Day 18 Valencia and Final Post

We have been so impressed with Spain’s architectural past, today we are equally impressed with what has been designed and built recently.  We visited the City of Arts and Sciences today.  A huge complex of very futuristic buildings house educational, and entertainment venues designed and constructed in the 1990’s.  Whether you love it or hate it, everyone must be overwhelmed by it.  A few pictures below.  Really quite stunning.

As we prepare to fly home, a few thoughts.  First, Spain was THE super power in the 15th and 16th century.  We have all read about the explorers and the powerful church but to see and experience what they so seriously embraced and flaunted was indeed impressive.  We, of course, saw only how the “top 1%” lived, but the culture of the time was progressive and forward thinking. And as all dominant cultures in the past and the one’s in the future, they got too powerful, overly extended and top heavy and they soon crumbled, or became non impactful as the world continued to move and grow.

Now, the food.  Excellent!  Most days we ate around 3pm for our main meal in keeping with Spanish culture. What we didn’t do was return for the late, smaller meal at 10 or 11pm! Most restaurants had the ‘meal of the day’' all for between $10 and $13.  You would choose one of several appetizers, main dishes and desserts.  It also included bread and a drink.  Really a great deal, and you were stuffed when you finished.  We took numerous pictures, but since this isn’t Facebook, you will just have to imagine!  I would return to Spain again, just for the food!

Finally, our lack of Spanish was a challenge.  Frequently, whether at a hotel, restaurant, or tourist spot, no one spoke English, not even a little bit.  Young or old, few seemed interested or able.  Although a challenge, Gloria was helpful in the tight spots, and pictures on menus and gestures or writing numbers down got us through the vacation.  Great time, great people, great food.  I would recommend Spain to anyone looking for history and a great challenge in travel.

Day 17 The Alhambra and Shawarma!

Building began in 1237, but the Alhambra became the Moor’s swan song.  It’s height was in the 14th century, but by the time the Catholic Monarchs were clearing out all the Jews and Muslims, the Alhambra was the last to fall during the Reconquista.  It took the Monarchs over 250 years, going from north to south, but they finished the job in 1492.  Spain has remained Catholic ever since. 

Fortunately for history, conquering Charles V decided to build his own palace inside the Alhambra and not on top of it.  Thus another unique blend of Muslim and Christian art architecture.  In contrast to Christian art, Islamic artists expressed themselves with functional objects not icons and paintings or sculptures of Biblical characters and saints. 

A whole different feel and look.  Islamic doctrine is wary of any “graven images” or idols as they are forbidden by God.  Also, as the pictures depict, most of their craftsmanship can be seen in the plaster, primarily in calligraphy.,    It is everywhere, and very intricate.  Most has been bleached white by time,  a few traces of blue can still be seen. 

Finally, the outside landscaping  is not original!  So who knows what they were planting in the 1400’s.  They did enjoy lots of water, that is still flowing everywhere, but where the gardens are laid out is, at best, an educated guess.   But some good ideas, if it ever rains in California again.

 

Finally, another McKelvey tradition is to seek Shawarma, (شاورما‎) wherever it is served in the world.  It is of Middle Eastern origin, so we thought Granada would be a great place to look for it. (It is also known as doner kabab or gyro).  For the uninitiated, it is usually lamb, but may be veal, beef or chicken.  It is cooked on a rotating vertical spit, usually for the whole day.  The meat is combined with vegetables, then served in a burrito-like wrap.  Our family knows the drill.  A picture to prove the experience.

My rating: a 4 out of 5.  I would have gone 4.5 since the Shawarma is Halal, but the sign lowered it a half a point.  I hope this isn’t a franchise like Burger King.

Day 16 Nerja and Granada

Three hour drive to Granada with a short stop in the coastal town of Nerja.  The southern coast of Spain, the Costal del Sol, is one long coastal town.  Completely developed commercially and residentially.  One small town merges into the next as you drive along the coast.  Very hot and humid, people walking about in town plazas and laying out on beaches.  Very busy; people having a great time. 

Granada, on the other hand has some serious history.  As I have touched on before, libraries are filled with the centuries long battles between the Muslims (Moors) and Christians in Spain.  The Moor domination of the Iberian Peninsula was at its peak with the Alhambra in Granada.  The Alhambra is the sprawling fortress palace started in 889 with continued expansion until the final battle of the Christian Reconquista to 1492. (When the Catholics not only got rid of the Muslims, but the Jews as well).  Turning their focus to “discovering the New World”.  Tomorrow is The Alhambra, today a bit more of Catholic History.

The Basilica is another jaw-dropper, only in that the whole inside is white!  We are so used to the darker, perhaps more ornate interiors, so this is quite striking.  Indeed, when it was built, a lot of disease in the land, so the Catholic Monarch chose to whitewash the interior, for that “just scrubbed” look.  It caught on, people liked the look, and it has stayed white ever since!  The real importance, though, is the Royal Chapel of Granada attached to the church.  Her lay Queen Isabella, King Ferdinand, and their family.

We called this cathedral “Mary’s Church”, they had these depictions of Mary surrounding the basilica, 9 or 10 of them.  A lot of tradition here.

Most of us remember the royal family, especially Queen Isabella, from high school history.  She financed Christopher Columbus’ exploits to the New World, but she was also instrumental in the Inquisition.  If you weren’t Catholic, ie Muslim, Jewish or Protestant, you were to either be killed, removed, or converted.  Heresy was to be combatted at all cost.  Isabella and Ferdinand were quite good at it.

Here is “The Statue”, Christopher Columbus asking Queen Isabella for the money.

After the New World was discovered and the Inquisition on its way, she went about to unify all of Europe through marriage.  Her best laid plans to do so fell short due to early deaths of her children and grandchildren and the hoped-for control of all of Europe was denied her.  She died at age of 53.

Day 15 The Rock of Gibraltar

We left Spain today and went to England!  Well sorta.  Gibraltar is an overseas territory of the Crown.  Hence if is full of English, they use the Pound for currency and not the Euro, their food is way inferior to the Spanish and they have an attitude very different from their neighbor to the north.  Their bad attitude, I believe, stems from the Great Siege.  The Great Siege of Gibraltar was an unsuccessful attempt by Spain and France to capture Gibraltar from the British during the American War for Independence.  This was the largest action fought during the war in terms of numbers.   At three years and seven months, it is the longest siege endured by the British Armed Forces.  Oh, the British won, and they have never allowed the Spanish to forget that.

We were told to park on the Spanish side, and walk over to Gibraltar.  Take the tram to the top, then work our way down to see the sights.  The sights included the over 300  Barbary Macaques monkeys pestering you, the nature reserve toward the top, the siege tunnels from the 18th and 19th century, the caves and the Morrish Castle from the 8th century.  A busy day resulted.  Lots of walking in the hot, humid weather.

Spain is to the right.  You can make out the International Airport on the right as well.  The only runway.  You walk or drive across it to get from Spain to Gibraltar!  When planes take off or land, they stop everyone, (like at a train crossing).  Weird.  Not a very busy airport, only two landings and one jet taking off all day.

             

Too many lights and too much music in the caves. We even heard the theme song from The Love Boat!

Over 32 miles of tunnels in The Rock.  A few of the openings dug in the 1700’s to bombard the Spanish and French

DAY 14 Ronda and Olvera

Our second day in the White Hill Towns.  Ronda is a town laid out on either side of an incredible narrow, steep gorge.  The Romans and Moors built multiple bridges over the gorge.  I guess is was highly defensible, otherwise, why bother, just built your town somewhere else. But, we moderns get to enjoy the scenes and scenery.

Every town has multiple plazas, this one was great, covered with trees

Everywhere were acres and acres of sunflowers

Olvera is known for its Morrish Castle, and, for us, the narrowest streets we have driven on.  Shout out to Tom.  On one street we had to fold in the side view mirrors to get through a tight spot.  A lot of energy in the car.  I took photos, they don’t do it justice.

 

……A few odds and ends……..

Timing is everything….after a big breakfast and lots of coffee, you may have to pay to use the bathroom in town.  This guy gave receipts!  Tax deductible?

This sign was at the top of an isolated castle wall.  Cheaper then security cameras, I guess

Finally, we are getting really tired of “selfie sticks”.  They are everywhere.

Day 13 Grazalema and surrounds

Today we travelled through Andalucia visiting Bornos, Villamartin, El Bosque and arriving in Grazalema for two nights.  Four of the many White Hill Towns.  All having in common white washed stucco walls, brown roof tiles, very narrow steep streets and lots of parishioners walking up and down the streets with canes.  We drove some of the streets, walked others, and, of course, enjoyed the local cuisine.  Some pictures below.

This the the courtyard where we had breakfast this morning.  I wish I had the time, food and location back home.

This is an old Morrish Castle.  Tom and I are the dots in the center.