I've got to get out and take some fresh pictures this weekend. When I started my walk home last night I reminded myself to keep an eye out for anything interesting, but I just wasn't motivated. Bleak January! Maybe today when Dave and I go up to the hardware store for paint samples.
I've had a rude awakening about our upcoming Spain trip. Someone in the comments recommended that we get our tickets to the Alhambra ahead of time. This seemed a little crazy, given that it's almost a month away, but I tried to go online and buy advance tickets, and guess what? SOLD OUT! They have availability the week before and the week after, but not a single day of the week we're in the country. Of course this is because everyone is on a half-term break from school, I imagine.
I wrote our hotel to see if they could hook us up somehow, but I haven't heard back yet. If we can't get into the Alhambra it won't be the end of the world -- I've seen it (albeit 32 years ago) and although Dave hasn't, he also doesn't seem particularly invested. I did buy advance tickets to the cathedral in Córdoba, so at least we'll be sure to see that.
Traveling is not like it was in the '90s, when you could just show up at the front gate.
Blogger was doing more weird things yesterday. I couldn't reply to comments and I couldn't see my entire blog roll, which is how I click back to read everyone else's blogs. The problem seems fixed this morning, thank goodness.
(Photo: A plaza off Edgware Road, last weekend.)
Enjoy your paint choosing trip!
ReplyDeleteI had blogger glitches yesterday too, seems OK again today.
Apparently it was a universal problem!
DeleteWill you be visiting the Mezquita in Cordoba? It is amazing . We have been a couple of times and never tire of it.
ReplyDeleteI have just bought our tickets for the Royal Palace - the Alcazar - in Seville. Just got the last ones for the day we wanted!
Yes, we are going to the mezquita -- that's what I meant when I said cathedral, though maybe that's not accurate? I went to Seville in 1994 and LOVED it.
DeleteYes, everyone was having commenting problems.
ReplyDeleteWhen we stayed next to Sagrada Familiar, we expected we could just walk in and take a look. It was a three day booking wait, and we weren't in Barcelona for long enough to do that. Yes, travel has changed, and is so much harder now.
I remember you telling that story! I didn't get into the Sagrada Familia when I went to Barcelona either.
DeleteI never would have thought about reservations a while back. Now we check on everything. Can’t believe we’ll be seeing you in less than a month! And, yes, Blogger was a bigger pain than usual yesterday.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how soon it's coming up!
DeleteBlogger was playing me up as well, but as you say it's working OK today.
ReplyDeleteGoogle must have tweaked the code in some way the system didn't like!
DeleteBlogger has been having a hissy fit of late. I keep reminding myself that it is free and easy to use. Till it has a hissy fit. -17 this morning -- real temp, not wind chill. Is that square photo current? You have leaves on trees? It's lovely at any rate.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry about Spain and the Alhambra. You're right -- travel has changed. A lot.
Free is the amazing thing. I'm frankly surprised they haven't started charging us to go ad-free.
DeleteYes, there are leaves on those trees right now! I think they're magnolias.
Enjoy your paint choosing...I'm about to try a couple of samples here to see how different they look in daylight and artificial light.
ReplyDeleteWe tried to do that too, but of course light is changing all the time.
DeleteMy blog was doing that yesterday, too, but seems fine today!
ReplyDeleteI also remember traveling and just showing up at the things you wanted to do, an dnow it's all pre-order and specific times and such!
Hopefully your hotel can help.
I guess it's good that so many people have the opportunity to travel!
DeleteI like shades of pink, peach, apricot for walls. They make people look better!
ReplyDeleteOh, that's interesting. I'm not sure I've ever lived in a pink room!
DeleteI think we are nearly all experiencing glitches of various sorts with Blogger at the moment. A sure sign they are going to change something, just as we all have gotten used to the last lot of changes!
ReplyDeleteI think you should set yourself the challenge of finding the most mundane and boring things you can find to photograph, of course that means no doubt that loads of good things will appear just to tease you. ;-)
Ugh, I hope they don't change anything. As for mundane and boring, well, that's pretty much my middle name!
DeleteI have read that other bloggers using blogspot have had the same issues. Hopefully it is resolved now. And you will get to see Mitchell! Yay!
ReplyDeleteWon't that be fun?!
DeleteWell, why even bother going to Spain if you can't see the Alhambra? JUST KIDDING!
ReplyDeleteYou're going to have such a good time and there will be lots of pictures with you and Dave and Mitchell and SG, I hope. It will all be a grand adventure.
It might be a challenge getting Dave in the picture. He hates pictures.
DeleteI was thinking that it's hard to get pictures of Shadows & Light if there isn't any light. Hopefully there'll be a SUNNY January day for you soon! Meanwhile, we're hunkering down for whatever it is that we're about to get (ice? snow? sleet? rain? all of the above?).
ReplyDeleteWe had a sunny Sunday, so that helped!
DeleteI dislike the modern world of vacationing where it seems more and more you have to book things way in advance. It doesn't mesh well with my style of vacationing where I just compile a list of possibilities and then once that day arrives, go do what I'm in the mood (or the weather) for.
ReplyDeleteI know, I'm the same way! I never like to be locked too strictly into a schedule.
DeleteSpain. Warmth. You will find plenty to entertain yourselves even without the Alhambra.
ReplyDeleteThere's no shortage of things to do, especially with not even a week to spend there!
DeleteSince globalization, people are able to travel where ever they want. So venues are full. Blogger seems to be having a hiccup.
ReplyDeleteYes, everyone is traveling everywhere these days, it seems!
DeleteI have a devil of a time choosing paint colors. I have to get samples and paint a small portion of the wall before I decide. I went through three yellows before I chose the one for my bedroom. Also several blues for the bathroom.
ReplyDeleteToo bad you couldn't get tickets to the Alhambra. I looked at some images online and wow.
I think we may be in now. Stay tuned!
DeleteMaybe you could keep checking for those tickets for the Alhambra. People can cancel and spots might open up. Do they have a wait list?
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you will have lots of fun anyway!
We'll have fun no matter what, you're right!
DeleteI know that more Canadians are traveling to Europe rather than the US right now. US trips for Canadians are down 25% but we still want to travel.
ReplyDeleteOh, that's interesting. I didn't think about the Canadian factor!
DeleteSpain will be sunny and warm and that makes up for a lot.
ReplyDeleteHaving to schedule and book everything makes travel less easy and eliminates the spur-of-the-moment fun aspect. Regardless, you and Dave will have a good time. You'll make sure of that.
Yeah, I am much more a wake-up-and-decide-what-to-do type person. I don't like a lot of advance planning.
DeleteYou are so right about travel today. I wonder what changed things so much.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what the distance is for that trip but is it possible to hire a driver?
I just think there are a heck of a lot more people traveling than there ever were. When I was a kid, I didn't know ANYBODY who went to Europe!
DeleteAdvance tickets? Wow, I would never have imagined. When my older daughter and I were in Montreal (Easter weekend), we stayed right by Notre Dame. Since we had signed up for a city tour, we got to go inside the cathedral and bypassed the huge line. It was incredible inside so I'm thankful we went although I had little interest in it before. I've seen so many beautiful cathedrals in my time, but this one was special. If all else fails, sitting in a cafe and people watching can be delightful.
ReplyDeleteI worked a jigsaw puzzle of the interior of that cathedral. I never knew how beautiful it was, either!
DeleteI went to Montreal years ago and I didn't see the cathedral. Sounds like I missed out!
DeleteYou'd never know it was winter by your photo! We currently have sleet and freezing rain. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteUgh is right! We're cold but not freezing and the evergreen plants are still leafy.
DeleteThere used to be a competitive blog outfit, I wonder if it's still out there. This one sure failed everyone yesterday, and it makes me go, hmmmmm, what if I can't see all these blogs where I've posted important things like family photos? Well, nobody every reads them in the family, so why should I worry!
ReplyDeleteWell, Wordpress still exists -- maybe that's what you're thinking of? Typepad closed down and LiveJournal is hanging on by a thread, I think. I would be very sad if my blog vanished. I hope if Google ever makes drastic changes they give us some options for preserving what we've done so far.
DeleteYes, blogger was certainly behaving strangely yesterday ...
ReplyDeleteShame you couldn't get tickets to the Alhambra, but I'm sure you'll have a good time in Spain.
All the best Jan
We would have a good time no matter what, but I think we HAVE managed to get tickets. Fingers crossed!
Deletetop photo- covid days...
ReplyDeleteExcept there are still too many people! In Covid things were REALLY empty.
DeleteI'm wondering if you show up to the Alhambra and take your chances? Maybe at the end of the day?
ReplyDeleteThat's an option if our secondary ticket vendor fails us.
DeleteCodex: It's so strange to me to preplan this way. I researched all the galleries and museums before the trip and then visited whatever I was in the mood for. Simply walked into cathedrals at times walking out because it wasn't what I expected. Can't imagine to visit something to make a ticket worthwhile. The Louvre took me a week because I wanted to take my time.
ReplyDeleteI'm the same way. I just wake up and decide what to do that day. All the pre-planning is not my idea of fun.
DeleteIf your hardware store has an entire wall of "paint chips" please take a photo. By paint chips I mean those little thin cardboard pieces coloured and named with whatever they're deciding to call green, pink, brown etc this year.
ReplyDeleteThey didn't have a wall -- they had a couple of spin-around racks, one for each brand. Not nearly as photogenic!
Delete