Sunday, June 22, 2008
Launching from foggy/rainy London
My flight from Halifax to London actually arrived early (the pilot kept stressing that point), so my journey officially began ahead of schedule. Of course, because the plane was early, we had to disembark the plane via a set of stairs and get a bus to the terminal. That was a good start to acclimatize my Canadian-self to the crowds of London.
Joanne greeted me just as planned and we enjoyed a little chat and breakfast in a coffee spot in the terminal while waiting for the X26 bus to arrive and take us back to Sutton.
I was thankful to have only taken carry-on luggage as I didn't have the headache of seeking out any baggage upon arrival. The biggest challenge was limiting my liquids that I brought, but I managed just fine.
Joanne dragged me silly through London to help work through the jet lag and get me onto London time, but every time we hopped on a bus (often) I would get incredibly groggy. We walked and walked and bussed and trained all about town, catching many notable points through the fog and rain and mist.
Below, the drizzly view from the bus. I marvelled at the traffic and the brave souls navigating it. Temple Church (of DaVinci Code fame), Tate Gallery and St. Paul's Cathedral.
Joanne greeted me just as planned and we enjoyed a little chat and breakfast in a coffee spot in the terminal while waiting for the X26 bus to arrive and take us back to Sutton.
I was thankful to have only taken carry-on luggage as I didn't have the headache of seeking out any baggage upon arrival. The biggest challenge was limiting my liquids that I brought, but I managed just fine.
Joanne dragged me silly through London to help work through the jet lag and get me onto London time, but every time we hopped on a bus (often) I would get incredibly groggy. We walked and walked and bussed and trained all about town, catching many notable points through the fog and rain and mist.
Below, the drizzly view from the bus. I marvelled at the traffic and the brave souls navigating it. Temple Church (of DaVinci Code fame), Tate Gallery and St. Paul's Cathedral.
Trains are the way to travel...
We had a multitude of trains to catch to get to St. Pancras station to catch the Eurostar to Paris. Our first leg of the trip had a few hiccups, including a cancelled train from Wimbeldon which involved a few more adjustments to train plans and then mid way to St. Pancras I thought I had left my passport at Joanne's! You can imagine the panic...thankfully I was mistaken and found the passport neatly tucked away in a pocket of my bag.
A whirlwind tour of Paris was next for the afternoon. Many of our days felt like three in one! A visit to Sacre Coeur Cathedral gave me a great view of the city.
The Louvre
Again we walked our feet off on another tour of another major city. I managed to snap a multitude of pics of the Louvre and much of Paris, but it's all such a blur. I think what struck me most about being in this fabled city was the streetside cafes, the impressive architecture all around us and how few dogs there seemed to be. I had heard about Paris having so many dogs, but I saw fewer than I see in my own neighbourhood.
A view of L'Arc de Triomphe from the Louvre...
A view of L'Arc de Triomphe from the Louvre...
Notre Dame
Joanne finally got into the groove of using her new digital camera that she had bought in London the day before. Welcome to the digital age Joanne. I kept snapping pictures at every turn and then she'd say, "Oh, I guess I can take a picture too." Having lived in Paris for two years, I think it was a little more every day for her to see these sights....
Another train...another city and country...
We made it to Barcelona after our overnight train from Paris. We bunked with two other women in a sleeping car. One of the women was in her early twenties and was originally from Paris, but had just returned from Cork, Ireland and was heading to Barcelona to work for a volunteer organization. Our other cabin mate was from Spain, but lived in Paris and regularly took the train to visit her family in Spain. Her french was much easier to understand than the Parisians.
We didn't sleep much on the train, in spite of complete exhaustion from our Paris adventures and enjoying some wine on the train....perhaps we were restless because we weren't quite at our destination yet....
My first tapas in Barcelona....
Joanne and I strolled La Rambla in Barcelona and again walked beyond exhaustion...but we saw so much of a very beautiful city. With the cobblestone streets, a bright and beautiful sun shining and amazing architecture around us, it was a constant barrage of culture for me.
Joanne was a bit thrown off as her cell phone wasn't working, so we had some challenges reaching Steve the Sailor on Red Ryder, but we managed OK in the end. It was good to finally have a home base and not lug our bags everywhere we went.
La Rambla
Anton Gaudi's La Pedrera
Sagrada Familia
Barcelona City Hall...protesters out front...I think they were students protesting something to do with education...but couldn't be sure..
Roy Lichenstein sculpture in Port Vell where our marina was....Barcelona Head is it's name....
Our skipper Steve putting together Paella for a late evening meal. We had hoped to be on our way to Mallorca when eating this meal, but the engine troubles foiled that plan....
We didn't sleep much on the train, in spite of complete exhaustion from our Paris adventures and enjoying some wine on the train....perhaps we were restless because we weren't quite at our destination yet....
My first tapas in Barcelona....
Joanne and I strolled La Rambla in Barcelona and again walked beyond exhaustion...but we saw so much of a very beautiful city. With the cobblestone streets, a bright and beautiful sun shining and amazing architecture around us, it was a constant barrage of culture for me.
Joanne was a bit thrown off as her cell phone wasn't working, so we had some challenges reaching Steve the Sailor on Red Ryder, but we managed OK in the end. It was good to finally have a home base and not lug our bags everywhere we went.
La Rambla
Anton Gaudi's La Pedrera
Sagrada Familia
Barcelona City Hall...protesters out front...I think they were students protesting something to do with education...but couldn't be sure..
Roy Lichenstein sculpture in Port Vell where our marina was....Barcelona Head is it's name....
Our skipper Steve putting together Paella for a late evening meal. We had hoped to be on our way to Mallorca when eating this meal, but the engine troubles foiled that plan....
Adios Port Vell
We bade farewell to Red Ryder and its faulty engine to head to Mallorca by high speed ferry. If we couldn't sail, we thought it best to maximize our time in Palma as originally we wouldn't have had much time there....
We actually used our little Mallorca guide book to find our first hotel on the island. Hostal Ritzi was up this narrow cobblestone street. We managed to get the last room for the night and got settled just as it became dusk.
The view from HOstal Ritzi....
...the only down side to our time in Palma was a 3 a.m. serenade by a neighbouring resident of the hotel. She decided she had to sing "Shake that Body" by Technotronic endlessly...the first of many songs to run through our heads during our trip.
We actually used our little Mallorca guide book to find our first hotel on the island. Hostal Ritzi was up this narrow cobblestone street. We managed to get the last room for the night and got settled just as it became dusk.
The view from HOstal Ritzi....
...the only down side to our time in Palma was a 3 a.m. serenade by a neighbouring resident of the hotel. She decided she had to sing "Shake that Body" by Technotronic endlessly...the first of many songs to run through our heads during our trip.
Palma de Mallorca
A beautiful day in another beautiful city.
The cathedral in Palma....
...striking buildings everywhere...
The cathedral in Palma....
...striking buildings everywhere...
The Historic Train to Soller
We made our way from the hotel in Palma to the train station to take a very old train to our next stop. I couldn't get over the different foliage and how many lemon trees that seemed to be at every turn. Striking scenery. What struck me on the train trip was how great the temperature was (not too hot at this point, but warmer than home), but yet no one's swimming pools were open yet! Obviously they didn't think it was very warm. I guess their swimming pool season is a little longer than ours, so there isn't the rush to open it!
Mountains everywhere we looked...
Mountains everywhere we looked...
From an historic train to an historic tram...
We got off the train to catch a little tram that was very quaint and took us to our final destination of Port de Soller.
Unfortunately the beauty of Port de Soller was a bit tainted for us after a less than stellar hotel...our first two nights were not overly comfortable, but we tried to make the most of our time away from the hotel and quickly found an alternative place to stay in Soller.
Port de Soller
Our hike up to the lighthouse in Port de Soller
...with some companions to keep us company....
...me enjoying a swing on a playground after a fabulous meal...
Unfortunately the beauty of Port de Soller was a bit tainted for us after a less than stellar hotel...our first two nights were not overly comfortable, but we tried to make the most of our time away from the hotel and quickly found an alternative place to stay in Soller.
Port de Soller
Our hike up to the lighthouse in Port de Soller
...with some companions to keep us company....
...me enjoying a swing on a playground after a fabulous meal...
On to Soller
Our first successful self-pic after many bad ones. We're waiting to depart Port de Soller and find our new hotel...El Guia...a lovely spot.
The hotel restaurant...we had our waiters Aldo and Pepito to ourselves.
El Guia courtyard
Day trips....Valdemossa...so striking at every turn
Our first day trip after settling ourselves into a more comfortable hotel arrangement was to Valdemossa. We visited the monastery Real Cartuja which had many notable guests live in it over the years. The most notable being Frederick Chopin and his partner author George Sand (her pen name).
The view from the monastery
ceramics everywhere
one of the many beautiful courtyards at the monastery...
Chopin's piano...
We were treated to a recital of his songs at the monastery also.
A monk's cell...note the wooden plank for the bed.
Every doorway looked like this it seemed...
The view from the monastery
ceramics everywhere
one of the many beautiful courtyards at the monastery...
Chopin's piano...
We were treated to a recital of his songs at the monastery also.
A monk's cell...note the wooden plank for the bed.
Every doorway looked like this it seemed...
Deia...in search of beaches and sunshine.
We hiked down these hills to get to the beach at Deia. We saw many sheep on our ventures and of course our friends the goats. I couldn't imagine making this trek on a regular basis as it was so steep and quite a climb to get back to the town. It was well worth the venture with a little restaurant to fuel us up for the trip back up the hills.
The view from our seaside restaurant...
It seemed that we could find something growing in every crevice there....beautiful little flowers, out of a rock.
Port de Pollenca
My Baywatch shot on the beach at Port de Pollenca. A beautiful beach, but it felt like it could have been a resort anywhere. We even heard more English than Spanish while we were there.
The bus ride to get there had million dollar views and a bus driver that only ever seemed to have one hand on the wheel while traversing narrow twisty roads with ease.
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