Italy and more

Hello all
I know, it has been forever since I have written in here so I will make a few updates.
First, my week in Spain with my brother Luke and his wife Dalia, along with May and Pam, passed by awesomely. They saw lots of Spain considering it was only a week - Alhambra, the Alpujarras, Mezquita, Flamenco, an Arab spa, and so much more. We ate extremely well and it was almost good to see Luke and Dalia finally leave as now, May, Pam and I are eating more on a traveling budget!!! (sorry Luke and Dalia but it is true!!) My highlite was seeing the Alpujarras. They are part of the Sierra Nevada, many little villages nestled into the mountain side. After a 40 minute white knuckled drive along the mountain, we were 1500 m up and enjoyed fantastic scenery and great little Spanish lifestyle. White-washed houses, steep walking streets..incredible. I would definitely recommend this to anyone visiting the Andalusian province, specificially Granada. Make the trip out there and stay a few nights..incredible. Of course, it was too cold for Dalia, as it was a jaw-dropping 5 degrees..too cold for her Singapore weather of 25 every day.

After Luke and Dalia left, May, Pam and I caught a 22 hour ferry from Barcelona to Civitaveccia, and then an hour train ride to Rome. We saw the typical stuff..Colosseum, Roman Forum, Pantheon, different plazas, etc. Rome is definitely the big european city that I had been expecting from the big cities like Paris, Barcelona and Madrid. Tons of traffic, polluted but still, crazy to be there. The Vatican was quite impressive. Crazy the history there and we did see the must-sees - St. Peters Basilica (including a view from the top of the dome), inside as well which was equally impressive, Sistine Chapel, Pope John Paul II tomb, etc. Pretty impressive those Catholics.

Before I forget, we passed a weekend in Teruel with a fantastic Spanish family. Enrique (Kike) invited us three out to his village, north west of Teruel for the weekend after Luke and Dalia left and before we headed out to Italy. It was a nice change to relax with a family, in a beatiful house with a wonderful family. Montse, Pedro and Javier were a great time to hang with (13 and 14 years old) and Kike and his wife, Esther, were way to generous. Fresh laundry, incredible food (paella, I made my first Spanish tortilla or omelette, and more) and just a great home feel was much needed. Also, the city had much to offer with Mudejar art and a Spanish lovers story similar to Romeo and Juliet in the likes of Diego and Isabel. Quite cute..so thank you to those wonderful people for a great experience.

We are in Tuscany as of now, near Cortona as Pam and May, and I too I must admit, are Under the Tuscany Sun fans. Quite beautiful. We are on our way to Cinqueterra tomorrow and then May and I take off to Greece from Venice on Friday...hopefully. Pam is headed home the following week so we will have our goodbyes soon.
So great to be traveling and it is quite different now in Italy with now me in the dark with Italian being the language. Many similarities between it all with French and Spanish, of course since they are all of the Romance category, so I can get by here and there with understanding. But I look forward to Greece where it will be complete confusion at times I'm sure.
Take care all as I should run.
Enjoy whatever life is throwing at you right now
Adam

Back in Spain

Hola everyone
Well, Luke, Pam, May and myself are back in Spain for a week. Luke's wife Dalia arrives today and then we start our one week tour of Spain tomorrow. We are renting a car tomorrow and driving around. Hopefully everything works out since we have Luke, who has lived in Singapore the last 4 years and has driven very little. And then me, who hasn't driven in 3 months and rolled his car 2 months before that...believe, I'm knocking on wood as I type.

Paris was fantastic. Really like all the monuments to visit - the usual stuff of Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, the Catacombes, we were right beside the Bastille (or former location of it), Basilique de Sacré Coeur. And very laid back too...we didn't pack our days with stuff to do, which was nice since this trip I have planned around Spain is pretty non-stop.

We leave tomorrow, drive all the way south to Granada, stay there, head to the Alhambra on Sunday. Sunday night we are staying in the Alpurrajas, little moutain villages imbedded in the Sierra Nevada. Then we are off to Jaén on Monday to see my old stomping grounds, Cordoba on Tuesday to visit the Mesquita, see some Flamenco dancing and have an arab spa (those are both hopefully's..). Then we are off to Madrid or Toledo...we have not decided yet. I would prefer Toledo but that is just me...lots of medievil monuments there that I wouldn't mind seeing. Then we are back in Barcelona next Thursday night, as Dalia and Luke leave on Friday.

The girls and I have received an invite from Enrique, a man my uncle met in Africa last September. We have kept up some email communication and he has been so kind to offer to let us visit his home city of Teruel (Southwest of Barcelona and Northwest of Valencia for those map people out there). We will visit for the weekend and then starting Sunday, we are off to Italy for about 2 weeks and then Greece for the remainding 2 weeks before May and I are off to the Philippines.

Really am glad to be back in Spain. Really have taken a liken to this place...actually nice to be back speakin Spanish, in a familiar setting than that of Paris and France that we experienced the last 4 days.

Some general comments about France..the people are not stuck up like the stereotype suggests. Very friendly and genial people we encountered throughout our travels. And no negative experiences. Interesting the level of security or police in most areas. Outside the Louvre, around the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe, 4-5 military people carrying automatic weapons patrolling the area. Very interesting. I did not figure out if it was because the France gov't problem with the opression of the minorities or just the general threat of terrorism from outside of interior forces.

Also, the day we visited the Louvre, there were demonstrators regarding the CPE (which I gathered was the government agency regarding emloyment or something similar..never figured the acronym. It was always in the news though and the problems with the people and that agency) Anyways, the demonstrators were stating it was free to get in, you don't have to pay, etc. I asked one of them and they stated that it was just the goverment's way to make money on culture, tourism, etc. But of course we didn't heed this warnings....But definitely some tension with the people in the government, or the CPE. Racial regarding the previous riots and the work situation as well with all people.

But enough for today, hope all is well with everyone and everything is fantastic on this end. So crazy, 3 more months to go..
AT

france

Hello all
Hope this all finds you well. I have met up with my brother in Barcelona (for those that know the family, Luke came up from Singapore where he has 3 weeks off from teaching..and he chose to spend them in Europe with me). We stayed there for 2 days, then we were off to San Sebastian, at the north of Spain, in the Basque country and right by the France border. It is a magnificent place and honestly, if anyone is near the border, or even in Madrid for a few days, head on up there. Fantastic city, great beaches, lots of cool things. Overall, a great place. Would love to go back and probably in my top 3 places in Spain that I have seen. I would recommend it to anyone to make the venture up there. Great food too...
You can get by on Castellano Spanish too, although it is in the Basque region. Most of the signs are in Basque and Castellano Spanish, yet, hardly anyone speaks it. Quite a different dialect too...very few similarities to either Castellano or Catalan (Barcelona region) Spanish spoken throughout the rest of Spain that I have been exposed to. Very interesting to see though..

We're now in Bordeaux right now, staying with a friend of Luke's from Singapore. It is really nice to be relaxing as I know the next 2 months will be non-stop. Headed to Paris tomorrow for 4 days and then off for our 1 week tour of Spain after that...so we're really doing nothing here except hanging out.

Weird to be in a French environment now..I find myself always answering or thinking in Spanish, evident by my kebob incident yesterday of trying to order. What a mess...tough when the brain is always thinking in another language! I am by no means a Spanish expert now, but I have been in the habit of always functioning in Spanish so it is different to be conversing in French.

Quick note, I read the confessions of an economic hit man by John Perkins. Absolutely intriguing and thought-provoking. Finished in 4 days, amidst all the train rides we had. Very interesting book on the globalization, commercialization of the world as a whole by the super powers, and in most cases the U.S.A. I recommend it to anyone out there interested in those ideas...

Take care and until the next time,
Adam