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September 30, 2006
San Sebastian (Donostia)
Had an absolute blast for the whole week in San Sebastian, it's such a party town. In the beginning I hesitated to book more than 3 nights because I didn't know what to expect. I was thinking perhaps going to Biarritz then back to Vitoria to catch the plane if San Sebastian turn out to be a hole. I just want to surf since I don't think I'll be surfing anytime soon.
As it turned out there weren't much of a surf in San Sebastian, the waves were small but at least they were clean and some were makeable. There were much talk about the incoming swell on Wednesday, but it never arrived. Become friends with the friendly people on the surf school where you can rent boards, one time they give me free board rent because the waves were so small.
I was also lucky that the San Sebastian International Film Festival was on. This apparently (a girl in my dorm told me, she works for Sofia Film Festival and she was there for the film festival) either the second or third biggest film festival in Europe after Cannes and Venice. So I've also been watching some really good movies in the past week. Oh and I did a bit of celebrity spotting as well on the red carpet.
Also San Sebastian's old town boasted perhaps the highest concentration of bars per square metre in entire Spain (LP told me), maybe even Europe. Plus we had some really awesome group going in the hostel.
All these are deadly combination. So my typical day for the week look like this: wake up felling groggy from the night before, surf, lie on the beach for a while, more surf sometime, watch an awesome movie, bar hopping. Repeat for 4 days in a row ...
This morning I had the biggest headache in my life, and my 1.5 hour bus ride to Vitoria was excruciating. My head pounding and stomach feeling funny. I went all out last night since I knew I wasn't going to hit the surf and that will be my closing party for this travel. This saturday night in Vitoria will be a quite one I think.
And that's it. Tomorrow I will fly to London and that will be the end of the past 4 months of travel.
Posted by vhadiant at 07:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 24, 2006
Guernica
Eversince learning about the Spanish civil war and seeing Picasso's famed Guernica I've always wanted to visit Guernica.
The train journey from Bilbao to Guernica was very pleasing as it goes through lush rolling hills of the Basque Country. No wonder that this area (along with Austurias, Cantabria and Galica) is called the Green Spain. Many have told me that the Basque Country is very beautiful, they weren't wrong. Even the biggest city, Bilbao, is very green. Guernica is no exception.
Almost the entire city was destroyed by the 1937 bombing, the few buildings that survived are clearly identified in the tourist map. The main sight is not the cathedral or a church for a change, but the thought evoking Guernica Peace Museum. Although the centrepiece focus of the museum is the Guernica Bombing, peace and reconciliation are the major issues in this museum. Visitors follow a linear path which ends with Mohandas Gandhi quote inscribed on a huge (fake) marble: "There is no way to peace, peace is the way" (in Basque and Spanish. Reading the Spanish I guessed the translation and was pleased to find out that I was right! yay ... :)
Spent the rest of the day wandering around the small town of Guernica, visited the Vizcaya historic parlement building, the oak tree and the seemingly famous mural on Picasso's Guernica.
Posted by vhadiant at 06:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 23, 2006
Bilbao
A Rich City
My first impression of Bilbao is that this is a rich, modern and expensive city. The wealth of Bilbao can be seen from its well maintained roads, boulevard, public parks, brand new public transport sytems and other public facilities. It feels similar to Aix-en-Provence. I love wandering around the city yesterday, especially the area around Bilbao Fine Arts museum. The weather was perfect and there were lots of people on the road (it was Friday night), the city is green and the people are friendly. I love this city, it's not too big but not too small (population around 350,000), compact, economically active, and has superb public facilities.
Bilbao is also home for the excellent Fine Arts Museum and of course the renown Bilbao Guggenheim. The Guggenheim is marvel too look at, but alas 2 out of 3 floors are currently closed for the new exhibition. That sucks. Only the first floor is currently open for public viewing. I believe that the building itself is more of an attraction than the collection. Indeed the audioguide goes on to explain a lot about the building. The building is a modern architecture masterpiece, it's amazing to see the lines and the curve in the building. No surface line of the building is straight, the audioguide says.
Bilbao Fine Arts Museum has suprisingly superb collection. Usually preferring modern arts than classic arts, I was a bit surprised when I enjoyed walking through the excellently organised galleries. The galleries are sorted chronologically so visitors can see how art had evolved from the 12th centuries to today. Also maybe after being bombarded by a lot of museums in the past 3 months, I'm beginning to appreciate more of classical arts. Basque's artists are well represented here.
The Hostel
Like Burgos, Bilbao is in a sore need for an independent hostel, although an independent hostel will be up against the mammoth Bilbao Aterpetxea. People said that Bilbao's sole hostel looks like a hospital, smells like a hospital, feels like a hospital. It's true. However it is clean and functional and the bed sheets are very clean and comfy. The staffs are not overly friendly (except the kitchen staff), but I guess that's expected when you have to deal with hundreds of guests everyday. You are just a customer to them. Another characteristic usually associated with this kind of establishment is that it is not very social. A bit of an issue if you are an independent traveller. There are common rooms, but if someone told me that those room are waiting room for relatives in a hospital I'd tend to believe it.
Planet Ticket to London Booked
Booked my ticket from Vitoria (the capital of the Basque Country) to Stanstead next Sunday 1st October. This give a finality about the end date of this travel. I have been toying with the idea of travelling for another month or two, but in the end decided to stick with the original plan to be in London by October so I won't be too close to year end for the job hunting reasons.
Posted by vhadiant at 07:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 22, 2006
Burgos
The Accomodation
There could be a market for a nice hostel in Burgos. The one "hostel" in Burgos is actually a student accomodation that doubles as a hostel during summer. This place unfortunately ceased to be a public hostel by the 10th September. I called the pilgrim hostel and they said unless I'm a pilgrim I can't stay there. Fortunately the tourist office is incredible helpful about accomodation related stuff. They have the best city map that I've seen so far (Lisbon is the worst) making the bed hunting somewhat bearable. Nothing worse that hunting for a bed using Lonely Planet's map.
My hunting ended in Hostal Hidalgo. I was on the way to another pensión when I saw the sign "Hostal Hidalgo". The building looks like it barely survived the Spanish civil war ... unrenovated. I braced myself and walked inside. The first couple of landing of the stairs don't have any light, climbing the stairs felt like I'm heading toward some unknown doom. As I climbed to the second floor on the rickety stairs I wondered if the stairs would hold. It did ... phew.
Rang the door bell, an old lady opened it. There was a strong smell of hospital grade floor cleaner (at least I know the place is cleaned regularly). She didn't speak any English, my Spanish was tested to the limit here. "I want room ... 2 nights ... can I see ... how much ...". She told me €15 per night. Great ... the cheapest so far. I want to see the room, I told her. Now this is the catch, the room is probably slightly better than a prison cell. It's small ... really small. At 2m x 3m it can barely fit the single bed plus and the wash basin. There is no window, only a small ventilation near the ceiling. I'm convinced that it was put there as an afterthought after a guest suffocated to death some years ago. I reckon prison cell wins on the huge ventilation and size while this room wins on real bed and the ability to come and go as I pleased.
However the room is clean, the bathroom is also clean. Fine I'll take it, 1 night for now and if I don't get molested by bed bugs I'll stay another night.
In the end I did pay to stay another night in Burgos. Stayed in Burgos for 2 nights then moved to Bilbao. I somewhat miss the social environment of a hostel in the past few days. The hostel in León is not really social while this hostal definitely ain't. I'm sure you have more social activities going in a prison.
Monasterio de las Huelgas
The 30 minutes or so walk to the monastery from central Burgos is very nice and goes through a leafy and rich suburb. Here the mansions look more more American than European. At the monastery I took the compulsary guided tour in Spanish. It was funny to take tour in a language that you don't understand. Everyone was looking at the same direction except me and a few Germans and French. This was my second tour in Spanish, the first was in the Isidoro Basilica in León. This tour guide speak very good English and French, so if they want they can organise a tour in French or English. I like this monastery, especially the church which double as a royal pantheon. I like visiting crypts, tombs and grave of important people, I always try to fit in the time to visit pantheons/crypts etc.
Catedral de Burgos
Another magnificent Spanish cathedral. This is the best so far of all the cathedrals, churches and basilicas that I've seen on this trip. A fitting end for the religious circuit on this trip. Everything in this cathedral is amazing. From the outside, the towers, painting, altars, dome, reliefs, chapels and even the subdued sala capitular (chapter house). The audioguide is a rudimentary mp3 player that you can't stop or rewind so you have to follow it very carefully. The woman spoke like the devil himself was on her tail, the audioguide rushes you through the cathedral in an hour. After the completion of the audioguide I went back the front and explored the cathedral on my own pace.
Have I said how amazing this cathedral is? Yes I have. Well I say it again, this cathedral is amazing. The tomb of El Cid is located right under the central dome. The central dome is the most ornate central dome that I've seen so far. Half the apse is closed for restoration but I still can access the most beautiful chapel of all, Chapel of the Constables (Capilla de los Condestables). I can rant for ages about this cathedral, but I'll stop now. Suffice to say that no words do any justice to this cathedral, it simply must be seen, period.
Bad weather affected my last day in Burgos. As I linger inside restaurants and cafe I made plan for the last few days of this trip. The end is nigh now, it still hasn't sunk in yet that in the next few weeks I have to join the work force again ... scary tought.
Posted by vhadiant at 03:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 20, 2006
Astorga
The sleepy little town of Astorga is an easy 45 minutes bus ride from León. This is yet another major stop point for the pilgrim doing the Camino de Santiago. Almost all tourists were pilgrims except the odd few (me included). An interesting thing to write, my bus from León to Astorga picked several pilgrims (at least 3) on the way who had thrown the white flag trying to reach Astorga by foot :) Having said that, I saw a lot (yes I mean a lot) of pilgrims heading west toward Santiago.
The main sight here is, surprise surprise, the cathedral with its museum. After seeing so many cathedrals, churches and its treasury/sacristy little items in the museum interest me apart from the book recording the baptisms and marriages of the see from 1601.
Next to the cathedral is Gaudi's designed ex-episcopal palace now turned into a museum. The combined ticket with the cathedral museum is pretty cheap at €4 plus I got to see the inside of a Gaudi designed building.
Another interesting museum is the chocolate museum paying homage to Astorga's history as a major chocolate producer in Spain. This was a bit of a dissapointment. I had hoped this was going to be as quirky as the toy museum but it didn't come close. On the way back to León I saw a lone pilgrim walking toward the sunset, some people determination are amazing.
Posted by vhadiant at 09:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 18, 2006
León Walking Tour
Although feeling a bit under the weather this morning I decided to push on with my self guided León walking tour. While the modern part of León seems a bit bland and boring, the centre historic part is charming. León is large enough city to warrant the amount of business in the tourist oriented old town. The cathedral of course dominates all the sights in the city.
When Lonely Planet said that the cathedral is the pinnacle of Castillian's church, they weren't exagerating. Oh it's big alright, but the most amazing feature is the truly fantastic stained glass windows. I think you need at least 2 viewings of the cathedral to justify its beauty, try to visit the cathedral when the sun is in different location.
The rest of the sights are pretty standard European churhces and building. They're good alright, but after being blown away by the stained glass windows of the cathedral, none seems to match the cathedral beauty. One building worth mentioning is Casa Botines, one of Gaudi's work.
Posted by vhadiant at 07:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 17, 2006
León
Onward to León
Yesterday I went to the Revela Photo Exhibition in one of the park in Santiago. It was one of the most harrowing experience for me. Recommended by others who have been there, it was a photo exhibition mainly about human conflict in the developed worlds. The main focus is Iraq. The photos are very hard to watch, this reminds me how lucky I am to be able to do what I'm doing right now. It is a stark reminder about the suffering in many parts of the world. It is amazing how we whinge about a lot of stuff that don't really matter while many in this world live in constant fear of being blown up, killed, or worse died of starvation. I was not exagerating, it was pretty damn hard to see those photos.
Last night was uneventful after most of the crew from the past two nights checked-out. Plan to have a rest night was thwarthed by heavy snoring of everyone in the room and my super early bus to León (hey ... getting good at the accent!).
The bus trip from Santiago to León is probably the best bus trip so far. It goes through the sierra between Galicia and Castilla y León showing endless of stunning scenery. I think the best bit is that the route goes through small villages in the sierra. An old guy sitting in front of his bus even waved to us ... I think he actually waved to the bus driver, anyway that's not going to stop me thinking that he waved to us.
The Pilgrims & The Good Samaritans
I think I'm the only non-pilgrim in this hostel. Heck I think I'm the only non-pilgrim tourist in León. This city is certainly bustling with pilgrim tourism. As the last major city before Santiago, this is where most pilgrim had a rest day before tackling the next sierra to Santiago. I think because of my gears a lot of people asked me if I was a pilgrim. Well ... if you consider taking a bus is a pilgrimage then I suppose I am :) I've done the Camino Portuguese to Santiago and now on the way home.
Speaking of the hostel. Uncharted in Lonely Planet, this hostel could be a nightmare to find. I rang both the hostel and the tourist office for direction, none was good enough. From the bus station the most sensible way was to go to the tourist office, get a good map and the exact location of the hostel.
The hospitality of the Spanish are shown in the fullest in León. Without their help I had no hope of locating this hostel. One old lady even went out of her way to lead me to the street of the hostel.
An Old Acquaintance
Since this is pilgrim hostel, it has rather a sober atmosphere. I decided to have a quick look of the historic centre while there's still light. I found myself in the Cathedral square when I fantastically bumped into an old acquaintance from my NUIX days. This is so bizzare, I haven't met him since he left NUIX back in 2001 (or maybe 2002) and now I bumped into him here ... in León of all places. He is doing the Camino de Santiago.
Is this a sign for me to do the Camino?
Posted by vhadiant at 10:59 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 15, 2006
Santiago de Compostela
Leaving Portugal
I love Portugal. True Portugal doesn't have majestic cathedrals, churches or buildings nor does she has great museums like those of France and Spain. However I could not help loving the easy-going, unpretentious and unassuming Portugal. There is something charming about Portugal and it is one of those countries that is very easy to have fun. I didn't expect to spend as long as I did in Portugal and I have to tell myself to get moving as I am running out of time.
Santiago de Compostela
The first thing that I noticed as I arrived here was the number of people doing the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage. They can easily be identified by their gears, chiefly the walking sticks :) I met a girl back in Portugal who is going to do it, I have to admit that talking to her about it sparks a bit of interest in me to do it. I have been doing some further reading about it and it seems to be one of those once in a life time journey.
I visited Museu Granell, a small museum but worth the visit for a few of excellent Granell's painting. This continues my crash course in art arch of this travel. I've discovered yet another of my favourite painters.
Caught up with the two Kiwis from Porto, and with two Germans and a South African we ventured to sample the nightlife in Santiago. First thing that shocked me was the alcohol price. I think the bartender was a bit offended when I was shocked at the price of the whisky & coke. I was still in Portugal price zone.
Day II
Day II began with me missing yet another breakfast. I then paid a visit to the excellent Pilgrim Museum and learned a lot about the Camino de Santiago. The most amazing thing is the guidebook written in the 12th Century by a Pope (forget his name) for the pilgrim. The book details the Camino Frances, which most pilgrims still follows until this modern days, where to get water and detailed information about Santiago de Compostela itself. This visit really inspire me to do the Camino myself, although realistically I probably won't.
After last night disastrous cheese purchase, I decided this time to ask which cheese is good for eating. The lady gave me the cone shape local cheese (which is expensive), as expected this one turn good (so it's worth id). I will certainly not write "Free .. rather tasteless" sign on it.
The cathedral museum is a bit expensive at €5 but it is well worth it. It's a good sized museum and has some fascinating items on display, including the tombs of the kings, the treasury, the big cloister and the partly reconstructed stone choir. The museum here is certainly the best cathedral museum that I've visited so far.
I'll be here another night then I have to decide where to go next. Current plan is to go to either Leon or Oviedo
Posted by vhadiant at 07:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 13, 2006
Amarante to Braga and back
We went Amarante about 60km east of Porto. Main attraction in Amarante is the São Gonçalo Monastery where apparently if you kiss the tomb of São Gonçalo you'll find your soul mate within the year. A friend and I went on to kiss the tomb ... we've promised to keep in touch to see whether this is working or not, if not we're going to send abusive letters to the guide book publisher :)
Since we still had plenty of time we went ion to the pretty town of Braga. With this I completed the four cities mentioned in the old saying: "Coimbra studies, Braga prays, Lisbon shows off and Porto works". This city certainly has a lot of churches the most impressive being the Sé.
From Braga we caught the train back to Porto. This had been a full sight-seeing day, the most things I've done in a day for a while, probably since Paris.
Posted by vhadiant at 01:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 10, 2006
Porto
I've only been here yesterday, haven't had any chance of sight seeing (maybe later this afternoon ... if I feel like it), but I'm sure that the highlight of my visit in Porto is the karaoke night!
Last night four of us went out searching for a drink (rather pointless since beer is cheap in the hostel) and to find out about the night life in Porto. Once we hit the Riberia (on the riverside), I picked a place just because it has a Foster ads on it. Of course they turned out not to have any beer except the one Sagres beer, not because they just run out, but most likely it's more a karaoke joint rather than a bar. We were the only non locals there!
It was so fun listening to all this amazingly good singers. I bet that the locals were betting whether we were going to take the mike or not. So we did, after a few beers of course. Half drunk all of us decided to sing U2's With or Without You. That was gold ... We sang badly (as expected) but ... it must have been the only English song sang that night, and probably will be the last English song sang for quite some time in this particular bar. So it was well worth the effort.
We left when the bar closed and we kinda half sing random songs on the way back to the hostel. This reminded me of that karaoke night that I had in Sihanoukville early on this trip. Karaoke continues to provide endless entertainment to locals and tourist alike :)
Posted by vhadiant at 01:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Coimbra
Went to Coimbra 2 days ago as a day trip from Figueira. It's only about an hour and €1.78 one way. The HI Hostel in Coimbra is very cheap at only €9, but I really love Paintshop in Figueira and thought it's not worth the effort to move hostel.
The university in Coimbra is said to be the Oxford of Portugal, it was one of the oldest university in Europe. Love the campus building especially the ornate ancient baroque library. I couldn't help feeling like in one of those Harry Potter movie as I walked through the library. Behind the library was the private prison (not currently used anymore), used to be under the control of the chancellor. This certainly put a different perspective to "detention" in school.
Visited the cathedral and a monastery, they are good but can't be compared to the churches and monasteries in Spain and France.
I did really need that rest days in Figueira. I feel really rejuvenated and ready to do some more travelling. I also realise that I'm running out of time. I'm still aiming to be in London by the end of the month, that's three weeks away and it's still a long way to London, at least with the way I travel. I may have to do a long train/bus travel at the end of the month or fly to London from somewhere in France.
Posted by vhadiant at 12:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 07, 2006
Resting in Figueira da Foz
I've been in Figueira da Foz in the past few nights staying in the brand new Paintshop Hostel. To be honest the only reason for me to be here is to chill out, I wouldn't even make it here had I not seen the flyer of this hostel in Oasis Sevilla. Figueira is too small to be mentioned in my big Europe on a shoestring guidebook (the LP Portugal does have an entry about Figueira!). This is the place to recharge my battery after a few months on the road. I love this hostel, Ben and Kerry are a very good host.
Might stay here for a while, definitely tonight and probably tomorrow night before going off to Coimbra. Coimbra looks interesting but the only hostel is the HI hostel and at this stage of the trip I'm trying to avoid the HI hostel chain. We'll see, I might do something a bit unusual by doing a day trip to Coimbra from Figueira rather than the other way around.
Posted by vhadiant at 05:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 04, 2006
Sintra
After lingering for a week in Lisbon, I've finally decided to move on to Sintra, less than 40 minutes away from Lisbon. Yeah ...
Most people go to Sintra as a day trip from Lisbon, it's only EUR3 return from Lisbon. Full of palaces and castles, Sintra is undoubtly pretty. The palaces are really good although not that impressive compared to the palaces of France, Spain and Morocco. Only a few palaces are within reach of public transport, there is a 'tourist circuit' bus that will take you from the town centre to Pena palace. This bus is super expensive at 3.85€, but it's worth it because it's a damn long hill climb to Pena. On this heat it could be unbearable. My bus driver was kind enough to pick up several (!!) tourists who gave up their hill climb.
Update:
On my last morning in Sintra , I succumbed to my curiosity about the Toy Museum. LP says that it contains more than 20,000 toys from all around the world. I decided to give it a go and I was glad that I went. It was definitely a delight to watch rows after rows of toys, especially the model trains, cars, thousands of toy soldiers from all countries, the very first Barbie toys, the very first Lego toys, battleships, dolls etc.
When I was browsing the toy soldier section (never seen that many toy soldiers in my live before), an old man on a wheelchair asked me if I speak English. Yes, I said. He then introduced himself as the president of the museum and went on to say that the museum is his personal collection. Old as he is, he still has a vivid recollection about this collection. He mentioned playing with the current king of Spain as a child when he was exiled in Estoril, his oldest collection, his first toy etc. I had no reason to doubt him, beside he gave me his business card, told me to call him if I have any problem and I saw him being wheeled into the staff only door by the staff.
This museum is definitely worth a visit.
Posted by vhadiant at 03:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 02, 2006
Still in Lisbon
Yep still in Lisbon, tonight will be my 6th night in Lisboa. Haven't done much really here, I really enjoy chilling out in Lisbon and definitely spent one too many nights in Barrio Alto.
And after hanging out in Easy Hostel for 5 nights in a row, tonight I will finally have a bed here. It's hillarious, everyone here think that I stay in Easy. The staff are the best in all the hostels that I've stayed so far. Very friendly, welcoming and definitely easy going by letting me hanging out here for a while.
Lisbon Poets is a nice, chill out and quiet hostel. The common room is small but cosy and they burn incense at night plus the super funky chill out music from the speakers. Can't change the music unfortunately, but in a way it's good that only the staff can control the ambience of the night.
I sounds like doing a hostel tour around Europe :)
Posted by vhadiant at 02:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
