Prague pics now posted, with comments…

Here is the link – there are a lot of them:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24262488@N05/sets/72157614957040475/detail/

Enjoy folks – time for me to pack and figure out how to lose 5 KG of luggage so I dont get charged a ton like I did on the way from Barcelona to Prague (20 euro PER KG over weight – yikes!)

–Wil

Last night in Prague

Well I’m not entirely sure why I waited until two days before the end of my latest trip to finally succumb to facebook, but ever since yesterday I’ve been madly exploring it, finding friends, catching up etc – to an addiction level I havent experienced since Ultima IV came out for the Commodore 64 in 1985.  I’m at once excited and terrified by this new sensation…

But, in between fits – I’ve also done quite a bit more exploring and experiencing of Prague, despite the generally nasty weather (though the sun did make its first appearance in a week today – exciting!  then it hid again and the freezing rain returned).   Think I have sufficiently hit all the sites at this point, and my goodness I am worn out from all the walking (there’s a subway system too, but I never seem to have the right change when I want to use it – and then a pocket full of change all other times).  But even in the cold and drizzle you cant help but be a little awestruck and charmed by this place – narrow cobblestone streets, mixes of 8 centuries of various architectural styles, lots of plazas, cafes, old world beer halls etc.   Today’s highlights were the Kafka Museum (now THERE’S a pick-me-up for a dreary day – Mr Sunshine himself!), and the Museum of Czech Cubism.  Oh and some good pasta for lunch.  I think I have to officially retract my earlier detrimental comments about the food – I’ve had some great meals the past few days, granted not all of them “Czech cuisine”, but great nonetheless.  

I’m going to cut this short and try to save what little energy I have left to commenting on all my pics from here – its actually easier for me to remember my thoughts and comments when I go back through photos anyway as otherwise the only thing I can remember is my last meal and beer

Hope everyone is well – I’ll send a link to the pics once I upload and write the comments on them (so read the dang comments people!).  Might be much later tonight though…

–Wil

p.s.  I know that you can also upload pics on facebook – but I’m going to stick with flickr for now until I get the hang of that aspect…

Pivo

(thats Czech for beer)

Well I have been in Prague for two days now, and all that I read about them being the most beer-drinking country in the world seems to be true.  I think its mostly because they have such good beer here – starting with the ubiquitous Pilsner Urquell (just called Pilzen here, since Urquell just means “original” as it was truly the first pilsner ever created).  They also have a good local beer called Budweiser (yep, that one) or as they call it “Budvar” – an original Czech beer from the Bohemia region that while it shares the name tastes nothing like the one you all know and hate back home.  Then there is a 3rd popular and still locally owned brew called Gambrinus which is quite good as well.  And thats not to mention the proliferance of home brews around town too.

Food-wise, well its not a country known for its cuisine.  Lots of salty, fatty meats and boiled potatoes more or less.  But after a few beers that usually sounds pretty good anyway – and being a big city and tourist area there are also all the usual ethnic food eateries as well – tonight for instance I found a place specializing in Balkan/Mediterranean cuisine and it was excellent.  I also found my first true Czech beer hall – a place with no menu, long wooden tables, and a system of keeping the tab that consists of marks on a sheet of paper at your table for the number of beers you’ve had.  You dont “order another beer” you just put a coaster over your beer if you DON’T want one).  Not surprisingly, a very dude-heavy place.  But fun, in its old world “dont mess with me or talk to me I’m drinkin my beer dammit” kinda way.

I’ve also seen a few sites, though mostly today I just experimenting in *finding* the sites to see later, as well as figuring out the subway system, since I have plenty of time to see it all in the week I am here and I dont want to rush through it all in one day. Its amazing in a site-seeing sense as well – just really, really old and basically oozing history as well as architectural styles.  One funny thing is that what they call the “Nove Mesto” or “New Town” was formed in the 14th century.  So that gives you some perspective.  And the huge Prague Castle – the site of all sites – does just seem to loom over you from wherever you are in the city, which is cool (and convenient for finding your way home).

I’ve also uploaded all my Spain pics now – two missing places, Valencia and Barcelona:

Valencia:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24262488@N05/sets/72157614833088396/

I havent had time to fill in all my little fun descriptions yet on Valencia, but its in general divided into: a) kooky architecture b) the aquatic park c) the requisite old buildings/churches d) La Mascleta (“the gun show”, as described in an earlier post – videos mostly of this in an attempt to capture the sheer noise).

Barcelona:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24262488@N05/sets/72157614763874027/

All over the board here – lots of pics of the huge and still being worked on after 100 years Sagrada Familia chuch, as well as countless other landmarks and pic-worthy things, with as expected a big emphasis on all things Gaudi.

I really will try to fill in notes on those both soon – possibly as early as tomorrow – so if you want to wait or check back please do.  Or maybe I flatter myself that my descriptions are that worthwhile, but I do seem to have fun putting time into describing the pics so if nothing else, its an exercise in self-adulation.

Hope everyone is well, and cheers!

–Wil

Leaving Spain…

Well its my last night here in Spain so I thought I would send a quick note out, not knowing what kind of internet access I will have once I get to Prague tomorrow night.  It was a whirlwind day of siteseeing today in Barcelona – ironically I had the least time planned here and it probably has the most and certainly most spread out sites of any place I have been.  So I bit the bullet and boarded one of those open-aired tourist buses (even though it was quite chilly all day) so I could try to hit a lot of sites.  I have to say despite usually trying to avoid such things it worked out pretty well – you could get on and off at your leisure and it did enable me to better utilize my limited time than my normal “wander around until you see something cool” strategy.

But its back at the hotel now and I have to say, I am worn out in lots of ways.  Physically even with the tourist bus today it feels like I’ve walked several marathons the last week or so.  Mentally on two fronts: getting a little bit “Spain’d out” in terms of similar sites, sounds, cuisine and attitudes (especially in the larger cities not the friendliest folks).  Add to that my only media outlet being CNN for the past week and I am fairly convinced the world is just going to flat-out end pretty soon between the economic crisis, terrorists attacking cricket teams, buildings collapsing… ugh.  This is why I love good old American cable: I can almost always, at any time of day, find some sort of sports on TV and thus stay blissfully ignorant of the demise of the modern world.  Also all the economic woes are making me feel alternatively guilty and stupid for taking this trip, but hopefully it will all work out ok.  I guess the bright side is that I wasnt “saving” this money by investing in any stocks…

Well thats all for now from your faithful but very tired foreign correspondent.  Hope everyone is well – and more than ever in times like this I sure feel thankful for my situation, but even more so for all my friends out there.  So friends and loved ones – I love ya.

–Wil

Las Fallas

Well I didnt realize it started this soon, but the sound of thousands of people congregating and fireworks going off right outside my hotel room window gave it away – Las Fallas has begun in Valencia!

As that link explains, it will gather steam throughout May until around the 15th-19th which is the main part of the whole thing, but what just happened for the first time was this particular event (probably made even grander by March 1st falling on a Sunday when everyone is out and about anyway):

“Every day at 2pm firecrackers rip through the Plaza del Ayuntamiento in an noisy event called la Mascletá. This concert of gunpowder is very popular and involves different neighbourhood groups competing for the most impressive volley, ending with the terremoto, (literally means “earthquake”) as hundreds of masclets exploting simultaneously. While this may not be for the frail or faint-fainthearted, you understand how hearted, the Valencians got their valiant name.”

My hotel is right on the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, so when I ventured downstairs to check it out (since a siesta was obviously out of the question), I could barely get outside the hotel into the throws of the giant crowd of people.

I took a few videos which I will post and send a link to at some point.  It was seriously deafening.  Not so much a visual thing (though many of the fireworks/explosives did shoot up into the air), but more of a heart-pounding mass of loud artillery for about 10 minutes.  Wow.

–Wil

p.s.  here are a couple of links to videos in case I cant post mine for a bit, plus mine probably wont be as good anyway:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtzJcQd-g5M

http://www.fallasfromvalencia.com/en/videos/mascleta.html

Pictures!

OK I have finally uploaded the mass of pictures I accumulated all the way back to Malaga, then Salobrena, then Calpe.  I was going to write a post about the Penon d’Ifach in Calpe but I will let the pics do the talking – truly amazing.  I did add lots of descriptions to various pics so for now thats in lieu of a longer post, as I am tired of being on the computer (the mixed curse of having a good internet connection in my hotel here in Valencia).

Here are links to each of the various picture sets:

Malaga:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24262488@N05/sets/72157614510579486/

 

Salobrena:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24262488@N05/sets/72157614510496424/

 

Granada (basically all of The Alhambra):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24262488@N05/sets/72157614510829580/

 

Calpe (a few videos here too as I tried to capture the crazy noises and masses of the migratory ducks):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24262488@N05/sets/72157614428964395/

 

Well, there you have it for now.  Hope everyone is well!

–Wil

Bar Fight!!!

(Editors note: this was written last night but not published, since this writing I have hiked the big rock mentioned below and will dedicate another post to is as it was quite possibly the coolest thing I have ever seen and the highlight of the trip so far…)

Well I had to try to draw you in after my last post that was not only dry, but a long time ago…

I actually *was* involved, tertiarilly, in a bar fight tonight in Calpe.  (Well ok, not involved – but witnessed anyway).  After dinner I went to a little English pub near my hotel for a drink and watched the end of the Real Madrid vs Liverpool match in the Champions League (for those of you who dont know “futbol”, aka soccer, thats like the Red Sox playing the Yankees if the Red Sox were based in England and the Yankees were based in France).  The beauty of the whole Champions League stuff (and to a lesser extent the UEFA Cup, which is kind of like the NIT is to the NCAA in college basketball), is that it not only pairs bitter country rivals against one another but also teams that are the leaders in their respective countries against one another.  For instance last night I watched the best team in England (Manchester United) battle the best team in Italy (Inter-Milan) to an oh so excitiing 0-0 draw (it actually was exciting – I guess with all this travelling I am finally getting to appreciate futbol).

Anywho on to the “fight”: basically a patron of the bar (despite being an English pub it was off the main tourist strip and thus all Spaniards, sans a German rugby team in the corner), who was a Liverpool fan had apparently been talking trash all night with the waiter, a Real Madrid fan (as was I this night, because I kinda root against all the big English teams, and Liverpool has that fancy boy Torres anyway).  Anyway after Liverpool came away with their 1-0 victory, the drunk Liverpool fan apparently claimed to have won some sort of heat of the moment bet with the waiter and needed to call his mom – which was all done in begrudging good fun until he said a few things that I didnt understand and the next thing you know he was throw outside and shoved over a parking meter by the waiter.  Many folks intervened at this point and it became the normal shoving match that so many “fights” turn into, but the twist was that a cop car happened by and was flagged down so we spent the next hour with cops everywhere and the Liverpool punk in question (yes, I ultimately decided that he deserved his treatment) filing a formal “bar complaint” – which involves the manager bringing forth what looks like a police report template from behind the bar and having him fill it in.  Apparently this is pretty serious business and the whole bar can be shut down on the basis of one of these – but essentially its a way to have the police not investigate every bar disturbance that comes up.  In a similarly informative vein I also learned that the Mexican words I had learned such as “fresa” and “puta”, while not as widely heard in Spain, are still acceptable slang for someone you really, really dont care for.

But on to the happier side of life!  I am, as indicated, now in Calpe, Spain.  Left my oasis in Salobrena this morning and after about a 5 hour drive arrived here early afternoon.  I didnt really know what to expect other than I wanted to see the famous Costa Blanca and this place seemed at least a little less touristy than places like Mojacar and Benidorm.  Well, I passed Benidorm on my way here and wow – yeah, its a huge complex of massive beachfront skyscrapers.  Reminded me of Dubai actually.  So, as my guidebook indicated Calpe is not *as* bad, but its still essentially a huge beachfront tourist resort, which is even weirder off season as it is now (I keep hearing that Don Henley chorus in my head: “nobody on the road, nobody on the beach…”).  But, once again off season rates and smart shopping got me a 4 star hotel room right on the beach with a balcony overlooking the famout “rock” (more to come) for very cheap, so I cant complain too much.  I really do hope to post some pictures again someday, but once again I dont have internet in my room and have to go down to the lobby to get it, so I have resorted to writing my posts in notepad and then actually connecting and posting them later (you techie dorks out there will understand why notepad is better than Word and the like – all I want to do is type some things, I dont need formatting or animated office supplies giving me the what for).

If I dont have time to do so, PLEASE do a quick wiki on Calpe (nevermind – here is the link) which will inevitably link you to its famous landmark, El Penon d’Ifach (or something like that).  I’m hiking that mofo tomorrow (or really today as the case would be once I post this).  For the folks who know Salobrena (pretty much just my brother and family unless you have wiki’d it too) it puts that Hugh Jass rock there to shame!  I mean dwarfs it, or little peoples it, or whatever.  Cant wait to get up there and make myself nervous (Scott I will take a few pics that will make you nervous too – who knew my big strong brother was so afraid of heights?).

Anywho a few random observations as well that I thought of over dinner:

Some things that you can always use as conversation even in a foreign country:

1.  Beer – you’re drinking one, they’re drinking one – its a cinch.  Whats your favorite local beer, how many beers can you drink, whats the best beer in the world etc.  The key to this line of conversation is that no matter what it usually leads to “mas cerveza” (or equivalent), and then everyone becomes good friends unless…
2.  Fubtol (aka soccer) – I thought this was much safer before the bar fight tonight, but I do still think its a good route especially if you claim the dumb American, insult our own soccer ineptness, and then ask for naive opinions on who the best team in the world is.  Gets people heated up, yet not at you.  And often they really want to explain things to you, which is good language practice.
3.  The weather – ok, this is universal I know but I never thought about quite HOW universal it was before tonight.  Its the great equalizer: rich or poor, Spanish or English, old or young… you are all out there susceptible to it.  And, its a convenient topic because you only need a few local words (hot, cold, rain, wind, snow) to communicate, combined with excessive bodily gestures for emphasis.
4.  Bosses – even if you dont actually have a job or a boss like me, its a universal thing to complain about “el jefe”.  He/She is always on your case, you cant even be a few minutes late, he/she is a perpetual hardass etc.  And you get all this by just saying “el jefe <insert frustrated gesture/shoulder shrug)”.  Its a common bond between everyone in the world that works for a living.  Nobody likes the proverbial “man”.

Tertiary category (thats right, I used a form of tertiary TWICE in this email you non-English-major-enjoying-the-fruits-of-your-practical-education fools!) –  universal languages:

1.  Babies – baby talk is baby talk, pure and simple.  When I am frustrated with the language barrier or even cultural barrier this always brings me back – people talking to babies in that silly voice.  Nonsense is nonsense regardless of the country, and the babies love it no matter what language its in and the people for once in their lives dont care whatsoever what they sound like or who hears them.  Good stuff.
2.  Pets – see above, at least in places where animals are treated well (and dont get me started on the places I have been where they are not)
3.  Laughter – sounds stupid, but everyone laughs the same – some have weird laughs, some snort, some giggle – even in other countries.

In conclusion, I believe the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way, show them all the beauty they possess inside…

En serio though, I did quite a bit of reflecting tonight on my travels, both on this trip and of course the longer one, and without getting too esoteric I reached a nice little warm fuzzy spot.  Because in some ways, these travels really have helped me understand the real importance of life and of people – and that dang, its a pretty small world really and despite seeming waaaaay different we all are kinda the same in the guts.  Except for Liverpool fans of course – take those bastages outside and beat them to a pulp!

I’m still going to try to post this massive accumulation of pics I have at some point, though now its becoming such a chore that its overwhelming.  Maybe when I get to Valenica I will have some good in-room internet and some time to kill, though it sounds like there is a TON to see in that town too.  Might take a cold and snowy day in Prague to get it all done honestly…

Hope everyone is well and sorry for the lack of posts and  especially pics of late for those of you who actually follow this thing (it still amazes me not just the overall volume of page views I get, but also the great “blasts from the pasts” I get that have found it via googling me)

adios amigos,

Wil

p.s.  speaking of pets, I have yet to see a single Beagle in Spain so far, as opposed to their proliferation in Buenos Aires.  Its mostly small toy breeds like Jack Russell’s, Yorkies, Poodles etc here.  Though in some of the German tourist enclaves of course there are Shephards…
p.p.s.  Sissy would have a field day scaring the crap out of all these little skiddish dogs on the various promenades!  But in general dogs are very well behaved here, so bringing Sissy and Big B to Spain would be akin to taking your ADHD child who just ate 2 Snickers bars to the ultra-chic high roller room in a Monte Carlo casino…

House on the hill

Greetings all – I’m now firmly entrenched at the villa in Salobrena, Spain. There isnt much access to internet connectivity here (its either head a couple of kilometers down the hill to the clubhouse or perch the laptop precariously on a windy ledge from the highest terrace), so I likely wont be posting much for a while until I leave the paradise here on Feb 27th. I will try to find some time to upload the pics I have stored up – but that might be a while also. So… a little recap since I left Ronda: The drive from Ronda down to Malaga was quite beautiful. Since I had plenty of time (more than I thought as it would turn out) before meeting my friend Jon who was flying in from Dubai, I decided to take the small scenic route between the two cities. The weather cleared a bit for me and I drove through some scenic mountain passes and countryside and passed several pretty little white villages on the hillsides. Got to Malaga and checked into a hotel in the center of town, checked my email and found that Jon’s flight (which had to route through London) was cancelled due to the snow they had their, and that he wouldn’t be coming in until 11PM (he was supposed to arrive at 4). So I used the afternoon to see some of the sites in Malaga itself, which actually was far more impressive than I expected. Of course the recquisite really old impressive Gothic cathedral, but also the Picasso museum (he was from Malaga) and a huge Moorish “Alcazaba” (ie fortress) up on a hill, which I am learning in this part of Spain is also somewhat of a recquisite site in each city. The next morning Jon and I saw a few more sites in Malaga, then headed east along the coast to Salobrena. As we drove up the hill to the rental house, we were astonished at the views and the beauty of the various villas – and were not disappointed when we reached almost the top of the entire “mountain” (Monte de los Almendros) and found the Casa Elena, our digs. I almost don’t feel cool enough to stay here – it looks like someplace that a movie star or otherwise rich or famous person would own. 4 bedrooms, all with en-suite bath, huge modern kitchen, 3 tiers of terraces, a heated pool, outdoor kitchen/grill/bbq, and floor to ceiling glass doors/windows throughout that accordion in to basically open up the entire house to the views and breezes of the crystal blue Mediterranean Sea below. Amazing what a bad economy combined with off-season dates can afford! Jon and I mostly just tooled around the area nearby while he was here – saw the few sites in the old town of Salobrena itself and a few other small local villages. But mostly we just enjoyed the tranquility and views of the house, until he left this afternoon to fly back. Now I have 3 more full days to myself before my brother and his family arrive on Saturday for a week. Other interesting news – when I first attempted to use my debit card back in Seville I was denied because they shut if off on a “fraud alert” since I forgot to tell them I was going to be travelling abroad. Not a big deal, called the bank and all was well. However just a couple of days later the same thing happened when I attempted to use it in Malaga. At this point I was a bit annoyed because I thought common sense would dictate to the US Bank fraud dept that another city in Spain didn’t designate fraudulent activity since I had just told them I was there. However when I called in I learned that someone had actually duplicated my debit card and was racking up huge charges all over Texas, which my new Wisconsin hero “Hady” at US Bank caught quickly. So even though I had just re-activated from a fraud alert, she was smart enough to shut it back off quickly when she put two and two together geographically. Bottom line being, I am not responsible for any of the bad charges but I do have to get a new card sent to me over here which will be quite a chore. Thank goodness for Jon being here to loan me a little cash since I have no other way to draw funds right now, and for my friend Dave helping coordinate the new card shipment as well as helping me get my cell phone working so that I could communicate with the bank more easily. Well I am going to conclude this long and very boring post now. Just realizing that it’s been very detail-oriented and factual and not spiced up with any of my usual self-amusing humor. I’ll try to get my creative juices flowing before the next post – luckily I have a nice bottle of sherry here to help with just such muse-inducing… Cheers everyone! –Wil

Ronda pics

Hola otra vec,

The weather here still sucks, though I braved it this morning and forced myself to see as much of the city as I could. Even in these conditions its a beautiful little town – I’d love to come back sometime in the spring or summer. I’ve also gotta work on my siesta timing – I woke up around 4:30 today starving but everything is still closed, so I actually had to break down and settle for some McDonalds.  Should tide me over til the dinner hour, which generally doesnt start until at least 9pm here in Spain.

Without further adieu here are the Ronda pics – still uploading a couple of videos as well:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24262488@N05/sets/72157613390007818/detail/

Update and photo link

Well I didnt realize I had my camera set on the highest resolution (10mp), so its taking a long time to upload the photos.  Its not done yet but you can still access them while they finish uploading I think:

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24262488@N05/sets/72157613321883643/

 

Still raining and VERY cold and windy here in Ronda, but I did just have an amazing meal of oxtail stew so I’ve got that goin for me… which is nice…

–Wil