Alhambra - Home of the Last Morrish Princes

The Alhambra - home of the last Morrish princes -  was a palace, a citadel, a fortress and home of the Nasrid Sultans, high government officials, servants of the court and elite soldiers of the Nasrid Dynasty (1238-1492), the last Islamic sultanate in the lberian Peninsula. Together with the Mezquita (Great Mosque) of Cordoba, the Alhambra is one of the most widely known of all Islamic works of art.

The Nasrid Sultans chose as the site for their court the Sabika hill, one of the foothills of Sierra Nevada on the plain of Granada, which constituted an excellent site from which to keep watch over the capital of their kingdom and the surrounding area. From the beginning of the XIII century, the small older buildings, mainly watchtowers, some of which dated back to before the XI century, gradually grew into a huge walled site which clearly intended to be both palace and court.

Within this gradual change, different stages of development, grandeur and decadence can clearly be seen through the various works of art and buildings erected over the years. The Alhambra was not a single static construction, built at a specific date, but rather the result of an evolution, successive reforms and extensions.

In the Cathredral of Alhambra

 

TOLEDO

Gypsy Flamenco in a Cave

A Gypsy flamenco show , held in a cave, was our last  adventure in Seville. This gives you the idea of how close we were to the "show." The cave was lined with chairs around all the edges and the dancers performed down the center of the room, which is a real cave, albeit now lined in stucco.  This room, and their entire 18,000 square foot hous is actually a cave turned into a modern home.  the entire fgamily - three generations - all the aunts, uncles and everybodies kids, live together in this large cave and dance together in what appeared to be a very lucrative business.  These are VIP gypsies!

NO TIME TO WRITE BUT AT LEAST I GOT SOME PIX POSTD!  MORE LATER! ~ Nancy

Do You know this Guy?

Marbella, Spain

The Iberian Hams of Spain

Rhonda - One the Coasta del Sol

La Macarena - "Our Hope"

Just as there is no Spain without a love for Our Lady, there is no Holy Week in Seville without La Macarena, Our Hope. The people call her the most beautiful Virgin of Seville and of Spain.

Since the 17th century, La Macarena has held the place of honor in the magnificent Holy Week processions that have made Seville famous. Yep, they pack her up and lead parades of people around the city with her much like the Christmas "posadas" we've participated in  in Mexico.

The chapel of La Macarena has a glitzy gold sparkle much like all the Christian monuments we've seen during our travels and in contrast to the more quiet, simple (although some quite dramatic) Jewish and Islamic monuments we have seen.

We've seen and done so much this trip that it is all starting to become a blur.  Don't quote me on anything I've written. As a matter of fact, you might not want to believe anything I say!

big hug to all!

Nancy & Norm

Los Reales Alcazares - Patio de las Doncellas

This Palatine fortress takes it's name from the Arab Alquasr. It was built in 1364 and is where Ferdanand and Isabella (the queen who bank-rolled Christopher Columbus) were married.

The name of this garden means "The Courtyard of the Maidens", refers to the legend that the Moors demanded 100 virgins every year as tribute from Christian kingdoms in Iberia. The story of the tribute may have been used as a myth to bolster the  Reconquista movement, but it may have had some truth to it in the sexual abuse of Christian women by powerful Moors

Barrio de La Juderia - The Jewish Quarter

Placed close the the walls of the city there was a part of Seville known as the Barrios de La Juderia(The Jewish Quarter) in the 14th century. The main narrow street which links the entrance to Almodovar with Maimonides Square leads to the only temple still standing in Seville. This building (the temple) was declared a national historical monument in 1885 and has been restored many times since.

As our tour group walked down this narrow street, two musicians joined us and soon everyone was dancing. One of the Lebaneses girls in our group even began a sort of belly dance. very fun! We're still dancing in Seville.

Hasta!

Nancy & Norm

Through the Puerto de Argon - The Door to Argon

Here we are standing in front of the La Giralda, the tower that is only a small part of a gymormous complex of Gothic palaces.  Part of theis complex is really old - something ike the 1200s, but other things were added in 1929 when Seville hosted the Worlds Expostion.

The Mosque/Cathedral of Cordova

The only Mosque that remains in spain today, the Mosque of cordoba is one of the biggest in the world, and considered the most important Muslim monument of the Western world. We do not have words to describe this awesome place. Will ponder it and try to add my thoughts later.

Peace/Shalam/Inshallah

Nancy

Ps - (this was  "borrowed" from another internet site: 
The Church – Cathedral of Cordoba Spain, popularly know as the Mosque of Cordoba or the “Mezquita”, stands over a Christian church built in the Visigothic period (5th C).
In 711, after Moorish conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, it was used as a Mosque. In 786, Abd al-Rahman I tore down St Vicente church and erected the first section of the Great Mosque in its place, re-using much of the church’s materials. His descendants expanded the building twice towards the river, and the ruler Almanzor made a final enlargement in 988. In 1236, following Cordoba’s fall to Ferdinand of Castile and after over 500 years of use as a mosque, the site was re-consecrated Christian. The Cannons decided to erect a cathedral in the center of the mosque in 1523, tearing down the center to make room. The enclosed choir area now blocks some of the original views, yet the Mosque remains sublime. With the richest areas still untouched and its extensive vistas of columns and double arches, it is the foremost Islamic monument in Spain and a unique example of the inter-play of Christian and Moslem cultures in Spain.  For more info and wonderful photos (waaaay better than mine)  see http://thebuilderblog.wordpress.com/2008/01/31/mosque-cathedral-of-cordoba-spain/

On the Streets of Cordoba

We arrived in Cordoba shortly before dinner (which is 8PM for folks in this part of the world.)  so, we only had time for a quick walk about the area of our hotel before it was dinner and time for bed for the old gringos from Iowa.  We have an early morning and more adventures ahead!

Hasta!

Norm and Nancy

Caceres: A Medivial Marvel

Caceres was declared a World Heritage City by UNESCO in 1986 because of the city's blend of Roman, Islamic, Northern Gothic and Italian Renaissance styles, fruit of the many battles fought here throughout history. An amazing 30 towers from the Muslim period still stand in Caceres, of which the Torre del Bujaco is the most famous.

Caceres is the capital city of the Region of Extremadura, one of Spain's poorest regions in terms of per capita, but richest in terms of historical heritage, gastronomy, wines and unspoilt nature.

I would like to say that we strolled around the historical quarters at our leisure admiring the numerous buildings, towers, palaces and plazas, most very well conserved or recently restored, dating from the Middle Ages and Rennaisance; but the truth is it ws more of a sprint as our tour guide only allowed us 45 minutes and that was to have lunch too. We chose to forgo lunch,but Norm did grab a quick beer, and Nancy a small tapa of ham which we shared 4-ways with our new friends, Lorraine & Mike, then sprinted for our bus just in time!

The adventure continues!

más tarde,

N & N

Nazare

Yes! those are dried octupi you are seeing.  It seemed as though drying fish and other sea creatures is aq main industry in the village of Nazare.  They use it mainly to make soup...and I don't even want to think about what else they may do with it! 

The women selling their dried wares on the beach all looked to be in their 70s or 80s, but our guide told us that they are actually only young women in their 40s who live the hard life of the sea and the sun.

Nazare is a lovely little village on the sea  - one that makes you want to stay and stay....I wish we had a month to spend here!

The Monestery of Alcobaca & Catherdral of Santa Maria

  Now this is an amazing place with such a romantic love story....but I am too tired tonight so stay tuned for the story!

Nancy

The Port of Portugal

Next it was on the the Hotel Santa Maria just outside of Fatima for some wine (Port) tasting. We found their Port the wine Portugal is known for) to be much better tasting than we thought Port was supposed to taste! We sampled three. (
Norm liked then all) and two liquers the almond flavored was Nancy's favorite. Then we headed north to Nazare for lunch. More on that later!

N & N

FATIMA

 

This morning we visited the city of Fatima where it I believed that a miracle occured back in 1921 when the Virgin Mary visited three village children over a span of several months and told the oldest girl three secrets.  There's lots of versions as to exactly what those secrets were and how they were revealed to the people, but the actual miracle is supposed to have been viewed by a crowd of thousands and although they did not see the Virgin Mary, they did see a light show something akin to an auraborialis...or an eclipse, depending on who you talk to, or what you read. 

I remember this story from a movie that I saw a a child that affected me profundly. (Maybe it was simply that I hadn't seen too many movies?) But, I have to say that,sadly,I was disappointed in my visit to Fatima.  It's a beautiful catherdral,built back in the 1920s after the miracle, and a large modern catherdral that holds mass for the mases (literally) daily and a large courtyard - were talking the size of  two football fields,with large statues of all the players - the bishop at the time, the pope and the children who saw the visions. There's one more main stop for pilgrims to Fatima and that is the Chapel of Apparitions, an open-air chapel built on the site of the appearances. It is open year-round for regular services and where it seemed the largest crowds gathered today.

While I was very much looking forward to going to Fatima , for me, it had a very 'sterile' feel to it and has been commercialized so much with not only the many kiosks that line the street directly across, but also the two that are inside the grounds that, again, for me, Fatima was not the place I had hoped it would be.  Fatima  is not, in my opionion a 'thin place.' There were hundreds, if not thousands, there this morning though, and I'm pretty sure most of them would disagree with me, so I do recomend it as a site to visit.  Then you can decide for yourself.

arrivederci,

Nancy

Norm's Search for New Beers

 Norm's search for a new beer every day continues and he's 'ahead of his game' so far! Everything here is abundent be it kinds of beers, new sites, sounds, smells and history.

We're loving every minute but I think today was actually overload -- BIG overload!  We did a City Tour of Lisbon including the tower of Belem, and the Monastery of Jeronimoso in the morning and our guide gave us TONS of history of the city and of Portugal.  so much information, in fact, that my head was spinning. I simply had to stop listening for a while!

Then, in the afternoon, we  traveled outside of Lisbon to three smaller villages.  We explored an ancient 'lighthouse' that I think was in Estrella, lunched on a paella-like seafood & rice dish in Cascais by the sea, then tromped the hills in Sintra for shopping, and another beer for Norm and another lemonada for me. 

The day has now all blended together. I'm going to have to shift through my photos and use a guide book to make sense of it all.  The blog slideshow should give a snippet of what we saw today.  Enjoy!  We certainly did.  :-)

I'm going to bed with todays real 'slideshow' re-playing in my minds-eye.  Ahhhh, La vita è bella.

Arrivederci,

Norm & Nancy

Traveling to Trujillo

  Today went traveled to Trujillo, Spain. Trujillo has a rich heritage. Among the most important monuments are the Castle (Alcazaba), the church of Santiago, the church of Santa María la Mayor,and a couple other catherdrals that I didn't get the names. I'll try to post pictures as words just won't tell you how awesome Trujillo is. This place dates back to prehistoric times and was in the thick of it all with  he battles between the Moors and the Christians during the Crusades.  Trujillo was the birthplace of Franciso Pizarro and he's the guy who conquered Peru. I don't know how I feel about that, but it is an interesting fact about this ancient city.

I've already forgotten most of what Valeria, our guide, told us today but I hope everyone gets the feel of the enormous history this place and this country has and the sense of how we are all connected.

Today, by the way, is Mexico's Independence Day and we celebrated with a lovely couple from Guanejuato, Mexico (and lots of others from our tour group) tonight enjoying the "fado" singers during dinner. 

Vivo Mexico!

hugs,

Nancy and Norm

WE FOUND IT!

While strolling around town this afternoon we found a cute little cafe, with a waiter that might have been a ballerina he had such fine 'turn-out'....but, then again his lack of teeth might have limited his opportunities. (He only had two) But the important thing was they had GREAT PAELLA!

City Tour of Madrid

What a hoot! We went on a tour this morning named "The Panarama City Tour and Palace Special." The funny part was that during the tour about the city, at least, we couldn't understand a word being said. We didn't have a clue what we were looking at! It was simply a bus ride around town with us snapping photos out the window like the ageing American tourists that we are :-)

Once we got to the City Palace, however, the tour got better as we were all given headsets that our guide spoke into in both Spanish and English. He seemed to really 'know his stuff' on the history of Madrid (which we were surprised to learn is only about 200 years old) and the history of Spain overall. Sorry, no photos allowed inside the palace, but if you look at the 'slideshow' you'll see (and know as much as we do about what you're seeing) the same as us. :-)

Now we're off to find some lunch and fumble about on our own. We couldn't do any worse :-)


Hugs,

N & N

PS - After reading a bit about Madrid I think what our guide wa saying is that the city was just a 'village' until the early 1800's. It's been here , albeit small, for AGES....and I mean like the stoneages!

Palacia or Iglesia?

After a bus, a plane and two subways we arrived at our hotel in Madrid. but don't get me wrong - it was easy! I continue to marvel at how well the European public transpostation works. It all flowed practicually seamlessly! With one day before we join a tour of Spain and Portugal, Norm and I tromped around the city in search of the perfect Paella, but it wasn't mean to be. We old Americans needed to eat by 6PM and nothing that served paella opened before 8:30PM. Too tired to wait for it - we'll look again when we get to the Costa del Sol.

We passed this large building but couldn't tell from our map if it was the city Palace or just a really large church (Igesia) We'll find out tomorrow. The adventure continues to unfold. Life is grand!


big hugs,

N & N

Trains,Buses, and Crayfish

We caught the train back into the city, then a bus on to our next stop : Uithoorn,where we will stay overnight then catch yet another bus to the airport early in the moring to to fly to Madrid, Spain. Whew! We're actually quite proud of ourselves and how well we're "getting about." No snag so far but wish us luck! We sure don't want to miss that erly morning flight:-)

Here's Norm tonight as he enjoyed his langusteana (crayfish) and spegetti. Life is grand!

hugs,

N & N

A Weekend with Jillian

This weekend we took the train to Lelystad, about 45 minutes from Amsterdam , to a little burg called Lemmer. The purpose: to spend a weekend with Jillian and her family. Jillian was an exchange student with our family some 20 years ago in Minnesota. Originally from Barbados, she met Herbert, an Austrian one summer when he sailed into her island home Barbados. Jillian was home for a visit from in college on the East coast. After a fairytale romance (and after Jillian graduated from Rudgers with her MS in social work) they married and moved to Lemmer. Now if this doesn't sound like a movie plot I don't know what does! At any rate they've two wonderful children : Sabrina age 11 and Sabastian age 8 and they live in a beautiful home right on the water - water to the front and back actually - with boat docks on each side. Lemmer is a wonderful, vibrant waterfront town, and while it isn't the Carribean, Jill is happy that she's lucky enough to live on the water. We had a wonderful time visiting, catching up and 'solving the world's problems," as well as trekking around town to see the local celebration going on to celebrate the end of summer. Norm was in hog-heaven with all the old cars and old tractors on display; and Nancy in awe of this storybook little burg. Ah....two wonderful days with old friends in a magical place. It doesn't get any better than this!

Now we're off to Madrid in the morning.

big hugs,

Norm and Nancy