Toledo (August 15-16)

We left Barcelona on August 15 and traveled through Madrid to Toledo. This is a very interesting and pretty city. They were also having a festival while we were there.

Barcelona (August 12 to 14)

On August 13, 2015, we went to the Palau de la Música (Palace of Music.) It was extraordinary. Very Gaudi-like in design. They played the pipe organ and the sound was amazing. I imagined Elton John at the keyboard. Oh, my. This place was amazing. Leea didn't really want to go when I told her we were going to the "palace of music," but she was completely mesmerized once we walked into the place.

While in Barcelona, we also went on a harbor cruise and to visit one of Gaudi's first works, a gate house.


On August 14, our last day in Barcelona we went to the Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's most well-known work. It was breathtaking.

Barcelona (AUGUST 11, 2015)

August 10 to 11, 2015

We arrived in Barcelona about 8:30 pm and got to our hotel about 9 pm. Even though I had declined an email offer to upgrade our room to one with a view that would be soundproof, I declined. I knew the hostal was on La Rambla which is noisy 24/7, I didn't believe it would be sound proof, and I didn't want to pay the money to be kept awake all night. Well somehow we got the upgraded room, didn't pay the extra money, and it is pretty sound proof. So we made ourselves comfy and relaxed after our 11-hour journey. 

The next morning we went to the Mercat, an amazing market of fresh food. They have stalls with an extensive offering of juices or cups of cut up fruit and melon. This morning I had a cup with watermelon, cantaloupe, pol de sapo (which the Spanish just call melon- kind of like honeydew only better,) pineapple, dragon fruit and a piece of fresh coconut. Leea had juice. She also had a croissant and I also had a Spanish tortilla. And we both had café con leche, of course. The latter we got at a little cafe where you sit around a stall on stools and in the center of the stall, in full view, they prepare and serve the food and drinks. It's a great place to people watch. This morning we saw a woman, older than me, with a full head of purple hair.  

Breakfast at the Mercat

 After breakfast, we sussed out a laundromat for future use. Then we hopped on the Hoppy bus. The one here has three different routes. We took the red route this morning. There are lots of people in Barcelona right now. I have been here four or five times in the past 15 years and I have never seen it this crowded. The hotels are at 95% capacity. And they have become the number one cruise ship port in Europe. It is crazy busy. 

Toward the end of the red route, it was getting hot so we hopped off the hoppy bus and walked along the port to a nice restaurant and had a bite to eat. Leea had salmon and patatas bravas, and I had grilled razor clams and small portions of Leea's lunch. Then we had a couple of café con leches. After lunch, we went back to the hotel for a brief respite. 

About 6 pm we hopped on the metro and rode up to see one of Gaudi's buildings, Casa Batllo, and to hop on the Hoppy bus for the blue route. The weather was cooler and there was a nice breeze. This route goes by the Sagrada Familia,  

Sagrada Familia

 Gaudi's masterpiece. He died in 1970 before it was finished and they are still working on completing it. I can't believe how much it has changed since I saw it in 2006. What was then the front side, is now more like the back side. Leea saw it when we were here in 2009, but I was busy recovering from major surgery at the Hospital del Mar down in the port. One of the highlights of the hoppy tour this evening was two young good looking guys on their balcony in their skivvies waving to the tourists. lol

On our way home from the hoppy bus we ran across a demonstration about human rights. I think it was something about the way some of the people who are in the country illegally are being treated.  What was really interesting is there were no cops in riot gear. There were a couple of cops in their normal uniforms patrolling La Ramla, as they always do, but they were just walking in front of the protestors. So there was no riot.   

Protest

 We stopped for helado before going to the hotel to relax and sleep. 

Granada (AUGUST 10, 2015)

August 8 to 10, 2015

We are on a train to Barcelona. Our Camino Andalucía will be interrupted for five days while we visit Barcelona. Then we will return briefly to Andalucía to visit Toledo before we fly home. We loved Granada. The heat and humidity caused us to rest in the middle of the day, but that was probably a good thing.
On Saturday, we rose early and took the city bus to the Alhambra. It is an amazing experience! There are lovely gardens, many waterfalls and pools, a fortress and a Palace. The structure was built by the Moors and was taken over when the Spanish "liberated" Granada in 1492. The grounds were built roughly in the 8th to the 10th century. We got the audio guides but all the yapping about dates went by me because I was transfixed, once again, by the never ending beauty of the place. There were times when I was standing on a third-floor patio nor by a pool when I could just imagine being a Moorish princess, or even a servant.  

One of the pools and fountain

  

A window detail

We spent six hours exploring the grounds and the structures. Of course, if there is anything to climb, we cannot resist. So we climbed the highest towers in the fort. Though there are majestic views of Granada from dozens of spots, this one was the best.
After our exhausting romp around the Alhambra, we went home to rest. There was a stage set up in the plaza in front of the hotel. Upon inquiry, we were told that every Saturday there is a musical concert from 8 pm to 12 pm. So we knew we wouldn't be going to sleep early. Everywhere in Spain, we had heard American rock and roll. They seem to play it on all the stations even though all the talking parts of the program were in Spanish. It is a little weird.
So, we thought we would hear some rock and roll. I mean, we didn't expect the Rolling Stones or anything, but just a band playing rock and roll. The band started setting up at about 7 pm. When they started playing a small crowd had gathered and began dancing the polka to Spanish polka music. lol, I would not have believed it if I hadn't heard it with my own ears. But it was fun to watch. The music varied between polka and swing music, the stuff that makes it easy to twirl around the floor. By 9 pm the plaza was packed. There were three rows of chairs set up and people from 8 to 80 were swaying and twirling.
The next morning we slept in and had a leisurely breakfast. We spent the morning walking uphill through the gardens and forest that lead up to the Alhambra. On the way, we saw a statue of Washington Irving. I thought, 'What the heck?' Why do they have a statue of an American?' Well, it turns out Irving spent a lot of time in Spain, as well as other parts of Europe and wrote a book about Spain. Who knew?
It was hot and humid again, so we returned to our air conditioned room for a brief respite. That evening we went to explore the Albayzín which is the Gypsy/Moorish quarter with shops, tea houses, and narrow winding streets. Shortly after we entered a young man inquired if we wanted marijuana. I couldn't figure out what it was about us that caused him to pose that question. ; ) Maybe it was the purple haired on one of us and the blue/green hair on the other one of us.
We climbed through the winding streets until we came to a place with another breathtakingly beautiful view of the city. Leea was navigating this trip, she put away the map and took us down a very steep way as the pathway kept shrinking until it was barely wide enough for a person to fit through and we could hear people in their homes eating and arguing and stuff people do in their homes. It was a little sketchy to say the least. It was very exciting in an "I wonder what the headlines will say when they report our fate" way.
We finally returned to the marketplace and ducked into a tea house, complete with hookahs, for some tea and crepes. Then we returned home so we could get to sleep early and be well rested for the long day today. Note to self, do not drink tea in the Albayzín if you want to sleep anytime in the next eight hours.  

Albayzín tea room

We got up early. Had to take a bus to Antequerra to catch the train to Córdoba to wait four hours to catch the train to Barcelona. We bought our tickets late and the direct train from Granada to Barcelona was sold out. But we are excited to be going to Barcelona. We both love that city. 

Granada (AUGUST 8, 2015)

August 5 to 7

It's been a busy time here in Granada. We got in town about 8 pm on Wednesday. We checked into our hotel, got a bite to eat, took a little walk around and went to bed. Our hotel is in a great location on a little plaza in the center of Granada.  Our room has a view of the plaza. 

In the morning, we got up and had breakfast upstairs in the kitchen/lounge. After breakfast, we went out for a walk. It turned into a long walk. After wandering around for a while, we found ourselves walking up the road to the Sacromonte, where the gypsies have lived in caves four several centuries. 

There is a museum with model caves set up showing how they did ceramic work, metal work, weaving, gardening; as well as model living quarters and a stable. There are still folks living in caves in this area Some have built into the front of the caves to have more room. This is the third time we've visited the Cave Museum.  We were here in 2006, 2009, and now in 2015. 

Someone's home in a cave

  

Example of a kitchen in a cave

 
 On the way to the caves, we ran across a park, museum, historical society and went in to look around. No one else was there. Leea was reluctant to enter. She said, "No one else is in here." I'm like, "So?" And proceeded to go through the park and into the house. She relaxed by the time we left the house and saw some other people were walking around. I don't know if she thought we were going to end up in a Spanish prison for trespass or something. The house had been someone's house and was being used as an example of a typical house in Granada in it's early days. There were several fountains and while we were sitting by one I got my buff wet and put it on my head. It has been an unusually hot summer in Spain. And this day it reached about 100 degrees. 

After the caves, we went back to the hotel for siesta time. That evening we wandered around the Albaicyn, home of tea houses and a mix of cultures. 

Friday morning after breakfast we walked around and took the city bus up to the Alhambra to pick up our tickets for Saturday. Then we came back and had lunch at Plaza Nueva. After lunch, it was siesta time. It was not only hot, the humidity was about a 100%. I said I hoped it would rain, so it would cool off. And sure enough, it did during siesta time. 

The problem with the rain is that we had reservations to dine at Venta de Gallo on the terrace overlooking the Alhambra. Shucks, I should have been more specific about my hope for rain. lol. It was still raining when we went to meet our bus to go to the restaurant. Venta de Gallo is up in the Sacromonte, just below the cave museum. We discussed the rain and terrace dining with the guide on the bus. We all agreed that surely it would stop raining by the time we arrived for dinner And sure enough, it did. Hmm?

We had dinner which was yummy, and then went downstairs to the cave for the flamenco show. The show was fantastic. Leea and I were here in July of 2009, shortly before we went to Barcelona and I ended up in the hospital for emergency major surgery. But I digress. Anyway, the flamenco show was great just as it was before. All the performers are gypsies. Last time there were four dancers, one of which was an older woman that we loved.  Her expressions said, "Been there, done that." This time, there were four dancers, one of whom was a young girl about ten or eleven, and she just nailed it. She was so good.  

   
 Well, more about Granada in my next blog. There's just too much to cover in one blog.

Málaga, Spain (AUGUST 6, 2015)

August 2 to 5, 2015

We were finding the humidity and heat a little oppressive in Córdoba, so we decided to change the route of our Camino Andalucia and spend a few days at the beach in Málaga. 

I had never actually stayed in Mâlaga before. John and I lived down the coast a month or two in Fuengirola. Málaga, however, was the scene of the great 'almost losing Leea' fiasco. We were living in a rented caravana (motor home) at the time. Leea had come to visit us for a couple of weeks. Something had broken on the caravana and we were taking it to a place in Málaga to have it repaired. 

We could not get to the repair shop. We circled round and round. We could see it on the map. We could even see it from the road, but we could not find the right route to actually get to it. We had been going round and round for about an hour when we stopped by the side of the road to look at the map together. During a very pleasant conversation about my navigational skills as compared to John's driving skills, we didn't notice that Leea had stepped outside to smoke a cigarette. After we finished our pleasant discussion John proceeded to drive away. We suddenly heard this banging from the back of the caravana. We thought something had dropped off or was loose. So we stopped. Leea came running up to the window explaining to us in a pleasant and cheerful voice that we almost drove off and left her with no money, no passport, no ID at all in a foreign country and a place where she had no idea where she was. Whoops!

Well, so far I don't think that has been the reason to seek therapy. lol We all calmed down, and after we found the repair shop, it occurred to me what a disaster that could have been. Since we didn't know where we were when we stopped. We had been lost, I'm not sure we could have found her. She had no phone, money or ID and didn't speak Spanish much at all. So we escaped a bullet on that one. 

So over the years people have suggested I should visit Málaga and I've always thought of it as a very busy confusing place. But, Leea and I knew it had a beach and that it was Picasso's birthplace. So, off we went.  

 It was lovely. We spent time at the beach. We walked through a lovely park every day, Leea bought a bathing suit at the Bazaar Chino. We visited the Castille and Alcazaba, both of which were very disappointing after Seville and Córdoba.  

 We also went to the Mercado de Abastos. This is like a farmer's market in the states, but it is indoors, usually in a lovely building. It is open every day until about 2 pm. The vendors have permanent stalls. It's one or two stories and they have meats, fish, olives, and all kinds of things in addition to fresh fruits and vegetables. I just love these  
 

 
 

 
 

After the beach on Wednesday, we caught a bus to Granada. It was a very super plush comfy bus. 

Moving to Malaga (AUGUST 1, 2015)

August 1, 2015

I haven't written in a couple of days because all I want to do is whine. But I just can't hold it any longer. So, wah, wah, wah. Shortly after leaving the Camino I came down with a monster cold that went in and out of sinus infections. And being in 100-degree humid weather is yucky with a cold. Normally I love hot weather, but not with a cold. It is so hot here that from about 2 pm to 9 pm it is like a ghost town. 

Ok, I'm done with the whining. We are shortening our stay here in Córdoba and heading down to Málaga for a few days at the beach on the Mediterranean. It's about 15 degrees cooler there. 

We've been on the Hoppy bus twice, visited the Alcazar gardens and the Mesquite Cathedral. The Mesquite Cathedral is really unique. Most of the Cathedrals built over mosques were just built over the mosque and changed the inside to Christian motif. Like the Cathedral in Seville. The only thing left of the mosque is the garden of orange trees. 

In Córdoba the mosque is huge. They left all of the Arabic arches, tiles, and carvings. Around the perimeter are little monuments to saints and in a fairly small space in the middle is this small but terribly lavish cathedral. It is just fascinating to see the two cultures intertwined like this.  

Leea in the Mesquite Cathedral

 Córdoba is known for it's patios built inside houses. They are the entry way and the house is built around it. There are hundreds of them and they have lush gardens. It's a cool tranquil place to hang out. Many of these patios can be seen just walking around the streets. In May, they have a celebration of the patios and they are all open up for viewing. 

There is so much history in this city. We walked across a bridge that was built before the 5th century. There are buildings that are over a thousand years old and are still standing and functional. It's amazing! Especially when you live in a country when things are declared historic sites if they are 200 years old. lol

Today I was trying to add more color to my hair. I was in the shower rinsing it out when I slipped and the shower curtain, rod and all, fell on my head. I said, "help," so Leea would come and assist the replacement of the rod and curtain. She said she heard a thump and "heeellp" and thought she was going to find me in the tub with broken bones. I just needed help getting the shower rod and curtain rehung and I didn't want to slip again. Also, I had gotten soap in my eye during this fiasco. She fixed the shower rod and left. Two minutes later it fell again. I just rinsed off and left it all sitting in the tub. Leea decided she would wait until we got to Málaga tomorrow to take a shower.

We are going to a flamenco show tonight that doesn't start until 10:30 pm and ends at 12:15 am. Leea is already grumbling about it, so I put her down for a nap. ;) I saw this show two years ago when I was here and it was spectacular. I hope it is this time, or I will never hear the end of it. 

Last Flamenco in Seville (JULY 29, 2015)

July 29, 2015

This morning after breakfast we went out to walk around some of the areas we had seen on the Hoppy Bus. Spain has been the host City of a few exhibitions. One of these was an Exhibition of the Americas. Mexico, Columbia, Brazil, and other South American countries participated and constructed buildings representing the architecture of their countries. Many of these are on the perimeter of a large park. So we wandered around and through the park looking at all the different buildings.   

America's Exhibition

  Then it was time for laundry and siesta, so we would be able to stay up until midnight for our flamenco show that starts at 10 pm at La Casa del Flamenco. We napped a little, had some café, and read a little. Then we got ready to go to dinner before the show. We had decided to return to the scene of the great Langostino fiasco. Curious? It was slightly more embarrassing than my brine adventure in Istanbul. That, at least, was over in ten seconds. Well, ten minutes if you count Leea laughing so long and hard that she almost wet her pants. 

The langostinos debauch involved me ordering langostinos  for dinner in an outdoor patio when Leea and I were in Seville in 2009. I thought it was lobster that would come sitting on the shell it used to be in before being boiled. I had a sense I was in trouble when the waiter came out with a plate cover by a napkin and on that napkin lay about ten items that looked like surgical instruments. I was thinking, "I just want to eat the thing, I don't want to dissect it." Well, it turns out Langostinos are not lobsters at all but look like tiny miniature lobsters about three or four inches long. The waiter brought out a big pot with these things in a broth. Oh dear! Well, I had some pincher like things, so I thought, "I'll just pull them out of the broth and use the other surgical instruments to extract the meat." Hard enough to do on a great big lobster. It was impossible on these little critters. Leea sensed a disaster was about to happen but didn't know how to gracefully get out of the line of fire. To make a long story short, there were langostinos, and parts thereof, flying all over the patio and broth sloshing on the table. This turned out to be very entertaining to a number of other diners. The table was a disaster area. I think it was probably condemned that night. So tonight Leea wisely suggested that we have paella mixta. I agreed. It was yummy! And there was no mess. 

We ate at 8:30 pm and at 10 pm went to the flamenco show. We didn't get there early, so we got seats in the third row. I like to sit in the front row so I can see the feet of the dancers when they get going really fast. But we were sitting on tall chairs so I thought it would be ok. Then a tall guy came and sat down in front of me who had the biggest head in the world. I mean it was huge. Like the heads in the Peanuts cartoons only adult size. I could hardly see the stage, never mind the dancers feet. So during the performance, I would lean to one side to see better and then he'd lean that way, so I'd lean to the other side and then he'd lean that way. 

                                                                                                                   La Casa del Flamenco

You get the idea. After a while, I was wishing I had the langostino surgical instruments so I could just decapitate him. I kept telling myself that it wasn't his fault, he couldn't help it if he was born with the world's largest head. So, I didn't smack him in the head. He probably wouldn't have felt it or would have thought it was a fly. lol, Leea says I exaggerate, I can't imagine why. ;)

The show was great and the guitar  player was phenomenal. The singer was a female. I have never seen a female singer in a flamenco show before and this year out of three shows two of them had female singers. 

La Casa del

 Well, time to sleep we are off to Córdoba tomorrow and more adventures. 

Mercado de Abastos and Flamenco (JULY 29, 2015)

July 28, 2015

Well, after breakfast on the terrace this morning, we headed out to see the Mercado de Abastos in Seville at Plaza Cadíz, then to the Supermercado, and then a trip to the farmacía for decongestants and throat lozenges. I have a cold and sore throat. Oh, woe is me, life is so hard. Hehehe. We went back to the room to drop off the goodies. 

I went for a walk on along the river and then across the bridge to Triana. Historically this is where the gypsies lived. It is also where the Camino Via de la Plata begins and where the Pilgrims Office is located, like the one in SJPP, except this one is not open every day. I stayed at the Triana Backpackers Hostel last year during Semana Santa (Easter week celebration) before I started the Via de la Plata. Today I roamed around and stopped at the Mercado de Abastos here for some sliced melon and some of my favorite galletas (cookies.) The Mercado de Abastos can be found in most cities. The are like our farmer's markets, but are in buildings, open every day, and have meats, vegetables, seafood, cheeses, nuts and all manner of good things to eat. I love to wander through them looking at all the yummy stuff. 

After that excursion, it was back to the hotel for a siesta and to feast on my goodies. During the evening, we went to a flamenco show at Tableo de Los Gallos. The show featured four singers four guitarists, three dancers, and a variety of flamenco styles. It was upbeat and sassy. 

After the flamenco show, we went up to the Terrace of our hotel for a coke and to see the cathedral all lit up. 

The Alcazar and Flamenco (JULY 29, 2015)

July 27, 2015

This hotel very kindly provides free coffee and pastries for us early risers. So when I woke up at 6 am, I went downstairs and found coffee waiting for me. Leea got up shortly after I drank my coffee and we went up to the terrace for breakfast. If you are ever in Andalucia in the summer you will quickly understand why the Spanish have the siesta time between 1:30 and about 5. It is so hot, it is hard to do anything. So we try to do everything in the morning, siesta midday and go to flamenco shows in the evening. Siesta time doesn't necessarily mean sleep. It can entail editing pictures on my phone, checking FB to see if anyone has noticed I am gone, writing blogs, reading, doing laundry, and other things that can be done inside. Sometimes it includes naps. 

Today after breakfast we went to the Alcazar. It is a palace originally built by the moors, then like all things Moorish occupied by the Spanish after they ran the Moors out of Spain. The area where we are staying is called the Santa Cruz district, or Juderia, which means it is where the Jewish people lived before the Spanish ran them out of Spain. One of the things that make the province of Andalucia in southern Spain so interesting is the culture  

Water Element

 which was formed from the influence of the Moors, the Jews, the Gypsies and the people on the Iberian peninsula we now call the Spanish (basically I think it is people of Roman descent mixed with some Northern European blood.) One of the products of this mixture is flamenco a distinctive music and dance tradition I totally adore. Another is the architecture which includes many churches or cathedrals that were once mosques. For instance, the Seville Cathedral which was once a mosque. A lot was added it to it, but you can still see the mosque in its design. 

The Alcazar in Seville is stunning, and  we learned a lot about how ceramic tile work and designs evolved. The gardens are also cool and soothing and include many water elements and waterfowl.  We learned a lot about how ceramic tile work and designs evolved. The gardens are also cool and soothing and include many water elements and waterfowl. 

After siesta we went and saw a flamenco show at La Casa de la Guitarra. It was a style of flamenco that is very dramatic and sorrowful. As the announcer said, "Flamenco is how the Spanish express their emotions." So sometimes it's dramatic and heart wrenching, or as we might say, soulful. 

And Off We Go, Slowly (JULY 27, 2015)

July 25 - 26, 2015

We made a wish list of all the places we'd like to go, then narrowed it down to the top five. Leea crunched numbers. I have no idea what that means, or what it entails, but somehow we convinced ourselves that we could do this without spending more than we would have spent finishing the Camino and what we are saving by not being at home spending money. Not to mention how much John is contributing by only eating beans and rice. 

We checked out the train schedules and Leea wrote down the time of the one we wanted to take from Palencia to Madrid. It's the fast train, the AVE, that doesn't make many stops. Then in Madrid, we will hop on the cercanicas train to get from Chamartín station to the Atocha station and catch the train to Seville. Easy Peasy. Well, it would have been easy, but when we got to the train station in Palencia and I went up to buy the tickets, I asked for the tickets for the next train to Madrid. I didn't realize that there was a puddle jumper, a train that stops in every small village along the way. That was the next train, the one we wanted was the train after that. Oh well. It just meant that we would arrive in Seville a couple of hours later. 

Leea just rolled her eyes when we read the tickets and realized what had happened. Anyway, we got on the train and for some strange reason, we got seats in the car with the engineer in the front. And, no one else was in the train. So I grabbed the seat I liked best. Leea stayed in the seat she was assigned. Leea had both of our tickets. When the conductor came around she handed him the tickets. He looked at the tickets and he looked at her then he looked at the ticket again. I thought it had something to do with me sitting in the wrong seat. But, no. He didn't even realize we were together. He said something to her and she looked at the tickets and realized that the top ticket he was looking at was my Dorado ticket, the discount ticket for those over 60. He thought she was trying to pull a fast one. We got it straightened out and we all had a good laugh. He didn't care where I sat. 

Since I had a good window seat and not much to do, I decided to do a narrative photographic series of the train trip by photographing the stations as we stopped in them. I'm pretty pleased with the results. I still need to cull them and edit them. So what was a minor setback turned out to be a fun project.  

View From The Train

 We arrived in Seville about seven in the evening. We took a taxi to the hotel because the train station is a long way from the Santa Cruz district in the central area. When you stay in the Santa Cruz district the taxi has to let you off at the boundary because there are only winding little streets and passages only big enough for one or two people to get through. No room for cars. It's magical and worth carrying your bags a block or so. 

Our hotel is amazing for less than $50 per night.it is small of course, but after albergues, it seems like a luxury. We room in what would be called an atelier in France. The elevator goes to the fourth floor, our room and one other are tucked up in the fifth floor. We have to walk a short flight of stairs after the elevator. But we have a view from our window of the top of the cathedral and we are close to everything. 

I went out to do something and got lost. It really is a labyrinth  of little passages. Leea sent me a message after about an hour asking if I was coming back. lol, Leea was sleepy and didn't want to eat, so I went out and dined solo. I had a yummy bowl of spaghetti carbonara. 

Yesterday, our first full day, we slept until eight or so, stretched and went up to the rooftop terrace to have café and tostada while looking out over Seville. Lovely. The cost of the breakfast was the same as in the Camino. What a deal. 

After our nice breakfast we went to find the hop on hop off bus, or as Leea and I call them, the Hoppy Bus. We love those things. It gives you an overview of a city and an idea about what you might want to spend time seeing. We rarely hop off and hop back on, we just ride around for an hour looking at everything. This time, we stayed on after the first loop, because what we wanted to see was the Plaza de España. 

When we hopped off Leea was hungry so we stopped at what would be the equivalent of a Woolworth's cafeteria. Leea doesn't get many of my cultural references because she was born after the ice age. So I had to update it to K-Mart cafeteria. That she understood because her grandmother, Anna Rose, John's mom used to take her to Kmart all the time when she was a kid and she loved it. Well, she loved her lunch here too. It was a plate filled with baked chicken, a fried egg, French fries, and a large baked pepper. lol, I got full watching her eat. 

Plaza de España

 We walked around the Plaza de  España for a while. It is a beautiful space. Then we walked through an extensive garden on our way back to the hotel for a siesta. After siesta we did laundry. This hotel even has a place with a washer and dryer. It cost 7€ to wash and dry. This is a great luxury when you are hotel traveling with only two sets of clothes. 

We had a dinner of tapas about 9:30 pm at a place recommended by our friend Michael Naughton who is a foodie. We ordered three to share. The portions were so large that the two of us couldn't finish them. They were yummy. Then it was home to bed. I took a different way home and we got a little lost, but it only took us a few minutes to find our hotel again. There is a reason this blog is titled Queen of Lost. ;)

Attitude Adjustment (JULY 25, 2015)

Palencia to Seville July 25, 2015

I forgot to mention that we didn't actually walk to Boadilla. By the time we reached Itero de la Vega she was in so much pain we had to take a taxi to Boadilla. She had only been able to walk 10km and was in pain. We both decided that this was not an injury that was going to heal even with rest, shipping pack, and going short distances. 

In retrospect, I'm glad we took the taxi to Boadilla and that our last night was in En El Camino. I am still sad, but we have had many shared moments of laughter. In fact, last night we were laughing so hard we were nigh on hysterical and there was some risk of bed wetting. 

I believe that we are exactly where we are supposed to be. I don't know why, but I have learned that knowing why is the booby prize of life. Acceptance is the answer today. I tried like heck for a long time, trying to get us home without breaking the bank. I will never fly American again unless it's the last flight out of a war zone. I had trouble with them even before I left the United States. I will try to have some compassion for their greediness. I don't know if the compassion exercise works on corporations like it does people. Maybe this is just a case of "lesson learned."

In any event, I believe we are supposed to be here in Spain. So I will adjust my attitude and enjoy the rest of our Camino. It is over 100 degrees today and will be for the remainder of our trip while we are in southern Spain. The last few days in Barcelona should be cooler. It's a good thing I like hot weather. lol. 

Onto The Meseta (JULY 24, 2015)

Hontanas to Castrojeríz to Boadilla
July 21 to 23, 2015, 32.7 km 48,550 steps
We left Hontanas and had a lovely walk to San Anton where we stopped and had coffee with Oliver. He gave us the grand tour. Leea asked, Why didn't we stay here?" I had to shrug my shoulders. It looked very cozy. The new mattresses look very comfy. Good job Rebekah!!
We arrived in Castrojeríz and somehow walked right by the Albergue. Both times I have stayed here before, I've stayed at the Municipal Albergue which is over City Hall. It's a nice Albergue, but I decided to try something different. But we reached the end of town and hadn't found it.
We looked at a map on my phone and one posted by the City Hall and decided we needed to backtrack. But we also found the location of the farmcía, to get stuff for Leea's feet, and the location of an ATM. I think we arrived in Castrojeríz with about two euros between us. On the way to the ATM, we walked through a farmer's market, but we didn't have any money to spend.
After the farmacia, we started to backtrack to the Albergue, but it wasn't open yet, so we got a bite to eat. Then we went into the church in the middle of town and discovered that they had installed an interpretive center about the Camino inside the church. It cost 1.5€ and was well worth it. They had video presentations with beautiful words. There was lots of information about medicines used in the old hospitals for pilgrims, foods that were eaten and dishes that were cooked. It was really enjoyable.
Then we went and found our Albergue, Albergue del Peregrinos Ultreia. And there we met Jose and his lovely wife. She was a little shy but very nice. Jose was very animated, always smiling and helpful. They have a great little stone pool with cold water to soak your feet.
We had a lovely dinner with an Italian couple, with Spanish as the common language. The Italians and Jose had trouble understanding why we were drinking water and not wine. I think it is probably a misdemeanor in Italy, to not drink wine. Then Jose explained what the long wooden thing was that went down the length of the dining room. It turns out that it was used to squish grapes. Jose  

Leea squishing imaginary grapes

 pantomimed most of the story and had us take turns pushing the handles to make the press revolve to squish the grapes.
He then took us down to the Bodega under the Albergue and gave us a history lesson. Apparently the area that the area that had been a bodega in the tenth century had actually been constructed as part of a tunnel that ran underground through the town to the castle. Again Jose poured little glasses of wine from the keg in the Bodega and tried to get me to drink the ounce he had put in one glass. He just wanted me to try it. Leea and Zi were cracking up. Anyway, it was a good time, Leea's favorite Albergue up to that point.
The next day we were headed to my favorite Albergue, En El Camino in Boadilla. I just love that place, from Eduardo who is always so nice and helpful, to His mama who cooks the most wonderful food, to the converted bunkhouse, green lawn and swimming pool.
Leea had decided after five days rest and doing half stages for four or five days that she would try twenty kilometers. Her feet didn't like it at all. She has been resting them and icing them, along with trying everyone's other suggestions, but they are just getting more and more painful. She had to make the tough decision to stop walking. 

We didn't have good phone reception or wifi in Boadilla, so it turned out to be difficult to make plans about what to do next. So Eduardo helped us get a bus in the morning to go to Palencia where we got a room and have been able to check out our options. It turned out the cost of changing our flight was prohibitive. So we decided to use the money we would have spent on the Camino toward visiting some other cities. Tomorrow we will go to Seville, where I started the Via de la Plata last year, for four or five days. Then we'll go to Córdoba for a few days. I've been there, but Leea hasn't. Then we'll go to Granada. We were there in 2009 but haven't been back since. All three of these cities have excellent opportunities to see some flamenco performances. Then we might go to Barcelona. We were there in 2009 when I had major emergency surgery. It's a fun city!

We were both very sad yesterday and most of today as we got on the bus and rode away from the Camino, but I think we're recovering our acceptance and are curious to see what else this trip has in store for us. I must be feeling better, I just ate a whole bag of Risquettas for dinner. lol

On The Move Again (JULY 21, 2015)

Tardajos to Hornillos to Hontanas 28.6km, 39,410 steps. 

We are walking again! We're taking it slow and enjoying the journey. This is definitely "one day at a time" with lots of laughs. We had a lovely stay in Tardajos in a lovely room with a huge bathroom and white fluffy towels. We were just going to get beds in the Albergue, but when I found out it was only 10€ more for the double room than it is for two bunks in a bunk bed, I thought what the heck. It was lovely. 

The place is an old mill that was falling down and the owners of the Albergue restored it and turned it into a beautiful palace while preserving much of the historic structure. It's the place the lady with the I ❤️ Frankfurt said wasn't a real Albergue. But we've already taken the plunge into not being real pilgrims. We took a bus, we've shipped our packs, and now we're staying in rooms. lol

Anyway, there were flies in the room and they were very annoying. We didn't have a matamosca (fly swatter) so I went on a rampage and beat them with my rolled up sarong, knocking them silly and then stomping on them when they fell to the ground. Leea was laughing so hard she almost wet her pants. Leea kept telling everyone that  I had squished fly bits on the soles of my feet. So I had to keep cleaning them off. But we slept soundly without flies. 

The dinner was amazing also. Bar B Q'd pork without the sauce, juicy and tender like I've never tasted before. They were like steaks. Sorry to my vegan sweetie and all my veggie friends, but it was delicious with a salad and a lemon yogurt dish for dessert. Yum, yum! Then for the 3€ breakfast, we got café, juice and our choice of sausage and eggs, and a bunch of other American breakfast dishes. We just had tostada con mantequilla and mermelada. The people were so friendly and helpful. The owner washed our clothes in her washing machine and when I went out to get them to hang them up, she had already done it. Great place. It's called the Albergue La Fabrica if any of you is passing thru there. Oh yeah, dinner was a menu del día for 9€!

So we left there in the morning and  

Rest Break

 walked through some beautiful landscape. We are passing into the meseta, which is sort desert like in that it is flat and hot. It's like a plateau. But it's not sand. There are miles and miles of wheat fields. The subtlety of the gradations of color, the textures  

 created by the wheat and the patterns of the wheat as it wraps around rock pile and green areas is just beautiful. I will never understand why people say this part of the Camino is boring. 

We got into Hornillos and I thought we would we would have to wait for the Albergue Alfar Hornillos to open, but there was a big "Open" sign on the door and Pilar was there being just as welcoming and helpful as she was two years ago. That night Santiago made his paella and it was yummy. It was yummy and the community dinner was entertaining. 

Santiago remembered me from two years ago. He even reminded me, which I had forgot, that the day after I stayed there two years ago I was in Castrojeríz having a café and he was there talking to some business people. He spotted me and came over and chatted with me. 

A funny thing happened this time at the Albergue. We got our room there were two bunk beds, so four beds. Leea and I were in two of them and a lady from Finland was in one of them. The other one was the last one available. All the other beds were taken. Well, who walks in but "noisy man!"  I swear to God. As John says, "you can't make shit like this up. " Leea looked at me, I looked at her and we both stifled giggles. We last saw him in Los Arcos. Since then we had walked, rested two days in Logroño, took a bus, and rested three days in Burgos. And here he was again. What are the odds? Just lucky I guess. lol

The woman from Finland couldn't believe it either. He finally went to sleep and then snored all night. We didn't get much sleep. The other woman got up about 3:30 am and left. He got up about 5 am made noise and walked around with his headlamp on flashing all over the room. After he left we went back to sleep until 7 am. 

After we had café and toast we headed off for Hontanas. Again, the colors and landscape are hypnotizing. There is more flat walking and Leea's foot is doing ok. It's not getting worse. We are taking day by day. 

Tonight we are in another new Albergue in Hornillos. It has only been open since March. It is also very nice and comfortable. The mattresses a to die for comfy. Each bed has an electrical outlet and a night light and each room of three bunk beds has its own bathroom. All sparkly new showers. 

We had paella again tonight for dinner. A father and son from Italy, who we met in Hornillos is here and the South Korean young man we met in Estella. Now it's time for bed. Night all 

A Funny Day (JULY 19, 2015)

Burgos to Tardajos July 19-20. 2015

11km 16,295 steps

Yesterday we spent the morning touring the Cathedral. We saw some amazing things and some funny things. Then we rested in our room and watched six weddings from our window. Each of them was followed by a burst of fireworks, with the finale sounding like a canon. Many happy couples, brazas y besas. 

In the evening, we were looking forward to a yummy dinner at Casa Ojeda, which had been recommended by several people. We arrived about 8 pm and were told that the restaurant was closed. Sad we were. So we went back to a place off the Plaza Mayor where I had had a fine dinner with two Camino friends, two years ago. It must have changed ownership because the meal was mediocre to poor. Very disappointing. But we survived. lol

Got up this morning and prepared our packs for Jacotrans. I've never shipped my pack before and was a little leery. But again I survived. I am even thinking of a smaller pack for the next Camino. My little 9€ pack holds about everything I need and is comfortable. 

We were having a nice walk when we were accosted by a local woman riding a bike wearing a shirt that said "I ❤️ Frankfurt." She asked us where we were from, where we were going, where our backpacks were located, etc. then she proceeded to tell us all about bedbugs in alberques and in the transport vehicles, how we needed to put our backpacks in a big plastic bag, and how to treat our stuff if we did get bed bugs, that the Albergue we were headed to was not a real Albergue, and on and on and on. It was the first time I was sorry I understood Spanish. lol. She also told us about a shortcut. Yeah, right. I couldn't get her to stop, so I just said a pleasant hasta luego, waved and walked away. 

Later we reached a point where there were arrows pointing in three different directions. WTF!! We chose one way and figured we would just have to backtrack and add some extra kilometers if it was wrong. It turned out to be right, and then we made some other right choices.  

A Wooden Arrow

  

A Wooden Arrow With A Heart

  

A Bridge Less Traveled

 There was major highway construction going on which disrupted and, I think, rerouted the Camino. But we reached our Camino safe and sound.