2023-01-30 Barcelona

Yesterday morning was Picasso; evening was Disney.

Picasso had learned all the classical painting techniques by age 16 but he was a rule breaker and dyslexic. Here in “Science and Charity” the bed looks short when viewed from the left; long when viewed from the right.

For a small payment the public could see this little lady, presented as a barely human freak. Picasso presents her as defiant, as though to say that although she is small, she is strong.

Still life

Picasso painted more 45 interpretations of Velazquez’ “Las Meninas” in 1957, modifying some aspect of the original in each one, experimenting in his own way. So it may be that in a particular interpretation he was changing the position of one person or changing the lighting in a certain way.

Many of Picasso’s painting show a view from a balcony and a number of them feature pigeons.

Rather than pay 20 euros to tour the Palace of Catalan Music, we attended a 5:30pm concert of Disney music. The concert hall was built in just three years, finished in 1908.

The concert was Disney music performed by the Franz Schubert Filharmonia from Tarragona, Spain. We weren’t sure about a Disney performance but it turned out to be fabulous with excellent seats and enthusiastic performers, singers and musicians.

Ceiling of the hall.

This morning we toured La Pedrera, another building designed by Gaude. This is the last building Gaude designed before devoting himself fully to the Sagrada familia. Designed as an apartment building, it is now largely office space.

Early 1900s apartment of a wealthy family.

Model of the building displayed in the attic.

View of an interesting building across the street.

Rooftop

Looking down at the courtyard

Looking up from the courtyard.

And we also visited the train station today to collect a 135 euro refund, the full price of our tickets from Cordoba – because the train arrived in Barcelona more than 30 minutes behind schedule!

Tomorrow we fly home after another wonderful trip. And although there were six of us together most of the time, not one of us got sick. God willing, we will arrive home late Tuesday evening.

2023-01-28 Saturday in Barcelona

We had a guide who took us to several sites associated with Anton Gaudi (1852-1926), a well-known architect in Barcelona.

His largest project was the Sagrada Familia (Holy Family) Church, which is still under construction. Impossible to get a good comprehensive picture because of its size, the people and the ticket office.

A model of the church in which the yellow sections have not yet been built. Gaudi worked on this project from 1883 until his death in 1926. Completion should be somewhere around 2030.

The front of the church is covered with scenes of the Nativity.

Joseph and Child. Notice the spikes on their heads – to keep pigeons away.

Three Kings. The middle one must be missing some spikes.

Stained glass windows in different colors for the different seasons.

There is an elevator in this picture but our guide recommends not going up because tourists are required to walk down.

One side of the church is somewhat Gothic.

The other side, built later in Gaudi’s career, is more modern.

The stained glass windows provide a kaleidoscope of color.

The exit side of the church is covered with scenes from Jesus’ Passion.

Our second stop was Park Guell, a 30 acre site originally planned for 60 expensive homes. The project failed and only two homes were built – including this one, Gaudi’s home.

A bench designed by Gaudi with continuous curves. The seat slopes slightly to the rear so that rainwater will flow through holes in the back. The water from the bench (and from the entire surface of the large area it occupies) flows into a cistern.

Anton Gaudi

Our third stop was a house Gaudi designed, Casa Batllo. To the left is the house of a chocolatier, designed by another architect.

Back to the Cathedral for Mass.

We sat in the choir area.

2023-01-27 Friday in Barcelona

Barcelona Cathedral. We had signed up for a group walking tour through the tourist office for the Gothic Quarter – the ancient Roman city. No one else showed up so we had a private tour.

Typical tile work.

Courtyard

Courtyard of the Cathedral where 13 geese always live. St. Eulalia is the patron saint of Barcelona and she was martyred at age 13.

Bridge over the street, dedicated to St. George, the patron saint of Catalonia.

Remnants of the Roman Temple D’August, in the middle of the ancient forum. Now below ground level. People built their homes among these pillars until fairly recent times when their significance was understood.

Towers of the Roman city wall.

In the afternoon we took a taxi to the Catalan Art Museum.

A view over Barcelona from the museum.

Many of these structures were built for the 1929 World Exibition. The round brick structure was formerly the bull fighting ring but is now a shopping mall.

The museum provides a brochure that features a few of the more significant items. This is an altar piece from the 12th century.

12th or 13 century.

Ramon Casas and Pere Romeu on a tandem bicycle. By Raon Casas.

A Wedding, by Olga Sacharoff, 1919-1923.

2023-01-25 Cordoba

The kids certainly enjoy it whenever we have an apartment with a balcony.

Yesterday, while Margaret was shopping, Richard took a walk and found this Roman temple.

View of the bell tower from our apartment.

View of the Cathedral from the courtyard of the Mezquita.

View of the bell tower from the courtyard of the Mezquita.

Kate, Steve, Josie and Teddy left Cordoba by train this morning. They will spend one night in Madrid and fly home tomorrow. We have been very blessed to spend these past two weeks with them. Tomorrow we take a train to Barcelona where we will spend five nights before flying home.

2023-01-23 Cordoba

Before leaving Granada Josie had henna applied to her hand. She was delighted.

View of mountains from the train station in Granada. OK, it has been zoomed in a bit.

Courtyard outside the Mezquita, the “Mosque-Cathedral” in Cordoba. Our guide showed the kids (and us) how a simple barrier inserted into various slots in the water channel can redirect the water for irrigation.

Construction of the mosque began in the 8th century using recycled pillars, adding double arches with red bricks alternating with other material. It is no accident that each row of arches looks like an aqueduct because that is precisely the inspiration for this design.

At this point our guide, Isabel, assigned a task to the kids: to count the pillars. They accepted the challenge and did count quite a lot. Isabel told us that the correct number is 856.

When Christians took control of Cordoba they could have destroyed the mosque and replaced it with a cathedral. But whether they recognized the beauty of the mosque or wanted to show respect for the Muslim religion, one of the three great Abrahamic religions, they chose instead to build a Gothic cathedral into the mosque in the middle of the 16th century.

So the mosque with a height of perhaps 30 meters now surrounds a taller cathedral with a 54 meter tower.

The integration of the two is seamless.

The mihrab is a niche in the wall where an imam would lead the prayers of Muslims. The community was huge, so tens of thousands would gather in the mosque. The mihrab was designed as a kind of echo chamber to amplify the voice of the imam. Although the mihrab would normally be oriented toward Mecca, this one is on the south wall of the mosque. In any case, this is a consecrated cathedral so Muslim prayer is not allowed and people are not allowed to kneel as though for Muslim prayer. In fact, when Teddy and Josie got down on the floor they were politely told to stand. Ecumenism does have limits.

A monstrance made of gold from America.

The main altar. Right in the middle of a mosque!

Our guide, Isabel Martinez Richter. Certainly one of the best guides we have ever hired. Perhaps the best. A joyful person.

Under the carved mahogany pulpit: a bull and an eagle.

A gate from the city wall.

The Roman bridge

Tourists are instructed to take wisdom from the feet of Ben Maimonides but he, being a physician and Jewish philosopher, would surely say they they are more likely to find wisdom in the book.

Cordoba is very proud of its courtyards and has a contest each year.

City wall

2023-01-21 Granada

We met our guide at St. Anna Church in the Piazza Nueva, near our apartment. This evening we attended Mass at this church. First time we have ever seen a grandfather clock in the sanctuary. And the coldest Mass ever. Literally, despite at least six electric heaters next to the aisles.

We took a bus to the Albayzin, a maze of narrow streets and whitewashed houses in the high part of Granada and walked down from there. This is a picture of the typical colorful decorations.

At San Nicolas viewpoint we found vendors selling the usual tourist goods and a group of young men singing and smoking weed.

We stopped at a convent of cloistered nuns who sell baked goods. Ring the bell and a nun opens the door.

The lazy susan displays the available baked goods. Put your money down and the nun will replace it with the goods you have chosen. All done by our guide in Spanish, of course. One of the items we chose turned out to be cooked egg yolk covered in sugar.

Holy Week brings many processions. This Madonna is taken on a golden float and carried through the streets.

Some of the costumes they put on the Madonna.

Minaret and cistern at an active mosque. We could not enter because people were praying.

We visited a church that has continual adoration by nuns. A group of nuns were singing and praying. We can see this church from a window of our apartment. Next door to our apartment is also a place where flamenco dances are performed. Every night for a few hours we can hear the noise of the dancers.

Royal chapel where Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand (d. early 1500s) are entombed. She is credited with sending Christopher Columbus across the ocean though in reality she provided only a small portion of the funds he needed. She persuaded King Ferdinand to also provide funds and additional funding came from other sources.

A Moorish hotel, a “caravanserai”, just a block from the silk market.

To explain, a “caravanserai” is a type of roadside inn found along ancient trade routes. These inns provided a place for travelers, including traders and their caravans, to rest and refresh themselves, as well as to stable their animals. They typically had a courtyard with a central fountain, and rooms for merchants to store their goods. Caravanserais were also used as places for local merchants to meet and conduct business. They played an important role in the economies of the regions where they were located, and many were built by rulers as a way to encourage trade and commerce. (This explanation provided by ChatGPT.)

The Granada Cathedral. Huge but hard to picture because of all the surrounding buildings.

2023-01-20 Alhambra

The Alhambra was the last Moorish stronghold in Europe. As Christians took Sevilla and Cordoba dislocated Muslims sought refuge in Granada. Alhambra was an artistic center until its fall in 1492.

The Alhambra as seen from our apartment. We spent several hours touring the Alhambra.

Mountains in the clouds over Granada as seen from Alhambra.

One of the towers damaged by Napoleon’s attack and repaired with modern bricks to distinguish the repairs from the undamaged parts.

Our visit began in the Palacios Nazaries. In the center of this inscription we see an upside down “m” with an attached circle. This is the word “Allah” and we see it over and over again. It appears twice here within devotional sayings and you may even see it in some of our other pictures.

There it is again.

Courtyard of the Myrtles – garden and water under the sky. Living quarters for up to four wives on the left; dormitory for concubines at the far end.

View of a ceiling.

More ceilings.

Courtyard of the Lions is named for the fountain in the center with twelve lions.

A courtyard.

We next went to the Generalife Palace and Gardens. Most people were wearing winter coats but the gardens seem to be thriving.

Lots of gardens between Generalife and the rest of Alhambra.

View toward the Generalife Palace.

View toward the main part of Alhambra.

The Alhambra as seen from our apartment this evening.

2023-01-19 Ronda-Frigiliana-Granada

Traveling from Ronda to Granada, we passed many groves of olives, oranges, lemons and avocadoes. And countless greenhouses.

As we passed through Malaga, our driver took us to a high viewpoint overlooking the Mediterranean, beaches, and wealthy neighborhoods.

Malaga’s bullring as seen from the same viewpoint.

Further on, we took a small detour to the town of Frigiliana. Nice little town.

Nice place to relax for a drink and snacks.

A bit up and down but not too much.

And continuing, before reaching Granada, we were treated to the rare sight of snow on these mountains.

2023-01-18 Ronda

We left Sevilla in the morning and rode with a driver to Ronda.

On the way from Sevilla to Ronda we found the ruins of a castle. It called to us so we just had to pay it a visit and explore the ruins.

Up close it really is a ruin.

We decided against going up the steep and dark stairway to the watchtower.

We stopped briefly at the town of Zahara de la Sierra, a town that is smaller than its name. Our driver told us that the fields of dark green will bloom as sunflowers in the Spring.

Small but windy, so much wind that it was hard to hold the camera steady. And with a light rain. Zahara de la Sierra is known as one of the White Hill Towns.

And of course a church. A few cafes, restaurants, gift shops and even a doctor’s office.

Flamenco is her new thing after visiting Sevilla.

We spent today wandering around in Ronda. They bought new hats and gloves, it was so cold and windy.

The big thing in Ronda is a deep gorge separating the city’s circa-15th-century new town from its old town, dating to Moorish rule.

The Puente Nuevo (or New Bridge) spans the gorge.

A scene in the town.

A mosaic picture of the town on a building.

We visited the bullring. Ronda is the birthplace of modern bull fighting. Today it hosts one day of bull fighting per year and relies on visitors for most of its financial support. Mainly a museum, which was closed for renovation.

Josie taking in a view of the arena.

Quite the bull!

2023-01-16 Sevilla

Seville is one of Spain’s most popular and vibrant cities. As the capital of the Andalusian region, it has a rich history and culture that are deeply intertwined with its beautiful architecture, delicious food, and captivating flamenco music. Seville is also home to some of the country’s most iconic landmarks including the stunning Alcázar Palace.

Beginning our private guided tour with Conception, we learned that this architecture is from the 1920s, at the time of the 1929 Expo.

The oranges in the city do not taste good so the city sells them to the highest bidder. This year it is a company that will use them for ethanol. A previous company processed them to make cosmetics.

This building is currently a home but the owner has sold it and next year it will become a hotel.

Plans for a much-needed parking ramp were disrupted by the discover of Roman ruins.

The new plan was for a mushroom. It may seem as though the crazies were in charge of planning but it has actually proven to be a tourist attraction as well as providing a gazebo for performances and a traditional market hall.

Sevilla is filled with stores selling Flamenco dresses and material for making custom dresses. We also saw several stores selling nothing but clothing for first communion.

The Giraldo Tower at the Cathedral.

Many aspects of the mosque survive in the cathedral. This is a postcard our guide showed us.

When you tip the postcard slightly the image changes to the Cathedral.

Building across from the Cathedral.

Entrance to the Royal Alcazar, residence of Spain’s rulers for a thousand years, originally the 10th century palace built for the governors of the local Moorish state. It still functions of the royal family’s home, the oldest in Europe that is still in use.

Altar piece painting, St. Mary of the Navigators. Christopher Columbus is believed to be the man under the left hand of the Virgin Mary.

Courtyard of the Maidens.

Ceiling of the throne room, original from the 1300s.

Ornate decorations on the walls.

Group shot with Conception.

Magnificent gardens

Kids loved the gardens, especially the maze.

The two of us visited the inside of the Cathedral on our own, It is enormous, the third largest church in Europe, finished in 1528 on the site of the earlier mosque.

Mausoleum of Christopher Columbus

Main altar of the Cathedral. Wonder where they got all that gold.

Flamenco dancers busking at the pavilion of the 1929 expo.

Picture of the pavilion of the 1929 Expo at Plaza de Espana.

Grandma and grandpa took Josie and Teddy for a carriage ride.