Bari Chaos

 

We arrived in Bari, Italy from Valencia, Spain.  It was a late flight and got us into Bari about 9:00 pm.  I had booked a B&B for the night so we could pick up a rental car the next day. We took the wildest taxi ride ever from the airport to the B&B downtown. The driver passed everyone and drove in the middle of the street most of the time.  He drove with his bumper almost touching the  car in front of him.  We just hung on for the ride.  He finally stopped at a metal gate on a narrow street and said we had arrived.

We stood outside the gate which was an office building with consulates and attorney offices.  We were not sure what we got ourselves into standing on the dark street with our luggage. We were doing a self check in and the directions were like a treasure hunt.  Domenico (only speaks Italian) from the B&B sent us instructions.  This is exactly what he wrote: " Once to the main door downstairs intercom Alighieri97 and i will open, the go to the left, Bside, 1 floor, by elevator just push a button between T and 1". Somehow, we managed to get to the B&B which was on the second floor of an office building. We put a code in to enter the B&B. The door opened to a tiny space which they called the common area.  We found our keys to the room on the table just as Domenico had told us.  This was the tiniest room we have ever been in.  It had a full bathroom but you could barely get around the queen sized bed to go to the balcony. I am ashamed of my VRBO skills in selecting this B&B.  The pictures looked good, the recommendations were good, and the price was Ok.  Rick has threatened to take away my duties as the lodging scheduler.

The B&B secured a ride for us to the airport to get our rental car.  Manuel picked us up in his well worn car and took us away.  We arrived at what we thought was the car rental place, which turned out to be the car return and the car lot.  It was in this industrial area and they were working out of construction trailer.  After waiting for 45 minutes, they explained we were at the wrong office and told us to wait for a van to pick us up and take us to the "other office". As you can see, this did not make me happy.

We were not the only people at the wrong office.  An entire van full of people also made the same mistake to reserve a rental car with this company.  We waited in line for 30-40 minutes with everyone else to rent a car.  We then were loaded back on the van and taken back to the indusial area to actually get a car. Rick had a tiny piece of paper with a number on it that he got from the rental office.  When we showed up at the industrial site, they took our tiny, torn corner of paper and gave us a car. This was the craziest business transaction we have ever seen...oh no that's not true....we live on Bonaire and have been through worse.

We had been at this car rental crap for hours.  We just want to get away from Bari and see the coast of Italy.  This is the tiny town of Torre a Mare. It's a lovely sea side town of 2,500 people.  It has a beautiful park in the middle of the village and a big sea wall lined with seafood restaurants.  We were finally where we wanted to be.

Valencia, Spain

Valencia is a real contrast city.  The old part looks just like all the other old colonial cities.  But Valencia has an art district of incredible buildings housing art, music and botanical gardens facilities.  Each building is more unique than the last. They have the quaint apartment buildings with all the Spanish decorations and also new modern design apartments. 

We stayed in an apartment with a sea view and slept with the windows open to hear the waves. Our first night the waves were crashing and we had to close the doors.  But after that, the waves were a soothing background for sleep.
 

We got supplies at the super market that is as big or even bigger than a Costco or a Super Walmart. They carried everything from appliances to clothing and food.  The Spanish love their "jamon". We were surprised to see hams on the bone hanging in the store.

Of course when you are in Valencia you have to try the Paella. Rick looked up a top rated restaurant from the local food site and we headed off.  We drove through the busy city and then onto a tiny, partially paved road through local farm land. It was only a block from the Metro and many high-rise apartment. This is the restaurant.  It looked like a dilapidated old farm building.  

But inside it had space for more than a hundred people in a garden like setting.  We had wine and Cava before lunch was served.

We ordered the tradition Valencia Paella...rice, chicken, green beans, fava beans and snails.  It was delish! 

This is us on the beach in Port Saplaya (outside of Valencia), Spain. 

Cartagena, Spain

On our drive along the southern coast of Spain, we stopped in Cartagena for lunch.  We picked a good day as there were no cruise ships.  The harbor has got mountains on either side of it and small mouth entrance.  We walked along the shore and went into town for lunch.  We went to a local place that had lots of people sitting in outdoor tables.  It is our contention that you pick the busy restaurant because it's probably good. This time, the local tapas restaurant was OK but not great. Our revised contention is that they were there to be outside - nobody else was inside.
 

We took our usual selfie in front of the art museum and headed out to Valencia.

Malaga, Spain

Rick had to dip his toes into the Mediterranean while in the coastal city of Malaga, Spain.  This used to be a sleepy beach town that has exploded in population.  It used to be a retirement community, and now it is busy with young people visiting and working.  We found the food prices very inexpensive.  Transportation on buses was easy and also inexpensive. It's an easy city to walk in the old town, but its too large to walk everywhere.  We shared an apartment with our travel buddies and tour guides.

The daily market in Malaga was unbelievable.  We have been so "fresh food starved" for so long that this market was like a dream museum.  We wanted to buy everything...fresh fruits, dried fruits, spices, fish, meat, pastries, bread, candy. Everything was so fresh and inexpensive. Food in Bonaire is so expensive and not really fresh that it was amazing to us to see such good produce, meats and food items we never see on the Island. So we bought everything we could for a dinner at home made with fresh ingredients.

This is how Europeans eat.  They have fresh and inexpensive food that they buy daily.  They form relationships with the sellers at the markets and get special service because of relationships.  It was so amazing to see this in action.

 

On the beach, vendors cook sardines over wood fires.

These are not those nasty canned sardines soaked in oil. These are fresh caught and cooked. 

What a treat to eat fresh cooked sardines with beers for an afternoon snack on the beach.

 

A visit to Malaga would not be complete without trying the Churros dipped in chocolate with a coffee. We went to Casa Aranda which is one of the famous places that the Spanish go for breakfast. These pastry strips are deep fried and warm when they get to the table.  Its served with a cup of chocolate for dipping.  These are delicioso.

Spanish Architecture

Spanish architecture was spectacular.  The Bodegas in Rioja wine country range from garages to ultramodern designs. I thought I might share them with you.

This is Marquis de Riscal Bodega (winery). This unique building contrasts with the winery headquarters, designed in 1858 by the architect Ricardo Bellsola  and is located between the vineyards and the medieval town of Elciego, in the very center of Rioja Alavesa. It's a crazy design yet beautiful too.

Ysios Bodega sits at the base of the Cantabrian mountains in the background.  This is a stunning building set in the middle of vineyards. The building was designed by the architect  Santiago Calatrava. The material used for the exterior finish is aluminum  which contrasts with the wood of the walls. The interior of the winery follows the avant-garde concept of the exterior.

Baigorri Bodega is built to use the force of gravity in the wine making process. The top floor is a square glass room with spectacular views of vineyards. It is built 35 meters underground and houses the wine making process, cellars and restaurants. 

We visited the the Guggenheim Museum of modern and contemporary art in Bilbao. The building, designed by Canadian-American architect  Frank Gehry, was built alongside the Nervion River, which runs through the city to the Cantabrian Sea.

  

Bilboa is full of old interesting architecture.  This is a street of buildings (left) that we thought was really cool. 

Every village throughout the area has a church.  They are typically the center of the village built on a hill and almost always Catholic. Okay, they are all Catholic. The Basque Region of northern Spain is very Catholic.  On Sundays the stores and restaurants close down and every village is very quiet except for church bells.

Outside the Guggenheim is a giant cat covered in plants and flowers.  This concludes your trip through Spanish architecture.

Rioja Spain

Got to San Sebastian, Spain in time for the sunset. The water is filled with boats and the land was full of people waiting for the sun to set. Sunsets are always an event when there is an ocean. We met up with our friends from Bonaire ( Irene and Mark) to tour the Rioja wine country.

 

Tapas in northern Spain/Basque country are called Pinchos.  There are hundreds of little bars with people lined up four or five deep to get dinks and Pinchos.  They have a board with all their offerings and this particular bar had it in English. And, of course, they all offer Jamon (ham).

 

Next stop was Rioja wine country. This area has miles of vineyards and small villages.  Every village has a church and numerous bodegas.  Since there are 800 wine producers in the area, everywhere you go is wine tasting. We stayed Banos de Ebro in a village home with a beautiful patio overlooking the vineyards

One of the restaurants we went to had their waiting room in a cellar.  It was down about two levels and was a winding path with a fulling stocked bar.  When your table was ready they called and take you top side at a super nice (white table cloth) restaurant that served Basque food from the area.

The Spanish people are very nice but few speak English and we speak only vacation Spanish.   Irene speaks Spanish so it was helpful to have her language skills. Four days in this area is not enough.  It so beautiful and there is so much wine to drink!

Beaune, France

Started our time in Beaune (the wine capital of Burgundy wines) with wine tasting and class on Burgundy wines, vineyards and grapes. We tried many of the Premier and Grande Cru which are the top of line wines in Burgundy. It expanded our appreciation of French wine.  I always hated California Chardonnay's but French Chardonnay is a wonderful wine without that nasty oak taste.  

Beaune is a delightful village founded in 1443. It is a very walkable village which is a good thing because driving the narrow, winding streets of cobblestone is not an easy task. Parking is a nightmare and hard to find a spot. We walked everywhere. It was very cool and rainy for several days but still a nice historical village full of wine shops and restaurants.

We stayed in an 18th Century town house.  It was 4 floors with steep stairs to each floor with one room on each level.  The ground floor was the kitchen, two floors of bedrooms, and the top floor was the living room.  We got our work out walking stairs every day.

The French countryside is gorgeous. It's dotted with tiny villages, each with a church. Vineyards are everywhere.  Every small plot of land has grape vines. We loved exploring.

It was harvest season.  People were all over the vineyards picking grapes.  There are processing facilities in every village. Trucks and tractors rule the roads during this time.  Slow going was exactly what we wanted so following a slow truck was perfect for us. Pictures do not do this countryside justice.

We are not museum people but on a rainy day in Beaune it's the thing to do.  This is Hotel Dieu which was a hospital founded in 1443 and now its a hotel and museum. It is famous for its red blanket beds that line its great hall and for the crazy tile roof design. The museum is a collection of the medical facilities, surgery rooms, pharmacy and living quarters of the nuns that ran the place.  Lots of gothic art and tapestries.

The French countryside and wine is what we came for and Beaune provided us a beautiful trip. We hope we can leave the rain behind when we go the Spain to meet up with friends and tour the country. Au revoir France.