Headed off to Lisbon and Northern Spain for a couple of weeks. Planning to post tourist postcards, etc. in a thread here.
The center of the trip is a week-long luxury train from Santiago de Compostela to Bilbao. https://eltrentranscantabrico.com/en/
Suggestions for Lisbon, Santiago, San Sebastian, Zaragoza, and Barcelona welcome!
Gulbenkian art museum.
There's a certain vernacular style in Portugal and this restaurant Nunes is extremely it. Also good food!
View of the Douro from our Hotel Octant near Porto.
It got dark out.
Just like the devout pilgrims of yore, we completed our Camino de Santiago in a chauffeured Mercedes. Headed straight to a place with wine and empanadas.
Day of earnest tourism in Santiago. It's a bit overwhelming, there are a lot of people here. But neat fresh market, and of course the cathedral.
mixed feelings about Santiago de Compostela as a 2 day tourist stop. History is interesting! But it's packed with tourists on some version of a pilgrimage. And infrastructure is mixed. Lots of restaurants, but then basically no taxis (everyone walked here!).
Did have an excellent dinner at La Radio, a sort of modern spin on simple Spanish. Fantastic smoked pork ribs, European fine dining meets American BBQ in a Josper smoker. https://jospergrill.com/
Been learning a lot about Galicia in northern Spain. Celtic history, and of course Roman. Lots of busking bagpipers. At the Cathedral Beach now.
Also in Gallegos, children piss rainbows. 🌈
Luarca, Asturias, Spain.
TIL "Santiago Matamoros" means "St James the Muslim killer". A particularly bloody part of Christian Spain's history.
Surprised to learn about Gijon in Asturias. Lovely town, and big! 270,000 people. Never heard of it before. It's a port, they make steel, they have a big modern university.
In Covadonga, a small historical site with a basilica. This is where Pelayo fought a battle that in theory started the 700 years of Reconquista.
The Transcantabrico train has been lovely. Living on a train for a week is a little awkward but the interiors are beautiful and the hospitality has been fantastic.
Had delicious Fabada Asturiana at El Corral del Indianu. Traditional bean and sausage stew, similar to cassoulet but lighter broth and stronger meat. Delicious! H/t @qmacro
Drove up yesterday to Potes and a monastery where in the 8th century Beatus created a remarkable manuscript.
One minor annoyance in Spain; restaurants don't have salt on the table. Am told they used to but some misguided Covid regulation removed it. If you ask they bring you tacky paper packets.
A lot of northern Spain reminds me of Germany, Austria, Swiss. We are in a JardÃn de la Cerveza in Santillana del Mar.
Really enjoyed the Yayoi Kasuma major exhibition at the Guggenheim Bilbão. The building interior is also great space design.
At the end of the week long luxury train part of the trip (Transcantabrico). The service was fantastic, the train nicely furnished, enjoyed seeing places in Northern Spain. Also looking forward to a full sized bed and a shower that's not a telephone booth.
Made it to San Sebastian / Donastio, found some pintxos.
Found my new favorite pintxos: Gilda. Olive, anchovy, and a pickled pepper on a skewer. High quality ingredients and doused in good olive oil. Simple, salty, sour. https://www.saveur.com/recipes/classic-gilda-pintxo-recipe/
Some shots from San Sebastián / Donostia.
We found a group of marching Basque dance troupes, a fun little community parade. Here's a short video with sound of one of the dances: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipPS1l9nVX5D7u0TjSvvbWBESTaiCdJ99yStjSUxX3ktTbU8m6v5vKtpah3skRS-sg?key=NEg2eU9NWHVieU91T3QzNUdMVDctTjhncUJDMlVB
Lots of good things in San Sebastian. One of them is the restaurant Rekondo, a very good fine dining Basque restaurant. The jewel here is a 130,000 bottle wine cellar with an owner who's been collecting for 60 years, both French and Spanish. And the wines are very well priced. We had a fabulous 1978 Rioja from Viña Real.
We have been eating very well but sometimes you need a break. Casual lunch in the hotel room of fresh bread, Iberico ham, and Gamonéu cheese, a lightly smoked blue cheese from Asturias.
Some more photos from San Sebastián. We really like it here, feels both elegant / European and yet also very accessible and a place real people live.
Really enjoyed the Clima Ideal exhibit at the Basque museum, a history of travel posters for San Sebastian.
https://www.sansebastianturismoa.eus/en/blog/culture/7349-ideal-climate-summer-posters-exhibition
That butterfly poster was phenomenally good and deserves a better photo. In person the blue really pops dark blue and the gold has a metallic paint with sparkle.
John Zabalo (Txiki). Gran Casino de San Sebastián, una noche en el reino de las mariposas, 1920.
Enjoyed watching this container ship thread a narrow channel at Pasaia.
Edit Jef informs me that this is a car carrier and not a container ship.
Stopped in Hondarribia next to the San Sebastian airport on our way to Barcelona.
Just look at this magnificent website explaining to tourists how to ride the Barcelona metro. Every city should have this! https://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/transport/barcelona-metro.html
I've had a lot of problems at hotels over the years but "salt water runs from the taps" is a new one on me.
The water is working again so I got to shower with the worst hotel soap design ever. Shallow bowls full of goop you awkwardly scoop or pour out. The bowls sit below the shower, collecting water.
(Yes I'm at that point in a trip where I miss the comforts of home. Barcelona is lovely and about to resume happy touristing. Assuming we can convince a cab to show up.)
Sagrada Familia was as impressive as promised. A combination of a grand Gothic cathedral and modern design. But Art Nouveau, not the Bauhaus that came to dominate architecture. Have to see in person to understand.
Practicing a new way of dealing with service frustrations in European restaurants. Simply ask clearly and directly for what I want: salt, the check, etc. Instead of my American passive aggressive way of hoping they notice my need and getting annoyed.
Shout out to the Hong Kong couple from the hotel industry I saw doing this when dining out together. Much simpler emotionally.
Enjoying Barcelona but regretting not getting here with more energy and time. Great city, and I think like Paris rewards a lot if you get past the tourist veneer.
Some snaps. The excellent Mercado de La Boqueria, an ancient fish sauce factory from Roman Barcino, and an attractive bit of bronze street art.
May his passage cleanse the world.
(by Albert Manso https://www.instagram.com/albertmanso/)
Barcelona Street art. Less than I expected but the paintings on store shutters are great.
Bonus Barcelona street art
Today is the Fiesta Nacional de España, a national holiday on Columbus Day celebrating Spain. It's not so popular here in Barcelona, Catalunya. They have their own day a month earlier, Sept 11.
Lisbon is lovely but the airport is not. Abusive architecture: loud, crowded, forced marches through stores.
The Covid incubation pen at exit passport is a particular touch.
Here's the elegant American flight boarding corral. You spend 90 minutes getting through here.
