Neppa Adventures

May 3 – May 10 – Barcelona to Home

ebmallonee — Fri, 10 May 2024 15:53:23 +0000

I flew home on May 3rd but didn’t get to SFO until 11pm. I stayed at SFO Hotel and took BART home on Sunday morning. Spent this week getting back into my life in Pleasanton. Came home with slight cold but otherwise all is well.

This trip was too long. I really enjoyed my cruise. I enjoyed everything I did in Spain (except the bullfight). BUT 33 days was too long. There was only one day that I took off to rest. I think I need more.

I’m still in touch with Jordan and Steve from the cruise.

Next up is a 4 day meditation retreat in September. In October, I’ll be taking a solo cruise from Montreal to Ft Lauderdale. Now I’ll start planning for 2025.

Thanks for following my blog. See you soon.

Elsie

May 1st and 2nd, 2024 – Madrid

ebmallonee — Fri, 03 May 2024 04:16:55 +0000

I’m putting 2 days together because they were both holidays and I don’t have a lot of pictures.
May 1 is Labor Day in Europe. Everything is closed except bars and Restaurants and some shops. We slept late and finally ventured out 1030am . We went in search of a street that Oskar found where they have multiple hot chocolate and churro places. We got there and there were very long lines everywhere.   I guess that is what Madridians (?), do on holidays.
We walked some more, had a tapas lunch, and went back to the apartment to start packing. At 430pm., Oskar suggested we try again for hot chocolate and churros. The lines were just as long so we got some to go. The hot chocolate was so thick that you either dunk a churro into it or eat it with a spoon. Very delicious.
Back at the apartment we decided to skip dinner. At 8pm we changed our minds and returned to Cava Baja to have wine and tapas. The place was crowded but we got 2 stools at the bar. We were drinking wine and eating when 2 women came in and were drinking at the bar next to us. One asked the bartender about the wall of wine bottles. When he was done Oskar asked the woman if she got the answer she expected. Anyway, we chatted with them for a little while when Addy said that she and Dawn live in Malaga. I said that I have a new friend who lives in Malaga. They asked who and I said Jordan and Claudio. They shrieked and said “they are our best friends”.   Wow, what a small world. They were in Madrid for the night before flying to Miami to visit relatives. We took a picture of the 3 of us and sent it to Jordan.   They had heard all about me and the 7am coffee that Jordan and I had every morning. I now have multiple invitations to visit Malaga.
May 2 is the Day of Madrid. Many businesses were closed so once again everywhere was crowded. We took a tour of Theatre Real, the opera house.   Next we went to the Reina Sofia Museum. We saw Picasso’s Guernica, several other works by Dali, Gris, Leger, Miro and others.
Our final Madrid stop was to go to a bull fight. It was very crowded and the parade of horse drawn carriages was fun. Unfortunately I did not like the actual bull fights. (We saw 6 of them). I won’t describe them but it is inhumane.
Tomorrow we go back to Barcelona for one night before flying home. I’ll wait until I get home to post again.

Elsie, Dawn, and Addy

Salon in Opera House

Plaza de Toro

Parade

Matadors

April 30, 2024 – Toledo

ebmallonee — Wed, 01 May 2024 06:16:49 +0000

We boarded our bus to Toledo at 9am. It turned out that the tour was only 8 hours and I was glad. After 3+ weeks of travel I am pretty tired.
The bus ride took a little over an hour with the customary coffee stop. They let us off right below the city and we took 6 escalators to get to the height of the city center. Our group was 2/3 Spanish speakers and 1/3 English speakers. The guide said everything twice – once in each language. We walked up and down the hilly streets of Toledo stopping to hear about the different buildings. We visited the Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes. The outside of the building has chains with manacles hanging from the walls. They are from Christians captured by the Muslims who when saved moved to Toledo.
We went to a building that was a synagogue in the 1400’s. We learned that other countries had expelled Jews before Queen Isabella did it in 1492. (The guides think this makes it not as bad.)
We went to the Toledo Cathedral. I was here in 2021 and it still takes my breathe away. The interior is beautiful. We saw the El Greco paintings as well as some by other famous painters.
We went to the main square where we were given an hour and a half for lunch. I found the side street where Carolyn, Sira, and I had drinks and tapas in 2021. Oskar and I asked a solo Italian woman if we could share her table. She said yes so we had an enjoyable lunch talking with her.
The city is celebrating the Feast of Corpus Christi on May 5th when they have a 4 hour processional from the Cathedral through the city. Special lights were already hung in the streets.
After lunch we headed down hill to the bus. We got back to our apartment before 5pm.
Tomorrow Is May 1st, Labor Day in most of Europe. Museums and businesses are closed. We might just wander over to the main park.

Gate into Toledo

Monastery, chains hanging on left wall

Monastery Cloister

Monastery Altar

Recently discovered wall art

Synagogue

Cathedral

El Greco

Street lights for Feast of Corpus Christi

Oldest building in Toledo

April 29, 2024 – Avila and Segovia

ebmallonee — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 05:21:35 +0000

We both were up before 7am. Quick coffee and breakfast before walking to check-in for our tour to Avila and Segovia.
It turned out there were 75 of us on our bus but we were divided into 3 groups of 25 for the walking tours. It was a double decker bus and we were on the bottom level which was very peaceful.
Our first stop was just outside Avila for a 20 minute break and to take pictures of the medieval walls from outside. We then rode into the city and started our walking tour. We walked past many buildings called palaces (rich people houses). We walked both inside and outside the walls. At 1pm, we had a stop for a snack and a drink). After we went to a Cathedral (You can’t visit anywhere that doesn’t have the best Cathedral it seems. )
We next drove an hour to Segovia. The first thing we saw was the Roman Aqueduct built to bring fresh water from the mountains to the city. We had a one hour walk stopping at 2 Cathedrals before going to the Alcazar. The Alcazar looks like a Disney castle. The ceilings are the high point. They were beautifully made by Moorish artists during the Christianity realm.
We got back to Madrid at 630pm. Tomorrow we have a 12 hour tour to Toledo.

Avila Walls

Avila Cathedral

Avila Cloister

Segovia Aqueduct

Segovia Cathedral

View from Alcazar

The Alcazar

Walking to bus looking up at Segovia

April 28, 2024 – Madrid

ebmallonee — Mon, 29 Apr 2024 05:06:58 +0000

I booked a 3 hour tour through http://www.withlocals.Com for Madrid. You get to pick a local guide with interests that match yours. I selected Victor who likes history. We met Victor at a meeting point near our apartment. Since we are staying in Centro, that is where Victor concentrated the tour. It was great. We spent 4 hours together and saw many places that most tourists won’t see. He was very knowledgeable about the history of Madrid and was able to put things into perspective. We even got to go into restaurants that have rooms 1 to 2 levels below ground where people can dine. I highly recommend using Withlocals when visiting cities. Much better than being one or two of 30 to 50 people in a group.
After we left Victor, we headed to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. They have an impressive collection of paintings from the 14th to 20th centuries . I love impressionists and modern art so I loved this museum.
We went back to Calle Cava Baja for dinner. We tried a place called, Lamiak. It was small but had good wine and a great selection of tapas. I had moussaka and a crunchy chicken taco. Oskar had octopus with potatoes and Cod loin. I tried the octopus and liked it. We were able to drink a bottle of decent Spanish white wine while dining.
Tomorrow we are off early to Avila and Segovia.

A Van Gogh painting

April 27, 2024 – Madrid

ebmallonee — Sun, 28 Apr 2024 06:27:51 +0000

Our tour of the Royal Palace was changed to 1pm so we walked down to Mercado de San Miguel at 10am when it opened. It has many prepared food stalls and long tables with stools. Many families were drinking wine and having plates of tapas. We got some thick hot chocolate and drank that while we wandered the marketplace.
Our “small group” tour turned out to be 30 people. The Palace was beautiful but very crowded. Not as impressive as the St. Petersburg summer palaces or Versailles.
We had 430pm tickets for the Prado. We had to exchange our voucher at the museum. We waited over 30 minutes just to get the tickets but finally got in at 5pm. Oskar was very interested in the art so I let him go off on his own. I like modern art so the Prado is not my favorite. I wandered a little but mostly sat on a bench. Oskar came back at 7pm and we headed back to the apartment.
We had a nice dinner at Taverna Real which Steve, my friend from the cruise, recommended.
Unless noted, the pictures are from the Palace.

Plaza Mayor

Painting on Plaza Mayor

Cathedral de la Almudena

Royal Palace

April 26, 2024 – Barcelona to Madrid

ebmallonee — Sat, 27 Apr 2024 06:07:02 +0000

Today we took a 3 hour train from Barcelona to Madrid. The train was full so I was glad I’d bought tickets before leaving the U.S.
We got to Madrid at 130pm and took a cab to our next apartment. Rocio, the rental agent, was to meet us there. She showed up 5 minutes after we did. The apartment is very nice but on a very busy street. We are just 2 blocks from Plaza Mayor and close to the Royal Palace.
We walked around the neighborhood and had a small tapas lunch at 3pm.
At 745pm we decided to visit Calle Cava Baja which is known as the tapas street. Rocio recommended Tempranillo which is known for its wine selection. We got there right before they opened at 8pm. We enjoyed wine and tapas until 930pm when we headed back to the apartment.
Tomorrow we tour the Royal Palace and then go to the Prada Museum.

April 25, 2024 – Barcelona

ebmallonee — Fri, 26 Apr 2024 17:04:22 +0000

After a good breakfast at the local market, we walked to find the funicular to go up to Montjuiz. The top is the tallest point in the city. At the very top is a castle which was used to protect the city in the 1700’s. The funicular take you half way up. There are Cable Cars that you can take from the funicular to the castle. We decided to walk. It was a steep uphill. The view from the castle was worth it. You could see all of Barcelona. The way down was also steep. I didn’t bring my poles and my knee was complaining. We walked past the Olympic Stadium built for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. We went into the Olympics Museum. It was very interesting. They told us we could go into the stadium so we walked back and went in. We were going to go to the Joan Miro museum but I was exhausted so we headed back to the apartment. But when we got down from the funicular, we decided to take the metro to Grill Thonet where we had lunch yesterday. Today we had tapas – Potatoes Bravas, Mussels marinara, grilled vegetables, and scallops. It was great! I forgot about my knee and we walked back to the apartment. Our total today was 8.5 miles.
Tomorrow we leave for Madrid after breakfast. Off to pack (again).

From Montjuiz zoomed in on Sagrada Familia

The city and the Mediterranean Sea

Olympic Stadium

Front of the Castle

April 24, 2024 – Barcelona

ebmallonee — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 18:46:57 +0000

We set out for Parc Guell again this morning. I down loaded the FREENOW app and used it to call a taxi. It works just like Uber and told us our drivers name and that he would arrive in 6 minutes. It worked perfectly. We got to the Parc just before 10am and found out that the tickets were sold out. We found a tour leader for the company we were supposed to go with yesterday and asked what could we do? He said the 10am tour was full but maybe the 10:30am tour could take us. When the next tour leader showed up I asked and he said they would take us if they had a no show. Luckily, they had no shows and we got to go on the tour. The tour took about an hour with lots of Gaudi stories. We walked around the park on our own before getting a taxi to the Barrio Gothic.
We went to lunch at Thonet Grill. We had a delicious whole fish stuffed with grilled eggplant, red pepper, and onions. They debunked it at the table. It was great.
At 3pm we headed to Palau Guell. Guell was the real-estate developer who conceived of the idea of a community of 60 houses in a park designed by Gaudi. For many reasons it went bust but is now the beautiful park we saw this morning. The Palau Guell was the first mansion Gaudi designed. It was great to see. This was the 3rd Gaudi house that I have visited during different vacations.
Finally after only 4 miles of walking we returned to the apartment .

Parc Guell

Ceiling in Palau Guell

Chimneys at Palau Guell

Closeup of tile work

April 23, 2024 – Barcelona

ebmallonee — Tue, 23 Apr 2024 19:23:18 +0000

Today was Saint George’s Day which is a big celebration day in Barcelona. Women are given roses and children are given books. We had tickets to go to Park Guell this morning. We tried to find a taxi for over an hour and never got one. By that time, we had missed our tour. We decided to walk to Sagrada Familia where we had a 315pm tour. We stopped a few times to rest. Unfortunately, Oscar had his phone stolen while walking. We got to Sagrada Familia around 130pm and wandered around until 3:15pm. Our tour guide was very good. We also went up one of the towers. We rode an elevator up and then had to walk down 400+ steps.
We took the metro home. Only 8 miles today.

Back entrance

Front entrance

View from tower

The main tower to be done by 2026