Well I just saw Catie off to the airport. What will I do without her? I will have to post my own pictures.
Right, so I just checked and apparently I have to cover the first day in Lisbon to the second day in San Sebastian. If only I remembered any of it. So... in Lisbon... we did stuff. We only stayed the one night and got a train to Porto at about 5pm. So we spent the morning mostly just wandering. It's a nice place. Embraces it's history but doesn't stop for it. We saw a bunch of things, got waffles. I don't really remember the specifics. Just the overall feel of it.
Then we got to Porto which was also lovely. I really liked Portugal overall. Porto was very different from Lisbon aesthetically. Both nice but very different. In Porto we mostly wandered too. Had a pretty day just because we could. For the first time in a while we didn't have to lug any backpacks so we wore our most impractical skirts. Went down to the river then crossed the high bridge, decided not to pay to take the gondola, walked back down to the river, decided to skip the port tastings because Catie was feeling less than excellent, crossed the lower bridge and made our way slowly back to the hostel. Had naps. 'Twas good. Did an evening wander too. We didn't really strive to see a list of things in Porto but we saw a lot anyway.
The next day we dragged all of our luggage to Coimbra, left it in a cafe near the train station for the afternoon (what train station has no luggage storage?) and had a look around. It's a pretty place but it was disgustingly hot. It is meant to be autumn. That was not autumn. Turns out it was uncommonly hot. It must have been around o-week for the university because we walked past groups in matching t-shirts singing. Some group of people (i assume law students but don't know for sure) have to wear suits and ties and big black capes. I felt sorry for them in the heat.
We ended up just getting to the university (oldest in Portugal) and saw a couple of churches then took refuge in the shade in the botanical gardens and read or books for a bit.
Back to the train station to catch an overnight train to San Sebastian. It was a long and painful trip. We arrived at 6.30 am to find the directions to our hostel were wrong and then that they didn't open until 9. So we went for breakfast. We were rather exhausted all morning. We went back to the hostel at 9 but weren't allowed in the room until 1pm so we pushed ourselves back out to see the city. It's all a bit of a blur. We found the cathedral and followed signs to tabakalera because we didn't know what it was (it turned out to be something like a culture factory or something similar so we still don't really know what it is). Tracked down the bus station, stopped for a caffeine hit and then went to the old town. Found a couple of churches and a square but somehow lost the museum. Then finally got to go back to the hostel and get into our room. Where we napped for a couple of hours. I finished my book too.
That evening... we cooked... went somewhere... I don't remember. And all of my sources of reminder are far away because the internet doesn't work in the rooms here. I'm sure it wasn't that interesting.
So that should get you caught up to the previous blog. Which I wrote yesterday. So now I just need to catch you up on since then. Where did I stop? Right, summarized the gothic part of the city. Left out the main event though. As we were on our way to the cathedral we heard drums so we went for a closer look and found a whole parade. So we followed it. It was some sort of procession of groups of people who make human pyramids. We followed a long way (and got sprayed with water at one point) and saw a bunch of little towers of people but we got hungry and didn't stay to see if they were going to make one of the giant towers we'd seen pictures of. Instead we went to find the cathedral (which was closed for mass) then walked to one if the gaudi buildings. Wandered a bit more and spotted a nice place for dinner (Catie decided to treat us to a proper meal on our last night together) and wound our way back to the hostel to look some things up on the internet. Fast forward a couple of hours (and a backwards blog) and we headed back out to find the shops we had googled. Turns it everything is closed on Sundays here so it didn't do us much good. So instead we tracked down the restaurant we'd seen earlier and had an amazing meal of tapas and sangria and some pretty awesome desserts which might not have been quite so spanish. It was really lovely (thanks Catie). If you find yourself in Barcelona and want a good tapas place for a reasonable price look for Xaloc in the Medieval Jewish quarter just off la rambla. It was a great place.
Then this morning we got up nice and early to get to la sagrada familia half an hour before it opened. The line was only all the way around one corner at that point. By 9 am it was around 3. It was pretty incredible to see something of that scale that is still being made. And it's very Gaudi, but it is so many other people too because of the nature of the project. I don't know if I could describe it. Some if it was incredibly beautiful and overwhelming. You can really see the forest theme inside. Above the altar is a spectacular crucifixion sculpture which was hanging from the tackiest chandelier I have ever seen. The two faces have very different themes and kinds of sculpture but both convey the emotions really well. It's interesting the way so many different people's ideas have come together within one guy's dream. I wonder if it would have been like that if the original plans hadn't been lost about a decade after Gaudi died. That may have given a little more freedom to his successors which had a really interesting affect on the building. And it's still only 60% finished! Maybe someday I can come back and see how it's progressed.
Then we went to the flea market to hunt for sunglasses because mine are getting pretty bad but instead we got socks and a bag (for me and her respectively). Then we walked back to the big plaza in the middle of the doing district to look at cameras (Catie had a slight mishap and now needs a new one). Lunch, back to the hostel to get organized and then off to the train station to send Catie off to the airport while I stayed and bought a train ticket to France. Tomorrow I head to Nimes. I'm really looking forward to it. I'll get to see the Pont-du-gard which I remember studying back in high school. And for the first time I will be trying couch surfing. Here's to free accommodation. If it goes well I could save a lot on my budget.
Now I have to go make myself some food. Hopefully it will be less than a week before I write again.
Right, so I just checked and apparently I have to cover the first day in Lisbon to the second day in San Sebastian. If only I remembered any of it. So... in Lisbon... we did stuff. We only stayed the one night and got a train to Porto at about 5pm. So we spent the morning mostly just wandering. It's a nice place. Embraces it's history but doesn't stop for it. We saw a bunch of things, got waffles. I don't really remember the specifics. Just the overall feel of it.
Then we got to Porto which was also lovely. I really liked Portugal overall. Porto was very different from Lisbon aesthetically. Both nice but very different. In Porto we mostly wandered too. Had a pretty day just because we could. For the first time in a while we didn't have to lug any backpacks so we wore our most impractical skirts. Went down to the river then crossed the high bridge, decided not to pay to take the gondola, walked back down to the river, decided to skip the port tastings because Catie was feeling less than excellent, crossed the lower bridge and made our way slowly back to the hostel. Had naps. 'Twas good. Did an evening wander too. We didn't really strive to see a list of things in Porto but we saw a lot anyway.
The next day we dragged all of our luggage to Coimbra, left it in a cafe near the train station for the afternoon (what train station has no luggage storage?) and had a look around. It's a pretty place but it was disgustingly hot. It is meant to be autumn. That was not autumn. Turns out it was uncommonly hot. It must have been around o-week for the university because we walked past groups in matching t-shirts singing. Some group of people (i assume law students but don't know for sure) have to wear suits and ties and big black capes. I felt sorry for them in the heat.
We ended up just getting to the university (oldest in Portugal) and saw a couple of churches then took refuge in the shade in the botanical gardens and read or books for a bit.
Back to the train station to catch an overnight train to San Sebastian. It was a long and painful trip. We arrived at 6.30 am to find the directions to our hostel were wrong and then that they didn't open until 9. So we went for breakfast. We were rather exhausted all morning. We went back to the hostel at 9 but weren't allowed in the room until 1pm so we pushed ourselves back out to see the city. It's all a bit of a blur. We found the cathedral and followed signs to tabakalera because we didn't know what it was (it turned out to be something like a culture factory or something similar so we still don't really know what it is). Tracked down the bus station, stopped for a caffeine hit and then went to the old town. Found a couple of churches and a square but somehow lost the museum. Then finally got to go back to the hostel and get into our room. Where we napped for a couple of hours. I finished my book too.
That evening... we cooked... went somewhere... I don't remember. And all of my sources of reminder are far away because the internet doesn't work in the rooms here. I'm sure it wasn't that interesting.
So that should get you caught up to the previous blog. Which I wrote yesterday. So now I just need to catch you up on since then. Where did I stop? Right, summarized the gothic part of the city. Left out the main event though. As we were on our way to the cathedral we heard drums so we went for a closer look and found a whole parade. So we followed it. It was some sort of procession of groups of people who make human pyramids. We followed a long way (and got sprayed with water at one point) and saw a bunch of little towers of people but we got hungry and didn't stay to see if they were going to make one of the giant towers we'd seen pictures of. Instead we went to find the cathedral (which was closed for mass) then walked to one if the gaudi buildings. Wandered a bit more and spotted a nice place for dinner (Catie decided to treat us to a proper meal on our last night together) and wound our way back to the hostel to look some things up on the internet. Fast forward a couple of hours (and a backwards blog) and we headed back out to find the shops we had googled. Turns it everything is closed on Sundays here so it didn't do us much good. So instead we tracked down the restaurant we'd seen earlier and had an amazing meal of tapas and sangria and some pretty awesome desserts which might not have been quite so spanish. It was really lovely (thanks Catie). If you find yourself in Barcelona and want a good tapas place for a reasonable price look for Xaloc in the Medieval Jewish quarter just off la rambla. It was a great place.
Then this morning we got up nice and early to get to la sagrada familia half an hour before it opened. The line was only all the way around one corner at that point. By 9 am it was around 3. It was pretty incredible to see something of that scale that is still being made. And it's very Gaudi, but it is so many other people too because of the nature of the project. I don't know if I could describe it. Some if it was incredibly beautiful and overwhelming. You can really see the forest theme inside. Above the altar is a spectacular crucifixion sculpture which was hanging from the tackiest chandelier I have ever seen. The two faces have very different themes and kinds of sculpture but both convey the emotions really well. It's interesting the way so many different people's ideas have come together within one guy's dream. I wonder if it would have been like that if the original plans hadn't been lost about a decade after Gaudi died. That may have given a little more freedom to his successors which had a really interesting affect on the building. And it's still only 60% finished! Maybe someday I can come back and see how it's progressed.
Then we went to the flea market to hunt for sunglasses because mine are getting pretty bad but instead we got socks and a bag (for me and her respectively). Then we walked back to the big plaza in the middle of the doing district to look at cameras (Catie had a slight mishap and now needs a new one). Lunch, back to the hostel to get organized and then off to the train station to send Catie off to the airport while I stayed and bought a train ticket to France. Tomorrow I head to Nimes. I'm really looking forward to it. I'll get to see the Pont-du-gard which I remember studying back in high school. And for the first time I will be trying couch surfing. Here's to free accommodation. If it goes well I could save a lot on my budget.
Now I have to go make myself some food. Hopefully it will be less than a week before I write again.
Still reading your blog, really interesting . Enjoy yourself. Cheers Elinor
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