Trip 38: From Skysea Hotel to Alarconian Museum of History of Science and Technology
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k50dude: Thanks for following my two CJ's so actively! About the logos, I can't have a logo for each CJ, it has to be the same for all. For example, I remember thepokemaniac who had three CJ's at a time and had to use the same logo for all of them...
naftixe: Thanks for your comment and for that piece of knowledge! Now I know I can't plagiarize myself; but I just wanted to avoid that somebody could think: "Hey, this is the same pic I saw in the previous entry; not very original..." They are the same buildings, but the entire surroundings have been improved and I had to wait for the sunset to take the pic. Then; I photoedited it more carefully than the one in the regular entry...
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Carrer de Maricel (Skysea Street), 9:38 a.m.
It was an early trip in the morning, it was strange to be called so early from one of the largest hotels in the nation. During summer, it isn't normal but during winter this is even more strange... Anyways, I went to the Skysea Hotel to see what surprises I had to face today.
The shadow of the five Skysea Hotel towers were falling over the Atlantic Ocean now. I was listening the early news on the radio when a couple of people went into the car. I asked, in English:
"Good morning..."
"Good morning for you too..." said the couple. They seemed to be wife and husband and they were clearly tourists. They were dressed as tourists.
"Where do we go?"
"To the... Museum of Technology..." they couldn't remember the exact name.
"Ah, OK, I know. The old one, right?"
"Yes."
I hadn't had to use the GPS to know that this would be the fastest route:
This leaded to ask myself why they hadn't taken the oldest ferry line in the nation to go from here to there. Maybe they didn't know, but I was sure that the touristic guide the woman was carrying should say something about the ferry.
I started the car and went to take Avinguda de l'Atlàntic (Atlantic Avenue). Once again Atlantic Avenue, passing besides some more hotels. All this part of the coast is full of them. The couple were looking at their guide.
"I guess you're not from here..." I said.
"You're right, how have you known?" asked the man.
"For your touristic guide." I lied. In fact I knew because of their clothes. "Where are you from?"
"We're from Birmingham, Britain."
"Nice... Have you ever been here before?"
"We came here before getting married, now we're celebrating our tenth aniversary..."
"My congratulations..." I said.
I kept straight on, besides the Terrace, some events are held here at night such jazz concerts; and it is the place where fireworks are placed when we celebrate our national holidays.
"We arrived here yesterday at night. What do you recommend us to see first?"
"I guess you know many things when you came here for the first time."
"I have to say we didn't explore the island very much, we stayed at the beach mainly."
"Well, near the Skysea Hotel you have the CBD and the Old Quarter, they are maybe the most touristic places here. And you've chosen a good time to come, at Summer some popular places are crowded..."
"What about museums?"
"The one you're going to is my favourite, but if you're looking for art, you should visit the Contemporary Art Center, near the stadium; and the Alarconian National Gallery, very near the convention center."
Although in winter, Bay Beach was full of surfists and crazy people who considered that having a morning bath in cold water made them well. In this part of the year, nearby hotels were quite empty, the only tourists came to Alarconia for making the so-called "cultural tourism".
"You know, there are plenty of things to see here, maybe we're not a touristic powerhouse but I think that you can see nice places everywhere you go." I announced.
"Certainly..." said the man, still looking to his guide.
Traffic along Bay Beach was light, we were beyond the rush hour and this part of the avenue isn't very travelled during rush hour. We were entering now in Fishermen District, slowly absorbed by Little Hong Kong. Its most prominent part is Fishermen Cemetery, the oldest existing cemetery in the city.
"And were can we eat traditional Alarconian food?"
"Ufff... tough question..." I dubbed. "I don't know many restaurants, maybe asking in your hotel will give better results... The only one I know well is Great Babylon, in Commerce Plaza."
"What kind of food is served there?"
"It was a pizzeria ten years ago, but a new management made it a traditional restaurant although the name wasn't changed."
"I guess we'll give it a try..."
We were travelling now through Little Hong Kong.
"Here, in Little Hong Kong you can find some great Chinese restaurants, but I can't name an specific one..."
Atlantic Avenue continued by the cliffhanger. In my opinion, this wasn't a nice part of the city. The avenue is like this, you can see nice things and not-so-nice things without changing your direction.
This was the core of Little Hong Kong, the main settlement for Asian inmigrants in Alarconia City. They even built their homes in a Hong Kong style.
"Why tall buildings stop here?" asked the woman.
"You'll know when you hop off the taxi..."
"What do you mean?"
"It's a polluted zone, we're very near the Industrial District. In fact, the museum is inside the Industrial District."
"The place where Industrial Revolution started."
"Exactly." I said.
We were approaching to the Old Lighthouse, the one that guided the ships into the old Alarconia Seaport during the 19th century. Nowadays, it is used as a touristic information center.
"Does this lighthouse work?"
"No, it doesn't. It is now an information center, but it's placed in a not very useful zone. I mean, the only interesting thing around here is the museum and Saint Suzanne church..."
Now it was the time when we left Atlantic Avenue and entered in Avinguda de l'Indústria (Industry Avenue). During the 19th century, it was planned to allow goods to be shipped to/from the seaport easily. With the rise of automobiles, commuters are stuck here during rush hour.
"I can see the chimney." said the man.
"There are a bunch of them here, I guess they are a lot of them in England, too..."
"They tell about our history."
"Well, chimneys are even more important in a 300-years-old country. I mean, we have not much history to be proud of, so we have to take care of it."
I made a U-turn in the next crossing, and parked the car just in front of the Museu Alarconià d'Història de la Ciència i la Tecnologia (MAHiCiT) (Alarconian Museum of History of Science and Technology). The surroundings didn't seem very cozy, there were some abandoned stores and some dirt along the avenue; nothing to be very proud of.
"Here we are." I stopped the taximeter "There will be 39.15 Alarconian Dollars, please..."
"Can we pay with Euros?"
"Of course, it's the same amount, 39.15."
They gave me a 50 Euro banknote and told me to keep the coins with me, so I only gave back to them a 10 AL$ note.
"You won't have any problem in paying with Euros here, we accept them as it was our usual currency."
"We knew that. Bye-bye!" they said.
"Have a nice stay and a nice day!"
"Thank you."
OK, I had to go back to the downtown because nobody would take a taxicab here.
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