Here we are on the last field trip of the year. All week they have been predicting rain but it has turned out to be a lovely weekend.We started the day with a very long coach drive - Cornwall is the very farthest south west part of the island and takes a long time to reach.
First stop was at the Eden Project a place that has created a series of biomes or biospheres in a former china clay pit and works to teach us about sustainability and green futures.The rainforest biome was a bit too much for us Northern Minnesotans so we chose to hang out more in the Mediterranean Climate biome.
After another bus ride, which took us through some harrowing narrow lanes, we got to our youth hostel. But before I talk about that I must say a bit about the driving on these field trips. We all hop on a 40 passenger coach driven by our brilliant driver, Mark. Throughout the semester we have been amazed by his ability to make tight turns, back into narrow parking places in a single try and avoid all manner of road hazards and traffic jams. But we had yet to see his true skill level until the drive through the lanes of Cornwall. Linda has noted that a lane here is actually one lane wide - not something you see often in the U.S. but here it is something quite usual. When you take a very large coach ( bus) through a one lane winding road it can get pretty tight. We found ourselves going down a lane which kept getting narrower and narrower, after squeaking through a section with posts and hedges on both sides and then a tight corner against a brick wall, Mark finally decided he would have to reverse.This meant scrapping back through the hedges and trying to find a way to turn the coach around. Needless to say, he did it and it was Brilliant! He even received applause from car loads of people who had to wait for us.
The hostel was beautiful - perched on the coast looking out at the ocean. We all wished we could have just stayed there the whole time, walking along the cliffs, going down to the beach, absolutely lovely. However the next day we were off to St Ives and then on to Lands End.
In St. Ives, we went to the Tate museum and the Barbara Hempworth Sculpture Garden. The garden was lovely, as was the sea but the town itself was a bit touristy and was full of shops. An interesting note about St. Ives is that a great deal of Pirates of the Caribbean was shot at this location. After a couple of hours, we were back on the coach and heading for Lands End, some 4,000 miles from Duluth.
On our final day on the coast, some of the students went surfing at Newquay in Cornwall at the Bluewings Surf School for a few hours and then we headed home by way of Dartmoor National Park.
It was lovely being on the ocean again and a little sad as it was the last field trip with the students. We'll all be home by the end of the month.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Heading South to the Sea
We began another three day field trip with a 7am start and a drive by coach to the White Cliffs of Dover. The white cliffs are made of chalk, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Whilst we didn't have the time to see the cliffs themselves from the vantage point of the sea or the trails, it was still a fascinating day. The cliffs face towards Continental Europe across the narrowest part of the English Channel,
where invasions have historically threatened and against which the
cliffs form a symbolic guard. Crossing at Dover was the primary
route to the continent before air travel, the white line of cliffs also
formed the first or last sight of the UK for travelers.
We were able to visit the underground tunnels used by the British during World War II for military housing and a base of operations for Operation Dynamo. This is the operation that evacuated some 300,000 allied and English troops from France where they were trapped by German forces. We also visited a separate hospital tunnel that was used during World war II as well. These tunnels had been developed much earlier, during the time of the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815), which were fought between Britain and Revolutionary France.
Dover Castle is also on this same historic site where it has stood for 2000 years. It's history and continuous use is remarkable in and of itself. Click on the Dover Castle link for a brief rundown of what has happened here. We didn't spend a lot of time at the castle as we were treated to the only sunshine of the trip that afternoon and had a few hours to enjoy the sun and the view over the English Channel toward France.
We hopped back on the coach to find our way to the youth hostel near Brighton. The hostel was perhaps the grungiest place you can imagine. It was a neat old building but sort of crumbling around us. It was a short walk through the woods to the nearest pub which was a delight to visit. The food and brews were good and the locals brought their dogs with them. For a couple of pet starved travelers, it was just great to pet the dogs and talk to their peeps. One of the things we will miss when we return to the states is the welcoming of all dogs into the pubs and shops. Many places have water dishes by the shop door for the dogs.
The next day we boarded the coach to go to Brighton. We toured the Royal Pavilion, built for the Prince Regent, later King George IV, in a fantastic 'Oriental' style. The architect and designers had never visited China and so it's a lot more imagination than accurate. It is lovely nonetheless with it's dragon chandeliers and gold leafed flower decorations.
Brighton is the city where Anne studied for a semester back in her undergraduate days. We took a train out to the campus for a look around and a walk down memory lane. Fortunately, the memory had faded a bit so we had time to take in the Brighton Pier, an open market street and an extremely large retro clothing store. We met up with some of the students at the store but moved on to find a fabulous Thai restaurant.
We spent one more night at the hostile hostel before heading home by way of Hampton Court. Hampton Court Palace spans the reigns of Henry the VIII (1509-1547), William III and Mary II (1689-1702). This means that the architecture ranges from Tudor to Georgian but the opulence of royalty is on display everywhere. It was an incredibly rainy day and so we were glad to be in the Palace.
This trip leaves us with only one more three day field trip with the Study in England program.
We were able to visit the underground tunnels used by the British during World War II for military housing and a base of operations for Operation Dynamo. This is the operation that evacuated some 300,000 allied and English troops from France where they were trapped by German forces. We also visited a separate hospital tunnel that was used during World war II as well. These tunnels had been developed much earlier, during the time of the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815), which were fought between Britain and Revolutionary France.
Dover Castle is also on this same historic site where it has stood for 2000 years. It's history and continuous use is remarkable in and of itself. Click on the Dover Castle link for a brief rundown of what has happened here. We didn't spend a lot of time at the castle as we were treated to the only sunshine of the trip that afternoon and had a few hours to enjoy the sun and the view over the English Channel toward France.
We hopped back on the coach to find our way to the youth hostel near Brighton. The hostel was perhaps the grungiest place you can imagine. It was a neat old building but sort of crumbling around us. It was a short walk through the woods to the nearest pub which was a delight to visit. The food and brews were good and the locals brought their dogs with them. For a couple of pet starved travelers, it was just great to pet the dogs and talk to their peeps. One of the things we will miss when we return to the states is the welcoming of all dogs into the pubs and shops. Many places have water dishes by the shop door for the dogs.
The next day we boarded the coach to go to Brighton. We toured the Royal Pavilion, built for the Prince Regent, later King George IV, in a fantastic 'Oriental' style. The architect and designers had never visited China and so it's a lot more imagination than accurate. It is lovely nonetheless with it's dragon chandeliers and gold leafed flower decorations.
Brighton is the city where Anne studied for a semester back in her undergraduate days. We took a train out to the campus for a look around and a walk down memory lane. Fortunately, the memory had faded a bit so we had time to take in the Brighton Pier, an open market street and an extremely large retro clothing store. We met up with some of the students at the store but moved on to find a fabulous Thai restaurant.
We spent one more night at the hostile hostel before heading home by way of Hampton Court. Hampton Court Palace spans the reigns of Henry the VIII (1509-1547), William III and Mary II (1689-1702). This means that the architecture ranges from Tudor to Georgian but the opulence of royalty is on display everywhere. It was an incredibly rainy day and so we were glad to be in the Palace.
This trip leaves us with only one more three day field trip with the Study in England program.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Wales Part II - The North
We started off for Northern Wales with our sights set on Ruthin. This is the town where the last known Tellett worked in the castle gatehouse. It is a very sweet little town where a large section of Offa's Dyke is still visible. The dyke dates from around 785 BC and it is believed to have designated the boundary of Wales and England. It now stands along side the lovely River Clwyd (Yr Afon Clwyd - remember that language thing in Wales?) as it runs through Ruthin.
The Ruthin Castle is a short walk up the hill and has been a hotel for the last 60 years. We wandered the grounds and had a lovely Cream Tea from a room overlooking the garden before heading out to Llanbedr to search for gravestones.
We had spent a bit of time in the city archives housed in Yr Hen Garchar (The Old Gaol) to see if we could confirm the name of the town where Richard Tellett was buried. We found a lot of information but not that particular burial record and so we set off to search for gravestones with little to go one except that his grave is in a church yard. Fortunately the town was quite small and only had one church. Our search was successful and we found the marker that indicated several of the Tellett family burials.
Driving on the Wales roads was much easier this time due to Linda's greater comfort level and Anne's expert navigation skills. We had a better understanding of our destinations and the road markers. That is, which roads had a middle white line most of the time, all of the time or, not at all. So at least, if we chose the road less traveled, we would not be too surprised to run into a herd of cattle or a few stray sheep.
We stayed our first night in a lovely inn whose chef had received the double egg award for excellent breakfasts as well as the AA Rosette award for great food. It did not disappoint. Linda had a lovely trout dinner, perhaps her best ever and our room looked out a field of sheep, so we woke up and watched little lambs looking for their mums - delightful!
We spent the next two nights on the Isle of Anglesey at a lovely farm house B & B, Llwydiarth Fawr. This place was fantastic and it was easy to see why Mrs. Margaret Hughes is a past winner of BBC Welsh Farm Wife of the Year Competition. There was fresh fruit, cookies and flowers in our room as well as the most fantastic shower control we have ever encountered.
It's location made
it quite easy to drive around the Isle and we were able to make two trips
to the South Stack Cliffs.
The South Stack is administered by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. It is a nesting site for many cliff nesters and we saw all but one of their star species (no Peregrines) and a pair of Puffins. Our main reason for visiting was to see Puffins so we were quite excited to see a pair. No photos though, too far away but happily were able to rent some binoculars from the RSPB so that we could spot their orange feet amongst the rocks.
In addition to the residence of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (William and Kate), the Isle of Anglesey (Ynys Mon) is also home to many standing stones, burial chambers and other neolithic and older sites. We visited several of them including the Ty Mawr Hut Circles near South Stack which date from the middle stone age (15,000 to 10,000 years ago) through to the Iron Age, 1,300 to 900 years ago.
The Ty Newydd Burial chamber has been extensively destroyed over time and partially restored as well. Although "restored" is a difficult word to use when the restoration includes bricks.
In order to see the Bodowyr Burial Chamber we clamored over a fence and through an occupied sheep pasture. This is thought to actually be a passage grave and again, has similarities to sites in Ireland.
We weren't able to enter The Barcloiad y Bawres Burial chamber but it was impressive none-the-less. The stones have carvings on them that are similar to burial chamber carvings in Ireland. This one also has been restored so that we could understand a bit better what the others were like prior to the mound of sod covering having been removed.
We found Northern Wales, and in particular, Anglesey Isle to be quite different than Southern Wales in just the 'feel' of the area. For one thing, 60% of the people speak Welsh, most of them as their first language. It is known as Mon Mam Cymru (the Mother of Wales). The saying originates from the 12th century when Giraldus Cambrenis was on a journey around Wales, said that Anglesey could supply the whole of Wales with corn. It seemed to be more friendly to us than the more English influenced southern Wales.
Before we left the island, we visited the town with the longest recognized place name in the UK, Llanfairpw
The Ruthin Castle is a short walk up the hill and has been a hotel for the last 60 years. We wandered the grounds and had a lovely Cream Tea from a room overlooking the garden before heading out to Llanbedr to search for gravestones.
We had spent a bit of time in the city archives housed in Yr Hen Garchar (The Old Gaol) to see if we could confirm the name of the town where Richard Tellett was buried. We found a lot of information but not that particular burial record and so we set off to search for gravestones with little to go one except that his grave is in a church yard. Fortunately the town was quite small and only had one church. Our search was successful and we found the marker that indicated several of the Tellett family burials.
Driving on the Wales roads was much easier this time due to Linda's greater comfort level and Anne's expert navigation skills. We had a better understanding of our destinations and the road markers. That is, which roads had a middle white line most of the time, all of the time or, not at all. So at least, if we chose the road less traveled, we would not be too surprised to run into a herd of cattle or a few stray sheep.
We stayed our first night in a lovely inn whose chef had received the double egg award for excellent breakfasts as well as the AA Rosette award for great food. It did not disappoint. Linda had a lovely trout dinner, perhaps her best ever and our room looked out a field of sheep, so we woke up and watched little lambs looking for their mums - delightful!
We spent the next two nights on the Isle of Anglesey at a lovely farm house B & B, Llwydiarth Fawr. This place was fantastic and it was easy to see why Mrs. Margaret Hughes is a past winner of BBC Welsh Farm Wife of the Year Competition. There was fresh fruit, cookies and flowers in our room as well as the most fantastic shower control we have ever encountered.
The South Stack is administered by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. It is a nesting site for many cliff nesters and we saw all but one of their star species (no Peregrines) and a pair of Puffins. Our main reason for visiting was to see Puffins so we were quite excited to see a pair. No photos though, too far away but happily were able to rent some binoculars from the RSPB so that we could spot their orange feet amongst the rocks.
In addition to the residence of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (William and Kate), the Isle of Anglesey (Ynys Mon) is also home to many standing stones, burial chambers and other neolithic and older sites. We visited several of them including the Ty Mawr Hut Circles near South Stack which date from the middle stone age (15,000 to 10,000 years ago) through to the Iron Age, 1,300 to 900 years ago.
The Ty Newydd Burial chamber has been extensively destroyed over time and partially restored as well. Although "restored" is a difficult word to use when the restoration includes bricks.
In order to see the Bodowyr Burial Chamber we clamored over a fence and through an occupied sheep pasture. This is thought to actually be a passage grave and again, has similarities to sites in Ireland.
We weren't able to enter The Barcloiad y Bawres Burial chamber but it was impressive none-the-less. The stones have carvings on them that are similar to burial chamber carvings in Ireland. This one also has been restored so that we could understand a bit better what the others were like prior to the mound of sod covering having been removed.
We found Northern Wales, and in particular, Anglesey Isle to be quite different than Southern Wales in just the 'feel' of the area. For one thing, 60% of the people speak Welsh, most of them as their first language. It is known as Mon Mam Cymru (the Mother of Wales). The saying originates from the 12th century when Giraldus Cambrenis was on a journey around Wales, said that Anglesey could supply the whole of Wales with corn. It seemed to be more friendly to us than the more English influenced southern Wales.
Before we left the island, we visited the town with the longest recognized place name in the UK, Llanfairpw
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Amsterdam in April 2012
After checking out of our Barcelona digs, Carol hopped a train back to Gerona so that she could get her flight back to Minnesota and Anne & I caught our flight up to Amsterdam.
While it was much cooler in Amsterdam than in Southern France and Spain, it was a perfect time to visit the city. We stayed in a hotel right next to the floating flower market which was full of tulips, daffodils and all manner of bulbs, flowers, plants, garden decorations and seeds. While only about half the size of Barcelona, tourists flock to the city in droves and nearly double the population in peak times. We did our best to contribute to the congestion but still couldn't compete with the bicycles.
The Dutch seem to have made the bicycle some kind of god and any rights not given to them are taken by the riders. They snake around the city in huge packs - no helmets -as fast as they can go. Nearly all ride 3 speed or less as the city is very level. They do follow the stop light system to a degree as there are designated bike lanes, however, they also take up lots of space on the streets that might otherwise be designated for pedestrians by parking or tossing their bikes on the sidewalks.
Things got much better for us once we found our way to the hotel and had a bit of rest, then it was off to see the city. (Thank you to Sandra for providing us with a guide to the city along with great suggestions for things to do!) We hopped on a tram and made our way to the Albert Cuypmarkt (a market like no other) where we sampled all manner of foods, took pictures of interesting things (for example: pants that will rub off your cellulite, a sandal/brush to wear in the shower that cleans your feet without needing to bend over, and the worlds highest platform shoes). We also bought a few items and had a great time people watching. We sampled a common Dutch street food Vlaamse Frites (think thick french fries) which many people eat with mayo, however we fell for the peanut sauce. Decadent!
We took in the Van Gogh Museum and saw his sunflowers, lots of paintings of his time in the south of France and his bed room.
We spent time wandering the neighborhoods and soaking up the city - brilliant!
We also visited an award winning brewery, Brouwerij 't IJ which is where the locals go - great people watching!
Our final destination was to see the tulip gardens in full bloom, which required a bus trip outside the city to see the world famous Keukenhof gardens. They were nothing short of amazing - please see the pictures to get a sense of both the formal gardens as well as the amazing fields of flowers ( we could see them from the plane flying in!) that stretch for miles. It is truly something you must experience to understand. A stunning day where all we could do was take pictures and say wow!
We loved Amsterdam and Holland and will be back to spend more time in this wonderful country.
While it was much cooler in Amsterdam than in Southern France and Spain, it was a perfect time to visit the city. We stayed in a hotel right next to the floating flower market which was full of tulips, daffodils and all manner of bulbs, flowers, plants, garden decorations and seeds. While only about half the size of Barcelona, tourists flock to the city in droves and nearly double the population in peak times. We did our best to contribute to the congestion but still couldn't compete with the bicycles.
The Dutch seem to have made the bicycle some kind of god and any rights not given to them are taken by the riders. They snake around the city in huge packs - no helmets -as fast as they can go. Nearly all ride 3 speed or less as the city is very level. They do follow the stop light system to a degree as there are designated bike lanes, however, they also take up lots of space on the streets that might otherwise be designated for pedestrians by parking or tossing their bikes on the sidewalks.
Things got much better for us once we found our way to the hotel and had a bit of rest, then it was off to see the city. (Thank you to Sandra for providing us with a guide to the city along with great suggestions for things to do!) We hopped on a tram and made our way to the Albert Cuypmarkt (a market like no other) where we sampled all manner of foods, took pictures of interesting things (for example: pants that will rub off your cellulite, a sandal/brush to wear in the shower that cleans your feet without needing to bend over, and the worlds highest platform shoes). We also bought a few items and had a great time people watching. We sampled a common Dutch street food Vlaamse Frites (think thick french fries) which many people eat with mayo, however we fell for the peanut sauce. Decadent!
We took in the Van Gogh Museum and saw his sunflowers, lots of paintings of his time in the south of France and his bed room.
We also visited an award winning brewery, Brouwerij 't IJ which is where the locals go - great people watching!
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Oui oui, Si Si (Part 2 - Spain) April 2012
Sunday we left Southern France and took a pleasant train ride down the
coast into Northern Spain. This is part of the Costa Brava region of the Mediterranean; selected by National Geographic Traveler as a "Best Trip of 2012."
The train was high-speed electric - so quiet and enjoyable. We hope to one day be able to ride between Duluth and Minneapolis that way! We arrived in Figueres, Spain and ate lunch outside at a restaurant looking over the town square - lovely and sunny. Only one slight translation mix-up, the fish described for Anne's dish was actually octopus ...hmmmm, (I made it through half of it).
The next day we went out
to breakfast for coffee and a lovely Brioche dipped in chocolate before our visit the Dalí Theatre - Museum, the largest surrealistic object in the world. Dalí is of course known for his surrealistic work. The museum
occupies the building of the former Municipal Theatre, a 19th century
construction which was destroyed at the end of the Spanish Civil War. On
its ruins, Dalí decided to create his museum as a gift to the town that he loved. Since it was designed by him it is actually a work of art in and of itself. There are many, many representations of bread in and on the building as well as other themes repeated as only a compulsive, surrealistic artist can do.
It seems the the entire town has embraced Dali and the surrealist approach to decorating. One building has cow statutes on its facade and another has a cow and a goose peering over the eave.
In the afternoon we went to the Toy Museum in Figueres, which was very fun and much easier to understand. This place takes you on a great trip through history of play. They display toy cars, robots, dolls, boardgames, puppets and everything related to the way people have been playing in the past centuries. There was even a little hop scotch court by the doorway where we could resurrect our childhood skills.
We took a short train ride to our next stop, the city of Gerona. Gerona is an ancient walled city where large portion of the Roman wall still exists and much of it is accessible by foot. The narrow streets climb steeply from the river Onyar and up to the wall. We stayed two nights in Gerona which allowed us time for a short bus to the Mediterranean fishing port of Saint Feliu De Guixols. We were lucky to have a nice sunny day for a walk and a little snooze on the coast. We really loved Gerona and had a great time exploring its' nooks and crannies.
Gerona is much larger than Figueras, but then we hit the huge city of Barcelona to conclude our Southern holiday. Thanks to Susie we know this is pronounced "Barthelona" and ever since we have been talking as if we have a lisp. There are a million things to see and do there, however our visit actually centered around the interesting modernism architecture with a bit of flamenco dance thrown in.
Modernisme, Catalan for "modernism" was a cultural movement associated with the search for Catalan national identity. It is often understood as an equivalent to a number of art movements, such as Art Nouveau, Jugendstil, Secessionism, and Liberty style, and was active from roughly 1888 to 1911.
We took a walk down the Illa de la Discòrdia ( block of Discord), which is a block on Passeig de Gràcia in the Eixample District of Barcelona. The block is noted for having buildings by four of Barcelona's most important Modernista architects, Lluís Domènech i Montaner, Antoni Gaudí, Josep Puig i Cadafalch and Enric Sagnier, in close proximity. As the four architects' styles were very different, the buildings clash with each other and the neighboring buildings. They were all built in the early years of the 20th century. We were able to enjoy it without feeling too much discord.
One of the better known architects of the period is Antoni Gaudi who's work is visible throughout the city. We spent quite a bit of time at Park Guell looking at his home ( now a museum) and the grounds where he had installed many of his pieces. It was crowded with visitors and a long walk up a very steep hill, but we enjoyed the chance to see his buildings and incredible mosaics.
After seeing the work of Dalí and Gaudi, we have decided this is the vacation of bizarre and unusual artists.
One interesting feature of Barcelona is the number of motor scooters on the streets. It was not unusual to see 30 of 40 motor bikes at a stoplight at any given time. Clearly the law requires the wearing of helmets but not noise dampening mufflers. It is a very big and busy city.
One evening we went to a traditional Flamenco dance, which Linda captured on video. It was a fascinating evening which we thoroughly enjoyed. (More of her video is available on YouTube if you have a lot of time.)
Flamenco is an art that includes to variants: music and dance. Singing, guitar and percussion (clapping) all play an important role. Each song is interpreted with a different kind of dance with it's own rhythm and harmony. The dances can be very serious and express profound feelings that are often tragic; dealing with love, disappointment or sadness. Others are livelier and deal with happy feelings of love and various scenarios relating to flamenco, which at times can even be comical.
When our time in the South ran out, Carol took the train back to Gerona to catch a flight back to the USA and Anne and Linda flew up to Holland for a few days stay in Amsterdam. See part three of Spring break. And don't forget to check the photo albums.
The train was high-speed electric - so quiet and enjoyable. We hope to one day be able to ride between Duluth and Minneapolis that way! We arrived in Figueres, Spain and ate lunch outside at a restaurant looking over the town square - lovely and sunny. Only one slight translation mix-up, the fish described for Anne's dish was actually octopus ...hmmmm, (I made it through half of it).
It seems the the entire town has embraced Dali and the surrealist approach to decorating. One building has cow statutes on its facade and another has a cow and a goose peering over the eave.
In the afternoon we went to the Toy Museum in Figueres, which was very fun and much easier to understand. This place takes you on a great trip through history of play. They display toy cars, robots, dolls, boardgames, puppets and everything related to the way people have been playing in the past centuries. There was even a little hop scotch court by the doorway where we could resurrect our childhood skills.
We took a short train ride to our next stop, the city of Gerona. Gerona is an ancient walled city where large portion of the Roman wall still exists and much of it is accessible by foot. The narrow streets climb steeply from the river Onyar and up to the wall. We stayed two nights in Gerona which allowed us time for a short bus to the Mediterranean fishing port of Saint Feliu De Guixols. We were lucky to have a nice sunny day for a walk and a little snooze on the coast. We really loved Gerona and had a great time exploring its' nooks and crannies.
Gerona is much larger than Figueras, but then we hit the huge city of Barcelona to conclude our Southern holiday. Thanks to Susie we know this is pronounced "Barthelona" and ever since we have been talking as if we have a lisp. There are a million things to see and do there, however our visit actually centered around the interesting modernism architecture with a bit of flamenco dance thrown in.
Modernisme, Catalan for "modernism" was a cultural movement associated with the search for Catalan national identity. It is often understood as an equivalent to a number of art movements, such as Art Nouveau, Jugendstil, Secessionism, and Liberty style, and was active from roughly 1888 to 1911.
We took a walk down the Illa de la Discòrdia ( block of Discord), which is a block on Passeig de Gràcia in the Eixample District of Barcelona. The block is noted for having buildings by four of Barcelona's most important Modernista architects, Lluís Domènech i Montaner, Antoni Gaudí, Josep Puig i Cadafalch and Enric Sagnier, in close proximity. As the four architects' styles were very different, the buildings clash with each other and the neighboring buildings. They were all built in the early years of the 20th century. We were able to enjoy it without feeling too much discord.
One of the better known architects of the period is Antoni Gaudi who's work is visible throughout the city. We spent quite a bit of time at Park Guell looking at his home ( now a museum) and the grounds where he had installed many of his pieces. It was crowded with visitors and a long walk up a very steep hill, but we enjoyed the chance to see his buildings and incredible mosaics.
After seeing the work of Dalí and Gaudi, we have decided this is the vacation of bizarre and unusual artists.
One interesting feature of Barcelona is the number of motor scooters on the streets. It was not unusual to see 30 of 40 motor bikes at a stoplight at any given time. Clearly the law requires the wearing of helmets but not noise dampening mufflers. It is a very big and busy city.
One evening we went to a traditional Flamenco dance, which Linda captured on video. It was a fascinating evening which we thoroughly enjoyed. (More of her video is available on YouTube if you have a lot of time.)
Flamenco is an art that includes to variants: music and dance. Singing, guitar and percussion (clapping) all play an important role. Each song is interpreted with a different kind of dance with it's own rhythm and harmony. The dances can be very serious and express profound feelings that are often tragic; dealing with love, disappointment or sadness. Others are livelier and deal with happy feelings of love and various scenarios relating to flamenco, which at times can even be comical.
When our time in the South ran out, Carol took the train back to Gerona to catch a flight back to the USA and Anne and Linda flew up to Holland for a few days stay in Amsterdam. See part three of Spring break. And don't forget to check the photo albums.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Oui, Oui, Si, Si (Southern France, Part 1) April, 2012
The two week Spring break trip was FABULOUS! We visited three countries in sixteen days and so were not particularly rushed during our travels. During the first two weeks, Anne's sister Carol joined us in our travels in Southern France and Northern Spain. Not only was it fun to travel with her, she speaks Spanish and has a little knowledge of French. Hugely helpful for us monolingual travelers.
Carol joined us in Worcester and we left the next day for Montpellier, France on the most popular of all the discount airlines, Ryan-air. Unfortunately, the French air traffic control workers had selected the same day to hold a strike. Don't you just hate it when workers rights actually cause a small bump in your vacation plans? Fortunately, our flight was only delayed and so we arrived at our destination late at night and exhausted. We were met by our host with a bottle of St. Chinian wine and comfortable beds. Ahhhhh....
The next day we spent time getting oriented, finding a grocery store and generally looking around in our rental car. Much easier driving here, since they drive on the familiar side of the road. As you can see from the link above we were lucky to stay in a fabulous place in this small village - recommended by our friends, Jan and Marek, who have been coming here for years. Our hosts could not have been better, giving us advice and helping with any questions we had. We would recommend them to anyone looking for a lovely (and reasonable) place to stay in the wine country of S. France.
This map shows the area through which we journeyed with the Languedac Roussian region of France (where we stayed) on the upper right hand edge and Barcelona, Spain on the lower right edge next to the Mediterranean Sea.
Our first big adventure after picking up groceries in St-Pons-de-Thomieres was to veer off onto a small road that directed us to a grotto (cave). Since we knew that there were palaeolithic caves in the area and in fact planned on visiting some, we decided to find out more about this one. The road wandered in and out of valley and ridges and kept getting narrower and narrower until we came to a very small old village that seemed to be inhabited by only cats, dogs, and chickens. I know this wasn't the case but since all of the buildings were made of stone, it really had the feel of very, very old. We never did find the cave but did get to see the back roads of the area.
And now just a word about the food. I know that the world raves about French cooking but up until this point we had not had terribly great experiences eating here. In Paris it took us quite awhile to figure where the local people ate- and so kept ending up in places where the choices were pretty much steak and fries or 1/2 a chicken and fries, as they were trying to cater to the tourists.
Our first night out in St. Chinian left me (Anne) swearing off French food forever (this of course changed) and Linda and Carol both looking a little green. We went to a restaurant which served a set meal (2 or 3 courses for a set price.) We were the only ones in the dining room - though there were people in the bar. Note to self - this should have been a sign. Yes, even if it is a small town there should be someone having dinner there - must remember this for the future. I could not face fish/seafood that evening so ordered the Faux beef (again, not a good sign) but since they were out of the duck ("no canard, no canard!") this was the only other choice besides Soupe de Poisson ( ie. fish.) Carol and Linda got the soup. Now I assume most of you know that Linda is an adventuresome eater - willing to try things and loves most seafood. When their soup showed up they saw the following: a whole fish with skin, eyes, and tail intact floating in a grey broth. Further discovery turned up several completely uncleaned shrimp with eyes and feet, as well as baby octopus with tentacles still intact. Their reactions can be seen here - please note that Carol is not smiling with joy, but laughing at the horror on her plate. I have also included a picture of what we now know the soup should have looked like.
The next day we were off on a driving adventure to Carcassone, a fortified medieval walled city in southwestern France which was classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997. It was a fabulous fortress and was very interesting to walk around the actual castle and shops within the walled city. On the way we stopped in Homps, and walked around the town and looked at the Midi Canal. A small dog decided to join us (see pics) and unfortunately was a car chaser, who finally left us in a park without getting run over, whew!
Generally, the countryside we visited is used for growing grapes. There were vineyards upon vineyards along miles of winding country roads. The hilly terrain reminded me (Linda) of my hometown of Mariposa, California. Including the fact that the red buds were in bloom and there were lots of rocky outcroppings. It is actually the hill country leading up to the Northern Pyrenees Mountains.
It also holds a great many grottoes (caves) with prehistoric art still visible and available for us to see! We started off seeing one of the more well known caves in the area Naiux Cave
in the northern foothills of the Pyrenees near the town of Foix. This
is a cave where they still allow visitors in to see the actual paintings
(created with inks made of different plants) and charcoal drawings. They do
however gauge the carbon dioxide the group is producing and set limits
for how long we were allowed to stay in the largest chamber. When the guide started
saying things like "this was able to be carbon dated to 13,850 years
ago"and "this cave was used at the end of the last Ice Age" it was
completely mind boggling. This was a well attended tour so we were with a
crowd, all trying to see, most of the time. We decided to try to fit
one more cave in before heading back and drove across a small valley to
visit Grotto de Bedeilhac.
Grotto de Bedeilhac has a similar early history to Naiux Cave but, more recently it was used as a airplane maintenance base for the French military and later the German military during World War II. Sadly, great amounts of soil was removed from the entrance of the cave in order to allow a level place for the maintenance to work to occur. It is impossible to know the amount of archeological history that was lost because of this.
The experience was a completely different in this cave; for one thing because we were the only people on the tour (in fact we were the only ones to go on the tour all day) and because the cave was much less organized for tourists. We were lucky to have a private showing of the cave, which had paintings and drawings with brush and charcoal but also included sculptures and engravings. What little electricity that was available wasn't working and so we were on our own with four flashlights and a lot of dark. It was just fine though, our guide pointed our a number of geologic features in addition to the pictographs and other evidence of previous civilizations. Amazing!
Our trip to see the cave took us quite close to Andorra, a tiny country between France and Spain in the center of the Pyrenees. (They have the 4th longest life expectancy in the world and are the 6th smallest country in Europe.) It's an interesting little place with membership in the United Nations and is ruled by co-princes, the President of France and the Bishop of Urgell (Catalonia, Spain). Unfortunately, that passport stamp will have to wait until another day, but we did take a pic of a car license plate from there!
This part of the world is quite lovely. The towns have markets once or twice a week where local vendors come to sell their vegetables, sausage, fish, cheese and other goods. Everything seems quite easy going and most businesses close for several hours every afternoon.
We spent more time day tripping around the area: beautiful country side, lovely little towns. We particularly enjoyed Roquebrun, with its wide river and pretty hillside of colorful houses. We also encountered fascinating little stone shelters (Capitelles) which are built without any mortar, even the roof, in the traditional way that has been used since Roman times. They were used as shelter and storage by workers in the vineyards. You can see Carol exiting one in the pictures.
After a pleasant week we are off to Spain - which is detailed in Part 2 of this trip.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Old and Ancient England - Bath and Stonehenge, March 23
The Study in England program took us on another fine one day field trip via coach (bus) to Bath and Stonehenge.
The city of Bath is a World Heritage site located in Somerset, England. It is the location of the only hot springs on the island and has been treated as a shrine for thousands of years. The Romans built a huge temple which was dedicated to Minerva but prior to that, Iron Age Britons dedicated it to the Goddess Sulis. The temple which is open to visit was originally constructed in 60-70 AD. Over the next 300 or so years, rooms for different temperature baths and other uses were added. Floors were created by piling stone tiles at various heights over the water so that there would be enough air circulating between the water and the floor to prevent people from burning their feet. The spring still produces hot water at a temperature of 115 °F and rises at the rate of 257,364 gallons every day.
The city of Bath has many buildings in the Georgian architectural design which was popular between 1720 - 1840. According to Wikipedia, this architectural style coincides with the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United Kingdom, and George IV of the United Kingdom—who reigned in continuous succession from August 1714 to June 1830.
While in Bath, we ran across a couple of pig sculptures from a trail building project a few years back. We just couldn't help but take a few pictures of of them.
After a lunch in Bath, we all climbed back on the coach for a ride to Stonehenge. This is even more impressive than I thought it would be. Also a World Heritage site, it is believed to have been begun some 3100 BC with the earthwork comprising a ditch, bank, and the Aubrey holes. The Aubrey holes are round pits in the chalk with steep sides and flat bottoms. After this construction, it was left untouched for over 1000 years.
The second stage in construction started around 2150 BC. Some 82 bluestones from the Preseli Mountains in southwest Wales were transported to the site. The distance from Stonehenge is nearly 240 miles and is close to the place we visited in Wales. They were probably moved by raft and on rollers. Once on site, these stones were set up in the center to form an incomplete double circle.
More changes were made about 4000 years ago when stones were brought from about 25 miles north of Stonehenge. The largest of these weighs 590 tons and transportation by water would have been impossible, the stones could only have been moved using sledges and ropes.
The final changes took place soon after 1500 BC when the bluestones were rearranged in the horseshoe and circle that is seen today. The original number of stones in the bluestone circle was probably around 60; these have long since been removed or broken up.
Seeing these ancient sites is very humbling. They stones were lifted and fitted, obviously without the use of machinery as we know it. The drive and determination shown by the people who constructed these places of worship, respect for their beliefs or understanding of their world is astonishing. While we will never know the true reason for their action it is a thrill to walk on the land and see the work that they created.
The city of Bath is a World Heritage site located in Somerset, England. It is the location of the only hot springs on the island and has been treated as a shrine for thousands of years. The Romans built a huge temple which was dedicated to Minerva but prior to that, Iron Age Britons dedicated it to the Goddess Sulis. The temple which is open to visit was originally constructed in 60-70 AD. Over the next 300 or so years, rooms for different temperature baths and other uses were added. Floors were created by piling stone tiles at various heights over the water so that there would be enough air circulating between the water and the floor to prevent people from burning their feet. The spring still produces hot water at a temperature of 115 °F and rises at the rate of 257,364 gallons every day.
The city of Bath has many buildings in the Georgian architectural design which was popular between 1720 - 1840. According to Wikipedia, this architectural style coincides with the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United Kingdom, and George IV of the United Kingdom—who reigned in continuous succession from August 1714 to June 1830.
While in Bath, we ran across a couple of pig sculptures from a trail building project a few years back. We just couldn't help but take a few pictures of of them.
After a lunch in Bath, we all climbed back on the coach for a ride to Stonehenge. This is even more impressive than I thought it would be. Also a World Heritage site, it is believed to have been begun some 3100 BC with the earthwork comprising a ditch, bank, and the Aubrey holes. The Aubrey holes are round pits in the chalk with steep sides and flat bottoms. After this construction, it was left untouched for over 1000 years.
The second stage in construction started around 2150 BC. Some 82 bluestones from the Preseli Mountains in southwest Wales were transported to the site. The distance from Stonehenge is nearly 240 miles and is close to the place we visited in Wales. They were probably moved by raft and on rollers. Once on site, these stones were set up in the center to form an incomplete double circle.
More changes were made about 4000 years ago when stones were brought from about 25 miles north of Stonehenge. The largest of these weighs 590 tons and transportation by water would have been impossible, the stones could only have been moved using sledges and ropes.
The final changes took place soon after 1500 BC when the bluestones were rearranged in the horseshoe and circle that is seen today. The original number of stones in the bluestone circle was probably around 60; these have long since been removed or broken up.
Seeing these ancient sites is very humbling. They stones were lifted and fitted, obviously without the use of machinery as we know it. The drive and determination shown by the people who constructed these places of worship, respect for their beliefs or understanding of their world is astonishing. While we will never know the true reason for their action it is a thrill to walk on the land and see the work that they created.
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