{"id":3826,"date":"2017-10-07T19:18:57","date_gmt":"2017-10-07T23:18:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/prstevens.stonehippo.com\/blog\/?page_id=3826"},"modified":"2017-11-02T08:57:36","modified_gmt":"2017-11-02T12:57:36","slug":"iberian-adventure-page-1","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/prstevens.stonehippo.com\/blog\/iberian-adventure-page-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Iberian Adventure – Page 01"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Up, Up, and Away!<\/h1>\n

This is my version of the 2017 Grand Circle Travel<\/strong>\u00a0(GCT) trip called “Spain and Portugal In Depth”.\u00a0 This trip is a bit different for me: I’m travelling solo.\u00a0 My wife, Mary Ann, declined to join me.<\/h2>\n

As usual, I took advantage of Google and Wikipedia etc. on the Internet for much of my narrative and many of my pictures. You may notice some different fonts, colors and underlining.\u00a0 They are because I couldn’t figure out how to prevent them.\u00a0 Naturally, all the inaccuracies are my fault, too.<\/h2>\n

Finally, my trusty old Canon camera died on Day 5 and I had to buy a cheap Nikon camera.\u00a0 Unfortunately, it didn’t work as well as the old one so some pictures are not so hot (fuzzy).\u00a0 Oh well…<\/h2>\n

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The 18 day trip started on September 15th in Barcelona, Spain and ended on October 3rd in Lisbon Portugal. This is the route we took.\u00a0 It includes a pre-trip to Barcelona and a flight from there to Madrid<\/h2>\n

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Well Folks, Here I am in my familiar ratty old travel vest and red cap. This shot was taken on the porch of our “Park Model”\u00a0 trailer at Sea-Vu South campground in Wells, Maine. We spend our summers here and our winters in The Villages, Florida.<\/h2>\n

The trip started with a lift to the Wells Transportation Center and an Amtrak train ride to Boston’s North Station on the Downeaster. From there, it’s a couple of “T” stops to Logan Airport. It’s about a 2 & 1\/2 hour trip from Maine to the airport.<\/h2>\n

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The flight to Barcelona, Spain stopped at Lisbon, Portugal. It was a smooth flight on a TAP Portugal A330 Airbus. The seats had more room than some other airlines and we were served a hot and tasty dinner and a nice breakfast.\u00a0 I’d recommend TAP Portugal airline to all travelers!<\/h2>\n

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Here is our route. It was a 6 hour flight to Lisbon plus a 2 hour flight from there to Barcelona.\u00a0 I tried to watch a movie but the spoken language and closed captions were in\u00a0 Portuguese so I gave up and did cross word puzzles (in English) instead.<\/h2>\n

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Arriving in Barcelona I was greeted Judy Reeve. She was to be our Barcelona guide for the next 4 days.\u00a0 This was a “GCT Pre-Trip” at an extra cost.\u00a0 Judy was of British\/Spanish descent and spoke both languages fluently!<\/h2>\n

Judy was smart, knowledgeable, well organized and had excellent group management skills. Plus, she was a lot of fun!!\u00a0 There were 26 people who took the Pre-Trip and she “Mothered” us all around Barcelona!<\/h2>\n

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Judy and I waited for another of our group to arrive at the airport.\u00a0 (I took this shot later in the trip.). It is a picture of Robert Wahl fron Bemidji, Minnesota.\u00a0 He was also traveling “solo” and we ended up hanging out together as “The 3 Amigos”. You’ll meet the “3rd Amigo” soon!<\/h2>\n

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This is he Hotel Barcelona Center where we stayed for 4 nights.\u00a0 It is a 4 Star hotel and is conveniently located in the center of the city. The rooms were very nice and the breakfast buffet wad pretty good.\u00a0 One minor fault: The scrambled eggs were cold and the bacon was under cooked.\u00a0 One really great feature, however, was the selection of breads, meats,\u00a0 cheeses and fresh fruits. I made my lunch from the breakfast buffet almost every day.\u00a0 That saved me many Euros.<\/h2>\n

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Our group gathered and we went for an orientation walk around downtown. Judy also pointed out a few sites and a few places to eat and high lighted Catalonia’s history.<\/h2>\n
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Here is an abbreviate Barcelona history timeline. I hilighted the points\u00a0 in red as the most important.<\/span><\/h2>\n

c.700 BC The Iberians settle in the fertile area between the Rivers Llobregat and Bes\u00f2s.<\/h2>\n

c.600 BC\u00a0 Greek ships appear off the Catalan coast, and found the city of Emp\u00f2rion on the Costa Brava.<\/h2>\n

c.300 BC\u00a0 The Carthaginians occupy parts of Catalonia.<\/h2>\n

264\u2013200 BC\u00a0 In the Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage, the Romans capture the area around the future Barcelona in about 200 BC.<\/h2>\n

c.15 BC\u00a0 Roman soldiers founded Barcelona as a small town on the road between Rome and Tarraco (Tarragona), during the reign of the Emperor Augustus. The colony\u2019s full name is\u00a0Julia Augusta Faventia Paterna Barcino.<\/span><\/h2>\n

c. AD 350 Roman city walls built.<\/h2>\n

415 The Visigoths enter Spain and capture Barcelona. Their leader Ata\u00fclf makes it his capital, but this later moves to Toledo.<\/span><\/h2>\n

711 The Moors invade Spain and capture Barcelona in 713<\/span>.<\/h2>\n

801 The Franks under Louis the Pious take Barcelona and found the Marca Hisp\u00e0nica (Spanish March) in what would become Catalonia.<\/span><\/h2>\n

c.880\u00a0 Wilfred the Hairy (Guifr\u00e9 el Pil\u00f3s), Count of Ripoll, unifies the Catalan counties and establishes the House of Barcelona, a dynasty that lasts 500 years.<\/span><\/h2>\n

985 Al-Mansur, Grand Vizier of the Caliph of C\u00f3rdoba, sacks Barcelona.<\/h2>\n

988 Count Borrell II renounces all obligations to the kings of France after receiving no help against Al-Mansur, making Catalonia effectively independent.<\/span><\/h2>\n

1137 Count Berenguer IV of Barcelona marries Petronella, heiress to the throne of Arag\u00f3n, forming the joint Catalan- Aragonese monarchy.<\/h2>\n

c.1190 The\u00a0Usatges<\/em>, the Catalan legal code, is compiled and written in Catalan.<\/h2>\n

1213 Count-King Pere I is killed at the battle of Muret in Languedoc, and loses lands in southern France.<\/h2>\n

1229 Jaume I takes Mallorca, first of a series of major conquests that led to dominance in the Mediterranean.<\/h2>\n

1274 Barcelona\u2019s city \u00adgovernment, the Consell de Cent, is established.<\/span><\/h2>\n

13th\u201314th century The Catalan-Aragonese monarchy extends its power to Sardinia and Sicily. Barcelona\u2019s maritime law, the\u00a0Llibre del Consolat del Mar, governs sea trade. Splendid buildings go up in Barcelona\u2019s Barri G\u00f2tic.<\/span><\/h2>\n

1347\u201350 Black Death kills half Barcelona\u2019s population.<\/span><\/h2>\n

1357\u00a0Corts Catalanes<\/em>\u00a0or Catalan Parliament established, with a council, the \u00adGeneralitat de Catalunya, to administer finances.<\/h2>\n

1391 Anti-Jewish pogroms in Barcelona and throughout Arag\u00f3n and Castile.<\/span><\/h2>\n

1462\u201373 Catalan civil war.<\/h2>\n

Imperial Spain: 1469\u20131808<\/h2>\n

1469 Fernando II of Arag\u00f3n \u00admarries Queen Isabel I of Castile, uniting all the Spanish Christian kingdoms in one inheritance.<\/span><\/h2>\n

1492 Granada falls, Columbus discovers America, and all Jews and Moors are expelled from all the Spanish kingdoms.<\/span><\/h2>\n

1522 Charles V denies Catalans permission to trade directly with the American colonies, insisting they can only do so via Seville.<\/h2>\n

1640 After the governments of King Felipe IV demand\u00a0Catalonia contribute more to the Thirty Years War,\u00a0Catalans rise in revolt in the War of the Reapers (Guerra dels Segadors), and the Generalitat tries to place the country under the authority of French king Louis XIII. Spanish troops are unable to recapture Barcelona until 1652.<\/h2>\n

1659 In the Treaty of the \u00adPyrenees, all of Catalonia north of the Pyrenees \u2013 Roussillon and Perpignan \u2013 is ceded to France.<\/h2>\n

1702\u201314 Barcelona sides with the Habsburg Archduke Charles in the War of the Spanish Succession, against the French Bourbon Felipe V. French and Spanish troops take the city after a year-long siege on 11 September 1714.<\/span><\/h2>\n

1715\u201316 The victorious Felipe V issues his decrees of\u00a0Nova Planta<\/em>, abolishing the remaining Catalan institutions and establishing Spain as a single, centralised state. In Barcelona half of La Ribera district is destroyed to make space for a fortress, the Ciutadella.<\/span><\/h2>\n

1808\u201314 Napoleon\u2019s troops occupy most of Spain, including Barcelona. Catalans rise up against the French. Experiments are made in democratic government, but when King Fernando VII is restored in 1814 he only seeks to reinstate the absolute monarchy.<\/span><\/h2>\n

The Modern Era<\/h2>\n

1814 onwards\u00a0 \u00a0Barcelona\u2019s trade and industry steadily expands, and from the 1830s it has the first steam-driven\u00a0factories in Spain.<\/h2>\n

1836\u20138 Dissolution of most of Barcelona\u2019s monasteries, opening up large areas for new building.<\/h2>\n

1842 Barcelona is bombarded from Montju\u00efc to suppress a radical revolt.<\/h2>\n

1848 Spain\u2019s first rail line is built from Barcelona to Matar\u00f3.<\/h2>\n

1854\u20136 The Ciutadella and the medieval city walls are demolished.<\/h2>\n

1860 The building of the city\u2019s grid (Eixample), designed by Ildefons Cerd\u00e0, begins.<\/h2>\n

1868\u201373 September Revolution, against Queen Isabel II, begins six years of agitation. The first anarchist groups are formed, and in 1873 Spain briefly becomes a republic.<\/span><\/h2>\n

1888 Barcelona hosts its first Universal Exposition.<\/h2>\n

1901\u20139 Radicalisation and\u00a0anarchist influence in the\u00a0workers\u2019 movement are reflected in general strikes, and the\u00a0Setmana Tr\u00e0gica\u00a0(Tragic Week) in 1909, when churches are destroyed in riots after the government tries to conscript extra troops for its colonial war in Morocco.<\/h2>\n

1914 The\u00a0Mancomunitat<\/em>, a joint administration of the\u00a0Catalan provinces, is set up. Industry flourishes\u00a0during World War I.<\/span><\/h2>\n

1919 General strike begun at La Canadiense electricity\u00a0company initiates period of intense social conflict.<\/h2>\n

1923\u201330 Military dictatorship of Primo de Rivera suppresses unions and Catalan freedoms.<\/h2>\n

1929 A second Universal Exposition is held on Montju\u00efc. The Pla\u00e7a d\u2019Espanya, Palau Nacional and Poble Espanyol are all built.<\/h2>\n

1931 Second Spanish Republic proclaimed: Catalonia is given autonomy, with a restored Generalitat under Francesc Maci\u00e0<\/span>.<\/h2>\n

1936\u20139 Spanish Civil War: right-wing generals revolt against the Republic, but in Barcelona are initially defeated by the people in the streets. But, after three years of war, bitter fighting and destruction, Barcelona falls to Franco\u2019s troops on 26 January 1939<\/span>.<\/h2>\n

1959\u201360 After years of scarcity, local economy begins to revive as tourism and foreign investment enter Spain.<\/h2>\n

1975 Franco dies on 20 November. King Juan Carlos oversees moves towards a restoration of democracy.<\/span><\/h2>\n

1977\u20138 First democratic general elections since 1936, and first local elections, won in Barcelona by Socialists. Catalan autonomy statute granted and Catalan recognised as official language.<\/h2>\n

1980 Jordi Pujol is elected first president of restored \u00adCatalan Generalitat.<\/h2>\n

1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.<\/h2>\n

1997 Maragall resigns and is succeeded by Joan Clos.<\/h2>\n

2003 Jordi Pujol retires; Pasqual Maragall heads left-wing coalition. Barcelona holds one of the largest demonstrations in Europe against the Iraq War.<\/h2>\n

\u00a02004Socialists led by Jos\u00e9 Luis Rodr\u00edguez Zapatero take over Spanish central government after Partido\u00a0Popular is discredited by its response to 11 March Al-Qaeda bombings in Madrid.<\/h2>\n

2006 Maragall coalition in Generalitat replaced by one under fellow Socialist Josep Montilla. New Statute for Catalonia passed in Congress.<\/h2>\n

2008 AVE rail link finally connects Barcelona and Madrid.<\/h2>\n

2010\u201311 Beleaguered by the economic situation, Socialists suffer defeats in municipalities and regionally. This is reflected in Catalonia where centrist Converg\u00e8ncia i Uni\u00f3 take over Generalitat and city council.<\/h2>\n

2012\u00a0<\/b>Generalitat President Artur Mas leads a fervent campaign for Catalan independence, aiming for a referendum in 2014.<\/span><\/h2>\n

2013\u00a0<\/b>In the first quarter of 2013 unemployment figures in Spain reach an all-time high of over 6 million (27 percent of the working population). With 57 percent of young people unemployed, many are seeking work abroad.<\/h2>\n

2017 <\/strong>Catalans seek independence via a referendum.\u00a0 Results are indesisive.<\/h2>\n

\u00a0TMI?<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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On place Judy pointed out was “Lizarran”. It was a Tapa and Pinchos place. Bob and I decided to eat here.<\/h2>\n

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These are “Pinchos”.\u00a0 They are slices of sturdy bread with different topping like meat, fish, veggies, and eggs, etc.\u00a0 Each is skewered by a big tooth pick.\u00a0 The short tooth picks indicate the it costs 1 Euro each; the longer ones are 1.90 Euros (except Tuesday’s when they are cheaper). You order “a la carte” and you save the picks and then the cashier totals your bill.\u00a0 Neat!<\/h2>\n

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Bob opted for a burger, fries, and a Coke.\u00a0 \u00a0It was super huge and apparently very good! Note his big tooth pick. When they’re broken there not considered a Pincho and there is no charge.<\/h2>\n

After that dinner we went back to the hotel to get some sleep and try to recover from jet lag.\u00a0 So ended day 2 of our trip (Day 1 was our travel day.<\/h2>\n

Go To Page 2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Up, Up, and Away! This is my version of the 2017 Grand Circle Travel\u00a0(GCT) trip called “Spain and Portugal In Depth”.\u00a0 This trip is a bit different for me: I’m travelling solo.\u00a0 My wife, Mary Ann, declined to join me. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3826","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prstevens.stonehippo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prstevens.stonehippo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prstevens.stonehippo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prstevens.stonehippo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prstevens.stonehippo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3826"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/prstevens.stonehippo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4569,"href":"https:\/\/prstevens.stonehippo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3826\/revisions\/4569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prstevens.stonehippo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}