TRIP DIARY: DAY 1-7

TRIP DIARY
2010 DSA GRAD TRIP

DAY 1-Thursday 17 June, 2010—This was mostly a travel day. The Durham crown had to be at RDU airport at 5:00 (groan) AM! The Durham bunch consisted of Devin May, Justine O’Connor, Ethan Evonuik, Max Witt, Robert Appleton, and Howard Du Bose. Joining us later from Tamps will be Eijaz Allibhai, and also groups from Perquimans (Sp.) (Elizabeth City) NC, Rockville Maryland, and Augusta County, Virginia.
Durham folks had a bunch of flights, and a long layover. Durham to Chicago, Chicago to Frankfurt, and Frankfurt to Barcelona. Actually, the Frankfurt leg was on Day 2, Friday, 18 June, 2010. We got in about 9:30 or so, met our Tour Director, Jeffrey Barrera, at the airport, met some other groups, and got on the bus, and went to the hotel. we stored our gear, jumped on the Metro, and went to explore Las Ramblas, the fabulous walking district in Barcelona. Jeffrey walked us to the Cathedral, then left to pick up the last NC group, and we walked, shopped, found lunch, and finally met & worked our way back by Metro to the hotel. I found lunch at a place called El Jardin, which was good, and to which the whole group returned the next day. We had dinner at the hotel. It was a very busy, very long, day. We crashed.
Day 3, Saturday, 19 June, 2010- This day was our official bus and walking tour of Barcelona. We started by going by the old Olympic Stadium. We also visited an overlook of the city & the Ocean, Parc Guell (where Gaudi built a fantastic planned suburb for wealthy Barcelonans. It is a lovely place!), Gaudi buildings downtown, the sacred Family “Cathedral” in downtown, and many beautiful buildings. There is a HARDROCK CAFÉ. It was our meeting point. We ended up at las Ramblas, again, for another afternoon of wandering. We (the Durham folks) ate again at El Jardin, then I went to the Picasso Museum, which is great for his early stuff. Some very nice Blue Period. Since Picasso was from near Barcelona, he donated much of the art, before he died.
Back at the hotel, we had dinner, then later, most of the folks went to the Flamenco evening, where everyone had a cultural great time.
Day 4-Sunday, 20 June, 2010. We load up and head for France! We are going to Biarritz, a famous, old-fashioned French resort on the Atlantic Coast. Of course, we went by way of Pamplona, famous for its running of the bulls. Other places run bulls, but Pamplona does it best. Perhaps it was Hemmingway…? We also went by Zaragoza, a famous area of fighting during the Spanish Civil War. This is arid, almost semi-desert countryside, looking a lot like N. New Mexico & Arizona. Jeffrey is sad to leave Spain.
As we got closer to Basque country, it got greener & hillier. We had a nice stand-up tapas lunch in Pamplona, saw the route of the bulls, and had some photo ops, before getting back on the bus and heading for the coast. In the Basque country, their flag is everywhere, and their language is on the signs. Easy to get lost. (Maybe they want us too!) Part of France is Basque as well, and Biarritz is in that part. They sell a special Basque beer, even. Biarritz has nice beaches, 2 long ones, but very cold water. After dinner, we took a stroll along the waterfront and watched folks try to surf. They should have had kayaks!
Day 5, Monday, 21 June, 2010. We had a pretty easy day. So far we have not had to get up at 0:00 Dark 30. We got on the bus and headed back intio Spain. Jeffrey was elated. We went to the Spanish Resort of San Sebastian. It was nice, 2 beaches, but an older central city, with a nice Baroque church, good places to eat. (We went into the bar, pointed to what we wanted to eat, bought it, got a drink, and lunch was served. This was what the locals did. Nice.) We spent 3 hours there, then headed north to St. Jean du Luz, which is in France. We were there an hour, toured around, then bussed up and headed back to our hotel in Biarritz, and the heated swimming pool. (I headed back to my computer and photos for the web.) Jeffery and some other sports fans went to watch Spain play in the Football World Cup. Spain Won!!!!! Ole!!! Of course, we had dinner in our favorite Biarritz restaurant.
Day 6, Tuesday, 22 June, 2010. We are off to the Bordeaux area. We will stay in the town of Bergerac, famous for Cyrano of the humongous nose. Unfortunately there is no wine tour, but we get to visit the largest san dune in Europe. Sort of a French Jockey’s Ridge. The scenery was sort of drab, very eastern NC coast like, flat with pine trees. When we got to the Dune du Pilat, Jeffrey raced everyone who challenged, down the dune, twice, and only fell once. The Dune is almost 400 feet tall, and has a commanding view of the coast. there is lots of blue Atlantic water. We spent a pleasant 2 hours there. My group sat and ate & drank under a big tree in the breeze, and were very happy. We went on to Bergerac, and found a bowling alley next to the hotel. Some fun was had!
Day 7, Wed, 23 June, 2010. Not too many photos today, really, unless you count my continuing series on French Truck-stops. We drove cross country on little 2-lane roads, through rolling farmland and small towns. I notice that a lot of them plant Magnolia trees & Crape Myrtle plants along their streets. It reminded me of NC.
Today we visited Poitiers, where we walked up to the old city center, visited a very nice Romanesque church, and looked around town. Some of us has French pizza for lunch. After that we got on the bus and went on to our very Spartan hotel in Tours, then went to city center and had a great dinner at a good pub/restaurant, and went back & hit the sack. Tomorrow is a busy day, as we visit the Loire Valley, see a couple of Chateaus, visit Chartres, then go on to Paris!!!!
More later!