Just so he could say it was “our” blog, Larry has decided to add an entry. Here it is…
Larry here – finally wrestled the keyboard away from Dot so I could get a word in here. Actually, she has been doing a really great job blogging and I think we will enjoy the memories here for years to come. By the way, for any of you “would be bloggers” out there, it is not easy – Dot is blessed with a good writing style but it was still a lot of work.
Since Dot has done a very thorough job of describing the sights, I’d thought I would provide some of the “behind the scenes” happenings that reminded us that we were “not in Kansas anymore”. Some seem quite comical now (in hindsight), but were quite confusing/frustrating/exciting at the time.
We arrived in Nice (France) pretty much on time a little after 8 AM, knowing we would have to wait until noon for the France exchangers to arrive from Provence and meet us at the airport restaurant. It was a long four hours, and by noon we were looking at each new arrival as our potential exchangers. It was even more intense by 1PM – recall that we had parked our car at the Boston airport and were to meet these people and exchange car keys, directions, etc., and at present we had nothing!! Finally Dot approached a lady sitting next to us to see if we could pay to use her cell phone to call our exchangers. But the lady did not speak English, only Italian and French, so Dot’s fine French came through for us and we contacted our exchangers to learn that they were severely delayed in traffic and should be there around 1:30. By 2PM we were beginning to discuss alternatives when they arrived and all was well !!
I couldn’t begin to describe our initial road navigation attempts in France !! Ironically, after we finally got the hang of it (and realized that signs at a 45 degree angle meant to go straight), we came to realize that the roads were indeed very well marked. However, there was an implicit assumption that you knew French geography because everything was marked with a city along the route, but it could be some really remote city (LYONS), or the next small town along the road, so sometimes that would make us scramble – that’s why we came to love the traffic circles – you can go around a few times while the navigator figures our where these various cities are located.
Parking in France could get an entire book – suffice it to say that Dot’s dad would have been very proud of how well he taught her parallel parking – she got into spaces that were about the same size as the car! The other sometimes scary driving issue was being able to see your destination in the city (in fact being able to drive by it several times) but never figuring out how to get into it !
After spending months trying to learn Spanish, I arrived in Valencia (SPAIN) only to discover that everyone speaks a local language (that they are trying to keep alive). Even the various signs are in the local language, which was just enough like Spanish to really confuse me. By the time I got to Madrid (where they do speak Spanish on the streets), I was too confused (except perhaps after a few drinks) !
Gibraltar was great – we parked on the Spain side and walked across the border. Trying to feed the parking machine there as an experience. It only took coins (no problem we had plenty) and we needed just 5 Euros, so we started putting them in. Hmm, it doesn’t take the 2 Euro coin, but we have two ones and “tons” of shrapnel, so no problem. Opps, it also doesn’t take 50 cent coins, now we are putting in 20 and 10 and 5 coins (about half of which is rejects for unknown reasons. We finally get to 4.90 (after what seemed like 50 coins) and we notice we still have several left, so we are in. The next coin in causes the entire set of coins to be rejected with a “too many coins” notice!! I then (reluctantly) followed Dot’s original suggestion and went to get change for a 5 Euro note. It took 5 one Euros coins with no problem.
After two months traveling around Europe, I think I might finally be at the point of realizing that the retirement thing is pretty darn good !!
Monday, August 30, 2010
Reflections on a Wonderful Trip
As we prepare to leave Madrid and end our wonderful 8 week 'vacation' in Europe, it seems appropriate to write some final thoughts about this fantastic experience.
First of all, I need to give a big cheer for Home Exchange. We have successfully completed three home exchanges - using the cottage at Cape Cod as our exchange. This has given us free lodging for the entire time except for the final two days in Madrid. We also had full use of a car for touring except for the two and a half weeks in Nice where we really didn't want or need a car. It was perfect. We used the cars to make day trips frequently and to make overnight trips (5 nights in southern Spain and 2 inbetween Provence and Nice). All in all we spent 10 nights out of 60 hotels, which we found to be extremely inexpensive and wonderful. We stayed in 4 star hotels all of which cost less than $100 a night. We even had free calls to the US for 5 out of the 8 weeks from our exchange homes. Amazing.
What we learned about home exchanging is to be more selective about the exchanges both in terms of the specific location and the homes. While these worked well in most regards, they could have been better. The Chateauenard location was perfect but the home could have been better. The Nice location was also perfect and the apartment was comfortable but not really well equipped for making alot of meals. The apartment in Valencia was wonderful - clean, modern, very well equipped but we fairly quickly exhausted what there was to do in Valencia, so our 6 day trip to Andalucia in southern Spain worked very well. All in all we have gotten to see and experience a great deal of Mediterranean France and Spain on this trip and that was our goal.
The weather has been terrific. I think we had just two rainy days in the entire 60 days. That's pretty incredible. It has been very hot most of the time but sunny. The sun here is somehow stronger than at home. When you step out into it, you immediately feel it on your skin much more than at home. In another week or two I think I would become a real blonde at the rate my hair is bleaching out. We both have very good tans.
It is impossible to summarize (or even recall) all of the wonderful and interesting sights we have seen. This was the primary reason for this blog (as well as to share the experience with friends and family who were interested). There have been lots of castles and cathedrals on our itinerary, but also lots of dips in the Mediterranean and quiet strolls observing what is the same and different between Spain, France and home.
Some of the most memorable experiences include walking down Gibraltar, sailing in the Med at Antibes, walking along the Med into Monte Carlo, and revisiting old haunts from when we lived in France for 4 months. We have learned alot about the history of Spain and France and even the roman empire and the Moor occupation of Spain. It has been fascinating.
I have come to the conclusion that globalization of culture is occuring at a pretty good rate. Being in Madrid doesn't feel particularly foreign. If you didn't pay attention to the signage you could easily convince yourself that you were in NY or Washington DC. I find this to be kind of a shame. This is slightly less true in France where more effort has been put into maintaining their cultural differences and their heritage. I liked the excitement of the foreigness and the discovery of the differences.
But it is time to go home. We have been away long enough. I miss my friends and family. I miss my dogs alot and I miss just being able to justify sitting around doing nothing for a while (here we hated to waste the opportunity so we were pretty constantly on the move.)
One last word about my wonderful husband who has been beside me the entire time. We have been each other's best friend for many years, but being alone together on this trip has allowed us to really connected in new ways. We have really enjoyed each other's company. What a nice bonus!
Thanks for sharing our journey with us. I hope you have enjoyed it.
First of all, I need to give a big cheer for Home Exchange. We have successfully completed three home exchanges - using the cottage at Cape Cod as our exchange. This has given us free lodging for the entire time except for the final two days in Madrid. We also had full use of a car for touring except for the two and a half weeks in Nice where we really didn't want or need a car. It was perfect. We used the cars to make day trips frequently and to make overnight trips (5 nights in southern Spain and 2 inbetween Provence and Nice). All in all we spent 10 nights out of 60 hotels, which we found to be extremely inexpensive and wonderful. We stayed in 4 star hotels all of which cost less than $100 a night. We even had free calls to the US for 5 out of the 8 weeks from our exchange homes. Amazing.
What we learned about home exchanging is to be more selective about the exchanges both in terms of the specific location and the homes. While these worked well in most regards, they could have been better. The Chateauenard location was perfect but the home could have been better. The Nice location was also perfect and the apartment was comfortable but not really well equipped for making alot of meals. The apartment in Valencia was wonderful - clean, modern, very well equipped but we fairly quickly exhausted what there was to do in Valencia, so our 6 day trip to Andalucia in southern Spain worked very well. All in all we have gotten to see and experience a great deal of Mediterranean France and Spain on this trip and that was our goal.
The weather has been terrific. I think we had just two rainy days in the entire 60 days. That's pretty incredible. It has been very hot most of the time but sunny. The sun here is somehow stronger than at home. When you step out into it, you immediately feel it on your skin much more than at home. In another week or two I think I would become a real blonde at the rate my hair is bleaching out. We both have very good tans.
It is impossible to summarize (or even recall) all of the wonderful and interesting sights we have seen. This was the primary reason for this blog (as well as to share the experience with friends and family who were interested). There have been lots of castles and cathedrals on our itinerary, but also lots of dips in the Mediterranean and quiet strolls observing what is the same and different between Spain, France and home.
Some of the most memorable experiences include walking down Gibraltar, sailing in the Med at Antibes, walking along the Med into Monte Carlo, and revisiting old haunts from when we lived in France for 4 months. We have learned alot about the history of Spain and France and even the roman empire and the Moor occupation of Spain. It has been fascinating.
I have come to the conclusion that globalization of culture is occuring at a pretty good rate. Being in Madrid doesn't feel particularly foreign. If you didn't pay attention to the signage you could easily convince yourself that you were in NY or Washington DC. I find this to be kind of a shame. This is slightly less true in France where more effort has been put into maintaining their cultural differences and their heritage. I liked the excitement of the foreigness and the discovery of the differences.
But it is time to go home. We have been away long enough. I miss my friends and family. I miss my dogs alot and I miss just being able to justify sitting around doing nothing for a while (here we hated to waste the opportunity so we were pretty constantly on the move.)
Thanks for sharing our journey with us. I hope you have enjoyed it.
Madrid Flamenco
On Saturday night in Madrid we took in another flamenco show. We were curious to what extent it would be the same as the one in Seville and we wanted to see it once more while in Spain. It was a terrific show at Casa Patas. We almost didn't make it there. We had made reservations (fortunately) but they told us to be there at ten of 9. It took us longer to get into town (having to switch metros and walk a bit on either end of the trip) and we arrived pretty much at 9 fearing we had missed the opportunity.
However, no problem and as it turns out they save tables for people with reservations. Using good Las Vegas etiquette, Larry handed the maitre'd ten euros with the tickets and he took us to what I think was probably the best table in the entire room. The raised stage was in the corner of the room with tables along two sides. We were sitting right at the open corner. They were practically dancing on our table. That was a well spent ten euros for sure.
Before coming to Spain I had somehow thought flamenco dancing was alot of whirling and skirt swinging and happy. It really isn't at all. It is very inense and fierce. The singing was similiar to last time and still very emotional. We were allowed to take pictures without flash but it was hard to get any that weren't blurry because they were moving to fast. The movements are choppy and staccato. he poses struck are strong and awkward looking. The faces had very fierce expressions most of the time - especially the woman dancer. They danced together very briefly. It was mostly solo dancing accompanied by clapping. There was less stomping this time. There were two guitar players this time and the guitar playing was really, really nice.
Wonderful show! Great seats!
However, no problem and as it turns out they save tables for people with reservations. Using good Las Vegas etiquette, Larry handed the maitre'd ten euros with the tickets and he took us to what I think was probably the best table in the entire room. The raised stage was in the corner of the room with tables along two sides. We were sitting right at the open corner. They were practically dancing on our table. That was a well spent ten euros for sure.
Wonderful show! Great seats!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Madrid is Fabulous
Madrid is a really, really beautiful city. We have been metro-ing around and it is a really big city with beautiful parks, lots of squares with fountains and statues of men on horses. We searched in vain Saturday morning for a tourist office - found one that was shut for renovations and another was closed because it was Saturday. We gave up eventually and just bought tickets on the hop-on, hop-off tourist bus. This is one of those double decker buses where the top is open. It affords a fabulous view of the buildings as you go by and was a great way to see the city without wearing out our feet.
The building in the top left picture above is the ColonTowers. Very strange looking. The one in the top right corner was designed by the same person who designed the World Trade Centers. The bottom two pictures are representative of the various 'gates' and fountains that are all over the city.
There are two major squares in Madrid (see below). The Plaza Mayor is the old plaza. It was used for everything from bull fights to festivals and was the site of the famous Spanish Inconquisition. We had dinner there twice as it is filled with outdoor cafes. The second major square is the Puerto del Sol which is equivalent to Times Square in NY city. We passed through there last night around midnight and it was hopping and packed full of people.
There is a lovely cathedral in Madrid which we went through. It was NOT overly decorated and actually had modern art stained glass and a beautiful iron (?) door. The ceilings were beautifully painted.
The cathedral is right across from the magnificent royal palace. The royal family doesn't actually live there anymore but it is used extensively for special functions. We went through it, but no photos were allowed. It is reportedly the largest palace in western Europe with something like 2800 rooms. We only saw about 40 of them. The parade grounds in front of the palace are used each year for the king to review the troops.
The inside was amazing but hard to describe. It was very baroque and over decroated with much gold guilding, dark tapestries, and every square inch of walls and ceilings covered with something - paintings, silken walkpaper, porcelain. It was quite gaudy.
Attached to the palace was a royal armory (again no pictures) but it was incredible - two huge rooms of men and horses in full polished armor. I've never seen anything like it. It is hard to understand how they could move at all with all that stuff on.
Yesterday we took a very nice cable car ride over a huge park to the western side of the city. (We do love to go on 'rides').
The city is filled with green spaces and open areas, making it very lovely. On our way back to the tourist bus we walked through a lovely park which had some formal gardens and also had the remains of an Egyptian temple at the end of it.
Apparently Spanish engineers provided significant help to Egypt when they were building the Aswan Dam. To thank them, Egypt gave them the remains of a temple that lay in the flood plain for the dam. They packed to up, sent it over to Spain and reconstructed it in this park. Amazing stuff.
Every Sundays there is a huge flea market in the old part of the city. It goes for blocks and is one of the largest in Europe. They have been holding it for several hundred years, I think. It was lots of clothes, jewelry, leather goods and souvenirs and was packed with people. There was even an area where people were trading cards - soccer cards, maybe?
Today we also visited one of the many world-class art museums that are here. I choose the Museo de Thyssen-Bornemisza because it had a good selection of art from Europe and America. We only spent about an hour in there as it was nearly closing time but it was amazing to see all these famous painters I studied in art classes as a child: Van Gogh, Picasso, Degas, Monet, and a zillion others I can't recall off the top of my head. Although we do not tend to linger in art museums, I have to admit I really enjoyed this one very much.
We wondered through the Retiro Park on our way home this afternoon. It is the Madrid equivalent of Central Park and is filled with statutes, lawns, flower gardens, and has a big man-made lake in the middle where lots of people were rowling around. The park was very well used.
We are both really glad we spent as much time in Madrid as we did. It is an exceptionally beautiful city. It reminded us quite a bit of Washington, but it is much larger and the buildings are more spectacular.
There are two major squares in Madrid (see below). The Plaza Mayor is the old plaza. It was used for everything from bull fights to festivals and was the site of the famous Spanish Inconquisition. We had dinner there twice as it is filled with outdoor cafes. The second major square is the Puerto del Sol which is equivalent to Times Square in NY city. We passed through there last night around midnight and it was hopping and packed full of people.
Attached to the palace was a royal armory (again no pictures) but it was incredible - two huge rooms of men and horses in full polished armor. I've never seen anything like it. It is hard to understand how they could move at all with all that stuff on.
Yesterday we took a very nice cable car ride over a huge park to the western side of the city. (We do love to go on 'rides').
Every Sundays there is a huge flea market in the old part of the city. It goes for blocks and is one of the largest in Europe. They have been holding it for several hundred years, I think. It was lots of clothes, jewelry, leather goods and souvenirs and was packed with people. There was even an area where people were trading cards - soccer cards, maybe?
We wondered through the Retiro Park on our way home this afternoon. It is the Madrid equivalent of Central Park and is filled with statutes, lawns, flower gardens, and has a big man-made lake in the middle where lots of people were rowling around. The park was very well used.
Train Trip to Madrid
We took the train to Madrid Friday. It was well over 100 degrees in Valencia and waiting for the train was a lot like sitting in an oven. We met a very nice young woman from England who was also headed to Madrid on a later train. She was on crutches with her ankle bandaged. Turns out she had been at the Tomatina in Bunol which we had considered attending. She said it was really a blast - very intense. She got tackled and was on the ground for some of it. Afterward everyone goes to the river and jumps in to clean off the tomatoes. She jumped off a bridge and hit a rock with her foot - breaking a toe and spraining an ankle. She said it was SO WORTH it - the tomatina was such a great experience. After talking to her, we were still somewhat glad we hadn't gone - a little too intense for us old folks.
The train ride was interesting. Unfortunately, it was not a high-speed train. That would have really been fun. Spain is a fairly flat, arid place and lots of developed farmland. There wasn't much to see. We had brought our lunch and had a lovely picnic on the way...very European!
Two day in Madrid and then home. We are ready!
The train ride was interesting. Unfortunately, it was not a high-speed train. That would have really been fun. Spain is a fairly flat, arid place and lots of developed farmland. There wasn't much to see. We had brought our lunch and had a lovely picnic on the way...very European!
Two day in Madrid and then home. We are ready!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Beach Day...YEAH!!
After some debate yesterday about what to do today, we decided on the beach. The other option (which I think would have been insane) was to go to the 'tomatina' festival in Bunol, a small town about 35 kilometers from Valencia. For 1 hour from 11 in the morning until noon, people throw tomatoes at each other - like 20,000 tons of tomatoes. I had read about it in the guidebook. When we asked for details yesterday at the tourist Information office, the girl actually laughed and said 'Oh no, you don't want to go to that. It is for YOUNG people.' Well, I hadn't wanted to participate so much as see it. They estimate that 40,000+ people attend and you really can't attend without participating. After reading details on line about having shirts ripped off, needing to be hosed off before heading home, getting groped, not to mention the tomatos (snorkle masks are recommended), we reached the adult decision NOT to go, but it was touch and go there for a little while.
So this morning, we headed south from Valencia to experience the beaches of the Costa del Blanco. Like the Costa del Sol a little further south, this area is a primary vacation target for many in Europe. We had seen the beaches north of Valencia (Costa del Valencia) and were pretty unimpressed, so we figured we try south and see what we could find.
We rented beach chaises for 4 euros (a little over $5 for the day), set up our umbrella and ventured into the water. The beach was very fine sand. The water was clear with little in the way of waves. It was extremely shallow and the bottom was large rocks which you could walk on fairly easily. You had to go out about 50 feet maybe in order to be in waist deep water.
Okay, so far this doesn't sound all that wonderful BUT the water was fabulous - the clearest, cleanest water either of us has ever been in other than a swimming pool. It was delightful once you got past the difficulty of getting in and out. We were in and out for the rest of the day. It was a wonderful beach.
One thing that was really unusual here was that there was a water skiing set-up. It was kind of like a horizontal ski-lift that went in a large rectangle out in the water. You would grasp onto a handle as it came by and ski down a little ramp into the water and if you were lucky enough to not wipe-out, you could ski around the whole rectangle - probably a good half a mile. Some of the skiiers were fantasctic doing jumps and spins as they went...others wiped out quickly and were picked up by a motor boat. We've never seen anything like it before. (No, we didn't try it.)
We happened to kind of take a wrong turn on the way home and ended up on the mountain next to the beach looking down on the beach....spectacular!
The humidty was making it very hazy by this point in the afternoon.
We took the scenic road home driving through lots of lovely resorts right on the Med. In one spot there was this magnificent rock poking up out of the water. We read in the guide book that it was privately owned until 1987 when the state bought it and turned it into a nature reserve. There is a tunnel through it and lots of hiking paths...perhaps next trip.
Very cool day.
So this morning, we headed south from Valencia to experience the beaches of the Costa del Blanco. Like the Costa del Sol a little further south, this area is a primary vacation target for many in Europe. We had seen the beaches north of Valencia (Costa del Valencia) and were pretty unimpressed, so we figured we try south and see what we could find.
We targetted a town called Benidorm which was about 1 1/2 hours away. The drive was spectactular - mountains, hills with castles on them, fields of orange groves, vineyards, a beautiful blue Mediterranean in the distance. As we approach the town we were shocked to see major high-rise apartment buildings - 30, 40 and 50 stories high. Clearly lots of people wanted to go there and wanted to be near the beach, not back 10 miles from the coast. We found parking and trekked onto the beach which was MOBBED.
We had picked this beach because it was on the list of Top Beaches in Spain, however, a little later I was reading the guide book and it named this beach as one of the top beaches in the WORLD! It was a wonderful half-moon beach about 3 miles long with mountainous cliffs on either end. Off-shore a little ways was a wonderful 'Gibraltar'-like rock in the middle of the water.
Okay, so far this doesn't sound all that wonderful BUT the water was fabulous - the clearest, cleanest water either of us has ever been in other than a swimming pool. It was delightful once you got past the difficulty of getting in and out. We were in and out for the rest of the day. It was a wonderful beach.
One thing that was really unusual here was that there was a water skiing set-up. It was kind of like a horizontal ski-lift that went in a large rectangle out in the water. You would grasp onto a handle as it came by and ski down a little ramp into the water and if you were lucky enough to not wipe-out, you could ski around the whole rectangle - probably a good half a mile. Some of the skiiers were fantasctic doing jumps and spins as they went...others wiped out quickly and were picked up by a motor boat. We've never seen anything like it before. (No, we didn't try it.)
We took the scenic road home driving through lots of lovely resorts right on the Med. In one spot there was this magnificent rock poking up out of the water. We read in the guide book that it was privately owned until 1987 when the state bought it and turned it into a nature reserve. There is a tunnel through it and lots of hiking paths...perhaps next trip.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Cordoba
We left Seville mid-day on Saturday and declared the rest of the day to be a rest day. All we had to do was drive about 1 1/2 hours to Cordoba, the next and last stop on our whirlwind tour of the Andalusia area of southern Spain. Cordaba is further inland than Seville and the landscape changed rather dramatically to be miles and miles of rolling fields. It was quite lovely and quite different from what we had seen so far along the coast and through the mountains.
Once we reached Cordoba and found it to be a little over 100 degrees the only sane thing to do was go to the hotel pool for the afternoon.
We have been staying at fabulous hotels on this little trip - all 4 star hotels, all with pools and air conditioning. The hotels are ridiculously cheap for the quality. We are paying well under $100 a night including parking and taxes and whatever. Our hotel coming up for 3 nights in Madrid is $67 a night and it is 4 star also. It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon especially given the heat. Larry walked around town a bit but finally succombed to the heat and joined me at the pool.
We attempted to take the bus into the center of the city to find dinner without a bus map (because there apparently aren't any such maps). We had our first mishap of the bus variety - ending up way out of town at the end of the bus line, having to wait 15 minutes and pay again to come back into town on the same bus. We then ended up walking in the last bit, which turned out to be lovely.
The main attraction in Cordoba is the Mezquita Catherdal-Mosque and we ended up walking across the pedestrian bridge just at sunset. Magnificent!
We had a terrific dinner and ended up walking back to the hotel, not wanting to risk another bus trip.
We didn't explore the Mezquita until the next morning. The guidebooks say that despite having seen all the other castles, forts and cathedrals in Europe, this one is something different - nothing like the rest. You'll never see anything like it - and we agree! It is very hard to convey the scale of this place
First a little history, there was a church located near the river. The Islamic community rented half of the church as its mosque. They outgrew that space and ended up buying the rest of the church, which they tore down and made into a large mosque. Then, along come the catholics during the 'reconquest' (I love that term.) and they rip out the center of the mosque and build a cathedral smack dab in the middle of the mosque. The effect is quite bizarre and mostly lovely. It has been very well maintained and was protected from destruction by the catholic authorities. It is hard to explain but these pictures below all came from inside the same place. The cathedral part is in the center and it is surrounded by the beautiful red and white arches of the mosque.
After exploring the Mezquita we took a cab back to the hotel, checked out and hit the road for "home" in Valencia, figuring (incorrectly) that we could get something to eat once we were on the road. We found a nice looking restaurant but it didn't open until 1 pm and it was only 12. Then we found another one which opened at 2, but by now it was only 1pm, so we kept driving. We ended up not eating until around 4:30 in the afternoon and that, believe it or not, was at a closed shopping mall (it was SUNDAY) at a McDonalds. This was the first time we have eaten American fast food in Europe this trip, despite seeing many McDonalds and Burger Kings, but we were starving by this point in the day. (I have to admit it was really, really good.)
The most amazing thing (other than eating) on the way home was the landscape - for several hours we drove through olive orchards which went up and down the hills and went out as far as the eye could see - miles and miles and miles of them. Larry later looked up Spanish olive oil and discovered that 95% of the olive oil in the world comes form the Mediterranean area and Spain is the primary poducer - outdoing Italy by 2 to 1. Who knew?
This central/southern part of the Spain is a very high plain and we saw several hundred wind turbines, as well as a large number of solar cell farms. I think oil is very expensive and they are really embracing alternative energy here in Spain. Good for them.
We attempted to take the bus into the center of the city to find dinner without a bus map (because there apparently aren't any such maps). We had our first mishap of the bus variety - ending up way out of town at the end of the bus line, having to wait 15 minutes and pay again to come back into town on the same bus. We then ended up walking in the last bit, which turned out to be lovely.
The main attraction in Cordoba is the Mezquita Catherdal-Mosque and we ended up walking across the pedestrian bridge just at sunset. Magnificent!
We didn't explore the Mezquita until the next morning. The guidebooks say that despite having seen all the other castles, forts and cathedrals in Europe, this one is something different - nothing like the rest. You'll never see anything like it - and we agree! It is very hard to convey the scale of this place
First a little history, there was a church located near the river. The Islamic community rented half of the church as its mosque. They outgrew that space and ended up buying the rest of the church, which they tore down and made into a large mosque. Then, along come the catholics during the 'reconquest' (I love that term.) and they rip out the center of the mosque and build a cathedral smack dab in the middle of the mosque. The effect is quite bizarre and mostly lovely. It has been very well maintained and was protected from destruction by the catholic authorities. It is hard to explain but these pictures below all came from inside the same place. The cathedral part is in the center and it is surrounded by the beautiful red and white arches of the mosque.
The most amazing thing (other than eating) on the way home was the landscape - for several hours we drove through olive orchards which went up and down the hills and went out as far as the eye could see - miles and miles and miles of them. Larry later looked up Spanish olive oil and discovered that 95% of the olive oil in the world comes form the Mediterranean area and Spain is the primary poducer - outdoing Italy by 2 to 1. Who knew?
This central/southern part of the Spain is a very high plain and we saw several hundred wind turbines, as well as a large number of solar cell farms. I think oil is very expensive and they are really embracing alternative energy here in Spain. Good for them.
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