Nancy and Bob travel diary

Madrid

2010-03-31T16:51:00.000-07:00

Madrid March 21-24:

We could not take the train as it was fully booked so the bus it was! Bad decision...should have waited for the next day.
A taxi took us to the station for the 8 AM bus to Madrid. A really long ride at 6 ½ hours. It was very hot and stuffy on the bus and we had a screaming baby in front of us with a squeal that hurt my head for most of the trip. Nancy resorted to the “New Waterford” look at the mother which seemed to help but was "too little too late". Arrived in Madrid at the Hotel @ 3:30... a very long day.

Nice Hotel, quite near the Plaza Mayor, small as usual and looking onto a noisy street. We later found out we were in the prostitute district. We set out to explore with a determination to find the Plaza Mayor this time. How could we have missed it four weeks ago...it is huge! Blame it on jet lag. We stopped at an outdoor cafe for a drink and to watch the people for awhile.

This has to be one of the more interesting spots in Madrid. Jugglers, clowns, living statues, beggars and muscians all vying for your attention and your Euros! In amongst all this what may be the most concentrated number of pick pockets in the country if not in Europe. Nancy kept her purse firmly under her arm while we were walking there.

We went back to the upscale Market we had discovered when we passed through earlier in the hopes of finding a spot to hare some tapas. Apparently it is one of the more popular afterwork stops. It was very crowded an we soon gave up on this idea.

The prices in the Plaza Mayor were crippling and Nancy was in the mood for a Mohito! We headed back to our hotel which had a very interesting restaurant/bar on the ground floor. An excellent place for a pre-dinner apertif like a Mojito maybe?

The following is direct excerpt from Bob's diary...I think it pretty much sums up what happened next without too many boring details:
Now off for a little walk and some tapas. Bad news. Nancy looked down and her purse was open and passports gone! We looked everywhere but it was apparent they were pick-pocketed. We are pretty down. Nancy called the Embassy numbers etc and we were off to do our police report needed to get replacements the next day. Two hours in the police station was not fun, but, we got what we needed and met other people with worse problems than us as we only lost our passports. Not a lot of English going on at the station! Back to our Hotel for a good bottle of Argentina's fine wine and a nice dinner. Nancy gave her surprised glare to the waiter that brought our food as it was not quite what she expected. After the awkward moment we got the rest of our dinner without incident and it was delicious. We called it a night.

The next day:
We arrived at the embassy with our photos taken at the machine as directed by the contact Nancy spoke to on the phone. The nice lady at the Embassy advised us that those pictures are not acceptable for the passports. Nancy and I were somewhat irate re the bad info. However, we met a nice guy with similar problems. Basically we had to fill out tons of forms and get references etc. All went well as Nancy had everything done the night before. By noon we were quite confident that we would get the temporary passports in time for our Wed flight. We headed back to get lunch. It was not very good! However, we recovered with two nice bus tours courtesy of tickets supplied by the Madrid Police Department. They were very good and we got to see a lot of the city. It is 5.5 million people. We did some grocery shopping and headed back to relax before dinner. Had a great dinner close to home. Mussels and smoked salmon tapas with a bottle of champagne and wine. We spent the evening watching the hookers and Nancy got to have a couple of smokes. All will be well if we get our passports tomorrow.

These photos are of buildings around Madrid taken on the bus tour. The tickets are 17 euros each and maybe not worth purchasing but we enjoyed this little gift from the Madrid Police department. I think it is supposed to make you like Madrid again after a bad experience...not a bad idea really.

March 23rd:
Good news! Our passports are ready to be picked up! We got them in our hands this morning and I am now guarding them with my life. Every one of the 5.5 million people in Spain is a suspect and a potential thief! We have decided to not get down over this and to enjoy the last full day we have in Madrid/Spain. We proceeded on our planned tour of the Prada Museum. What a place! A week would not be enough to see the main exhibits. However, we will do it in less than a day based on Nancy’s planning from our trip to date and the travel guides. The artwork is truly amazing. To be in the midst of this kind of work by this many of the “Masters” is a bit overwhelming. To actually be standing in front of these pieces of work that you see in travel guides and on TV over the years is chilling. I had to practically drag Nancy out of the Prada so we could prepare to pack and spend our last evening dinner in Madrid.

We managed to pick up some little Spanish treasures at the local grocery/liquor store. We acquired a little something to toast the last night in Spain, as well as a few bottles of the local flavour to bring back to Halifax to be packed with the container load of other things that found their way to our suitcases. We returned to the Argentinian restaurant for our last evening out as we wanted to make it an early night. The food and wine was great as usual. After we got packed and almost ready for bed, I managed to sneak across the alley from our hotel to try the Spanish version of our “Donair”. Not bad. Nancy, to my surprise, caught me in the act as can be seen by one of the pictures above.

March 24th:
Awake early and ready to go as our flight is at seven AM. The front desk called and advised our cab was downstairs early so I rushed to the elevator with our two largest suitcases. Rather than go directly down I returned to the room to get the third heavy suitcase so Nancy would not have to carry it down the stairwell. Just as I got back to the elevator and pushed the button, the power in the building went off. Ten seconds earlier and I would have been trapped inside. So, down the stairs I go with a small container load of suitcases to meet the cabbie. Bad news! The large glass exit door was locked and the power release button did not work. Now I am perturbed. I advised the cabbie in my best Spanish sign language that if the upstairs desk clerk could not be found in one minute, that I would be leaving Madrid in a Smash! Meanwhile Nancy is nowhere to be found. I was in the process of giving the large glass door a few test whacks to prepare for my final assault when Nancy appeared with the clerk and his master keys. The cabbie looked a bit scared as we exited the hotel. He was, however, very polite and efficient in getting us to the airport on time and seemed quite relieved to drop us off. The flight went well and we arrived in Munich on schedule.

We had a few hours layover in Munich so Nancy went on one of her usual walkabouts to shop and verify our tickets, boarding passes etc. To my surprise she returned as excited as I have ever seen her. I thought wow she must have got an upgrade to first class or something! Much to my chagrin the miracle was that she had found a book, the third in the series “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest” at a great price when the book was not even available in Canada yet. I pretended to be as excited as she was and shuffled her off to our gate to board the plane for Toronto. The rest of the flights etc. went as scheduled and we arrived home with no major incidents.

Sevilla the last day

2010-03-23T10:46:00.001-07:00

March 20:
The clock was ticking on our 48 hour Sevilla pass. Lots to see and not much time! Our plan was to start off with a tour of the Alcazaba (Royal Castle) but after being closed for the day yesterday the line up was discouragingly long. We didn't feel like waiting around so we set off to explore the Judaria. The old Jewish quarter is maze of narrow streets where you can easily get disoriented. There are lovely little courtyards like in this photo below with tiled benches.

We finally got a chance to see the Golden Tower. It is called the Golden Tower because the gold from the Americas was stored here. It is now a maritime museum. You can climb the tower for a good look at the river and great photo ops.
The museum was small but neat. Small scale models of the Nina, Pinta, and the Santa Maria were on display (remember fromschool) A little bit of interesting history on display.
Looking down the Guadalhiver River from the Golden Tower.

A model of the Columbus ship the Santa Maria in the maritime museum.

Our impressions of Spain's weather are not that golden...a rainy day in Sevilla....too bad we didn't have our nice polka dot flamenco umbrellas with us!
Bob made the mistake of suggesting we go back to our room for a brief rest. Rest!!`we don`t have time for rest!!`I shrieked. Poor Bob...he said `Nancy, we are not getting paid by the kilometer to do this you know! But we did have the 48 hour Sevilla Pass and a lot to see that day, so from the Golden Tower it was on to the Museum of Fine Arts. It was a bit of a walk and it was raining but it was worth it. The museum is small but there are some very nice paintings. An hour or more well spent.

Next stop the Corte Inglis, a huge department store to get our free tapas & wine which was included in the Sevilla 48 hour pass. The tapas were surprisingly good for a department store. It was interesting to look around the store which had racks of the flamenco style dresses with lots of frills and polkat dots on display for both young girls and women. These dresses are worn during the April Fair which comes just after Easter.

By the time we finished our free tapas lunch it was mid afternoon so we headed to the Royal Palace to try again. I have visited the Reales Alcazares before but it was the first time for Bob. It is somewhat of a let down when you have seen the Alhambra. It is so huge and spread out that it began to look the same after a while. It is actually deliberately designed to confuse the visitor.

The Patio de la Monteria (Patio of the Hunt)

The Palace is on the site of Roman fortifications and an old Moorish Palace but the structure you see today was constructed after 1364 so although it looks Moorish it it was built in fake Moorish style by Moors working for the Christians kings. The top floors are still used as a royal residence when the King is in town. I guess that is where he will stay when he comes to address his people from the bullring!

Patio de la Monteria

Looking out from the salon into the Courtyard of the Dolls
Courtyard of the Dolls
Bob says "I think I am Palaced out!" I am beginning to agree.
After an hour or two walking around the Palace we were ready for a glass of vino so we headed to the little cafeteria in the gardens. NB If ou are planning on a trip to Sevilla, tthe cafeteria in the Royal Gardens is not the most inexpensive place in the city to enjoy a glass of wine.After a short break we managed a walk around the Royal gardens.

This time of year all the orange trees that line the streets of southern Spain are bearing fruit. Oranges everywhere but so sour they cannot be eaten. They are only good for juice and marmelade. Anybody who is a fan of Dundee marmelade will know it was made from Seville oranges.

I didn't know that oranges and orange blossoms could occur at the same time on an orange tree.

The gardens are lovely, worth taking the time for a stroll. I think they are the best part of the Palace

A view of the cathedral from the side with the Giralda tower. The main landmark in Sevilla.

After the garden stroll we went back to our hotel to start packing before heading off to see the Macarena which Nancy was insistant she HAD to see! We had to take a taxi as it was a 45 minute walk and at this point that was beyond us....but Nancy really wanted to see it. Although I was reluctant I went along with it and it turned out to be an interesting experience and the people were neat to watch.

Back to the hotel for a much needed rest.. The clock was up on the 48hr Sevilla Pass! That night we walked back to the Santa Cruz district for an evening stroll and to search for a romantic place for our last meal in Sevilla. Notthatdifficult really, we soon found a really lovely place with a small courtyard sheltered by stone walls. The food was very good, the wine was excellent and I got my first mosquito bite!
Bob's favourite is the calamare frita, very fresh calamari but deep fried.

The soup you see in the photo is called salmorejo, a speciality of Cordoba. It is made with tomatos, bread and cream, a kind of gazpacho bbut very thick. Always served with chopped egg and ham bits on top. It is very good.
Sevilla at night.

Santa Cruz

Cathedral Plaza at night

Sevilla the first two days

2010-03-21T07:13:00.000-07:00

March 18-19:
Every city we have visited has a very different atmosphere. It is as if Spain is many countries in one. We have enjoyed everything each place has to offer. Toledo has its cathedral, Cordoba the amazing Mezquita, Granada the Alhambra, the Costa del Sol its beaches and sun....but Sevilla is special. James Mitchener put it best "Sevilla doesn't have ambiance it is ambiance". There is nothing quite like walking down the Avenida de la Constitution beside the locals in the evening with a cellist playing on the sidewalk. Unfortunately there are more accordian players than cellists, they are not quite the same!

We arrived on the bus from Cadiz in the early afternoon. It was 24 and sunny so we were optimistic we might get some good weather. First stop in any new city has to be the tourist info place. In Spain they are a little different. We asked about the Sevilla card which can reduce the cost of visiting the city's monuments. When we asked for information about it they said "no, not here" quite emphatically. Now I find that a little odd. They showed us on a map where to buy the ticket and we set off.

At my suggestion we purchased the 48 hour Sevilla card which allowed us to get into all of the main monuments including the bull ring, the cathedral and the Alcazar Real. It also included a bus tour and a cruise on the Quadalaquiver River. SO the clock was ticking....so much to see so little time!

We decided to wait until the next day to start the clock on the Sevilla pass. We spent the rest of the day and evening just looking around.

The cathedral is lit at night and it is very impressive.

The bull ring is also lit at night and looks very attractive. It is the second oldest bullring in Spain, next to Ronda's.

I had to include this picture of the waiter at the restaurant where we had dinner that night. When you order fish they come to your table and fillet it for you. Now that is service!

If the picture above looks familiar don't worry....different city, different protest, different police. the President of Spain who is also the President of the EU seems to be following us around Spain. Most inconvenient for us. If you remember the Alhambra was closed for the EU ministers. We planned our day around a morning visit to the Real Alcazar (Royal Palace). When we got there it was closed because the Spanish government with president were meeting inside. Outside were the usual protesters. Spain's economy is in a bad way and the people are very angry. Organized protest occurs regularly.

We walked down by the river to the Golden Tower but that was closed too. So the bullring it was...unfortunately it was open. We had been looking forward to seeing a bullring since we missed the one in Ronda because Bob was sick. We were dismayed to discover the King was due to address his subjects on the 25th March from the centre of the bullring. They were good to go for that with a huge tent in the centre of the ring. No photo ops!! There seems to be the same argument about the origin of professional bullfighting as Canadian hockey. Sevilla claims it started there. We did not get into the argument.

The Prince's gate from where the bullfighter gets to leave when he has killed his third bull. Sort of a goal for up and coming bullfighters.

I was wondering if this was a kind of elite thing so I asked how many people in Spain would have seen a bullfight. I was told immediately "100%". Even more popular than hockey!

A carefully taken photo of the ring avoiding the tent.

The corridor around the ring...it was clear.

There is a museum and a sort of art gallery with unusual paintings of bulls and men killing bulls. I include this photo so you can see what I mean by odd paintings. I can't see that in my living room!

The matador prays in a special chapel before the fight. Bob says that is unfair as the bulls have no chapel.

Next the bus tour. Only an hour and you get a good idea of the layout of the city and get to see things you would never know were there.

In the afternoon we took advantage of a break in the clouds to go into the cathedral and climb the Giralda. The tower is 90 metres high. It was constructed by the Moors in the 1100's. The muezzin road a mule to the top of the tower to give the call to prayer six times a day. In this century we are the mules going round and round to get to the top for a spectacular view of the city.

This is the Silver Alter in the Seville cathedral.

Christopher Columbus received his orders and blessings from Isabella and Ferdinand in this cathedral before his voyage to the America's. DNA evidence has confirmed that his bones do indeed rest in this place. See his tomb in this photo.

The view from the Giralda.

The bells still ring in this tower.

The cathedral from the Giralda.

This little dove was resting on the side of the Giralda as we climbed down. It is like he posed for us. of course a big zoom helps!

Here is Nancy in the ramp of the Giralda.

Some of the treasure they have on exhibit in the Treasury. A little bit on the gaudy side but I think worth a bit!

You can see where all the gold and silver from the Americas ended up. This is the main alter and it is made of gold (and dust)!

This is the ceiling in the Sacristy (I think). very ornate.

The pillars, the ceiling and the high alter.

A painting by Murillo of the patron saints off the city. Above the alter in the sacristy.

The cathedral in Sevilla.

We finished the day with the boat cruise on the Guadalhiver River (included in our pass!), the same river down which Columbus sailed when he left Sevilla for America, that was pretty much the coolest part of the cruise. It was about an hour long and goes a little up and then down the river. You get a pretty good look at Triana the artsy part of the city on the other side of the river.

You also get a look at the more industrial side of Sevilla...not the most picturesque!

I am not sure I would like to eat the fish they are catching in this river.
In the evening we joined the locals on a a tapas tour of the bars near (and just under) our hotel. Not the quietest address in town.

The tapas bars!

Our Hotel at night

Photos of our hotel, La Maestranza at night.

Cadiz

2010-03-20T00:44:00.000-07:00

March 17-18: Happy St. Patrick's Day!!
Bob says there is not much to say about Cadiz. The beach was beautiful, the food was great...best seafood of anywhere and our best hotel. It was a great hotel the internet had 5 bars!!

Cadiz is on Spain's Costa de Luz...I am guessing that means the light coast. The sand is the colour of gold, the beach stretches on for over 4.5 km. After 3 weeks of rain, overcast and cold we were delighted to wake up to 24 warm degrees. We didn't even mind that it was almost that warm in Halifax!

You can see the old city of Cadiz in the background behind the breakwater.

We walked along the beach toward the centre of the city. It got warmer as we walked and finally we collapsed on the beach for an hour just to enjoy the sun. After the exercise in Gibraltar it was nice to relax!

One of many sidewalk cafes in the centre of the city.

Spain is famous for its balconies. In this photo you can see one of many trees that are in bloom as spring arrives on the Costa de Luz.

There was some kind of fair going on...not quite sure what was happening but everybody was having a very good time.

They had a big BBQ going with racks of some kind of animal...perhaps lamb or goat.

There was a parade and somebody shooting off a gun regularly.....very hard on the nerves. Something to do with the constitution but we never figured out what was going on One problem with not speaking the language.

Cadiz is important historically as a departing point for the explorers going to the new world. Columbus left from here on two of his four voyages. We looked but did not find a statue of him. This memorial is a tribute to Cortez...more important to South America than North.

Memorial to Cortez

A street in the old quarter of Cadiz. We didn't have much time here...the city deserves an extended stay. Lots of atmosphere and a fantastic beach. Much nicer than Costa del Sol.

When Cadiz was in its heyday in the 1770's they pressured the church into building a cathedral here. It is not as nice as many of the other cathedral's...sort of a plain Jane as cathedrals go and quite small. Bob keeps referring to it as being under construction. The poor thing is losing so much of its ceiling they have nets strung out to catch all the falling stone. It does take away from the appearance.

You can climb up in the tower but that is an extra admission. We did not go up...

the choir

the main alter

We went for a walk along the beach to see the sunset. With the weather turning against us again there was not much of a sunset. It was wonderful to be able to walk on the beach without freezing. The sky was beautiful.

We had our supper in a restaurant close to the beach. We have discovered that Spanish white wine is almost as good as the red!

Tomorrow....finally Sevilla!!!

Gibraltar

2010-03-17T10:54:00.000-07:00

Mar 15-16 Gibraltar:
We set off from Ronda for Marbella on the 11 AM bus which left at 11:30. It was not as nice a day as when we came up into the mountains. An overcast sky meant the coast was not as visible as we approached. On the bus I met a very nice English woman named Veronica. She had been living as an artist in a village near Ronda for twenty years. She knew the area very well and was able to act as a personal tour guide. I don't think Bob enjoyed the trip as much as I did. His stomach was still a bit queasy and the twisting and turning road didn't help.

We changed buses in Marbella for La Linnea and arrived at this town which is the closest Spanish city to Gibraltar in the early afternoon. The hotel is close to the border but not nearly as nice as any of the other hotels. The room is large, the bathroom is gigantic by Spanish standards and it seems clean enough. On the other hand it is very cold and there seems to be mold growing on the wall. It has a musty smell.

We went across the border to eat at an English style restaurant. Bob wanted something simple and familiar after being sick so long. He found the perfect bowl of pureed squash soup!

There are several ways to get up on the rock. You can walk! You can take a cable car. You can hire a guided taxi for about 70 euros. We decided to wait until the next day and were content to wander around the town for a couple of hours. It is very strange, this bastion of British culture so close to Spain. About 70% of the people are British but they speak a strange mixture of Spanish and English.

Crossing the border back to La Linnea was interesting at rush hour. About 8000 people live in Spain and work in Gibraltar. Can you imagine having to cross a border as part of your daily commute?

La Linnea is nothing spectacular but it is actually better than I expected. We walked around our hotel area for a bit and had a drink at a bar sitting outside where huge propane burners kept us warm. With our wine received a plate of the only bad olives in Spain.

We only had one blanket and it was very cold. Bob has been a bit timid communicating as he has no Spanish. He gallantly went to ask for another blanket. I told him to shiver and mime covering himself. The lady arrived at our door several minutes later with a stack of five huge woolen blankets. I told him he must have really shivered!

I was in Gibraltar three years ago when I met Bonnie and Rick on Aisling. The boat was moored at the Queensway Quay seen here in this photo.

Downtown Gibraltar....I took an almost identical picture 3 years ago of these women sitting on this bench. Must be a popular stop!

The most popular souvenir is a stuffed monkey that shrieks when you press a button (sound familiar Les?)

Main street Gibraltar early morning. Not nearly as many people as there were in the late summer.

We arrived in Gibraltar in the early morning and had breakfast in the main square waiting to check out some tour guides. Four pieces of toast, a couple of thin slices of packaged ham and two pieces of tomato....$19 Cdn! Don't eat in Gibraltar!!!!

We arranged a taxi to take us to the top for 20 euros and another 20 pounds for the tickets to get into the reserve. We had limited amount of cash because we forgot to go to the ATM. We also figured we could walk down and see more.

The first stop was St. Michael's cave. We listened to Pachebel's Canon on a loudspeaker as we explored the cave. It holds an auditorium with seats for 400 people where they have concerts and ballet. Must be nice in the heat of summer to go in there with its natural air conditioning.

This photo shows the auditorium in the cave.

There is a stalactite in the cave that fell many years ago. A slice was cut off in the 1970's so you can see the inside. the stalactite is the one on the left in this photo.

The views from up top are spectacular even on a slightly overcast day. In this photo you are looking at the spot where the waters of the Atlantic meet the saltier Mediterranean Sea.

The cab driver suggested we climb up past the caves to the north look off where the view was supposed to be spectacular.

We started out for the highest viewpoint on the north side of the rock as recommended by the cab driver. On the way we encountered this cute little monkey. I tried to get his attention but he wanted no part of us. As we continued uphill Nancy spotted a road that went much higher but in the opposite direction. After a short discussion we set out on a new unknown path that was a very difficult climb. It was well worth the effort as the view was spectacular. We could see the position where the Mediterranean and the Atlantic meet. The visible line in the water was a sight to see.

After a very long and difficult walk back down from this unplanned area we were ready to proceed to the the north viewpoint where a family of monkeys live. Uphill and a long way in the opposite direction. On the way we passed the monkey on the post again. I tried to get his attention, but again, no luck. After another long difficult walk we made it to the viewing area on the backside of Gibraltar where we could see the Costa del Sol for miles. Quite breath taking. The monkeys seem to exist without any acknowledgment of us humans. Only the babies seem a bit curious. They were very playful and cute.

However, time is of the essence and we now had a long walk downhill before us. We walked back down to St. Michael's cave where we started. Of course we passed the monkey on the post again and when I looked back I am sure he was now smirking and mumbled the words "dumb Canucks".

Anyway we now proceeded on a 2.2 kilometer walk past the Great Seige Tunnels and on to the World War 11 tunnels for the tour as recommended by the Cobbie. We now realized that we had misunderstood the driver's instructions...we should have done the upper tunnels first as we would now have to return to the top to complete that tour!

We were in no man's land now as before we could tour the World War 11 Tunnels we had to go down even further to see the Moorish Castle. The Moorish Castle was really not much to see especially if you have seen the Alhambra. The walk very taxing, I am a little tired by now!

Then we walked all the way back up the rock to look at the World War 11 tunnels. We were both getting tired from climbing up and down the rock but here we go again up the north peak of the rock. However, Nancy wanted to see it all and was extremely determined. We all know from the Halifax City Council issue last year how much good it does to defy Nancy! Up the hill we went.

This is the first thing you see when you enter the tunnel, a tribute to the Canadian engineers who worked here in 1940-43. Without them the work would never have been finished on time.

The guide for the World War 11 Tunnels was the very same one that Nancy had in 2007, a guy named "Smudge". He was stationed here when he was in the British army. He was very good. We did the tour with a couple from Ottawa so "Smudge" really poured on the Canadian content. The Canadians were brought in to drill out the large tunnels as we had bigger drills with diamond bits compared to the British. The tunnels were a three year project where the workers stayed here and laboured six days a week underground. They only got to go outside on the 7th day. There were 5000 of them and they completed 50 kilometers of tunnels in three years. That is longer than all of the roads in Gibraltar. I feel like we walked more than that all uphill! The tour took about 40 minutes and was a long walk in itself, again, all uphill.

Smudge

Here is Bob in his nice pink hard hat looking out over a balcony carved into the rock by a Scottish regiment who were desperate for a view.

Tunnels carved into the rock made Gibraltar easily defensible. Once it came under the Union Jack in 1713 it was never taken. The Spanish tried from 1770-1783 when they laid seige to the rock. When Hitler threatened Europe in 1939 it was a natural spot to station a secret garrison to protect the entrance to the Mediterranean.

The runway from the balcony carved into the rock by the WWII soldiers.

Now off to the Great Seige tunnel tour except there is a problem,....it a long way uphill again! We finally arrived and I practically had to beg Nancy for a short rest before we went in. Once inside I was elated to learn the tour was fairly short but steep and downhill. The bad news was that the finish point was at the entrance back where we started, which meant, you guessed it, all the way back uphill. I swear we went up and down the rock more in one day than Lance Armstrong did in a season preparing in the Pyrenees for the Tour De France.

Nancy promised all the walking was downhill from here on. I hope you can imagine how hard 2-3 kilometers of straight downhill walking is on the hamstrings! Oh! By the way we passed the little monkey on the post for the fourth time. As I peaked back I am sure he was laughing deliriously and holding his tummy! Or perhaps it was just me who was delirious by now.

We kept walking down non stop as we wanted to make our bus connections in La Linea for Algiceras. After walking for what seemed like an eternity Nancy sought directions from a local lady. Her advice was to take a shortcut by way of some steps to the right. It turned out to be about 300-400 long hard steps. More new muscles to work out. It hurt but we did it and finally reached the bottom without seeing that monkey again. Now if we could get to the bus and get a break with the traffic we might make our connection.

Things looked pretty good for awhile as the bus quickly wound its way through town. Suddenly for no apparent reason we came to a stop. We sat for quite a few minutes and Nancy queried why we were stopped so long. It turns out a plane was landing and they get priority over the runway. Ten minutes later and we are again on our way with no chance to make our bus in La Linea. We missed the first bus but had an outside chance to make our connection on the 4:45 bus to Algiceras to catch the 5:30 bus to Cadiz. We boarded the 4:45 at 5:08. No chance.

We got to Algiceras at six to wait for the 7:5 bus via Tarifa which is known as the surfing hub of southern Spain.

It was a shame that we missed the earlier bus as it was getting dark by the time we set off. As we drove though the barren hills between Algiciras and Tarifa we passed a series of wind turbines ten deep on both sides of the road for over ten kilometers and stretching off into the distance. Quite a sight to see! In the early evening light they looked mysterious, very alien. You can see where Spain must get its power.

After nearly two hours we arrived in Cadiz. The hotel was really nice so it perked up our spirits a bit. We were so tired but had promised each other a nice dinner. Nancy got the name of a restaurant from the hotel desk clerk and we gave it a try. Food and wine were great. We tried the little clams as an appetizer as Rick & Bonnie had praised them as one of their favourite dishes in Spain. Nancy hand picked our fish from a cooler full of different kinds. It was filleted and prepared by the chef and it was delicious! Now some well deserved sleep!

Ronda

2010-03-13T13:32:00.001-08:00

March 12-15:

We left Malaga behind in sunshine and headed along the Costa del Sol to Marbella. We took the “slow bus” so we could see a bit of the coast. A bit is all you can see really, it is wall to wall concrete from Malaga to Marbella with huge cranes none of which seem to be working. As we passed through the resort towns of Torremolinos and Fuengirola we saw many tourists in short sleeves basking in the sun. We were a bit jealous and not too optimistic that we would soon be sharing the warmth. We were heading to Ronda, one of the white towns high in the mountains cooler and dryer than the coast. Well, at least we hoped it would be dryer!

Since it can be easily reached from the coast Ronda is a popular excursion for visitors from the Costa del Sol. During the day it fills up with tourists bit by late afternoon the streets are empty.

Then in the early evening the main street suddenly fills up with people. Young people pushing baby carriages, old people with canes walking arm in arm with their children...entire families and many small dogs come out to promenade. The children run about playing with each other and the adults call out greetings as if they hadn't seen each other in months yet the whole thing is repeated every night. It is the main source of entertainment in this town.

Ronda is situated on both sides of the El Tajo gorge carved out of rock by the Guadalevin River. On the south side is the old Muslim town, La Ciudad. To the south the newer town that sprang up when it came back into Christian hands in 1485. There are three bridges joining the town built during different periods.

Puenta Romano (Roman bridge but may not have been built by Romans), the smallest and oldest of the new bridges. You have to walk quite far down to see this one as it is the lowest.

The middle bridge is the Puenta Viejo (Old Bridge) or Arab Bridge. In this photo you can see the Roman bridge through the Old Bridge.

The Puenta Nuevo ( New Bridge) was built around 1750 on the foundation of one that had been built in 1735 but fell down six years later. It is one of the most photographed things in Spain.

Note that Bob must be standing on a step!

We only planned on two days in Ronda but that got extended to three because Bob got sick with a stomach virus and spent all Saturday in bed. Poor Bob! He had been looking forward to Ronda.

On Sunday morning we climbed down into the gorge, not an easy feat when you are recovering from a nasty bug. Bob was a trooper and although it was a struggle, made it backup. That was pretty much it for him for the day though! You can see he looks a bit peaked in the photo of the two of us in the gorge.

Our reward for the morning's exercise.... lunch in a cafe overlooking the El Tajo gorge. A beautiful spot to rest.

Professional bullfighting originated in Ronda which has the oldest bullring in Spain. There main Feria (Fair) celebrates the Romero family, the first bullfighters, not a Saint which is more typical in Spain.

I think this guy, looking pretty cool in the background dressed up as a picador, is supposed to be attracting tourists to the bull ring but he looks quite bored to me. I felt kind of sorry for the horse.

From this look off you can see the Serranos de Ronda, beautiful green hills where you can see many olive trees growing.
You have no idea until you walk away from it that there is nothing but air beneath your feet!

Bob managed to do a bit of site seeing and shopping in spite of being sick

Sunset is the most beautiful time of day in Ronda.

Bob looks pretty cool here too!

Malaga, where did all the people come from?

2010-03-13T11:30:00.001-08:00

March 11:

We have grown quite used to sharing Spain with only the Spanish tourists. Suddenly the Costa del Sol and we have found the English, both the people and the language! We can actually understand what we are seeing because they have English labels. It is a very different world here. This is trite, everyone says it, but it is true...Spain is many countries.

We began the day with a climb to the Alcazaba (if you think I am repeating myself there is one in every Moorish city). There is not too much left of this one, limestone tends to crumble away quickly. The views are great from the top. There is a palace inside which is quite lovely with gardens. As you walk up the smell of jasmine is overwhelming. The blossoms are just opening so I can imagine what it will be like in a week.

While I was waiting for Bob to come back from the banos I took a short rest in the sun in the gardens of the royal palace. When Bob returned he discovered a group of young school children taking pictures of me. I guess they thought I was an ancient monument!

You can climb higher and visit the castillo Gibralfaro which was built by Rahman I. some of the ramparts have been restored. There is a small exhibit showing the changing appearance of the Spanish soldier over the centuries. It is worth the climb just for the view of the city.

This photograph of the cathedral was taken from far away with a zoom lens. It is really the only way to take in the whole thing it is so large. Can you figure it? They spent a lot of money and a lot of years creating these monuments to God that could be seen from miles away and then crammed in so many buildings around them that you can't really see them up close.

The front doors of the cathedrals seem to be only used for processions. You have to walk all the way around to find a way in this. This cathedral has a sculpture garden which is interesting. I didn't take any pictures of it though so I can't show you.

After climbing all around the Alcazaba and up and down the ramparts of the Castillo to look at the views over Malaga we had a short (very short, we are on a mission!) rest and then went into the Cathedral.

Here is Bob standing on the ramparts of Castillo Gibralfaro patiently posing for me.

You don't get bored seeing all these amazing cathedrals but you do get confused. After a while it gets blurred and you can't remember what you saw where. We spent some time trying to sort out the four cathedrals we have seen. There was the huge Gothic one in Toledo, the one hidden in the Mosque in Cordoba, the massive white one in Granada with the beautiful columns and finally this one in Malaga which has beautiful red stone and incredible stained glass. I would say the stained glass windows are the most memorable thing about the Malaga cathedral. It is quite a bit smaller than the others we have seen.They appear to be doing a lot of construction, maybe in preparation for Semana Santa. It was very loud in the church. It struck me as funny because there was one chapel with a big sign warning for complete silence (not being Catholic I don't understand it totally but something about the sacrament being in that chapel) and not two meters away workmen were screaming at each other and dragging chairs over the stone floor.

This is the chapel where you are supposed to be quiet. I am not sure if this is a permanent thing or if they move it around.

One of many stained glass windows in the cathedral.

This is the main alter in the Malaga cathedral with a close up of the domed ceiling.

This painting is listed in the guide book as a "must see" in the cathedral. It is quite dramatic isn't it? The beheading of St. Paul. It is hard to get the full impression from a photo. It is very large and definitely worth seeing.

The main street is a boulevard of marble. In some areas they have little lights that shine through at night. It is a wonderful city to walk around in. We especially liked the fact that we didn't have to dodge cars as we have had to do on the streets of all the other cities we have been in. Sometimes not all that easy when the street is only a single car width wide.

There are lots of stores along this street but they seem to sell mostly perfume, clothes and jewelery. Children's clothes are especially popular. Many of the stores are displaying first communion apparel for young people. In one small store we went in several young women were trying to choose a new mantilla comb. Very elaborate things and very expensive but necessary for the upcoming Semena Santa celebrations.

At night the cathedral and the Alcazaba are illuminated. I am sure they are a spectacular sight from the many cruise ships in the harbour below.This is a very popular stop for them. My friend Kathy and her sister were actually on one that stopped in here last October. It is an easy drive to Granada and the Alhambra from here.

Our final activity for the day was a visit to the Picasso museum. He was born in Malaga but moved north when he was quite young.

What can I say? Picasso is Picasso! Not one of my favourite artists for sure but definitely interesting to see. It definitely shows that if you want to get ahead in the art world you have to have a gimmick. OK the man was brilliant and stood out in his time. Not Bob's taste either! THAT WAS QUITE FUNNY TO SEE! He is a tolerant man! We both preferred the temporary exhibit of Kupka's work to the Picasso collection.

That night the rain came back. At least it wasn't "cold rain". The streets looked quite beautiful with the lights reflecting on the wet stone.

Malaga and the Costa del Sol

2010-03-13T08:20:00.000-08:00

March 10:

When we got up this morning the sun was shining and it was WARM. A beautiful day in Granada with blue, blue skies and the snowy Sierra Nevada in the distance as the bus drove away. We were quite sad to leave but are looking forward to Malaga on the famous Costa del Sol. It is about a 1.5 hour bus ride non stop. I tried to get the front seat so we could get a good view but I was beaten out by two Spanish grand dames. And I thought New Waterford girls were tough!

We arrived in Malaga around noon and for the first time saw the sunny and hot side of Spain. Well ok, maybe not hot, but definitely warmer than what we have been experiencing. We have a room at the Hotel Carlos V (Bob calls it the Chuck V) with no view but a huge bathroom. The shower is in a tub so Bob can actually wash his feet! We are supposed to have WiFi in the room but we can't get a signal.

It is pretty nice to wonder around in a t-shirt. Bob of course has been able to get away with wearing only a short sleeve jacket over a t-shirt. When we wondering around the Alhambra in the rain a few days ago a French man stopped me and asked if we were Canadian. I said we were but how had he guessed. He pointed at Bob and said " your husband, he wears only that, you must be Canadian!"

We were in such a hurry to get to the beach we skipped lunch. It was now after 2 PM and we were very hungry so we went in search of something open. Most of the places around the beach were closed this early in the season. We found a small restaurant that looked like a neighbourhood favourite and went in to order. Naively we ordered the Malaga fish specialty. We both thought this would be a nice fillet of fish, preferably pan fried. Alas it was not so! The waiter arrived with a huge platter (for 2 persons about $25) of fish of many types, all very small, all with heads and eyes and all deep fried in greasy batter! My face betrayed me, in no uncertain terms I exclaimed This is NOT what we ordered!" Well unfortunately it was exactly what we had ordered. Bob, brave soul, managed to eat most of it. After trying a few of them I ordered a plate of french fries.

For the rest of the day we wandered around Malaga which is a lovely city of about 700,000. We are centrally located in the old city which is the tourist area. The hotel is around the corner from the cathedral and the Alcazaba which we will visit tomorrow.

Disclaimer:
I have heard from a lot of people who are reading this diary and I am glad to be able to share our experiences with our friends and family. I apologise for the typos and spelling errors which I have missed. I am using a small computer and mostly I am rushed when I am writing. There is never much time for editing. For those people who have tried to comment but couldn't, I have discovered that you have to have a GMail profile or account to be able to comment. sorry about that.

Granada in the Sun...worth waiting for

2010-03-13T01:30:00.000-08:00

March 9th:

The forecast for today is terrible so we headed out for Coffee and Churros, our favourite breakfast. Chocolate for breakfast is growing on me.

Our first stop today was the Capilla Real or Royal Chapel, commissioned as a mausoleum by Isabelle and Ferdinand it was not completed until 1521 after their deaths. It is actually attached to the Cathedral which was built later...of course on the site of an old Mosque! It is very beautiful inside as befit such important monarchs. All through Spain they are referenced simply as the "Catholic Monarchs" They united Spain under a Christian God pretty much getting rid of the Muslims (infidels) at the same time.

Both these monarchs and their daughter, Juana la Loca and her husband Philip are buried in this chapel which is attached to Granada's famous cathedral. It was Isabelle and Ferdinand who conquered the Moors, took the Alhambra and sent Christopher Columbus off to discover America. It is pretty chilling to see their tombs, a lot of history here.

This is a close up of the monument to Queen Juana. It rests over her tomb in the crypt and her husband lies beside her. Strangely she is facing way from him. It is believed that she was crazy and that she carried her dead husband all around Spain because she would not part from him. They had an arranged marriage but fell in love on the day they actually met and insisted on being married immediately they were in such a hurry to consummate their marriage. Now historians are questioning whether she was really mad or that her Father and husband kept her as a mad woman to steal her throne.

The Cathedral is huge. Construction began in 1521 and it wasn't completed until years later so it is something of a mishmash of style Gothic, baroque, renaissance. There are seven beautiful paintings by Alonso Cano which were designed to hang behind the alter but are now down where you can see them. They are so much lighter than most of the religious art you see in Spain and we both really liked them.

Each of these columns are actually four and they are made of marble. The cathedral is immense but not as large as the one in Toledo. It is quite bright inside with all the white stone. Around the perimeter there are chapels dedicated to various saints. They were cleaning and tuning the organ while we were in there. Quite a sound it can make. I bet it is even better when it is working properly. In every church we have been in they are cleaning, fixing and restoring. I bet they are getting ready for Semana Santa.

This is a picture of one of the two organs in the cathedral. There were two men working away on them while we were in the cathedral. The horn pipes are horizontal which is typical in many Spanish cathedrals.

Semana Santa (Holy Week) is a big thing here in Spain. We will miss it but we planned it that way. too many people and the prices go up quite drastically for everything. We have come to enjoy travelling without having to book too far ahead. We like the freedom which you don't get when there are crowds of people all looking for hotels at the same time.

This is the main alter. Kind of hard to get in one picture. It is a bit dark because you are not allowed to use a flash. Bob's camera takes very good photos under these conditions.

When we came out of the cathedral the sun was shining! Unbelievable! After all that rain! Although I was a reluctant Nancy talked me into taking a bus up into the Albaycin Quarter again (was she right again). We took the bus up to the top where you can look across at the Alhambra, a fantastic place to take pictures. We could see the snow capped Sierra Nevada Mountains behind the Alhambra. Two pretty amazing sights in one.

The view from the restaurant where we had lunch. You would not think we would be happy to see snow!

We had lunch in a restaurant where we could sit gazing on the Alhambra in the sun and sipping a glass of wine. The food was good too, we shared a lamb couscous which was appropriate for the neighbourhood.

Granada's new modern Mosque has been built on the top of this hill. There is a lovely courtyard from where you can look down at the city and straight across to the Alhambra. While we stood there staring in awe the Muezzin gave the call for prayer from the minaret. We felt quite clearly that Islamic culture is still very much present in this part of Spain. One of those moments when you feel lost in time.

In the minaret (shown below) you can see the Muezzin making the call to prayer.

The view from the Albaycin. You can see the cathedral quite well from here.

Looking down a very narrow street in the Albaycin. This is the area of Granada where the Muslims were pushed to after the Catholic Monarchs took the city. They were allowed to practice their religion for only a few years and then the bishops instigated the Inquisition.

The Alhambra

2010-03-11T06:27:00.001-08:00

March 8:
The Alhambra

Cold again, but we are going to see the Alhambra or bust. I can't speak for Nancy, but again I find the Moorish parts so much more interesting and more advanced than the Christian.

The Alcazabar or fort is truly incredible. The structure and the views of the city from there are a treat to see. The Generalife, or summer palace was pretty special also. I was more impressed by it than the palaces we had toured before that. The views of Granada were stunning. A beautiful city, even in the rain. We spent five hours at the Alhambra and if the weather had co-operated I am sure we would have stayed longer.

This is a photo of the Nasrid Palaces taken from the Albaysin (old Moorish quarters) with the Sierra Nevada in the background. There are three palaces built over several centuries.

Bob and Nancy with the Alhambra in the background taken from the Albaycin.

The Mexuar Hall in the first of the Nasrid Palaces. On the far right the ceiling of the Golden Room which is covered with gold.

The Courtyard of the Myrtles in the Comares Palace, the second of the three palaces.

This is the Abencerrajes hall where many royal members of the Abencerrajes family were murdered by the Emir after he caught his favourite wife kissing one of them in the garden. He was a very jealous man!
Below is the ceiling of this hall, very beautiful carved in limestone.

After Isabella and Ferdinand took Granada they set up residence in the Palaces until they died. Their grandson Carlos V then built his own palace (on the right here). It is quite ugly in comparison to the rest of the Alhambra. Inside there is a huge circular hall with many columns. Bob says it looks like a car park. Perhaps we are being too harsh as it was never finished. There is a museum of the Alhambra inside today.

i

The Alcazaba is a fort where the military would have lived and defended the city. You can see it here from across the ravine in the Albaycin. Obviously taken on a different day as you can see it is sunny!

You can see the remnants of the soldiers family quarters in what looks like a maze above.

Bob says:``The Alcazabar or fort is truly incredible. The structure and the views of the city are a treat to see. I think we may have bagged some nice pictures.``

The Generalife, or summer palace was pretty nice to see also. I was more impressed by it than the actually palaces we toured earlier. The views of Granada were stunning.

This shows the outside of the palace which was a summer home for one of the Emirs. I forget which one. They are hard to keep track of. Wish I had studied Moorish history in school, oh right! They didn't offer that course.

Gardens of the Generalife were very beautiful. The Moors loved water and used as a form of art. Fountains, water channels and ponds formed a big part of the design and they liked the sound of running water around them. One staircase in the Generalife has a railing where water is channeled down the whole balustrade.

This is the Princesses tower in the Generalife.

I will post some more photos in Picassa later if you are interested you can check them out.

A beautiful city, even in the rain. We spent five hours at the Alhambra and if the weather had co-operated I am sure we would have stayed longer.

We relaxed and went out for a sit down dinner rather than the usual tapas. The fish was very good and Nancy choose a terrific Spanish white to accent the meal.

A Slow Day in Granada

2010-03-11T05:47:00.000-08:00

March 7th:
Slow day in the rain, but we managed to find a cafe which had Churros so not a bad start.

We went for a walk around the city, getting our bearings. These small streets running between plazas make for some confusing walking. We walked all around the cathedral and then up through the Albaycin, which is said to be the best preserved Moorish Quarter left in Spain. Very interesting and we agreed to return another time in better weather for some photo-ops. Still raining, not much to report.

Around the cathedral you see many stalls with people
selling everything you can imagine like spices.

Here you can see how they display them, very colourful.

Can you believe this ice cream?

The EU ministers are meeting here this weekend. Some of the streets are blocked and there are many police around. Good to see they could find work after the Olympics.

There was a bi protest in the Plaza Nueva. People wanting a Sahara Libre. Can anybody tell me what that means? I did know the Sahara was not free.

The Alhambra was closed today so the EU ministers could visit. Nice to have a private tour. Tomorrow we will go up. Hope is is not raining!

Madinat al-Zahra.....an Moorish version of Louisbourg

2010-03-08T13:50:00.000-08:00

March 6Th:

How can you beat Spain??? The day starts with chocolate! My favourite breakfast! Churros are like a flavourless donut, long and stringy and deep fried, but you dip them in pure liquid chocolate. Seriously, these can make even a rainy day better.

In spite of the rain we are off to Madinat-al-Zahra.

The professor met us there and we were taken into the Museum to see a film on how the city would have looked a thousand years ago based on the archaeological work at the site. The film was incredible in a historical sense and the computer assisted model allows you to get a good impression of how people lived here long ago. We also toured the new Museum to look at the artifacts and displays. Again, very impressive. We toured the site in the pouring rain. Not much fun but worth it to see this ancient city which was one of the most grand in Europe. Hard to believe we had never even heard of it.

Some of the pottery they have recovered from the ruins on display in the museum.

A lot of the ruins have been restored but you can see the old walls beneath the newer stone. These tiles are supposed to be original and are a beautiful purple -red stone.

they even had a bathroom!

It looks like they have a century or two project on their hands to rebuild a city of possibly a hundred thousand. It seems that the most interesting things we are seeing here were built by the Moors.

More photos taken in the rain around the ruins including one of Nancy with our new friend Roberto "the Professor"

In the afternoon we returned to Cordoba to pick up our things at the hotel and grab a taxi to the bus station. How lucky for us that the EU ministers were in town again and all the roads were closed. We had to hike it up to the bus station on foot and in the rain! Nancy is quick and unforgiving when on a mission. My feet will attest to this! Nice bus ride to Granada.(2.5 hours).

We got to our room and it does not have an exterior view. Nancy is feeling a bit closed in. We went on a tour of Granada to get ready for tomorrow. Nice tapas spot and later we had a great dinner of pizza & tortillas. These are two spots I would revisit. We only got lost three times on the way back to our hotel. not bad considering we were within a few hundred feet most of the time. lucky we brought some fine wine from Toledo, it sure came in handy.

Cordoba..knocks you off your feet

2010-03-06T14:34:00.000-08:00

5 March:
Literally I am afraid as I started the day with a close encounter of the very hardest kind. Overtired, slightly distracted and very clumsy, I wound on my nose in the middle of the road beside the Mezquita. They don`t actually allow Muslims to prostrate themselves at the Mosque so I may have started a new tradition. It was a bit painful and very embarrassing. The policeman, one of many, in the area guarding the meeting of the EU ministers did not even blink as I fell at his feet. I feel like the whole day was an anti climax after that. We were wondering why there were so many police around... too many politicians but at least it wasn`t suspected terrorism or clumsy Canadians.

The Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos

We spent few hours looking around this ancient
castle at the end of the Judaria ( Jewish quarters).

Here we are sitting in front of a fountain at the Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos, the castle of the Christian monarchs built in the 13th century.

The gardens are supposed to be very lovely at the Alcazar but in winter they are not at their best. Lots of gardeners working hard to get them ready. Lovely water features though.

There is also an old Arabic bathhouse which was challenging to find and I think the guard thought I was loco after I asked him directions 3 times.

This is part of the royal gardens, a pool that seems to go on forever. The Moors loved fountains and water in their gardens, probably because they were used to living in a dessert and when they came to Spain ( as we can attest) they found lots of water.

We ate a typical Cordoban meal similar to what we had the day before. The salmorejo is a cold tomato based gazpacho soup that is unbelievably good. We also had some kind of veal and ham rolled up in a deep fried crust. Can't tell you the name of that one. There is also an unlimited supply of crusty bread that is delicious. Can't have a meal in Spain without a good glass of wine and there are many to choose from.

Bob was tickled by the bathroom (see photo). See how many rolls of toilet paper you can store on this one. Its a man's idea of heaven!

We had wanted to go to a restaurant that we had found the day before, but after wondering around in the maze of old Cordoba we gave up and ate at this one. Of course it was inevitable we would walk into the one we wanted just as we were about to head back t the hotel. Who would have remembered it was tucked in behind a gift shop. Such is the way of Cordoba!

Cordoba...the Mezquita

2010-03-06T13:57:00.000-08:00

4 March

Roberto, the Professor we met on the city tour in Toledo, lives in Cordoba. He is a retired paleobotanist who has established a museum attached to the Cordoba Botanical Gardens. We took a city bus there this morning for a personal tour of the gardens and the museum. He has visited Joggins in Nova Scotia and is working on a 10 year project dating the fossils of that area.

How lucky we were to have met him because it turns out he also knows a lot about the area. He gave us a a tour of the Mezquita (photo above) explaining the history which is very complicated. I was reminded of when I was a child trying to understand the story of Louisbourg and the French/ English struggle. Substitute Moors and Spanish and perhaps a bit more violence and you've got it. The Mezquita was built by a Muslim refugee from Damascus who escaped to southern Spain. Several generations and many additions later you have the present day Mezquita, the second largest Mosque in the world, taken over in the 13th century by the Spanish Catholics who demolished part of the interior to build a renaissance cathedral. The structure was so huge they had no means to destroy it so, luck for us today, it was converted to a church. Sad though! Carlos V who permitted the travesty was said to have commented ``What you have made here can be found in many other places but what you have destroyed is to be found nowhere else in the world``

It is one of the wonders of the world yet many people have never heard of it. You can see more pictures of this amazing structure on our Picassa web site.

http://picasaweb.google.ca/nancy.lewis56/THEMEZQUITA

This is Roberto who was very happy to share his knowledge of the Mezquita with us. He also took us to a special restaurant for a typical Cordoban meal. He is standing in front of his museum. The darker line shows where the Guadalaquiver River flooded last week. Some rain but also the release of the reservoirs after so much water.

Bob and I were so tired after the Mezquita, I have to say Roberto did us in! We collapsed at the hotel. No night life for us!

Toledo to Cordoba

2010-03-04T12:40:00.000-08:00

3 March Toledo to Cordoba:

5:45 wake up call. Out the door to the bus station for Ciuad Real 120+- k’s. Nice drive. Nancy got talking to a teacher of English on the bus. Not so good English, I don’t think she was going to pass her finals and we now we understand the lack of English! She did help us find a city bus to the train station in Ciuad Real where we caught a train for historic Cordoba, a little over an hour away. Nice countryside, many, many olive trees. We got to our hotel and I was a little down after the spot we had in Toledo next to the Cathedral I guess that is why they say “Holy Toledo”!

This is a photo taken from the bus on the way
to Ciuad Real. Very early in the morning.

We arrived around noon and discovered our hotel was a little away from the old city but easily reached on foot. We set off to explore and to see the Mezquita. We walked around the perimeter and could not believe the size. We crossed the ancient Roman Bridge to get a better view and it was easier to see how the Christian church fits into the huge Muslim Mosque. Really amazing!

We had a lunch of tapas and vino in a little bar just beside the wall of the Mezquita. Very charming but a bit touristy.

Here I am standing across the river with the Mosque behind. The street in front of me is lined with orange trees. Caution: DO NOT EAT THE ORANGES!!! They are more sour than lemons.

We toured the Juderia, Jewish quarters and visited one of three surviving synagogues from the 14th century. It was small and very lovely to see. Nearby is the Casa Andalucia, a typical Spanish Arabic house from that era. It would have housed one family per room around an indoor patio. I really loved this museum.

We got caught in the rain and had to buy very tacky umbrellas! Got soaked getting back to the hotel anyway. Just like home :

4 March

good bye to Toledo

2010-03-02T10:43:00.000-08:00

Our third day in Toledo, March 1st:

We got off to a slow start this AM, must be still getting over the jet lag. We visited the Cathedral next door first thing. Although it is not the most beautiful cathedral in Europe on the outside on the inside it is quite wonderful. The sheer dimensions are mind boggling at 500-600 feet long, 200+ wide and 150-180 high. We spent over two hours and likely could have stayed longer. The sculptures and artwork are so beautiful it is difficult to take them all in as the next one keeps getting better. My neck is so strained from looking up for the better part of two hours. (Bob)

James Michener (in Iberia) says that the flanges on the steeple of the cathedral look like they are about to impale any angels descending from heaven. It IS very odd looking and the other steeple was never finished.

This statue, in the cathedral is very intersting. It is called the White Virgin because of her robe, but the faces of the Madonna and child are very dark suggesting they may have an African origin.

This is the alter in the main chapel. You are not supposed to take pictures but Bob has a very small camera.

There are many original El Grecos in this church and I am becoming a fan of his work. There are many of his paintings scattered around the city. Do you ever get used to seeing all these wonderful works of art?

We then went off for a terrific lunch. Nancy had hake and I ordered my favourite, Calamari. After lunch (how do the Spanish survive on such a heavy mid day meal? Oh right...the siesta!) we went to the Museo Del Santa Cruz again to check out their El Greco collection and other over the top Catholic type paintings including a Goya and a Raphael.

We are not sorry we decided to spend extra time in Toledo, we have really enjoyed this city and, although it is time to move on, we will never forget the days we have spent at the Casa Cisneros. By the way, should you ever pass this way, we can reccomend this hotel. It has been a wonderful experience.

2 March

This morning we slept on for breakfast because our clock broke down. I think we seemed very lazy to the staff but we thought it was 10 when it was actually 11 AM. I think we have fixed the clock, at least I hope so as we leave at 6:30 tomorrow AM!

The little that was left of the morning was spent arranging travel and accomodation for Cordoba tomorrow. Later we finally found "el Transito". The sinagoga del transito (1355 AD) one of the few synogues left in Toledo. I thought this building was even more amazing than the cathedral. The roof was spectacular. There is a special atmosphere here that you may not find in the rest of Toledo. It was built for Samuel Levi who was the treasurer for Pedro the Cruel. He got in the good graces of his mentor's mistress but when he managed to accumalate too much money Pedro executed him and took all his money:( Then the Transito got transformed into a Catholic church. That happened a lot around here. To make matters worse they stuck a huge church right in the middle of the Jewish quarters, San Juan de los Reyos. beautiful, but a bit over the top if you know what I mean.

El Transito

San Juan de los Reis

the ceiling of "el transito"

Tourists in Toledo

2010-03-02T02:04:00.000-08:00

Off to Toledo! We found a cabbie who is the only one in Madrid that can’t find the bus station. That is ok though as Nancy quickly with her maps showed him where to go and basically gave him directions. It could have been a smooth transition except for the electronic ticket machine that tried to relieve Nancy of 7 Euros. We all know where this goes with Nancy. It took two security people and some time, but she got our tickets to Toledo and at least a credit from the Spanish bus lines. I was very worried that when she left with the two security guards, I would be stranded alone in Madrid.

However, it was a nice bus ride. I do think the driver was now watching us. Coming into Toledo was a great sight. The city is stunning. Nancy got a hotel that is beautiful and the people amazing. They want to upgrade our room for the next day. If they can find a nicer room I would be shocked! We have a beautiful room 15 feet from the Cathedral. We can look off our balcony two hundred plus feet above to the spires. My neck is sore! It is by far the most impressive place I have ever stayed. It is like out of a movie. (Bob)

This is the Hostel Casa Cisneros near the cathedral in Toledo. We love our room here!!

At night the cathedral is lit up with floodlights. Very beautiful! While it is not the most magnificent catheral in the world it is the centre of Catholicism in Spain as it is the seat of the Archbishop, Cardinal somebody or other.

Here we are with Toledo in the background. We love this city and have decided to stay several days. Why rush right?

We enjoyed an exhibition of ancient tapestries (mostly from Belgium area I think) at the museo Santa Cruz. They also have several El Greco greats on display here.

On the right above is the view of Toledo fr acorss the river. It was a long walk but worth it for the view of the city!

Toledo from a distance is quite impressive as it is difficult to see much when you are squeezed into the small streets between the buidings. Good for shade in summer but not so good for tourists especially when it is rush bour and you get caught on the main drag with the cars pouring at you on a street about 6' wide!

We walked around for a few hours with our mouths open and agreed we would stay a few extra days. We enjoyed a glass or two of Spain’s wonderful vino tinto and I found Nancy a beautiful damascene gold bracelet to reward her for the room miracle. The sights of the city are awesome. There are so many churches etc. I am not spiritualistic yet, but the sights here are wearing me down.

Here on the right you can see the Alcazar where Franco's men held up for months against the Republicans! It is closed at the moment for renovations. Actually there are a fewthings closed here including the El Greco museum.

Feb 28th:

We are right beside the cathedral, we couldn’t believe the view from our window! We took many pictures from our patio! We spent the evening wondering the old streets admiring the buildings and absorbing history, wondering from tapas bar to tapas bar and finally having a light meal at a nice Italian restaurant.

Off to do the city bus tour. The lady at the ticket center was not much help. No English and apparently no sense of direction, it cannot be us! There is so little English spoken here it is astounding. Coming from a country where everything is in two languages it is surprising to only ever see one. Now I don’t mind that the people don’t speak English, but how hard would it be to throw in a translation now and then at one of the major tourist sights. Seriously...Vietnam was easier! We finally got on the tour bus and it gave us a tour around the whole city. The views from the other side of the river are incredible. On the tour we met a nice Dutch couple in their early eighties who have been in Cordoba for nearly 30 years. He is a retired Paleontologist (and I use the word retired loosely) who offered to show us his museum when we get to Cordoba. They were very interesting and it really helped us a lot as they could explain some of the history to us that we had been missing. We had a typical Spanish lunch (corridor) with them and then continued our exploration on our own.

We walked across the Puenta XXX to the other side of he River xxx and stopped for a couple of San Niguels at a small bar on the other side. Lots of local flavour to this one! The barman could have played the role in a movie. With a bit of effort Nancy talked me into walking all around the city to the bridge on the far side, basically walking the route the tour bus took (we could have saved 5 euros). After a very long walk we collapsed at a nice little bar for a few glasses of wine and some tapas. I really just stopped for the rest! (Bob)
We went back to the hotel to check on the Olympics. Nancy is really into the hockey. The people at the hotel upgraded our room and it is out of this world. We have two balconies overlooking the Cathedral from the front on one side and the Alcazar on the other side. The views at night with the floodlights are incredible!
With our sporadic internet connection and a lot of help from Bonnie and SKYPE we followed the hockey game (the only one of course!!). How great was that for Crosby!!

Day three in Toledo to follow

2010-02-26T15:08:00.000-08:00

How lucky for us, one of the best art museums in Madrid, the Museo Thyssen-Bormisza had a special exhibit “Monet and Abstraction” on. I must say Bob was very patient as I scrutinized every painting! Amazing, over a dozen Monet's in one place. How do you beat that? Well...the Prado of course! But that will have to wait until we come back here as we leave for Toledo tomorrow by bus.

This is the Metropolis Building housing the winged statue of victory on top which is the victory symbol from Franco`s civil war.

Above is Nancy the aspiring artist below Velesquez`s statue in front of the Prado Museum. He currently has a few more pieces on display here but I think she can close the gap on him as he has not done much lately!

We had a late start so there was not too much day left after the museum. We had lunch on Madrid time around 15:30 at La Cocina de Neptuno. Bob has discovered tapas calientes. Of course a vino tinto didn’t hurt!

Here is Bob sightseeing near the Puerta del Sol.

A leisurely stroll past the Prado down to the Puerto del Sol ended our first afternoon in Madrid. As I write this we sit across from the Teatro Royal sipping a cervasa. A little rest for the legs and feet and then more exploring.

This photo shows the entrance to the Plaza Isabella, one of the prettiest plazas in Madrid and there are many. It is taken at dusk as we walked along in front of the Plaza Real.

We finished off the night with a VERY late supper, a Madrideno speciality the boccadillo de calamari and churesco with the ever present vino tinto.

Madrid at Last!

2010-02-25T12:05:00.000-08:00

We left Halifax Wednesday morning at the civilized hour of 10 AM. After nearly 24 hours traveling, delays and rerouting due to a couple of strikes we finally arrived in Madrid late Thursday afternoon. The flight over was quite nice actually and short compared to the flight to New Zealand. Of course many kilometers below us Canada was playing Russia in a hockey game being watched by millions. The flight attendant was happy to give us the score of 7:3 for Canada at the end of the 2nd period along with two bottles of wine. When the final period was over she came by our seats with two more little bottle to celebrate the victory, Bob was delighted!

As the plane landed rain streamed across the windows and the bleak grey day outside was reminiscent of Halifax.

We are staying at the Hostal de Fontana near the Puerto del Sol, the heart of the city. This evening we strolled around this central area stopping for a glass of wine and some tapis along the way. Here we are posing in front of some Spanish jamon the very popular delicacy beloved by the Spanish.

I notice my hair is almost indistinguishable from the ham. Do you think I night have gone too far on the red side of the spectrum this time?

You can see by our faces we were pretty tired but not too tired to case out the joint. We walked all around the central area to see the lights come on illuminating the exteriors of the Royal Palace, the cathedral and other beautiful buildings. I have attached some photos.

This is the Plaza Major lit up at night. We will return tomorrow to get a closer look on our way to the Monet exhibit.

Here is the cathedral peeking out from behind the Royal Palace. Neat spot, Nancy tried to introduce me to her relatives at the Palace!

2010-02-21T06:19:00.001-08:00

The time is getting very short. Bob and I leave for Spain on Wed. You can imagine there is a flurry of activity as we get ready for four weeks away from home. The weekend was spent doing some last minute shopping, getting hair cuts and even squeezing in a bit of socializing with friends.

Last night we attended a wine pairings dinner hosted by our friend and wine expert Wally Fraser. We shared a table with Bonnie and Rick and Joanne and Roy. The food was amazing and the wine carefully selected to enhance the flavour. The chef came to Halifax from the famous Canoe restaurant in Toronto. That is where Katherine Salsman had her graduation dinner. Bonnie says the food was even better than anything she had tasted there. We all really enjoyed it and I highly recommend you go to one of Wally's events should you ever get the opportunity.

I have started this blog to share our experiences with our friends and relatives as we travel through southern Spain. This first post is just me trying to figure out how how to set this up, so bear with me. I wish it had spell check though, I am prone to typos.

I would like to share with you the celebrity of my niece Ainslie and her husband John. Their wedding planner has including a photo video of their wedding on a promotional site. If you are curious you can check it out here. Http://www.youtube.com/user/kissthebride1 (I think you have to copy and paste the link to a web site for it to work.) There are some lovely photos of their wedding. She certainly was a beautiful bride.