Hello and thanks for reading.
I spent this last weekend in a village called Navaconcejo, in the province of Caceres, in Extremadura, which is an autonomous community of Spain. Navaconcejo sits along the Jerte River in the Jerte River Valley where there are tons of cherry trees. This past week the trees were blooming and gave the valley an expansive, soft white covering. The river and contributing mountain streams and water falls give nice views to folks who take the many hiking trails along them. I was with a group of 12 or so and we took two such routes. We were all about hiking as long as the weather held and in two days wedid as many routes - the first along some water falls above Navaconcejo and the second in the Hell´s Throat Nature Reserve. The reserve´s cut by the Jerte River as well, which is fed by melted snow from surrounding mountains. Exactly like much of our own (USA) landscape. The river water was too cold to swim in for long. We found this out by going swimming. We found a beach along the river and spent most of the afternoon sleeping and eating along the water´s edge.
So for four nights we stayed with a friend named Hernan in a house that his family maintains that used to belong to his grandmother. We ate just about every meal at the restaurant cafe down the road. Oh yea, the principal players this weekend were Hernan, Tanna, Jerome, Sabrina, Javier, Annemarie, Alberto, Roberto, Elena, Raquel, Ignacio, Rafael, Ana, Moises, Eva, Inmaculada, Juani, Cesar, Marta and the police. We got stopped at a toll booth on the way to Navaconcejo as part of a random carsearch point. Dogs sniffed the car for stuff. Nothing was found.
We spent an afternoon in the city of Caceres, capital of the province of the same name. The impressive parts of the city for me were the Storks - there were trillions of them floating around - and the cars parked in lots that seemed to have no possible access for the cars. One little old Fiat sat in such a tight corner with such treacherous roads leading to the corner that I joked that maybe it had been placed there by an aircraft. Anyway, just as I joked I heard a noise above me and looked up to see an aircraft lowering a Volkswagen Bug into the space next to the Fiat. Weird. We spent another afternoon in Plasencia, another old city in Caceres. I had a sweets attack there which ended in buying more overpriced Spanish ice cream. It rained that afternoon so we spent most of it inside eating tapas. That night the rain let up and the cold took its place. Oh yea , a few nights before we went to see Navaconcejo´s Holy Week processions. They´re a big deal here, and the night we went, Holy Thursday into Good Friday, is a pretty important night of the week. We enjoyed them and appreciated what solemn displays they were. The next night we were blocked from entering Navaconcejo by another set of processions which were occupying the main road. That night we appreciated what inconvenient displays they were.
I feel like I told all the wrong stuff. Thanks for reading.
Love,
Sean
lunes, 24 de marzo de 2008
martes, 18 de marzo de 2008
Sunbathing in Sevilla
Welcome reader. Thanks for coming. I should first of all say that the weekend in Sevilla that I´m writing about here was this past weekend - duringHoly Week - which is a huge deal here. Maybe I should have named this entry Holy Week in Sevilla. Sevilla is such another one of Earth´s beautiful cities - even if it were empty and without celebrations it would still be worth checking out. But it´s full of people and has this week the Holy Week stuff.
I arrived on Saturday night and got lost on the way to a lively promenade called the Alameda. The weather was PERFECT and I finally arrived at the promenade. I met up with my friends. My American friend in Sevilla had some friends visiting from the States. The principal players Saturday, both his friends and other Sevillans, were Liam, Dan, Izzy, John, Ana, Veronica, Regis, Iñigo and the story-telling bartender at the Bar Erasmus. Great night.
Sunday we walked around the old walled part of Sevilla and eventually got the Guadalquivir Riverfront. With another day of nice weather, there were people everywhere sitting around and taking in sun. The principal players Sunday were the same group less Veronica, Regis, Iñigo and the story-telling bartender. We rented bikes and rode along the length of the riverfront. Then we plugged them back into one of the parking stations and took off on foot to find food. Hunting in Sevilla for food is difficult. Good thing we´re normal and went to a restuarant. After food we went around checking out the Holy Week procession groups. During Holy Week in Sevilla groups of sometimes as many as 10,000 people pace slowly around around the city carrying all kinds of things, dressed up in different ways, with everything centered around each groups paso, or life-size representations of the life of Jesus. These pasos require a team of people to carry around. Ahead and behind the pasos walk folks dressed up to conceal their identities and carrying candles and crosses and other things. This all attracts just about everyone in the city so it´s a cool experience - to be there with all the people out in the street, late into the night.
We found an ice cream joint and stopped for some. I had a sccop of coffee and scoop of mint chocolate chunk.
The processions this Thursday will go all night and into Friday I think. If you are reading this in the States and would like to come to check it all out, with what little time we have left to plan, I should be able to scramble to put together a weekend travel package for you - States-Sevilla-States - for probably around $5000 dollars. Let me know.
Thanks for reading. I probably love you.
I arrived on Saturday night and got lost on the way to a lively promenade called the Alameda. The weather was PERFECT and I finally arrived at the promenade. I met up with my friends. My American friend in Sevilla had some friends visiting from the States. The principal players Saturday, both his friends and other Sevillans, were Liam, Dan, Izzy, John, Ana, Veronica, Regis, Iñigo and the story-telling bartender at the Bar Erasmus. Great night.
Sunday we walked around the old walled part of Sevilla and eventually got the Guadalquivir Riverfront. With another day of nice weather, there were people everywhere sitting around and taking in sun. The principal players Sunday were the same group less Veronica, Regis, Iñigo and the story-telling bartender. We rented bikes and rode along the length of the riverfront. Then we plugged them back into one of the parking stations and took off on foot to find food. Hunting in Sevilla for food is difficult. Good thing we´re normal and went to a restuarant. After food we went around checking out the Holy Week procession groups. During Holy Week in Sevilla groups of sometimes as many as 10,000 people pace slowly around around the city carrying all kinds of things, dressed up in different ways, with everything centered around each groups paso, or life-size representations of the life of Jesus. These pasos require a team of people to carry around. Ahead and behind the pasos walk folks dressed up to conceal their identities and carrying candles and crosses and other things. This all attracts just about everyone in the city so it´s a cool experience - to be there with all the people out in the street, late into the night.
We found an ice cream joint and stopped for some. I had a sccop of coffee and scoop of mint chocolate chunk.
The processions this Thursday will go all night and into Friday I think. If you are reading this in the States and would like to come to check it all out, with what little time we have left to plan, I should be able to scramble to put together a weekend travel package for you - States-Sevilla-States - for probably around $5000 dollars. Let me know.
Thanks for reading. I probably love you.
domingo, 2 de marzo de 2008
Austria
I've spent the last 4 days in and around Vienna. I'm visiting an Austrian fellow whom I met last November in Sevilla. Together we invited me to visit him this weekend - me playing a greater part in that invitation than him. He starts his university classes tomorrow and so he gave up his last four days of freedom to show me around Vienna. His name is Phil and he's tall with blonde hair. If you see him please tell him what a nice guy he is for having me. I was able to make the trip without taking too many days from work off because I had Thursday and Friday off already - Spanish holiday.
My flight here was perfect. The only thing I'll tell about the transit is that I had a Big Mac, fries and a beer in the Madrid airport. McDs serves beer. I was looking for something more healthy to eat, but the offerings at all the places I found were too smart and fashionable so I went for the simple McDs. It was perfect.
Arriving in Vienna I felt WAY out of my element - I don't speak German and until I found Phil I was helpless. Phil was waiting for me outside the gate, though, so things became fine. He drove me back to his city, Wiener Neuerstadt, and introduced me to wienerschnitzel.
Thursday was our day for walking all around Vienna, but on the way I went with Phil and his mother to the airport to pick up his sister who was returning from the States. Continuing on into Vienna, we eventually arrived at our first stop - the Wiener Riesenrad (Vienna Ferris Wheel). I met an American in my ferris wheel cabin. The idea is to ride around and admire the city of Vienna. I instead talked to him and missed the view. There are pics of me in a ferris wheel cabin on sale online for 9 euros if you want one. (www.wienerriesenrad.com foto number 1825431519). Anyway, I had more Austrian food for lunch - a kaseleberkase sandwich - and drank a beer, all outside in a plaza because drinking outside is legal in Austria. For dinner we ate in a country-style restaurant. I had fried chicken, sauerkraut-stuffed peppers and good bread. Phil and I met Phil's friend Cornelius for a beer that night. We would be staying at Cornelius's apartment the next two nights. Regressing a bit, the sites I saw that day were the Hundertwasserhaus, the Danube Riverfront, Phil's university campus, the city hall(Rathaus), the
parliament building, the art and science museums plaza(Museums Quartier), the Heroes Plaza(Heldenplatze) and Royal Palace(Hofburg), the Schonbrunn and
I can't remember what else. Vienna's a beautiful city! Phil's university campus has a courtyard with the busts of all the geniuses who've studied there. I would be scared into studying my brain out if I were surrouned by their likenesses at my university.
Friday it rained, but Phil took me to a couple of inner districts of Vienna - Vienna's divided into 23 districts. We first dumped our stuff in Phil's friends Cornelius and Lisi's (Cornelius's girlfriend) apartment before heading out for some sight seeing. We were around the 3rd and 4th districts and saw lots of embassies and a monument for the Russian soldiers who died fighting against the Nazis in WWII.
That night we went out for a suprise party for Lisi's sister Julia who just returned from a year working in Oakland as an au pair. This was awkward at first because I didn't know many people and I did't speak their language...luckily they speak mine. Thank you, Austrians. I had more than enough people to talk to for the night. The group was very pleasant. Phil, Cornelius and I slipped out for kasekrainer (sausage) toward the end of the night.
Saturday it rained again, but we went to Stephensplatz (Stephen's Plaza) to see the Stephansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral), which was IMMENSE, reaching, I'd say...500 miles high. It's Gothic and Romanesque and looks unreal, sitting surrounded by buildings of more or less modern design that look NOTHING like it. Stephansdom dates back to between 500 and 850 years. We walked around this innercity area, hitting some book, souvenir and chocolate shops. I met some folks from New York. Saturday night we went out for Lisi's birthday party at a brewery/restaurant called Medl Brau. I was told the owner won the lottery and put the money into founding the brewery. You could order beer in a 1-liter mug, which of course all the men did. I had more conversations with pleasant, willing-to-speak-English Austrians. They again were very welcoming toward me. We, the birthday party, threw birthday candles and ate cupcakes and got kicked out when the place closed down. I met a young lady
that night who'd spent a year abroad. She told me that you lose your sense of home when you spend so much time abroad. I don't know what to make of that, but if when I return I can't quite find my home and I end up on someone who's reading this's doorstep, I live at 209 Llandovery Drive in Exton, PA 19341 - USA. Please either call my parents at 610 363 8469 and tell them you've found me or write my address on the back of my hand and kick me out your door in the direction of my house, if you will. Remind me to walk straight, please. Thank you.
Today, Phil took me to his folks' house in Gloggnitz. The town looks like a town in upstate PA. The house was new and beautiful. The family served me an excellent dinner, gave me house tour, gave me Austrian wafers and a bottle of the family's own wine. Can you believe how nice these people are? I'm now back at Phil's apartment and tomorrow I fly back to Jerez at 12:30 PM. Thank you for reading, if you still are. Please leave me a comment, if you will, so I know if anyone actually reads this far.
Here is the cast of characters who made my weekend here in Austria:
Phil, Andrea and Herbert, Melanie, Cornelius, Lisi, Lucas and Simon, Bernie, Sly, Christian, Wolfgang (Bruner), Martina, Kity and everyone else I forgot.
I recommend going to Austria. I was drawn here because it's from where came Arnold Schwarzenegger and I really like him. I tried to promote him to his people, who have mixed feelings about him. I was drawn there because of him, but I look back now on almost 5 fantastic days and I'm sure that's a common experience.
My flight here was perfect. The only thing I'll tell about the transit is that I had a Big Mac, fries and a beer in the Madrid airport. McDs serves beer. I was looking for something more healthy to eat, but the offerings at all the places I found were too smart and fashionable so I went for the simple McDs. It was perfect.
Arriving in Vienna I felt WAY out of my element - I don't speak German and until I found Phil I was helpless. Phil was waiting for me outside the gate, though, so things became fine. He drove me back to his city, Wiener Neuerstadt, and introduced me to wienerschnitzel.
Thursday was our day for walking all around Vienna, but on the way I went with Phil and his mother to the airport to pick up his sister who was returning from the States. Continuing on into Vienna, we eventually arrived at our first stop - the Wiener Riesenrad (Vienna Ferris Wheel). I met an American in my ferris wheel cabin. The idea is to ride around and admire the city of Vienna. I instead talked to him and missed the view. There are pics of me in a ferris wheel cabin on sale online for 9 euros if you want one. (www.wienerriesenrad.com foto number 1825431519). Anyway, I had more Austrian food for lunch - a kaseleberkase sandwich - and drank a beer, all outside in a plaza because drinking outside is legal in Austria. For dinner we ate in a country-style restaurant. I had fried chicken, sauerkraut-stuffed peppers and good bread. Phil and I met Phil's friend Cornelius for a beer that night. We would be staying at Cornelius's apartment the next two nights. Regressing a bit, the sites I saw that day were the Hundertwasserhaus, the Danube Riverfront, Phil's university campus, the city hall(Rathaus), the
parliament building, the art and science museums plaza(Museums Quartier), the Heroes Plaza(Heldenplatze) and Royal Palace(Hofburg), the Schonbrunn and
I can't remember what else. Vienna's a beautiful city! Phil's university campus has a courtyard with the busts of all the geniuses who've studied there. I would be scared into studying my brain out if I were surrouned by their likenesses at my university.
Friday it rained, but Phil took me to a couple of inner districts of Vienna - Vienna's divided into 23 districts. We first dumped our stuff in Phil's friends Cornelius and Lisi's (Cornelius's girlfriend) apartment before heading out for some sight seeing. We were around the 3rd and 4th districts and saw lots of embassies and a monument for the Russian soldiers who died fighting against the Nazis in WWII.
That night we went out for a suprise party for Lisi's sister Julia who just returned from a year working in Oakland as an au pair. This was awkward at first because I didn't know many people and I did't speak their language...luckily they speak mine. Thank you, Austrians. I had more than enough people to talk to for the night. The group was very pleasant. Phil, Cornelius and I slipped out for kasekrainer (sausage) toward the end of the night.
Saturday it rained again, but we went to Stephensplatz (Stephen's Plaza) to see the Stephansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral), which was IMMENSE, reaching, I'd say...500 miles high. It's Gothic and Romanesque and looks unreal, sitting surrounded by buildings of more or less modern design that look NOTHING like it. Stephansdom dates back to between 500 and 850 years. We walked around this innercity area, hitting some book, souvenir and chocolate shops. I met some folks from New York. Saturday night we went out for Lisi's birthday party at a brewery/restaurant called Medl Brau. I was told the owner won the lottery and put the money into founding the brewery. You could order beer in a 1-liter mug, which of course all the men did. I had more conversations with pleasant, willing-to-speak-English Austrians. They again were very welcoming toward me. We, the birthday party, threw birthday candles and ate cupcakes and got kicked out when the place closed down. I met a young lady
that night who'd spent a year abroad. She told me that you lose your sense of home when you spend so much time abroad. I don't know what to make of that, but if when I return I can't quite find my home and I end up on someone who's reading this's doorstep, I live at 209 Llandovery Drive in Exton, PA 19341 - USA. Please either call my parents at 610 363 8469 and tell them you've found me or write my address on the back of my hand and kick me out your door in the direction of my house, if you will. Remind me to walk straight, please. Thank you.
Today, Phil took me to his folks' house in Gloggnitz. The town looks like a town in upstate PA. The house was new and beautiful. The family served me an excellent dinner, gave me house tour, gave me Austrian wafers and a bottle of the family's own wine. Can you believe how nice these people are? I'm now back at Phil's apartment and tomorrow I fly back to Jerez at 12:30 PM. Thank you for reading, if you still are. Please leave me a comment, if you will, so I know if anyone actually reads this far.
Here is the cast of characters who made my weekend here in Austria:
Phil, Andrea and Herbert, Melanie, Cornelius, Lisi, Lucas and Simon, Bernie, Sly, Christian, Wolfgang (Bruner), Martina, Kity and everyone else I forgot.
I recommend going to Austria. I was drawn here because it's from where came Arnold Schwarzenegger and I really like him. I tried to promote him to his people, who have mixed feelings about him. I was drawn there because of him, but I look back now on almost 5 fantastic days and I'm sure that's a common experience.
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