Spain and
Portugal - Day by Day
Day
1 - Sat, May 7, 2016
Left
Sunny Dallas at 4:35 PM on American Airlines flight 16 to Madrid.
Day
2- Sun, May 8, 2016
Very nice hotel. Good breakfast. Slow but steady Internet access.
After 9 ½ hours, arrived at Barajas
Airport Madrid at 9 AM Sunday in the rain.
As described online, I needed a 1 euro coin to get a token for use to
get a luggage cart. Grand Circle had a
rep waiting after passport control & customs & we went to the hotel,
about 30 minutes away, on Sunday morning.
I met Victor, our Program Director.
Later that evening, the 41 tour
participants briefly met each other. We
then joined Victor for an orientation walk to get to know the surroundings
close to the hotel, including El Corte Ingles, a full service department store
we were to see again in other cities. I later went back to their supermarket and
bought oranges and snacks that stood me in good stead for more than a
week.
I also had a pretty good hamburger
at a nearby hamburger joint later.
Day
3 - Mon, May 9, 2016
Madrid City tour
Rain and cold! We walked to Cervantes Square in the rain
because the scheduled bus was stalled in traffic, and saw statues of Don
Quixote & Sancho Panza. Then we
toured the exterior of the 18th-century Palacio Real (Royal Palace), an
opulent, 2,800-room complex inspired by France's Versailles. We also saw the
Plaza de Espana, Madrid's main square. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Palace_of_Madrid
Cervantes
Monument Don
Quixote & Pancho
With basically a free afternoon from
the tour, Victor dropped some of us at the Prado Museum, where we saw some of
this world class museum. Intended as a natural science museum when it was
conceived in 1785, it evolved into the repository of the royal art collection
by the time it was completed in 1819, and is now one of the world's most
renowned art galleries, comparable to the Louvre in Paris and the Metropolitan
Museum of Art in Manhattan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museo_del_Prado
Later
that evening we had a taste of (bland) Spanish
cuisine and got acquainted with the other tour participants over a Welcome
Dinner at a local restaurant.
Day
4 - Tue, May 10, 2016
We went on the optional tour ($70) of
the El Escorial, a 16th-century architectural masterpiece completed in 1584 as
a residence for the King of Spain and a monastery for the Hieronymite monks. The
town of El Escorial is about 45 minutes northwest of Madrid. Designed at the height of Spain's
international power, the structure's floor plan was actually inspired by
descriptions of the Temple of Solomon. Set at the foot of Mount Abantos, the
enormous gray granite complex is the resting place of 500 years' worth of
Spanish kings, about 40 of whom are stacked under the massive dome. There was a lot of walking and about 100
steps or more. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Escorial
El Escorial - See Link Valley of the Fallen
We then went to the Valley of the
Fallen, where about 30,000 dead of both sides of the Spanish civil war are
buried. Francisco Franco is also
interred here with a simple epithet under a massive dome and cross. We had a light lunch here at a little
restaurant. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valle_de_los_Ca%C3%ADdos
Victor, our tour director later took
us on a walking tour of Madrid Centrum in the rain. His “surprise” was churros and chocolate at a
little shop, and a unique bar dedicated to bullfighting. We also walked through sort of an upscale
indoor market.
Churros & Chocolate Butcher
Shop with Torrero Theme
Day
5 Wed, May 11, 2016
Accommodations: Hotel Carmen, Meals included: B D, Madrid • Toledo
tour • Granada
After breakfast this morning, we
boarded the bus and about an hour later, arrived at medieval Toledo, a UNESCO
World Heritage Site, and capital of Spain until the 16th century. We did a brief bus tour.
Toledo - See Link El Alcazar - See Link
El
Alcazar, Moorish, then Jewish, then Christian
There was a lot of walking in Toledo
over erose surfaces and up and down stairs .
Thankfully there were six escalators to carry us up a goodly portion of
the mountain that El Alcazar and the cathedral stand on.
The narrow, cobbled streets of
Toledo's center are a blend of Moorish-Mudejar-Jewish, Gothic, and Renaissance
architecture. El Alcazar is a 16th-century Moorish citadel, which stands at a
point originally fortified by the ancient Romans and which dominates the city
skyline. Equally impressive is theToledo
Cathedral, which contains considerable artwork of the Christian era.
We then continued on to Granada, and
arrived quite late and had a late included dinner. With the late dinner, and unpacking we did
not get a lot of sleep after this arduous day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granada
Day
6 - Thu, May 12, 2016
Accommodations: Hotel Carmen, Meals included: B L, Granada • the
Alhambra • Home-Hosted Lunch
This morning, we toured the
Alhambra, about an hour outside of Granada, one of Spain’s featured sights.
When the Moors crossed the Strait of Gibraltar in AD 711, they claimed a
hillside city that had been founded by the Romans and later settled by
Visigoths, yet whose history dates to pre-historic times—Granada, which is
believed to mean "great castle." The Moors chose Granada as the site
to build their own mighty citadel—one of the great architectural wonders of all
time: the Alhambra. See Link
Even from a distance, the Alhambra
is a breathtaking sight, sprawling over a hilltop overlooking the city.
Construction of the Alhambra began during the 13th century and continued over
centuries, resulting in a mix of surfaces and styles. The tour included this
complex of palaces and courtyards, the Moors’ deliberate effort to create a
paradise on Earth. We passed by patios, graceful arches, cupolas, fountains,
and pools, the Royal Palace, the harem, and more. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alhambra
We then drove to nearby Salinas,
where we got a taste of typical Spanish life as we joined a local family in
their home for an intimate visit and a freshly cooked meal, accompanied by
wine. Our hostess was Josefina, who
served us a five course meal. We
communicated in broken Spanish and English.
Victor organized a further walking
tour later in Granada which I passed on,
I took the time to catch up on photos, dictation, rinsing out laundry,
etc. After the big meal earlier, I just
snacked on an orange and other snacks in my room, and enjoyed the down time. These last two days at the El Alcazar and the
Alhambra were the most strenuous of the trip, with about four miles of walking each
day shown by my IPhone app.
Day
7 Fri, May 13, 2016
We started toward Torremolinos after
breakfast, and after 2 ½ hours. and kilometers and kilometers of olive
orchards, we stopped for an included bus tour, and later walking tour, of Cordoba, another UNESCO World Heritage
Site. Once capital of the Western world,
Cordoba was founded by the ancient Romans at the highest navigable point of the
Guadalquivir River, where it was easiest to ship olive oil, wheat, and wine
back to Rome. It was after its conquest by the Moors in AD 711, however, that
the city grew to become the largest in the world. We stopped along the way at a little
restaurant where we sampled the olives after our pee stop. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%B3rdoba,_Andalusia
Today, Cordoba is best known for its
most famous landmark, the Mezquita (Great Mosque)—the third-largest mosque in
the world. When the Mezquita was built, during the tenth century, Cordoba was
in its glory as the capital of the Moorish kingdom of El-Andalus, one of the
wealthiest and most powerful cities in Europe, and an important center for
science, education, and the arts. See Link
In AD 929, the Cordoba region broke
away from the Islamic center, Baghdad, and formed its own independent kingdom,
falling into anarchy shortly afterward. The city was conquered in 1236 by King
Ferdinand, a Christian who had the mosque consecrated and constructed a
cathedral in the middle of it, while still preserving the remarkable beauty of
the original structure.
Cordoba is Spain's historic cultural
capital and is a study in contrasts: Moorish and Christian, old and new. We
passed over a reconstruction of the original Roman Bridge and entered the
synagogue—the only ancient synagogue still standing in Spain outside Toledo. We
walked through the Juderia
(Jewish Quarter), which contained Andalucian patios of pretty ceramics, iron
grilles, and plants. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosque%E2%80%93Cathedral_of_C%C3%B3rdoba, See Link
The
cathedral part of the Mezquita is absolutely stunning, even for a tired
walker. See
Link.
The walking tour culminated at the
Mezquita, and we walked through the courtyard filled with orange trees and
fountains to the entryway. The interior
contained 850 colored granite and marble arches, illuminated by sunlight
streaming through the cupolas. At the center of the mosque was the 6th-century
Renaissance cathedral with its mahogany pulpits and choir stalls. Surrounding
the cathedral, the mosque remains almost untouched since the eleventh century,
revealing some of the finest Islamic architecture in Spain.
After the walking tour of about two
hours, we stopped at the main square for some free time and lunch at a local
Burger King. We got to Torremolinos in the early evening, and I just snacked
and caught up on social media and laundry.
Again, a lot of walking today, but no problems keeping up.
Day
8 Sat, May 14, 2016
The optional tour for $135 across
the Strait of Gibraltar to Morocco was an adventure. We had an early start with a 5 o’clock wakeup
call and a reduced continental breakfast.
Morocco is another country on another continent and is not in the European
Union or the Schengen zone, so we needed passports and had to go through
customs and immigration, both in Morocco, and coming back into Spain. See map
Waiting for ferry at Puerto Tarifa
We first took our bus from
Torremolinos to the ferry at Tarifa, in Spain, a distance of about 150 km, We took the ferry across (about 1 ½ hours),
and were met by our Moroccan guide, Ahmed, who gave us an orientation tour of
Tangier, including the Kasbah and souk, or marketplace. We also stopped at a large purveyor of
Moroccan goods, including lacquered items, pottery and ceramics, and
carpets. One couple from Chicago
bargained and bought a carpet. We did a
pee break here, and were also able to go on the roof and get a panoramic view
of the Tangier rooftops that Matt Damon jumped over in the Bourne series. We then had cous-cous at a Moroccan
restaurant, which I thought was a bit bland.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangier
Tangier Fortress See Link
Central
Tangier
The Souk
Street Scene in Tangier The
arch from “Sceptre”
Tangier rooftops Interior
of Tangier shop
Cous-cous Back
to Spain
We did more walking in Central
Tangier, and took the ferry back to Tarifa, Spain. I happened to catch Craig with a Skype while
on the ferry, and we chatted for a bit.
We stopped for a photo op stop near the Rock of Gibraltar and got some
great photos. We got back to our hotel
at Torremolinos about 7 pm, pretty tired from a long but interesting day.
Day
9 - Sun, May 15, 2016
We drove a short distance from
Torremolinos to Malaga in the morning, and Victor acted as our local guide for
a tour of the Old Town of Malaga. Malaga is the main city of coastal Andalucia,
and retains a distinctly Spanish flavor, with twisting, narrow streets and a
lovely waterfront promenade. Tall palm and plane trees, bougainvillea, aloes,
and geraniums make a luxurious tropical paradise alongside the clean, modern
port. This is Picasso's birthplace, and was a popular winter holiday site for
the 19th-century wealthy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A1laga See Link
We drove up to a vantage point where
we could get a panoramic view of Malaga, with its’ bullring, and the blue
Mediterranean bay. We then walked past
the ruins of an ancient Roman theater, built more than 2,000 years ago, past
Picasso’s statue, past Victor’s apartment (he lives in Malaga), and various
other features that Victor pointed out. See Link
We met Victor’s dad in the center of
Malaga. The elder Garridi is now
retired, He speaks six languages and has
been doing the Santiago de Compostella walk for the Last 25 years. After the tour, we had an included lunch at a
local restaurant. This was ostensibly
Paella, but all it seemed was fish flavored rice. Big Karl, one of our group expressed my view
“it was crap”.
We returned to our beautiful hotel
on the Cost del Sol, and I spent some time reading by the pool. Later I had a buffet at the hotel that I sort
of walked into. It was good, but I wasn’t
very hungry, and I spent 23 euros, which I thought was too much. See Link
Day 10 - Mon, May 16, 2016
We left Malaga at 9 AM and stopped at
a bull ranch named Carretera Campillos about 10 minutes from the city of
Ronda. We were given a tour of the horse and fighting
bulls areas of the ranch by a well spoken young Spanish lady, and met the ranch
owner who was a veteran bull fighter, with about 100 fights. Breeding of the bulls is by natural
means. No artificial insemination. See link
Bullfighting is alive and well in
most of Spain, with about 100 bull ranches similar to this one. European Union political correctness ended
bullfighting in Catalonia (and Barcelona) in 2012, although I saw a bullfight
in Barcelona in 1963. See Link
The bulls at these ranches are
pampered and trained to fight in the ring.
The more docile ones join the rest of their bovine brothers as steaks
and hamburger earlier than the fighters, who have a great life until their last
15 minutes, when they suffer and die with Spanish pageantry and glory (and aplomb). I’m not a big fan of the sport, but I
understand the historical and cultural significance.
We then motored on to Ronda, one of
the oldest cities in Spain, which is situated on a promontory overlooking El
Tajo, a spectacular 360-foot-deep river gorge. Readers of Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the
Bell Tolls will recognize El Tajo as the place from which Fascists were
thrown to their deaths during the Spanish Civil War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronda See Link
Though its roots are in pre-historic
times, Ronda is like many Andalucian cities in that it saw its glory days under
Moorish rule. Conquered by the Christians in 1485, Ronda was one of the last
strongholds of the Arabs, and Arab architecture dominates the old city, set on
one side of the ravine. On the other
side of El Tajo stands El Mercadillo (the "new" city), constructed
mostly during the 18th century. Connecting
the two halves of the city is the Puente Nuevo (New Bridge), an amazing
architectural feat built between 1755 and 1793 and spanning a dizzying drop
over the gorge.
We saw both facets of the city
during the included tour. These included
whitewashed houses that line the streets of the old town, and the Santa Maria
la Mayor, once the city's Great Mosque and later rebuilt as a Gothic Christian
church. We also saw the Palace of
Mondragon, where Moorish kings and later King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella took
up residence.
I did not do the walking tour of
Ronda, preferring instead to relax with a light lunch and reading at one of the
Parador hotels in Ronda.
We continued on this afternoon to
Seville along the Ruta de los Pueblos Blancos—the "Route of the
Whitewashed Villages." We saw several of these classic Andalucian villages
tucked into hillsides and framed with greenery during the ride to Seville,
where we arrived in early evening.
We gathered with fellow travelers
this evening for an included dinner at the hotel.
Day
11 - Tues, May 17, 2016
Located on the banks of the Guadalquivir
River, Seville is fabled to have been settled by Hercules, and its wealth of
magnificent monuments and buildings attest to its long and storied history. Founded by the Tartessians, the city was later
settled by the Romans, and two of Rome's great emperors, Trajan and Hadrian,
were born here. Seville was occupied by the Moors from AD 711 until 1248, and
many of its most fascinating monuments date to that period. Today, Seville occupies a special place in
Spanish culture, with its fiestas, bougainvillea, strolling musicians, and
Gypsies. The fourth-largest city in Spain, Seville is also renowned as the
birthplace of flamenco and Don Juan.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seville See Link
A half-day included tour this
morning showed the city's highlights, including the Barrio de Santa Cruz, a
neighborhood known for its maze-like cluster of narrow streets. We also visited the Seville Cathedral as
above.
I did not take Victor’s optional and
extra walking tour. Instead I rested,
read and caught up on pictures, etc.
That evening, we had an included
dinner and performance of the flamenco, the intensely emotional dance
that was created in Sevilla, and which was performed by original Gypsies from
Sevilla. See Link
Day
12 - Wed, May 18, 2016
Accommodations: Hotel Mundial, Meals included: B L, Seville • Horse-breeding farm visit • Lisbon,
We had a relatively long drive from
Seville, Spain to Lisbon, Portugal, a distance of over 400 km, but we did part
of it through rural countryside. We
stopped for lunch in the region of Alentejo, where we visited a working horse
farm and had an opportunity to chat with the owner, a widow named Maria. We learned
how her family lost their lands to the communists in the 1970’s. and the
difficulties they encountered regaining their holdings. A horse dressage presentation in the arena gave
us an opportunity to learn the differences between breeds of horses raised
here. The main breed
is Lusitano, a Portuguese horse breed, closely related to the Spanish Andalusian horse.
This
was a rural, pastoral setting and the countryside provided a contrast to the
large urban cities that we had been visiting.
See Link
On the way to Lisbon we stopped at a
cork forest and learned how cork was harvested. We got to Lisbon later in the evening and
checked into the Mundial Hotel. After
the big lunch, I just snacked for dinner.
Day
13 - Thu, May 19, 2016
Accommodations: Hotel Mundial, Meals included: B D, Lisbon • City
After breakfast, we toured Lisbon on
an included tour. Built on seven hills, Lisbon has been Portugal's capital
since the 13th century, and the area around the steepest hill, Sao Jorge, was
first settled by Phoenicians in the twelfth century BC. They were followed by
Carthaginians, Romans, several Germanic tribes, and Visigoths. In AD 714, the
Moors captured Lisbon, and held it for the next 400 years.
Portuguese explorers began
colonizing parts of Africa and Asia at the beginning of the 15th century. Vasco
da Gama set sail for India from Lisbon in 1497, and the city became a center
for successful voyages of discovery throughout the East and the New World for
the next 300 years. The immense riches brought back by these explorers and
navigators ushered in a period of building and expansion that gave birth to the
new Manueline architectural style, with its ornately carved decorative motifs. We
saw the best example of this style of architecture in the historic section of
Belem. Here we saw the 16th-century
church of the Jeronimos Monastery, containing Vasco da Gama's tomb, the ornate
Belem Tower, and the Monument of the Discoveries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisbon,
See Link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jer%C3%B3nimos_Monastery, See Link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasco_da_Gama See Link
Jeronimo’s Monestary
Vasco
de Gama’s Tomb
We also walked through a park at
Belem dedicated to Portuguese explorers, old and new. We saw an ancient watchtower on the
waterfront carved reliefs of 15th century explorers, and the plane
that first crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 1922.
Not Lindberg’s plane. This one
island hopped across the Atlantic 5 years before Lindberg. See Link
We returned to the hotel in early
afternoon, and I walked about and had a Lisbon bifana (grilled pork sandwich)
at a street café. See Link
We had an included dinner at a
unique local walk-up restaurant
Day 14- Fri, May 20, 2016
Accommodations: Hotel MundialLisbon, Meals included: B D, Sintra & Cascais
This morning we drove to Cascais,
which is surprisingly further west than Lisbon. This is right on the Atlantic,
and somewhat reminiscent of the Jersey Shore on the Eastern side of the
Atlantic. After some free time in Cascais, we drove to Sintra, a little south
of Cascais, where we toured the Royal Palace, which dates back to the Middle
Ages. Not as elaborate as Versailles or Sychrov
Castle in the Czech Republic. 100 steps
up, and 100 steps down, but no issues. Lord Byron vacationed in this little town and called
it “the most beautiful in the world.” I
stopped at a sidewalk restaurant and although I was not really hungry, I had a
steak which the waiter recommended, and which was really good, for about 13.
euros. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sintra,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascais
We got back to the hotel, and had
about an hour before we met with the other travelers for a Farewell Dinner at the
formal restaurant at the hotel.
Day
15 - Sat, May 21, 2016
Return to U.S. , Meals included: B,
10:45 flight to Philadelphia
Starting at about 3 AM, Victor
accompanied all groups to the airport and assisted with check-in.
The flight itself was
uneventful. Entry at Philadelphia was
not that bad. Terminal A to Terminal C,
over a mile, but I found a people carrier driven by a crazy Philly lady for part
of it. Got home about 8 PM Dallas time
and partially upacked.
