Monthly Archives: September 2019

Madrid is the last stop of our tour through Spain. We started the day with a panoramic drive through the city. Madrid has a population of about six million and is the only province that is only this city. It originated in the 9th century and was named the capital in 1561. The city was originally Muslim and the city’s name was Almadrid.

It was first ruled by the Hapsburgs and then the Bourbons. There is a variety of different architecture because of the different rulers of the city. Spain became a democracy in 1977 after being a Fascist country since 1939 under a dictator.

We had an extensive tour of the Prado Museum (no photos allowed).

After we were done Bob and I went to the Palacio Real, the Royal Palace, and toured there. Again no photos inside. It was quite elaborately decorated. The Palace has over 2,000 rooms. We saw about 30.

One of the beautiful fountains around the city

Outside the Palacio Real

Inside the courtyard of the Palace

Tonight we have our farewell dinner and tomorrow we start our long journey home.

This has been an interesting and informative trip. We are glad we did this journey.

We left Seville and traveled about 1.5 hours to the city of Córdoba. Once again there was an old city surrounded by both Arabic and medieval walls, and a modern new city. Our mission was the Mosque – Cathedral of Córdoba. The entire complex covers 6 acres. It was originally started in the 8th century. The original minaret was built in the 9th century. When the Mosque was later converted to a Christian Church the minaret was covered by a baroque tower. To get the building to a great height they used double arches. The original mosque had over 1,000 arches, but because of modifications to it when it was converted to a church there are only 850 columns. Around the year 900 Córdoba was the largest city in Europe with over 600,000 inhabitants. It was the major trade center for Spain.

There was a special event at the Cathedral, the religious floats from Córdoba and surrounding areas were on display. They had had a huge procession of the floats the prior Saturday and now were on display. They were quite ornate and interesting to see. They can weigh between 2 – 4,000 pounds and are carried on the shoulders of the church members.

The double arched building supports

One of the floats

The altar of the Cathedral

The bell tower which covers the minaret

The next part of the tour was through the Jewish quarter. Jews had been here for over 1,000 years. They served as doctors, bankers and advisors to the Sultans. Around the year 1100, they were forced to convert to Islam. They were always the minority group in Spain, to either the Muslims and later after Spain had been conquered by Christians to them. In 1492, the Jews who were in Spain were either expelled or forced to convert to Christianity.

The great Jewish doctor, philosopher, mathematician and thinker Maimonides was born in Córdoba.

Statue of Maimonides

We then went to the Córdoba train station to travel on to Madrid.

When we got to Madrid, we rushed out to the Reina Sophia Museum. This is where Picasso’s Guernica is on display. We also saw some Miro, Dali, El Greco and Goya. We could not photograph the Guernica.

Dali

Then we were off to dinner. We had wanted paella and finally tonight we had it.

Last night we had a short show of Flamenco dancing and singing. There were 2 dancers and 3 musicians who entertained us for about a half hour. Then we were off to dinner in the hotel. We had a choice of a full dinner or a tapas dinner. Since we could not get a reservation earlier than 8:30 (when in Spain…) we opted for tapas.

This morning we were taken to the entrance of the Alcazar. On the way we learned that Seville has been inhabited for over 3,000 years. It is the only inland port on the Mediterranean Sea because of the river, the Rio Grand. The river at the point of Seville is salt water. The riverside has many restaurants and there are many sporting activities.

The Alcazar is the longest used royal palace. It has influences of the Moors, Jews and Europeans. It was primarily built in the 12th and 13th century. It has a similar structure as the Alhambra, being many palaces surrounding courtyards and all the buildings surrounded by gardens.

The Golden Tower along the River

After leaving the Alcazar we walked through the old Jewish quarter. In the times of the Alcazar the advisors to the ruler were Jews. They had lived peacefully together until 1391, for over 150 years, when the first pogrom happened. The streets were narrow and winding.

We then took horse carriage rides through Maria Luisa Park. Many of the buildings from the 1929 expo are here. We ended in the Plaza of Spain. It was huge and full of people because it was Sunday.

We returned to the hotel to change some clothes. The day had warmed up. In the lobby we saw this cute little girl dressed in Flamenco clothes.

We then went to the Museum of Art and saw paintings by El Greco, Goya and Murillo.

Our last stop for the day was Seville’s Cathedral. It is the largest Gothic style building in the world. It is the third largest church in the world, behind St. Peter’s at the Vatican and St. Paul in London. Bob got to climb the bell tower. The photos do not describe the beauty or the immensity of the building.

The silver altar

The main altar

This is a beautiful city and we have enjoyed our time here. Tomorrow Córdoba and then Madrid.

Overnight there was a powerful thunder storm. When we awoke (Bob was already up) at 7, it was like there were strobe lights in our room. We were very disappointed to see the weather forecast, because we were due to tour the Alhambra, which was mostly outside walking.

By the time we had breakfast and met the group it had stopped raining. The skies were still overcast, but the thunder and lightening were gone. Our hotel, the Alhambra Palace was just outside the back gate entrance after a short walk.

We had an excellent guide, never got his name clearly.

The Alhambra is made of red bricks from the outside, but is fantastically decorated on the inside. It took 200 years to build. It was started in 1236. It is Moorish and was built to house the Sultan, his family, his concubines and those who worked in support of him. The buildings were built around courtyards with water features and gardens in their midst. The Alhambra covers 33 acres, has 35 towers and is 1.5 miles around. The originator was Mohammed I from the Nasrid Dynasty. The decorations include mosaic tile work, intricate stone work, stucco decorations and amazing wooden ceilings. The Moors were driven out of Spain in 1492. After that time the buildings were added, but in more traditional European style.

The lion fountain – 12 totally different lions

Stucco decorations and ceiling

Another courtyard

After our visit we toured the gardens and then went to lunch at a lovely restaurant. The ceiling was decorated with jugs, formally used to serve wine.

Then we were off to Seville.

Very early morning today. Up at 5:45, breakfast at 6:45 and on the bus at 7:15. We had a 30 minute ride to the airport, very new and modern. The streets of Barcelona were mainly empty except for delivery trucks. We passed the various ports before getting to the airport.

We got on our flight to Malaga the gateway to Andalusia. With no luggage to pick up we were quickly on our way to Ronda a typical Andalusian town, narrow winding streets with whitewashed houses.

We traveled from the flat coastal land, where they were growing citrus, into the more mountainous area where they grow grains and olives. The country is very committed to being energy green and there were many windmills along the way. On the ride there our tour director, Alicia, gave us some information about Spain.

Upon arriving in Ronda we had lunch in the Parador de Ronda. The restaurant was lovely and looked out on part of the gorge that surrounds the city. After lunch we met Pepe our tour guide and he led us around the old town. We saw the quaint streets and went into a traditional house. Unfortunately it started to rain and we did not walk as far as we might have. Then we went to the bull ring. It is the oldest in Spain and the largest in the size of the area where they fight. It is on their national heritage list and is only used 3 times a year.

We learned about bull fighting and how the men are trained to fight the bulls.

The town used to host many famous writers, actors and composers. Washington Irving, Ernest Hemingway, Orion Welles and John Singer Sargent all came here. The opera Carmen was composed here. Here is a link to the Sargent painting done here in Rondo.

https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/el-jaleo/PQHv7QgAV-VL6w?hl=en&ms=%7B%22x%22%3A0.5%2C%22y%22%3A0.5%2C%22z%22%3A9.55488805267977%2C%22size%22%3A%7B%22width%22%3A1.161744855967078%2C%22height%22%3A1.2374999999999996%7D%7D

When we left Ronda we traveled to Granada. We had a sumptuous dinner and now are off to sleep.

The new bridge in Ronda from 1751

On a terrace overlooking the gorge which surrounds Ronda just before the rain started

Looking out from the dining room to the terrace in a traditional Andalusian house

In the central patio of the traditional house

Overlooking the gorge and valley area

Outside the bull ring

The toreadors clothing and weapons

In the bull ring

Another statue outside the bull ring

Today was basically about Gaudi, the famous Spanish architect who started the fabulous church called Sagrada Familia. We had 2 local guides today which allowed our group of 31 to be split into small groups while touring. We all used the same bus, but when we got to a site we were in our small group. The Sagrada Familia was started 137 years ago and is a Catholic Church. It has been funded by donations, with no money coming from any government entity. It is still a work in progress with several cranes and lots of workmen. We had been here 15 years ago and at that time they were just beginning to work on some of the balconies and the floors were not installed yet.

The building is fanciful, extraordinary, unique and amazing. It is very organic. In 7 years it will be the 100th anniversary of the death of Gaudi and they are trying to complete the church by then. He was a young man when he died accidentally, being run over by a tram. Since his death and after a fire destroyed most of his plans other architects and craftsmen have taken on the design and completion of the building.

We also went up to Montjuic to get an overview of the city and to see some of the Olympic venues.

Our hotel gave us free tickets to tour Palau Guell, a private home designed by Gaudi. It was magnificent. The decorations of wood, wrought iron, tile work, stonework and fantasy were amazing.

The famous bow window from outside

Music balcony overlooking large reception area

Some of the 18 chimneys on the rooftop – we are wearing headphones, have not grown stuff on our heads!

We missed going into the main Cathedral because there was a funeral there. Now we have a reason to return.

Tapas for dinner tonight, a short walk and packing up. Our bags are being collected tonight so when we fly to Malaga tomorrow morning we can get right on our bus and start touring. Our luggage will be transported overnight by bus to our next hotel.

Early morning- we leave at 7:15 so early to bed. Good night.

Today was our last day to sleep late on this trip. This evening we join the Tauck Week in Spain trip and we know from experience that the days will start early.

We walked from our hotel to the Picasso Museum which is just outside the main Gothic area of Barcelona. The museum is in several old buildings that have been beautifully joined together. There was a special exhibition besides the main one. The special one was a photographic one with photos of Picasso and his friends from different times and showed his studio and workshops. The main exhibit followed his career from his early works onward. It was interesting to see his style change.

We then wandered around seeing some beautiful plazas and the lovely buildings in the Gothic quarter.

September 11th is Cataluna day (Barcelona is in Cataluna) and there were lots of people out in the streets and many stores and shops were closed. There was also a demonstration, because the Catalans wanted to separate from Spain and at the last election it was voted down.

Flags from the people demonstrating

We came back to the hotel to rest and then met our touring group. Most of the people on the tour are seniors like us.

Early to bed because we start at 8:20 in the morning.

We woke up on Tuesday morning at 6:15 and found 4 messages from our guide Stephen. He wanted to know if we still wanted to do the tour since it was predicted to be a bad weather day. We decided to go for it.

After breakfast we walked to our meeting point. Our group was only 4 people and the guide. The other couple was from Taiwan, Michael and Pedge. On the ride to Montserrat which took about 45 minutes, Stephen told us historical information about Barcelona and Montserrat.

Fortunately the rain had stopped. We rode a cable car up to the main area where the monastery and church are located, but then rode a finicular up higher on the mountain. We did a hike to see the various features of the spires for which Montserrat is named.

We went to the church which was huge and extremely ornate. We got to hear the famous boy’s choir sing and when we came out it was pouring. Great timing, we got in all the outside activities before the rains came.

We then went to a farm restaurant for lunch. Bette was brave and had boar stew.

Then back to Barcelona and a rainy walk back to the hotel. Tapas for dinner.

On Monday morning we were able to sleep in a little. The prior night the party in typical Spanish style was just getting rolling when we left at 11:15. We were barely able to get to bed on the same day we woke up – a Bob rule. We had a transfer to the train station and we were off to Barcelona.

Senior citizens don’t do good selfies

We checked into our hotel right on La Rambla. Once we got our luggage into our room we were out walking. Our objective was to find the location of where we were to meet our tour in the morning. It took some effort, but we found this tiny obscure street. On the way we saw some of Barcelona’s beautiful fountains, streets and the outside of 2 of the Gaudi buildings. We also passed every big name in fashion stores along the way.

Then it was dinner time and we went to a small restaurant on La Rambla and had several tapas which were very good. Bob ordered a beer, but got a “keg”.

Then we were off to bed, because we had to be up early. Unfortunately our room faced La Rambla and there was loud noise and music until late. Then there was a ferocious rain storm. Bad weather predicted for Tuesday and it had already started in the middle of the night.

Fingers crossed for the rain to not be too bad on Tuesday.

We started today walking around Alcala de Henares. We toured Cervantes’ birth home and then we think we saw the building where Columbus was sent off to discover America.

Statue of Cervantes in Plaza de Cervantes

We came back to the hotel to rest for a while.

The entrance to our hotel

We then went to the Monasterio de Bernardo’s for the ceremony. The church was beautiful. The Bishop of the Madrid area did the ceremony. The sister’s choir was wonderful to hear. There were eleven women taking their final vows and one man. There were at least 400 in attendance. The whole event was very moving. You could see the emotion in the faces of the parents as well as the young women. We were very honored to attend. After the ceremony we all went back to the monastery where the sisters stay when they are in this area. There was dinner for well over 300 people. We snagged a bottle of champagne and drank it from our Burger King cups!

The Bishop

Taking the vows

The new Sister Miriam

The Loveland family

Just the usual folks

Sister Miriam, Bob and Sister Bailey

Champagne!

We enjoyed this experience.

Now we are off to Barcelona.