Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona is an amazing blend of the old with the new

So here we are in Barcelona!  The past few days have been a blur of just getting settled into the apartment and getting our bearings.  We are in the Barri Gotic (gothic quarter of the city) which is beautiful, but crowded with tourists during the day.  It's a maze of pedestrian-only streets and narrow passageways.  I'm sure we'll get familiar with the layout eventually, but for now it's just fun to wander around and look inside all the shops, restaurants, and endless gelaterias.

Carrer Ferran, just a block or two south of the apartment

Just like we did in Paris, we bought a City Walks deck and have been working through the walks in our area.  Over the weekend, we did venture a little further afield down to the beach by Barceloneta.

We also stocked up on a few items for the kitchen at a local market as well as the grocery store.  There are definitely some items that are hard to find back home, such as huge hocks of ham, and pulpo (octopus) at the supermarket.

Some of these hams go for 100 euro a kilo

I'm not even sure how to cook this...

We had a nice lazy Sunday today.  There is an art market every Sunday afternoon in the Placa de Sant Josep Oriol which is a stone's throw from our apartment.

Our apt with the church/plaza in the background

And later in the evening we had beers on the terrace at Bar del Pi (also in that same plaza) and watched a parade of buskers come by to entertain the crowd.  Our favorite was the couple doing the tango.

Zaragoza, Spain

We said farewell to our friends Don & Renee in San Sebastian -- they will be heading back to Phoenix, while we are slowly making our way towards Barcelona.  We took an early train on Tuesday to Zaragoza which is a town about halfway between San Sebastian and Barcelona.

When we were booking our hotel, we couldn't believe the deals -- every hotel seemed to be at least 70 euro less than what we were spending in France and San Sebastian!  We wondered why...was there something wrong with Zaragoza?  Was it surrounded by fish-processing plants or something?  The answer came to us once we stepped off the train.  Zaragoza is located in an arid valley surrounded by mountains and it's very HOT here this time of year - well into the mid-90's.  So there's the answer to the mystery:  Zaragoza is the "Phoenix" of northern Spain.  After all the effort we've spent trying to escape the summer heat at home in Arizona, and here we ended up right back in it!  Oh well, we have made the best of our two days here.  The mornings were actually pleasant and we were able to get in some nice sightseeing walks.  It's a beautiful town with a history that goes back before Roman times.

Plaza del Pilar - at least the water looks cool.

To escape the sun, we stepped inside the Basilica-Cathedral of Our Lady of the Pillar, which is a beautiful baroque-style church with a wide open plaza out front.  Inside are multiple side chapels dedicated to various saints and martyrs.  Frescoes by Francisco Goya decorate the interiors of several of the domes in the ceiling.  It's all very ornate, and very different from the gothic cathedrals we've been used to seeing in other parts of Europe.

On our second day in the city we took a walk over to the Aljaferia palace, which was originally an Islamic fortress that was built in the 11th century when the Moors ruled this area of Spain.

From the outside it doesn't look much different than the castles we saw in France, but the interiors are very unique -- you can definitely see the Islamic influence here.

The wood-paneled ceilings were amazing -- intricately carved and gilded.

Before it got too warm, we walked along the river back over to the old town so we could go up one to the top of the spire of the Basilica.  Kevin took a 360-degree panorama of the city (you can move your cursor inside the picture to see the view from the top).

Views: Zaragoza, Spain by Kevin Salt

It's so hot here in the afternoons that we are starting to understand the concept of the siesta, where shops close up from about two til five in the afternoon.  Who wants to work in a shop without A/C or walk around outside during the hottest part of the day?  We checked the weather in Barcelona and it's supposed to be about 15 degrees cooler.  Thank goodness we head there tomorrow.  But for now, it's time for a siesta back in the air-conditioned hotel!

San Sebastian, Spain: Pintxos!

From Bordeaux, Spain is just a couple of hours away by car.  Don and Renee drove us all down there to check out the seaside town of San Sebastian.  Our first stop was to head to La Concha beach, which is the most popular one in town, and take a stroll along the boardwalk.

We spent our lunchtime checking out the pintxo bars and learning the ropes.  Pintxos are small snacks that you can pick and choose, buffet-style.  They are actually laid out right on the bar.  Most consist of a slice of french-style bread topped with various cheeses or meat such as ham, salmon, fish or shellfish.  They are often pierced with a toothpick so you can eat them without a fork.

Figuring out how to get the pintxos seemed complicated, but at each bar we went to I told them (in Spanish) "It's our first time ordering pintxos, how does it work?" and each time the bartender was very helpful.  Basically, you ask the bartender for a plate, load up your plate with whatever looks appealing, and then show the bartender what you picked out so they can keep track of what you had.  Sometimes, whatever it is you picked out will taste better warmed up, so the bartender takes it back to the kitchen to be zapped.

We took a midday break for some sangria...

...and then resumed the pintxo crawl later that night.  By the end of the evening we had it all figured out, which was good, because by 10pm the pintxo bars were really packed and you had to know what you were doing to be served and pay in a timely manner.  On the second night, we learned a whole new concept which was "hot pintxos".  These aren't out on the bar -- they are written up on a chalkboard and you have to order them from the bartender.  Super tasty, and worth the effort of figuring out what the menu says (sometimes they have a menu in English, but not always).

If you wanted to, you could probably eat pintxos in San Sebastian for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  By the end of our three-day stay, after eating all of that meat and cheese and bread all we really wanted was a salad.  No problema, San Sebastian has sit-down cafes and restaurants, too.  The Rioja wine wasn't too bad, either.

Kevin took a photosphere of the Constitution Plaza at dusk (click your cursor inside for 360-degree view):

Views: San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, Spain by Kevin Salt

Wine Tasting in Saint-Emilion

There are several wine-growing appellations here in the Bordeaux area.  All produce blended wines, but the blends consist of different percentages of each grape variety.  For example, the Medoc region makes wines that are more Cabernet Sauvignon-based and tannic, while Saint Emilion produces smoother-drinking wine blends with a majority of Merlot.  We had scheduled one last tour to do some tasting at a couple of wineries here.  Of course, at each chateau we did the required tour, walking around the grounds and hearing about the picking, fermentation, and oak storage process.  At least this time the tour was in English.

Enough with the tours, already!  We want to taste some wine!

At Chateau de Ferrand, we saw case after case of wine being stored.  They mentioned that some of it was ready for shipping to the US.  Their main re-seller?  Total Wine.

Cases of wine at Chateau de Ferrand

The gently rolling hills in Saint-Emilion are covered in vines.

The second place we visited was Chateau de Pressac, which was a beautiful and historic property (the treaty to end the 100 Years War with England was signed here in 1453).  Kevin took this photosphere to give you an idea of the place (put your cursor inside the photo for a 360 degree view).

Views: Saint-Étienne-de-Lisse, France by Kevin Salt

The tasting room at the Chateau de Pressac

After some nice wines, we went into St. Emilion again had a chance to explore the town in the sunshine.  Our guide Remi took us to a couple of wine shops.  Most of it was very high end, so we opted to just browse and not buy (now that we know we can just go to Total Wine at home, haha!)

Oldest house in Saint-Emilion; at least one wine-seller had a sense of humor.

Bordeaux: Musee d'Aquitaine

We've had enough foie gras and truffles to last a while so the last couple of days we've had lunch at: a fish & chips place, a Thai restaurant, and an Irish pub.  All three were pretty good, actually (and not just because we are getting a little tired of French food).  The Fish & Chips place was actually called "Yes, Mum!" and they even had deep-fried Mars bars on the menu.

Since we were already in town for lunch, we decided to stop by the Musee d'Aquitaine which is a nice historical museum about Bordeaux and its surrounding area.  The city has been here in some form since before Roman times and it was neat to walk through the rooms and progress through the ages from neolithic to Roman to Middle Age up through to the Industrial Revolution.

Bronze statue of Hercules, stone(d) angel

Remnants of a stained glass window from a dismantled convent

This was a decent way to spend an afternoon.  On the way home we bought a nice bottle of sweet Sauternes wine and a block of ripe Roquefort cheese for dinner.  Maybe we haven't had enough French food after all.

Bordeaux: Landmarks

Cathedral Saint-Andre

Today we decided to go into Bordeaux and check out some of the local landmarks.  As if sensing the theme of the day, fate threw us into the path of these poor tourist office employees dressed up as the city's monuments.  They were definitely getting some attention.

The look on Green Shirt Guy's face says it all...

Our first stop was to check out the Tour Pey Berland, the belltower for the Cathedral Saint-Andre.  Back in the 1400's the archbishop had the tower built separately from the church because he was afraid that the vibrations from the bells' ringing would cause damage.  A spiral staircase with 231 steps leads you up to the terrace where you have great panoramic views of the city.  We just happened to be there at noon and the bells started ringing right on time.  Luckily, neither the church nor the belltower fell down.  Good planning, Archbishop Berland!

Bordeaux, with the Garonne River in the background

After we were back on ground level, we headed over to another one of the city's landmarks - the Gros Cloche, a bell tower and clock that was built into one of the old city gates.  Pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela pass through the portal on their way to Spain.  We actually saw a few backpackers that looked like they were doing the walk, or at least a part of it.

Gros Cloche

Other than wine, Bordeaux isn't really known as a tourist town.  Wine tours are the #1 attraction listed on Trip Advisor.  The #2 attraction is the Place de La Bourse.  It's a pretty square, but there's not much else to do there but take a photo...

Place de La Bourse

...unless you are Kevin, in which case you take a photosphere.  (By the way, I'm almost always somewhere in these photospheres...see if you can find me.  It's like playing "Where's Waldo?".)

Views: Bordeaux, France by Kevin Salt

Sarlat-la-Caneda: Market Day

Sarlat is a fantastic medieval town that is not only known for its gorgeous architecture but it's also known for having one of the biggest Saturday markets in France.  We stayed in a hotel just outside the town walls.  When we woke up on Saturday morning, it was as though a market had magically sprung up overnight around the hotel and all throughout the town.

We've been to lots of markets in the US and Europe, and this was one of the biggest and nicest we've seen.  Especially if you like cheese, truffles, or foie gras (all regional specialties).

Cheese, glorious cheese

The night before, Kevin had wondered what on earth was inside this building with the huge doors.  Surprise!  More market (and more people...).

Once you got away from the market stalls, it wasn't too difficult to escape the crowds, though.  There were a few quiet corners in town where you could catch your breath.

We loved the town of Sarlat and wished we'd booked another night (not surprisingly, most of the hotels were sold out for Saturday night).  Hopefully one day we'll have an opportunity to come back.

Dordogne River Valley

The Dordogne River valley

For a change of pace, we decided to hop in the car and head east, following along the Dordogne river.  In a way this was like taking a big step back in time -- we left the highway and big cities behind us in exchange for countryside and picturesque villages.

Our first stop was Bergerac (yes, of Cyrano fame).  Cyrano's nose figures prominently in all the signage and business names around the town.

The towns in this area are among the prettiest in France.  Villages sprang up over the millenia along the river's steep banks; sometimes the villages seem to climb up the cliff faces themselves.

Beynac-et-Cazenac

La Roque-Gageac

We stopped at the gardens of Chateau Marqueyssac.  We had expected to see gardens full of flowers, but instead it was mostly boxwood hedges that had been manicured into fantastic shapes.  There was a labyrinth somewhere on the property, but we couldn't figure out how to get into it, let alone how to get out of it.

Marqueyssac

We had only given ourselves two days to explore the area and we tried to pack a lot of sightseeing into a short amount of time.  Several castles were on the menu (the region has about 1500 of them), and by the end of the first day I think Kevin was pretty much "castled out".

Chateau de Monbazillac

Chateau de Castlenaud - at least this one had a trebuchet