|
Europe 2010 August
Madrid, San Lorenzo del Escorial, Villaviciosa de Odon, Aranjuez, Segovia: Spain August Sunday August 1 Well here we are on the last month of the blog. We are winding down our European vacation with less than one week to go. Woke up at 6:00 Rita at 6:30. She was ambitious because she wanted to go to the Rastro market Raija and Ken had raved about. It is on every Sunday by the La Latina Metro station. Left the house around 8:45. The heat was not yet intense, and the 15 minute walk was not too bad. Arrived at the Principe Pio around 9:30 and took the Metro to La Latina station.
Rita was in her glory as soon as we came out of the Metro. There were thousands of booths full of junk. Just what Rita likes.
Her head was just spinning around looking at all the purses, fans and the other junk.
She had many hard decisions to make. I could see her thinking, "should I buy this junk or that junk".
Anyways, after she finished with her frenzy, we took the Metro to the Opera station. I expected to see the Madrid Opera House. Nothing of the sort. It was the square where Ken had tried to exchange his Swedish Kronas. Decided to walk to the Plaza Mayor where we had a beer.
Decided not to take the Metro back to Principe Pio but to walk the side streets to see what we could see. Saw some fantastic wooden doors and heavy wrought iron grating on every window in the neighborhood. Spanish take their security seriously.
Rita was still looking for a Paella to rival Eija's.
I personally, am sick of Paellas for a while, and hope to try other foods while we are in Spain. Walked by the palace again.
The heat was so intense that I didn't even feel like having a beer in the shade of the umbrellas in front of the restaurants.
We walked to Principe Pio. I was getting tired of carrying Rita's haul in my backpack. Fans and shirts she bought as presents. On the way we went through the underground intersection between the Palace and Principe Pio. There were at least half a dozen street cleaners pushing their garbage cans on wheels. They seem to have their headquarters right in the tunnel. The streets were filthy, littered with paper and plastic cups, newspapers you name it. They just walked right by everything, even the plastic cup in front of their headquarters, without bothering to pick it up. Wondered if their job was to push the garbage cans around all day, or actually pick up garbage?
Rita went into the air-conditioned shopping center for about half an hour looking for Spanish birthday cards and other stuff, I suppose. Just missed the 518 back to Villaviciosa de Odon. Not a big deal. Unlike when we are going to Madrid, where we have to stand out in the burning sun, this humongous bus station is air-conditioned. Arrived back around 15:00. Then made the gruelling 15 minute walk back to the house. Sat on the back patio and ate cold watermelon and cherries.
Oh well, I might as well admit it. You know me too well. We also drank a beer. Rita went swimming after 19:00. I had my own way of cooling off.
Monday August 2 Started mowing the lawn at 8:15. Took the mower out of the shed and tried to start it. No luck. Checked the fuel tank, it was empty. Found the gas can and filled it up. Wrooom, no problem. Went around the front and back of the house once. The lawnmower died. Tried restarting it. No luck. Waited a while, started it again, went around another swat, it died again. Did this four times. The weather was getting hot and Rita was ready to go, so put the mower back in the shed. If I do this every morning for the rest of our holidays, I figure I should just about have the whole lawn mowed. We decided to go to El Escoreal. The Order of Saint Augustine has a monastery there where the monarchs of Spain are entombed. We had several choices of where to go, decided on El Escoreal. You can see the monastery, which is on the side of a mountain, from miles away.
Arrived there around 11:30. We had no problem finding a parking spot. As a mater of fact the town looked deserted.
Walked to the monastery and there might have been half a dozen people walking around in the large square in front of the building.
Walked around took some pictures and came across a sign which also had English on it. The monastery is closed one day a week. Can you guess which day? If you guessed Mondays give yourself a pat on the back. You are absolutely correct. No big disappointment, since I was still tombed out from England. Walked around the beautiful town and took some pictures.
It was starting to get hot so we decided to get back to the air-conditioned car to cool off, and head back to Villaviciosa de Odon, the town where we are staying, and explore that a little further. Arrived back at Villaviciose de Odon around 15:00. Parked the car and stared walking in the shade of the trees and buildings. Came across this statue which I suppose can be described as a recipe for making Paella.
This statue was more to Rita's liking.
Villaviciose de Odon is also a very beautiful and interesting town. Trouble is that we are in this area of Spain at the wrong time of the year. It was around 38°C.
As I said earlier The Spanish seem to be very security conscious. Everything is barred and locked up even, as Rita discovered when she tried to steal it, the planters on the street.
Walked around and finally we were roasted and well done.
Stopped at a sidewalk café and decided to have a beer and lunch.
Had no problem ordering the beer, I am getting quite fluent in Spanish. The menu however was a bit more difficult. It was in Spanish only, and the waiter didn't speak a word of English. Saw Gazpacho and ordered it immediately. At least I was going to get a soup I liked. Rita was determined to try another Paella. We were able to understand from what the waiter was saying that it is for two people and it takes 35 minutes to prepare it. We weren't all that hungry and it was hot even under the canopy. So decided to try our luck by just guessing. Rita wanted a Tapa so she kept asking the waiter which the Tapas were. The waiter pointed at a section of the menu and Rita pointed to one. I had noticed that they had Hamburgers and steak, but was determined to eat Spanish food while we are in Spain. Noticed a section with what I translated to be Traditional food. Pointed to the top one. The Gazpacho was good. Rita's food arrived. It was a piece of fried bread covered with what seemed to be noodles and a few shrimp on top with a side of skinny French fries. My traditional dish came in a crock plate and it was still boiling when it arrived at the table from the heat of the crock plate. It was a thick stew with what seemed to be pig skins and a few pieces of wieners. No side dish. Just the stew. I tasted it and confirmed that it was pig skin. It was so full of collagen that my lips were starting to get glued together. Good thing I had the beer glass to pry them apart. I decided to call it "The Traditional Postmaster Stew". It was probably the dish the Postmasters used to eat before the time of the pre-glued stamp. No need for glue, just lick the stamp and stick it on the envelope. Ate half of it and left the rest. If you know me, I will eat just about anything. Try never to leave food on the plate. But this was the exception. I don't know why I didn't take pictures of our plates. I am usually pretty good at documenting things. Left the restaurant and decided to go to the Mercadona we had noticed in town. It had a big sign saying it was a Super Mercadona. It was the same size as the Mercadona we shop at near the house, with the same selection of food and the same song. If you haven't listened to it, I will give you another chance.
Came home and vacuumed the bottom of the swimming pool. It had a film on the bottom of it. I gave Rita orders, that if I ever even consider having a swimming pool, to give me a whack upside my head. Tuesday August 3 Tried mowing the lawn again. Took a while to get the lawnmower started, but eventually it did. Moved about 20', it started sputtering and died. The weather is comfortable, and it would be a good time to mow it. There are a few clouds in the sky and it is windy. Forgot to mention, last night we had a gust of wind that blew all the plastic lawn chairs off the back patio. I better go and try to mow a little more before we leave for Aranjuez, another town that was recommended to us by our exchange partners and by Antonio. With our luck it's probably closed Tuesdays. Drove into Aranjuez and parked the car about ½Km. from the Palace. Walked through a park in front of the palace.
The sun was out as usual, and we tried as much as possible to keep in the shade. Walked through the long archway that goes to the palace.
Once you're at the palace it is easy to keep out of the sun.
We bought our tickets €9.00 and our electronic guides €5.00 plus I had to lock up my backpack in a locker €1.00.
Again there was no photography allowed, and there were palace police all over the place. There were more guards than guests. But not to disappoint my readers I snuck a few pictures.
We discovered that one of the monarchs Ferdinand VI of Spain lived in Villaviciosa de Odon and died there. I have heard no mention of this, and cannot find a castle or a palace near our town on my GPS. Rita was really interested in the fan collection, so I put my life at risk and snuck a picture in the fan room.
Took a few legal pictures of the outside of the Palace, and then headed home.
Had a bit of a problem finding the car, but eventually we were on the road. Decided to stop at Mercadona to buy something for dinner. Rita noticed the noodly things she had on her Tapa yesterday in the fish department at the store. They were not noodles, but Angurinas (baby eels). Did I fail to mention that the average Spaniard eats 80Kg. of sea food a year, as compared to the rest of the EEU which eat only 15Kg. on average. Wednesday August 4 Vacuumed the bottom of the pool and started to mow the lawn first thing in the morning. This time the mower would not start at all. Waited a little while, nothing. Having worked most of my life as a trouble-shooter, I decided that the d--- thing was starving and probably developing a vacuum in the tank. Loosened the gas cap and wrooom it started and kept going. The breather must be plugged. Finally managed to mow the lawn. The trouble was that some of the clippings got into the pool no mater how hard I tried to keep them out. So, cleaned the d--- pool again.
Left for Segovia around 11:00, a one hour drive. About 15Km. from Segovia we came to a tollbooth. The booths were all in the other direction and we drove straight through. Mentioned to Rita that we have to keep our eyes open. Didn't want to pay a penalty, as we did in Portugal. Then in about 5Km we hit another toll booth, this was on booth sides of the freeway. Started to worry, as we drove up, since we didn't have a ticket. The attendant indicated on the display that the toll was €6.95. I guess we were a few angstroms short of €7.00. Paid, and drove down the beautiful freeway. They have beautiful and wide freeways in Spain with 120Km speed limits. Most of them underutilized. Close to Madrid the freeways are well used, but there are a lot with hardly any traffic on them as you get out of the city. There was hardly any traffic on this one. We could sure use some of these freeways in the lower mainland. Drove into Segovia and found an underground parking lot beside the Aqueduct. The Roman Aqueduct is impressive. Amazingly well preserved and the city itself is very picturesque, as you can tell by the number of pictures I took.
Walked up the long stairway to the top of the aqueduct.
Walked down the narrow streets stopping at every shoe store in town. Rita is still looking for a pair of sandals like Raija has. She has looked into hundreds of shoe stores, looked at thousands of sandals, but nothing has excited her like Raija's sandals.
Walked around the cathedral and went to the main square.
There were numerous restaurants around the square, and since we had our minds set on Cochinillo Asado (Roast Suckling Pig), we picked one that had it on its menu. Ordered "dos cervezas". The waiter, who was dressed in a black suit, came back with two beers and two Tapas. It was a piece of bread with potato on it.
Looked at the English menu and found a tourist special at the top of the page. You had a choice of three kinds of soup, three kinds of entrées, three kinds of desserts served with a glass of wine for €32.00. Since I was driving and we didn't feel like having a dessert, we decided to just order two different kinds of soup and of course Cochinillo Asado, for which Segovia is famous for. The waiter, who spoke English well, recommended that we order two types of Cochinillo Asado so we could taste the difference between the two styles. One glazed and one without glaze. We agreed that that was a good idea. Rita ordered a "Sopa de melon con gambas" (melon soup with shrimp) and I, of course, ordered Gazpacho.
The soups were good. Waited for the Cochinillo Asado to come. It was a very comfortable day with the temperature only around 30°C and we enjoyed sitting under the canopy watching people walking by in the square. Our Cochinillo Asados finally came.
Cochinillo confitado on the top and Cochinillo asado on the bottom. Mine, on the top, came with Scalloped Potatoes and Apple Sauce with a piece of crispy pig skin. Rita's was, as you can see, a Leg with Scalloped Potatoes. She immediately wanted a trade, and of course, I agreed. Dug in before the poor piggy could hop away. The meat was excellent. Every bit as good as the Sült Malac (Roast Suckling Pig) I had in Budapest. If you know me, and know my bias towards Hungarian food, it is a great compliment to the chef. The skin was crispy and the meat tasted delicious. But after a few bites the greasiness of the meat got to us. The dish needed some kind of side dish to clear the palate once in a while. All there was on the dish I ended up with, as you can see, was the potatoes soaked with oil with a bit of parsley. Of course there was beer, but I had to drive so couldn't have too much of that either. Rita had the apple sauce and some sweet sauce on her plate. But she didn't care for any of the sauces and everything tasted greasy. As I said, a side dish (Red Cabbage, Sauerkraut, Roast Peppers with a bit of Garlic, Pickles, Anything) would have cut the greasiness of the meal. Well at least we have had Cochinillo Asado in Segovia. The cost: €69.20 ($92.00) There was a little girl walking her dog beside the restaurant. Just had to snap a picture.
Started walking back towards the parking lot. Just couldn't resist taking pictures of the city. Ended up with 175 pictures. Segovia is one of the most beautiful cities we have been to. If you ever come to Spain, it is a "Must See".
On the way home we made sure we got a ticket at the toll both on the freeway. Drove about 5-10Km after the toll booth to another toll booth, paid another €6.95. Stopped at the Mercadona to do some shopping and to listen, one more time, to that catchy little tune. If you have missed it, I have given you a few more chances to listen to it.
Thursday August 5 Cleaning day and the last full day in Madrid. We will be flying out tomorrow afternoon at 16:45 by British Airways to London City Airport. Then we will take a taxi to the Premier Inn, the hotel we stayed at on our way to Helsinki. Rita took a picture of me publishing the web. No, this is not a porno or a nudist site. I am wearing clothes.
Friday August 6 Finished cleaning the house. Took pictures of the house, and then Rita got camera happy. Took pictures of everything including the bathroom sink. Now this is better on the eyes isn't it?
Left the house just after 12:00. Filled up the rental car and drove to Madrid Barajas Airport Terminal 4- I had picked the car up at Terminal 1 and the internet was no help in getting information on car returns. The Hertz office was on the internet but no information on car returns. Arrived at the airport around 13:00. No problem returning the car. A lady came checked it over gave us an envelope to take to the Hertz office at Arrivals. Handed in the key got a receipt. Our flight which was to take off at 16:45 wasn't even on the board.
Since we were no longer officially in Spain we went to McDonalds and had a Big Mac with fries and a Coke.
While waiting we decided to weigh our luggage at one of the scales, that was accidentally left on, at one of the check ins that wasn't being used. Rita's, of course, was overweight. Opened all our luggage and redistributed the contents. Tried to make sure that Rita's unmentionables didn't end up in my suitcase. Wanted to make sure that I went straight through customs, if you know what I mean. All our luggage was maxed out, but not overweight. Arrived at London City Airport and took a Taxi to the Premier Inn close to Heathrow. Cost £99.90. It was still a lot cheaper than flying directly to Heathrow from Madrid, and had a good tour of London to boot. Had a steak at the hotel. And went to bed.
Saturday August 7 Woke up at 6:30 and left the hotel with the 8:00 shuttle. Arrived at Heathrow Terminal 3 around 8:20. Tried to check our luggage in right away, but Air Canada's computers were down. Waited in line for about 20 minutes before the line finally started moving. Checked our luggage in, no problem with the weight, which I constantly worry about traveling with Rita. Went through security around 9:00, and then went for breakfast at one of the restaurants.
At the Duty Free we bought a couple of bottles of Absinth for presents. They started loading the plane around 10:00. Took this picture to show Ken that there is a lot of leg room in third class. Too bad I was wearing socks and unable to make Ken jealous with my pedicure. But then the passengers sitting around me wouldn't have appreciated the aroma therapy.
Sat on the plane for over an hour and finally took off at 11:15 instead of the scheduled time of 10:50. Arrived at 12:40 and breezed through customs. We were out by 13:00. Tina and Dean were supposed to pick us up at the airport. Looked for them, but couldn't find them. Went out to have a cigarette. No Tina and Dean. Tried to phone to see what had happened. All I got were answering machines on their cells. Tried to phone Rick. The phone sounded like it was on Fax. Went back outside. Rita tried to phone, left messages. Finally around 14:15 Tina and Dean showed up. They were in departures having snacks. I had never thought of checking for them in departures to see if they were having snacks. Got to the house at 15:00. We had a reception committee waiting for us in the yard.
The house was in impeccable condition. Brett & Andrew and Maria & Ignacio must have spent most of their holidays cleaning house. I hope they enjoyed their holidays as much as we did. The power had gone off sometime during the time we were away. The microwave, the water filters, the front gate lights, everything was out of sync. I hope it wasn't too much bother for our exchange guests. That is the problem with having back to back exchanges. You never know what the second exchange ends up with. It was a long holiday, 133 days. Rita was ready to come home. I could have stayed for another 133. Well that's it for this Blog. I'm signing off.
|
