Over 20,000 steps today! A very satisfying stay in Barcelona. I could definitely come back to this city!
Majestic Madrid, Part II
Wednesday, April 10 - Back to Madrid
Babs and I returned to Madrid on the bullet train, but this
time in the company of our tour companions.
We are finding them all to be very congenial travelers. (Rick Steves’ tours do tend to attract
like-minded people. One of his “rules”
is No Grumps Allowed.) We ate our lunch
on the train so we were ready to go exploring soon after checking into the
Hotel Europa, conveniently located just off of Puerto del Sol right in the
heart of the historic section of the city (and just a short walk from our first
hotel last week, Room Mate Laura. I can
recommend both hotels if you ever decide to visit Madrid.)
Once we had dropped off our bags, we walked about 15 minutes
to the Prado where we met our guide, Inez.
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| The Congress of Deputies - part of Spain's legislative branch |
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| San Jeronimo el Real - a pretty little church above the Prado |
 |
Our guide Inez was an art history expert who really helped our understanding
of the artwork in this great museum. |
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| The Prado is celebrating its 20th anniversary. |
The Prado is huge, and we didn’t have time to see more than a few painters,
but Inez's knowledge of art history – and her ability to point out what to look
for – made the tour very worthwhile. We
started with Hieronymus Bosch’s amazing and surrealistic painting, “The Garden
of Earthly Delights.” It was painted in
the late 1400’s or very early 1500’s, and you would swear it was painted by a
1930s surrealist. It shows the innocent
beginnings of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, but evil is already lurking
in the dark pond in the lower right (including Bosch’s criticism of the church
via a duck dressed as a monk.) The
center large panel shows humanity indulging in all sorts of sin, so naturally
the final panel shows the fruits of those sins, with dark monsters eating the
gluttons, strange creatures frolicking about, and humanity in terrible distress. If you are not familiar with the painting,
look it up. For one thing, it is just
weird and wonderful, and for another, it is just full of symbolism.
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| The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymous Bosch Borrowed from Wikipedia Commons |
We also got an intimate looks at Titian, Velasquez, and
Goya. The Prado is huge, so we were
given time to explore on our own, but Babs and I chose to walk back to the
hotel for a little break before meeting the group again for a fabulous dinner
at a nearby restaurant. I love this kind
of dinner…a succession of small plates for a variety of tasting pleasures, and
the final course of tender slices of beef accompanied by pickled figs. It may sound odd, but trust me, it was an
explosion of wonderful flavor in our mouths. Another wonderful day!
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| Tapas in Madrid - delicious! |
Day Trip to Splendid Segovia
Thursday, April 11 - From the Aqueduct to the Alcazar
Segovia is an ancient city that rests in the mountains about
an hour and a half north of Madrid, so it was close enough for us to take a bus
day trip from Madrid. I was especially
excited because I have been to both Madrid and Barcelona before (20 years ago,
so long enough for it still to be interesting), but Segovia was completely new. Along the way, we passed a large cross on a hill marking the "Valley of the Fallen," a monument which commemorates those who died in the Spanish Civil Way. It is a controversial site, as Franco is buried there alongside those who fought against him.
We knew we had arrived in Segovia when we saw the huge Roman aqueduct
that has stood for 2,000 years outside the gates of the small city.
Our very handsome Spanish guide, Javier, had
a deep, rich, velvety voice that we ladies all enjoyed as he shared the history
of the city. We first entered the
Visitors Center to see a scale model of the city. It is on a triangular shaped promontory that
has deep valleys on each side where two rivers running along each side converge
at the tip of the triangle. Perched on
the tip is the famous Alcazar, which served as both a palace and a fortress.
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| The Tourist Office of Segovia |
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| Model of Segovia - the Alcazar stands of the tip at the top right. |
Before visiting the castle, Javier walked us along the
aqueduct explaining the brilliance of the Roman architects. The enormous structure, which was still being
used up until the 1920s, was built with no mortar and each stone was cut to fit
exactly where it was intended to go. We
followed the aqueduct to the city walls where the water would have continued to
flow under the streets to the castle. There was a map showing the route of the hidden aqueduct which carried water to the Alcazar.
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| Javier shows us some features of this ancient aqueduct. |
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Segovia Cathrdral through the arches.
The little dimples in the stones show where devices to lift them were inserted. |
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| The new city outside the city walls. |
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| There were several nesting European storks spotted around the city. |
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This map showed the route of the underground portion of the aqueuct
which carried water to the Alcazar. |
Along the way, we stopped to buy cookies
from the Mother Superior at a convent that dates back to 1489. The nuns here are quite famous for their
cooking and even had a cooking show on TV for a while! Several of us bought different types of cookies and shared samples with everyone.
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| Convent Cookies! |
After our yummy snack, we walked through the center of town to the Plaza
Mayor, the main city plaza adjoining the very impressive Segovia
Cathedral. Javier explained that the
builders of the church ran out of funds at one point, so the interior is not
nearly as impressive as the exterior, but the view of the outside is gorgeous. We were lucky to be in the Plaza on the day of the weekly farmers’ market, so we wandered through it for a few minutes listening to the locals gossip
and shop. The market set-up was very interesting. Large trucks drive into the plaza and open up the side of the truck to display their wares.
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| Segovia Cathedral |
Also adjoining the plaza was the church where Queen Isabella
was crowned Queen of Castile.
Down the road was a much more simple Romanesque style church,
the 12th century Church of St. Martin. From the street in front of the church, we
could see a nesting pair of the many European storks that were circling around
all the city. Robert pointed out the home of the Spanish poet, Antonio Machado, and also showed us the unusual patterned stucco that decorates a lot of the buildings in Segovia.
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| In this church, Isabella was declared Queen of Castille. |
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| Church of St. Martin - 12th century Romanesque church in Segovia |
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| Outside the home of poet Antonio Machado |
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| Elaborate stucco designs covered the exteriors of many of the buildings of Segovia. |
Finally we arrived at the Alcazar. It is a lovely small castle surrounded by a
very deep dry moat that extends down to the Roman foundations of the
castle. We took a self-guided walk
around the rooms which were used by Ferdinand and Isabella, as well as other
Spanish rulers. The castle eventually
became a prison, and then a military school. When a fire destroyed much of it
in the 1800s, it was restored as the romantic castle it is today.
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| The deep "dry moat" of the Alcazar exposes its Roman roots. |
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| Ferdinand and Isabella |
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| Isabella used this little room and window to privately observe mass in the adjoining chapel |
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| Altar in the Alcazar Chapel |
The last event of the evening was a spectacular feast at a
restaurant, Meson de Jose Maria, which us famed for its speciality , roast
suckling pig. Once again, we were brought one scrumptious dish after another,
and finally out came the small pigs splayed out on big platters. Our guide,
Robert, asked me if I would volunteer for the honor of slicing the pig. This is quite a ritual First, a big medallion sash was draped over
my neck, then I was handed a big ceramic plate.
I cut the pig right down the middle with the edge of the plate to
demonstrate how very tender the meat it. I thought that was the end…but no. Now
I was asked to drop the plate onto the tile floor to show that it truly was
ceramic and not metal. I was a bit taken
aback, but they cheered me on, so I dropped the plate to the floor where it
smashed into pieces.
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| So tender, I could cut it with a plate! |
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| And it worked! |
We were all very well fed and the bus ride back to Madrid
was very quiet. It was a tiring, but worthwhile, day.
Friday, April 12 - Last Day in Madrid
Unfortunately, Babs and I both woke up with a tickle in our throats and the beginnings of a bed cough...and when we went down to breakfast, we learned that several others of our group were up coughing all through the night. Babs chose to stay close to the hotel all day to rest, but most of us joined the group for a visit to the near-by and built-to-impress Royal Palace.
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| The Madrid Opera House |
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| Gardens of the Royal Palace of Madrid |
The Royal Palace, if I remember our guide Marte correctly, was built to rival Versailles and is the second largest palace in Europe. The first king to use it was Carlos III, aka Carlos the Big Nose, in the late 1700s, and his statue greeted us in the entry hall. We could take photos in the outer halls, but in the baroque and rococo inner chambers with their ornate and beautiful clocks, tapestries, and gilded decorations were off limits to cameras. The palace is still used frequently for state occasions, but King Felipe and his family actually live in a smaller, and probably more cozy, palace nearby. In order to show a bit of the grandeur inside, I bought a postcard of the dining room and am including it below.
 |
| Carlos the Big Nose |
 |
The Coat of Arms of the King of Spain
The four quadrants represent the former kingdoms of
Castille, Leon, Aragon, and Navarre.
The rose at the bottom represents Granada. |
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| The Royal Dining Room is still used for state events today. |
My favorite exhibit in the palace were the pieces of art created by the winners of a school contest with the topic, "What does the king mean to our country?" There were about 25 winners, and next to each of the creations was a photo of King Felipe speaking with the young artist who created the piece. Very sweet!
After the palace tour, I walked back to the hotel to keep Babs company and to rest. Since she and I had already explored Madrid before our tour started, we didn't mind missing out on the sightseeing in the afternoon.
Treasures of Toledo
Saturday, April 13 - Madrid to Toledo
Our group said adios to Madrid bright and early this morning
and took the short bus ride to the beautiful hilltop town of Toledo, a UNESCO
World Heritage city. The weather was the
best yet today, with bright blue skies and temperatures in the mid-70s. Our bus drove us all the way around the city
for panoramic views of the Toledo
Alcazar (fortress), the Cathedral, and the Tajo (or Tagus) River, which flows almost all
the way around the base of the hill like a natural moat offering protection to
the ancient city. Buses are no longer
allowed in the old city center, so we were dropped off at the base of the hill
and rode into town on a series of about 6 escalators! A very unique and clever
way to get us to the top.
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| Ancient ruins still stand at the base of the city. |
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| The Alcazar (fortress) of Toledo |
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The Church of San Tome was built atop an old mosque -
as were many churches in Spain. |
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| A map of Toledo in the road |
Sadly, a bad chest cold was spreading through our group, and three of them, including Babs, were just too
sick to join our guide for the walking your of the city, so Robert escorted
them to our Hotel Eurico near the Cathedral while the rest of us followed our
local guide to the highlights of Toledo.
As we walked through the narrow maze of streets, Juanjo pointed out
various items of interest. Toledo is a sister city to Toledo, Ohio, so one of
her streets is named in honor of this partnership. We saw many ancient doors that have been in
use since the 15th century! Toledo
has a 2,500 year old history that included the Roman’s, the Visigoths (whose
stone carvings can still be seen on some of the walls), the Muslims who ruled
from 711 to 1492, and finally the Christians.
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| Artist doing traditional damascene art - etching gold leaf onto black steel. |
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| Celebrating Toledo's sister city in the U.S.A. |
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| Juanjo shows us one of the many ancient doors still used in Toledo. |
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Stonework in a wall dating all the way back to the Visigoth period
in the 4th and 5th centuries. |
The first major stop was the Chapel of Santo Tome, which
contains El Greco's most famous painting, The Burial of the Count of Orgaz.
Juanjo's discussion greatly enhanced our appreciation of the remarkable
painting. We were not allowed to take photos, so I borrowed one from Wikipedia Commons.
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"The Burial of Count Orgaz" by El Greco
Borrowed from Wikipedia Commons |
Nearby is the old Jewish quarter of Toledo, including the Tránsito
Synagogue, which is now the National Jewish Museum of Spain. The synagogue was built in 1356, and some of
the original tiles, a portion of the floor, and other decorations are still in
place. The decorations were strongly
influenced by the Islamic art of the Moors who ruled Spain for so long. Hebrew script was found side by side with
Arabic calligraphy, as Arabic was the official language at the time of the
building of the synagogue.
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| The gorgeous wall ornamentation was all done in stucco! |
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| The Islamic influence is clearly visible in the synagogue. |
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| A portion of the original floor was preserved. |
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| The women's gallery is upstairs. |
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| Artifacts in the small museum |
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Hebrew and Islamic script side-by-side.
When the Synagogue was built, Arabic was the official language. |
1492 was a landmark year in both Spanish and world history. We all know that Columbus sailed the ocean
blue, but it was also the year in which Ferdinand and Isabella defeated the
last Muslim stronghold in Spain (Granada) and expelled both the Muslims AND the
Jews. They were given the opportunity to
convert to Christianity, and many did, but naturally, those converts were the
first to be suspected of heresy when the Spanish Inquisition came along.
Along with its rich history, Toledo is known for its marzipan, a sweet treat of almond paste molded into many shapes. There were many shop windows displaying their gorgeous selections, and Robert treated us all with a sample.
We walked back toward the hotel through the crowded Plaza Mayor. Music filled the air as the tourists and locals enjoyed the Semana Santa festivities. The final stop of our tour was the magnificent Toledo
Cathedral. Once again, my photos simply
can’t do justice to the immensity of the cathedrals. The huge golden altar was fabulous, although
hidden somewhat from sight by large iron bars holding onlookers back. The choir room was impressive with its rows
of misericordia (mercy) seats that allowed the choir to rest while appearing
to stand. It also contained the sweetest
statue of a smiling Mary with the infant Jesus. In one corner of the cathedral was a bright ray of sunlight where a hole had been cut into the ceiling to create a Baroque host of angels peering down. Apparently, this had been very controversial, as some feared that the hole would cause the heavy roof to collapse. The most amazing sight of all was the Monstrance, three and a half tons
of gold and jewels used to carry the Host on the feast of Corpus Christi.
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| Crowds in Toledo's Plaza Mayor |
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Toledo's Cathedral
The Primate Cathedral of Saint Mary of Toledo |
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This hanging hat marks the spot where a cardinal is buried.
There were several of them hanging from the ceiling of the cathedral. |
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| The huge altar hidden behind an iron screen |
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| I loved the sweet smile on this statue of Mary. |
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| Over the choir loft |
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| Misericordia (Mercy) chairs |
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One of the most amazing sights in the Toledo Cathedral - 4 and 1/2 tons of gold and silver -
The Monstance of Arfe - used the carry the host during the Feast of Corpus Christi |
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Baroque "skylight" filled with figures.
"El Tranparente" |
|
The Sacristy in the cathedral had been turned into a museum holding religious art from a number of well known artists.
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| Ceiling fresco by Luca Giordano |
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| El Greco's El Expolio (The Disrobing of Christ) |
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| Carravagio - John the Baptist |
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| Comontes - Adoration of the Three Kings |
Following our walking tour, I returned to the hotel to go to
lunch with Babs. We ordered a little
food at Placido, a very nice restaurant which specializes in game meat. We enjoyed the lovely weather on the outdoor pation, but unfortunately, neither of us had much appetite,
so we spent the rest of the day resting in the hotel room. Our colds were definitely getting the better
of us for much of this trip, but we just accepted that we would have to take
things at a slower pace than usual.
On the Road from Toledo to Granada
Sunday, April 14 - Saffron and Windmills
Today's bus ride had me humming "Man of La Mancha" all morning as we prepared to tilt at windmills on the hills of La Mancha, land of Don
Quixote (or, as they spell it here, Don Quijote).
It was a fairly long day on the bus, but with some
interesting stops along the way. We left
Toledo, walking through the quiet early morning streets and past the ancient
ruins of the Moorish baths dug into the hillside below the town.
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| Muslim Baths below Toledo |
The landscape on the first half of the drive was mostly flat and dry, but
after an hour or so, we spotted rows of huge white and blue stucco windmills
dotting the tops of the hills of La Mancha above the town of Consuegra. Our first stop was at the home of a family
that farms saffron. Maria Jose and her children provided us
with some tasty snacks, all of them flavored with saffron, and talked about the
painstaking process of growing and harvesting the precious little flavorful
stamens of the flower.
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| Maria Jose describes saffron farming |
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| Saffron flavored goodies |
Next, we drove up
one of the steep hills and had the opportunity to go inside one of the
windmills and learn about the process of milling the
grain. Some of these mills are still in
use! From this high hill, we had some lovely views of the plains and hills below, including our first glimpse of the many olive orchards we would see on the rest of our trip.
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| The plains of La Mancha |
Next to the windmills was the massive ruin of the 12th century Consuegra
Castle, which actually remained in use for centuries due to its advantageous
position with a 360 degree view of the flat plains below. If I understood correctly, it was not
destroyed until the Napolaeonic Wars in the 1800s. From the hilltop, we could hear the drums of
one of the Semana Santa processions taking place in villages and cities all
over southern Spain this week.
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| Remnants of an ancient outer wall of the castle |
We stopped for a group lunch in the small town of Puerto Lapice , then it was a couple more
hours drive to the gorgeous land of Andalucia, the region of southern Spain
where we will spend the rest of our tour.
We arrived JUST in time. The
streets that led to our hotel were in the process of being shut down for the beginning
of Semana Santa, Holy Week. Our bus had
to drop us off about a half a mile from our hotel, and we dragged our suitcases
through thick (really THICK) crowds of tourists and locals filling the streets
from side to side. I had a bit of a
scare when I suddenly realized that the members of my tour group had completely
disappeared…both in front of me and behind me!
Somehow, in the crowds, I had missed seeing them turn onto a different
road. I did know the name of the hotel, Hotel Anacapri, so I asked a nice looking man who was SO gracious! He looked up the address and actually walked
me right to the door of the hotel! What
a nice introduction to the people of Granada!
That evening was one of the most glorious of our trip! (With the sad note that Babs was too ill to
join us.) We all shared taxis to travel
up to Albayzin and the St. Nicholas viewing point high above the city that looks across to the breathtaking
sight of the Alhambra glowing in the sunset. The mountains, covered with snow from the recent wet weather, created a dramatic backdrop for the gorgeous golden building.
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Our first view of the Alhambra with the white Summer Palace on the left
and the snow-capped mountains as a backdrop. |
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| The Summer Palace |
We enjoyed a delicious group dinner at Las Tomasas Restaurant with that glorious view in front of us.
As the sun went down, the lights came up on the old fortress. Stunning! (Lots more about the Alhambra on tomorrow's post.)
Grand Granada
Monday, April 15 - Hospitals and Palaces
Today was not quite the busy sight-seeing day in Granada we had
expected, but it included one of the most glorious visits…the absolutely astounding Alhambra. The morning was free for our tour members to explore the city, but before our afternoon visit to the last
stronghold of the Moors, four of our group got to try out the Spanish medical
system. Our bad colds and coughs had
finally gotten the better of us, so Robert accompanied us in two taxis to the
private hospital in town, which was able to provide an English language
translator. Babs and I were pretty lucky
and got in fairly quickly. The urgent
care waiting room filled up pretty quickly after us, and the other two ladies from our tour had to wait quite a while to see a doctor.
Our
translator, Lucila, was adorable. She
took great care of us, making sure we knew where to go and sitting with us in
the doctor’s office to make sure he understood our symptoms and that we
understood his diagnosis and prescriptions.
It was kind of funny…each of us saw a different doctor. We all had very similar symptoms. But we all left with different
prescriptions. Babs was probably the
worst off…a bad bronchitis, but happily, not pneumonia. Her fever had finally broken during the night,
but she needed antibiotics. I just got
some heavy-duty cold medications for cough and congestion. Well, enough about health issues! With the right treatment, we all finally
turned the corner and were able to begin to really enjoy the rest of the trip!
That afternoon, our entire group except Babs, who was still not up to the long walk around the large palace grounds and buildings, piled into a number of taxis and returned up the hill to the Alhambra. This fortress was first a Muslim palace for
the Nazarid Moors. Granada was the very
last place in Spain to be conquered by the Christians in 1492. (Our guide, Robert, pointed out that the
“Reconquista” was not a RE-conquest. The
Muslims had ruled Spain for centuries.
They were not invaders any more than the other populations on the
Iberian Peninsula. This was their home
since the 700s. So the Christian
take-over of Spain was simply a conquest of the Moors.)
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| Christian symbols overlaying the older Muslim designs. |
As with so many other of the Muslim sites in Spain,
Ferdinand and Isabella turned this fortress into one of their palaces. Happily, Isabella loved the beautiful and
intricate Muslim designs and calligraphy that cover so many of the walls in the palace, and
ordered them to be preserved, allowing us the opportunity to enjoy their beauty today.
The grounds consist of several distinct buildings: the
Summer Palace, Palacios Nazaríes, Charles V’s Palace, which is a Renaissance
palace built atop the older Muslim structure, the Alcazaba Fort, and the
gorgeous green Generalife Gardens.
Our guide, Margarita, started our tour in the gardens, wandering through forests
of trees into little squares filled with the same flowers that grew here in
Muslim times (as determined by traces of seeds and pollens found there.)
The oldest garden in the world fills the courtyard outside
of the cool, white Summer Palace – 700 years old! The sound of water from little
streams, ponds, fountains creates a sense of calm and enchantment.
 |
One of the world's oldest gardens - 700 years -
in a courtyard of the Summer Palace |
The Summer Palace sits on a hillside apart from most of the fortress, so we walked back past the ruins of old residences that used to stand here. The next stop was the Monastery of San Franscisco where Isabella wished to be buried alongside her Ferdinand. Their original tomb, a simple slab at her request, still lies on the floor outside the monastery. But several years after their death, her grandson, Emperor Charles, ordered that their bodies be transferred to the new chapel near the Granada Cathedral.
 |
The original simple tomb of Ferdinand and Isabella
before their grandson had their bodies moved to the new chapel in Granada. |
The highlight of the visit was the Palacios Nazaires, a huge
palace intricately decorated with Muslim designs covering many walls from floor
to ceiling, with thick arches leading from one room to another, and ceilings literally dripping with ornamentation.
 |
| Stalagtities of stucco dripping from the elaborate ceiings of the palace. |
One of those rooms was the very room in which
Columbus received his commission from Ferdinand and Isabella to search for a
new route to the Indies. Columbus has been getting a bad rap lately as the world becomes more compassionate about the way colonization oppressed indigenous peoples. But there is no denying that, for good or bad, his voyages changed the future of the world, and I always get a
little thrill when I know I am standing in the same spot as well-known
historical figures.
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| The room in which Columbus met with Ferdinand and Isabella. |
 |
| Fragments of the original floor of the room |
Our next stop was Charles V's newer Renaissance style palace.
Our visit to the Alhambra was one of two my favorite of the
entire trip (the other being Sagrada Familia.) It is just almost beyond
belief. But the excitement wasn’t over
yet. From our hotel room, I could hear
the sounds of drums and a band coming down the nearby Gran Via. I ran out with my camera just in time to see
one of the many processions of Holy Week coming down the wide street.
Holy Week is celebrated all over the Christian world, but nowhere is it celebrated with such passion and enthusiasm as here in the Andalucia region of Spain. Every town and all the churches have groups of people called Cofradias, or “Brotherhoods.” These groups, over the years, build elaborate floats commemorating the last week of Christ, and all throughout the days of Semana Santa, they parade through the streets of the towns. Hooded penitents and priests holding tall crosses of silver lead the parade, followed by loud bands of trumpets and other brass instruments. Members of the brotherhood compete for the honor of carrying the large heavy floats which they lift onto their shoulders and carry through the crowded streets to the slow beat of drums. The scented smoke of incense fills the air in front of the floats which are decorated with gold, silver, fresh flowers, and dozens of candles that light up the statues of Mary, Jesus, and other figures. It is very impressive and moving, and for the people here, the highlight of the entire year.
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| Incense fills the air with scent and smoke. |
Ronda
Tuesday, April 16 - A Home Visit and a Clifftop Town
Today was another travel day as we moved on from Granada to
Ronda, but it included a surprise stop in the tiny town of Salinas where our
group was divided into smaller groups of about six people and invited into the
homes of local families who provided us with lovely home cooked
breakfasts! My group’s hostess was a
tiny little woman who proudly showed us her home and photos of her children and
grandchildren. She had absolutely no
English and several of us had VERY limited Spanish. Robert had told us that we were going to have
to just find some way to communicate, and that would have been fun, but our
group cheated a little because Marthe, one of our tour group members, is from
Mexico, so she was able to help us have a more satisfying conversation. I was able to convey in my very limited
Spanish that I live very close to Salinas, California.
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| This stubborn fellow would not move even when our car was almost on top of him. |
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| Our hostess |
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| Jan gets a cuddle from the family dog. |
We ate and chatted for about 45 minutes, then our hostess
took us for a stroll around the little town before we met the whole group to
continue our fairly short journey to Ronda, one of the “white hill towns” that
dot this region of Andalucia, so called because most of the buildings are
painted white as protection against the very hot and dry summers in this area. Along the way, we saw literally miles and miles of hills covered with olive trees.
 |
| The Salinas elementary school |
 |
| Olive tree groves and the bullet train track seen from our bus. |
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| One of the many "Piedras Blancas" or White Towns nestled in the hills of Andalucia. |
Ronda was lovely, and I would have been happy to spend more time
here, but unfortunately, this was just a day trip. The town is built along the edge of a very
deep gorge, with beautiful views out into the green countryside. I’m so glad we came at this time of
year. Andalucia enjoyed a fairly rainy
winter, and the fields and hills have been green and filled with colorful
flowers…yellow mustard and bright red poppies, purple wisteria, and great white
blossoms on the trees.
Our first stop was a group visit to the large blazing white
bullring, the oldest in Spain. Ronda is famed as the first home of
bullfighting, and the inner halls of the
bullring were lined with bullfighting-related memorabilia.: matadors' costumes,
posters and photos, saddles, swords, etc.
I am not a fan of bullfighting, but it is culturally important to the
Spanish. But even here, there are a growing number of people who question its
value. More about this topic in the next
post, where we learned much more about it.
 |
| Plaza de Toros - One of the oldest and largest bullrings in Spain |
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| A practice ground for matadors |
 |
| Interior of the billing |
 |
| Artifacts in the museum |
Afterwards, Babs and I wandered through the town down to the
huge stone 18th century “New Bridge,” which spans the deep
gorge. Buildings perch precariously right on the edge
of the precipice, but the views are spectacular.
We walked slowly through the town, peeking into the tourist shops. I explored a large ruined palace of some sort along the edge of the gorge, but there was no sign that I could find to identify its former purpose. We ended back in a lovely park and joined some of the others at a little outdoor café for drinks and ice cream.
Our hotel that night, the Molino del Arco Hotel, was out in the countryside below the
hill town – a beautiful spot with its own lovely gardens. We had a very good group dinner in the large
dining room, then headed to bed early. It
was just a nice relaxing day.
 |
| The scene from our balcony |
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| Some of our group enjoying late afternoon cocktails |
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| Leslie and Vito under the orange trees |
On the Road to Arcos de la Frontera
Wednesday, April 16
Ronda and Arcos de la Fontera are two of Los Pueblos
Blancos, the white towns that perch on the hillsides in this region of
Andalucia. Today we traveled from one to
the other with two fascinating stops along the way.
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| Zahara de la Sierra - one of the Piedras Blancas |
I wasn’t entirely sure how I was going to react at the first stop. The ranch of Reserva Tauro raises bulls for
the bull ring, and I’m not a fan of bullfighting. But the visit was interesting – and
enlightening! The ranch manager talked
with us at length about the raising of these animals. Unlike industrially farmed animals, who are
often raised in appalling conditions and then slaughtered for their meat at the
end of a short and sad life, these bulls are raised in relative luxury. They graze in lush pastures and sleep under
spreading oak trees. The people we spoke
to truly respect the animals and provide them with the best care.
Other than contemplating the fate of the
bulls, I must say the visit was lots of fun.
The ranch also raises beautiful horses who were the friendliest I’ve
every encountered. All of them came
trotting over to meet our group and were perfectly happy to be stroked and
petted. We were also joined by Lola, a
big white dog who practically climbed into my lap when I scratched her behind
her big ears.
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| Lola the ranch dog gets some love from Gin. |
After visiting the horses,
we loaded up onto the bus for a tour of the ranch.
Of course, to breed the bulls and horses, you have to have the mamas,
and there were several young calves nursing or playfully butting heads, and two
beautiful colts, one two-week old and another just born a week before.
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| The colt on the left is two weeks old and the one on the right is just one week old! |
Back at the stables, we got a lesson in the art of
bullfighting, with (often hilarious) demonstrations of the matador’s moves by members of our
group.
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| This cart is used for practice by the matadors. |
Our visit ended in the ranch's small museum meeting with a famous matador, Rafael Tejada, who gave up a career in engineering to follow his passion. I remain opposed to bullfighting. There is still that last twenty minutes of the bulls' lives that I continue to have trouble with. But when we compare their lives to other animals that are slaughtered for food, I must say, they have the better life for the first 99.99% of it!
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| Rafael Tajeda spoke with us about his life as a matador. |
Our next stop was Oleum Viride, an olive farm and olive oil
mill. The owner gave us a tour of the
mill and demonstrated the process of extracting the oil from the olives. The mill makes its own brand, but it also
mills smaller amounts for local farmers who bring their olives to be milled for
their family’s use. We enjoyed a nice
lunch of local dishes (including a healthy portion of olive oil, of course),
then we continued on to Arcos.
Arcos de la Frontera is a small town with a more modern
section near the valley floor and the old medieval town perched high
above. Our bus could not make the trip
up the small road to the top, so we hopped out and walked the 15 minutes or so
to our hotel, El Convento, built just
behind an old convent (another one in which the nuns make and sell cookies).
What a gorgeous spot! Our hotel was
perched right on the edge of a deep cliff and most of the rooms had balconies
festively decorated with tile and spectacular views of the countryside. Unfortunately, after our last few days of
lovely weather, a little storm front had moved in, and a fierce wind kept us
from enjoying quiet time on the deck.
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| This statue celebrates the Semana Santa processions |
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| Babs on our hotel balcony. |
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| It was a rainy, windy day...but what a view! |
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| The convent that provided the name for our hotel |
We ended the day with a group dinner at Restaurante El Convento, which the owner, Marie, prepared
especially for us. It was another very enjoyable day!
Day Trip to Jerez – Home of Horses and Sherry
Thursday, April 17
Two more special treats today! Our bus drove us to the city of Jerez, home
of the Fundacion Real Escuela Andaluza
del Arte Ecuestre, (the Royal School of Equestrian Arts). The complex is an actual school where
students come from all over Europe to take regular college studies, but the
focus for all is the art of dressage. Robert
had been misled as to the time of the performance, so we had an hour or so to
walk around the beautiful grounds and visit the small museum.
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| The school's museum |
Friends who follow my "Travels With Robby" blog know that I love to spot birds on our travels. Today had two good sightings. Two European storks were nesting on the tall stacks atop the stables, and Babs spotted an African hoopoe bird on the
lawn! I had seen this bird in Africa
several times but didn’t realize they come so far north. It’s easy to forget that Morocco is just
south of Spain!
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| African hoopoe - He was so busy chasing bugs that it was hard to get an un-blurry shot. |
We were treated to an amazing show of highly trained horses
and riders doing what almost appeared to be dance. The horses wove around the arena in intricate
patterns, stepping perfectly in time with the beat of the music. The riders gave almost imperceptible
directions to the horses. No photos were
allowed in the show (although I think some people in the audience
cheated.) However, here is a link to a YouTube video produced by the school so you can see these amazing riders and horses in action.
We returned to Arcos where we marched back up the hill
behind a group of Roman soldiers at the end of another Semana Santa
procession. Along the way, we saw the plaques of each of the town's Brotherhoods, and this year's poster of for this year's celebration. Unfortunately, the Convent was closed, so we weren't able to enjoy the goodies displayed on their poster.
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| Posters commemorating the Brotherhoods of Arcos de la Frontera |
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| More convent cookies |
Babs and I rested for most
of the afternoon, still recovering from our chest colds, but at least the storm had passed, so we enjoyed the beautiful scenery from our balcony.
The day still held one more
evening activity. Robert, our guide, has
been getting training on sherry, wine that gets its name from its birthplace in
Jerez, the town we had visited this morning.
He taught us about the wine, which is basically an aged white wine. As he talked about the different types, and
the different fermentation processes used for each, he provided samples four
types of sherry from the Fernando de Castilla winery for us to sample: Fino,
Amontillado, Oloroso, and Pedro Ximenez – and he and promised that we would all
find one we loved. I wasn’t so
sure. I’ver never been fond of the
sherries I have had in the past…but his fourth sample, the sweet Pedro Ximenez,
was a winner!
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| Robert instructs us in the art of sherry-making - and tasting! |
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| Tapas and sherry |
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| My favorite - the sweet Pedro Ximenez |
Semana Santa in Sevilla
Friday, April 18
As our group gathered in the lobby of our Arcos hotel, we
could hear the drums and horns of an early morning Semana Santa procession
outside. I think this was my favorite procession of
the entire trip! It was the only one not
surrounded by huge crowds blocking our view.
In fact, it seemed that every citizen of the town was actually marching
in the procession. Dozens of men, women,
and children, all wearing purple robes, walked (some barefoot) in front of a
float of Jesus carrying his cross to Calgary, followed by a float of his grieving
mother, Mary, and Mary Magdelene. More
Roman soldiers ended the procession. Again, my description doesn't do justice to the emotional impact of these processions. Some of the observers, including our own guide, were in tears at the beauty of the event and sincere devotion of the faithful.
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| Bare feet on two of the faithful |
The bus ride to Sevilla was only about one and a half
hours. We arrived too early to check
into our hotel, so Robert took us to the huge park, Parque de Maria Luisa, which holds the grand buildings built for
the Iberian-American Exposition of 1929.
We had a lovely walk through the park, learning about the history of the
exposition and admiring the architecture.
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| The Royal Coat-of-Arms of Spain |
The most impressive building – in fact, another of the most
stunning I have ever seen – is the semi-circular building that curves along
the edge of the large Plaza de España. The building was built to showcase
Spanish technology and industry for the Exposition, but it now houses mostly
government offices. There is a moat
running along base of the building with four bridges that represent the four
kingdoms of early Spain. Two tall
ornamented towers stand at each end of the building. It is so impressive that it has been used as
a filming location for several important films, including Lawrence of Arabia
and Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones.
We had time to settle into our hotel, Hotel Amadeus. It comes by its name honestly, with many
instruments decorating the walls and lobby rooms. Babs and I had a lovely huge room on the top
floor with a bathtub right in the bedroom!
After lunch, we met our local guide Conce who walked us down
the pedestrian street, Calle Mateos Gago, to the nearby Sevilla Cathedral, the
largest Gothic Cathedral in the world. As
with many Spanish churches, this building began life as an Islamic mosque. The Renaissance style bell tower, Giralda,
was originally the minaret, but it is now topped by a statue representing the
triumph of the Christian faith.
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| Calle Mateos Gago |
Conce led us through the interior, sharing the highlights: the Baroque carvings of the choir, the huge and highly decorated altar, a famous painting of “The Vision of Saint Anthony” by Murillo (made even more famous when some art thieves cut the face of St. Anthony out of the painting! It was discovered and replaced.), the reliquaries holding bits of various saints. At one point, I noticed a large tomb held aloft by four figures and figured that someone important must be buried here. Sure enough, this is the final resting place of Christopher Columbus. Final, that is, after resting in several other places. It is said that he traveled more after his death that before!
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| The Vision of St. Anthony |
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| The Altar |
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| Detail from the altar |
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| The tomb of Christopher Columbus |
I couldn’t remember all the places he traveled after his
death, so I’m including is a paragraph from Wikipedia discussing Columbus’s various
burials:
“On 20 May 1506, aged probably 54, Columbus died
in Valladolid, Spain. His remains were
first interred at Valladolid, then at the monastery of La Cartuja in Seville (southern Spain) by the will of his
son Diego Colón, who had been governor
of Hispaniola. In 1542, the remains were
transferred to Colonial Santo Domingo, in the present-day Dominican Republic. In 1795, when
France took over the entire island of Hispaniola, Columbus's remains were moved to Havana, Cuba. After Cuba became independent following the Spanish–American War in 1898, the remains were moved back to Spain, to the Cathedral of Seville, where they were placed on an elaborate catafalque.”
We had the rest of the afternoon on our own, so
Babs and I found a very nice restaurant on Calle Mateos Gago where we shared a
variety of interesting tapas. I love
this style of eating…little bites of lots of flavors!
That evening, we joined our group at La Casa del
Flamenco for more of the heart-pounding rhythms of flamenco music and
dance. It was a lovely and intimate show
with a small audience around three sides of the small stage allowing us all a close-up
view of the wonderful performers.
Adios, España! – Our Last Full Day in Spain
Saturday, April 19
After the very good breakfast at Hotel Amadeus,
our group joined another local guide, Mercedes, for a walk around our
neighborhood, ending at the Sevilla Alcazar, the large palace/fortress behind
the Cathedral. This building, too, began
as a Muslim fortress, and – like the Alhambra – still retains the Moorish
influence in the Mudejar architecture, arches, and elaborate decorations. The palace is gorgeous and, like the Plaza de España, has been used in
films, including Lawrence of Arabia and Game of Thrones.
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| Entering the Alcazar of Sevilla |
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| The portrait of Mary above included the figure of Columbus (the bearded man without a hat). |
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| A celestial ceiling |
After Mercedes led us all through the many gorgeous
rooms, Babs and I took our own tour of the gardens behind the palace, then
returned to the hotel to begin the bittersweet task of packing for the trip
home.
As I was packing for the trip home, I heard the drums and horns of another Semana Santa procession and raced downstairs for one last look of this cultural fiesta.
We met all of our tour companions for a final
cocktail hour on the rooftop patio of Hotel Amadeus, then we all walked to Casa
Carmen for a spectacular farewell dinner.
This was a lovely group of people with whom to share our travels. It was hard to believe that our time together
had come to an end! Adios, Amigos! Happy Travels!
One of those rooms was the very room in which
Columbus received his commission from Ferdinand and Isabella to search for a
new route to the Indies. Columbus has been getting a bad rap lately as the world becomes more compassionate about the way colonization oppressed indigenous peoples. But there is no denying that, for good or bad, his voyages changed the future of the world, and I always get a
little thrill when I know I am standing in the same spot as well-known
historical figures. 
The bus ride to Sevilla was only about one and a half
hours. We arrived too early to check
into our hotel, so Robert took us to the huge park, Parque de Maria Luisa, which holds the grand buildings built for
the Iberian-American Exposition of 1929.
We had a lovely walk through the park, learning about the history of the
exposition and admiring the architecture.
