[Rhodes22-list] What I did on my summer vacation

[Steve Alm]

Wally,

The umm...coffee was great.  Many different blends and flavors to choose
from.  Oh, so civilized.  8-)

Slim

On 7/11/03 7:35 AM, "Wally Buck" <tnrhodey at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Wow sounds like a great trip, thanks for taking the time to post.
> 
> So how was the coffee in Amsterdam  ......???
> 
> Wally
> 
> 
>> From: Steve Alm <salm at mn.rr.com>
>> Reply-To: The Rhodes 22 mail list <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>> To: Rhodes <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>> Subject: [Rhodes22-list] What I did on my summer vacation
>> Date: Wed, 09 Jul 2003 12:54:27 -0500
>> 
>> Hi everybody.
>> 
>> We just got back from Europe and here's how it went.
>> Trip overview:
>> 3 days in Amsterdam: 3 days in Paris; 6 days in Lisbon; 2 days in Tavira
>> (southern Portugal); 3 days in Seville, Spain; 2 days in Ericeira, Port.
>> 
>> Details:
>> In Amsterdam, we immediately took to the streets and started just walking
>> around, enjoying the sights--and what great sights they were.  The canals
>> are loaded with every kind of boat you can imagine.  Even tall-masted
>> sailboats that were stranded between two low bridges.  Many were old-wordly
>> looking lap strake vessels with big, fat, high bows. We took a boat tour
>> around the canals and went to the house boat museum where we saw everything
>> from old to new, inhabited and abandoned.  The people that still live on
>> their boats often sit out on their canal side decks and greet you as you
>> boat by.  People were very friendly and inviting and most spoke English.
>> 
>> Our favorite part of the city is an area called Leidesplein, with very
>> narrow cobblestone streets lined with shops, restaurants, night clubs and
>> of
>> course the famous ½coffee houses.
  We ate most of our meals at sidewalk
>> cafes.  They arrange the seating so everyone faces the street.  Its like
>> sitting and watching a movie.
>> 
>> We visited the Rembrandt Museum where we saw, among others, the wonderful
>> ½Night Watch.
  Ive only seen pictures before and they hardly do justice
>> to
>> the real thing.  We also went to the van Gogh museum and ditto to that.
>> Mary Ann is something of a painting historian so it was nice to have my own
>> personal docent.  I learned a lot as we both gazed in amazement at these
>> extraordinary works.
>> 
>> And speaking of gazing in amazement, we also toured the red light district
>> and saw the hookers in their little street-side windows in various states
>> of
>> undress, waiting for customers.  One simply walks up to the window, slips
>> in
>> a 50 euro note and gets invited in for about fifteen minutes.  Not very
>> romantic but, well...enough said.
>> 
>> They say there are more bicycles in Amsterdam than people.  They have
>> parking ramps for bikes instead of cars.  There are no ramps for cars.
>> Even
>> older men and women all dressed up for work in coats and ties or even high
>> heels are riding around on bikes.  The public transportation is incredible.
>> trains, trams, metros, busses, you name it.  Its very easy to get around.
>> Nonetheless, we got around mostly on foot and by the third day we had
>> blisters, shin splints, aches and pains galore!  We bought foot powder to
>> soak our feet at night and I broke down and bought a funky, old walkin
>> stick.  More about my cane later.
>> 
>> We said goodbye to the land of tulips and took the high speed Thalys train
>> to Paris.  We arrived at the train station and took the metro from there to
>> the city center near our hotel in the Latin Quarter.  Upon emerging from
>> the
>> underground, my first glimpse was Nortre Damme!  Whew!  We checked in and
>> hit the streets.  Mary Ann lived in Paris years ago, so she knew her way
>> around and speaks French.  Dining was the first priority so we found a cute
>> sidewalk cafe and indulged.
>> 
>> Napoleon mandated that all buildings be the same height, so all you see are
>> six story (the attic is actually 7, but thats typically reserved for the
>> servants) structures with all that frilly French design.  Again we, the
>> intrepid walkers, wondered around the narrow streets, stopping for snacks
>> and wine whenever our feet got too tired to go on.  These rest stops seemed
>> to get more and more frequent.
>> 
>> We went to the modern Pompidoa museum where they had paintings by Dali,
>> Picasso, others.  At the Louvre, there was a special Leonardo deVinci
>> exhibit that was utterly wonderful.  deVinci only painted 30 something
>> paintings, but he filled up pages and pages of little technical drawings of
>> everything from human anatomy to flying machines.  Absolutely fascinating.
>> We decided not to stand in the long line to see the Mona Lisa which is in
>> its own room.  What bothered me about the Louvre is that the labels next to
>> the artwork are only in French.  Youd think that theyd have several
>> languages like they do everywhere else, but no.  Nortre Damme was perhaps
>> the highlight for me.  I had no idea that the place is actually still open
>> and free to all.  Not only do they still give Mass there (with the
>> Cardinal,
>> no less, presiding) but they still play the pipe organ which we got to
>> hear.
>> I was profoundly astonished.  It blows my mind to think that before it was
>> built in 1133, some architect had to put pen to paper and say, ½I think we
>> should build it this way.
 and that the people responsible for approving it
>> said, ‘Yeah, that looks reasonable.  Go ahead!

>> 
>> Paris is extremely expensive so we tried to shop at grocery stores and
>> bring
>> food back to the hotel whenever practical--  baguettes, cheese, sausages
>> and
>> wine, but it was hard not to stop at the creperies and various other
>> sidewalk eateries.
>> 
>> I know youre probably curious how we were treated by the French.  More on
>> that later--lets go to Lisbon.  Our friend, Eddy Goltz, has been a
>> professional musician there for 20 years.  He stays with us once a year
>> when
>> he comes home to see his family so it was cool to do the reverse.  Lisbon
>> is
>> a beautiful and very old city.  Founded by the Phonecians thousands of
>> years
>> B.C. and subsequently inhabited by Celts, Romans, Moors, Safardic Jews and
>> Portuguese.  The antiquity of the place is hard to wrap your mind around
>> when you come from a neighborhood that was built in the 1930s.  One of the
>> best natural ports in Europe, Lisbon is a bustling shipping and
>> boating/sailing haven.  We saw everything from full rigged tall ships to
>> kayaks; ocean going container ships to PWCs.  There are aquaducts, a
>> middle
>> ages castle, monuments and cathedrals abound, and of course, sidewalk
>> cafes.
>> We took a double decker bus tour where we got to see the sights and get
>> ourselves oriented to the city.  There are many lovely beaches along the
>> coast but the Atlantic is pretty cold so we only waded a bit which felt
>> great on our sore feet.
>> 
>> I got to play three gigs in Lisbon.  The first was a jazz big band that
>> played for the Lisboa Escola de Danza (School of Dance).  They were doing a
>> show featuring various selections from American musicals ranging from
>> Cabaret to Chicago.  The band was pretty good but the dancers were
>> fantastic.  The other two gigs were in nightclubs.  One was a trio--myself
>> and two other Portuguese dudes who spoke little English and didnt know my
>> arrangements very well but we managed to speak the international language
>> pretty well.  The last gig was a quintet with Eddy and Mary Ann on the 4th
>> of July and us Yanks rocked ‘em good.  Tons of fun!
>> 
>> We left Lisbon to go to the southern Portuguese area called the Algarve,
>> known for its quaint villages and beaches.  After quite a mixup in the
>> bus/train ride, we finally got to Tavira at about 11 at night.  They
>> happened to be celebrating San Pedro that weekend so the town was all
>> dressed up and decorated with flowers.  The whole town was out dancing in
>> the streets to the various bands, eating sardines and snails and drinking
>> beer.  It was really very sweet.  We took the water taxis to the beaches
>> which were beautiful indeed but too windy to enjoy for long so it was back
>> to the sidewalk cafes for more beer.
>> 
>> We took the bus to Seville in Spain.  Wow, what a fantastic city--my
>> favorite of the trip.  Everything is clean and well kept.  We stumbled
>> around a little and found a hotel, checked in and then, you guessed it, hit
>> the streets on foot.  What a beautiful and enchanting city!!!  It wasnt
>> long before we happened along a group of people at a bar who had spilled
>> into the street, all singing in harmony, dancing and playing
>> guitars--Flamenco Sevillana!  It was just wonderful.  Ive seen Flamenco
>> performances in the States, but like pictures of great art, its a whole
>> new
>> experience when youre there where Flamenco was born.  We went to several
>> other Flamenco shows too and they were all fabulous.
>> 
>> We found the double decker bus tour here as well and the sights were
>> spectacular.  The Moorish Alcazar palace from the 900s, the Cathedral of
>> San Cristobal (where Christopher Columbus is buried)--almost as impressive
>> as Nortre Damme,  fortresses, a whole modern area built for the world expo
>> in 1992 to celebrate 500 years after Columbus discovered America, and yep,
>> sidewalk cafes.  We ate lots of tapas and gaspacho to die for.  The sights,
>> sounds, smells, and tastes of Seville are truly a delight for the senses.
>> I
>> cant wait for my next visit.
>> 
>> We bussed back to the Lisbon area and spent our last two nights with two
>> newly acquired friends Stephen and Vanessa who are transplanted from
>> Belfast
>> and London.  They live in the little fishing village of Ericeira, out on
>> the
>> coast northwest of Lisbon.  Very charming and down scale.  Crab dinners and
>> lots of Irish whiskey.  It was nice to cap the trip off with a couple of
>> relaxing days on the ocean front.
>> 
>> People and attitudes:
>> There is no shortage of anti-American sentiment in Europe.  Virtually every
>> person we spoke to felt the same about Bush.  Fortunately however, they
>> were
>> able to distinguish between American foreign policy and us two travelers
>> and
>> the image of me in my Panama hat and cane gave most the impression I was a
>> Brit or a German--fine with me.  Nobody gave us a hard time about it
>> although they all wanted to talk politics.  Most agreed that if there had
>> to
>> be just one major super power in the world, better the US than Russia,
>> China, Japan, or any one else.  In Amsterdam, the folks were very friendly
>> and affable.  In Paris, they were just being Parisians--they hate anything
>> thats not French and theyre pretty snobby about it.  But I didnt get the
>> feeling they were singling out America as the center of their hatred for
>> things not French.  In fact President Chirac just gave an address urging
>> people to smile and be nice to Americans because theyre losing too much
>> money in tourism.  Americans are staying away from France in droves.  The
>> Portuguese people, on the other hand, make the French seem like happy
>> little
>> school girls.  Theyre truly horrid people, especially the Lisboans.
>> Portugal is the most backward country of western Europe and it gives them
>> an
>> inferiority complex.  They have few natural resources in their little
>> country and they view themselves as have-nots.  They take every opportunity
>> to be indignant and sour.  Theyre not outwardly rude, but if you go into a
>> restaurant, the waiter will look at you as if to say, ½What are you doing
>> here?  Cant you see Im busy being miserable?
  The Spanish were just the
>> opposite.  Theyre happy and glorious.  We were treated like the king and
>> queen.  I just cant say enough about Seville.
>> 
>> I took about a hundred and fifty pictures with my trusty 35 mm.  After much
>> debate, we decided against a digital camera so we can put the photos in an
>> album and pass it around, rather than trying to get everyone to gather
>> around the computer.  Im having them put on a disk too but I dont have a
>> web site or anything to post them on.
>> 
>> So there you have it.  It was a great trip with many new memories and
>> friends........and Im thrilled to be home!
>> 
>> Slim
>> S/V Fandango
>> 
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