Our
trip started in Barcelona. We arrived on Saturday
January 22nd at about noon so, That afternoon we rested.
BARCELONA
Surfing
the internet and e-mailing back and forth, we had met another couple, and
had all decided
that we would like to engage private Guide and Transportation services in
both Barcelona and Lisbon. I posted our desire on several Message Boards
such as Lycos, Excite and others and received a reply from Jordi Borreallas
in Barcelona. We corresponded for a while and liked what we were hearing
from him. Both couples agreed that we would go ahead and engage him
by e-mail for
two days of sightseeing in and around Barcelona.
I
will not mention any monetary arrangements as Jordi in Barcelona and John
in Lisbon will quote you firm
prices based upon where you want to go and what you want to see and do after you
have supplied him with your information. I will tell you, that you will be
able to see far more than you would on any bus tour and will get excellent
narration of the trip from Jordi or John. I will state here that we in NO WAY
will we receive any remuneration from Jordi or John or any other recommended person or
business for any information on this web
site. We enjoyed the time we spent with them and wish to help them be
successful in their businesses if we can.
On
our first full day (Sunday) we toured the City of Barcelona with Jordi.
He made sure that we saw the area where the Olympics were held
and Montjuic Mountain with it's Castell De Montjuic and marvelous views of
the river and the city of Barcelona. He timed our arrival at the Cathedral
Barri Gotic with the end of the noon mass so that we could experience the
people dancing in the square to the music of a classical orchestra playing
on the steps to the church. We saw the Parc De La Ciutadella, the Museu
Picasso, The Sagrada Familia from all 4 sides, Parc Guell, The Olympic
villages, The
Waterfront Area and the Shopping Areas. It was a full day!
On
day 2, We went North to Montserrat where we visited the famous Monastery
and museum. In the afternoon, Jordi had arranged a tour of the huge
Codorniu Cava Wine Distillery (CAVA is sprain's "Champaign". They
must not call it Champaign as that word is reserved for sparkling wine made
using the Champaign process in the area of Champaign, France. In Spain
it's called CAVA which is a delicious sparkling wine made using the
Champaign process. In the US it's called Sparkling Wine.) Imagine 33 km of
underground tunnels under the building on 6 levels where they are able to
store over 100 million bottles of wine to complete the aging fermentation
process at any one time. This is not on a bus tour.
May I
suggest that you start by E-MAILING: JORDI
BORRELLAS at this
address, <jborellas@worldonline.es>
.
(Note:
Jordi is Spanish for GEORGE. He prefers JORDI.) BE
SURE AND MENTION "THE OLDGATOR" IN YOUR MESSAGE.
Remember,
when you are quoted a price by a private guide, you are quoted a price for
the vehicle, the guide and the trip per day. The
price quoted will be for up to 4
persons. (some can accommodate 6 persons with a van) Therefore, if you can get another couple to share the expenses you
can actually pay less that the regular tour prices per person. Even if you
only have yourselves, you will still get to see a lot more than you would
see on a bus and can stop at places that the bus does
not or cannot stop.
*************************
LISBON
We
used our 5 names list to obtain tickets on the ships arranged transition
tour directly from the Ship on arrival in Lisbon. (Note: be sure to be up
on deck as the ship arrives into Lisbon). This tour was better than
expected. Note: we did not take the evening Dinner and Entertainment
tour and now wish we had as the performance of the Royal Horses is not
available anywhere else in the area other than this dinner arranged by the
ship.
Again,
by using the net and asking a lot of questions by e-mail, we had settled on
the guide that we wanted to engage in Lisbon. His name is JOAO SOUSA.
(Note I asked him what pronunciation he preferred and his reply was JOHN.)
On
the first day, at our request, we traveled North about 85 miles to FATIMA.
Here we visited the beautiful 20th century Basilica which faces a
square said to be twice as big as St. Peters in Rome. Then we visited
Batalha and it's Battle Monastery. We then went through Alcobaca and then
to the seaside town of Nazare. From Nazare we went to Obidos where we
walked this beautiful walled city.
On
day two, we headed west. Our first stop was Mafra where we saw the huge and
beautiful Convent and Palace of Mafra. We then headed through the
coastal mountains to the town of Sintra with it's Palaces and Sights.
After lunch we started back to Lisbon via the Shore Line highway going
through Cascais and Estoril where we saw the National Casino.
We
had two
great days with a great Guide and Driver. Send JOHN an e-mail, you
can request an itinerary or leave it up to him. Either way, you will enjoy
the time spent with JOHN showing his City and his Country. EMAIL:
JOHN SOUSA
at the following
address.
<executive.services@netc.pt>
. BE
SURE TO MENTION "THE OLDGATOR" IN YOUR MESSAGE.
***************
This
site will be added to and changed over the next couple of weeks. I thought
that the above information should be posted immediately due to the number
of requests for such info from the Board.
Please
let both Jordi and John know where you got the info, both are contemplating
having web sites and the fact that you found out about them from a
web site will be of interest to them.
Also,
due to the costly expense of getting on line in Spain, Jordi usually only
checks his e-mail ever two days so do not panic when you don't get an
immediate reply. John usually checks his e-mail each evening when he
gets back in.
We
hope that the above information helps you to better enjoy your trip.
Rick
Paine, The "OLDGATOR"
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