Showing posts with label â. Show all posts
Showing posts with label â. Show all posts
Sunday, 19 March 2017
Torreviejo and Mar Menor – Sailing the Costa de Blanco of Spain
October 5 -8, 2012
While the weather was staying mild rather than wild, our plan was to continue day hopping in no particular hurry along the Spanish coast towards Gibraltar. We now had the rest of October to cover only a few hundred miles so we were out to make as many stops as we could while the sun shone but prepared to hole up somewhere safe for a while if the weather turned nasty.
From Alicante our next stop was only a couple of hours sail away at Torreveijo, not far from where we had stayed for a while in our friend Sally’s apartment in late April at the end of our road tripping around southern Spain.
Our Friday sail to Torrevieja turned into another motor for much of the morning as weather forecast grib files we’d downloaded proved totally wrong in both wind strength and direction. Thankfully we were able to get the sails out for a couple of hours in the middle of the day putting us in a much happier frame of mind as we entered through the large breakwaters of the harbour.
Torrevieja is one of the few totally secure anchorages on the this section of the Spanish coast. Although it features two large marinas there is also plenty of room to anchor in the outer harbour well protected behind the walls. Alcheringa was soon resting quietly, oh so very nice and smooth and we were all looking forward to replenishing the sleep bank after the rolly polly of Alicante.
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| Torrevieja is one of the best anchorages on Spain's Costa del Sol |
As we settled back in the cockpit to relax after our trip Karen spied something happening on the Belgian yacht anchored in front of us that almost made her spill the G and T. She was questioning her own eyes and had to seek the boys confirmation that she was really seeing what she thought she was seeing. Now we’ve got very used to naked bodies all over the beaches here in the Med and yachties showering on deck is common place, at times even in marinas, so by now we sort of just go with the flow. However this was a first. As a low howling noise reached across the short distance between the boats, we faced our first ever case of legs high in the air, bonking on deck in broad daylight. We’d love to be able to report that the couple looked like Venus and Adonis but unfortunately they were more like naked versions of Mr and Mrs Michelin going at it very energetically and vocally. We quickly decided we would be moving the boat in near the beach in the morning and well away from our Belgian neighbours in case of possible encore performances.
Late that afternoon we watched a very nice yacht approach the entrance to the harbour, turn into the wind just outside before dropping its mainsail very quickly and completing their turn through the breakwaters. Rob commented on how smoothly their whole process had been despite just two people being aboard. Then as the yacht drew closer he realised he recognised the boat.
She was Distant Shores 2 which is sailed by Canadians Paul and Sheryl Shard who produce a television series about their cruising life. They’ve been sailing two up since the mid-nineties and it shows. We had obtained DVDs of their first five series and watched them all when we were at home planning to begin our own cruising adventures. Their first couple of series covered their time sailing the Mediterranean on their earlier boat Two Step and had proved very informative and quite useful to us even now. After giving them plenty of time to get settled into the marina, we took the dingy over and introduced ourselves. They were both most welcoming and we had a good long chat about cruising, television and future plans. They also were heading for Gibraltar but only as a staging stop before making their way down to the Canaries and then on to the Caribbean with the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers. You can find out more about the Shards and their excellent TV Series ‘Distant Shores’ at www.distantshores.ca or their facebook page.
Next morning we were preparing to up anchor and move in close to the beach away from our Belgian bonkers when Paul and Sheryl swung by our boat on their way out of harbour to say goodbye and wish us well on our travels which was a nice touch.
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| Paul and Sheryl swing by on Distant Shores II on their way west. |
We did move the boat and then went in to shore and had lunch with Sally’s mum Joan and her friend, also Joan. Being a local, Joan certainly knows all the best places to eat. 7.90 Euro for a very large three course meal makes it no surprise that so many Brits retire here. We’ve been told there’s also many Brit pensioners who take advantage of very cheap off season apartment rentals here because it’s cheaper for them to fly over with a low cost airline and stay in Spain for the winter than to pay for the heating at home. After lunch we took Joans one and two out to the boat for a cuppa so they could have a look over her and had a very pleasant afternoon.
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| Joan, Joan and Karen aboard in Torrevieja |
Sunday October 7th saw unreformed petrol head, Rob, up at 4.00am following the Bathurst 1000 race (Australia’s equivalent to the Daytona 500) via the internet on Karen’s IPad. There was no online broadcast but only a lap by lap text update on the V8 Supercars site that had him hitting the refresh button with great regularity to get the latest news and positions. That might explain where all the 3G download disappeared to. What some people will do to get their fix.
After his favourites, the Triple 8 racing team, had claimed first and third on the podium we went in to a marina café and enjoyed a 3.80 euro big breakfast and took advantage of their wifi to skype the family for much of the morning. The whole clan were at our daughter Yasmin’s house to celebrate her younger sister, Felicity’s, 25thbirthday. We worked our way through kids, grandkids and Karen’s parents chatting for ages. After finally saying all our goodbyes we headed back to the boat feeling decidedly homesick.
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| Locals at play in Torrevieja |
After lunch we made our way a short hop west along the coast and anchored off the beach at Puerto Thomas Maestre. Here a one and half mile long canal connects the Mediterranean with Mar Menor, an extraordinary inland sea 12 miles long and 6 miles wide, about 20 by 10 kilometres. It’s separated from the Med by a narrow strip of sand, La Manga, which has been well and truly over developed with high rise apartments and resort. Most of the water is five to six metres deep with five islands dotted throughout and Mar Menor even features a Naval Air Wing base at San Javier Harbour in the north west corner. There’s a lifting road bridge over the canal with set opening times just twice a day and our plan was to head in to spend a day or so exploring this unusual piece of water. We’re sure most cruisers simply sail on by so we thought it would be cool to go in and have a look at something very different.
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| The inland sea |
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| Our calm anchorage off the beach at Puerto Thomas Maestre |
Our overnight stop waiting to enter Mar Menor was a very nice calm anchorage off a deserted beach completely lined with very new, very empty high rises. There was not a single light on in any of the buildings after sunset. From what we’ve seen so far the occupancy rate of holiday accommodation in Spain must be well less than five percent. Almost everything is empty. We did enjoy another great sunset though.
As the lifting bridge was scheduled to open at 11.00, after breakfast on Monday morning the anchor came up at 10.30am to give us time to get around the breakwater and in through the canal to Mar Menor. The channel in the canal is supposedly dredged to four metres but three or a bit less in places proved to be closer to the mark so we were taking things fairly carefully. As we approached the very swoopy, modern looking bridge right on 11.00 hours there was absolutely no sign of movement. We checked the exact time on Rob’s IPhone and made sure we weren’t early but as we idled very slowly closer there was still no sign of life. Our pilot guide book listed VHF Channel 9 as a contact for the bridge operator so we called it up asking for access and received a speedy reply in broken English, ‘English sailboat, bridge broken. Don’t know open today, maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow.’
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| Marc was a very unhappy meerkat not to get through to Mar Menor The very closed bridge is in the background |
Fantastic. Only in Spain. We thanked him for the information, performed a careful u-turn in the very narrow channel and disappointedly retraced our steps back out of the canal. OK! Time for a plan B, except this time we hadn’t thought about a plan B because Mar Menor was totally sheltered regardless. A quick check of our pilot guide and we motored eleven miles west and anchored in another nice calm spot just off the beach in the lee of Cabo de Palos.
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| Alcheringa off the beach at Cabo de Palos |
The outboard was soon on the dingy and we were away to explore the town which proved to be a little gem. It featured a small harbour and marina catering mainly for local fishing and dive boats. An Italian passenger liner had been torpedoed nearby in World War One and then ran for shore before sinking in shallow water just off the coast. It has since become a very popular dive site supporting a healthy local industry.
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| Part of the harbour at Cabo de Palos |
We had really been looking forward to sailing Alcheringa on the inland sea of Mar Menor but consoled ourselves with a nice lunch overlooking the harbour entrance. On our way back to the boat we also stocked up with goodies from a great little bakery. Good food and drink helps you get over all sorts of life’s disappointments.
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| Cabo de Palos |
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Wednesday, 15 March 2017
Part One Two Days to see Florence – a definition of totally inadequate
June 11-12, 2013
After spending a day exploring bits of Pisa we caught a late afternoon train to Florence where we’d booked three night’s accommodation. This would provide us two very full days to have a look at the art and cultural wonders of the birthplace of the Renaissance.
We had been able to find a very reasonably priced budget hotel through a website we have used a lot throughout our travels called ‘Hostel Bookers’. While price is the number one consideration, we always look for a place that is well located within walking distance of the main places we want to see. Hostel Bookers provide the opportunity for guests to review their stay in accommodation houses and we always look through as many of these reviews as possible when choosing a place stay. Seeing we travel in foreign countries where we don’t speak the language, reviews that mention friendly, multi-lingual staff who can provide local advice always rate highly with us.
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| It seems even the streets of Florence are paved with art. |
The reviews of the Hotel Benvenuti ticked all our boxes. It was even located on the same street as the Church of Santa Maria del Fiore, better known as the Cathedral of Florence or Duomo.
On arrival at the station in Florence, we were feeling a little weary after having walked all over Pisa lugging our backpacks. It’s amazing how such small backpacks seem to gain ten kilos in weight through the course of the day. We considered finding a taxi to take us to our Hotel but as the street was only three or four blocks away we decided we really needed to harden up and walk it. Despite being early evening the sun was still blazing and the temperature well into the thirties. They were loooonnnngggg blocks and when we reached the street ‘Via Cavour’, we realised we were at the start of it. Hotel Benvenuti is number 112, another five loooonnnngggg blocks away. Fortunately the Hotel and its staff lived up to all of its reviews. At check in, Ronaldo, immediately asked if we’d been to Florence before and as soon as they knew we were first timers, out came a map and in five or six minutes we obtained the very best advice you could possibly ask for. Starting with a short list of good places to eat.
After a refreshing shower and short relax we made our way to the closest of the recommended Trattorias, Tito’s on the next street. We knew we were in for genuine local fare when the sign at the door said ‘Cappuccino 5000Euro – Cappucino with well done steak 10,000Euro.’ Cappuccino is ONLY a breakfast drink in Italy and Tito’s is not open for breakfast so they will not serve it. Traditionally in Florence beef is cooked rare or, at the most, medium rare and that’s the only way they’ll cook it. The right way. If that’s not for you, simple, find somewhere else. Their front door sign was also an indication of the sense of fun that pervades the restaurant. Staff uniforms are interesting to say the least. The wait staff laugh and joke in seemingly whatever language is required by the client. This could be fuelled by the seemingly endless toasts they share through the evening. A visit to the bathroom is an experience in itself. Tito’s has been going since 1913 so we don’t guess they’ll change a winning formula anytime soon.
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| Not the sort of sign we expected to find in a Florentine restaurant bathroom |
Apologies to Apple users who may not be able to see this video.
Get on to a PC. This absolutely freaked us out.
What can we say about the food? Rob had the best, melt in your mouth steak he can remember ever eating anywhere, Karen had a chicken salad that was fresh as the morning, extremely flavoursome and huge. We washed those down with one and a half litres of excellent Tuscan Chianti Classica, followed by wild berries pennecota desert and espressos with the total bill coming in under Fifty Euro. Superb.
Even at this good value we normally try to find cheaper, less fancy meals than this to stretch our budget, but we were following the excellent advice of our good friend Trish, who says everyone needs a ‘Sod It’ day every now and then to just splash out. We certainly won’t argue. In fact we were so impressed with Tito’s we tried to say ‘Sod It’ again two nights later but were turned away with the house full sign up.
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| Tito’s staff appear to have a ball at work and don’t seem to mind the slightly out there uniforms. |
Despite both being extremely tired after quite an active day, getting to sleep proved a little more difficult than we’d anticipated. The bed wasn’t moving. This was the first night we’d slept off the boat since we’d left Palma on Mallorca for the final time 268 days previously. It was a strange sensation for us.
Now what can we say about our two days in Florence. Simple. ‘Were we mad?’ It is simply not possible to scratch more than the surface of all the treasures this incredible city contains in two days, although we gave it a good shot. We walked and walked and ogled and ogled.
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| The view to the Tuscan hills from our budget room at Hotel Benvenuti |
DAY ONE: We made use of one of Rick Steve’s walking tours downloadable free from the internet which provided a great commentary via the I-Pad as we made our way around a number of key sites. We began with slow walk around the Duomo or Cathedral of Florence trying to take in the endless detail contained in and on the exterior walls of this huge marble cathedral and its massive dome. Then join the hordes moving through the interior which is comparatively minimalist compared to the others such as Pisa or the most incredible we’ve seen, Malta.
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| Officially it’s the Church of Santa Maria del Fiore or the Cathedral of Florence. It is also the ‘Duomo’ a word that comes from the Latin domus meaning house. To the Florentines, the Duomo is the house of God and his people. |
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| The Duomo takes up an entire, large city block and every inch of its exterior is white and dark green marble. |
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| There’s intricate decoration at every turn as demonstrated by all the sculptures in the tower. |
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| The interior is reasonably plain. |
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| Other than the dome of course |
Next we did a circuit of the Baptistry and marvelled at the intricacy of the huge, bronze doors before making our way to the Plazza del Republica and then further down the street noting particular buildings and their place in Florence’s history. This included an old grain warehouse that had been very cleverly converted into a magnificent church, Orsam Michele. Rick just had to talk about Florence being home to some of the best handmade gelato ice-cream in the world. Of course we had to make a stop to test his theory and both agreed that he’s probably right.
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| The Baptistry doors are incredibly intricate and it takes quite a while to take all the detail in. |
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| It was a little hard to believe this used to be a grain warehouse but the grain chutes still run through the columns. |
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| Time for a gelato stop. |
Next port of call was the Piazza della Signoriaand the Palazzo Vecchio which had been the seat of local government until the massively wealthy and influential Medici family decided it would better serve as their own palace instead and took it over. The Loggia dei Lanzi area outside the Palzzio previously dedicated as a forum for free speech by citizens but the Medecisthought that a waste of space and turned it into an open air sculpture gallery and commissioned magnificent works by many of the masters. The influence of this family in Florence’s cannot be over stated. Would you believe Michelangelo’s statue of David was originally intended to sit atop the dome of the cathedral as its crowning glory but got hijacked to stand at the steps of the Medecis’ Palazzio. Here it stood in the weather until an arm got broken off during a riot and it was moved to a museum for safety. A very poor copy now takes its place at the stairs.
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| The Medici family used the Palazzo Vechio as their personal palace and virtually ruled Florence from within. |
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| This sculpture of The Rape of the Sabine Woman stands around three metres high and all three figures were all carved from the single block of Carrara marble by Giambologna in the 1500s. |
Onwards we walked along the banks of the River Arnoto the Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) lined with goldsmith and jewellers stores.
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| The Ponte Vechio was the only bridge over the river left standing as the Germans retreated in WW2. The commanding officer disobeyed orders rather than destroy such significant history. |
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| In medieval times the bridge originally housed butcher shops which dropped their offal and leftovers into the river but now it is a major tourist mecca lined by gold merchants and jewellers. |
By then it was time to grab a quick bite of late lunch and then make our way back to the Galleria dell Accademia, the home of Michelangelo’s statue of David and a number of his unfinished works referred to as the prisoners because they haven’t escaped the block of marble that still partially encases them.
This was another instance when Ronaldo’s local knowledge paid big dividends. On his advice we had got him to pre-book reserved entry to the gallery for us which meant we arrived five minutes before our allotted time of 3.30pm and virtually walked straight in while the regular cue snaked its way around the block requiring over an hour’s wait.
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| Standing in front of Michelangelo’s statue of David is simply awe inspiring. With a hammer and chisel he breathed life into a cold block of marble. |
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| The people in the foreground give an idea of the scale of this massive statue. |
The centre piece of the gallery is of course the statue of David set in pose where he’s eyeing off Goliath with his sling over his shoulder before their legendary battle. It is much larger than we’d realised and truly magnificent. While still only in his twenties, Michelangelo truly breathed warmth and life into a huge block of solid, cold white marble. No photo can capture what the eye sees when gazing on this genuine masterpiece of artistic creation. Seeing a number of unfinished works really provided an insight into how Michelangelo worked and made the completed statue of David even more awe inspiring.
After a late diner in one of the scores of sidewalk cafes found in almost every street we flopped into bed totally exhausted and recharged the batteries to do it all again the next day. We were in for an early start as we had 9.15am reserved entry into the Galleria degli Ufizi, to view the largest art collection in Florence ranging from medieval religious works to some of the world’s most famous art from the renaissance and beyond including works by Di Vinci, Michelangelo, Rubens, Raphael, Caravaggio and is the home of Botticelli’s Birth of Venus.
Stay tuned for DAY TWO.
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