Tag Archives: Chaput foot prints

Spain

Learning to drive in Spain

1 Comment

We went and completed the driver theory exam for a second time last week. The test location and the process were identical to the first time we wrote the exam.

img_20160922_103304568_hdr
Ministerio del interior Centro de Exanenes

We entered the testing room and wrote a paper exam with completely different questions than the last one. Some of the questions were on motorcycles, traffic statistics, and illegal drug use. We completed the English version of the 30 question exam and returned home to await our results. Two days later we received notification that we both passed the exam and could move on to the practical training.

In Spain, it is mandatory to take driver training through a government recognized driving school. We signed up with a local driving school called “Autoescuela Pausa” which is walking distance from our home.

img_20161129_092825399_hdr
Ray and Shelley in front of the Autoescuela Pausa

There are  few things that make driving a challenge in Spain. There are no English instructors and all lessons are conducted in Spanish. The final exam testing is also completely in Spanish and you are not permitted to have an interpreter present during the exam. The road system here is very different from Canada. The traffic lights, signage, and intersections are dissimilar to what we are accustomed to.  Finally, the majority of vehicles in Spain have standard transmissions, there are very few automatic transmissions. The issue here is If the driver’s exam is done while driving an automatic transmission then you are only licensed to drive an automatic. In order to rent vehicles and have the flexibility, we are both taking our exam with a standard transmission vehicle.

On Tuesday we went for our first driving lesson. Our vehicle was a smaller compact car with standard transmission.

img_20161129_110222428
The driving school training car

Our instructor’s name was Oscar and he could not speak any English. He was very good at explaining things using hand language and clear Spanish. He was very helpful and had lots of patience with us.

Ray was the first to drive while Shelley sat in the back seat waiting her turn. Oscar would give directions in Spanish.

Here is a very small list of some of the Spanish driving words:

  • Gire a la izquierda  (Turn left)
  • Gira a la derecha (Turn right)
  • tome la segunda a la derecha (take the second right)
  • tome la segunda a la izquierdo en la rotonda (take second on the left in the roundabout)
  • perada (stop)
  • Tranquilo ( calm or relax)
  • Espere (wait)
  • Mas rapido (faster)
  • Mas dispacio (slow down)
  • Empuje el embrague (push the clutch in)
  • Suelta el embrague (let out the clutch)
  • Cambiar a tercera marcha (change to third gear)

This is only a very small portion of the language we need to learn before taking our practical drivers exam.

We headed on to the roadway and drove through the streets of Alicante. After about 45 minutes we stopped and switched seats. Shelley has never driven a standard before and Oscar was very good at explaining the gear shift and clutch process.

img_20161129_101906060
Shelley and Oscar reviewing the standard shift and clutch process before heading onto the road.

Shelley drove around the city and did very well navigating the clutch and standard shift.  After about 45 minutes we headed back to the driving school and finished for the day. It was a nice pace and we enjoyed ourselves very much. We are looking forward to more driving and getting the driving test completed.

“Adios y que tenga un gran dia”

 

Spain

Back to School, Learning Spanish

We have registered for night school to improve our Spanish. We started our classes last week. The “Centre de Formacio de Persones Adultes” is an adult school specifically for foreigners trying to learn Spanish or complete other educational classes.

img_20161121_193842685

We attend twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays from 8 to 10 pm.

img_20161121_194137803
Ray and Shelley going back to school to learn Spanish.

The location of the school is also excellent for us. We are able to take the public transit system to the mall which is very close to the school.

The school is fairly large and contains a coffee shop, library, and a beautiful outside courtyard.

img_20161121_193941621

The interior of the school is modern and nicely decorated which makes it a joy to go to school.

img_20161121_194035228
Hallway in the adult school
img_20161121_194029876
Modern art on display in the school hallways

Our class is conducted entirely in Spanish and our teacher has a very good sense of humour. He keeps the class interesting and fun. We are thoroughly enjoying the classes.

“AdiĂłs y que tengas un buen dĂ­a”

 

Spain

Animal Museum in Ronda

We went to a museum in Ronda called “Museo de Caza” which translates to the Hunting Museum. We thought it looked interesting so we went to see it. Once we entered inside the museum we were greeted with a large stuffed grizzly bear.

img_20161019_141313340_hdr
A stuffed Grizzly Bear at the Museo de Caza in Ronda

We paid our two euros each and began exploring the different rooms which displayed an enormous amount of stuffed animals.

img_20161019_142629366_hdr
One of the rooms in the Museo de Caza in Ronda

As we walked through the museum we came across more and more stuffed animals. There were animals from all over the world and displayed beside the animals were plaques identifying their origin and where they were killed.

img_20161019_141604208
Plaque displaying the area where the animals were killed.

We came across tigers and lions in one of the rooms and an alligator in another room.

img_20161019_143044401
Lion on display in Museo de Caza in Ronda
img_20161019_142250333
Large cat in Museo de Caza .in Ronda
img_20161019_141447043
Shelley with an alligator on display at Museo de Caza.

The animals on displays were all over the walls and there was very little free space in the Museum. It was a bit unsettling being in the rooms with so many dead animals displayed as trophies. There were some areas where we needed to watch our heads in order not to bump into an animal on display.

img_20161019_142407696_hdr
Some of the animals on displayed that were on the wall causing a low overhead when walking.

Walking through the different rooms we came across animals from all different areas of the world. We came across monkeys, gazelles and wild boars from Africa.

img_20161019_142301153
Monkeys, wild boars, and other African animals on display
img_20161019_142451757_hdr
Wild boar in Museo de Caza in Ronda

There were water buffalo and other African animals, some which I have never seen before.

img_20161019_142254408

There was a pair of  Elephant tusk that was on display which was enormous. The plaque indicated that the tusk were obtained prior to the ban on ivory.

img_20161019_143056783
African Elephant Tusk on display at Museo de Caza in Ronda

We even saw animals that were from North America and Canada in particular.

img_20161019_141335726
Brown Bear that was killed in Canada
img_20161019_141730792
Black bears and assorted gazelles on display. Note the elephant foot used as a table on the right.

There were walls full of mounted skulls with horns displayed from all over the world.

img_20161019_142139733
Horns and skulls mounted and displayed in Museo de Caza

They had every imaginable type of animal displayed including waterfowl, groundhogs, and birds.

img_20161019_141257044
Waterfowl on display at the Museo de Caza

The museum was full of animals from around the world. It was hard to imagine that such a collection of animals were on display in the small mountaintop town of Ronda Spain.

“Adios y que tiene un gran dia”

France

Driving in Paris

We saw first hand just how intense and dangerous it can be to drive in Paris.  We were on the Hop-on bus touring the city of Paris and watched how the drivers navigated the streets.  The traffic is heavy and there are numerous scooters and motorcycles on the roads.

img_20161026_181621557
Heavy traffic in downtown Paris

Some of the streets are multi-lane up to four or five lanes wide.

img_20161025_124521624_hdr

The motorcycles and scooters swerve through traffic sometimes in very dangerous maneuvers.

img_20161026_181355395
Motorcycles passing on the right of the bus and cutting off pedestrians crossing the road in Paris.

In order to demonstrate the intense traffic and dangerous driving of some motorist in Paris, we made a short YouTube video. The video is quickened to not be too long but you will get a good sense of the driving there. Take a look at the YouTube video and let us know what you think.

“Au revoir et bonne journĂ©e”

 

United Kingdom

A visit to London England

We went to London for a few days to tour the city. We took a hop-on bus, in order to view as many of the sites as possible. The capital of England is a very large city with a population of over 8.6 million people.

We started our day with a tour of the main section of London. We saw some beautiful and historic sites. The tower of London was interesting because the tower is not very high, certainly not what we expected.

img_2510
The Tower of London

We also saw “Big Ben” which is the nickname for the great bell in the clock tower. People refer to the clock tower as Big Ben, but the tower is officially called the “Elizabeth Tower” named in 2012 to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. The tower holds the second largest four-faced chiming clock in the world and is very impressive.

p1050403
Palace of Westminster with the Elizabeth Tower.

We also stopped at Buckingham Palace. The exterior of the Palace is very spectacular. We walked around the outside of Buckingham Palace admiring the building.

p1050621
Buckingham Palace in London

Buckingham Palace has a large steel fence with several gates at the front. The gates are very large and have the royal coat of arms prominently displayed on them.

p1050610-2
Ray and Shelley at the front of Buckingham Palace gates

Inside the fenced area of Buckingham Palace, we could see the Royal guards as well as regular police security.

p1050602-1
Royal Guard at the Buckingham Palace

We then took a riverboat cruise on the Thames River. The views from the water were different from seeing the sites from the hop-on bus. We traveled the Thames River up to the tower bridge which is an iconic symbol of London.

img_2505
Tower Bridge in London
p1050515
A view of the Tower Bridge in London from the Thames River
p1050533
Shelley and Ray on the shore of the Thames River with the Tower Bridge in the background

Along, our water cruise, we saw the London Eye which is basically a giant Ferris wheel with observation platforms.

p1050414
A view of the London Eye from the Thames River

We saw some very interesting buildings along the Thames River including a Pup called “The Anchor Bankside” which was a pup under different for over 800 years. It was also a location for a scene in the Mission Impossible movie.

p1050478-1
A view of the Anchor Bankside Pup on the south bank of the Thames River in London.

We also saw the London Bridge which was quite a surprise for us. The bridge was not very impressive and was plain.

p1050489
A view of the London Bridge from the Thames River
p1050492
Under the London Bridge

We spent the entire day traveling throughout London looking at the many historic sites. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to tour inside any of the sites. We will plan another trip to London in the future to visit this amazing city in more detail.

“Bob’s your uncle, Cheerio”