Food and Statues in Spain - Famous Phrases From What Cervantes Said About Food

 

My husband and I visited the north of sunny Spain in July 2024 and our circular tour ended at the port of Bilbao (home of the Guggenheim museum). Our route took us via Valladoid, the city which was our last night before reaching Bilbao for the ferry back to Britain. 

The hotel Imperial had a nine plus rating from Booking.com  The chatty man on reception gives you a map and circles the places you can see by walking. So we set off for a one hour walk, first down the alley to the main square. 

Then down the road to see the magnificent giant old buildings and museums and statues. 

Angela Lansbury by the statue of Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, in Valladolid, northern Spain. Photo by Trevor Sharot Copyright.

We could not see the museums, which were closed Sunday evening and all day Monday and I had waned to see something connected with Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, pronounced key hoh, tay) source of the English adjective quixotic, Spain's renowned author, known worldwide. I was initially disappointed that the building connected with him was closed.

However, I was delighted to get a picture of the statue of Cervantes, author of Don Quixote. Cervantes was he source of he well known often quoted proverb:

The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

The proof in this context means the test, to prove its value. Nowadays we use proof o mean the good result of a est, the evidence, or the certification. The word test would make more sense to a modern reader, especially children and those who speak English as a second language. Although the word proof is not used like this nowadays, we quote in the old language because proof of the pudding is alliterative. It sounds better and is more memorable.

 In AZ quotes I found what Cervantes said about food:

There is no sauce in the world like hunger.

All sorrows are less with bread.

It is a true saying that a man must eat a peck (pack) of salt with a friend before he knows him.

A peck is a term hardly known and used by the public in English nowadays. A peck, was, and is, a technical term, not a pinch but a large amount. So I have added a similar word translated into English to convey clarity of the large size.

After taking this photo of Cervantes, we went to a Tapas bar, which I have described on this blog on travel, and on my more focused blog on wineanddinewith Angela. 

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Favourite Cities & Hotels In Spain Post 1 Summary of my Spanish trip, Santander and Bilbao, and Hiking at Parador Fuent De

We landed on French Brittany Ferry at super Santander.

SANTANDER CITY

Santander clifftop drive, jogging path and cycle track. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

I loved Santander's hilltop drive. The nearest UK seaside city I could compare it to would be Bournemouth. Elegant. Little sailing boats, as well as big ships in the port. Walks down by the sea or up on the cliff. Running and cycling alongside the trees along the clifftop. 

We drove downhill to the huge palatial Casino and stopped for breakfast in the grand hotel opposite.

The Cathedral was tiny, at the back of an uphill square. But we found a reasonably priced underground car park sandwiched between the cathedral and the modern museum of art.

The cathedral was tiny.   

Hotels in Spain

Post 1

Santander, the sweet Seaside city of Santander

Santander Hotel

Grande Hotel is on the seafront. Right where the action is.

BILBAO

Bilbao: Big, Busy and Bustling

Hotel Bilder boutique hotel. Bilder means picture. It has some pictures of old times.  The ground floor restaurant, door beside reception serves Tapas in the evening and full meals at the restaurant at the back where you have breakfast. 

The car park is a short drive away. You are lucky if you get a parking spot nearby to unload or load.

What's good? Location, location. 

We walked across the bridge to the railway station known for its indoor stained glass mural.

We stopped at two wine shops to stock up on Spanish wine which is cheaper and in some cases not by exported to the UK. Ruiz, a family business, has a collection of mugs, like toby jugs in British pubs, around the top shelf.

A larger wine shop, El Rincon del Vino, has a tasting room at the back but apparently nothing happening for the public until September.

Next day we drove out via the Guggenheim museum, an awkward looking building. Love it or hate it. Some people loved the building but were not keen on the artwork inside. I was the reverse. We stayed at a hotel opposite on my last visit. 

My impression of Bilbao. Big, busy, bustling. Crowded. 

Hotel Bilder Boutique

Least Liked

At first I didn't like the black tiny lobby. 

Best, Most Liked

But the adjacent restaurant for dinner and breakfast was convenient. The location was fabulous. 

Parking Tip

Parking in a nearby car park, mean first unloading and later loading up suitcases on leaving on the bay outside. However, the police made us move from what we later realised was a spot for the handicapped, to another slightly further spot which became free.

PARADOR FUENT DE

The paradors were founded decades ago to restore or renovate old, historic buildings and encourage tourism to the regions. Hotels have antique furniture and regional food. 

Parador Fuente De in the Picos de Europa

Expect a long winding drive, with road works. Soaring peaks.

The parador is the end of the drive, beside the cable car to the rocky hilltop.

Least Favourite 

Queue for cable car tickets. Cable car cancelled in bad weather - sudden mist.

Most Liked, Loved

Almond tart/cake for breakfast.

Good shop beside the cable car where I bought a rucksack. Upper floor lounge with a view.

Cows with a cowbell in the slope behind.

Best - most favourite parts of this hotel stay.

Balcony with two chairs. Bidet. Fridge. Cows with a bell.

*************

We spend another four days seeing Porto in Portugal and the wine museums.

Hotels in Portugal (Post 2)

Wow Museum, Gaia on the southern side of Porto, the left bank. Hillside museums. Hilltop view. If elderly, look for the indoor lift.

Douro Museum.

Gaudi Sights in Spain - direct or detour from France

1 Barcelona

Top spot for seeing Gaudi's gorgeous builings is big city of Barcelona. The Gaudi amazing architecture of Barcelona is a great attraction. Many peopel with homes or holidays in southern France fly to Barcelona because it has so many international flights 9compared to local airports such as Cap dagde which has flights off season only twie a week. It's a two hour drive back to France to Montpallier or Sete and other cities and scenic spots I described in other posts. 

But for me, a stop in Barcelona would be two nights to allow a day looking at the Gaudi buildings. Since he left blueprints for them, with all their curves and oddities, this seems a never ending project and one you can keep re-visitng.

Casa batilo

From Wikipedia under Antoni Gaudi

Description	English: Roof architecture at Casa Batllo
Date	10 August 2008
Source	Own work
Author	Chongming76

2 Bilbao

Aftet or as well as Barcelona, what next?  Divert to Bilbao famous for the Guggenheim Museum or go straight  to northern Spain by car from France or ferry from the UK.  (Ferries from Englan'd Portsmouth and Olymouth offer you a choice, west to Spain's Santander, or east to Bilboa, still only an hour or two apart, but you might prefer one or other as your starting point, depending on time available. If you are keen on photography, you will spend time walking around the outside of the Guggenheim building as well as the inside

We wrote to a friend who lives in Northen Portugal about a hiking holiday in Spain with a side trip to Portugal in a week. He said, why not extend your trip to Portugal to ten days, so that you can have leisurely lunches and not need to rush around. If you are working and have to be back, you can do it all quicker, whistle stop. If you are retired on on a student break, you can take it easy and enjoy and savour it.  

My husband also prefers two nights at each hotel. You have time to let hand washed clothes dry out. You can indulge in the buffet breakfast on day one trying everything that's free or ordering cooked extras. One day two eat only what you like and economise on costs, eating breakfast at a local cafe, by cutting calories, and by saving time.

3 Leon 

We found a great picture on Tripadvisor and image matched it through google image match to check the location.

(I shall add more to this post later. Busy with Singapore Online Dynamic toastmasters on zoom, President Edward Young in Belize.)

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Berlin Hotel Aquarium bursts, in Germany. Where Else Can You See Enormous Aquariums?

Wikipedia is getting quick off the mark with its articles. The AquaDom burst on 16 December. By the 27th, when I found an article in the Daily Mail online newspaper, a complete account and analysis with several photos was in Wikipedia.

Photo by Dellex

Another view of it.

By vxla - https://www.flickr.com/photos/vxla/4135168921/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=126740402

Berlin  Hotel Aquarium

The big cylindrical aquarium in a Berlin Radisson Blu Hotel burst in December 2022. December 16h. I am sorry that all the fish died, that the hotel has been destroyed, the staff have lost their jobs or had to change jobs, the destruction of a building and landmark. 

Berlin is on my wishlist. 

Where else can you see giant aquariums? I have seen a couple. I saw a similar one in Spain.

Spanish Hotel Aquarium

I stayed in a hotel with a similar aquarium in Spain. Our destination goal was the Guggenheim Museum. The hotel was within walking distance of the museum, which was across the road, on the same side of the river. 

USA Restaurant Aquarium

I also saw an aquarium in a restaurant at Disney World. Coral Reef Restaurant.

Picture from Wikipedia.

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AquaDom

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11576259/Massive-aquarium-exploded-German-hotel-lobby-ticking-time-bomb-says-expert.html

https://www.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/en

https://www.disneyworld.co.uk/dining/epcot/coral-reef-restaurant/

Gehry in Paris and Prague

Problem
Frank Gehry is a world-famous architect. I was first impressed by his waterside building in Bilboa, wave shape, or sail shape.
I thought about curves in architecture. Nineteen Fifties architecture worldwide, both UK and China was oblong blocks. I like curves, curved walls, curved balconies, curved rooftops. Curves have appeared in different forms through the centuries: gothic arches in cathedrals; domes; art deco in the nineteen thirties; Italic script; mosques.
Where can I see a Gehry Building? What else has he done?

Answer
Bilbao - Guggenheim Museum on the waterfront
Paris - Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation - with art exhibition until February 2017.
Prague - Dancing House containing restaurant and hotel overlooking river and hilltop castle on the other side.
Spain - hotel in the north in the Rioja region
Others in France, (Disneyland, Paris), Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Hong, Kong, Australia. Many more buildings in the USA.

Story
A friend told me about her birthday trip to Paris when she visited a new Gehry building. When I saw the picture of it my interest increased a hundred fold. I thought of the old saying, a picture is worth a thousand words.



My friend put her picture of the museum she visited in a book celebrating her birthday trip to Paris.

Here's my picture of the Dancing House. See also my previous post on the Dancing House.


Tips
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_works_by_Frank_G…

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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Hotel lobbies and bedrooms viewing an aquarium

Tripadvisor has a list of stunning hotels. These include the Berlin hotel with a cylindrical aquarium in the lobby.

I stayed in a similar hotel, with a cylindrical aquarium in the lobby, in the Silken Grand in Bilbao facing the Guggenheim Museum.

Another aquarium view, this time from the bedroom, is in the suites of bedrooms in a hotel on Sentosa Island, Singapore. You can sit in your sunken bath watching a giant plaice and other fish swim past the picture window looking into the aquarium. Your place or mine? If you were on honeymoon it could be quite distracting. On the other hand, if you were waiting for your partner who was out at a conference or business meeting, or playing sports, it's one way to while away the time pleasantly when stuck in the bedroom.

In the USA at Las Vegas, one hotel has an aquarium behind the reception desk. Most of the big hotels in Las Vegas have fantastic lobbies. No need to book entertainment. You can just go hotel hopping, and shopping and have drinks of coffee in different hotels, seeing animals, birds, flower displays, fountains and more.

If it's waterfalls you want, try Disneyland hotels. Or hotels in Singapore such as the Shangri-la and the Hyatt and Shangri-la.

If you want to go in the water, hotels with infinity pools include one on Bali. (Again, check out Triapadvisor.) My favourite is in Singapore, the Marina Bay sands, on top of the towers. The rooftop bars and restaurants have great views too, for special occasions.

In London, England, restaurants offer views over the Thames. The Shard and the Oxo Tower have
restaurants with views. Be sure when booking to ask for a window seat.
Angela Lansbury, travel writer, photographer, speaker and author.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/hotels/9692706/Hotel-rooms-with-unusual-views.html (Berlin hotel)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/hotels/11360010/The-worlds-best-hotel-pools.html (Shanghai hotel)
http://www.radissonblu.com/hotel-berlin (Cylindrical aquarium in Berlin hotel lobby)