2019.08.24-25 Giromagny, Belfort, Montbéliard and Ballon d'Alsace

For some perspective:

The weekend was set to be rain in Mannheim, rain in Bern, and magically mostly clear around the Jura and Doubs region of France. A quick look at hikes and things to do launched us towards the base of the Vosges. 

• Saturday: hike in Giromagny, near the edge of the Vosges (NE of Belfort), followed by walking around the Ballon d'Alsace
• Sunday: early morning lap around Montbéliard, then to the citadelle in Belfort before heading back 

Saturday 2019.08.24
Giromagny: 

While all places we were are in the Franche-Comté region, Giromagny is more nested on the edge of the southern Vosges mountains.

I was pretty excited to see tons of these around: fountains segmented into several sub-pools which were used for washing clothes. I saw this in some show/docu series that included a roadtrip-in-France (I think it was two British guys).

Giromagny was a mining town, and the path we took was the one miners would take to go to work, it sounded like. From the town, on the way into the forrest, one can see an active quarry, so there's still related activity in the region supporting the economy. Good signage on the trail, fair amount of locals in pretty casual gear tramping around. 

After Giromagny, Ballon d'Alsace (1247m (4091ft))

I'd looked up "the highest peak of the Vosges mountains" before, and we still had energy and time and sunlight and were only maybe 15 km away, so we drove up some really winding roads to get up to the top. The top, which clearly had been featured in the tour de France earlier this summer, based on the remaining writing on the road, encouraging various teams. 

Various views from the top (disclaimer: was not a hike, just a short walk up to look around): 

The cows markings gave him an angry eyebrow

Heather (an early fall bloomer) out in force

remnants leftover from the tour de France

We then drove down to Montbéliard to check into our hotel. 

Sunday 2019.08.25 - Montbéliard &Belfort (lion)

early morning walk around Montbéliard. 

Some interesting trivia about the region: 

Montbéliard was a late addition to France, which you notice in part because the dominant old church is protestant. It was an independent participant in the Holy Roman Empire from 1033 to 1793 (some of that under the Württembergish dukes, and there is a castle in town where they lived). Annexed to France in 1796. For more info, see wikipedia. And a deeper dive into its role in protestant history. 

Two sides of the castle of the dukes, one of these castles that had so many eras in which people made additions, it looks kind of like 4 or 5 castles were broken up and re-assembled into one, piecemeal: 

Something we really noticed about Montbéliard was the sort of lopsided architecture. No one paid attention to the lines or roofs of adjacent buildings when building, it seems: 

After breakfast, we checked out of our hotel and went by Belfort before heading home. 

Belfort (a lion, a citadel, and a part of Alsace that stayed French)

So, I have a weakness for citadels and, generally, for 17thCentury fortifications. We just do not have these in the states, and they are such incredible feats of engineering and earth-moving. 

Belfort has a citadel, but, moreover, is the FIRST ONE I have been to which was expanded and improved on after the advent of long-range canons which caused everyone else to give up on fortifications.  I wonder if it was the only one to do that. Why would you do that? 

"Absorbed into France in the early 1600s, Belfort, lies in a gap between the Vosges and Jura Mountains, making it a natural invasion route into France. " (See this military history site)

From same site: "[Haxo's renovations resulted in] transforming the place as a truly entrenched camp, defended by the castle itself, and by two new bastions: the Miotte and the Justice. All these military forts were connected together and linked to the castle. Haxo also modernised the fortifications of the castle itself by digging two ditches and building two new lines of walls"

Vauban, responsible for all the other famous 17th Century fortifications in France laid the groundwork, re-routing the river to expand the fortified space in town so that it could withstand long sieges.  Construction finisted in 1703. It was improved in in the early 1800s (by General Haxo), adding another defensive layer of trenches and whatnot to keep said improved-range cannons even further away. 

From same site: "[Haxo's renovations resulted in] transforming the place as a truly entrenched camp, defended by the castle itself, and by two new bastions: the Miotte and the Justice. All these military forts were connected together and linked to the castle. Haxo also modernised the fortifications of the castle itself by digging two ditches and building two new lines of walls"

View of the additions from Haxo,and a map directly afterwards of said additions: 

Views from other parts of the citadel: 

 

CURRENTLY in Franche-Comté, counted as part of Alsace the last time Alsace was ceded to Germany, and was not included in the chunk ceded to Germany because the defenses in the town were so good and they kept up their siege like a month after cease-fire/surrender. The guy who insisted on keeping up this horribly traumatic siege (Bertholdi) is why Belfort has a huge lion statue (in sandstone), commemorating this pyrrhic victory. 

My attempt at wounded-lion-snarling mimicry (left): 

More on the history of Belfort.

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2019.April 15-19: Vietri Sul Mare, Amalfi Coast (Gulf of Naples, part 2)

first view of Salerno's port from the train

After Herculaneum, we hopped a train to Naples then to Salerno then to Vietri sul Mare -- amusingly, there are two sets of train tracks in Salerno, the ones for long distance trains (1,2,3,..) and the local trains (1TR,2TR,3TR,...) on the same level, just adjacent. So that 3TR is next to 1.

The Amalfi Coast is maybe 40-60 minutes by train from Naples, the southern coast of a peninsula whose northern side is host to Sorrento and whose finger of land points out to Capri.

The red balloon is at Vietri Sul Mare, where we stayed in a nice place we found on Booking dot com.

sunset over Vietri sul Mare

BEST PART: The host had tons of great advice (restaurants, website of regional hiking club for routes, etc) and this made what could have been a really frustrating experience something we could navigate. 

Example 1 of where you need to know someone:
There are three kinds of bus tickets relevant from Vietri Sul Mare, each in a different zone and bought from a different company (sold by the same people, at least):
1. Vietri sul Mare to from Salerno
2. Vietri sul Mare to from Amalfi, and towns in the Vietri district
3. Amalfi to from any other town nearby, or between towns kind of near Amalfi (this region belongs to Naples, probably )
Having someone explain this who could speak English was really useful.

Example 2:
The Vietri sul Mare train station does not have a ticket machine. 
I asked our host, and he wrote back (after a pause, where he had phoned ahead actually :) ) that we needed to go to the newsstand (Edicola) and we could buy our train tickets there.

PRO TIP: always go to the news stand (Edicola) or Tabbaco store (Tabacchi) for your train/bus/metro tickets. I traveled home on Easter Sunday and skipped hours of lines of tourists at the 2-3 ticket machines by going to the Hudson News in the station. 

Why Vietri sul Mare? (Someone else's reasons, similar but different)

1. Being "not Amalfi", it is more affordable 
2. Awesome reviews for the apartment we stayed in 
3. Reachable by train (the only town on the Amalfi Coast where this is true); it is about 40 Minutes to Pompeii by train 
4. Quiet, charming artisan community 
5. good food at good prices 
• Recommended by our host, Carmine: da Giufe 
• discovered via tripadvisor, Il Principe e la civetta

Food at " Il Principe" -- if you are anywhere nearby, you should go to this restaurant. 

We ate there twice. 

The first time for someone's birthday. Mixed appetizer, I had the swordfish, he I think the catch of the day (poached fish of some kind, perfectly cooked). Dessert included the ricotta pear cake, which was apparently invented by a chef in Amalfi. I was a little grumpy as we had asked for wine and gotten a bottle instead of two glasses. 

The second time we ate there was after a long hike (followed by a fruitless trek down to the Marina and back, where the recommended restaurant was closed), and I had my grumpyFace on as I walked in. The chef asked what was wrong, and we said "long day". We ordered the appetizer again (asking them to mix it up), each a glass of wine, as well as mains, and they threw in a big bucket of mussels (I like mussels, and these were the second best I have ever had (best was at a malaysian restaurant in Vancouver)) with the appetizer (I think because of grumpyFace plus inhaling the appetizer, which was really sweet of them). Left very full and very happy :) 

Review from TripAdvisor:

"Best Restaurant in ItalyThis was one of the BEST meals of my entire life (and I'm married to a chef)! The only thing better than the food, was the service by the Chef and the wonderful atmosphere. [...]. He wants you to have the best experience possible and is happy to share his passion for food with you [...]Everything was beyond incredible! I cannot recommend this wonderful place enough, by far the best meal of our two weeks in Italy! Definitely make sure to have a meal here when visiting Amalfi coast!"

 Vietri sul Mare is a town full of incredibly talented ceramic artists. Ceramics decorate everything, and stores advertise that they will ship your purchases home for you.

Tiles decorating the stores:

 

The largest ceramic store (and also workshop -- pinto is an example, but not the largest) is at the end of the main street, Ceramica Artistica Solimente. The building reminds me of work of Gaudi:

Gaudi-esque face of the factory/store

fountain across the street

view inside Ceramiche Solimente

• Previous post about Herculaneum
• Next post about hiking along the Amalfi Coast

2019.02.21-25. Valencia, Spain for a long weekend

We went to Valencia, Spain for a (blues and fusion) dance weekend. The dancing and music was mostly meh, although Saturday night was quite good. Since we only had the pass for the parties/dances, we were able to spend the days playing tourist.

Thursday: Arrived in Valencia, had amazing dinner at Huerta y Huerta. 

We were 6 people. 3 of us split this menu (3 appetizers, 2 mains, and a plate of 3 mixed desserts for 25€), an extra appetizer and an extra main. Was delicious. 

Friday: Headed to Sagunt(o) to hike.

Sagunt/Sagunto is a town about 30-45 minutes from Valencia by train (2 trains an hour, either direction, about 5 Euros each way). They have a castle/fortification which you can walk up to and around. There are some mountains nearby, but we felt sufficiently challenged by the castle.


The old town of Sagunt was very pretty and quaint and full of buildings for sale (which seemed rather sad -- I am guessing people are moving into the modern apartments on the other side of town). First time seeing a jade plant blooming (left pic), and that was an impressively tall cactus (right):

One thing rather interesting was the intact Jewish cemetary adjacent to/just below the fortification. They mentioned that they had two types of burials there, one being in fake caves, which you can see here on the left:

It's a bit hard to read, but it really looks like that stone at some point said "FORUM".  (The fortress of course started life as a Roman structure, so there are some semi-reconstructed Roman ruins)

reconstructed Amphitheater on way up to fortress

Here are more gratuitous pictures of the awesome views from the fortress. Including the mountains which we thought were right nearby and would offer a good hike. We were pretty warm in long pants and shoes, and it would take another hour easily to get to the base of the mountains, which would mean coming back might happen after dark (not interested in doing that).

the mountains where there is good hiking

Some pictures from Old Town Sagunt. This reminds me of the Spanish Colonial kind of feel of old town Albuquerque:

I really liked the texturing of the brick on this building (the individual bricks kind of lean out or are recessed): 

Friday Afternoon: Walk to and along the "River" (Jardin de Turia)

In 1957 there was a really devastating flood (e.g. the bridges over the river were a meter under water), and after that, Valencia rerouted their river to run south of town, split in two, one artery going to irrigation. Originally the town was going to replace the river with a highway, and much protesting led to them making it a very nice part instead.

weird trees

 I was very impressed by this cross-stitch-on-wire in town:

Dinner at Flammam Gastrobar (outside of the desserts, just as good as Huerta y Huerta).
We had wine from a grape we had never heard of (Bobal). It was fruity with a tannic finish.

"It is native to the Utiel-Requena region in Valencia, Spain. The name derives from the Latin bovale, in reference to the shape of a bull’s head. It is grown predominantly in the Utiel-Requena DO where it represents about 90% of all vines grown, and is also present in significant quantities in Valencia, Cuenca and Albacete. "

Saturday: "Free" Walking Tour of Valencia. 

The standard basics tour. There is also a tour for just the murals, which I would do if/when I return to Valencia. That and/or the boat tour of Albufera, the swamp/lagoon where the rice for paella is grown.

The tour started in the town square (which has been since the foundation of Valencia, the town square). We learned that when the Christian King James I conquered Valencia in 1258 or so, he was pretty pissed off at the Muslims he had just bested, and ordered all of their buildings to be torn down (unlike Cordoba, Granada, etc). As a result, there are no buildings from that earlier period, just the ones built starting in the 13th century (e.g. the Church). 

The city had flourished under Muslim/Moorish  rule, and in the 1st century afterwards the population doubled -- because it had been made the capital of the kingdom around it, and capitals are centers of commerce. They built walls around the expansion in around 1400 or so, which were then torn down in the late 1800s when the town needed more space (and more space to build) and the silk trade suddenly did rather poorly and tons of people were unemployed. The solution was to employ everyone to tear down the walls, which they did with gusto and within 2 years. 

This gate and one other were not torn down because it was a jail at the time: 

It turns out that there is a rule in Spain that when they rebuild something old, they have to make it clear that the new stuff is, well, new. The way this was done on one building (the former Silk merchant headquarters) was by carving a bust of Chewbacca between the busts of people:

Chewie

Nearby the Silk Merchant building is the largest covered market it Europe, and I think maybe also the longest/continuously running market in Europe, the Mercado Central.  It is open 07:30 to 14:30/15:00.  We were allowed a 15 minute break during the tour, and sped through it, buying several tiny servings of snacks for a quick lunch on the go.

The building on the left is the narrowest building in Valencia -- 107cm. It houses a family of four. The daughter's confirmation dress was too big to put on in the house, they had to dress her in the streets. Picture on the right is a cool tower. I assume the funky pattern has to do with Spain's rule about making renovations obvious: 

Stuff we learned:

• There is a bat on the coat of arms of Valencia because supposedly while James I was working on attacking Valencia, some of the then-inhabitants of Valencia snuck into camp to try to kill him. Supposedly a bat was startled by them and knocked into a bunch of stuff in the King's tent, waking him up, and he then killed the would-be assassins with his sword. 
• The Cathedral took something like 3 centuries to build, and has 3 architectural styles 
• There is a water tribunal which dates back to the Muslim/Moorish period and still runs now.
• one person per irrigation canal to serve on the tribunal 
• farmers bring in their disputes/complaints, and get a (legally binding!) judgement within an hour or less   

Sunday: Short walk around in the sun. 

 There was a sort of odd dance party something going on on Sunday, so we walked to the venue to check it out. It had the kind of sound you would expect on a beach in summer, but inside and with the bass turned up too high. There was also a drone flying around (filming, I think). Short video on the right. View from the dance venue ("The Palace of Arts and Sciences") on the left:

Monday: returned to Germany.