Monday 30th
April – Saturday 12th May 2012
Spain
Sevilla April 30 – May 2
The most hair-raising part about hotels in Sevilla is the
microscopically narrow streets you need to negotiate to get to them…and when
you get there you wind down microscopically narrow ramps in your car to twist
and contort into the most microscopically narrow parking space…for which you then
pay €12-25/day!
The next day we met up with Deborah, our friend from Melbourne who
would be travelling with us for the next 10 days. Being May Day, we wandered around the streets
of the old town and immediately realized what a gregarious bunch the Spanish
are. They love to socialize, to chat, to
gossip and to be seen out and about.
It’s a very appealing style!
We spent the next couple of days exploring the relics of this town
that was once the centre of trade, culture and power for the whole world! Beautiful
Sevilla Palace with its magnificent Moorish architecture and rambling gardens. The Sevilla Cathedral once a Mosque but now adorned
with silver and gold Christian symbols and treasures. It was here that we saw Columbus’ tomb - he’d
set off from Sevilla to discover the New World in 1490. Also interesting was the way in which
successive powers (Greek/Roman/Visigoth/Moor/Catholic) have superimposed
themselves on the remains (read “ruins”) of a vanquished predecessor…so much
that’s Catholic melts into Moorish which is built on Visigoth, Roman etc…you
get the picture. The food is quite different,
too, with plenty of tapas, paella, calamari etc…and the Seville oranges are
great when the heat kicks in.
We were to find in all these towns that the modern sprawl which
surrounds the “old town” is rambling, ugly and shabby - it’s the old part,
within the walls, that attracts us…
Cordoba May 3-4
The evidence of conquest, demolition, re-modelling and
“incorporating” is nowhere more evident than in Cordoba. The audacity of the catholic monarchs in
building their cathedral right in the middle of the Moors’ beautiful Mezquita
is breathtaking. What an architectural
headache that must have been for the architect back 600 years ago, not to
mention the risk of execution if you got it wrong! The Mezquita is exquisite…and the cathedral
is exquisite…one within the other.
Surrounding all this are the remains of Romans…….the water wheel in the
Guadalquivir river (which runs down through Sevilla and carried Columbus to sea
all those years ago), the beautiful bridge, arch and wall nestled behind which
is the synagogue, built in 1315 and last used in 1492, an amazing year in
Spanish history. The Catholics expelled
the Muslims and Jews, took over their synagogues and mosques and then
introduced ham…lots of ham! There they were….legs of ham hanging in every
bodega, café and tavern, some of which must be still there and look like they’d
been hanging since 1492!
We had a lovely interlude in a local bodega, overflowing with
bullfighting memorabilia where the locals sat huddled at tables sipping fino
(Mortillo sherry) and discussing all the important things in life. Of course the bodega princess joined in…
Dinner that night was memorable for the disgruntled behaviour of our
waiter who recommended that we not tip as “it would all go to madam, the owner,
anyway”…as if we were going to tip - as it was we had to just about arm-wrestle
madam for our change!
Must have’s in Spain: sweet
orange juice for desayuno, tapas, chilled cerveza, afternoon siestas to
maintain the stamina needed to dine at 9 or 10 at night!
Granada May 4-6
It was the Alhambra that makes Granada…as is the case with the Mezquita
in Cordoba; there’s a lot of super-imposition: Roman destroyed by Visigoth, Moor
on Visigoth, Catholic on Moor…highlights included the wonderful Moorish
architecture and a stroll past the reflective pools, fountains and spring
flowers in the gardens with the views across Granada. The nightlife was lively, fuelled by a soccer
game between Granada and Madrid. The
locals get right into it and head for the tavernas with the blue and white
painted faces of their beloved soccer team – Granada FC. We heard lots of
raucous chanting of the usual soccer team war cries, and saw chooks, Scots in
kilts and grooms in nappies…Saturday night is bucks night in Granada and the
guys were out in force everywhere!
Toledo May 6-7
Driving from Granada one goes through the heart of Don Quixote
country known as “La Mancha”. We stopped
by the Inn at Puerto Lapice, which inspired the author Cervantes to write another
tale about his “knight” Don Quixote. It
was of course all fiction. The Inn had a
bevy of touristy statues, kids’ swords, armour and of course there were also the
many tales of his heroic deeds in the children’s book section. The book covers reminded Princess Dulcinea of
her days of cataloguing them in the school library.
On to Toledo….the former capital of Visigoth Spain. We didn’t know what to expect of this little
town except perhaps its narrow streets and ancient history. In fact it’s quite a charming little place –
worth the time spent walking around to see more super-imposition, plenty of
marzipan and the odd sword shop for which Toledo is famous. The river winds itself around the town’s
walls and the views whilst walking are picturesque. After dinner at a delightful restaurant, we
took in a little culture at the arts centre – listening to an ensemble group
with bodhran, cello, drums and mandolin accompanying an energetic dancer. One night in Toledo was not enough…
Madrid May 7-10
Because of the difficulty of parking the car in narrow city spaces,
we decided to stay a little out of town and train in to the city. The three
days commenced with a 3 hour walking tour around the city which was excellent. Each
day we walked at least 12 kms, and each day we visited one of three art
galleries…the famous Prado, the Reina Sofia and the Museum Thyssen-Bornemisza. All
housed collections of classical and modern artists. To see Van Gogh, Picasso, Dali, and the European
Masters was inspiring and exhausting, so we all spent the afternoon ambling
around the huge Park del Retiro then having a snooze in the sun just like the
Spaniards do in their three hour lunch break.
We scooted quickly past the former headquarters of the Spanish
Inquisition which bullied, tortured and murdered umpteen alleged heretics over
a period of 350 years!
To cap off our Grand Tour of Madrid we committed another three hours
to a Civil War (1936-39) walking tour.
Former battlefields, shrapnel pocked statues and buildings that once
housed torturers as well as the tortured…it put the complex politics of 1930’s
Spain into much clearer perspective. Then it was a farewell to Deborah as we
headed off to Barcelona.
Barcelona May 10-12
Driving out of Madrid was fine…trusting that our faithful Tomtom works
and makes the journey more relaxing. Our
aim had been to arrive at our hotel in Barcelona at 8pm after doing the Civil War
tour in Madrid. The plan went well except that we think our new Tomtom had carked
it in the Spanish heat. The next morning
we met up with Jessie and Rod whom we’d last seen in Alice Springs in March - it’s
great catching up with old friends when we can.
The visit to the Gaudi designed Cathedral (Sagrada Familia) was
inspirational. Started in 1882 it is
“rushing” to completion in 2020. The
beauty of its columns, seemingly haphazard structure and the stained glass is
amazing. When (if?) completed it will be beautiful. Then it was time to walk past a Gaudi
designed Hotel to find some lunch. The
Rambla is the long pedestrian mall lined with shops, kiosks and a fabulous
market. It leads down to the marina
area, where another honour to Columbus stands…the mighty monument of him facing
out to sea. It was from here that we
bade farewell to Jessie and Rod after a great day of exploring and set off to
the Metro and our hotel in the ‘burbs.
