On Thursday night we had a great pizza and bottle of tasty regional wine at the local pizza place before retiring to our suite at Lis Casa Blanca. This was the best room we’ve stayed in by far. In the morning, Sabrina, our host, set yogurt, croissants & other bread, orange juice, coffee and cereal out for us in the courtyard at 7 am. We caught the bus for the 15 minute ride back to downtown Montpellier and eventually got into our 1^st class coach for the high speed trip to Avignon. We had about ½ an hour between trains in Avignon and then got another 1^st class coach, a double-decker this time, for the rest of the trip to Nice. We saw lots of vineyards and Anita imagined herself sitting sipping wine in Ralph’s vineyard in Beamsville, the ultimate vineyard experience.

Our hotel, the Trocadero is just around the corner from the train station. It’s an old place but clean and air conditioned. We’re 2 blocks from the main street that runs down to the ocean and old Nice. It’s about a 15 minute walk down to the water. The main street and the old town are swarming with tourists plus a small percentage of homeless people and panhandlers. Some of the homeless people look pretty rough with that junkie look of 90 year old face on a 35 year old body.

We walked down and sunned and swam at the beach yesterday afternoon. It’s quite a zoo. First of all, the beach is known as “the rocks” because there’s hardly a grain of sand anywhere. It’s all pebbles and bigger stones. At first it’s not too comfortable laying on a towel but you get used to it. Everyone is on the beach. There’s even a service for disabled people so they can be taken into the water on a floating wheelchair and then they can get out and swim. The beach stretches all the way across the ocean front of Nice with a wide boardwalk, the Promenade) just above it (well, pavers not boards). Thousands of people stroll the Promenade.

Last night we went to a restaurant called Nissa Socca in the old part of town near the water. It’s highly recommended in Lonely Planet. Socca is a sort of chickpea flour and olive oil batter pancake. We also had pissaladiere with it which is similar flour but is a thick crust with onions, garlic, anchovies and olives topping. Our plate came with salade nicoise (cooked red peppers & a vegetable mixture) plus farcis (deep fried stuffed vegetables). All of this was 12 euros per plate so with mineral water and beer the whole thing cost only 31 euros for a great meal. Almost all restaurants here have seats outside on the sidewalk or street (literally). The outdoor tables at Nissa Socca were sort of in a wide alley. It was okay though.

After dinner we walked the Promenade and were pleased to discover that it was one of their “Prom nights” where the streets are closed and motorized moveable stages drive along and stop at different spots and the band set up on each stage plays a set before moving. We mostly saw a pretty good soft rock cover band who sang some songs in English and most in French.

Today we got a reservation for the train on Monday (actually 3 trains: Nice to Monaco, Monaco to Ventimiglia and Ventimiglia to Genoa Italy). Luckily there was a special section for Eurail passes so we were only in line about 5 minutes and paid only 3 euros each for the reservations.

After that we went to the Russian Orthodox Cathedral nearby. Lots of uppercrust Russians came here in the 19^th century for the winter and eventually built a cathedral. I wanted Anita to see one so she’d understand a bit better what I’d seen in Moscow. This one was very ornate but not as big as the ones in the Kremlin and Red Square.

After that we climbed the hill to where the original old fort was (now long demolished). It was a great view though. Tonight we’re off to dinner around the corner at the Petite Biche, whatever that is. Anita has just brought in the laundry from our balcony, like all the other French ladies. This afternoon, we missed the annual Pink Parade which is the annual gay and lesbian parade here. We weren’t real clear on the parade route. Now we’re just sipping beer and wine and cooling off in the air conditioning. It’s blazing hot here.

We don’t have internet in our room so we’ll post this later from the lobby. Tomorrow, we’ll probably just hang out on the beach since we’ll soon be travelling for 2 days. We’re only staying one night in Genoa and then we’re getting back on the train for Rome.

Montpellier France

Last night in Barcelona was wild when Spain won their world cup match against Germany. After dinner we were walking down the street and we could hear cheers whenever Spain's goalie stopped a shot and groans when Germany's goalie stopped one. Back in our pension, we turned on the tv and watched the end of the game. When Spain won you could hear all kinds of cheers from every apartment, every building and every bar. If they win the final, they'll all go nuts.
This morning we took 2 subway lines down to Estacio Franca and caught the train to Montpellier. We saw a bit of the Mediterranean coast as we went. We got here about 1:30 and stood in line for tickets to Nice tomorrow. That only took about 20 minutes, far faster than in Barcelona. Then it was out onto the street (under construction) in the heat to find the bus stop. It took a while to find the right bus but eventually we ended up out here in the suburbs in a walkout basement suite of a really nice house. However, we are in the middle of nowhere for restaurants etc so tonight we'll be getting takeout pizza to eat out in the courtyard patio here. This is the best room we've had, with airconditioning and breakfast served tomorrow out on the patio at 7 before we leave. Spain was a great experience but now it's the French Riviera for awhile.

We get culture

Last night we had a great dinner in "The Seu" on Comte Borell which is one street over from our pension. It's a little Mediterranean restaurant slightly more upscale than the local bar/diner places but not too expensive. Great atmosphere and great food. Anita had duck and I had sole, both cooked to perfection. With wine and beer the total came to 29 euros, not bad for a great dinner. Tonight Anita wants to go back to "Wok Barcelona" and get the cooks to fry us up all kinds of different seafood again which is included in the buffet price of 11.90 euros. Good deal.

Today we walked in the other direction to Place d'Espanye and then up a hill to the Art Museum of Catalonia (this region of Spain). It was great. We intended to go in for only an hour or so (8.50 euros each) but we ended up spending about 4 or 5 hours. It was that interesting.

First we saw a temporary exhibit of 1920s and 1930s photography. We immediately thought that Hannah would love it, with her own ability with cameras. We also saw a short film and thought Josh would like it. Then we saw lots of paintings, sculptures, furniture and jewellry from many different periods. We even saw a pretty good likeness of Mike and later one of Joe playing guitar but they were both painted hundreds of years ago so I'm pretty sure it wasn't really them.

We walked back by just heading in the general direction that we wanted and taking shady side streets. Our urban orienteering is getting lots of practice. The main boulevards have a wide tree shaded walk out near the middle. There are bike lanes in both directions along just one side of the boulevard which have their own traffic lights (Dylan would approve). The cars and thousands of motorcycles and motor scooters amount to a lot of traffic. I think Barcelona is noted for its traffic and I can see why. Plus finding a parking spot is no picnic either which is why people seem to park in any few square inches of space.

We just went to a grocery store and a bakery for bread, cheese and fruit for breakfast in the train station and lunch on the train tomorrow to Montpellier. Anita also got 3 little tetra packs of white wine (.99 euros for all 3. she thought she'd give it a try and it's not bad) and a couple cans of beer for me in the grocery store.

We'll take 2 subway lines down to the Estacio de Franca train station, which is different from the one arrived at. We leave tomorrow at 8:45. We spend one night in Montpellier and then we're off to teh Hotel Trocadero for 3 nights in Nice. We wanted to stay in the Avignon area and see the Roman ruins but it's impossible to find inexpensive accommodation. This pension is costing us 50 euros per night. In Montpellier a nice one with ensuite bathroom (not that we need it but it's all we could find) is costing us 90 euros for one night. In Nice we're paying 70 euros per night. We're still under budget by quite a bit which is good since we don't know what will happen when we eventually start moving north.

Barcelona

We got on the train in San Sebastian yesterday morning at 7:40. We followed the ticket agent's instructions and got on the 2nd coach even though the number seemed wrong. About 1/2 way here we realized we really were in the wrong coach so we went to the 1st class coach we were supposed to be in at the other end of the train.

We travelled through Pamplona and a couple of other cities on the way here. The running of the bulls started today in Pamplona but it's supposed to be a real zoo - a million tourists for 1 week, nowhere to stay, nowhere to eat etc.

On the way here, after we got through the mountains we got out into a dry rolling plain that reminded me of the Okanagan Valley. There were hundreds of huge wind turbines and some solar panels. Apparently the Spanish prefer wind for their peak power needs instead of coal, oil or nuclear. Thankfully the Save Our Skyline group in the Madawaska Valley haven't had any influence here. We think the turbines look majestic. We also think that mountains without tops to get at the coal inside don't look as good. But that's just us.

We arrived in Barcelona at 1:40 and immediately went to the advanced ticket windows to get a reservation for our next part of the journey on Thursday to Montpellier France. For the lineup you have to take a number and wait your turn. Our number was 258 but they were at 433 or so on their way to 500 before they started over at 1. At around 3:30 some woman who didn't have to use her number gave it to us: 172. We used it just after 4 and were able to get a tourist, not first, class reservation for Thursday. Anita then gave our number 258 which we hadn't used to some little old nun so her wait would be a little less.

We took 2 different subway lines to our pension which was no problem, just hot. We're in a small flat with only a few double rooms with nobody here but us now and one bathroom. It's very clean and well located within walking distance of all the stuff we want to see. Last night we had a really good Chinese buffet at a restaurant recommended to us across the street. They had every kind of seafood and fry cooks who would cook it up on the spot. We pigged out. There seem to be a lot of people of Chinese descent here. Who knew.

Today we walked over to the Barcelona Cathedral. It's magnificent. Just outside we listened to a really cool Chilean 3 man group. Then we strolled through the Gothic barrio but it's not really that much different than what we came from in San Sebastian. We followed through it down to the beach which is really nice although quite crowded. The Mediterranean is nice and warm. After that we walked back up La Rambla which is a big wide boulevard with a central walkway full of all kinds of touristy stuff. There were lots of mime type characters in all kinds of costumes. That was fun. By 4 this afternoon we were ready for a cool shower and a rest. Soon we'll head out for a drink on the street somewhere and then we're going for a Mediterranean dinner at another restaurant nearby.

Tomorrow we're heading in another direction to see some other sights in beautiful Barcelona. The architecture is really great here and there are lots of huge sculptures and wide boulevards to walk down. For a city of 1.9 million, it's a very cool (although hot) place.

Last day in San Sebastian

We wondered if we had made a mistake staying 2 more nights, moving to the Adore Plaza in Constitution Square. Now we're glad we did. We have a great room overlooking the square. Saturday night in the square there were giant 10 foot puppet costume thingies, a man and a woman, marching bands, celebrating soccer fans and everything else. We went into the old cathedral yesterday morning which was beautiful. Anita had never seen statues showing Jesus being taken down from the cross. We also stopped in front of Skunk THC shop where you can buy about 50 different varieties of cannabis seeds and other paraphernalia. I should have stopped in here about 40 years ago. From 6 pm to 8 pm a loudspeaker system and music was set up. The local Basques arrived, put all their purses and jackets in the middle of a circle and then danced. They seemed to know all these Basque folk dances. It was like a big circular square/line dance. Lots of tourists joined in, including us on our balcony. There's also some custom of costumes with a few men in dresses and a few women dressed up with fake wigs etc. One had a fairly large penis (by my standards) attached to the front of her dress. We're not sure what this means.

The weather has been hazy and mid to upper 20s since we arrived but yesterday afternoon and this afternoon was a little sunnier so we went to the beach both days. It's quite crowded at one end but at the other it's empty. It's a huge beach right in town and for some reason most people cluster together near one end. I guess they like the company. We had no problem finding a quieter place to be.

This morning we climbed the mountain that used to be the old fort. It's very cool and very good views of town. There's a little museum and a chapel right on top. We thought it would be too much of a climb but it was fine, even in flip-flops.

Before we came here, we knew only one Basque person, Zack's friend Aneko who has stayed at our house. He's a very cool dude. Now we know a little more where he comes from. This is a very cool place where they're very proud of their culture and seem to take the attitude that they are governed by Spain due to some mistake of history and they're not too happy about it. Everyone is very friendly and seem to reserve their animosity for the Spanish government.

Tomorrow we're off to Barcelona.

First full day in San Sebastian

After a late sleep (necessary because of being awakened by the girls in the next room talking loudly until Anita asked them to tone it down at 1:40 am), we bought some fruit and pastries for breakfast and ate them on a bench down by the sea. We've decided to go straight to Barcelona on Monday and save the rest of Spain (and Portugal) for a separate trip some other time. So we went to the train station to get reservations for the Monday morning high speed train leaving at 7:48 and arriving in Barcelona at 1:40. It cost 10.35 euros each for the reservation, which is a lot considering that we paid only 3 euros each from Tours to Irun, near San Sebastian. Nevertheless, even though we have a Eurail global pass, a reservation is necessary for the high speed trains. It's not that much really to guarantee a seat on a 6 hour train ride. For those interested in prices, a euro is about $1.25 to $1.30 Canadian, unless things have changed in the last few days.

After that we went to Constitution Square in the old quarter to find our new pension, the Plaza Adore, where we're moving tomorrow for 2 nights. This is right in the heart of the action. The square used to be used for bullfights and people rented the rooms around it so they could stand on their balcony to watch. I doubt if we'll get a balcony though. (picture is Bill in front of tomorrow's pension)

We had some great calamari for 6.50 euros each at lunch in an outdoor bar/restaurant in the square. After that we just wandered for the afternoon across the bridge at the mouth of the river over to the surfing beach that isn't in the protected harbour.

We got some decent red wine for 5 euros to take back to our room along with a can of Heineken for me (.90 euros) and some red pepper & tomatoes for happy hour along with some cherries for tomorrow. There are little grocery stores all over where all this stuff is really cheap.

After a bit of rest and reserving a pension for 3 nights in Barcelona through Hostelworld (50 euros a night for a double room with bathroom down the hall in the Barcelona Residence, a good location not too far from the train station and near Las Ramblas (the action street) and cathedrals and stuff.

For supper we ate tapas again. Here's Anita's description:

I don't really know how to describe the tapas except to say that they have to be the best tasting food we have ever had. People walk into the bars/restraunts and the tapas are all set along the bar. You just get a plate and load whatever you want on it and when you have eaten enough, you pay for it. The waiter/bartenders keep filling your wine glass and beer glass too. Last night was our first experience so we asked for suggestions. Our waitress suggested that we order some hot tapas. Wow! We had pintxo foie (duck liver on a crusty bread with a sweet and sour orange sauce), pintxo piquillo (lightly breaded red pepper stuffed with some kind of amazing cheese that I can't spell), Pintxo chuleta (extremely tender, rare beef in a light sauce that was perfect for dipping crusty bread in), and croqueta racion (lightly breaded little balls with cheese, seafood and squid in them. Again there was a light sauce that was perfect for dipping your bread in).

I can't really do the tapas justice as I describe them and we have only tried a few but we have two more evenings to taste test and we are looking forward to it. It is quite the experience as tons of people walk down the narrow streets in and out of the bars eating and drinking there way along. We got a few pictures of the crowds and one shows how people just drop their dirty napkins on the floor when they are finished and then move on. We chose to sit at a table and eat quietly as we watched the show.

We have included a few pictures of the day. The demonstration is the Basque ETA on their regular Friday night march carrying placards with pictures of Basque separatists imprisoned in the 1990s in the south of Spain (and still there I think). It's interesting that the marchers look like middle-aged middle class people, not young militants. There seems to be solid support for the ETA in this region.

San Sebastian Arrival

We left Tours, France around 9am and after 4 trains, arrived in San Sebastian about 6 pm. We're staying at Pension Amalur in the central section of the city but only about a minute walk from the beach and 5 minute walk from the old quarter of town. It's a pretty natural harbour surrounded by high hills. There's a beach in the centre of town. It has actual sand and is very nice but extremely crowded. I don't think we'll be beaching there too much. The old part of town, where we'll be staying on the weekend, is the biggest party spot I think I've ever seen. The narrow old streets are for pedestrians only and there are literally hundreds of bars and restaurants. We had some great tapas of foi gras and 6 other small plates of stuff. It usually costs about 2 euros per plate for these little appetizer plates. It's a good way to sample lots of different foods.

Australia must be empty because I think all the Aussies are here along with a lot of other nationalities.

Here's a picture of Anita waiting for the train at Bordeau.