Archive - 2008

For those of you that are following our travels...

When we last left you, Justin and I were spending the night in Wisconsin. Tonight I am reporting from Butte, Montana. But let's back up first.

We left Wisconsin to work our way thru Minnesota and into South Dakota. But even before entering South Dakota we started seeing 'Wall Drug' signs back in MN. Most of driving thru South Dakota was the same, flat open spaces. Things didn't start to get really interesting until we stopped off to look at the Corn Palace. The highway signs were too good to pass it by, "Be A-Maize-D" and "Come see the Ear-chitecture" And yes it was "Spectacu-ear".

Our next stop was at Badlands National Park. We didn't have a lot of time, so we stuck to the loop drive but it was quite a sight. We were lucky enough to time our visit at sunset and we got some great views. We also had dinner here at the lodge. Now my parents may remember a time (around 3rd grade) that I decided that I wanted to be a Native American, we had spent a long time on this unit in class. My Dad tried to explain how that wouldn't really work... and then to dissuade me from this by telling me that if I did manage it I would only be able to eat corn grits for the rest of my life. Well that was enough for me, even then I couldn't imagine life without pasta, so I gave up on my quest. But Dad you were WAY WRONG, for dinner in park I had some Sioux Indian tacos, which is basically buffalo meat tacos, but the best part is the fry bread. Why didn't someone tell me about fry bread before, its so YUM! What person wouldn't like to eat tacos on fried dough!

We left Badlands, visited Wall Drug, and spent the night in Rapid City. We woke up early (thank you very much iphone for getting the time change wrong) and made it to Mount Rushmore by 8:30am. In actuality it was a good time to be there, there were a lot more tourists there when we were leaving. We got some great views, walked around the president trail and I learned about how it was built.

Next we were back on the road, with a goal of getting to Montana for the night. States are much MUCH bigger here then I am used too, but tonight we are staying in Butte, MT. I wasn't too excited about about Montana until we started to see some of the views against the mountains. We also had dinner at an excellent brewpub called Montana Ale Works in Bozeman. That was some good eats!

Stay tuned for more, we are crossing the Rockies tomorrow!

After spending last week in Connecticut finishing up loose ends (if he has time, maybe Justin can inform you about the wonders of the CT DMV) we started our road trip to Oregon yesterday.

Due to some time restraints we are keeping our route pretty direct, and following I-90 the entire way. Which means we left Hartford and headed up to Albany, then Buffalo and spent the first night just across the border in Pennsylvania near Erie. The most interesting part was being stuck in a hail storm, with hail the size of ping-pong balls bouncing off the car. All we could do was pull over and try not to wince everytime one struck the car. Turns out we have some dents on the hood and roof that we need to figure out what we are going to do.

This morning we cut across the top of PA, travelled thru Ohio (seeing Cleveland and Toledo from the road), drove along the top border of Indiana, thru Chicago and we just entered Wisconsin and are headed toward Madison. So that makes it 3 new states for Michelle, and 1 for Justin.

We are ending the night in Wisconsin Dells, which it turns out is a hotspot for water parks, they are everywhere. Another good thing about Wisconsin- cheese, we just may have to make a grocery run before we leave the state.

Well, again we've fallen a bit silent on the blog, but that's because we're moving again -- from the East Coast to the West! We'll be living in Portland, Oregon for the next few months, something we've wanted to do for years. We'll actually be living a bit south of Portland proper in Wilsonville, and Michelle will be working in Woodburn, but it at least gets us to the area for a while to see if we want to stay longer.

We're actually headed on the road momentarily, so stay tuned for updates. We're taking a northern route, mostly sticking to I-90, so we'll hit a couple new states for both of us (Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming).

See you on the other side!

When last we were writing about Sevilla, we had finished the cathedral and the Alcázar. Located right in between the two is the Archivo General de Indias, which is basically the document archives of all of Spain's conquests in the Americas. When you think about all of the exploring and conquering that they had done in what is now the western US, Latin America, and South America, and think about all the maps, charts, letters, correspondence, permits, drawings, translations, inventories, and such that they had accumulated over 300 years, it's not surprising that they have dedicated a museum to it.

At first glance, I'm not sure if the building full of shelves of untouchable tomes would be interesting in itself (amazing architecture aside), but they seem to do regular exhibits where they pull out a featured set of items and build a nice big display. The current one happened to be about the US in particular -- the missions, forts, natives, plunders, wars, and treaties which involved Spain in the affairs of the US. Between Matt hailing from Texas and the Nate, Michelle, and I having travelled the Southwest pretty extensively, it made for a really interesting time, plus a challenge to our Spanish skills figuring out the displays.

Unfortunately we couldn't take any pictures inside save the one to the right and a few others, but we saw many artifacts handled by folks such as Cortez, Coronado, de Soto, and George Washington. I definitely wish that I lived closer so I could see what kinds of other things they rotate on display.

The other thing that we did that day was head to the Plaza de Toros -- every town has one in southern Spain -- which is the bullfighting ring. We had heard in particular that Sevilla's was rather old (18th century) and contained a museum. The tickets were pretty inexpensive and we first got a tour of the plaza itself. This part was mostly about the basics of the building, the organizational structure of who runs the arena, and what the numbers look like (usually six bulls to a fight, every weekend, and during the annual fair week, twelve bulls every night). We found out that you pay for seats based on how close they are to the ring, but also based on whether they are in the sun, in the shade, or start in the sun and later become shade as the fight progresses.

The best quote during this time was when our guide, after she got to the English version of that section of the tour, pointed to a gate and explained that "this is where the matador leaves victorious, and this (pointing to another gate) leads to the hospital," with no trace of humor in her voice. We had to stifle surprised chuckles at her matter-of-factness, actually.

After that, we went inside and got an overview of bullfighting attire, ceremony, and heroic figures of the past 300 years and learned the basics of how a fight progresses.

Now at this point, you're probably wondering what our feeling on bullfights is. Did we attend one? And what exactly happens? A couple guidebooks that we read said that in order to truly understand the Spanish, you have to attend a bullfight. Between that advice and the enthusiasm of our guide, I have to admit that we were pretty into it.

When you look at it objectively, bullfighting is basically getting a bull to run around, taunting it a bit, with many people involved to keep the bull distracted. Gradually, the bull is bloodied up a bit and finally, a sword is driven between its shoulders, into its heart (if done properly), the bull stands and stares for a moment, then usually falls to his knees, and then dies within a minute. Also, a few other details: the bull's neck and back are weakened during the fight so that he has more and more difficulty raising his head, and after the sword, a sort of cleanup crew comes in, quickly severs the spinal cord at the neck with a small dagger, and, while attention is focused on the matador, the bull is dragged a way by a team of mules. Depending on how well the bullfighter did (as judged by the president of the ring draping his handkerchief appropriately), he will receive no prize, one ear, both ears, or both ears and the tail, which are usually tossed to people, often children, in the crowd.

Still with me?

So it's not what you would call a really humane thing to watch by any stretch. What's interesting, though, is the aspect of honor that is brought into it. A bull must fight honorably and the matador (or picador) must fight honorably. A bull that dies in a bullfight has served a noble purpose and has died honorably and will be remembered as such. A bull that tries to run away or jumps the fence has lost his honor. A man who does not fight courageously is without honor. When a bull kills a man, even the bull's mother is killed in retribution (believe it -- we saw one on the wall). Did I mention that honor is involved?

I'm not sure I can compare this to anything that we have in the US. Maybe you can enlighten me in the comments, but I can't think of anything that really comes close.

When you think about all of the beef that we consume, particularly in the US, and that we generally don't know where it comes from, combined with the horror stories that come out of mass slaughterhouses and the obvious abuses of the system that must go on, there is something refreshing about the Spanish view of the bull. Although, just because it's the lesser of two evils...

After the weekend that we saw this museum, and after Nate had left, Matt, Michelle, and I discussed it. We agreed that we all pretty much felt the same way -- we all had somewhat morbid, but culturally-directed, curiosity about attending a bullfight and watching the Spanish people enjoy one. Unfortunately, though, the bullfights in Marbella were priced at no less than sixty Euros a seat! From the tour in Sevilla, we were led to believe that we could get cheap seats for maybe fifteen Euros. But that was Sevilla, and Marbella is a touristy place, so maybe that was a factor. In the end, we did not attend a bullfight, though after Matt had left, Michelle and I watched an entire three hour bullfighting event live on local TV. After this, and because Matt had left, our interest kind of tapered off.

I wish that I could say that I have no interest in seeing a bullfight, but on the other hand, I don't really have any regrets about missing the chance while we were there. It's hard to explain. I'm generally pretty open-minded about other cultures and generally try things (or intend to try things) that might scare off most people, especially in the realm of food, but this was a rare chance to come close to doing something that a lot of the rest of the world either knows very little about or considers barbaric (or both). Bullfighting was something that had my interest for a while, but really, it came down to cost as to why we didn't take part and experience this quintessential Spanish tradition.

Again, hard to explain. But very Spanish.

Next time, a bit more about Sevilla as we wrapped up our eventful weekend there.

• Our Archive photos
• Our bullfighting museum photos
• Wikipedia page on bullfighting

An update for those of you who think we fell off the map... we're alive and well and now back in the States. Two things -- where are we now and what's going on?

First off, Spain was a temporary thing; only for three months, sadly. Though we loved it, we weren't technically there on work, so we were subject to 90-day tourist visas, which is how we planned it from the start. We may end up going back, but it was an opportunity given that I could do some great work there with formerly internet-only folks, and Michelle was between jobs.

So currently, we are in Cape Cod, MA, USA, which we are enjoying. It's a good transition place from Spain back to the States, given the beaches, seafood, and laid-back lifestyle.

Michelle is currently looking into work both abroad and on the West Coast, so stay tuned for updates on that as we make progress.

Again, an apology for being behind on blog posts. We are attempting to live a somewhat nomadic lifestyle, which introduces interesting constraints on time and internet access, so we still have to write about the rest of Sevilla, our visit to Málaga with Matt, two very hot days in Córdoba, Marbella's annual fair week, nearly a week in Paris, and our travels since being back in the States.

Hasta luego!

I'm overdue for a post now, so I'm going to try to catch up at least somewhat. Since the last time I've blogged, which was only a stopgap description of our time in Sevilla with Matt & Nate last month, we spent a day in Málaga to see Matt off, Michelle and I went to southern Germany for a week and saw lots of Stuttgart and Heidelberg, the annual fair has come and gone to Marbella (nearly sending fireworks into our very apartment), and we trekked all over the third of the three major Andalucían cities, Córdoba. By the time you read this, we will be into our last full week in Spain before heading to Paris next week for a quick vacation and then back to the States, ready to plot our next move.

But first, a side note. I just flat out asked her yesterday since I had no idea -- what did the title of Michelle's last post mean ("Don't Eat The Pictures")? Turns out it refers to a 1983 Sesame Street special (of course!) about visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and as such, well, it makes perfect sense to title a post about museums in Germany after it, no? If you were as curious as me, you might be interested in reading more about that topic at Wikipedia or YouTube. If even I didn't know this one, what hope do you have, dear reader, of understanding these cryptic titles? Consider this my promise to you that we'll try harder and, at worst, involve children's shows from this decade/century/millenium in our post titles from here on out. Spongebob, anyone?

Anyway, on with the catch up!

Sevilla

We figured we'd do it up right while Matt & Nate were here and head to the regional capital of Andalucía, Sevilla, or, as its called in English, Seville. I took a Friday afternoon off and we headed by bus (as we often do here) on the 3.5 hour or so trip northwest. I dozed a little on and off, but my biggest two memories were:

• An amazing castle and medieval city perched high on a mountain in the middle of hills on the edge of a crystal lake, which we spent a half hour approaching on windy roads and then another half hour driving away from.
• The crazy, switchback mountain roads up to Ronda, then back down again towards Sevilla, all the while tailgating another, slower bus and being leapfrogged by motorcyclists with an apparent utter lack of any sort of deceleration technology.

All I can say about both of these is that I've learned that Spanish bus drivers really know how to get the most potential out of a motor coach. To say that they push the mechanical limits a bit is an understatement. Picture a master sculptor working clay, or a baker kneading dough. A driver here works a bus like a woodworker plies wood, and he doesn't leave room for error. The brakes groan, the suspension creaks, the driver spins the wheel far left, then far right, then back again, always keeping up pressure on the accelerator and a hawk eye on the road. I'm rather glad I didn't see what Matt did -- a 1960s-era bus, rusted out, grass growing from it, on its side at the bottom of the very canyon we were traversing, presumably left there after its fateful failing sometime during the Nixon administration.

But we obviously arrived in one piece! We got into town, easily navigated the city, and arrived at our very cool hostel, The Oasis. We found out that with four of us, we were entitled to our own room, complete with bunk beds and a view to the street below. Also, we got there just in time to learn that a free group tapas tour and flamenco show were planned, and since one of our goals was to experience a real flamenco show and not a tourist trap, we figured this was a good bet. We were not disappointed.

Tapas Tour & Flamenco Show

We hit the first tapas place and enjoyed a variety of dishes. Matt, Nate, and I tended towards fish and pork, and Michelle rounded out the vegetable choices. There was much swapping of food, good drinks, the open air of a plaza, and a general fun and relaxing time.

After that, we spent a while following our guide through some winding streets while he constantly text messaged with someone and kept adjusting his route, and struck up a conversation with a recent college grad from Idaho who was in the midst of a five month tour of Europe, his first time abroad. He was a nice guy and we were all fast friends by the time we arrived at what was apparently our destination.

Turns out that the flamenco place was a bit hidden and hard to get to and we didn't have time for a second tapas place, but no worries -- we were all ready for the show. We opened a large, unlabeled and nondescript door, entered an old lobby of sorts, turned a corner, and were confronted with a dark hall teeming with hundreds of folks ready for flamenco, tossing back beers and sangria and sitting on long benches under a low roof populated by many unused fans. The weather was still pretty moderate, but the crowd made it a little hot inside -- not hot enough for the fans, though. Admission was free (a good sign) and the place was supported by drinks at the bar, which we took full advantage of.

The show itself was fantastic. It's kind of hard to describe -- it's really not just about the dancing, but as much about the guitarist, vocalist, and (in this group) the flute player. The vocals were the most interesting part, because they definitely had a Middle Eastern feel to them and the lead singer never took his intense stare off of the dancer while performing. It was clear that the group was performing as much for themselves as for the hall in attendance, since they were very passionate and had what the Spanish call duende, or "the spirit", when it came to their performance. I'm really glad that we got to experience this and that it wasn't some sort of tourist attraction but a real show for real Spaniards. A definite highlight.

Alcázar and Cathedral

We spent that Saturday exploring Sevilla's Alcázar (Muslim and later, Christian, palace) and its cathedral, which is the largest Gothic church and the fourth largest Christian church in the world. The cathedral alone took over a hundred years to build.

In the Alcázar, highlights included a painting which is the first known depiction of the discovery of America, an amazing pooled courtyard in the style that we've seen in Granada and other places since, ancient wall-sized tapestries, and beautiful gardens containing a hedge maze, peacocks, Arab baths, and orange groves.

The cathedral was stunning. It included an enormous gilded altar (the most gold I've ever seen), the royal treasury, a minaret-turned-belltower, and -- oh yeah, in case you thought they were slacking -- Christopher Columbus' tomb. Words can't do it justice -- check out the photos (see the links at the end of the post).

We took a break and found a great bar called Cafe Bar Las Teresas, which really typifies Sevillian tapas. We had our share of jamón and wine and, rested up, moved on for the rest of the day.

Next time, I'll talk about the bullfighting museum, the Archives of the Indias, the ren faire, and of course, the bunk bed disaster -- and that's just the rest of Sevilla. Stay tuned!

• Our photos of the flamenco bar
• Our photos of the Alcázar
• Our photos of the cathedral
• Wikipedia: Flamenco
• Wikipedia: Seville Cathedral
• Wikipedia: Alcázar of Seville

So since Justin was in meetings all week, I had a lot of time to myself. I took that time to explore Stuttgart on a couple of walking tours. The walks always took me up into the hills and provided a lot of historical information about Baden-Württemberg. I walked past the old castle, the new castle, a couple of palaces, lots of viewpoints, climbed a ton of stairs, wandered thru a bunch of parks and past lots of beautiful old homes. I really enjoyed walking along the Blaue Weg (Blue Path), which was the first Swabian Walking Associations footpath that went as far as the Black Forest.

I also visited some museums. The first one was the Württembergishes Landesmuseum of Stuttgart. This was in the old castle of Stuttgart, which was most recently rebuild in 1969 and now houses the "State Collection of National Antiquities." The best of which was glass from the Egyptians, the oldest deck of European cards dating from 1430, celtic burial objects, and the crown jewels of Württtemberg and the Russian gold service of Queen Katharina. Very sparkly and very pretty.

Another day I went to the State Museum of Natural History at the Rosenstein Palace Museum. This museum was located inside a beautiful building and surrounded by rose gardens. Inside was a collection of mammals and lots of information on native species. Sadly I did learn that the last bear seen in Baden-Württemberg, which includes the Black Forest, was over 200 years ago. And that wolves had not been seen even longer. Kind of upsetting to me that the home of Grimms fairy tales no longer has bears and wolves in it.

The third location I visited was Ludwigsburg, this was further outside of the city, but well worth the trip. Ludwigsburg is home to a magnificent palace built between 1704 and 1733, which includes 452 rooms in 18 buildings. And the majority of furniture and wallpaper is as it once was as Ludwigsburg did not receive any damage from the war. The place is drippingly gorgeous, and is often compared to Versailles. Unfortunately it was raining when I was there, so I didn't even get a chance to wander about the lush gardens. I don't know all the history on this place, but it was originally built as a hunting lodge for the Duke, then expanded as a home for his mistress. Then built into more of a palace when Napoleon made him a King.

Finally on Friday I visited the Mercedes-Benz Museum. I thought I should go there, cause its what everyone does, and this is where it all started, but I didn't think I would like it all that much. And, now I am the first to admit that I was wrong, it was really fun. The building itself was pretty cool, you start on the top and work down beginning with the first engine and car and you end up in a Mercedes-Benz showroom, just in case you wanted to place an order (think of it as a high end museum gift shop). I learned a lot, saw lots of pretty cars. Picked out a couple that I thought would be fun to own (Dad, let me know if you are having a hard time figuring out my birthday gift, I have some suggestions for you). The museum is built as part of the plant, so from the windows I could watch cars being road tested. I got to see one of the popemobiles, and lots of winning race cars.

The rest of the time I spent relaxing on grass or in park benches. It was a great place to people-watch, listen to German, and read. If you ever get the chance to visit southern Germany, I wouldn't miss it.

• Mercedes-Benz museum
• Ludwigsburg Palace on Wikipedia

We are back, and have lots to update on. Germany was fun and I really enjoyed it there. The reason we went to Stuttgart was because Justin had 'geek week' and I just went to go explore.

First full day there, we spent some time gathering information at the tourist office and walking around the parks. Stuttgart has lots of big open green spaces even in the downtown aspect, and its full of paths. Everyone seemed to be outside either walking, biking or just chilling on the grass. We walked to the Wilhelma botanical garden and zoo first. This zoo was much larger then the one in Fuengirola and had lots more animals. Not to mention that it was also a botanical garden so there were lots of greenhouses to walk in.

There was a great primate section, and seemed to be built around the same time as the great ape house in the national zoo, it had about the same layout, including indoor and outdoor space for all the groups. We saw a large bonobo group, maybe 14 or so, Chimpanzees, Gorilla, Orang, White Cheeked Gibbons, and some old and new world monkeys. We had never seen bonobos before and this was a treat. The highlight was watching a mom bonobo take care of her newborn, who really wanted to go explore, but she kept him close by to her. The gibbons were super active and had a huge outdoor climbing enclosure, one of the females was so much fun to watch swinging everywhere as she played with her brother.

The coolest part is that Wilhelma Zoo has a 'kindergarten' for primates. Meaning that if any primate infant is abandoned by its mom or something happens that the infant is alone, at any zoo in Europe, they are sent to Wilhelma. The kindergarten is just about the coolest thing ever, and would be the BEST JOB IN THE WORLD. Because these infants are orphaned, their human keeper takes on the role of primate mom. They get to spend the day inside the enclosure teaching the infants how to behave as an ape. In this case there were two little gorillas. They were together and playing with their 'mom'. It was just about the coolest thing I have seen. I wasn't able to understand the process all that much since everything was written in German. But it looked liked as the gorillas got older they would mix in with older gorillas until they were able to integrate into a troop.

The weather was excellent and exploring the zoo was a lot of fun. We saw elephants getting lunch, tigers playing together in the water, a kids zoo/petting zoo area, baby pigs, lots of birds... oh yes and the second best part.... the EISBÄR (polar bear) baby.

The baby eisbär in germany is on the same level as the baby panda in DC. There are signs everywhere, books written about him, stuffed animals, people lining up to see him. And he is very cute, we saw him hanging out with his mom, swimming some. Just for the record his name is Wilbär.

We were exhausted after spending hours walking over the zoo, it was a bigger zoo that DC. It was a full day, and by the time we got back in town only had enough energy to have some pretzels, fries and beer.

Wilhelma Zoo website

So things may be quiet for about a week. Justin and I are leaving this afternoon for a week in Stuttgart, Germany. I am excited to travel to another country, and I have never been to Germany before. Lots of updating when we get back, I promise.

Took a morning day trip today to Torremolinos. This is actually the second time there, and it was much better than the first trip (more on that another day). I managed to get to the used bookstore, and pick up some new reading material. Made it home before the rain, read a little and fell asleep on the couch. Living in Spain is rough!