FANtastic!

So, it turned out that Saturday was a festival here in Girona. Basically, it was an extra shopping day. Normally, shops close for lunch on Saturday and don't re-open, but shops didn't close until around 9pm and there were vendors set up along the streets as well. We were shocked when we returned from Figueres to find the streets were packed with people:
We found a delightful shop selling microbrews, local gazpacho, and even botifarra d'ou a local sausage of egg and meat. I'm still shocked by Europe's general lack of open container laws as they nicely opened our beers and we drank them as we browsed the vendors.
Our evening was concluded by a trip to Bauhaus, a large German hardware store chain that reminded me of Home Depot. As you can see from the photo above, it has been quite enjoyable weather during the day. However, this has meant warm evenings. We were there for fans. After a fruitless week looking for a square fan to wedge in our window, our persistence was rewarded and we now enjoy cool, sleep-filled nights.We also bought a vertical fan, which works pretty well. It's still taking us some time to get used to the design though. Who would have thought that fans styles change throughout the world?
Love, fishes, robots, and cool breezes,
--Chrissy and Chee Sing

Dalí Museum

So, Saturday was off to the Renfe (rail) station (actually, it's the same station as the bus terminal) to catch a ride to Figueres (pronounced like Feeg-Air-Es). It's around a half hour ride from Girona with two options for Renfe: the regional train (2.90, has far more stops) or the medium distance train (3.90, nicer seats with outlets). We took the regional train on our way, and due to some bumbling with our change, missed the regional home (it pulled away as we had our tickets). Aside from a wait around the platform that smelled something like WD40, it wasn't too bad. It meant we could plug in Chee Sing's phone (which ran out of batteries during our picture taking at the museum) and so played games for the shorter ride:
As a note for anyone prone to motion sickness: it's generally more comfortable to ride facing the direction of travel. On the way, we decided to sit backwards, which always seems like it would be fun (in a return to childhood fashion), but for me is actually only enjoyable for the first quarter hour.
Figueres is special as it was the birthplace of Salvador Dalí and the location of the museum he constructed for his works. As one of my favorite artists of all time, it was quite a treat. I think it's a very interesting experience to view an artist's works as they would have you view them, even after their death.I was quite struck by Dalí's obvious deep devotion (obsession?) with his wife Gala. Her images are much more influencial in his work than I had realized, and her death was obviously devestating to Dalí.Dalí's Crypt is inside the museum.
The museum is divided into two different entrances: the main museum, and the jewelry museum. It turns out that Dalí had exquisite pieces designed from precious materials, in order to showcase art for arts sake (there is a quote on the wall to the effect of noting the importance of impractical art in a utilitarian society). They were quite amazing (a couple I would wear even if they proved uncomfortable as Chee Sing imagined they would be). Some of the pieces move!
After the museum, we wandered around town, picked up some groceries (since nothing would be open Sunday) and stopped for some kebabs on our way back to the station (we ate them in the park across the street which had a neat fish fountain).
Overall, a highly recommended adventure! I'm going to avoid giving too much away, since we are sure to drag any and all of you that visit off to the museum.
Love, fishes, robots, and amazing art!
--Chrissy and Chee Sing

Physical Fitness

In response to my demands that we exercise regularly, we have started running in the evenings (around 9pm) for a little over 20 minutes. I have been enjoying beginning to establish the routine, and Chee Sing has found us a nice loop that crosses a pedestrian bridge over the river (the route is more or less below, although we now go more through the park and run around a block). While a lot of people in Girona can be seen outside walking, we usually only run into a few joggers when we are out and about.

View Training record in a larger map
In the evenings, there are even cute bats flying about through the swarms of gnats. I'll edit this post as soon as I can find out what kind they are.

Love, fishes, and exercising robots!
--Chrissy and Chee Sing

Girona Walking Guide - Route 1... almost

We finally decided to break open the walking guide we bought on Dia de Sant Jordi to try out one of the hikes inside. Unfortunately, the urge struck us in the early evening, so we didn't figure out the whole route as written, but we did see most of the highlights listed (including the Font del Bisbe, one of the two local springs you can actually drink from). Here are some photos:

Love, fishes, and robots!
Chrissy and Chee Sing

Temps de Flors

This Sunday, Girona finishes celebrating "Flower Time." The festival consists of a number of exhibitions, more artistic celebrations of spring than displays of living flowers (although plenty are to be had). We enjoyed walking the nearest displays last Saturday. They were quite enjoyable, although the tree below happens to be part of our Plaza's display... Unfortunately, I fear it will soon be removed since it's still in a small pot propped up with boards (they covered the boards with bamboo). We didn't make it out to catch the entire festival as planned since the week was besieged with intermittent pouring rain.
The next closest display to our plaza was at the game shop. They had robots from the group Chee Sing belongs too as well as crazy techno music and adorable (albeit less functional) robot toys.
Most of the displays were in Old Town where lunch prices rose from their normal ~13 euros to over 20 with the influx of local and foreign tourists. It was crazy! Normally uncrowded streets were clogged nose to nose and every other person had a camera slung round their neck.
One of the many highlights of the exhibition was the opportunity to enter a number of the local museums for free to see their displays for the festival as well as locals that would otherwise be closed to the public. There isn't enough room to post all of the photos of the displays, but hopefully this gives you a glimpse of a very interesting week to visit Girona.

Love, fishes, flowers, and robots!
Chrissy and Chee Sing

Feliç Aniversari, Chee Sing

This Saturday, May 15th, Chee Sing turned 24. We celebrated with a party! I made Choco-Flan which was easier than I expected, considering the flan sinks to the bottom while it cooks making a flan over chocolate cake (covered in caramel) when you turn it out. He now has a new board game, rice cooker, and even a small rug!Love, fishes, and older robots,
Chrissy and Chee Sing

Crochet Projects

While Chee Sing writes his MS thesis, I have been dabbling in the art of crochet in addition to typing up my research. I picked up the habit in Chile as a way of controlling the ridiculous quantities of plastic bags I regularly acquired. I've only just started with yarn instead of plastic, but so far I have made Chee Sing some manly house slippers and these small robots that will soon be fridge magnets (as soon as we buy some to stick on their hands).


I like that I can multi-task while crocheting, including activities such as books on tape. While I haven't made it through very many, it does bode well for my prospects of catching up on some of the novels I have missed. The cute patterns are based off ones I found in Crochet Today (magazine).

Love, fishes, and yarn robots!
Chrissy and Chee Sing

May Day! May Day!

On Saturday, our peaceful morning was filled with the discordant sounds of shouting, drums, and a few out of tune brass instruments. We headed out for the market and found the source. This parade of labor unions.We spotted signs for the two big unions here UGT and CCOO and finally realized that they were out because of the date, May 1st (like Labor Day for the rest of the world).
Luckily, we did most of our shopping at the outdoor market. When we headed out later to pick up a few things from the grocery store, the full realization of the day hit us. It's a holiday. Not just a marching day, but a "I hope you already have everything you need for the weekend because it will be closed today and tomorrow's a Sunday" day.

Love, fishes, and robots!
Chrissy and Chee Sing

Plaza tree!

It looks like we are getting new plants for our plaza! While the construction sounds had been bothering me, seeing the etched out plans and our new green view totally redeems their work! Check it out:
On a less exciting note, the small rose Chee Sing picked out for Dia de Sant Jordi, was just a cutting in soil. It hasn't been doing so well, even in a water bath. Not to mention that our day+ trip to Venice seems to have caused the demise of my mint plant... I guess green thumbs aren't inherited.

Love, fishes, and robots!
Chrissy and Chee Sing

Venice, quick and affordable!

We hopped on a quick RyanAir flight Wed evening and were home by Thursday night. We completed most of Rick Steves' recommended "Venice in One (busy) Day" and even enjoyed some time to ourselves.
First important lesson (which luckily Chee Sing knew). More or less:"Why are we waiting in line when the flight is delayed? Can't we just wander around or sit down until they board? I don't like waiting in line if there aren't any prizes at the end."
"We could, but the seats are first come first serve. Is that enough like a prize?"
"What? Seriously? That's insane! Why would they do that?"
"Southwest does that."
"Really? I guess I never fly Southwest. That seems like a terrible idea!"
"It will be fine."
It was fine, and we ended up with some prime seats on both the flight leaving and returning. I suppose there's not much difference when the flight is just over an hour and the seats don't lean back (or have magazine pockets - the safety card is attached to the back of the seat in front of you), there's no in-flight entertainment (although they hand out their line magazine and menus for ordering drinks - nothing free, it's a budget liner after all), and phones and laptops are prohibited even in airplane mode. We settled back to listen to my old iPod and ordered a Snickers and smoothie to pass the time. I like that candy, however familiar, which is manufactured at a non-US plant instead of imported (such as the Snickers we bought) has no corn syrup. It gives me something more to appreciate about living abroad.
I was pretty entertained by spending 4 euros (2 per flight) on scratch cards. The prizes were all pretty big (so the odds are probably correspondingly low) but fun. The cards have prizes like flight vouchers, cars, and money. I think all of the stuff RyanAir markets (like its own line of scratch cards) is pretty neat. I mean, if your tickets were less than your discount hotel (the very cheapest I found on the main island), they have to cash in somewhere :)
Landing at Treviso airport meant a just over one hour bus ride into the edge of the island. We hopped on and settled in, I was feeling a bit off after being on such a small jet. We were approached by a nice 20something who had decided she was going to spend a day in Venice (much like us only she was ultimately on her way to help out with a touring bike event). We had already booked accommodation, but loaned her some of Rick Steves' wisdom so she could gather phone numbers and addresses for hostels. She was pretty shocked at the 30 euro price for a bunk at many of the places. It's not the cheapest place to travel (although we made out quite well).

After bidding our new companion farewell at the bus stop, we started walking to the general location of our hotel. Chee Sing's new phone (which doesn't yet have service, long story) has a compass and GPS which helped a lot as we sought out our destination: Domus Cavanis.
Check in was across the street at the apparently quite nice hotel Bella Arti. As Chee Sing noticed, their room keys came with tassels. Our room, however, was a superb find and suited us perfectly. It was hard to figure out which door to use to enter the 'hotel' (it's not labeled at all on the outside since they probably don't want anyone to find out about it unless they are the cheap-ass travelers who book for the lowest price online on an obscure site - it had an unoccupied lobby and pretty bare bones rooms which were very well kept and clean with a great bathroom and working air conditioning. I bet someday it will be much like its expensive parent hotel across the street, but for now it's a steal (we paid 70 euros including all taxes and fees) and it even came with breakfast (which Rick Steves claimed we wouldn't find included)! Woo-hoo!
After a good sleep, we breakfasted in the Bella Arti, checked out, and hit the town for our day in Venice. The great part about a short trip is packing light. Our travel gear was in my purse and a 1/3 full backpack held our toiletries and extra clothes. This meant just checking the backpack at museums and no awkward luggage stories.
What we did (in a short list):
Took Rick Steves' tour from St.Marks Square to Frari Church following two of his walking toursToured Frari Church (totally worth it!)
Checked out the Rialto market and the fish market (so fresh!)Had some great pizza and beer on a great tourist watching streetWent back to St.Marks Square to tour the Correr Museum
Toured the Doges PalaceToured St.Marks Basilica
We couldn't take pictures in the churches and museums, but we have some postcards and a lot of information on them is available online if you are interested. I'm just happy to have seen amazing artwork, cool old weapons (hinting at the origins of the hilt style on my classical Italian fencing foil), fantastic architecture, lots of water, gorgeous (albeit, dead) fish, old maps, and the largest oil painting in the world!
While we did have time for gelato, we didn't have time to ride the Vaporetto in the direction suggested by our guide book. Instead we did the tour backwards through the main canal to reach the bus station (Ferrovia) starting from Saint Mark's Square. It was a great way to be on the water, take a ton of photos, and enjoy the unique transportation in Venice. We got on the slow boat (#1) which took us on a 45 minute journey (as recommended by Rick Steves). We didn't go on any Gondola rides ourselves. At upwards of 100 euros for 40 min (over double if you add a musician), we saved our money for museums, food, and post cards :) Venice is undeniably romantic even on foot. Art literally seems to ooze out of every corner. Its so integrated into the city it would be impossible to strip off. I can honestly say that for a day trip, I can not think of a more unique and beautiful place to visit.
Love, fishes and robots!
Chrissy and Chee Sing
This statue looks like our friend Kenny...

Random FYI -
Places on our list (which we hope to visit soon):
Barcelona, Spain (someplace can be close and still a lot of fun)
Figueres, Spain (Dali museum! and the reason above)
Ireland (because my last name is Murphy, after all)
Krakow, Poland (to visit a close friend)
Essen, Germany (for the board game convention in October)!
the Canary Islands (because RyanAir flies there and they sound delightful)
Paris, France (because neither of us have been there)