Elegant, Stately Bilbao

Bilbao is a city that has became more of a travel destination vs just an industrial city when the modernistic Guggenheim Museum was erected. Whilst the museum is the most striking thing about the city, there are plenty of other historical buildings to enjoy when walking around Bilbao as well as the Basque cuisine.

The Basque region includes both Bilbao and San Sebastian and these people have their own language, history and cuisine. Interestingly, the Basque language, Euskera, is an isolated language. It’s origins are not known but it does not have Latin roots like French, Spanish or Italian. When looking at signs in Basque, the words are mostly unintelligible as are littered with T’s and X’s. It is not related to any other language in the world and is the last descendant of the language of pre-historic Europe.

Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao – including Puppy, the world’s largest flower sculpture
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
Stained Glass at Bilbao-Abando train station
Bilbao
BIlbao
Bilbao
Bilbao – many elegant and stately buildings wherever you look in the central area
Bilbao Cathedral
Bilbao
Basque Tuna and Potato Stew (Mamitako) – a fish dish eaten on tuna fishing boats. This stew was hearty and the seafood scent permeated throughout, giving this dish lovely fragrance and flavour.
Red Fish with Garlic Oil – this dish has integrity! The fish is cooked splayed open and drizzled with a salt, oil and browned garlic. It doesn’t look attractive at all on the plate. Note the eyeball! The fish has lots of bones and is hard to eat in polite company. This is not what matters. The meat on this fish was sweet, tender and beautifully cooked. The garlic oil elevated this dish without overwhelming the mild fish. This was foremost about taste and not looks. I like a restaurant brave enough to do that! These are people who know what is important in life!

When visiting Bilbao, we had the opportunity to head out to Plentzia. This is a town about 45 minutes north of Bilbao with a gorgeous, wide, sandy beach. It was a Saturday when we went and there were lot of people heading out for a beach day in Plentzia.

View of the Plentzia River from the bridge (Pasarela De Plentzia) by night
Plentzia Port
Plentzia Beach – we didn’t realise how great this beach was until we saw how crowded beaches were in the south of France. This is quite deserted in comparison!

The holiday town of San Sebastian in Spain

Catching the train to San Sebastian, Spain from Toulouse, France, it was striking how the landscape changed from more lush forests to a drier landscape reminiscent of Australia. As we starting walking around San Sebastian, we could feel refreshing coastal breezes. It was such a relief compared to the stifling heat of Toulouse.

San Sebastian is a city which survives on tourism, especially in the summer months. It was clear why when we visited. It has a big stretch of beautiful, sandy albeit crowded beach, elegant buildings and a buzzy summer holiday vibe. People were relaxed, wondering about in brightly coloured summery outfits and sandals. There was plenty of al fresco dining options for eating and drinking.

We did a tips only, free walking tour and learnt that San Sebastian has a whaling history (until they hunted them right out of the area!). Then these coastal people become corsairs which are basically “legal” pirates who raid ships on behalf of the crown and once they give a cut to the crown, the rest was theirs to legally enjoy. San Sebastian also grew when the queen of Spain started to holiday there and when she did, brought much of the court and aristocracy with her. This was how money started to pour into this place and the fancy, elegant buildings were put up.

San Sebastian City Hall
San Sebastian – weather monument
San Sebastian
San Sebastian
Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Coro
San Sebastian Port
San Sebastian
San Sebastian Beach – Playa de la concha – super crowded in the August summer holiday season!
San Sebastian – these ostentatious bridges!
San Sebastian – another ostentatious, over the top bridge!

Tantalizing Toulouse

Even before arriving at the Toulouse Matabiau train station, it was obvious we were heading to a busy place. With every approaching station, the train became more and more full. By the time we arrived, every seat was taken and there were people and luggage in the aisles. As we exited the train, there were lots of people waiting to get on urgently. This was probably because, only the people who got on first would get a seat. Despite the strong heat of the day when we got off the train, the city was busy! This was no sleepy town like Limoges! Toulouse is France’s fourth largest city following Paris, Marseille and Lyon.

Due to the searing summer heat, the best time for a wander around town is in the cool of the morning. The afternoon and in particular late afternoon is extremely hot. It was 37C on the day we visited. Unfortunately, the downside of our early morning walk-around is that the attractions were closed. This meant we couldn’t take a peak into some of the historical churches. When walking around Toulouse look around and look up. There are so many stately and elegant historic buildings, narrow alleyways. We even found a hidden church on the way to Monoprix, the local supermarket!

The biggest disappointment of our visit to Toulouse was being unable to get either an English speaking tour to the Airbus factory or even an English speaking “free” walking tour of the city. It’s a real pity. Toulouse is famous for being the home of Airbus and an insight to the Airbus aeroplane factory would have been a real treat!

Saint Jerome Catholic Church at Toulouse – this was the hidden church close to the Monoprix in the Toulouse old city. A man was seen emerging from a dimly lit corridor. Inside were several rooms where church services could be held. There is very little sign of this church from the street.
A statue in Toulouse. Note the space invader on the right side of the wall!
Saint Stephen’s Cathredal (Cathédrale Saint-Étienne)
Saint Stephen’s Cathredal (Cathédrale Saint-Étienne)
Saint Stephen’s Cathredal (Cathédrale Saint-Étienne)
Le Capitole
Place du Capitole
Couvent des Jacobins
Canal Du Midi – a 240km long navigable channel, made to help connect the Mediterranean to the Atlantic
Basilique Saint-Sernin de Toulouse
Jardin Japonais Pierre Baudis
Toulouse
Toulouse
Pont Neuf

Limoges – a quiet gem of a town

Limoges, France is not a touristy city. It isn’t as pretty as other cities and as a result doesn’t draw a lot of tourists. Nevertheless, there was plenty to see in this town, which seemed very quiet, probably because it’s residents were having their summer holiday by the coast! It was a real treat wandering around town in the cool of the morning while the town’s residents had their Sunday morning sleep in. We had a lot of the attractions to ourselves!

Gare de Limoges-Bénédictins – the train station!
Inside Gare de Limoges-Bénédictins – the train station!
Cour du Temple – a small open area accessible by a small laneway. These buildings were built in the late 1500s / early 1600s.
Rue de la Boucherie – the historic butcher’s lane. This Sunday morning, it is the location of a swapmeet where locals can bring out their household items for sale. Some of the houses in this area date back to the 1200s.
Chapelle Saint Aurélien
Halles centrales – local market
Halles centrales- check out the high roofs of this building! This market is open 6 days a week!
Halles centrales
Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Limoges
Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Limoges
Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Limoges
Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Limoges
Jardin botanique de l’Evêché – the building in the background used to be the Bishop’s Palace. Now it is an art museum. The gardens of the Bishop’s Palace has been planted with a range of interesting plants. The tree in the left of the photo is actually a papaya tree! What an unexpected choice in this location!
Jardin botanique de l’Evêché
Jardin botanique de l’Evêché – I love the flower beds in the Garden’s of the Bishop’s Palace! It’s a formal garden in shape and does include formal topiaries but the plantings are so varied and interesting. There is kale in a variety of colours, cabbage, tomato plants, parsley, rhubarb, climbers, flowers etc. A crazy mix of colour and texture. I like how fruit and vegetable plants have been incorporated into formal flower beds!
Mairie de Limoges (city hall)
Fountain in Jacques Chirac Square
Pont Saint-Étienne – this Medieval bridge was built in 1203 over the River Vienne.

Orleans and Joan of Arc

In 1429, Joan of Arc, a 17 year old French peasant girl leads a French force in relieving the city of Orleans which had been besieged by the English. She did it because Christian saints told her too. Nevertheless, she changed the course of French history and Orleans, the town has not forgotten despite the many hundreds of years that has passed.

Joan of Arc statue outside Hotel Groslot. Her skirt has holes in it. These are
bullet holes from a battle for the liberation of Orleans in August 1944.
Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc in Place Du Martroi (the central square)
Maison de Jeanne d’Arc- a 1960s reconstruction of the 15th-century house that hosted her between April and May 1429 (the original was destroyed by German bombing in 1940). The world’s largest Joan of Arc research centre is upstairs.

Orleans is a lovely town to visit even for those without an interest in Joan of Arc. The cathedral is spectacular and includes many gothic elements. There are many stone buildings which are all in excellent repair and scrubbed very clean.

Cathédrale Sainte-Croix d’Orléans
Cathédrale Sainte-Croix d’Orléans – the gothic detailing is quite scary. Imagine a world without the internet or horror movies……these open mouthed terror filled faces would haunt your nightmares! They are hard to see in this photo!
Inside Cathédrale Sainte-Croix d’Orléans
Orleans, France
Hôtel Groslot – built around 1550, Nothing was too exquisite for Jacques Groslot, baillif of the King of France
View from Hotel Groslot
Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Orléans
Street in Orleans lined with giant Ukrainian flags

There are many charming al fresco restaurants along the cute, narrow stone laneways in Orleans. We indulged in some buckwheat galettes followed by a Nutella crepe!

French Buckwheat Galettes – seafood/cream/leeks/cheese and chicken/camembert/cream
A view from Orleans from the Loire River

The Little Unexpected Surprises Arriving in the United Kingdom

Australia and the United Kingdom are like family. They are very similar culturally. Despite that, there have been a few surprises coming here.

Visitors to Australia are often apprehensive about our venomous and dangerous animals. They watch the documentaries listing our venomous snakes and spiders, the man-eating sharks and crocodiles and the deadly (but almost invisible) Irukandji jellyfish. I therefore expected to arrive into the United Kingdom, a countryside settled for centuries to be benign when it comes to dangerous flora and fauna. There may be no large wild animals but there are stinging and thorny plants aplenty!

On our first day here, we were introduced to stinging nettles, an innocuous looking weed common in the countryside. They sting if contacted against the skin. There is also a shin height weed called a thistle with sharp prickly leaves. The Christmas Holly shrub actually has spiky leaves all over. Last but not least are brambles! This hardy shrub grows like a weed. Rough, tangled and prickly with thorns! What a surprise to find so many stinging, thorny and prickly plants in this country! Watch where you walk!

The upside to the thorny bramble bushes are the sweet blackberries they produce. You can find blackberries growing naturally all over as well as wild strawberries. I want to learn more about the edible plants I can forage in this country because who doesn’t love free food! There is a lot to learn actually. There are plenty of strange new trees and plants that I cannot as yet name or identify e.g. yew, cedar, elm, poplar, beech, yarrow etc.

Despite the recent reports of a terrible heatwave, the weather has cooled down significantly. British people are a cold hardy sort, with the ladies wearing their bright summer dresses in temperatures that would have Australians zipping up their jackets! It is so cool that butter is kept out on the counter in a butter dish and the bread is kept at ambient in a bread box! This would not be the norm in Darwin where the humidity and heat would melt the butter and grow mould on the bread.

There has been a discovery of a couple of surprising foods that are new to me. Damson gin is a sweetened gin made with the fruit of the damson tree. A small, dark blue, ovoid, plum like fruit that is too sour to be eaten as is but with gin, sugar and time, it turns into a sweet, port-like drink, perfect for an aperitif or a nightcap.

Another new food is the pork faggot. Pork faggots are meatballs made of pork offcuts, offal and other herbs and seasonings. It’s a traditional food in the UK. Here is another example of a “waste not, want not” or “nose to tail” eating which is a lesson from the past that has lost favour but should be re-invigorated as move into the future. Reducing the number of animals being farmed is good for the climate. This can be achieved by eating less meat and eating all parts of the animals to avoid waste. Consuming non-traditional parts of the animals such as the liver can also be healthier than the usual cuts.

The striking thing about visiting towns in the UK countryside is how the varied the architecture is, reflecting the time when they were built. An example would be the historic old Warwick town with its 1000+ years of history and a majestic, medieval Warwick castle looming over the town. Contrast this against the neighboring Leamington Spa, a more recently built town that grew when it’s waters were purported to have medicinal qualities. The Georgian and early Victorian architecture in Leamington gives it a completely different vibe to the historic Warwick town despite being in such close proximity to each other.

Warwick Castle
Warwick Plaque – check out the dates!! 1100 years of history!
Graveyard in Warwick
Street in Warwick

Compare these towns again to the big city of Birmingham with a population of over 4 million people. Skyscrapers, large modern shopping malls, modern architecture adorn the heart of this big city. Birmingham is a city buzzing with the excitement of the upcoming Commonwealth Games which they are hosting.

Birmingham
Birmingham – a city with more canals than Venice or Amsterdam

Another surprise in the UK is the diversity of the accents in the one country. Whilst there are a few regional differences in the way Australians speak, the range in accents is miniscule compared to the variation in accents that can be heard from the UK. These reflect differences in regions as well as socio-economic backgrounds. Despite the differences in accent however, there is one common thread that has been unanimous thus far. Everyone in the UK has been really lovely, kind and warm.

One more thing which I suspect doesn’t change regardless of the country are politicians. We caught the recent debate between the two leadership contenders for the leadership of Britain, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss. This comes not long after watching the leadership debate in Australia between Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese. Both the Australian and British debates were the same with the aggressive positioning and posturing, the persistent interruptions and insistent hogging of the limelight. They were both equally hard to watch, undignified and basically seems to confirm that politicians (in general) despite how hard they try, are simply unable to come across like trustworthy, normal human beings with integrity.

A highlight thus far in the UK has been attending a play, Richard III at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford Upon Avon. This gorgeous town, the birthplace of Shakespeare has a touristy main street full of old Tudor buildings and a large theatre in a prime location overlooking the Avon River. The production was excellent. It always surprises me how well versed British people are with the history of their kings and queens. Then again, considering how incestuous, violent and drama-filled it all is, it does make a compelling story!

View of the Avon River from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford Upon Avon

Impressions of Singapore

Exiting the excellent Changi airport, into the humid hug of the Singaporean tropical air, there is always a feeling of excitement because Singapore is a wonderful city to visit. We have been numerous times before but these are my impressions of our most recent visit.

The most striking thing is the mask wearing compliance in Singapore. Everyone wears a mask indoors. Most people wear a mask outdoors even though it is no longer mandatory. This is despite the tropical heat. Masks are worn properly, covering both the nose and the mouth. There is none of the slovenliness observed in other countries during masks mandates where people would allow their masks to slip down past their nose and mouth. The fact that the entire Singaporean population can wear their mask properly, means that every mask wearer is perfectly aware of the position of the mask and that if a mask has slipped down, it is intentional.

Even very young children wear their masks properly in Singapore. Toddlers of only 20 months old manage to mostly keep their mask on during a long day of play at day care. We saw a line of older children of 4, 5 and 6 being led in a line through the city by their teachers. They were all wearing their masks properly. To a “liberty” and “freedom” loving person, this may look like sheep-line behaviour. To me, it looks like care and consideration for the community. When people wear their masks properly, they are showing that they care about the more vulnerable people in the community and they care about each other. The only time, I saw masks worn incorrectly or not worn at all was at Changi Airport amongst the foreigners. This was disappointing.

Similar to masks, is the orderliness of things in Singapore. There are neat queues at the MRT train stations to get onto the trains. There are self scanning systems installed on all cars to pay for car park fees which requires no effort by the driver other than to keep their accounts topped up. In many ways, Singapore feels like the future although it is totally understandable that some may find this kind of order too stifling.

The Jewel Changi

This visit to Singapore, it felt like there was a lot more Mandarin spoken rather than English. This may have been a function of the areas we were frequenting. Mandarin would be the default language and English secondary. This is different to my experience on previous visits.

When traveling around Singapore, look out the window at the huge number of high rise apartment buildings. Many of these are HDB (Housing and Development Board) apartments. The vast majority of Singaporean live in these tiny, high rise apartments, a contrast to the spacious houses and backyards of many middle class Australians. As a result of this population density, there are plenty of shops and amenities clustered around these apartments. One could easily live an entire life serviced by the amenities within close walking distance. Just downstairs from an apartment would be all kinds of shops selling cooked and uncooked food, a supermarket, a pharmacy, bank, beauty salons, general stores, medical clinic, dentist and of course the gambling shop. The completeness of the range of shops and services available is driven by the population density and therefore demand from these high rise apartments.

Due to the small size of the island and the large number of people living on it, there are strict restrictions on car ownership. Owning a car is extremely expensive and most Singaporean rely on their excellent public transport system for getting around.

In Singapore, good food is readily available everywhere. The food is almost always reliably good and clean because of competition. A stall selling bad food simply would not survive. It is a frugal food lovers paradise where good meals are available for only a few Singaporean dollars. In Singapore, there is a huge range of prices that a person can pay for a meal. From the cheapest meals at the local coffee shops to the swankiest, fanciest dining experiences. All are available in this buzzy city, whatever your taste.

Singapore, like other Asian countries, it can be economical and healthy to eat out for every meal. There are many places selling dishes which are not too different from a home cooked version. Purchasing ingredients from the supermarket and cooking at home does not always work out cheaper. In many Western countries, a healthy home cooked meal is always multiple times cheaper than eating something of equivalent quality outside.

The public image of Singapore is of slick office buildings, Changi airport, the Jewel at Changi airport and shopping. It is easy to forget that Singapore is one of the world’s busiest ports.

View from West Coast Park
View from West Coast Park

Singapore is indeed a hub for shopping. There are shops selling every variety of goods and services at a huge range of price points. The competition leads to an astounding variety and a strong desire to appeal to every customer.

One of the most impressive things about Singapore is how green it is. The tropical climate supports lush green growth. This combined with smart town planning means that there is plenty of greenery around the city. My favourite are the elegant rain trees that line so many of the streets. All the greenery may look beautiful but it also has a cooling effect on the city. There is a lesson here for other hot climate cities!

Do you like Singapore? What are your impressions of this city?

Bencoolen 14m Tall Inflatable Golden Monkey

Vivid Sydney – a celebration of lights!!

Sydney-siders love their Vivid light festival but due to Covid, they haven’t had it since 2019. It’s now 2022! It’s back and it is stunning!! It brings the crowds into the city. The highlight of this festival are the light projections on many of the iconic buildings of Sydney. These are all free to attend. There is also a diverse range of other events which are directly or indirectly linked to Vivid. This festival is strategically held just as the weather turns cold in Sydney. Rug up when you venture out after dark to see the lights because the cold wind is biting.

On weekends especially, the crowds that flock into the city for this 3 week festival is insane and all restaurants on the light trail are at capacity! The timing is perfect for restaurants because the weather is not inviting. Gone are the long, warmer, mild summery evenings. Hello early darkness, cold wind and beanie weather! Vivid lures Sydney-siders out from huddling by their heaters in their homes! Check out these pictures and you can understand why! (And this doesn’t even cover all the free Vivid light installations! There are more!)

Interactive sound and light installations
Drone display. This was changing and accompanied with music. These drones (with lights) must be programed to fly and light up in relation to each other to create amazing images! Unfortunately, it did seem that many of the shapes were advertising. Nevertheless, impressive. We did see a few drones fail and plunge into the water below.
Bubbles!
More bubbles!
Sydney Harbour Bridge
Water, music and light show reminiscent of the fountain show at Bellagio in Las Vegas!
The water was shot out at a great height. Due to the prevailing wind, the crowd gets to experience a cold spray of water on a cold night!
The crowd is dense. This is the crowd in the area where there are street food vans!
Light and sound projections near Circular Quay
This simple wood structure kept changing personalities depending on what was projected on it! From colours and shapes to animals! Sounds to accompany as well!
Museum of Contemporary Art
Projections on the Opera House
The unused old Goods Line is turned into an immersive display of laser lights, smoke and sound.
Sculpture outside the Museum of Contemporary Art. We have walked past this sculpture so many times during the day but at night, lit up from inside, this sculpture is totally different and unexpected!