Last Seen Blogs
mildcrow
pecks u [affectionate]
justineblocker-blog
Couple Of review Ripoffs And Tips On How To Get Around
sundaynightlive
Sunday
ly0martz
berry girl ;
bellarketrashx
Bellarke Trash
Text
Left no stone unturned
Late last night I got a message from my friend Liz, who I know from bootcamp. She just returned to Barcelona after a monthlong family trip. In my true fashion, I convinced her to walk two miles to the beach and take a swim with me before I left today. So after both of us getting a sleepless night, we met at 6:00 and started the day perfectly and ended my trip on a high note!
A lot of people ask me why I always walk, even if it is a few miles to get to what I want to see and a bus is faster…
When I walk, hike, wander, explore… I meet people I never would have met, I see things others don’t see, I hear things, explore places, notice colors, and experience so much just by taking the time to walk. I love walking through neighborhoods, looking in doorways, at windows…I love small towns, local cafes, stopping to wonder
All because I walk.
This trip, I did not plan too well. If I had known how hard it would be I definitely would not have done it. So Cheers to the unknown we allow ourselves to experience…looking back, I wouldn’t have missed this for the world. Wow! Wow! Wow!
But now it is time to go home to family, friends, and my dogs❤️. See you next trip!
0 notes
Text
Food and Columbus
Changing it up…lots of random walking in Barcelona today…I thought two days would be more than enough but not ready to leave. So food picures from the city and the biggest outdoor market I have been in..wonderful…lots of other stuff too…but big Columbus monument…if you did not know, Columbus did not discover America, he did not prove the earth was round (educated scholars already knew that) BUT he did have the courage to be the first person to sail west….the Portuguese had a route down and around, but Columbus sailed straight west…so if there is something to celebrate and get a week off of school for, it is for sailing west….Cheers
Then amazing Paella cooking class. 16 people, 8 types of paella cooked, never empty wine glasses, appetizers and odd dessert. Chocolate mousse with Black Sea salt topped with olive oil…definitely an acquired taste…great ending to my trip.
Definitely up early tomorrow to head to beach to say thank you for my journey…then….Home I come
Random photos:
Green peace ship pulled in
Ship set to race around the world
Cool guy in cool shirt
Ramblas de Mar… floating pedestrian walkway into the sea which opens once an hour to let ships through
0 notes
Text
Back in Barcelona
No drama train ride
Hotel here was cheapest I could find for two nights..and…..it feels kind of likeI have been put into a sanitarium from the 1950’s….3 twin beds, very old and apparently in its hey day,this hotel was THE hotel. Today, fascinating and frustrating. The “freewifi” is only in the lobby and common area…look at the photo of the interior of hotel..kind of reminds me of the embassy suites 🤣🤣. Even comes with breakfast. I can get anything working I the lobby except some text messages..driving me crazy. But there it is for two nights.
Hit the ground running in Barcelona… Elyse and I must have been in our own harbor when we ran through here three weeks ago! I am not exaggerating to say the number of people on the streets ( see photos) is insane!it is like New Year’s Eve in Times Square. Like a dam broke and people are flooding the streets. My photos don’t even begin to show the story. I avoided a lot of it just by walking everywhere. I only paid to go into one place…the money I saved on my hotel I guess. Gaudi’s cathedral that he spent 43 years working on. La Sagrada Familia. It was so strange and extraordinary, but photos don’t do it justice. I wish you could see Jesus hanging by..what looks like something that should be in the Moulin Rouge. Lots of light and weird angles and shapes and colors… to be honest I wish I had spent my money in the Gaudi Park? It’s where all the weird buildings and sculptures of ceramics tiles are…but I found that out later. The bummer was, when I bought the $30 ticket, they told me there was English audio tour to listen to. I bought the ticket,then I was told I had to download it on my phone….well, no WiFi or data, so bummer…but still strangely beautiful.
Tons of monuments, statues, fountains, so much to try to see…oh, and the famous Cathedral in the Gothic quarter…walked for 6 hours…now eating Pinchas/tapas of my choice with wine… hoping to get up early before people come out and go see the beach one more time…then wander again…my last dinner choice in Spain…tomorrow is a paella making cooking class!
Photo ransoms
Cat cafe… have coffee with a stray cat
Empanadas for lunch
Churro cafe
Gelato stand
Dinner tapas
This dress was above my knees to start the hike, it’s had a good life, but now belongs to Spain
0 notes
Text
Closer to home…
The morning was just what I hoped for…up at 5:30…and found the perfect place to watch the sunrise….then to the beach below me which was empty,of course. Water was warm! Floated on my back, swam a minute, took a bunch of selfies, a bunch!!! thanked the Coast for a million things and headed back. While I was gone, a huge cargo ship arrived in port, so I sat,ate breakfast, cafe au lait and a croissant, while watching the ship unload.
Caught the bus to Perpignan. This city is way too big for me. 7th largest city in France. Everyone is moving fast! Smoking, rushing, talking on phones…everything I haven’t seen for over two weeks! Chores first…found my way to the train station and bought my ticket to Barcelona. Then back and managed to wander the historic district for the entire afternoon. Went into free buildings, looked at the outside of the Castletit (they are famous for this) was the gateway to the city, then a prison…etc etc etc…since the 1200��s. My heart just could not get into this city….too much commotion…except for one free building, the Hotel De Pam. Used to be the mansion of a guy who made his fortune on cigarette rolling paper? Questionable translation again…anyway this house was magnificent.. he hired mural painters who did theaters and churches to paint murals all over his house. The one I was so fascinated by was on the grand staircase….it was Venus saving Port Vendres ( where I was for 3 nights) apparently she rolled into port with her harem (yikes, did Venus have a harem?) kicked out the drunkards and bandits…filling the town with love. See the crazy mural of it! Apparently he exported his cigarette paper out of Port Vendres, so he had a love of the city.
My room is clean, but questionable. Great location, great view, the Castletit is right out my balcony….but it feels like a musty boardinghouse. Is in close contention with the room Elyse and I had that I had to restart the fan every single hour… but these walls are solid and seem to be soundproof, and there is air conditioning.
Would return to any city I have been to,would live on almost any city I have been to…except this one…best part of day was 5:30-10:00 am.
Oh! I did try really hard to buy a dress in France! The shop ladies were very nice, and I tried on a handful of pretty dresses…to no avail…I thought for sure if I bought a dress in France I could go out on a date! I mean… a dress in France! So sophisticated and fashion forward. Speaking of fashion, men wear knee length jean shorts, capris, and canvas slip on sandals..espadrille style. Women in flowy dresses and baggy rompers.
Photo….check out the girl with a Harvard University bag with her awesome DGAS friend.
Photo…that might be Jean Baptist in the marble king coffin? He is a big deal around here…
I asked what food is typical here…no food, just dessert…so, photo!
Finally, the building where you get your official documents to hike a Camino! It all starts here! Where is the Camino de Ronda? I think Elyse and I need to write a travel book
Might be best meal I have had. After searching high and low for a cheap place to eat at 7 o’clock at night. By 815 I just said whatever and sat down here. Menu del dia…24 euros (yes expensive)burrata and tomato Estonian salad, some kind of white dish, crème sauce, parsnip paste, and some type of vegetable casserole? Decadent… so many different flavors. I feel like a judge on Top Chef. Dessert to come…
1 note
·
View note
Text
The Costa Brava…This is your place
If you are a paddle boarder or a kayaker, this is your place
If you are a historian or an environmentalist or a scientist, this is your place
If you are a mountain biker or a road biker, this is your place
If you are a diver or a snorkeler, this is your place
If you are a wine drinker or a coffee drinker this is your place
If you are a beachgoer, a sunbather, or a fisher person, this is your place
If you are an artist or if you are a chef, this is your place.
If you like cheese, bread, seafood, or dessert, this is your place
If you are a napper, an eatter of dinner at 2:00 and tapas at 8:00, this is your place
If you are awestruck by the beauty of our planet, this is your place
If you are a hiker, a thru hiker, is this your place?
The Costa Brava….
0 notes
Text
Unexpected end..again
OK I know I’ve said it three times now. But today I finished it! Originally I planned to stop at the border of France and Spain. But then, as you know, I decided to continue hiking for three more days. I thought I was finished then I started studying the maps and it appears the book I’ve been using ended in the city I went to yesterday. The touristy artsy castle city, but in actuality the coastal trail goes on for another 7 km. So at about noon today I decided I wanted to go back to the city I was in yesterday anyway and thought I would see how I felt. And then…Of course I needed to finish this hike. Dinked around in Collioure again…. Found the cemetery if you were wondering where my cemetery pictures have been. After reading about it last night, I learned that Matisse, Picasso, and Dali were all inspired in this town. Apparently the sunrises are so beautifully pink that Matisse would sit on the Cliffside and many of his paintings are inspired here. There’s also a hotel where the three of them would stay but I couldn’t find it. The beauty of this city is astonishing.
Found the coastal Trail and off I went. Beach after beach after beach. If you want a private beach come to the Costa Brava. Every beach had one or two people on it of course the larger beaches had more people but it was so cool. When I finally got to the end, the town of Argelés sur Mar, I literally got choked up. I couldn’t believe I had hiked the whole damn thing. It’s obvious when the coastal trail ends and a different landscape begins. Miles and miles and miles of white sand beach as far as the eye could see. I tried to get a glass of champagne at The Beach bar but all they had was rosé so I went with that.
Bussed back.
Tomorrow is my last morning on the coast. I have three more days in Spain and France but tomorrow is my last coastal day. My plan is to get up at 5:15 and head over to watch the sunrise where Matisse did. Then on the way back I’m going to have a swim in the ocean on a private beach by myself… come back and watch fisherman come in to port…right outside my place…shower pack and get out of here.. sounds like a great start to the day doesn’t it?
And now for a bit of history. While waiting for the storm to hit last night, see pictures, my Airbnb owner messaged me and said “I thought you might find this interesting.” He had no idea that I am an American history teacher that focuses on American history to the constitution and the revolutionary war. Apparently port vendres is the place where king Louis XVI of France placed a memorial for the American independence. He felt so strongly about our fight for liberty that he actually made this plaque for us and placed it here on Port Vendres. The reason he chose port vendres is that they consider the city 0 Degrees sea level. All elevation in France is measured from here..The eastern most point of the Pyrenees. This is also the last French port before reaching Spain. The king decided this would be the most important port in importing and exporting goods with the new United States of America….pint zero…Who made this all happen with the French? I always tell my students he was “the man” everyone loved him, the woman spooned over him the men wanted to be his friend. Mr. Benjamin Franklin… he did more for out country and the fight for Independence than even the big G.W….in my opinion…There is a lot more to the story but I am sure you are not as nerdy about it as I am.
Siren video…an artist created this installation in the port…I think it is hooked into some buoy or something out in the sea…eerie sounds always coming from it…OR…it is just a recording he made underwater at some point..unclear..
Photos not explained
Again the French Navy. There is an old fort that matches the castle but the French Navy actually use it as a base for themselves. Today they were practicing climbing up the side of the fort walls. If you look closely…
Photos of the map are the maps we used for each stage of our hike. You might have to open them to see the beginning to the very end. I starred them
Dinner…champagne, sardines, calamari..zucchini
and my two window views….lovely
0 notes
Text
Wine tasting in France
Woke up to a beautiful cloudy, Chilly, windy morning…. With no Internet. I messaged my best friend using Data 🤬Eve, and she did not respond to me for over an hour…then she said, “ I thought Bernard sent you the password” sigh…I gave up waiting and sent a message to Bernard the Airbnb owner and he told me where the modem was and I simply restarted it. meandered about town watching fishermen clean up, cafe au lait replaces cafe con leche…met a man who I had a 30 minute conversation with..understanding none of it except he has a sister in the next town.. but I only understood that because we tried Spanish. I can’t even say what the gist of the conversation was except he pointed me to the supermarket. Spent an hour there figuring out what to buy. Went back out organized and decided to finish the Costa Brava Trail.
It was only 3 km to the end of the trail….kind of…Took the road’s bike path and walked to Collioure… now THAT was a town! I wish Elyse and I had started there or finished there…The wind and waves were rough today battering the shore. I see a castle in every direction. And a castle is in the center of the town. The town is filled with tourists and tourist shops and artisans. Almost every other storefront had an artist working on paintings or sculptures or fabric or other things. I tasted cheese and compared Spanish “ham” to French ham…Spanish is better… and biscotti types and nougat. Everyone was out and about. Where have all these people been? It was so crowded I almost had reverse culture shock. I haven’t been around people/crowds for so long. One of those days where I could have spent a lot of money…but fortunately, I have the weight of my backpack to consider. Everyone eating ice cream cones…everyone! Toured the medieval castle for over an hour…my pictures turned out horribly…but apparently the castle in my town attacked the castle I was touring… also this is where the French navy trains…you can see them packed On the boat in the harbor…they were climbing up the ropes carrying tons of weight. I had an awful thought that they were preparing rather than training…
Politics, war, and protesting seems a lifetime away, and yet it is right back around the corner waiting for me…
Oh! I performed a little miracle today thanks to Elyse needing to get her Catholic cathedral fix…I walked into medieval Notre Dame Cathedral…very dark and grand…but could not see anything as it is lit with only candles. There were about 50 people in there fumbling about..I walked up to the altar and off to the side was the little coin box…in the shadows. I dropped in one euro and Whallah! Lit up like the Star of Bethlehem was shining down…People looked at me like I was the Virgin Mary! I turned to the two older women in front of the altar who were staring at me in wonder, and I said… “Un Euro, Un Minute” I took a photo of the golden Baby Jesus scene(just kidding, it’s a thing I say in class) and I walked out…should have taken a bow.
Walked back after about 4 hours and stopped at a “wine cave” in town…apparently the same as a wine store. My best friend Eve told me that in France you taste the wine before you buy it…so in I walk…the two owners knew zero English. I thought I was getting or asked for a tasting and he went over to one of several barrels lining the wall, and poured a full glass of red wine. Other customers came in and There was laughing and cheersing and I was hiding in the back corner trying to drink the wine looking interested in the bottles. The woman must have noticed how awkward I was because she came back and tried to show me some wines from the region that were cheap. I don’t know why she would think I would want a cheap bottle of wine.???? Then the man/owner dropped a full bottle of white wine on the floor and everyone laughed. I felt an obligation to buy a bottle of wine for nine euros and he didn’t charge me for the big glass he gave me…he was shocked I tried to pay for it…Se La Vie
Dropped off wine, grabbed IPad, walked about 20 minutes to this hidden cove to read…6:30 -7:00…only two restaurants open tonight, so I am back at the same one…because they were nice to me.
Random Photos:
Fishing nets
Mary with an anchor (she really does it all)
French Navy training
Waves
Fishermen and dogs doing shit
Dogs on the balcony checking shit out
Catapults
Tunnels under castle that archeologists are still workin on digging out
The painted ceiling room is original paint and it was the dungeon!? That’s what brochure says…
Castle Grand Hall is the white room
Ang royal courtyard for greeting VIPs is the ivy covered walls
Tapas plate…I got nervous trying to order because my waitress was jerky so this is what I ended up with…
0 notes
