Carcassonne is Like a Castle from a Disney Movie

Jun 10, 2015 | Blair Lee

Carcassonne is Like a Castle from a Disney Movie

Today we visited Carcassonne. It was lovely! Like many of the places we have visited, there were almost no people. We have been told most Spanish and French people vacation in July and August.

Check out my new Dali t-shirt. It was hot and sunny walking the wall!

We walked around the outer walls with Sean hanging off of many of them! This was free of charge. There are still some structures dated to Roman time, but much of the castle has been restored or is being restored. In the 19th century, the city was restored to its medieval appearance.

I could have had a child who walks on the path instead I got a wall climber. Check out how far down it is!

It does not have the same feel as Girona. If you want to feel like you are in an excellent restoration of the real thing, Carcassonne is great. If you want to feel like you are in the real thing Girona is better. Actually they were both very different, and it isn’t fair to compare one to the other. They are close and both are worth the visit. The old town of Girona still has people in it, but there is nothing in it as imposing and impressive as the castle Of Carcassonne.

After walking around the outside we ate and then paid to walk around the inner castle. There were more people here. Including a school group of teens all dancing in unison to a pop tune. I taped it, but with the Internet service I am getting I cannot post it.

We could have stayed inside Carcassonne, and for some people that would be their optimum choice. It was hot and touristy though. We all agreed, we preferred the Abbaye du Capservy. It was about 25 minutes away through the lovely French countryside, http://www.abbayedecapservy.com/en/.

Today Sean had us laughing. One of the things that differs from one country to the next are bathrooms and toilets. Sean went into a bathroom that locked on its own when you went in. It did not unlock until you washed your hands. Once you were out it completely disinfected itself. Sean was freaking out that it might lock with him in it.

This evening Odile made reservations for us in a restaurant in the small picturesque town of St Denis. We had the best pomme frites ever, a dish I do not usually like much. They were crisp on the outside and light & flakey on the inside. Then we treated ourselves to dessert. Every dessert including the citron sorbet was handmade by the owner. I was told this is called fait maison. Yum!

Check out the last post from Spain here.

June 9, 2015June 29, 2019

Leaving Girona for the Abbaye de Capservy, South of France

Jun 9, 2015 | Blair Lee

Leaving Girona for the Abbaye de Capservy, South of France

Before we left Girona we had to take one more walk on the wall. Again there was no one on it.

I am sitting on an old fashioned toilet. It would be an interesting feel to bare it all and go to the bathroom like this, LOL!

Did I remember to post the link to Casa Cundaro? Here it is in case I didn’t. http://www.casacundaro.com/english.html Casa Cundaro is attached to the Historic Hotel. Where we had to have one last superb breakfast.

Look how narrow the streets of Girona’s old town are! I got out to take this picture of our car.

Before leaving we visited the Jewish museum in Girona. We learned so much there. For instance, I did not realize many Jews converted instead of leaving. If they left they were essentially abandoning their material wealth. They did convert, but they did not always stop practicing their old ways. They also kept their relationships with those who did not convert. The museum has a large collection of gravestones. When Judaism was outlawed in Spain, the Jewish gravestones were removed. Many of these have since been unearthed as they have restored old buildings in Girona.

It was in the face of mass conversions without changes in religious practices that the inquisition took place. The Catholic Church wanted to make it prohibitive to live in Catholic countries if you were a practicing Jew. This did cause most people to become more obedient in practicing the Catholic faith. I have included a series of text panels from the museum with the photos.

That is a man I wish I could sit and speak with! Asking him so many questions 😉

Thinking of you, my dear friend Michelle! We wish you were here with us!

There are Roman ruins in the museum too.

We had one last stop to make. Sophia and I needed a cup of the best tea of the trip. http://www.teashop.eu/en/tea-shop-girona/

We decided to follow a circuitous path to France by driving to Collioure, France. We chose this route because it was the path of the Jewish diaspora from Girona in 1492. Since most people converted there was not a large number of people who left. It seems like a pattern. The Catholic Church converted the rulers, and the rulers forced people to convert or leave. Americans are most familiar with the treatment of people of the Jewish faith and the decimation or forced conversion of Native Americans. Interesting to me is that the most tolerant people, as a whole, of any country we have visited is the predominantly polytheistic people of India. Don’t you wish you could go back in time and see all the different cultures and people before the Romans conquered so many and before mass religions took hold? 1 month ago there was a threat to the Jewish museum in Girona so they now have guards posted at it permanently.

I LOVE history. I would like to go back to the time of the dinosaurs too! The only problem with that is, I would probably get eaten right away! When you drive through Europe you see castles on hilltops all the time. #AmericansLoveCastles

We drove to France along a narrow, twisting road. There were grape vines on the hillside and cyclists on the road. Shortly after passing the border into France, we came to the top of a pass and there was a wine stand with people tasting wine. LOL, that would not fly in the U.S. It was a windy road out of the Spanish town of Cerbere. When he saw it, Sean said, “That is the most French thing ever!”

When the Jews fleeing Spain got to Collioure they must have thought it would be wonderful to live in such a beautiful place. A couple of years later the French King told the Jews to convert or leave Collioure, so it was not to be.

We were headed to the Abbaye de Capservy. Our reason for driving to the south of France was to visit the restored castle of Carcasonne. Although we wanted to visit the castle, this time we chose to stay in an old abbey. http://www.abbayedecapservy.com/en/

When we arrived we were greeted by Odile and the 2 dogs in residence. Odile was making a special vegan meal just for us. The dinner consisted of a mound of rice, surrounded with smaller mounds of beans and various vegetable sides. French bread was also served, of course! The dessert was fresh fruit in a lemon agar jelly with elderberry. Days later we were still talking about the lovely abbey, the dinner (it was one of the best of the trip), and the wonderful hospitality of Odile. If you go be sure and have Odile make dinner for you. You will not regret it. You also get Lulu’s delicious wine and Odile’s conversation. Odile has two daughters who are both living in London. We met several people on this trip whose adult children are in London working because of a lack of jobs in their area. One of Odile’s daughters works in a castle as a tour guide. She loves it. While we were at the Abbaye, Odile’s daughter was interviewed on the radio about the castle and its history. I must email Odile and get the name of the castle!

The Abbaye de Capservy has the main building where we stayed, a smaller house behind, and another house where another couple lives. Across from the Abbaye are fields of grapes.

Odile, our wonderful host. I love to look in people’s kitchens.

On the long driveway leading to the Abbaye, Sean put his hand out the window into stinging nettles. The Abbaye has a pool, Sean recovered by going for a swim. Unfortunately he popped the peace donut!

The kids wanted to taste French wine in France.

We stayed in a family room at the top of the Abbaye. The ceilings were short which for us adds to the charm. There were rooms with higher ceilings, but we preferred this one!

Check out my previous posts from the Spain trip here. Check out the Worldschooling section of our blog.

June 7, 2015June 28, 2019

The Dali Museum, The Mediterranean, and Vegan Tapas!

Jun 7, 2015 | Blair Lee

The Dali Museum, The Mediterranean, and Vegan Tapas!

The town of Figueres, Spain is about a 35 minute drive from Girona. There is a lot of history there, but we only went for the Dali Museum. We did not want to spend the day in Figures, because we also wanted to visit Costa Brava. Costa Brava is what the coastline of northeast Spain is called.

Salvadore Dali is a genius! He worked in almost every medium you can think of. The museum is a bit crowded but not too crowded. When we were standing in line Sean said, “What is this? Aren’t we going to the Dali Lama Museum?” A little prep about Dali might have been good on my part. He loved the museum and is now a big Dali fan! What follows is a series of photos from the Dali museum. It seems to me that the Spanish like eclectic artists. Gaudi, Dali, and Picasso all push the boundaries in so many ways. It really makes you think about their intent when you stand in front of the work of both of these artistic geniuses. http://www.salvador-dali.org/museus/teatre-museu-dali/en_index/ The Dali Museum is on 4 floors. The top floor features works by artists other than Dali. These 2 paintings are by another artist. More by Dali are below. DNA! Once Sean got over his disappointment that he was not at a museum dedicated to the Dali Lama he loved it. Sophia enjoyed it from the start. Seriously, if you can think of a medium for art, Dali has probably created something using it! What a cool ring! Attached to the main museum is the jewelry museum. The guys did not want to go to it, but I did, so they went along. We all loved the jewelry museum. Jim parked our car across from the museum. The parking space seemed too good to be true. When we went back to our car there was a van parked in front of it and the car was covered in sticky drops. It was probably soda. We think we were not supposed to park where we did. It was better than a parking ticket! We have laughed so hard this trip. I am sure whoever sprayed the soda was upset. The 4 of us just laughed.

We left Figueres and headed to Costa Brava. We wanted to spend half a day on the East Coast of Spain, and get in the Mediterranean. It is a beautiful coastline. The Mediterranean is a beautiful blue color. It was colder than we thought it would be. It was saltier than the Pacific Ocean which surprised us. We all got in and the kids had fun with the peace donut! The first thing that happened when we put it down was that the wind blew it away. Good thing Sean is in shape. He had to run to catch it. Most of the people on the beach seemed to be tourists like us. Languages we heard were French, German, Russian and Dutch. Sean and I like to try different candies that you don’t see in the states. These are different types of Mentos. Sean was hungry, so he and Sophia went to get food. Sean ordered pizza and Sophia ordered pasta with sauce. It is the second time this trip that she has done that. The Spanish version of marinara sauce tastes like Campbell’s tomato soup if you don’t add water. We find it gross. I asked an Italian we met about the quality of Italian red sauce in Spain, and he agreed they don’t do it well. When they got back from eating Sean told Jim and me that something really embarrassing happened. Sean’s pizza arrived without being cut into slices. The waiter who delivered it was older. Sean said to the waiter, “Would you please cut this.” The waiter looked askance at Sean, then picked up his knife and fork, and said, “You don’t know how to cut?” Then the waiter proceeded to cut Sean’s pizza into bite sized pieces for him. Realizing what was happening, Sean said, “That’s okay, I got it.” But the waiter wouldn’t stop cutting. Instead he looked at Sean as he was cutting and said, “You like a baby.” Sophia of course was laughing at the whole ordeal. Of course this has been a running joke ever since. We have since learned that in France and Spain at least pizza is not cut into slices. When we left Jim put the peace donut in the back window, so we could drive through the Spanish countryside spreading a message of peace. Before leaving town we bought some fruit. The fruit in the North of Spain has been really delicious. The kids fell asleep in the back seat on the way back to Girona. It was quite a full day. We were hungry so we went back to B12 to have vegan tapas, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Restaurant-Bar-B-12/175203855832255. The food there was just delicious. We asked one of the owners, Jordi, about the movement for Catalan to separate from Spain. We heard from many people in this area about their differences from the Southern people of Spain. One of their gripes is that a lot of tax dollars come from Catalan, that are spent in the rest of Spain, not in Catalan. It is easy to see that happening. The area around Costa Brava alone must bring in many tourist dollars. The people of Catalan consider themselves more relaxed and easy going too. They are right about how friendly and easy going they are. How they compare to the rest of Spain, we don’t know. We have yet to leave Catalan. We are having that good of a time in it! After dinner, Jim and I walked the wall and the kids went to the room. We saw 2 people the entire time! Forgive any typos the wifi is not good so I am posting it while I can.

Check out my previous post from the Spain trip here.

June 3, 2015June 28, 2019

Why they Chose Girona to Film the Game of Thrones, Girona, Spain

Jun 3, 2015 | Blair Lee

Why they Chose Girona to Film the Game of Thrones, Girona, Spain

I will not actually bore you with a written answer to that. The photos speak for themselves. Girona is magical. It is now one of my favorite towns I have visited of all time. The others are

The area around and walking up to Seigfreid’s castle in Germany: I walked up to this on a deserted old road, early in the morning, with only a handful of other people around. It was a magical misty morning. The castle and grounds had not been preserved. It felt like stepping back in time.
Amboise in France: This is the town that took in Leonardo da Vinci when he was kicked out of Italy for his heretical views. There are houses still in use that are carved into the surrounding rock walls. It also has a lovely castle that belonged to the Prince who took da Vinci in.
The Cliffs of Mohrer and the Burrens in Ireland: I cannot think of the name of the town we stayed in. It had a lovely inn in a small town very near to the Cliffs and Burren. It is an area with fields, stone walls, the Burrens and the Cliffs of Mohrer. There are small, abandoned castles and lots of sheep with their butts spray painted different colors.
Jaisalmer, India: I adored Jaiselmer! It is a magical place. It is still inhabited, so you can get a feel for how these forts used to function.
Both Eger and Sopron, Hungary: Eger has churches and cathedrals with a beautifully preserved muezzin. The wine dungeons are a fun experience. We stayed inside the old Roman walls in Sopron. Can you tell I like historical places?
An old castle we visited in the Ukraine: When my daughter-in-law’s father heard I love castles he took us to 2. The first one we went to was almost empty surrounded by stinging nettles. (Ouch!) It was the first time I could really imagine what it was like to be back in the Middle Ages!
Machu Picchu: We hiked in to Machu Picchu along the Santa Teresa trail. It is a magical way to get to one of the most spectacular places in the world.

Back to Girona

Breakfast was at the Historic Hotel. It was delicious. We found the fruit and vegetables from Catalan to be some of the best we ever ate! There are several options for staying in Girona. We opted to stay in a historical family room. In the only Jewish residence still in use.

The following is from an interview with our Xave who with his family owns the Historic Hotel and Casa Cundaro. Girona was built in 1 before God (that is a quote). The Jewish quarter was established 8-9 centuries after God. It was designed so that the Christian District was higher on the hill than the Jewish Quarter. This area was walled, so if their families expanded and they needed more space they would block off lanes and build rooms there or build an arch over the lane and then build rooms on top. That was the only way they could expand. The dining room of the Historic Hotel have stones in its walls that were used to build walls by the Romans.

Casa Cundara was owned by a family and passed down for generations. We would learn at the Jewish Museum a couple of days later that the family would have had to convert to Christianity in order for that to happen. The family stopped using it, and it was bought by their neighbors, the current owners. When the new owners bought it they wanted to put a jacuzzi in the garden area. When they began the project, they found something buried under the garden. They had to call archaeologists in when they excavated it. They found 2 houses with a street running between them. They dated what they found to Roman times. They also discovered a mezuzah that is over 1000 years old. (I know it shows a menorah not a mezuzah.)

One of the reasons Girona looks as it does, is that when movies and TV shows are made there, the town uses the revenue to continue the restoration of the historic district. Xave asked if we had seen Perfume. We had not, but I have read the book. I asked if the people from the Game of Thrones had contacted him about staying there. They called him when we were eating breakfast. This is where I would want to stay if I were them!

It is no surprise to learn a lot of bike riders come here. It is lovely, quiet, and hilly. These are photos of some of the famous cyclists who have stayed here.

Girona is a walled city. We woke the kids and walked the wall. There were very few people. One of the most surprising things about Girona is how few people there are visiting it. Lucky for us but surprising. It is so special! The walls and the town they surround are a mix of Roman walls and structures, buildings and walls built by the many rulers since then, and more modern work that has been done to make the structures sound.

The cathedral tolls the hour. In case you are wondering, Sean is not wearing the same shirt. He has taken James’ shirt!

The lady bugs we saw had an elongated shape. One of my biology professors once told us that people call this the age of man. It would be more correct to call it the age of the beetle. (Lady bugs are beetles.)

Sophia and I love tea. When we found a tea shop, we had to have some. The shop owner was very kind to us, and his English was perfect. We even treated ourselves to some tea for the rest of the trip.

Then we visited the highest rated vegan restaurant in town. It was delicious!

We spent some of the day wandering around Girona. There are stairs all through Girona. It is exercise getting around. There are people running the steps all through Girona.

I thought of you Sharon and Laurel when I saw these.

There is a old wall and a new wall. In the evening we walked the old wall.

Check out my previous Spain post here.

May 29, 2015June 28, 2019

On the way to Barcelona

May 29, 2015 | Blair Lee

At the airport in San Diego: May 27

It takes a long time to get from the West Coast of the U.S. to Barcelona. We left in the evening of the 27th from San Diego, flew to San Francisco, next stop Frankfurt (I love Germany!), and finally we arrive in Barcelona in the evening of the 28th. I plan on sleeping most of the way! Hopefully… Sean will probably watch movies the entire way.

This trip we are taking, Sophia, a friend of ours with us. We have asked friends of Sean’s if they want to go on trip with us before, but Sophia is the first to say, “Sure, I am okay being away from my family for almost 4 weeks.” It probably helps that she and I are super close! I had to borrow someone else’s daughter to have one to travel with us. Good thing I have 2 granddaughters!

Sophia and I are dressed in black in super comfie clothes. No makeup either. The photos will of Spain in a day!

Made it to San Fransisco with no problems. There was a problem with engine 4 on the plane leaving for Frankfurt. We left 3 hours late from San Francisco, but we made it safely which is what really counts. I won’t bore you with the details, but that delay made us late for our connecting flight to Barcelona. The new flight we were put on was delayed… 24 hours later.

Good things Barcelona is a late night city! 😉

It is 2:42 a.m. in Barcelona. We walked around a bit, but Sean wanted to come back so he could sleep.. Sophia probably would have walked more, but she was too nice to tell Sean that. I would have walked much longer, but I Jim was ready to sleep too. Wait until you see photos of where we are staying. I found it on Aire B&B.

P.S. Typos will happen in my travel blog. I just don’t want to take the time to put every comma where it belongs. I am sorry if that bothers you. 🙂

Check out my previous post about our trip here.

December 13, 2013June 5, 2019

Delhi Day 5, Exploring Temples, post 2 of 2

Dec 13, 2013 | Blair Lee

This is the Bangla Sahib Gurudwara Sikh Temple. But first…

We started the temple tour with a mosque. The mosque is the Jama Masjid, it is the largest mosque in India. It was built between 1644 and 1658 during the reign of Shah Jahan. It is in old Delhi. This is a predominantly Muslim area. In Delhi all the religions live peacefully together. There is a cupboard at the mosque which houses a red beard hair of Muhammad’s, his footprints, and his sandals.

The approach to the mosque is through Old Delhi. This must be where people come to get old car parts.

This is from the steps of the mosque looking back down into Old Delhi.

We have to take our shoes off to go into the mosque.

The photos below are from the courtyard at the mosque.

Check out my shirt. I was taking a nap and was woken up and told I was late to leave for the temple tour. The women had to wear our salwar kameezs, so before napping I took my top off so it wouldn’t wrinkle. On the way in to the mosque Wendy noticed that my shirt was inside out. Vicky looked at me and told me to leave it that way until we reached the Hindi Temple.

These are Korans.

Blue lines are painted at the mosque when someone dies.

The actual mosque, Muhammad’s beard hair is in there somewhere. The call to worship from this mosque sounded quite different from the one we heard at the mosque in Dubai.

This is Lalit who works for CCS. He is showing us how this sundial works. This is in the mosque.

Everywhere we go, people want a photo with Alecia.

Now we are on our way to a Hindi Temple.

The Hindi temple was so large it was impossible to get it all in one photo. It was beautiful inside, but we were not allowed to take pictures.

Hathi at the temple. Hathi means elephant.

The swastika has been used by people of the Hindi faith for millennia. When it is on a location it draws the attention of the Gods to the location.

The Hindu temple we went to is called the Lakshmi Narayan Temple. The temple has shrines to many of the Hindi deities.

The Hindi temple has a shrine to The Lord Buddha.

A photo as we left the Hindi Temple. Next we went to Bangla Sahib Gurudwara, the Sikh Temple.

The Sikh religion was founded in 1469 A.D. in a village near Lahore, Pakistan. Sikhism is another religion whose basic tenet is tolerance to all people. There is no discrimination between the sexes and there is no caste system.

Sean and Jim had to put on head-gear at the Sikh Temple. How is that for equality! It’s about time.

Vicky is Sikh. His head-gear is way cooler than ours.

I am washing my feet to go into the Sikh Temple.

Going into the Sikh Temple.

We finished the tour with a trip to the food kitchen in the Sikh Temple. Both the Sikh Temple and the Hindi Temple had huge areas set aside for pilgrims to sleep and hang out. This is where the Sikhs feed pilgrims and anyone else who needs food. Anyone of any faith can volunteer at the food kitchen. Check out how huge the pots and pans are.

I want one. Before leaving I bought yet again another cooking dish. When Jim saw what I had bought he said, “Blair, you are a woman with a lot of pots.” LOL.