Who loves a parade?

In the Courtyard of the Royal Palace in Madrid, the guards play the National Anthem.
The King is in Residence on that given day.

We have similar parades in Ottawa with the Governor General's Guards on parade every morning
at 10am in the summer time.

Recommendations for travellers

Often people ask me about my travels and if I can recommend an hotel, a restaurant, a service provider.

Well I have a few here I would like to recommend.

Venice in the last few years has become very expensive and finding accommodations is tricky and difficult. You do not want to be on the Grand Canal, too noisy from dawn to dusk. You do not want to be near or at Piazza San Marco, expensive and crowded with tourists and dirty pigeons (flying rats), unless you go there before 9am or after 10pm when everyone is gone and only the Café's are still open. Listening to the last chimes of the great bells of the San Marco Basilica at midnight it thrilling, the piazza will be deserted at that point and you can really feel the grandeur and solemnity of La Serenissima at that moment.

Venice is also very small and it is easy to travel on foot or by vaporetto (floating bus). I just find that walking is easy and so very pleasant.

So I hear there is a great B&B on Rio Tera 1285 in Santa Croce with reasonable rates, not far from the Vaporetto stop of Riva di Biasio on the Grand Canal.  Look at the web site http://www.campiellozen.com

The other service I heard about recently and seems to be a wonderful idea is one promoted by a friend in Spain, Mitchell on his website.

In Madrid a group of ladies (businesswomen) offer the possibility of staying at their beautiful home for a one week intensive Spanish language immersion course which includes 3 course meals and visits all around Madrid, one of the more beautiful Capitals of the world. The price they are asking for one week is more than reasonable considering what is on offer.
See the web site: www.YourSpanishFriend.com

Plaza de Cibeles, Madrid 

Auld Lang Syne on Hogmanay

Happy Hogmanay!

The end of the Old Year and the beginning of a New Year always seems to me like a period of quiet during a hurricane, a bit like being in the eye of the storm for a few hours. If things were not so good yesterday then surely tomorrow will be better. However for me and both of us at Palazzo degli Bassotti Tedeschi it has been a good year. So we can just wish for more of the same.
So many years in so many cities around the world with friends and colleagues leaves me in a mood of reflection. We have celebrated New Year's in Mexico City, in New York City, in Cairo, in Chicago, in Warsaw, in Beijing, in Rome, in Madrid.

Robert Burns wrote in 1788 this poem now world famous and it represents, I think, that feeling of the end of the year. Maybe this year I will greet the Old and New Year with a shot of Single Malt Scotch.

Robert Burns

Here the original words of the poem Auld Lang Syne sung by Graham Duncan.

Happy New Year 2014! Best Wishes to all.

On the road to Madrid

On the road to Madrid

We left Granada on the first leg of our journey North, first to Madrid and then on to Paris and finally London, this over a period of 2 days by train, we change trains in Madrid and in Paris.

We will be in London for 2 days and then fly home to Canada.

 Granada city views

In Granada we saw basically over 2 days the great fortress of the Alhambra, though it would require 3 or 4 days to see it properly, this is how big it is. The Alhambra (Red Fortress) is a citadel a complex of Palaces and courtyards, gardens and a Medina (city) which formely housed the well to do of the Arabic era. We discovered yesterday that Napoleon B. who had a series of unsuccesful wars in Spain blasted the Medina and looted whatever he could get his hands on. Luckily for us the Palaces where not damaged. I am happy that we decided to visit the Palace of the Nazarie Dynasty by night, this is the Palace with the great courtyard and fountain of the Lions. So beautiful and grandiose is this palace that the conquering Spanish Kings decided to keep it as is and use it for their own Royal Residence, in an age when the rule was to destroy anything that was conquered and replace it with something else. The Nazarie Palace is built along precepts found in the Koran which gives instructions on how a palace should be planned, along what can be described as humanist principles. Next to it Charles V built his own palace around 1526 in the Paladian style, which is beautiful but, we are told, the style imported from Italy was misunderstood by people at the time because it was so very different. The Nazarie Palace reminded me of the Fatimid Style I often saw in Cairo in Palaces and Mosques. See the website for the Alhambra http://www.alhambradegranada.org/en/

The gardens are also spectacular, more so than that of the Alcazar in Seville, we spent several hours exploring them and admiring the fountains and water works which irrigate the many levels and terrasses. The views also of the mountains and the snow covered Sierra Nevada is beautiful.

The Alhambra complex is above Granada and you will need to go by taxi to reach it or you can walk up to it but it is a long walk from the centre of the City. Despite the fact that Catholicism replaced Islam in the XIVth Century, there was a great deal of accommodation and harmony in society. Not all Muslims left after the decline and defeat of Moorish Kings, life went on. Many because they were learned found work at the Court of the Catholic Kings.

We did not see much more of Granada, except for a visit to the great Cathedral and the Royal Chapel.

In the Royal Chapel are buried in gigantic Carrara Marble Mausoleum facing the main Altar Queen Isabella I and her husband King Ferdinand of Aragon, she was elevated by the Pope as ''Helpful Servant of God'' on the road to Sainthood in 1874, mostly for her work to Christianise the New World.

The Royal Chapel also has her Silver Crown, Sceptre and Sword of State. So large is this chapel that I thought it was the Cathedral, no it is next door. A small plaza faces part of the front of the Cathedral, the rest is very close to other buildings, as it would have been in the Middle-Ages. The Cathedral has numerous chapels all around it and everything about it is gigantic. One rather strange thing or strange to me given that it is not my country's history are two plaques on either side of the Altar with the names of priests who died in defence of Fascism and died victims of communism during the Civil War 1936-39.

Granada has other Monasteries and great park avenues like the Paseo del Salon and Paseo Darro named after the river that crosses the city, great restaurants and good shopping. Would love to return to visit more of the city, the people are very nice and courteous and life is unhurried.

Throughout our travels in Spain, we did see everywhere signs of the economic crisis, the number of apartments or commercial space for sale or rent is surprising. Prices are low in order to attract more shoppers. Unemployement is high amongst the young and the economic crisis has created political instability. The fear is that authoritarianism could return and secession movements like the one in Andalucia could be boosted. Though I cannot see that happening today given that Spain is a modern and well educated country.

As we travel by rail today, we did the first leg from Granada to Antequera slowly. The high speed train does not yet reach Granada but the system is under construction and well underway. Once we arrive at Antequera our train entered a garage and there we changed locomotives for a high speed one, a process that took about 20 minutes. Now we are flying towards Cordoba at speeds of 150Km.

In our travel in Spain and in reading the newspapers, I note how opinion pieces and editorials are common journalism, discussions on a variety of topics from the arts to politics accompanied by artful drawings instead of caricatures is how a serious newspaper presents and defines itself to its readership.

The readers are seen as educated and wanting to engage in a debate of ideas, the slant is different from what we would encounter back home. News is not sensational entertainment, even the sport news, which is mostly about soccer, tends to be serious.

Short train stop in the large and modern Station of Cordoba. The surrounding area has changed from Mountainous to plains ( it rains mostly in the...) to hilly with a mix of pine and brush and of course more olive trees. Modern highways everywhere and those great big modern power generating wind mills on top of hills, not as romantic as the old windmills of Don Quichote.

In Madrid, we have a few hours between trains so we may go to the Prado Museum. We will have dinner on the hotel-train from Madrid tonight. We will arrive tomorrow in Paris around 11:45am at the Gare d'Austerlitz.

Restaurant car on the Madrid-Paris Train.

Madrid, Sunday

We arrived on time at 13:35 at the Madrid Puerta de Atocha station which is in the centre of Madrid near the Prado Museum. We then took a taxi to the other Station Madrid ChamMartin which is a fair distance from the centre. We could have taken either the Metro or the City Train to ChamMartin but given we had so much luggage we hopted instead for a Taxi. We deposited all our luggage at the Consigna por Equipajes and then went to take the Renfe Train back into the Centre of Madrid. The train is cheap at 1.50 Euro per person for a 3 station ride, we got off at Puerta Del Sol which is one of the main Plaza of the city near the Opera house and the big department store El Corte Ingles which celebrates 160 years in business in Spain. In Spain you cannot go wrong with steak or ham, a national specialty. So we went to a favorite of ours in Madrid, De Mario on Plaza Puerta del Sol at the coner with Calle del Correo.

We always sit at the back where they have their dining room with nice white table cloth and full service. Sunday lunch in Spain is like in Italy, a family thing to do and it starts around 13:30 and last until 16:30.

We started with a glass of Pink Champagne and then ordered our food, I had a plate of roasted red peppers with a topping of fresh anchovies and then a filet of steak in a Rochefort sauce. Will had roasted red peppers with caramelized onions and blue cheese on bread, sort of like a bruscheta and then a filet of chicken breast with a mushroom sauce. For dessert nice lemon sorbet. We really like De Mario in Madrid such a nice place for lunch or dinner.

Then we went across the Plaza del Sol to the Dept Store El Corte Ingles for a bit of shopping, they offer 10% off any sales to Foreigners, just for shopping with them. They had their Xmas display up and it was great fun to walk around the 8 floors, we saw Santa Claus and said Holà!!!

We bought a few things, they do have very good prices and in some cases better than back home. I remembered that we spent New Year's Eve and New Year's day 2011 in Madrid and what fun we had, the city is beautifully decorated for the holidays. Would love to return for the Holidays in Madrid, they do celebrate a lot and the weather is just crisp and nice. They have these light displays hung over streets for several blocks in a row and at intersections they use various display of lights, a riot of Xmas colours.

Tonight from the Madrid ChamMartin Station we take the hotel-train Madrid-Paris, there is a full restaurant car and a 3 course meal is served with wines etc... served around 21:30. Arriving in Paris tomorrow around Noon time. We then change trains and take the Euro-Star from la Gare du Nord to London St-Pancras Station. We are spending a few days in London before returning to Winter in Canada.

A very Kosher Vegetarian entry

Spain's main export to the world is ham. Currently there is a glut of 40 million hams of all types on the market, so much so that the price has plunged. You are likely to get a ham if you open a bank account, buy a car, a house or anything. Hams are given away as promotional incentives. At the airport duty free section you can buy 2 and get one free. In fact Spain is probably hell for vegetarians, meat is so much part of everyday life. We bought some ourselves an offer to good to resist. A chain of shops is called the Museum of ham, where you can sample ham and sausages, buy cheeses and wines to go with ham. It is not very Kosher but lots of fun with beautiful displays. You should know that ham produced from black pigs fed on acorns is the most expensive at 30 Euros a kilo and ham produced from white pigs fed usual corn or feed diet is less expensive at 9.50 Euros a kilo and more of an every day fare.

Spain

We returned today 2 January from Madrid, this is our second visit to Spain we truly enjoy our visits there, the culture, the people, the food, the modern infrastructure blended into the old historical architecture and so many other things which makes the visit enjoyable.
Our first visit to Spain was to Barcelona in Catalonia, which is not Spain proper but an autonomous region with its own language and culture. Madrid the Capital in the centre of the Iberic peninsula is really a marvelous city, the airport of Barajas is ultra modern and impressive, modern highways take you into the city and a system of tunnels can take you over 12 Km from one end of the city to the other. Madrid has a modern subway system and in the old centre of Madrid and the Royal neighborhood many streets have been closed to cars. The city has many large parks around the Royal Palace and at the Alcala Gate not to mention many other green areas where people can relax and the great avenues like Gran Via, Paseo del Prado or Recolets where you can stroll. Our Hotel at Plaza San Martin was in the perfect location, minutes on foot from all the major city sites. So many good restaurants, we also discovered that ham was the number one export of Spain. There are so many varieties you almost need a course, but in many specialize shops you can taste several varieties and decide which you like best before you purchase anything. We also went to several Tapas bar and though I was use to the little plates, in Spain the plates are big and there is lots to eat so we learned to order only 2 plates and a glass of wine or beer and then order more if we still had an appetite.
So many other good restaurants, grilled meats is also a specialty as is seafood and paella, everywhere we ate the food was excellent with great service. If you are a vegetarian in Spain you might find yourself in difficulty, vegetables do not appear much on menus except for salads. We got ourselves a little brochure called Restaurantes y Tabernas Centenarias de Madrid, (100 yr old restaurants and taverns of Madrid) see their website www.restaurantescentenarios.es


We visited the Royal Palace which is the largest in Europe with close to 3000 rooms, King Juan Carlos and his family do not live there and I understand why. Juan Carlos prefers to live in the suburbs at the Palace of the Zarzuela. The Royal Palace is used for State ceremonial only, the decor is heavy and gaudy, the worst excess of the 19th century in what can only be described as poor royal taste, opposite the Palace, the Cathedral of Madrid is relatively new, Pope John Paul II inaugurated it in 2003. Previously it seems that the Royals used the Monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial, c.1563 or other great Cathedrals in various cities in Spain, like Santiago de Compostela.

We visited the Prado Museum, with its incredible wealth of artwork, was able to see the paintings of Goya, Velasquez and of many other great Spanish artists but also French, German, Flemish, British, Italian painters and sculptures, etc... A beautiful museum, we only saw a small part of it, we will probably have to return. After 2 hours in the museum, we were really tired, too much to see, our eyes were tired and our senses over excited by all this glut of artwork, it was a bit like eating too many sweets, you get indigestion.

The streets illumination at night were spectacular,an orgy of colors, very high tech and colorful. On New Year's Day we walked to the Park of Buen Retiro, which is a former Royal Park opened to the public by King Carlos III on the condition that you could enter if you were washed and properly dressed, which meant that you needed a hat, gloves and a sword, this pretty much restricted the entrance to the aristocracy and the wealthy. It is a beautiful park with a large rose garden and many broad leafy avenues to walk, fountains and statues. It is the only park in the world with a fountain and statue of Lucifer entitled the fallen angel. At this time of the year the trees have no leaves but it is still a peaceful place and very popular with Madrilenos.

All in all we were very impressed with Madrid and its people.