Spain with no rain on the plain

Wow, the week in Spain is coming quickly to an end and now I find myself with a little time to type and share some stories. But sadly it will be without pictures today - but you should check out Nelson´s pictures on facebook... amazing shots. As for me, the next chance I get I will be uploading many videos from across spain and putting them on youtube and plug them on here and on facebook.

Here is one to start you off: Madrid Video

We started our week really back in Guelph Ontario) see previous post. But the next stop on our Journey was Madrid. The flight in business class (you have to love travel points) was great and relaxing. It made our mid-day arrival in Madrid very cushioned. After dropping our bags and a shower we were out the door and on to a hop-on-hop-off bus. I have never really liked them, but with Mom travelling with us it makes for a really easy way to quickly see an overview of the city and for it to be accessible for her. It also gives you a quick visual layout of the city and visual stimiluation for about 1 hour. After the bus we stopped for a nice dinner at some small little cafe and began our drinking of copius amounts of water daily in little side walk cafes.

The next morning we hopped the train in Madrid´s Attocha station which is filled to the massive glass roofs with a tropical jungle. You descende into the jungle on the esclator and feel the humidity of the jungle - it is quite a lovely approach to a train station.

The trian ride was on one of spain´s fast AVE lines and in 2 hours we were in Cordoba (Southern Spain). What a sweet and lovely little city. I managed to find a cute hotel 1 block form the main attraction (The Mesquita). This very old Islamic mosque was a delight on the eyes and I must admit I shook my head and giggled when I read some of the litereature (clearly written by Christian authorities) that portrayed the Muslims as the big bad bullies and the christians as the innocent victims. The mosque was amazingly huge and so beautiful. It was so big that when the Christians took back this part of Spain they built a huge cathedrail right in the middle of the mosque and the cathedral looks like comparitively like a tiny tear drop in the ocean.... it is almost hard to find it in the middle. We walked around in the mosque for 30 minutes before we even saw that there was a cathedral.

Next we ventured to Seville (about 40minutes by train). Again I found a great hotel only 1 block from the central cathedral and the Alcazar (a beautiful moorish palace). Spiritually the Mesquita in Cordoba blew us away, but the Alcazar palace was stunning. The tile work and the Islamic art was gorgeous. You could feel the amazing power of the moorish empire in Southern spain the wealth of days past.

We also enjoyed a few horse rides compliments of Mom in these cute horse-drawn carriages. Usually an older guy with a very hard (even for me to understand) accent telling us tales as he drove us around.

Finally we made our way to Barcelona and to our lovely apartment in the Xiample area of the city and interestingly on the edge of Gay Xiample. We rented the apartment online and it worked out great. Comfortable, 1 block from the metro and great food and grocery stores close.

We also had a great evening with my old friend Ruben from Venezuela. Ruben and I met over 13 years ago in Vancouver when he was in the city studying. Ruben now lives here in Barcelona with his hubby Roberto.

We also made our way around again by a hop-on-hop-off bus. What a great city - the architecture is amazing and provoking. The main draw for me was the cathedral Sagada Familia by the artist Gaudi - you have to see it to fully appreciate it.

So tomorrow we are off to Venice - may the canals open to us and that we float about soaking up the city of Venice.

Guelph, guelph everywhere, but no turtles snapping

We arrived in Guelph to cheers and hugs. The rain was however streaming down on us in a torrential storm as we drove towards Guelph in our little rented car on the very dark 401 highway at 10 pm - at times barely able to see the cars weave in front of us. But the rain was quickly swept from our minds as the yummy spread of food on the porch welcome party was quickly devoured. Then Julia and Lise went to Mark's house and hauled him out of bed to join in. Annie, Julia, Lise Mark, myself, Mom and Nelson laughed and yakked into the early hours.

The next morning was a visit to Mark's restaurant (the corner stone) and a surprise to see Ravi having brunch with us. Ravi is a cool guy I met in Guelph 3 years ago - great energy and smart. Sadly Mark was not there, but left a calling card that the brunch was on him - what a sweet guy.

After breakfast we surveyed City Hall with Lise giving us a tour and surveying office space of Councillors followed by a visit to #10 office. Nice to meet with people 1 year before the election.

There was also a quick tour of the city and a hot sales pitch on real estate in Guelph - Nelson looked interested ;-)

The final cherry on the cake before we left town was a yummy dinner with Tony, Julia Annie and the three of us travelers. Good beer, great food, laughter, plotting schemes and yet once again not allowed to pay for meal - thank you Tony.

Will Guelph join the EU? ;-)

sending you all hugs. Thank you Annie for coordinating and giving up you bed - you rock!

Oh yes.... and the map of our travel... god... what were we thinking ;-)

Whirlwind

vrooooom

What a whirlwind of a week - completed 2 new requests for proposals that will happen in September when we return. I finished up the curriculum for this falls programs, built from scratch an outdoor cabinet (that is tiled - see pictures), finished installing the sprinkler system for the garden, and oh yes, prepared for the trip.

Building the cabinet was in some ways a great diversion and a great outlet for stress. The project turned out well and now we have a beautiful tiled outdoor bar on our patio that is wired (awaiting a blender). I think Darlene should do the honours of making the first tonic when we return.

Yesterday was a scramble to say the least. Last minute things to pick up and a panic of my new shoes for traveling being lost at the cobbler and staff not being able to find them for an hour. Then the challenge of buying last minute currency to take with us (euros and czech korunas). It always pays off when you are buying large amounts of currencies to call around to all the currency exchange shops and find out who has the best rates. I managed to get over 85 euros extra because I shopped around.

The last of the packing is now to be completed and one last smile at the garden and the beautiful mosaic tiling on the cabinet. Too bad we don't have time for a quick margaritta.

................... Off to the airport. i am leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again (Sept 8)

The Day of Preparation

The day of preparation arrived. I finally have finished booking all of the core items of the trip and now I am trying to string it all together. A stack full of printed confirmation emails and vouchers and itineraries now had to be sorted (and it was quite a big stack). First I sorted them into order and put a small sticky note with the date each item is occurring - i.e. Hotel in Cordoba, July 26.

The final fun part was adding an extra day to our time in Prague and the comfy apartment I found that is 30 feet from the main square in the old part of Prague.

The next step was quite easy as I have been using google calendar to track all the details (and it is fun because Mom and Nelson both check the calendar for updates). So I printed out the detailed view of the trip from google calendar (chronologically). Now my job is going through it day by day to make sure I have printed all the information for day (Hotel, train, plane, car rental, cruise, etc). I soon discovered not everything had been printed and also realized that in some places I had paid completely, some I had put down a deposit, some were reserved and needed me to pay by credit card upon arrival, and others I have to pay in cash when we arrive. TOO MANY DETAILS to remember. And I don't want to try and remember them all when I relaxing on a holiday - the point of planning is to not worry later (oh yeah, and get the discounts).

Last week we had a phone chat with Mom to review the tour options for each of the places we are visiting. The cruise offers tours (for pay). Take this one in Olympia:

"A classic, highly impressive itinerary that takes you through the ruins of ancient Olympia, set in a hilly landscape at the foot of Kronion Hill. The excavations, which began in 1875 by the Germans and which are still in progress, have brought to light this sacred area, which encloses within its walls an imposing complex of monuments including the Temples of Jupiter and Hera, the Grammar School, the Gymnasium and the Stadium. You'll visit the Museum where the famous statue of Hermes of the Praxiteles will be seen."

In total it is only a four hour tour, but in the heat of the Greek sun and filled with some many archaeological sites.

The other fun trip that we booked for only Nelson and I is a gruelling 8 hour tour in Rhodes - while we are on this tour Mom is doing a much shorter 4 hour tour by train.

"You will depart for enchanting Lindos which is situated 56 km from the port of Rhodes. Here you'll visit the village with its maze of narrow cobblestone streets and typical white houses. At the top of the promontory, which overlooks the town, stands the Acropolis with the Colonnade, the temple to the goddess Athena and the remains of the Via Sacra. To reach the Acropolis it is necessary to climb many steps. There is free time for shopping after lunch in a nice hotel. The tour will then take you to the ancient part of Rhodes, along the wonderful Knights' Road, a late-Gothic street. You will visit the museum inside the Castle before returning to the ship."

I have never really been a guided tour kind of person, but when you are only in a place for a short time it makes a lot of sense. But our biggest wisdom was to have only 2 tours during our whole cruise and the rest of the time during shore visits to explore ourselves. By the way, if you ever want some quick travel info, use google books and search under Lonely planet and the name of the country. It takes you to a pdf of the books (some pages are missing, but most of the time you can find the details you are looking for for free).

For me this i s a whole new experience to go on a cruise - no idea if I will like it.

But regardless, I will be doing the cruise with 2 people that I love dearly and getting to have really easy and relaxing adventures, and that has just got to be fun.


On last tale that i will tell is the adventure we will have with classical music and stunning architecture in Prague.

I found the classical music concert schedule for Prague for September (check it out). So we booked 2 concerts. The first one on September 4th is Gershwin in Rhapsody in Blue II and is happening at this stunng building called Klementium (so I also booked a tour of the place just before the concert).

It is amazing how much better things sound when there is also such beauty all around you. The tour is includes:
- Mirror Chapel: beautiful chapel built in 1724, with extensive frescos and carvings. Has two 18th century organs, one played by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on his visits to the Klementinum.
- Baroque Library Hall: the stunning home of the Czech National Library, with 20,000 books, some dating from the 16th century.
- And the Astronomical Tower

The second concert is performed by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Their opening concert of the Prague season is a homage to Czech Music
A. DVOŘÁK: Concerto for piano and orchestra in G minor op. 33
B. MARTINŮ: Paraboles for full orchestra H 367
L. JANÁČEK: Taras Bulba, rhapsody for orchestra

My favourite part was how you choose your tickets (have a look). Some clever designer built a graphic of all the seats in the concert hall and when you mouse over each section it not only highlights those seats, but also shows you a picture of what you would see if you were sitting in each section.