Our visit to a Bodega - Wonderful experience!

We had a meeting with Ivan, said Y-von', Russian style. He is a friend of Pepe and teaches English and Spanish. He is drawing up some tour choices for us which will get us to new places with a guide!

This is Ivan's post of Pepe Senior's bodega. http://www.globallanguagetraining.com/very-spanish-wines-drinking-the-culture-an-experience-for-the-senses/

We had a fantastic day at the family home, the wine making area is called a bodega, of Pepe Senior and son, met Danny, another friend of Pepe who spoke English also.

The home is in Trebujena, an hour’s drive south of Sevilla. Pleasant drive through areas that are planted for cotton. They had been used for wheat when Sevilla was very poor and long aqueducts line the edges of the fields, many are broken now.

We arrive and are greeted warmly by Pepe Senior. We get a tour through the family home which was last inhabited by an aunt. No one lives there now but Pepe Senior often goes there to create his wine. The home is full of family pictures, grand parents, and the generations after them. Dampness is a problem there due to humidity and shows on the walls in some places but overall it is a beautiful home. It has an atrium in the middle with mature plantings and a water fountain.

Large philodendron and tile in atrium

 

Pepe Senior in the atrium

So we enter the area where the wine is made - the Bodega and Pepe Senior brings in an array of local foods, yum! 

Left to Right: Pepe Senior, Danny, Pepe, Bruce and food, yum!

Then the wine tasting starts and he uses a “stick” made from a whales mustache hair to use as a dip stick, really! I asked twice thinking I didn’t understand at first. Plunged into the oak wine barrel with a small tube attached to get by the lees and into the wine, poured out into glasses, not worried about what went on the floor, small amount, he’s obviously very practised at doing this.

Says something like this is the brilliant golden ruby like wine... Spaniards, feel free to correct me.

We sat around a table and enjoy increasingly older wines and finally a cognac which Bruce said was better than any he had ever tasted. I don’t really drink it so had nothing to compare to but it was very tasty! Conversation was illuminating about how life had been and is now.

Bruce, Pepe Senior and I

 

Bruce, Pepe Senior, Me and Pepe, our excellent host

We then walk up the street for a coffee among whitewashed buildings which made me think of what Greece would be like, but no, I’m in Spain. 

Fountain in square

Pepe Senior picks us lemons and oranges from his tree, the same tree in fact due to some clever grafting. 

Unripe lemon and oranges

Affectionate farewells and Pepe drives us back, different route that went along Calle Las Palmeros, where there are many stately mansions and homes, mostly used as part of  Expo ’92. - oops thats 1929, they had one in 1992 as well but in a different locale.

We have never experienced such hospitality! They brought us into the family. We felt part of it and welcomed so well. It was a definite highlight on this trip. 

Settling into life in Sevilla and loving it!

Things just keep happening, guess to keep us from being bored. Had to use the bathroom late at night, turned on the light and the light bulb blew out of it’s socket, didn’t shatter luckily. No electricity in the flat though! Funny, our host is an Electrical Engineer. So in the morning I’m using my computer as a flashlight and can send email to Pepe, is there a breaker in the flat? No Coffee! Disaster! He replied it’s behind a picture, so unplugged the computers in case of a surge and flipped the switch. Power! And Coffee, double, Yeah!

Another nice day today, went to a large department store for a few more supplies. Just dragged out my lighter coat and will be glad I’ve carted it over England and through Paris.

Pepe comes over changes out light bulbs, brings more linen and then offers a tour of the neighbourhood. He also set us up with a cleaner for the flat expecting she’ll do about an hour a week. We did a large circle and ended back across the street from where we had been. Wonderful mosque turned into a church and painted a lovey red, more on this when we’ve re-visited and taken pictures. Pepe used to play in the courtyard there. He pointed out many useful places to shop.

Had some great tapas and a beer and talked about life in general and business in Sevilla. Won’t go into it, but we may be able to help Pepe and a friend set up a business here. Pepe also offered a tour of his father’s finca (farm) that produces olives and grapes, can’t wait to see that! So for an inconvenient start to the day it turned out just grand.

We are availing ourselves of Spain’s best food products (in our opinion) oranges, not from the city trees but in the markets. They are the best we’ve ever eaten I think. The olives which are also the tastiest we’ve ever eaten and Bruce of the jamon, ham that is hung from most bars for years and shaved when being prepared to eat. Food here is wonderful, different from Cornwall, of course, since I said the food there was great as well, just different specialties.  Wine is also wonderful, okay over used the word wonderful, from the Rioja grape for either white or red. Beer is crisp and clean tasting and many women drink it, I’ve seen in the tapas bars, more so than in Canada I think. It comes mostly in half pints so it stays cold, called Cruz Campo which means cross country.

Orange tree and lovely building

Bruce’s Spanish is coming back in droves and I’m starting to quit saying thank you in German and French so still hoping what I had learned in previous trips to Spain will return. We arrived Sunday so guess I shouldn’t expect a very rapid conversion in only a few days.

Up close, Mmmm, marmalade!

Still recovering somewhat and laundry to do yet, but getting there. Pepe’s tour helped us orient some more and I now have a website to go to for local bus information.

We are loving being here, it is warm and sunny, perfect since Bruce can’t take the heat that is summer here, even the locals vacate. Sevilla needs to market itself as a tourist destination in the winter. It’s mid-January for heaven sakes and to be comfortable sitting outside is just great!

More shopping and stopped for a tapa. Tapas work out very well for our meager appetites.  They are tasty, small, large variety and usually about 2.30 Euro, read cheap. If you are not full after the first you simply order another. Groups order many for everyone to try different dishes. Kind of the same idea as Dim Sum, don’t know which came first.

Emailed a friend of Pepe who teaches English here, really more to use his services as a guide rather than a Spanish teacher although I’m sure we’ll learn some as well. We have a meeting set with him for the end of this week once we finish settling in.

About settling in. It usually takes about a work week, we’ve found by the time we shop multiple times for things like condiments, paper supplies, breakfast for me, etc. Do the build-up of laundry in small machines with no driers so it’s a daily chore for two to three days using a drying rack. I went to the top of the building and there are many clothes lines strung out across so in decent weather it would be easy to do towels and sheets. No complaints, at least we have a washer, usually located in the kitchen which I thought a bit odd at first encounter in England but probably a plumbing convenience.

Found a lovely viewpoint at the top of the large department store El Corte Ingles on their outside patio. Great lookout to the major cathedral, the Metropol Parasol, a completely wooden structure built to shade part of the city. See here:

http://www.yatzer.com/Metropol-Parasol-The-World-s-Largest-Wooden-Structure-J-MAYER-H-Architects

Last time we stayed in Sevilla we were very close to the Cathedral in a hotel. Liking the neighbourhood we are in, more friendly. Still getting used to store opening hours, they seem to all be different and there are no postings on the outside so it’s best guess. The smaller ones in this neighbourhood close for “siesta” but seems to depend on what type of store to what hours. Haven’t got it figured yet but we will, another bit of learning.

More shopping, about done now and found a new neighbourhood with a plethora of restaurants and a professional looking place to get a pedicure. Finally bought an English/Spanish-Spanish/English word guide. Nice sunny warm day, eat your heart out Canadians!

We are appreciating the different styles of architecture in the streets and we haven’t even been to the true downtown yet.  Most balconies are enclosed with wrought iron delicately laced in many different styles and beautiful, each in it’s own way. Many of the entry doors are very tall and wide, we think to admit a horse and carriage into the courtyard. If a courtyard door is open you are welcome to take a look and there are many beautiful and statuesque courtyards in this neighbourhood! (If the owner comes out, you just say “Bonito patio!” and all is well.)  The “new” use for a courtyard is to make it pretty, as a welcome to my home, many have fountains and there are usually many plants. The entryway is usually arched and many have elaborate wrought iron gates in the arch to keep the curious like us out, allowed to look but not enter, fair enough. Tile work is exquisite here, as I suppose one expects. 

This is the tile work in our bathroom above the bidet (if you don’t know what a bidet is, look it up! I’m not going there). Tile is, like the iron work, each installation has it’s own design and colour although blue and white are used frequently. All my comments above about the architecture are another reason to live in Europe, so different from Canada, not better, just different.

I had a minced cod in tomato sauce as a tapa. The cod here is preserved by salting it severely and when ready for use it goes into baths of "seven waters" and/or a milk bath to take the salt off.  Although land locked, Sevilla is rich with seafood, several stores sell it and all kinds including fresh octopus and many, frankly, ugly looking fish I’ve never seen before. The sea is about an hour’s drive from here so seafood is fresh when it arrives.

We bought gazpacho in a “milk” container, recommended to us by Pepe as being made very fresh. Gazpacho is a soup served cold made of tomato and vegetables, in case you aren’t familiar with it. There are many recipes which vary due region and country and is served as a blended soup or the vegetables are left diced. So every time you have it you get a different soup! Never served hot though. Bruce has made it but when he blended it, it turned out a yucky brown colour so we leave it unblended, don’t know the trick for a nice colour. It’s very refreshing in warm weather.

We're off to do a more detailed look at that church I mentioned. Bye for now...

Paris, unexpected delay, and first of Sevilla

We get on the train, in the right compartment but someone is sitting in our seat. Train is not crowded so we take others. This becomes a rather major problem when the train stops at the midway station between Calais and Gare de Nord, lots of people come on board there.  We are sitting in a space for four and corner ourselves to make room for two more who were originally meant to be there. Another fellow comes along and says I am in his seat. Yada Yada, almost became musical chairs. Then the conductor comes back, after knowing we are in the wrong seats and cannot process our tickets because we are on the right train but wrong date. Darn agent we bought from made a mistake, but ultimate responsibility is mine to check before purchase. Anyway money changes hands at a reduced rate and we carry on.

Into Paris Gard de Nord station and we get a cab to go across the city to Orly, close to the airport. Novatel, whom we are staying with this time has many, many hotels in Paris. Weather goes from really heavy rain, read downpour, to better but not much. Warm and muggy in the cab. Went through many tunnels, traffic extremely heavy, with four lane highways each way. Took about an hour when Google said half, but major traffic downtown caused us to inch our way along the city. We came in just before 16:00 so it’s the start of rush hour. Our cab driver drives well but gets lost, thinking he knows where to go but doesn’t really. Figures it out and we’re “home” until 06:30 tomorrow when we fly to Seville.

Lexi was so good, hard day for us all and she hardly meowed but is now sacked out and not wanting her “snakey” to play.  In hind sight, should have been a clue for the next day.

We’ll all be glad to get into Sevilla tomorrow and rest up a bit before looking around the region and seeing other places to visit. Probably day trips by train.

Well we were packing up in the morning and Lexi went under the sink through a hole. My God! I’d rather have a boring blog than report this!

Real time reporting: She’s still not out but we located her under the shower in the corner. It took two hours and four people tearing apart the plumbing, the ceiling and a wall that covers the plumbing.We can’t eyeball her; located her by putting a cell phone down the hole and taking pictures. A manager also helped with the search and offered to take us to the airport in his car if we got her out in time. Not yet…

The staff here are fantastic, I can’t say enough!. They’ve changed our flight, (as it turned out, didn’t work) comped us another room for tonight once she comes out and comped breakfast as well. They all seem to have cats so do understand our panic. What a morning and it’s only 10:30 as I write this! Now all we can do is wait.

15:40 Angelica the lovely lady from the hotel came to us after I asked for a flashlight, hoping to see Lexi to ensure she’s okay in her hideout. She took another picture and she is. She’s just warm, not being carted around and feels safe where she is. When she needs to use her box or gets hungry she will come out. What an ordeal and it’s not over yet…

As said she is travel weary and so I suppose this is her way of putting all four feet down and “saying” I’m not going anywhere today! Well she certainly accomplished that.

17:30 not yet. Staff have brought up tuna and shrimp to entice with smell. Too bad she has never eaten either one but we’ll hope. Either the smell will entice or drive her (and us) out.

Bruce’s comment: So what did you do in Paris? Well we spent the day in the hotel room waiting for our cat to come out of hiding underneath the bathroom in amongst the pipes. Hmmmm, wonder how often people say that! I’m sure staff are telling this to their friends and family as one of the more unusual things that happen in their hotel.

She's back.... 18:30 and I heard her scratching at the entrance. Hauled her out unceremoniously by her paw, which she didn't like of course, but she's safe. Moved to a different room and checked there are no holes in the bathroom. There was supposed to be a cover on the other, here in this room, missing in that room. She is eating so is okay. Whew what a day!, Both boring and suspenseful. The staff here realize there has been a mistake in not having a cover on the hole but who could have anticipated a cat going in? No one. If we were of the type we could take legal action, but definitely won’t. Staff have gone over the top to accommodate, perhaps with that in mind, but they really have been great. One in particular Angelica who had the bright idea to take a picture.

So we go to dinner and everyone seems to know we are the “cat” people, no problem. We’re told to write an article on Tripadvisor to thank the boss and employees and have.

Okay we’ve had some glitches on our trip including no flight re-arranged and more monies exchanged due to a likely a miscommunication with hotel staff, boring, no detail here. Arrived in Sevilla fine and to a caring host. He picked us up at the airport, took us food shopping, did his as well, and brought us to the flat. Sundays, as in Germany, stores are not open. He unloaded the luggage and got us familiar with the place. It is smaller than the flat in England, functional, not fancy, but comfortable which is all we care about. It is a bit dark, sun comes through the atrium open roof, I would expect all the flats are. Would be cooler in the summer though. The courtyards are beautiful, all flats are arranged around in a square, we are on the ground floor of four. The orange trees we remember so fondly from a previous trip are beautiful and abundant. Oranges from those trees are shipped for making marmalade.  

Pond in one of two atrium plus orange from tree

Walked around a bit after having a restorative drink and had dinner at a tapas bar. Got some bearings, certainly not all.  Our host pointed out many things but until we walk the streets we won’t know the area for a few days. Also want to learn the bus system as there is no light transit here.

Anyway we’re here for one and a half months now and will explore outside of Seville but are already happy with the accommodation which is most important for that length of time. Already bought Spanish olives – yum, the best in the world we think. Bruce read olives are extremely healthy, fatty but good fat, kind of like avocados.

So a bit of history from/about our host. His father has a vineyard outside of Seville and makes wine for family and friends. He grows grapes to make a dry sherry but recently has added Sauvignon Blanc grapes to make a dry red wine for friends and family only, about 100 bottles per season. The family, three sons have four apartments in Sevilla, one for each son and one for the parents and whomever is staying over when the apartments are not rented.  The two other brothers are in good business, and living elsewhere so when Pepe got let go as an Electrical Engineer, his family asked him to take over the management of the flats. While he’s done five years to get his training and a hard study, he enjoys the tourism aspect of the job, people friendly and happy to be on vacation. Has an opportunity to partner with a small business but as he said "I’ve got both feet on each side of a fence”. He speaks very good English originally from school and then learning on the way, a sponge of sorts evidenced by today, we taught him a couple of new words and he taught us some Spanish.

Pepe's Father in Law grows olives. He wasn’t getting the price he wanted for his olives at market so went to the Government and had them tested, took them back to the market and said this is what my olives are worth, most unusual for here. 

Slow start on Sunday, Bruce had needed to sleep in and I researched Sevilla, where we are located in relation to everything else. Also what is to do here and there is a lot to visit. We’ve been here before but only for a few days and located right in the middle of the old district. We’re not far from there but walking there, back and around the district will be too much for Bruce (and probably me). Another city with one-way systems and all I read is the Sevilla is an unfriendly town for cars, easy to see why.

Back to the same tapas bar we were at yesterday, creatures of habit we are, but not before exploring other plazas. Had paella tapa which was wonderful, special of the day. Sunny, warm day and good to sit outside and do the people watching. 

So with fits and starts and a reluctant cat, we're here to stay for a while and all glad of it! 

Cheers, Bx2 and crawling Lexi Cat

St. Tudy to Folkestone, trek across the southern shores of Britain

Drive from St. Tudy to Salisbury, passed Stonehenge but so close to Salisbury we didn’t stop. It is now fenced because some idiots tried to de-face it. Jeeze it takes all kinds and some not very bright. All the way, rolling hills of greenery with hedge rows of course. Mix of weather but no precipitation so while it was very cloudy in places it wasn’t too difficult a drive for us. Except Lexi was very restive this trip and we don’t know why. We stopped and haltered her, leashed her and put her on the side of the road to see if she needed a pee. Cars whizzing by and horses across the road, unlikely relaxing place for a pee so we boxed her again and she was silent the rest of the way. Took about 3.5 hours to Salisbury town centre.

Now what? We don’t have a map of how to get to the hotel, should have Googled that one but didn’t. Get to the Rail Station thinking they would know, not, but advise that the taxi driver would. Now I’ve threatened in other cities to have a taxi guide us to a hotel, well this time we did! The fellow said the route was complicated and indeed it was! He said to explain it on the map would be difficult because of all the one way streets, and indeed it would have been. So for 7.50 GBP he lead the way through avenues, one ways and bends. Yikes, we would never have found our way or taken much time and frustration to do so. Monies well spent! He said it took him 3 months to learn the ways around Salisbury. It is a cathedral town and has an old town, so on a next trip we would stay downtown and explore.

View outside the Breakfast room window, lovely!

Just a photo of the river

The hotel is another old one but clean and rather elegant in it’s age really. Receptionist loves cats and had to see Lexi and show me pics of hers. The Hotel is on the river Avon (I think looking at the map) which is really swollen right now. Walking across the bridge and some places are getting wet “feet” or close to it. 

Long slope up to the hotel so no problem here at the moment. Hotel advertises wedding parties and I would think this would be a lovely place to hold a wedding.

We didn’t stop for lunch so were both hungry and the restaurant didn’t open until 7:00 so asked about nearby places, walked to a pub with a big soccer game on and found a quite table in the back to dine. On the walk over found a block with thatched roof and overhangs. We have seen some on the trip but going by. I found it odd really that this relatively modern looking building still had thatch.

We have been to four counties of England today, out of Cornwall, through Devon, Somerset and into Wiltshire. I don’t see many changes between them but we haven’t visited towns or talked to people. Landscape doesn’t change very much either but it is beautiful even on a cloudy dark day.

On to Eastbourne tomorrow, shorter drive and meeting friends we met in Heidelburg which we look forward to.

Hellish start to the drive from Salisbury to Eastbourne. A couple of things happened to make it so. It rained but was sunny in parts which made reflections on the road and very difficult to see. Anyway, it got better. Through West Sussex and East Sussex Counties today. Got to Eastbourne and found the hotel (without taxi help this time) along the main hotel road which boarders the Atlantic. Got in about three hours after leaving.

Anita, our friend, called to make arrangements. They came to the hotel, picked us up and took us on a drive to Beachy Head which we’d both read about in novels. Will look up more information about the seven sisters which are headlands out into the Atlantic. Very stark, many walking trails and a lighthouse at the top which has been turned into a hotel. What I need to say here is that you are on the Atlantic, completely raw ocean, no islands in sight and today windy but I suspect no more than usual for winter. Beautiful with the large waves coming in.

On to their house for tea and scones. They have a nice house, large and comfortable with a landscaped back yard. They have been there for about 30 years so  have made a real home. There are large beams on the ceiling and ancient doors with wooden  handles. Obviously a makeover and tastefully done, they said, before they bought. A good chat with them, they travel a lot as well, he is 81 and she is of an indeterminate age, but suspect a bit younger. He certainly doesn’t look 81 as if anyone can say that truly. Anyway, nice visit, brought us back to the hotel with meaningful promises to keep in touch.  

Anita outside their lovely home

The boulevard along the ocean is strung with round lamps of lights which twinkle with the wind. Again, another town on the southern coast of England that is nice to visit this time of year but gets extraordinately busy in summer. Morning was sunny and warm, Spring like weather.

Last leg of our driving tour of England Eastbourne to Folkestone and took about 2 hours since we were on a “back” road, through many lovely looking villages but slow going mostly. Many switchbacks as well which meant not going fast, fast here being 50 miles per hour on A rated roads, unless on the “M” rated roads which are major 3 lane highways. Sunny day and warm so while it was a good drive, going through the villages meant a lot of looking out for pedestrians, watching for parked cars versus on-coming traffic and narrow roads, not as narrow as Cornwall though, they take the cake!

Arrive at the hotel which we found fairly easily, being on the water, “just head to the beach!”  Walk around scouting places for dinner, found something we both saw as odd, a seagull on grass doing a “dance” on a lawn. It was doing a wiping of feet motion, don’t know what that was all about, no other gulls around, wouldn’t be a good place to lay an egg…

A word about chimney pots. My first trip to England and Bruce remembers on his as well, coming out of London you go through an intensely populated area of rows and rows of tenement flats. All you really see are chimney pots. To describe them, they are long narrow cones on top of chimneys usually four to five across. We are both not really sure why or how they work and no WiFi at the moment to find out but we figure each pot connects to a different fireplace within the house where they burned coal in the fireplaces to keep warm. No central heating then! They still burn coal and wood here at the same time in the pub’s fireplaces. So they are still seen in many places here, haven’t seen any smoke coming from them.

Beautiful sunset over the ocean. The sun always drops so quickly, wherever you are in the world. A trip to Hawaii with friends had us racing around the kitchen to prepare our “poo-poos” appetizers to eat by sunset over the ocean.

Fountain on the waterfront, changes colour but red was easiest to catch

Returned the car by following a taxi we hired, glad again we did, getting out of Folkestone wouldn’t have been easy due to a one way street system like Salisbury. Taxied back with a stop at a Post Office to mail bulky stuff (read Bruce’s Canada Goose coat and his boots) to Freiburg.

The mail system in Europe is faster and cheaper than Canada. Our driver gave very good reasons for this. Europe is much smaller and more populated so usage is higher. Makes sense to me.

Had a superb lunch at a trendy looking restaurant. It was recommended to us by a fellow we spoke with yesterday there. We dropped in for a drink and he was sitting on his own so we talked.

So our last night in England and it is blowing up a gale, no sunset tonight. We have truly loved our time here and the people we’ve met. Weather has been fine really with some sunny, warm days and the gambit of all else except snow. I don’t like snow unless I’m in a cabin to watch it from a cozy inside and don’t have to go anywhere by car.

This is my third trip to the UK and have enjoyed every time, although each trip was very, very different.

We all, including Lexi are a bit travel weary and have two more days to get to Seville but are very much looking forward to settling for a time there. I now know I couldn’t travel every day for weeks on end. Have done in the past in my youth but now not. Still love travelling and planning on more, definitely, but slower and staying in places longer to learn the culture and meet the people who live there, shop locally.

I follow several blogs as an example of how to write this one. These people go to blog conferences! I’m not going that far, my intention is to keep family and friends informed is all. But back to these pro bloggers, at least two sets have enthused about slow travel. They are younger than me too! But really all they are really saying is that if you go to a place, stay in a hotel for a night or maybe a week you have a great time I’m sure and a break from every day life. What you don’t really experience is the culture of the place.  Anyway, they’ve said it better than I and I am off my soap box once again.

We are picked up at the hotel in Folkestone by the same driver who brought us over. He sort of remembers but it has been over a month so no expectation with all the passengers he deals with. Go through the Chunnel, it does jerk once in a while and apparently has been stopped on occasion. Driver, Stephan from Hungaria originally, is a photographer so I am regaled with all the types of cameras available on the way over. He drops us at Calais train station after taking us to a giant liquor store that sold other things like cat food and nursery items? It did! Couldn't get the theme there except large amounts of liquor, but why the other stuff? He took great pleasure in walking the store and pointing out the unusual liquors one could get there, and certainly so, didn’t avail ourselves of any though. Back to Calais and he ensures we are on the right track and going the right way. Kind fellow that really cares. 

Next blog France, trains and hiding in protest Lexi cat...

Cheers, Bev, Bruce and Lexi