We woke nice (?) and early. Dan, in fact, woke up before his alarm went off. I was nearly packed, so that took no time at all. Dan was quite speedy in his packing so I think he’ll get some sort of medal at a later date.
We checked out, went outside, and our Uber car was already there. (Turns out ordering it a day ahead meant we paid about 5€ more, however.)
When we reached the station it was too early to even see our train listed. We bought coffees ad croissants, and sat for a bit. Travel days are a lot of sitting.
The train was a speedy one. I snapped some photos from my nice big window, as well as some videos.
We only stopped in one place before heading to CDG. At that station a woman came in to the train and I could tell she was confused about her seat. Or, perhaps (could it be?) I was confused earlier. One of us was in her seat and ours were in front of the pair we took. Oops. I’m going to blame the early rising. (Why not?!)
We left Brussels at 7:17 and arrived at CDG terminal 2 at 8:59.
Then it was navigating: first we dropped off our checked luggage which took a bit of a walk. Then it was a walk to border control. And then there was quite the line. You have to have your passport scanned by a machine, then you walk in a small space and have your face scan, and finally go up and have your passport stamped. That took much longer than we had expected. From there we hiked (okay, maybe walked. Maybe even strolled.) to security. That, too, is a distance.
After security we again had to navigate to the Star Alliance lounge. But after about 1 1/2 hours from getting to CDG we were in the lounge and able to sit back, relax, and charge our devices. Oh, and a glass of champagne because we are, after all, in France. For all of about three hours, perhaps.
While the inbound plane was nearly an hour late, we received a text saying our boarding was on time. Until it wasn’t. In truth we boarded about 25 minutes late, I think. But on the plane we went.
The flight was fine. No Polaris for us this time, but we had decided that we really didn’t need the lay flat seats during a daytime flight. I did, however, decide that ordering the gnocchi for lunch was a huge mistake. Really not great food on this flight! Later I had some biryani and it, too, was only mediocre at best.
And then we landed. Pretty much on time, which was nice. A bumpy landing, which wasn’t scary, but definitely a bit of a hop at one point. Exiting the plane the heat and humidity hit us hard. We’ve been so used to the cooler climate in Europe. But hey, here we are …
Hello New Jersey. For a short time anyway.
We collected our luggage and headed to the Air Train, and then to the New Jersey train station where we caught our train to our final destination on this vacation. The train — ack! — was so slow I could barely believe it, and the high school kids who were talking so loudly at the front of our car made the ride pretty rotten. Welcome to America …?!
But, finally, we ended up where we had our hotel.
Hello New York City!
We got up to our room (24th floor) but I neglected to take photos. No biggie. It’s not anything spectacular, aside from the view. But it’s clean and it’ll do just fine.
After freshening up we went out to meet our “kids”. I know they are no longer children, but they will, after all, be forever our kids! We met up at the Grand Central Station Oyster Bar and Restaurant, and had some very tasty food.
But here we are back in the USofA. It feels a bit strange. I feel more than a bit sleepy. And now I’m cutting this short: I’m too weary to write more at the moment.
We are (soon to be were) staying in a place with no blackout curtains and, in fact, the room is incredibly bright in the morning because the white, rather cheap, blinds seem to bring in tons of light. I love light, but the light wakes us up earlier than we are currently used to. I think this hotel could use blackout drapes or they could put a curtain up between the sleeping area and the living area and all would be well. It’s not a huge issue, but I’m surprised they haven’t thought of that! I think they should hire me. My only requirement is that payment would be a week’s stay. That’s not asking too much, right?
But so our day began … earlier than usual, but that doesn’t mean we got dressed and went out earlier. Nothing is open, after all, so we couldn’t get any coffee aside from the coffee provided in our room.
While we waited to get out for our morning breakfast Dan worked on his computer (I’m assuming he was updating his journal) and I packed. I just like to be ready incredibly early, as you must know by now. I also did a few of my games (the Wordle steak continues, and I have a mini-streak with Connections). While all this was going on the dove’s cooing had an addition: somewhere close by construction is going on. Loudly. That’s one way to get us out of the room! Dan just had a few things to do (he doesn’t seem to want to go out in his pjs), and then out we went.
We went a different direction, away from the historic center, and had our breakfast in Antoine’s. Surely you know it. Or not. I had my cappuccino as well as carrot cake. Yes. Cake. Don’t judge. (Or is it too late to make that request?) We’ve noticed cake being served at breakfast while on this trip, but this was the first time I tried some. It wasn’t as sweet as our carrot cake at home, and it was quite good.
After breakfast we walked just a bit, investigating this new (to us) area. Nothing remarkable, but I always enjoy a walk.
Then back to our room so Dan could do his journaling — something I thought he was doing earlier. I was wrong — unbelievable, but true. Or maybe too believable. Hm?
Finally it was time to get to the train station. Not that our tickets are for a specific time. Our senior tickets apparently are for any time after 9:00, and if I understand correctly we could even go to our next destination and come back here for the same price as a one way ticket. The price for any senior ticket is 8.50€ which seems like quite the deal. (And did I already write about that? Oh probably ….)
We checked out of the hotel, thanked and said our goodbyes to the owner, and went to the metro station. Dan had done his research: we weren’t about to pay that over 30€ fee again! It was fairly easy to find our (underground) train, and we boarded. Due to Dan’s research we knew we could use our watches to pay. Or so he, and later I, read. We tried a number of times and couldn’t get the machine to read things. I tried my phone. Nope. So we just gave up and figured we’d explain our issue to the person who checks for tickets. That person never came. Whew! But honestly (I mean honestly!) we would have been happy to pay. Dan reread the instructions later on and we did follow them completely! (But maybe this makes up a little bit for the costly taxi ride?)
Reaching the train station we found out what track we needed to reach, and looked a bit for a possible lunch spot, but nothing appealed so we just waited by our track. It wasn’t a long wait in any case.
We got on our train and the ride (probably about forty minutes) went just fine. After we exited the tunnel at the station I noticed it was raining. Of course our weather apps said no rain today. I did see a few young men play the ticket-taker-avoidance game, but that was actually unnecessary: no one ever checked out tickets. A young woman came by at one point, leaving us a card in Dutch. We had the same thing happen on our way to Brugge although that time it was a young man. The card (run through the translation app) says they are from a different country and goes on a bit and of course they want money. Eventually they come back, waiting and hoping for money, and then they take the card back. Here in Belgium we do see people sitting down with signs asking for money, but aside from the two on the train I don’t recall anyone actually coming up to us. Oh … but I may have neglected to correct myself about earlier: I think I wrote that no one came up to us (but was it in Spain, Portugal, or both?) and should have updated that since later some people did get a bit more forward about asking for money. Sad times for so many.
I did take only a few shots before, during, and after the train ride. And yes, I still love trains!
And then we arrived at our final European destination.
Hello Brussels!
We decided we could handle the 1/2 mile walk to the hotel, so we made our way there. So much to see already!
We checked in, and since the room wasn’t ready we dropped off our packs and went to find lunch. We ended up on the Grand-Place, which is a major tourist spot, but of course it’s something one must see. When it began to sprinkle we decided we just had to get in to the nearest decent place and that’s just what we did. The man who seated us (perhaps the owner … he seemed like it) was very nice and quite funny. That seems to be the norm in this country. after lunch we walked some more.
Shorty after these photos we were walking but Dan stopped suddenly because a woman was taking a photo of her friend. Another couple — younger than us, but who isn’t? — ran up to join the photo as a joke. Then Dan pretended he was going to as well and the person taking the photo gestured (I don’t think she spoke English and I’m guessing she spoke a kind of Chinese) as if to say, “join them!” So we both did. I’m sorry, now, that I didn’t think to have her take a photo with my camera a well. Darn!
Just a bit more walking transpired and only a few photos were made.
When we got back to our hotel we could get into our room. It’s a fine room, and while there is noise outside it’s not at all bothersome in the room itself. Oh, and the amenities basket has four “vanity kits” this time. I’m trying not to read anything into that, but I’m vain enough to think it has something to do with me.
But let’s talk about showers, shall we? I can’t tell you how many showers I’ve used that leak water outside the shower on to the bathroom floor. It drives me bonkers. Yes, more bonkers than I already am. Really.
And yes, I took a shower and did a small amount of laundry. Dan napped. Later I continued with today’s entry. (And again we have a problem with loading photos. It’s odd since I do have a good connection at this hotel.) Dan showered. And did some laundry. He even used his little portable clothesline and hung things up in the shower.
That is how exciting we are.
Eventually we decided it was time to do the dinner hunt. We both had looked up restaurants online, but hadn’t decided what we wanted or where we’d land. I just knew I did not want fries again. So off we went. And we saw so many restaurants: Indian, Thai, Italian, French, and the doesn’t-quality-as-decent-food McDonald’s and KFC. Of course there were other places as well. Nothing, as I told Dan, was calling out, “Patty, Patty, Patty”, so we kept walking. (He’s a patient sort, I must admit!)
Finally, as we were heading back the way we came, I suggested going down a side street. There we did see a place that looked nice (and they had duck!) but I thought it was too expensive. Dan, being wise and all, reminded me that things were just going to cost more here. Belgium is most definitely not Portugal or Spain! So while we walked by the “duck place” we went right back and were taken inside to a table for two. Decision made.
My duck was different than I’m used to. It was between two layers of potato, and there was a sweet sauce around it. And wow … vegetables! I don’t think I’ve had broccoli on this trip before, nor cauliflower. What a treat! Dan had the seared ahi. Here they really cook it through a lot more than at home, but I tasted it and it was yummy. (I took two photos of Dan as well and it is so very odd but they have disappeared! I know I took them … I even showed them to Dan. It’s a mystery, but I guess no one will ever see them. Rats!)
Then, because one must do what one must do, we had to buy chocolate for dessert. From there the walk back to our hotel was quick.
As I type this I see Dan has devoured his. I ate on of mine (I have three left). I’m not sure if that means he won or I did. I’ll have to think on that.
And now it’s getting late and I’m tired. I’m not sure yet what tomorrow will bring, but you can bet I’ll write about it and post our adventures tomorrow night. I’m predictable that way.
We were up before 6:00 to be sure and get ready to catch our taxi to the train station. We weren’t able to take advantage of the breakfast today, and this is a note to myself to remember that buying breakfast at a hotel might not be the wisest move. Check your train schedule first! The station (Segovia Guiomar) is a bit of a drive outside the city of Segovia. When we arrived at the station the meter said 15€, which was more than our drive to the city. Then when he plugged in the fee on the device for using a card he put in 16.40€. Heh. I guess he gave himself a tip.
We were there plenty of early: security wasn’t even open. But that gave us a lot of time for our breakfast and then just sitting around. Looking at the board we saw our train would be late in arriving. I checked the Renfe site and if a train is 15 minutes late I think we get 25% of our payment back. I’m hoping so, since I paid far too much for this train. We aren’t on the high speed Ave train, but the slightly slower Tren Alvia. If I’m remembering correctly it can go on the high speed track but also the other, which is why we needed it, I guess.
When we finally boarded our car was at the far end … of course! According to the schedule we had one minute to get on, but there were people working on the train who were standing outside and I’m certain they were watching to be sure we all got on. It turned out Dan and I are sitting behind each other. Hm. My mistake? I really don’t believe so, but who knows. There was a man in Dan’s seat, but he quickly moved.
This is not a fancy train. The seats are in somewhat tattered condition, and it’s just less slick than the Ave, but it is a step up from some of the trains we’ve been in (and even more than a step with some in the past!). We stopped at two stations before we reached the one that is the end of the train line for us when we had to transfer to a bus.
I was checking the real time schedule and it was kind of funny: they updated the delayed train times, listing our arrival at 10:37, but still had the originally scheduled bus time up of 10:30. Believe it or not I wasn’t at all worried, though. (Just a bit miffed we had to move to a bus!)
When the train stopped in Miranda de Ebro we were all instructed to disembark so we could take the bus.
Everyone congregated near the train exit, and eventually we all walked around the block to the buses. No instructions were given so we just went to one, I got on to secure seats together and Dan put the backpacks where luggage is stored. While we sat there Dan suddenly thought to go ask and make sure we were on a bus to Bilbao. Turns out the other two buses would have gone directly, while ours was stopping in Llodio, but at that point there were no spaces on the direct buses. I watched as he talked (and laughed) with one of the train people. Turns out she has relatives in Santa Clara so he said she should visit. Apparently she replied, “Maybe in four years!” Gee, I wonder why?! (Sigh.)
The bus was a typical bus — very little room and of course no food services, but who would expect that, right? But here’s the thing: we all were in the same situation, but some of us paid for the most expensive train seats while others did not. Turns out we really should have gone cheap on this particular trip; I think this was one of the most expensive trains we had! (And of course I should probably have canceled and purchased cheap seats when we were told we’d have to take the bus. Hindsight is so darn useful, right?
And then we were off. Slower than a train, but faster by far than walking so whatever! I only snapped a few photos, as it wasn’t all that easy to shoot because of the freeway (if they call it that here) was in the photos.
We arrived in our next, and final, Spain city …
Hello Bilbao!
Getting out to the bus we managed to find our way to our hotel, a whopping seven minutes away. We couldn’t get into our room yet, but we could check in and drop off our luggage.
Then we walked to a square called Nueva Plaza. It was full of people. The center, which was blocked off by tape, was holding a “Free Palestine” event. We sat on the outside of that area and ordered pintxos and drinks. It was crazy noisy, but it was Bilbao and we were happy to be in the city. Dan had had a hankering for a Gilda (a particular favorite pintxo of his), and it was fun to finally have one.
I’m not sure what this small parade was about …
After sitting for a good amount of time we walked a bit since it still was too early to get into our room (we had to wait until 15:00). Because we had to use up more time we had to get gelato. Makes sense, yes?
And then we could get in so we went to the hotel and got our key. We went up to our room, and the housekeeper was still at work! Thankfully there were chairs by the door and we just waited there until she finished.
Then we went to get into the room. Neither of our key cards worked! Dan went back downstairs to the front desk, and I watched our luggage. Then the housekeeper saw me there and when she realized I couldn’t get in she gave me a key that did get me in. By the time Dan got back upstairs I’d gotten the luggage in the room, but we did verify the keys he brought back did actually work.
The room is large and will be just fine.
We are above a spot where there are crowds and when I opened the window it was very noisy, but when I closed it it was amazingly quiet. Good thing, since we were both pretty tired and needed short naps!
A bit later I would feel like I had to take the “amazingly quiet” bit back because suddenly some sort of music was playing and it was quite loud, as I think this video will show. And SO many people. It’s quite the lively place!
Ah … but, as it turned out, I hadn’t closed the door completely, thus it was noisier. That was a relief to realize.
After resting a bit, writing more of this entry, and hanging out a bit, we went to explore. The crowds, to be honest, are a bit of a shock after the other places we’ve been on this trip. Maybe it’s just because it’s Saturday, so we’ll see what tomorrow brings. We walked a while, just checking things out.
Right near the last photo was a building that housed a number of pintxos restaurants (if that’s what they call these little spots), and we ordered a few and enjoyed them with our first vermut. (Who knows, could be our last as well, as we are limiting alcohol consumption more than we used to.) Another Gilda was enjoyed, along with a few other things.
We did more walking, leaving the old part of the city, eventually entering an area with a lot of popular brand name stores. We were looking for a place to eat a bit more for our dinner, but weren’t having much luck, but the crowds, again, were really something else.
(The second to last photo above is of our hotel.)
But wouldn’t you know it … we ended up at the same square where we had lunch. This time we ate inside a place (yes, noisy!), and just had a few more things and our 0.0% alcohol beers.
Getting back to our hotel Dan opened the door to let some fresh air in. It was about 21:30 and the noise outside was still wild and crazy. I wonder if they have rules about how long it can go on. I’m guessing so. But I’m going to bet it’s not 20:00 when it has to stop!
But thus ends our very long day. I’m not sure, at this point, what tomorrow will bring. We have a few things on the list, but we’ve yet to decide what we’ll do. Stay tuned!
Gau on! (Basque for goodnight, I hope. I’ve read two different suggestions. “Gau on” and “Gabon”.)
We woke on the early side (for us), so we could pack. I was finished by 8:10. Dan … well, he finishes up after breakfast. We both have our systems!
Then off to breakfast for our final time here. I’ve really enjoyed this hotel, as well as this wonderful city, and I do want to investigate doing a Camino at some point.
Dan opted to go for a sweet treat at breakfast! (After having his more healthy options, of course.) Hm … he doesn’t look to happy about it! Or perhaps he’s growing weary of me taking photos of him with food. Hah!
After checking out of the hotel we waited outside for our taxi. He arrived a bit after we got out — enough time so that I of course wondered what was up. Once we got in the car he drove past places we had visited and eventually out of the historical part of the city. Suddenly graffiti appeared. I think I neglected to mention earlier that any graffiti inside the old section is obviously painted over very quickly. You can see things on doors, but never on walls. The traffic to get to the train station was heavier than when we arrived, but we got to the station just fine.
And then there was a line. For the first time on this trip we had to go through security at a train station. Portugal doesn’t have that — at least not at the stations we used — but I had read about the security lines in Madrid so I wasn’t surprised that there was one in Santiago de Compostela as well.
We got into our car, and attempted to log into their free wifi. Nope. Not happening. I think they must have had some sort of internet issue. The info that told us our speed was clearly not working either, and for the entire trip the next station was listed as one that was, I think, the stop before we got on.
We were served lunch at about 11:15. We both ordered the 0.0% beer, but I guess we weren’t clear about that because we were given regular beers. Ah well. We’ll suffer and drink those instead.
I loved looking out the window and seeing how green everything is. (Well, except when we are in tunnels, and those are frequent.)
Later we were higher and at times could see bits of snow in the mountains. And poppies … lots and lots of red poppies! I don’t think I managed to shoot those, though.
Eventually we arrived at our transfer train station.
Hello Madrid-Chamartin-Clara Campoamor train station. We’ve been to the Atocha station, but this one was new to us. It was a bit of a confusing place, and we had to ask for assistance. I sure wish we could speak Spanish, but thankfully a man could manage to help us, although he said he only spoke a bit of English (better than our zero Spanish!). Turned out we had to go out an exit, walk a bit to the main station, and re-enter, going again through security. (I do wonder if we could have taken an escalator up to the station and avoided the security lines, but he suggested that wasn’t possible so we took him at his word. Still, I saw an escalator right out of the train and it appeared to go where we needed to go. But who knows?!)
Once we got through security I looked around, hoping to see the lounge. I was rather sure I had looked it up and that there was one there. No dice in finding it, though, so Dan went and asked at the info desk. That didn’t get us anywhere, so we just stayed in the big room with everyone, waiting for our track number to appear. Back when we were downstairs I could have sworn I saw departing trains listed, including ours, with track 25 listed for us. Hmm. It wasn’t up on the board. Yet.
Until it was. And it was (ta-da!) track 25. Go figure.
So goodbye Madrid. It was strange to be there, but not really.
Our next train — another fast one — was, for us, very short. The next stop was ours. So, as Dan said, we really did have a “short ride in a fast machine”! (If you don’t get the reference you will have to do your homework and google that.
Just a bit about the tunnels: they can be very long. And there are a lot of them. Rather than go around a mountain, they just go right through. It’s quite something.
And now where are we?
HELLO SEGOVIA!
This is our first visit here, and as we drove in (via taxi), I was surprised to see all the bricks. Not our typical sized red bricks, really, but lots of them on nearly every building on the newer parts of the city. The older part is a different story.
We first got into our room and put our feet up a while. Somehow a train trip like ours can kind of zap one’s energy. Possibly partially because of the unknown, since we hadn’t done this trip before, and certainly because of lugging our backpacks and other bags around. I told Dan that I actually would have liked a roller suitcase because then nothing would be around my neck. (I should have him take a photo of me: I have the backpack on my bag and my other smaller pack — the one I carried on our Douro walk — around my neck, but hanging in front of me. It’s awkward and heavy!)
Our room is nice, quite large, and I’m sure we’ll be quite comfortable here.
After a time of rest we went out to see what we could find. Segovia was a place we really knew very little about. I had opted to come here because, for one thing, Jameson and Meghan (our younger son and daughter-in-law) had considered it when we all met up a few years back. But also it was the way we could get to our next destination in a rather easy way. (When I reveal that location you might scratch your heads a bit!) So off we went, and up a lot of stairs we went. I didn’t realize the hotel I chose wasn’t in the old part of the city, but just outside it. Ah well. I guess I didn’t research well enough on this one. But hey, we’ll get our stairs and our iPhones will rejoice, I’m sure.
After reaching the Plaza Major we felt the need for some ice cream. Go figure. The cathedral, which is just off the plaza, is really amazing. We checked it out, but didn’t go inside yet, and continued our walk.
As I wrote earlier, there are bricks here. I think what sets them apart from the ones in our area is that they tend to be longer and thinner. Some of them are also a different color. But once we started walking we noticed a different exterior wall treatment that is very common. I found it rather fascinating, having never seen this look before.
We saw some plaques in the ground that I later learned are about the aqueduct. I read that it was built around 50 BC, and the plaques show where it was … I’d explain more but I’m weary and you can research it if you’d like!
We checked out a little bit of the Jewish Quarter, and if I understand what I read they have a Camino as well. (But I could be wrong and, again, I’m too weary to check at the moment!)
Our walk continued …
And this was the first of these we found. I hadn’t realized they were in Spain as well. They are painful to read, but important to remember.
We then reached the Alcazar. Again, we didn’t go in, but we spent a good amount of time outside making photos.
Back to the plaza we went, passing by the cathedral first.
Another reminder of an awful time …
And then dinner. It was a rather odd combo I had, but tasted good. Maybe eggs, chicken, and shoestring (or whatever these are called) potatoes are a common dish here. Dunno! Dan had a fave of his: the patatas.
We woke, did some packing, and went to have breakfast. It’s the first place where all guests sat at the same table. A day or so ago we saw a young woman with a t-shirt that said “California 1991” so we asked if she was from California and she said no, she was from Scotland and bought the t-shirt at a store there. We asked where in Scotland and she said near Inverness and so we mentioned the Great Glen Way walk we took. Then she got more specific with her home because she knew we would have passed right through it: she (and her travel companion) are in Drumnadrochit! We talked about where we ate and of course they knew the places. Small world.
After breakfast we finished our packing, and took our bags up for the bag pick-up, had another cup of coffee, and enjoyed the view one last time.
I took a quick photo of our lodging, and then we walked in the village a bit, just to check it out.
Then it was time to do the descent back to Pinhão. Plus a few climbs just to make it more fun, I guess. The way we went, using the app, was certainly not the fastest way down, but I think the plan was for us to be able to really see more views and a couple of the wineries as well. It was a pleasant walk.
On our way down, very close to Pinhåo, a dog seemed to want to guide us. It was pretty funny … if we stopped he’d wait. Eventually he did go his own way. (Later on we were sitting with Patrizia, Rudy, Peter, and Judith — the latter being people we’d seen but only actually met while sitting together. They, too, were from Switzerland. Turns out the dog also did the same for Peter and Judith! Funny.)
And then the walk ended. But as I titled this entry, “not really” … because of course we will walk every day in every city!
When we reached Pinhão we went to the train station.
We were told our luggage would be at “the house in front of the train station.” Curiously, we saw no house. Before worrying much about that we went inside the station to talk to the man selling tickets. Why? Because the strike is still on, of course! (Because of the strike we did have the insurance of bus tickets which, funnily enough, were more expensive than the train.) He said yes, the train was running. So far. Kind of shrugged and said something about the strike. Earlier, because of the potential of no train, we had opted to get a ride (with Patrizia and Rudy) to Régua because that’s where the bus would depart, so we did plan on doing that in any case. At that point we did see Patrizia and Rudy and they, too, were wondering about luggage. Shortly after that, though, our luggage transport guy drove by and while driving told us not to worry or some such thing. Turns out HE had the luggage in his taxi and he would be the one to drive us to Régua. Okay then.
So off we went. He drove pretty crazily, but we are still alive so whatever.
Getting to the train station in Régua, we sat with the other four new found friends, had some beer, and just enjoyed on another’s company. It was a lovely time.
Then … ta-da!!! … the train showed up. A noisy old thing, but it was a train and it got us to the Campanhã station in Porto. We then jumped on another train to get us to Sao Bento, a really beautiful train station …
… and opted to get ourselves to our hotel without taking a taxi. Not a problem, really, but it was downhill so I’m pretty sure we’ll take a car back to the train station when we leave this city!
Our hotel is fairly new and quite nice.
Below is us a fairly busy street so I’ll be interested to see how the noise is tonight. We have a nice view of some buildings across the street, though.
After we got settled in we went down for our free “welcome port” which was nice …
… and then we went in search of dinner. The first place Dan read about had quite the line, so that was a no. Then we went to an area we ate at the last time we were here but nothing seemed to have room. (Later we could hear music blasting from that street, so we were rather glad not to be there.) Finally I opened up The Fork (like Open Table) and I just searched for restaurants near us and we found a place. It was nice, and we were the only ones eating inside for quite a while. I was surprised so many were eating outside, as it was quite chilly.
We are now back in our room, and I will quickly try to upload photos because I’m rather tired. I think finishing our walking holiday just sort of zapped me. Tomorrow, though, I’m sure my energy will be back, and we are looking forward to more time in Porto.
Well, not literally, of course. But I do have a headache after all the computer work.
I’m attempting to figure out train routes for a possible trip. The connections between Portugal, Spain, and France sure aren’t easy. Silly people … you all need to work together, I think!
But who am I to talk? The United States has the worst train system of all big countries. It’s really embarrassing.
We were nearly packed last night, but today we finished our packing by a little after 8:00. We had coffee in our room. And we were ready to go. At close to 8:30 we walked over to the train station. A nice, easy walk.
But as an aside (since today’s entry will not be terrifically exciting, as our train ride is nearly five hours), I find it interesting to see what different hotels offer in their rooms. Sometimes you get the gamut: shower cap, hand lotion, sewing kit, eye makeup remover … it really does run the gamut. Some, though, just sort of crack me up. Like the Montpellier hotel:
Yes. A wooden comb and a shoe horn. That’s was it. And no, I didn’t take them. (Confession: I’m sorely tempted by the free stuff. Most of the time, though, I know better than to take things. Emphasis on MOST of the time.) I think I’ll have to start taking photos of what goodies (that I rarely need) are offered. Just for fun.
Oh … and then there was the hotel floor. If you looked at it with the very dim lighting you might think it was wood. But no. It was carpet. Sort of like indoor/outdoor carpet:
It sure felt weird under stocking or bare feet!
So … back to the train station. We arrived.
We bought breakfast. (I ordered a cappuccino but the person behind the counter said, “no” so I guess either the machine wasn’t working or I looked like I didn’t need one. Or something.)
Getting to our track, we found the chart to show us where our car (car two) would be. Well, sort of … they are never exactly where I’m standing.
We boarded, and are sitting across from a family: man, woman, two teen (I’m guessing) daughters. I think they are speaking Chinese, but how would I know? I am horrible with languages. The woman was sitting on her knees and mumbling while listening to something. The man was holding his phone to his ear and listening to something but I could hear it and it was sort of bugging me (I’m easily bugged), but Dan said it didn’t bother him so I worked on my attitude. But other than that they were quiet. We were quiet. And the only other people in this car were quiet (I saw only four others at the start of our journey). I love a quiet car! The seats were comfy, so while it was a long ride in a not-so-fast train, it was certainly comfortable.
We went past large bodies of water, and saw birds that Dan thought might, perhaps, be flamingos. It was difficult to tell from a distance. We saw a huge castle (or what I assumed was a castle) in Beziers. And then mountains covered in snow.
Our final stop in France was at Perpignan. Next up? Spain!
So au revoir, dear France.
Once we passed Perpignan the train really picked up speed. Prior to that I just assumed we were on a slow train but I certainly changed my mind! We also went through one incredibly long tunnel, whoever fills us in on things over the loudspeaker only spoke Spanish (prior to this it was French, then Spanish, followed by English), and the Spanish police came through the train. Mostly I was happy to realize I hadn’t chosen a slow train after all! (I didn’t think I had: I always compare times and check the train, but I was starting to worry that I’d made a mistake.) This is an “Ave” Spanish train. Hm. Maybe they just can’t go fast in France? Dunno!
Onward we went. When we reached Barcelona a lot of people got off and a lot got on. The latter are, I’m guessing, not going to our destination, but the final one on this route.
Our train began at 9:33. It ended at 2:24. Hello, Zaragoza! Aside from our flights, our long journeys are now finished. But then all of our train journeys but one are finished. So it goes … trips tend to speed by faster and faster.
We had a short and easy taxi ride to our hotel, where I checked in, and learned that my passport had been saved from our visit in Porto, but that was my old one. I didn’t realize they would keep that on file. Hmm.
Our room is just fine. Very simple, but with lovely windows that look out at a fine view!
The biggest news is that my tights now had to come off, and I only needed one top (I’d been wearing a merino wool Uniqlo turtleneck underneath a cashmere sweater.) The temps were in the 50°s when we arrived. Amazing!
And yes, I took a photo of the free items in the bathroom. More extensive here, but another comb and shoehorn are in the mix. (News you can use.)
After sitting around a bit so Dan could post a photo and do whatever he does we went downstairs for the glasses of cava we were given due to my booking directly with Catalonia hotels. (Always good to check for little perks and discounts … I compare several booking places and the direct booking and direct nearly always wins. When it doesn’t I write to ask if they will match a price.) A couple from Alaska, that we saw on the train and then saw go into this same hotel came down and we chatted a bit. They’ve traveled tons, and have done a number of walks. I was impressed!
Finally we went outside. It was still pleasant out, and we just took a leisurely stroll to a spot where a small Christmas market was, looking, along the way, for dinner ideas. Nearly every restaurant was closed, though. We knew people ate later here, but it seemed it was even later than we thought. What we did see, though, were loads of people have churros and chocolate! I guess that’s what one is to do in the early evening. Who knew? I suppose if all else failed we’d order something from this pizza kiosk. Crazy!
We continued walking, and ended up on a fairly busy street. At that point the weather was cooling down and I regretted not dressing more warmly. We went inside a place that had things like churros and Dan picked out some tasty treats that looked somewhat like skinnier croissants, but they were sweet as well. I asked for hot chocolate — or at least I think that’s what I asked for: they didn’t speak English and I don’t speak Spanish. Alas, no chocolate available, so I had a cappuccino instead. (I hope I sleep tonight!)
While there I made reservations for a tapas place since I could at least see they would take a 7:45 reservation and I wasn’t sure if it would be difficult to get in if I didn’t make one.
We went back to the hotel since we had a bit of time to kill and we definitely needed to put our warm things on again.
Then it was off to Viñedos de Cinegia. Where we weren’t asked if we had a reservation, nor was it needed. After all, we were there for an early meal, being as it was “only” 7:45! We figured out how to order our tapas and drinks, and then sat down and enjoyed them tremendously! So we ordered a few more. And paid so little at the end I was quite surprised. I’d forgotten how little one pays here in Spain.
The walk back to the hotel was quick and easy.
Now back in our room we will soon attempt sleep. Who knows, when eating so late, how that will go!
Side Note: I’m not sure, now, why I opted for Zaragoza. I know I’d heard about it somewhere, but so far it doesn’t have the charm of the other smaller places we’ve been. I’m hoping I figure out what it was that grabbed my attention some time ago, because at the moment I’m coming up empty, aside from thinking there was something similar to the cathedral-mosque in Cordoba, maybe. But here we are, so we will enjoy it as best we can!
I did finally manage some sleep, and woke sometime after 7:30, I think. Then it was shower, pack, and take one more look at Nürnberg.
And, of course, get coffee. Places to get a cappuccino aren’t quite as easy to find here. It could be, though, that we just aren’t looking in the right places. Yesterday we couldn’t find pretzels and today we saw a few stands we probably walked right by! They were the one thing I’d read about that we were supposed to try so we finally bought some. So, okay, well … they were fine, but nothing extraordinarily special. But at least we got them. Mission accomplished. Yesterday we were also looking for an ATM on the way back to the hotel and didn’t see any. Today I saw a lot of banks as we walked the same route as yesterday! In any case we found a nice coffee place that also happened to have pastel de nata. Yum!
From there we walked back to see the Christmas Market one last time.
We came across a stand that made some sort of special treat called Frisch Frånkishe Küchle (fresh Franconia’s pulled out donuts) and it would have been so very wrong not to try them. And if I’m having one shouldn’t I have cocoa as well? Of course I should! I was sorely tempted to keep another souvenir cup because this one was slightly different, but I was strong and brave and turned it back in. Feel free to send me a medal. Or at least a certificate of congratulations. (KIDDING!)
We saw a group of people taking turns taking photos of each other so Dan offered to take a photo of all of them. Dan is very good about offering to do that. One of them then took a photo of us in return.
Then it was time to start back to the hotel.
We finished our packing and went to the train station. Not realizing (stupid me!) that we could have ordered food on the train this time we stopped in a train station place and had mediocre sandwiches. Ah well. Live and learn. Maybe.
Then to the train we went. I didn’t realize I’d gotten upper level seats, and while carrying our luggage up stairs isn’t a breeze we managed and sitting up higher is rather nice! As we got seated a man behind Dan’s chair was talking ever so loudly on the phone. Clearly a business call. Clearly an American. But wait … signs on the wall show both “Psst” and an image of a phone crossed out. Go figure. I wouldn’t have said anything. Instead I’d probably have seethed a while. But a man across from us immediately went over and pointed to the signs. So the man talked a bit more softly but stayed on his phone for a time. Meanwhile a couple behind the man who signaled no talking/phones was yakking. The woman across from the man (I’m assuming his wife) shushed them. So we have the Quiet Police here on board and I can live with that!
Our train (and our car) as it arrived at the station.
View from the train:
We had two legs for our journey. The first ended in Stuttgart. We had 13 minutes to switch trains, something I wondered about when getting the schedule, but of course this is not a flight so things are much easier to deal with. Sort of. Turned out it was 11 minutes! We had to go from track #11 to track #9 which is no biggie, but our car was all the way toward the end of the track. When we arrived there and got in two younger guys (maybe 40s?) had already decided they wanted our seats. But I looked at my phone app, pointed to the seats, and they did move … taking at least one other person’s seat! That woman just moved elsewhere, but I have to say I find it supremely rude for people to take reserved seats!
Dan and one of the seat thieves:
The second leg was less that 40 minutes and then we were in Heidelberg again! From there we needed to get back to Greg and Jan’s. I had found an app that allowed us to get tickets in advance. Only problem was the app didn’t allow for the time we had requested. Heh. By the time we arrived in Heidelberg those tickets had expired. So much for that app. It was only about an $8 loss, but it just seemed so darn stupid.
We got safety to Jan & Greg’s, and while Jan was still working Greg prepared a lovely dinner. We all had a super time, and stayed up far too late for the working couple. We can sleep in (not that I’ll sleep!), but they have to get up at 5:00. Eek!
Tomorrow we go to Mannheim for another concert and I am really looking forward to it: my favorite oboist will be playing! Stay tuned for more on that. Meanwhile, off to bed we go. G’night!
Happy December! And where is the time going? This trip is speeding by … kind of like the train we took today.
We woke up far too early today, but we had to catch a streetcar and if we missed the 8:16 we’d have to call a car to get us to the train station. Of course waking too early meant I had way too much time, because I always pack the night before. But so it goes. We did get to say our goodbyes (for now) to Jan and Greg — if I were them I think I’d stay under the warm covers, but it was nice to see them!
It was very cold at the streetcar stop: If I’m remembering correctly it was 28° at that point. But we were well dressed and it was okay for the amount of time we waited.
We got to the Heidelberg train station with no problems, and after getting a coffee and something to eat we went to our track and not too long after got into our car.
This was a regional train which meant there were lots of stops and we couldn’t reserve seats, but neither were a problem In fact everything was going quite smoothly.
Note … I said was!
When we got to Frankfurt we had 1 1/2 hours to wait for our next train.
We wandered a bit (in the freezing train station and just outside so we could say we’d been to Frankfurt), eventually going in to get another bite just to escape the cold. Then we decided to get out of the eating area to verify the track and all. Hmm. Our train wasn’t showing up where I thought it would be. So we went to the information booth.
Um. Oops.
A rather serious young woman said, I thought rather pointedly, “Your tickets were for the airport train station, not this one,” or something similar was told to us by the woman there.
Brief pause so I could wonder if we were going to have to pay a lot to get new tickets (day of tickets can be costly).
“But you can catch that train here at 12:22, track 9.”
Whew!
WHY I bought the tickets beginning from the airport is a bit of a mystery to me, but since things worked out just fine I’ll just let it go. You can bet, though, that I then checked the next trains we will be taking (not today, mind you: this train is our final of the day).
Our train now was an ICE rather than regional, so we were in lovely first class seats that were reserved (next to two couples who never stopped talking, but somehow hearing people talk in another language kind of lulls me to sleep). I had worried that someone might have grabbed them when they were empty at the airport station so I was glad to see them empty.
Both on the first leg and this one there were many places where we saw a lot of frost (or was it light snow?). The entire trip was cloudy and frequently foggy. There were some lovely towns and beautiful mountain scenes. Taking photos from the train is never all that great but …
And then we got to our next destination.
Hello Nürnberg!
Nürnberg is known for its Christmas markets. Finding a hotel that would allow for cancellations, in fact, wasn’t easy as it normally is: they hardly need to offer that due to its popularity. I think they have the oldest Christmas markets in Germany, and I know they get tons of visitors.
We headed to our hotel, starting on the cobbled streets and then realizing that the directions took us on the outskirts so we’d be on surfaces better suited to our roller cases. (But I sure do miss our packs!) Our room is quite nice, I think, because Dan gets an upgrade due to his gold status with United. Good thing he allows me to share the room!
After resting up for a short time and charging our phones so they would last, we headed to the Christmas Market. I had looked on a map and it said a fifteen minute walk was ahead of us, yet we were there in less than five minutes. Strange! But okay then. We walked around, figuring we’d scout out the food spots before deciding what to get. When we got to what I assumed was the end I think we both thought it was nice, but not as big a deal as we expected. Still, it was fun.
Now if you play “Whamageddon” I will be kind here and say do NOT have your sound on when this video plays. Am I nice or what?! But c’mon … just give in. It is December first and I’ve already lost the game! Or maybe not … you can barely hear it. Darn!
We thought we saw a few more things ahead, so we walked on. Some stalls were closed and I said, “Maybe those are the crafts and trinkets and those close at night. Or maybe it’s because it’s Sunday.”
But we walked on some more and … um … well … what we saw five minutes from our hotel was NOT the real, huge, crazy Christmas market! Maybe it’s an expansion? Dunno. But the real thing … well it’s pretty darn huge and the crowds were crazy.
We had the necessary gluhwein. We had the “Drei im Weckla” that I had read was a must have in Nürnberg. We had lebkuchen Dan remembers from his childhood. We bought a few chocolates for when we got back to our room.
We listened for a bit to a choir. I couldn’t imagine singing out in the cold … but then no one wants to hear me anyway! This is Peters Chor.
And we had one more warm drink because we we starting to freeze! Nearing the end of our walk it was about 30° (or -1° if you want to go with Celsius). I started to get pretty darn cold toes and I’m thinking I might buy a pair of socks to double up with my other socks (my shoes are plenty roomy) because cold toes are … you aren’t going to believe this I know … cold toes! And who needs those? (Hm. I’m feeling like a poem is in there somewhere. But maybe not.) My chin was also getting to the point where words were going to be harder to pronounce. But soon we were back at our hotel and that warm air we hit when we went through the door was wonderful!
Our “for the hotel” chocolates were enjoyed, and we both did the iPad stuff we do. We will see what tomorrow brings.
So yeah … I write “early” and that just means we had to get our breakfast by 8:00. Not really early, I know, but for Dan and me, well, we’ve been taking it awfully easy.
After breakfast we took the Jubilee to Baker and the Bakerloo to Paddington.
I write that because I think it makes it sound like I know what I’m doing now.
Then we had a bit of time before we caught the GWR at Paddington Station.
What a crowded train it was. Fortunately I had reserved seats, but some people had to stand in the aisle the entire hour.
And we were going to … wait for it … wait … wait ….
Okay, don’t wait. We were going to Oxford.
Aside from some slow delays, we had a short ride. We exited the train station and really just followed other people to get where we were going. First up was a bit of lunch since by this time it was near noon.
Then it was more walking and we saw some cool buildings, went into a church, went to the river where we observed a few people punting, and then rambled more, including entering Trinity College. I’m just going to paste photos below and leave it at that.
There had clearly been a wedding somewhere nearby.More of a wedding party.There was a tour guide talking at one point, explaining that to get married here one has to get a reservation seven years in advance! Someone had done that and she still hadn’t found her guy, but she still has two years left in which to find him. Heh. All the doors had these signs and they explain who they beat and in which year.
After Oxford time it was train time again. NOT a crowded train at all, plenty of empty seats, and an easy ride.
Back to the Bakerloo to Baker, and the Jubilee to Southwark. Into our hotel, dropped stuff off, and went downstairs for dinner. I had fish pie, Dan had chicken pie of some sort, and we shared sticky toffee pudding. Surely that must be good for our health.
The Cheshire Cat agrees, no doubt.
One more day in London and then home we go. Do I want to go home? No, not really. But I know it’s time.
