When we woke both Dan and I mentioned we might be coming down with a cold. Nothing horrible (so far), but I could feel an itch in my throat. We’ll see what we end up with. Since Greg has had something we weren’t at all surprised.
Once again we enjoyed a nice breakfast at our B&B. (When we get back home I am going to have to retrain myself and skip breakfasts, aside from my cappucinno!)
It began to rain, so we sat in our room for a time, waiting for it to die down. It also meant I could charge everything all the way.
Side note:
I’d been waiting for my iPhone to go down below 80% battery capacity. I had hoped it would get there before the trip because I can get the battery replaced for free since I have AppleCare (okay, okay, I pay for that so it’s really not free). Alas, it went to 79% during the trip. I can’t do anything here, as the replacement has to be in the states. Because of this my battery runs out quicker than I’d like, so I have to use my little battery pack to charge it. I mean, this is like a major world disaster. Or maybe not. Funny how we lived without these devices for the majority of our lives (those of us of a certain age, that is). When I came to the UK with a youth orchestra in 1974 I didn’t communicate with anyone other than those I was traveling with. My parents? Well, they got a postcard or two I think (maybe). And if I did send them I’m not even sure those arrived before I got back home!
Side note over ‘n out.
When the rain lightened up we left our B&B, although I did get distracted by the flowers right down the stairs.
Down the hill we went, and into the center of Bath (or at least I think it’s the center), where just a few stands were set up so I took a photo of the fruit and veg one. Then we headed toward the Cathedral.
Before entering the Cathedral we saw the free Bath tours that are given Sunday to Friday at 10:30 and 2:00 (Saturdays are only 10:30.) Unfortunately we had other things that conflicted today, but we are hoping to get back there tomorrow as we’ve been told the tour is quite good. Interestingly, the tour guides are not allowed to accept tips. That’s pretty rare!
Then into the Abbey Cathedral we went. I think I’ll just let the photos speak for themselves.
The organist was practicing while we were there.
And I also did a walk-around video.
We left there and went to find a not-lunch bite, passing by a bookstore and park on our way. Coffee and croissants were enjoyed. (Not needed, mind you, but still ….)
We were meeting Jan and Greg at the Roman Baths, so we headed that way. I have to say that I was skeptical about the place, but it really is rather astounding to hear about it and see what they did so very long ago. Again, I’ll just post photos and not go into the whole thing, primarily because I’m not only lazy but also forgetful so my facts would be off, I’m sure.
Oh … and one video:
My understanding was that somewhere during their baths I he Romans would enjoy a glass of wine. In order to be at least a little close to that we headed to the smallest pub in Bath for a pint. It was only right to do so.
Greg and Jan then took their leave for a time, and Dan and I walked a bit, mostly looking for a dinner spot for the four of us. Dan and I did laugh a bit at the lingerie store called “Bravissimo”. (Get it?)
Dinner was at an Italian restaurant and I didn’t take even one shot but you can see it on the far right in the photo right above this. I mean … it was pasta. Pasta is pasta. Use your imaginations if you wish.
After that we had to say our goodbyes. Jan and Greg leave tomorrow morning. Despite their colds (SO sorry for you both) it was wonderful to see them. I know they must be disappointed as they had to change plans and all, but I’m still so very glad we got together. (Get well, you two!) I will miss them greatly.
From there we went back to our B&B where I enjoyed some chamomile tea and Dan did shower laundry.
Tomorrow is our final full day in this area. We’ll see what we opt to do. Stay tuned!
The morning began in the morning. Kind of like usual. Dan actually woke before me and while I said I was really awake even though I didn’t say anything after my “good morning” he said I was making “sleeping noises” so I guess I dozed on and off. Since I would never snore I’m sure my sleeping noises were some sort of musical sounds or something.
When I finally did actually get out of bed, and made my coffee, I suggested a plan for today, which I had plotted out when I couldn’t sleep in the middle of the night. He said, “I see you have a plan,” or some such thing, but I said, “No. I have a plot.” Sometimes I can be comedically annoying. Go figure.
I also commented on meeting up with some dear people tomorrow and he and I both kind of marveled at the time passing. Stay tuned for who we meet! (Okay, probably half of my four or so readers already know. Heh.)
Finally ready to go, after showering and putting things away, out we went.
First we walked back up to the cathedral we saw from the outside yesterday. A young man working there gave us tons of information and, had we the time and energy, probably would have given us a full tour. He sure knew his stuff. Turns out the outside of the cathedral is quite grand, but the inside never did get fully completed. It was, he said, all built due to the architect’s ego. Also it was to show the Catholics just how grand the Anglicans were. Ah, the lovely conflicts. It was interesting to see so many organ pipes right on the main floor. (I know he was telling someone else about just why and I heard, “It’s embarrassing…”. No clue why, but I guess they had to put them there.)
Again, just as we did yesterday, we went to Elizabeth Fort. We didn’t spend a ton of time there (it seems more geared toward kids), and I was NOT at all fooled by the men I saw. Not one real guy there, although the one being punished in the stocks looked life-like. The views of the city were nice to see.
We walked some more …
… and passed by the Counting House as we went further. So I said, “The king is in the counting house, counting out his money.” For the life of me I couldn’t remember the whole thing, though. (And yes, I had to look it up when we got back to our room. It quickly came back, tune and all.) They are working on the place, so we couldn’t get all that close.
Then, finally, we went to the English market. Full of booths, a few with knick-knacks and such, but more of meats, fish, cheeses, fruits and veggies, and more. We walked through nearly all of it.
Eventually we stopped at a sandwich and salad spot to buy what turned out to be lunch, even while we had planned on late breakfast. And gee, we remembered this time to share a sandwich. Miracles do happen! (This photo makes the sandwich look so small. It really wasn’t this tiny!)
From there we headed to the Church of St. Anne. We had a bit of a walk, including a spot where we had to quickly cross a street to avoid a man who was clearly out of it. Mostly I was thankful his pants, which were falling down, had yet to expose anything I’d not want to see, but I suspect that happened shortly after.
That brings me to a bit about the problems in each of the places we’ve been here. Yes, there are homeless. In some areas quite a few. In Dublin we walked by a woman with a number of scabs on her face, and I saw that she was shooting up, and groups of men who looked pretty bad. When stores close some homeless will take up a spot where they can sleep. It’s so sad to see, and I don’t like to write much about this darker side, but it’s there. Poverty is here. But then walking around San Francisco we see much the same. It’s everywhere.
Okay … back to the church. We walked further and we had a good climb up some stairs. As we climbed we’d walk past houses. The people who live in those places surely must be in very good physical condition!
But St. Anne’s … well … we walked by it, but it just didn’t look like a place we wanted to bother with. We’ve already been in a number of churches, so we passed it by.
Next on the “plot” of the day was the Fitzgerald park. It was a bit over a mile away. So off we went in that direction. What did I know about the park? Really nothing. I’d just read it was a place to visit.
When we arrived we heard and finally saw that a cricket game was happening. A very nice young man explained a bit of the game to us. I managed to comprehend some of it, but I sure couldn’t explain it well if you asked me!
We walked only a short while in the park. At the start of our walk we heard a woman on a loudspeaker of some sort nearby. We finally heard more clearly and there was a school by the park. The children were having races. Cute. Too bad we could only hear but not see them. We continued our walk in the park for a bit. I shot photos of the bird because I’d not seen one like that before. Looks rather crow-like, but the gray made me assume it was something else …?
We realized perhaps today would be a good day to head back to the hotel, take a rest, catch up on writing and downloading photos (the latter for Dan: I always wait until I get home), and just relax. I also started planning just how to pack things up: it has now gotten quite warm, and the remainder of our trip will probably continue with that trend. I have to figure out how to squeeze my warm “shacket” and sweater into the suitcase, along with my warmer pants. It’ll be a challenge, but I have no choice but to make it all work.
After that bit of time in our room I, as usual, became restless. I’m not very good at sitting around. Dan asked if I wanted to get out and walk a bit and of course he already knew my answer, I’m sure. While we had been relaxing I had also looked up pubs that have the “trad” Irish music sessions (trad for “traditional). I found a few and entered them on to my Google map.
Side note: Ah, Google Maps. Sigh. I plot things out, they work. But suddenly they disappear. I’m not sure why. I guess I’m probably doing something wrong, but ugh. We tried Apple Maps on our phones but haven’t managed to get more than one destination on them. I’m sure there’s a way, but so far we’ve not managed to figure it out!
So out we went, across the river once more (it’s the only way to go anywhere from our hotel. The first place we saw was a no-go. Just wasn’t right. The second place we passed wasn’t on my list and I saw no reviews, but at least we knew we would hear Irish music and they had food. Still, I’d rather go to some place that was recommended. We passed some interesting places, though.
Shortly after that we went to the The Oval pub. Such a cool place. They have several “snugs” — little rooms like the two we found in Dublin (at least I think it was Dublin — everything seems to run together after a while). Those little rooms are perfect for those of us who can’t hear well. I had a little beer and Dan had a larger one. As I told him, “Those bubbles fill me up!”
Then more pub hunting. While at The Oval we saw a pamphlet that listed other pubs that had music and one was a place I had already put on my list, so off we went, to “Sin é”. Now about that name. I read that it means “That’s it” and it’s so named because right next door is a funeral parlor. Hah! Well, it looked fine, but had no food and the music didn’t begin for a while. So on we wandered.
Then we found a restaurant. Not Irish. The man we spoke with (the owner perhaps?) was so friendly, and explained that they served tapas in a Latin American style. (Later we learned he was born in Algeria but grew up in France. Just the friendliest man.) We looked over the menu, and said we’d like to eat there. We ordered some mini ceviche tostadas, some guacamole, and a chicken and rice dish. Absolutely delicious. For desert we opted for a bit of decadence. (Who … US??) That was fabulous as well.
After dining there we headed back to Sin é. Some musicians were in the back playing. I couldn’t see them, but could hear them. We squeezed in and Dan ordered our zero zero beers (we are so well behaved sometimes) and we sat down at the first free table. The place was crazy! Things all over the walls and ceiling. It was fun to hear the musicians — it seemed that they frequently took turns doing whatever they wanted to do. There was a fiddle player (at least one), guitar (he sang as well), some sort of squeezebox, and I’m not sure what else. I did some recordings. Of course people talk throughout, but so it goes. It was interesting with the final recording, though: people suddenly got very quiet.
Well, that’s a wrap for now. I’m beat! Tomorrow is another moving day, and we have one flight and two trains to take.
Our day began sometime very early in the morning. An alarm went off that could not be ignored. I thought it was somewhere on Dan’s side of the bed, but of course being pretty deaf in my left ear meant I have no sense of direction. Dan checked his side and he said it wasn’t his phone (the only way it could have been would have been one of those national emergency alarms and even those aren’t that loud — at least I don’t think so!), and he thought it was on my side. Nope. Eventually we just went back to sleep because the alarm was quite brief.
Then at 4:00 AM it went off again. Just this horribly loud noise that lasted for maybe five or ten seconds. Well, this time we did more investigating. The bathroom fan, which had been on since Dan had some laundry hanging there, was no longer working. Hmm. Odd. We smelled no smoke, and of course the alarm had stopped and I doubt it would have done so had it been a fire. Still, Dan looked out the door and he said the fire doors had closed. Finally he called downstairs. They said someone had an issue with their shower and there was no problem at all. Meanwhile there was this periodic extremely low hum — almost like a foghorn — and we wondered about that as well. (Later I started to wonder if the person in question had run very hot water in the shower to get wrinkles out of clothing, but had left the bathroom door open: I had taken a hot shower some years back and left the door open and it triggered our smoke alarm! So maybe …? But who knows?)
I was just relieved it was not a fire. Going outside in cold temps wearing pjs is not my idea of a fun way to spend early morning, and I suppose if it were a fire that’s what we’d have had to do (although, as always, my clothes were sitting out for the day already).
But back to sleep we went, and didn’t rise until well after 8:00.
Once we did get moving (slowly) we went in search of breakfast. I’d located three possibilities. We chose the one with the higher ratings (although who knows what ratings mean!), and went inside. We were quickly shown a table, and soon ordered and paid for our food and coffees via Dan’s phone. That’s getting more and more common, it seems. Our food was quite yummy. When we first went in there was room for more people, but when we finally left there was quite the line to get in. I guess it’s popular!
Next up was St. Patrick’s Cathedral. We spent quite a bit of time wandering around. I have to roll my eyes sometimes at what they might write about someone who is laid to rest there, or at least has a memorial plaque. They always sound like such flawless men and women! I do hope that, should I even have a service when I die, people are honest and say, “Well, she could sometimes be a handful and could definitely be annoying!” I mean … the truth is just fine by me. Just be sure and mention my incredible wit.
Or not.
I enjoyed reading about Jonathan Swift. (I think I might need to reread him sometime.)
From there we started to make our way to the Guinness location. We managed to make a few wrong turns, but it’s really not a big deal since we like seeing more of the city.
Finally there it was.
We purchased the self-guided tour tickets and made our way inside. I took far too many photos and don’t want to bore you too much, but I might bore you a bit. So it goes!
This water thing was rather cool!
There was a lot of information and parts of the tour were what Dan and I refer to as an “experience”, but really it was interesting and fun. It took much longer than I’d expected, too.
There was a section on an artist who did a lot of work for their advertising that was cute.
When I saw this particular display I cracked up. I had a t-shirt with that saying on it (you have to watch the full video) back in the later 70s. (My dad sure didn’t like that shirt!)
We were taken into a room to do a small tasting, but I didn’t do photos there. We walked a bit more and eventually wound up on the top floor where we were given a pint of Guinness. It wasn’t easy to find a place to sit, but eventually Dan nabbed a spot and we enjoyed sitting, drinking the beer, and I had saved a few packages of shortbread so we also ate those. Who knew shortbread and Guinness would work okay together? (Or maybe we were just hungry enough we didn’t care.) There were good views on that top floor.
We eventually left Guinness and planned on finding a light bite to eat. We walked a bit but didn’t find a place that appealed.
I had to shoot that last photo for my friend Bernie Sheehan!
So on we walked, through St. Stephen’s Green. I loved the sight of all those schoolboys squeezed on a bench!
At that point it did seem like perhaps dinner was in order soon. We ambled more, and even a bit more, not spotting anything that screamed out to us. Eventually I remembered that I had seen an old Victorian pub that seemed quite interesting so I did a quick search and found one. Whether or not it was the one I had seen online earlier I don’t know, but it was really cool. We walked in to find a very long hall. Then to the right there was a pub entrance with high tables. We aren’t exactly high table fans, and I had seen stairs that led to other rooms and I wondered about them. Someone who worked there said we could go on upstairs. So up we went. The first floor had a really nice, somewhat private room and we thought that would be perfect so in we went. I ordered the turkey roast (far too much food!) and Dan ordered the cottage pie. All was very good. Eventually the room did fill up so it was a bit noisy, but I was so happy to have that time when we were almost alone. At 7:00 a musician showed up and started to sing and play in the larger room adjacent to ours. The funny thing was that he was singing songs from our youth like “Have You Ever Seen The Rain?” and “Leaving on a Jet Plane.” We had thought we’d be hearing Irish folk music or something!
Walking back out I took a few more photos:
Then it was time to head back to the hotel, passing once more through St. Stephen’s Green.
Thus ends our day. In some ways it feels as if we didn’t do all that much, but the cathedral and the brewery did take a lot of time.
Oh, and my watch was happy with me today. Whew! I’d still prefer to do even more walking, but this’ll do.
We woke this morning and after getting ready, leaving our tip for housekeeping, and going down the elevator, we reached the hotel doors, they opened and — oops! — rain! So back up we went to get our rain jackets. Then back to the elevator.
Oh but WAIT! I’ve yet to report on our elevator. The first time I entered it I nearly walked into myself! The back wall is like an extremely clean mirror, but rather golden. (Hey, that means I’m a golden girl, I suppose. Hm. Okay, not as funny as it should be, but oh well.) Dan nearly walked into himself this morning. Funny!
We then walked the little jaunt to the train station. It’s much quicker when you only have a daypack rather than a daypack and a backpack. Nice!
We bought our senior citizen round-trip-even-if-you-don’t-need-that tickets for 8.50€ (we do actually need the round trip today) and boarded the train on spoor (track) 2 once it arrived (it was about ten minutes late, but who’s complaining?). The ride wasn’t terrifically long and only had one stop before our final destination.
So then we arrived.
Hello Gent! Or Ghent.!Or Gand! (You choose which language you prefer — it was even Gaundin English in the past, or so I’ve read.)
Once again we marveled at the bikes. (If you recall, I took a photo from the train when we passed through Gent (or Ghent, or Gand, or even Gaund … and I promise to stop my silliness now) on our way to Brussels. Well, this time we could really get close.
I always look forward to seeing what the train stations look like.
When we got outside the station (where there was not a drop of rain to be felt!) what did we see? More bikes. And more, and more. I think I saw more bikes here than I did in Amsterdam, but that could be because it was raining so much there I didn’t really look around to see where they were keeping them. Who knows?
We had about a twenty-five minute walk to the older part of town. Again, easy-peasy with no backpacks.
Then it was just a bunch of walking around, and eventually finding a place for a bite. As is the norm, we wandered quite a bit to find that perfect lunch. Looking for high quality, not too many people, but not barren because that would mean it wasn’t good. Not too expensive, but cheap would mean, well, cheap. We really do laugh at ourselves when we are doing the food search thing! We actually managed to find a spot, though, and also managed to keep the cost down with our lunch this time. (Thus, a reward will later be found.) Mind you, it wasn’t an epicurean delight, but it was just fine.
After lunch we walked …
… until we reached to St. Bavo’s Cathedral.
From there we ambled over to Graffiti Street. (I apologize if there are any offensive words or images … I may have missed something! I do try to avoid certain things.)
Then over to Gentse Sint-Niklaaskerk (St. Nicholas Church) where, sadly, the Calvinists of earlier time had a way with things and destroyed a lot. I’ve seen that at other places as well. Hurts my heart to think of what “we” did. We did a bit of photography but it looked like a small group of people were worshiping, so we didn’t do much. There was no priest, and it appeared to be led by two elderly women. I’m not sure if it was a scheduled service (doubtful) or just that a group of people came and wanted to do what they were doing. In any case, we didn’t stay long.
Then we walked to Sint-Michielskerk (Saint Michael’s Church). It was in the midst of some major renovations, but still they were allowing people in. (Most work so far appeared to be on the outside.) There was a recording of what I can only assume were nuns singing and oh my did that monophonic music get monotonous … but it’s “sticky”: I had it in my head for nearly our entire walk back to the train station!
At that point we decided it was time to go back to Brussels.
We got to our spoor (spoor 10 if you are curious but then it was spoor 10 even if you aren’t curious) and the train was right there waiting for us. We had a very uneventful ride, although the man across from us had his bare feet on the seat in front of him which I found a bit odd, and the young woman sitting across from us asked me to watch her pack as she left for a few minutes which I thought risky on her part, but I suppose two older people looked like grandparents to her and what grandparents could be dishonest and steal anything?!
Back to Brussels.
Back to our room …
WAIT?! What about that treat we deserved for spending less and eating less for lunch? So yes, we dropped by a chocolate shop and bought our treats. But our treats only came to 6€ so I think we were still being pretty good … for us, at least. The family purchasing a big bag of things right before us spent 124.25€ on their treats. (I actually suspect they were gifts they were taking home with them.) I’d share a photo of our chocolate treats but we ate them and I only thought about the photo after the fact.
Then it was blogging and catch up with email time.
Next up? Dinner time. No worries this time! I looked up places nearby, we chose an Italian restaurant, and we were there after a whopping 20 minute or so walk. Our dinners were yummy. I only remembered to take photos after we began eating and pasta is not terrifically photogenic, but so be it.
So that’s that. We are back in our room, I’ve uploaded photos and videos, and it’s early — only 21:40. Too early to try to sleep after all that food, so I guess I’ll play a few games or do a jigsaw puzzle. But for now I wish you all a very good night (even though for most readers I suspect it’s not yet quite that time).
So with no plans at all, we woke and sat around for a bit on our various devices before going in search of a light breakfast. (I still can’t quite wrap my head around the difference in a breakfast in Belgium and a breakfast in Spain or Portugal: it’s more than twice as much here — it’s more like the US.)
Um … did I say light breakfast? Oops.
But hey, we will just skip lunch. That will make up for the yummy breakfasts we had. Besides, it was 10:40 by the time we ate, so lunch wouldn’t be needed. Right?
After that we went to check out a few of the “must sees” we had on a list. I will end this group of photos with the first of those. We arrived at the fountain to find tour groups there, and when they left some people just had to get their photo taken with the little guy (Manneken-Pis) Funny the things that become tourist attractions, don’t you think?
Our walk continued. I saw another marker for a Camino. (From here to Santiago de Compostela is one very long Camino!)
Right after that we heard music. There was piano. There was saxophone. I’m not sure if the video will catch the music much but we’ll see after I post it!
And then it was … well duh! Look where we are! Heh.
We continued our walk until we reached Église Notre-Dame au Sablon (Church of Our Lady of Victories at the Sablon).
We went inside and of course I took a lot of photos.
From there we walked through Egmont Park and over to the Palace.
And then we saw a changing of the guard. (Posting more than you might care to see, but I won’t know you skipped some so you’re off the hook. Breathe easy! But darn, I can’t turn you in the the palace police!)
When we walked through the park across the street there were tons of students and most were sitting around eating, but some were filling out something in a little booklet. I suspect they were all out doing some sort of assignment. I’m just guessing, though. Maybe they were writing poetry. Maybe they were reporting on pesky tourists.
It was windy, and we both were hit hard by our allergies. (Later on I got a closer look at a tree in bloom and my guess is that was the culprit.)
The walk continued, and we reached a viewpoint right near what we believe to be a police headquarters or some such thing. We walked along the side of the building, thinking it would take us to the street. Nope. Dead end. I told Dan the people in the building probably get a laugh at all of us tourists thinking that goes out to the street and we all have to turn back, retracing our steps (the final photo in this collection).
We walked by a botanical garden, or so it seemed. Going inside though, I read something that said it was no longer a botanical garden, which had moved elsewhere, because of the damage due to so much construction in the area. (It did appear to be nearly surrounded by construction.)
I had seen a church in the distance so I suggested we walk there. As we walked we saw wasn’t in the most lovely part of town. There was more garbage, and it was just rather dirty. Arriving at the church we found it wasn’t even open. I suppose I should have looked it up before walking all that way!
At that point Dan set up his map so that we’d make it back to our hotel, and off we went.
No lunch, of course, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have frites and beer, right?
In addition we had been such good children all day long — no whining about the distance we’d walked, no saying, “Are we there yet?!” — we decided a treat was in order. Or maybe it’s just that we had had one kind of waffle in Bruges and we wondered what these ones (in the Brussels style) would be like. Obviously they were extremely nutritious because there is banana on them. For the record I did not order mine with cream, but some guy sitting across from me shared his.
We came back to our hotel room for a bit. I managed to blog and even get photos up. I still puzzle over the whole issue with photos: sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. I’m not sure if it’s a WordPress issue, a connection issue, or an iCloud issue. I’m sure that is incredibly interesting to all readers. Or maybe not.
We already had figured out where we’d eat dinner tonight, believe it or not. It wasn’t your typical Belgian dinner, but instead we went for Thai food. I’d seen a good review for this spot, and it was nice and close. When we got there it was easy to get a seat inside, so I’m sure it was meant to be! The food was good, and it was nice to have a change of flavors. And yes, I took a photo of my dish: I liked the elephants, and I wonder if the other part that looks like wrinkled skin is deliberate or just an old plate. It does look like elephant skin to me.
Back to our hotel we went. The crowds were certainly out at this point!
I still had three pieces of chocolate from yesterday’s purchase, so I shared with Dan and that sufficed for our dessert. Truth is, one piece of this rich chocolate is often all I can handle!
Tomorrow we very well may take a day trip somewhere. We have two options, and I think I know what we have chosen, but I’m not absolutely certain. Stay tuned!
Breakfast wasn’t until 9:00 today, so we could really take it easy. I did hear some sort of pounding noise around 8:00 (if not earlier) and finally went to open the window. Then it wastremendously loud! A man was working below us on a stone wall. I’ve no clue what he was doing, but I was then very thankful for the double paned windows here!
Breakfast was downstairs. I can’t remember now, but I must have gotten a good price to have paid for this (just like Santiago de Compostela). I think it’s the breakfast that wins the “most selections” prize. For me that doesn’t make a whole lot of difference: I simply don’t eat much for breakfast since I don’t eat any breakfast when we are at home.
Going out our hotel door we saw this scary creature.
From the hotel we went back up those wonderful stairs. (I’m hoping they help with all the food I’ve eaten!) Time to get up to Plaza Major again!
We had planned on going into the cathedral but when we reached the Plaza Major there was a small market so we first went around that. It’s fun to see all the food, even while we can’t purchase anything at the moment.
Then we did finally go into the cathedral (having purchased tickets on our walk there: gotta love the handiness of purchasing online while walking to a place!). The cathedral was huge, and I took a lot of photos. I won’t be explaining any of it (hardly needs it, really), but I will post a ton of photos now.
Out the door we reached the cloisters.
There were rooms with tapestries as well. (I had to zoom in on the flute and bass players!)
I find the art and the building so amazing. We Protestants seem to have rejected all of that when we rejected Catholicism. I’m embarrassed sometimes by our lack of taste and beauty! But that’s all I’ll write about that — you don’t have to listen to me whine!
Our cathedral ticket also included the Episcopal Palace (because of course a Bishop needs a palace!). So we walked a whopping three minutes to get there. Okay, four probably, because I first walked right by the alley where we were supposed to turn.
Most of it wasn’t of great interest to me: I’m really not into fancy silver and gold “stuff”. But still I managed to take some photos.
But really? An escape room in the palace? Okay, then.
Soon it was lunch time, and we ended up back at the plaza to have that. I would have written “to have a light lunch” but nothing seems to be light here! But hey, at least we had “cerveza sin alcohol”. (In other words alcohol free beer.)
Next up was a walk to the aqueduct. And yes, there is an ALE-HOP here. What a relief. Or not.
Finally, just WOW! The aqueduct is astounding. (Also below are a few non-aqueduct photos.) How in the world they built that thing is mind boggling. And it goes on and on. We walked one direction, up until it stopped. Perhaps tomorrow we’ll go the other way.
After that it was time for our little siesta. Or blogging. Or both. And more — I made reservations for a restaurant nearby. We’ve learned that if we can do that it’s a safer way to go. It’s supposed to be a “Castilian restaurant with a twist.”
Now that reservation wasn’t until 20:00, so we still had time to do more. Seemed as good a time as any for a shower and a wee bit of laundry.
And then it was time. We aimed toward the restaurant. It was only four minutes away, and when we got there (six minutes before our reservation time) it wasn’t yet opened. A woman sitting nearby asked us if we were waiting for it (in Spanish, but we could figure it out) and we said yes. We surmised she was doing the same. Since it wasn’t yet opened after we waiting until 20:00, we went up to the next level, took a photo or two, and waited. Nothing. And more nothing. Finally we decided to walk back and try the door. Nope. Locked. And then we saw a car pull up, a guy get out, and run up with a key. The woman who had been waiting went toward him, as did another woman. Just putting two and two together, we figured both of them worked there. Okay, then. Still nothing was happening.
And then we gave up. There was a restaurant up the stairs we had also considered, so we went there, we were told we could get right in, and I canceled the first place.
Now, for those of you who are anti-meat, skip this next part, please.
I had read that one must order the suckling pig in Segovia. I’m not normally a pig eater (I do fish and poultry), but I try to experience the flavors of a place, so we went for it.
First we had soup, which was delicious.
Don’t look at the photo if you are opposed! They first show you the thing whole, and then take it away and cut it up like this.
We also had delicious potatoes because, of course, potatoes! Spain loves their potatoes.
We also had lovely desserts. (And the price of all this was probably about half of what we’d pay in our neighborhood.)
Final thoughts: I doubt I’d order suckling pig again. Just not really my cuppa, although it wasn’t awful. But I am glad I tried it. I like to experience food of the culture!
We walked back to our hotel then, and I typed the rest of this up while Dan read up on sausages (I’ll leave that story for another time).
Now to bed with us. It’s late. We’re tired, and gosh, we have to wake up for an 8:30 AM breakfast. The horrors! Excuse any typos and silly or poorly worded sentences. It’s late (20:41 here) and my brain is rather fried.
We woke early this morning, in order to finish our packing, check out, and catch a cab to Porto Campanhã to catch our 8:13 train. It was an easy trip and we arrived in time to catch a bite before the train arrived.
We weren’t in a high speed train, nor was it quiet. We haven’t done many trains in Portugal, so maybe this is the norm, but I wouldn’t know. In any case, it got is to where we needed to go.
I was glad the trip to Vigo didn’t include a ton of stops like the others pictured below.
Despite being on a train I did take photos. I need them for this post, after all! They aren’t great, but I got what I could from a moving train.
Our final goal for today couldn’t be done via one train. I’m guessing it’s because of our move to a new country. So first we got into Vigo, Spain and exited our Portuguese train.
The train station wasn’t huge, and there was nowhere outside where we could quickly buy lunch, so it was a bag of chips and water for the time being.
Then back on to a train we went. This time it was a Spanish Renfe train, but it certainly wasn’t the fast sort, and the only food was in vending machines which we opted not to use. The trip was only something over two hours in any case, so we were fine. I was glad to have purchased seat reservations, as I saw some people have to move from the seat they opted to take when someone came along saying it was theirs.
More photos below from the train and then just outside of it:
We then arrived in our next city. Hello Santiago de Compostela!
We quickly got a cab to take us to our hotel. I had looked on the map and our hotel was a mere .8 miles away, but it included a climb and with our packs and bags it seemed wise to pay the 8€ or so to have someone drive us. I’m sure glad we did! I didn’t realize we’d be going down some of those crazy narrow streets, where pedestrians have to move out of the cab’s way or get run over, and there were a number of pedestrians!
We checked into the hotel — a nice large room. (I don’t remember ordering the room with two beds, but whatever … I never want to be “that” American who complains. Especially these days.)
After getting settled we left to find a bit more to eat. And then … WOW! We were nearing the cathedral and the number of people with packs on their backs and trekking poles rapidly increased. When we got to a center square there were a good number crashed out there. These are the people who have ended their pilgrimage to the Cathedral. Some go as far as five hundred miles, while it can be as short as around sixty. Not all do it for spiritual reasons, but I think many do. I’ve heard it can be quite an emotional journey, but having been on a one hundred miles backpacking trip I think many journeys can be pretty emotional. (I cried my way up Mt. Whitney, but I think that had to do with altitude sickness of some sort!)
I marveled at the buildings in the area, and I look forward to investigating more in the few days we have here.
We finally chose a place to eat and I know it will come as a shock to read that we ordered more than necessary: steamed mussels, a cheese board, and Padrón peppers, along with drinks. (Only when we went through the village of Padrón did it occur to me that that’s where the pepper got its name. We did see the plants growing there, too.)
After eating we met a couple who had done the Camino using a travel group like the type we use. They only had to carry their daypacks, and they stayed in nice accommodations. I think I’d prefer doing that for a Camino as well. As they said, being older we need those places where we can easily get up in the middle of the night! Then we walked back to our hotel.
Now that we are in Spain we have to readjust our eating habits even more: they don’t eat until 8:00 at the earliest! Knowing that, it seemed a good time for a bit of a siesta. Plus, of course, the start of today’s blog entry so when we get back later I’ll be able to post rather quickly. (I also blog when possible because I just might forget what we’ve done, sad but true.)
When we went back out it was still too early for dinner so we investigated the area more. It really is a fun spot. Very different than the Portugal places, as there aren’t nearly the vacant or run down places in this area. (My guess is we’d find that if we ventured outside the center here.) For the first time we donned our puffer jackets — they are quite thin and lightweight, but they are also warm, and it was getting chilly.
It’s ALE-HOP! Everywhere we go there seems to be this store. The cow is always there. Really.
Eventually we found a spot to eat and decided to sit at a table rather than the front area, where you sit on higher chairs and order tapas and various other things. It was just easier to order with a menu (in English), and we do like the lower chairs, although I suspect we pay more for that kind of seating. The food was super!
Then we began our walk back to our hotel. I find it hilarious that I knew which direction to go since Dan is usually Map Man. But, sure enough, I was right when I said which way I thought was correct! Hooray, me. Then we felt a few sprinkles and saw umbrellas. but not enough to stop us from taking in some views when the light was just beautiful on the cathedral and other walls.
Now we are back in our hotel, and we’ll have to set an alarm because we (foolishly?!) said we’d take the 8:00 breakfast here. (The room came with breakfast, therefore we eat it. We are brilliant that way.) I’m not sure why we took that time, when we eat dinner so late which means we get to bed that much later. Ah well! Live and learn. Or just live and wake up earlier than we might like.
We began our morning, after a leisurely time in the room, at a place just across the street for our cappucinos and croissants. For some reason I didn’t even notice this corner spot, but thankfully Dan did.
From there we walked back over to Basílica del Pilar (Our Lady of the Pilar Basilica), since we’d read that it was a spot not to miss.
It’s quite the place. A mass was going on in one section, but one can walk everywhere else while that takes place. Security guards made sure anyone with hats took them off, but when we entered I saw no women with hats on so I had already removed mine, and of course Dan took his off as he went in.
After that we were in the Plaza, and I saw an entry to what I figured was a Bethlehem scene (and I figured correctly). I’m sure it’s prettier at night, with lights on and the inability to see things quite so clearly, but it was fun to walk through in any case.
Eventually we decided lunch would be a good idea. Google maps told me there was a pizza place a few minutes away that was still open. Google was wrong. So we ended up on a main drag and went into a place that looked a bit like a fast food place. It was a mistake, but we only realized it after ordering: it was twice as much as a tapas spot (although finding those open at that hour is tricky), and not nearly as good. But so it goes.
Next up was our daily rest up time at the hotel, since our next destinations weren’t open midday. On our way there I saw a good reminder, and then the reed transformer sort of appealed to me (But yes, it’s about Lou Reed, and I guess the “Use Hearing Protection” is also something from an album or label or some such thing. I am guessing one of our sons would fill me in on all that.)
It’s nearly always fun to walk through these alleyways, although sometimes check the graffiti to make sure I’m not posting something horrible. (But if I’ve done so this time I do apologize!)
Rest time over ‘n out, we went back outside and walked toward another cathedral: Catedral del Salvador (La Seo) y Arco del Deán. From the outside it doesn’t look like much (I took a photo of that yesterday), so we were rather shocked when we went inside. It was huge! For once we had the audio thingie (my technical term, thank you very much) to use and it was actually quite interesting.
After that we went to the Goya Museum and spent some time there. No photos allowed. So guess any reader who wants to see what’s there will just have to go. In all honesty I wasn’t blown away. But that doesn’t mean others won’t be.
At that point it was nearing dinner time. Okay, okay, it was past dinner time on our clocks, but Spain has a different opinion. Some places were still not open since it was so early, being 7:30 PM and all. But we found a spot and headed in. I wasn’t as thrilled with the tapas — our first night here was the best — but they were fine, and we were glad to get in early because shortly after the place filled up.
Now from there you’d think we’d head back to the hotel, but yours truly mentioned something “a little sweet” so we found place to get cookies. I may live to regret that … or at least not sleep. But that’s life. I’ll survive. Then back to the hotel we went.
Tomorrow we have a bit of time before our train, so we can wake at a comfortable hour and relax a bit. Then on to our final city in Spain.
I’d say we got up a bit late, but since we have been pretty consistent getting up and moving around 9:00 I guess that’s our normal time at this point! We had our coffee in the room, got ready to go outside, and headed down the stairs.
Our first task of the day was to see how the trek to the train station would be, both for time and, because we have our roller cases, what the road surface was like.
On the way to the station we spotted a Protestant church:
Turns out getting to the station should be a very easy, maybe ten minute max trip. We checked out the station too, although we don’t yet know the track we’ll be on. (I like to know as much as possible as soon as possible, but track numbers don’t appear until shortly before the train arrives.) Our upcoming ride is the longest one we will have, mostly due to the number of stops, I think.
After that we wandered more, as we are wont to do. From the train station we sort of exited the old part of town for a bit. If we had more time in the city I suspect we’d have investigated more of this since there is some interesting architecture in Montpellier.
Eventually we went back into the center, and ended up at a small pop up art exhibit. There we enjoyed coffee and a small snack since we’d not yet eaten.
We knew we wanted to see the Montpellier Cathedral so we went in that general direction, enjoying a variety of sights on the way.
Across from the cathedral is the university, but we didn’t really see any of that.
Unfortunately the cathedral itself was only open for mass since it’s Sunday, but as we walked by we could hear the organ. It wasn’t mass time, so I could only guess that perhaps the organist was practicing. Whatever the musician was playing sounded somewhat modern to my ear, but who knows? I’m not familiar at all with solo organ works. I really wish we could have gone in to listen. From outside it sounded quite powerful. The cathedral itself is quite impressive from the outside, but there aren’t that many places where one can get photos and one side is really inaccessible.
We then ambled around and ended up in the Jardin des Plantes. It was fun to wander, and I’m especially fond of gardens where everything is labeled. I am betting the gardens is amazing in late spring and summer. But even now I really enjoyed it.
Then it was time to head to lunch. Of course that does take us a while, what with finding more things to photograph! Dan realized his battery was running low so we knew we’d have to go back to the hotel to recharge it, but we both knew, too, that we would also need recharging!
Lunch itself was nice and relaxing. And warm for a time, as the sun was shining in on us, as you can see (not a great photo, but in that sun it was the best we could do!) for much of the meal.
(You might shake your head at my goofy food photos, but it does help me remember the day so I try to take them when I remember.)
Then it was back to our hotel. Which is when I starter writing this (as is typical each day). No nap this time, though: I’m hoping I’ll sleep more soundly if I don’t nap.
Once we were ready to go out in search of dinner we donned our incredibly fashionable jackets (NOT) and went out. It really wasn’t terrifically cold, but I’d rather be too warm than too cold, so there you go.
As is typical, we walked a lot to find the right spot for dinner. We didn’t do much photographing (I’m not sure if Dan did any), but of course with an iPhone it’s easy to snap a few things.
We ended up about as close to our hotel as possible at, maybe, the most mediocre restaurant we’ve been at. And yes, I could have done better than to order fish ‘n chips at a restaurant in France! But we just weren’t in the mood to wait until more places opened, and we really just needed to get some food and head back so we could make sure we were mostly packed and ready for tomorrow’s 9:33 train. (This means, for us, that we want to leave here by around 8:30. Not early, I realize, for most folks, but considering how relaxed we’ve been on this trip it’ll probably feel early to us!)
