Cool Doors and Door Knockers, Part 1

There are a lot of fascinating doors in Spain, some old, some new but a lot of ornamentation that you just don't see in the U.S. #1 is from the Alhambra and the next 3 photos are from Elx (!), and the last is from Barcelona (I think it was on a side door of a church, which kind of explains the laden-down dude celebrated here).

Cuenca, Part 4: Partying Parador-Style

This was our last night at the parador and we knew it was our last hurrah in Spain as we were headed for a Madrid airport hotel the next day. So we treated ourselves to a tasting menu at the hotel. You'd think a kid ordered this ridiculous dessert--nope, it was me! But I gave each kid his own cone.

The next day Ben fed the lion postbox one last time. We had a beautiful drive out of Cuenca and back to Madrid, with all those sunflowers facing us (ok, and the sun too).

Our last hotel doesn't really merit much attention other than to say that it was called the High Tech Hotel and we had no air-conditioning for 8 hours of the afternoon/night. And when Ed went to complain that it was 30 degrees Celsius in our room, the front desk guy said to him, "it is not 30 degrees, it is 30.5 degrees Celsius!" That would be about 90 degrees Fahrenheit in a tiny, tiny room. He had the gall to suggest we go to the pool. Uh, yeah.

The plane to Portugal, which we dreaded because of the kids' motion sickness, was uneventful but sadly the plane from Porto to Newark was really rough for the last couple hours. Ben, Nate and I were very sick. Plus the plane dropped like a stone at one point. Nate and several other people on the plane threw up; Ben and I just turned a wicked shade of green. Even the taxi'ing was awful (jerky, endless, etc.) I think the pilots were pretty lame. As one of my colleagues said back in June when I said we were flying TAP Air, "Buckle Up!" Even kind, sweet Ben told me not to thank the pilot.

Finally, we made it to the car rental place and Ed drove the 3 hours to Camp Hill, PA to see my parents. So very tired.

I have a couple more posts in me and then we'll put the blog to bed!

Cuenca, Part 3: Abstract Art Museum (really the last museo)

My claim that Guggenheim was our last museo was premature, and I'm not sure how I could forget Cuenca's Abstract Art Museum http://www.spain.info/en/conoce/museo/cuenca/museo_de_arte_abstracto_espanol.html It's all the more enjoyable knowing that you...and the room...and the art are all perched perilously over the gorge in a hanging house. The views out over the gorge are spectacular (is that really the moon in #4?) but it says something that the art still managed to sway us not to just wander from window to window but to really spend some a good couple hours with the art. Chillida, Tapies, Saura, and so many more. Nate loved the Cocktail Party, natch. Definitely worth a visit.

Cuenca, Part 2: It's a Long Way Down

The photos I've found just don't convey how scary high this town is. Will have to keep looking but #1 is our parador hotel, originally a 16th century convent and its attached church (now a modern art museum). #2 is the most famous hanging houses, which now host a restaurant (highly rated and closed both nights we were in Cuenca, unfortunately) and an abstract art museum. More on that art later.

We loved photo #3 as representative of our entire trip--it's 10 p.m. in this nice restaurant and the Stackler*Williams family is alone. Yep, it's far too early to dine in Spain so we can act as goofy and silly as we'd like. As I recall, I ate some sort of venison-chicken stew that was so rich that I got up several times that night to pound Tums. And there was some rabbit and wine. The rest is swallowed up by the fear I felt crossing the swaying pedestrian bridge back to our hotel. Especially when two motor scooters (two teenagers on each) crossed right after us in what was clearly a well-practice but super-dangerous display that made my stomach leap into my mouth.

The next day was gorgeous. We were surprised by this 12th-century cathedral, Our Lady of Grace, which was supposedly the first gothic church in all of Spain. We hadn't expected much but this church is serious--no photos or video at all are allowed, there is a very lengthy english-language audio that comes with the entrance fee, and there are multiple chapels. We all knew this was our last cathedral and it was interesting and all but somehow it just overwhelmed us... Clearly our trip was coming to an end.

Cuenca, Part 1

Success! Cuenca parador had the promised pool and it was awesome (despite some biting flies). And check out the amazing rock formations lining the pool. The parador served up internet just fine in our room though I was worried when the bar only served up wine and nuts and no connection. But the photo summed up so many blog moments in the trip.

Cuenca is built around a deep, deep gorge. Our parador hotel was built on one side and the old town is on the other side. And a long, scary pedestrian bridge lies between. You can sort of see it here--just imagine that it's 60 meters above the river. And here are Ed and the boys crossing it. Because land is at a premium Cuenca began to build houses literally over the gorge. But more on that in future posts...

We Laughed, We Cried, We Ran Amok

The 6-hour road from Leon to Cuenca was a superhighway and many interesting towns lay between: Palencia, Valladolid, Avila, etc. But the road looked familiar (adorable haybales, sunflowers, green vineyards) and as much as the walled city of Avila tempted us, we've seen some walls this trip. And the Leon parador didn't have a swimming pool but the Cuenca parador did... If we drove straight through we'd be swimming by 3:30...So Ed drove past all the exits until we came to one that was just too tempting.

Remember my post about El Escorial, when the bus made Ben and me so sick and we couldn't find a taxi to Valle de los Caidos, the ONE place Ed really wanted to see outside Madrid? Where Franco built a weird monument to the dead of the Civil War (purportedly both sides but you can imagine that the winning dictator's side got the most graveyard real estate)? It's all very odd but we'd had recommendations from several people that it wasn't to be missed. So I realized that there was the exit and the monument didn't seem too far away. Exit! Exit! Exit! Alas, the visit wasn't meant to be-- for us at least--it's closed indefinitely for renovations. Poor Ed. All we got was a picture of the gate and then it was back on the road to Cuenca.

As we navigated around Madrid it became clear by the noises from the backseat that we better get the kids some lunch. But we weren't in the mood to wander the outskirts of Madrid looking for a cafe. And then we saw it.

On the far side of Madrid, there was a huge (HUGE) mall, Gavila. With an IKEA. And a food court. And a LOT of "Fashion." All the boys cared about was going to McDonald's--okay, fair enough. But this was a beautiful mall: cool, super-clean, gleaming really. Plus it was filled with places where all those things that we hadn't been able to find easily-- toe-nail polish, FIFA soccer balls, post office (with mailing boxes!) etc. etc. were there for us. We are not a mall people but this mall was nirvana. We ran from store to store buying crap we did not need.

Thank goodness the toy store pulled us up short. Nothing but toys for as far as you could see-no adult sporting goods or other items. Just toys: look at Ben standing next to all that pink packaging. There is Nate holding his new soccer ball and waiting to see the new Magic cards in the case. But when you turn to the left, a whole bank of firearms is showcased for your child's easy shopping pleasure. Granted, I know they're sold at such places like WalMart in the U.S.. But in a toy store? Really?

Time to go. But that mall was 2 unexpected hours of sheer air-conditioned, polished fun.

Sewer Art, Part 2

More manholes:
#1 -- Sitges--again, for a lovely beach town, I'd have expected something a little more showy.
#2 -- Zaragoza
#3 -- Olite
#4 -- faux San Sebastian (we have the excellent official sailing ship and crown manhole photo somewhere but I uploaded the wrong one again here); still it's cool and it was in San Sebastian
#5 -- Cuenca: very nice/fitting (though I haven't even posted yet about or stay there.
So we seem to be missing Barcelona proper, Madrid, San Sebastian, Leon so at least one more post later on the art of public works.