Marc's Public Blog - Trips to other locations


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This is a collection of my blog entries related to short or long trips I went on.
I have some master pages for some specific locations/trips:

paris over many years | UK over many years | Belgium over many years | Holland over many years | Vegas over many years | Australia over many years | Canada over many years | Japan over multiple trips | Italy in 2011 | France in 2013 | Indonesia in 2013 | Japan in 2013 | Japan in 2014 | Taiwan in 2014 | Indonesia in 2014 | New Zealand in 2015 | Japan in 2015 | Costa Rica in 2015 | Singapore in 2016 | South Korea in 2016 | Japan in 2016 | Germany in 2016 | Tasmania 2017 | Japan in winter 2017 | Great Britain in 2017 | Australia Flying Safari 2017 | Philippines 2018 | Spain in 2018 | Alaska in 2019 | England in 2021 | UAE in 2021 | Poland in 2023 | Portugal in 2023 | Thailand in 2023 | Japan Snow 2024 |

Table of Content for trips:

More pages: December 2023 June 2023 April 2023 December 2022 December 2021 February 2021 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 June 2019 May 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 June 2018 May 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 October 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 September 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 October 2012 September 2012 June 2012 April 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 June 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 September 2010 August 2010 May 2010 January 2010 September 2009 August 2009 June 2009 January 2009 December 2008 August 2008 February 2008 January 2008 October 2007 July 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 August 2006 July 2006 April 2006 March 2006 January 2006 December 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 April 2005 December 2004 October 2004 July 2004 June 2004 January 2004 January 2003 January 2001 August 1997



2018/09/29 Spain Day 06-07: Ronda
π 2018-09-29 01:01 in Ntrips, Spain2018, Trips
On the way back to the south coast from Granada, Ronda was a nice stop on the way

It's a nice city on top of a hill, separated by a bridge, with ruins, a Bull fighting ring and bull raising farm:





We had enough time for the bull fighting ring and museum, and dinner:











The next day, we went to visit the 2 halves of town:






the arab baths are all the way down, where the water is
the arab baths are all the way down, where the water is










We then thought we'd do a quick stop at Mondragon Palace, but it was a much bigger museum than planned. We ended up spending multiple hours there:











We then checked a wine "museum" which was also about selling wine:




Another small museum on the way out:








traversing the bridge back to new town
traversing the bridge back to new town


On the way out, we drove by Pileta Cave, a privately owned with caveman engravings. As usual, no pictures allowed, even without flash:








After that, we had a drive to La Línea de la Concepción. We tried to stop by Castillo del Águila on the way, which was a huge mistake. You can't really drive to it and we got stuck in an old town where driving out was "challenging"

didn't look like much
didn't look like much

reasonable scenery
reasonable scenery

driving out, OMG!!!
driving out, OMG!!!

finally making it to the Mediterranean coast
finally making it to the Mediterranean coast

See more images for Spain Day 06-07: Ronda
2018/09/28 Spain Day 05-06: Granada
π 2018-09-28 01:01 in Ntrips, Spain2018, Trips


















































Granada still has city walls:









Downtown Granada is also worth walking through:





















The next morning, we drove by the Monasterio de San Jerónimo for a quick visit and then did a quick visit to La Ronda:





See more images for Spain Day 05-06: Granada
2018/09/25 Spain Day 02: Figueres
π 2018-09-25 01:01 in Ntrips, Spain2018, Trips

After a morning in Madrid, we took the train to Figueres for a half day, mostly to see the Dali Museum but it also had nice Castle Ruins (Castell de Sant Ferran). With the fast AVE train, it was less than 1h ride:


the train station made it clear what the main attraction was :)
the train station made it clear what the main attraction was :)


Castell de Sant Ferran is better appreciated from the sky and was worth an hour visit:









The town also had a more minor toy museum that we saw quickly while waiting for our next hourly train:




And then it was time to take the train back home to Barcelona:


See more images for Spain Day 02: Figueres
2018/09/24 Spain Day 01-04: 3.5 days in Barcelona
π 2018-09-24 01:01 in Ntrips, Spain2018, Trips
We started our trip in Spain by arriving in Barcelona. Because we arrived a bit earlier than planned before our first day, I had a bit of time to go see the street parades related to the religious holiday celebrations they had for 3 days.

We didn't see all of Barcelona in 3.5 days, but we saw a fair amount:

Day #1

  • Joan Miró Foundation
  • Catalan Art Museum Palace
  • Montjuïc Castle
  • Bullring mall (Las Arenas)
  • CaixaForum
  • Aquarium
  • Day #2

  • Arco de triunfo
  • Santa Caterina Market
  • Palace of catalan music
  • Picasso Museum
  • half day in Figueres
  • la boqueria market
  • Day #3

  • Park Güell
  • House museum
  • La Pedrera/Casa Milà
  • Casa Batlló
  • Barcelona Cathedral
  • Augustus temple
  • Barcelona History Museum (underground ruins from roman times)
  • Barceloneta beaches
  • Cable car from Barceloneta back to Montjuïc
  • Day #4

  • Sagrada Familia Guided Tour with Tower Access
  • Finishing up Barcelona History Museum
  • Gaudi Museum
  • Museu Frederic Mares (longer than expected)
  • And just enough time left for Güell Palace before going to the airport
  • Here are the pictures:

    Day #0

    I luckily ran into the end of a parade related to the religious holiday they had:




    weird pigeons
    weird pigeons


    Day #1

    This was our first real day. We walked on La Rambla to a cable car to the Montjuïc area.

    la rambla is mostly a tourist trap now, but it had some fun stuff :)
    la rambla is mostly a tourist trap now, but it had some fun stuff :)

    funicular up to Montjuïc
    funicular up to Montjuïc

    Once we were up by Montjuïc, we went to check out Joan Miro Museum which was part of our BCN pass (sadly a waste of money as museums were free that day due to the holiday). I'll just say that we were not big fans of Joan Miro:


    any artist who thinks they can get away with this, and call it 'valuable art' is not one I'll take seriously
    any artist who thinks they can get away with this, and call it 'valuable art' is not one I'll take seriously

    don't love this, but at least there is a bit of work
    don't love this, but at least there is a bit of work

    great art indeed
    great art indeed

    I should also take balloons, fill them with paint, throw them on a canvas, and get rich and famous
    I should also take balloons, fill them with paint, throw them on a canvas, and get rich and famous

    this was ok-ish I guess
    this was ok-ish I guess

    the mercury fountain was likely the only cool piece for me
    the mercury fountain was likely the only cool piece for me

    On the way to the art museum, we walked by the former olympic stadium complex:



    And we eventually got to the Art Museum:


    awesome view from up there:
    awesome view from up there:



    the bullring turned mall
    the bullring turned mall

    Sagrada Familia, still being built
    Sagrada Familia, still being built

    Pictures of the Cataluna Art Museum are on their own page.

    Once done with the Art Museum, which took a while, it's not small, we walked back to the Montjuïc cable car and took it up there:





    good views from up there too
    good views from up there too

    After seeing the castle, we went back down to the fountains, but were not able to approach them since they were getting ready for the festivities and fireworks of that night, so we walked to the bullring museum which had good views too:







    while the inside looks like a round-ish regular mall
    while the inside looks like a round-ish regular mall

    We then took another cab to go to the Aquarium, have dinner next door and find a reasonable spot to view the fireworks.
    You can see the Aquarium Pictures here



    Day #2

    After a long day #1, came day #2, which started by the Palace of catalan music, a truly beautiful building:







    We then went to Picasso Museum:





    yeah, he did pottery too, oh boy...
    yeah, he did pottery too, oh boy...

    We finished it quickly enough that we had time to stop by a market before catching a train to Figueres (on its own page, mostly to see the Dali Museum:




    Day #3

    For day #3, we had to head out earlier to visit Park Güell, for which I was only able to get tickets at 08:00 that morning, so we head out earlier and got there early enough that they let us in, despite missing our entrance window. From there, we went to Casa Milà and Casa Batlló.

    Gaudi was a one of a kind architect, definitely check out the page I made for his buildings. Got a few nice pictures from the roof:



    We then walked to the cathdral:








    Nice views from the top of the cathedral too:

    no one was able to tell me what this was
    no one was able to tell me what this was


    Next door was Barcelona History Museum, with a nice tour through the roman streets that were found below ground level in the old town:








    I made the call to leave the museum a bit early (we finished it the next day) and grab a cab to Barceloneta to check out the beach, and barely, so barely get a ticket to the cable car that picked up from there back to Montjuic, as they closed the ticket sales 30mn before their published closing time:

    people working out on the beach
    people working out on the beach



    the ride from the beach starts from a high tower
    the ride from the beach starts from a high tower







    Day #4

    For our last (partial) day, I had to keep the best for last (due to ticket availability), and we did a guided tour of the Sagrada Familia, a one of a kind church from Gaudi.
    There are very nice views from the top of the Sagrada Familia's towers of course:




    We then went back to downtown to finish up the history museum, do the gaudi museum, and the quite interesting Museu Frederic Mares on its own page.


    And we finished the (partial) day with the Gaudi Museum and Guel Palace. From there, we had to head out to the airport to fly out to Granada, our next destination.

    2018/09/08 Another Seattle Visit
    π 2018-09-08 01:01 in Ntrips, Trips
    This time I went to Seattle for a quick work trip, but I figured it would make sense to arrive earlier during the weekend and try some rally driving with Dirtfish. It was way too much fun and worth the trip alone.
    Going there meant that I picked a bed and breakfast nearby by roaring river and a bunch of hiking trails. It was quite nice:





    I only had time to hike up little Si during the day after driving
    I only had time to hike up little Si during the day after driving





    On the 2nd day after driving, I went to check out the small railway museum nearby:




    I then drove out towards Seattle area (kirkland) and stopped by a nice botanical garden:






    I then went to visit the very nice Google Kirkland Campus

    The next day, I went to the Natural History Museum. It's not huge, but worth a small visit outside of its total lack of car parking which was a pain:










    After the museum and with the car parked, biked around Seattle a bit with the electric bikes they had around. The University campus is very nice and worth going through:




    Harry Potter like
    Harry Potter like



    these bikes were lifesavers
    these bikes were lifesavers

    I then went to 2 different flight museums:

  • Flying Heritage and Combat Armor Museum
  • Historic Flight Foundation
  • From there, I quickly went to check out a couple of other google offices and stopped by the microsoft campus, because why not. Know your enemy and all :)


    I wish I didn't remember this. By the way it was 'plug and pray' (not play)
    I wish I didn't remember this. By the way it was 'plug and pray' (not play)


    poor Paul Allen just died. 'Funny' story is that Bill Gates and Ballmer tried to screw him out of his stock. He refused and became a multi billionaire. Good for him
    poor Paul Allen just died. 'Funny' story is that Bill Gates and Ballmer tried to screw him out of his stock. He refused and became a multi billionaire. Good for him




    pretty but I think I'll pass
    pretty but I think I'll pass


    The next day, I took a few more pictures around Fremont where I was working:







    Seattle is quite pleasant when the weather is nice :)

    See more images for Another Seattle Visit

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