Tag: europe

Off To Visit the Baby, Madrid 2025 Day #8. “A Night of Adventure”

by reissmd, posted in Madrid

We had a wonderful day with Erica yesterday.  We looked at another apartment which was a bit of a disappointment but had a great time going for wonderful meals, visiting the Matisse exhibition, and of course dealing with my toes.  I failed to report about our after-dinner visit to Retiro park.  For those not familiar with Madrid, El Retiro “The Retreat” is a real treasure.  Besides its unusual beauty it adds special holiday lighting during the Xmas season. Erica was excited to share this with us.  Dinner was at a restaurant across the street from the park so after a brief walk we were treated to a beautiful show. We stopped for a quick photo as we planned to circle the display and then return to the hotel.  

You can see part of the Xmas light display behind us.
I am sure you will agree this is very special.

As we came to the end of the display a security guard drove rather close to us and gave me a bit of a startle.  We continued our stroll, then suddenly all the display lights turned off.  At that point we started to walk toward the exit.  Before we got to where we entered we were told by another tourist that the gate was closed and we had to find another place to leave the park.  So we then started towards the metro exit.  Before we could get to the metro station we met 4 tourists from Belgium who let us know the metro exit was locked. Erica said let’s try the Atocha exit.  She seemed confident that we would be able to leave the park at that location but I was nervous about possibly being forced to spend the night in the park.  We then picked up 3 Spanish speaking women who seemed more interested taking pictures than finding a way out of the park.  Next we met a French student doing a study abroad year   She seemed very grateful to Erica for apparently leading her to safety.  I wasn’t as confident. Finally, all 8 of us, (we and our new found friends) made it to the Atocha gate and were able to exit the park and get back to our hotel.  The whole event was a bit traumatic but will make for a funny story one day (hopefully today). Later, Patrice read about some tourists who got stuck in the park for two hours looking for an exit after closing hours. I suppose by comparison we were very lucky.

With the trauma of last night behind us, we spent today mostly looking at apartments for Erica and………. eating.  Both are very fun activities for me. 

A little travel tip that most of you probably already know, but maybe will help one of you.  Years ago, prior to travel you would need to get local currency prior to boarding your plane at home. Now that is totally unnecessary.  You will find that pretty much every merchant will take your credit card (I recommend using Apple Pay) for reimbursement.  You might want some local cash for small purchases (for a dollar or two).  When you use your credit card you will be asked if you want the merchant to charge you in the local currency (in Spain, it is the Euro) or US Dollars.   ALWAYS choose the local currency.  You will get a much better exchange rate from your bank than from the merchant.   For example today we had a lunch that cost us 44.05 €.  The merchant option was to pay $56.01.  The conversion of 44.05 € using Google was $52.22.  I was charged $51.88 on my credit card. 

We are headed to a late dinner now so I will check in with you again tomorrow.

Love those comments.  Please keep messaging me so I know I am not just writing to myself. 

Adios

Off To Visit the Baby, Madrid 2025 Day#1. “The Joys of Travel”

by reissmd, posted in Madrid

We got off to an early start to LAX today, thanks to our good friend Mike.  He has frequently volunteered to give us a ride to the airport and I think it is mostly because he feels guilty about kicking my butt during our weekend cribbage matches.  Today we are beginning a visit to see our daughter, Erica, who lives in Madrid. 

Today I fell victim to the risk of traveling from a warm climate to a cold one. I was very comfortable in Mike’s car but when I exited I realized that my jacket was safely resting on my bed at home.  No problem I thought, I’ll just buy a jacket at the airport.  Ha!  The only thing I found was something that might keep me warm in Northern California but certainly not in Madrid in December.  One thing that did warm me up was looking at the price ($699).  I messaged Erica letting her know we will need to stop at a men’s store soon after arrival.  She said the magic words, El Corte Inglés.  For those who’ve never been to Spain, ECI is the shoppers heaven.  They have everything.  From high end men’s and women’s clothing, sporting goods, jewelry, to groceries.  Mind you, not everything is in one place.  They have multiple stores around the city so you need to know which ECI store has what you need but as I said they have it. 

Our flight was wonderful.  We flew on Iberia Airlines.  The flight crew were very kind and I managed to get a little sleep. We arrived on time to Madrid.  Getting through customs was a breeze.  I went for a run in the morning but got a second work out at the Madrid airport. I’d estimate the walk from the plane to baggage claim to be about 1500 steps.  In spite of that long walk and need to go through customs we still had to wait for our luggage.  I texted Erica an update saying I think our bags might have been on a different plane because we had been waiting such a long time.  We didn’t see anything on the conveyor belt for another 25 minutes after that comment.  Total baggage wait time about 40 minutes.

After finally getting our bags we saw the sight that brought us to the country, our daughter, Erica.  She was kind enough to pick us up at the airport and was very thoughtful to turn up the heat in the car and get me to a store so I could buy a survival jacket.  Instead of ECI we wound up going to another local favorite, H & M (actually based in Sweden and not Spain). They had a variety of jackets for me to choose and I found one that cost less than the tax would have cost me for the jacket at LAX. 

How do we look? 

When I say WE I mean the jacket and me not, Erica, Patrice and me.

Sorry, I’m a little batty. I didn’t sleep much on the plane.  I need a nap.   Erica has plans for us tonight so I’ll say good night and talk to you tomorrow. 

Adios. 

Skol! Our Trip to Scandinavia Day 14 “Wrap Up Photos”

by reissmd, posted in Denmark, Norway, Sweden

Loyal followers of this blog know that my last post of a trip has a series of signs and sights that I have found interesting. This trip is no exception.

This was at our hotel in Stockholm. Apparently Swedes don’t know how to wash their hands.
Tyres = Tires. Otherwise I don’t think this requires any explanation.
I was told WC stands for Water Closet. I guess they have a lot of bottled water here and need to keep it in a locked storage area.
A Stockholm walkway cautioning adults to hold their child’s hand when close to the highway. I definitely agree with this one.
I will never live in a city where double doorways are needed because of the weather.

Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) has been a huge help in writing the blog this time. I have used Chat GPT on occasion with great results. For example it taught me how to type those funky letters like ü, æ, and ø. Thank you Chat GPT. It also made our lives easier in other ways, for example we were at the SAS lounge at the Copenhagen Airport waiting for our flight to Stockholm. We weren’t sure exactly where we needed to go, how to get there, and how long it would take. I got this reply:

Gate B10 at Copenhagen Airport is located in Concourse B, which is part of the Schengen area. The SAS Lounge is situated in Terminal 3, near Gate C10, also within the Schengen area. The walk between the SAS Lounge and Gate B10 typically takes about 5 to 10 minutes, depending on your walking pace. Both locations are airside, so you won’t need to pass through additional security or passport control when moving between them. Amazing, no?

Did I need to come to Scandinavia to get a Route 66 sign?
Going to Toftaholm was a challenge.

Google Translate was a huge help. See below.

Not sure if I already showed you this painting from the restaurant in the Grand Hotel in Olso. If I did, it deserves a second look because the service there was represented by this scene. They definitely were working as if that is where their heads were located.
This is something I thought was very cool. Notice the big numbers next to the store name. Those are the store hours. This store is open 9-21 (2100 meaning 9 pm) and 1800 (6 pm) on Sundays.

And finally, we saw a variety of types of restaurants, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Indian, and we even saw a Scottish restaurant. See below.

And lastly, for Eric.

See you next trip.

Skol! Our Trip to Scandinavia Day #12 “Bergen”

by reissmd, posted in Bergen, Norway, Norway, Uncategorized

Our trip is almost over.  We left the fjords this morning and the beautiful scenario that every way we turned looked like a picture used in a jigsaw puzzle.  Yes, beauty that you would think only existed in someone’s imagination. If you think this is just my imagination, come to Norway, experience the fjords, and see for yourself.  Here is one last fjord for the road.

Fjord with a salmon farm.

There has been some downtime during the trip during which I have read my book group selection for the month. It is a non-fiction tale about about Rudolf Diesel, the inventor of the Diesel engine.  At first glance it might sound like a boring story.  In reality it’s quite interesting and what’s more, it is very pertinent to the trip. 

Diesel was a peer of Alfred Nobel from Nobel prize fame.  As you might recall we visited Stockholm where the majority of the prizes are awarded and Oslo where the peace prize is given. This tidbit was a footnote in the book and was very illuminating: 

[When Ludwig Nobel (Alfred’s brother) died in April 1888, French newspapers incorrectly reported the death of Alfred, who was in fact alive and well. Alfred then read his own obituary, which was a scathing critique of his life and work. The obituary named Alfred a “merchant of death” and declared that his invention, dynamite, “killed more people faster than ever before.” Alfred was so disturbed at this potential posthumous reputation that he later changed his last will and testament to bequeath his entire fortune to a new foundation that would award a series of prizes to “those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.”]

I’m sure this was horrifying for Nobel but I’ve often mused that funerals are a waste because the one person who would really enjoy hearing what was being said is dead and can’t enjoy it.  That’s why I’m planning to have my funeral long before I die.  

We left the Fjord country and headed to our last stop, Bergen (of course not before stopping for bathroom breaks which just happened to be in gift shops). Bergen is Norway’s second largest city, with a population of about 292,000 with about 20,000 of those people being students at the University of Bergen.

We arrived late and only had a chance to use the funicular to see a panoramic view of the city.

A view from the top.

I also was excited to to see someone with a nose bigger than mine. See below.

Handsome chap, isn’t he?

In addition we saw one of my favorite travel sights. See below.

Oh yes, another bird on a statue’s head.

After returning from the furnicular we found an excellent Spanish restaurant for dinner and then on to home.

Tomorrow is our last full day of the trip. Until then adjø (goodbye).

Skol! Our Trip to Scandinavia Day #9 “Fjords Ahoy!”

by reissmd, posted in Balestrand, Norway

We had an early morning start today.  The buffet at the Grand Hotel was fantastic again. I noticed some chocolate chip cookies.  I had one and later went back for another.  A fellow traveler (Deb) asked me if they were good.  I told her they were excellent “…but not as good as my sister, Annette’s”.  Deb said “Oh, how sweet, you should put that in your blog.”   So there it is. 

The early start required us to have our bags ready for pick up at 7 AM and we had to be on the bus by 8 am.  Tauck is quite militaristic when it comes to the schedule.  Some vacationers might not like that but I love it.  If our schedule calls for us to leave at 8 and I’m on the bus at 8 it would irritate the heck out of me if we don’t leave until 8:15 because someone else is late. 

That reminds me of one of our fellow travelers, Marshall, who has been very fun to talk to.  He told me the 3 main life lessons he has tried to teach his children, grandchildren, and apparently anyone else who will listen.  That would include me so here they are:

1.  If you’re not early you’re late. 

2. Leave things as you’ve found them. 

3. Don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story (my personal favorite)

All good lessons to live by. And here is a picture of the sage person who shared them with me. 

I’m taking life advice from this person?

Today we headed to the fjords.  This was one of the main reasons I wanted to take this vacation. During today’s road trip, our tour guide, Dean, relayed a number of interesting facts and stories.  For example did you know the name Bjorn means bear?  Or that the Vikings didn’t wear horns? (I guess Marshall isn’t a Viking after all).    

Today’s trip was very long so we had some bathroom stops.  The first was at 10:00 AM at this roadside restaurant with a very interesting roof.  

This is called a sod roof and I don’t think it will become popular in Southern California.

Lunch was in Gol, Norway where the  average high temperatures in July are 60° and in August 58°.  In spite of these “high” temperatures they have this in Gol. See below. 

A water slide when the high temperatures in the summer reach 60°? No thank you.

We finally approached the fjords and then we were just two ferry rides and a short drive away from our hotel for the night. I could not believe the ferries. They were incredibly stable and exhibited no sway at all. I didn’t realize we were moving and then saw we were about to arrive. Very nice.

We are staying at the Kviknes Hotel (Kviknevegen 8, 6899 Balestrand). The hotel looks just average and the room is nothing special either but the buffet was something of which I don’t think I have ever seen before. We were told to get to the dining hall 15 minutes early for a lecture. I was prepared to hear a boring lecture about vikings or some celebrity who spent a night at the hotel 25 years ago. Oh no, not at all. Instead we were introduced to the head chef who walked us around the entire buffet and explained every dish. I am sure you are thinking, no big deal, he described 4-5 dishes and said “Bon Appetit!”. Uh, no. I can recall the following: Herring in mustard sauce, tomato sauce or pickled. Crabs legs, shrimp, seafood salad, Caesar salad, potato salad, cole slaw, tomato and cheese salad, crayfish soup, smoked and 2 other types of salmon, trout, halibut, venison stew, cold cuts (ham, roast beef, salami, et.al.), grapes and other fresh fruit, cauliflower, broccoli, root vegetables, olives (yuck), potatoes, a variety of cheeses, blueberry pie, ice cream, cheese cake, eclairs, creme brulee, flan, panna cotta, cookies, crackers, brownies, etc. Just writing this sentence is making me feel stuffed.

I am tired and need to get to sleep. We have another early start tomorrow. Speak to you then.