Un fin de semana en Portugal: Lisbon

A three hour bus ride from Porto took me to Lisbon. Lisbon, of course, is the capital and largest city in Portugal, also along a river (Tejo), and with a mixture of old and new architecture as well. I managed to get to the Baixa, the central shopping street down to the river, the riverfront, and the old neighborhood of Alfama.  Due to the encouragement of my students who had been there before me, I hiked up a steep hill to St. George’s Castle, which provided a wonderful view of the city. I wish I had had more time to visit museums and see some of the sights away from the center of town, but except for getting lost several times (no Señor Rick to guide me on this trip), I’m glad I had the chance to sample both Lisbon and Porto.

The modern and elaborate bus station on the periphery of town. I had expected to be dropped off downtown, but met my first challenge when I realized I was nowhere near the city center! A kind man led me to the metro, and I figured it out from there.

Lisbon has many lovely plazas, with a mix of old and new architecture as well as commemorative statues. This one is Rossio Plaza.

Avenida da Liberdade.

The Baixa, a shopping and restaurant promenade down to the waterfront.

Love Portuguese music!

A view of St. George's castle from town.

The path to the castle was paved with black cobblestones.

Peacocks grazed at the castle coffee shop.

St. George's castle close up.

The view was worth the hike.

The Praca do Comercio is the main square leading up from the riverfront. Before the great earthquake in the mid-1700's it was home to the royals, and now houses government offices. It's gigantic, right next to the river, and awe-inspiring!

The Santa Justa elevator is a landmark in the city, built at the turn of the century to connect the lowest and highest parts of the city. I didn't go up but I hear there's a restaurant at the top with great views.

The Arco de Victoria was once the gateway to the city, as visitors arrived by boat.

You can tell I was a bit rushed--no food pictures! Back to the bus, back to Porto, and back "home" to Valencia.

Un fin de semana en Portugal: Porto

This past weekend, many of the students went to Paris with Miguel, others went to Sevilla or Madrid, and I went to Portugal.  RyanAir offered a killer fare to Porto (30 euro round trip), and even though I had only vaguely heard of Porto, I jumped on it.  I spent two nights in Porto with a day trip to Lisbon (Lisboa), hardly a decent amount of time to get to know a country, but a pleasure nevertheless.  I know only one word in Portuguese–obrigada (thank you)–which was helpful but insufficient, so I relived the early days in Spain where gestures were essential. Surprisingly, returning to Valencia felt like coming home, with the familiarity of Spanish now comforting.

Porto is the second largest city in Portugal, built along the hills overlooking the Douro River. It’s biggest export is–you guessed it–Port wine, which I highly recommend should your taste run in that direction. The city is hilly and the architecture is varied, with some commercial and industrial sections and some areas that are pretty rundown.  However, the riverfront and historical center are charming, and the hills worth hiking.  One of the best spots in town is the Lello Bookstore (Livrario), open since 1881, with an incredible interior of wood, stained glass, and stairways that reportedly inspired J.K. Rowling’s moving stairs in the Harry Potter series.  Lisbon was certainly more of a cosmopolitan world capital, but I liked Porto’s character.

My hotel in Porto.

View from my hotel window.

Many of the streets of Porto are very colorful.

The main square of Porto, Praca da Liberdade,with a statue of King Pedro IV.

The same square at night.

The emblem of the city, the Ponte de D. Luis, built by a student of the famous Eiffel.

View from the bridge across the River Douro to Gaia, where most of the Port wine is stored.

...for example.

The riverfront is quite charming.

I would have liked to take a river cruise on one of these boats--it's supposed to be a great thing to do here.

Much of Porto is very hilly.

Some of the buildings are in obvious need of repair.

The wonderful Lello Bookstore.

I can see why J.K. Rowlings was inspired by this staircase.

The cafeteria down the street from my hotel was showing a Porto home team soccer game--always fun to see how much folks love their futbol teams!

I wasn't quite up to tripe, which is a Porto specialty, but I did try this "francesinha," a sandwich made of ham, cheese, and sausage covered in a spicy beer-based sauce--woohoo!

A view of Porto from the Luis Bridge.

La locura comienza

The celebration of Las Fallas, the largest festival in Valencia, commenced today with La Mascleta, the setting off of firecrackers in the central square, La Plaza d’Ayuntamente.  We’ve been told that this will happen every day at 2 p.m. between now and Mar. 19, when the festival ends.  It’s quite the deal, with thousands in attendance, the “Falleras” in the stands in full costume, and the ground shaking with the carefully staged explosions.  From the stories I’m hearing, I’m getting the impression that Las Fallas will be something like Mardi Gras on steroids!  There will be much more about this in the coming weeks.

Also of note this week, we took the students to an NGO that provides services for immigrants in Valencia, Acoge (
http://valencia-acoge.org/
).  Christine, the British woman who helped to found the organization and is president of the managing board, provided the students with a realistic view of how difficult life is here for immigrants from North Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.  Acoge staff and volunteers help immigrants obtain the all-important paper-work, advocate for them with potential employers and landlords, and actively work to reform institutional practices like detention centers and police abuse.  It was good for the students to see that life is very tough for many in Spain.  Along that line, demonstrations continue all over Spain in response to the economic crisis and government policies.

On a lighter note, in this case a chocolate note, one of our favorite Spanish teachers, Gemma, escorted all of us to a “churros and chocolate” traditional treat in the historic district.  I also took two of the students out for chocolate and fruit fondue for their birthdays.  I need to leave before I’m 300 pounds! I’m also adding a few photos that  I took from the top of the Cathedral.

Crowds gather for the first day of La Mascleta, the very loud firecracker celebration that is a daily part of Las Fallas.

it's hard to see, but that's smoke and fireworks rising in the plaza ahead.

A few of the firecrackers pre-explosion.

Students gather outside of Acoge, a non-governmental organization that assists immigrants in Valencia.

Christine is the very dedicated director of the agency.

The students learned a lot about the challenges facing various immigrant populations here and elsewhere in Europe.

Out for chocolate and churros with other students from AIP and Gemma (in the pink)

 

Chocolate and fruit fondue...is there anything better?

Valencia from the top of the Cathedral; you can see the City of Arts and Sciences in the distance.

Looking down on the Plaza de la Reina, where I live, and where several hundred inebriated and singing Brits are hanging out before a soccer game. That's my apartment with the purple tarp.

Falls under the category of "things you are unlikely to see in the U.S.:" men in business suits out for a bike tour.

Pais Vasco: San Sebastian

My daughter Sarah and I took the slow Euskatren from Bilbao to San Sebastian…lots of gritty industrial scenery but also some beautiful farms with red-tile-roofed houses and grazing animals.  San Sebastian, or Donostia in Euskaren, is a charming beach town that is a favorite for vacationers.  When we were there, the weather was gray and cloudy, but the beach was still lovely.  After getting settled in our hotel, we took the funicular to the top of Monte Igueldo for an incredible view of the city, then took a bus from the base of the mountain to Parte Vieja, or Old Town.  This part of town is about 1,000 years old, but was burned down during the war with the French, and was rebuilt in neoclassical style. The claim to fame here are the pintxos (peen-chohs) bars, where people stop in for a drink and a tapa.  We chose a more restful restaurant where I bravely tried–yes–squid in its own black ink!  We were able to get in a good morning walk on the beach and also ran into a parade the next day before we headed back to Valencia and Sarah headed home.

Arrival on the Euskatren.

Playa de la Concha is considered by "Señor Rick" to be one of the best beaches in the world.

Playa de Onderetta is an adjoining beach near our hotel.

We took the funicular up the side of Monte Igueldo.

It was a cloudy day, but the view was still amazing.

We explored Parte Vieja, or Old Town.

This is the Basque restaurant where we had dinner.

It sounds and looks strange to North Americans, but "squid in its own black ink" is a Basque specialty, and very tasty!

The Plaza de la Constitucion, lit up at night, is where bullfights used to be held.

The gothic Cathedral of San Sebastian

Signs of Basque pride are very evident here.

San Sebastian is very close to France, and some of the architecture here looked more like that of Northern Europe than in other parts of Spain.

Pastries, pastries everywhere!

We ran into a parade, apparently related to some kind of Basque fiesta.

This woman was passing out hot chocolate to the crowd.

This statue of Jesus at the top of Monte Urgull over Old Town gives San Sebastian a little bit of a "Rio" feel.

This street, Alameda del Boulevard, separates Old Town from the Centro business district, and used to be where the city wall once ran.

City Hall

View up from the beach

I can just imagine this beach in the summer.

Pais Vasco: Bilbao

This past weekend all but a few students were off to Rome on an excursion planned  by the school, and my daughter Sarah was visiting, so it seemed like a good time for an adventure.  I didn’t want to leave Spain without seeing Pais Vasco, or Basque Country, in the north. We flew to Bilbao and spent the night, then took the slow Euskatren to San Sebastian for the second night.   The region lived up to its reputation:  green hills, inviting seaside, and wonderful food.  The Basque culture is very old and very interesting.  Euskara, the Basque language, was forbidden during Franco’s time, but has re-emerged as one of the four official languages of Spain.  Most of the signs were printed in both Euskara and Spanish.

Of course, visiting Bilbao would not be complete without visiting the Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Gehry (if the photos look familiar, he also designed the EMP in Seattle).  We first spotted it coming over a bridge from the airport—fantastico!  Fortunately, both the Guggenheim and the old town were within a 10-minute walk from our hotel (thank you, travel agent Miguel), but there is also a handy tram that moves people easily around the town.  After spending hours at the museum admiring the structure as much as the art within it, we rested and then walked to the old town for some famous Basque cuisine, especially pintxos (tapas).  Once again, we were not disappointed.  Not only did we feast on peppers stuffed with prawns and cod pil-pil, but we were serenaded by a group of middle-aged men who seemed to be just hanging out around the tapas bar, waiting for an opportunity to perform.  More soon on the second leg of this journey.

In front of the Guggenheim.

Not a single line of the titanium-tiled Guggenheim is straight except the floor--amazing!

Gehry wanted the museum to tie in well with the city, and the reflecting pond seems to bring the river right up to the museum walls. The spider in the center is a sculpture called "Maman" by Louise Bourgeois.

The structure inside the museum was a work of art in itself.

Sarah's favorite was this 42-foot garden sculpture in front of the museum known by the locals as "Puppy." That's Sarah standing in front to give you some idea of the scale.

For dinner we wandered over to Casco Vieja (Old Town).

The family who runs this restaurant was very kind to us and helped to point out the tapas at the bar.

We agreed that the peppers stuffed with prawns were the best!

But the cod pil-pil (cod in fish juices, olive oil, and garlic) was a close second!

Arriaga Theater in Old Town

Many signs are in both Euskara and Spanish; "calle" in Spanish and "kalea" in Euskara both mean street.

Uh...chickie-boy?

The Basque flag is seen everywhere, an indication of the strong identity of this culture.

Plaza Nueva in Bilbao's Old Town, early Saturday morning.

Off on the Euskatren to San Sebastian!

Alrededor de la ciudad

We’re a little more than halfway through the Valencian adventure, and I thought I’d clean out my camera and add to the collection of photos from around town.  Some of these I’ve lifted from student collections; we’ve got a facebook page to share photos and comments.

The metro: Valencia has a pretty decent subway system that crosses town and goes out to the airport; some of our students take it to get to school.

Yesterday, I rode a Valenbici bike down the Turia Gardens to the City of Arts and Sciences for another look--amazing!

A gargoyle guarding a bridge to a more modern part of the city.

I finally came across the Mercado de Colon on a walk; it's a beautiful piece of modernista architecture, now housing mostly upscale restaurants.

Classic Valencian tile work.

Inside the Mercado de Colon.

Protests are fairly frequent. For this one, I was able to pick out some words and talk to one of the demonstrators, who told me (I think) that the poor in the district of Parque Alcosa, on the outskirts of Valencia, have not had any government services for months.

One of my students took this photo of a poster related to the same issue. It roughly reads: "We need 400,000 euros. Six months without payment. Until when?"

Here's another demonstration in the daytime...teachers, I believe.

In Spanish class with our profesora Sonia, second from the left.

Profesor Rafa, far left, took us on an excursion to L'Almoina, the Roman ruins museum.

One of our favorite places for lunch is the Cerveceria 100 Montaditos, where on Wednesdays you can get these little bocadillos for 1 Euro!

Our other favorite lunch place is the Donor Kebab shop, where you can get amazing gyros with meat carved off of these..uh, words escape me.

Fries with some kind of cream topping and sometimes chopped ham are a favorite of the students.

Some of the students and I out for cafe con leche and churros--que fuerte!

I took the plunge and got a corte de pelo.

The young woman who cut my hair didn't speak any English and my Spanish is weak, but gestures help a lot in this situation!

For my stepmother, who's a collector, I took a bus to the outskirts of town to visit the Lladro factory.

The ceramics were charming, if pricey--very interesting to see how these are made.

One can never have too many pictures of paella! This is the marisco (seafood) variety.

La Escuela

Thanks to our assistant director Fernando, this week we went on an excursion to the Marni School, about a thirty minute walk from our language school.  This is a school that is “half and half:” half supported by public funds and half supported by the parents. According to Fernando, in terms of resources this school is literally midway between the public schools, which are in dire straits in Spain, and the private schools. We were greeted by the director and the three psychologists (!) assigned to the school, which includes a preschool from age two through the primary grades and secondary grades.  Students finish this level of school at age 16.  We were impressed with what the psychologists had to say:  each child is repeatedly assessed for learning challenges and progress in school, the psychologists meet frequently with the teachers and the parents, and the children are followed all the way through the system.  I personally was interested to hear that the psychologists use the DSM (the same diagnostic manual we use in the states) to make diagnoses like autism and attention deficit disorder here (by the way, only a handful of children out of the thousand or so attending the school are on any kind of medication).

We had the most fun touring the school, from the classrooms for toddlers through the preschool, primary school, and the equivalent to our high school.  We all marveled at how well-behaved the children were; they continued to do their work, pay attention to their teachers, and follow instructions, even with visitors in the room (we couldn’t picture the same thing happening in an American school). The children were adorable–many said “hi, how are you, I am fine” as a demonstration of their English, while we attempted to communicate in Spanish.  I took dozens of photos, but out of respect for the director’s wishes that we not show faces on the internet, I will only post those where the children are not recognizable. It was a treat to see another educational system at work.

Outside the secondary school. From the street, you would never know this building houses a school.

Our students really enjoyed the tour

The school director with a stuffed animal the younger children get to take home overnight for a treat

A classroom of five-year-olds learning about the Egyptian pyramids. We were standing in the back of the room but you'd never know it.

Our students are taking it in

The school playground

One of the teachers shows us how they keep track of good behavior. The younger students earn stickers or stamps if they follow their classroom behavior rules.

In this primary grade classroom, the children were learning about animals.

In this high school biology class, the students were preparing a game for the younger children on the parts of a cell. They have very cool smartboards at the school, which I know some districts at home have as well.

The Marni School just celebrated its 50th anniversary (this photo is from their website). We so appreciated being invited to see the school and the dedicated staff who work there.

 

Domingo: festivales, museos, y pasar el rato

Sunday was a pretty amazing day.  On my way to visit several museums, which  generally have free admission on the weekends (why don’t we do more of that?), I happened upon a festival of Spanish dancing–folkdancing, I think, with castanets aplenty.  Wonderful! I made it back to the Silk Exchange (Lonja de la Seda), the 15th Century Gothic structure named as a UNESCO heritage building, and wandered around the halls and gardens.  Then I headed to L’Almoina, a museum which allows you to walk over glass to see excavated structures  from as far back as the Roman origins of Valencia (138 BC).  Finally I made my way to the Museo de Belles Artes, a huge fine arts museum housed in what was once a seminary.  This month, the museum is highlighting the works of Joaquin Sorolla, a hometown boy known for his Valencian beach scenes and paintings of the fishermen and farmers of Valencia.  The students were either in Lanzarote or hiking to a castle on Sunday, so I plan to encourage them to visit these places.

As I walked around the city, I couldn’t help but notice how many people were out on a Sunday afternoon, walking (more like strolling), playing with their children, talking to friends, having something to drink, or just hanging out (why don’t we do more of that?).

Dancers in La Plaza de la Virgen

La Lonja de la Seda, a major mercantile center of the 16th -19th centuries.

Part of the ceiling in a meeting room.

The spirals in the columns added strength to bear the weight of the ceiling.

L'Almoina: Under this modern building and reflecting pool lies an excavation of ruins over 2,000 years old.

We weren't allowed to take photos, so I got this vantage point, looking up through the pool, from the internet.

You can stand on plexiglass and look directly into the ruins from many different centuries.

Museo de Bellas Artes de Valencia, housed in the St. Pius V Palace, built in the 17th-18th centuries.

The museum houses over 2,000 works of art, including paintings by El Greco, Velázquez, Murillo and Goya.

One of the most famous works, a self-portrait by Diego Velázquez.

There was an exhibition of the works of Joaquin Sarolla.

Many of his paintings depicted life at the Valencian seashore.

People out and about in Valencia on a Sunday afternoon.

Festival Vino & Embutido Artesano Requena

After we took our midterm Spanish exam this week, we were all ready for a break.  Many of the students took off for the island of Lanzarote, and the rest of us took part in the Wine and Sausage Festival in the town of Requena.  We took a bus to the town, about an hour from Valencia, and spent the day there. First, we went to the Vareda Real Bodega (which I learned means wine cellar), a family winery, to see how wine is stored and aged, after which we went upstairs for a wine tasting.  Then we were treated to a tour of the underground caves in Requena, where wine was stored but also grains, food, religious relics, and dead bodies!  After that we went to the Festival, where local vintners and food producers put out a spread.  We purchased tickets we could exchange for meats, bread, wine, and dessert.  The place was packed, but we had fun trying new and local foods…Spaniards do love their meat.  It was great to get out of town and just spend time sitting in the sun.

The poster for the wine and sausage festival.

The town of Requena, a combination of old and new.

Eric and Cassandra in front of a 15th centure gothic style church.

A main street in Requena, where the festival was located.

Vintner Pedro explaining to Miguel and the group how the wine is stored and what some of the challenges are in the wine market. The large vat to the left of Miguel is made of pottery; the other casks are made of oak from France.

White wines are stored in casks with plexiglass at the end to see if the sediment has settled (I hope I got that right; the explanation was all in Spanish with some help from Miguel).

Upstairs, we all got to sample a white and a red wine produced by Pedro's family, accompanied by his instruction on how to check for color, smell, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using a napkin to check for color.

Next stop was a tour of a honeycomb of interconnected underground caves under this charming plaza.

The caves were really interesting...not recommended for the claustrophobic!

This vat was made underground to store wine or olive oil in centuries past.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We made our way to the wine and sausage festival, with no shortage of people!

We collected items in this little tray, in this case some kind of pate and some kind of garlic cheese spread.

The local sausage which makes this region famous.

I don't know if you can see this, but not only is there ham and sausage baked into this bread, but in some cases a whole fish!

Enjoying the sun, enjoying the day.

Fin de semana en Valencia

This was a relatively quiet weekend, so I think I’ll take the opportunity to add some photos of my “walk-arounds” and other miscellaneous activities in town.  I found and toured the Ceramics Museum, housed in a 16th century palace, and took the metro to the beach to explore.  Madrid played Valencia this week, so a bunch of us met at a local watering hole to watch the game with the locals. Several of the students dropped by my apartment with snacks, and I actually played soccer in our weekly game. The students convinced me to buy an 8 euro pair of tennis shoes for the occasion.  I muffed a lot of balls, but did get one assist!  My secret weapon:  no one wants to mow the teacher down!

The unbelievable doorway to the Museo Nacional de Ceramica, sculpted in 1740

Some typical Valencian ceramics and one of the palace rooms...

Watching Madrid vs. Valencia with the local fans

And yes, that IS Sangria.

 

A nice shot from my balcony of the cathedral this weekend.

On Sundays, there's an open air market with dozens of stalls.

In other areas, like this popular shopping paseo, everything's closed on Sundays

OMG, as the kids say, I had this amazing salmon for lunch (I'm sure I look like a geek taking these food photos)

Some of the students were kind enough to stop by my apartment with treats

I made it out to El Mediterráneo for a walk

Ta da! What's that? Oh yeah, the ball!

Dukin' it out with Miguel

I'm actually running here! Too much fun...