This story in The New York Times made me miss New York City more than anything has in a very long time. All over the city, artists have created murals protest racism and police abuse. This critic surveys the murals, and compares them to the Neolithic cave art in the
Continue readingTag: spain trip
wmtc: watch the future unfold: gaudi’s masterpiece to be completed in 2026
This post on the design blog Core77 brought back so many wonderful memories of our recent trip to Spain, especially my total infatuation with the city of Barcelona, and the wildly beautiful architecture of Antoni GaudÃ. Click here to see a wonderful animation of the projected completion of La Sagrada
Continue readingwmtc: a quieter life, plus photos
Finally, some peace and quiet. This is the first time since the sewage flood on July 8 that our home is quiet. This lovely state of affairs exists because we filed a complaint with the Landlord Tenant Board, requesting our Landlord be ordered to stop renovations on the basement until
Continue readingwmtc: in which i try to mail postcards from spain
We used to send a lot of postcards from our travels, but that is a ritual lost to time and email. A few people do still get postcards, though: my mother, Allan’s great aunt in Vermont, and in this case two friends, for specific reasons. I bought the postcards, tucked
Continue readingwmtc: bilbao to madrid, but not toledo
For most of the trip, I was hoping to spend a few hours in Toledo on our last day in Spain. Allan was skeptical at best, feeling it would make the day too rushed and pressured. I was holding out hope until the last moment, but once we found the
Continue readingwmtc: cantabria to gernika and bilbao, part 2
In the Guggenheim, we took audioguides as a substitute for a tour of the building, which in this season are only in Spanish. The audioguide is included with admission, and available in a huge range of languages, including Catalan – clearly a political statement from Basque Bilbao. We joined many
Continue readingwmtc: cantabria, day two
We’ve had another outstanding day of seeing cave paintings, an entirely different experience that complemented the other two cave tours. We left Santillana del Mar early and drove on back-country roads to the town of Puente Viesgo, to see the caves known as El Castillo and Las Monedas. The countryside
Continue readingwmtc: cantabria and asturias, day one
Today we fulfilled a travel wish we’ve harboured for many, many years. We saw two sets of paleolithic cave paintings. * * * * The day started out a bit interesting, with an early-morning phone call that appeared to be from our dogsitter, scaring me (although it turned out to
Continue readingwmtc: madrid to segovia to cantabria
Getting out of Madrid was a whole lot easier than getting in. We found our way to the highway easily, and had a short drive to the town of Segovia, to see its famous Roman aqueduct. It’s pretty amazing to see a gigantic, completely intact stone aqueduct right in the
Continue readingwmtc: madrid, day two
Today was the second half of our Madrid art tour. We were out early again, went back to the same local joint for breakfast (the counterman remembered what we wanted, which we enjoy), and were once again at the museum before it opened. This was Reina Sofia, the national art
Continue readingwmtc: madrid, day one
After our cheap pollo asado dinner, wine, and a shower, we had a new perspective on life. We woke up early the next day, had a little breakfast in a neighbourhood joint, and got to Museo Nacional del Prado – otherwise known as The Prado – before it opened. Our
Continue readingwmtc: in which i officially become a librarian
We interrupt this travelogue to bring you an important announcement. I got my first librarian job!! This is a part-time, temporary position in the children’s department of the Central Library, where I was a page for 14 months. I am thrilled. But wait, there’s more! I also interviewed in a
Continue readingwmtc: random notes from madrid
If I get a decent sleep one night, I’m not allowed to have one the next. Apparently it’s a new law: no sleeping two nights in a row. So since I’m awake at 5:00 a.m. again, here is the latest round of notes I’ve been collecting in my notebook. *
Continue readingwmtc: zuheros to madrid / madrid, night one
This post has two parts: the clerk and the lost. The clerk. I had a good night’s sleep and woke up at the leisurely hour of 8:00. We had breakfast at the hotel and packed up, ready to hit the road to Madrid. And wouldn’t you know it, the desk
Continue readingwmtc: ronda to cordoba / cordoba / zuheros
We left Ronda very early: we had to ring a bell at the desk and get the hotel manager out of bed to settle our bill. Poor guy shuffled out in his slippers, completely confused. We had to remind him we needed our parking validated, then remind him we needed
Continue readingwmtc: random notes from ronda
We have seen many happy, well-cared-for dogs on this trip, dogs of all shapes and sizes, all obviously loved. We have seen no street dogs. There are some feral cats living in the Alhambra. That is always sad to see. But the street dogs that have broken our hearts in
Continue readingwmtc: grenada to ronda / ronda
We changed our plans, then changed them again. Originally, we had pencilled in a drive to the very southern tip of Spain, where on a clear day you can see Morocco, and where there is a supposedly wonderfully intact set of Roman ruins, Baelo Claudio. From the start, I was
Continue readingwmtc: granada
The previous night, when we finally found the hotel, I asked about tickets to the Alhambra. We had read in the guidebook that only a certain number of tickets are issued for every entrance time, and going up there without tickets is not advised. As it turns out, every hotel
Continue readingwmtc: barcelona to granada
We are relaxing recuperating in our room in the Hotel Molinas in Granada, in the south of Spain. File this day under all’s well that ends well. Our last night in Barcelona, we had a tapas dinner at El Bixto, where we had gone two nights earlier. We got caught
Continue readingwmtc: barcelona, day five
There’s been no shortage of things to do in Barcelona, we very easily filled 4-1/2 days, and we’ve skipped entire days of tourist destinations – Montjuic and Dali’s Figuerres. This is a wonderful city, full of history, art, architecture, urban villages, great food, shopping – everything that makes a city
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