We
began an Elderhostel trip to Portugal and Spain on March 28, 2001 by
flying from Sacramento to Dallas/Fort Worth, then to Brussels and on to
Lisbon, where we were greeted by our guide, Jordi, who was to be with us
the entire tour. He was a nice young man in his 20's who managed, with
good humor & patience, to put up with 41 senior citizens the entire
three weeks.
Estoril
From Lisbon Airport, we were bussed 14 miles to Estoril, a resort area
on the Atlantic Ocean sheltered by the Sintra Mountains. It's a favorite
area for Europe's royalty and was a safe haven for those exiled from all
over Europe during World War II. Estoril was developed on the model of
the French Riviera and is one of the most pleasant places in Portugal.
Our first week began with a busy schedule of
lectures, excursions and performances, which included a general lecture
on Portugal and its language; an excursion to a tile museum; other
museums in Lisbon; palaces; Alfama, the oldest area of Lisbon; and
Correiros, the archeological site where ancient ruins were unearthed
when excavating for a bank building. The bank was never built because of
the findings. During our first week, we were entertained by Portuguese
folk dancers one night and Fado Musicians on another. We also enjoyed
the opportunity to chat with some Portuguese university students about
their everyday life. After the five-night stay at Estoril, we went to
Evora, then on to Merida, where we stayed over night in lodging that
overlooked the ancient city. We visited the ancient ruins of a Roman
theater, where students were putting on a performance, and an
amphitheater where gladiators held their matches in ancient times.
After Merida, it was off to Madrid, Spain, for six
nights and more lectures and museum visits, including the
Thyssen-Bonermizsa and Prado Museums, and more excursions. Among the
places we visited were Alcazar, where a 2,000-year-old Roman aqueduct
still stands; Segovia and the Escorial monastery/palace/basilica; the
Royal Palace in Madrid; and a flamenco performance starring Sara Baras,
said to be the best in Europe.
From Madrid, it was off to Toledo and visits to a cathedral, synagogue
and a panoramic excursion of the area from the surrounding hills. After
an over night stay in Toledo, it was off to Zaragoza for a night, where
we toured the Aljaferia Moorish Palace and the city.
Our final group stop was in Barcelona for six nights, where we had more
interesting lectures, art museum visits and tours, and saw some of the
works of Gaudi, Sebastiani, Van Gogh, Dali, Picasso, etc. One of the
excursions was to Tarragona, where we saw more Roman ruins, then to
Figueres, where we visited the Dali Museum; and to Pubol, where we
visited La Pera, the spring and summer residence of Gala, Dali's wife.
While in Barcelona, we saw the dancing Sardenas - locals who, after
attending church services, join together to form circles and dance in
the large square in front of the cathedral. One evening after dinner, we
also attended a lively dance performance by the Esbart-San Marti
Folklore Group, an excellent group that has won numerous awards.
Throughout our trip, we had the opportunity to have meals at some of the
better local restaurants to experience the local cuisine. The usual
dinner time is 8 to 8:30 PM with lunches at 1:30 to 2 PM. Most retail
stores are closed for a few hours in the afternoon every week day.
(Siesta time. Could that be because large carafes of wine are on every
table at every meal?) All in all, we were kept extremely busy during the
tour, with a few free hours to do as we pleased. In Barcelona, our free
time occurred on Good Friday, when most of the establishments were
closed for four days during the Easter holiday, which was disappointing.
Warnings about pickpockets in the large cities (Madrid & Barcelona)
proved to be true, with five of our group of 41 experiencing some sort
of occurrence. One woman had $200 (U.S.A.) taken by two women, aided by
their shawls, who handed back her purse as if they had found it and with
the Spanish money still in it. One of the men from our group was tripped
by one male while another attempted to pick his empty back pocket when
he fell. None of the other attempts were successful.
We parted from the Elderhostel group on the return
trip at Brussels to go to Denmark for five days to visit my Danish
relatives in the Copenhagen area. They kept us busy every day with
interesting tours of the area and held a surprise early 25th wedding
anniversary party for us with decorations, beautiful flowers (that
duplicated a center piece at our wedding), a multiple-course
meal, a decorated cake, placemats laminated with a picture from our
5/1/1976 wedding, and gifts, plus we all danced. One of my cousins had
written a humorous story about us, our meeting them & the wedding which
she read to us.
It was a great way to wind up a very interesting, enjoyable and
educational trip.
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