Bs As Subte (a retrospective from April)

Here is the subway in Buenos Aires.

this is the oldest line in the subway system.  can you tell which train this is, from the soundtrack?

 

Barnstorming the Basque Region

[Santander - Bilbao - Guernica - Vitoria - San Sebastian] in 10 days.


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It's a little early in the season for the beach.  We're hoping for better weather by the time we get to San Sebastian which is reputed to be a beautiful, hip city, with great beaches.  We spent two days in Santander (actually in the Cantabria region).  A nice beach town with a pleasant old section.  Here is one for the church lovers out there....

This is the cloister of the Santisimo Cristo Church

We are now in Bilbao.  This feels very much more vibrant with lots of young people in the old town.  Not many tourists.  We are feeling the change in political leanings as we happened by a rally for Basque independence.

The separatists sang a nice song with their fists in the air.

Camino de Santiago - in five days

Ok, not the entire Camino route in five days, most people do that in about five weeks. We chose the segment from Cacabelos to Sarria. This is about 80km (50mi) and includes a few hills. (one 600m (2000ft) another was 400m (1300ft). There are more scenic hikes around, but the most interesting thing about the Camino is the little towns that you pass through, the history of the trail, and most of all the community of people walking along that all share the common goal of walking the Camino de Santiago. The historic religious reasons for the trek are still observed by some, but many are on their own spiritual or personal quest. The collegiality of people on the trail is strong, no matter their reason or language.

Looking back on Villafranca from our ascent of the hill named Pradela

Continuing up the hill

My tightrope skills are good, so I was thinking about a short cut, but feared the short circuit. 

A little abode in O'Cebreiro.  We shoulda' spent the night in this one.

Entering Galicia

As we enter the mist we lose the vistas.

Out in the sun again we can see the verdant Galician countryside.  As we walked through wooded areas we heard many coo coo birds in the distance (nature's own alarm clocks).

We went through many small hamlets (and stepped carefully around the cow pies)

The trail is a bit worn in places.

There are many intersecting roads and trails along the route, but it would be hard to lose your way (though we almost did a few times).  I have never seen a more clearly marked path.  Here are some of the waymarkers we followed.

Camino de Santiago

This was our first day walking on the Camino de Santiago. We started in Cacabelos and plan to finish at Portomarin (107 km). Tonight we are in trabedelo. That is a twenty kilometer distance with a four hundred thirty meter elevation gain (and down again).

Tangier

Tangier is the the City, but the Kasbah is the place.....and we rocked it today.

A casual sight in the Kasbah (there's no clash in these colors)

Through the Kasbah walls to the sea side views.

Down in the city mercado there were olives for everyone.

This is the community oven.

Grazalema, Spain (Andalucia Region)

We finally made it to Spain.  After a couple nights in Malaga we are spending 5 days in an apartment in Grazalema.


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Grazalema is in the Andalusian region of Spain and is on the boarder of the Parque Natural Sierra De Grazalema.  It is one of the white hill towns of Andalusia.

Grazalema is nestled between towering rock peaks.

The streets are narrow and steep. 

This is the view from a hike around the back of one of the peaks next to town.  The edge of Grazalema is visible in the low,  another village is visible in the distance to the right of the peak. The water supply is visible to the left of the peak.

Little Corn Island, Nicaragua - (a retrospective from March)

Back in March we visited little corn island off the east coast of Nicaragua.  Here are some snaps:

Here is the boat from big corn island.  It is about 30 minutes to make the trip.  when the water is choppy, it makes it more interesting and the water is warm.

A merry crew outfitted for exploration.  Deb, Pat, Jeff, Mara.

Here is the skipper, willing to take you on "...a three hour tour, a three hour tour...".

The snorkeling was terrific.  (sorry,the camera we used while snorkeling stopped working for some reason.)

The pathway to our cabana

The view from our Cabana

 

Goodnight