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Canada, Spain

Busy Summer

It has been a busy summer but a very rewarding and fun time. We went to Canada for a visit with friends and family. Ray was able to finally visit with his uncle, (first time since covid). They played some games and enjoyed quality time together.

Uncle Adrien and Ray playing shuffleboard.
Uncle Adrien and Ray enjoying the day

We were able to rent a beautiful cottage on the Ottawa River. 

Ray enjoying the view and a Timmy´s coffee

We spent a fabulous week there and enjoyed some relaxing time by the water.

Shelley enjoying the view and calm of the Ottawa River

One of the highlights of the cottage was that we were able to entertain and reconnect with close friends. Overall it was a great week at the cottage and the weather was quite nice during the week.  

Shelley at the waterfront of the Ottawa River

We went to Ottawa on July 1st and we celebrated Canada Day with family. It was raining but we had a Barbecue anyways. 

Keenan in the rain doing the Bar-B-que

Our grandson Keenan was a sport and did the barbecue cooking. The rain stopped later in the day and the sky was clear for the fireworks. We headed to the park and watched the fireworks celebrating Canada day.

Canada Day celebration fireworks in park in Ottawa

It was a great last day in Canada before we headed back to Spain with our Grandson. The next day we drove to the Montreal airport and flew back to Spain with our Grandson Tyreese.

The next few weeks in Spain were very busy. Tyreese was able to experience Spain for the first time. It was such a joy to show him around and try out new adventures with him. Each day we tried new things and had many adventures, below are only some of the activities we did during out time in Spain. We hiked up to the Castle of Santa Barbara and explored the 11th century castle. 

Tyreese at the turret on the castle of Santa Barbara

There are some amazing views from the castle and we would stop to take in the vistas and beauty of the area.

Shelley and Tyreese at the Castle of santa Barbara
Tyreese and Ray at the castle of Santa Barbara
Tyreese at the Castle of Santa Barbara

One day we explored and walked some of the beaches in Alicante.

Shelley and Tyrsse overlooking the Postuget Beach in Alicante

Along the way we would stop and enjoy a cool drink at one of the many chiringitos along the beach. 

Tyreese enjoying a refreshing drink

Each day we tried new things including Go Cart racing and we had a great time. 

Ray had the best time but Tyreese was disputing the winner outcome. All and all Karting Alicante was a lot of fun.

Tyreese at Karting Alicante
Ray and Tyreese of the race podium

We went parasailing and we had a great time. We enjoyed the best views and flew along the coast at 150 meters high. The views of the city of Alicante from the Mediterranean Sea  were amazing. 

Shelley, Tyreese and Ray getting ready to start our parasailing.
Shelley Tyreese and Ray 150 meters parasailing along the coastline of Alicante

Each morning Shelley and Tyreese were out for an early bicycle ride. 

Tyreese and Shelley heading out for daily bike ride

We took Tyreese for some surfing lessons and he loved it. Both Shelley and him spent the day surfing the waves. 

Shelley and Tyreese getting first lesson for surfing.

 

After spending two action packed weeks in Alicante and area we went to Madrid to visit this amazing city before he went back to Canada.

Tyreese and Shelley in front of the Almudana Cathedral in Madrid
Tyreese in front of the Royal Palace of Madrid

In Madrid we met up with a friend of Tyreese’s. Monica who was a Spanish student that lived in Ottawa as an international student for a year.   She took the train to Madrid to meet with us and spend the day.

Tyreese and Shelley at the Madrid Train station waiting for Monica to arrive.
Monica and Tyreese in front of the iconic bear and strawberry tree statue in the Puerta Del Sol in Madrid.

We explored the city of Madrid with Monica and enjoyed the day.

Monica and Tyreese in El Retiro Parque in Madrid.

The Next day we took Tyreese to the airport and said our goodbyes. It was time for him to go home.

Shelley, Tyreese and Ray saying goodbye at the Madrid Airport.

It was a very busy and enjoyable few months with lots of adventures and memories being made. These are only some of the activities we enjoyed during our busy summer. 

“El mundo es un libro y los que no viajan leen solo una página.”- St. Augustine

Andorra

Andorra

We drove through the country of Andorra which is located in the pyrenees mountains between France and Spain.

Andorra is the sixth-smallest state in Europe, with an area of 468 square kilometres and has a population of approximately 79,000.  The drive through the Pyrenees was very beautiful with winding road and high reaching mountains.

The road was winding throughout the base of the mountains and we eventually drove to the top of some of the mountains. 

Along the way we came to several small towns that were quaint and beautiful. 

 Andorra is the world’s 16th-smallest country by land and 11th-smallest by population. We drove to the capital of Andorra which is called “Andorra la Vella”. It is the highest capital city in Europe, at an elevation of 1,023 metres (3,356 feet) above sea level.

The Capital had some modern buildings and was quite nice looking.

Raised walking platform in the capital of Andorra de Vella
View of the Capital- Andorra de Vella
Metal statues of farm animals along the road near Andorra de Valle

It was an enjoyable and an interesting drive through the 16th smallest country in the world.

“The most beautiful in the world is, of course, the world itself.” – Wallace Stevens

 

 

France

Carcassonne France Medieval city

We went and explored the historic fortified city of Carcassonne in the southern part of France. We began by walking along the Roman bridge towards the fortified walled city.

View of the walled city from the Roman bridge.
View of the fortified city

Carcassonne was of a key strategic importance  between historic trade routes, linking the Atlantic to the Mediterranean Sea.  It has a very long history that dates back to around 3500 BC when the first signs of a settlement was established.  In 100 BC the Roman empire recognized the strategic importance of the area and began fortifying the hilltop. The hilltop eventually became a rural settlement and later under the control of Julia Carsaco. Eventually the name changed over time to Carcassonne.

The main gate entrance with draw bridge behind it.

The castle itself possesses its own drawbridge and ditch leading to a central area of the castle.

The draw bridge section into the main fortified city.

The fortified city consists of two outer walls with a total of 53 towers and fortified outpost to prevent attack. The walls consist of towers built over the years.

View of the outer wall fortification with a sentinel tower

We could see the different styles in the construction some were Roman and is notably different from the medieval walls.

One of these towers housed the Catholic Inquisition in the 13th century and is still known as “The Inquisition Tower”.

We explored the inner city and enjoyed walking along the narrow streets with unique shops and restaurants. 

One of the many narrow streets inside the walled city

We walked the walls of the city exploring the different towers along the way.

Shelley and Ray on the walls of Carcassonne
Shelley and Ray on one of the sentinel lookout towers in Carcassonne

We had great views of the surrounding areas of the city.

View of the outer wall and the rolling hills of the countryside

There was views that overlooked the outer areas of the fortified city while other views overlooked the inner city. Both were tremendous and beautiful in their own way.

View of the city of Carcassonne
View of the Cathedral from the walls of the city.
View of the inner portion of the walled city.

We spent the entire day walking throughout this amazing walled city. There was so much history and unique things to see. There was even a Roman Amphitheater within the walled city.

The Amphitheater in the walled city of Carcassonne

We thoroughly enjoyed this UNESCO world heritage site . It is an outstanding example of a medieval fortified town, with its massive defences encircling the castle. Here are a few pictures of the castle and walled city. It was well worth exploring this city.

“Certes, voyager est plus que voir des sites touristiques ; c’est un changement qui s’opère, profond et permanent, dans les idées de vivre. “– Miriam Barbe

Spain

Terracotta Warriors at the Marq Museum

We went to visit the Marq Museo Arqueológico de Alicante, which had a special exhibition from China of the XI’AN Warriors. 

There was a complete section of the museum dedicated to the terracotta warriors and the dynasties of Qin and Han.

The entrance into the exhibit had a video display with some of the history of the terracotta warriors. It also showed the behind the scenes of getting them to Alicante and how the set up of the exhibition was completed. The set up of the artifacts was extremely delicate and time consuming.

There were three galleries of the Qin dynasty which included tools, armour and weapons. One gallery displayed how the terracotta warriors were made.

They explained how prisoners and slaves were used to build the vast terracotta army, which included 8000 warriors, 500 horses and 130 combat chariots. which protected the underworld. The soldiers were dressed, hair styled and armoured according to their rank. Each one was unique and they were laid out in battle formation facing the East.  

Display showing how the Terracotta warriors were constructed

Below are a few of the unique items we saw.

Armour made of Limestone and Copper wires Qin Dynasty (221-206BC)
Limestone and Copper wires of the armour

In 221 BC, the king defeated enemy kingdoms and subsequently proclaimed himself as the First Emperor of China under the name of Qin Shi Huang Interestingly his name Qin (pronounced Chin ) would remain engraved in the name China.

Funeral carriage
Terracotta horses as part of the funeral carriage
Terracotta warrior behind a material wall

It was interesting to see that the details design of the terracotta warrior was 360 degrees and all aspects of the warrior were very detailed.

Front view of one of the unique terracotta warriors
Details on the back of the terracotta warrior

There were different terracotta statues including horses, different warriors all with unique uniforms, ranks and faces.  

terracotta horse and a terracotta chariot driver

The Terracotta General in full uniform
Terracotta armoured general
Shelley with one of the terracotta statues
Ray with the terracotta statue of the General.
Kneeling Archer terracotta warrior

Overall it was an amazing exhibit and one which we really enjoyed. 

“disfruta cada día y abraza la vida”

Canada

A few weeks of Winter Wonderland

I (Ray) went back to Canada for a few weeks in the cold of January.  I was there to help a family relative with some medical issues. While I was there I was able to enjoy some outdoor activities with some friends.

Ray enjoying some time with friends and playing in the snow.

Dan and I went snowmobiling along some  beautiful pristine trails.

Dan on his snowmobile on the trail

There was a fair amount of snow so it made the trails very fun to ride on.  We even had a great cabin to stop and warm up if we got to cold. 

Dan and Ray on the snowmobiles in front of the cabin

It was a long time since I was on a snowmobile and it was quite enjoyable. At first, it took me a while to get accustomed to the  snow and riding on the trails. At one point I even ended up getting stuck and Dan had to help me get out of the snow. 

We stopped and took a nice break at the cabin and enjoyed the fresh cold crisp fresh air.

Afterwards we continued enjoying some snowmobiling and we separated along the trails in order to explore more of the area. 

We left the cabin and  explored the trails I stoped along the way to admire the sheer beauty of nature and peace of being in the bush.

It was so quiet and peaceful. It was quite cold and you could here the snow cruch when you walked.  

It was truly so much fun and relaxing at the same time.  Along the way Dan even managed to get a video of me on the snowmobile.

Normally we are not in Canada during the winter months for obvious reasons, however this was a fun time and reminds me of the fun winter brings in Canada.

¨The simple things in life can be the most enjoyable, like playing in the snow.¨