March 02 to 07 May - Trip Epilogue

This 66-day time in Europe was a great introduction to the possibilities of long stay vacationing after retirement. My seven weeks in the Maritimes, last year, was a taste while this was a multi-course meal. This vacation was a fantastic experiment in four ways.

    Firstly, it was relatively unstructured beyond our accommodations and plane tickets. Each morning, or evening before, we would think of where to go and what to do in general terms, letting our mood and weather determine our plans. With the advance loading of Googlemaps, with saved places to go and interesting places to eat, my efforts meant less time searching on a phone and more time on vacation having fun.

    Secondly, it was the longest we had been in Europe since I retired. It was as long as some of my deployments in the Canadian Navy! The length was 25.5 days with Natalie and 40.5 without. We had also come to the same conclusion, by the time I returned, that I should limit my stay - after Natalie goes home - by no longer than two weeks. With two cats, making supper, and watering our garden, it meant extra work at home after her workday had finished.

    Thirdly, it was the first time that all of our accommodations, where we had lengthy stays, had kitchens. We made our own breakfasts, and occasional lunches and suppers too, using local ingredients from markets and specialty stores. This meant an overall cost savings without sacrificing quality.

    Quadrally…fourthly…fourth important thing about the trip was staying with R&J in Almazan, Spain. They rented a place, with a separate studio residence out back, for three months and rented a car. The joys of being in a nice town of 5000, with history and nature everywhere, and a short bike or car drive to many more places meant it was a great base of operations. A longer drive took them to most places in Spain they wanted to overnight at, for short stays. It opened mine and Natalie’s eyes on what could be possible with a long stay.

    I have been asked what I liked most about the trip and I would say the unstructured nature of it tops the list. For my favorite places visited, it would be Venice. The goal of walking over every bridge meant seeing all of Venice, and not just the places tourists most often went to. I saw the differences in each of the islands that make up the city of Venice. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the touristy places there (galleries, museums, churches, and historical places) but if I came here again it would be early spring or late fall to avoid the press of tourists in the central areas.

    What is our next big trip? It’s hard to say. We have some ideas, but more research is needed as well as keeping our fingers on the pulse of world events, so stay tuned.

    In the meantime, I am posting each day of our trip to Europe on my blog. It has more pictures than my emails and less pictures than my Facebook posts. I am on the 22nd of March, but will try to post one or two a day until the trip is entirely posted. Enjoy!

Some statistics on the trip

-2 countries and three languages (Spanish, Basque, Italian).

-9 cities/towns stayed at (Almazan twice) or 6.6 days average at each place.

-495.14km walked or 7.5km per day.

-1077 flights of stairs climbed or 16.32 flights per day.

Favorite Moments

-Almost every day in Venice.

-Ostia Antica when visiting the site of ancient Ostia.

-Rome’s Appian Way bike ride.

-Rome revisiting places we had been 14 years ago.

-Rome when just walking around and seeing what was there.

-Almazan bike riding, hiking, and lazy days with R&J.

-Spain last morning in Avila, first day in Segovia, the full day in Leon, and the full day in Bilbao.

    My hope is that some of the information given will help you on your Spain and Italy trips, or at least some enjoyment. Have a good life.

May 07 - Up in the Air Twice, an Official Taking of my Boar, and Four Hours in a Lounge

Feelings of the Day: Most who go on vacation rarely want to return. There is more to see and/or a desire to not return to work quite yet. My 66 days away, and 40.5 of those without my wife, was enough. For me, it was time to come home.

Full Day’s Events: Waking up this morning, I was already starting to look to the future when I would be sleeping in my own bed and relishing that feeling. Oatmeal and coffee consumed there was an outing for a final breakfast with the RJGM gang at a local cafe. The vibe was good and the server was hilarious as he comically made a big deal out of small things and small things out of big things. The kind of person you want to interact with, within a busy city early in the morning, to start your day.

    After putting the last items in my bags, we headed downstairs. I requested transport for myself and G&R through an app while we hung around. We said our goodbyes, as the transport arrived, as R&J would be remaining behind for just over a week. We got to the airport faster than calculated, checked in our bags, and proceeded through security with a handful of other travellers. A good start for an entire day of traveling.

    The boarding also went quickly because this flight, from Madrid to Toronto, was only a third full! Once airborne, those who enjoyed themselves a little too much, the previous night, found entire rows to lay down on. After looking out the window at the landscape for a while, I read and eventually slept, then watched some Marvel shows.

    Upon landing we all wandered the maze of Toronto airport until we got to customs. I used an electronic kiosk, as I had already completed the ArriveCan app, and the machine spat out a sheet of paper. Presenting it to the customs agent, they informed me that I would have to speak to a customs agent downstairs. I suspected that my two packs of cured boar would generate some interest, but it was labelled according to the parameters of the Canada customs website.

    Being guided to an elevator, I descended and went to the next hall where I waited in line. Once it was my turn, I walked up and presented the sheet of paper and my passport. He said I would need to present the cured meat and, having foresight, I had them with me in my snack bag. Fortunately, he checked the computer and permitted my luggage to continue while we concluded the dialogue. Unfortunately, he seemed to think the guidelines only allowed USDA stamped cured meat (which was listed as an example on the website) but not any other countries' meats. I informed him that his decision was counter to that of the website, he clicked some things, and said that his guidelines would not allow the meat to continue into Canada. As I pushed the meat across the desk to his side, and waited for him to fill out a form for turning over the meat, I promised myself to print off the Canada Customs guidelines in the future because that cured boar was really good.

    I met up with G&M at our departure gate to see how they were doing and we went our separate ways, as I had paid extra for the Air Canada lounge when I bought my plane tickets last year. Since there was nearly four hours until our flight to Victoria, I took full advantage of the services the lounge had to offer: free food, coffee, tea, drinks, and fast wifi. Well, not really free as it costs ~$50 plus tax but I consider it well worth it for a comfortable seat and solid table all to myself in a quiet area. I either wrote in my travel diary or read while eating healthy small bites.

    The Toronto to Victoria leg of the flight was fuller, although there was a spare seat between myself and the other person in my row. Restful reading and snoozing were perfectly achieved and the flight arrived on time at 1015pm. My luggage also arrived with me so I said my goodbyes to G&M and took a cab home. Once there I said hello to our cats and I got into bed with my wife. No disturbing her, though, as she had to work the next day. I was home. 4.6km and 6 flights walked.

May 06 - Gaming Warehouse, Confronting the MAN, and a Galician Gourmet Meal

Feelings of the Day: The memories you gather while looking at the world are what matters. Doing too much of the same thing, or fixated on transitory things, minimizes a life worth experiencing. Diversify yourself, enrich your mind, spread your spirit of life. Be the best you.

Full Day’s Events: After my morning oatmeal and coffee, with some travel diary work and pre-packing, I was off to the underground trains by 830am. I had a better route to arrive at the miniature game company. In fact, the journey was extremely smooth. After the first leg I switched trains for the second leg which traveled through a rural area to the North of Madrid. Once I arrived at my stop, I picked up a chocolate pastry at the station diner and used their washroom. I walked through a light urban community and then through a nice quiet park, seeing a T-Rex as I went.

    Once at the commercial park I had to go through a security kiosk, but once I mentioned the company name, he gave me directions and waved me through. Once I got to the door of the company I knocked, said good morning in Spanish, and waited. I called out again and, after waiting some more, called out again. After receiving no reply, I looked outside and saw a small intercom buzzer and buzzed it. With a short exchange via speaker someone came downstairs.

    After explaining that I was here to get replacement parts and an unshipped model, then showing my order number and previous emails, they helped me by first looking through a big box of ready to be mailed shipping envelopes of replacement parts. Since my name was not on any of the labels, they got replacements from the warehouse floor. They also gave me a model to thank me for coming.

    At the start of the conversation, they looked over my notes in English and Spanish, and when their fingers scrolled down the first page and got to the questions about the company’s status and situation they shook their head, waved their hand at it, and returned it back to me. Seems like the person can't or won't answer any of them. After thanking them I left to start the journey back to central Madrid.

    The route back took a little longer, as I was on the wrong platform for half an hour, but by 130pm I had returned my big backpack at my apartment and was munching on another spicy trempo sandwich from the good vibe place a block away. I also had an apple pie slice, from the pastry shop Levadura Madre that we had desserts from the previous night, and walked to my next destination.

    Where I was going was another place I was at two years ago, but couldn’t finish because of an early closure due to a holiday: the MAN. The Museo Arqueologico Nacional, or MAN, is the premiere archeological and history museum of Spain from pre-history of the Iberian peninsula to the early-modern age.

    Isabella the second issued a royal decree to establish the museum in 1867 and was moved in 1895 to the purpose built building it is in today. Two years ago Natalie and I had gone through the magnificent protohistory, Roman Hispania, late antiquity, and the Medieval world (including al-Andalius) sections. The museum, back then, closed early (because it was a holiday) when we were in the medieval section so we rushed through that one and never got to the rest.

    Three and a half hours later I finished at the MAN. I saw the missed areas of the Medieval and al-Andalius section and proceeded through the Medieval World Christian Kingdoms, Near East, Egypt and Nubia, Greek, money through time, and modern sections. I was astounded, just like I was two years ago, at the quality of the amazing items which had survived the years to tell their stories to people today.

    -Decadrachm of Syracuse, late 5th century BCE, one of the few coins signed by its artist (Evainetos).

    -Cabinet of ebony, verawood, pine, bronze, bone, tortoiseshell, glass, and marble. Made in Spain or Italy in the 17-19th centuries. The frount of the drawers are covered with painted plates of glass.

    -Fall of the Rebellious Angels, Ivory, gilded copper, wood, and brass, circa 1700 in Naples Italy.

    -Horus Falcon, basalt, 664-332 BCE

    -Greek pottery in a very large room, divided by eras from 3000 BCE up until 150 CE.

    -Saved ceilings and wall sculpture carved during the al-Andalus era.

    I also, at a faster pace, revisited the sections I had seen before and smiled at the items that interested me. Such a great place to visit for those who like history. To see what was there in the sections I had already been to before, go to these links from two years ago (Background and Prehistory, Bronze Age and Greek Areas, Roman Iberia, Byzantine and Islamic eras)

    After a rest, final pack, and chat about what we did that day, our place to go for supper was decided on: Garelos. It is a restaurant that specializes in food from Galicia, a region in the NW of Spain. We ate delicious food: Galician empanada (seafood pies), grilled scallops with citrus on the shell, grilled artichokes, monkfish and seafood salpicon (shrimp, scallops, and monkfish), with Galician cheesecake for dessert. 12.9km and 22 flights walked.

May 05 - Aborted Interaction, a Lunch Visit with an Art Dessert, and A Friend's Home-Cooked Supper

Feelings of the Day: The little things make life enjoyable, like someone who thanks you or when you immediately find a parking spot downtown. Other little things can make life hard, like getting held up by all the red street lights or forgetting to bring lunch to work. Some call it luck or fate, good or bad. I just call it life. It's how you react to those little things that matter.

Full Day’s Events: Today I had a mission to visit the headquarters of a miniature game company that had been unresponsive to my emails along with several hundred other people. It was causing concern amongst fans of the game and to the current state and future of the company. I spent the first part of the morning writing questions, in English and Spanish, which I should have done during downtime in Almazan.

    Backpack ready, and route to the company’s location locked in, I started on the first leg. I took the fast train several kilometers North and got off to take the regional train for the next leg, but I needed to use the bathroom (a #1). I looked. Then I looked again. Nothing. I asked a janitor and they said there were no bathrooms in the station. What?

    Leaving the station I punched into my phone a search for public bathrooms. There was one a little to the South so I started walking towards it and noticed there was construction up ahead. Then I noticed the wall and a crane behind it. It was where the washroom was supposed to be and it was all under re-construction.

    Again looking at my phone, the nearest one was a kilometre and a half away. While I was going there several of the recommended routes my phone was giving me were fenced or blocked off for undeclared reasons. Once there I found it was an outdoor free one. As soon as I opened it I regretted this entire excursion as the smell from the almost overflowing backed up toilet reminded me of being back in the Navy and going to the washrooms the morning after the first night in a foreign port of call. I had to go so I pushed my revulsion down and went anyway.

    After I was done, I tried to wash my hands. Water didn’t run. Soap didn’t dispense. I was very glad I carried hand sanitizer. I gave up on the excursion for the day and would try again tomorrow. 

    I returned to my accommodations, dropped off my backpack, and headed for lunch at the ‎⁨Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza⁩. The Thyssen art museum was established in 1992 and, when it opened, was the second largest private collection of art on display in the world. It receives over one million visitors a year and, with its early Italian, English, Dutch, and German art along with Impressionist and expressionist works, it forms a trifecta of world class galleries in Madrid alongside the Reina Sofia and Prado.

    My wife and I visited the museum, and ate here, two years ago. My meal for lunch today was filling and tasty with an ensalada rusa (Spanish potato salad with smoked sardines, apple, and creamy egg) and a seafood bisque with spider crab ravioli. I ate the meal with a nice white wine and for dessert had a cappuccino.

    Belly full, I entered the museum and visited art that seemed like old friends. It was comforting to walk slowly around and see the paintings that had interested and affected me back then and found they still did so. 

The Annunciation Diptych by Jan van Eyck, 1433-35

The Risen Christ by Bramantino, 1490

Portrait of a Young Man with a Ring by Francesco del Cossa, 1472-77

The Virgin and Child with Infant Saint John the Babtist by Bernardino Luini, 1523-25

Young Knight in a Landscape by Vittore Carpaccio, 1505

Portrait of a Young Woman Known as "La Bella" by Palma el Viejo, 1518-1520

Portrait of a Young Lady Spinning by Maerten van Heemskerck, 1531

The Annunciation by El Greco, 1596-1600

    Many of my favourites were not the “big and famous” paintings, but they had that special something. It was a pleasant several hours. Something new that I discovered on the museum website, while writing this, is that you can do high quality virtual tours from the comfort of your own home. A bonus, since I didn’t get to walk around the whole museum today.

Saint Sebastian by Gianlorenzo Bernini, 1616-17

David with the Head of Goliath by Valentin de Boulogne, 1616-18

The Piazza San Marco in Venice by Canaletto, 1723-24

The Grand Canal from San Vio, Venice by Canaletto, 1723-24

Easter Morning by Caspar David Friedrich, 1828-35

Portrait of Sarah Buxton by Thomas Gainsborough, 1776-77

    After getting back to my apartment I linked up with the group and J had gotten the ingredients for making supper. We were treated to fantastic wine, huge shrimps with delicate meat, and stuffed raviolis with pesto. She ended the meal with a choice of desserts from a nice place just down the street. 8.5km and 26 flights walked.