Back to School, Learning Spanish

November 23, 2016 chaput@live.com

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.

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.

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.

“Adiós y que tengas un buen día”

Spain

Animal Museum in Ronda

November 17, 2016 chaput@live.com

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.

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

November 13, 2016 chaput@live.com

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.

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.

https://youtu.be/oeW-iZl1dhE

“Au revoir et bonne journée”

United Kingdom

Fish and Chips

November 11, 2016 chaput@live.com

We went to a traditional English Tavern when we were in London called “The Anchor Bankside”. It is located on the Bank of the Thames River in the heart of London. What makes this tavern special and unique is the fact that it is over 800 years old. It is one of the oldest Taverns in London.

p1050557 — The Anchor Bankside Tavern in London England

We walked over the London Bridge in order to get to the Tavern. The London Bridge is a plain-looking bridge and not overly impressive.

p1050491 — View of the London Bridge from the Thames River

There is a small stone marker in the center of the bridge which identifies it as the London bridge.

We arrived at the tavern and saw the unique style of the exterior of the building. It certainly looked like it had been there for many years.

We went inside the tavern and it was very busy. The tavern staff didn’t greet us at the door and we were left to find our own seats. We wandered through the tavern looking for an empty table. Eventually, we found a table we could sit at and waited to be served. After waiting for over 10 minutes I managed to talk to a waitress and she told me that they do not take orders that way.

We were told to go to the bar and place our order with the bartender. So we placed our order with the bartender for Fish and Chips. We paid and waited for our meal which was delivered about ten minutes later.

p1050552 — Authentic English fish and chips at the Anchor Tavern

The meal was good and the atmosphere was unique. It was a strange feeling having fish and chips in a tavern that has been there for over 800 years.

“Bob’s your uncle, Cheerio”

United Kingdom

A visit to London England

November 8, 2016 chaput@live.com

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.

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.

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.

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

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.