Day 6 in Lyon

 [15 April]

Well it was bound to happen. Rain pretty much all day and a chilly rain at that. Also we experienced no small amount of washing machine angst, but that's the risk you run by renting someone's apartment. We've run across a wide variety of washing machines over our years of renting in Europe and Susie has pretty much figured them all out - but this one had us stumped. We could not get the damn thing to start; we went online to search for answers but to no avail.

Finally I contacted the co-host (i.e. property manager) and she walked us through the process, which was exactly what we had been doing! And still nothing. She said she would come by later this afternoon so off we went into the rain to Les Halles to pick up a couple of praline rose tarts for Susie's next blog note.

While we were out for the afternoon, I got a message telling me the machine worked fine and our co-host even sent a photo of her doing what we had been trying to do for the better part of the morning, or so it seemed. Anyway, she got the laundry going for us and that's what counts. Still, we are mystified.

Our first visit to Les Halles was a few days back when everything seemed to be winding down, particularly since it was after the lunch rush. Not this time - the place was, as they say, hoppin'! The various eateries are only open for lunch, and now we're determined to go back to enjoy a midday repast before we leave Lyon for Annecy on Saturday.

The sheer array of food offered, both raw and prepared, is simply incredible. 

paella

making paella

whole fois gras with cherries (left) and figs (right)

Limousin beef

 It was pouring rain when we left Les Halles but we didn't have to wait long in the covered shelter across the street until our bus came. A few minutes later, traffic snarls not withstanding, we got off at Cordeliers and walked to our boulangerie. A few moments later we were back out in the drizzle with a poulet baguette sandwich in hand and were soon in the warmth of our apartment.

After a light lunch Susie tackled photographing the red praline tarts which are quite the thing here in Lyon. One example from Paul Bocuse's Les Halles stand and the other from Sève's shop also in Les Halles of course. I'll let her tell you more about that later on her blog, but we definitely concluded the Bocuse was the better of the two. Both very different and probably appeal to different tastes.

One thing we often like to do in a new city is to take the hop-on-hop-off bus. We've had good luck with them in the past, and they're an excellent way to get a picture of a city. And being able to hop on and hop off can be an efficient use of one's time. 

In our case we naturally chose the first truly serious rainy day to do this but since a ticket is good for 24 hours we timed it so we can get back on tomorrow morning or early afternoon, assuming the weather cooperates. We did get to see quite a lot of what we had seen from the boat cruise but from a different perspective. And we also had the opportunity to get dramatic views of western Lyon (not photographed due to rain).

Anyway, we did get to see a couple of the other major murals that aren't too far away from our apartment so getting a closer look at them tomorrow is on our hit list. Although we started the tour up top, between the rain and cold wind we, like most everyone else on the bus, moved downstairs to the warmth and dry seats.

the hop-on in nicer weather

After the bus returned to Place Bellecour Susie and I walked back home stopping at U Express to pick up some groceries for the next couple of days. Chicken hobo packs with fresh haricot verts from Les Halles and leftover rice. Yum! With a red Menetou-Salon (Pinot Noir)!

Tomorrow we hope to get back on the hop-on/hop off bus plus more wall paintings!

Train to Barcelona

April 19.

After a leisurely breakfast we checked out and schlepped our bags downhill to the train station. Since there were so many trains a day to Barcelona we didn't have to wait long for one to depart. Once we placed our bags in a rack, we found a pair of seats and settled in for the hour or so ride to the city.

Not long after we were underway we began chatting with our seatmate. His company is in Barcelona but he mostly works from his home south of the city. We talked about life and its unusual twists and turns and discussed issues both large and small. He was a fascinating conversationalist, and we enjoyed the banter back and forth. To top it off he was very familiar with the scene in Mel Brooks' movie History of the World where Moses comes down the mountain with three tablets of 15 commandments but drops one. . . And very generous too: he gave us his card before we left the train and said if we ever got lost or needed help to give him a call. 

Barcelona Sants train station

an easy walk to the hotel

Once out of the station -- again by the kindness of the station staff acknowledging our Eurail passes to get us through the turnstiles -- we headed off to the hotel. A short walk made a bit longer as a consequence of going down the wrong street for about 10 minutes before realizing our error.

We eventually found the right street and were soon checked in and settled in.

Our lone objective for the day was to find the hop-on-hop-off bus system and get a clear tourist-eye lay of the land. Barcelona is BIG and it would be easy to spend one's time walking around aimlessly. We located where the busses begin/end their tours at Plaça Catalunya, about a 30-minute walk from our hotel, down the seemingly endless wide, tree-lined boulevards.

  

Once we reached the Plaça de Catalunya we easily spied the double-decker busses and made our way to the ticket booth. 

We opted for the Barcelona City Tour company; the other system of tour buses is called the Barcelona Buses Touristic. Both companies share the same start/end locations and the routes are somewhat similar as well. 

A base ticket was good for 24 hours (upgradable to 48 hours). The tour is made up of two distinct routes, and we thought that would be plenty of time to cover both tour routes. We began with the orange route (and would continue tomorrow with the green). Coincidentally, the tail end of the orange route would let us hop-off at the Sants railroad station thus allowing us to easily get back to the hotel.

We found a place topside in the sun and off we went. The journey was slow and ponderous due to heavy Friday afternoon traffic but the slowness of the journey gave us a fine opportunity to see not just the scheduled hop-off sights but get a fuller sense of the city as a whole.

The one downside was the late afternoon gusty wind which stirred up all the leafing-out tree debris, filling our eyes with grit. So we opted to go down and sit inside for much of the trip. Along the route we passed some of the city's major attractions, including:

Arc de Triumf

statue honoring Christopher Columbus

the World Trade Center

From the port area the bus made its way up nearby Montjuïc past the Fundacio de Joan Miro.

And then back down the hill to Plaça d'Espana. Since our hotel is located just a 10-15 minute walk from this plaça, we knew we'd be back here soon. Besides containing spaces for various expositions (a bridal show was underway), the plaça is also the the location for the commercial centre Las Arenas. After years of neglect this former bullfight ring was, inevitably perhaps, turned into an indoor shopping mall.

Plaça de'Espanya, view from the top of Las Arenas

From the plaça it was a short hop to the Sants station where got off for the day and walked back to the hotel. 

That evening we found a small Asian restaurant a couple of blocks from our hotel and had a pair of simple rice dishes for dinner.

Next: Barcelona in a big way.

Munich at the edges

23 April 2022.

A leisurely breakfast at home before getting ready for our hop-on/hop-off tour of the attractions beyond the city center. It took us about 20 minutes to walk up to the meeting point at Karlsplatz where we exchanged our mobile tickets for paper ones and boarded the bus.

There were few other riders this morning so we had most of the upper deck to ourselves. We plugged our headphones into the audioguide jacks on the seatbacks in front of us and off we went. On our way to our first stop, the Nymphenburg Palace we had the opportunity to hear about several interesting features of Munich's history as we whizzed down the Nymphenburgstrasse passed the Löwenbräukeller, home of the eponymous beer.

Arriving at the Nymphenburg Palace, we hopped off (hopping is required) and strolled over to the entrance to the palace, once the summer home of the ruling Wittelsbach family. 

At the entrance we were stopped by a staff member who asked if I was wearing an FFP2 mask (the equivalent of our KN95) under my cloth mask and I said no. "You can't go in," she replied matter-of-factly. (I recalled later that the filter in my fabric mask is in fact a PM2.5 which might have worked.) Anyway, almost immediately a woman walking by whipped out a fresh mask and handed it to me. Problem solved from the kindness of a stranger!

Once inside we got our tickets and headed upstairs to the palace. My primary objective here was to see the Gallery of Beauties, a collection of 36 19th century portraits of the most beautiful women in the region. Painted by Joseph Steiler over a period of over 20 years and collected by Ludwig I of Bavaria,  they are indeed stunning images of young women from all classes of society. 

Ludwig was keen on the women being beautiful in both body and spirit and also required the images to be as accurate a rendering of the subject as possible. 

To see the complete collection go here.

palace from the front

palace from the gardens side

one of the many hallways

grand hall

and its ceiling

gallery of beauties

Once back on the bus we headed for our second stop of the day: BMW Welt (world).

Located across from the Olympic Park (1972 games where Mark Spitz won his 7 gold medals) this complex of futuristic buildings includes the company's HQ (in the building that looks like four cylinders), a museum and our objective - BMW Welt. 

BMW Welt

the HQ is in the far distance

Walking into the building one is struck by how everything floats and flows together. We strolled among the various car models, amazed that they were all unlocked and people climbing in and out of them, getting the feel I suppose for what it would like to own one of these. Except for the Rolls-Royce display, that is. It was all look and don't touch.

The electric car area was fascinating and we loved seeing so many Mini Coopers! 

The second level consisted primarily of the BMW motorcycle displays and there were certainly plenty of people up there playing on the bikes. You could also see the showroom as well and, if I recall correctly this is where you would pick up your new BMW.

We opted for lunch here before walking back to the bus stop. 

Rolls Royce Cullinan

the new electric I series

note the batteries in the floor of the car

our favorite stop, the Mini!

the showroom, from the upper level

We just made it to the next bus and found this one had the roof open. A bit chilly to be sure but we weren't on it long before we arrived at the English Garden stop next to the Siegestor.

Siegestor, tor is gate

After a short walk from the bus stop we found ourselves in this incredible green space. The so-called English Garden is a large collection of lakes and streams set among a green space some three miles long much of which parallels the Isar River. 

We strolled up one of the many meandering paths to the Chinese Tower (the one landmark we had come across somewhere) where there was a band playing amidst a large biergarten packed with folks drinking and eating. 

the Chinese Tower

From the biergarten we made our way back roughly in the direction from which we came and walked up to the the temple-like Monopteros for a lovely view of the park and the old town in the distance.

Returning to the Siegestor stop we waited for the next bus which seemed forever to arrive. But the day had turned nice so it was pleasant to just sit and take in the sun.

We left the bus at a starting point different from where we began the day and felt a bit turned around. But we asked directions and soon found our way back to Karlsplatz and home. After dropping a few things off we headed back out to the Aroma Kaffeebar to get our afternoon hot beverage. 

Then on to Edeka to pick up a few groceries and back home before dinner.

I had made reservations at a nearby Vietnamese restaurant, Jack Glockenbach. The food was incredibly good (the best spring rolls we've ever eaten) and the service was equally so. 

filet of beef with betel leaf and rice noodles with a cucumber salad

curried chicken and rice

The end of another wonderful day in southern Bavaria.

Tomorrow it's off to Salzburg - stay tuned!