A Plane to Spain

[ellen10]

Great photos, I last went to Barcelona when I was much younger. We will be going again next year and I am looking forward to exploring it in depth. Taking notes.

 

[OZDUCK]

And to finish off Barcelona, some disparate photos.

Barcelona is a vibrant, bustling city which is definitely in danger of being overloaded with tourists. We were there in the shoulder season and I would hate to see how busy it would be at peak times.The streets are pretty clean and, apart from pickpockets, it seems pretty safe. However, after we left there was some more disturbances in regard to the Catalonian Independence issue. Transport is cheap and efficient and it is a very easy city to walk around being pretty flat. The food was mostly very good..

The Catalan language has adopted a few French words so we were saying Merci instead of Gracias and you bought your bread from a Boulanger rather than a Panaderia etc.

Bullfighting was, thankfully, banned in Catalonia since 2012 and this bullring has been turned into a shopping centre.



There are beautiful buildings hidden down backstreets with no particular significance given to them



The view from our apartment balcony - about 500 metres from Barcelona Sants Station (The main one)



A little square about 50 metres from the apartment



A broad panorama of Barcelona showing how little high rise there is



Their Arc de Triomf



There is a "Magic Fountain" show on every night for the tourists. As we were tourists, we went along



A final view of Gaudi's "Organic" style

 

[OZDUCK]

We then moved on via the RENFE Train Network. Before covering other cities a quick word about the long distance train system - basically excellent. We took 8 trips on the high speed trains and none of them left or arrived more than 45 seconds late. They were usually within 10 seconds of the scheduled times. And they were clean and comfortable. About half the trains we were on had TV monitors overhead that showed a film and there were music channels - free bud earphones were handed out in both classes.On two trains these were not working.

Our first three trips were in Preferente Class ( Business Class). Because we booked as soon as seats became available this cost only a few Euros more than Tourista Class. Booked early the fares are very reasonable, for example the just under 5 hour trip from Bilbao to Segovia in Preferente cost us only €17.35 each. The Preferente carriages have the seats in a 1 - 2 set up rather than the 2 -2 in Tourista, so there is more leg and shoulder room. Basically Preferente felt like PE seats while Tourista felt like economy seats but both had far more legroom than any, non-exit row, economy seat on an aircraft. You share an armrest in Tourista while in Preferente you have separate armrests. Like planes there are swing down footrests suitable for shorter people plus a tray table. As usual "The Man in Seat 61" has excellent advice about the booking process and train details.

There are baggage racks at the one end of each compartment but you need to board early as they fill up quickly - on the Madrid - Barcelona leg baggage was piled up everywhere and because of demand this was by far the dearest leg. Roll-on type bags and backpacks can go onto an over-seat shelf. There are toilets in each carriage which seemed clean and there is a cafe car on the longer trips plus a food cart pushed down the aisles - food prices are of course dearer than normal.

Preferente Class - Barcelona - Zaragoza







Tourist Class is still comfortable but a bit less spacious



In Preferente, depending on your ticket type, you can obtain Lounge access by paying a little more. We only did that once and it cost us about 2 euro each to get access to a nice quiet lounge with snacks of prepacked biscuits, croissants,cakes, chips etc. Beer, soft drinks and orange juice were in a drinks cabinet and there was even a Lounge Dragon. It was a very pleasant place to wait for the train.



The "normal" trains can cruise along at about 240 km/h but the express from Madrid to Barcelona is a bit faster. The hills around San Sebastian and Bilbao really slow the train down.

 

[OZDUCK]

We arrived in Zaragoza ( A first in Trip Reports?) at a very big, modern and flash looking station - a result of the 2008 Expo held here. Zaragazo is the capital of the community of Aragon - think of the first wife of Henry the 8th - and has a population of about 670,000. This name is a distortion of its Roman name - Caesaraugusta - and there are a number of Roman ruins in the city - a Theatre, a Forum, Bath House & port. We only visited the "old town but there are apparently some interesting buildings developed for 2008, but as always time constrains come into play on any holiday.

The train station - Zaragoza Delicias - for train buffs it has an Eurostars hotel overlooking the tracks.





The remains of the Roman theatre - it had a capacity of about 6,000





The Forum ruins - you can walk a little way through 2,000 Roman sewers (cloaca) - but my photos were lost when I lost my camera the day after these photos were taken.





The Bath House

 

[OZDUCK]

More views of Zaragoza

Plaza Espana from our balcony by day and night





A pretty arcade



The very attractive Plaza del Pilar. Absolutely packed with people later on Saturday night





One of the many attractive churches in town. Many of which, like this one, were badly damaged during the Napoleonic War


Puente de Piedra - initially constructed in 1401 - 1441 and reconstructed several times since

 

[OZDUCK]

The Basilica de Nuestra Senora del Pila constructed 1681 -1686



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[ellen10]

Lovely photos, Looks like another place to add to the list. Thanks also for the train reviews and information.

 

[OZDUCK]

The Aljafería Palace is a fortified medieval Islamic palace built during the second half of the 11th century. It was re-purposed many times over the centuries. This post will cover the architectural features with some decorative views in the next one. (ignore the bit about view attachment 142010)







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courtyard of Santa Isabel




The courtyard from above



Some more of the "Islamic Architecture"







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[OZDUCK]

And now some of the decorative treatments.

"Mudejar - Catholic Monarch Style" ceilings The first is that of "The Throne Room of the Palace of the Catholic Kings" and was completed for Ferdinand & Isabella. The galleries around the ceiling were to allow "lesser" persons to view the monarchs





The sharp eyed will notice the date 1492 in the far corner. It was put there by the orders co-monarchs Ferdinand & Isabella. But it was not to commemorate the voyage of Christopher Columbus but to celebrate the capture of Granada and thus the re-conquest of Spain. To quote "with the aid of Christ, after liberating Andalusia from the Moors, expelling the ancient and fierce enemy, had this work constructed in the Year of Salvation 1492" And even less pleasantly, it was also the date of the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain on their orders.



Another ceiling





A third one



Part of the tiled floors

 

[OZDUCK]

Lovely photos, Looks like another place to add to the list. Thanks also for the train reviews and information.

Zaragoza is a nice place to visit for a couple of days. It is flat and easy to walk around and the "historical"sights are pretty densely clustered.

There is a pretty vibrant restaurant/cafe area, just off Plaza Espana called El Tubo it is full of Tapas places and is really popular.

 

[OZDUCK]

As a break from history, some of the food we had eaten up to his stage.

As I previously said in the What I ate today" forum,almost all restaurants, bars etc have a special lunchtime - about 1300 - 1600 menu. It usually ranges from about €10 - €18 and is normally a real bargain - often less than half the usual prices. They are called by different names across the country but are obviously some version of Menu of the Day - most meals includes a starter, a second course, dessert, bread and one drink each.

Some examples from Barcelona

These were very tasty and pretty cheap. However the smaller cities seemed to offer more imaginative choices.





Zaragoza - a few Euros dearer but you got what you paid for

This was the weekend menu



Eggs potatoes & baby eels


Langoustine & Rice


ox tail & lamb cheeks



dessert

 

[OZDUCK]

After seeing some of the TR's about South America, when I saw a Peruvian Restaurant in the back streets near our apartment in Barcelona I wanted to try it out. It was very tasty but we hadn't realised how big the serves would be

Nibbles of roasted (?) corn and a fiery chilli sauce - with a Peruvian beer



Green sauce on potatoes



Fried vegetables



chicken and rice



And one final daily menu item - basic but nice

 

[OZDUCK]

Next we caught the train to San Sebastian, or Donesta as it is called by the Basque.

On the way we passed a small town, Olite, with a "fairy-tale castle". A pity we couldn't have a look



We also passed the "The Aqueduct of Noain" near Pamplona. Built in 1790 this section contains 94 arches and is 1,245 metres long




San Sebastian itself is a beautiful town with lots of “fin de siècle” buildings.It is set on a lovely bay with high headlands and a large island protecting the entrance. These are views from Monte Igueldo. It has an amusement park that is only open in the summer - the 28 C days and blue skies we had didn't count. There was always a morning haze which burnt off in the early afternoon.



Th e'old town" is beyond the marina on the left. Apart from old buildings it is full of Pinxtos (Tapas) bars



Here are my wife & I. With me doing my best to spoil the view. (We were having our photos taken by 2 people)



For lovers of Michael Portillo's programmes he had a ride on this wooden roller-coaster in his Spanish one



Looking out from the Victorian promenade towards Monte Igueldo



At the base of the hill there are blowholes built into the seawall to amuse the visitors - we both had a go as well.

 

[VPS]

Love San Sebastian - please have a drink and pinxtos for me please?

If you are still there, we had an amazing breakfast here

Gogoko Goxuak, San Sebastian - Donostia - Restaurant Reviews, Phone Number & Photos - TripAdvisor

 

[OZDUCK]

Some Buildings and other things in San Sebastian

Apparently, a reproduction but it still looks nice

Love San Sebastian - please have a drink and pinxtos for me please?

If you are still there, we had an amazing breakfast here

Gogoko Goxuak, San Sebastian - Donostia - Restaurant Reviews, Phone Number & Photos - TripAdvisor

I am afraid we left there almost a month ago. We had a lot of trouble with our laptop so this is a post-trip report. I remember walking past that restaurant .

We had plenty of Pinxtos and I had a few drinks.

 

[OZDUCK]

Some Buildings and other things in San Sebastian

The Puente Maria Cristina over the Urumea River near the railway & bus stations. Plus some of the lovely buildings on the river bank - it is a tidal estuary at this point.











There is a sandy surf beach just north of the city but there always seemed to be someone surfing this little break inside the river mouth when we walked past.




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[OZDUCK]

After the mention of Pinxtos here are some appetisers. The food, especially the Pinxtos, in San Sebastian was probably the best we had in Spain. It tasted fresh, light and delicious.

The old town at night with the bars just beginning to fill up.

.



Some Pinxtos shots







You can see why I am having trouble making up my mind



A choice made

 

[amaroo]

Enjoying your TR .... Spain never disappoints.

 

[OZDUCK]

Some final photos to finish off San Sebastian.This city has an extremely photogenic location - especially with the weather we encountered. It has a definite feeling of a deluxe Edwardian sea side resort. However, is apparently jam packed in summer. It was a real joy to spend a couple of nights there.

The perfect semi-circular sweep of the bay, the blue sea and the sand were lovely under the sun




Sometimes strange creatures are washed up by the sea. (The sand was soft and fine. The water temperature was about that of Perth in autumn.)



The surf club




The funicular that took us up to the lookout



Part of the promenade



The promenade at night



Some more nice buildings and a little park. Parts of San Sebastian had a definite "French" feel



Looking back towards the old town




This photo made my mind wander to John Masefield - the first stanza of Sea Fever

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking




The city even had a special store for my species

 

[OZDUCK]

After San Sebastian we caught a bus to Bilbao. The buses leave pretty much every hour, take around 70 minutes, and cost about 12 Euro each. There is a train connection, not a Renfe long distance train, but it operates like a slow suburban service with numerous stops and takes over 2 1/2 hours.

We stayed four nights in Bilbao. It was planned to be a bit of a rest for us which was good as my wife was crook and spent a couple of days barely able to leave the apartment. It is a much grittier city than San Sebastian. Andwas a faded industrial centre that was slowly dying until the building of the Guggenheim bought it back into prominence. While a lot of it is attractive there are some parts that are just above being slums.Our apartment was on the river opposite the old town. I walked "uphill" once and never again. There were police patrolling in groups and very doubtful characters invading your personal space. It was easy enough to avoid this area and I did so after that.

The view from our apartment balcony - towards the old town.



Trying to choose breakfast -50 metres from our apartment. You could get three pastries and a take away small coffee for about 7 Euros.



If you do not like ham, like my daughter, Spain is not for you.



Hornazo eaten cold - like a pastie in texture but stuffed with layers of meat. I found it a bit stodgy



My photos of the Vizcaya ( transporter) Bridge caused a bit of discussion when I posted in the "The View from My Office" thread, with some claiming that it is ugly. I find it beautiful in its stark efficient construction and ability to still be useful after over 100 years of use. It was completed in 1893 and is a fine piece of Victorian engineering inventively solving a problem. This was also featured on Michael Portillo episode.

View of the bridge down the narrow steep streets of the Portugalete district of Bilbao.



The bridge in all its glory



The passenger area. You don't really have much sense of movement until the last metre or so of slowing down. It is very smooth.



Loading vehicles on the gondola



Transport solutions - old and new