Month: November 2024

Oh Vienna (Oh Rod!)

~ Bel Dunbar ~ Leave a comment

We have just boarded the train to Bratislava (Slovakia) and we are currently on the outskirts of Vienna. Moving day, as always, involves a lot of planning and organisation; today we caught two trams to the Hauptbahnhof and found the correct platform with plenty of time for Hamish to buy himself a packet of peanut M&Ms from a vending machine and time himself going up and down the escalator – 36 seconds.

The title of this blog refers to an 80’s song by UltraVox which Rod has been singing this week; the ‘Oh Rod’ part refers to the sheer joy he has inadvertently supplied for Hamish and I.

Our flight from Lisbon took about 31/2 hours and provided us with spectacular views of both the Pyrenees and Swiss Alps. There’s a bit of turbulence, but Hamish doesn’t seem to care. It’s freezing when we arrive, but Hamish tells me “it’s nice and fresh” – it’s barely 3 degrees! Once established in our lovely, warm, spacious apartment (82 stairs, no lift) Rod and I head to the Hofer (like the Aldi) to get a few groceries. Our host has suggested going to a local market on the Saturday morning, so we don’t buy too many fresh fruit and veg. Cooking in new apartments each week can be interesting; will there be a sharp knife? Will the non-stick pans actually live up to their name? There’s no cutting board…no microwave…only 1 wine glass…First world problems of course!

The market on Saturday morning is huge! We buy a few fresh vegetables (leek, zucchini, carrots, potatoes). Rod is disappointed when the potatoes at the next stand are much bigger and not so sad looking. We are in a very multi-cultural area of Vienna, with lots of middle eastern and Turkish restaurants and goods to be purchased. We discuss how it was only 5 years ago many European countries took in refugees from Syria, especially Germany and Austria. We head back to the apartment and drop off our goods, then catch a tram into the city to go to the House of Music museum.

Side note: When we arrived Friday, Rod spent the best part of an hour researching which public transport card we would need for the week. He eventually settled on the Vienna Card for 35 euro each – Hamish travels free (otherwise each single trip is 2.80 euro). The associated app Ivie, has lots of information to plan your visit to Vienna and we have used it every day. The app also stores your individual public transport card. You don’t have to tap on and off, but you do need to show it if requested.

On the way to the museum, Rod promptly deletes his public transport card by hitting the ‘dismiss’ button on the app. Took us a good 40 mins to rectify this in the middle of the city by going to two tourism offices. The young woman at the counter suggested I get Rod’s public transport card added to my app. I roll my eyes. We get our first of many wursts (German sausages) and I buy myself a beanie and scarf from H&M. It’s 4 degrees. The rest of the first day is spent at the music museum, two floors devoted to the Vienna Philharmonic and famous composers. The other two floors were interactive and explained about sounds and hearing (and other things). We are leg weary by the afternoon and go home via the Hofer to get something for dinner.

Rod has a classical concert booked tonight and Hamish and I are staying home to have oven baked pizza. We cannot be trusted at a classical concert (but really, we’re not that into it). Rod successfully navigates his way to and from the concert and we are proud of him. At 7pm, I say to Hamish “Dad must be OK I haven’t heard from him!” We laugh. Rod will write about his concert below.

Vienna Baroque Orchestra – by Rod

It was easy to get to the venue and I arrived just as the doors were opening, 30 minutes before the show started. The theatre was cosy, with about 130 chairs in all, most of which were soon occupied. A string quartet duly appeared, along with a pianist. Then the lead violinist/conductor arrived to start things off with the Overture from Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro. The sound was amazing. It was like I was listening to a recording in my lounge room with the volume way up. Next was a stirring rendition of the 3 movements of Vivaldi’s “Summer.” Much of the rest of the program was not so familiar to me, including a few arias featuring a tenor and a soprano (whose voices really filled the room), but was still most enjoyable. As was the glass of bubbles at half time. The show was wonderful and that lead violinist was terrific; she only looked at some sheet music for one of the dozen or so items and she also indulged in a bit of theatre with the singers for a few laughs. So glad I included this in my Vienna experience.

Sunday we plan to have a day off; we are all tired and need the down time. Rod had initially talked about a 2 hour self guided tour and I say no way, 2 hours of walking around the city is not a day off! Rod wants to see the Danube river so we plan out a ‘short walk’ that involves seeing the famous river and going to a Christmas market where we will get a late lunch. Turns out my planning route stopped at the canal, not the Danube. Rod finds a new route to the Danube, but it takes us over an hour, through some drab looking suburbs. We happen to find a Maccas to use the toilets and grab a snack. The foot bridge over the freeway finally gets us to the Danube; Rod takes a photo and we retreat. I find us a tram to get back into the city because we don’t want to walk another 5km on our day off!

It’s dark at 4pm so the market is sparkling when we arrive – it’s beautiful and our misadventures of the afternoon are soon forgotten about. Hot drinks are the first on our list, followed by wurst – this is our ‘late lunch!’ Later we find a couple of huge pretzels which we share (one sweet, one savoury), and we also have a hot apple cider. Life is good and we happily catch the tram home. No one needs dinner tonight.

Monday we head to the small museum of Snow Globes – this is special because this is where Snow Globes originated. So the story goes, the GGG Grandfather of the current owners, made medical instruments in his time. Once Edison had invented the globe, he wanted to make the lighting brighter for surgery/surgeons, so pottered about with light and globes full over water. Long story short, the snow globe was accidentally invented. This family of artisans have made snow globes for a host of famous people and overall, it was a nice little place to visit. The entire time, I’m in low key overbearing parent mode “careful Hamish, don’t break anything, don’t touch, watch your bag when you turn around…” you get the drift. Hamish is keen to buy a couple of small snow globes as gifts and carefully picks out his favourites and pays for them. Rod thinks this is a good idea too, so he’s looking at the delicate globes when he drops one. It breaks, of course; the owner says it’s no problem. Hamish and I do not let Rod live this down for the rest of the day; I mean, this man has been a top class wicket keeper and footballer!

The Schonbrunn Palace is next on our agenda and we walk around the corner from the Snow Globes museum to catch a bus there. Markets are in full swing and we grab a couple of hot chocolates and some warming food. The Schonbrunn Palace was the summer residence of the Royal Family, but now regular citizens (well, they’re probably not ‘regular citizens’) live in the palace which has been converted to apartments. We follow the walk we’ve found on the Ivie app which takes us through the palace gardens and up to the Gloriette, which is a lovely landmark and building with stunning views. Hamish delights in skipping stones across frozen ponds. We head back home via the UBahn and have a delicious homemade chicken soup with local dumplings. If you ever visit Germany or Austria, a way I remember the difference between the U-Bahn and S-Bahn is U = Underground, S = Surface. Easy!

Tuesday is our last day in Vienna and Rod has picked a walking tour from the Ivie app. It’s a self-guided tour around the periphery (Ringstrasse) of the old town. There are many, many, many beautiful buildings, statues, parks and gardens. As well as a WW2 military monument showing some love for Ukraine. What feels illegal but isn’t? Prosecco in the middle of the day! We stop off at Karlplatz Christmas market for a drink and a hot chocolate for Hamish. This provides us with some enthusiasm for the remainder of the tour. I had read Vienna has 50% green spaces in the city, the most in any city in the world and it pops amongst the starkness of the buildings.

Getting back to Rod and his oopsies in the last few weeks. Do not feel sorry for him! He is the first one in the family to point out our weaknesses, he corrects us all the time and is the most sarcastic member of our family, so it’s only deserving that Hamish and I remind him he is human! Since deleting his travel card, Hamish says to Rod, “What does this button do?” I am laughing as I am writing this. Boomer is also something we’ve been calling him. Whenever we see a statue of a person on a horse, we say “I can see a statue of a man, but there’s no horse!” (From when he was lost in Lisbon). I have been making ‘dropping objects’ movements with my thumb and forefinger when I look at him (from the Snow Globe incident) and remind him he is like Mr Bean in Merry Christmas Mr Bean, when he smashes the Christmas bauble on the floor. It is all in good fun and we all agree that it’s the little mishaps we will remember the most in the years to come.

As I finish this blog, we are waiting for the washing to finish in our new digs in Bratislava. It was a quick train trip from Vienna, no one checked our tickets so could have saved ourselves some money and stress! We worked out how to buy a bus ticket from what looked like a very old ticket machine and found the bus into the city. We dragged our bags down the cobblestones and I’m pleased to say no suitcase wheels were lost! We are in the pedestrian area of Bratislava and our apartment is on the first floor, 34 steps, no lift! First impressions of Bratislava is it reminded us of Warsaw; architecture in the style of the Soviet Union. The pedestrian centre is, though, just lovely with decorative buildings and lots of places to explore. The Christmas market is just around the corner and it will be nice not to have to navigate the public transport again until we leave for Budapest on Sunday.

Halfway Point

~ Bel Dunbar ~ 1 Comment

We’ve officially hit the halfway point of our trip; we left Melbourne on Monday morning September 23, which is 61 days ago. Thought a few random parts of the trip that don’t usually make the blogs might be in order.

What have we lost or left behind?

On the airport bus in Rome, Hamish was feeling a bit queasy so took a sip of his water from the reusable bottle I’d bought him and there it stayed on the bus. He was super apologetic about leaving it on the bus – it’s a small thing, could be worse. It’s also the only thing we’ve lost, which to date, is pretty good. We haven’t been pick-pocketed and the only scam we’ve fallen to was the ‘get the audio guide with the ticket’ type of scam. In our defence, we only fell for that once.

What are we finding annoying?

People smoking, it’s really unpleasant, especially in crowded areas or cafes/restaurants. And vaping. Just stop it Europe.

People not moving to the side when you walk past them on the sidewalk. So rude. They don’t seem to even acknowledge you! Hamish has started muttering, “Don’t worry, I’ll move” – classic Dunbar sarcasm.

Crowded trams/trains/public transport. No room, squashed up against other people – it was fun and funny to start with, now we’re just like, “when’s our stop coming up?”

What turned out to be better than expected?

Belinda – the car museum in Monaco. I walked into this saying: “I am not a big fan of cars” but it turns out I AM a big fan. I took so many photos that day! Old cars, luxe cars, new cars, F1 cars, Dakar Rally cars – loved this way more than I was expecting.

Hamish – the night tour in Madrid. I didn’t think I’d like it, but I ended up really liking because the tour guide was funny, which made the whole experience better.

Rod – the weather to this point has been glorious. Ideal for travelling, walking, touring, site seeing. Madrid – for a big city, it was so easy to get around and a highly pleasant place to be.

What turned out worse than expected?

Belinda – Florence. So much hype about Florence, which in my opinion, wasn’t worthy of the time and effort we put into getting there. Yes, the weather didn’t help. We were staying in a gorgeous little hilly village and we should have just pottered about there.

Hamish – Most of Monaco. It was too hilly and we had to walk everywhere. The Maccas food was mid (because it’s MacDonalds). It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t as good as I expected. Overhype.

Rod – some of the driving to get to our accommodation has been hair raising; one way sections where you have to reverse back to let someone else pass, narrow roads with parked cars where I felt the need to retract the side mirrors, parking in the garage with a 5cm buffer.

What do we do in our downtime?

Belinda – write the blog, wash clothes, plan the next day/days/accomodation/travel, read. I have read one book twice already (“Stories my Grandmother’s didn’t tell me” by Andra Putnis – Rod is reading it now). I have read another book which will get re-read (“Baghdad without a Map” by Tony Horwitz – Rod has already read this one) and I bought one at the bookshop in Lisbon, which I’ve just started (The Lock-Up, by John Banville).

Hamish – play my Switch, watch You Tube, eat food, talk to my friends on Snap/Discord, read before I go to bed.

Rod – study the local transport system (Hamish and I are giggling as he says this), setting up Hamish to do his maths, washing dishes, screen time.

Things we bought specifically for the trip – Thumbs Up

Belinda – Pockt brand medication boxes (they pack so much into them and have been great)

Multi-purpose makeup stacker, small and inexpensive, multi-use products (yes, yes, I know I can live without makeup, but I don’t want to)

My Vitamin C face toner in pre-packaged/pre-moistened ready to use form – a pack of 60 from Sephora, no spills, hardly takes up any space. In my opinion, just a little bit of luxury that still makes you feel you when you’ve been wearing the same outfit for 2 months!

Shampoo Bar – from Lush, always great for travelling.

E-Sim – I am using HolaFly. In the past I’ve just used the wifi, but I feel everything is so web/app based since we last travelled, you really have to be connected.

Hamish – The Switch and my phone

Rod – Cross body bag, purchased in Athens. Handy for carrying little essentials, including water, secure from PickPockets and means I don’t need to take my back pack everywhere.

Mutli-purpose one fits all plug. This is not a joke. About half the places we’ve stayed in don’t have a plug for the kitchen sink. Purchased in El-Campo in Madrid – inspired by The Bowmakers house in Montazels!

Clothes washing kit (pegs, washing sheets) – always useful, no regrets.

Passport Cover – I finally was talked into this by Belinda and Hamish and it certainly makes your passport very easy to find.

Things we bought specifically for the trip – Thumbs Down

Belinda – Cross Body Bag from Columbia. Screams tourist, not attractive, not much space in it, just a waste of money. Could have bought a cross body bag already in existence from my personal stock. I have actually stopped using it and have an early Xmas present replacement, which I am loving.

LIfeStraw water bottles – they have the potential to be good, but we just haven’t used them enough to warrant the expense. Unlike Australia, bottled water is very inexpensive, so we’ve not been too stressed about buying it. I had intended to use these primarily in Thailand, so there’s still time for redemption.

Hamish – Lip Balm – always sounds like a good idea when Mum says, “Do you want a lip balm” but I never use it.

Rod – MacPac 100% Merino Wool Jumper – shrunk after one wash. Had to re-wash it to stretch it out.

International Driver’s License. Total scam.

Regrets

Belinda – Not doing the bike-rail activity in Athens

Hamish – Not doing the MarioKart tours in Athens and Rome

Rod – Getting out of my comfort zone a little too much at some of the Castles

Highlight

Belinda – Spain. Have loved it all. The vibe is great, so much to see and do, easy to get around, people are friendly, could have stayed longer.

Hamish – Definitely Madrid. Such a good city, amazing landmarks, incredible food, great soccer team.

Rod – Istanbul – the whole place had a great feel, the cats were amazing. Terrific views everywhere. Did I mention the cats?

Lisbon Part B

~ Bel Dunbar ~ Leave a comment

What a great week we’ve had in Lisbon – we’ve loved it. I didn’t have high expectations to be honest, but I am so glad we added this to our plan. Tip: If you are planning to visit, do not cut it short, give yourself at least 5 days. We leave for Vienna tomorrow morning on an early flight (that’s going to be a struggle) but still have a couple of things we’d like to squeeze in today, which I’ll add to the end of this blog before I publish it.

Jardim do Aqueduto das Aguascalientes Livres – (or, Roman Aqueduct)

When we arrived last week, the aqueduct was something Hamish had spotted in the distance; being over 100m high, it catches the eye. After a little bit of research, I saw that you can visit it AND, it was an only a 20 minute walk from our apartment. Navigating was pretty straightforward, with stops for traffic and gazing at the planes flying in low overhead, just above the buildings, on their landing run. The entry to the site was very cheap ($12) – there is a small outdoor museum (a few very informative boards explaining the history) and then you can walk along one side, through the middle and back along the other side of the aqueduct. The aqueduct was built by the Romans (of course!) and it was one of the few structures to survive the 1755 earthquake, which devastated the city. The views alone are worth the visit – a nice little find to enjoy in the perfect weather we’ve been having.

Bertrand Livraria – Oldest Bookshop in the World

Rod stumbled across this little gem, so we set off on foot from our apartment to find it. The thing we have loved about Lisbon (well, one of the many things…) is that whilst it can be a ‘bit’ hilly, the distances aren’t huge, so it makes it easy to get around without missing the little treasures that are bypassed by a metro line. As we neared the bookshop, I ducked into an Ale-Hop looking for some packing cubes (to pack away our summer clothes for the next 5 weeks) and as we exited, the bookstore was directly across the road! Bonus here, a big section of English books, so I found one that would interest both Rod and me. The young woman at the checkout asked if I’d like the book stamped – English or Portuguese? Portuguese of course!

The bookshop is in Chiado which is a suburb next to the home of the famous Santa Justa Lift.

Christmas Tree Progress

We have checked on the progress of the HUGE Christmas tree everyday and are pleased to say yesterday all sections have been constructed and all branches attached. Today, some gold baubles have been added. We will miss the official ‘lights on’ tomorrow, but it’s been a fun side project.

Whilst researching the trip to Sintra (see next paragraph) Rod thought maybe an ‘eyes on’ the train station (next to the metro, but not part of the metro) would be a good idea. The man does love to be organised for public transport! Hamish and I left him and walked to check on the Christmas tree with a plan to meet Rod “Here, at the square with the guy on the horse” (it’s a 25m high statue – like, you can’t miss it). To be fair, metros and train stations can be tricky especially when you have multiple entrances and exits for the same line. As Hamish and I are walking back to the designated meeting point, I get a call from Rod, “I’m at a square, but there’s only a statue of a guy, not a guy on a horse.” After a bit of too-ing and fro-ing with messages, such as “I’m at McDonalds at Rossio” and “Stay there, we will come to you” we found Rod in the square NEXT to the square! He hadn’t found the Rossio train station and had gotten terribly lost in the 3 Rossio metro stations. Not to brag, but I found it the next morning from the bus – it also catches the eye.

(*not our photo)

Day Trip to Sintra (by Rod)

Sintra had been something I identified and noted before we left home, though when, weeks later, I consulted my notes on my phone, spellcheck had amended this to Sinatra. So I spent a while pondering the possible connection of old blue eyes to Lisbon. We soon realised that Sintra is a town pretty much on the western outskirts of Lisbon. We do our due diligence checking transport and attractions. There is a separate railway station to Sintra at Rossio, in the heart of town. Confusingly, there is also a Rossio on the Metro, so it takes a bit of finding. I try on my own to do so, and end up needing the McDonald’s wifi to let Belinda know that I am lost, not even in the square I started in! However, we work it out with a bit more online searching so are good to go.

We arrive at (the correct) Rossio station with about 10 seconds to spare before the train departs. It’s an easy trip of about 30 minutes. It’s fairly chaotic at the other end, though. A huge queue trickles through 2 or 3 turnstiles before we all spill onto the street and decide what our next transport option will be. Belinda decides to chat to a Tuk Tuk driver, who turns out to be named Magda and is very lively. So we head up the hill with Magda, towards the famous Peña Palace, the main tourist attraction of Sintra. It is an amazing place, surrounded by wonderful gardens and we happily spend an hour or so exploring before eating our picnic lunch.

We then toddle off in the direction of the nearby Moorish (Moopish?) Castle, which is about 600 years old. I choose to sit this one out. Turns out to be a wise decision; there was little in the way of walls/railings to prevent a calamitous fall. Even Hamish declined parts of the walk.

From the castle there is a lovely walk back to town through the forest. A bit of afternoon tea rounds off the stay before we stroll back to the station. On the way we find some tiles appropriately numbered to erect on the front of our house. We are the only people in the car (as I learnt it is called by watching Sherlock) when we depart exactly on time. It has been a lovely day in Sintra, which is a gorgeous and interesting town, which is understandably UNESCO listed.

Belem

Today has been busy, but lots of it in preparation for our departure to Vienna in the morning. We’ve had the luxury of a car for the past month, so today was a bit of a ‘throw it out’ kind of day. Not ones to waste, we’ve used the last of our eggs, ham and vegetables.

After midday, we caught a bus to Belem, which is a suburb about half an hour away on the coast. It’s still part of Lisbon, it just takes ages in the bus! Here we planned to see three sites: Mosteiro dos Jeronimos (it’s a very fancy Monastery)

The Pardrao dos Descobrimentos (Monument of Discovery – basically a tribute to the Portuguese explorers)

Belem Tower

We were happy enough looking from the outside and enjoying the last day in Lisbon, although we did have to dodge some rain! Easy enough when there’s ice-cream shops around! For interest, the blue car below is a new car, based on the old cars and they run on electricity. They are used for tourism purposes, but look very grand driving around the city streets.

We caught a tram back into the city to check on the Christmas tree and have a couple of drinks and some food before heading home to finish packing. Ask me one day about the aggressive drunk guy who sat next to me on the tram, but spent the full 10 minutes hurling abuse (and his umbrella point) at the guy sitting on his right (I was on his left and thankfully not in his field of vision) because he told him to take his feet off a rail. Keeping things spicy in Portugal!

Lisbon Part A

~ Bel Dunbar ~ Leave a comment

As I write this, it’s Monday evening. Rod has just put a baking tray of vegetables in the oven to have with some chicken for dinner and Hamish is resting, watching You-tubers play MineCraft. Thank you for the well wishes – I still have a bit of a head cold, but the boys seem to be back to normal now (paracetamol in Lisbon is 85 cents for a packet of 20 x 500mg tablets, for those of you interested in the price comparison).

Prior to arriving in Lisbon, Rod and I decided we should return the car a week early due to the logistics of parking and the fact we wouldn’t use the car this week at all. Should have thought that one through a bit more at home, but oh well. Rod dropped the car back to the depot out near the airport in Friday afternoon traffic and caught the metro back to the suburb we are staying in (Rato). After doing two loads of washing (yes, the boring stuff never ends) Hamish and I walked uphill to the nearest market for a little bit of shopping for dinner (pre-made lasagne and a pre-made salad) and breakfast things (cereal, milk, bread, peanut M&M’s…).

Gerard and Fiona flew from Dublin Friday evening and we arranged to meet them Saturday morning at the Miradoura da Graca which is a little spot where you can sit at a cafe and look at the gorgeous views of Lisbon. Although I gave instructions for the meet-up point, we actually arrived at the wrong view point (due to our Uber driver saying “this will do” – seriously? I had already give him 5 stars before I realised what had happened!) Anyway, after a few back and forth messages of “we’re here” and “so are we – where are you?” I realised the error and we walked down to see them. What a delight it was to see them both sitting there! We spent a few hours catching up before heading in the general direction of the Time Out Market for a late lunch, via the winding narrow streets of Lisbon. It was quite an effort to find somewhere to sit in the Market, but Fiona took the lead and out of the blue a couple of women agreed to relinquish their seats once they’d finished their sangrias.

After lunch, it was agreed to retire to our respective apartments and meet up later for dinner. We caught the bus home and I had a good sleep for over an hour – touring and being sick can be tough! That evening Gerard and Fiona came to our apartment and we drank some bubbles to celebrate their recent marriage. After this, we sauntered down our street for dinner at the local Japanese restaurant. Gerard and Rod kept us entertained with stories from Uni and teaching rounds. To be honest, Fiona and I had likely heard most of the stories before, but Hamish was VERY excited to be hearing about what his Dad got up to as a young man in Melbourne. Ask Rod about his PhD next time you see him!

Sunday we walked into the city and met Gerard and Fiona near their apartment in the famous (and oldest suburb of Lisbon) Alfama. We had a pretty ordinary lunch in a tiny restaurant. Hamish ordered a pizza, but there were no pizza’s – the waiter said: “How about a hamburger with an egg and some chips?” Typical Hamish said, “sure”. Three of us had the recommended fish cakes with rice and salad, but I wasn’t a fan (Rod said they were good, Fiona was also kind about it) and Gerard had calamari which he described as “OK”. The so called “Chef” was very sweet, popping out of the kitchen to check on us and we all had to lie and say things were great! We found a bar later for a farewell drink and just as quickly as they had arrived, they were flying back to Dublin. On our trip back home, we stumbled across a funky barber shop and Hamish had a haircut (I had to bribe him with a Portuguese tartlet).

This morning Rod and I left Hamish with some maths to do and pottered up and down the streets of Rato admiring the gorgeous tiled buildings.

We made our way to the British Cemetery which probably sounds like a bit of a weird thing to do, but it’s quite an historical site with some renowned people buried such as Henry Fielding (British author who wrote Tom Jones). Others included well respected merchants, sailors and public figures from a number of different countries – we hadn’t heard of them, but I like to get a sense of the person from the descriptive messages on their tombstones. One woman’s said something like ‘lived a life and flourished under adversity’ – I want to know more about Kitty Gordon Aston (I will have to do a bit of searching!).

After lunch we caught the bus into the city and walked to the castle “Castello de San Jorge.” Rod and Hamish counted 115 steps from one street level to the next (which is pretty mild by Lisbon standards) and we added a few more meters of elevation before reaching the ticket office. As you are aware, we love our castles and this one did not disappoint! All the main players have been involved with this castle at one point or another since its origin in the 10th Century (Romans, Moors, Berbers, Portuguese Kings, Christians). Once inside the castle compound you are free to aimlessly wander the grounds; we mostly followed the walls on the periphery providing us with the best views over the city and river.

The wall didn’t have much of a buffer (it wasn’t very high) so Rod was feeling a bit uneasy with us peering over the edges. Things didn’t improve for Rod as we walked up the narrow steep steps to the ramparts. Again, short walls, multi-directional foot traffic, people trying to pass on the narrow ramparts some with backpacks, others with pushers or children in slings, proved to be Rod’s undoing. After being brave for as long as he could, Rod headed back to the safety of the ground, whilst Hamish and I continued to potter about. I think having this type of flexibility when you travel (you go, we’ll stay – no hurt feelings, we don’t always have to do everything together) is so important for the trip to run smoothly, especially when you’re travelling for extended periods of time.

After exiting the castle grounds, we grabbed some ice-cream, listened to a reggae band and headed back into the city where Hamish was keen to check on the progress of the construction of the HUGE Christmas tree in the Praca do Comercio (large public plaza on the waterfront). We’re still at the frame stage, but the top section has had its greenery and some decorations added.

From here, we walked back into another plaza where the Christmas markets has had a soft opening over the weekend. Today was the first of many hot chocolates and gluhweins I’m sure! The top temperature when we land in Vienna Friday is 2 degrees! Eeeek!

Sevilla

~ Bel Dunbar ~ Leave a comment

Saturday

We arrived in Sevilla last Saturday afternoon after an easy 5 hour drive from Madrid. The roads were wide and in good condition with no tolls; actually we’ve not had a toll since leaving Andorra. The city of approximately 1 million people lies in the SW corner of Spain, an hour and a half to the Portuguese border in the Gulf of Cadiz (if we kept going West, we’d end up in Washington DC). Until this week, we called this city Seville. But it’s actually written as Sevilla and pronounced Ce-ville-ya (we are so cultured…). Our apartment is in a block with a narrow, paved road leading to the underground park in the suburb of San Lorenzo. Initially it’s hard to gauge what’s around, but we unpack and head to get some groceries to give us our bearings.

Our expedition to find a small market (the Dia) put us in the middle of a huge square (the Alameda de Hercules) which is loaded with restaurants and cafes – we find the Dia squeezed between two of these restaurants. The story is Hercules founded Sevilla, thus the huge square, road and Greek-looking columns in his honour. I am not joking when I say there are probably 40 restaurants in this area. We decide to come back for dinner. We have already walked past another square where people are sitting outside eating and drinking. Spain is great like that; we grumble to each other about the lack of the same back home. At the local square (not the Hercules one) Rod notices a road/tunnel that is opened, but we don’t go and look, we leave this until later in the week when we find out what we thought was a road was actually the doorway to a church.

Our dinner does not disappoint with fresh fish (me), burger (Hamish) and a local traditional meal for Rod – stewed pork cheek.

Sunday

Hamish has been nursing a sore throat for a day, but says he’s good to go for our first full day of exploring. Our aim is to walk along the canal to the Plaza of Spain, then try and find the Cathedral of Seville (it’s huge, it wasn’t hard) and then maybe the Real Alcazar (palace) before coming home.

You need tickets for the Cathedral and the Palace, and to date (it’s currently Thursday afternoon) we’ve not bothered with the Cathedral tickets and were unable to get tickets for the Palace, even though it’s shoulder season!

The Plaza of Spain is gorgeous – we love the tiles and mosaics, there’s boats and you can have a horse and carriage ride.

After quite a bit of walking, we get some frozen slushies and head home, as Hamish is now not feeling great – “dreadful” is the descriptive word he used! We get some washing out on the rooftop clotheslines (something else we love about Spain and Portugal!) before walking in a different direction, but ending up at the Hercules Square for wine and tapas. The weather is a perfect 23 degrees. You can pick the locals from the tourists: locals dress for the season, tourists dress for the weather. We are in shorts and shirts, but the locals are in jeans and puffy vests.

Monday

Hamish’s head cold has worsened overnight, but you’ll be pleased to know he was well enough to stay home on the couch and play games on his Switch. Rod has a plan that involves the two of us exploring the local area, so that if Hamish needs us, we’re close by. We find the Macarena Church, which is (free) incredibly ornate inside, the ancient city walls and the Parliament of Andalucia before we stop for a late morning tea. Andalucia is the name given to this province and the green and white striped flag is the Andalucian flag.

On our way back to the apartment we have stumbled across markets, each one dedicated to a different food type: fruit and vegetables in one, fish in another, meat and small goods in another, sweets/baked goods in another. We are sorry we’ve already done some grocery shopping; the tomatoes are rivalled only by Dad’s! Another accidental discovery on our way home is the Setas of Sevilla – the largest wooden structure in the world, affectionately called ‘The Mushroom’ here. You can pay to walk up top, but we wait to do this until Hamish is well (although he doesn’t get well in time and then the weather is against us!).

Once home, we all have lunch and a siesta. After this, Rod and I go out for an hour or so exploring the area on the other side of the canal near our apartment. The World Fair in 1992 was hosted here and there exists eerie relics, buildings and a water fountain, which we turn into an idea for a post apocalyptic movie as we walk along. There’s barely anyone around, save for a couple of people on scooters and a handful of cars, but plenty of empty buses cruising by. We navigate back home via the Tower of Sevilla, whose modern design looks out of place in our movie set.

Tuesday (by Rod)

With Hamish still under the weather, we leave him on the couch (with a ready made baguette in the fridge) and head to the Nao Victoria museum. This place is designed to celebrate both the first vessel to successfully circumnavigate the globe and the skipper of the fleet – Ferdinand Magellan. Whilst it does not make Tripadvisor’s “top 25” things to do in Sevilla it certainly captures our imagination! A mixture of relics, videos, photos, etc. paints a vivid picture of this epic and incredibly significant voyage. Of the five ships and (about) 270 crew who started the trip, only 1 ship (Victoria) and 18 crew made it back to Sevilla. (Magellan met a violent death in The Philippines; trying too hard to convert the locals to Christianity is a dangerous pastime.) The tour is completed with a thorough inspection of the rebuilt Victoria berthed in the canal, just outside the front door of the museum. Our minds struggle to comprehend the hardships they must have faced living in these cramped and often miserable surrounds.

We repeat our late lunchtime routine (check on Hamish, eat, siesta) then walk around our neighbourhood to find a church (it’s actually a convent which we can see from our roof) whose bells are manic! Irregular tolling, and fast as if the Nuns are running late! We find this, get Panadol (which comes in 1g tablets and costs about 4 euro ($6) for 10 tablets – very expensive!) and meander home through the streets of our suburb.

Wednesday

Earlier in the week I had booked a haircut at a salon on the corner “David Franco – Stylist” about a 2 minute walk. David doesn’t speak any English and his client (mid cut) pops over to help out with the booking. We’re all set for Wednesday morning 1030. I go armed with a couple of pictures and after a wash and condition by his apprentices, he gets to cutting. The very first thing he does is grab clippers and a huge wooden Afro comb. God. My heart rate elevates, but I figure what’s the worse that could happen? Long story short (no pun intended) my hair is a bit shorter than usual, but he’s done a fab job. The cost? $43 AUD! Can you, my female friends, remember the last time your ‘wash, cut, blowdry’ was less than $50! We are getting ripped off in Australia!

Hamish is up for a half day of exploring, but I have woken up with a sore throat. It was bound to happen…I actually feel OK and our plan is based around a trip to the Plaza de Toros – yes, it’s the bullfighting ring. We have since found out that bullfighting still occurs in Sevilla and Madrid (and probably a few other places too). We don’t like the idea of bullfighting, but the hundreds of years of history and culture are hard to ignore. The stadium is impressive and I think still looks like it would have back in the day. It’s easy to imagine the crowds, the Matadors, Toreadors (on horseback) and the huge bulls co-existing in this arena.

Our next plan is to go on a boat trip up and down the canal. It’s starting to get cold and there’s an hour to wait. We grab some food, but the service is a bit slow so we miss the next boat too! Never mind, we explore the canal side a bit more and board the boat. Everyone is shutting windows due to the weather and Rod gets me a coffee (and himself a bucket of wine!).

I am dressed for the weather, but I am still cold – Hamish tells me I need to picture warmth to get warm. It doesn’t work, so he and Rod sit a bit closer to me to help. The boat cruise was OK, but we found it a bit boring. I think it would have been better with a warmer day and if we’d not done so much exploring in the days prior! We walk home via the Aldi where we’ve found sushi and a NZ Sauv Blanc (the wine is cheap here, but those NZ SB’s are incredible). I’m positively freezing and feel myself going downhill.

Thursday (today)

Well I am now pretty sick and Rod has a sore throat. I haven’t been sick since I had COVID 2 years ago! Hamish is on the mend, but has less energy than usual. I’ve spent the day sleeping, my body is aching and my head is pounding! I’ve not had the flu, but feel I may have it. Or, as Dr Rod says, just a bad cold. We leave tomorrow for Lisboa (Lisbon) which is about a 4-ish hour drive. This weekend in Lisboa, we are catching up with Rod’s Uni buddy Gerard and his wife Fiona, which we are really looking forward to. Not looking forward to the hills, of which Lisboa is renowned for!

We’re there for a week before flying to Vienna next Friday, where we will crack out our winter gear. We’ve been blessed with (mostly) beautiful weather in the past 7 weeks and will tough out the cold for 5 weeks until we leave for Thailand/Malaysia after Christmas.

A Week in Madrid

~ Bel Dunbar ~ Leave a comment

East Coast Floods

As you may have seen on the news, Valencia, Barcelona and Malaga (and many smaller places in and around these cities) have suffered due to severe rain and flash flooding caused by a weather phenomenon called a DANA – or a ‘cold drop’. This is basically when a warm front meets a cold front over an area of torrential rain. We are reading on the local news (and have heard the same from some locals) that this is getting worse with climate change. With over 200 known deceased, half the roads to Valencia have just been reopened. The Gvt has troops on the ground helping with the clean up, as well and thousands of locals turning up with shovels to help clear the debris. It truly is a very sad disaster.

MarioKart Scavenger Hunt

When we arrived last week, we started mapping out ‘the usual’ types of things to do in a new city. Not wanting to be too dull, I searched up ‘things to do with teens in Madrid’ – from this, we had a few new ideas to add to our list, including scavenger hunt, theme park (sadly only open on weekends) and illusion museum. In the last blog, Hamish briefly mentioned the MarioKart Madrid Drive (MKMD) – we quizzed him further on this. The race circuit is actually based on the real city of Madrid, complete with famous squares, buildings and statues. From there, we hatched a plan to play “MKMD Scavenger Hunt” (do not steal this original idea…).

Hamish listed the sites from the game and have walked all over the city finding them. What a great way to explore Madrid!

Here is a list of some of the sites we have crossed off the list this week:

The Prado Museum – El Retiro Park – The Palace – Plaza Mayor – The Madrid Bear – Gates of Europe – Puerto del Sol – Carlos III statue – Real Madrid Stadium – Mercado de San Miguel

Public Transport

We all agree, Madrid has the best public transport system we’ve encountered on our travels – ever. Our hosts left us a multi use card (with one fare on it) and it has been easy to top up from our metro station, which is a mere 25 steps away. You can purchase 10 trips for about 6.5 euro and we’ve used this just about every day we’ve been here. We are well North of the city, but it’s only a quick 20-30 minute metro ride, changing lines once, to reach the centre. Unlike other public transport systems we’ve encountered, the trains arrive on time, they are clean and uncrowded, there are usually seats and it’s easy to work out how to get to the next line. 5 stars, highly recommend.

Museum of Illusions

If you have been to Phillip Island, you’ve likely been to ‘Amaze n Things’ and the Museum of Illusions is similar to this. Lots of mind bending displays, rooms and puzzles. It was a bit of fun before our night tour.

Dark Side of Madrid – Night Tour

We had booked a night walking tour advertised as ‘free’ and ‘scary’ – free tours are not free, there is an expectation you pay ‘what you can afford’ and/or ‘what you think the tour is worth’ (but there’s a fair bit of pressure to pay 15 euro per person). For over 2 hours, our guide (trained actor and flamenco guitarist, Paul) regaled us with stories of torture, ghosts, murder and the Spanish Inquisition. It was a large group, with guests from the US, Germany, Netherlands, UK and Australia (us!). There’s a gentle hint of crowd participation, but Paul dropped many guests in it with his stories about blood lust from their own countries! Rod and I have since watched the Netflix movie ‘Veronica’ loosely based on Police reports from 1991 about one of the stories of paranormal activity.

Interestingly and disturbingly, the ‘garrotte’ method of death (basically a seat where your spinal cord is severed by a huge kind of wooden spike) was last used in 1974. In 1975 firing squads were used to off criminals on death row. Capital punishment was outlawed in 1978. The Spanish Inquisition was the longest running, from 1478 to 1834.

Rest Day/Explore Local Neighbourhood

After two fulls days completing many many steps, we had a bit of a rest day, where Hamish did some school work, we caught up on washing and explored the neighbourhood. There are a couple of supermarkets within walking distance we have visited: Dia and Tedi. Prices are much lower than Australia even with our poor exchange rate! My store bought sangria cost about $2.50 (plastic bottle, 1.5L, no judgement required thank you…). We are in a high density suburb, but you wouldn’t know it. There’s green spaces everywhere, wide roads with easy flowing traffic, lots of shops and cafes, as well as a very large shopping centre that takes about a 10 min walk. Rod had a haircut in the street across from our apartment. Underneath and next to our apartment block, there’s a fruit and vegetable shop and a pharmacy next to that. We feel Madrid has been well planned with its’ citizens in mind to suit the quintessential Spanish lifestyle.

Telefonica Museum/Art Gallery

This was a bit of a flop. It’s a museum dedicated to the progression of technology, which we thought would be interesting. All the signs were in Spanish, but the displays spoke for themselves. We liked the wall of mobile phones from ‘brick’ to smartphone. Rod and I discussing the pros and cons of the phones we’d once owned, got in trouble for touching the phones by a passive aggressive staff member (the second one we’d encountered in this building). We heading to the next level, which was an exhibition about something way too avant guard for my brain. Not wanting to waste more precious minutes of our lives, we dumped this museum and moved onto our next activity for the day.

Bike Ride – El Retiro Park (by Rod)

We then headed towards El Retiro Park. We had been previously, dear reader, and thought we would head back for a more comprehensive exploration on some hire bikes (e-bike for Hamish to persuade him to participate.) The bike hire place was very efficient, with friendly staff and located within 100 metres of the entrance to the park. We had a self-tour map, pointing out points of interest, but it was again in Spanish and not terribly meaningful. However, the park is full of interesting sites, which speak for themselves in any language. It was a beautiful day for a ride and we all enjoyed meandering through this spectacular park.

Boat Rowing – El Retiro Park

After this (and the worse afternoon tea we’ve ever had) we booked a rowing boat, as is per the custom on the man-made lake in this park. Most people weren’t skilled in the art of rowing a boat, but they did their best, with only a few minor collisions. Rod took the oars to begin with, with me navigating (as usual) then Hamish was keen to try his hand at rowing too. He did a great job and rowed us back to the dock when our time was up. Definitely a fun little activity to do if you’re in Madrid.

Drinks/Tapas in Sol Cafe

To eke out the last of a beautiful day, we stopped in a cafe for tapas and a couple of drinks. We chatted, did our ‘daily puzzles’ and enjoyed the general ambience of being in this gorgeous city. We have absolutely fallen in love with Madrid! After our first day, Hamish summed up our sentiments nicely: “Why can’t we live in Madrid?”

Real Madrid FC Tour (by Rod)

Hamish and I navigate our way to the home of Real Madrid – Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. (Named in honour of a former President of the club.) We are booked in for a “Premium (guided) tour” at 1 pm. As usual, the Metro is super efficient and we arrive 30 minutes early. Thankfully there is free wifi and we do a few online daily puzzles to fill in the time. Our tour guide corrals us at precisely 1 pm and we are off. There are trophies everywhere on this tour, as Real Madrid have won the UEFA Champions League/European Cup a staggering 15 times (Milan is next best with 7 wins) since its inception in 1956. There are 36 La Liga titles, loads of Ballon d’Or, Golden Boots, yada yada yada. It’s trophy city. I do enjoy the stories about some of the legends of the game, such as di Stefano, Puskas and Ronaldo, et al, and Hamish said it was fun. The view of the pitch was amazing and the museum was vast (largely due to all the trophies they had to squeeze in.) The stadium just sits in the middle of the suburb. We had lunch literally across the street and the stadium just looms large 30 metres away. It is surreal. Lunch was a couple of cheap bagels form a bakery. Hamish suggested this might not be enough food to satisfy his hunger. I promise another stop, which could include some more food.

We grab a different train to seek out another landmark on the MKMD scavenger hunt; Torre Realia, or Gate of Europe. Emerging from the Metro the landmark is unmissable and impressive. There is also another structure here, the Calatrava Column. It gets some interesting reviews on Google maps, but it catches the eye. We grab some frozen yoghurt and I notice lots of young people enjoying th food from a plaza/cafe next door. I check out their menu and find bagels for 1 Euro! Nothing on the menu is more than 3 Euros. No wonder the young locals love it. I am feeling like we were ripped off at that bakery.

Shopping

With the boys headed to the football club, I planned some me time at the shopping centre. I had a lovely day exploring the shops and buying some bits and pieces. I finally sat down for lunch at 3.45pm in an Asian restaurant and ordered the daily plate (it might not actually be called this, maybe daily menu?) which consisted of 3 courses and a drink for 13 euro. I was able to choose from a number of options, but chose: tempura vegetables, a chicken salad and a Diet Coke. I couldn’t fit in any of the dessert options after this and to note, I could have had red or white wine as my drink. We have embraced the Spanish eating hours: tonight we sat down to dinner at 845pm!

Apartment Block Fire

Not to stress anyone, but as we both return from our different outings, from different directions, we notice there are multiple emergency services heading in the direction of our street – lights and sirens. Sure enough we look up and find smoke coming from the top floor of our building. I arrive and stand in front of the Pharmacy, message Rod to say ‘there’s an emergency at our building’ – just as I press send, Rod and Hamish emerge from the front door. We wait on the sidewalk with other residents and the crew of 3 fire engines, 2 ambulances and 1 police car. After about 20 minutes, the crews head off and we are free to get on with our lives.

Exit Strategy

Today we will do a bit of packing up, then head back into the city centre for last minute souvenirs and a slow, late lunch at the San Miguel market, which we adored on our first day here (see pics below). Yes, it’s touristy, but we’re tourists! It’s a busy place with lots of different Spanish cuisine on offer. I particularly loved the huge green olives stuffed with pickled herring, Rod’s favourite dish was chorizo in pasty and Hamish loved the dumplings. We might go ten pin bowling at the shopping centre tonight and get some dinner there. Saturday we drive to Seville and are there for 6 days – currently the weather in Seville is a glorious 23 degrees!

Andorra – A Micro Nation

~ Bel Dunbar ~ Leave a comment

By Hamish (& Belinda)

It was a dark and stormy night – except it was early morning, as I wake up in Montazels – I don’t move. I am not a morning person. Once I wake up, I get the biggest bowl of cornflakes ever and watch Mum and Dad pack up everything.

After we’ve packed, we hop in the car and I settle into my favourite spot in the back seat and listen to music for the 2 1/2 hour trip to Andorra. I ate some sweets (mini M&M’s) and relaxed. I looked out the window whilst I was listening to music and suddenly we arrived in Andorra. We stop 15 minutes before our destination of Arinsal (small village in Andorra) whilst Dad makes a quick trip to the bathroom. Mum got petrol (B here, it’s the cheapest we’ve found at 1.20 Euro per litre) and I stayed in the car.

When we arrived at Arinsal Mum checked in and Dad and I sat around waiting for her. Then we got our singular suitcase and unpacked it in our hotel room. The room was an OK room with moderate views of absolutely nothing except cars, the street and the Irish Pub. We had lunch at The Factory which is a restaurant close to our apartment and alongside the river. I had a pizza and a sprite, Dad had a burger and fries and Mum had a chicken curry. Dad had an ingenious idea to put my empty sprite can on Mum’s handbag so that if anyone tried to steal it, it would make a noise (B here, for the record, no-one tried to steal it and I voiced my concern, numerous times, about lemonade dripping onto my bag).

Nothing much happened that day, I played MC Dungeons and Mum and Dad went for another walk. Later we had dinner at an Argentinian restaurant called Surf Arinsal; I got a veal schnitty, Dad got a pizza and Mum got a serving of nachos. We also played a couple of games there (music quiz and Cinqo).

Today we had a 6 1/2 hour drive to get to our destination of Madrid.

I didn’t see any of the landmarks of Madrid Drive from MarioKart 8 Deluxe, Booster Course. Within 3 hours of arriving in Madrid, we have already had churros and thick hot chocolate. Dad has just cooked dinner (stir fry with salmon and rice) and I have done some maths. Tomorrow we will eat sushi from the sushi place near our apartment (B here, we will also plan out what we’re going to do this week).

Post Script from Belinda:

Andorra is gorgeous – it was just a quick overnighter to tick off the Micro Nation, so we didn’t have much time for exploring. I didn’t see any Pro-Cyclists. The Irish Pub was shut, much to my displeasure. In Madrid, we are staying in a northern suburb called ‘Penagrande’ or it could actually be ‘Barrio Del Pilar’ – we are in the middle of both. It’s a residential area with loads of cafes and shops; the metro is right outside our door! Rod and I shopped at the local supermarket (Supermarket Dia) and the prices are the cheapest we’ve seen since we arrived in Europe nearly 6 weeks ago! We have our metro card sorted and I think tomorrow we might just catch the underground into the middle of Madrid and see what we can find.