Barcelona is a beautiful city. Wide streets as well as a wonderful Old Town area. It has many beautiful buildings, the work of Gaudí is everywhere, great restaurants, art, shops, the La Rambla and a wonderful public market with amazing colors on display. We were there in March of 2023 as well as in 2015. We would not hesitate to return.
Another city in Provence worth a look is Nîmes. It has been called the most Roman city outside of Italy and dates to the days of the Roman Empire. Its Maison Carrée is considered the world’s best preserved Roman Temple and dates to the first century. It, like Arles, has a 2,000 years old amphitheater that is still used for concerts and bullfights. A short distance from Nîmes is the Pont du Gard, an aqueduct begun around 19 BCE, that stands as the tallest of all Roman aqueducts at 158 feet. Individual stones weighed as much as six tons.
Just a 30 minute drive southwest of Saint-Rémy is Arles. Arles was an important city for centuries of Roman emperors and some of the relics that remain in some form are the baths built by Constantine, the theater and a 2,000 year old amphitheater that is still in use. As a former student of Latin, Arles is a gold mine of Roman relics. In addition, Arles was a temporary home to such artists as Picasso, Gauguin and Van Gogh.
And, as happens often in France, they are willing to put very modern structures in close proximity to the relics.
St.-Rémy is a lovely town of about 10,000 people in the northern part of the Alpilles in Provence. We spent a week here and on four of the days did trips to other interesting cities in the area. St. Rémy was quiet (at least during late March!) with plenty of amenities. Vincent van Gogh spent a year in the Saint-Paul Asylum here and painted The Starry Night during that time. The ruins of the Roman city of Glanum are walking distance from the town. The area is filled with vineyards and orchards and there is a fabulous market that takes over the downtown on one day a week.
We started our first trip to Europe in over three years with a visit to Girona Spain. We visited here in 2015 but only spent a day in the city while using it as a base for day trips on the other days. Exploring the stone labyrinth of a city and its medieval stone wall can entertain and intrigue for several days. Some highlights of this beautiful old city.
In January we returned to Sayulita for the first time since our initial visit in 2019. It is a perfect escape for us with a lovely house that overlooks jungle and the Pacific Ocean. The town, which is about a mile away, offers plenty of coffee shops, dining options and retail. We plan to return in 2024.
Konnie and I have ventured off to Peru with time to be spent in Lima, Cusco and Macchu Pichu. First Stop – Lima. The setting is beautiful, the streets are busy and the people warm and gracious
My grandson Ryan was interested in an “adventure trip” this year instead of another baseball excursion. So we planned a trip to Belize where I had been nine previous times and thus being a bit familiar with the country. Unfortunately somebody, and we’re not quite sure where to pin the blame just yet, had other plans as we were denied boarding for our flight last Thursday due to United’s insistence that we needed special documentation to take Ryan to Belize.
Being in a helpless position we had to comply and we were able to get the documentation on Friday and be scheduled to fly out on Saturday only to wake up to a message that the aircraft that would take us to Houston was delayed and we would miss the connection. A supervisor named Barb at DIA worked for nearly an hour to find us another way here and we did successfully arrive Saturday afternoon on American Airlines.
We tried to make the most of our first full day with a nice show by a group of Howler monkeys in the morning, a hike on one of the trails at lovely The Lodge at Chaa Creek, a posing Toucan and then a rugged upstream canoe trip (sans Konnie) where Ryan and I overcame a half dozen rapids before concluding a two and a half hour paddle. Not Colorado style rapids mind you but water flowing at a speed that presented a significant challenge to overcome.
Chaa Creek is very lovely and the food is very good here. And, as always in this part of the world, the people are warm and friendly. Because of our truncated visit here, we are off to Chan Chich in northwestern Belize on Monday.
