Feeling the Love

We arrived home and it almost feels like we never left. One thing that reminds me that we were away is the warm welcome I receive when I see people I haven't seen a year. Arriving in time for the big local holiday celebration was a great idea since we got to see so many people in one day.

A sign on the garage welcomed us home.

This cake was in our frig and another neighbor left fruit, milk, and fruit for us. A friend left cookies at the door and the next day we found peaches in the same spot.

We didn't sleep much, but 5 a.m. was a good time to set out a blanket for the parade and to talk the person delivering a newspaper in English right to our house! A friend picked me up so I could swim with the team, which is one of the things I missed most.

Good to go and good to come back!

From There to Here

Yes, we made it home along with our luggage, but it was a small challenge.

Twenty-four hours before our flight I checked in, but was able to check in only A. His boarding pass showed only one piece of luggage even though my original email said two pieces. I knew better than to call the local number for help and used our app to call the US 1-800 number. The person explained that even we had requested the extra luggage we had never been charged for it. Huh? I am sure I should have noticed, but the truth is I thought if I asked for it and offered to pay that I would receive it. Luckily that problem was solved with a credit card. And, no, I don't know if what I paid is what I had offered to pay. At that point there was not time for discussion.

The next blip was when we arrived at the airport. The person checking me in asked if it was okay if I had been selected for special security. I answered the question honestly but received only a smile in return. I don't think speaking directly is part of the local culture.

We figured out where to take the oversized baggage (the tandem - exactly 32.0 kg, although 32.1 and 31.9 on different scales) and then had to hustle to security and not sit and enjoy our snack (hummus - too close to a liquid to make it through) because we were told to get right to the gate. This went smoothly until passport control when the person started flipping through our US passports. I figured out she was looking for our entry stamp. Panic! Do I tell her it is not in there since we used different passports to enter. I couldn't think of what else to do so I told the truth. She said that was fine and let us through. Phew.

We made our way to the gate where I was told to stand next to the counter along with a few other lucky people. A went off to the long line to get food. Then we were asked to stand over there instead. As more people arrived we were asked to moved to another place. Finally after standing around they had us walk over a separate waiting area (was there a reason we had to stand around and not wait here the whole time?). It was a bit of panic because A. was still trying to get food, but he finished just as I was being shifted to the second area. They said he could wait with me, which was good because I had been holding his bag while he shopped.

When it was my turn to go in they took A.'s stuff and had him take off his shoes. I tried to explain that he was just keeping me company, but it wasn't until he completed the extra security check (a process that involved a pat down and taking all our stuff to the x-ray machine and bringing it back) and they went to stamp his pass that they figured they had made a mistake. Oh well. We both finished and had time to get water and use the bathroom before boarding. Whew.

The last blip was the lack of vegetarian meal even though I had an email showing I requested one. It was not a problem since A. was too sick half the food and I just picked off the pink meat from the queso and pollo sandwich.

The good news is that I watched four movies (Sing and Lego Batman with A. and Hidden Figures and Gifted on my own) and some tv shows in addition to playing with the four-year-old sitting behind us. More good news was that customs was long but easy, all our luggage showed up, and the college student I hired picked us up and even brought all the luggage inside.

I haven't slept well yet, but I know it will happen eventually.

Sitges

City symbols show up in so many places. 

Atop the sign at the train station.

On the maintenance cover

On the bus stop

Temporary metal barriers

Flag in the shopping area

City permit at construction site

Trash can

Sidewalk

Local police car (also a patch on the local police
uniform, but I didn't take a picture of that).

So many streets have tile street signs with the symbol, which are nice to see, but hard to use.
I especially like the signs with the old Spanish and the newer Catalan names.

This town also has many metal signs,
which are also nice and also not terribly functional.

Another excursion

The language school, which includes all levels of classes for Castilian, Catalan, and English, organized a trip to Tarragona (Tarraco in Latin). The English students and beginning Castilian students were put in a group with a guide who sometimes described things in Castilian, sometimes in English, and sometimes both. I sometimes understood her!

The town is a port city but is most famous for its Roman ruins.

We spent our time at 1, 2, and 3, which were the remains of grand plaza, the circus ("(in ancient Rome a rounded or oval arena lined with tiers of seats, used for equestrian and other sports and games"), and the amphitheater. 

Beginning our tour along the outer walls. I love the river rock patterns.

Minerva Tower

The lower part is about 2200 years old the relief on the left and the inscription below are believed to be the oldest outside the Italian peninsula. There are also remains of gargoyles and loopholes (slits for shooting arrows). The picture does not quite capture it, but it good to see in person.

It was sweltering hot at midday, but I could imagine what it might have been like many years ago.

Old and new. As building crumbled and new ones were built, people took stone from anywhere to put into their houses. As you walk around town you can sometimes see houses with stones that were originally used in other structures.

I like the Tarragona flag, the one with wavy lines on the far left, a lot.

I did not see as many independence flags, maybe because it is on the edge of the region?
Maybe because people from outside of the region have moved to the area?

I got to see a bit of street art, including this mural that depicts different members of the town, including a captain, soldier, and doctor, but also the artist and his family. The open cage on a top terrace represents freedom.

I also got to see some guerrilla art! From what I have
read no one knows who painted these bollards.

 We finished the day with a three-hour lunch to complete the true local experience! I did not have coffee or a cigarette afterward, though!

Quick trip, part two

Because we were on foot we saw only a small part of Valencia, but it was a nice part!

Plaça de l'Ajuntament

Also on Plaça de l'Ajuntament.

Torres de Quart
We saw a lot more Spanish flags when were in the autonomous region of Valencia, one of seventeen regions. It has its own language, Valencian, but I am not clear how much it is used.

Plaza de la Virgen
with a statue of Neptune

We did not see the Holy Grail when we were in Valencia,
but we read about it and watched the Monty Python movie!

Guarding a bridge

Poseidon near the skatepark

The most visited site in Valencia is the City of Arts and Sciences, a twenty-year-old complex of stunning buildings housing the science museum, aquarium, and theater.

If we hadn't narrowly missed being caught in a thunderstorm I would have taken even more than twenty pictures. Here is a small sample.

We chose to visit only the science museum, which was a good choice since it filled all our time.

I was surprised that this entire exhibit was entirely in Castilian and Valencian, although the translator asks if I want to translate from Catalan, so the languages are similar. I just looked at the pictures.

It was a quick trip, but really felt like a vacation. Maybe we
should do the same thing when we return to California.

Quick trip, part one

A. had a long weekend because of Whit Monday so we decided to take a quick trip.
The destination was listed in Castilian and Catalan.

We took an express train, but not this kind of AVE train.

We did not arrive at this beautiful station,

but this more modern one.

There is also a street named after Sorolla, a painter born in Valencia.

I used a lot of self control and did not photograph every tiled street sign.

From the train we could see groves of Valencia oranges.

This restaurant used one as a weight to hold napkins.

The oranges are definitely part of the identity of the town.

I wonder if people pick the ones growing along the sidewalks.

I am not sure why there were so many Moreton Bay Fig/
Australian bayon trees in town, but they looked great!

Great tree mural!

Jacaranda trees made us feel at home.

The first day we spent a lot of time in the Garden of the Turia, a former river bed converted to an enormous park after the river was diverted to prevent another enormous flood.

The entire green area is one park without any road crossings because the cars use the bridges built before the flood of 1957. Within the park are futbol, football, and baseball fields,

walking paths, running paths, cycling paths,

and several playgrounds including one based on Gulliver and the Lilliputians.

Nice to be on vacation!