Fiestas del Pilar 2014

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It is a beautiful October Saturday: 25 degrees and sunny on October 25^th.  The summer just does not want to go away, which this year has been wonderful.  Normally though, after our el Pilar festival the weather turns on a dime and the rain and wind begins.

Derek and Cathy Gale from Victoria came for a 2 week visit to sample some of Spain’s delicacies during one of the best seasons we have: the main fiesta of the city.  This summer when we met in Victoria, I planted the seed of a potential visit, which quickly became a plan and a reality.

They came on the 7^th of October, just as the festival was starting up, so we got to taste and experience the best of it.  And, of course, not to waste any precious time, we organized a full-full agenda, which left relaxation for the trip back to Canada.  As a result, they visited 7 Autonomous Communities in 2 weeks, which is about half the communities in Spain: beat that!  On the list were: Aragon, Navarra, La Rioja, Pais Vasco (Basque Country), Madrid, Toledo and Catalunya.

Locally, we have explored restaurants, tapas bars, coffee shops and much of the historical city: complete with Roman ruins, bridges, cathedrals and even the largest shopping center in Spain.  Ironically, when we went to the shopping center, we ended up having dinner (instead of shopping) at a great Brazilian restaurant that served every possible meat imaginable roasted on the fire.  I think my guests were duly impressed (so was I, but I could not tell them this was my first time to the restaurant also J).

During the fiestas week, we took a detour one Friday and went to Pamplona to re-enact the running of the bulls (see pics) and ended up in my favourite place in Spain: San Sebastian.  We did the full pintxos and tapas run Friday night, including local specialty: Txacolina wine, which, at 2 Euros per very large glass, is not a very hard thing to take (a bit harder in the morning).  The next day we explored this beautiful town, did some shopping, more eating and headed back to Zaragoza for an impromptu mussels and white wine dinner.

The Sunday was the main el Pilar event: the procession to give flowers and prayers to the Virgin of el Pilar.  We were keeners: at 8:30am we were downtown, taking pictures and meeting friends.  This year there were many more people in the procession than watching, so to get around was much easier.  After a few hours of people-watching we ended up with my friends in a neighbourhood bar for early brunch, including some red wine, sausages and chips: so typically Spanish.  A massive photo-shoot later, we headed back to the cathedral to sample some of the artisan cooking which is setup right by the river.  As shown on TV (or rather in the pictures), we found the largest grill and got ourselves comfortable.  Ribs, suckling pig, chips and beer were the order of the day.  Needless to say after a feast like this we needed a siesta.  So we complied.  Especially given the fact that at 5:30pm we were heading to the Sunday bull fight (this year is a 250 anniversary of the Zaragoza bull ring, so the events were super special).

At 5pm we headed out to the bull fight, just to get completely soaked by the 5 minute torrential rain.  We dried out quickly during the bullfight, witnessing one of the best corridas.  In fact, this year I went to 3 corridas, and in each, one bullfighter got 2 ears, meaning they did an outstanding job and were carried out by others through the Puerta Grande (the big gate) as an honor symbol.  In the last corrida with horses, one bullfighter got 2 ears and a tail, which is the highest mark you can get.  Also, in one of the fights that week one bull was “saved” from being killed as it demonstrated amazing fighting.  This was the first time that this happened in Zaragoza in 250 years.

After the bull fight, my Canadian friends and I went downtown for a few drinks and then to bed, given the next day Derek and Cathy were off to Madrid and Toledo.

They finished their trip with a few days in Barcelona, rounding out their fully packed itinerary.  I am sure they are still sleeping 2 weeks later, recovering from the work they were destined to do in Spain.

It was so wonderful to share the city and the fiestas with great friends from Victoria.  I myself had to take a few days to recover from all the go-go-go we did.  But great memories prevail. 

Fiestas of Algemesi

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It has been a while since my last post, but as they say: better late than never.  Last weekend I went on something you may call a mini pilgrimage: back to where it all started.  In Algemesi, in 2011, we went to see our first real village FIESTA, complete with bull fights, real Spanish food, beach and wine, lots of wine.

This time it felt very different: still very exciting, the novelty is no longer there but the finer appreciation of the Spanish lifestyle and fiestas is much more present now.

Our Valencian friends have hosted me as always, we saw 2 corridas, including one with Portuguese bull fighters on the horses.  Plenty of style, color and noise.  We sampled some of the best Valencian rice, walked along the beach and enjoyed (a little too much) the sun drenched terraces that serve 2 euro beer from 8 am in the morning till late late at night.  

The highlight was going for breakfast at about 10:30 am to the Orange Growers cooperative dining hall.  It was full of people of all ages.  Breakfast included a salad, red wine, olives, sandwiches with squid and tortilla patata.  Needless to say that after breakfast like this it is hard to think of anything other than siesta.  But wait, there is no time, given that at 14:00 we were booked for lunch at the local restaurant called Casino.  And then bulls, and then dinner, and then....sleeeeeep......

Viva la FIESTA!

Toledo and Lisbon

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This year for our Easter Holiday we decided to go on a road trip to Lisbon, Portugal, stopping for one night in Toledo on the way, to break up the drive and to see this special spot.  It turned out that on Tuesday April 15^th Anatolijus had meetings in Madrid and with our Easter holiday beginning the next day we made a plan to meet in Toledo.  So at 12pm as Grace, Tessa and I drove into the train station of Toledo watching Anatolijus’ train pull in at the exact same time. We couldn’t have planned it any better with us driving 3.5 hrs from Zaragoza.  The first beautiful thing we saw was the train station which is in the Mudejar (Muslim) style and is exquisite with its tiles and ornate ceiling.  The weather was beautiful and perfect to explore this ancient town that sits on a hill with the river Tagus winding around it on 3 sides.  Toledo was made a World Heritage Site in 1986 and was a place where Jews, Christians and Muslims lived together.  This year Toledo is hosting the largest exhibition of El Greco works however we weren’t able to see it as it was sold out months before.  This was good because instead we spent our time walking the narrow streets and experiencing the charm and energy of Toledo.  The Cathedral is very impressive (where we did see el Greco’s “Unrobing of Christ”) and we loved the picturesque Bridge of Saint Martin.  We had the best pork tenderloin ever sitting outside on a lovely terrace.  Although we only had half a day in Toledo we felt very happy with our experience in and were excited to leave early the next morning to drive to Lisbon.

The best laid plans….it is important to note in this aside that with all the travelling we have done we have rarely had any problems or travel nightmares. 

In January, when Anatolijus was on the couch having injured his back and we had yet to receive any medical help and didn’t know the severity of the situation, we booked our accommodation in Lisbon through Airbnb.  We were very excited because it was a beautiful apartment in Alfama overlooking the Cathedral.  The day before we were to arrive in Lisbon, Anatolijus called the owner of the apartment to say we had not received the check in information and the owner said he was surprised as he had sent the email to us and would resend it.  We went to bed and set our alarms for 7am.  I woke up and checked email and was happy to see an email from Airbnb, unfortunately instead of providing check in info the emailed said,

 “We're really sorry but we've had an electrical problem in the building of the apartment and we've had to cancel your reservation.

The building is now running on backup generators with only minimum power usage, we have works underway to replace the problematic electrical column which makes renting the apartment impossible.

We know we can never compensate for having to cancel your stay but we've tried to find an alternative without any success.”

In my sleepy haze I really thought it was a joke or I was misreading the email.  Five hours before we are to arrive they cancel our reservation which we paid for in January and it is the start of the long Easter Weekend!!!!   Also we had called the day before and no problem was mentioned?  We were suspicious and very upset.  Also our friends Natalia and Emiliano from Zaragoza were on their way to meet us in Lisbon. I woke Anatolijus up and said, “we have a problem”!  We knew we couldn’t leave Toledo until we had a place to stay and the prospect of returning home was very depressing.  So the girls and I went down to the buffet breakfast while Anatolijus worked his usual magic and after 3.5 hours was able to secure us a new apartment for more money, but at that point it didn’t matter. So at 11:30am we left the hotel and began our 5.5 hour drive to Lisbon.  The good news is that our new accommodation and host were fabulous and we gained many amenities and an amazing view overlooking the city.

Lisbon – we loved it!!  It has the feeling of San Francisco, Vancouver and St. Petersburg combined.  The view from St. George’s Castle is fabulous and a great place to have an overview of the city.  The main square at the water is beautiful and we had a great day walking the promenade to the Belem Tower, seeing the Monument of the Discoveries and the outside of Jeronimo Monastery.  Lisbon is famous for their very old wooden trams so we got up early one morning and went to the first stop to secure a seat on Tram 28.  The day before we waited at a stop as 4 or 5 trams went by completely full.  We were delighted to be the only ones aboard (see the pics) and it is a very scenic ride going down narrow streets and through different neighborhoods.  The second day we drove to Sintra and toured the Pena Palace which is perched way up on a hill.  Following that we went to Cascais for lunch and it is a gorgeous seaside town with great restaurants and shopping.  We later drove down the coast to a fabulous beach and the drive reminded us of parts of Hawaii we have visited.  The Atlantic Ocean is not warm but the kids, and Emiliano, played in the waves and had a great time.  There were also lots of surfers riding the waves here.

One of our favorite experiences happened the first night when our friends came to meet us for dinner.  Our host had recommended we eat at the local restaurant at the end of our street, small and very authentic.  Natalia called from the taxi to ask for the name of the restaurant so we looked out the window and saw it was called Tofa.  We also gave her our street name, but as the apartment is new the taxi driver didn’t know it, and the restaurant name turned out to be unhelpful as well.  We discovered that Tofa is a brand of coffee like Illy or Starbucks and is on every second awning.  Specific cultural references are so great.  So our friends arrived and we walked to the place but with nine of us and only 6 tables, 2 were occupied, it didn’t look like we could stay.  Then Alfredo, the owner, indicates for Natalia to follow him into the back.  When they returned she says follow us so we walked behind the bar through the kitchen into a room with a plain table and old TV set – perfect!  We ordered fish for the adults, as Lisbon is famous for their bacalao (cod), and plates for the children that included grilled meat, rice, fries and salad.  We all drank wine and finished with coffee and port.  Alfredo was wonderful and we felt like we had made a new friend.  Now the best part is the bill. The cost of dinner for 9 of us including 2 litres of wine was an astounding 62 euros!!!!  We had been told Portugal was much cheaper than Spain and, out of the tourist areas, it definitely is.

On Sunday our friends had to leave so we had a quiet morning waiting out the rain then drove back to Cascais to go to a new vegetarian restaurant that had only been open 2 days.  It turned out to be our favorite meal and the owner and staff made it very special and we talked with a woman from Brasil…  On the way back we stopped at the Museum of Modern Art which was excellent and were able to also enjoy some of the famous Pasteis de Belem – a pastry with cream – which are very famous and quite delicious.  On our last day in Lisbon we toured the different famous neighbourhoods starting with Alfama which is the old Muslim quarter. We were also interested to go and see how the ‘electrical work’ was going at our cancelled apartment.  To our surprise (not) there were no works underway and we went to the café located in the same small building and inquired if there had been any electrical problems, had they seen work trucks etc.  They said they did not know of any problems confirming our suspicion that it was a made up story.  We were able to enjoy a lovely lunch in the café and tour the cathedral and felt fortunate that we landed in the apartment we did.  We also visited the most expensive chapel in Europe, Chapel Roche, it is made of gold and the pictures are all mosaics although they look like regular paintings.

We found Lisbon exceeded our expectations and once we were home we were very fascinated to learn more about Salazar, the benevolent dictator.  And also the amazing natural disaster of 1755 that started with an earthquake that spawned a tsunami that ended with fires destroying most of the city. What took centuries to build was destroyed in 12 hrs and Portugal never regained its former power or glory.  Our drive home went very well and it was 9 hrs door to door including two short stops.  It was great to explore and new place and after having spent part of the winter and spring in the hospital and rehab it was a very refreshing and energizing holiday.

P.s. Once we got back home, Anatolijus contacted Airbnb.  To redeam our experience, the company paid the difference for our accommodation extra cost and gave us 200 USD voucher towards our next booking.  So in the end even the booking nightmare was redeemed. 

Santander, Cantabria

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It has been a while since our last update due to Cathy’s dad passing away and then Anatolijus’ back issues that seem to have consumed most of the winter.

Our last trip in December was to a well-known city in Cantabria (north of Spain) called Santander.  You may have heard this name because one of the biggest Banks in the world goes by the same name, headquartered there.

On the way there, we could not resist but to stop again in Bilbao, at the Guggenheim museum, which we first visited several years ago when Cathy’s parents came to visit for the first time.  On the way back, we could not resist but to stop at the Subway restaurant in Bilbao besides the Guggenheim for a sandwich fix.

We went for a 4 day weekend, and luck so had it, that we hit perfect 4 days, with temperatures in the high teens, with last day clocking in at 17 Celsius, pure sunshine.

We had a nice hotel Las Brisas 2 steps from the beach, which made morning walks easy.  During our stay, we made it a point to ensure we maximize our gastronomic experience and do the right amount of sightseeing.

The first days we stayed in town, went to some recommended restaurants for lunch and dinner and explored the town and the waterfront.  The highlight was the Royal summer house which has since been converted to an international summer university, which is known for some spectacular parties among students.  Situated right on the ocean, the location doubles as a favourite wedding spot as well as the student locale.  Surroundings feature a very green park and a small “zoo” featuring penguins and seals.

The third day we did our “feature” excursion, which was the pretext for the entire trip: the Cabarceno natural park.  The park was opened to the public in 1989 in a reclaimed iron open pit mine, featuring 3 square miles of wonderful landscape dedicated to protection of endangered species. The unique thing about the park is that the animals live in a “semi-free” environment, whereby the “enclosures” are naturally made (via landscape anomalies) so the animals have lots of places to move around.  The park tries to maintain the habitat that is as natural as possible, promoting natural survival and mating cycles.  In the park we saw bears, giraffes, gorillas, elephants, Bengal tigers, lions, camels, zebras, rhinoceroses, hippos and many other species that were roaming the lands.  The bears and tigers certainly left the biggest impression as seeing them so close was very exciting.  The park certainly exceeded our expectation and the fact that you can drive into it and drive around on specially developed paths made this as close to a safari as we have gotten so far.  Enjoy some of our pictures with the blog.

4 days went by like a snap: eating, touring, walking on the beach provided for nice amount of exercise, relaxation and enjoyment.  We are absolutely heading back there as we missed much and have to explore more.

The final note: the last 2 weeks of February the northern coast of Spain was pounded by 140km/hour winds and 12 meter (36ft) waves, which damaged much of the coastline from Galicia to Cantabria and Basque Country.  Cities like Santander and San Sebastian were very hard hit: the beachfront promenades were completely destroyed, beachfront shops and real-estate washed away or damaged.  Government declared the zone a national disaster zone, which affected citizens, merchants, fishermen.  With the tourist season just around the corner, the country has lots of cleanup and rebuilding to do.