Many years later and I am reviving this Blog. We are a bigger Finch nest now- 6 total and full of fun, chaos and laughter. Hoping to post some pics soon.
Happy summer everyone!
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Concha, CaCa, and the Two Kims
Day 7: Exploring Valladolid
Kim and I slept in the next morning, then received a call about 11am from Thai inviting us to go sightseeing with he and his family. So we headed down for a quick cup of coffee, then met Thai in the plaza and walked with him the mile or so to his apartment. When we got to his apartment his family was all there-- uncle Tuc, aunt Maret, mom Dan, dad Tin and sister June, along with a friend of he and Maria's from Austin, Erica. We hung out for a bit then all of us embarked on a walk around downtown Valladolid.
Thai's aunt Maret kept getting confused and calling me Kim. She said I looked a lot like her sister-in-law, who is named Kim as well. She also professed herself to be terrible with names, calling Erica every other name ending in "ca" except "Erica"-- Jessica, Monica, Veronica. Finally she said, "so many people I know end in "ca"...Jessica, Veronica...."ca,ca"...she just "CaCa" to me!" We all died laughing and had to remind her that "CaCa" has another meaning as well. It was too late, though....thereafter Erica was just "CaCa" to all of us.
After lunch and coffee, we headed back to Thai and Maria's place. Maria had returned from seeing her friends and family off, and she informed us that Maria's parents had invited us over to their house in the suburbs for dinner. So we loaded up in Thai's car and Kim and I's rental car and headed out to about 15 minutes outside the city.
The Villarremiels' home was very nice, and they had a lovely table set in their basement for us to relax and eat at. It was quite an experience to have all of Thai's family and loved ones at one table and I felt very privileged to be there. It was also quite charming to see how we all got along even though we didn't all speak the same language. At one point you could hear English, Spanish, and Cambodian being spoken at the same time! Even funnier was hearing the specific things that didn't translate well from one language to another. For example, when Maria introduced her mother to the group by her first name, "Concha," Tuc and Maret laughed and then shared that "Cancha" is "marijuana" in Cambodian. Concha then made big eyes when Maria translated this for her and said, "call me Conchi instead." LOL
Maria's dad, Carlos, poured the wine and when he got to Kim, he asked her if she was driving. She said she was, but that she would only have one glass. So then Carlos made the big eyes at Kim, and proceeded to pour her about a 10th of a glass of the wine. Kim thought he has joking and urged him to go ahead and pour a little more. As it turns out, Carlos really was concerned for real because the legal limit in Spain is only .02 BAC! So they met in the middle and Kim enjoyed her 3rd of a glass.
Then Maria's dad tried to pour more wine for Tuc and he said, "no thanks, I've had enough." Maria translated, telling her dad, "basta" which means "enough." Tuc misunderstood and thought she said "pasta" and a whole conversation ensued about how he wasn't hungry any more and how he was waiting until he got to Italy to eat pasta...so funny!
Thai's dad then quoted the bible in his sparse English, citing a passage that talks about how only language is confusing for people-- when someone laughs, it is the same in all languages; when someone cries, it is the same in all languages-- only language itself is confusing. Everyone smiled at this.
In all it was a very fun day. It was really special to be a part of the first real family meal that the Villarremiels and the Ivs had together, and quite amusing to be a part of the ongoing laughs about who was named what and which words meant what in Cambodian versus Spanish versus English.
Both Kims (the real one and I) and CaCa were quite lucky to get to experience it.
Kim and I slept in the next morning, then received a call about 11am from Thai inviting us to go sightseeing with he and his family. So we headed down for a quick cup of coffee, then met Thai in the plaza and walked with him the mile or so to his apartment. When we got to his apartment his family was all there-- uncle Tuc, aunt Maret, mom Dan, dad Tin and sister June, along with a friend of he and Maria's from Austin, Erica. We hung out for a bit then all of us embarked on a walk around downtown Valladolid.
Thai's aunt Maret kept getting confused and calling me Kim. She said I looked a lot like her sister-in-law, who is named Kim as well. She also professed herself to be terrible with names, calling Erica every other name ending in "ca" except "Erica"-- Jessica, Monica, Veronica. Finally she said, "so many people I know end in "ca"...Jessica, Veronica...."ca,ca"...she just "CaCa" to me!" We all died laughing and had to remind her that "CaCa" has another meaning as well. It was too late, though....thereafter Erica was just "CaCa" to all of us.
After lunch and coffee, we headed back to Thai and Maria's place. Maria had returned from seeing her friends and family off, and she informed us that Maria's parents had invited us over to their house in the suburbs for dinner. So we loaded up in Thai's car and Kim and I's rental car and headed out to about 15 minutes outside the city.
The Villarremiels' home was very nice, and they had a lovely table set in their basement for us to relax and eat at. It was quite an experience to have all of Thai's family and loved ones at one table and I felt very privileged to be there. It was also quite charming to see how we all got along even though we didn't all speak the same language. At one point you could hear English, Spanish, and Cambodian being spoken at the same time! Even funnier was hearing the specific things that didn't translate well from one language to another. For example, when Maria introduced her mother to the group by her first name, "Concha," Tuc and Maret laughed and then shared that "Cancha" is "marijuana" in Cambodian. Concha then made big eyes when Maria translated this for her and said, "call me Conchi instead." LOL
Maria's dad, Carlos, poured the wine and when he got to Kim, he asked her if she was driving. She said she was, but that she would only have one glass. So then Carlos made the big eyes at Kim, and proceeded to pour her about a 10th of a glass of the wine. Kim thought he has joking and urged him to go ahead and pour a little more. As it turns out, Carlos really was concerned for real because the legal limit in Spain is only .02 BAC! So they met in the middle and Kim enjoyed her 3rd of a glass.
Then Maria's dad tried to pour more wine for Tuc and he said, "no thanks, I've had enough." Maria translated, telling her dad, "basta" which means "enough." Tuc misunderstood and thought she said "pasta" and a whole conversation ensued about how he wasn't hungry any more and how he was waiting until he got to Italy to eat pasta...so funny!
Thai's dad then quoted the bible in his sparse English, citing a passage that talks about how only language is confusing for people-- when someone laughs, it is the same in all languages; when someone cries, it is the same in all languages-- only language itself is confusing. Everyone smiled at this.
In all it was a very fun day. It was really special to be a part of the first real family meal that the Villarremiels and the Ivs had together, and quite amusing to be a part of the ongoing laughs about who was named what and which words meant what in Cambodian versus Spanish versus English.
Both Kims (the real one and I) and CaCa were quite lucky to get to experience it.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Sprinters Versus Marathon Runners
Day 6: Valladolid and the Wedding
We awoke fresh on Saturday morning ready for Thai's wedding and the fun it would surely bring. The wedding was at noon, so we meandered to the nearby cafe for coffee and tortilla (not like Mexican tortillas...it is an egg/cheese/potato omlette-style dish), then we headed back to our room to get ready for the wedding.
The church where the wedding was is beautiful-- built in 1565 and has high ceilings and ornate gold finishes on everything. The mass was nice and not too long. The priest translated parts into English for the visitors from the US, and the ceremony was quite charming.
Afterwards all the guests filed out onto the sidewalk out front to await the bride and groom. People had rice, confetti and even confetti canons to pelt the new couple with. I had no idea how big of a deal this would be.
Kim and I were standing up front closest to where Thai and Maria would come out. I should have been suspicious that no one was jockeying for my front-row position because, as it turned out, when Thai and Maria came out and the confetti went a-flyin', Kim and I were in the "splash zone" if you will...we had confetti in our hair, on our clothes, and in or cleavage. I swear we were still picking confetti off of ourselves well into the next day!
From the church there was a very nice chartered bus that took us to the reception site. The reception was in a gorgeous restaurant about 10 minutes away. Upon arrival we were greeted with cocktails and appetizers galore. The food came faster than we could eat it! I must have had at least 5 or 6 of the appetizers and 2 or 3 glasses of wine before we even stepped into the next room for dinner.
However, when we moved into the next room for dinner, it was more of the same-- delicious food, open bar, wine flowing...fantastic! Kim and I sat at a table with Thai's aunt, uncle, sister, and friend (Erica). The first course was a lobster salad (really a bed of lettuce with an entire lobster tail on it...yum!). I gobbled mine up and was pretty full (which I assumed would be no big deal since I usually find there are parts or even full courses of meals I can't have at these types of events due to being vegetarian). Next course came, though, and it was a very large fillet of white fish...yay! Something else I could eat! So I ate that, too. Now I really was full, but then came the delicious pallet cleanser...orange and lemon sorbet! After that I was really full, and I figured it was ok since the main entree was a steak. However, Thai had told them I was vegetarian so they made me a special dish so then THAT came out! Yikes! So full! I have had Thanksgivings where I felt lighter!
I nibbled at my main entree (more like pushed food around my plate so as not to hurt anyone's feelings), then figured I was in the clear.....nope! Dessert and coffee came next-- will it ever end??? (Keep in mind this whole time, the wine is being poured and poured and Kim is pep-talking our table for the big eat-a-thon, telling us "there are no quitters at this table!" LOL) I'm not sure if Kim had a hollow leg that night or what, but she managed to get all 4 courses and part of her dessert down. Our whole table looked like lead balloons by the time we were finished with dinner...
After dinner we moved into the dancing room...more drinks followed (4 mojitos to be exact). By 9pm everyone had danced, drank and eaten a lot, and the bus arrived to take everyone back to the church. I figured we were done for the evening. Oh, no....there is the after-party for the "young people." Apparently it is the custom to drink and party ALL NiGHT LONG. Kim and I are not Spaniards apparently, though, because we stayed for one more drink, then headed back to our hotel at 1:00 am. 12 hours of straight partying is our limit, I guess.
Kim and I agree, though, that it was by far the most fun either of us have ever had at a wedding. It was a blast and the people here sure know how to enjoy themselves. Next time we go to a party/wedding/celebration in Spain, though, we may need to train for it for a few months ahead of time. By comparison, we Americans are sprinters and these guys are the marathon runners of partying!
We awoke fresh on Saturday morning ready for Thai's wedding and the fun it would surely bring. The wedding was at noon, so we meandered to the nearby cafe for coffee and tortilla (not like Mexican tortillas...it is an egg/cheese/potato omlette-style dish), then we headed back to our room to get ready for the wedding.
The church where the wedding was is beautiful-- built in 1565 and has high ceilings and ornate gold finishes on everything. The mass was nice and not too long. The priest translated parts into English for the visitors from the US, and the ceremony was quite charming.
Afterwards all the guests filed out onto the sidewalk out front to await the bride and groom. People had rice, confetti and even confetti canons to pelt the new couple with. I had no idea how big of a deal this would be.
Kim and I were standing up front closest to where Thai and Maria would come out. I should have been suspicious that no one was jockeying for my front-row position because, as it turned out, when Thai and Maria came out and the confetti went a-flyin', Kim and I were in the "splash zone" if you will...we had confetti in our hair, on our clothes, and in or cleavage. I swear we were still picking confetti off of ourselves well into the next day!
From the church there was a very nice chartered bus that took us to the reception site. The reception was in a gorgeous restaurant about 10 minutes away. Upon arrival we were greeted with cocktails and appetizers galore. The food came faster than we could eat it! I must have had at least 5 or 6 of the appetizers and 2 or 3 glasses of wine before we even stepped into the next room for dinner.
However, when we moved into the next room for dinner, it was more of the same-- delicious food, open bar, wine flowing...fantastic! Kim and I sat at a table with Thai's aunt, uncle, sister, and friend (Erica). The first course was a lobster salad (really a bed of lettuce with an entire lobster tail on it...yum!). I gobbled mine up and was pretty full (which I assumed would be no big deal since I usually find there are parts or even full courses of meals I can't have at these types of events due to being vegetarian). Next course came, though, and it was a very large fillet of white fish...yay! Something else I could eat! So I ate that, too. Now I really was full, but then came the delicious pallet cleanser...orange and lemon sorbet! After that I was really full, and I figured it was ok since the main entree was a steak. However, Thai had told them I was vegetarian so they made me a special dish so then THAT came out! Yikes! So full! I have had Thanksgivings where I felt lighter!
I nibbled at my main entree (more like pushed food around my plate so as not to hurt anyone's feelings), then figured I was in the clear.....nope! Dessert and coffee came next-- will it ever end??? (Keep in mind this whole time, the wine is being poured and poured and Kim is pep-talking our table for the big eat-a-thon, telling us "there are no quitters at this table!" LOL) I'm not sure if Kim had a hollow leg that night or what, but she managed to get all 4 courses and part of her dessert down. Our whole table looked like lead balloons by the time we were finished with dinner...
After dinner we moved into the dancing room...more drinks followed (4 mojitos to be exact). By 9pm everyone had danced, drank and eaten a lot, and the bus arrived to take everyone back to the church. I figured we were done for the evening. Oh, no....there is the after-party for the "young people." Apparently it is the custom to drink and party ALL NiGHT LONG. Kim and I are not Spaniards apparently, though, because we stayed for one more drink, then headed back to our hotel at 1:00 am. 12 hours of straight partying is our limit, I guess.
Kim and I agree, though, that it was by far the most fun either of us have ever had at a wedding. It was a blast and the people here sure know how to enjoy themselves. Next time we go to a party/wedding/celebration in Spain, though, we may need to train for it for a few months ahead of time. By comparison, we Americans are sprinters and these guys are the marathon runners of partying!
Señor Thai...Puto Thai
Day 5- We Arrive in Valladolid
The drive to Valladolid was beautiful. We passed field upon field of sunflowers and the views were quite lovely. It took us only an hour or so to reach Valladolid, and we immediately checked in to our hotel and touched bases with Thai. My cell phone was having issues getting a signal, so I emailed Thai to call us. As it turned out, there was something wrong with the phone in our hotel room as well, because when Thai called us it rang once then there was no connection. Next thing you know, the guy from the front desk was knocking on our door. When we opened the door, he told us our phone was broken and that he was having trouble connectiong "Señor Thai" to us. We let him in and he rushed over to the phone to check it. He apparently thought it was ok, because he rushed back own to the lobby to connect the call. I waited by the phone one minute....two minutes.....three minutes....then all of a sudden there was a knock at the door again. We let in the very out of breath gentleman from the lobby again, who went straight to the phone to fiddle with it's connections again. Finally, we decided I should go down to the lobby to take the call there.
When I got into the elevator with the man I had to try so hard not to laugh...the poor guy was panting, sweating, and panicking that he couldn't get my phone to work and that I might miss the very important call from "Señor Thai." Everything turned out ok, though. I spoke to Thai and he informed me that there would be a dinner party that night at 8:30 pm at Casa de Leon. The front desk clerk was not familiar with the restaurant, so I got the street name from Thai and the clerk was able to pinpoint the approximate location on our map of the city.
A couple hours later, Kim and I were on the road, walking the 4 or so blocks from our hotel to the restaurant. When we got to the correct street, we looked up and down for "Casa de Leon" but we didn't see it. We ducked into a bar and asked. The person we spoke to was unfamiliar with the name. We walked a little further and ducked into another bar with the same result. Finally we circled back the way we came and ducked into a cafe...this time the person we spoke to was familiar and told us it was just a few shops down. Kim and I looked up and down the street....no Casa de Leon.
We ducked into a 4th place...a restaurant that was in the approximate area the cafe worker had indicated that Casa de Leon should be...and asked the bartender there if he was familiar. He said "esta aqui." We were like....huh???? We looked at the sign above the entrance again...it read "Dover Restaurant." HUH?
Kim then said, "aqui esta una fiesta de Thai y Maria?" and the bartender responded, "Thai??? Eh???" At that moment, 4 people standing nearby turned to us and said, "Thai?" and we said, "Thai?" and then we all said "SI!" And at that moment, we all 6 realized we were in the right place. Of course, by this time it was almost 9pm and still no Thai...
Kim and I then got acquainted with the 4 "otros amigos de Thai y Maria." They were 2 couples, and one of the four spoke English best ("Jave" or Javier). We chatted, half in English and half in Spanish, and after a while there was a pause in the conversation. One of them remarked on the time, which by this time was about 9:15, and then I responded that Thai is often known to be a lagger. Jave groaned and shook his head, then threw up a fist in the air and said, "Puto Thai!" He was of course kidding, but we all laughed and thereafter "Senior Thai" became "Puto Thai" for the evening.
Thai rolled in shortly thereafter with his family and more friends followed. We had a great meal of various tapas and sangria. A good time was had by all, though we all gave Puto Thai quite a razzing for sending us out looking for a restaurant that had a completely different name at a time well before any others arrived. Ahhhhh....Puto Thai!
The drive to Valladolid was beautiful. We passed field upon field of sunflowers and the views were quite lovely. It took us only an hour or so to reach Valladolid, and we immediately checked in to our hotel and touched bases with Thai. My cell phone was having issues getting a signal, so I emailed Thai to call us. As it turned out, there was something wrong with the phone in our hotel room as well, because when Thai called us it rang once then there was no connection. Next thing you know, the guy from the front desk was knocking on our door. When we opened the door, he told us our phone was broken and that he was having trouble connectiong "Señor Thai" to us. We let him in and he rushed over to the phone to check it. He apparently thought it was ok, because he rushed back own to the lobby to connect the call. I waited by the phone one minute....two minutes.....three minutes....then all of a sudden there was a knock at the door again. We let in the very out of breath gentleman from the lobby again, who went straight to the phone to fiddle with it's connections again. Finally, we decided I should go down to the lobby to take the call there.
When I got into the elevator with the man I had to try so hard not to laugh...the poor guy was panting, sweating, and panicking that he couldn't get my phone to work and that I might miss the very important call from "Señor Thai." Everything turned out ok, though. I spoke to Thai and he informed me that there would be a dinner party that night at 8:30 pm at Casa de Leon. The front desk clerk was not familiar with the restaurant, so I got the street name from Thai and the clerk was able to pinpoint the approximate location on our map of the city.
A couple hours later, Kim and I were on the road, walking the 4 or so blocks from our hotel to the restaurant. When we got to the correct street, we looked up and down for "Casa de Leon" but we didn't see it. We ducked into a bar and asked. The person we spoke to was unfamiliar with the name. We walked a little further and ducked into another bar with the same result. Finally we circled back the way we came and ducked into a cafe...this time the person we spoke to was familiar and told us it was just a few shops down. Kim and I looked up and down the street....no Casa de Leon.
We ducked into a 4th place...a restaurant that was in the approximate area the cafe worker had indicated that Casa de Leon should be...and asked the bartender there if he was familiar. He said "esta aqui." We were like....huh???? We looked at the sign above the entrance again...it read "Dover Restaurant." HUH?
Kim then said, "aqui esta una fiesta de Thai y Maria?" and the bartender responded, "Thai??? Eh???" At that moment, 4 people standing nearby turned to us and said, "Thai?" and we said, "Thai?" and then we all said "SI!" And at that moment, we all 6 realized we were in the right place. Of course, by this time it was almost 9pm and still no Thai...
Kim and I then got acquainted with the 4 "otros amigos de Thai y Maria." They were 2 couples, and one of the four spoke English best ("Jave" or Javier). We chatted, half in English and half in Spanish, and after a while there was a pause in the conversation. One of them remarked on the time, which by this time was about 9:15, and then I responded that Thai is often known to be a lagger. Jave groaned and shook his head, then threw up a fist in the air and said, "Puto Thai!" He was of course kidding, but we all laughed and thereafter "Senior Thai" became "Puto Thai" for the evening.
Thai rolled in shortly thereafter with his family and more friends followed. We had a great meal of various tapas and sangria. A good time was had by all, though we all gave Puto Thai quite a razzing for sending us out looking for a restaurant that had a completely different name at a time well before any others arrived. Ahhhhh....Puto Thai!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Salamanca and Paella con Camarones (Sin Cabezas) -- please, Hammer, don't hurt 'em!
Day 4: We Arrive in Salamanca
I am happy to report that Kim and I awoke to the alarm and had plenty of time to enjoy breakfast in the castle before leaving Porto for Spain. We headed out around 10:30am and arrived in Salamanca around 1:30pm. (We did stop at a rest stop at the Portugal/Spain border along the way, and Kim bought another bottle of the sweet white Graham's port...she is seriously mental over this port, I'm telling you! LOL)
After dropping our bags in our room at the hotel in Salamanca, we meandered over to Plaza Mayor, the big plaza/shopping area in Salamanca. Kim hit the jackpot, scoring many souvenirs and treasures for herself and her family. I mainly enjoyed the people watching. The fashions are my favorite. One common thread we have seen around here (and in Portugal as well) are the MC Hammer-style pants of the early nineties. It is crazy how many people are wearing them (especially given the fact that they are flattering on next to nobody). Please reference the photo of Kim in front of a store selling a very minimalistic pair of these gems...good stuff, my friends, good stuff...
Anyway, Kim had plenty of opportunities to make her "Kim face" when watching these and other folks at the Plaza, and I enjoyed messing with her for doing so. We stopped back by our hotel to drop off Kim's treasures, and then headed back o Plaza Mayor for some dinner. We ate at a restaurant right in the middle of everything, and the food was amazing. We had an octopus/potato appetizer, along with a fried provolone appetizer, then moved on to a wonderful paella de mariscos (seafood paella). After her ordeal in Porto, Kim asked the waiter to make sure the kitchen would cook it WITHOUT leaving the shrimp heads on so that she could enjoy her food without it staring back at her. We had a lovely bottle of wine, and a few after dinner sherries, then headed back to the hotel around 1:00 am.
Tomorrow we shove off for Valladolid and seeing Thai and Maria. I am so excited! It is going to be a great time. And if I didn't already feel like a princess staying in the castle in Porto, we are staying in a palace in Valladolid. AaaHhh...it is all about my princess vacation of castles, palaces, and wine. Please, Hammer...don't hurt 'em!
Da...Nuh, nuh, nuh....nuh, nuh.....nuh, nuh...you cant touch this!
I am happy to report that Kim and I awoke to the alarm and had plenty of time to enjoy breakfast in the castle before leaving Porto for Spain. We headed out around 10:30am and arrived in Salamanca around 1:30pm. (We did stop at a rest stop at the Portugal/Spain border along the way, and Kim bought another bottle of the sweet white Graham's port...she is seriously mental over this port, I'm telling you! LOL)
After dropping our bags in our room at the hotel in Salamanca, we meandered over to Plaza Mayor, the big plaza/shopping area in Salamanca. Kim hit the jackpot, scoring many souvenirs and treasures for herself and her family. I mainly enjoyed the people watching. The fashions are my favorite. One common thread we have seen around here (and in Portugal as well) are the MC Hammer-style pants of the early nineties. It is crazy how many people are wearing them (especially given the fact that they are flattering on next to nobody). Please reference the photo of Kim in front of a store selling a very minimalistic pair of these gems...good stuff, my friends, good stuff...
Anyway, Kim had plenty of opportunities to make her "Kim face" when watching these and other folks at the Plaza, and I enjoyed messing with her for doing so. We stopped back by our hotel to drop off Kim's treasures, and then headed back o Plaza Mayor for some dinner. We ate at a restaurant right in the middle of everything, and the food was amazing. We had an octopus/potato appetizer, along with a fried provolone appetizer, then moved on to a wonderful paella de mariscos (seafood paella). After her ordeal in Porto, Kim asked the waiter to make sure the kitchen would cook it WITHOUT leaving the shrimp heads on so that she could enjoy her food without it staring back at her. We had a lovely bottle of wine, and a few after dinner sherries, then headed back to the hotel around 1:00 am.
Tomorrow we shove off for Valladolid and seeing Thai and Maria. I am so excited! It is going to be a great time. And if I didn't already feel like a princess staying in the castle in Porto, we are staying in a palace in Valladolid. AaaHhh...it is all about my princess vacation of castles, palaces, and wine. Please, Hammer...don't hurt 'em!
Da...Nuh, nuh, nuh....nuh, nuh.....nuh, nuh...you cant touch this!
Kim's Mecca: Graham's Port Cellar
Day 3: Touring Porto
We woke up feeling fresh at 10:15 am this morning. I guess 14 hours of sleep will do that for you. ( Which is amazing given the fact hat I was in a five and a half foot long twin bed that meant I had to sleep curled up or with my feet hanging off the edge ala Will Farrell in Elf.) LOL
Since the free breakfast ends at 11:00am, Kim and I threw on clothes and headed to the breakfast room. The room was beautiful...ornate crown molding and over the top Baroque finishes everywhere you turn. We were less interested in that as we were in a decent meal and a cup of coffee, though, and so we got our grub on and headed back to the room to get ready for a day of sightseeing and port tasting.
After showering and grabbing our maps and cameras, we set off for Porto...this time with our eyes fully open and not at half mast like the day before. First we stopped in for a real cup of coffee in a local cafe. Im not sure what we are doing in the states, but it ain't coffee by the european standard...that stuff was good!
We saw Sao Bento, the train station in Porto, that is beyond beautiful with its hand painted tile work covering the 20+ foot walls and its marble floors. We also saw the Se Cathedral which was even more breathtaking. One of it's altars is made with over 1500 pounds of sterling silver, and each alcove of the cathedral is more ornate than the last with beautiful statues and detailed stained glass and gold pillars. It also had an enormous organ in an upper loft by the main entrance that makes you wonder what the music would sound like given the size and stature of this 12th century building.
We shopped at the marketplace some more and journeyed to a few stores to see if we could get some technical assistance with the Garmin (which was, I am sad to report, still not operational at this point), then we made our way down to an area just alongside the river where there is a free bus to Grahm's port cellar. There are several port cellars in this area, but Kim was adamant that Graham's was the place to be and that we could accept no substitutes, so Graham's it was.
The drive to Graham's was quite amusing. Let me paint the picture for you...imagine a large bus full of people ambling up a narrow, winding cobblestone street about 15 feet wide at most. The street twists and turns so sharply that the bus has to continuously honk it's horn to alert other vehicles that may be coming down the road that we are there so we won't get hit. Oh, and did I mention we were doing this at top speed?
We arrived safely at Graham's and no sooner did we step into the place than Kim beelines to the bar to inquire about a particular sweet white port that she had tried before. The rest of our bus is lined up at a reception area where you are supposed to check in for the tour and select what type of tasting you will want to do at the end of the tour. As I am inquiring to Kim if we should meander over to the reception area, Kim is busy speaking to one of the staff inquiring if she can bypass the usual order of things by pre-tasting the sweet white port she is so interested in (that is not even part of the tasting option choices of the tour, I might add). Gotta love Kim!
Gotta love Kim even more when you try the port that she has been raving about...God knows there is a reason for the raving. One word: DELICIOUS!
Anyway, the reception guy eventually comes over to us and informs us that we need to check in, so I make my way to the reception desk, select the basic tasting option, and we proceed to our tour of the cellar. The tour was pretty cool...I learned a lot about how the wine is made, what goes into the selection process for determining a vintage reserve wine and how the general process of making the wine has evolved over the 100+ years this cellar has been operating. In the vintage cellar we even saw bottles from 1863! We also saw and leafed through actual ledger books dating back to 1850 that were accounts of the wine sales that were made then. It was really cool.
At the end of our tour, we tasted some of the red and tawny ports (I'm not a fan of he tawny) and then headed back to the castle to rest, recoup and Skype Eric and the kids. Afterwards, we walked back down the hill, over the bridge and up a much bigger hill to go to dinner at Taylor's. Dinner was phenomenal (yes...I used the word phenomenal, Angela!), and the view was even more phenom...you could see all of Porto lit up and gorgeous in the sunset-filled sky. It made the 3 mile, partially up a steep hill and making-my-out-of-shape-thighs-burn hike all worthwhile.
We took another cab back (this time a little tamer and less like "Mr Toad's Wild Ride") and called it a night a 11:30. Tomorrow we head off for Salamanca, Spain, and thank goodness we got the Garmin to work so we are good to go with directions and won't need a map. Here's hoping we wake up to the alarm this time and can enjoy the breakfast and the scenery of the breakfast room a little more...
Maps and Cobblestone Streets Don't Mix
Day 2: Getting to Porto
Kim and I made it safely to Madrid, then successfully navigated to our last flight to Porto. When we finally arrived in Porto, we were weary from traveling and ready to lay down (and by lay down I don't mean partially extend our legs onto an adjoining airplane seat...I mean LAY DOWN as in full horizontal extension onto a bed with a pillow bigger than a shoebox). So, we headed via tram over to the Budget car rental place where Jon Stewart's doppleganger promptly assisted us with our reservation. He also assisted Kim with her GPS that wasn't able to pick up a satellite by telling her that we needed to get a few kilometers from the airport before it would work. Thus, we set off in our little car with a very basic map provided by Budget, in the general direction of our hotel.
If you weren't already familiar, I strong-armed Kim into letting us stay at a hotel that is a castle...yes, an actual castle. It is the Castelo Santa Catarina and it looked beautiful in the pictures we saw online. I was super excited to stay there. I mean, how often can you say you stayed in a castle, right?
So there we were driving away from the airport and towards the hotel and still no GPS. We pulled over to give the Garmin a chance to catch up to us and waited several minutes....still no GPS. OK...I guess we are on our own with our Budget map.
We eventually find the downtown area of Porto where we are staying. YAY! We are in the clear! Or so we think...
Fast forward to 2 1/2 hours later when we finally find our hotel and check in. As it turns out we had a few things stacked against us:
1. Porto is notoriously terrible for getting around by car
2. We had the world's worst map (think the kind you get when you are walking around the zoo and that is basically what we had)
3. It is exceptionally hard to read a map when you are driving down cobblestone streets (it is the equivalent of reading something while you are peddling a bicycle down a mountain trail), and
4. Our castle is on a street that is partially non-accessible by car
Needless to say, by the time we checked in we were REALLY ready to lie down. When we checked in, the boy at the reception desk (yes I said boy...I would be surprised if he was a day over 16) showed us up to our room on he 3rd floor. ***TRAVEL TIP: one thing to note if you are going to Europe and staying in an older hotel, it is quite likely to not have an elevator. So after we head up to the 3rd floor (which is actually the 4th floor because the main floor is the ground floor), we see a quaint little room with one double bed in it. Whaaaaaaaaat?
As it turns out, there was a mix up and it wasn't clear that we were requesting a room with two twins in it. Since I am pretty sure Kim didn't want her first night of sleep in 2 days to be with me spooning her, we had to request another room. The only one available is in the adjoined building and not in the main castle. We took it and were quite relieved to see it was on the 1st, or rather the ground, floor. We carried our suitcases up, and then realized we had a second wind, so we decided to explore Porto a bit.
We walked down to the Mercado Do Bolhao (local market area) and looked at some of the stuff the street vendors were selling, then continued walking the mile or so down to the Duoro River where we walked over the famous Ponte de D Luis bridge and over to the area where all the Port wine cellars are. Since most of the cellars close by 6pm and we were already getting pooped, we decided to save that for the next day and instead walked back across the bridge and found ourselves a cute little restaurant to have dinner in.
By this time we were really hitting a wall. I am surprised we even made it for the main course, which for me was octopus fillets with octopus rice ( perhaps a local favorite? I have seen it on several menus...) and for Kim was a shrimp dish. Poor Kim was so tired, though, that she had forgotten that here they serve the shrimp whole...meaning eyes, legs, shells and all. We made it through all right, took a cab back to our castle and promptly fell asleep. Kim's head didn't even hit the pillow before she was out like a light, and I soon after her. All in all, it was a good first day of being on land again and quite an adventure...right down to the TJ taxi cab ride we had home. Woo-hoo!
Kim and I made it safely to Madrid, then successfully navigated to our last flight to Porto. When we finally arrived in Porto, we were weary from traveling and ready to lay down (and by lay down I don't mean partially extend our legs onto an adjoining airplane seat...I mean LAY DOWN as in full horizontal extension onto a bed with a pillow bigger than a shoebox). So, we headed via tram over to the Budget car rental place where Jon Stewart's doppleganger promptly assisted us with our reservation. He also assisted Kim with her GPS that wasn't able to pick up a satellite by telling her that we needed to get a few kilometers from the airport before it would work. Thus, we set off in our little car with a very basic map provided by Budget, in the general direction of our hotel.
If you weren't already familiar, I strong-armed Kim into letting us stay at a hotel that is a castle...yes, an actual castle. It is the Castelo Santa Catarina and it looked beautiful in the pictures we saw online. I was super excited to stay there. I mean, how often can you say you stayed in a castle, right?
So there we were driving away from the airport and towards the hotel and still no GPS. We pulled over to give the Garmin a chance to catch up to us and waited several minutes....still no GPS. OK...I guess we are on our own with our Budget map.
We eventually find the downtown area of Porto where we are staying. YAY! We are in the clear! Or so we think...
Fast forward to 2 1/2 hours later when we finally find our hotel and check in. As it turns out we had a few things stacked against us:
1. Porto is notoriously terrible for getting around by car
2. We had the world's worst map (think the kind you get when you are walking around the zoo and that is basically what we had)
3. It is exceptionally hard to read a map when you are driving down cobblestone streets (it is the equivalent of reading something while you are peddling a bicycle down a mountain trail), and
4. Our castle is on a street that is partially non-accessible by car
Needless to say, by the time we checked in we were REALLY ready to lie down. When we checked in, the boy at the reception desk (yes I said boy...I would be surprised if he was a day over 16) showed us up to our room on he 3rd floor. ***TRAVEL TIP: one thing to note if you are going to Europe and staying in an older hotel, it is quite likely to not have an elevator. So after we head up to the 3rd floor (which is actually the 4th floor because the main floor is the ground floor), we see a quaint little room with one double bed in it. Whaaaaaaaaat?
As it turns out, there was a mix up and it wasn't clear that we were requesting a room with two twins in it. Since I am pretty sure Kim didn't want her first night of sleep in 2 days to be with me spooning her, we had to request another room. The only one available is in the adjoined building and not in the main castle. We took it and were quite relieved to see it was on the 1st, or rather the ground, floor. We carried our suitcases up, and then realized we had a second wind, so we decided to explore Porto a bit.
We walked down to the Mercado Do Bolhao (local market area) and looked at some of the stuff the street vendors were selling, then continued walking the mile or so down to the Duoro River where we walked over the famous Ponte de D Luis bridge and over to the area where all the Port wine cellars are. Since most of the cellars close by 6pm and we were already getting pooped, we decided to save that for the next day and instead walked back across the bridge and found ourselves a cute little restaurant to have dinner in.
By this time we were really hitting a wall. I am surprised we even made it for the main course, which for me was octopus fillets with octopus rice ( perhaps a local favorite? I have seen it on several menus...) and for Kim was a shrimp dish. Poor Kim was so tired, though, that she had forgotten that here they serve the shrimp whole...meaning eyes, legs, shells and all. We made it through all right, took a cab back to our castle and promptly fell asleep. Kim's head didn't even hit the pillow before she was out like a light, and I soon after her. All in all, it was a good first day of being on land again and quite an adventure...right down to the TJ taxi cab ride we had home. Woo-hoo!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)