Miami -- Back in the USA, or are we in Cuba???

Jane Bailey and family explore South Beach

 We said goodbye to the Celebrity Century on the 8th of November, and hello to Miami Beach in good ol' US of A. Our hotel, the Essex House, had an excellent location near the beach and right in the heart of the action in South Beach. We actually felt as if we were still in a foreign country. Spanish, not English, seems to be the first language here, and almost everyone who lives here came from a Spanish speaking country originally. As we walk the streets of South Beach, we hardly ever hear a language we can understand.



Exploring South Beach with the Baileys









  The Baileys (the British family from the cruise ship) had most of the day to spend in Miami before their flight back to the U.K., so we suggested they store their luggage in our hotel room while they roamed and explored the area. You have to understand that Anne had cancelled and rebooked our Essex House three times to get a better rate. (Obviously, the hotel already knew we were cheap.) When we checked in with the Baileys (and all their luggage), the hotel staff probably thought we were taking in boarders -- or, at the very least, charging them a storage fee for their luggage! At any rate, we shared an afternoon of laughter with this fun family.



Art Deco dominates the South Beach area

Here in South Beach, the dress code is shorts and flip-flops, and Art Deco is all the rage -- they have the largest concentration of Art Deco buildings in the U.S. Art Deco is an artform of the early 20th century that is simplistic, and almost machine-like with no frills, no ornate features.

We took an Art Deco walking tour to learn more about this intriguing architectural style that incorporates a basic nautical look (portholes, waves, fountains, etc.) with Egyptian and Mayan motifs. It turned out that our hotel was a stopping point on the tour, and a perfect example of classic Art Deco.



Versace Mansion where Gianni Versace was murdered


In many ways, South Beach is a typical beach town loaded with hotels, fun restaurants, shops, and lively nightlife. However, now that we had a better appreciation for the architecture, we could see that the Art Deco style really sets this town apart. That plus an undercurrent of something that feels dangerous (or maybe we have just watched too many episodes of CSI: Miami and Miami Vice!).



Gloria Estefan's Hotel (The Gardoza Hotel)

  On our last night, we took a bus to mainland Miami’s Bayside Marketplace, a colorful assortment of shops and restaurants lining the harbor ( a lot like Baltimore’s Inner Harbor). Anne tasted her first Mojito and Frank enjoyed a lime-adulterated Landshark beer (similar to Corona).  We ate Cuban-style fish with plantains as the sun set over the yacht-filled harbor and the backdrop of downtown Miami skyscrapers.



Winterhaven Hotel where Al Capone used to spend his winters


We had an uneventful flight home -- that is if you don’t count the loudmouth punk kid who was kicked off the plane in Miami for bad boisterous behavior, and the passenger who required a doctor’s care during the flight! At any rate, it’s good to be back home again.

Bayside Marketplace and Marina

Lazy, Crazy, Sea Days

 

Hanging out on the top deck

As excited as we were about cruising across the Atlantic, we both wondered if a full week at sea would eventually become boring. Well, we didn’t need to worry about that! We were constantly busy and really enjoyed life at sea.  Many days at sea were a bit scarier than 1st expected however, since we never saw another ship or any land for an entire week.  We imagined the mental state of some of the seafarers of days in the middle ages - Columbus, Magellan, et al.  It's not hard to understand the depressed, often mutinous thoughts of Columbus's men after months of spotting no land, or other ships.  You are quite "alone" and necessarily self-dependent out there in the middle of the Atlantic.



The ship's cooks show us how to do it

 Celebrity has a terrific Enrichment Series offering everything from art history to psychology to take your mind off the nothingness of the surrounding sea. Plus classical music sessions and cooking lessons! It was like taking several Adult Ed courses all in one week. It was so much fun, and we learned a lot too. Perhaps Columbus was a bit short on the diversionary entertainment aboard the Santa Maria?  What a long way we've come in sea travel.  

One day, we got a tour of the Galleys where we went behind the scenes to see how seafaring chefs prepare over 9000 meals a day. This is quite a feat involving over 1700 dozen eggs, 1400 pounds of chicken, and 45,000 pounds of fresh fruit!

On the less serious side, the Celebrity entertainment programs were much better than we expected. Performers included pianists, a violinist, and the ship’s own talented singers and dancers. It was a real pleasure to enjoy quality live entertainment on stage every night. Plus other entertainment was available all day (and night) long throughout the ship -- like a string quartet, a gambling casino, and various party bands. We even turned into party animals (LOL) dancing up a storm till after midnight at the 50’s and 60’s Dance Party. 



Maggie and John Grant (2 of our table mates)


We had assigned seating for dinner and were very lucky with our tablemates. John and Maggie were an older couple originally from Scotland, and the Baileys were a delightful family of four from the UK (with the most charming children: Bobbie 15 and Hannah 12). John was a real character, often leading us in sing-a-longs of Gilbert and Sullivan and other favorites -- our table was the loudest and happiest in the dining room.



John Grant and Anne celebrate
his 72nd birthday

John had been quite intrigued when Anne told him she had bought a flamenco apron. So, on the last night of the cruise, which was also John’s 72^nd birthday, Anne surprised him by wearing the apron along with a flower in her hair (provided by Hannah). John immediately jumped to his feet and danced her all around the table right there in the dining room, in front of about 400 onlookers.  Pretty spry for a 72 year-old!

The international crew provided outstanding customer service that was both professional and personal. Frank loved practicing his Indonesian with our delightful and conscientious room stewards "Bambang" and "Hamka".  And our dining room servers, Darko from Croatia and Miller from Jamaica, joined in the dinner time fun.

We had beautiful weather for most of the trip and loved walking the promenades. We especially liked watching for flying fish. These amazing creatures shoot straight upward, out of the water and zoom across the waves flapping their "minature wings" for long distances; we saw some of them go as far as half a football field (150 yards).

Jane and Hannah Bailey (2 more of our table mates)


The last two days of our cruise, the weather changed as we picked up some remnants of Hurricane Thomas. The seas were really rough with waves of 10 - 12 feet. We had to be careful just walking around the ship, and at night it was like sleeping on a roller coaster. One older woman was knocked to the floor as we stood nearby; she was unconscious for a while, but thankfully, the medical team brought her around, and she was OK. Days after we had left the boat, we were still getting that sinking stomach feeling as if the earth was moving under our feet.


For our engineering friends out there (and the curious), the final tally of miles traveled on this cruise was 4934 nautical miles (1 nautical mile equals 1.15 land miles).



 



 

Canary Islands and Why Ship Excursions are Not for Us





Market in La Laguna

 We visited two of the seven Canary Islands - the islands of Tenerife and La Palma. In both ports, we decided to cast fate to the wind and try the ship excursions, something we have never done before. We’ll talk more about each individual tour in a minute, but the biggest problems with these excursions were our fellow passengers! Who are these people and why are they so angry? Unfortunately, they were almost all Americans, and listening to them you would think that being on a luxury cruise like this was some kind of strange and unusual punishment. Who knows what they were expecting from these excursion tours, but they complained about everything all day long. It was pretty disheartening, but we managed to have a good time anyway.

Our first port was Santa Cruz de Tenerife on the island of Tenerife, the largest island in the Canaries. For us, Tenerife was more modern and less appealing than La Palma. We visited La Laguna, considered the most charming city on Tenerife where we saw a church with a grand silver altar (made with silver from Mexico) and a fun market filled with stands selling all varieties of tropical fruit and an incredible assortment of fresh fish. Our guide, Jackie, was a nice person but could use some work on her guiding skills -- very disorganized and no sense of humor. (Now that Anne gives tours herself, at the Moravian Museum in Bethlehem, she is much more aware of this kind of thing LOL!) We did love some of Jackie’s pronunciations: our favorite was “aristo crazies” for aristocracies!
This was called the “Culture and Wine” tour, so you know what is coming next. The Bodega Alvaro in Tacorante was our favorite stop -- an old-fashioned place with floor to ceiling shelves of dusty wine bottles covering every wall.



Wine tasting in Tenerife

We were given free reign to help ourselves to a couple of glasses of Canary Island wine including a bland white, a so-so red, a very nice Rosado, and a wonderfully spicy, high alcohol concoction called “Ruda” (this one was so special it wasn’t even for sale!). All of these wines were served with a nice selection of tapas including thinly sliced ham and yummy little boiled potatoes that we dipped in a great spicy sauce. 
                      
The next day, we docked at Santa Cruz de La Palma on the smaller, and much more interesting island of La Palma. We were dismayed to see some of the same complaining folks as yesterday including a trio from Texas who seem to have “Longhorns” embroidered on every piece of clothing they own, but this was a much better tour. Our tour guide, Robert, was excellent, and the island was beautiful.

Beautiful La Palma

                                           
First stop was the San Antonio volcano at the very southern tip of the island where we had a good walk around the rim of the volcano enjoying the strange geology and gorgeous views of the ocean. This island was much smaller with more vegetation (bananas, lots of colorful flowers) and sweet little houses painted in every pastel color from yellow to purple.
 

Colorful pastel houses on La Palma



Next stop (you guessed it): a winery. La Palma has all these old (and odd) grape varieties that were brought here years ago from countries like Portugal, Spain, and Italy. We tasted Listan (a bland white), Negromoll (a nice, powerful red), Sobra (a tasty semi-sweet white), and Malmsey (their famous white sweet wine) to name a few.

Walking the rim of the San Antonio volcano

The Flower Island of Madeira



Camara de Lobo

 Anne had arranged for a private tour with Daniel’s Taxi, and Daniel himself showed us the sights. Anne had also found another couple (via Cruise Critic) to join us: Joan and Rudy from Colorado. We have been wanting to visit Madeira ever since our French friends, Eric and Helene, had recommended it to us years ago. We spent a full day getting a good overview of this island paradise.

We began at charming Camara de Lobo, a small fishing village Winston Churchill was fond of painting. Yes, “Winnie” Churchill was a devout painter, and spent a lot of time here on Madeira. Then, we traveled up to the top of Cabo Girao, the second highest cliff in the world. The scenery of Madeira is constantly changing from crashing waves to dramatic inland mountains and from small black sand beaches (volcanic) to pine forests. But there is one constant: flowers and lush vegetation are everywhere!

Bananas are the biggest export, and we were amazed to learn that it takes about 1 ½ - 2 years for a banana tree to produce one big bunch of bananas (about 100 lbs.) and then it dies. It does however leave behind “daughter trees,” so the trees continue to self-propagate. Didn’t sound like a very profitable undertaking, but it is big business here, exceeded only by tourism.

We could go on and on about the fabulous viewpoints and stunning geography. This is extremely mountainous territory, and we saw stairways all over the island, steep stairs carved from the rocky mountainsides that locals still use to walk from place to place. Many of the hillside homes have no roads, so the only way to get to your house is to climb on foot!

We ate lunch in an outdoor café surrounded by many Bird of Paradise flowers. We ate a local specialty called “espada,” a fish that is only caught off the coast here and in Japan. What makes espada unique is that it comes from 3,000 feet below the sea! (The poor things die on their way to the surface -- we guess they get the “bends” as they‘re pulled up). Anyway, the fish is served grilled with bananas, and it was delicious.

The beauty here is overwhelming with flowers everywhere: hibiscus, hydrangea, belladonna, bougainvillea -- and huge poinsettia trees grow wild! But Daniel also showed us the terrible hurricane damage. The island had received 7 times the normal rainfall, and when the hurricane hit, the water had nowhere to go. As a result, water, mud and huge rocks poured down these steep mountainsides. Daniel said it happened in seconds with no warning at all. We saw great swathes of boulders where homes used to be. Climate change is a scary thing.

Madeira is famous for its levadas, an extensive network of cut rock aqueducts or cement channels that carry water down from the mountains (to power electric turbines, to provide irrigation, and for drinking water). We only saw a small stretch of one, but we could see that following the levadas would make fabulous trails for hiking.

In case any of you were wondering, we did get to taste (and buy) some of the famous Madeira wine! Although we wish we had had more time to spend learning about this special wine. Oh, and this time, we had to turn our wine over to the “wine guy” when we got back on board the ship. Based on the number of bottles we saw passengers carrying onto the ship (us included), the ship must have one huge wine storage area!

Our little tour group: Daniel, our taxi driver (to the left) and Rudy and Joan (on the right) 

Malaga, the Moors, and a Man called Pedro



Entrance to the Alcazaba



Our first port stop was in Malaga, Spain. We were delighted with this seaside city in southern Spain with its craggy mountain backdrop and interesting historic sites. We wandered on our own beginning with the Alcazaba, a palace-fortress built by the Moors in the 10 hundreds. Moorish influence is strong here since the Moors occupied Malaga for about 700 years.



Reflecting pool in the palace of Alcazaba



The fortress is positioned on a steep mountainside so we wandered up stylishly patterned brick and stone walkways passing thru Arab keyhole archways and portals. The Palace sits at a high point overlooking the city, with beautiful gardens, fountains, and reflecting pools -- like a mini-Alhambra for those of you who have seen the Alhambra. The Moors had a thing for water; it was valued as the equivalent of “gold“ to them, since it was never available in abundance. A network of brick water troughs still channels water to all the plants and trees and fills the fountains and pools. 



Castel Gibralfaro with view of the harbor

 The Castel Gibralfaro sits even higher on the mountain peak. We took a taxi cab to the top and walked back down to the city (a good move!). We walked the old ramparts taking in the excellent views including one of our ship clearly visible in the harbor below. We also got a great top down view of Malaga’s impressive bullfighting arena. 



Goofing around at the Castel

 After descending from the mountain, we hiked across town enjoying the great vibe in the winding streets of colorful mansions and pretty outdoor cafes. Our goal was the Malaga Wine Museum. Pedro, the museum host, was very curt and not the least bit welcoming. We quickly toured the small museum after which Pedro poured us some Malagan wine. He really was quite rude, but I guess when he saw how interested we were in the wine, he started to warm up (or maybe it was because we bought a couple bottles!). The history of Malagan wine goes back to the Moors who made wine (even though the Koran forbids the drinking of alcohol). Malagan wines are fortified wines with alcohol levels of 18-19%. The dry ones are sherry-like, but the most typical wines are very dulce (sweet).

Pedro became such a good buddy; he even recommended his favorite restaurant to us, which turned out to be a wonderful suggestion on many levels. We don’t know if Pedro let them know we were coming, but the folks at La Garrafa treated us incredibly well. It was a cute wine tavern where we sat on little stools surrounded by wine barrels. We ordered several tapas (including giant meatballs made with hamburger and almonds - called “albundigones”, that were really good), and the staff added a free plate of excellent roasted peppers (maybe they thought we needed a veggie?). They must have thought we needed a sweet too because when we declined dessert, they brought us two slices of free cheesecake! Thank you, Pedro!!

Our lucky streak continued when we boarded the ship. The Celebrity rule is that any wine (or alcohol) purchased in a port must be stored by them until the end of the cruise (they really want you to buy your drinks on board). But no one said a word as they x-rayed our bags with the 3 wine bottles.



In the gardens of the Alcazaba



Anchors Away

The Celebrity Century (our home for the next two weeks)







We checked the Celebrity website first thing today, and it indicated that the cruise was definitely a “go” for us, but that we’d have a couple of hours delay because of those rudder problems they had on the previous leg of their trip. So, with sailing in mind, we taxied out to the port where we waited for our ship, the “Celebrity Century“, with the rest of the passengers. After about 3 hrs. in the terminal, we finally boarded the newly-repaired ship by 6:00 p.m. All the crew seemed in good spirits, and everyone has been quick to assure us that the ship was fully repaired.

The ship finally left the port of Barcelona at midnight. We hit some choppy water overnight -- the ship was rockin’ and a rollin’, but it really didn’t bother us. Today we have a sea day, so we are taking it easy seeing a movie in the theater, and hitting the fitness center. For those of you who have cruised before, you know that food can be a major problem. Food is so plentiful and deliciously presented aboard these ships, that one can easily and forgivably overdo the eating. The perpetual dieters (like us) are continually “sandwiched” between a medley of great tasting foods and maintaining enough activity to keep the calories from sticking. We are thankful for that fitness center, and the long promenades where we can walk the perimeter of this ship, and keep the body weight somewhat in check.



Frank in the onboard fitness center


When we were waiting to depart from Barcelona, we watched the crew loading pallet after pallet of supplies (mostly beer and other booze) on to the ship. What an operation that is! The port forklifts carry the pallets to the edge of the gangway, and then the onboard ship’s smaller forklifts pick them up and pull them into the ship‘s hull. Obviously, one guy’s territory ends where another’s begins.

We have an ocean view stateroom on level 5 this time which we are really enjoying. The views of the Spanish coast under a full moon were spectacular. However, although we will reserve judgment until the end of the cruise, we are thinking that we much preferred Holland American, the cruise line we had taken last year.

Tarragona, Beaches, and Dali (& Cava too)

We took a day trip to Tarragona which is about a 1 ½ hour train ride south of Barcelona. Thanks to our neighbor Clif ‘s recommendation (Thanks, Clif!), we visited this port city that was once the Roman capitol of Hispania. 


The Roman Aqueduct


Tarragona is a lovely city with great views of the Med and a remarkable variety of Roman ruins. It was especially interesting to see how the modern city has built itself on and around the tremains of the old Roman town. We began with the archaeological museum with its fabulous Roman mosaics and various items from daily Roman life. As always, we marveled at how creative and resourceful these ancient people were. Then, we checked out the many Roman ruins including the Roman Circus where the Romans held their chariot races and the Amphitheater where gladiators once fought.

We took a cab 3 km outside the city to the Roman Aqueduct (also called the Devil’s Bridge) . It was impressive, and we had hoped to walk on it; however, the site was closed for restoration. Lots of scaffolding surrounded the aqueduct, but it was still a magnificent sight.




The Beach at Barceloneta


We spent the next two days in a more relaxed mode strolling along the beaches of Barceloneta, a seaside resort about 10 minutes walk from our apartment. Barcelona is certainly a diverse city with medieval ruins, modern architectural wonders, and a beach too!

We also hopped a train down to the beach resort of Sitges (about 45 minutes south) where we enjoyed the small laidback town of whitewashed buildings that reminded us of Greece. The beach was lovely and the small shops were great for browsing.



Sitges


Saturday was “Dali Day.” We had arranged to take an all-day tour to visit the Salvador Dali Museum in Figueres and also Dali’s home on the coast in Port Lligat (near the resort town of Cadaques). Dali was one wild and crazy dude! From the moment we first glimpsed the Dali Museum with its roof topped with giant eggs and gold figures that look like the Oscar statuettes, we knew we were in for something out of the ordinary.

The Dali Museum is almost a hallucinatory experience with all the bizarre surrealistic art and a good dose of Dali’s unique sense of humor. For example, a Cadillac on display in the huge courtyard “rains” inside the car if you put a euro in the money box. Initially, we thought that Dali must have been a lunatic; however, by the end of the day, we could appreciate his genius. He had great success not only in painting, but in sculpture, jewelry-making and even designed screen sets for Hollywood. A highlight of the jewelry room was a brooch with an actual “beating” red-jeweled heart.




Salvador Dali self-portrait


Dali was one of the few artists who became wealthy during his lifetime. He and his wife and soul mate, Gala, built a mansion on a gorgeous secluded harbor at Port Lligat. Just like the museum, the house reflects Dali’s playful style, but you also get a sense of the wonderful life he and Gala had together.
In many ways, Dali’s art seems like profanity on the canvas -- he took great joy in twisting classical works and themes in strange, shocking ways creating a surrealistic dream world all his own. He was quite a character that you might not take seriously especially with that ridiculous, pointed mustache. But his true genius was his creative energy and his simple, childlike humor. Who else would decorate his swimming pool with plastic images of the Michelin Man?

On our last full day in Barcelona, we explored another aspect of Catalan life: cava (i.e. champagne). The term champagne can only be used in France, so the Spanish sparkling wine is called cava. Our Wine and Cava tour took us into the famous Penedes wine region where we visited three vineyards. The first, Jean Leon, was a small exclusive place founded by the colorful character Jean Leon who owed the famous La Scala restaurant in Hollywood (with business partner James Dean) and hobnobbed with Hollywood starlets and even Ronald Reagtan and JFK.



Dali had a fetish for the Michelin Man!


Our second stop was at the Torres Winery, a huge almost factory-like operation but their Cabernet Sauvignon (with a hint of Tempranillo) was outstanding. The final stop was at Freixenet, the largest cava producer in Spain. (You may be familiar with Freixenet which is sold in the U.S. in a signature black bottle.) It was a fun day of wine-tasting out in the Tuscan-like countryside.




Wine and Cava Tour


This is our last day here in Barcelona (we think!). Our ship, the Celebrity Century, has been having some rudder issues. The Century’s previous cruise was aborted on the second day of sailing and all the passengers were forced off the ship and left to fend for themselves. The Century has been in dry dock for repairs ever since although we understand the ship is headed for Barcelona as we write this. As of the moment, ETA is 3:30 p.m. today (delayed from 11:00 a.m.).

Barcelona and Gaudy Gaudi

A short 1 ½ hour Easy Jet flight and we feel as if we have arrived in the tropics -- the temperature is up about 20 degrees, and our ride from the airport passes palm trees and gentle Mediterranean beaches. We have rented an apartment for the next 9 nights in a warren of tiny streets in the old Gothic Quarter near the magnificent Santa Maria del Mar, the finest Gothic church in the city. We really hit the jackpot with an amazingly spacious apartment. Even the bathroom is huge, and the separate bedroom is bigger than our whole hotel room in London! 

Typical staircase in Gothic home

As soon as we entered our apartment, we heard a choir of young school girls performing in the street right below our balcony, and we immediately fell in love with Barcelona. Especially this old section where the narrow streets and medieval stone buildings remind us of Italy. Barcelona definitely has soul! Unfortunately, all that soul comes at a price. We had barely stepped out of the taxi when we were approached by our first scammer -- a harmless guy with a hard luck story looking for a handout. Sadly, Barcelona has a reputation for pickpockets and scammers, so we will need to be “en guarde!”

We kicked off our first full day here with a walking tour of the Gothic Quarter. It is remarkable how much of the medieval city and even the Roman ruins still remain! We came here to see the ‘modernisme” architecture of Antoni Gaudi but are blown away by the ancient city. We also visited the history museum descending deep below the city into a 2,000 year-old past where we saw the Roman ruins of a marketplace with shops, a community clothes washing facility, a fish salting/drying factory, and even a winery that once held 10,000 liters of wine in clay amphorae! Interesting how wine has been a commodity that has survived the ages.

For a change of pace, we wandered over to the Picasso Museum. The paintings were presented in chronological order giving us the chance to see how this genius evolved. It is fascinating to see how Picasso learned from everyone. We could see influences from Toulouse-Lautrec, Cezanne, Seurat etc. Picasso could have been a successful artist of any type, but of course, he was a renegade developing his own unique cubist style.



Spires of Sagrada Familia

 On Monday, we dove into the modernisme part of town to see what all this fuss is about Antoni Gaudi. One look at Sagrada Familia (his masterpiece of a church that has been under construction for over 100 years) and we were hooked! Words cannot describe this riot of twisted stone figures, flower-topped spires, and elongated pillars that look like giant palm trees.

Christ hang-gliding in for a landing

(What we guess will be) the altar has a statue of Christ hanging from some mushroom-like structure that makes it look like Christ is paragliding into the sanctuary. We took the lift up into one of the towers and walked down the narrow, sometimes claustrophobic, spiral stairs to fully enjoy some close-up views of Gaudi’s creation. Lots of surprising color with a green tree filled with white doves and pillars that look like they are holding piles of red and yellow soccer balls. It really is unlike any church (or building) we have ever seen.

Now that we have been bitten by the Gaudi bug, there is no stopping us. We headed north to Parc Guell with its overwhelmingly colorful ceramic park entrance that includes a polka-dotted spire, a multicolored lizard that doubles as a fountain, and wavy walls decorated with flowery tiles. We wandered around enjoying the beautiful day and the strange walkways made of rough piles of rocks that look like aqueducts and feel like grottos.

Fantasy features of Parc Guell

Parc Guell sits high on the hillside, so it is all downhill from here to our apartment. The 3-mile walk gave us a chance to see the city at close-range. Along the way, we came to Gaudi’s apartment building, Casa Mila (aka La Pedrera), and it was still open so we climbed to the rooftop for a view bathed in late afternoon sunlight. The roof is dotted with strange geometric figures that somehow reminded us of chess pieces. As always, everything swirls, and there are no straight lines or corners in sight. Gaudi liked to emulate nature in his architecture - lines of his art flowing according to natural structures - like tree branches, or beehive colonies, or vertebrae.

Rooftop of Casa Mila

By now, it was dark and the ornate streetlights were shining as we walked past graceful Mediterranean-style buildings with delicate wrought iron balconies. But we haven’t finished with Gaudi -- his Casa Batllo is the prettiest building yet and looked like something in a fairytale book, with all the swirls and colors illuminated by strategically placed spotlights.

We were too exhausted to cook dinner tonight, so we ate tapas at a small café, treated ourselves to a gelato ice cream for dessert, and collapsed in our apartment with visions of Gaudi swirling in our heads.

On Tuesday, we hiked over to the famous Palau de la Musica Catalana and signed on for a tour of the colorful and ornate musical auditorium that was build back in 1908. The polished marble staircase that ascended to the balcony was accented with amber glass balusters, and a red carpet that bid “welcome.” Our young tour guide seated us in the audience, center stage, and we observed an explosion of color tiles covering the walls and, in fact the entire theater, lending unusual sparkle and luster to the ambiance of the stage. The stage itself was quite remarkable with an international assortment of female musicians playing all kinds of instruments. Their lower bodies were made of colorful mosaics, but their upper bodies were
3-D sculptures that seemed to come alive as they leaned forward out of the wall. A true celebration of music!

Thru the techniques of modern electronics, our guide even played a Bach organ piece for our musical pleasure by activating the impressive organ with the push of a button. Ahhh, Bach! To think of the many masters that have performed here (Wagner, Richard Strauss, et al) on this stage boggled our feeble little minds.

We spent the afternoon up on Montjuic, the castle-topped mountain with terrific views over the city and out into the Med. We took a combination of Metro, Funicular, and Teleferic (cable car), so getting there was half the fun. Sadly, this lovely spot has a less than lovely history since the castle was once a prison and a favorite place for Franco to torture any dissidents.

We ended the day with a visit to the Mercat de la Boqueria, the best open-air market in the city. Stocked up on some goodies (including our new favorite beer, Estrella Damm) and then made a homemade meal of Pasta Bolognese. Yummy!!

Cromwell, Churchill, and WWII

  

As you may remember, we love walking tours, and London Walks (along with their counterpart Paris Walks) is among the very best. We selected the Westminster Walk covering 1,000 years of British history. Our guide, Chris, seemed like a real grump initially, but once she got going, we had a terrific tour all around Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey.

Parliament and Big Ben



We could not begin to describe all the tidbits of history that we learned, but here are two stories. The statue of Winston Churchill is much less ”pigeoned” than other statues nearby. Various theories on this include that it is electrified or has some kind of vibration device built into it. The truth is that Churchill is still so beloved by the British people, that local people constantly scrub away the dirt.

When the monarchy was restored, the king had Oliver Cromwell’s body exhumed. The mummified remains were than drawn and quartered, and the head cut off. The head was displayed on the roof of Parliament until a storm blew it off. A Cromwell supporter grabbed the head and took it to Cambridge where it remains to this day stored in a cupboard. (And we think our politics are bizarre!)

Looking for a “posh” night out, we attended a performance of Verdi‘s “Rigoletto” at The Royal Opera House. Quite the standing room only event. One odd thing was how all these well-dressed people slurped down ice cream during the “interval!” (Ice cream is so popular, you can even reserve your ice cream ahead of time! Wouldn‘t want to miss out, would you?)

Our last full day in London was dedicated to WWII. Anne keeps saying that so much of London looks like the war ended yesterday, and nowhere is that more true than in the Cabinet War Rooms. These underground rooms are exactly as they were when Churchill left them. Down here in claustrophobic conditions, dozens of secretaries and assistants typed battle orders, translated Morse code, and tracked convoys crossing the Atlantic. We saw a closet where Churchill spoke to FDR and later Truman on a special scrambled transatlantic phone. And Churchill’s bedroom with one of his signature cigars on the nightstand.




Original German 250 kilo bomb

 



The Churchill museum (established within the war rooms) traced the ups and mostly downs of Churchill’s life before becoming Prime Minister. He had been a scholastic failure, nearly went bankrupt, and thought his political career was over after he mishandled the disastrous battle at Gallipoli. But then at the age of 65, he saves England from the Nazis! Never too late, huh?

 We celebrated our last night in London with friends Gill and Len who we met 5 years ago at Lake Bled in Slovenia. We had a fun night dining on Italian food and then hitting a local pub for a bit of beer and dancing.

A few final thoughts on London. Just as Paris is all about beauty, London displays the industrious nature of the British with a heavy dose of perseverance and a staunchness of character -- a people that have survived so much and still remain proudly standing. We especially love the way the Brits look out for visitors. From the constant announcements on the Tube to “mind the gap” (the space between the subway car and the platform), to the warnings painted on the sidewalks at most busy intersections to “Look to the Left” (or Right) -- helpful reminders for those of us who may forget that the Brits drive on the left.

London is not at all exotic, nothing like a Bangkok or a Beijing, but we feel completely at home here. In spite of terrorist threats and all the upheaval in the world, we feel safe and sound in a Britain that is still Great!



Cheers from Gill and Len!



Art Museums and the Ripper

Hello from London Town!

And welcome to our new blog! Please let us know any comments or suggestions.

We arrived here late Monday night. Our flight was uneventful except for a 1 ½ hr. delay because we had to return to the terminal just before take-off to drop off an ill passenger (that was a new one).. Unfortunately, Virgin Air was quite disappointing: The food was tasteless, the entertainment system outdated, and lots of things were broken (including one of the toilets). We had heard such good things about this airline but would be in no hurry to fly them again.


Distinctive red telephone booth

 Our hotel, The Caring Hotel, is your typical British budget accommodation. A very clean but very tiny room with an even tinier bathroom. Low wattage lighting and no frills whatsoever (one towel a piece, no shampoo etc.) But, it is perfect for us, and the price is quite reasonable (for London). The neighborhood is great -- tree-lined streets and lots of stately Georgian buildings with white pillars flanking the doors (most of which are now hotels). Plus, three Tube (subway) stops and lots of shops are close by.

Our first day was a full one beginning with a trip to The National Gallery on Trafalgar Square. We have not been here in almost 15 years and were thrilled to see that little has changed. London still has the distinctive red double-decker buses, black taxis, and red telephone booths on every corner.




Trafalgar Square

 We have to thank Rick Steves for suggesting The National Gallery museum’s audio guide. He says it is one of the best in Europe, and we would have to agree. The museum traces the history of painting up to the Impressionists and the commentary on the paintings was brilliant -- Anne felt as if she was spending a day in art school!



The café in the crypt at St. Martin in the Field Church made an atmospheric choice for a healthy lunch. Feeling energetic, we decided to walk along the Thames to the Tower of London. The weather was perfect: blue skies, crisp and cool -- pretty amazing for London LOL. All that walking made us thirsty so we stopped off at The Black Friar pub. This ancient place was once a monastery, and Henry VIII supposedly met with his court here to figure out how he could get rid of his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. History is all around us here. We each had a pint and continued on our trek.



Tower Bridge 



Our goal was to join the “Rippin’ Yarns Jack the Ripper” tour at 6:45. Every walking tour outfit in London offers a Jack the Ripper tour, but this one is conducted by a genuine Beefeater, one of the 36 guard/tour guides at The Tower of London. Our Beefeater guide, Ken, explained that all the Beefeaters and their families actually live inside the Tower. They are on call 24/7 in case there’s a fire (or some fool falls in the moat!).

Anyway, other than being a bit overdramatic from time to time, Ken gave us a great tour and a lot of new details about The Ripper (not to mention showing us some very grisly pictures). By the conclusion of the tour, Ken had laid out a pretty convincing argument about the true identity of Jack the Ripper. If you want all the gory details, just drop us an email.

On Tuesday, we moved on to modern art with a visit to The Tate Modern. BTW, many museums in London are free (which helps to offset the high expense of everything else!) As an example, one discounted ride on the Tube costs 1.80 pounds (about $2.88 American dollars!)



A carpet of "sunflower seeds."

 Modern art is always fun and the Tate was a hoot. Our favorite art work was a special exhibit by Ai Weiwei, a Chinese guy who covered the floor of the main hall with “sunflower seeds.” The “seeds” were actually made of porcelain and hand-painted by 1600 Chinese artisans. There must have been millions of these seeds. The best part was that this was an interactive exhibit so everybody was playing in the seeds -- throwing them in the air, rolling around in them, etc. What an incredibly imaginative and joyful work of art!

Tuesday night, we headed for the Adelphi Theater to see “Love Never Dies,” the sequel to “Phantom of the Opera.” The Phantom is a hard act to follow, and the sequel has received mixed reviews. Frank thought it was a bit of a “chick flick” -- too little action and no memorable songs. Anne was familiar with the music and enjoyed it much more. Both agreed that the special effects and magical illusions were nothing like we had ever seen before; live theater has really come a long way.

Hope all is well and that you are enjoying a beautiful fall. More museums, theater and walking tours to come.

Cheers from Merry Olde England!
　
　



Frank plays with his nuts (or should we say sunflower seeds)!