Tapas+Pastela Natas+Port = Good Times

So, how many of you thought I would actually get more than one blog done last week? Not many I suppose. My own damn fault.

Heather had a great birthday and we really enjoyed the Lake District, but those are tales for a different week. For this week=Madrid and Portugal. I've been told there will be a guest blogger tomorrow too. How exciting! Also, welcome to new subscriber-SOB! My readership just increased by 8%. Well, rather my subscriptions just increased by 8%. My readership rate has probably been plummeting faster than Ruth Ellen Brosseau's approval rating (I actually feel badly for her. I'm sure she had no idea this was going to happen and now is the target of maliciousness, but it still makes a good joke).

I have a bunch of pics, so this might be a little light on words and heavy on images.

So, the four of us set off to Madrid from Manny and arrived around 11:00 pm. It was a little bit of an adventure to get into our hotel, as they closed at 10:00 and we didn't make any arrangements for a late check in, but after some deft Spanish with the parking lot attendant across the street (yup, you read that right) we managed to finagle our way inside. Our hotel was in a kind of residential/mixed use neighborhood and it was now around midnight on a Sunday and we just went down the street to a restaurant/bar for some tapas and wine. This is one of the things I love about Spain and Europe in general. Sunday. 12:00. Of course. It was super good too. Ahhh Spain. Dang.

We were only in Madrid for a short time, so we just walked around exploring the city. I really liked it. We didn't have the chance to see a whole lot of the city, but it had a very cosmopolitan feel. It also really reminded me of Vienna, in the way that the city was once the center of a major empire and now it is past its time. Not that it isn't still glorious and full of grandeur, but that it is not 'the' epicenter. I think that it gives the residents more of a laid back feel.

We walked around and wandered up to the Parque del Retrio. It used to be the palace grounds before it was donated and turned into a park. We rented a boat and went for a nice paddle. I almost bonked a carp on the head with my paddle, but they were too fast.

Four Euros=fun boat ride

After the boat ride and stumbling into a great tapas bar for lunch, we went to the gallery Reina Sofia as I really wanted to see Guernica by Picasso (Is it The Guernica?--No, I think it's just Guernica).

First, my first Dali!

and a different Picasso.

Really though, the star was Guernica. I can say for myself that I've personally never had so much emotion and interaction with a painting. I'm not even sure I will be able to describe how it made me feel.....here is the wiki link.

First off, it's really large and I felt very dominated by the physical size of the painting. It is really, really violent and horrifying. The faces on the animals are ghastly and painful--I think much more physically painful than the humans portrayed, who are mostly dead or in psychological pain and grief.

I think this is the most powerful section.

I could have spent a long time in the museum, but the rest of Madrid called!

El hombre araña grosso? No muy bien.

Outdoor cafe? Yes, please.



I totally want to go back to Madrid and hope to do so soon........

We ended up getting up very early and taking the train to the airport. I love trains to the airport, especially easy and cheap ones.

We arrived in Porto for a day, then took a train up to Pinhao in the Douro River valley, then back to Porto for a day. I'm going to go a little out of sequence here and do all of the Porto photos together, then Pinhao. Also, Pinhao has an accent that I don't know how to type, so please just use your imagination.

I really love Porto. It was definitely one of the highlights when we were in Portugal last year. We kind of joked about going back there last year, but never actually thought we would be able to do it less than a year later!

The weather was kind of crap there, but we all got a bit sunburned in Madrid the day before, so some cloud cover was well received. Plus we are all from Vancouver.

We set off from our Hotel Ibis (the best chain hotel in all of Europe--I highly recommend them. Cheap, clean, comfortable, and usually centrally located!) off to the port wine houses on the other side of the river.

Our first stop was Kopke, who have fantastic port. Hard to get back home in Canada, but if you see some scoop it up because it is delicious. They have a really nice tasting room and give you tasty chocolates!

As Heather and I learned the hard way last year, Taylor's port house is waaayyyy up a hill, so we took a cab up to the top and worked our way down.

Taylor's

Offley's

The next day we were off to Pinhao, then we returned to Porto for some more sightseeing and walking around. The weather had not improved much, nor did the state of my umbrella.

The Portuguese are very passionate about the ol' football. I guess when you have a good club you may as well flaunt it. When I get home, a Vancouver Canadians flag will start flying from our porch.

J + J + Porto=Wicked

Wacky Chickens= Wicked

Even the Portuguese were interested in the Royal Wedding

And finally, things you are not supposed to flush down the toilet in the Porto Airport. No Shirts...Who knew?

Blast-er from the Past-er

From Porto last year. Some kid jumped off the bridge to impress some girls. I did it right after him, only two rungs higher to impress Heather and shame the 13 year old.

Portugal Cats!

Quick! Those Portuguese drive fast! Move it, Speedy Kelly!

OK-So I never even got to Pinhao. I guess I have something to do tomorrow. Ha! Also, the guest blog is coming.

I'm off to London this weekend to play in a softball tournament. How exciting! We're going to Das Racist on Friday and then I'm getting up really early to drive to London and play in the tournament. Looking very forward to it.

Until tomorrow--CC