Lisbon is hot hot hot! So hot that Spanish tourist women were bfanning me with their fans while we were all waiting under the hot sun to board Tram 28 to Alfama. Note to self that I may need to buy a paper fan tomorrow :-)
Lisbon is also very colorful - with lots of yellow, pink, and red buildings. It's also full of cobberstone streets - some of which were making me slip around a tad going downhill. So Lisbon is definitely very photogenic.
About Alfama...It is the oldest district (at least 12th century old) in Lisbon because it survived a big fire in the late 1700's. Alfama has narrow windy and uphill streets, and Tram 28 is one of the public transportation through Alfama. Tram 28 is so cuteee! It's a yellow and vintage trolley...and you can sit by the open window and hang your head out a bit to take pictures! The only time that I felt a breeze was while I was on the tram since we were heading toward the water - it's a river btw, not the Atlantic ocean. See the pictures that I have in the Lisbon section.
My tour book actually says that Lisbon reminds people of many cities - one of which is San Francisco. It has a bridge that looks like the Bay bridge (see in my picture from the Castle overlooking the water) and then of course the hills and trolleys.
I stopped at St George Castle and toured the Castle. The grounds are great with 360 degree view of the city and water. It was very cool to be able to climb up the towers of the castle and also just walk around the entire length of the top of the castle. I had a gazillion pictures there.
I'll actually need to catch the tram again tomorrow for a few things that I didn't have time to do today: visit a famous monastery, a cathedral, and walk around the winding streets and maybe have lunch there.
I arrived at my hotel around 1:30pm, and so half of the day was already gone. So outside of Alfama, I headed out for a lovely seafood lunch and then stumbled onto a Sunday flea market. I bought a couple necklace pendants - one is a 3-D carrousel that I wore for the rest of the day.
Dinner was outdoors at a nearby square and tons of seafood again. I may need to try out Portuguese grilled meats tomorrow just to mix it up.
I'm hoping to also explore Rosario Square tomorrow. Apparently, there is a food market and then there are some notable historical buildings to see. One thing that is supposed to be a big deal here is their aquarium, Oceanarium - hopefully tomorrow or the day after.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Barceloneta and Picasso Museum
My last day in Barcelona was spent partly at the Barceloneta beach. I don't have any pictures of the beach because all I brought with me was a metro card and a room key. The hotel people had warned me to be careful with my belongings and I didn't want to chance it. Barcelona does have a reputation for pickpocketing. I was grateful to have been very careful with where I kept my money and cards.
The water at Barceloneta beach was slightly cool but very pleasant and swimmable. It was definitely nice to swim around or just watch people from the water. I had a really nice conversation with a lady from Brazil who had been in Prague for a conference prior to Barcelona. She loved Prague and thought it was beautiful. I really need to see Prague soon. It also felt good to be able to help her with some tips of what to see in Barcelona.
Barceloneta is next to Port Vell, where all the cruise ships are. Speaking of cruises, the night before, I had a very pleasant chat with an American couple from Ventura CA (even shared my paella with them). They were only in BCN for a couple nights and then were joining a cruise ship out of Barca to Italy and Greece.
After the beach, I headed to Picasso Museum. Picasso had spent a lot of years, including adolescence, in Barcelona. The Museum had some 4000+ (or even more) art work of his. His father was an art teacher, it was funny how his earlier drawings were very classical and then he only got more abstract once he got older. I really loved his re-interpretation of Velaquez's Las Meninas (sp?), which I had already seen and really liked at Museum Prado in Madrid. Love being able to understand and recognize new things!
Upon leaving Picasso Museum, I roamed around Gothic Quarter looking at buildings and the beautiful alleys. I also decided that I would just wander toward a certain direction for about 30 minutes and then will retrace my steps. Somehow, I ended up in Port Vell again. I had taken the metro earlier in the day to Port Vell to get to the beach, and so I hadn't walked to it from above ground. Anyway, I took it as a sign and sat down across the water and had a nice big platter of mixed grilled seafood (see the gumptous picture in the Barcelona - Food section). It was one of the best meals I have had.
Oh, and on my way to Port Vell for the impromtu dinner, I took some pictures of one of the churches (forgot its name - Santa Maria maybe). I had this one guy (who looked like a tourist - turned out to be German) helped me take a couple pictures. One of his friends kept photo-bombing my pictures, and so in the end we all decided that a picture of all of us was in order. See Barcelona - Sights for the additional pictures.
That was pretty much my last day in Barcelona.
The water at Barceloneta beach was slightly cool but very pleasant and swimmable. It was definitely nice to swim around or just watch people from the water. I had a really nice conversation with a lady from Brazil who had been in Prague for a conference prior to Barcelona. She loved Prague and thought it was beautiful. I really need to see Prague soon. It also felt good to be able to help her with some tips of what to see in Barcelona.
Barceloneta is next to Port Vell, where all the cruise ships are. Speaking of cruises, the night before, I had a very pleasant chat with an American couple from Ventura CA (even shared my paella with them). They were only in BCN for a couple nights and then were joining a cruise ship out of Barca to Italy and Greece.
After the beach, I headed to Picasso Museum. Picasso had spent a lot of years, including adolescence, in Barcelona. The Museum had some 4000+ (or even more) art work of his. His father was an art teacher, it was funny how his earlier drawings were very classical and then he only got more abstract once he got older. I really loved his re-interpretation of Velaquez's Las Meninas (sp?), which I had already seen and really liked at Museum Prado in Madrid. Love being able to understand and recognize new things!
Upon leaving Picasso Museum, I roamed around Gothic Quarter looking at buildings and the beautiful alleys. I also decided that I would just wander toward a certain direction for about 30 minutes and then will retrace my steps. Somehow, I ended up in Port Vell again. I had taken the metro earlier in the day to Port Vell to get to the beach, and so I hadn't walked to it from above ground. Anyway, I took it as a sign and sat down across the water and had a nice big platter of mixed grilled seafood (see the gumptous picture in the Barcelona - Food section). It was one of the best meals I have had.
Oh, and on my way to Port Vell for the impromtu dinner, I took some pictures of one of the churches (forgot its name - Santa Maria maybe). I had this one guy (who looked like a tourist - turned out to be German) helped me take a couple pictures. One of his friends kept photo-bombing my pictures, and so in the end we all decided that a picture of all of us was in order. See Barcelona - Sights for the additional pictures.
That was pretty much my last day in Barcelona.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Barcelona: Park Guell and Barcelona Cathedral
I will blog about both of these sights at a later time. For now, please check out the latest 11 PICTURES from Park Guell (designed by Gaudi) and Barcelona Cathedral (took 600 years to build this baby!).
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Barcelona: La Boqueria Market and All Things Gaudi
In comparison to Madrid, Barcelona feels like a much bigger city. The streets and buildings are more grand and prettier. It's definitely cleaner too - no graffitis on buildings so far. It's also more vibrant - probably because of the buildings, food scenes, markets, and shopping.
Barcelona is not as walkable as Madrid. It has also been very hot for the last 2 days. Finally, a bit of a breeze today but still super sunny. After 4-5 hours of walking and my calves/feet hating me, I decided that it was time to learn and take the subway. I asked a few questions to a non-English speaking metro employee, who pointed out to me which lines to take/transfer to get my stop. Once I understood the logistics of that, the subway map and routes were pretty easy to read (pretty much the same system every it seems - very similiar to Tokyo system). Definitely more subway tomorrow!
Barcelona has multiple fresh food markets. The coolest one is La Boqueria, which is right off of La Rambla (more on this street later). This market has stalls selling everything from fresh seafood/meats to candies and fruits. See the Barcelona FOOD PICTURES.
Once inside the market, I walked around and sampled on fruits and a smoothie. Wasn't really in the mood for candies today but they sure do have a lot of sweets for sale. There are also restaurant stalls there. I had a yummy tapas lunch and met one of the most attentive restaurant owner/waiter. He managed to communicate with me very well with a bit of English and lots of hand gestures. He was so good with tending to all 10 stools and was so nice the entire time that I couldn't resist but asked for a picture of him. I also chatted with an older man next to me, who used to visit San Francisco a lot on business trips.
La Rambla is this long street that has a huge pedestrian walkway in the middle. It's a popular street because there are tons of kiosks on the walkway selling snacks (gelato, sweets, etc), flowers, and souvenirs. At night, the street performers come out and the walkway gets even more congested. Also, there are restaurants and stores on both sides of the streets. I found a really cool souvenir store on this road and ended up with a bunch of souvenir items - mostly because the guy was giving me everything half off (and yes, I did price similar items in Madrid ;-)). I had some really good tapas and paella for dinner at a restaurant on this street tonight. It's very hard to not buy gelato when there are a gazillions of them on La Rambla - so far I already bought 2 very small ones throughtout today. Here is to hoping I can walk off those gelatos! ;-)
On my second day here, I went out and attempted to do part of the Gaudi walk. I have to admit that I'm very impressed with his architecture style. The Basilica of Sagrada Familia is probably the grandest and most impressive of his work. It's a cathedral that has been in the works since 100+ years ago. Gaudi, himself, died in the 1920's (I think) and just left very detailed plans for how to build it. It is estimated to be completed in 2040. The outside has 3 different facades, and only 2 have been built (the Passion (of the Christ) and the Nativity). They are both breathtakingly beautiful and just grand! The inside is even better - from the columns to the ceiling to the glass-stained windows. I just sat there and gazed in wonder of the complexity and beauty of the place.
I also visited 2 other house/buildings created by Gaudi. Casa Batllo is this colorful 2-story home with mosaic stones on the front and a roof that looks like dragon skin. For the life of me I couldn't take a proper picture of the roof with all the sun shining on me :-) I also walked by and took a picture of La Pedrera, another one of Gaudi's creation. I'm planning to visit Gaudi's Park Guell tomorrow and I'm expecting lots of beautiful mosaic colors.
At this point, I'm thinking I might not have enough time to see the remaining sights that I'm dying to see: Gothic Quarter, the beach!, a couple museums, Camp Nou football stadium.
Here are the Barcelona SIGHT PICTURES.
Barcelona is not as walkable as Madrid. It has also been very hot for the last 2 days. Finally, a bit of a breeze today but still super sunny. After 4-5 hours of walking and my calves/feet hating me, I decided that it was time to learn and take the subway. I asked a few questions to a non-English speaking metro employee, who pointed out to me which lines to take/transfer to get my stop. Once I understood the logistics of that, the subway map and routes were pretty easy to read (pretty much the same system every it seems - very similiar to Tokyo system). Definitely more subway tomorrow!
Barcelona has multiple fresh food markets. The coolest one is La Boqueria, which is right off of La Rambla (more on this street later). This market has stalls selling everything from fresh seafood/meats to candies and fruits. See the Barcelona FOOD PICTURES.
Once inside the market, I walked around and sampled on fruits and a smoothie. Wasn't really in the mood for candies today but they sure do have a lot of sweets for sale. There are also restaurant stalls there. I had a yummy tapas lunch and met one of the most attentive restaurant owner/waiter. He managed to communicate with me very well with a bit of English and lots of hand gestures. He was so good with tending to all 10 stools and was so nice the entire time that I couldn't resist but asked for a picture of him. I also chatted with an older man next to me, who used to visit San Francisco a lot on business trips.
La Rambla is this long street that has a huge pedestrian walkway in the middle. It's a popular street because there are tons of kiosks on the walkway selling snacks (gelato, sweets, etc), flowers, and souvenirs. At night, the street performers come out and the walkway gets even more congested. Also, there are restaurants and stores on both sides of the streets. I found a really cool souvenir store on this road and ended up with a bunch of souvenir items - mostly because the guy was giving me everything half off (and yes, I did price similar items in Madrid ;-)). I had some really good tapas and paella for dinner at a restaurant on this street tonight. It's very hard to not buy gelato when there are a gazillions of them on La Rambla - so far I already bought 2 very small ones throughtout today. Here is to hoping I can walk off those gelatos! ;-)
On my second day here, I went out and attempted to do part of the Gaudi walk. I have to admit that I'm very impressed with his architecture style. The Basilica of Sagrada Familia is probably the grandest and most impressive of his work. It's a cathedral that has been in the works since 100+ years ago. Gaudi, himself, died in the 1920's (I think) and just left very detailed plans for how to build it. It is estimated to be completed in 2040. The outside has 3 different facades, and only 2 have been built (the Passion (of the Christ) and the Nativity). They are both breathtakingly beautiful and just grand! The inside is even better - from the columns to the ceiling to the glass-stained windows. I just sat there and gazed in wonder of the complexity and beauty of the place.
I also visited 2 other house/buildings created by Gaudi. Casa Batllo is this colorful 2-story home with mosaic stones on the front and a roof that looks like dragon skin. For the life of me I couldn't take a proper picture of the roof with all the sun shining on me :-) I also walked by and took a picture of La Pedrera, another one of Gaudi's creation. I'm planning to visit Gaudi's Park Guell tomorrow and I'm expecting lots of beautiful mosaic colors.
At this point, I'm thinking I might not have enough time to see the remaining sights that I'm dying to see: Gothic Quarter, the beach!, a couple museums, Camp Nou football stadium.
Here are the Barcelona SIGHT PICTURES.
Monday, September 3, 2012
Roaming the streets of Madrid
After 4 days of being here, I'm now feeling very chilled and comfortable with roaming around, hanging out at outdoors restaurants, and exploring new neighborhoods. Everything seems so walkable that I have yet to take any public transportations.
Madrid is definitely growing on me with its beautiful buildings, squares, and parks. So far, Retiro Park is my favorite. It somehow manages to be peaceful and festive at the same time. There are spots all over the park where you can picnic and just hang out in quieteness...and then there are lively parts with street performers, mini palaces, and a puppet theater. Though still very big for its size, Retiro reminds me of a smaller NY Central Park with its boating lake. I absolutely loved the Crystal Palace and rose garden (4000 roses over 100+ varieties) at the end of the park.
Since Italy, I have been in love with European squares because of the architecture and of course the outdoors restaurants. My hotel is very conveniently located - within 5 minutes of walking to some of the main plazas: Plaza del Sol, Plaza de Mayor, and Plaza de Santa Ana. To me, a square is always such a relaxing place to just hang out and have a meal, do some people watching, or read.
On my second day here, I checked out the El Rastro flea market. Although I am not much of a flea market person, I did find a purse and a photograph that I liked. It was an interesting place to be with crowds stretching up and down the road.
Yesterday, I was at the Museo del Prado for 4+ hours. Although I really wanted to see a couple more rooms, my feet were not cooperating after the 5th hour (even with breaks). I was really impressed with all of the 16th and 17th century paintings there. Spent way too much time with the Raphael collection - so I guess I like his work now :-) I really liked Velazquez's Las Meninas for the scene depicted and also for the fact that the artist appeared in the painting. El Greco's The Adoration of the Shepherds was also very cool with its use of brilliant colors. Goya's satire sketches of government corruptions on napkins (I think) were much more interesting to me than his paintings.
HERE are some Madrid pictures so far. Keep checking back for more.
I'm hoping to see Palacio Real today and then more walking around Royal Madrid and Gran Via. After today, onward to Bacelonia. I'll return to Madrid for 1 full day (with more museums to visit) for my return flight to the US.
Madrid is definitely growing on me with its beautiful buildings, squares, and parks. So far, Retiro Park is my favorite. It somehow manages to be peaceful and festive at the same time. There are spots all over the park where you can picnic and just hang out in quieteness...and then there are lively parts with street performers, mini palaces, and a puppet theater. Though still very big for its size, Retiro reminds me of a smaller NY Central Park with its boating lake. I absolutely loved the Crystal Palace and rose garden (4000 roses over 100+ varieties) at the end of the park.
Since Italy, I have been in love with European squares because of the architecture and of course the outdoors restaurants. My hotel is very conveniently located - within 5 minutes of walking to some of the main plazas: Plaza del Sol, Plaza de Mayor, and Plaza de Santa Ana. To me, a square is always such a relaxing place to just hang out and have a meal, do some people watching, or read.
On my second day here, I checked out the El Rastro flea market. Although I am not much of a flea market person, I did find a purse and a photograph that I liked. It was an interesting place to be with crowds stretching up and down the road.
Yesterday, I was at the Museo del Prado for 4+ hours. Although I really wanted to see a couple more rooms, my feet were not cooperating after the 5th hour (even with breaks). I was really impressed with all of the 16th and 17th century paintings there. Spent way too much time with the Raphael collection - so I guess I like his work now :-) I really liked Velazquez's Las Meninas for the scene depicted and also for the fact that the artist appeared in the painting. El Greco's The Adoration of the Shepherds was also very cool with its use of brilliant colors. Goya's satire sketches of government corruptions on napkins (I think) were much more interesting to me than his paintings.
HERE are some Madrid pictures so far. Keep checking back for more.
I'm hoping to see Palacio Real today and then more walking around Royal Madrid and Gran Via. After today, onward to Bacelonia. I'll return to Madrid for 1 full day (with more museums to visit) for my return flight to the US.
Tapas, Rioja...and the Suckling Pigs
So my first blog has to be about the food in Madrid. Not because I'm shallow :-) - only because food is air for me - and if you know me, you would know this :-)
The house wine here, a Rioja, is delicious! I have yet to have a bad glass of wine, and I'm picky with my wine. I haven't had a Rioja in a long while and just completely forgot how juicy and easy to drink it is.
Every time that I have a great meal during one of my travels, I remember why traveling is so important to me. Quite frankly, it's hard to get a good authentic meal in the US. A good Tapas or Italian place is a pain to find in the US.
- Sweets: The churros here are stuffed with yumming vanila or chocolate fillings. There is a cafe 10 steps from my hotel that has a gazillion types of churros. I'm so tempted to get their biggest churro but so far I can barely get through the smaller sizes. A couple days ago, I walked by a bakery with this huge spread of cakes on display. I ended up with the most amazing creamy truffle log-shaped dessert.
- Breakfast: Why is it that only countries outside of the US can make a proper breakfast? :-) Even hotel restaurants in Vietnam do a better job. It is not hard to make over easy eggs with a crispy crust on the white side. Oh, and why is bacon in Madrid so good? - perfect amount of salt, meat, and fat!
- Ham and more: The jamon iberico here is amazing. My first night here, I had this huge plate of jamon, salami, etc. and the salami just had the balance of fat and meat.
- Roasted suckling pigs: Think crispy Chinese pork but both the skin and the pork are 100 times better than the Chinese version.
HERE are some pictures of the food mentioned above.
- Paella: Went to a place tonight that is known for its Paella since 1935. I really liked the very shallow wide pan that the paella came in. The paella itself was OK. I probably just need to try out another place for comparison.
- Tapas: Loved the usual Spanish torta and meatballs. I did try out a couple new tapas items on this trip: The best raviolis filled with oxtail in a creamy sauce I have ever had! I'm still on the fence about the smoked codfish on toasts (the tomato spread on the toast was tasty though). I need to remember to try out the local favorites of calamari sandwich!
Both Plaza de la Santa Ana and Plaza Mayor are within 5 minutes from my hotel in either direction, and they are both known for their terrace sitting. Santa Ana, in particular, is the square for tapas restaurants. The weather this time of the year is cool and nice in the evening (not too hot during the day either), which makes sitting outside for a couple hours with good food/wine very enjoyable. It doesn't hurt that in addition to the good food, ocassionally, there will be musicians playing some lovely tunes with their accordion or guitar.
The house wine here, a Rioja, is delicious! I have yet to have a bad glass of wine, and I'm picky with my wine. I haven't had a Rioja in a long while and just completely forgot how juicy and easy to drink it is.
Every time that I have a great meal during one of my travels, I remember why traveling is so important to me. Quite frankly, it's hard to get a good authentic meal in the US. A good Tapas or Italian place is a pain to find in the US.
- Sweets: The churros here are stuffed with yumming vanila or chocolate fillings. There is a cafe 10 steps from my hotel that has a gazillion types of churros. I'm so tempted to get their biggest churro but so far I can barely get through the smaller sizes. A couple days ago, I walked by a bakery with this huge spread of cakes on display. I ended up with the most amazing creamy truffle log-shaped dessert.
- Breakfast: Why is it that only countries outside of the US can make a proper breakfast? :-) Even hotel restaurants in Vietnam do a better job. It is not hard to make over easy eggs with a crispy crust on the white side. Oh, and why is bacon in Madrid so good? - perfect amount of salt, meat, and fat!
- Ham and more: The jamon iberico here is amazing. My first night here, I had this huge plate of jamon, salami, etc. and the salami just had the balance of fat and meat.
- Roasted suckling pigs: Think crispy Chinese pork but both the skin and the pork are 100 times better than the Chinese version.
HERE are some pictures of the food mentioned above.
- Paella: Went to a place tonight that is known for its Paella since 1935. I really liked the very shallow wide pan that the paella came in. The paella itself was OK. I probably just need to try out another place for comparison.
- Tapas: Loved the usual Spanish torta and meatballs. I did try out a couple new tapas items on this trip: The best raviolis filled with oxtail in a creamy sauce I have ever had! I'm still on the fence about the smoked codfish on toasts (the tomato spread on the toast was tasty though). I need to remember to try out the local favorites of calamari sandwich!
Both Plaza de la Santa Ana and Plaza Mayor are within 5 minutes from my hotel in either direction, and they are both known for their terrace sitting. Santa Ana, in particular, is the square for tapas restaurants. The weather this time of the year is cool and nice in the evening (not too hot during the day either), which makes sitting outside for a couple hours with good food/wine very enjoyable. It doesn't hurt that in addition to the good food, ocassionally, there will be musicians playing some lovely tunes with their accordion or guitar.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)