Hats By Katrinka

Agrigento to Segesta

On our last full tour day we set out for Agrigento and the Valle dei Templi.

 

Our guide, Tomasso, met us at the bus and walked us through these ancient ruins some of the best Greek ruins in the world. The temples were built in the 5^th century B.C. on hilltops so as to be visible from the sea and display the gods protecting this center of Magna Graecia.

Tomasso explained some of the optical illusions employed in constructing these Doric temples. I asked him how old some of the olive trees were and he told us that they’d carbon dated some and found some to be 600 years old.

This is the Temple of Concordia, the best preserved of these ruins.

A side view

The last and largest of all is a Temple to Zeus, king of the gods. It was never finished before Hannibal and the Carthagenians sacked Agrigento - somewhat ironic since the temple was likely built with the slave labor of captured Carthagenian soldiers from previous battles. The whole temple was finally toppled by earthquakes and much of the stone was quarried  (recycled) to build in the city of Agrigento.

This is a replica of an original stone column of the temple, a statue of Telamon, that is now located in the Archeological Museum.

We stopped into a house among the temples, now an office for the archeologists who work in the area.

It had a gallery space where we found Sylvie Clavel at work on her macramé sculptures.

Her collection was a group of mythical creatures.

Here Starr poses with the Phoenix.

This is a face we’ve seen before. (Remember that Bar Turrisi in Castelmola above Taormina?)

After bidding Tomasso good-bye we headed toward Segesta but stopped off for our final feast of the trip. Pranzo at Trattoria Caico just across the street from the shore.

Antipasti of peppers, olives, eggplant and potatoes with capers

I think I remember that this is a pistachio sauce on pasta.

Calamari, eggplant and I can’t remember what else.

Dessert was a pair of cannoli with a sweet digestivo.

Our last stop before returning to Palermo was Segesta just before sunset.

Here we took a bus up the hill to see the 3^rd c. B.C. Greek Theatre. I was asked to test the acoustics and sang a few bars on the stage.

What a moment!

Then I walked down the hill and headed for the 5^th c. B.C. Doric Temple to Athena.

We finished our tour with a small cup of limoncello generously provided by our drive, Rosario. What a guy and what a great trip!

K Q;-)

Caltagirone

From Siracusa we headed west to Caltagirone, a city known for its colorful ceramics. It is said the Arabs improved the local pottery trade here introducing colors and designs that are still used today.

We spotted this lovely baroque building on our way to the ceramics studio.

We stopped to pose for pictures here on the Scalinatta di Santa Maria del Monte. Fortunately, we did not have to hike up all these steps! The ceramic tiles (each step is different) were added in the 1950s. This is where my camera battery died and since I’d left my backup battery plugged into the charger in my dining room I had to switch to my new cell phone which worked just fine. It’s harder to see what you are doing outdoors though.

It was Sunday but the lively Anna Boria opened her Studio to give us a tour and demonstrate how she practices her art.

Anna was delightful and funny and clearly loves what she does tho’ for economic reasons she has not encouraged her children to continue in the business.

Here Anna is showing us the molding process.

I would have loved tucking one of these bowls into my suitcase but I doubt it would have survived the trip and I don’t know where in my tiny house I would put it.

I settled for this cute little Hedgehog, signed by the artist, a symbol of good-luck and easy to tuck into my suitcase.

 
One of the painters at work.

After our Studio tour we had about an hour before we had to meet our bus again so we set Holger to work with his TripAdvisor app and found a great little local place for lunch, Taverna dei Sapori. Our host, Aldo, took very good care of us.

We were his first customers of the day and (I suspect) he was not really open yet but we managed another multi-course meal with wine and made it back to the bus on time.

Onward to see the mosaics at Villa del Casale, a 4^th c. Roman villa. Believed to have been a hunting lodge of the Emperor Maximian it was covered by a mudslide that protected the mosaic floors until their excavation in the 1880s.

We walked on metal catwalks above the mosaic floors most of the time but, amazingly, there were intervals where we were allowed to walk on the mosaic flooring. I guess it is pretty sturdy stuff.

The Romans liked to show off the exotic animals they gathered as they conquered the world and

here they are displayed for guests to admire and/or fear.

These bikini gals are women playing various Roman sports.

This villa was amazing to see but really overrun with tourists from all over the world. We jostled and elbowed our way through the exhibit but it was not my favorite activity of our trip.

After the Villa we drove to a hillside opposite Caltagirone to Torre di Renda, an Azienda Turistica, where we had another evening feast in a quiet country setting.

Tomorrow we go to Agrigento, the Valley of the Temples.

 

Siracusa

After a stroll through the market
(I love the markets!) we were meant to go to the Archaeological Museum today but it had spontaneously been closed for a rehab only a week or so before our arrival. No problem. Our fabulous tour guide, Rosa, had a plan B.

Rosa guided us off the beaten path to see the fascinating ruins of the Fortress of Dionysius I, a tyrant who built up Siracusa while fending off the Carthaginians. During his rein not only were the fortifications successful (thanks in part to inventions by Archimedes of “Eureka” fame – like the lever and the catapult) but also poets and playwrights thrived in the City.
Rosa entertained us with some of the strategic inventions still existing in the underground portions of this Fortress.

There were no other tour buses so we had the hillside ruin all to ourselves.

 
We decided it was time for a group portrait!

It’s been an unusually rainy summer in Sicily and the fields were
blooming which always interests me

and here is Kay with more of those caper vines.

After a short break we headed over to the monolithic Greek theatre, one of the largest in the world and said to seat up to 15,000 spectators. Aeschylus premiered some of his famous tragedies here. This theatre has been used and remodeled for thousands of years, first by the Greeks, then the Romans, then the Spaniards who used it as a mill! I hate to think of the thousands of slaves who lost their lives hewing this stony hillside.

Here is a view from above.

 
Another Artesian well and later tombs.

and behind the theatre the so-called Ear of Dionysius – given it’s name by Caravaggio – nearly 70 feet high and over 200 feet deep … a pretty creepy place inside.

On our way out we saw another slightly newer Roman amphitheater.

Then we headed back to town for a free afternoon and a few of us found lunch at La Tavernetta, a charming little 11 table ristorante.

For an antipasto Starr ordered a collection of shellfish which she shared with us. It included cockles and mussels (like the song but no longer alive, alive-o). They were so sweet.

It was another food fest and, of course, with good wine

Check out the label on this bottle.

And in case we didn't get it yet we were serenaded with The Godfather theme. He had a really great voice!

After which it was time for a nap.

When I woke up I took a solo walk along the coastline, got tangled up in the winding alleys and ended up at the Piazzo Duomo

where things were just getting lively after dark. I lost count of how many brides I saw strolling the piazzas in the evening while in Sicily.

I met up with Starr and Holger by cellphone and we stopped by a bar for a drink as none of us were hungry.

Tomorrow we’re off to Caltagirone to see some ceramics.

 

Catania and Siracusa with Lunch in Between

We said good-bye to our Mt. Etna view and Taormina and headed out to Catania to visit the Museo Storico dello Sbarco in Sicilia. This was a dramatic collection and presentation of the invasion in 1943 by the Allies. invasion of Sicily  No photos were allowed in the museum. At the beginning of the exhibits was a representation of a typical small Sicilian town of the period with a dressmaker shop, a carriage shop, pharmacy etc., a charming little village. From there we entered a bomb shelter for a simulation of the bombing raid. The shelter shook and the sound effects were so vivid that I found tears running down my face remembering that my mother spent time in such shelters during the Nazi Blitz in London. When we left the shelter we entered another representation of the same little town but this one was wrecked by the bombing, a devastating presentation. I was so shaken that I hurried through the rest of the museum - noticing mostly interesting uniform hats - and escaped to the sunshine and another pistachio gelato. Guess I’m not a fan of war memorabilia.

After our museum visit we boarded our bus again and headed for Siracusa.  Around time for lunch we drove off the main road to a farm owned by a Countess (I never got her name!).

We were greeted warmly by the Countess who ushered us to the back of what used to be a horse barn for a lovely outdoor apero with glasses of local wine and antipasto.

 

My favorite antipasto was this Faccia della Vechia (old woman’s face), a kind of foccacia with carmelized onions on top. Very yummy!

 

Here our Countess presides over quite a spread.  I decided I’m in love with Sicilian olives!

Then she brought out her young chef to demonstrate the making of a lemon pasta sauce which is now my new favorite. Onions chopped and cooked until golden in olive oil and butter with a pinch of sugar. Then lemon zest and lemon juice (hers were green) are added and then heavy cream. Tasted on its own it’s a bit sharp but once added to pasta with parsley and Parmegiano the taste is divine! It’s so easy too!

After our demo on our way into the remodeled stable for lunch we saw the grillmaster at work on one of our later courses.

Our primi was eggplant risotto and lemon pasta.

I love this photo of my new friends, Jack and Kay happily anticipating that lemon pasta!

Our main course pork sausages, zucchini with garlic and beef patties. We also had salad.

And of course dessert!

Do we have to move again? Only on to the bus for a one hour ride to Siracusa.

In Siracusa we stayed in the oldest part of the city, the island of Ortigia, in a spa hotel run by nuns. It was tempting to book a treatment but when Megan tried it she found they were totally booked up (sigh). Maybe next time.

Stephanie took us on a brief orientation tour. This is the Duomo in the Piazza Duomo, built in the 7^th century by the Byzantines on the ruins of a 5^th century B.C. Temple to Athena. It's been added to and rebuilt many times as are so many ruins in Sicily. Another tribute to diversity. 

We ended our orientation at this fresh water artesian well, the Fonte di Aretusa, right next to the Ionian Sea where it meets the Mediterranean. This 19^th century pond was built on a celebrated ancient Greek fountain representing the spirit of the water nymph Arethusa. Those are papyrus reeds growing in the pond. 

Still full from our pranzo we headed to the only bar that was open this early (sunset) an Irish pub, where we enjoyed Aperol Spritzes but not the incredibly loud music. Then we headed back to our hotel for an early night.

 

 

Taormina

We met our local guide, Tommaso, early on the piazza in front of this 16^th century church and headed out for
 a walking tour of Taormina. This city is another interesting mix of Medieval, Moorish and Rococo architecture with some Greco-Roman ruins tossed in for good measure.

 
Here is one of the gates to the ancient city

 
and a restoration of the mosaic Madonna who guards the City.

The threat of rain disappeared and we wandered down Corso Umberto I with Tommaso pointing out places of interest and great little shops along the way.

This window was very tempting with glaceed fruits and marzipan delicacies (a Sicilian specialty since they grow lots of almonds here). Notice the prickly pears rendered in marzipan downstage center.

The shopkeeper handed out goodies while we admired the window.

 

Here an embroidery artist presented Gaye and the rest of us with her wares.

We stopped in at the Tourist Information office and saw this display of puppets like those we saw our first night in Palermo. Puppets were used to “educate” an illiterate public.

This Piazza Umberto I is a great place to people watch or take in the view of the bay.

The highlight and endpoint of our walking tour was the Greco-Roman Theatre with Mt. Etna as the backdrop. This theatre was built early in the 7^th c. B.C. by the Greeks then remodeled by the Romans and is still used today.

Our guide Tomasso told us he saw Santana perform here last year. DRAT! I missed it.

Here Holger poses as a Roman god.

Near this ancient wall draped with capperi I had the best gelato EVER. Pistachio!

After our tour a few of us wandered down to Parco Duca di Cesaro (a.k.a. Trevelyan Gardens) a peaceful and nearly deserted botanical garden located at the bottom of the hill.

What a gorgeous hibiscus!

This was a great place to wander and gather one’s thoughts about all we’ve seen so far.

I’m thinking of re-doing my deck like this

and maybe adding a pond for a lovely little Wood Duck like this one.

While some opted for lunch or a nap, Gaye, Shirley, Michele and I decided to share a taxi for the ride up to Castelmola and its infamous naughty bar with the spectacular view of Taormina. Gaye engaged our taxi driver, Salvatore, in a lively conversation with lots of interesting information about the tourist  business in Taormina.

When we set off to find our destination we got a bit lost in the windy streets but I braved asking directions in Italian from a couple of friendly Sicilian ladies who answered me in Italian and I understood them. Yay! All those weeks of listening to Pimsleur audio CDs paid off.

We found Bar Turrisi and its infamous multi-generational collection.

I was not particularly impressed with the “art” nor the view from the top floor where we enjoyed an Aperol Spritz

but we had a great time giggling about it all.

In the evening we had a pizza making demonstration in which Holger and
Craig both participated with our very talented Pizziaolo

and then a Tiramisu demonstration where Kay impressed us with her whipping technique before we indulged in yet another loud and delicious feast.

Tomorrow we are off to Siracusa. 

 

 

 

Mt. Etna and on to Taormina

We left Cefalu and headed up to Mt. Etna. After all that climbing yesterday it was nice to sit on the bus for awhile and watch the scenery go by. It was a long and winding road and our brilliant driver, Rosario, executed it perfectly. We did not go the whole 10,000 feet up but only about 6,500 feet to the Silvestri Crater which (I think) erupted in 1892.

There were a number of busloads of tourists climbing down into the crater

 and I was glad to have my down vest and boots as it was windy and chilly.

Almost lost my hat!

 
Craig and Lea are Rick Steves veterans and did I hear they were on their 16^th tour?!?

 

Most surprising was to find ladybugs everywhere – whole clusters of them. I wondered if they blew in on the wind or if they hang around the volcanic soil?

We just missed some excitement apparently as after I got home I heard there was another eruption with lava flow near Catania on October 26!

After our volcanic break we headed down the mountain to another fabulous lunch and winery tour at Barone di Villagrande, in the wine business since 1727.

Our host shows us the beginnings of a winery museum collection.

Rick and Mary anticipating pranzo.

Here’s to the ladies and lunch!

Antipasto

Primi

After that I stopped taking pictures and started eating and tasting lovely wines.

After we waddled away from the tables we headed back to our bus and on to Taormina.

View from my hotel room in Taormina, the best so far.

From the deck of our hotel. We are facing the Ionian Sea now.

Another view of the Ionian Sea

I just love the colors of Italian roofs.

We wandered about Taormina a little in the evening but were too full from lunch for a real dinner. Starr, Michele, Megan, Holger and I opted for Aperol Spritzes which were just perfect as they always serve them with little delicious snacks like Pistachio Bruschetta, cheese and olives.

Tomorrow Taormina, the Greco-Roman Theatre and more…

 

Cefalu

On Day 3 we were on our own in Cefalu. Some of us opted to hang out at the beach, some to shop in this charming but touristy town. Holger, Craig, Michele and I decided to hike up La Rocca, the “promontory” behind the city which promised an ancient temple to Diana and a Fortezza at the top as well as goats. Our guide Stephanie told us we could make it up in an hour so we set out after breakfast.

 At the outset we paid 4 Euros and signed in with an old Sicilian who would check to make sure we made it out again at the end of our hike.
 We started up these easy steps which quickly turned into a narrow and steep dirt path. Aventura!

 We first came across the ruin of  Chiesa di Santa Anna with what looked like an old tomb. We hiked along the fragrant path (lots of herbs and flowers since they’d had a rainy summer)

(that lush vine on the right is a caper plant which grows on walls and is polinated by lizards)

...until we reached what was left of the Temple to Diana.

 No columns here as the Catholics removed the columns and installed them in the Cathedral downtown in Cefalu.

 
 It was fun to clamber about the ruins with only ourselves in sight.

 
 We were high above Cefalu by now.

 

Onward to the Castello Fortificato

and amazing views of the Tyrrenhian Sea with no guardrails.

 

This was amazing fun!

 We’d been told there were goats and we found them on the way down.

They’ll eat anything – even cactus! These prickly pear cactus were bearing fruit all over Sicily this October.

When we got down it was time for a shower and then a lovely lunch on the deck at Al Porticciolo.
Our attempts at Italian paid off in a complimentary Prosecco before lunch and also dessert. Friendly Sicilians in the off season.

After lunch I had a nap and then our group met on the roof of our hotel for a grand Pot Luck Apero and a chance to get to know our fellow travelers a little better.

 Tomorrow – Mt. Etna!

 

 

 

 

An Adventure in Sicily

Two years ago I took a sailing trip with friends in Sicily but we spent most of our time on the boat. I decided then to come back and see the sights and signed up for a Rick Steves Best of Sicily Tour this Fall. My friends, Starr and Holger flew in from Switzerland to join me and the rest of the tribe. We were 24 in all. The airport bus dropped us off near this theatre a few blocks from our hotel.

Starr and Holger were arriving late so I was on my own my first day. I remembered my way around from two years ago and found my favorite Nocciole gelato and later dinner on a pedestrian plaza where I could watch the Sicilians and practice my Italian on i camerieri.

The next day Starr and Holger and I set out to find a restaurant for lunch (always an important activity for us!). We wandered for awhile led by Holger's cellphone and Trip Advisor and finally found the restaurant only to find that it was booked. So we found another place at the corner and had a lovely lunch, being the earliest patrons (about 1 pm) at Trattoria Brasseria Mamma Ciccina. We were served Delizie Tipiche Siciliane - caponata, zucca, olives, cozze (mussels), pasta alla Norma (more eggplant) and, of course, local wine and espresso.

We headed back to our hotel for our first meeting with our tour group and then did a short walking tour of downtown Palermo in a drizzly rain (the only less than perfect weather the whole trip).

In the evening we went to a 50th anniversary production of a traditional puppet theatre with three generations of puppeteers working the life of St. Francis of Assisi who apparently traveled to Sicily. We were not permitted to take pictures during the performance but here's a glimpse of the theatre.

The oddest moment was when the puppeteers came out for their curtain calls. After watching those puppets for so long the puppeteers appeared to be giants.

After the show we walked a short way to Pizzeria Italia da  Modesto for our first of many feasts.

 

We were officially stuffed!

Day 2

The next day we began our tour of the sights taking a bus up to the Cathedral at Monreale with it's fabulous mosaics and Arab influenced Cloister.

 

 

 

Ever wonder where Starbucks got its logo?
Apparently it is based on a Swedish goddess, a double tailed mermaid, who also managed to show up here in the Cloister at Monreale. So many influences on this much invaded island!

We saw four or five cathedrals on our first (of ten) day. Here are a few more images.

 

A float from a recent Festa celebrating the Virgin Mary...

 

Somewhere in the middle of all those cathedrals we were given time on our own for lunch. We found a great little Ristorante da Bacco in an alleyway with a hardworking hustling host who persuaded us to try their 10 Euro lunch including all of the antipasto buffet, pasta alla Norma, dessert and wine and Espresso. Holger opted for the 15 Euro fish menu. None of us were disappointed.

 

 

All those cathedrals but we were not done yet.

Our last stop of the afternoon was at a workshop where the last artist who does such things continues to paint the traditional market wagons as well as Vespas and whatever else needs a bit of color.

 

  

Finally, we boarded our bus for the next stop on our itinerary, Cefalu. We arrived in the evening and had a brief walking tour with our intrepid guide, Stephanie, pointing out the best places for us to dine. After all that lunch tho' Starr and Holger and I opted for a walk around town and then an Aperol Spritz at an outdoor cafe which, of course, came with snacks and was all the dinner we needed.

Cherry Blossom Ride

On Saturday a young friend and I set out on our bicycles to work off a few winter pounds and to go see the cherry blossoms at the Jefferson Memorial Tidal Basin. At the height of the CB Festival the blossoms, according to the news reports, were to be at peak bloom that day. We started out early before 8:30 a.m. and it was a chilly ride since the temp was just a little over 40 degrees. My biggest mistake was wearing fingerless biking gloves instead of regular leather gloves. I thought my thumbs would freeze off!

Laura noticed a protected crossover on the 14^th Street George Mason Bridge as we rode under it so we took it and that saved us a few miles.
We arrived at the Memorial with busloads of tourists only to discover that most of the blossoms were tightly shut.
So much for the beautiful display we’ve seen in years past.
Still it was a fun ride and as the sun rose higher in the sky it began to warm up. We headed home and ended our ride at Caribou Coffee in Shirlington for a warm up coffee and a snack.

By Wednesday the temperature here had climbed some 50 degrees and I had my own "cherry blossom festival" just looking out my front door
at my neighbor’s tree across the street. Gorgeous!

A Trip to Basque Country

At last I am back with pictures of my recent trip to the Basque country. I expect this trip will be the first of many Rick Steves’ tours for me.  We were a group of 20 with a wonderful guide, Francisco a/k/a Fran or “Patchy” (sounds like his nickname in the Basque language Euskara). Many in our group had taken multiple RS Tours and I now know why. We covered a lot of territory in a short week, had a wonderful time, ate and drank very well and had terrific local guides everywhere we went – not to mention our great traveling companions, access to some RS exclusives like dinner at a private dining club – off limits to other tourists – and a bonus side trip to Pamplona, our guide’s home town. Yes, that's where they run the bulls every year (and, yes, he’s run it many times).  It was the perfect mix of interesting organized activities and free time to do what we wished. 

We began our tour in Bayonne, France. After a long train ride from St. Gallen, Switzerland, my friend Starr and I arrived late the night before our tour so we spent our first morning and afternoon exploring (and shopping) on our own. We lucked into a terrific first lunch at
 Brasserie Les Arcades where we ordered Assiette Pils Pils, a Basque dish loaded with the tiniest, sweetest mussels
 I’ve ever eaten along with slices of local sausage, little tender squid, steamed potatoes (we didn’t know it included potatoes so mistakenly ordered pommes frites) in a sweet pepper sauce that was divine! With bread and wine we were off to a good start.

When our tour began we would learn that the Basque Jews were the first importers of chocolate to Europe and wonderful chocolate shops abound in Bayonne.
 Here some local children were having a lesson on the intricacies of making chocolates and I found my favorites - candied orange slices dipped in dark chocolate. Sublime!

I was seduced by these Bocage “tango” shoes even before our tour began and both of us found scarves to add to our collections. We met our group for dinner on Saturday evening.
Our fabulous guide thought it funny that I take pictures of food and wine on my trips so he posed for me.

 

 Bayonne is a pretty little city, once a shipbuilding and whaling center. It is said the bayonet was invented here. They have a great Museum of Basque Culture which we toured with a local guide.

The Basques predate the pre-Christian era and originally worshiped Mother Nature (they are now Catholic).
This painting depicts a folk dance, an inspiration for what became ballet in France. Chocolate and ballet! These Basques were becoming more interesting all the time. Jai Lai (among many other ball sports) is also a Basque invention.

In my pre-tour research I found a website for a town called La Pernia in northwest Spain. The website cited a population of 440 but didn’t relate much more  information. I asked our various guides about it but none seemed familiar with the town. Later Patchy searched his iPhone and told me that La Pernia is actually not in Basque country but in nearby Palencia. He also told me that there was a large migration of Basques to the Philippines for the fishing in days gone by. I wonder if my former husband’s people came from this part of Spain by way of the Philippines?

 

After our tour of the city and of the museum we had some free time so a group of us went for lunch along the river. I ordered a plate of tapas (Pinxtos – pronounced peenchos - in Euskara)
that was so huge I couldn’t eat it all. Thanks to our new friend Cal who treated a table full of ladies! Two lunches in a row had proven that Basque portions are large and delicious.

We were free in the afternoon but our guide had business in St. Jean-de-Luz and offered to show us the way by train. This picturesque beach town where Louis XIV was married was a fun addition to our day.

The next morning we took our bus to St. Jean Pied de Port where the Camino Santiago begins.
Here my new friend, Susie, poses with Starr and the Basque linens the area is famous for. We also found more chocolate and an intriguing spice shop (as seamen, Basques were big traders and the pilgrims on the The Way were customers).
I loved this interesting planter arrangement.

 

Susie, Starr and I were teased about our shopping proclivities but I’m always on the lookout for sewing inspirations like this pretty jacket. 

We stopped along the way to San Sebastian for lunch at a hotel that really challenged our ability to pack away food. I believe it was at least a 7 course lunch but I really lost track as the wine flowed liberally in this Rioja region.
I did snap a picture of our delicious first course, a cold sort of gazpacho with a cream and pimento base topped with local jamon (ham) and green peppers. Yum! 
I also  remember that we had two desserts and this was just one of them.

When we arrived in San Sebastian our first stop was a hilltop view and then a ride down on the 100 year old funicular. This set us down at an intriguing park with
amazing geological formations,
a Wind Comb sculpture and blow holes that gave us a thrill or two.
Here Starr is having a “Marilyn Monroe Moment.”

I loved every place we went on this trip but if I had to choose just one place to return to I think it would be San Sebastian (Donostia in Basque). It is a gorgeous city on La Concha Bay off the Bay of Biscay with a picturesque Old Town, great shopping, beautiful 19^th century buildings (Napolean’s troops burned it down so the really old buildings are mostly gone), a beautiful beach and surfing. We’d just missed George Clooney and Tommy Lee Jones who’d been there the week before for the International Film Festival. Drat! 

Our first night in San Sebastian we went for a tour of several bars for pinxtos. Patchy introduced us to a local young wine known as Txakoli (pronounced chahkolee) poured theatrically from a height into tumblers to aerate it. Txakoli goes very well indeed with the vast array of pinxtos.  Apparently the Basques downsized from whales to cod (still very popular here) to sardines and finally to anchovies. What a great way to eat, cruising from one bar to the next, having a glass and a snack, visiting with friends, and then moving on to another bar with another specialty of the house. Delicious!

We had a walking tour of San Sebastian the next day with Augustin, another great local guide.

We walked to the old seaport, through the old town and by beautiful buildings sponsored by the Infanta Maria Cristina who came to San Sebastian to bathe on doctor’s orders for her exzema. It became a royal hangout for good reason. I loved watching the surfers in wetsuits on bicycles with their surfboards tucked under their arm. We had to be very careful in the bicycle lanes.

I’d asked Fran where would be a good place to buy a Basque beret (La autentica boina vasca) and he asked if I wanted the real thing rather than the tourist berets sold everywhere. Of course! He told me he knew just the place in San Sebastian. Then he went above and beyond my request, visiting the shop and researching all the types and qualities they had on offer and even told me their top price. So I purchased their top quality beret made by a family company in the Village of Tolosa who celebrated their 150 year anniversary in 2008. I asked Fran if the Basques invented the beret but he said no. They only adopted it. Of course, it is traditionally a man’s hat but that didn’t stop me. Starr also found a cute cloche which suited her in the same shop.

Our last evening in San Sebastian we were treated to dinner in a private dining club. These clubs were originally “men only” but now accept a few women who are nevertheless not allowed in the kitchen. We had a delicious meal and broke all RS tour records on our wine consumption. 
Here is our host and chef!

Off to walk the Camino Santiago we stopped for a photo op in the Pyrenees. Since we were so near Patchy decided to show us his hometown of Pamplona and tell us about the running of the bulls.
He couldn’t resist trying on my beret and I do think it suits him better than me. Despite all the drama did you know that most injuries are caused – not by the bulls – but by youngsters in flip flops cutting up their feet in the crowds of champagne drinking (and littering) bystanders? Fran told us he ran the bulls from age 17 until he turned 30 when his daughter was born. Not being the macho type, I would avoid Pamplona when that packed with tourists.

 
While in Pamplona we stopped off for a coffee/bathroom break at one of the many bars where Hemingway drank and wrote and I spotted this pilgrim by her fantastic walking stick! She was just embarking on The Way and turned out to be from Baltimore. When Tina heard I was from Arlington, Virginia she asked me to carry back an extra jacket mistakenly packed in her backpack. I agreed and hope to connect with her after her pilgrimage to hear how her adventure went.
We also saw a redwood tree in Pamplona, a gift from the United States (Is that how Germany and Switzerland got the ones we saw there?). It had been struck by lightening and was deemed a loss by all the tree experts but a homeopath advised one last ditch effort that proved to save the tree so it is still thriving.

We would see another tree in Guernica but first we would spend a day walking the Camino Santiago, for centuries a religious pilgrimage but now a quest by many who simply want to walk with some meditative time or lose some weight.
The whole Camino takes over a month to walk and several of our clients advised me to see the Emilio Estevez film, The Way, before I took this trip. I enjoyed it and watched the film twice. I also enjoyed El Camino Santiago and may go back someday.

We stopped for lunch along The Way at a little family vineyard. This family winery in the Navarra region has been in business since the 12^th century. We were served their delicious red wine along with an outstanding lunch made from what grows on their property.

 

We encountered this Ermita de Santa Maria de Eunate along The Way where, it turns out, our tour guide was married! He said there is a tradition that anyone who is married here stays married (or is thwarted before the wedding happens).  Whatever the mythology, it is a beautiful gothic structure in seemingly the middle of nowhere but there are many respites along way for pilgrims on the Camino Santiago.

We encountered many churches in our week-long trek. Ever wonder where all that gold the Spaniards were after was going?

We ended our walk on the Camino by crossing over this Roman bridge and then it was back to San Sebastian for the night.

The next morning we were on our way to Guernica but stopped at this little fishing town of Getaria, home of Juan-Sebastian de Elcano. Remember that bit in geography class about Magellan being the first to circumnavigate the globe? Well, the truth is he didn’t make the whole trip but died in the Philippines. It was the Basque sailor Juan-Sebastian del Elcano, a hell-raiser who was apparently taken out of the brig because he was the only one who could sail the ship home. Eight of the original crew made it back thanks to him.

 

It was late morning and I was hungry (again!) so instead of coffee I indulged in another pinxto - and the most delicious of my trip
– fresh anchovies on a sweet pimento with a sprinkle of fresh garlic on bread (sigh).  As if I needed a reason to come back, Patchy made a point on the bus that Getaria was also the hometown of Cristobal Balenciaga, a fabulous couture designer of the 40s and 50s. There is a museum dedicated to him in Getaria (alas, not on our tour!) with a whole section devoted to hats!

 

Guernica was bombed in 1937 by Hitler with Franco’s collusion as a practice run for Nazi bombing techniques later used on London. Apparently, they thought it would all be kept very quiet but the newspapers got wind of it and Picasso painted his famous anti-war painting Guernica as a result. The painting, for many years at MOMA in the U.S. while Franco still reigned, is now located in Madrid but we saw a full size replica done in tiles on a public wall in Guernica. Very moving!

 Another great local guide took us through the Assembly House where members from the various Basque regions meet regarding important issues. In the old days, before telephone and telegraph, members had 20 days from the time that bonfires were lit from hilltops and the ram’s horn was blown, to get to where members met under an oak tree. The original tree has since died but they have maintained an oak tree as a symbolic part of the Assembly and we saw the young replacement.

Our guide brought a ram’s horn and demonstrated the technique for making the rousing noise. Several of us took turns trying to get the thing to toot like a horn. And guess who had the most success?  Somehow, I figured what the thing needed was an old fashioned “raspberry” into the horn and I made a joyful noise – not once but twice. Perhaps I should take up the trumpet, after all.  Not!!

We then toured the Assembly House…

 
… and an eerie bomb shelter. 

Then on to Bilbao.
Our first view of the largest city on our tour, was from this hilltop with a thumbprint art piece setting the tone. Once settled into our hotel we walked around the old town section, past the cathedral and on to 

Victor Montes for more pintxos and a Txakoli.

 

On our way back to our hotel we strolled down this Calle. I found a similar street when I was in Barcelona 5 or 6 years ago. Only one hat shop there now.

Friday morning we headed out early for a walk to the Guggenheim.  
I was looking forward to seeing this museum for the amazing Frank Gehry structure but was skeptical about the art, since I’m not normally a huge fan of modern art. I was to be very surprised. 

The first but only disappointment to my mind was that “Puppy” in front of the museum was undergoing a twice yearly changing of the plantings that coat this giant West Highland Terrier sculpture, a tribute to “sentimentalism.” It takes two days to change out the plants and wouldn’t you know that’s when we were there. Oh well, plenty more to see.

This stunning building is covered in sheets of titanium and glass. Bilbao, once a steel and shipbuilding industrial city, dreamed up and reinvented itself around this museum when those industries moved elsewhere. It is an astounding accomplishment. 
The building is evocative of the ships once built here and the fishing that drove the shipbuilding trades. Everywhere you look the building seems to change inside and out and it is beautiful.
We were guided on a tour of the permanent collection which, much to my surprise, I liked very much. Outside there are sculptures,
one incorporating a nearby bridge, another a giant spider called “Mother” which these school children were very involved with.
The girls were hugging her legs and the little boys were trying to push her over. Hourly there is a mist happening as an artistic installation and at night there are fire fountains (which we did not see during the day). We had free time in the afternoon and opted to have lunch in their excellent cafe.
We especially enjoyed the Sangria!

Inside I was most taken with the Richard Serra installation named La materia del tiempo. We walked the first piece, called “the snake” which was mesmerizing like walking a maze. I went back after lunch to walk the six other mazes in the group and consider this my “Wow Moment” of the tour. We were not permitted to take pictures of the artwork due to copyright issues so you’ll just have to go and see for yourself.

 

Too soon we had our last dinner celebration with the group (Where did the week go?!?)
and it was sad to say good-bye to our traveling companions. Hopefully, some of us will meet again on other tours and a few of us are already planning reunions.

Some of us weren’t flying out until Sunday so we had a little more time to explore. Susie and I found a street full of “mercerie” shops on Calle Arte. Starr, you should have seen them all!  Susie and I also headed back to the large department store where I’d seen a jacket I couldn’t stop thinking about.
I bought it and we prowled the aisles to check out other goodies including a Carolina Herrera boutique which felt like a chapel! I had no more room in my suitcase and can’t afford CH anyway but it was fun to see.

Our intrepid guide had mentioned that “the best flamenco dancer in Spain” was performing at the theater across from our hotel. Carlene, Susie and I managed to snag tickets to see Sara Baras on our last night in Bilbao. It was an amazing end to our wonderful tour.

Salut!

K Q:-)