La Boda

October 25, 2010October 18, 2016 GOING NINETY MILES2 Comments

My first Spanish wedding this weekend. Marga y Miguel Ángel were married Oct. 23, 2010 at the Cathedral of Palma de Mallorca.

I have never mentioned how amazingly beautiful this cathedral is, and I guess you must take my word, but, it is. GORGEOUS. I never seem to get the time right (or know when the right time is) for when the cathedral is open. So I usually don’t get to go inside. I did enjoy a lovely Easter service there in 2009, with the King Juan Carlos. Yes, he invited me.

And if you believe that I have some ocean front property in Arizona. Ahh, I love Mr. George Strait.

Back to the wedding, and the Cathedral! The Cathedral is more commonly referred to here as La Seu, and it took almost 400 years to complete. That’s a long damn time. May I present to you, La Seu:

And a picture I took of it last year that I love. I think when I open my art gallery in Palma, this will be a main print. What do you think?

Cool huh? As I have already mentioned, the wedding took place at the Cathedral, not too shabby, eh? I was told to be there at 17:00 (that’s 5 p.m. to you americans) and as the norm, I was the first one there. Let’s just say, Spanish people are not the most prompt. And I know my friend Bess is rolling her eyes right now! Cos, let’s just say I used to be not the most prompt either. Fashionably late was my favorite theme. So, I have changed my ways, I guess chalk it up to getting older. Or maybe Bess just whipped me into shape.

The crowd began to gather, the invitees and the touristees. When finally, the bride arrived in a black car with her father and her in the back. The groom was excited but anxious, and he opened her door. A kiss on both cheeks for each and then she pinned his boutonniere. A Spanish wedding in La Seu then ensued.

Wishing Marga y Miguel Ángel all the happiness in the future. Congrats!

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beauty · catalonia · friends · fun in the sun · go ~ mallorca · Majorca · Mallorca · see ~ mallorca · spain · travel

Excursions a Cabrera

September 1, 2010October 23, 2016 GOING NINETY MILES2 Comments

Cabrera island, so close, yet so far. I see it practically every day, calling out to me to come visit. Just south of my lil town of Sa Rapita and I have been wanting to take a boat ride there to check it out. Finally, with my friend Perla in tow, I did.

Cabrera is sometimes called Goat Island and measures four by three miles (about 6.5 x 5 km). It’s a charming rocky island, much frequented by pirates in days of old. On a darker note, it also served as a prisoner-of-war camp during the Napoleonic Wars. Many died on this island during this period. Cabrera is beauty incarnate, rich in wildlife and plants, and the island has been a national park since 1991.

Daily excursions by boat run from Colonia de Sant Jordi. The boat leaves at 9:30 a.m. and arrives back on the mainland at 5:00 p.m. You can also visit with your own yacht, but you must get permission in advance, and only 50 boats are allowed in the harbor (the island’s only legal mooring place) at one time.

Perla and I got up early, drove over to Colonia de Sant Jordi, had a quick café con leche and boarded the small boat. We made a reservation a few days before and everything was very easy peasy japaneasy. We headed for the back of the boat and pulled on our rain jackets, the day was starting out a bit cloudy. The trip took about an hour to get to the main island of Cabrera.

Once there, we had a “guide” give us some “guidelines”: There are no trash cans, so please bring your trash back with you. There are very few toilets, so please use the one at the port while you can. There is one small cafe and there is not a hotel on the island, so if you miss the boat back, well, have fun roughing it. After that, we were on our own for about five hours.

Perls and I had packed a deeeelish picnic and we decided the castle on the cliff was our destination for lunch. The castle was built in the late 14th century to ward off pirates, and later it held mostly French prisoners during the Napoleonic Wars. Pirates and prisoners, sounds treacherous. Let’s go! Climbing to the castle …..

We picked out a cozy spot where many prisoners probably once sat. But I bet they didn’t have as good of a spread as we had; Mallorcan Pere Seda rosado wine, Mallorcan olives, pickled onions, grapes, yummy Mahon cheese cubes and a baguette from the local bakery.

Even the ants enjoyed it ……

The castle (which dates to the end of the 1400 century) was the popular place to see once the boat docked. But Perla and I stayed long after everyone had checked it out. It was only us, and the ghosts for the remainder of our stay. We looked down towards the water 80 meters below, pretended we were prisoners for awhile ….

The prisoners probably never looked as happy, or pretty. And then, sadly, time to head back down so we wouldn’t miss the boat. Back down the skinny stairs.

Cabrera is famous for its population of Balearic lizards, of which there are about 10 subspecies. Here is one lil dude we saw. Cutie.

Past the graveyard where the prisoners who died are buried. Of 9,000 sent to Cabrera, only 3,600 survived.

And to the cafe for a cerveza.

Life is good.

But wait, the trip isn’t over yet. There is one more stop. Picture a bright bluejay. Picture the vibrant blue of fresh turquoise blue paint. Now mix those up, multiply it by 1000 and you are a little bit closer to the color of the water in the cave. Cova Blava was incredible. The boat enters the cave where you can jump in the water and swim around. And though it was a bit chilly out we didn’t want to miss out on anything. So swim we did! And it was cold. And beautiful.

Alas, the trip is over. The clouds started to rain. And we became the captain of the boat. Go see Cabrera.

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arizona · beauty · earth · familia · hike · Road Trip · travel · usa

Final Stop: Arches and Powell

August 10, 2010October 19, 2016 GOING NINETY MILESLeave a comment

Final stop – Arches National Park and Lake Powell. We didn’t do both in one day, but they go hand in hand. Lots of rocks and arches and fun!

Arches National Park in located in Moab, Utah. It contains the world’s largest concentration of natural stone arches. This National Park is a red, arid desert, punctuated with oddly eroded sandstone forms such as fins, pinnacles, spires, balanced rocks, and arches. The 73,000-acre region has over 2,000 of these “miracles of nature.”

We pretty much stayed in the car and drove the loop, it took about 2.5 hours. But there are trails to hike, a campground to stay at, you can easily stay a full day or more. My two favorites were balanced rock and the three gossips.

I heard she went out with Jacob last night. I knew she would cheat on Edward.

Careful now, concentrate, balance. Ooooommmmmm….

Lake Powell is next! Lake Powell is a reservoir on the Colorado River, straddling the border between Utah and Arizona (most of it, along with Rainbow Bridge, is in Utah). It is the second largest man-made reservoir in the United States.

We opted for the Rainbow Bridge Tour. Enjoy cruising past 50 miles of Lake Powell to Rainbow Bridge National Monument. At the monument, the tour boat docks and you will set off a fairly easy mile-plus trail to Rainbow Bridge. The bridge itself extends 290′ into the sky and 275′ across Bridge Canyon. Witness first hand the power of wind and water in their role of sculpting this remarkable landscape.

To catch the boat tours you must go to the Wahweap Marina, near Page, AZ. The cruise lasted about five hours total, you get a headset to hear about Lake Powell plus free lemonade and water! The boat has a seating area upstairs, or if you want some shelter from the sun (or the rain) there is also seating below. My parents and I had a nice time cruising the lake, checking out the sandstone and watching all the houseboats and waverunners pass us by. Here are some of my favs from the tour.

Rainbow Bridge was truly spectacular. Even better, I got to enjoy it with Mom and Dad.

beauty · familia · Road Trip · travel

Parental Trip Part II

July 22, 2009October 20, 2016 GOING NINETY MILES2 Comments

NIN = Norway in a Nutshell. Not Nine Inch Nails, even though they totally ROCK, saw them in Tulsa many moons ago. Great, now I have “Head Like A Hole” in my head. You better too.

kart-norge-eng We boarded the Bergen Railway in Oslo, we sat where we liked, not realizing our ticket actually had assigned seats. Whatever, we switch, no big deal. Headed towards Bergen, we have a minimum of five hours on the train. No other train ride between two cities in Europe is at a higher altitude than the one between Oslo and Bergen. Its highest point is Finse, 1,222 metres above sea level. Beautiful scenery was abound, some areas filled with snow that almost covered the sheds, plus reindeer and the many bridges and tunnels. Next stop, Myrdal, to hop on the Flam railway, a 20-km-long train journey from the mountain station of Myrdal down to Flaam, beside the fjord. This train moves so slow I wish I could curl up and take a nap. The views are an ever-changing panorama of tall mountains and cascading waterfalls. The train stopped at a large waterfall and I about jumped out the window when a woman stepped out from behind the waterall and started singing. Cheesy, yes, scared the crap out of me, yes, wasn’t expecting some lady to come out from nowhere.

Finally arrived at the Fjord in Flaam. I was so excited to get on the boat I believe I was the first aboard. The boat sails out the Aurlandsfjord and into the Naeroyfjord, one of the narrowest fjords in Europe. Never have I seen such wonderment, surrounded by towering mountains up to 1,800 metres high, the branch of the Sognefjord is amazingly fjord beautiful. On the journey, you have excellent views of small traditional farms. If you are lucky, you will see goats grazing right beside the fjord and seals basking on rocks. It was cold, but a refreshing cold and I needed to dig out the jacket that I thought was going to be just extra weight.

The boat moored at Gudvangen and it was time to board a bus. This was the last stretch of the NIN tour before it dropped us off in Voss. Don’t start thinking this was just a regular bus ride. My dad, who is not a lover of heights, was probably not looking forward to this portion. Stelheimskleiva is the name of the 1.5 km long strech of road that twists its way up the mountainside from the end of the Naroydalen vally to the top at Stalheim. The steepest gradient is 1 to 5, or 20 per cent, wich makes Stalheimskleiva one of the steepest streches of road in Northern Europe. And let us not forget the 13 sharp hairpin bends! I would lean my forehead against the window to see how far down it went, I thought it was fun. I think dad did too, once it was over.

From Voss it was a quick train ride to Bergen, we were exhausted and crashed at our hotel room that resembled a large attic. The sun was still shining at four a.m. and I tossed and turned all night. The next day, we rode the Bergen railway again, this time straight course for Oslo. And then it was time for family history, freshman level. Back in the rental car we drove to Kongsberg and found the farm of my ancestors. Good job mom! It was everything I had hoped it would be and more. Sloping hills were covered in wildflowers and our Norwegian family name above the driveway, next time we will ask to come in for family introductions – Ruude family around Kongsberg, you have been forewarned.

Next stop – Poland and Germany. Stay tuned.

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