Barcelona

Wednesday, September 12
Mary has already arranged a taxi to be up front and waiting by 6 am to take us to the airport for our 7:40 flight to Madrid, then to Barcelona. She set her clock and put it in our room and I set my cell phone as well for a back up, just in case. Both alarms worked, so far so good – got up, changed and woke up Mary to say goodbye. We went out the gate to wait for the cab when I realized that I forgot to take Robert’s cell phone. I didn’t want to ring to the door bell and wake Mary back up. Donna and I had to run back inside to take shelter under the garage when it started raining. The cab came a few minutes later. Thank goodness the rain has let up by that time.

We had a little over an hour before our flight so we had a light breakfast after going through security. The flight to Madrid was ok and so was the one to Barcelona. It was pretty smooth sailing for us because we do not have any checked in luggage.

We basically followed the Internet instructions on how to get to the hotel. We got on its street after a bus ride from the airport and another train ride. I don’t know who will name a hotel Melon District but I figured this is Europe so Melon District it is.

It was a little disheartening when we found it because there was a huge construction on the address. It seems like the hotel was undergoing a major refurbishment. We checked in and had to wait a few minutes for the room to become available. It’s fairly clean but only with the bare necessities – no TV and no phone. The shower was small enough that while in it, I practically can lean on the sink and a slight elbow bump on the shower valve will either give me freezing or scalding water! And if I back on it hard enough, it turns off. That’s how small it was! But we didn’t go to Barcelona to take showers all the time, so it sufficed.

We asked the lady on the front desk how to get to Sagrada Familia. It was fairly easy and in the train stations, there’s always a person standing by the ticket machines with ‘Information’ printed on their shirts. It was easy going from then on. It was suggested that we get an all day subway (metro) ticket (10 entries for 6.50 Euros) to save money as opposed to 1.50 each time we board a train. One thing I noticed the first time we used the subway was a big flat screen TV hawking all kinds of products. Barcelona subways are fairly clean and not as crowded as Japan’s. Metro train schedules are precise to the second. FGC train system – which took us to Montserrat the next day was not too bad either.

To say the Sagrada Familia is a giant undertaking in architecture and engineering is an under statement. It’s been under construction since 1882 and I look at it and it’s nowhere near being finished. It seems as if it’s a project meant to be a work in progress for a long while! But it’s magnificent, to say the least. Famous Spanish architect Gaudi took over its design in 1883. It cost us 8 Euro to go in and up one of the towers. I've posted some pictures here but it's too hard to describe the enormity of this undertaking without actually experiencing it.


Our next visit is the famous Park Guell, another project of architect Gaudi. There was no entrance fee to the park although there’s quite a bit of walking to get to and around it.

Thursday, September 13
We went to the Plaza Espanya train station to take the FGC train to Montserrat. We paid for a package tour of 32.50 Euro which includes lunch, a round trip train ticket and various cable cars, funicular rides and museum in Montserrat.

Donna and I did a lot of hiking up and down the mountain to see all of the sites – shrines to various saints, the Santa Cova chapel of Apparition where the Virgin Mary appeared before some shepherds.

Before reaching the chapel, mysteries of the Holy Rosary are displayed in various sculptures on the face of rock cliffs. We didn’t get to see all 15 of them because we had to make the train back to Barcelona. But we only missed like 1 or 2 of them, I believe.

The image of the Black Madonna and child, enclosed in glass, was displayed in the Montserrat Basilica altar and it’s put up where people can go up close to see it.


Friday, September 14
Donna and I woke up early to try and visit a church near our hotel. Unfortunately, it was closed when we got there. We had a leisurely breakfast instead then we went back to the hotel and checked out. We walked around Plaza Espanya before heading to the airport. The lady at the tourist information booth suggested for us to take the regular bus to the airport if we have time to save fare instead of the Aerobus which costs more than 2 Euros each.

We had a non stop flight from Barcelona to Jerez this time so it was a bit more convenient. We waited for Mark and Flor to pick us up. I called Mary but she couldn’t come because she was waiting for the cable guy. The BMW got fixed Thursday so I guess Ed and Odette are safe. I’ll pick them up from Sevilla Sunday.

When we got home we all took a walk to Puerto Sherry and we had dinner at our old hangout, the Blanca Paloma.

Saturday, September 15
We woke up really late this morning, had breakfast and got ready to go on base. Mary has some MWR youth activity she had to attend. I'll go on line, then we'll go to the 5 pm mass after which we'll go to the commissary to pick up some groceries.

Mary is leaving early tomorrow for her temporary duty to London and we'll pick up Ed and Odette in the afternoon from the Seville airport.

September in Spain 1

Tuesday, September 11
It’s felt quite different since our last batch of friends left for Italy. Ed and Odette are coming back from Rome on Sunday to stay a few more days here in El Puerto before they finally fly back to the States. But Elaine, Gene and Dandy will go home to the US the same day Ed and Odette get here.

After lunch today Donna and I decided to walk on the beach towards Rota. I walked all the way to where a barricade was constructed with some perimeter fencing with the sign ‘Restricted Area’ while Donna stayed a bit behind picking up nice looking pebbles on the beach. I saw some Navy ships a little up ahead so I think that section of the beach already belongs to the military and I noticed a guy in fatigues walking around on the beach on the other side of the fence.

There weren’t as many people as during the peak of summer and it’s not as hot anymore. However, there was still quite a bit of ‘nice sceneries’ (wink, wink). I just don’t understand, and I think it’s ironic the way people slather sun block all over themselves and then light up a cigarette afterwards.

Here are some pictures I took on various days here during sunset around El Puerto, Rota and Puerto Sherry. There was even one time where there were a couple of brides and grooms taking sunset wedding pictures.


Did you notice I like taking pictures of the sunset?


Mary called from work saying the earliest we can get the BMW is late Friday, possibly even Monday. Mary leaves for London for temporary duty on Sunday morning while Ed and Odette comes back from Italy that evening.

After Mary came home this evening the sky became overcast and it started raining. We’re trying to find some local news on TV wondering what the weather will be in Barcelona tomorrow. We’ll wake up early to meet a taxi out front to take us to the airport. We’ll be there for 2 nights and we’ll be back here on Friday afternoon.

By the way, not sure if I’ve mentioned in my previous blogs that Robert’s youngest sister has been granted a US tourist visa to visit Cesar. All she has to do now is pick it up, get her ticket and fly.

Rey's Blog is Back in Business

As you can see in my previous blogs, I've been back posting pictures again. It's slow going but eventually I'll be able to post pictures at random on each blog. So for those of you who has a lot of time on their hands (in other words, NO LIFE! Just kidding), you can browse all through my various posts and check out pictures.

Thanks for reading my boring blogs all this time. It's been 20 months since I started it and I'm not sure when I'll run out of steam. But I guess, as long as someone's interested, I'll keep on blogging. Don't forget, comments are welcome!

Gibraltar and Fatima, again!

Monday, September 3 – Trip to Gibraltar
Mark picked me and Alice up to take us to Rota so she can check out the car rental. I drove the VW and followed Mark on the way home.

We left for Gibraltar at around 9:30. The drive was pretty uneventful with Ed and Gene navigating. I parked close to McDonald’s. When we got off the van, Jane noticed my left shoe was different from my right. I grabbed them in the dark and didn't realize the difference so I was walking around Gibraltar like that character on TV Punky Brewster, who prefers to do that as a fashion statement.

We were going to have ice cream but there’s a sign outside saying they ran out. Amanda said she’s lactose intolerant and McDonald’s is the only ice cream she can have.

We crossed the border and inquired about tours to the top of the Rock. We were told it’ll cost 27 Euro per person but Donna haggled with a cab driver directly and he agreed to take them up for 22 Euro instead. Donna and I took the bus to town and told them we’ll meet at the plaza when they’re done with the tour.

When we arrived, it was overcast and hazy but about an hour afterwards, the sun came out. Donna and I shopped around while we were waiting. We had lunch at the fish and chips shop next to Burger King. I didn’t see Alice’s text messages to me saying they’re down and are done with the tour but they finally saw us waiting by the restaurant. They bought their lunch and they’re all excited telling us about their Gibraltar tour adventure. Ed and Jane had their pictures taken with a monkey on their shoulder. We took some more pictures and at a little after 4 pm, we headed for home but not before having ice cream at McDonald’s which I guessed they've restocked since we first came.

When we arrived, Mary was asleep at the swing. They rested up a bit and when Mary woke up, she distributed the Spanish skirts to all the girls for our trip to Jerez to watch the Flamenco show. Check out Jane in her best pose as a Flamenco dancer!

The last time we went there, we sort of got lost and had to ask around for the directions of the restaurant. So we didn’t feel too bad when it’s our turn to get lost. We asked several people and they were giving us different directions. Finally we parked at a plaza and asked this lady. When she noticed we had a hard time understanding her, she went and showed us the restaurant herself which is a few feet away from where we parked! This is actually closer than where Robert told us to park.

It was fairly late by then so we only ordered drinks and tapas (Spanish hors d’oeuvres). As usual lights were turned off except the ones by the stage and the show started. This is the second time I’ve seen it with the same performers and I still get blown away by Flamenco and so did everyone else.

Ed got a tad tipsy from all the drinks that he tried on the bar not to mention a couple of San Miguel at home before we left. Yes, they do have San Miguel beer here!

Before bed the girls decided to wear the teddy’s that Mary gave them and have their pictures taken. This might have been due to the wine they had at the Flamenco restaurant. It’s probably better not to post these PG-13 pictures!

Tuesday, September 4 – Trip to Fatima, Portugal
Ed decided he was too hungover to drive so we had to go back to Rota to return the Volkswagen with the manual transmission and try and get a car with an automatic transmission. Unfortunately none was available.

When we got back home I noticed the BMW running. Mary called a tow truck to get it picked up to be repaired by the dealer and the driver somehow was able to start it once he disconnected the radio. He told her to let it run for a while ‘to let the battery charge’, then he took off. I was excited because now we can take the BMW with us. Gene can drive it because it has an automatic transmission.

Sadly when we went out to load our stuff, we noticed smoke coming out of the hood of the BMW and there was some fluid leaking at the bottom. Mary had to call the tow truck back to pick it up. We made the decision to pack everyone into the van. There were eleven of us in a nine seater van. I warned everyone it’s a 7-8 hour drive. They made it work by taking cushions and double teaming on the seat belts.

We had to wait for the tow truck to come back and pick up the car so it was already 1:30 in the afternoon by the time we left for Fatima. Flor and Mary were seated in front with me and I have to admit they turn out to be pretty good navigators. Ed mentioned he was glad he didn’t drive saying he would have never been able to drive safely following me on all of those winding roads.


It was already around 8:30 pm by the time we arrived at Fatima. We only had time to check in to the hotel but no time for dinner. We went to the Apparition Chapel to join the rosary and procession. Afterwards we were scrambling looking for restaurants that are still open. It was already close to midnight by that time. Of course we had ice cream for desert.

Wednesday, September 5
We woke up and had breakfast. I told them to check out so we won’t have to hurry back from our tour of Fatima to check out afterwards. After checking out, we loaded our stuff into the van and we went to the cathedral to hear mass. We got there at about 9:10 and the mass has already started so we waited at the Chapel of Apparitions to hear the 9:30 to hear the English mass. They also offered candles for whatever ailments they have and prayers for our children and such. Some of us also collected some water from the water faucets in the middle of the plaza in front of the cathedral. We then took a bunch more ‘JASHSian’ pictures after which we went on the tram tour to the village where the three shepherd children, Jacinta, brother Francisco and their cousin Lucia were born. Brother and sister died while still young but their cousin Lucia grew up to become a nun and only died recently.

When we got done with the tour, we went back to town to have lunch then they went grocery shopping specifically for Portuguese sardines. I filled up the van and at around 5:30 we left for home. Lisbon was included with this trip but since we left Fatima so late in the day, we didn’t have the time to go. I couldn’t even spare the time to drop by to see check out the castle in Serpa. After we passed Sevilla, we prayed the rosary while on the road. Then Flor called Mark so he can prepare some dinner for us. It was already around 11:30 when we arrived home. We immediately called Mark and he brought the food he fixed for us. I downloaded Gene’s and Ed’s pictures into my hard drive before we went to bed.

Thursday, September 6 (Alice and Jane back to London)
Alice woke me up and told me Mary’s already been picked up by Mark. Mary was a bit late in waking up because her alarm didn’t go off – the batteries needed changing.

Gene went with me to take Alice and Jane to the airport. We dropped them off hoping we’ll see each other again in London.

After lunch, we went to Super Sol to go on line and pick up some groceries. Ed booked flight reservations form him and Odette through Vueling for Barcelona while Gene and Elaine reconfirmed their flights to Rome and London.

We dropped by Flor’s to pick us some dinner she prepared for us. When we got back home, we got a call from Alice saying they’ve arrived safe in London.

Elaine and Odette were doing laundry when Mary arrived and got dropped off by Mark from work. We had dinner and they walked on the beach but they were all bummed out when they got back because the Chiringuitos had already closed for the summer. We instead had ice cream at home while they watched the episode of Wowowee with contestants Noranians and Vilmanians - die hard fans of Nora Aunor and Vilma Santos.

We prayed the rosary and agreed to wake up at 7:30 for our trip to Ronda.

Friday, September 7 – The real trip to Ronda
Some electronic sounding chime woke me up. I got up and found an alarm clock left by Mary in front of our door. It went off at 6:30 so I went back to sleep. At around 7:50 Ed woke us up. He’s already prepared breakfast of fried rice with plenty of garlic, Spam and boiled eggs. After breakfast Mary called again to make sure we’re awake.

A little after nine and we were on the road on the way to Ronda. We got there in a little under two hours with Gene navigating. To my dismay, they weren’t allowing the public to park by the bull ring parking lot. I had to run around Ronda looking for a parking space. We finally find one underneath a grocery store which is quite a walk away from the bull ring. It turned out there was a ferria, some holiday celebration in Ronda, hence the scarcity of parking spaces. We saw a lot of women, young and old, dressed in their finest Spanish dresses. We even took pictures of two really old ladies, and twin baby girls in strollers. We took a lot pictures during our walk around Ronda and as a reward, we had ice cream twice; once by the Ocho los Canos and another at McDonald’s. Yes, Dandy’s craving for McDonald’s ice cream was all satisfied! We think the candle she offered in Fatima in the image of ‘intestines’ cured her of her lactose intolerance. A little downside to the fun – Gene accidentally dropped his glasses off the main bridge in Ronda!

We left Ronda for home at 5:20 and we stopped by the old monastery, La Cartuja, since Ed and Odette haven’t seen it. We got home by 7:30 and we found Mary taking a nap on the swing, again. We noticed dinner fixed by Flor was already waiting on the table for us.

When she woke up, Mary told us she was able to renew our base passes. We rested up a bit and then we had dinner. Flor and Mark came from a farewell dinner they attended for Mark’s co-worker. I was teasing everyone; I’m ready to have some business cards printed with “European tour guide” next to my name. When we were planning this JASHS European reunion, Robert suggested we get International Driving Permits (IDP), in his words, “Just in case”. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine ending up driving all over Spain and Fatima. We talked some more, took a couple of group pictures and said goodbye to Flor and Mark. After we prayed the rosary, we set the clock for 5 to take everyone to the Jerez and Seville airports.

Saturday, September 8
We first dropped off Amanda, Gene and Elaine at the Jerez airport for their 7 am flight to Rome. It was still dark when we got there. On the way to the Seville airport, we inadvertently took a two lane highway, a bit scary since one of the van’s headlights was busted. More than halfway to Seville and we were able to find the way back to the freeway. The sun was already rising when we pulled in to the Seville airport. They were a bit early so Ed and Odette’s flight for 10 am to Rome was not in the monitors yet.

Mary, Donna and I drove on back straight to the base to return the van rental. We decided to rent a car since the BMW, Mary was told, won’t be ready till Monday. We paid an extra day for the van and we checked out a Chevy Kalos. Keep in mind that Fords and Chevys here don’t look anything like the ones in the US. I think they’re specifically made for the narrow streets of Europe. Mary preferred an automatic but we had to settle for one with a manual transmission because none was available. We went home, had a quick lunch and took a much needed and nice long nap.

Sunday, September 9
We woke up at 8 this morning, and got ready for the 9 o’clock mass on base. We met Mark, Flor and daughter Marlisa in church. Mary went to the commissary afterwards, then Mark and Flor met us outside the exchange and we went to the base galley for brunch.

Mary called Robert tonight and found out that they’re driving to Las Vegas tomorrow. They’ll rent a van for Cesar to ride in and Robert will drive a U-Haul truck for their household stuff to be moved from Carson City. By the way, a US Visa has been granted for their youngest sister Connie, so she can visit and see her brother Cesar.