2011 December Central Spain Trip

[To see the pictures of the events, click on the picture above]

Spain is known to have the most Bank holidays of any European country and last week we had the opportunity to have an early Christmas holiday because Dec 6 and 8^th were Bank Holidays and the school also gave the girls the Monday off.  Amazingly Anatolijus had a few days let in his holiday account and so off we went for a driving trip through central Spain.  We were warned about the cold weather in these parts however Spain is having an unusually mild winter so far and this made for perfect travelling weather.

We started our trip with the 3 hour drive to Madrid and spent 2 nights there.  This was the first visit for the girls and me although Anatolijus has been there at least 3 times before.  We focused on seeing the highlights – Palacio Real (The Royal Palace), Plaza Mayor, Prado Museum, and Retiro Park.  I really liked the feel of Madrid and because we were there on a public holiday the crowds of people and energy added to the experience.  On our way out of town we stopped at Starbucks and then continued on to Avila which is famous for producing Teresa of Avila, a great spiritual writer and creator of a new order of nuns in the 16C.  I studied her works when I was at Regent and it is always so interesting to then see the place where the person lived and worked.  The other famous thing about Avila is that it has the best preserved city wall (surrounding the entire town) of any place in Europe.  We were able to walk a 1.2km stretch of the wall with sweeping views of the plains and rolling hills surrounding the town.  The sun was out and it was at least 16C on a December day which was incredible.  The grand Cathedral, which is built into the wall, was interesting to see although dark and heavy inside. 

We spent about 3 hours in Avila and then continued heading west towards the Portuguese border to the famous university city of Salamanca.  The whole town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and we can definitely see why.  The architecture, walking plazas, cathedrals and museums are beautiful and it has a comfortable warm feeling to it.  The “New Cathedral” built in the 15C was huge and as I walked by the huge pillars I felt like Gandalf and the hobbits as they ran through the Mines of Moria.  We are fortunate because Grace and Tessa like cathedrals and haven’t (yet) tired of seeing new ones.  The Plaza Mayor is considered one of the finest in Spain and we could see why.  Our timing was perfect as we were there to see it lit up in the evening with beautiful lights.  A fun tourist game is to try and find the frog on the façade of the Old Cathedral and to find the astronaut on the New one.  Anatolijus spotted the frog in approximately 2 seconds, however it took the girls and I longer to see it.  The astronaut obviously doesn’t fit with the 15C motif, however we found out it was added in 1992 when restoration work was done.  We have included a picture for you to see it.  We enjoyed the Museo Lis which features a collection of Art Deco pieces and is housed in a small palace which is itself an exquisite piece of art, particularly the stained glass.  Tessa developed a fun game for us to play, find the object in the brochure.  This did wonders for keeping the girls interested as they looked at the glass vases and statues to find the one featured in the brochure.  Tessa was very proud that she and Daddy won and for the rest of the evening she talked about what a great team they were and she only wanted to sit by daddy and in fact she spends so much time with mommy it is important for she and daddy to do things together etc…. a nice bonding moment for them.  Grace was happy to give me ‘knowing’ looks about that Tessa.

The next day we visited St. Esteban’s Cathedral and Cloister which were beautiful, in fact Anatolijus said this church was one of his favorites as it was simple and elegant, not overdone.  We left there and walked across the street to the Covento de las Duenas, the nuns here bake and sell pastries.  We entered a small, sweet courtyard then went into a small room where a nun was behind glass windows and the pastries were displayed in front of her.  She was quite elderly and had a big smile and Tessa started speaking to her in Spanish being very animated.  The nun said Tessa speaks Spanish very well and then said, in Spanish, “Una nina es delgada y el otra es un pocito gordo.” “One girl is slim and the other is a bit wide.”  I guess you can say anything when you are a nun!  Anyways the mantecados we bought are a cinnamon flavoured biscuit which has a texture I can’t describe and they literally are heavenly.  It was a lovely end to our lovely time in Salamanca.

The next and final stop before heading home was Segovia.  We splurged and booked a 15C hotel Casa Mudejar 2 meters from the main square and it was lovely to be right in the town.  The main feature of Segovia is the 2000 year old Roman Aqueduct that runs right through town and has two levels of arches at its highest point of 115 feet.  It is totally impressive and in amazing condition.  The town was decorated for Christmas which made it like a wonderland and this was a lovely feature of each place we visited.  In terms of food Segovia is famous for cochinillos, baby pigs that are roasted and served on a plate.  Anatolijus did his research and wanted to know if the whole little piggy was splayed on the plate or only part of it.  In the end you are served a quarter of the roasted pig and it was very good.  On our last morning we visited the Cathedral and Alcazar which is a Castle that has been apart of many significant historic events in Spain (ironically, trip advisor had nothing to say about this great location).  The four of us climbed the 152 stairs to the top of the turret to see the beautiful view, I am happy to say we were not the only ones puffing.  This day was also Anatolijus’ birthday so it will be easy to remember where we were when he turned 37!!

On the way back, we also stopped briefly at another Royal Palace which is called “the little Versailles” and the official name is La Granja de San Indelfonso.  Beautiful and very French, complete with miniature version of gardens told to rival those of Versailles itself.

Then, a 4 hour quiet drive back to Zaragoza.  On this trip we saw some real treasures of Spain and feel very fortunate for the experience.

All roads lead to Rome

[To see the pictures of the events, click on the picture above]

Thursday Oct. 6th we boarded another Ryanair flight from Zaragoza, this time heading to Rome.  Some say it is the capital of the world.  At least it was, for a long period of time and we certainly got a sense why...

We got to our hotel late at night, but the hotel room was beautiful, in a Best Western in Policlinico district, close to university of Rome.  We had a very large patio on the 5th floor with very nice exposure to the sunny side.

We had 5 days in Rome and the plan was to do 3 separate tours of the city, which we booked through Real Rome Tours, which was highly recommended through trip advisor.
The first night we did the Rome evening walking tour, which took us to the Pantheon, built in 91 BC with a spectacular dome and the tomb of Raphael, the fountain of the four rivers, Capital hill, Cat Sanctuary amid ancient ruins and the place where Julius Caesar was assassinated, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps and the Forum lit up at night.

The tour guide was good and the tour informative, but I would have expected more for the money.  Missing was a theme of how all the things we saw connected.  Of course, they are all Roman, but connections were weak.  The one redeeming part was that the tour guide was a young archeologist who actually worked on discovering some of the things we saw.  That day we did about 6 hours of walking.

The next day was our much anticipated Vatican tour.  The tour guide was awesome, she was very energetic and knowledgeable about everything.   A couple of highlights were seeing the Egyptian gallery with real mummies.  Tessa thought it was a little 'freaky' seeing the real hands and feet.  Our guide made the paintings in Raphael's room completely come alive with meaning and identified the faces of  Michelangelo and Raphael.  Nero's enormous purple marble bath tub, which he had filled with goat's milk, was clear evidence of his megalomania.  Grace imagined they brought all the goats to the tub and milked them directly into it.  The first sculptures that showed the human form in motion and with real faces were also incredible.

A few notes: there was some special event at the Vatican and many tours had to be re routed through other galleries.  We ended up almost missing the entry to the Sistine chapel, but thanks to the fact that our guide knew the guards, we managed to get in.

The Sistine chapel was a bit underwhelming for us.  Despite the fact that Michelangelo and Raphael both left their masterpieces there, the darkness and crushing crowdedness of the place was a bit disappointing.  We also had this vision of massive and expansive paintings that were huge, but the actual ceiling was covered in many smaller episodes, which was surprising.  Of course, the judgement day and other pieces were spectacular.  We even got to look through a keyhole into the papal apartments.  How exciting!

St. Peter's of course was amazing and while we were there a service full of cardinals was being held.  We saw the tomb of John Paul II and other popes, marveled at the sheer size of the place and later found out that there is another church in town which, in fact, is more important than St. Peter's!  It is called San Giovanni in Laterano, and it was the original home of the Pope's before the Vatican and St.Peter's were built. It is the only Archbasilica in the world that has a permanent seat of the pope and is considered the mother church of all catholic churches in the world.  While not as large, it was very impressive and ornate.  The highlights included the 12 apostles carved in stone, the Pope's throne, and the lack of crowds, it was a wonderful place to visit.
Day 2 - 8 hours of walking.

Day 3 - 7 hours of walking, we started at 9am at the Coliseum for our 3 hour Ancient Rome tour and Although interesting for us it was way too much for the girls.  In retrospect we should have just done an audio guide and spent one hour.  They hung in for
3.5 hours as he went over time, it was only after Grace had a big dish of homemade pasta at a restaurant in Trastavere that she was revived.  All in all the girls did great, despite an army level regime of touring.

A little on food in Rome: we had lots of great pizza and pasta, visited a 111 year old gelateria which served the best gellato in Rome, had a very nice dinner close to our hotel and, of course, enjoyed some excellent Italian wine, cheese and bread.  I even managed to get some white truffle oil, which I am very excited to use for my cooking.

It was a 5 day whirlwind tour of Rome, but we do feel like we got a good sense of the place, the people, the tourists, the crazy cab drivers and kamikaze scooter riders.  While the city has only 2.7 million inhabitants, the Roman empire is well and alive, with daily battles raging between street vendors and tourists, drivers and pedestrians, all at a breakneck speed, minus the blood.  Definitely an experience we recommend to everyone.

Algemesi: fiestas del pueblo!

[To see the pictures of the events, click on the picture above]


During the first week of October, our Spanish friend Katia (she is one of the managers working for me, from Valencia) her husband Vicente and their daughter Paula invited our family to their home town Algemesi, which Is very close to Valencia.  Every October, for hundreds of years, they hold their 'Fiesta de Taurino' where for 9 days the town completely shuts down to enjoy fiestas, bull runs, daily bull fights  and, of course, food, lots of food!

We arrived Friday night and were able to stay in the beautiful apartment of our hosts.  The apartment overlooked the main street of the town, with views of the main basilica and the bull ring: plaza del toros.

The bull ring is a special matter in Algemesi.  It is temporary, being built and later dismantled every year just for the 9 days of fiesta.  It takes several weeks to build and is the only one of it's kind in Spain because of it's rectangular shape, which is unique (typically bullrings are round).  A little trivia: the bullring has 29 sections (imagine slices of cake) which are sold every year through an auction to the 29 highest bidders.   Bidders are typically groups of local people that buy the whole section for the 9 days of festivities and then sell tickets to recoup the funds.  They never intend to make money, rather they spend it by installing 29 "restaurants/eateries" that get you a free meal and drinks with your bull fight tickets.  To buy a ticket for the whole 9 days will cost you 500-600€, but to go to one bullfight and dinner may set you back only 20-30€, depending on the seats you get.  The proceeds from the section auction goes to buy entertainment, bulls and bull fighters.  This event is a barometer of how well the times are: this year the bull fighters were very young and very few known ones.  Crisis is good for the bulls.

The Saturday morning we got up at 7am and ran to check out the daily bull run through the streets of Algemesi.  It was slightly anticlimactic: the run was 30 minutes late and the people didn't run with the bulls.  Instead, they would climb up the walls while the bulls ran by.  I suppose after the experience of The Bull Run in Pamplona, it would be hard to expect more.  Later we had a very nice breakfast in a huge hall, with all three girls dressed up in their beautiful traditional dresses, complete with fans,bracelets and hair combs.  They looked very lovely, thank you to Katia's family for providing these special outfits.

Later we went off to lunch with twenty of Katia and Vicente's friends.  The lunch lasted about 3 hours complete with 3 courses of food, beer, wine and shots.  Needless to say we all felt very pro-siesta, But that was not to be as we were heading to the bullfight next, which started at 5:30.

Before I go on, I will say that I am very aware of multiple and controversial views about this sport.  Especially when it was officially the last bullfight in Barcelona when we were at the bullfight in Algemesi.  We decided to go and experience it first hand to then make our own judgment.

The bullfight involved toreadors, 5 bulls and some bullfighters on horses.  The event lasted about 3 hours, leading to the relatively bloody end of each of the five bulls.  The young toreadors got jostled by the bulls also: some very close calls, none of which ended in more serious matters.  The color, the movements, the tradition was all well and live that evening.  And the show was sold out.  I suppose Paul Watson will never run out of things to do...

During the show our seats were great: they were in a shady part of the ring, which allowed for a very pleasant temperature and uninhibited view of the event.  We were worried about the girls watching the event, but they did fine, and Tessa actually liked it.

That night Cathy and the girls stayed at home and Katia, her husband and I went out for another dinner and a small pub crawl.  We were concerned that we might get hungry, so we had to keep it going.

The next morning we had a special excursion to Katia's in-law's orange plantation very close to town.  The region is the largest producer of citrus fruit and the season is coming in November and December.  We even got to take a few locally grown squashes and melons back, which were great. Later, after another beautiful three course lunch we all headed back to Zaragoza, still full from the experiences and the feasts.

This experience made us feel more authentically Spanish and we so appreciated the opportunity to be on the 'inside' of such a marvelous cultural experience. A big thank you to Katia and her family for inviting us.

Summer Holiday 2011

[To see the pictures of the events, click on the picture above]

On June 25th Grace, Tessa and I flew back to Victoria after having spent our first 8 months in Spain.  It was great to see my parents who met us at the airport with pink bouquets of flowers for the girls.  We stayed with them and they were very generous in letting us take over their house.  Highlights of the first week included Grace going to a school friend’s birthday party the day after we arrived followed by a play date and dinner with her good friend Maddy.  I met my friend Ale for a fabulous lunch of Monk's curry at the Rebar.  We had made the date 4 months previously so it was a highly anticipated event.  Tessa's highlight was being invited back to daycare to play with her good friends for the day.  It felt very normal to be back and we settled in very quickly.  We went to Cowichan for the cool July 1st long weekend and due to the cold weather didn't go back for a month.  Instead of being at the lake we visited with friends, attended many hair, dentist and doctor appointments and Grace and Tessa attended a week soccer camp.

On July 29th Anatolijus arrived from Spain bringing the warm sunny weather with him and we had a great August long weekend at Cowichan seeing many friends from the lake, having coffee on the dock, sailing, motorbiking an d excellent happy hours.  We then spent three days in Victoria where Anatolijus caught up with many friends and we prepared to leave for our annual trip to Shuswap.  On Thursday Aug 4th we went to Vancouver to stay with my sister Susan and have a huge sushi/sashimi feast before leaving early Friday morning for the Interior.  This year at Shuswap was very special because for the first 5 days our entire immediate family was together, the weather was great and we had a wonderful time.  Last year my sister Susan and her husband Stephen were not able to come because they were in Pennsylvania watching their boys Rhys and Sam play in the Little League World Series and with us having moved to Spain this time felt very precious.  Anatolijus and I took a one night side trip down to Naramata without the girls.  We stayed in a great B&B, tasted fabulous wine and rode the historic Kettle Valley Railway behind Summerland.  At the end of our holiday as we made   our way back home we stopped in Abbotsford for lunch to see our good friends Sharon and Dan and then made it back to Victoria.  The last week in Victoria we were out for dinner 5 times and lunch three time – thank you to all who hosted us.  It was a great summer being back with family and friends and then on August 27^th we boarded our flight to return to our life in Spain……………….

5 cities in 7 days

[To see the pictures of the events, click on the picture above]

Well, my whirlwind adventure started in the last blog, when on the Saturday I went to Pamplona and, after the bull run, we went to San Sebastian to surf.

The Sunday after Pamplona, I decided to go for a long bike ride, which proved to be a mistake, as after the surfing and the bike ride I could barely walk on Monday.

On monday after work, my colleague an I boarded a Ryanair flight to Milan.  Some time ago I found out that Pet Shop Boys were opening in San Siro stadium, Milan, for Take That that have gotten back together and were touring with their new PROGRESS tour.  It has been a long time dream of mine to see PSB after a failed attempt in 1999 when I lived in Holland.  80€ ticket to see 40 minute opening act by PSB seemed like a good way to achieve my goal, given tickets to Milan were only 64€ return.

Our plan was to spend Tuesday in Milan, see the city, go to the concert Tuesday evening and on Wednesday go see Bergamo, a small Italian town where the airport is located.  However, in the spirit of maximizing opportunities, on the flight to Milan I suggested to exchange our Bergamo for a day say.... in Venice.  When we got to Milan and met our other friends that were there for the same concert, we went online and booked our fast train tickets to Venice.  At 6am we boarded very nice fast train and at 9am we walked out of the Venice stazione centrale onto the magnificent view of Venice.  The sun was out, the sky was blue and the tourists were already here.  Many tourists.

In order not to waste time, we got walking down the little bridges, narrow streets and passing million shops offering everything this tourist Mecca had to offer.  After a 16€ coffees and cheese and ham toasts (I suppose we did look like tourists) we headed off towards the little port which had many water taxis going to the various Venetian islands.  We hopped onto one and took a scenic ride to the island of Murano which is famous for the Venetian glass workshops and amazing blown glass.  By the time we got to Murano, it was about 37C, so it was important to stay out of the sun.

After Murano, we went by water taxi to Saint Marc's square, which is the most famous in Venice and walked back through the city.  We stopped at a nice restaurant and had a great Italian lunch in an air conditioned space.

At 4pm we took the train back and were on Milan at 7pm.  Back to the hotel and off to the concert.

Just as we got to the train station to take a metro for the stadium, one of our friends called us and said "where are you guys?? PSB just started playing, which was 40 minutes ahead of schedule!  So we grabbed a cab to go 5km to the stadium.  We flew through the first 4km in about 10 minutes.  The last km was a bit slower: 25 minutes sitting in a cab had my frustration running high.  I suppose 80,000 other people were trying to get to the same place.  When we got there and ran into the stadium, the PSB have already finished and my 80€ ticked was now a pumpkin.  I was not a happy boy...
We did stay for Take That, which surprisingly put on an amazing show.  Robbie Williams is also a great performer.  In the end, it was a good experience, and seeing PSB remains on my list of dreams...

That week after returning to Zaragoza, I had a weekend plan to go to Valencia, where one of my managers is from.  Saturday at about 9am my 2 friends and I drove to Valencia, which is an easy 3 hour drive.  We started with a lunch at the 5 star resort Las Arenas, where Katia arranged for best paella from Valencia.  She knew the head chef, so we got the best seats and food.  With a nice bottle of white Spanish wine and paella made for 3, we were in heaven.  Afterwards, we went for a walk down the beach, which was just spectacular. Blue sky and 35 degree weather was part of the deal.

We walked down to the port where the 33rd America's cup was held in 2010.  I saw the headquarters of the Cup, Team Alinghi camp, one of their boats from previous campaigns all wrapped up in plastic, and bought a team shirt in their store.  The port is on the Formula 1 race track so we got to walk on the actual track.

On the way back, I lucked out to see Team Artemis, challenger from Sweden for the next Americas cup in San Francisco in 201.3, training in the bay on a Formula 40 catamaran with a high-tech solid sail.  Very exciting!

That night we stayed in a beach town of Cullera in a hotel right on the beach and went out for dinner with Katia's family.

The next days we went back into Valencia to visit the very famous City of Art and Science (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciutat_de_les_Arts_i_les_Ci%C3%A8ncies) designed by Santiago Calatrava which was finished in 1998 which put the city on the map for tourism.  The complex is something right out of Star Trek, hosting art and science facilities and the largest aquarium in Europe.  We visited the aquarium and saw a spectacular dolphin show.  Definitely coming back with the kids in winter to see this again.

On Sunday we drove back, concluding my 7 day 5 city tour.  While I was slightly tired, the experiences were incredible and unforgettable.

How to maximize a Spanish day…

[To see the pictures of the events, click on the picture above]

Everything starts with preparation, just like the athletes prepare for their final event, everything is in the details: the thoughts, the visualization, the equipment, rest.  This is no different.  The evening of Friday the 8^th required the purchase of quality equipment:

·         3€ WHITE t-shirt at Zara

·         20€ WHITE pants at Springfield

Then getting a full tank of gas, maps of Pamplona, Tom-Tom, sunglasses, cameras (x2), cash, and good running shoes.  Everything was ready.  Off to sleep.

Saturday the 9^th

Get up at 4:50am, get the WHITE gear on, gather all equipment and dive to pick up Noa, a female colleague of mine, at 5:30am.  We set course for San Fermin fiesta in Pamplona.  Here, timing is everything: my original plan was to leave Friday night on a bus and see the festivities in full swing, but my original partner got stuck in Cadiz and could not make it back.  So the morning departure of 5:30am would still get us to Pamplona for the 8am el Encierro: the Bull Run.

We arrived in Pamplona at about 7:15am with enough time to find parking (which was not very difficult) and headed towards the Calle de Estafeta, where the Bull Run takes place.  You could see the evidence of the Fiesta far from the city centre: white and red dressed partiers sleeping in parks, under the trees and in their cars.  Many were still walking the streets, reminding you of the zombie movies: vacant looks, enough energy left to stay on their feet but not enough to lift their heads…

We got to the entrance of the downtown core, which is very historic and features many heritage buildings.  At the entrance we completed our camouflage in order to blend in to the crown and avoid, as much as possible, looking like tourists: we got our red scarves to tie around our necks and long and wide red cloth ”belts” to tie around our waist.  The disguise was complete.  The only thing giving us away was:

·         My pale, in comparison to the Spanish, skin

·         Our alert and sober eyes

·         The absence of red wine stains on our clothes

·         The absence of 2 liter jugs of beer or wine in each of our hands

·         Our purposeful and too fast of a pace through garbage and broken glass filled streets

·         My camera, likely the biggest giveaway

Surprisingly, we go to the Calle de Estafeta very fast, but about 451.713 others beat us there first.  What a bummer!

Luckily, Noa, with her perfect command of Spanish and her Galician accent (which this Saturday was a very welcome, as we met lots of people from Galicia) was able to chat up with some rare sober locals, which knew of a place to watch the Bull Run from.  We briskly followed.

In the meantime, braving our way through the crowds of San Fermin party-goer look-alikes, with broken glass crunching under our feet and with smell of wine, alcohol and cigarettes abundant, we got to the place where we were on an elevated street, which allowed for some views of the soon-to-be Bull Run.  The people right at the barricades got here at 4am to get a spot (many probably never left from last night), some others had views from the balconies of the nearby buildings, at a meagre cost of 85-115€ per hour (but that includes juice and breakfast).

The crowds were singing the final song announcing the beginning of the Run.  The cannon goes off and the Bulls are released.  We were situated right above the place where the Runners meet their fate.  We could see the bulls and hear the screams of the Runners and the encouraging roar of the crowd.  Amazing: the run is so fast and it is over in a few minutes.  The Bulls run for about 3 minutes to the Plaza del Toros, where in the evening at 6:30pm there is a Bull Fight.  You can see a video of the event to give you an idea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTHHgxFOD_g&feature=player_embedded#at=23

After the Run was over, we walked the Calle de Estafeta all the way to the Plaza del Toros and ended up being able to get into the Bullring for a few pictures.  Then we walked back through the town, had some coffee and shared our impressions.

It was about 9:30am at that point.  The day was young…

Our next thought was: instead of going back to Zaragoza, we were about 1 hour away from San Sebastian, to which Noa has never been.  We decided to go and see the city and I could show her around J since we have already been there and seen many of the things this beautiful city has to offer.

En route to San Sebastian we got pulled over at a roadblock along with a large number of other vehicles, all San Fermin party-goers.  I suppose the all-white outfits and red scarves are an easy way to spot a potential offender.  I had to blow into the little machine they presented, but after scoring an astounding 0.00 the Guardia Civil politely waved us on and off we went.

We got to San Sebastian and the weather was only 18 and raining.  After Pamplona with 25 degrees and sunshine, that felt a bit of a let-down.  However, we were going to maximize the day and see the town anyway.  In addition, based on my last experience here, the weather can change in a few hours.

We parked just up the hill from our vacation apartment, walked down to La Concha beach and had a tapa (this nice lady asked for some translation help from us: I then asked her and found out she was from Victoria BC and lived in Cadboro Bay.  How about that?!?).  Then we walked down to the Neo-gothic church and all the way to the other side of town to the Surfer’s beach.  Our San Fermin outfits were slightly noticeable and we could see the smiles on people’s faces as we walked.  We walked all the way to the beach and spend half an hour sitting on the sand and watching several groups of wannabe surfers getting a lesson and heading to the water.  The waves were quite good and the sun was starting to peek out.

I said to Noa: “you know, we could be surfing too”, to which she said: “ah, that is crazy, maybe another time”.

In the next 20 minutes we had our surfing lesson all booked for 3pm.  In the meantime, we went and got some lunch, got our car and came back to the PUKAS surf school to join 2 Swedish girls and a guy from Los Angeles.

We got into our wetsuits and headed off to the beach.  With our cool looking instructor, we, with our surfboards in hand, went to the water’s edge to get our surfing instructions. The style they teach here is slightly different from the one taught in Hawaii, and I think it is a bit easier.  At this point, the sun was out in full force and we hit the waves.  I got up nicely and had 3 good rides; Noa was also able to get 3 waves.  As always, learning can be a bit challenging, but the experience was absolutely worth it.  Our 1.5 hour lesson was a perfect amount of time to get enough bruises and drink enough salt water to get the appreciation that this is indeed a difficult sport for beginners.  But we enjoyed the experience and will have to come back.

The last thing we did in San Sebastian is seeing the Wind Comb statute at the one end of the harbour (one of the things I did not get to see last time we were here) and it was time to drive back to Zaragoza, which was 2.5 hours away.

We got back just after 9pm, slightly tired, but with big grins on our faces.  Talk about hitting 2 birds with one stone!

Mediterranean Sailing Adventure

[Click on the picture above to see more photos]

Last Friday the 24^th, Cathy, the girls and I went to Villanova I la Geltru (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=villanova+i+la+geltru&hl=en&ll=41.218307,1.730862&spn=0.111434,0.264187&sll=41.223085,1.72142&sspn=0.111426,0.264187&t=h&radius=8.24&z=13), which is close to Barcelona, for a day on the beach.  It was a nice 32 degrees, not a cloud in the sky and a nice, while a bit crowded, beach.  We went swimming with the girls, and the water was very warm. Felt like Hawaii.  By chance, I went and gave a hand to a few Hobiecat sailors that were struggling to sail away from the shore due to the narrow passage the boasts are allowed to get out to sea.  With a few cool moves, I had them going.  Turns out, the one guy was the rental club owner, and the other - his father-in-law.  I got a free sail out of it and they got a free lesson on Hobie sailing.  A fair exchange.

After the beach we had a very nice coastal drive to Sitges, which is another coastal town.  It looked spectacular: reminded us of the type of waterfront you would have in California, just smaller scale.  Lots of people rollerblading on the promenade, people on the beach, tons of nice bars and restaurants.  We are definitely going back for a weekend.

We got to our hotel, went for a nice dinner and to sleep for the next day’s flight.

Saturday, I dropped Cathy and the girls at the airport and went back to Villanova, where I picked up my friend who came from Zaragoza to go sailing with me.  We rented a new Jeanneau Sun 25 foot sailboat, got our gear onboard and took off for a Mediterranean cruise.  With nice 14 knots of wind, we hoisted our sails and cruised away at about 5 knots.  After a few hours we got to Sitges marine, where we moored close to a 50 foot catamaran and several  70+ foot super yachts (see one in the picture: at Villanova, over 300 feet, owned by Russian Billionaire http://www.flickr.com/photos/jortegafigueiral/5379426544/ ), feeling and looking cool.  We had our lunch on the boat and went for a stroll into town.  The experience was absolutely amazing, felt like something out of a movie.  I was thinking about our friend Derek who is sailing his 46 foot catamaran in the Carribean for the last several years.

At about 5pm we set sail on a course back to Villanova and enjoyed a homebound cruise with the sun setting gently.  When we got to port at about 8:30pm, we walked through a big procession dedicated to the Maritime Patron Saint celebration.  Seems wherever or whenever you go, your chances of encountering a Spanish fiesta are always good.

The 2.5 hour drive back to Zaragoza was the least exciting part of the 2 days, but the effort was surely worth it.  Just brilliant!  

PRAGUE!

On Thursday June 2nd we drove to Barcelona and caught our evening WizzAir flight to Prague.  We have to say this travel experience was much more civilized than our Ryanair adventure to Dublin.  The main reason we decided to go to Prague is because our friends Alma and Evaldas from Lithuania have been living there for three years and are moving back to Klaipeda in July.  Alma was a student of mine when I taught there and we became good friends.  Another reason for going was because neither Anatolijus or I have ever been but have heard how fabulous it is.  Well the highlight of the trip was reconnecting with our good friends and Prague provided a spectacular back drop.

The weather was supposed to be cool and rainy but it turned out to be sunny and 30C the whole time.  Alma was an amazing tour guide taking us on the Metro the first day down to the old town and its famous main square.  The next day we went by ourselves and found the transportation system very user friendly.  We walked up to the castle and cathedral on the hill and spent some time in the Toy Museum which the girls loved.  We ate very tasty, but very expensive hot dogs in the shade of the cathedral and also saw the brief but interesting changing of the guards at the entrance.  The cathedral is huge and the stain glass windows were spectacular, rivalling any we have seen.  The views from the hilltop are lovely with all the red tiled roofs and ornate buildings.  a tour of a Baroque church and a quick walk across the famous Charles Bridge before the storm hit ended a great day.

On Sunday we rented paddle boats on the river and this was a wonderful experience.  The river is large with big tour boats going by and the views of the bridges and National Theater building were awesome.  that night Alma offered to stay with the girls so Anatolijus and I went out for a memorable dinner.   Alma made a reservation for us at the Terrace restaurant which overlooks the square with the illuminated towers of the cathedral, the chiming clock and then a panoramic view of the city.  When we arrived a few minutes late and said we had a reservation the maitre'd said, "Ok but only if you are ready for the best table in the house".  He sat us at the table right over the square - it was fabulous!  While we were eating lightning kept illuminating the clouds around the city but the storm never moved in, it was just a great light show for us.

We were very fortunate to have five star accommodations as Alma's apartment is lovely.  We loved our morning lattes with her high end espresso maker and special Krups milk foamer (I am definitely buying one).  We cooked lots of lovely meals together and enjoyed good Czech beer and wine sitting on their huge deck enjoying the view.  Aside from getting very little sleep it was perfect.

On our last morning Anatolijus was able to play 9 holes of golf at a beautiful course along the river.  We also visited Starbucks for the first time since London and won't do that again as it was 25 euros.

All in all, a very memorable trip with great friends!

To view pictures from this Blog, just click the picture above!

Month of fun and visitors!

Cheers!  Been a few weeks since we wrote our last blog: a month exactly.  No excuses, but the number of visitors kept us busy with entertaining, enjoying great company and more Spanish wine.

After our trip to San Sebastian and after Cathy’s parents left, the next weekend we went to Barcelona to pick up my mom, who came for a month-long visit.  We spent a wonderful weekend in Barcelona, with the weather being just spectacular.  We showed my mom around town (by the way: driving in Barcelona is very, very easy, one of the best big cities to deal with traffic): Parc Guell (Gaudi), Sagrada Familia Basilica (which is still being built 100 years later after being started), La Rambla (the big walking plaza with merchants, cafes and pedestrians), excellent places to eat, one of which we stopped at and had a wonderful Catalan meal.  After lunch, back onto La Rambla, where the girls got their charcoal portraits done by artists.

That night, taking advantage of our new Lithuanian baby sitter, Cathy and I went out to La Flauta, a very popular restaurant for dinner.  After about a 1.5 hour wait, we got in about 11pm and had a great meal.  The best part was when we got the bill, with my 100 Euros in hand, I thought they made an error when they charged us only 37E!  Inexpensive and great (included a good bottle of Navarra wine).  http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g187497-d787824-Reviews-La_Flauta-Barcelona_Catalonia.html

Our Barcelona trip lasted 2 days and absolutely the top experience was La Sagrada Familia Basilica (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADlia)  which was concecrated in 2010 when the Pope visited the city.  I was at the Sagrada Familia 2 years ago, when things inside were still obfuscated by the construction scaffolding.  This time, when we walked in, I had shivers going down my skin.  The spectacle of the church is indescribable.  To think that Gaudi, who lived at the turn of the century, could have imagined all this is to believe that he was truly inspired.  It was a jaw-dropping experience, of engineering and spiritual marvel.  By far the most inspiring and impressive building we have ever visited.  (See some pictures on our blog!)  On the way back to Zaragoza, we stopped at a medieval town of Mont Blanc, which was celebrating an annual medieval festivals.  Fashioned with real knights, medieval market and a wine tasting, we had a grand time spending a few hours and then having a picnic in a field by a winery.

Then back to Zaragoza, where my mom spent a nice and relaxing month with us and the girls.  Of course, she can never sit still so our place was spotless and we got an opportunity to go out without kids a few times.

In the meantime, our Montpelier apartment turned temporarily into a 4 star all-inclusive resort: we had several visits from our friends from Canada, Chad and Brit, who are on a whirlwind tour of Europe for 4 months.  When they first came and outlined their plans, it was not initially clear if they were competing for the Guinness world book of records title for the most time spent on trains during the 4 months or of the record was going to be the most places visited.  I myself was a bit dizzy just imagining the amount of sensory input.  After a few relaxing days in Zaragoza, then a trip to Portugal and then back to Zaragoza, they decided to slow down a bit and try and enjoy a fewer less places and experience more of the feeling.  They are great guys and I now call them our “adopted” family, as we are their emergency landing strip in Europe…

Our other friend Adrieane came to visit us from the UK, where she is studying in Reading.  She is from Victoria, Canada, but while on her studies, she decided to pay us a visit, which we enjoyed very much.  She is studying food safety, and we had a few interesting chats about the origin of our nice steaks J

In between all this, we joined a community event where about 400 people kayaked 10 kilometers down the river Ebro.  It was spectacular: did not take much effort, as the river naturally takes you down.  The vistas of the city and the enjoyment of a sunny day on the river were very memorable.  Again: a few pics if you click on the picture above. 

Then, in between Chad and Brit’s visits, we had our wonderful Irish friends (Gwen and Monty) come to stay with us while they were doing their own Spanish excursion.  After a weekend with us, they went to visit Catalan Pyrenees and now they are back in Zaragoza.  They had excellent weather and fab time and last night we watched the European football final at Wembley: Barcelona vs. Manchester.  I had to wear my Barca jersey, and we WON!!!  Ole ole ole ole….. (Sorry Barry, next time)

One last bit.  Yesterday, Tessa had a school gymnastics performance with her Infantil class.  They were all dressed in special outfits and did surprisingly complex routines for the parents.  Tessa, in comparison to her being shy and self-conscious just a few months ago, was super happy and proud of her performance.  Was a very nice experience (some pics above).  They even got medals!

After the performance, we were invited to the school club, where we had some food, wine and a huge paella!  We stayed at the school till about 7pm, having some beers, gin and tonics.  Who said schools were boring?  A great group of parents.  Afterwards we collected Grace from a play date she went to and went home to watch the football final.  Life is getting very full again, what a difference from just a few months ago.

P.s.  They are filling our pool, so soon the pool parties will start.  Can’t wait.  Have you booked your tip to visit us yet?  We have some availability, but book early!

[To see pictures, click on the title picture to go to the gallery of the Blog pictures]

Family Visit

On Thursday April 7^th my parents arrived in Zaragoza for a 3 week visit.  Aside from the one day we spent with my Auntie Glenda in London this is the first family we have seen in 5 months and we were all very excited.  I tracked their flights and was disappointed when they had a 2 hour delay in Frankfurt due to fog in Barcelona, however the good thing is that Anatolijus had been in Madrid for meetings that day and arrived at the train station around the time I imagined their train would be arriving.  Anatolijus called me as he watched people disembark and then spotted them coming up the movator.  My parents were going to take a taxi to our house because we didn’t know exactly what train they would be on so their relief and joy to see Anatolijus waiting for them meant their journey was over as he got them safely to our house.  When the buzzer rang in the apartment announcing their arrival the girls and I all screamed and started running in circles trying to find our shoes.  As we walked out they were just coming down the driveway and Tessa let out a scream of excitement that couldn’t be contained.  To say our reunion was joyful would be very accurate.

We spent the first weekend showing them around Zaragoza and they really liked the city and how pretty and clean and friendly it is.  The first week was fun for me as mom and dad joined in our regular routine of walking to school and getting groceries and picking Anatolijus up from work.  It was so nice for me to share these everyday aspects of my life and I realized how alone I have been in these things.  Although we have some friends we see them on the weekend and because I don’t have very much Spanish yet I haven’t been able to connect with parents from the school.  I had gotten used to my routine but was struggling and feeling very tired.  I found I was able to get back in balance and feel more like myself with my parents here and now I am building in some enriching things for me to maintain the balance. A highlight of that first week was a day trip I took my parents on to Loarre Castle (http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castillo_de_Loarre) which is a beautifully preserved Medieval castle and is a 80 min drive.  It was a beautiful sunny day and the farm land was so green and alive with Spring it was fabulous.  We had a picnic after our tour and enjoyed the spectacular views as we were up in the foothills of the Pyrenees and had sweeping views of the whole valley that extends all the way to Zaragoza.  The girls were in school that day and I realized it was the first sightseeing I had done without them in 5 months and I thanked my parents for not asking, “when are we going to get there?” or throwing up or fighting over the front seat!

On the weekend we had our friends Eduardo and Sira and their children Eduardo and Claudia over for a BBQ on our new big stainless steel BBQ.  We had a lovely evening and at 11:30pm when the kids were really tired and in Canada we would be saying goodnight, instead a fresh round of drinks was poured and the poker chips came out. The kids all fell asleep on the couch and we played until 1:30am.  I was so impressed with my parents for partying Spanish style and needless to say the following day was a quiet one.  The next night saw our only unfortunate event in that my dad tripped on an ill placed scooted on the deck and cut his foot open.  We had to take him to the emergency where our lovely friend David met us and did all the translating which was great.  Dad ended up getting eight stitches and this really slowed him down as he loves to walk and explore and was very limited in this regard.  The good thing is that he had virtually no pain and didn’t complain once.

The following week was Holy Week and the children have the whole week off and this is their Spring Break.  Anatolijus also got 2 days off so on the Thursday we left for a four day trip driving through the La Rioja wine region then into the Pais Vasco also known as the Basque region up to San Sebastian which is on the Sea of Cantabrico and is about 20 km from the French border.  We had an apartment right on the water and although it was very basic and not too clean the location was spectacular.  We were right on La Concha beach and the girls played in the waves and we all breathed in the sea air we have been missing.  San Sebastian is a holiday destination and one of the wealthiest parts of Spain.  The brief history is that 200 years ago the Queen of Spain decided to spend the summers here away from the terrible heat of Madrid.  A beautiful Palace was built and then all  the infrastructure to support the royals kept developing.  It is famous for the beautiful fancy white cast iron railings that go all along the promenade and food is considered to be some of the best in the world.  An overview of our activities:  riding the rollercoaster in the amusement park built in 1912 way up on the hill (incredible views); walking through the old town shopping and later enjoying pinchos and Txacolina (chakoli, an amazing white wine); the girls riding the ornate merry-go-round; walking the promenade and eating great food at La Concha café; on Easter Sunday climbing way up to the huge statue of Jesus on Mt.Urgul.  Another highlight was the day we spent going to Bilboa to see the Frank Gehry designed Guggenheim Museum (http://www.guggenheim.org/bilbao).  I have known about this Museum for years but somehow thought Bilboa was in the south of Spain. I was thrilled when I realized it was only a 2.5 hour drive away from Zaragoza and it was a fabulous experience seeing it and being in it. 

There were a couple of things that surprised us on this trip.  The first thing is it was virtually impossible to get a map or information on how to find the wineries.  We realized after that it is only April so many of the wineries aren’t yet open for tours, however the information is still not useful or helpful.  We did get to Marques de Riscal which has the amazing Frank Gehry designed hotel at it (http://www.hotel-marquesderiscal.com/en?PS=EAME_aa_Starwood_Iberia-1539_Google%20US_marques%20de%20riscal_12/13/10).  On the way there we past 4 of the wineries we were looking for so will now have to go back when the season gets rolling and enjoy time doing tastings.  Also as we drove through the Basque region we couldn’t believe how green and gorgeous it was.  It reminded all of us of Austria or Switzerland with Bavarian styled houses on the side of high green hills dotted with sheep.  We drove through luscious deep valleys with quaint little villages set in, very beautiful.  We had a lovely time exploring this corner of Spain and would like to go back, however there are so many new places to explore as well.  We arrived home on the Sunday evening and sadly my parents had to leave on the train Monday to overnight in Barcelona before flying home on Tuesday.  We comforted ourselves knowing the girls and I will be home in Victoria in just two months to spend the whole summer and Anatolijus will join us for August.  The time went incredibly fast and after saying goodbye to my parents on Monday we prepared to welcome a new guest on Friday so we were off to Barcelona……

To view pictures from this Blog, just click the picture above!

Golf in Zaragoza

Ok, ok, I have to tell you about golf in Zaragoza.  Believe it or not, one of the most complicated things here.

First, finding a golf course in Zaragoza is a challenge in and of itself.  One day I saw one on the way to Madrid along the highway and got very excited.  Later, after a bit of research, I find that to play there you need to be a member, pay 120 € and have a handicap.  Of course, I had none of the three magic things to open the gates of golf (the 120€ I was simply not willing to spend after playing Bear Mountain in Victoria for 65$).

Then my search continued.  By accident I stumbled across a "public" golf course in the modern Expo site.  It is a pitch and putt, 18 holes, looks nice.  So I figured to give it a try.  The price was also ok: weekend rate of 25€ for 18 holes.  I got a friend to call to book a tee time....

But of course, that would have been too simple.  Supposedly, in order to play at any non-private golf course in Spain you need to belong to the Spanish golf federation and pay an annual fee!  In the meantime, the golf course on weeknights is completely empty.

So on Sunday I decided to go there anyway just in case the guy on the phone was mistaken.

We got to the course and indeed, we could not go play.  The good news was that there were people on the golf course so they must have filled out the forms and joined the federation.  We ended up going to the driving range, which looks more like an acre of Dubai real-estate: sand, sand, sand.  The upside is that if you hit the ball 50 yards, it rolls another 50 :)

Balls were cheap, and after an hour and a half of brisk swing action we ended up in the clubhouse for a refreshment and, of course, to fill out the mandatory forms to join the federation.  I suppose the urge to play on the green vs the sand did overtake and I gave into the annual fee of 60€.  So now I patiently await my membership card, which is just as important as the healthcare coverage.  The process seems similar too.

P.s. After the driving range we stopped by s special seafood fair, where the region of Spain called Galicia were displaying their culinary delights, most of which were seafood.  I had octopus with potatoes, mussels and some other yummy seafood, all of which was to die for!

The other day I even tried percebes which are gooseneck barnacles, which are delicious, but maybe weird to look at.

Now off to waiting for my card.  Dreaming of golf.



[To see pictures, click on the title picture to go to the gallery of the Blog pictures]


Anatolijus

Complex History of Spain: Belchite

The other day we took a trip to a nearby town of Belchite.  It is about an hour away from Zaragoza, but a nice drive through a landscape that reminded us of driving through Kamloops: deserty looking hills with very green grass at the foothills.

Belchite is a small village with big history.  In 1937, during the Spanish civil war, Franco was fighting the socialist-communist forces and the village was one of the key gateways to Zaragoza.  The little town was almost leveled to the ground in fierce fighting.  Supposedly British, US and other allied forces fought Franco's army, but eventually they lost.  Some 6000 people lost their lives there.  After the war, Franco ordered the people of the village to build a new village besides the destroyed one, leaving the ruins as a reminder of his victory and his enemies' defeat. (you can find more info on the history of Belchite here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Belchite_(1937) )
We got there on a very sunny day, which certainly helped when seeing what remained of once tranquil village.  It is amazing that some structures of houses, 2 churches and a convent are still standing, while significantly Tedder prates since their day time.

We walked into the main church and it was amazing to see some of the decorations still in tact.  It was, though, an eerie feeling, trying to walk through a skeleton of a village.  Many people say you can hear ghosts in the village.  At one point we heard a children's quite singing, very clearly.  Could have been from the new village, or...

It was an interesting experience, and a reminder that peace comes at at a significant price at times.  Even the children felt sad seeing such destruction and desolation.

After, we went to the new village, kids played in the nice park and we went back to Zaragoza.  A very special experience.


[To see pictures, click on the title picture to go to the gallery of the Blog pictures]


Anatolijus

London Town

Since we are not likely to get tickets to 2012, we decidednto pay an advance visit to her Majesty the Queen in the UK.  We got ourselves some very affordable Ryanair tickets from Zaragoza and went for a little tourist action in London.  (To see pictures from our trip, just click on the Big Ben)

Itinerary

Friday, March 11
Left Zaragoza mid afternoon and got to London at about 4 pm.
Got to our Marriott hotel to relax in a very spacious, by London standards, room.  The hotel  is located in Swiss Cottage, has a very nice pool and must have been renovated in the last few years. Very nice.

Auntie Glenda was waiting for us at the hotel already.  She got to the UK a few days earlier so we planned to spend a bit of time together.  We had dinner together at the hotel (menus in english! And dinner served at 6!) and made plans for the next day.  Of course, much of the evening we spent watching TV about the Japan earthquake, horrible, horrible situation.  Having lived very close to the Chernobyl disaster in 86, I could imagine the stress everyone was under to fix the nuclear situation.  Still to be continued...

March 12
We got up really early (not because we did not want to sleep in, but because the girls were demonstrating the reality of 1 hour difference between Spain and the UK), went for a swim in the hotel pool and took the subway to the Parliament buildings.  It was a beautiful sunny day, so our tourist expedition was to be marvelous.  We stopped by the Westminster Abbey (did not go inside), had some breakfast at PRET (coffee shop chain with amazing quality products and brownies) and then we went to the South Kensington station to the Natural History museum.

The lineup was decent and the museum - fabulous.  Best of all, it is free.  We saw dinosaurs, live animal show about animal sight, mammal exhibit and, of course, the gift shop where Auntie Glenda treated the girls to a keepsake.

After the museum we met my boss Brian, went for a walk to the Prince Albert monument, which was newly restored, and then for a fab lunch at the Whole Foods.

By that time we had done plenty of walking and were getting quite tired, but given the weather was very nice, we decided to go to the London Eye ferris wheel.

We were lucky with a short lineup, so we got our tickets, saw a 4 D show of the eye (it was a short movie with 3 D glasses and real snow) and then we went onto the eye.  The eye rotates every 30 minutes - enough time to get a fantastic view of London.  All of us loved the experience and the 52£ was worth it.  After the 360 panoramic overview of the city, we had about 0 energy left and kids, having done amazing, were ready to turn into pumpkins. We stopped at Tesco for some groceries, said good bye to Glenda and took the tube home.

We even did not go for dinner, as this would have required walking, which was unthinkable.  So with a bottle of wine, grapes, cheese and a few drumsticks from KFC we celebrated our evening #2 in London.  Cathy and the kids went to sleep, while I decided to maximize the day and do additional stress-test on my feet and took the tube to the Tate Modern museum.  I had 1.5 hours there, which was amazing.  Some big names at the museum: Kandinsky, Monet, Pollock, Rothko and many others.  And lots and lots of modern exhibits, which always inspires me to do some more painting.  I got home about 11:30pm and went into a coma.

March 13
We started the day with our traditional swim in the hotel pool.  By 9am we were on the tube heading back to town, starting at Bond and Oxford street, where we handily got ourselves a Starbucks and some light breakfast.  After that, we headed off to the Tower of London.  By that time it started raining, so the mood for the tour was set.  We started with Yeoman telling all the wonderful stories of the fortunate guests of the castle and their unfortunate endings.  Made us appreciate the more civilized times we live in...

The Crown Jewels were AMAZING! We did a couple of rounds to see them.  Kids were in awe, so were the adults.  The masterpieces, the wealth, the craftsmanship and all the tradition on display.  Nice to see that some of such old traditions are still well in use.

After we checked out the vistas of the London Bridge with the girls singing the "London bridge is falling down", we could not resist a quick Subway lunch. It still tasted the same, and, given it was my staple food for the last number of years in Canada, I must say I miss it.  So it was a treat.

After the Tower we took the tube to the Victoria & Albert museum.  We did not spend much time there, but did stop in their tea room.

A special note of apology to Glenda.  Glenda suggested that the dining room at the V&A was excellent, which I readily dismissed and said it could not be better than cafeteria food, but that indeed was not true.  They had a full spread, which all looked marvelous.  We had afternoon tea with scones and clotted cream, preserves and tea.  Thanks Glenda for your great advice.

Next, off to the Science Museum, which was also free.  We spent time in the hands-on experiments area for kids.  A bit similar to the science world in Vancouver, just much larger.  They had a whole section on space exploration, similar to the Smithsonian exhibit in DC.  I went on a 4D simulator ride to the moon, which was quite fun.

After the museums, the family headed back to the hotel and I went for a bit of shopping down Oxford street.  We met back at the hotel and had dinner at the restaurant there.  My first steak in 5 months... So enjoyed every bite.  Wine, on the other hand, more expensive and less variety.  So guinness was the order of the day.  The kids had nice kids meals which came with very nice chocolate deserts, which adults enjoyed just as much.

That night we watched a bit more news on Japan and off to bed.

March 14
We got an early sub and train to Stansted airport.  The day was sunny and warm.  We landed in Zaragoza a few hours later to a cloudy and rainy day.  The whole week after our trip was windy, rainy and relatively cold.  But the sun is now out and temperatures are back to the Spanish standard.

We loved our trip and surely will visit the Queen again.  After 2012 rush is over.

P.s. Lots of public works on the subway, many stations closed due to improvements.  You can surely see London getting ready for the games.

Anatolijus and family