Shredding Pyrenees!

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


This year has been quite poor for snow in Spain.  Did you know that?!  Despite the minus temperatures that hit Eastern Europe this winter, Spain seems to have avoided most of this, but the downside has been that there was no snow in the Pyrenees.


A friend of mine and I went snowboarding 2 weekends ago to FORMIGAL, a large Spanish ski resort.  When we got there, we were wondering if they invented a new dirt skiing sport or maybe there were some runs hidden on the other side of the mountain.  Having paid almost 50 Euros for the ski lift pass for one day, I was feeling a bit nervous about the potential disappointment.  In addition, it was -12 with additional windchill.  The good news: very few people were there.


Once we got to the top of the mountains, it was better.  They have made snow and, despite some icy patches, the runs were open and quite wide.  It was very sunny and the shredding was ON!


We ended up having a grand time (my friend Nacho was not pleased with my perpetual smile as he was freezing his little body off) and closed down the mountain, utilizing the ski lift very efficiently to the very last minute.  I didn't even stop for lunch....


If you look at the pictures, you wouldn't even be able to tell that there was not much snow.  Regardless, any day on the mountain is better than a day in the (you pick)!


Anatolijus 

Valencia & Cullera: opening 2012 travel season!

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

The last weekend of January we had a three day weekend and friends of ours invited us to visit them in Cullera which is on the Mediterranean and is 30 mins from Valencia.  It is a three hour drive from Zaragoza to Valencia but the climate and temperature change is huge.  It was so nice to be at the Sea, being near water is something we miss a lot from our island life.  Anatolijus did his morning walks with Katia on the very long promenade and took some nice early morning pictures.  The other big attraction is the Aquarium in Valencia (largest in Europe) which is wonderful and a part of a new, very modern development by City of Art and Science by famous Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.  The main highlights were the dolphin show where the trainers go into the water with the dolphins and get propelled through the water and placed back on the side of the pool.  The shark tank was huge and had a glass tunnel through it so we were face to face with a sand shark - very cool.  And for lunch we had Valenciano paella in the fancy restaurant that is surrounded by an aquarium wall.  We also got to see a walrus, beluga whale, penguins, turtles and tropical fish.  It is a very good aquarium that kept us engaged and interested for hours.

After finishing at the Aquarium we walked across the street to the City of Arts and Sciences (Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciencies).  The complex is made up of 4 main buildings including an Opera House, Science World, Imax Pavillion and Tennis Arena and the futuristic style is amazing.  Anatolijus took some amazing photos to capture the feeling; one would not be surprised to see a space ship from Star Trek landing in this area or the Intergalactic Federation housing its headquarters there..

Sunday was a lovely sunny day and after breakfast we visited the castle of Cullera which is high in the hills behind the town providing fabulous views of the water, beach and landscape behind.  Interestingly, in addition to oranges, rice is the other main crop from this region.  It is surprising to see acres of rice paddies having never been to a rice growing area and apparently this area produces 100 million kilos of rice per year.  We left the coast and drove towards Valencia to a nature reserve called Albufera.  It is a very large “lake” with lots of grass and ducks and other birds living here.  It is fresh water and we had a tour around it in a boat that then returned us to a beautiful restaurant where we had another special lunch with Seafood rice and Marques De Riscal Verdejo to match.  One of the great things about Spain is that there is always a playground for children so we were able to have a very leisurely time having a pre-lunch cervezita as the girls were all playing outside – fabulous.

On Monday we visited the center of Valencia to see their old town, cathedral and market.  Valencia has a lovely feel to it with all the palm trees and southern climate and its architecture and plazas are less grand than what we have seen in Madrid or Barcelona, but provide a cozy and very livable feeling.  We did find a Subway for lunch (don’t tell anyone!) so after a ‘footlong’ we drove back through the mountains up to the plain where Zaragoza is and after experiencing 14-16C we are now having clear cold and windy weather with the outside temperature, with windchill,  feeling like -10C today.

48 Hours in Zaragoza

We found a great little video that describes the city of Zaragoza and does a great summary of things you can see and do here.  We even found several things we did not know/do yet!!


Enjoy!  Just follow the link below:


www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVs8mtc04Yw

FELIZ AÑO NUEVO!

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

Happy New Year!

2011 , what a year for us!!  As many of you know we moved to Zaragoza, Spain in Nov 2010 and we welcomed the New Year in Ireland with our dear friends Gwen and Monty cliff walking along the Irish Sea from Greystones to Bray.  They say what you do on the first day of the New Year can influence the rest of the year and travel was definitely the theme for us (www.anatolijus.eu).

On a more personal note the challenges and triumphs of adjusting to a new culture, city and language have been the focus of our everyday life.  Grace and Tessa began school 10 days after we arrived and they are attending a semi-private Jesuit school which has been a very positive experience.  We have been so touched and pleased with the warmth and care they have received from their teachers and the many support staff.  Here in Spain hugs and kisses and words of endearment are the norm for teachers and this has helped the girls feel safe and cared for from the first day.  We are also delighted with how well they speak and understand Spanish, much better than there parents.  It is an interesting dynamic having to rely on your kids to understand what is going on.  We all like the role reversal and the girls are very helpful.

When we aren't away we are loving our beautiful condo/apartment which we have made into a comfortable home.  Our place is spacious, by Spanish standards, and the whole front of the house is windows.  We have done a lot of entertaining, Canadian BBQ has been a big hit here.  We secured the large stainless steel beauty last Spring and have used it a lot.  Interestingly, in this part of Spain, it is not very common to invite people over for a meal.  People meet at a Bar or restaurant to be together.  Two obvious reasons are that most people live in apartments that are not very big and people always bring their children.  Secondly, eating out is not very expensive so this way kids can run around while parents visit.

It has taken time but we now have some good friends and this makes such a difference for feeling settled and happy.  We certainly miss our family and friends in Canada and are thankful for the ability to Skype and stay connected.  As we look to 2012 we are excited to have family coming to visit. Cathy's oldest sister Karen is coming for 2 weeks in February and her parents are coming March 27th for 3 weeks including 1 week in Seville over Easter.  In July Cathy and the girls will be returning to Victoria and Anatolijus will come August 1st for 1 month.

So we want to wish all of you a very Happy New Year and we love to hear news of you when you have time.

FELIZ AÑO NUEVO!

Cathy, Anatolijus Grace and Tessa

PS.  Below are our three top ten lists from our first year in Spain.

Top Ten Things Spain 2011 (our opinion)

10.  Spanish wines at a massively bargain price

9. Travel opportunities - cheap flights 291 euros ZAZ to Rome 4 people return (long live Ryanair)

8. Fast trains (300km+) and a very good highway system

7. Girls’ Jesuitas (Jesus Maria el Salvador) school

6. Our apartment – great location, pool, sunshine!

5. Baguettes and fresh bread that you can buy daily at your local gas station

4. Warmth and expressiveness of the Spanish people

3. Sunshine most every day of the year

2. Chocolate is actually considered a proper food!

1. Amazing history, which is still here for everyone to see and experience

“Unique” things about Spain/Zaragoza

10.  Spanish love children: the number of pregnant women and children around is amazing.

9.     Eating schedule and rhythm of life: dinner is typically at 21:30 here

8.     Public pool rules - swim cap, sandals, no glasses, lukewarm Jacuzzi

7.     Pig legs (they are everywhere!) – also known as Jamon.  One of the most prized food items, which are also given as gifts to people on Christmas

6.     Store hours 10-2 , closed 2-5, open 5-8 and no stores open on Sundays

5.     There is something about Virgin Mary: most fiestas in Spain are centered around the Virgin.  People take Virgins for walks (on massive an heavy floats); have huge festivities that last weeks; Mary is a major part of people’s lives.  In the meantime, Jesus quietly spends his time in the Cathedral(s).

4.     Ready, Set, Stop:  traffic lights and parking in Zaragoza are incredible.  Traffic lights are every 200 meters and they are not smart.  Rather, they change every 60 seconds.  Hard to get used to J

3.     No fresh milk in the stores.  People do not drink fresh milk here.  Instead, it is all Ultra High Heat tetrapak milk.  Definitely a non-dairy culture.

2.     Supposedly, Spain consumes most seafood per capita in the world!

1.      Futbol is officially a religion in Spain

Top experiences/places of 2011

10. Kayaking down rio Ebro
9. Panticosa and snowboarding in Pyrenees
8. Algemesi (near Valencia) bull fights and Pamplona running of the bulls
7. London visit and London Eye
6. Prague visit and paddleboats on Vltava river downtown
5. Barcelona Sagrada Familia Basilica
4. Salamanca and Segovia
3. Sailing the Meditteranean
2. Girls speaking Spanish
1. San Sebastian - visiting and surfing

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.