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pscossette

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The Cossette Family Sabbatical

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Day 26

Saint-Emilion, France

We did awake from what little sleep we did have in a new country with a new language. We switched trains just over the border as now we were in the French train system. There is little or no cooperation between French and Spanish transit. We arrived in Bordeaux at about 10:30, exhausted. We thought we might explore the town, but had just enough energy to find a lunch spot and eat. A glass of Rose and a nice little French meal with really great bread and we were ready to head to St-Emilion in the heart of fine wine country and our next hotel. The drive is really quite pretty with vineyards on every bit of available land the closer we got to St-Emilion. With some wines in the area selling for over 1000 Euro a bottle, you can see why.

Our hotel was a renovated Chateau just outside town with beautiful ground, a pool, and grape vines up to our patio. We got settled in and went to town to feed Mark, who didn’t want to eat at the fancy hotel restaurant. St-Emilion is a very old town built on the side of a large hill. It is filled with wine shops offering tasting of fine Bordeaux wines and restaurants. Mark was picky though and we found him a cheese pizza, what a waste. Paul and I went back to the hotel and had a very nice dinner outside at the hotel, overlooking a large yard and the vineyards. The chef did and excellent job of surprising us with new taste combinations. The red pepper sorbet was really memorable. SKC


permalink written by  pscossette on July 13, 2007 from Saint-Emilion, France
from the travel blog: The Cossette Family Sabbatical
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Day 25

Madrid, Spain

Our last day in Madrid and Spain for that matter. Mark wanted to go to two museums today, the Archeological and Navel museums. We started at the Archeology museum which was filled with ancient artifacts and art. Lot’s of mummies, skulls, and old art and pottery. The Roman mosaics were very cool. Our hotel room was also decorated with 3rd century Roman Mosaics.

We then had a nice lunch on Passeo de Recoletos, a wide treed area with side walk cafes where Spain’s famous authors often meet to talk. There was an artist painting our lunch scene. We didn’t stay to see the finished painting. Next to the Navel museum that was unfortunately closed so we went back to the Park again as Mark had no interest in going to the Prada, the last big art museum on our to-do list. Paul and I took turns going to the Prada while the other watched Mark in the park. There was an artist painting pictures with spray paint in the park that had Mark captivated. He would paint very elaborate scenes on a paper in about 5 minutes. Then right on to the next one. He would get about six done and take a break to sell them. Then he would repeat the whole process.

The Prada was filled with whole galleries of masterpieces rather than one or two famous works mixed with lesser known artists. It was quite amazing even though renaissance art isn’t my favorite.

We went back to our favorite Tapas bar for one last time for dinner and then to the train station for our overnight train to Bordeaux. We were in a sleeper car with 6 berths. The other three were filled with young English speaking men about John’s age. They were very nice and didn’t complain about Suzy’s snoring. It was really hot in the train and the kids partied in the hall for quite awhile into the night so we did not get much sleep, other than Mark who can sleep through anything. SKC



permalink written by  pscossette on July 12, 2007 from Madrid, Spain
from the travel blog: The Cossette Family Sabbatical
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Day 24

Madrid, Spain

Today is Holy Toledo day. We were up and going by 8:00 today, which is very early for us lately, so we could catch the train to Toledo. This was the Capital of Spain until 1561 when King Phillip II moved his court to Madrid. Toledo sits in the middle of the Iberian Peninsula so was a trade route for every power and religion in history. There is still a very strong Christian, Jewish, and Muslim presence here. The town is a historical shrine so the walled portion of the city is maintained as it has been for hundreds of years, other than the hundreds of tourist trap stores selling medieval weaponry. Mark as you can imagine was in heaven. Toledo is also well known for its metal work. The knives are some of the best in the world and the decorative metal plates with inlaid gold and bronze are everywhere. Mark made it his quest to find the perfect toy catapult. Paul and I quested after the perfect lunch. No surprise there.

Before lunch or any purchase we visited the most elaborate Cathedral in Spain. It contains so much famous art work including El Greco, Rubens, Goya, and Velázquez masterpieces. This is the real reason one should travel to Toledo, a most definite do not miss. El Greco who was born in Greece and trained in Italy said, while in Italy, that he would have done a much better job than Michelangelo on the Sistine chapel as that Michelangelo is a nice guy, but not a very good painter. He was then banished to Spain. He did leave some beautiful artwork in Toledo. We went in search of one of his most famous works next in a nearby chapel, Santo Tome’, The Burial of the
Count of Orgaz. This is another do not miss in Toledo.

Now we were ready for lunch at La Perdiz (the Partridge) where we had one of the best meals in Spain. Paul had the Partridge and Suzy the suckling pig, both of which were excellent, but the grilled goat cheese with caramelized onions was out of this world. This is one Suzy will be attempting to duplicate at home.

Full of good food and Toledo we caught a train back to Madrid 3 hours earlier than planned. The train station bears a mention. It was a beautiful tiled building in the Moorish tradition. The 30 minute ride back to Madrid wasn’t quite long enough for the nap we needed so we went back to the hotel to relax.

Paul was enjoying a nice glass of wine on the veranda when after a large noise noticed by Suzy, but not Paul, he says, “Where did the umbrella go?” We quickly located it on the next veranda. A call to the front desk required the manager to come to the room as we had a bit of a language barrier with the words flying umbrella. By the time he got there, the umbrella was on the roof. “Not Good”, were his words. Soon it was 6 stories below on the ground, thankfully not hitting any bystanders or vehicles. We were without an umbrella the rest of the stay.

After recovering, Paul and Suzy went to dinner and a Flamenco show at Taberna Casa Patas. Its nick name is the house of feet and that is very apt. The dancers have incredible energy and stamina to move so fast in such a small warm little room. They were literally wringing wet after each performance. SKC


permalink written by  pscossette on July 11, 2007 from Madrid, Spain
from the travel blog: The Cossette Family Sabbatical
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Day 23

Madrid, Spain

We have an appointment with Vincent Van Gough this morning. The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum has an exhibit of paintings from the last 90 days of Van Gough’s life, prior to his suicide. He had a very tortured soul, but the beautiful paintings of this period certainly didn’t show it. There was also an exhibit of Richard Este’s paintings, which is also one of our favorite contemporary artists so it was a real bonus. This was our favorite art museum so far and we have been in a lot of museums the last few weeks.

Our laundry we had asked the hotel to do was back in our room upon our return. The bill was 168 Euro. It was probably the most well pressed laundry we ever had or ever will have. I told Paul that it just showed how much I was worth back at home. He was skeptical about that as he hasn’t had pressed shirts since leaving home at age 18. Anyway, so much for the deal we had gotten on the room rate.

Paul needed a new watch battery and was going to get us train tickets for the next portion of the trip so he headed in one direction and Mark and I went to the Wax Museum. This was Marks choice, and it was a lot of history about Spain, but all in Spanish so I did not catch a good deal of it. (I would say that this is a miss of you are planning time in Madrid.)


permalink written by  pscossette on July 10, 2007 from Madrid, Spain
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Day 22

Madrid, Spain

We decided to get the lay of the land today so we hopped on Madrid Vision tourist bus in the nearby square. It really is a nice way to get your bearings and find out what all those statues on every few corners or squares are for. We felt the need for a coffee so hopped off in a very nice neighborhood near a park. After a bit of caffeine we walked through the park and explored a 400 BC Roman temple that had been given to Spain for help with some war or another. It was pretty amazing. The views over the valleys that spread out from Madrid were also very pretty. Madrid is at 2000ft, the highest city in Spain.

We hopped back on the bus for awhile and then a stop in Plaza del Sol for some more exploration and to get a treat for Mark. We found the perfect chocolate and churro spot. The hot chocolate here is more like a thin pudding, and the churros are nothing like Taco John’s. Imagine dipping a nice greasy donut into a warm pudding that hasn’t quite set yet. That is hot chocolate in Spain. We then walked to Plaza Mayor for a little lunch and back on the bus we went. Next stop was the Cento de Arte Reina Sofia to see Picasso’s Guernica. The painting is Picasso’s protest of Franco and his fascist government in Spain. It is Picasso’s view of what took place in Guernica when Franco allowed Hitler to test his bombs on the town. It was especially moving as Guernica is located very near San Sebastian.

Mark had been cooped up for quite awhile now so Paul took him back to Retiro Park to feed the fish in the pond and rent a row boat. Suzy went and relaxed on her veranda with a glass of wine. We all do what we have to do. Mark was filled with McDonalds and hooked to the internet for the evening so Suzy and Paul could find their new local Tapas bar just across the street. We had two drinks and 3 tapas in a very friendly and active bar for only 5 Euros. This became our home away form home for a couple days. Even Mark eventually found that he enjoyed this spot.


permalink written by  pscossette on July 9, 2007 from Madrid, Spain
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Day 21

Madrid, Spain

Paul got John off to the airport and home to Christmas Lake. We were going to miss him, but he thought he was ready to get back to America. Paul returned the car and we decided to give Madrid a second try since dinner had been nice the night before. We were not going to experience real Madrid from our current hotel so Paul booked us into the Villa Real near the Prada for 2 nights. Our room was fantastic. We had an upper and lower floor, two balconies that over looked the square and Spain’s Congress building. The area was filled with squares, restaurants, museums, and a very short walk to Madrid’s version of Central Park. Paul went and extended our stay to 4 nights. We relaxed in our room, went to the Park and relaxed some more while Mark explored, then off to the Sunday night Bull Fight.

The bull fighting is quite interesting and we are glad we have seen it once, but that is enough. This night was for the lesser known and less experienced matadors. They dressed with all the glamour of the famous matadors and there was great pomp and circumstance when they entered the ring. The first bull entered the ring and appeared to try to get back out again. I think he had some prior knowledge of what this was going to end like. First several matadors or helpers try to rile up the bull, then after a horn is sounded a horse and rider come out and tease the bull into attacking them. When the bull charges, he is poked in the back by a large spear. Next the Matador holds 2 picadors and attempts to stick them in the bull’s neck while being charged. This is repeated 3 times to loosen the neck muscles of the bull to hasten the kill at the end of the fight. Now the matador places his hat in the ring and does his one on one dance with the bull, trying not to get the horn. Finally, the matador places a sword in the bull’s neck that is meant to kill it quickly when removed. If that doesn’t do it, a dagger is used. Once the bull is dead he is hooked up to a couple of horses and dragged from the ring. We stayed for 3 bulls and as the skill of the matador improved, the suffering of the bull definitely lessened.


permalink written by  pscossette on July 8, 2007 from Madrid, Spain
from the travel blog: The Cossette Family Sabbatical
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Day 20

Pamplona, Spain

This should be a lucky day by the date. Is our luck good enough to run with the bulls? We shall see. Up way before dawn, the 5 of us packed into the car and set off for Pamplona. The route took us over some pretty tall mountains and through several tunnels. It was very foggy at some points so Paul was very much awake by the time we arrived in Pamplona. The sun still was not up, but the town was wide awake. Signs of a huge all night party were everywhere. The streets were filled with drunks and empty bottles and the not so faint odor of all that comes with that. We were to meet a guide to take us to a balcony to watch the festivities at a hotel near the center of town. We parked in the middle of the street behind a bunch of other cars doing the same and ran to the hotel where we amazingly found our guide right away. He was from Seattle, but now lives most of the time in Pamplona. He said it is a much nicer place in about a week.

We then joined a group of about 12 of us to head to our balconies. We were warned to stay close and hold on to our wallets and each other. Luckily there was a TV camera man following our group so we could see his camera above the crowd. Even so, we did get separated and almost squished a couple of times. The idea of being up on a balcony safe above the hoards seemed very attractive. We eventually reached our host apartment and were welcomed by two very nice ladies into a beautiful apartment above the throng. One of the members of our group did get his pocket picked of about $350 Euros on the way.

Our view was perfect. We were right where the first and second turns of the course were and watched the police clear the streets and the clean them before they started the running promptly at 8:00.

There was a police line holding back a throbbing mass of revelers all dressed in white with red scarves and sashes, most covered in wine stains. The firecrackers went off and the crowd was all running to find their spots along the street. A second set of firecrackers and the bulls came running around the first turn. The bulls appeared to be much less dangerous than the crowd of runners. In about 2 minutes it was all over, much like the Kentucky Derby. We then watched the highlights on TV and when the drunks had somewhat dispersed we ventured back onto the street.

We went and got our obligatory T-shirts and red scarves and sashes so we would be ready for next time or maybe just Halloween. Then 5 very sleepy people piled back into the car and headed to Valladalid to drop off Serina. We stopped for lunch in Burgos which was a very pretty town situated along a nice river.

Serina introduced us to her host Mother, who was very gracious and let us use here internet connection to book a hotel in Madrid for that night. John was going to leave early the next morning so we found a hotel near the airport to make things easy and set off for Madrid, about 2 hours away.

We followed our GPS to the hotel once we arrived in Madrid, for about another 2 hours. We circled the same spots, on ramps , off ramps (all of which seemed to be numbered the same) and decided at that point we would turn the car in and take taxis even though we had paid for a couple of more days. The wear and tear on our relationships and the loss of vacation bliss was not worth it. We did finally find the largest hotel in Europe, or at least it seemed that way, filled with tourists. We threw our stuff in our room and took a shuttle bus to the center of the city and had a very nice dinner just off the Plaza Mayor. Mark even thought the “chicken” was pretty good. It was really roast leg of lamb, but who’s telling. We then crashed into bed as the 7th of July had been a very very long day.


permalink written by  pscossette on July 7, 2007 from Pamplona, Spain
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Day 19

San Sebastian, Spain

The luggage arrived today!!! Now we don’t have to figure out how to get John new drugs. We awoke to a gorgeous day and spent the first half inside at the Science
Center. The kids really enjoyed the exhibits that were heavy on Physics. Lots of interaction, buttons to push, bells to ring, and flashing lights to keep them from wanting to go to the beach. We finally got them convinced to leave and headed to one of the two beautiful sand beaches in San Sebastian. Paul had challenged John to a race on the beach. He told him if he could beat him, John could run with the Bulls in Pamplona. John obliterated him (at least according to John), so he was feeling pretty good. Paul went for a 4 mile run on the beach, Mark dug a hole to China (or wherever a hole goes in Spain) and Suzy slept on the beach.

We got all cleaned up just in time to pick up Serina Albrecht at the train station. Serina is our neighbor who is doing a study abroad program in Valladalid Spain this summer. We retraced all our favorite spots with Serina, especially the Wind Combs. We then turned in early so that we could get up at 4:30 AM to get to Pamplona for the San Fermin festival. Yikes, that is EARLY!


permalink written by  pscossette on July 6, 2007 from San Sebastian, Spain
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Day 18

San Sebastian, Spain

Today is errand day. We need to try and locate our luggage that contains all of John’s clothes, contacts, and most of his pills. It isn’t looking like we will see the bags any time soon so we go off to do laundry and find John some contacts. We find a place that will do all the laundry for us for 9 euros. Things are looking up. We had a very good Chinese lunch, and found an eyeglass place that understood everything John said in Spanish and voila he had contacts and could now see his surroundings. Things were really looking up.

We next headed to the Chillida sculpture museum. He is one of the most famous sculptors in the world and certainly in Spain. He was from San Sebastian so he had a huge exhibit on an old farm just outside of town. We got there about an hour before it closed so we had to rush a little, but saw some beautiful sculpture and were almost completely alone. It was so cool we decided to stop in San Sebastian at the “Wind Combs” one his most famous works. They are three large metal sculptures placed on a point were the waves come crashing in to shore. There were several blow holes on the walkway out to the sculptures that would send a big blast of air and sometimes water up when a wave came in. Mark found that it was a great way to style his hair. Mark says the wind combs symbolize past, present, and the unknown future, they were one of the highlights of his whole trip, much better than the amusement park located next to our hotel. It was a very old amusement park that reminded me of what the Excelsior amusement park must have been like after its heyday. It was built around the old light house. Mark did think the “house of horrors” was pretty good. I thought it just smelled pretty horrible.

Now the boys were both soaked through so we went back to the hotel and had warm baths and Mark charmed the bartender into two very delicious hot chocolates. We got Mark fed and settled in to watch a movie and the rest of us went out for another try at Pinchas. It wasn’t nearly as crowded and we found many delectable treats and even tried the local hard cider that is poured from about 2 feet above the glass to aerate it. I think I still prefer Sangria. Some of our favorite tastes were the grilled, salted Guernica peppers, fresh sardines, black pudding with rice sausages, and coconut covered fried chicken. We meet a couple from Kentucky that reminded us of our friends Simon and Agnes. They had quit their jobs and were traveling around Europe. They were missing the VW bus with the nice wardrobe and shitty engine though.


permalink written by  pscossette on July 5, 2007 from San Sebastian, Spain
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Day 17

Valencia, Spain

We woke up and thought about all our friends back at Christmas Lake who would be busy decorating their docks and boats for the big 4th celebration. We were sorry to miss it, but found a little something to keep our minds off of what we were missing back home. Off to the Valencia aquarium (which really was the biggest) and a part of the whole big beautiful Santiago Caltrava designed complex. Spain has some very good architects. Paul said the most beautiful parking garage he had ever seen was there. The Oceanographic Museum was really cool. We saw lots of fishes and other marine wildlife, and finished up the morning with the dolphin show. Unfortunately we had a plane to catch, so we had to quick find a cab and get to the airport. We were wishing we had a couple of more days in Valencia, but it was not to be. We had a very nice, talkative cabbie take us to the airport. He and John had quite a conversation, and he told us that John’s Spanish was very good. We rushed through security and ran to the gate to catch our plane. The plane was an hour late of course, so there had been no need to rush. Eventually we were on our way to San Sebastian in the Basque area by way of Madrid. Mark did not like the turbulence and filled a couple of air sick bags. It reminded me of my youth. Another wait for another delayed plane in Madrid and then on San Sebastian, another bumpy landing and another air bag filled by Mark. We were missing two of our bags upon arrival and decided that we would travel by train the rest of our time in Europe. We were getting the feeling we really were meant to stay in Valencia.

Our minds were quickly changed as we pulled up to our hotel after driving up a winding road full of switch backs. The view of the Atlantic and the town of San Sebastian with the surrounding mountains was probably the most beautiful we had ever seen. The hotel itself was very nice too. We settled down and headed into town for some Pinchas (the Basque name for Tapas). The tapas bars were filled with roving bands of young people. They were having a blast, but it wasn’t quite the right atmosphere for Mark so we found a restaurant with a tank full of fish for Mark to watch and ordered a nice traditional Basque dinner. Hake, a type of fish that is prepared all sorts of ways, and very good and some lamb were our main courses.


permalink written by  pscossette on July 4, 2007 from Valencia, Spain
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