Home  >> Stories  >> The Tale Spinner #2016-18

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IN THIS ISSUE

• Kate Brookfield continues her blog from Spain
• Mike Yeager writes about visiting a city in Vietnam
• The editor copies more letters about her travels
• Shirley Conlon´s story is not about a blonde
• Irene Harvalias forwards a tale of a farmer and a trooper
• Catherine Nesbitt sends a story with a moral
• Sites are suggested by Carol Hansen, Catherine Nesbitt, Jean Sterling, Judith English, and Tom Williamson

Kate Brookfield continues her travel notes on her blog at Word Press:

SPRING HOLIDAY

April 18: Sadly, we leave the clear refreshing mountain air of Alaucin and drive to Seville. The first part of the journey was the same route as yesterday to the El Torcal Conservation park, only today, we could see what was hidden in cloud yesterday!

April 20: We drove from the mountain area of Alcaucin to Seville on Monday.

We spent today looking at famous gardens in the Palace of Spanish Kings - another Moorish building converted into a Christian palace. The Spanish added in the Muslim style. Beautiful tile decoration. The cathedral next to it is the largest Gothic Cathedral in the world.

We return to Córdoba tomorrow and take a train to Madrid.

April 21, Madrid: The sun is shining, but the sky is cloudy.

Off to The Prada to see Picasso and Velasquez. Later, we will visit the Botanic Gardens, which are on the opposite side of the street we are on.

We are on 6th floor with a lovely roof patio, but are not allowed access. ??

This is taken from the bars in our window: http://wp.me/p7neuK-4P

Museo del Prado - It has taken over four hours to see the paintings in this wonderful collection. I was wrong - Picasso is not here. This is early Renaissance to the end of 19th century with Goya. There were many famous paintings by Flemish, Dutch, and Spanish Masters.

Photographs were not allowed, but I took this one by Mor of Queen Mary, who married Phillip II of Spain: http://wp.me/p7neuK-58

Botanic Gardens, Madrid - We spent a pleasant few hours in the Botanic Gardens, which is opposite del Prada museum of art. I liked the way the plants were set in family groups and were all so clearly labelled. The most colour came from the tulips, pansies, and azaleas. Most of the fruit trees have finished flowering, and it is too early for the roses. But the trees are always a pleasure for me. It was particularly exciting to see elm trees, as most have gone in Canada and the UK after elm disease wiped them out, or they were cut down to prevent the spread of the disease. It´s been a long time since I have seen these: http://wp.me/p7neuK-5o

April 22, Madrid to Cercdedilla - Today, we checked out of the Madrid apartment and walked across the road to the railway station, where we checked our luggage in left-luggage lockers. The apt. was an excellent location close to del Prado, Botanic Gardens, the railway station, and the museum of modern art, Reina Sofia. Because this is where the Picasso is exhibeted, we decided to spend the morning there. I should add that seniors in Europe get much better deals than in Canada. Entrance to Reina Sofia was free with documents to prove age. The Botanic Gardens were 50 cents each, and del Prado was two euros each. So there is one advantage of not travelling when young and fit! The con side is the aching feet and too many stairs to climb!

This museum contrasts greatly with the realistic images in del Prado. Whereas the subject of most of the works in the Prado were religious or of royalty, in Reina Sofia the images here are more social and political statements. These artists´ works speak about the ravages and horror of war, the political upheaval of civil war. The art changed rapidly, moving through surrealism, cubism, to magic realism, and quite frankly a lot of it made no sense to me at all! I am a philistine when it comes to modern art.

However, I was moved by seing Picasso´s "Guernica." I had no idea it was such a huge canvas - 3 x 7 metres. In many ways his images of the devastation of war is more horrific than realistic images or photographs.

After leaving the art gallery, we returned to the railway station to pick up our luggage and take a train to the airport. A train goes every half hour to the airport at Terminal 4. From there a shuttle bus takes passengers to the other terminals. We needed Terminal 1 to pick up a rental car. Terminals 2-4 are quite a long way away. Even so, public transport is so much better coordinated than Toronto´s! We rented a car at the airport, as it is cheaper and easier when we need to return it before we fly from Madrid to Scotland.

So we are now back in the mountains. It is cold and wet still. Hope the sun shines tomorrow. We did have a lovely rainbow across the valley an hour ago.

I will upload photos separately as I am not sure how strong the WIFI signal is here.

April 23: Cercedilla to Segovia via the Hunting Palace for Spanish Royals

The Hunting Palace was a huge unfinished palace built for Phillip V (I think). I am finding, in this part of Spain, a less-welcoming attitude towards tourists, and the staff at these government-run places are like the type of people at border crossings: rigid about rules and not at all friendly or happy.

I did not like the Hunting Palace as one half was a museum of stuffed prey for hunters, with lurid paintings showing various animals torn apart by dogs. The place had lots of rules, including no photographs.

Segovia - After leaving the Hunting Palace, we went on to Segovia. This ancient settlement dates back to Roman times, and is famous for one the oldest and still-functioning aqueducts. As usual, finding a parking space was difficult. We had decided to leave and return early tomorrow, when a car moved out.

We walked up to the top for a good view of the city, and back down through the medieval Jewish section. Jews were expelled from Spain by the Catholics.

Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso - We will probably rerun to see more of the sites of Segovia, its Gothic Cathedral and its many old churches. While the weather was good, we wanted to get to Ildefonso, where the Royal Palace of La Granja is located. This was a palace that was properly finished with French-style formal gardens in 18th century style.

It is still early spring, here in the foothills of the mountains. The leaves are not yet fully open on the trees. The beech tree hedges are still bare, and the roses are no way ready to bloom.

The big attraction are the many fountains and statues. At 5:30 every day, the fountains are turned on and crowds of people come for the show. http://wp.me/p7neuK-5P

April, 23, Avila, Castile, and Leon - We woke this morning to blue sky and sunshine. It made getting out of bed better than yesterday! This hostel is very nice, but the heating goes off at 2:00 a.m. This means that getting out of bed and stepping on a cold tiled floor is not very pleasant. Memories of my childhood with no heating in bedrooms!

But today was not so bad. We had a bacon buttie and coffee in the cafe next to our hostel before driving to Avila, a town 50 kms away from here. On the lovely drive over the foothills we were in Canada for a minute! I have no idea why this tiny town is called La Canada. Something to research, sometime!

Avila is famous for its intact ancient walled city with the medieval cathedral, built into the walls in 1091. It is about the same age as Durham Cathedral in the U.K., my home cathedral.

There was the usual problem in finding a parking space, but Mike managed to fit our Fiat into a spot I would never have attempted!

We had a lovely day, visiting an old church first. Then we had lunch at an outside cafe in the main square. After, we toured the cathedral, and finally climbed up steep steps to walk around the walls. I have to take back some of my comments made yesterday about visiting royal palaces. The cathedral staff were very kind - did not even ask to see documents to prove we were seniors. The audio guide was part of the entry fee. We have visited many many cathedrals over the years, but I must say this one at Avila has to be one of the best I have visited. Unlike some U.K. cathedrals, it is not filled with memorials to military victors.

The audio guide was well done and explained the different parts and architectural features very clearly. I am sure a Google search for Avila in the junta of Castile and Leon, Spain, will give those interested a better description than I can.

Walking the city walls in sunshine was very pleasant, with lots of photo opportunities. Appropriately, a photo of wallflowers growing on the walls is my floral picture for today.

Tomorrow we are going to another royal palace, the mansion of Phillip II, who was for a short time king of England when he married Mary Tudor. Hopefully, we will see some nice formal gardens, although spring is only just starting here. We are north of Guelph, Ontario! http://wp.me/p7neuK-5W

April 25: A lovely day! Not a cloud in the sky. We got to El Escorial, the city where Phillip II´s palace dominates the skyline. It was built from1563 to 1584 and is one of the biggest Renaissance buildings in Spain, maybe in Europe. One internet site reported it was closed on Mondays, but Trip Adviser did not. We took the risk as we leave here tomorrow for Toledo.

We had the usual difficulty finding a place to park, so had quite a walk to the palace. It WAS closed! Part of the original palace was converted into a monastery and is now a private school. We walked into the grounds looking for the ticket office, and thought that hoards of kids had arrived to tour the palace. But when I saw girls skipping with a long rope and was nearly decapitated by a flying football, I realized we were in a playground! It must be a fancy school to be located in such grand premises.

We will come back tomorrow for a quick tour before we go on to Toledo. We did take some photos of formal gardens seen from the wall. An adjacent palace of Don Carlos, was also closed. We couldn´t see anything from the road, so we mooched around the town of El Escorial and had a coffee with a view of the palace in the background.

The rest of the day we spent driving around the area enjoying the lovely sunny day and views of the mountains and the fresh smell of pine forests, etc. http://wp.me/p7neuK-6r

April 26: Cercedilla to Chinchon

Another sunny cloudless day. Just outside Cercedilla, a huge cross dominates a hillside. This marks a memorial raised by Franco to remember all of his Fascist supporters who died in the Civil War. Franco is also buried here. It is now a memorial for all, so we thought we´d visit on our way out. But they wanted nine euros to enter! I think paying to enter a war memorial for Franco´s henchmen is a bit off. So we turned around and drove away.

April 27 - Aranjuez: Another Spanish Royal Palace with ornamental formal gardens with fountains galore. The palace was originally built by Phillip II as a country retreat. Over the years it was extended to the monstrous place it is today.

The interior rooms open to the public have been restored and changed. It seems Queen Isabella made the most changes. Her renovations must have cost a fortune . The extravagant lifestyle of the Spanish aristocracy was coming to am end. Isabella was deposed at the end of the 19th century and spent her last years in exile, dying in 1904.

We were not allowed to take any photos inside the palace .

The gardens were mainly acres of formal box hedges. We were too late for the daffodils that I could see had been a stunning show, and too early for the roses. There was a pretty yellow climbing rose on four arches encircling a fountain. Also flowering almond or crab apple made a lovely picture. Some of the trees were majestic in height and must be centuries old.

Our entry ticket was for two palaces, but they do give you a map. We were walked off our feet looking for the second palace. We found a signpost to the Prince´s Palace, so we followed the direction. It must have been two miles of gardens and fountains. When we finally found it, it was not included with our entry, and they wanted another five euros each. By that time we felt we had had our fill of Spanish royal opulence, so we decided not to bother.

I wear a Fitbit, and today it records that I walked over 20,000 steps or 15 miles. http://wp.me/p7neuK-6K

Chinchon - After returning to Chinchon from Aranjuez, we explored this attractive city.

The most prominent feature is the circular main plaza, the Mayor Plaza. This plaza has been used in many Spanish films and some American. The most notable, "Around the World in 80 Days" and two directed by Orson Wells, "The Chimes at Midnight" and "Immortal History."

They still have bull fights and bull running a in the plaza. The three-storey buildings form a circle and the balconies at each level form a spectators´ gallery.

The city has a castle which was first built in the late 1400s, but was destroyed by the commoners in 1520. Many years later, a Count of Chinchon rebuilt a castle on the same foundations. In 1705, during the war of succession, the castle suffered more damage, and in 1808 it was set on fire. It is now closed to the public, but was used as a distillery to make the liquor anise for which this area is famous.

The church reportedly has a painting of Goya, whose brother was pastor at one time. But the church was closed when we climbed up. http://tinyurl.com/hs8kumx

To be continued.

Mike Yeager recalls one of the highlights of his trip to Vietnam:

HO CHI MINH CITY

At nine million people and growing, Ho Chi Minh City, still referred to by many as Saigon, is the largest city in Vietnam. Katie and I spent only one day and two nights there. After our visit to Chiang Mai and Kuala Lumpur, we knew we did not want to spend too much time in another bustling city. But there were a few sights I wanted to see.

One was Independence Palace, which is now called The Reunification Palace. A brochure said it had been preserved the way it was when Nguyen Van Thieu, the former President of South Vietnam, lived and conducted business there in the ´60s and ´70s, frozen in time. The other site I wanted to see was the War Remnants museum.

I was disappointed to find out that the American Embassy had been torn down in 1995. I wanted to see the place where in 1975, as the communists rolled into the city, thousands of Vietnamese scrambled into the compound and up onto the roof, attempting to board American helicopters and be flown to the safety of American ships waiting in the harbor.

Katie and I arrived in the early evening, hungry. The hotel desk clerk suggested an open-air restaurant about a mile or so away. We had been traveling all day, it was around 6:00 p.m. and still light out, so we decided to walk, which proved to be no easy matter. For the first half mile, there were no sidewalks. Vietnam does not handle garbage in the same way we handle it in the States. Trash and garbage is thrown into the street along the curb all day long, and then sometime in the early morning, a street sweeper person pulling a large garbage pail comes along and sweeps most of it up. So in the evening the amount of garbage along the curb is sizable and right where we were forced to walk.

When we left the hotel I figured it must have been rush hour. Later we discovered that even during non-rush hour times, the sea of vehicles, mostly motor scooters, lessens only slightly. There seems to be two main rules of driving in Southeast Asia: never yield to anyone and toot your horn a lot. The noise was deafening and the streets were so crowded with motor scooters, trucks, buses and cars, that it reminded me of a stream in Ketchikan, Alaska, where the salmon ran so thick we could have walked across on their backs.

When Katie and I worked our way to the main street and realized we needed to cross it, it seemed like an impossibility. There were no street lights to stop the traffic and there was never even a slight break in the flow. We did spot a few crosswalks, but nobody paid the least bit of attention to them. As we stood on the corner, like a couple of dumbstruck possums, looking across the mass of honking swerving vehicles, a young woman motioned for us to follow her lead. Since the traffic was coming from the left, we stayed to her right. She stepped out onto the street, put her left hand up and began slowly to walk across, with us at her side. The traffic magically flowed around us.

We arrived safely on the other side and I yelled, "Cam n!" - "Thank you" in Vietnamese. She smiled and went on her way and we continued on to the restaurant. The sidewalks on the main street were often blocked by parked scooters or street vendors, which forced us to step out into the street, taking care not to get sideswiped by passing vehicles.

We discovered the food is cheap, prepared with care, served graciously, and is delicious. In my opinion, the best thing to emerge from the many years of French occupation is the fusion of French and Vietnamese cuisine.

On our return trip to the hotel, the flow of traffic had not lessened in the slightest. When we arrived at the dreaded corner where we had to cross, I took a deep breath, grabbed Katies hand, and in unison we stepped out into the oncoming traffic. Surprisingly, we were not instantly killed, so we kept a slow and steady pace, just like the young woman showed us, arriving at the other side unharmed, and were able to return to our hotel. In the morning, we would venture out into the vast, sprawling city.

ED. NOTE: For some of Mike´s photos of Ho Chi Minh City and a video of the traffic, click on

http://www.aretiredboomer.blogspot.ca:

The editor copies old letters to tell of her first venture

TRAVELLING OVERSEAS

July 13, 1971: I posted a letter to you yesterday, but I thought I should let you know that I have changed my plans. I figure that by the end of this week I will have seen enough of Portugal - though by no means all of it, of course - and have decided to go to England for the rest of the time.

The weather here has been cool and misty, with no tanning possible. This afternoon I am joining an excursion to Lisbon to see the sights I missed before, and maybe tomorrow I will leave Ericeira. I have read nearly everything I like the look of here, and unless the weather improves, I may as well leave.

The weather turned warm again after my last letter, so I indolently stayed, sunning myself like a lizard on the rocks, reading books, and trying not to eat too much. I bought a few things there and some here in Lisbon, but I don´t feel I have something for everyone yet. You, for instance, Mother, and you, Jay - you´re both so difficult!

I left the books I had read because they are too heavy to take with me. The staff turned out to see me off, all waving and wishing me well, and I roared up the driveway in my little car.

July 17: Yesterday I drove into Lisbon, risking the traffic, and indeed, developing some of the natives´ casual driving habits. I went to the airline office and changed my Lisbon-Brussels ticket for a Lisbon-London-Brussels ticket at no extra cost. Then I went to American Express, where no mail had arrived for me, and asked them to reserve a hotel room in London for next Sunday and Monday night. I thought I might want to look around in London.

Then I think I´ll phone both David Wilson, who used to work with John [my husband] and who scrounged many a meal off me when he was a bachelor; and also Leslie Evans, our old RAF friend. [Leslie visited us in Salmon Arm when he was training in Edmonton during WW2.] Both families live in Staffordshire, wherever that is, so I hope to visit them both, provided they aren´t on holiday. If they are, I shall press on. I would like to see Stratford-on-Avon, and also the Lakes district. Jim Clarkson, the school librarian, has said that if I get as far north as Scotland, he´ll see that I have a place to stay.

This will be my last letter from Portugal, unless I should be overwhelmed by ambition and write tomorrow, because this is my last night here. I am staying in a hotel owned by the same man who owned the pension in Ericeira, where I stayed almost two weeks.

This hotel is new and probably expensive but is in an old part of town. My room is smaller than I had in Ericeira, and has no balcony. It looks out on the backs of many apartment blocks, and has a little garden with some chicken coops in it. Guess what´s going to wake me in the morning!

I had a late dinner in the hotel, and the desk arranged a reservation in a cafe where they had fado singers and folk dancers. The latter were really great - very vigorous. You would not have objected that the girls´ part was less than the men´s, Jude, because they were equally vigorous. The fado singers sang sad songs about loss.

On Sunday I again walked many miles in Lisbon, where I saw the botanical gardens I had missed before. I left for the airport at 6:00 p.m., and met Jim, the Scottish librarian, who was on the same flight.

We had a good flight to London, where a hotel service tried to locate my reservation, but didn´t succeed, so they got me a room which cost six pounds! Figure that one out - that´s $15, and in Ericeira I was paying $6.00 a day a room with for full board. You can see why people go to Portugal!

I decided to get out of London fast, but even that wasn´t cheap. It cost me four and a half pounds to get to the railway station from the hotel, which was only about 20 miles out at the airport. It wasn´t a regular taxi, but a big saloon with a chauffeur, and I think the hotel must get a cut for giving them the business.

Anyway, the driver offered me a tour of London with a running commentary for another four and a half pounds, so I took it, because who knows when I will be here again! It was interesting, and I saw everything from the Queen´s house cavalry (I just missed the trooping of the colours), to the Tower of London, Hyde Park, the Houses of Parliament, No. 10 Downing Street (where people were waiting for the announcement of the mini-budget), to Buckingham Palace.

Then I caught a train at 3:00, changed twice, and arrived at Burton-on-Trent at 6:00. A taxi driver found me an hotel, where I had dinner. I phone David Wilson, and went to visit him and his wife Ann until midnight. They are going to Scotland this weekend, and have offered me a ride.

All for now. More later....

To be continued.

Shirley Conlon shares this joke:

FIRST IT WAS THE APPLE

A woman ran a red traffic light and crashed into a man´s car. Both of their cars were demolished but amazingly, neither of them was hurt. After they crawled out of their cars, the woman said, "Wow, just look at our cars! There´s nothing left, but fortunately we are unhurt. This must be a sign from God that we should meet and be friends and live together in peace for the rest of our days."

The man replied, "I agree with you completely. This must be a sign from God!"

The woman continued, "And look at this, here´s another miracle. My car is completely demolished, but my bottle of 75-year-old scotch didn´t break. Surely God meant for us to drink this vintage delicacy and celebrate our good fortune." Then she handed the bottle to the man.

The man nodded his head in agreement, opened it, drank half the bottle, and then handed it back to the woman. The woman took the bottle, immediately put the cap back on, and handed it back to the man.

The man asks, "Aren´t you having any?"

She replies, "Nah. I think I´ll just wait for the police."

Adam ate the apple, too! Men will never learn!

Irene Harvalias forwards this story about

THE FARMER AND THE TROOPER

An old farmer was pulled over by a young state trooper for speeding. The trooper, fresh on the job, decided to throw his weight around, and started lecturing the farmer about his speed. He did his best to make the farmer feel uncomfortable, but eventually got around to writing the ticket. As he wrote, he had to swat at several flies that were buzzing around his head.

"Having some problems with circle flies there, are ya?" asked the farmer.

The trooper stopped writing the ticket, and looked up. "Well yeah, if that´s what they are," he said. "I never heard of circle flies, though."

"Oh, they´re pretty common on farms," said the farmer. "We call ´em circle flies because they´re always circling around the back end of a horse."

"I see," said the trooper as he continued writing the ticket. All of a sudden, he stopped and looked up at the farmer. "Hey ... wait a minute. Are you trying to call me a horse´s ass?"

"Oh no, officer," replied the farmer. "I have far too much respect for law enforcement and police officers to even think about calling you a horse´s ass."

"Well, that´s a good thing," said the trooper as he resumed writing the ticket.

After a long pause, the farmer continued. "Hard to fool them flies, though."

Catherine Nesbitt sends this story about

THE PRIEST´S RETIREMENT DINNER

A priest was being honoured at his retirement dinner after 25 years in the parish. A leading local politician and member of the congregation was chosen to make the presentation and to give a little speech at the dinner.

However, the politician was delayed, so the priest decided to say his own few words while they waited.

"I got my first impression of the parish from the first confession I heard here. I thought I had been assigned to a terrible place. The very first person who entered my confessional told me he had stolen a television set, and when questioned by the police, was able to lie his way out of it. He had stolen money from his parents, embezzled from his employer, had an affair with his boss´s wife, taken illegal drugs, and gave VD to his sister. I was appalled."

The shocked crowd murmured their disapproval of the miscreant among them.

"But," the old priest continued, "as the days went on, I learned that my people were not all like that and I had, indeed, come to a fine parish full of good and loving people."

Just as the priest finished his talk, the politician arrived, full of apologies for being late. He immediately began to make the presentation and gave his talk:

"I´ll never forget the first day our parish priest arrived," he told the crowd, still at sharp attention after the priest´s words. "In fact, I had the honour of being the first person to go to him for confession...."

The moral: Never, ever be late when you´re on the program.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES

Carol Hansen forwards this link to a video that she assumes will blow your mind. How does he do this?

Carol also sends the URL for a video of a bicycle-car that I would love to have:

Carol Hansen and Catherine Nesbitt both suggest this site for superb photos of the earth:

Catherine also sends this link to a flash mob in an airport terminal dancing the Riverdance:

Jean Sterling forwards the URL for 31 hilarious photos only cat owners will understand:

Judith English suggests this video for the story of Queen Elizabeth´s long reign:

Tom Williamson sends this link to a video of Jumpy, an amazingly well-trained dog:

To sign the Declaration of Voters´ Rights to make every Canadian vote count, click on

An apology letter to future generations for what we are doing to the earth:

Journey to Africa to meet up with Kevin Richardson, one of the most passionate fighters for the lion cause, fighting for their right to live both as a species and as individuals. Watch as he plays with the lions, and even introduces us to some of the other wild animals of Africa along the way:

In this inspiring TED talk, Mileha Soneji shares accessible designs that make the everyday tasks of those living with Parkinson´s a bit easier:

To check out the features of the "freedictionary", which changes daily, go to