Europa '09 - text

hello one and all.....
i'm back in nantes after spending alost 2 weeks on the road, travelling europe!
i had great fun but it's good to be back and not living out of a suitcase anymore!
to make the updating easier, i'm going to create a post for each of the major places i went (the blog format makes adding pics with text a bit of a pain sometimes)
here's the overview though -

April 4th, I left for paris and stayed with the Depuilles whilst waiting for Miss Cathie Linkous to make it over the atlantic -(she had some trouble getting here due to a storm in NY. thanks JFK!)
The next day, when she got in, we saw just about every monument there was to see. The Louvre (fastest trip, ever - walked in, saw the Mona Lisa and walked out!), walked through the Jardin des Tuileries, walked along the left bank of the Seine, had lunch beside the Eiffel Tower, went up in the Eiffel Tower - (all the way to the top! and making friends along the way!) walked across to Trocadero, walked to the Arc de Triomphe, strolled a bit down the Champs-Elysees and then checked out Notre Dame at dusk. I was rather proud of my navigating and metro hopping round the city, (though I was greaty aided by my indispensable 'Paris Pratique'), but I was even more proud of how Cathie kept going, right off the plane, with no sleep! Way to rock it out Cathie!!!
That night, Julien made us dinner and we were all barely able to finish before falling asleep in our chairs!

April 6th, we drove to Brugges in Belgium, and were blown away by this picturesque little town. We spent the day walking about and then drove through the night to Amsterdam.

April 7th began adventures in A'dam, as they call it here. It all started with being very lost trying to find our hostel (which, it turned out, was pretty damned far from the city center). Thankfully, the guy at the reception desk, whom we kept calling on the phone, was very patient and spoke wonderful English and helped us find our way. Then, once there, we wound up not having the right room at our hostel and were thus put up down the street at the BEST Western. It really was the BEST thing we could have had happen b/c we had a great room, great breakfast, great parking spot, internet access, very helpful and nice desk staff, cheap tram tickets and we kept using the hotel amenities long after our real stay there finished! As for the visit - I have never had so much trouble navigating a city - even with 3 maps I just couldn't get it straight! (and no, it's not because I was stoned) Don't get me wrong - it was just fine to walk at hazard through such a beautiful city (in the rain and blowing wind) but it was also somewhat frustrating seeing as we wanted to see some sights too! Anyway, we eventually figured it all out: we saw Dam Square, the Red-Light District by night, the Sex Museum, the Rembrandt House, the Flower Market, the Anne Frank House and, after 2 chilly, rainy days, right before we left for Germany, the sun finally came out and we got some beautiful pictures to boot.

April 9th, we woke up in our hostel in Cologne, Germany after having driven the previous night from the Netherlands. I was very surprised at how helpful and friendly folks were on the street when they saw Cathie and I huddled, as usual, round our map. Also - there were sooooo many English speakers (and that was true throughout this trip). In Cologne, we saw the Lindt Chocolate Museum, Dom Cathedral, ate wonderful produce and bakery stuff while walking the pedestrian shopping areas and once again, after a cloudy morning, the sun came out, warm and shining in the afternoon. We had more adventures trying to leave the city but, after stopping in at a hotel where the gentlemen at the desk were more than happy to Google map our route back to Paris, we were back on the road. That night, when we got back to Paris, we jetted down to Trocadero again to see the Eiffel Tower by night and, with the full moon just beside it - it was quite a sight.

April 10th, after spending the night at one of the niftiest, (each of the beds had curtains, a nightlight *and* outlets for your stuff!!) but loudest hostels I've been to, Cathie and I each began a long day of travelling - she back to the States, me to Spain. She, unfortunately, had misadventures getting her ticketing straight but eventually made it back safe and sound. I spent about 6 hours tooling around the airport and then flew to Madrid. What a cool city! Their subway is brand spanking new, super well marked and cheap. Travelling around there was no sweat and rather a pleasure. That night I met up with April and Cara - two assistants I know from Nantes and their buddy Dan. We found some tapas and then crashed out.

April 11th, the sun decided to come out for real and made for great pictures as we all wandered the city. The Palacio Real and Catedral were too crowded so we walked a while, had lunch and then hit the Prado Museum, where I was particularly impressed by Goya's Black paintings. Later, we did some more tapas and then I went to church for an Easter vigil service - pretty cool in Spanish. Afterwards, I had the traditional churros and chocolate for a late-night snack! So rich, but sooo good.

April 12th - still in Madrid, we were trying to get to the Reina Sofia museum when April fell ill and we all headed off to the hospital, which was the only place she could be seen on Easter Sunday! I was happy I was able to help her get through the visit in Spanish as most of the 8 (!!!) staff members she saw didn't speak English. She wound up being ok and not paying a cent for anything (they did blood work, urinalysis and X-rays!!) - how cool is that? That was pretty much all that I did that day - tried to get to a soccer match but had too many issues getting in, tried to do laundry but apparently do-it-yourself laundromats don't exist in Spain. After supper we all just walked around some more and then said our adieus - they were off for the Netherlands and I was off to Sevilla!

April 13th - Rode the bus for 6 & 1/2 hours to get to Sevilla - and what a great trip!!! The bus was relatively comfy, clean, on-time, and they even showed movies and had music like planes do! It was a beautiful day too and I had a window seat so I could stare out and take pics - felt like I was in a GlobeTrekker episode! Arrived in Sevilla round 8, and after a cheap taxi ride, found myself at one of the most beautiful hostels I've ever seen in my life - it was an old Sevillian house in the Triana district, that they converted, so: gorgeous tile work, little planters everywhere, rooftop terrace with hammocks - the whole nine yards! Found a nice little restaurant round the corner that night and had a yummy goat cheese and dried fruit salad followed by perfectly cooked duck breast, smothered in sauteed onions.

April 14th - With only one, beautiful, sunny day to do Sevilla, I got started early and saw the Torre del Oro, the Cathedral, ate some torrijas, climbed the Giralda, visited Real Alcazar and the outlying gardens, ate ice cream in the Plaza Espana, had a beer on the rooftop terrace of the hostel, had a mini-siesta and went out with the hostel tour group to see a Flamenco show. Whew!

April 15th - back on the bus to Madrid....that evening I got some more tapas, ran into a great mariachi band playing on the street, and then went to see 'Abrazos Rotos', Almodovar's latest film and it didn't disappoint - not quite as moving as 'Volver' but classic Almodovar nonetheless.

April 16th - Last day of the trip - went and finally saw the Palacio Real, (which was impressive and much less crowded, thankfully), and then walked round to the Botanical Gardens before heading off to the airport to fly back to Paris. My flight was late so I had to RUN through Charles de Gaulle to get to my train and I *just* made it. 3 hours later I hopped one of the last trams of the evening, crossed Nantes and dragged my suitcase and myself into the apartment. Sleeping in my own bed in Nantes never felt so well-deserved after such a long day.

Last little thing before I post pictures - in my absence, spring has really sprung here - everything is blooming and it's gorgeous - there's wisteria everywhere so it smells great too! Today my landlord was home and he clipped a ton of lilac from the garden to bring out to their beach house. Since he knew I was around, called me down to give me an enormous armful - the smell of which I am currently enjoying. How cool!

Anyhoo - time for pics.