Wednesday, September 9th - Toledo and Madrid, Spain

We were up and on our way at 8:30 for our bus trip to the city of Toledo, which is about 70 km south of Madrid.  The country side we drove through was beautiful - rolling hills with lots of green and brown throughout.  At one point there was a lovely river and it had a water wheel at the one side but the water was so calm I'm not sure how it was working or if it was.  Toledo is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a population of 85,000.  It is referred to as an "Imperial City" because it was the court of Charles I when he was King.  It is also referred to as the "City of Three Cultures", which I'll explain later.

It was neat to watch Toledo "appear".  It is built on a hillside and most of the buildings and walls are a light stone colour.  As we drove it just kept getting bigger and bigger.  One of the buildings is huge and it's a square building, probably with a courtyard in the centre, with four high towers with spires, one at each corner.  There is a river running in front of the one part (maybe a moat) and an old stone bridge with a stone gate tower at the entrance to the city through a high wide arched gate.  The top of the tower is serrated and had a walkway behind the top of the wall for the guards to watch from and be protected by the wall.  There are small slotted windows or arrow holes along the side of the tower.  These bridges and towers look so old and authentic and yet it's hard to believe that the Romans built them a thousand years ago and we are still using them.

As we drove around the city we could see stepped sections of the wall or walls going up the hillside.  In many cases they used the hill itself, the rock face, as part of the wall fortification.  Every view was beautiful with the sun shining brightly on it.  The road to the city was a series of at least four long switch backs.  We went to the other side to another high view point to take some pictures.  It was a great location and provided a view of the river, the hillside and the big buildings at the top of the city.  From here you could see the cathedral and tower as well as the other huge square building.  These are on the top of the hill  with other buildings and there are more smaller buildings and houses lower down, both inside and outside the city walls but all inside the moat/river barrier.  And the Tagus river really does flow around three sides of the hill so it forms a natural moat on three of the four sides.  Not only is it good protection; it is also beautiful.  I took way too many pictures here.  My one panorama of the city and river on two sides and in front was pretty impressive, if I do say so myself.

There are large homes on this side of the river (view side across from the city) and they have big yards and open areas around them including fields of olive trees.  Apparently this is where the rich folks live.  There were also some fields of excavations where just the lower parts of walls could be seen, but obviously work was continuing on these sights.  As we drove back down to the river it was just amazing how old and authentic looking the bridges and entrance gates look.  Going across the highway bridge I just happened to get a wonderful shot of one of the old bridges, Alcantara I think, where the huge arch in the centre is reflected perfectly in the water so you get an almost perfect circle.  It's quite an unbelievable shot given that we were driving along in the bus and I just happened to snap a picture.  I certainly confess that it wasn't planned to get the reflection or the circle.

Jewelry and metal working is big in Toledo and we went to one of the factories.  It was interesting to see how they make some of the jewelry and just how delicate and fine some of the detail is.  Men with big hands were adding bits of silver thread that was so fine you could hardly see it onto beautiful pieces of jewelry, some of which was tiny itself.  It definitely took a lot of finesse and concentration and the results were beautiful..  As usual, I didn't buy anything but thankfully a lot of others bought a lot of pieces.  I think they did quite well on our group despite my no purchase policy. 

And finally we got to go into the old city itself.  To keep traffic, especially tour bus traffic, under control in the old city, they built a series of parking lots at the bottom of the hill and escalators going up the side of the hill.  These escalators are long (several floors) and I believe there are six of them.  They are reasonably new (2001) and, because they are so successful and used by so many people, they are building another set on the other side.  I think it was 40,000 people daily who use the current escalators so that's a lot, and it would involve a lot of buses if they all had to be driven to the top.  The first escalator won the 2002 Elevator World's Project of the Year Award and I can understand why.  It's a great solution and the views while going up the escalators are fantastic.  They are open on the one side at eye level but all covered so you can enjoy the view but are safe from the elements.

The inside of the city is a lot of up and down because of the hill and the streets are all cobblestone so it made walking interesting for some of us who aren't so coordinated.  

At least I had proper walking shoes on.  Others weren't quite as smart.  The streets are narrow and they wander around a lot.  Some of the doors are remarkable with the wood carving and metal work on them.  Some are narrow and eloquent and some are key shaped and wide enough for a horse and carriage (or a car these days).  As you look down some streets, all you see is stone and brick walls with occasional doors and windows.  On others you see a lot of small balconies that seem to add real life to the scene.  And some streets are really not streets at all as we know them but rather a set of stairs winding up or down the hillside.  

Most buildings are stone and/or brick.  There are neat houses with terraces and balconies also of stone/brick or wrought iron with detailed designs.    There are carvings of coats of arms, statues, sayings and symbols on some buildings.  The windows seemed simpler than in other places though, smaller and often covered with wrought iron grates.  There are many small open areas or squares (that are never really square) and a few trees here and there.  It's mainly a stone city so adding in a tree here and there or a balcony with some plants and flowers is really nice.

We went to a Jewish synagogue which didn't make much sense to me as a synagogue.  First, it was designed by Islamic architects for the Jews but it looks inside exactly like you'd expect a mosque to look with high Arabian arches and the floor marked out for prayer.  Second, it had a cross at the front inside and its' called Santa Maria la Blanca.  So the story is that it was a synagogue and then later became a church, hence the cross and name, and back in the 12th century when it was built, the Christians Kings were in control but the three religious groups worked in harmony on various projects.  How unique is that?  Apparently Toledo is known as the City of Three Cultures because of the Christian, Muslim and Jewish traditions that existed there under Alfonso X, who started the Toledo School of Translation where the three groups translated each others' writings into other languages and this greatly expanded the knowledge of all of the cultures.  Of course this all ended rather quickly in the 14th and 15th centuries when the then monarchy decided only Christians could exist in Spain and the Spanish inquisition started.  The Jews had three months to either 1) leave Spain leaving their gold and silver and money behind, 2) convert to Christianity or 3) be killed.  A lot left and it wasn't until 2014 that Spain passed legislation to allow their descendants dual citizenship.  Portugal, who followed Spain's lead in the 15th century, is passing similar legislation - expected in 2015.  The Jews in Spain were Sephardic Jews who had been in the country from the start of the 11th century.

Anyway, the synagogue is really quite beautiful.  It is a large space with about 24 tall pillars (6 rows of 4 ?) that are white with grey stone/mortar trim as decoration.  The walls are also white with the same trim.  The ceiling is a dark wood and the floors are a lighter brown in various patterns.  The dome area has a golden design that is beautiful with scalloped clam shell shapes, geometric patterns and floral designs.  And there are paintings at the side of it.  Overall it's very impressive.  

There were many churches and monasteries that we passed.  I couldn't begin to keep them separate there were so many.  They were all made of stone and/or brick and they all had towers - some square, some round, ... and all of various heights.  They usually had some nice brick designs and carvings and narrow windows.  One of the churches had very detailed carvings and beautiful statues over its main entrance, and the door looked very big and heavy.  Another church was very Gothic with lots of spires and decorations but it did not have a tower.  Many of the churches and monasteries had walls and gates to courtyards and other buildings as well.  Currently there are 16 monasteries in Toledo and at one point there were a lot more.  That, they say, is where the expression "Holy Toledo" comes from.

The Cathedral of St. Mary of Toledo is a beautiful building with a high tower with a centre spire and many more smaller spires around it, all in a Gothic style.  As you walk down some of the narrow streets, the tower fills the entire view between the buildings.  The bottom of the tower is more plain and the for about three levels there is more brick decoration and then above that it gets fancier and more Gothic.  The Cathedral was built from 1226 to 1493.  It is made of light stone but some of it is much darker now.

There were to be two towers but only the one to the left of the main door was completed.  To the right there is a higher domed area over a chapel instead of the second tower.  There are beautiful carved statues all over the front entrance and lots of other decorations.  The huge arched entrance is layered in decoration for about four feet of depth as you go into the cathedral.    There is a balcony above the entrance with arches into the next level above.  We did not have time to go in as we still had other sights to see.

In the Church of St. Thomas there is a painting by El Greco, who lived in Toledo for a while.  There was a long line-up for this with lots of tour groups waiting so we stood in line until our group got in.  It is a very small building - at least the part we saw.  Once you got into the first room, or maybe it was just the back of one room, you just stood and waited for your chance to move forward to see the painting which is quite large and takes up most of the end wall.  The painting, The Burial of the Count of Orgaz" tells the story of a religious count who died, confessed his sins, left all his money to the church and pledged annual payments forever to the church if he could be buried there.  The people in the village of Orgaz were of course the ones who had to make these annual payments after their count died.  They did for a while and then stopped.  The church sued them.  The law suit took almost 20 years to be settled in the courts.  Eventually the church won and the village had to pay the legal costs and all of the back years and keep paying forever.  Past years' payments were made but eventually people just moved out of the town.  However, with all the money that the church collected, they commissioned El Greco to do the painting.

The count died in the 14th century and the painting was done in the 16th century.  The people gathered together in the painting are all dressed in 16th century costumes despite the fact the time was the 14th century.  People from the 16th century are depicted in the scene including El Greco himself and his son.  It's quite a nice painting with the earthly funeral below in a square section and the heavenly scene above in an arched section.  A couple of the saints even came to the earthly funeral to thank the count for his contributions on their behalf.  The dark funeral scene contrasts with the white heavenly scene and the gold of the saints at the funeral flows nicely into the gold in heaven to tie it all together.  I guess it was good to see but the five minute rush past it (no pictures allowed) may not have been worth the wait when there were so many other things to see in the city.

There were some cafes and restaurants with outdoor seating as we wandered around the town.  We had our break at one of them but aside from lining up for the toilet, we ladies really didn't have much time for anything else.  We went to our meeting point and had a bit of free time before we had to go to the bus.  However, we also had to have our lunch so it was pretty rushed with not much time for shopping.  Darn!   I grabbed a quick sandwich and then wandered through one of the archways to check out the view on the other side, which was nice and had even more churches and monasteries.  The park we were meeting in was one of the largest we had seen and there were lots of shops and cafes and restaurants all around with lots of outdoor seating and even some trees for shade and benches.  Heck, it even had a McDonalds!  From there we found our way to the top of the escalators for some last pictures of the view from the top and then took the long ride down to meet our bus in the parking lot and head back to Madrid.

Once we were back in Madrid, the bus made a stop by the Prado Museum.  Most people stayed on the bus and went directly back to the hotel but some folks got off to visit the Prado or go to other parts of Madrid.  The six of us decided to take a walk in Retiro Park and it was really quite lovely.  The park is really large and has several man-made lakes and water features in it.  On the one lake there is an impressive monument to King Alfonso XII.  You can rent row boats on this lake and there were many people out enjoying themselves that way.  We relaxed by the edge of the lake having coffee or ice cream, depending on our tastes.  

We walked past the one palace, a small but lovely brick building with colourful tile mosaics on it.  We went into the crystal palace, which was not all that impressive at all despite the fact that I remember it as being quite lovely.  I think they have changed the interior - at least the floor.  The walls are all glass so nothing has changed there.  It has three main dome areas and two smaller ones on either side.  The whole thing is wide open and all glass so when we visited it felt like a big greenhouse.  Since it was rather hot we didn't stay long.  For some reason I remember it as having a glass or water or mirror floor or something unique and you could only walk around the outer edge and it was beautiful.  Now it's just a concrete floor and very boring.

We continued through the park to the south end toward the train station where I figured we could take the metro to the stop near our hotel.  But oh no, we decided to walk.  An hour later we finally made it and that was up a bit and down a bit and up again.  And we'd already been walking for two hours before that, not to mention all the walking in Toledo.  I was hot and sweaty and totally exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel.  Luckily I had time to shower and rinse out some clothes before we had to go down to dinner.

This was our last dinner on the tour and I kind of expected something special but it wasn't.  It was your typical hotel dinner and our guide and driver didn't even join us.  They didn't for any other meals but we thought they might for this one.  Instead they were just there to greet us and collect their tip envelopes and then they were gone.  Dinner was a vegetable soup, which had no taste that we could identify.  The main dish was a piece of salmon on top of some cut potatoes.  Both were very good but we all commented that at least a bit of vegetable would be nice.  Dessert was (I think) a chocolate cake / ice-cream cake but it was so light we weren't really sure it was ice cream but it was too heavy to be whip cream so who knows.  It was very tasty and very light though so we all enjoyed it.  After dinner, as people started leaving there were a lot of hugs and farewells.  I think I talked more to some of the people at that point than I did on the whole trip!  

And that was kind of the end of the evening.  We said a special good bye to Randy's family who were heading out at 5 a.m. and I wasn't going to get up to see them off.  They were flying Lufthansa and their pilots were on strike today but were supposedly ordered back to work so the gang went to bed hoping their flights were going as scheduled.  I went to bed knowing that there would be no wake-up call and I wouldn't' have to get up until I felt like it - as long as that was before the 12 noon check out.  Of course I knew I wasn't going to get much sleep though as I still didn't have a hotel to go to the next night or for the next three weeks.  I did stay up quite late working on it but eventually gave up as my eyes and my brain just did not want to work any more, and sleep did come quite easily as I was so tired.

Tuesday, October 13th - Salou, Spain

I got up, had breakfast and decided to head out and return my library books before it got too hot and humid.  Well, I didn't really have to rush because it didn't exactly get hot all day.  I don't think it even hit 70 degrees and it was windy and cloudy and wet so seemed quite cool. 

I went to the library, returned my two books and my temporary library card and got my deposit back.  It was a very easy process and I'd certainly do it again any time.

Across the street from the library is another grocery store that I hadn't been in before so I went in and bought some cheddar cheese (hard to find over here), an apple, a pear and some orange juice for me to eat here before I leave, and some Vaseline Intensive Care (can't believe they even carry that!) and toothpaste that I figure I'll need by the end of the year.  I also bought some crackers, cereal bars and microwave popcorn to take with me to Ethiopia, as well as some packages of pens, markers and tape that were on sale for 1 euro each - obviously the last of the back-to-school supplies.  I figured they would come in handy in Ethiopia and I've now got my extra case to carry them in so I should be okay packing wise, at least as far as Ethiopia.  I may have to leave some stuff there when I leave.

I walked over the bookstore and once again they had no books in English.  Right after the storm he said he would have something in by Thursday, but nothing arrived.  When I was in the other day there were unopened boxes piled on the floor and he hoped they were in those boxes.  Well, today those boxes were gone but there were still no English books on the shelf.  It was a different person working today and she said they would not likely have any in this week so I guess I won't be buying any books before I leave Salou.  Hopefully there will be a bookstore at the airport that has some available.  And yes, I know I could just be buying e-books and reading them on my iPad.  However, when I'm going to the beach I really don't want to take my iPad with me.  Besides, I prefer the feel of a book - although I must say that reading the small print is getting more difficult all the time.  At least electronically I could make the font larger.

I walked back to the apartment and by the time I was about three blocks away I felt a few drops of rain.  I made it home just fine and after I got back it never did really rain - just more of an occasional drizzle.  It was obviously going to be a good day to get some work done indoors.  So I got out the computer and started plugging away.

And it's now bedtime and I really don't have much to add to the above.  I had lunch and dinner and started packing things in my new suitcase/bag.  I organized some papers and did some computer work, including uploading some pictures to Google Drive which I hadn't done in ages, and now it's time to shut everything down and head to bed.  Pretty exciting stuff! 

Tuesday, October 6th - Tarragona, Spain

Today was a day almost totally in Tarragona.  I caught the 10 a.m. bus from Salou and didn't come back until after 8 p.m.   Aside from a lunch break and a few moments of relaxation on park benches as I checked maps, I was on the go the whole time.

Tarragona is about 30 minutes north of Salou and 30 minutes south of Barcelona.  It is a much larger city than the other smaller towns along the coast and has a population of 135,000.  It is also a very active port city while the other towns are mainly tourist hangouts.  There are records of Tarragona going back as far as the 5th century BC.  To the Romans, who used it as a major base for many centuries, the name of the town was Tarraco.  It was known around the Roman Empire for its fertile agricultural land, its sea shore, port, roads, minted coins and  its good wine and flax.  As a Roman city it had a fortification wall, towers, forum, amphitheatre, aqueducts, etc. and many of these are partially or totally intact today.

The bus dropped us at the main bus station in Placa Imperial Tarragona, the main traffic circle in the city with eight streets going off of it.  One of those streets is the Rambla Nova, which runs down to the edge of the water.  This route was once the Via Augusta, one of the main roads in the Roman Empire.  It is a huge and beautiful street with wide sidewalks on either side of the street and a wide tree-lined pedestrian area in the median.  Despite being a very busy street it was very relaxing walking down the centre park-like area.

About a block down the street I came to a wonderful monument.  The Monument als Castells is a statue of a human pyramid and it is perfect.  I could actually take pictures of it and there were no movements to blur my pictures.  It was eight levels high and looked fantastic.  And the setting of course was terrific.

A bit further down the street I ran into the street market.  While it certainly blocked the beautiful view of the tree-lined street, it did add some atmosphere to the area with the colours and shouts from the vendors.  I wandered through a couple of blocks of it and decided that was enough for me, but you could have found some great bargains on just about anything you might have wanted.  It was very busy and very crowded because there wasn't a lot of room between the booths for people to get through.

I had my map already with me and I knew the Central lMarket was just a couple blocks to the right so I headed in that direction.  The market building itself is from 1915 and is large with a curved raised ceiling in the centre.  The exterior of the building was decorated with huge colourful festival characters and they certainly livened up the brick.  Inside they were selling fish, meat, fruit, vegetables, baked goods, etc. and it was quite busy.

I crossed back over the Ramblas Nova to head to the old town.  There was a beautiful big building with light stones that looked white in the sunlight and then red bricks around the doors, windows and at the corners and as pillars and they were a beautiful contrast to the stone.  It turned out to be church and the main door was high and arched with an intricate stained-glass window above it and then the tower and spires above that with some parts looking Gothic.

On the corner at one point I think I saw the Chamber of Commerce building.  The sign on the building mentioned commerce, industry and navigation in Tarragona so I'm pretty sure it was the chamber.  It was lovely with a tower and turret and spire at the main corner of the building.  It had fancy arched windows and brick work and looked very lovely.

Eventually the wall beside the side walk turned into an actually section of the Roman city wall 30-40 feet high.  The wall was made of stones of various sizes and shapes - obviously very old but still very impressive looking.  There was also a tower in the area but it was from the midieval period and just built against the Roman wall.  That actually surprised me since the construction looked basically the same on both of them.  The gate through the wall (Portal del Roser) was bricked at the edges and over the passage way.  The entrance was probably ten feet wide and twelve feet high with another twenty feet or so of stone above it.  A car can now drive through but I assume it was at one point wide enough for a chariot and horses.   The walls, both Roman and Midieval, continued at this point and you could have gone up to walk around the top of them for a while but I wasn't sure I'd have enough time so I skipped that part.

Before entering the old town, the sidewalks had wonderful designs in them simply made with stones.   The different colours and shapes made designs that were quite amazing and beautiful.   There was a roman column which was made up of many large sections.  They looked a little out of line but were still very secure.  

Inside the wall are more walls and arched entrances and towers and homes of the Roman period.  The one right inside is a museum that I might have visited but it was undergoing renovations and you could not go in.  

The streets inside the old city were narrow but they seemed to be more on a grid system than other earlier cities I've visited.  Some had nice patterns in the stone of the street.  The buildings were all old brick and most had small balconies.  There were also some connecting walkways between buildings and over streets, and lots of high, wide arched entrances into the buildings.  Some buildings were very plain looking and others had very ornate paintings and carvings.  The brick was sometimes very light in colour, sometimes tan colour and sometimes reddish.

The streets were pretty deserted and basically just residential so not much to see until just after the tourist information office.  It was just before the cathedral and, in fact, the cathedral had dominated the view to the end of the street as I walked down it.  The cathedral is up a series of stairs so it appears bigger than it actually is.  In front of it and to the side there are squares  where some shops were open but basically it was the restaurants and cafes who were set up and ready for business.  

I went into the cathedral and that tour included the church building, the cloister and the museum.  It came with an audio guide that started outside looking at the facade and then walked you through everything in the place.  It was well done but by the end you really weren't caring who designed or built or carved or painted anything.  I listened to everything and I it was almost two hours in length.    From a distance the outside of the church is pretty plain and white looking with a just huge arched door and a rose window as decoration.  As you get closer you realize there are lots of carvings in the light stone of the front.  There is of course a story for everyone of them but I no longer remember any of that part.  

The church was started in the 12th century and consecrated in 1331.  It is built on the highest part of the city and on top of old Roman and Visigoth church ruins.  The church is long and narrow (104 m x 16 m) with huge pillars that are actually clusters of smaller pillars rising 26 m high in the main part and 32 m at the highest.  Only the gold altar pieces and the dark wood of the pews and choir stalls and the light from the stained-glass windows add colour to the white interior.  Oh, the marble stone floor pattern also adds some colour.  The central dome is beautiful with a lot of vibrant blue around the edges, lots of gold , eight clear windows and the top part with paintings and more gold.

There are side chapels all around both sides and they are from various centuries and vary greatly in design.  Some are quite plain and other are very ornate.  One of my favourites was the Chapel of St. Thecla which was Baroque in style and an overall pink and white in colour.  Another was the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament that was a white arched room with a huge marble altar piece with carvings and paintings all over it that filled the whole front of the room.  It was very classy looking.  It also had an exquisite ceiling decoration like a dome with eight beautiful paintings in the centre panels, lots of light coming in the windows right below them and marble and gold decoration all around.  There is a lot of gold in the various church chapels and some silver as well as lots of carvings and paintings - some bright and some more muted.  There are some beautiful stained-glass windows in the church and some clear windows.  The organ is impressive with 20 x 9 m of carved dark oak and cypress carvings all around the silver pipes.

The cloister walkways had arched ceilings all around the square and arched windows looking into the garden.  The garden was really nice, except for the fact that something had killed all the goldfish in the one pond so there were a lot of bellies floating around. The museum again had a lot of gold and silver in it and some valuable jewels and stones, and I never understand why they need all of this stuff.  Overall the tour was great but I spent way too long in the cathedral when my goal was to visit the Roman sights in Tarragona.

I wandered down the street in front of the church to get to where the tourist folks said I should have lunch.  On the way I passed the old Roman market place with it's high stone archway.  I tried one place but they had already shut off their food service so I knew I was going to be in trouble.  I came to another section of Roman wall and decided to try again, this time with more success, so I had my lunch outside in the plaza looking at the remains of a Roman wall.  After lunch I went to see the remains of some Gothic arches from the Jewish Quarter. 

That led me finally to the 1st century Roman Tower (Pretoria) which was also a 14th century royal residence.  You had to go up steps and above ruins to get to the ticket office and then they send you on your way.   Had they told me there were about eight flights of stairs I might have asked if there was an elevator, which there was, but I didn't so instead I climbed the stairs and stopped at every possible information board or piece of history to read about it - just so I could have a break.  The walk was worth it though.  The view from the top was fantastic.  You could see the city - old and new - and you had a view of the Roman circus and the amphitheatre and the Mediterranean Sea.  You could also see two forts from different eras almost side by side on the same point of land.  The cathedral, on the highest point in the city, looked much larger than I expected.  In the tower there were various chambers, some that led to the Circus stands, some to the gates and some that were remodelled to become the royal rooms centuries later.  There is little in the tower now so basically all you see is empty rooms with brick walls of different bricks.

Once back down at the bottom again - walking, not taking the elevator - I went to the second part of the tour, which involved the bottom chamber of the tower.  A lot of these chambers are quite large and it is assumed that these were the administrative offices of the Romans.  There were tombstones and other exhibits in this area.  Then you moved through some of the covered corridors of Roman times.  Sometimes there were holes in the top of the curved stone tunnel so you had to assume it had collapsed..  I guess you then just had to hope it wasn't going to collapse more.  Eventually you came out at the circus, where the Romans held their chariot races, and some of the arched structures that held the horses, chariots and riders between races, and the seats for the spectators.  There is not much of the track left, just a portion of the one end so you need a vivid imagination to actual figure it out.   Once there were 56 arcades around the circus but only 3 remain today.  The circus was 325 m long and 115 m wide and held 25,000 spectators so it was certainly big in its day.

My next stop was the 2nd century Roman Amphitheatre, which was just below the circus and right on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea.  I had to wander through a lovely park with terraced gardens to get down to the level and at one point they have an elevator so people can just get up and down the hillside - very civilized and yes, I took it.  Well over half of the amphitheatre remains so it is much easier to recognize than the circus was. And with the Mediterranean in the background it is a beautiful complex.  I wandered around the complex.  You start up at the top and can then walk down on to the floor of the theatre or into the stands.  It is such a beautiful setting it is hard to imagine gladiators fighting to the death or executions taking place in it.  Because three Christian priests were executed here in the 3rd century, the Christians decided to build a basilica in memory of the martyrs on the sight around the 6th century.  They used some of the stones from the amphitheatre to build the church.  In the 12th century another church was built in the same spot using the surrounding stones.  In the 18th century it was used as a prison but was abandoned in the 20th century.  At that point the whole complex went to the city to be preserved.   What you see now is the circular amphitheatre and most of the stone seats around it.  Unfortunately, the theatre floor is in the centre but it has the ruins of two churches cutting through it.

I then walked back up the hill to the start of the Rambla Nova and walked up it from the Mediterranean side.  It really is a nice street.  I had an ice cream cone on the way and went past the public market again on the way to the next ruins.  I arrived just ten minutes before closing according to the attendant, although my sheet said it was forty minutes before, so he tried to talk me out of going in but I paid him and went in anyway.  I hurried through the place so I wouldn't keep him late but when I started back to the beginning I discovered  that two other groups had come in later so I need not have rushed.  These ruins are of some Roman homes and shops along a Roman street that was near the temple and basilica.  The temple is believed to have been dedicated to Jupiter, Juno and Minerva.  The basilica was not a church but rather an administrative area where council could meet and where hearings could be held to resolve disputes.  Hence it was a type of forum and that's why the area is called the Roman Colonial Forum.  There are some low walls remaining in the area of the homes and the shops.  There are walls with arches in them, pillars and even pillars joined by structures at the top in the area of the temple and basilica but I couldn't actual picture any of it while I was there on my rushed visit.

From there I walked back to teh bus station and caught the next bus to Salou.  I got back to the apartment, had some dinner, did some computer work and went to bed.

There were lots of other sights to see in Tarragona and many of them were Roman.  The aqueduct would have been fantastic as it is two levels of arches with 11 on the bottom and 25 on top with a total height of 27 m and a length of 249 m.  That certainly sounds a lot more spectacular than the aqueduct we walked to in Pineda de Mar.  There were also museums yet to see and other parks and buildings, but no time.  I guess that will be the next trip.

And for one last tidbit, even in Roman day around the turn of the millennium the streets in Tarraco (now Tarragona) were 20 feet or 6 metres wide.  That could explain the fact that the streets in the old town were not as narrow as in other locations.  They were used to wider roads and streets. 

Monday, October 12, 2015 - Salou, Spain

Well, where did this day go?  I was up reasonably early and had a quick breakfast because I thought I might actually eat out somewhere for lunch while walking around.  Of course I checked e-mails and facebook and other internet sights before setting out.

I was heading to the outdoor market that is held every Monday morning in Salou but I had not yet been there, to the bookstore, to the library, to a pharmacy, and then the tourist office.  At least that was my original goal.  But I forgot this was a long weekend so many things like the library and the pharmacies are not open.  So my library books did not get returned and I did not buy what I want from the pharmacy - nothing urgent but I'd rather buy supplies here than try in Africa.   The bookstore was open but they still had not received their shipment of books in English to replace those that were lost in the bad rain store over a week ago.  Now that is an urgent situation because it means I have absolutely nothing to read.  It's a good thing I have my laptop and my Sudoku book to keep me occupied.

The market was running this morning.  It was actually the part I thought might be cancelled on a holiday but luckily it wasn't.  It took me a while to find it as it wasn't really on the street that it was listed for but rather on an adjoining street.  Once I got in the right vicinity I really just had to keep following the crowds and they let me to it.

The market is quite a large one and sells just about everything.  The stalls are set up on both sides of the street on the four streets surrounding an empty square or plaza.  It is  a great layout as you just have to walk around the square.  You don't have to go part way up and then turn around and go back as in some market set-ups.  This one actually reminded me of the ones in Florida by the way it was laid out and as it seemed to have everything.  You could get clothes of all descriptions but coats seemed to be the popular item today.  There were purses and shoes and belts and bags.  There were household items for the kitchen, bathroom, bedroom.  There were personal hygiene items and lots of snacks and drinks.  There were no fruits and vegetables though.  

The market was quite busy and some of the stalls seemed to be doing a brisk business.  Other stalls seemed quite deserted.  Although I do not need anything and have no room for anything I did buy some stuff.  As I wear my running shoes almost continually every day, my low socks are starting to get quite thin and also dirty looking.  So I bought three new pairs for 2 euros - bargained down from 3 euros.  There was a pair of black pants that I liked - nothing fancy just comfortable looking.  I passed them by once and then went back again.  They were one size fits all and most of those don't really fit me all that well so I was hesitating.  The lady running the stall didn't speak much English so you couldn't exactly ask whether they fit big or small; however, I tried.  I didn't laugh at the time but she was hilarious.  She was a big woman, probably over six feet tall and at least 250 pounds if not 300.  To prove they would fit she simply pulled up her shirt and showed me that she had a pair on.  It was not exactly a pretty sight but the plants did indeed fit her and I knew she was definitely bigger than me.  They looked quite nice on her and not too tight at the top or down the leg so I figured if she could wear them I probably could too.  I couldn't talk her down on the price though so I had to pay 8 euros for them.  

Then, because I can take two suitcases into Ethiopia, and because neither of them can be over 20 kg, I decided to go back and look for a cheap suitcase / sports bag or something that could be checked in.  The object here would be to put some of my stuff into the extra suitcase to stay under the 20 kg weight, but also to have a smaller case for when we do smaller trips like the 3 days in Ethiopia where we leave Addis Ababa and go to a smaller town or in South Africa where some of the stuff can be left behind at the hotel in Cape Town because it won't be needed on the 30-day trip and we start and end at the same hotel.  However, on some flights between now and then I might only be allowed one bag so I had to buy something that could be folded and put into my current suitcase to be checked or my backpack (or the backpack in it) s carry on.  It was tricky trying to balance the two things but I think I found a small sports bag that will work.  That too cost 8 euros - bargained down from the 15 the one guy started with but the other guy before him had already started at 13.

So I left the market, went to the bookstore and found out I couldn't buy any books today, went to the library to find out it was closed, and walked back to the apartment stopping on the way at the tourist info desk to check out the schedule of events for this week.  There was nothing of interest before the time I leave on Thursday, except for things today.  Being a holiday there were actually events this morning, even a parade but I think it was a Church parade for some saint before mass, so I'm not sure I missed too much.  However, I did suggest again that they have their weekly schedules, which start on Monday, ready for pick up on Sunday (instead of Monday) so people would know what was coming up.  

As I walked back to my apartment and started past the office I thought I'd stop in and see if they had a book library anywhere.  Well, in fact they did so I went in and looked and found a book that will tide me over quite nicely until I can actually get to buy something.  The office is much closer than the library so I should have been using them all along.  They also have a more current collection than the library.

It is really hot and humid today - probably close to 80 degrees with the humidity at least as high.  I was very hot and sweaty when I got back so I decided to change into my swim suit and head for the beach.  I was going to stop and have a paella at the restaurant out front first because it looked really good when I walked by on the way in.  So I went in and sat down and looked at the menu and decided the 20 euros I had in my pocket was not going to cover it, so I got up and left.  On the way down to the beach that I like best there are other restaurants so I stopped in one and had pork, potatoes and vegetables.  It came all together as a dish - one of the first times I've seen vegetables included.  it was very good.  The pork medallions and the vegetables were both grilled and very nicely seasoned, and the potatoes were boiled and then fried or grilled a bit with some onions.  The amazing part was that it was not greasy at all and I'm not sure there was any olive oil involved at all.

Then I spent two hours on the beach relaxing and reading my new book.  It was a bit cloudy by this time but the temperature was still quite warm and comfortable.  People were in swimming but I figured it might be a bit cool if you were wet so I skipped that part.  I normally do skip that part.  I just go to read and relax and watch the people.  The water is nice to look at but other than walking in and out occasionally to cool off, that's it for me.  I can't swim so that is not an attraction for me, although today would have been beautiful for swimming because the water was incredibly calm.  It would have been a good day for stand-up paddle boarding too but I didn't see anyone around doing that.

I came back to the apartment, tidied up, put things away, had some dinner, did some blogging, and before long it was the end of another day.

Thursday, October 8th - Reus, Spain

This morning I was up reasonably early and after breakfast and clearing e-mails and doing other odd jobs, I caught the bus to the town of Reus, about a half hour inland from Salou.  I had my route all planned out, basically their tourist walking tour, but that got a bit off when the bus dropped us at a different location than I was expecting so there was a bit of improvising at the start.

The bus stopped near a park so I figured I should at least take a look in the park.  It turned out to be Placa Acalde Anton Borrell (lawyer and politician) and I was at one end of what looked like a very nice but long park.  There was a statue of a boy with a bird right at the entrance and it fit in perfectly with the environment which looked very peaceful and relaxing.  I didn't go in any further as my walking tour routes went in other directions.

Placa Llibertat is a very open rectangular area - all concrete with high silver pillars spelling Llibertat on the one side while trees lined the other edge.  At the one end there are for Roman pillars (Columns Kursaal) that were moved from a different location.  The place is obviously used as a gathering place at times but was pretty quiet when I was there.

To the side of Placa Llibertat was a branch of the Museum of Reus.  They were open so  I went in and walked through their two exhibits - both free.  The first was the history of Reus and area through photographs and it didn't mean much to me as there were no descriptions anywhere.  However, the two older ladies in the room were oohing and aahing at various photos so they obviously recognized and/or remembered some of the events or people in the pictures.  

The second exhibit was the story of their festival and it was really interesting.  It had the "costumed characters", including a donkey, and the "heads" worn on the shoulders of people in the parade and explained what each of them represented.  I don't remember many of the representations but one was that the big tall Indian in buckskins was representing the Americas.  The person who had to wear/carry this character would have the whole thing resting on his shoulders and would look out at about thigh level.  The Indian was so tall that it probably tripled the height of the person carrying it.  It seemed like it would be rather cumbersome but they had a video of them parading around and no one seemed to be having any problem.  The "heads" were just that.  I'm not sure what the person wearing/carrying the head had to wear but the head was certainly an exaggerated size.  And some of the facial expressions were hilarious - supposedly based on real people.  The exhibit explained about thee fireworks/explosions that are part of the festival - really just pots of fireworks on the ground around the main square.  They had a video of the this too.  It was really loud and people were behind the roped area of the square so it must be very loud for them being right there.  They also had a video of the festivities through the decades.  I watched a bit of this but not all.  They touched a bit on the different dances and performances during the festival as well.  It was a good exhibit to sea/hear since I have not caught an actual festival.  The exhibit ddid a great job of explaining everything.  Later on in my walk I came across a statue of the Indian character.  I was glad I had visited the museum so I knew what the statue was all about.  Others weren't so fortunate.  The man standing beside the Indian (part of the statue) proved that the statue itself really was about three times the height of a man.

I then followed the walking tour and went up to Placa del Victor, a small square where there is an 18th century statue of Neptune - not your typical one with Neptune's wild hair and him holding a trident but rather a King Neptune with crown holding what looks like a torch.  He is standing on a high pillar and the base might be a fountain - I don't remember.  From there I returned to Placa Llibertat and continued the tour.

I passed the church of St. John the baptist.  It looks very old and Gothic on the outside but in fact it is really from the 20th century and built in a neo-Gothic style intentionally to look old.  It was not open but apparently it is very modern inside with contemporary paintings and stained-glass windows.

I went in the Municipal Market for a quick look.  It was very quiet and a lot of the stalls were empty so I'm not sure if it was just opening or about to close or whether that's just how it is all the time.  I went in through a door that led to a grocery store too so at first I thought it was just an extension of the store.  However, when viewed from the other end it is distinctly a separate market building.  They were selling meat, fish, cheese and other items but I didn't visit all the stalls to know the whole offering.

I wandered down a beautiful tree-lined boulevard as part of my tour.  There were sidewalks on either side of the two-way traffic lanes but there was also a centre pedestrian area that was nice and shady and relaxing even though the traffic was speeding by.  At Placa de les Oques, which is really just a traffic circle, there is a statue of a little boy and two geese.  He is naked and I had a rear view coming into the square.  Later on the way back I had the front view and he is carrying a basket of food (strategically located) and the geese are trying to get at the food.  It's a really cute statue - from either direction.

The Central Library building is a neat white building with red brick trim.  It is very detailed and classic with beige brick at the very top.  The inscription on the building says 1892 Matadero.  When I looked matadero up the translation was slaughterhouse but it looked like a pretty fancy building for a slaughterhouse.  

Casa Gasull (1911) is on a street corner and both sides are very impressive.  It is made of light coloured bricks and the walls have paintings and designs on them.  The second-floor windows are arched and in groups of three with a bigger arch over all three and decoration painted under the larger arch.  Casa Rull (1900) is beside it and has a stone first floor and ornate wrap around the corner balcony. A small round corner pillar rises to a small circular balcony of carved stone with a lion statue on top.  The roof facade is carved as are the edges around the windows.  The whole house looks fairy-tale charming and there is a garden behind.  Neither of these houses nor the garden were open for visits so the outside is all I saw.  

I eventually made it to Placa Mercadel which is a big square with fancy old buildings all around it and the Gaudi Museum, which is not old.  It is currently under construction and covered so I didn't really get to see it but I have a feeling it really doesn't match the style of the other buildings around the square.  I think it's just a raised cube shape.  There are cafes all around the square with lots of outdoor seating.  The City Hall building has a tower with clock and steeple.  City Hall was an old 17th century building but has been restored and remodelled many times since then.  This square was the market at one point and the stall numbers are carved into the stones in the square.  It is still the main area for all festivals.

The most beautiful building on the square is the 1907 Casa Navas with its curved bay window on the side and the curved balcony rounding the corner of the street.  The corner view is amazing.  The work is so detailed with carved plants and busts of real people (at the time) covering the entire heavy concrete balcony so it looks light and delicate.  The building was not open but apparently the inside is also very elaborately decorated with painted scenes and carvings.

St. Peter's Church (16th century) has a high 60 metre tower that can be seen over the rooftops from many points of the city.  The main entrance to the church is rather plain looking as a tan colour brick building with very little decoration.  There are statues on top of the facade and a rose window above the main door.  St. Peter is the city's patron saint.  The church's claim to fame seems to be that Gaudi was baptized here.  The interior is white with high arches and a very plain ribbed ceiling.  There are stained-glass windows at the front above a simple but impressive-looking altar.  There are side naves and chapels but I only got to look from the back of the Church so didn't see too much in detail.

Just beside the church is another plaza with big stone arches at either end.  This was once part of St. Peter's priory and there are large three storey buildings that look very similar on either side.  These each have high arches all along the front before their covered walkway - much like a cloister.  This was the Church Square in the 19th century and then at one point it was the fish market.

I went again to the Museum of Reus, this time to the main building.  I thought it was going to be much larger than the first building I visited but in fact it wasn't really much bigger.  It too had two exhibits.  The permanent exhibit is archeological and some parts of it I could follow but not others.  As usual there was no English on the exhibit but they did have an English brochure to go with it.  Unfortunately the brochure was so general that it was still hard to figure out what part it was taking about even though it was all numbered and so were the exhibits.  I would match numbers, read about and wasn't able to match the reading with anything I was seeing.  Only about twice out of 30+ entries could I actually say matched.  There were lots of artifacts from arrowheads and old tools to coins and ceramics and jewelry.  There were only 4-5 small rooms, which was good.

The second exhibit was definitely easier to follow.  It too had a brochure in English to go with the exhibits.  While the exhibit might have been interesting it really wasn't something I came all the way to Spain to see.  It was on Roman Erotica or Sex in Roman Times and covered everything related to sex that you could imagine and from several different perspectives like paintings, written works, sculptures, jewelry, rule books, etc.  They had some pretty explicit and graphic details.  I'll spare you any more details except to say that I found it interesting that one of the reasons a Roman man could divorce his wife was if she hid or kept the keys to the wine cellar from him.  

The Gaudi Museum is one of the main attractions in Reus and it was interesting and informative.  There were lots of interactive displays that helped you understand weights and stress and arches and twisting beams and geometric models but don't ask me to explain any of them.  They were fun to play with and see how they changed but I don't think playing with them will help me build anything.  You get an audio guide with the visit and it works automatically as you walk around the building.  That is great except if you are listening and walking at the same time because then you get really confused on what part they are talking about - and I'm sure the guide gets a bit confused too.  There was a video at the start talking about Gaudi: his life, his accomplishments, his inspirations, etc.  There were models of many of his structures and even life-size parts of others so you could see how the pieces fit together.  There was a section talking about his technical contributions to architecture and another about his influence in Reus.  One of the parts that always interests me is how Gaudi looked at nature to determine how things should be done and took his inspiration from nature.  The tree-like look of the pillars in the Sagrada Familia is only one example.   Gaudi's birthplace was on my walking tour route but I didn't make it there as it got too late and too dark for further touring.  The building is now privately owned so you can't go in anyway.   I did make it to the statue of Gaudi as a child playing with some balls, apparently one of his early interests.  The family had traditionally been boiler makers so that was the environment he grew up in where material was bent and curved in ways to make objects and give them the most strength - seems to tie in a bit with the architectural path he followed.

The modernism tour of Reus is in part related to Gaudi.  Modernism ran from the end off the 19th to the beginning of the 20th century and Gaudi was certainly active in that period.  He had a style that was all his own and added certain dimensions to the architecture of the period - the curves and colours and touch of nature.  Many of the buildings in Reus were designed by followers of Gaudi and they have adapted some o f his techniques and some of their own.

There are many beautiful buildings in the city - some of which I've described individually above, but there are others.  There are lots of buildings with beautiful balconies, peaked roofs, curved aspects, statues and moulding designs.  There are houses of different colours: pink, blue, white, green, etc. with as many different colours used to decorate them.  Red brick buildings are trimmed in white.  Light brick buildings are trimmed in grey.  There are short buildings and tall ones, narrow ones and wide ones.  There are carved cement balconies and twisted wrought iron balconies.  There are plain windows with intricately designed mouldings around them and there are incredibly fancy windows with just plain brick around them.  There are windows and decorations and mouldings sunk into buildings or built out from buildings to create 3D illusions that are absolutely beautiful, especially when painted various colours - so delicate looking, and on the outside of a house.  There are brick designs, ceramic designs, wood designs.  There arched windows and doors and straight ones and curved ones and circular ones.  There are peaked roofs, flat roofs and curved roofs.  There are fancy gates and walls as well.  You could trip a million times walking down the sidewalk because all you wanted to do was look up!

There were also other squares and fountains and statues in Reus, and other interesting streets but I can't write about them all.  In the older part of the town there are lots of pedestrian streets that are narrow but still wide enough for cars to get through.  and the old area is reasonably well laid out so not a lot of the usual winding "easy-to-get-Jayne-lost" streets, which was nice.  Reus is also known for its vermouth and there are several museums, demonstration, tastings related to the vermouth.  I didn't go for any of these aspects as I had no time, but also because I just wasn't interested. 

Eventually it was too dark to see much of anything so I walked back to the bus stop and caught the bus.  I was on my way home and hungry as I went past Burger King and I just couldn't resist.  It was fast and it was familiar and I enjoyed it so there you go.  We have had a running conversation all through our travels complaining that no matter where we are McDonalds, KFC, Burger King, etc. are always there and we vowed not to eat in them.  Oh well, I'm on my own now so I guess it doesn't matter.  Eventually I made it back to the apartment, did a bit of computer work and then called it a day.

Friday, October 9th - Salou, Spain

The first thing I did tis morning was try to get on booking.com to book some more days in this unit but I still can't get on.  That's three days now where it says I'm not connected to the internet but everything else works just fine on the internet.  The other booking companies like expedia.ca and hotel.com and kayak.com all seem to work but they don't list this place as available so I'm assuming that perhaps this place doesn't list with them.  I figure it's time to go to the office and make the extension directly with them if they'll let me do it that way.  Normally they want the booking first but we'll see, so I go to see them.  Well, surprise, surprise, it's another Spanish holiday this weekend and I can't extend because they are completely booked, which is why they aren't listed with the other companies.

I knew there were three different booking agents for the complex so I went to the partial owner or time-share office.  I first tried to book it on Interval, my timeshare company, but that didn't work as it didn't show up as available there.  When I talked to the guy in the office he said they were sold out too.  I told him my predicament and asked where he would suggest I look next he had another idea.  After a few phone calls he said he had a place for me until Thursday.  Someone had booked a room Monday to Monday but hadn't shown up yet so I could have that room which was going to be free on Monday anyway.  I asked what would happen if the other guy just showed up for the long weekend and the attendant just said "too bad".  I guess if you haven't shown up by the fifth day of your seven day booking it's safe to assume you're not coming, and they had tried to reach him several times.  Of course this new place will cost me over twice what I have been paying and it means I will have to move tomorrow, which I hadn't planned on, but I guess I'll survive.  I made some comment to him about hoping the new place had a washing machine because I didn't have time to do laundry now and get it dry before I leave the old place.  He said the new unit did not have a washing machine but he'd make sure I had access to one.  I sure hope so!!!

So I went back to my unit and start getting organized and packing things up.  This time I have food and supplies to worry about as well as the usual clothes so there will be more to move.  I also booked a hotel near the Barcelona airport for Thursday night.  My flight to Ethiopia leaves on Friday around noon so the Barcelona hotel will make the trip to the airport easier with a much more leisurely travel day for me.  It's about a two hour trip from Salou to the Barcelona airport so I would have had a very early morning if leaving from here.  Now I just have to figure out whether the train or the bus is the best way to get to the hotel but I can do that later.

My Friday noon flight from Barcelona makes one stop and then flies on to arrive in Addis Ababa at five minutes after midnight on Saturday the 17th.  The 17th is the first day I am allowed into the country according to my visa so I hope the plane doesn't arrive earlier or I'll have to stand in the hall and wait to clear customs and immigration.  Our first presentation is at 9 a.m. that morning so hopefully I can get some sleep on the plane and then also some more sleep after I get to the guest house and then I should be okay for the day.  I know the presentation is for the guardians at the Kality Centre and I have been there before and met them.  Right now I just don't remember exactly where the centre is but I'm hoping it's close so we don't have leave to early that morning.

After such a disruptive and disappointing morning I decided I needed a break.  I went to the beach and read for a while.  I'm almost through the second book so I will need to go to the bookstore soon and see if any new books in English have arrived to replace the ones lost in the rain storm.  If yes, hopefully I'll be able to buy some and then take the books back to the library,return my card and get my money back.  If no, or if I don't like or have already read the ones he has in stock, then I'll have to go exchange my books at the library for some new ones.

Since I have some extra days here in Salou, I also want to go see the Human Towers which are in Cambrils on Saturday evening.  I'll probably do a tour around the town in the afternoon since I really didn't see anything other than the beach area and fish market last trip.  This was the town 8 km away that I ended up walking to one day.

I also hear there is a Gospel concert somewhere nearby on the 14th so I'd like to go to that.  I'll just have to make sure I'm organized enough that day that I can go to the concert in the evening and still be ready to leave the next day.  And of course I still need a couple of days to get caught up on my blogging before I head to Ethiopia so there is lots to be done even if I'm staying in the same place for another few days.  I'm sure the time will just fly by.

Sunday, October 11th - Salou, Spain

Well, this is definitely going to be a short one because I really didn't leave the complex today.  I got up and showered and washed my hair, and then I did some computer work.  Around 11:00 I was just getting myself some breakfast when there was a knock at the door.  It was the guy from reception and he had a washing machine I could use now but not one that could be used later because the rooms were full.  I told him I'd be down as soon as I finished breakfast.

I have a toaster in this unit and was so looking forward to fried eggs and toast.  Well, by the time I got done talking to him about laundry, my eggs were overcooked and rubbery and there was nothing to dip my toast into.  It was not a good start.

I gathered up my laundry and went to reception to find the guy.  Together we went up to the first floor and he opened a unit yet to be cleaned and said I could use the machine.  I put the first load in at 11:30 precisely.  The water ran in right away.  It's another water saver machine so very little water goes in but I'm used to that.  However, it didn't seem to do anything.  The clothes on the bottom were wet but the ones on top weren't.  The drum moved every once in a while but it didn't seem to go anywhere.  I wasn't too concerned because I thought it was probably just the pre-soak anyway.  However, after half an hour of nothing happening I started to wonder.  I went to find the housekeeper and, since she couldn't speak English and I can't speak Catalan or Spanish, we had quite the funny conversation.  Eventually she realized what I was talking about and said she'd be down in five minutes.  She came down and the machine still wasn't doing anything.  I had written on a piece of paper what time I had started and what number I had on the machine.  She understood the water had run in but the soap hadn't gone in.  She tried something else as she started cleaning the room and then a few minutes later she started just putting the soap in by adding water manually to the dispenser area.  I never would have thought of that!  So we thought we were on the way.  However, the drum still never really rotated so I don't think the clothes ever did get washed.  There were no suds in the water because the soap never got mixed up with the water.  I was not looking forward to seeing what kind of shape the clothes were going to be in and how much soap they were going to have on them.  This, by the way, was the dark load and the heavy material load.  Eventually the machine did go through a spin cycle and she declared the wash finished - about two hours later.  I wasn't so sure but what can you do.  I took them all out and put them in a bag and went upstairs to hang them up outside to dry.  By this point she had already taken the pink/red load to another room to wash them there.  The white load she was putting in this machine as I left.  I have no idea how either of those loads worked because I wasn't there to see them and that's probably just as well.

I think I lucked out a bit as my travel towel and my bandana must have been at the top of the pile when the soap went in.  The bandana I could tell right away needed to be rinsed but I didn't see that with the towel until it was almost dry and I could clearly see the soap on it.  The bandana, by the way, had hardly even unfolded itself in the wash - another indication that the agitation was just not working.  Probably the folds were what trapped the soap.  When I rinsed the towel out after it was almost already dry, it took forever to get the soap out.  I bet I did ten rinses in the sink and the water just kept lathering up.  It was most annoying.   However, so far everything else looks fine so I shouldn't complain.  She brought the other two loads up about 3:30 and everything is outside drying.  I don't think they will get dry today but I'll leave that final decision until later.

Because I was doing laundry elsewhere in the building or waiting for housekeeping to return with my wet clothes, I was inside all afternoon.  And my clothes are all on the patio so I didn't want to leave for fear the wind would come up and blow them all away. I blogged for a while and did some other computer work and I ate occasionally and I read for a bit.  Eventually the day was done and it was time for bed.

Now wasn't that an informative blog and well worth reading?