Went on a night train from Santiago to Madrid. I had a rather stuffy sleeper compartment that was well worth the extra 20 euros and which I shared with 3 Spanish men, two of who were rather charming. The trip to Valencia was uneventful on a fast train. Joseph met me at the station. He is a camino mate from last year, a 22 year old taciturn German student. He is interested in Spanish history and is spending a year in Valencia learning Spanish and taking history classes. He was sweating his final in Theory of History and so did not have a lot of time to spend with me.
Valencia is very rich and busy. Lots of nice old buildings with domes and towers and bric-a-brac. Lots of plazas, fountains, little parks, stores, young folk, partying, and traffic. There were too many remnants of America´s Cup which was held on the Mediterranean and had just recently ended. Lots of blonde big guys and blonde babes in Polo-ish shorts and flip flops.
The old city is mostly surrounded by a diverted riverbed that has been turned into a park. The traffic is on all the old bridges above. At the port end is the Calvatratta museum building complex that is probably his signature work. I got to see it in the sun, under blue skies. The sheer size and audacity of the project are stunning. The plazas are grand and spectacular. Pilgrim walker extraordinaire that I have been, it was easy for me to course through and around them. I do wonder what other lessser mortals think of all that hiking. Spain is getting a(n) (un)healthy dose of American style overweight bodies--they are most evident on weekends at at tourist locales. They seem more geared to driving to the mall and walking to the nearest fast food outlet.
I went to the beach too.
Water was not as beautiful as Finisterre but a whole lot warmer. The beach stretched for many a mile with a wide vale of smooth sand. Sailboats out in the distance and only one skidoo to mar the calm. Many more bodies too. For the men, there seems to be a law that the bigger the belly the smaller the swimsuit. And there were a lot of tiny little numbers stretched to their limits. Most of the women had their right arm up holding their cell phone to their ears, talking and yelling at their children at the same time
Now I am in Barcelona. Dave gets here in 2 days. I hope to get to the beach again. Since the city is filled with lots of young people, I fully expect the beaches to be too. I hope not too many Celtic tattoos!!!! What do these young people think they are expressing? Identity, independence, specialty cult? Oh well, I was young once, I just survived without a permanent physical mark.
Valencia is very rich and busy. Lots of nice old buildings with domes and towers and bric-a-brac. Lots of plazas, fountains, little parks, stores, young folk, partying, and traffic. There were too many remnants of America´s Cup which was held on the Mediterranean and had just recently ended. Lots of blonde big guys and blonde babes in Polo-ish shorts and flip flops.
The old city is mostly surrounded by a diverted riverbed that has been turned into a park. The traffic is on all the old bridges above. At the port end is the Calvatratta museum building complex that is probably his signature work. I got to see it in the sun, under blue skies. The sheer size and audacity of the project are stunning. The plazas are grand and spectacular. Pilgrim walker extraordinaire that I have been, it was easy for me to course through and around them. I do wonder what other lessser mortals think of all that hiking. Spain is getting a(n) (un)healthy dose of American style overweight bodies--they are most evident on weekends at at tourist locales. They seem more geared to driving to the mall and walking to the nearest fast food outlet.
I went to the beach too.
Water was not as beautiful as Finisterre but a whole lot warmer. The beach stretched for many a mile with a wide vale of smooth sand. Sailboats out in the distance and only one skidoo to mar the calm. Many more bodies too. For the men, there seems to be a law that the bigger the belly the smaller the swimsuit. And there were a lot of tiny little numbers stretched to their limits. Most of the women had their right arm up holding their cell phone to their ears, talking and yelling at their children at the same timeNow I am in Barcelona. Dave gets here in 2 days. I hope to get to the beach again. Since the city is filled with lots of young people, I fully expect the beaches to be too. I hope not too many Celtic tattoos!!!! What do these young people think they are expressing? Identity, independence, specialty cult? Oh well, I was young once, I just survived without a permanent physical mark.
4 comments:
Hi Dan!
Keep writing in this blog! I will be waiting for some pictures next time!
Hi Dan how goes it? Hope all is well? My mom is enjoying your blog. Nalda
Just fixed my computer and skimmed through your blog. What are you wearing under that orange shirt makes you look like Arnold the Governor? Time for you to get back to the real world now and settle down for a while! We miss you. The sister in law!!
Where are you now??????
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