Tag Archives: markets

Monday, May 25

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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.

Goodnight!

Stats
17,251 steps, 7.02 miles, 6 flights climbed

Day Two in Porto

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Before leaving the hotel Dan did a bit of laundry. Yes, we do laundry in our hotel bathroom. Somewhere I read that it was “frowned upon” by hotels, but there isn’t any sign saying we can’t and our clothing dries rather quickly. (Mine even faster than Dan’s since nearly everything I brought is merino wool.)

Then we decided to head to a market that we visited last time. I’m sure it’s a bit touristy, but it’s fun, and we actually do see people buying vegetables and they look to be locals. Rather than have breakfast inside the market building we got something right across the street and YES, it was actually an “experience”! Hah … breaking our own rule about not patronizing things that include that word. Go figure!

Then into the market building we went. Mercado de Bolhão is really nice. Very clean, too. And it’s great fun to walk around, aisle by aisle, which is what we did. Oh, and we bought a cup ‘o fruit.

At one end there were some ceramics and I actually purchased a dish. We so rarely buy anything on trips, but I liked it, and as Dan suggested, if I can get it back home in my luggage, go for it! (His luggage is completely packed.)

Eventually it was time to do our little “market experience”. It’s so very different than the states: you can purchase a glass of wine (for a very small price — my glass was probably 3.50€ — and you can walk around with that glass. We did just that, until we found what we’d want to snack on, which for us was a small amount of sashimi. We sat on some steps and relaxed a bit.

Then it was more walking in the market, and we opted to pick up two tapas each. And, just because it really must be done, we each also had a pastel de nata.

Leaving the market, I suggested we go to a church I’d read about. It’s actually two churches with a very small house (a “hidden house”) between the two. First we had to find our way there. (And I thought of Brandon when I saw the cocktail club so I had to take a photo!)

We opted, for a fee, to see Igreja do Carmo, because it included the small house as well. Sadly they didn’t allow photos in the house, but in the church it was fine. (Sounds backwards to me, but what do I know?) The house is in ill repair and I can’t imagine it’s going to last long if they don’t do some restoration, but it is quite interesting to see. I read that it was three feet wide, but I think that’s not quite true. Even the front seems wider than that. Perhaps eight feet. Inside it might get as wide as twelve feet. The first story has a bedroom and small study, the second looks to be like a small living room, and the third is a tiny kitchen and eating area. Pretty wild! We couldn’t go up to the next floor, so I don’t have a clue what it was. We continued through the church, but did not go up on the roof. I knew I couldn’t, and Dan didn’t seem interested. There was a hospital associated with the church, and I had to take a photo of the birthing chairs!

From there we decided we needed to sit and rest a bit, so we stopped at a little place and ordered a couple of the 0.0% beers and some sort of French fry thing. The “thing” ended up being fries with an egg and some (mostly unchewable) ham. It was … okay. The server also placed a wooden plate on the table with olives and a basket of bread. One thing we learned early on: you have to pay for that if you eat it, but if you don’t touch it they can’t charge you. Eventually we asked another server to take it away. I think a lot of tourists get caught by this little issue, but it’s just the way things are in some countries here. A lot of the time we actually want the olives and bread, but not this time.

From there we walked more. Saw the famous Livraria Lello bookstore. The line was long, and we simply weren’t interested in standing there waiting to get in. (And yes, it costs something to enter. The minimum is 10€, and you can pay as much as 50€ if you want to get into the “Gemma room”.) I’m going to bet a few book lovers would gasp at our skipping this place, but we simply can’t do it all.

We continued our walk, and eventually got to a spot Dan had talked about from last trip. I couldn’t remember it at all … until we got there.

Moving on, we reached a spot that I remembered that had an amazing view.

Then it was time to make our way back to the hotel. A bit of rest was called for. And perhaps a potato chip or more. I actually fell asleep for a short bit so I guess I needed that. Eventually it was time to get to dinner.

Ah, dinner! I’ve been using The Fork to find places, and they give the average price, but I guess we aren’t average because every time it’s more than I expected. Tonight was the same. The food was very good, but I am learning that servings are far too large for me. I ate so much that, if you hid my face, wrinkles, and gray hair, people might think I’m pregnant! Sigh. But in any case, it really was yummy, typical Portuguese food. (I had what they call “duck rice”.)

After dinner we walked over the same bridge we walked over yesterday, but this time we were on the lower level. I shot a few photos (of course!), including this boat with a pool at the top. Now I’m not interesting in pools (or beaches or anything for swimming to be honest), but if I were, that might be rather fun!

We walked back to our hotel via the Ribeira. It is an incredibly active, noisy, touristy, but rather fun spot. Too much for my ears, though! I’m not sure if this video will work well, but here it is:

Then it was into our hotel. I saw the person at the reception desk that checked us in and had to wave. I did the same last night. Her name is Patricia, so I feel (call my crazy) a connection. But she was the one to point out that we share the same name so there’s that. Still, as I told Dan, she’s probably thinking, “There’s the crazy old lady waving again!” Heh.

But now … time to say goodnight. One more full day in Porto and then we move on to not only another city, but another country.

Goodnight!

Final Day in Madrid

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And so it is ending. It all went by far too quickly, and I so wish we could continue, but that simply isn’t possible so I had to face the fact that we board a plane tomorrow. But hey, we did have this one last day, so there’s that.

It’s a Sunday. This means some things are closed, but not as much is closed in Madrid as in smaller towns. Dan (jokingly, I’m assuming) said we could go to mass. Now, in all honesty, that might be somewhat interesting, but I suspect it would be more uncomfortable than interesting. I don’t know the rituals in a Catholic Church. And then there is the language issue. So it would be a bit odd, I think. Sadly that meant we had to skip going in to one church: we both felt it was inappropriate to go in when people are attending a sacred service.

I did look up things to do and one suggesting was a market. Not just any market, mind you, but El Rastro, a flea market that has been going on for 250 years. Neither of us are flea market sorts, but it seemed like we might as well go have a look-see. So we walked there in our leisurely manner.

And Oh. My. Goodness! The thing is huge. It runs for blocks and blocks, with side streets also full of stuff. The crowds were, well, similar to what we have seen in the plazas. The “hang on to your purse and iPhone” kind of crowds since we are well aware these are perfect spots for pick pockets. (Truth is, I hate being distrustful of others and it makes me so uncomfortable, but the reality is one has to be attentive and careful.) I took a lot of photos, some without looking at the phone to see what I got, so things may be askew. (Which is fine because it allows me to use the word “askew” which I really love. Hah!) We probably saw around 50% of the market, if not less.

From the flea market we rambled a while.

Eventually we ended up, surprise, surprise, at “the” spot for churros, called Chocolateria San Ginés. Now whether or not the locals would agree, it’s certainly the place tourists get told to go to, and from the abundance of photos on the walls famous people go as well. I saw the infamous —and yes, I mean infamous, rather than famous, due to his treatment of women‚ Placido Domingo, and a photo of Sophia Loren. But not knowing famous Spaniards I didn’t recognize anyone else on the walls I could manage to see.

We then figured we’d go to another market that I read was open from 11:00 to 5:00 on Sundays, called Mercado de la Cebada. Unfortunately nearly every stall was closed. We still looked around, and it would have been a fabulous place had things been open. (Later I read that they had a street market today, so maybe that was outside nearby and we simply missed it. Rats!)

More wandering took us, finally, to lunch. I am happy to report I finally ordered something small. Funny thing was it cost more than some of the larger meals I’ve had. Go figure.

And then it was back to the hotel to start this blog entry and to rest up.

When we went back out, we decided to head toward a spot that was so crowded these past two nights there was no way to see what the big deal was. This time we came from a different direction, and … well wow! There it was. Tons of people. Loads of kids on parents’ shoulders. And it was quite the spectacle. I’m hoping I can get the video up here soon, but we’ll see. Once again my connection is pretty awful. In any case, just think crazy, sort of Disney-esque but not quite, and in Spanish.

After that we went toward Puerto del Sol one last time. It was just as crowded as ever, so we headed back to Mercado de San Miguel, since that’s where we planned to have our final dinner. First, though, we went through Plaza Mayor.

And finally, hello Mercado de San Miguel! Hello to our final vermut, olives and other treats, and a final small sweet delight. I realize this place is a touristy kind of spot, but it is still great fun, and it was nice to visit several times this year. The last time I was here was right after I lost the hearing in my left ear and I’d yet to learn how to deal with the issue. It really was no problem with these visits. (Hm. Not sure the photos below are loading either: silly connection!)

Getting back to our hotel, we packed as much as possible. Tomorrow is a 6:00 AM early wake up call, and I don’t want to have to deal with a lot of packing.

And for now … buenas noches!