Friends – Page 3 – Seeing the world through the eyes of a Savage

Day 10: Lleida, Spain. Karen and Dom’s road trip.

August 20, 2017Posted in Family, Friends, TravelTagged Castell del rei, El Porton, Good food, Karen and Dom, Lleida, Museu d'Art Jaume Morera, road trip, Spain, Turo seu VellaLeave a comment

It’s been a night of frustration, alternating between having the air-con on and hearing an incessant drip filling up a bucket perched on the toilet, or turning the air-con off and gradually melting into the floor. Deciding the night was best done and dusted there was only one thing to say:

We complained to the establishment and hoped that Lleida could rescue us from our woes.

And it did! In the bright light of day, Lleida scrubs up well, especially if you have a few good recommendations from friendly faces like Andreu in the pharmacy. So we hot-footed it up the Turo seu Vella hill to the top of the town, where the resplendent cathedral looms over the city.

You can see that Karen’s capturing all the shots on camera, so I don’t have to. Tower’s a bit wonky in this one, Kazza.

It turns out that Lleida is a pretty important city in Spanish history – and the friendly receptionists at the cathedral ticket desk got us started with a visit to the Castle of the King (Castell del Rei) and then the gothic cathedral itself. Dom’s dwarfed by the giant windows, so we did a close-up too. We asked the window cleaner to hide out of view while we took these shots. Very obliging.

We had a fabulous lunch at a restaurant recommended by Andreu (thanks!), El Porton, where the staff are lovely and the food is muy delicioso – really regional, really fresh and really tasty. (Trip Advisor only gives it 3 stars, which should keep the crowds away; but take it from us, it’s worth a visit and more stars than that!) Funny how a nice meal can sort you out a treat!

Later we headed to the Connexions exhibition at the Museu d’Art Jaume Morera. There are two small salons for the collection. The first showcased more traditional work, some work by local artists and some by visitors (like John Cage) who have made art while travelling through Spain. It was a limited collection of work, so it only took about ten minutes to take it all in. The second collection was disappointing to us in its presentation and its content – we love art, and we’re real fans of lots of contemporary work, but for us this particular collection didn’t cut the mustard. Judge for yourself – it’s free, it’s on in Lleida until October, and you might be able to fill us in on some of the virtues of the Connexions collection!

Maybe we feel a bit bah humbug today. Karen’s also gloomy because she’s had the mosquitoes feasting on her in Lleida. With that and the air-con issue, we might be being a bit tetchy.

By the way – today’s banner image is the keyboard to the interesting organ in the cathedral. To organ aficionados it might not be much to write home about, but it appealed to us for being such a tiny organ in an enormous cathedral, for being so compact in its size and piping, and for this clattery collection of keys on its manual.

Day 9: Talarn to Lleida, Spain. Karen and Dom’s road trip.

August 19, 2017August 19, 2017Posted in Family, Friends, TravelTagged Embalse de los Terradets, Karen and Dom, La Noguera Pallaresa, Lleida, road trip, San miguel, Spain, TalarnLeave a comment

Leaving Talarn we headed today towards the capital of the province, Lleida. It’s not a long journey but it twists and turns following La Noguera Pallaresa river, another gorgeous gorge with stunning scenery. So we stopped quite a lot to get some more snaps for the album. These are the blue waters of the Embalse de los Terradets reservoir.

Lots of opportunity to practice our selfie shots… (we know…could do better!)

And alongside the lake are tunnels hewn out of the rock itself, looking like the naves of churches built into the cliffs.

After all this scenery, it’s a completely different landscape in the final few miles before Lleida, when the hills drop away and the industry begins. Coming into Lleida there’s not much to write home about – except for the San Miguel brewery. Think there might be a cold one waiting in the fridge…

Coming into a new town is always a bit strange, and you have to find your bearings. Lleida’s not the most inspiring city on its first impression, especially if you find yourself located as we were in the commercial district. Lots of shops, and in the back streets quite a lot of run-down residential areas. We even struggled to find a bar or a restaurant.

And although we have a nice apartment, it’s got a fundamental problem. We’ve gone with AirBnB throughout this trip, partly to be able to self-cater, and partly to get a more homely feel from the places we stay in. This apartment is fine in lots of ways, but it’s basically part of a hotel… and the air conditioning leaks into the bathroom… quite a lot… blimey…. get the towels… and a bucket… We’ve gone without air con for days but when you have it and you’re in the middle of a city in the roasting heat and all you have is a drippy air-con unit…. Looks like this is getting a frowny face from us on AirBnB!

Days 6-8: Talarn – Karen and Dom’s Road Trip, Spain

August 18, 2017August 18, 2017Posted in Family, Friends, TravelTagged Cafe PanYa, hike, Karen and Dom, road trip, Spain, TalarnLeave a comment

Talarn is an idyllic little village in the province of Lleida, with a handful of narrow cobbled streets and a church… and virtually nothing else. There was one restaurant, Casa Lola at one end of the street and another, Cafe PanYa at the other. There was a church, of course, and there was a pharmacy which never opened.

But we had come here to get away from it all and partly to work on a book we’re writing together – so we were very happy with very little going on. On the outskirts of the town was a small open air swimming pool and bar where we spent a couple of afternoons just relaxing.

Talarn is built precariously on a plateau rising up above the landscape. How the buildings manage to stay perched on top of this rock is a mystery, but they do. Just a mile or so away from the town nestles a beautiful reservoir, with the most turquoise water you’ve ever seen. On one side the sluice from the dam sprays water into the valley, and huge fish swim in the calm waters on the other side.

We promised to do a little bit of hiking too – and although we didn’t get very far, we followed the Cami del Terrissos down from the plateau and underneath a railway viaduct towards the historical ice cave. Sadly, the route to the ice cave itself became too overgrown for us to keep going, but it did mean we got to see some of the countryside around Talarn looking pretty peaceful and picturesque.

Despite its tiny size and the sense that the village was asleep for the summer, the municipal groundsman was preparing for the village festival, making a huge racket every morning trimming hedges and emptying bins. He hung up lots of bunting noisily and transformed the main square into a party venue. To our surprise, when the festival opened on Thursday night, the village suddenly became packed and started swarming with townsfolk enjoying a community meal in the square, an illustrated lecture of some sort, a film festival (mostly Catalan) and a stand-up comedian who must have been hilarious judging by the occasional laugh.

We bumped into very few people while we were here – our conversation with the chef from Cafe Lola resulted in us ordering most of the food in the village despite only going in for a drink: we’ve not quite mastered the language yet. Actually, that’s been a bit difficult, even for Dona Karen who is a natty little Spanish speaker. Problem round here is that everyone speaks Catalan, few people want to speak Spanish, and absolutely noone seems to understand English. They all thought we were French or Italian, which either shows how few UK tourists come to this neck of the woods, or it shows how deftly we pass ourselves off as bona fide Europeans. Must be the berets.

We did meet a really lovely guy, Paul, who runs the local hostel. He was looking forward to the beginning of the festival, when he held a disco into the small hours of the night. Since it didn’t start until midnight, it was a bit late for us – maybe we’re not so European after all. But we did enjoy a couple of really nice evenings in Cafe PanYa, a small family-run pizza business with a courtyard and more killer views over the valley. Honestly: picturesque beauty is so run-of-the-mill for the people round here that it must get quite dull.

While we’ve been here though, there has been a series of terrorist attacks in Barcelona and just down the coast in Cambrils. We’ll be in Barcelona in a day or two – it’s sobering to think that another vibrant European city can be targeted by yet another act of terror.

Day 5: Karen and Dom’s road trip, Spain: Pamplona to Talarn.

August 15, 2017Posted in Family, Friends, TravelTagged Huesca, Karen and Dom, Mallos de Riglos, Pamplona, road trip, RoadTrooper, San Lorenzo festival, Spain, Talarn, Tunnels of OlvenaLeave a comment

Today was a driving day, covering around 320km and passing through some of the most stunning scenery en route. Our journey took us through several gorges and canyons in the foothills of the Pyrenees, where we saw white water rafters shooting the rapids of the Rio Gallego. The towering fingers of the Mallos de Riglos are really spectacular, and we had to stop for a photo opportunity.

We paused for lunch at a nice wayside inn before descending into Huesca, where the San Lorenzo festival is in full swing. Well… this was siesta time, so the town was pretty sleepy and the fiesta was just setting up, though most of the residents were costumed up in their traditional white and green clothes.

Coming out of Huesca the road took us through the Tunnels of Olvena – check that out on Google; it insists you want the “Tunnels of Love” 😉

There are about ten tunnels in a row, all very short, enabling the drive through the Olvena Canyon to be smooth whilst still giving you incredible views of the scenery – here’s a virtual ride through the tunnels of love, courtesy of RoadTrooper, a big bike and some stirring music!

Finally, after taking the mountain road from Puente de Montanana, with hairpin bends and more great views, we descended into Tremp, and tonight’s destination, Talarn.

Just in time for a glass of vino blanco as the sun sets.

Day 4: Pamplona, no bulls: Karen and Dom’s road trip, Spain.

August 14, 2017August 14, 2017Posted in Family, Friends, TravelTagged Basque, Billy Crystal, Bull, City Slickers, films, Karen and Dom, Pamplona, road trip, SpainLeave a comment

Hooray, it’s sunny today and hot, giving us a great opportunity to get out and explore Pamplona, with its mediaeval fortress, its quaint old town, and its recollection of another classic movie scene: the opening of City Slickers from 1991. City Slickers is an underrated film, but who can forget Billy Crystal and his pals legging it through the cobbled streets chased by a pack (herd?) of bulls.

Disappointingly, we came on a Sunday, and a month late to catch the festival of San Fermin. So there were no bulls, and no Billy Crystal, and the bullring itself was shut. But these minor location issues aside, we managed to recreate a little bit of the atmosphere of the famous bull run.

Nevertheless, one advantage of seeing the town when it is quiet and when lots of the shops are closed is that you get to see the many murals that decorate the shop grilles throughout the old town.

Karen was particularly taken with this one. Not sure if it is because of the dog or the feminist message. Throughout this region there is a quite a strong swell of political sloganism – not least because of the campaigning for Basque independence.

While Dom circumnavigated the bullring, looking for a way in (there wasn’t one: it was shut. But it has a capacity of 19,700 and is the third largest in the world), Karen spotted a fungus.

It’s been a shame not to have the thrill and exhilaration of Pamplona on a weekday, when we can imagine thousands of people running through the streets pursued by bulls. However, the local council have usefully provided a statue of the event for those of us turning up late. And to be honest, it’s quite a bit safer.

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Day 3: San Sebastian, Hitchcock and Pintxos: Karen and Dom’s Spanish Road Trip

August 13, 2017August 13, 2017Posted in Family, Friends, TravelTagged Hitchcock, Karen and Dom, Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Pinchos, Pintxos, road trip, San Sebastian, SpainLeave a comment

It’s all about food and films.

Love the pinchos – sometimes spelt pintxos. These are tapas dishes served in every bar you go into from breakfast to last orders. The local custom is to drop everything, gather around the counter, and have one or two in each bar – so a pintxos crawl is rather like a pub crawl. They are usually loaded with seafood, tortilla, or spanish ham. Always with a glass of wine on the side!

San Sebastian is about 100km up the coast from Bilbao, and has got a bit of everything – it’s an elegant city with some stunning architecture calling up the charm of the riviera; it’s a beach resort with a couple of stretches of golden sand; and it’s a pintxos lover’s paradise, with narrow, crowded alleyways lined with tapas bars aplenty.