Europe
I was in Europe for about 3 weeks in September and spent some time in London, Calahonda in Spain and Paris. London was not quite what I expected, especially the old downtown. It was very congested and I am just not used to that, but that was more or less the condition of every city I visited, it only makes sense though, what has to be realized is that these cities were laid out in the middle ages when foot traffic or horse and buggy was how people got around. Down town London has very little private vehicle traffic, it is almost exclusively commercial vehicles, taxis etc. I don't think there is any places to
park so I am guessing the traffic is all transient. Its not as bad though as the old Spanish cities as it is newer, the entire city of London was destroyed in the great fire of 1666, by that time the administration of cities was becoming more sophisticated so there was some rudimentary planning took place as the city was reconstructed. We tried a number of British pubs and weren't disapointed with any of them. Funny thing though at The North Star which was just around the corner from the place we stayed at cut the food menu off at 5 o'clock and only served drinks after that.
I would not rent a car in London as the volume of traffic combined with having to drive on the opposite side of the road would prove to be to much for me and the result would be ugly.
Two things about London that need to be seen, St Pauls cathedral and the Tower of London ( which isn't a tower but a garrison and armory). St Pauls was the highlight of the entire trip and is difficult to adequately describe. I had watched a TV travel program recently in which members of a primitive tribe from Papua New Guinea were brought to London. The old chief after touring St Pauls said, "this place could not have been built by man but by God himself", and that just about sums it up. The main dome, which is only surpassed in size by St Peters in Rome was the site of possibly the scariest situation I have ever experienced. I decided I would climb up to the dome and take a peek inside to get an idea of how high you are. The staircase leading upwards is not for the faint of heart it has so many steps but at least it is completely enclosed so you never know how high you are. As you get closer to the top the stairs narrow until it is just wide enough for one person to climb. When I got to the top there is a sign that says you can't go back down the way you came. Instead you have to go through a tiny door that takes you to a walkway that circles the inside of the dome. It is so terrifying to be clinging to the wall with hundreds of feet of open air between you and the marble floor below. I along with some other terrified souls who also no idea what they were getting into pressed against the walls and inched our ways around to the other side and the exit.
The place completely overwhelms you with the height and the magnificent ceilings. I wandered up the middle aisle trying to take things in and eventually made my way to the front of the pews. After passing the pews there is a space of about 50 feet and then about 100 feet of raised seats that are on either side of an aisle befo
re you get to the pulpit. I wandered along until I got to the pulpit, I climbed up and took my position as Archbishop of Canterbury and imagined delivering a sermon from there. It is so far to the back of the church from the pulpit you wouldn't be able to recognize people at the back. I continued my wanderings toward the front where after another 50 foot space there is a raised alter with a huge polished marble slab on a pedestal with three or four steps leading up to it. This is covered by a magnificent ceiling about 20 feet high, something like a huge 4 poster bed with a canopy over it with a mural painted on the inside. I noticed some papers on the top of the alter so started reading them, they were a collection of benedictions. After a while I looked around and noticed a bunch of people were surrounding the alter but they were all 25 feet away and behind these big velvet ropes and were interested in me. It was then a hand descended upon my shoulder and I turned to face a large man in black with a coloured sash draped over his shoulder. "How did you get up here" he asked, "Oh I just walked up the aisle from the back" I said, well you are not supposed to be here he said and prompltly led me out a side door, I got the distinct impression he was not amused.
Watch at Queen Elizabeths funeral and I am sure you will find her coffin laying on top of the marble slab, only very important people get to visit that particular piece of real estate, a club I am now a member of.
The tower of London is much smaller than I envisioned, although it occupies acres of space there is nothing impressive about it. The walls are no more than 30 feet high and the inside is not very fancy. The crown jewels are stored there and you can get quite close to them. I asked about the seeming lack of security and was told we just didn't see it, beheath the floor of the jewel room there is a battalion of soldiers read
y to take whatever action is necessary to protect them. At the entranceway there is one of those soldiers with the big high beaver hats that is posted as a guard, similar to the ones you see at Buckingham Palace. The ones at Buckingham are out in the open and are ornamental, you can walk up to them have your picture taken etc. But the ones by the crown jewels are actually real guards and are located behind a barrier that keeps about 15 feet away. I sat down on a bench for a while and did some people watching while I rested my feet. Along came a group of young guys, early twenties I would say, they gathered in front of the guard and were doing " see if you can make him smile routine" one got braver and jumped over the fence to get right up to him, big mistake. At about the same time as his feet hit the ground two guys dressed as beefeaters came out of nowhere and roared at the guy as they ran towards him, scared the daylights out of the whole crew. I had noticed these guys in the traditional costumes throughout the grounds and assumed they were there to create ambience. Apparently I was wrong, and when I asked one of the guides I got the story. The guys stationed at the tower are all ex members of either the British SAS units or the special services divisions of the Royal Marines that are nearing retirement and have a minimum of 22 years service. This is a kind of reward to them by giving them a less strenuous type of posting.
On the side closet to the Thames River there are quarters with some original furnishings where the King lived. I guess that when you consider this is from the 12th century that it wouldn't be very fancy. Stone walls, small doorways and small rooms in the quarters. In one room there is a throne where you can sit and have your picture taken. It is more of a fortress than a palace and
the middle where the white hall is it is really just an armory. The British Kings would retreat here during times of trouble. What surprised me was that a one point in history the people of London overran the place during when the King was in disfavour. I can't see how the walls could be scaled and that could happen. There is a very wide moat on one side that is now a field where they have displays of weaponry, but at one time it was filled with water and stocked with fish. The place was designed with the idea that it could be self sufficient during times of siege, so there was areas for gardens as well.
park so I am guessing the traffic is all transient. Its not as bad though as the old Spanish cities as it is newer, the entire city of London was destroyed in the great fire of 1666, by that time the administration of cities was becoming more sophisticated so there was some rudimentary planning took place as the city was reconstructed. We tried a number of British pubs and weren't disapointed with any of them. Funny thing though at The North Star which was just around the corner from the place we stayed at cut the food menu off at 5 o'clock and only served drinks after that.
I would not rent a car in London as the volume of traffic combined with having to drive on the opposite side of the road would prove to be to much for me and the result would be ugly.
Two things about London that need to be seen, St Pauls cathedral and the Tower of London ( which isn't a tower but a garrison and armory). St Pauls was the highlight of the entire trip and is difficult to adequately describe. I had watched a TV travel program recently in which members of a primitive tribe from Papua New Guinea were brought to London. The old chief after touring St Pauls said, "this place could not have been built by man but by God himself", and that just about sums it up. The main dome, which is only surpassed in size by St Peters in Rome was the site of possibly the scariest situation I have ever experienced. I decided I would climb up to the dome and take a peek inside to get an idea of how high you are. The staircase leading upwards is not for the faint of heart it has so many steps but at least it is completely enclosed so you never know how high you are. As you get closer to the top the stairs narrow until it is just wide enough for one person to climb. When I got to the top there is a sign that says you can't go back down the way you came. Instead you have to go through a tiny door that takes you to a walkway that circles the inside of the dome. It is so terrifying to be clinging to the wall with hundreds of feet of open air between you and the marble floor below. I along with some other terrified souls who also no idea what they were getting into pressed against the walls and inched our ways around to the other side and the exit.
The place completely overwhelms you with the height and the magnificent ceilings. I wandered up the middle aisle trying to take things in and eventually made my way to the front of the pews. After passing the pews there is a space of about 50 feet and then about 100 feet of raised seats that are on either side of an aisle befo
re you get to the pulpit. I wandered along until I got to the pulpit, I climbed up and took my position as Archbishop of Canterbury and imagined delivering a sermon from there. It is so far to the back of the church from the pulpit you wouldn't be able to recognize people at the back. I continued my wanderings toward the front where after another 50 foot space there is a raised alter with a huge polished marble slab on a pedestal with three or four steps leading up to it. This is covered by a magnificent ceiling about 20 feet high, something like a huge 4 poster bed with a canopy over it with a mural painted on the inside. I noticed some papers on the top of the alter so started reading them, they were a collection of benedictions. After a while I looked around and noticed a bunch of people were surrounding the alter but they were all 25 feet away and behind these big velvet ropes and were interested in me. It was then a hand descended upon my shoulder and I turned to face a large man in black with a coloured sash draped over his shoulder. "How did you get up here" he asked, "Oh I just walked up the aisle from the back" I said, well you are not supposed to be here he said and prompltly led me out a side door, I got the distinct impression he was not amused.Watch at Queen Elizabeths funeral and I am sure you will find her coffin laying on top of the marble slab, only very important people get to visit that particular piece of real estate, a club I am now a member of.
The tower of London is much smaller than I envisioned, although it occupies acres of space there is nothing impressive about it. The walls are no more than 30 feet high and the inside is not very fancy. The crown jewels are stored there and you can get quite close to them. I asked about the seeming lack of security and was told we just didn't see it, beheath the floor of the jewel room there is a battalion of soldiers read
y to take whatever action is necessary to protect them. At the entranceway there is one of those soldiers with the big high beaver hats that is posted as a guard, similar to the ones you see at Buckingham Palace. The ones at Buckingham are out in the open and are ornamental, you can walk up to them have your picture taken etc. But the ones by the crown jewels are actually real guards and are located behind a barrier that keeps about 15 feet away. I sat down on a bench for a while and did some people watching while I rested my feet. Along came a group of young guys, early twenties I would say, they gathered in front of the guard and were doing " see if you can make him smile routine" one got braver and jumped over the fence to get right up to him, big mistake. At about the same time as his feet hit the ground two guys dressed as beefeaters came out of nowhere and roared at the guy as they ran towards him, scared the daylights out of the whole crew. I had noticed these guys in the traditional costumes throughout the grounds and assumed they were there to create ambience. Apparently I was wrong, and when I asked one of the guides I got the story. The guys stationed at the tower are all ex members of either the British SAS units or the special services divisions of the Royal Marines that are nearing retirement and have a minimum of 22 years service. This is a kind of reward to them by giving them a less strenuous type of posting.On the side closet to the Thames River there are quarters with some original furnishings where the King lived. I guess that when you consider this is from the 12th century that it wouldn't be very fancy. Stone walls, small doorways and small rooms in the quarters. In one room there is a throne where you can sit and have your picture taken. It is more of a fortress than a palace and
the middle where the white hall is it is really just an armory. The British Kings would retreat here during times of trouble. What surprised me was that a one point in history the people of London overran the place during when the King was in disfavour. I can't see how the walls could be scaled and that could happen. There is a very wide moat on one side that is now a field where they have displays of weaponry, but at one time it was filled with water and stocked with fish. The place was designed with the idea that it could be self sufficient during times of siege, so there was areas for gardens as well.After visiting St Pauls we headed over towards the London Eye which is that big ferris wheel that is located on the banks of the Thames kind of kitty corner from the parliament buildings. To me it looked out of place, here is this old city and particularly in that area is this ultramodern 
contraption in the middle that looks like a giant bicycle wheel. We had to cross over Westminister bridge to get to it and there were peddlers on it selling what I guess was a local delicacy, some kind of roasted nuts. I think it cost us about $25.00 each for our tickets and it wasn't very busy so we didn't have a long wait. The gondola cars are nice and spacious and made of clear plastic so you get a real good view. I was a bit tentative on going up after my experience in St Pauls about spending that amount of money to terrify myself again, but thought you can't go all the way to London and not go on it. Surprisingly it wasn't scary at all even though we were 430 feet up when the wheel got to the top. I think its because you are eased into it as it revolves slowly taking a full 30 minutes to complete a circuit. There were only 10 of us in our gondola so there was ample room to walk around and take pictures. The other thing I remember about this location was that in the building beside it there were the best bathrooms in London and they were free.
contraption in the middle that looks like a giant bicycle wheel. We had to cross over Westminister bridge to get to it and there were peddlers on it selling what I guess was a local delicacy, some kind of roasted nuts. I think it cost us about $25.00 each for our tickets and it wasn't very busy so we didn't have a long wait. The gondola cars are nice and spacious and made of clear plastic so you get a real good view. I was a bit tentative on going up after my experience in St Pauls about spending that amount of money to terrify myself again, but thought you can't go all the way to London and not go on it. Surprisingly it wasn't scary at all even though we were 430 feet up when the wheel got to the top. I think its because you are eased into it as it revolves slowly taking a full 30 minutes to complete a circuit. There were only 10 of us in our gondola so there was ample room to walk around and take pictures. The other thing I remember about this location was that in the building beside it there were the best bathrooms in London and they were free.
London bridge is pretty big and is impressive, even more so than the parliament buildings. We got some pictures the first evening we were there Not much else though and certainly nothing to compare with either Spain or France.People are moved around on either a subway, bus or train. And the public systems are incredible, They put me in awe even more so than some of the architecture. It is difficult to imagine the staggering numbers, but the London subway averages 3 million users per day and runs with clockwork precision. If it ever shut down the entire city would come to a standstill. The Paris subway is even more impressive as it moves 6 million a day, both are truly magnificent pieces of engineering and organization. The longest we ever waited for a train was slightly over 3 minutes and that was at about 10:30 one night. Most of the day the trains are on about a 2 minute apart schedule. Once you understand how the sytem works it is very easy to get around. I took a few pictures of
the underground escalators to try and get an idea of how far underground you are. Some of the intersection stations are 5 levels deep. It is about 50 feet between levels so you can be down 250 feet hurtling through a wormhole at 60 miles an hour. It is a city on the run, after a while it becomes apparent there are very few people who are overweight. Once Clancey noticed this we made a point of looking for them and although its hard to believe, they simply aren't there. When you are riding the down escalators you actually have to keep to the right as people run down on the left hand side.We took the subway down to the British Museum and found it in a beautiful London neighbourhood. Streets with fairly modern and stylish apartment buildings and several nice parks between the tube station and the museum. It was the only spot I saw in London that I thought I might actually like to live. The entrance to the museum is quite impressive and has a glass roof that dominates the building when you first arrive. That part is fairly new and was opened by the Queen in 2000 as some part of a larger celebration. When you look at the booty that has been hauled home by generations of British conquerors you understand
why the British were hated in centuries past like the Americans are today. I found the museum interesting but static, which is pretty well my impression of every museum ever since visiting the BC Museum in Victoria which in my opinion has no equal. I think the highlight for me was some of the ancient Persian wall reliefs with their huge carvings and the Rosetta stone. It wasn't that the Rosetta stone was impressive but that it was ancient and the fact that it contained the key to understanding hyroglyphics by following translations through Demotic and Greek. I think what I remember most was the restaurant on the top floor which had prices that made you suck in your breath, we ate across the street at a place where we could get authentic English fish and chips served with of all things "mushy peas".We took in shows at 2 comedy clubs while we were in London. The first one was in a part of town that wasn't in a high real estate district. One of the interesting things we passed on the way to a club was a large hangout for what looked to me to be teenage street people. They spilled out of the bar and were sitting all over the streets with various combinations of coloured hair, piercings, leather and chains, kind of unsettling, not so much from a safety issue but I couldn't help wondering what circumstances brought about what to me looked like a total waste of lives. The Comedy Club was about 4 blocks down what appeared to me to be nothing more than an alley. It was definitely an adult oriented performance by 3 or 4 comics that were starting out and 1 guy who closed the evening off who was pretty polished and was very funny. The club was run down but the food was exceptional.
The day we got back to London we went to another club, this one was in Piccadilly circus which is in the theatre district, it was quite a bit larger and had comedians that were all pretty funny, one of them was the same guy that had closed off at the previous place. I would recommend an evening like this if you haven't experienced one before, very entertaining, but very raunchy. A word of advice, unless you have a thick skin don't sit close to the comedians or you will pay a price by becoming the subject of many of their jokes.On a number of occaisions I found myself almost to exhausted to enjoy the experience. After 
spending 4 days in London I flew into Malaga airport, picked up a rental car, found the resort and did some exploring, I completely crashed that night, it was almost like switches that kept my body going had turned themselves off. Its something I am not used to. I had exchanged my time share at Fun Royale for a unit in Calahonda that slept 6. Two bedrooms and a living room with a sofa bed. The first night we were there I told the girls I had to have the room with the queen size bed, even though I was by myself as I had to have a good sleep. I really liked our unit at the Crown Resort in Calahonda, it was the first exchange I had made with our timeshare and it went very smoothly. We were on the 4th floor of a terraced building with a beautiful view over the Mediterranean sea from 2 balconies. It was nice to eat meals outdoors in such a lovely setting.
There is a lot of stress involved in a persons first trip to Europe in trying to adapt and understand how countries operate when what is normal to you is a place like PEI. I found the driving to be a nightmare with the roundabouts in heavy traffic, the lack of signage and the congestion of very narrow streets. There was 2 way streets that only had room for a single lane of traffic. You had to watch at the intersections and try and look down them to see if they were clear before you proceeded. I saw cars parked in the oddest places, including the sidewalks. I don't think I would rent a car again unless it had a GPS navigation system. And I wouldn't rent a car in England under any circumstances as I would instantly kill someone.
What a change from living on the farm in Saskatchewan when a trip to North battleford was a big adventure, living with no running water, dirt roads, outdoor plumbing, house miles apart to finding myself in a luxury apartment with 2 bathrooms and balconies overlooking the Mediterranean sea in the south of Spain.
But when I look back, it probably would have tired out a younger person. Left Palmers Lodge (where I was staying in London) at 6 am to catch the subway from Swiss Cottage station down to Victoria Station, then the train to Gatwick airport for an 11 am flight. Stood in a line for about an hour at Gatwick before making it to the boarding gate. Then a bus out to the plane, and a two hour flight to Spain.
I am getting used to being physically tired but not to the extent that I have started to experience. I think I push myself to much in short spurts and haven't yet adopted a structured regimen to build up endurance and strength on a regulated daily basis.
I am glad I went to Europe though and didn't put it off any longer as I can see that if I don't see and do the things I want to over the next few years I will probably never do them at all. The
experience of seeing architecture dating back a thousand years is pretty awe inspiring and humbling. We had visited Marbella and Malaga and toured the downtown and waterfront areas, I have never seen a city I loved as much at first glance as Marbella. The waterfront promenade and beach area right in the middle of a city is so beautiful it makes you feel like you could spend the rest of your life just sitting and watching the world go by. The downtown borders on a beautiful beach, then there is a boardwalk made of marble that extends along the waterfront that is about 10 feet above the beaches. The boardwalk is about 75 feet wide with beautiful landscaping and benches. On the other side of the boardwalk single story shops and restaurants front it and there is a constant flow of people walking and eating, talking and enjoying paradise. Behind the first row of shops there is a service road and then 7-8 story apartments stretching for miles, all with balconies overlooking the beach area and behind the city are beautiful mountains. Then behind the apartments is the commercial area of the city, it is the perfect layout. I could easily see how a person could spend a lot of time there. There would be no reason to go anywhere else.
We attended a bullfight on the Sunday afternoon in Marbella. It was an amazing spectacle that was well worth seeing. I had wondered for years how I would react and enjoyed the whole thing. I hadn't expected it to be so well orchestrated even though I had read Hemingways account in Death in the Afternoon. The music from the orchestra sets the tone as it starts with a well known piece to introduce the bull, which charges into the ring. I was not
prepared for the ferocity of the animals. We were close enough to see the faces of the bulls and I could follow what was going through their minds. When they first enter the ring they focus on one of the attendants who is waving his cape and you can see the bull thinking, hooray someone to kill, wow am I ever lucky, then they look around and see the other 2 attendants and you can see the joy on the bulls face. The bull thinks, not just one person to kill but three, life doesn't get any better than this, and then he proceeds attempt to carry out his plan. I now understand an article that was in the program about the Spanish fighting bull. It gave the history of the breeding programs and of the bullfight and then mentioned something I had never thought of. There has been a movement afoot for years to shut down the bull rings and stop the fights. But it said that if this were to occur it was bring about the extinction of the species as there is no purpose for these animals except to fight. They are not beef animals and are far to dangerous to ever allow them to be in the proximity of people. Just like you can't stop a bird dog from hunting birds, a border collie from herding or a waterdog from swimming these bulls are so highly bred their nature is to fight anything that challenges them, its what they do, its all they do.
The fight is so passionate and dangerous that no one feels sorry for the bull. As the fight progresses the music changes and grows more somber until it ends in a dirge as the bull is killed, but at least it is killed doing what it obviously loves to do.
Fortunately when we went into Malaga Erin and Stephen had spent a couple of days there before
we arrived so they knew the city. Erin had mapped out a parking garage that would have been impossible to find without local knowledge so the trip in was not the usual harrowing experience that is Spanish traffic. Downtown Malaga is built for people to enjoy life, no big stores, no traffic, just marble streets for pedestrians only, little shops and outdoor restaurants by the hundreds and thousands of people enjoying life at a relaxing pace. It followed the downtown European architectural tradition of ground level shops and 4 stories of apartments above, I could live like this. Not understanding how the city worked yet, I made a mistake as we were going to lunch. I saw a scarf in a store window and thought, I'll buy that after we eat, seemed like a reasonable pla
n. Except I hadn't counted on the Spanish timetable. Late to get up, open at 10, work until after lunch, then close everything down for 2 or 3 hours and open again at 4 and get ready for the evening shoppers and eaters and strollers who turn out by the thousands after 8 o'clock.
After visiting Malaga in the morning we drove about an hour to the east where the caves of Nerja are located. This was a nice drive along the edge of the Sea with not as much traffic as there is on the other side of Malaga. One of the things I noticed was the number of house that were built on barren hilltops that were a long way off the road and from any neighbours. Most of these houses were quite large, probably better fit to the term Villa with pools and what must have been incredible views of the Mediterranean, and very private, don't know if I would like to live in one or not. I kind of regret that we didn't go right down into Nerja while we were there as when I took the time to read about the town ( after we were long gone it sounded very nice.) It is the location of what is known as "The Balcony of Europe" which is a walkway high above the sea where you can sit and watch the boats go by and just enjoy the views from a height. It also has great views of several beaches which are located just to the sides of the plateau. The countryside of Spain is very different than I had expected. The best word would probably be "brown", Spain is brown. If you have ever driven through the badlands of Alberta around Drumheller then you have seen the countryside of Spain if you can imagine maountains in the 2 - 4000 foot range in height everywhere. There can't be much rain there as the only greenery we saw was where there was irrigation. The hillsides are covered with olive trees, all set out in straight lines and all looking very parched.
spending 4 days in London I flew into Malaga airport, picked up a rental car, found the resort and did some exploring, I completely crashed that night, it was almost like switches that kept my body going had turned themselves off. Its something I am not used to. I had exchanged my time share at Fun Royale for a unit in Calahonda that slept 6. Two bedrooms and a living room with a sofa bed. The first night we were there I told the girls I had to have the room with the queen size bed, even though I was by myself as I had to have a good sleep. I really liked our unit at the Crown Resort in Calahonda, it was the first exchange I had made with our timeshare and it went very smoothly. We were on the 4th floor of a terraced building with a beautiful view over the Mediterranean sea from 2 balconies. It was nice to eat meals outdoors in such a lovely setting.
There is a lot of stress involved in a persons first trip to Europe in trying to adapt and understand how countries operate when what is normal to you is a place like PEI. I found the driving to be a nightmare with the roundabouts in heavy traffic, the lack of signage and the congestion of very narrow streets. There was 2 way streets that only had room for a single lane of traffic. You had to watch at the intersections and try and look down them to see if they were clear before you proceeded. I saw cars parked in the oddest places, including the sidewalks. I don't think I would rent a car again unless it had a GPS navigation system. And I wouldn't rent a car in England under any circumstances as I would instantly kill someone.
What a change from living on the farm in Saskatchewan when a trip to North battleford was a big adventure, living with no running water, dirt roads, outdoor plumbing, house miles apart to finding myself in a luxury apartment with 2 bathrooms and balconies overlooking the Mediterranean sea in the south of Spain.
But when I look back, it probably would have tired out a younger person. Left Palmers Lodge (where I was staying in London) at 6 am to catch the subway from Swiss Cottage station down to Victoria Station, then the train to Gatwick airport for an 11 am flight. Stood in a line for about an hour at Gatwick before making it to the boarding gate. Then a bus out to the plane, and a two hour flight to Spain.
I am getting used to being physically tired but not to the extent that I have started to experience. I think I push myself to much in short spurts and haven't yet adopted a structured regimen to build up endurance and strength on a regulated daily basis.
I am glad I went to Europe though and didn't put it off any longer as I can see that if I don't see and do the things I want to over the next few years I will probably never do them at all. The
experience of seeing architecture dating back a thousand years is pretty awe inspiring and humbling. We had visited Marbella and Malaga and toured the downtown and waterfront areas, I have never seen a city I loved as much at first glance as Marbella. The waterfront promenade and beach area right in the middle of a city is so beautiful it makes you feel like you could spend the rest of your life just sitting and watching the world go by. The downtown borders on a beautiful beach, then there is a boardwalk made of marble that extends along the waterfront that is about 10 feet above the beaches. The boardwalk is about 75 feet wide with beautiful landscaping and benches. On the other side of the boardwalk single story shops and restaurants front it and there is a constant flow of people walking and eating, talking and enjoying paradise. Behind the first row of shops there is a service road and then 7-8 story apartments stretching for miles, all with balconies overlooking the beach area and behind the city are beautiful mountains. Then behind the apartments is the commercial area of the city, it is the perfect layout. I could easily see how a person could spend a lot of time there. There would be no reason to go anywhere else.We attended a bullfight on the Sunday afternoon in Marbella. It was an amazing spectacle that was well worth seeing. I had wondered for years how I would react and enjoyed the whole thing. I hadn't expected it to be so well orchestrated even though I had read Hemingways account in Death in the Afternoon. The music from the orchestra sets the tone as it starts with a well known piece to introduce the bull, which charges into the ring. I was not
prepared for the ferocity of the animals. We were close enough to see the faces of the bulls and I could follow what was going through their minds. When they first enter the ring they focus on one of the attendants who is waving his cape and you can see the bull thinking, hooray someone to kill, wow am I ever lucky, then they look around and see the other 2 attendants and you can see the joy on the bulls face. The bull thinks, not just one person to kill but three, life doesn't get any better than this, and then he proceeds attempt to carry out his plan. I now understand an article that was in the program about the Spanish fighting bull. It gave the history of the breeding programs and of the bullfight and then mentioned something I had never thought of. There has been a movement afoot for years to shut down the bull rings and stop the fights. But it said that if this were to occur it was bring about the extinction of the species as there is no purpose for these animals except to fight. They are not beef animals and are far to dangerous to ever allow them to be in the proximity of people. Just like you can't stop a bird dog from hunting birds, a border collie from herding or a waterdog from swimming these bulls are so highly bred their nature is to fight anything that challenges them, its what they do, its all they do.The fight is so passionate and dangerous that no one feels sorry for the bull. As the fight progresses the music changes and grows more somber until it ends in a dirge as the bull is killed, but at least it is killed doing what it obviously loves to do.
Fortunately when we went into Malaga Erin and Stephen had spent a couple of days there before
we arrived so they knew the city. Erin had mapped out a parking garage that would have been impossible to find without local knowledge so the trip in was not the usual harrowing experience that is Spanish traffic. Downtown Malaga is built for people to enjoy life, no big stores, no traffic, just marble streets for pedestrians only, little shops and outdoor restaurants by the hundreds and thousands of people enjoying life at a relaxing pace. It followed the downtown European architectural tradition of ground level shops and 4 stories of apartments above, I could live like this. Not understanding how the city worked yet, I made a mistake as we were going to lunch. I saw a scarf in a store window and thought, I'll buy that after we eat, seemed like a reasonable pla
n. Except I hadn't counted on the Spanish timetable. Late to get up, open at 10, work until after lunch, then close everything down for 2 or 3 hours and open again at 4 and get ready for the evening shoppers and eaters and strollers who turn out by the thousands after 8 o'clock.After visiting Malaga in the morning we drove about an hour to the east where the caves of Nerja are located. This was a nice drive along the edge of the Sea with not as much traffic as there is on the other side of Malaga. One of the things I noticed was the number of house that were built on barren hilltops that were a long way off the road and from any neighbours. Most of these houses were quite large, probably better fit to the term Villa with pools and what must have been incredible views of the Mediterranean, and very private, don't know if I would like to live in one or not. I kind of regret that we didn't go right down into Nerja while we were there as when I took the time to read about the town ( after we were long gone it sounded very nice.) It is the location of what is known as "The Balcony of Europe" which is a walkway high above the sea where you can sit and watch the boats go by and just enjoy the views from a height. It also has great views of several beaches which are located just to the sides of the plateau. The countryside of Spain is very different than I had expected. The best word would probably be "brown", Spain is brown. If you have ever driven through the badlands of Alberta around Drumheller then you have seen the countryside of Spain if you can imagine maountains in the 2 - 4000 foot range in height everywhere. There can't be much rain there as the only greenery we saw was where there was irrigation. The hillsides are covered with olive trees, all set out in straight lines and all looking very parched.
When we got to the caves we arrived right a siesta time or whatever they call the midday break so we had a drinkl in a restaurant that had lovely views down to the sea. They had a seafood display on ice with namesattached to the various fish, one variety will never grace my plate no matter how good it tastes, it was so disgusting, it is called "rapee" and the picture is flattering, also known as monkfish. 
The caves are pretty incredible and aren't claustrophibic at all because they are so large. As we went through I commented to Justin that it would be incredible to take along a blaster and a CD with the opening to The Phantom of the Opera. As we moved through the caverns we came to a spot where it was set up with seats like in a theatre, I read that they actually have a concert series that takes place inside the caves featuring Symphony orchestras, That would have been the highlight of the whole trip had we timed our visit with a concert.
It was 2 hours to Granada from our place in Calahonda where I got my first eyeful of things majestic and undescribable. We parked by the bus terminal and took the Metro downtown where we got off near the Cathedral of the Incarnation. At first I didn't recognize it as a cathedral as the streets are so narrow you can't really get a good look at what is above you. We decided to have lunch at a tapas bar and low and behold they had paella on the menu which we all had. I went over and watched the cook get my plate which was doled out using a huge ladle from an equally large wok. The paella was incredible, small clams 
and crayfish still in their shells, saffron and tomato sauce and chunks of chicken thighs, what a feast. There is an online market where you can buy the pans that are used for making paella. As you can see from the photo some of these can get very large and are typically cooked over an open fire.
Across from the bar there were long tables set up alongside the cathedral wall, we discovered it was a combination spice maket and pharmacy with all the ingredients in large bags. They were all plants and spices with explanations about what the plants were good for. Apparently there is no malady known to man that cannot be cured from these bags. The market is squeezed along one side of a street that is only about 25 feet wide and fronts against the cathedral. All of the ingredients are from plants and some are ground up to a very fine powder. What also caught my attention was the bright colours of some of the spices with very vivid reds and greens that looked more like
dye than medicine. As we made our way around we eventually arrived at a small square where you could back up far enough to see the outer facade up to the top of the cathedral. It absolutely takes your breath away. It was designed in 1529 and took 181 years to build, the front is 260 feet high with huge granite blocks that seem to rise up to the sky. A fitting resting place for the bones of Queen Isabella and King Phillip 11 of Spain. Inside there are about 75 immense columns of white polished granite that must be 100 feet high that hold up the huge arches of the roof. I can't even imagine how they built it. What is even more amazing is that compared to St Pauls Cathedral in London this building doesn't even come close.
and crayfish still in their shells, saffron and tomato sauce and chunks of chicken thighs, what a feast. There is an online market where you can buy the pans that are used for making paella. As you can see from the photo some of these can get very large and are typically cooked over an open fire.Across from the bar there were long tables set up alongside the cathedral wall, we discovered it was a combination spice maket and pharmacy with all the ingredients in large bags. They were all plants and spices with explanations about what the plants were good for. Apparently there is no malady known to man that cannot be cured from these bags. The market is squeezed along one side of a street that is only about 25 feet wide and fronts against the cathedral. All of the ingredients are from plants and some are ground up to a very fine powder. What also caught my attention was the bright colours of some of the spices with very vivid reds and greens that looked more like
dye than medicine. As we made our way around we eventually arrived at a small square where you could back up far enough to see the outer facade up to the top of the cathedral. It absolutely takes your breath away. It was designed in 1529 and took 181 years to build, the front is 260 feet high with huge granite blocks that seem to rise up to the sky. A fitting resting place for the bones of Queen Isabella and King Phillip 11 of Spain. Inside there are about 75 immense columns of white polished granite that must be 100 feet high that hold up the huge arches of the roof. I can't even imagine how they built it. What is even more amazing is that compared to St Pauls Cathedral in London this building doesn't even come close.A local gypsy learned a lesson about one particular tourist from Canada called Stephen. Don't try and con him into letting you tell his fortune by handing him a sprig of Rosemary, which is how they get you. If you accept the sprig they will begin telling your fortune and demand money from you. Stephen told them NOOOOOOOOO!!!!
After lunch we made our way up the Alhambra, and I mean way, way up, to the top of a hill that dominates the centre of the city. It was an exhausting hike on a very hot day. Now here is some advice, when you follow the trail from downtown it doesn't take you to the ticket booth, its located down the hill on the other side. Don't try and follow the obvious way from the top of the hill to pick up your ticket because when you get in sight of the booth they won't let you through, you have to walk back up to the top then around to the side of the hill to a path that takes you to the booth. It would have been so easy if they had put up a sign. The site is worth the walk but the administration of the place is terrible, the attitude of staff approximates that of Romenesque waiters. The Alhambra consists of three separate attractions, the Alcazar, which is a big fort or garrison, I climbed to the top and it is scary but what a view. On the one side the white village part of the city which consists of the typical white homes, and on the other a magnificent view of the city and the valley and plains which stretch out into the distance. King Phillips palace which was constructed after the Moors were driven from Spain and purposefully built so that it overshadows the Sultans palace, and finally the Sultans palace which is the main attraction. There is no point in trying to describe the undescribable so I won't even try, if anyone ever reads this look up all 3 on Google images.
After 4 days of exhausting sightseeing the next 3 days were spent relaxing around the pool at the resort which I desperately needed. We went to supper one night in the restaurant on the first floor of our resort and they had Karaoke. Erin and Clancey of course were able to perform at a high level and did a great job. We discovered that if Justin, Stephen and Jim consume enough alcohol they transform into the three tenors and lose all of there natural shyness about belting out a tune in public. Stephen and I hid behind the singing talents of the girls and participated in duets but Justin let them all know he was the King of the karaoke world as he laid the Toby Keith classic on them " I Love This Bar " one of the guests tried to remove her panties and throw them at him but her wheelchair got in the way so her caregiver took her back to her room. The other thing we experienced at this restaurant was a night of "Flamenco". I wasn't overly excited about going , thinking that it would just be another evening distraction to fill an hour or so. Was I ever wrong, besides seeing a bullfight, the other mandatory thing that must be done to really experience Spain is to attend a Flamenco show. It is done with such energy and passion that you are swept along with the perfomers as they weave their story through both song and dance. It was only a small show we saw with 2 mature dancers and a young m
an as the third. They danced with conviction and intensity, Justin interpreted it as a tale of a woman torn between an old and a young lover and I think he may have been right. Now I would like to see a large show with many dancers and musicians as I know it would be quite a treat.
After lunch we made our way up the Alhambra, and I mean way, way up, to the top of a hill that dominates the centre of the city. It was an exhausting hike on a very hot day. Now here is some advice, when you follow the trail from downtown it doesn't take you to the ticket booth, its located down the hill on the other side. Don't try and follow the obvious way from the top of the hill to pick up your ticket because when you get in sight of the booth they won't let you through, you have to walk back up to the top then around to the side of the hill to a path that takes you to the booth. It would have been so easy if they had put up a sign. The site is worth the walk but the administration of the place is terrible, the attitude of staff approximates that of Romenesque waiters. The Alhambra consists of three separate attractions, the Alcazar, which is a big fort or garrison, I climbed to the top and it is scary but what a view. On the one side the white village part of the city which consists of the typical white homes, and on the other a magnificent view of the city and the valley and plains which stretch out into the distance. King Phillips palace which was constructed after the Moors were driven from Spain and purposefully built so that it overshadows the Sultans palace, and finally the Sultans palace which is the main attraction. There is no point in trying to describe the undescribable so I won't even try, if anyone ever reads this look up all 3 on Google images.
After 4 days of exhausting sightseeing the next 3 days were spent relaxing around the pool at the resort which I desperately needed. We went to supper one night in the restaurant on the first floor of our resort and they had Karaoke. Erin and Clancey of course were able to perform at a high level and did a great job. We discovered that if Justin, Stephen and Jim consume enough alcohol they transform into the three tenors and lose all of there natural shyness about belting out a tune in public. Stephen and I hid behind the singing talents of the girls and participated in duets but Justin let them all know he was the King of the karaoke world as he laid the Toby Keith classic on them " I Love This Bar " one of the guests tried to remove her panties and throw them at him but her wheelchair got in the way so her caregiver took her back to her room. The other thing we experienced at this restaurant was a night of "Flamenco". I wasn't overly excited about going , thinking that it would just be another evening distraction to fill an hour or so. Was I ever wrong, besides seeing a bullfight, the other mandatory thing that must be done to really experience Spain is to attend a Flamenco show. It is done with such energy and passion that you are swept along with the perfomers as they weave their story through both song and dance. It was only a small show we saw with 2 mature dancers and a young m
an as the third. They danced with conviction and intensity, Justin interpreted it as a tale of a woman torn between an old and a young lover and I think he may have been right. Now I would like to see a large show with many dancers and musicians as I know it would be quite a treat.I took Erin and Stephen to the airport on Wednesday for their flight back to London. I got lost in Torremolinos coming back to the resort and spent an hour trying to find my 
way back to the A7 highway which was just up the hill but impossible to get to, finally by sheer luck I located a turn off and found it. But this time I was pretty stressed and almost got myself killed a few miles up the highway. The coastal road divides about a mile from where I entered with a two lane highway suddenly turning into 5 lanes. Sounds pretty simple except that the lane that I was in and that went to the left would take you to the AP7 toll highway and the 3 new lanes that branched to the right changed to the A7. When I realized what was happening I ended up caught between the highway to the left and the other which left me stranded in the middle of an expressway with the nose of the car against a concrete meridian and cars flying by at 120 kilometres on both sides. What made it worse was this divide happened just after you came over a hill so I couldn't see if a
car was coming on my right until they cleared the hill which was so close that they would barely have time to stop when I pulled out to get back iinto the traffic flow. After 3 or 4 minutes of cars speeding by with their horns blaring at me at me I realized I would have to chance it as the traffic was so heavy, I had to back up to position myself for a run at the fast lane which only increased the pointing fingers and horn blowing. Finally it seemed clear so with pedal to the metal and with a peel of tires which would have done a teenage boy proud the black Peugeot laid rubber and I left pit row and made my return to Daytona. On Friday I took Clancey and Justin to the airport catch a flight to Rome, and decided I would try and find where I would have to return the car to on Saturday when I would be headed off to Paris. Have I mentioned that I hate roundabouts in these congested places. Unless you know where you are going they are very difficult to navigate, not to bad if you have someone to watch for signs because really all the driver can do is try not to hit the cars that are on both sides of you. The car rental place had a map in the car which described where their offices were but alas it just didn't make much sense to me. What showed on the map just didn't add up. So I set out, carefully avoiding getting onto the road to Torremolinos. It seemed that my turnoff was at a round about but after spinning around it a couple of times I just couldn't find what appeared to be an exit so in desperation I hit the panic button. I stopped in the middle of the roundabout and took out my map, as cries of El Stupido drifted from open windows and the sounds of screeching brakes filled the air I studied the map. Finally I determined that a dirt trail that seemed to branch off might be the rainbow I was looking for so I worked my way up to speed whirling around the circle and inching my way to the outside lane until I was able to exit. And after a while of trial and error I located the car rental building and the next morning was able to return the car without incident.
I would recommend Vueling Airlines to anyone, they ran a tight ship and got me into Paris right on time. Charles De Gaulle airport is another adventure and they have a particularly unique way of delivering confusion to the first time arrival. Normally things are numbered in sequence 1, 2, 3
but not the French, for some reason the terminals are laid out 1,3,2 and I cautiously followed the pack through underground corridors and shuttle trains until I located Terminale 3. I had some instructions to catch a specific RBR train to the Chatelet des Halles subway station, a few trains went by but nothing with the number I was looking for. Finally I asked what appeared to be a seasoned traveller who told me all the trains went to the same place so I jumped on the next one that came along thinking that the worst case scenarion would be catching another train back, but things worked out.
I got to my Hotel around 3 pm after spending 30 minutes looking for it and never being more than 200 yards from the entrance and on occaision within 20 feet. Finally I asked a gendarme
who pointed to an 4 foot wide alley about 50 feet away. Websites can be deceiving and the Hotel de la Vallee has one of these. It never shows a picture of the Hotel from the outside and the main page has a smiling picture of a casually dressed decked out in a white shirt and blue blazer, creates a nice warm feeling. What a place, the entranceway has a faded sign on a wall announcing to the world that you have arrived at a hotel, but omitted the part that tells you which one. That was left to some letters on a tattered awning displaying the words Hotel de Vallee. The doorman was indeed there, but his uniform had been replaced by a t-shirt and found when you made your way up a dark winding staircase to the second story where a room about the size of a bathroom served as the check in. My room
was on the 5th floor was about 16 feet long and so narrow I could reach out and touch both walls. The room had a sink and of all things a bidet in it along with a 12" television a desk and a close closet. There were only 3 bathrooms to serve the 40 rooms and they were located between floors off the side of the winding staircase which were barely wide enough to pass someone on. The Hotel turned out to be adequate and was well run, I was initially concerned that it was a flophouse for whores and their clients but it turned out it was simply a 1 star hotel catering to people just like me who were travelling on a budget. If you wanted a shower I think the fee was 2.5 Euros and you got a key from the desk. It was truly a scary place. The first thing I did was come up with a fire escape plan because if there was ever a fire there was no chance of ever getting out. It was rather ingenius as I devised how I could rip a sheet into strips, tie them together and then by looping them around the iron bar that ran across the front of each room I would be able to work my way down 1 floor at a time to the street and my neighbourhood. And what a neighbourhood it was. Directly across a 20 foot wide street from the entrance was a door with a flashing neon sign above letting you know you were at SEXY PARIS and a poster on the door saying DVD's, giant projection screen and private booths. On one side there was a lebanese style restaurant with a giant hunk of Shwarma (meat) on a rotisserie and a display case full of 
giant hotdogs smothered with cheese. I noticed these hotdogs in a lot of street hawker stands and when I bought one I discovered that what they did was lay two hot dogs end to end and then fill the piece of French bread they came in with melted cheese.
way back to the A7 highway which was just up the hill but impossible to get to, finally by sheer luck I located a turn off and found it. But this time I was pretty stressed and almost got myself killed a few miles up the highway. The coastal road divides about a mile from where I entered with a two lane highway suddenly turning into 5 lanes. Sounds pretty simple except that the lane that I was in and that went to the left would take you to the AP7 toll highway and the 3 new lanes that branched to the right changed to the A7. When I realized what was happening I ended up caught between the highway to the left and the other which left me stranded in the middle of an expressway with the nose of the car against a concrete meridian and cars flying by at 120 kilometres on both sides. What made it worse was this divide happened just after you came over a hill so I couldn't see if a
car was coming on my right until they cleared the hill which was so close that they would barely have time to stop when I pulled out to get back iinto the traffic flow. After 3 or 4 minutes of cars speeding by with their horns blaring at me at me I realized I would have to chance it as the traffic was so heavy, I had to back up to position myself for a run at the fast lane which only increased the pointing fingers and horn blowing. Finally it seemed clear so with pedal to the metal and with a peel of tires which would have done a teenage boy proud the black Peugeot laid rubber and I left pit row and made my return to Daytona. On Friday I took Clancey and Justin to the airport catch a flight to Rome, and decided I would try and find where I would have to return the car to on Saturday when I would be headed off to Paris. Have I mentioned that I hate roundabouts in these congested places. Unless you know where you are going they are very difficult to navigate, not to bad if you have someone to watch for signs because really all the driver can do is try not to hit the cars that are on both sides of you. The car rental place had a map in the car which described where their offices were but alas it just didn't make much sense to me. What showed on the map just didn't add up. So I set out, carefully avoiding getting onto the road to Torremolinos. It seemed that my turnoff was at a round about but after spinning around it a couple of times I just couldn't find what appeared to be an exit so in desperation I hit the panic button. I stopped in the middle of the roundabout and took out my map, as cries of El Stupido drifted from open windows and the sounds of screeching brakes filled the air I studied the map. Finally I determined that a dirt trail that seemed to branch off might be the rainbow I was looking for so I worked my way up to speed whirling around the circle and inching my way to the outside lane until I was able to exit. And after a while of trial and error I located the car rental building and the next morning was able to return the car without incident.I would recommend Vueling Airlines to anyone, they ran a tight ship and got me into Paris right on time. Charles De Gaulle airport is another adventure and they have a particularly unique way of delivering confusion to the first time arrival. Normally things are numbered in sequence 1, 2, 3
but not the French, for some reason the terminals are laid out 1,3,2 and I cautiously followed the pack through underground corridors and shuttle trains until I located Terminale 3. I had some instructions to catch a specific RBR train to the Chatelet des Halles subway station, a few trains went by but nothing with the number I was looking for. Finally I asked what appeared to be a seasoned traveller who told me all the trains went to the same place so I jumped on the next one that came along thinking that the worst case scenarion would be catching another train back, but things worked out.I got to my Hotel around 3 pm after spending 30 minutes looking for it and never being more than 200 yards from the entrance and on occaision within 20 feet. Finally I asked a gendarme
who pointed to an 4 foot wide alley about 50 feet away. Websites can be deceiving and the Hotel de la Vallee has one of these. It never shows a picture of the Hotel from the outside and the main page has a smiling picture of a casually dressed decked out in a white shirt and blue blazer, creates a nice warm feeling. What a place, the entranceway has a faded sign on a wall announcing to the world that you have arrived at a hotel, but omitted the part that tells you which one. That was left to some letters on a tattered awning displaying the words Hotel de Vallee. The doorman was indeed there, but his uniform had been replaced by a t-shirt and found when you made your way up a dark winding staircase to the second story where a room about the size of a bathroom served as the check in. My room
was on the 5th floor was about 16 feet long and so narrow I could reach out and touch both walls. The room had a sink and of all things a bidet in it along with a 12" television a desk and a close closet. There were only 3 bathrooms to serve the 40 rooms and they were located between floors off the side of the winding staircase which were barely wide enough to pass someone on. The Hotel turned out to be adequate and was well run, I was initially concerned that it was a flophouse for whores and their clients but it turned out it was simply a 1 star hotel catering to people just like me who were travelling on a budget. If you wanted a shower I think the fee was 2.5 Euros and you got a key from the desk. It was truly a scary place. The first thing I did was come up with a fire escape plan because if there was ever a fire there was no chance of ever getting out. It was rather ingenius as I devised how I could rip a sheet into strips, tie them together and then by looping them around the iron bar that ran across the front of each room I would be able to work my way down 1 floor at a time to the street and my neighbourhood. And what a neighbourhood it was. Directly across a 20 foot wide street from the entrance was a door with a flashing neon sign above letting you know you were at SEXY PARIS and a poster on the door saying DVD's, giant projection screen and private booths. On one side there was a lebanese style restaurant with a giant hunk of Shwarma (meat) on a rotisserie and a display case full of 
giant hotdogs smothered with cheese. I noticed these hotdogs in a lot of street hawker stands and when I bought one I discovered that what they did was lay two hot dogs end to end and then fill the piece of French bread they came in with melted cheese.On the other side another "gentlemens" establishment but with an added feature, a large picture of a scantily clad asian girl with the tag "Come in for A Thailandese massage", guaranteed to completion, whatever that means I will leave to your imagination.
Around this swirled the pandemonium that is Paris on a warm Saturday afternoon. There are so many people, that the Boulevard de Sebastapol which is a major street was blocked off for pedestrian traffic only. Many of the other streets are for walking only and were shoulder to shoulder humanity, this is only a guess but I think there are more restaurants in Paris than anywhere else on the planet. And all full of people sitting on the sidewalks at bistro tables sipping coffee or wine. and this goes on until late at night. These European cities must be wonderful places to live when you are young, the architecture is such that the streets are lined with marvellous old buildings that are all 5 stories high. The bottom level is shops, restaurants and
the 4 stories above are all apartments, so there is a huge downtown population which makes the city very vibrant. Amid all of these incredible restaurants I discovered the most incredible of all, in fact it was so incredible there was a continual lineup that spilled out through the doors into the street, it was called Kentucky Fried Chicken. There was such a collection of restaurants that I hardly ate anything the first two days because I couldn't decide where to eat, I became like a zombie walking around reading the menus posted outside and being afraid I would make the wrong choice.
Around this swirled the pandemonium that is Paris on a warm Saturday afternoon. There are so many people, that the Boulevard de Sebastapol which is a major street was blocked off for pedestrian traffic only. Many of the other streets are for walking only and were shoulder to shoulder humanity, this is only a guess but I think there are more restaurants in Paris than anywhere else on the planet. And all full of people sitting on the sidewalks at bistro tables sipping coffee or wine. and this goes on until late at night. These European cities must be wonderful places to live when you are young, the architecture is such that the streets are lined with marvellous old buildings that are all 5 stories high. The bottom level is shops, restaurants and
the 4 stories above are all apartments, so there is a huge downtown population which makes the city very vibrant. Amid all of these incredible restaurants I discovered the most incredible of all, in fact it was so incredible there was a continual lineup that spilled out through the doors into the street, it was called Kentucky Fried Chicken. There was such a collection of restaurants that I hardly ate anything the first two days because I couldn't decide where to eat, I became like a zombie walking around reading the menus posted outside and being afraid I would make the wrong choice.I spent 14 hours over the next 2 days just walking in downtown Paris, its no wonder I lost 12 pounds and slept like a baby each night. Back to London after 4 days of experiencing the most incredible sights, The Arc de Triomphe is the crown jewel of Paris, just a bit ahead of Notre Dame, The Church of the Madeleine, The Champs d'Elysee, The Louvre and Sacre Couer Cathedral. I was lucky enough to arrive at Notre Dame as a service was going on so spent some time just sitting and reflecting. It is an amazing place and it
was awe inspiring to sit and listen to the incantations and songs delivered by some chanters in latin, all very mysterious. I hadn't realized that Notre Dame is actually on an island that is formed by the river Seine branching into 2 forks which join up again about a half mile downstream. The oldest structures in Paris are found here as this is where the original settlements were. One of the interesting things pointed out to me was the narrowest house in Paris which is squeezed between two large buildings and is about 12 feet wide and 4 stories high.
was awe inspiring to sit and listen to the incantations and songs delivered by some chanters in latin, all very mysterious. I hadn't realized that Notre Dame is actually on an island that is formed by the river Seine branching into 2 forks which join up again about a half mile downstream. The oldest structures in Paris are found here as this is where the original settlements were. One of the interesting things pointed out to me was the narrowest house in Paris which is squeezed between two large buildings and is about 12 feet wide and 4 stories high.I decided to walk from my hotel past the Louvre and all the way up to the Arc de Triumphe along the Champs de Elysee and what a walk. The Louvre is U shaped and each of the sides is a
bout a half mile long with a huge square in the middle, this is where the glass pyramid is located. I wasn't impressed by this but I was by the fountains that surround it, I took a picture of one of them and used one of the the enranceways to the Louvre as a backdrop. What I found interesting was that the way the water shot up and folded back on itself created a mound of white water, very pretty. The square is comprised of a white dust that marks your shoes, I noticed that you could tell anyone who had recently been there. There is a huge arch erected by Napoleon with a sculpture of 4 horses and a chariot driver on the top that proclaims the glory of France and how they conquer their enemies. As you read the inscription it makes you realize how pompous we are as human beings in our own surroundings and in our own time.
bout a half mile long with a huge square in the middle, this is where the glass pyramid is located. I wasn't impressed by this but I was by the fountains that surround it, I took a picture of one of them and used one of the the enranceways to the Louvre as a backdrop. What I found interesting was that the way the water shot up and folded back on itself created a mound of white water, very pretty. The square is comprised of a white dust that marks your shoes, I noticed that you could tell anyone who had recently been there. There is a huge arch erected by Napoleon with a sculpture of 4 horses and a chariot driver on the top that proclaims the glory of France and how they conquer their enemies. As you read the inscription it makes you realize how pompous we are as human beings in our own surroundings and in our own time.As you leave the first of the squares you come to a giant granite obelisk known as the Obelisk of 
Luxor in the middle of a roundabout. There is lots of information there and tells you that it was a gift from Egypt and is pretty impressive. There are hyroglyphics on it from 3300 years ago and it tells the story of Rameses 11. But what is interesting is that it also contains the engineering required to erect it once it was received in Paris. When it was put in place a crowd of 200,000 people showed up to watch. The story goes that they couldn't quite get it up as a mistake was made in the placing of the winches, but it was so close that a seaman told the engineers to wet the ropes and when they dried they would shrink thats what happened and it produced the extra couple of inches that were needed for it to slide into place. I spent about a half hour there because it is an intersection of 4 streets each with magnificent architecture extending down each of them. One towards the summer palace, one back to the Louvre, one up to the Arc de Triumphe and one towards the Royal palace. As I was sitting reading my guidebook I discovered that the obelisk was erected on the site of where the guillotine was erected during the French Revolution, where Marie Antoinette was executed and where about 60,000 members of the aristocracy bid goodbye to their heads. I wonder how many people who whiz around the 9 lane wide roundabout at this location realize this. Gave me the same sense of history as I experienced while visiting the Alhambra.
Luxor in the middle of a roundabout. There is lots of information there and tells you that it was a gift from Egypt and is pretty impressive. There are hyroglyphics on it from 3300 years ago and it tells the story of Rameses 11. But what is interesting is that it also contains the engineering required to erect it once it was received in Paris. When it was put in place a crowd of 200,000 people showed up to watch. The story goes that they couldn't quite get it up as a mistake was made in the placing of the winches, but it was so close that a seaman told the engineers to wet the ropes and when they dried they would shrink thats what happened and it produced the extra couple of inches that were needed for it to slide into place. I spent about a half hour there because it is an intersection of 4 streets each with magnificent architecture extending down each of them. One towards the summer palace, one back to the Louvre, one up to the Arc de Triumphe and one towards the Royal palace. As I was sitting reading my guidebook I discovered that the obelisk was erected on the site of where the guillotine was erected during the French Revolution, where Marie Antoinette was executed and where about 60,000 members of the aristocracy bid goodbye to their heads. I wonder how many people who whiz around the 9 lane wide roundabout at this location realize this. Gave me the same sense of history as I experienced while visiting the Alhambra. 
The second day I walked along here I took the side street towards what looked to me like the Acropolis in Athens, it turned out to be the Church of the Madeleine. It wasn't near as large in size as many of the other churches I had visited but was impressive because of the size of the huge columns which held up the roof. It somehow seemed out of proportion as the columns were to numerous and big for the size of the building. If you look closely at this picture you will see there is a second row of columns inside the first. It has nice big wide marble stairs leading up to it from the street below and these were filled with students taking art classes, there must have been a hundered of them all sitting quietly with their sketch pads and wondering if they had it in them to be the next Monet. On the corner before you get to this church is the Hotel Crillon and for about $1000.00 a night you can have a room about the size of childs bedroom. While I was passing by there was a commotion as about 25 papparazzi were whirling about a side entrance surrounded by a crowd of
several hundred people. I clued into the fact that someone of interest was coming out but I never saw anyone. I asked one of the groupies who was there, it turned out to be Lewis Hamilton, I asked who he was and somewhat disgustedly she told me about he was the famous English Formula 1 driver, who knew, we haven't had one of those races recently on PEI. I discovered by accident that behind the Hotel is Paris's most exclusive shopping district with names like Cartier, Dior, Boticelli, I looked around but didn't find anything I liked so after taking a tour of Maxim's I wiped the dust from my shoes and continued my stroll up the most famous street in the world, ending at the Arc de Triumph. In my humble opinion the Arc is the most impressive landmark in Paris. The size of the thing is incredible and the inscriptions at the base are very interesting. It is a memorial to all the soldiers who had fallen while serving France and it contains information about all of the major battles the French army had been engaged in.
several hundred people. I clued into the fact that someone of interest was coming out but I never saw anyone. I asked one of the groupies who was there, it turned out to be Lewis Hamilton, I asked who he was and somewhat disgustedly she told me about he was the famous English Formula 1 driver, who knew, we haven't had one of those races recently on PEI. I discovered by accident that behind the Hotel is Paris's most exclusive shopping district with names like Cartier, Dior, Boticelli, I looked around but didn't find anything I liked so after taking a tour of Maxim's I wiped the dust from my shoes and continued my stroll up the most famous street in the world, ending at the Arc de Triumph. In my humble opinion the Arc is the most impressive landmark in Paris. The size of the thing is incredible and the inscriptions at the base are very interesting. It is a memorial to all the soldiers who had fallen while serving France and it contains information about all of the major battles the French army had been engaged in.The walk is very pleasant as you move closer to the Arc de Triumph, with gardens on both sides and two large ponds about 500 yards apart on the walk. Each of the ponds is several hundred feet across with lovely fountains in the middles. But what impressed me most was that the ponds are surounded by chairs where you can simply sit and either watch the people passing by or just enjoying the ducks and the water shooting up into the air.
As I walked farther up the Champs de Elysee I was confronted by the "gold ring" scam twice and by a very pretty dark haired girl who was offering some companionship for the "first time" because of her bad circumstances. Let it be noted that I returned with neither a new ring or with "the clap".
The Sacre Couer cathedral in the Montmarte district is very beautiful, its kind of a French version of the Taj Mahal with Arabic overtones. The interesting thing about it is that worship 
takes place there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The catherdal is located high on a hill and when you reach the top it overlooks all of Paris. I can imagine that at night it would remind me of the view from Griffith park in Los Angeles. The climb to the top is broken by several flat vantage points where you can stop and either reat or enjoy the view. On one of the stops a man had set up with a big harp and I stayed a while and listened as he gave beautiful renditions of some well known hymns. It really set the mood ad I enjoyed it very much. On the way back down I stopped again and this time realized he was doing the Frank Sinatra song, "I did it my way", so much for the total spiritual experience" Paris is an amazing city, I found it clean (except for the smell coming from dark corners where people have stopped to pee) and the people very agreeable, easy to travel in and overwhelming in its sights and sounds.
At the Gare du Nord which is a main train station, 19 trains arrive and depart from there. Outside the main entrance there are lots of people who live on mattresses along the front wall under a big canopy, kind of shocking as was seeing people urinating in the streets against trees, or in corners
The Eurostar train from Paris to London in 2 hours under the English Channel was a neat
experience. I think when I visit again instead of flying from London to Paris I would take the train. It is so smooth you lose the feeling of great speed, it wasn't until we pulled alongside a major highway with traffic going the same way as we were, probably moving at about 120 kph and we were passing the vehicles like they were standing still. A word of advice to anyone travelling, visit London first, then carry on to the other countries, London seems small and worn out compared to the other places I visited and except for St Pauls Cathedral and Anglo saxon history it can be passed by.
A few more uneventful days in London and then home. Can't wait to go back on a more extended timeframe with more days set aside for relaxation. I purposefully did not visit some major attractions in Paris like the Opera house, the Moulin Rouge where I would like to take in a show and of course Versailles.
takes place there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The catherdal is located high on a hill and when you reach the top it overlooks all of Paris. I can imagine that at night it would remind me of the view from Griffith park in Los Angeles. The climb to the top is broken by several flat vantage points where you can stop and either reat or enjoy the view. On one of the stops a man had set up with a big harp and I stayed a while and listened as he gave beautiful renditions of some well known hymns. It really set the mood ad I enjoyed it very much. On the way back down I stopped again and this time realized he was doing the Frank Sinatra song, "I did it my way", so much for the total spiritual experience" Paris is an amazing city, I found it clean (except for the smell coming from dark corners where people have stopped to pee) and the people very agreeable, easy to travel in and overwhelming in its sights and sounds.At the Gare du Nord which is a main train station, 19 trains arrive and depart from there. Outside the main entrance there are lots of people who live on mattresses along the front wall under a big canopy, kind of shocking as was seeing people urinating in the streets against trees, or in corners
The Eurostar train from Paris to London in 2 hours under the English Channel was a neat
experience. I think when I visit again instead of flying from London to Paris I would take the train. It is so smooth you lose the feeling of great speed, it wasn't until we pulled alongside a major highway with traffic going the same way as we were, probably moving at about 120 kph and we were passing the vehicles like they were standing still. A word of advice to anyone travelling, visit London first, then carry on to the other countries, London seems small and worn out compared to the other places I visited and except for St Pauls Cathedral and Anglo saxon history it can be passed by.A few more uneventful days in London and then home. Can't wait to go back on a more extended timeframe with more days set aside for relaxation. I purposefully did not visit some major attractions in Paris like the Opera house, the Moulin Rouge where I would like to take in a show and of course Versailles.
At the end of the day it was a very worthwhile experience, now when I am watching a travel show about one of places I visited I can relate to it because I have been there and I saw those wonderful things and when i fall asleep at night my head can be filled with visions of magnificent things have to be experienced because they can't be imagined.
posted by binderpilot @ 2:26 PM
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