide in Barcelona.  He was quite knowledgable and told lots of great stories.  We were able to see Roman ruins, the original city cathedral, even the square where "the old world met the new world."  This was where Christopher Columbus brought all the "goods" he'd found in the new world to present them to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.  We learned about why Barcelona and the region of Catalan have their own language and culture, and why approximately 1/4 of the population here wants independence from Spain altogether. We were able to see the Plaza de George Orwell, who fought for Spain in the Spanish Civil War.  We saw the art school that Pablo Picasso went to, which unfortunately is now condemned and graffitied.  Our tour ended down at the port.  The water in the Mediterranean was so blue and lovely!  We finished the tour with a couple drinks, then headed out on our own to see the Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudi's masterpiece. 

Roman aqueduct ruins

This church was begun in the late 1800's and they've been working on it ever since!  They are expecting to finish it sometime in the middle of this century.  It was absoulutely stunning, and so different than any of the churches we'd seen so far.  We decided to pay the small fortune to see the inside and were so glad that we did.  Gaudi's work was so organic and fluid and detailed.  The light inside the cathedral was amazing, the pillars resembling a forest and the stained glass casting light that could have been pure sunshine breaking through the forest canopy.  The stained glass panels were begun in the 1990s and only about 1/3 are complete so far.  I think the neatest thing about this church is that if we return in 10 or 15 years, it will be so different from now because it is constantly changing. 







After the church, we headed back to the main part of town.  We found the "Boqueria," or the market.  Just as with all the other markets, this one was stunning.  The colors, smells, crowds of people, are so invigorating!  We got some fresh fruit to share, and also tried the delicious fresh fruit juices that almost all the stands offered (so delicious). Then we shared some seafood paella, one of Spain's most famous dishes.  It was about time to head out, so we collected our clothes from the laundromat, packed out bags in the hotel lobby, and headed for the train station. 

At the market

Barcelona was a beautiful city.  I hope that one day we'll be able to return there and spend more than a day!

At the Barcelona port

 That night, we had a night train called the "Trenhotel."  It was so interesting to actually have a room with beds in a train! They had a bar and nice restaurant.  Jon and I had to stay in separate boy/girl rooms, and we both ended up with interesting roomies (Jon's were old and stinky, mine were loud and chatty... I got lots of practice with my Spanish).  After not so much sleep, we arrived in Granada around 8 in the morning, and were ready for another LONG day!

Pretty in Provence

After Paris, we headed to Avignon in Southern France, in the Provence region.  We arrived later in the evening, around 9:30, into a train station that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere.  I will admit I was a bit freaked out, because we were so used to arriving in busy city stations.  But Jon took it on as a challenge, figured out where we needed to be, and we started walking.  Thank goodness it's been staying light out until about 10:30.  Thank goodness also that our hotel was actually quite close to the station.  It was called the Hotel Bon'sai, which is just plain old fun to say.  Like I said, we were a bit in the "country," so there wasn't much going on around the hotel.  There was a grocery store, a gas station/car wash, and a fast food joint.  Most of them were closed, but we were drawn to the neon lights of a restaurant called "Buffalo Grill."  It was all the "home" we could have asked for!  Steaks, potatoes, and even country music blaring.  It was fun
ordering because our waitress spoke no English.  We have noticed this benefit of staying in smaller cities; fewer people speak English which leaves us with the challenge of crossing the language barrier. This would frustrate some, but we see it as a part of learning and experiencing the culture, which sometimes leads to surprises (such as when Jon ordered steak hache in Paris and ended up with a hamburger).  I ordered chicken wings with veggies and rice.  Jon got a shish-kebab of meat and veggies, along with delicious green beans and more veggies with cheese.  I also tried a new drink that is popular in France, flavored
syrup with flat tap water.  Flat soda, basically.  I got cherry, which was actually quite good, but we noticed that the mint flavor was very popular amongst the locals.  After a good meal, with very full bellies, we headed back to the hotel to get some rest for the day ahead.

The next day, we spent the better part of the morning trying to plan out the rest of our trip (trains, hotels, etc.).  I was getting annoyed with spending more time worrying about where we were going to be the next day and how we were going to get there, rather than enjoying where we were in the moment.  So we wrote out a plan and headed into town to the train station. Of course, they couldn't book anything we needed train-wise, which meant we couldn't plan any hotels because we didn't know for sure when we would be in which cities.  All the while, we also worried about getting to Pamplona for the Running of the Bulls, because we'd heard that hotels fill up, trains don't run, and unless you plan ahead you won't be attending.  Needless to say, we left the train station feeling discouraged, and despite the decent night's sleep we'd had, a bit crabby. We thought about renting bikes to explore the city, but by this time it was 3:00 and we figured it wouldn't be a good investment of 24 euro for just a few hours.  So... we wandered. 

The town was actually quite quaint.  There were fewer tourists, which is always a bonus.  Avignon is a medieval city, and the town center is still surrounded by a large wall.  Back in the 1500s, when Rome we having a bit of dishevelment, the Pope decided he needed to get out of there, so he headed to Avignon and took up residence there.  The town has a lovely fortress that overlooks the river, city, and surrounding mountatins.  We were able to climb to the top for some great views and a stroll through some beautiful gardens.  We viewed the outside of the Palace of the Popes, and went down by the river to view the
old bridge and sit in the grass for a while.  It was a nice break to be in a lovely city with not much to do!  We found a small local restaurant that was having happy hour.  It was tucked away in the side streets, quiet, with great people watching.  Jon ordered some wine, I got sangria.  And we lazed the afternoon away, me reading and Jon listening to music, watching the world go by.

When it was time to leave, we hopped on the bus.  There was a Chinese restaurant attached to the gas station next to our hotel that had been calling our name all day long.  Unfortunately, when we got there, we learned that they only had a buffet, and it cost 17 euro a person (roughly $25!), and there was no way we were spending more than $50 on a Chinese buffet!  Luckily, the grocery store nearby was open, so we opted to find something there.  This is where I had the near meltdown over dinner (see previous post).  Jon was happy with bread, meat, and cheese again.  But I wanted a the real deal, a hot dinner with actual, filling food.  Of course, without any kitchen implements or tools this was very difficult.  So we wandered the store, and wandered again, and wandered until I was ready to give up (or really to freak out in this case).  We ended up with sandwiches, chips, soda, and cookies.  B to the blah. 

Avignon was a nice trip away from the big city, but we were ready to head on our way.  Tomorrow, on to Barcelona!

Reflections on Home from a Homebody

As we've traveled, I've thought often of home.  I have determined that I am a homebody.  I've always known this about myself, but apparently I keep trying to convince myself otherwise by taking month-long trips (remember Costa Rica), moving myself across the country (first for school, then for jobs), and entertaining the idea of moving across the world to teach English for a year or two.  But, I have often felt ready to be home during this trip.  To see family, mostly, but also to regain some semblance of order, routine, and normalcy. 

For starters, I miss people but also things.  I know that sounds shallow, but the things that I miss are things that identify me and my life, whether I knew it before leaving or not.  For example, I miss driving my car.  Having the ability to just get up and go was something I so took for granted, especially now that we have to walk or take public transportation.  I miss Diet Coke.  Sounds crazy, right?  But soda is EXPENSIVE over here, more expensive than beer and wine most of the time. Also, it tastes kind of funny. So, I've had to cut back on my intake (which probably isn't a bad thing), and Jon and I have taken to sharing a bottle instead of getting our own (again, not a bad thing). But I do so miss the option of going to the local Race Trac and getting a giant fountain Diet Coke with ice for a mere 99 cents! 

As I mentioned before, I miss grocery shopping and cooking our own food.  I nearly had a meltdown a few nights ago standing in the grocery trying to find dinner.  All I wanted was a microwave or a stove, or at least silverware!  "How do you use a grocery store effectively without a kitchen?" I asked.  We ended up with sandwiches and potato chips again.  I even miss the day-to-day chores I'd normally complain about.  Doing laundry (with a washer AND dryer)?  Miss it.  Wiping kitchen counters and cleaning out the refrigerator? Miss it. Balancing the checkbook? Miss it (maybe a little less than the others).  And my oh my, I miss Target!  I check my e-mail, where I get the weekly sales ads, and have to resist opening them out of fear I'll
begin showing withdrawal symptoms!

Now, please don't take any of this as whining or complaining.  I feel so incredibly grateful and blessed that Jon and I have been able to experience the things we have, to see the things we've seen.  We've had so much fun.  But I also believe that it's experiences like this that remind us of how lucky we are, and how often we take the things and people we love for granted.  And I believe it's important to reflect on that.  So, if you are at home doing laundry or cooking the same old dinner, be grateful that you have that washing machine available at a whim and that you have a kitchen to cook dinner in!  As for me, in about a week, you'll find me at the grocery store I drove to in a car, filling my cart with my favorite things, drinking a Big Gulp Diet Coke, and doing lots of laundry (just for the fun of it) at HOME.

Paris and Sunshine

Aah. We stepped off the train in Paris to the most glorious sight and feeling. Sunshine.  After feeling cold and damp for so many days, the warmth and brightness it offered was more than welcome.  No matter that we'd wait in line for an hour to figure out transportation and where our hotel was, because it was beautiful outside.  By the time we made it to our hotel that evening (it was quite far from city center), we were about 12 types of tired, so decided to rest a bit.  This turned into a 2 hour nap. We had only booked one night in Paris, but by the time we arrived wanted another night. Of course, the hotel was booked for the following evening so the lady at the front desk offered us information on one of their sister hotels closer to the city.  Except then we'd be paying the full/regular price, which was about 115 euro a night (which would totally not be worth it at this hotel, as we'd learned).  Of course, internet was 8 euro an hour here. That's like 12 bucks... but finally we broke down because we figured it would save us more in the long run.  Funny, we actually found a room available for the same hotel we were in, the one that was "fully booked," using hotels.com.  We went out for dinner that evening to a Chinese restaurant in the little town we were staying in.  It was fun ordering because the waiter spoke very little English.  There was definitely a bridge to cross in the language barrier.  We did some sink laundry when we got back and crashed early that night because we knew we had a busy day ahead. It was a struggle to get out of bed the next morning.  All the traveling and going, going, going was apparently taking its toll, and we were tired.  But we finally managed to drag ourselves out of bed and get a move on.  We headed straight for the Louvre, the largest museum in the world.  And that is no understatement.  I could not believe the size of the place!  At only 10 euro a piece, it was also one of the less expensive museums we'd seen.  We listened to a bit of a Rick Steves' Audioguide, but exhibits had changed so they didn't really match up, although we did get to learn about a few of the more important pieces in the Denon wing of the museum.  We saw Mona (as in, the Mona Lisa), Winged Victory, and the Venus de Milo, among other beautiful paintings by such artists as Da Vinci and Rafael.  I was actually pretty museumed out after that, but Jon insisted we see as much as we could.  We wandered through various exhibits, including the Egyptian artifacts mostly, for at least another hour and a half, and we still had only seen probably half of the musuem.  It was so huge that I could barely understand the map!  For all my Florida friends, like the FunWorld commercials say, "IT'S HUGE!"

You've all seen the Mona Lisa, but have you seen the crowd that constantly surrounds her?

After the museum, we walked down the Champs de Elyssee towards the Arc du Triumph.  I thought about Gershwin's "An Americanin Paris."  People strolled and sat in chairs in the shade, with their feet propped on the fountains, laughing, drinking, loving life.  There were plentiful (and expensive) cafes along the way, but we found a carnival just off the main stretch and got some cheaper fair food.  I got my first real crepe with Nutella, oh my yumminess.  Jon risked it and got a steach hache sandwich, which was basically a sandwich with hamburger meat in it (we learned quickly that "steak" is not "steak" in France).  We continued down the street, people watching, and watching that Arc in the distance get closer and closer. It was hot, people.  Hotter than we were used to at this point, and we were both pretty sweaty.  But we finally made it to our destination, which was beautiful and big, but not the most impressive thing I've seen thus far. 


We got on the metro and headed towards the train station.  Blah.  That's how I've started feeling about trains stations, because every time we go to one something seems to go wrong.  These passes we got were supposed to make things easy for us, allow us to keep things flexible.  But as we'd learned in the past, you have to plan ahead for any and all reservation trains.  This situation was no different; we waited in the forever long line and were told that getting to Avignon in the South of France the next day was impossible because the trains were all booked.  GRRRR.  After some coaxing, the girl looked up alternate routes for us and we ended up being able to get to Avignon through Lyon, which also happened to double the reservation fees we had to pay because we were now taking 2 reservation trains.  Double GRRRR.  But I digress. After the train station dilemma, we took a break and got an ice-cold fountain Coke (with ice!) and some fries at France's
version of fast food called Quick!  Then we headed over to the Notre Dame Cathedral.  Of course it had closed for the day, but we were able to get some great photos.  I couldn't help but think if Quasimodo was up in the bell tower watching us. 


We strolled some of the side streets then got back on the metro to go see the icon of Paris (or Pawee as Jon liked calling it), the Tour Eiffel.  I must say it was much larger than I expected (perhaps I'm just used to the small one at Epcot?).  The area around the tower was crowded with tourists and, more annoyingly, about 1,826 men selling mini Eiffel Tower statues and keychains. We were able to get some GREAT pics.  We sat in the grassy area near the tower as the sun went down and just took it all in. 


We wandered looking for a place to eat, but apparently had found the most expensive street in Paris, so guess where we ended up for dinner (at about 11:30 at night mind you)?  Quick! Again. But it was good comfort food, and still cost us over 20 US dollars. The next morning, we packed up and checked out of the hotel.  Our train didn't leave until late afternoon, so we had a bit more time to explore.  We headed to the grocery down the street from our hotel.  I'm pretty sure Jon thinks I'm crazy, but I love being in these stores.  I love looking at the different items they have, the prices of things compared to back at home, and to be completely honest, I miss grocery shopping and cooking and all those normal everyday things.  For example,
in France, the groceries were all about bread (and it's no cliche that you see women carrying about 8 baguettes with them on the street, because we did) and yogurt.  Walls and walls of yogurt!  we were bound and determined to find a picnic lunch that wouldn't break the bank, and ended up with a baguette, soft cheese for dipping, grapes, pears, and wine juice boxes.  No joke! Imagine slipping that into your child's lunch box on accident.

We headed to find a spot on the River Seine and set up our lunch, watching the tourist boats go by, with the cathedral as the perfect backdrop.  It was lovely just to hang out and chat, not rushing to be anywhere or do anything.  After lunch, we did walk back over to Notre Dame.  We wanted to climb up the towers and see the belfry, but we weren't allowed to bring our packs, so we had to go inside one at a time and that determined we wouldn't be climbing anything.  The inside was beautiful, but not my favorite on the list of churches we've seen.  I did enjoy, however, that around the outside of the altar were paintings that depicted stories from Jesus' lifetime.  It was a nice change to see Biblical stories depicted in a church, rather than just images and pietas.  After the cathedral, it was time to walk (a long way) to the train station.  Next up, Avignon, in Provence!

A Day of Travel Mishaps

Mishap #1
After leaving Amsterdam, we hopped on the first available train going to Rotterdam, which was the starting-off point for our journey to visit the hometown of my great-great-grand-mother.  Well, we were apprarently on the wrong train, because after reaching the first stop we learned that we needed to pay a supplement of 10 euro each on top of our rail pass.We tried to get off, but by the time we reached the doors they had already locked.  So, Jon, reasonable as he is, said he would just talk to the ticket man and get it sorted out.
Well, when the ticket man arrived, he informed us that we had 3 chances to hear or read that this was a supplement train.  We explained that none of the signs at the departing station informed us as such and that we had tried to get off at the last station. He told us that in his 22 years working for the rail system, Americans were the only ones who have trouble following directions.  "You never read anything and don't listen to directions!" he said.  Jon informed him that we are both teachers and know very well how to read, and his retort was that we were "perhaps not very good teachers, then."  THE. NERVE! That got my blood boiling to say the least, but at least he only made us pay one of the supplement prices rather than for both. By the way, when we arrived in Rotterdam, Jon checked the signs to see if they indeed said it was a supplement train.  When they did not, he found the gentleman and asked him where the sign was that explained this... the man said "Well, it tells you in Dutch right there!"  Sheesh...

Mishap #2
Ok, so maybe not so much a mishap as a crazy-annoying-scramble.  We arrived in Rotterdam and needed to book a train to Paris for the next day.  So, we wait in the ticket office for 30-40 minutes, listening to other people trying to get the same Paris tickets we need and being told that it is impossible and all the trains are full. I start to panic a bit, as this would throw off our whole schedule.  Jon told me to chill out (as usual).  We finally made it to the ticket counter and were the first customers of a nice (!) lady who had just started her shift or come back from lunch or something, because she was the only pleasant person we'd encountered that day who worked for the Dutch rail system.  She found a way to make it work for us, though we'd have to take 3 trains and spend the better part of our day traveling.  Worked for us, though, as we had a hotel already booked in Paris.  So we go to pay our 6 euro reservation fee (plus the 10 euros they charged just to make the reservation for us...ridiculous), and our card won't work! Of course, we'd just spent what was left of our cash paying the supplement on the train, and needed an ATM.  We were worried that we'd have to wait in line again and would lose our reservations, but the lady was kind enough to direct us to the nearest ATM and said she'd hold the reservations until we got back.  Meanwhile, we are worried that we aren't going to make the last bus we need to take to get to the small town we're headed to, so I headed back to the ticket office to pay for our train tickets, and Jon got in line at the bus/metro/tram office to get our bus tickets.
We were headed to Dirksland, the small village where my great-great-grandmother grew up.  When we told the man at the bus station where we were headed, he had to find it on a map. "And why are you going there?" he laughed.  We had to spend 10 euro to get 2 subway passes each, and were told to buy a bus ticket at the main station where we were headed.  So we get to the main station and ask to buy a ticket.  The woman says we buy them from the bus driver, so we get on the bus and the bus driver seems very perturbed that he has to sell us tickets.  All annoyances aside, it cost 14 euro one way!  Yikes.  Good thing we took out lots of cash.

Non-Mishap #1
Our trip to Dirksland was definitely not a mishap.  Although it was quite an ordeal getting there, it was well worth it to experience a part of my heritage.  Once we got to Dirskland, we just started walking towards the church, because all I could remember was that the house she lived in was across from the church, had a red door, and was either house number 43 or 93 (I remembered the 3 for sure).  The church was easy to find (the only tall building in the village) and so incredibly quaint.  There was a small stream running around it, and a bridge crossed over it that led to the church's gate.  There were ducks roaming the green grass.  People were riding by us on bicycles (we did get a few stares). It was so pituresque I can't even describe.  And then, of course, there was the house with the red door, number 93, right where it was supposed to be.  We went to lunch at a small restaurant up the street, stopped at a local pub to check out the environment, and then just like that it was time to get back on the bus.  Although we weren't able to spend a lot of time in
Dirksland, I am so appreciative that I had the opportunity to see that part of my family history.

The house my great-great-grandmother grew up in is the first on the left, the one with the red door.

The church is to the left and my grandmother's house to the right.  Isn't this just the quaintest little street you ever did see?

Mishap #3
Ok, back to the mishaps for the day, because we had to use public transportation again.  We got on the bus we took to get to Dirksland, but the driver told us to take the next bus. Why? We don't know, we can't understand him, he just says "wait, wait, next bus coming." So, we get on the next bus.  The driver says, "This isn't the normal bus. You were supposed to take the one that just left."  For crying out LOUD!  We think that man didn't want to take the time to sell us tickets (we noticed a trend here).  So, the new bus driver says that this bus is 12 euro each.  Well, for 24 euro we'll wait for the next bus to come around that we should have taken in the first place! "Ok," says the driver, "You'll be 12 euro (pointing to Jon) and she'll be 4 euro."  Did I get the infant/toddler discount or what?  So it ended up being only 2 euro more than the other bus, was much comfier, and made fewer stops. But still, it cost us 40 euro for that short 2 hour trip! Zoinks!

Non-Mishap #2
We had just the evening to spend in Rotterdam, and were lucky enough to find someone on Couchsurfing.org that was willing to take us in for the evening. It was his first time hosting couchsurfers, and it was our first time surfing, so it all worked out.  Piet was a very friendly, gracious host.  His roommate made us a yummy dinner, then we went walking around the town.  Rotterdam was much more industrial than Amsterdam seemed, and is an important port city.  We walked all over town, over the bridge, and Piet brought us to the New York Hotel, which was the old station where people taking boats to America would wait.  It still had the "Holland-America Line" sign on top of the building.  We had a few drinks and looked
around at the potographs of passengers from the early 1900s.  To think, my grandmother could have waited in this very place to board a boat to America.  Too cool!  We had wanted to make it an early evening, but by the time we left the trams weren't running (and of course, it was raining and cold), so we had to walk all the way back and didn't make it back until 2 in the morning.  Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep.

Rotterdam

Piet was nice enough to serve us breakfast the next morning.  Wheaty, nutty, seedy bread with the most delicious spread I've ever tasted (it even beat out Nutella, my new second favorite).  I think it was called sopella or something like that, but it tasted like liquid graham cracker! Oh. my. goodness! Delicious.  I have to look it up when we get home because I'm hoping that World Market carries it.  I want to spread it on top of actual graham crackers!  But, moving on from delicious spreads... Piet was also generous to give me the leftovers from the apple loaf cake we'd had for dessert the night before.  It was so moist and flavorful.
Those Dutch sure know how to bake!  We headed to the train station in lovely weather (just kidding, it was raining) and then it was off to Paris!