494: Rail replacement bus service!

What dread those four little words engender in the mind. Sadly I was compelled to use the service twice yesterday.

But let me rewind a little and start the story at the beginning. Quite some time ago I had booked a ticket to go and see Abba voyage. I had hoped for a paper ticket but no, I had to download the Ticketmaster app on my phone and show the electronic bar code on entry. OK, if I must. The plan was to stay overnight with my sister in South East London, drive to the venue, and then drive home. That was the plan. However, on Saturday I got an email from the organisers saying there was no car parking at the Abba Arena, except for blue badge holders. Plan B.

What to do? Short of driving around the venue and searching for multi-story car parks, which I'm not keen on using anyway, I decided to drive to Stevenage, park at the train station and use public transport. Google maps showed me that the tunnel at Dartford was closed and routed me via Blackwall tunnel at Greenwich. Fair enough. Hardly had I started my journey than the nice voice re-routed me to the Dartford (a female's prerogative to change her mind) tunnel. How I wish I hadn't listened to her but had carried on to Greenwich. I got on to the approach road to the tunnel and sat there for over an hour, listening to music and twiddling my thumbs. Luckily I had an empty bottle in the car. 'Nuff said. 

Realising that I was running out of time I got off the approach road as soon as I could. I drove to Dartford railway station and left the car in the car park. £3.50 for the day (well, it was Sunday) and £10 (using my Senior rail card) for a one-day travel card. And then, horror of horrors, I discovered there were no trains at all running from Dartford yesterday and there were replacement buses running to Slade Green, to Sidcup and to Gravesend. Too late to re-position the car so I took the bus to Slade Green and caught a train from there which was going in a big loop to Cannon Street. Met, and helped with my few words of Spanish, a lovely family from the Basque country in the North of Spain. I got off at Lewisham and transferred to the DLR (Docklands Light Railway), changing at Canary Wharf and ending up at Pudding Mill Lane. The Abba arena was right outside the station.

By this time I was a bit 'peckish' so splashed out £9 (how much?) for a hot dog. I also bought a T-shirt for £35 from the merchandise shop. Has to be done! Young people these days refer to it as merch. e.g. did you buy any merch?

As for the concert itself, can I be a grumpy old man and have a moan or two? It was great to see Agnetha and Frida looking much larger than life on enormous screens (and Bjorn & Benny too, of course). And it was nice listening to Abba's music. But why did it have to be so loud? And, for me, the laser (?) lights were a bit OTT at times, leaving an image in my eyeballs after they had passed. My third gripe is that although the seats had enough leg room they were connected one to the other in long rows and the two ladies to my right were bouncing up and down to the music as if they had St Vitus' dance. I don't grudge anybody anything but was more than a little annoyed when my seat was being bounced up and down too. And how inconsiderate of many people to stand up, blocking the view of people behind them. It was a 90-minute show, with no interval, but I left early to give my ears and eyes a rest.

Back to Dartford by DLR, on the new Elizabeth line, train from Abbey Wood to Slade Green and rail replacement bus (when it finally deigned to turn up) back to Dartford train station. Then the 2+ hour drive home, with a smaller hold-up at the Blackwall tunnel. Fish and chips, and a beer, in St. Ives and home by 7.30. A long day, by car and public transport, for just over an hour's entertainment. Still, it was good to see my sister and her BF.  Did you know that in Spanish one of the terms used for 'other half', or 'significant other' is 'media naranja', literally half an orange!  

Hope this blog wasn't too long, but I had a lot to get 'off my chest'.

 

493: The Les & Des roadshow

My old mate Les came to visit. We spent a couple of days in Salou and a couple of days in Granada. I wonder if between us we might have drunk Spain dry? What with beer, vermouth, G&T and wine.

Here we are in a restaurant in Cambrils, having walked there from Salou. Prior to that we played in a closely-fought chess match with Olena. She played simultaneously with us both and the result was Ukraine 2, Great Britain 0. Oh well, next time!

Up at 5.30 on Wednesday to catch a high-speed (AVE) train from Camp de Tarragona to Cordoba, where we changed to a slower train to Granada. We arrived mid-afternoon to be met with our mutual friend Howard, who had driven in, with a dislocated collar bone, from his hideaway in the Sierra Nevadas. That is dedication. We 'swung the lights' (military jargon for reminiscing over old times) for an hour or so before Howard drove home and we went looking for our hotel. It was very close to the bus station but our fears about being kept awake all night by bus announcements turned out to be groundless. We had a room each and each room had a double bed, a large-screen TV, and a very nice shower. Breakfast was included and it was very nice, apart from the scrambled egg which had probably been there since the muslims controlled the city The less said the better about last night's dinner in a nearby 'restaurant' Suffice to say they didn't get a tip and we went from there to McDonalds for ice cream and beer! No, honestly, ice cream and beer. A great combination.

The next day, since I'm still hobbling with a stick, we decided to take public transport. We got off the bus and walked up a hill towards Alhambra, Granada's famous Islamic fortress. And up and up. It was a walk of 2.3 kilometres and we called a halt just before Alhambra for a beer and a bocadillo in hotel Alixares. That beer, and the next, was more than welcome! Back to our hotel by taxi for an afternoon siesta, out of the 35 degree sun. Perhaps we'll visit Alhambra another time! 

This evening we plan to use our bus passes to visit the town centre and look for a half-decent restaurant that might be open before 7 or 8 p.m. Fingers crossed.

Tomorrow Les will fly back to UK and I will take high-speed trains back to Camp de Tarragona. Spain is such a large country that he will arrive home first!

Enjoy Luciano Pavarotti (RIP) singing Granada.

492: Santa Susanna - again.

Santa Susanne (last night)

They do like to live in the hills

Santa Susanna (this morning)

My (favourite) cousins are staying this week in the Golden Taurus Aquapark hotel in Pineda de Mar. I arranged that I would go up and see them for an hour or so. Just enough time to catch up, not too much to get in each other's hair.      So yesterday I trained up to Santa Susanna, the next town along. I stayed there overnight (I'd been before so knew where the McDonalds was!!!) and went to Pineda de Mar this morning. Turns out that cousin Steve may have had a tiny bit too much to drink last night although you wouldn't think so from the photo.     When it was time to go Steve & June walked me back to the train station (just to make sure I left!) and I caught the next train into Barcelona.

    As I got off the train I made an expensive (in terms of time) tactical error! On the departures board I noticed a train was going to Sant Vicenc de Calders within the next few minutes. Perfect I thought, I'll just jump on it and change there for Reus. Turns out I should have paid attention to which line it was. It was an R4. The R4 line (shown here in orange), as I have now discovered, does indeed go to Sant Vicenc de Calders but over most of the North West of Spain! Well maybe I'm exaggerating a tiny bit but it certainly added an hour or so to my journey. I should have been on the green line R2. All part of the joy of travelling. I'll know for next time.

 

 

And it was great to see Steve & June, Emma, Jordan & Rory, Matthew, Katie, Oliver & Jacob. (Note to self, sort the Oxford commas out of that lot!)

Finally, this afternoon's "dinner" in Reus. What started out as what is called here "Russian salad" ended up at the table smothered in tuna and with a very typical side serving of bread and tomato. That's OK. I'll eat almost anything.

491: The dichotomy that is Spain

I think that when you live in another country you should make an effort to learn the language of that country and try and adapt to their culture. After 5 years here I can speak basic Spanish (but no Catalan) and hope to start lessons at intermediate level in September. 

But as for the culture! Leaving aside the bull fighting and the annual running of the bulls in Pamplona, I struggle with, and will never adapt to, their habit of eating so late in the evening. As far as I'm aware, in every other European country I can eat when I want to. But here, if I want typical Spanish food, I have to wait until the restaurants open for dinner - sometimes 7pm but sometimes not until 8pm. That's crazy for an old man like me who likes to be tucked up in bed before 10pm. 

That, for me, is where the dichotomy arises. On the news this week I heard that Spain has the highest unemployment rate in the EU. According to its website the restaurant Can Piñana, here in L'Ampolla where I'm overnighting for a change of scenery, was open from 0800-2359. At 6pm there were lots of foreigners sitting on the terrace drinking. But not eating. The restaurant doesn't start serving food until 8pm. Employ more chefs and waiting staff and everybody wins. Unemployment goes down and people get fed when they want rather than when they're told they can eat.

Luckily, I found the perfect place. The bar Milanés. It was billed as a Tapas bar and was run by a very nice English lady and her daughter. A hamburger, with blue cheese, to die for. I plan to visit again for a 'full English' before heading back on the train to Salou. 

L'Ampolla itself is a lovely, quiet, small seaside town, quite unspoilt by mass tourism. I may well come back one day. 

Perhaps I should move to France? Or Italy? (now I've put in so much effort trying to learn the language?)

490: Just for Magda!

Magda, my student in Warsaw, to whom I teach English over Skype, signed up 'ages ago' to follow me on my blog. Since then I haven't written any! My apologies. Here is a 'quickie' to get me back on track. 

It encapsulates the last week or two, in Spain, in England, and in Scotland.

Spain

Iberian ham, on offer in the local supermarket. I can't stand the stuff. Happy about that as it costs an arm and a leg.

Now we're talking! A chocolate fountain in the hotel I stayed at near Barcelona airport.

England 

Daffodils in the garden of my house in England. Spring has (finally) sprung.

 Scotland

North Kessock, Inverness. Stopped there yesterday for a superb bowl of cullen skink, a Scottish delicacy, after my appointment in Raigmore hospital. The physiotherapist was pleased with my progress (after my fall in late December when I broke my hip and my shoulder) and has signed me off from the care of the hospital. I'm pleased about that as my little 'bijou' flat in Salou is 2,500 km from Inverness.  

489: A beautiful day!

It really is. Clear blue skies, the sun shining overhead. The water looks blue until you're looking directly down on it and then it looks crystal clear. What a day for a walk I thought to myself. Boyed with a big boys breakfast I set out to walk the Cami de Rondo between Salou and the lighthouse on Cap Salou. It's a holiday here today (when isn't it? 😁) and I was concerned that there might not be buses running, to take me home. Luckily there were, although they run less frequently and the bus I caught was only 15 minutes behind schedule. Mustn't grumble. So, to summarize, 10.70 KM, 2 hours 42 minutes (not counting the frequent stops) and 14,968 steps on the watch. 2 beers, 1 BBB and some lovely pictures. Happy All Saints' Day everyone. And now I can't delay revision for tomorrow's Spanish  test any longer. I've run out of excuses!

	The lighthouse (faro)	the straight line shows when I was on the bus.

 

488: Toledo ("city of three cultures")

Spanish lessons (for the academic year 2022-2023) start tomorrow. I thought I might sneak in a quick visit somewhere in Spain before the 3-times-a-week lessons begin. I decided to visit Toledo. It's only 70 km outside Madrid and its historic quarter is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Spanish AVE high-speed trains whisk one from Camp de Tarragona to Madrid in under 3 hours at speeds of up to 300 km an hour. Why city of three cultures? Moorish, Christian & Jewish. Toledo was the capital of Spain for a long time, until they decamped to Madrid. It also has a long history of the production of knives and swords and there were many such available to buy in the shops. 

Using Trivago,I picked a very nicely-modernised apartment inside the old town. The enormous benefit, for me at least, of an apartment rather than a hotel is that I don't have to wait for my breakfast until Spain wakes up. 

The disadvantage of picking an apartment inside the city walls is that there were many narrow cobbled streets, twisting and turning, rising and falling. The tourist office was closed at 5pm, a long siesta I suppose, so no town maps available to help navigate but thankfully Google maps saved me from getting lost until I could familiarise myself with the layout.

There were lots and lots of tourists and they kept getting in my way! (How dare they! 😀). I must confess I enjoyed McDonalds much more than the food I was given in Spanish 'restaurants' (ravioli one day and tortillitas de camarones the next). I do understand that if I could only wait until after 8 p.m. I could find a decent restaurant. But I can't as it's far too close to this old man's bedtime.