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Tim Lynette Wilkins
Tim Lynette Wilkins

Tim Lynette Wilkins

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsCastles in Spain road tripViaggiatore
    Visigoth church from 661 ad
    Churros and chocolateInterior of the visigoth churchChrist statue from 1931Stained glass in palencia cathedralInterior of palencia cathedral

    Palencia - on the way to Burgos

    18 settembre 2018, Spagna ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    It turns out that just around the corner from our hotel in Valladolid is the best churreria in town, so churros and chocolate for breakfast was necessary. We were then going on the Burgos but went to Palencia, about half way, for a break and found three great surprise treats. The first was a lovely Visigoth church dating to 661 a.d., and said to be oldest church in Spain, then a huge art Deco (1931) statue of Christ on a hill outside the city - over 20 metres tall, and maybe 800 metres high, it is the fourth tallest Christ statue in the world. Then Palencia cathedral which is simply wonderful. I thought - ok, another cathedral, but it was probably the prettiest cathedral we have seen. It dates from the 14 century, but it is built on Visigoth foundations, and has a crypt with Visigoth pillars. It also has lots of 14c and 15c art, lots of beautiful stained glass, and huge tapestries. A real joy to find!Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsCastles in Spain road tripViaggiatore
    Castillo la Mota
    Tordesillas Plaza MayorSimamcas castleValladolid cathedralUniversity buldimg ValladolidPlaza Mayor Valladolid

    Salamanca to Valladolid

    17 settembre 2018, Spagna ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    On the way to Valladolid we made a couple of detours, the first to see another castle which we did not expect to be open - but it was. Castillo la Mota was originally built in the 12C by the Moors but remodelled in the 15C by Isabela. It has spectacular walls and tower and looks just like a castle should. The second detour was to a town called Tordesillas which was supposed to have a pretty old Plaza Mayor but it was disappointing and dilapidated. This is the place where the Spanish and Portuguese signed a treaty deciding the world between them, with the boundary being the middle of the Atlantic, but the Portuguese managed to push the "middle" of the Atlantic far enough over that they could take Brazil as theirs!

    An unexpected bonus was another castle when we turned off the motorway to have our picnic lunch. Simancas castle was built in the 15C and became the state archive in the 16C and still is today.
    So far on this trip the countryside has been brown, mainly used for growing wheat, all now harvested. There have been many fields of sunflowers, not like Tim's 10ft ones but close packed 3 ft tall, all drying in the sun - obviously more of a sunflower oil area than olives. Today for the first time we saw cows - only a few grazing in a field, there is not much grass here. Also today for the first time we saw vines and passed the town of Rueda which grows excellent white wines.
    Once we arrived in Valladolid we did a bit of sightseeing. It is a pleasant town to wander around but does not have great 'sights'. They never bothered to finish the cathedral and it butts up against the old one in a jumble of stones. We wanted to eat early but had difficulty finding anywhere open before 8.30 but eventually found somewhere just round the corner from the hotel which was surprisingly good.    Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsCastles in Spain road tripViaggiatore
    Beautiful stained glass window
    Milwall v leeds i thinkAltar pieceThe churchCeiling, and tims head!Cloister

    Salamanca Sunday

    16 settembre 2018, Spagna ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Visit this morning to the museum of art nouveau and Art Deco which is housed in a fabulous art nouveau palace overlooking the river. It was built by a wealthy industrialist as his home which he filled with a splendid collection of objects. These days it's a museum, but still full of wonderful things, and very much my style, including a big collection of Lalique glass. The river frontage is completely covered in huge bright stained glass windows. Sadly they don't allow photography inside, but I did manage to sneak a pic of the windows.

    Then on to a Dominican monastery with a carved frontage showing the stoning of st. Steven (although it looks just a like a rather physical game of football). Inside there is a massive golden altar piece 30 metres high, and a lovely delicate cloister.

    Restful afternoon, with GB winning the tennis, Hamilton the Grand Prix, and Xerez the football.    Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsCastles in Spain road tripViaggiatore
    Recent carving of imp eating an ice cream on cathedral. Finlay?
    13C frescoes in the old cathedral15C altarpiece in the old cathedralDinner on the roof terrace

    Saturday afternoon

    15 settembre 2018, Spagna ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    After lunch we took a break from sightseeing to track the Barnet football and GB Davis cup tennis. Not a good idea. When both matches were at 1 - 1 after tense play we went back into Salamanca to visit both the old 12C and new 16C cathedrals. The new is massive but unimpressive with gaudy side chapels and little of interest. However there two little things that are fun - when the front was being restored recently the stonemason carved a spaceman and an imp holding a icecream into one on the pillars! The old however is a much more elegant space with some beautiful wall frescoes. We came home and cooked a delicious dinner and it was warm enough to eat on the roof terrace. We eventually won the tennis match but sadly Barnet lost, ending their run of wins.Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsCastles in Spain road tripViaggiatore
    Roman bridge
    The old and new cathedralsOrnate facade of the cathedralCasa de Las conchasAstrological and astronomical ceiling painted in 15CPlaza Major with stage set up for concert

    Salamanca

    15 settembre 2018, Spagna ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    We have 2 full days in Salamanca so we decided to split our sightseeing into gentle bouts. This morning we crossed the Roman bridge into the centre of Salamanca and visited various buildings of the University, Plaza Major and the central market. We decided to buy food in the market to cook for dinner, partly to avoid the tourist crowds but mainly to try some of the tempting local produce. It has been a hot 31C today with no breeze so we came back to our apartment and had lunch on the roof terrace in the shade.Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsCastles in Spain road tripViaggiatore
    Walls of avila from the next hill
    Brutal end wall of avila catherdalOur roof terrace in salamancaSalamanca cathedral at nightView from our roof terrace

    Avila to salamanca

    14 settembre 2018, Spagna ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    We had a gentle morning in Avila and then set off for Salamanca. It's just a hour and a half away and the roads, as they have all been, were very good and empty of traffic. We have rented an apartment here for three nights, it is modern and really good, and just 15 minutes walk over an old roman bridge into the centre of Salamanca. The city is bigger and busier than Segovia or Avila and has a huge student population (Natalie was here on a school trip). Going out to eat in the centre was crowded and busy, and the food sadly was the poorest we've had so far.Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsCastles in Spain road tripViaggiatore
    Avila walls
    Lynette on the wallsBasilica of san vincente, interiorBasilica of san vincente - exteriorCathedralCathedral

    Avila

    13 settembre 2018, Spagna ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    Avila is worth the visit for its spectacular walls. Built in 1098 straight after the reconquest from the Muslims, to protect the city the walls totally enclose the whole city and are truly unique. We spent most of the morning walking around the top of them, with great views, Including straight into our hotel room! Walking back through the length of the city afterwards we realised that we were walking along one of the branches of the Camino de Santiago, something that I was never going doing to do, and now have done at least a small part of. We then went to see the basilica of san Vicente, which is a really nice, quite plain 12C church in Romanesque style, and then lunch in the sun. After a siesta we went to the cathedral, which must be the ugliest cathedral we've ever seen! The outside is very heavy and crude, mostly in dark grey stone, and with no redeeming features, it more resembles a fortress than a church. Inside it is grotesquely decorated, even for Spain, and is in two styles; a earlier Romanesque stone which is white and red limestone, called bloodstone, that looks like someone has splattered dried blood all over it, and a later gothic style using the dark grey, rather brutal looking stone. Overall not somewhere we would rush back to. Avila in general we did not warm to as much as Segovia, though the food has been good.Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsCastles in Spain road tripViaggiatore

    Food

    13 settembre 2018, Spagna ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    We have been eating far too much in our first few days, wanting to try the local specialties. Last night's dinner was spectacular. We ate at a restaurant on a terrace just outside the walls lit up by the setting sun.
    We intended to only order a smaller amount - 2 starters and sharing a main course but it didn't work out as we intended. Our starters were a delicious gazpacho soup and some jamon croqetas with some Argentine empanaditas. They brought us 9 croquetas and the 4 empanaditas were the size of small pasties. Both were delicious and they brought us a free appetizer of red pepper hummus too. The main course was the local specialty of chuleton -a T bone steak of veal/young beef. When they brought it, it was so huge that I checked it was a portion for one person. It was fabulous, so tasty and tender and melt in the mouth and they had already cut it off the bone and sliced it for us!. We could not finish it though we had a good try.
    Tonight we may just skip dinner.    Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsCastles in Spain road tripViaggiatore
    Castillo de Coca
    The massive moat is also brick linedMediaeval gate into CocaAvila 11C wallsA cooling beer by Avila's Puerta de Alcazar

    Moving on to Avila

    12 settembre 2018, Spagna ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    We left Segovia this morning and took a detour to see a 15C castle an hour away in Coca. It was built in 1478 by an archbishop using Arab craftsmen and so much of it is Mudejar style with geometric painting and tiles. It is also unusual in that it was built of brick rather than stone. It was pretty derelict until a few decades ago but has now been partly restored to use as a forestry college. Coca was also a Roman site and had mediaeval walls.
    After lunch we arrived in Avila where the main attraction is the complete circuit of walls built between 1090 and 1099.They are truly spectacular and we plan to walk along then tomorrow. We are staying in a little hotel in a 15C building just inside the walls and can just see the top from our window.    Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsCastles in Spain road tripViaggiatore

    Segovia

    11 settembre 2018, Spagna ⋅ 🌬 19 °C

    We had a long lie in this morning and then spent the day exploring Segovia, which is a really nice compact city with lots of great buildings to see. It's greatest fame is the Roman aqueduct which was over 16 kilometres long and went from river headwaters in the mountains and into the city via a fabulous aqueduct which is still there. It stands over 28 metres high and has 167 arches, then it goes underground under the city from one end to the other in a channel 1.2 kilometres long , and ends up at the castle. Many of the buildings along its route dug wells to access the water in it, and indeed there is one in the basement car park of our hotel.

    After that we went to the cathedral which is huge and very ornate as Spanish churches are, but I guess it was worth going to as we spent a hour and a half in there. The stained glass windows are really beautiful and mostly date from the early 1500's. They are just in the process of cleaning and restoring them, and in one case replacing one with a marvellous modern one. And then to the castle which dates in parts to the 12 century, but is mostly from the 1400's like the cathedral. It is quite small but looks as it should been the model the castle in Disneyland!    Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsCastles in Spain road tripViaggiatore
    El EscorialView from our hotel roomLunch in the sunSegovia plaza mayor at nightSegovia cathedral at night

    Getting ready

    10 settembre 2018, Spagna ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    No problems with the journey , we even managed to arrived in Madrid airport with all our bags. We stopped in el Escorial for lunch and looked at the monastery/palace there. It's a huge, huge, building that is now a museum and art gallery and depositary for lots of the precious things sent from the colonies in America. Closed on Mondays though, so probably a good thing as we couldn't go in! Overnight in Segovia which is a lovely walled town, and our hotel is right in front of the castle.

    Tomorrow we spend in Segovia, then from Segovia to Avila, a day in Avila, from Avila to Salamanca, two days in Salamanca, then on to Valladolid,Valladolid to Burgos, two days in Burgos, Burgos to laguardia in Rioja, two days in Rioja (so what we will do there then?!), laguardia to guernica and Bilbao, a day in Bilbao, then home.    Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsFinlay's third birthdayViaggiatore

    Presents

    13 agosto 2018, Inghilterra ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    We spent most of the morning opening presents and playing with them , then went to a dairy farm outside Lincoln that renowned for its ice cream and has a little farm zoo and children's tractors to play with. Finlay loved the tractors and icecream and a special birthday sundae as a treat. Emily couldn't get enough icecream and took all of us to keep her going.Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsFinlay's third birthdayViaggiatore

    Sunday in lincoln

    12 agosto 2018, Inghilterra ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    We Arrived yesterday evening in time for the kids bedtime, having left earlier than we planned (I had planned to leave after the Barnet match but I left the game after 60 minutes after we let in the second goal - I had hoped that going down a league would mean that I got to see us win more, but it doesn't seem to being working like that, we are just as awful this year as last year - new division, new players, new manager, same old dross!)

    Their church was planning a family picnic today but it's pouring with rain so I guess we'll just stay home.    Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsAlbaniaViaggiatore
    Mosaic
    Mosaic"Cult objects"Roman Gold earring with negroid faceGlass funerary jar with bones still in itBronze perfume bottle

    Last day

    12 giugno 2018, Albania ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Punishingly hot today, so of course we went for a walk all across the city to see a Roman mosaic! It took some finding and was rather fragmentary. Another steaming, dripping, walk back to the centre and another couple of hours in the National Historical museum for a more detailed look at some of the things we saw briefly with the tour. At least it is air conditioned!

    Late check out at 3.00. We'll pop out for a late lunch and can then stay in the hotel till we have to leave. It's going to be a long journey and we won't be home until 1 or 2 in the morning.    Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsAlbaniaViaggiatore
    Small statue of a woman who appears to have a duck on her shoulder!
    Bronze hunting dogThe pyramidNew national football stadium under constructionOttoman bridge (the river has been diverted to a canal)

    Tirana monday

    11 giugno 2018, Albania ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Hot one again today with temperature well up into the thirties. We walked across the city centre to the archaeological museum and spent a couple of hours there. It's not a big museum and with very few English descriptions, but it is well laid out and with lots of things from the sites we have been visiting. We also went to the "the pyramid", it was supposed be enver hojxa's mausoleum, designed by his daughter, but after the fall of the communist regime he never got there and now no one knows what to with it! We bought some street food and cold beers for lunch and retreated to our air-conditioned hotel room!

    In the evening we went out to a tiny traditional restaurant where the food was probably the best we've had in the entire trip, and finished up with a raki, the local fire-water, flavoured with mulberries. It's was, cough cough, interesting but I don't think I'll be taking any home!    Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsAlbaniaViaggiatore
    Tiled roofs from our hotel room
    Mosque from our hotel roomCable car lower terminusView from cable carCable car upper terminus

    First day on our own

    10 giugno 2018, Albania ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    For the ĺast ten days all decisions have been made for us - where we sleep, where and what we eat and where we visit every hour of the day. Now we have free time it's amazing how long it takes us to decide the simplest things. Today started with the usual blue sky and sun so we decided to take the 15min cable car ride up Mount Dajti behind Tirana. All was fine till we reached the top to find it in the clouds. So our pleasant walk through the mountain forest turned into a chilly walk in fog. We had planned to have spit roast lamb for lunch in a restaurant with spectacular views of Tirana but it was closed for renovation. We found another serving the lamb but without the views, which did not matter as there were none, but the lamb was rather tough and it started to rain as we finished. So we dashed back to the cable car and returned to Tirana where it was warm and sunny. A quick trip round the market was productive and we plan to take it easy for the rest of the day.Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsAlbaniaViaggiatore
    Socialist realism picture (mosaic) in the main square
    Assembly chamber in the bunkerSkanderbeg statuePatriot fighter statueCentral mosqueMosque frescoes

    Tirana

    9 giugno 2018, Albania ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Walk around the centre of Tirana in the morning, the highlight of which was a vist to the National Historical Museum housing the best Archaeological artefacts, and a trip to a communist era nuclear bunker in the afternoon. The centre of Tirana has lots of smart new shiny buildings and last night it was busy with people out in the bars and restaurants, but outside the centre it can be very run-down with lots of rather tatty blocks of flats. The bunker was depressing and disappointing, it now used mainly as a museum showing the development of Albania from the Fascist Italian invasion in the thirties, through the horrid authoritarian communist regime from 1944 up to independence and the death of Enver Hoxha. We have see all this in other places so didn't need to see it again.

    Tonight the rest of the group get a late flight home, so tomorrow we are off on our own again.    Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsAlbaniaViaggiatore
    Basilica
    BasilicaWalls of the Roman villaInside the villa, some walls still have the paint of the frescoes.Wild tortoiseFortress. Its a long hard climb!

    Elbasan

    8 giugno 2018, Albania ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

    On the road back to Tirana we stopped in Elbasan for lunch and to view the remains of a basilica. Then on to a small but high quality Roman villa, and finally a crazily situated fortress. We ended the day back in Tirana and tomorrow we go on a walking tour of the city. Today was mightily hot, 38 degrees, but tomorrow it is forecast to be 10 degrees cooler, but maybe with some thunderstorms.Leggi altro

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  • Tim Lynette WilkinsAlbaniaViaggiatore
    Ottoman houses
    Socialist realist statue of freedom fighterGallery in castle with old gunsView down through gate in castle wallsCastle with later clock towerUS 'spy plane'

    Gjirokaster

    7 giugno 2018, Albania ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    Gjirokaster is another UNESCO world heritage site. Again it is a town of Ottoman houses around an earlier castle, like Berat, but they look quite different as the houses all have thick grey stone roof tiles instead of red clay, so it looks more sombre. We traipsed up to the castle which is not particularly interesting as most of the current buildings are 17/18th century. It houses a lot of old military equipment and a nice little archaeological museum. One amusing item on display is a T33 US Air Force jet the Albanians claim was a spy plane and the US says landed with permission for repair. Whatever, the Albanians released the pilots but kept the plane.Leggi altro

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