Last Day in Madrid

June 10^th:

Today is our last day in Spain.  At 9:30 am we met for a tour of the Royal Palace and Plaza Mayor near the center of Madrid.  The weather was much cooler, in fact the coolest we have had, and there was a light drizzle.  We drove to the Palace grounds and had a guided walking tour of 26 of the 2,800 rooms in the Palace.  Photography was only permitted outside and in the grand staircase areas.  

Royal Palace

Fresco Ceiling

Grand Stairway

The rooms are all highly decorated and very elaborate.  The grand stairway is a statement of imperial power and leads to the royal apartments, dining room, and eventually the throne room, which is decorated in crimson-velvet.  The Porcelain Room is designed with Retiro porcelain that is screwed to the wall.  There is extravagance everywhere and lavish chandeliers from France and Italy.  The king and family do not live in the Palace, but it is used on occasions for state functions.

Once the tour was finished, we could visit the Royal Armory with weapons and suits of armor from the 16^th and 17^th centuries.  

We then proceeded to the Plaza Mayor in the heart of the city.   

Street Actor in Plaza Mayor

The Plaza has a very rich history – sight of bull fights, burnings at the stake, hangings, condemnations of heretics during the Spanish Inquisition, etc.  Much of the history is depicted in carvings on the circular seats beneath the lamp posts.  It is now surrounded by shops and the old Royal Bakery is covered in frescoes.  

Royal Bakery

We walked from the Plaza to the streets surrounding the Plaza that contain shops and to the cave restaurants on a lower street.  These restaurants are below the Plaza.

Ham Shop

Cave Restaurant

Street Below/Behind Plaza Mayor

 When the others returned to the hotel or went to museums, we walked to the shopping area and while Bev shopped I walked back to the hotel through the old sections of Madrid and to the Avenida del Mediterraneo on which the hotel is located.  It was a very nice 50 minute walk.

At 7:30 pm we met for our 2^nd and last farewell dinner at La Barraca, which specializes in paella and classic Spanish cuisine.  In addition to salad, we had two paellas -- mixed and vegetable -- and a chocolate mousse.  The food was excellent and we all had a great time.

Tomorrow we leave from the hotel at 9 am for our return trip to Birmingham.  We have certainly had a great two weeks in Spain.

A Day in Toledo

June 9th:

This morning we journeyed to Toledo, which was the old capital of Spain during the 16^th century and was inhabited as early as the 5^th century BCE.  It was an important city during Roman times and after the fall of Rome it was the Visigoth capital of Spain.  The Moors conquered this region of Spain in the early 8^th century and ruled until Alfonzo VI conquered Toledo in 1085.  For about 400 years, Muslins, Christians, and Jews lived side by side with religious tolerane.  In the late 15^th century, there were forced conversions and mass expulsions of Jews. 

Our first stop was at an overlook where we had a panoramic view of the city, which sits on a mountain above and surrounded on three sides by the Tagus River.   

Both the Alcazar and Toledo Cathedral are prominent on the skyline.  We then stopped at the base of the mountain where a series of escalators transport you to the old city.  Our first stop was the large Gothic Toledo Cathedral, which was built between 1226 and 1493.  It measures 390 ft in length by 194 ft in width and 146 ft high and contains 5 naves.

The impressive Baroque altar called El Transparente is several stories high, with fantastic figures of stucco, paintings, bronze castings, and multiple colors of marble.   

The choir stalls are sculptured and carved wooden stalls with numerous fantasy figures on the arms and capped with alabaster marble sculptures.  

 We visited the sacristy, which contains a gallery of paintings by El Greco, Caravaggio, Rafael, and Velazquez.  The Disrobing of Christ by El Greco is very impressive and Goya’s interpretation is placed on an adjacent wall. 

El Greco

Goya

The ceiling is highly decorated with paintings. 

Before lunch we walked to the Iglesia de Santo Tome that contains El Greco’s masterpiece The Burial of the Count of Orgaz.  This painting contains a self portrait and his son as guests to the burial.  We had a relaxing lunch in a shaded courtyard before walking to the Synagogue of El Transito, which dates from the 14^th century.  It contains a Sephardic Museum and has stucco decorations.  

On the way to San Martin bridge we stopped at the Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes, which is in Elizabethan Gothic style (15th century).  King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella to commemorate the birth of their son and a battle victory founded the monastery.  It contains a very pretty cloister. 

We then walked to the San Martin Bridge and exited Toledo.   

From the bridge we had an excellent view of the river and the old city walls.   

After the one hour drive back to Madrid, we relaxed before having dinner at the hotel.

Tomorrow morning we will have a tour of the city.

Traveling to Madrid

June 8th:

 Today we traveled to Madrid by high-speed train; a 2-1/2 hr trip through fairly arid countryside.  Upon arrival, our local guide, Carmen, who took us on a tour of Del Prado, met us.  Although there are more than 3,000 paintings in Del Prado, we concentrated on the Spanish artists Greco, Caravaggio, Velazquez, and Goya.  The Goya works were especially extensive and covered his earliest works through the Black Period to his last, which depicted his transition in style. 

After Del Prado, we had a brief tour of the central part of Madrid with the fountains and city hall, before going to our hotel, The Claridge.  Tomorrow we head to Toledo, the old capital of Spain, for the day.

Arch of Triumph

Cibeles Fountain

Cibeles Fountain

Sevilla, June 7, 2015

Sunday, June 7^th:

Today was a most relaxing day, because we did not have to get up early to hit the road.  Instead, it was a totally free day until 7:45 pm.  We didn’t set the alarm and didn’t get up until about 9 am.  I finished the blog from last night and we went to breakfast (really brunch) at 10:30 am.  After meeting up with Mary Alice Carmichael and Janice at breakfast, we decided to meet a noon to catch a taxi and go to the Cathedral area.  Our taxi dropped us off near the south side of the cathedral.  Mary Alice really wanted to take a carriage ride and after meeting Walter Jones and Janet Ort, we decided to proceed with the carriage ride, because the cathedral didn’t open for tours until 2:30 pm.  So, off for a carriage ride, which was 45 minutes, cost 45 Euros, and covered a fairly large area of old town Sevilla.   

We were treated to a small cup of Sangria by a restaurant with the best part being the big ice cube in the cup!  Through the narrow streets we went and entered the huge park by the Spanish Square.  Then we traveled into the courtyard and around the fountain for a nice panoramic view of the plaza.  It really was a very nice leisurely way to cover a lot of the old town area.

Then we decided to get Cathedral and Iglesia del Salvador tour tickets for the afternoon tours.  The advice was to proceed to del Salvador Church, where the IPC Choir will give a 9 pm concert tonight, to purchase combination tickets, see del Salvador first, and then tour the Cathedral.  So, we walked to del Salvador.  Unfortunately, it was closed and didn’t open until 5 pm.  Back to the Cathedral we walked, while Mary Alice and Janice decided to taxi back to the Al Andalus Hotel.  We stood in a very long line to get our tickets and toured the Cathedral, seeing much of the splendor of this enormous Gothic cathedral.   

The Cathedral is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world and the third largest cathedral in Europe behind St. Paul’s in London and St. Peter’s in Rome. The beginnings of the complex started in 1184 with the construction of Sevilla’s main Mosque and minaret. What remains of this is the courtyard with its bitter orange trees (oranges used to make marmalade) and minaret, which comprises 2/3 of the Giralda bell tower. Then in 1218, after Sevilla was retaken by the Christians, the Mosque was consecrated as a Cathedral. In 1431, construction began on the Gothic cathedral with the work encompassing several centuries. It wasn’t until 1928 that the three main doors and the southwest corner of the cathedral were completed. There are stained glass windows dating from the 1300’s, 15th century choir stalls, the tomb of Columbus mounted on four statue bearers, a phenomenal gold high altar, and extremely elaborate side chapels. 

The golden high altar is just impossible to describe.  

 The Cathedral has five naves.  From the inside of the Cathedral we accessed the La Giralda bell tower; 2/3 being the original minaret from the 12th century.  We climbed to the observation area (top of the original minaret) via the seemingly endless ramp – no stairs, but 34 ramps and final staircase. From this area, there were superb views of Sevilla and the top of the immense cathedral (total surface area of 23,500 square meters)  with its many flying buttresses and the orange courtyard.  

 In the south transept is the coffin of Christopher Columbus being carried by the four kings of the kingdoms comprising Spain in the late 15^th century.  

Once finished touring, we decided to stop for beer and sangria before catching a taxi back to the hotel.  Bev decided to have some paella for an early dinner, because our “first farewell dinner” will not be until 10 pm after the choir concert.  Coming back to the hotel, we decided to relax for a couple of hours before heading out for the concert.

At 7:45 pm we assembled for our ride to the Iglesia del Salvador concert and farewell dinner #1.  The concert, in Sevilla’s second largest church, started at 8:45 pm and was superb with marvelous acoustics.  The church was built on a 9^th century mosque and is of Baroque style with a huge 18^th century Baroque high altar.   

The mosque’s minaret is now the bell tower.  The high altar contains two whirling angels holding lamps with red ropes and is filled with much detail.

At 10 pm we had our first farewell dinner, with about 2/3 of our group departing for home or other parts of Europe tomorrow or Monday.  The extension group will take the high speed train to Madrid tomorrow and continue on in Madrid until Thursday.

Granada, June 6, 2015

Saturday, June 6th:

We left Seville at 7:30 am for our 4 hr ride to Granada and visit to the Alhambra.  Along the way we had a 30 minute break.  The ride took us into a cooler region of Spain and into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada range, which still had some snow capped mountains.  The lower temperature – “80’s” – was greatly appreciated.  Our timed tickets were for noon and they strictly adhere to the time, because only 8,000 visitors are permitted per day.  We arrived at the Alhambra complex around 11:30 am and met our guides.  

The existing portion of the Alhambra, with it reddish stucco exterior, is just a fraction of what had been built and occupied from the 8th through 15th century before the Christians retook Granada in 1492. Most of it had been destroyed by the reconquering Christian armies and by subsequent wars, especially when Napoleon occupied the complex. Supposedly Muslin architecture reached its zenith in Spain in the construction of this palace, which was occupied by the sultans and their harems over a 700 year period. Originally it was designed as a fortress on a rocky hilltop outcropping overlooking the Darro River. Granada is across the river andbelow the Alhambra.

We entered the complex through the Charles V entrance to the Charles V Palace, which was never completed.  It is a circular structure within a square building.  
 

Charles V Palace

From there we proceeded to Gateway of Justice, which is the entrance gate to the Alhanbra.   and passed through several chambers with views through the “screened” windows to the city below. There was elaborate stucco work and carved wooden or stucco ceilings throughout. Then we entered the Court of the Myrtles which is a courtyard containing a long reflecting pool lined with low cut myrtle trees, 

A doorway off the Court of the Myrtles leads to the Court of the Lions, which contains a gorgeous fountain resting on 12 lions representing the hours of the day, months of the year, and signs of the zodiac.   

Given to the Sultan by the Jewish community, it can also represent the 12 tribes of Israel.  The lions and fountain have been restored and reassembled into its original location in the Court of the Lions that contains 124 marble columns.

Just off this courtyard was the Sala de los Abencerrajes where the last emir, Boabdil, invited his rivals to a banquet and at the end of the banquet had his guards enter and massacre (behead) the guests.  The room has an elaborate stucco ceiling; reminiscent  of the cave in which Mohamed lived and prayed. 

Another room, Hall of the Two Sisters, is off the other side of the Court of the Lions and this is where the sultan kept his current “favorite.”  It too had a very elaborate domed ceiling made of stucco.

Continuing through the palace complex, we walked above the Royal baths, onto a walkway with views of the countryside, and then on to the gardens on our way to the Summer Palace.  This section contains the room where Washington Irving stayed and wrote “The Tales of the Alhambra.”  This section was built for Charles V to stay during his honeymoon.  We exited through the Partal Garden with a central fountain.  

As we moved toward the garden area, there is a nice little "waterfall" and niche with ferns.

We re-enter the grounds to walk to the Generalife gardens and the summer palace that was built in the 13th century as a summer retreat for the sultans. As we walked through the Generalife there were magnificent views of the Alhambra and countryside along archway lined walkways.   We entered the summer palace with its lovely courtyards and the one known as Patio de la Acequia contains a long pool with rows of water jets arching into the pool.    

The garden surrounding the long pool are representative of typical Arabian gardens of those times – fruit trees, flowers, hedges, edible plants, etc.  From the summer palace there were good views of the old city on the hillside. 

After leaving the Summer Palace, there was another good view of the Alhambra. The group reassembled for our long drive back to Seville.  We arrived back at 7:15 pm, relaxed and had a late dinner in the hotel.  Tomorrow is a free day until 7:45 pm when we gather to go to the evening choir concert. 

Cordoba, June 5, 2015

Friday, June 5^th:

Today we travelled to Cordoba with a stop along the way for Sherry tasting at the Alvear Winery.  At the winery, we were taken into the cellars where the sherry making process was described.  The fermentation process takes 2-1/2 years with a mixing process that occurs in three stages.  In the last stage, a portion of the last formation is mixed into the top cask.  At the end, there was a sherry tasting where we tasted three sherries ranging from the driest to the most sweet, which is made from dried grapes (raisins) and had a very distinctive raisin taste. In fact, the smell was of a freshly opened box of Sunkist Raisins!  Great dessert sherry.

We then drove to Cordoba and had about an hour before the Mesquita tour would begin.  I took a brief walking tour of the Juderia section of the city.  The Juderia was the Jewish ghetto during medieval times and the home of two of the world’s greatest thinkers – the Jewish philosopher Maimonides and the Arab philosopher and mathematician Averroes. As usual, the streets and alleyways are very narrow and winding.
It also contained numerous plaza’s and homes with courtyards containing flowering plants. An interesting aspect of the Juderia section is the old Synagogue, which was built in 1315, but it was unfortunately closed.  This is one of Spain’s three remaining pre-Inquisition synagogues. Currently there is not an active synagogue in Cordoba, because of the lack of congregants.
Next we had a guided tour of the Cathedral of Cordoba, which is referred to as the Mosque Cathedral or the Mosquita. Originally on this site existed the early 6th century basilica of San Vicente (Visigoth), which was used after the Islamic invasion of Cordoba and then destroyed in 785 for the construction of the first portion of the Mosquita.  This Mosque, called the Aljama Mosque, was considered the most important sanctuary of Western Islam. At this time and until the Christian retaking of the area in 1236 by King Ferdinand III, Cordoba was the capital of Al-Andalus. The Mosque was not only a religious center but also a site of social, cultural, and political activity. It was a unique in that in the expansion work Byzantine artists sent by the Christian emperor Niceforo Focas did must of the artwork and he also provided the beautiful mosaics used in the construction of the Mihrab (sacred area from where the imam leads prayer). The total structure is a labyrinth of red-and-white candy-striped Moorish double horseshoe arches that creates a “forest” of architectural pillars. The pillars, except for those in the final expansion that covered 8 aisles, all came from Roman ruins in the area and are marked by different capitals. The earlier arches are candy-striped due to the alternating stone and brick used to construct the arches to provide materials of different coefficients of expansion and ability to withstand earthquakes. Later arches were of one material, but the arches were placed on thick slabs of lead to achieve the same result. When completed with all the expansions, the mosque had a total of 900 pillars. Of these, 856 pillars are still standing in the 19 aisles. Because some of the reused pillars were taller than others, these were sunk into the floor. 

The Mihrab, where the faithful gathered for ritual prayers, is bordered by Koranic sculptures and carved stucco. This part is covered by a scallop-shaped dome, richly decorated with beautiful colored mosaics and gilded tiles. The Maksura, enclosure for the caliph and his entourage, is gorgeous with a ceiling of triple ribbed domes resting on interweaving multifoil arches. There are golden mosaics, arabesque, carvings, cupolas, palm-leaf motifs, and marble panels. The Byzantine mosaics, which were a gift from emperor Niceforo Focas, contain hundreds of pieces of tiny gold, glass, and ceramic tiles. The 99 names of Allah are in the gold and blue frieze around the Mihrab.

Once the Christians, under Ferdinand III, re-took Cordoba in 1236, plans were made to convert the mosque into a Christian cathedral. Following much controversy, in 1523 work began to construct a gothic, renaissance, and baroque main chapel, transept, and choir within the midst of the mosque. The main chapel altarpiece is baroque and the ceiling contains domed sections for each architectural style. The choir stalls (mahogany from Cuba) are outstanding in baroque design and were created around 1750. They depict the Ascension and scenes from the lives of Jesus and the Virgin Mary in lifelike detail.   The Gothic aspect of the cathedral towers about 90 feet above the mosque and is very apparent in an exterior view of the Mosquita. In addition, the minaret was enclosed to produce the current bell tower that is prominent in the overall mosque-cathedral complex structure.

A stroll into the Treasury permits you to see the extensive display of Cordovan silver and gold artistry held by the Church. There is also a crucifix where the body is carved from one ivory tusk, with attached ivory arms.  The exquisite 10 ft  gold and silver Corpus Christi monstrance had been removed from its enclosure and was in the cathedral ready for Sunday’s Corpus Christi procession.  Upon exiting the mosque, we entered the orange tree courtyard that replaced the original palm tree courtyard. The belfry at the north side of the courtyard is crowned by a sculpture of San Rafael, the guardian archangel of the city. The main entrance to the cathedral complex is the Door of Forgiveness in the base of the belfry.

From here our tour took us to the Calle Flores, which contains a lot of geraniums in pots on the walls of this alleyway.  We then proceeded to the Juderia and walked the narrow streets of this section, which I had explored earlier in the day.  Our tour concluded back at the Mosquita.  We decided to catch dinner at a small restaurant where we had mixed paella on a courtyard that overlooked the Roman Bridge.  Returning to the Mosquita, we attended the 8 pm mass and performance of the IPC choir in the cathedral.  The acoustics of this gothic/renaissance/baroque structure are outstanding.  After the performance, we relaxed at a restaurant/bar and then walked across the Roman Bridge to our bus for the return trip to Seville.  From the bridge, there were gorgeous twilight views of the Mosquita, which is very prominent on the skyline.  We arrived back at the hotel at 12:15 pm for a very short night of sleep.  Tomorrow we depart at 7:30 am for a day in Granada.

Seville Day 1

Thursday, June 4th: 

Today is Corpus Christi day and a day of celebration and parades in Spain.  We proceeded to the Cathedral of Seville and stood among the crowds to watch the procession of the various brotherhoods from the church carrying banners and floats of saints and the virgin through the streets of old town Seville.  16 men maneuvered each float with the float positioned on their heads and others located on the perimeter providing directions for movement.  We arrived about 9 am and watched for about an hour before deciding to walk to other areas of the city.  About the time we left a “military” group arrived with their band section and guns/swords.  Later we saw them playing and processing through the streets.  We walk to the back section of the cathedral and were able to enter to get a brief view of the interior, but unable to go further while the Corpus Christi mass was occurring. 

We then proceeded toward the Alcazar, which we returned to for a tour in the afternoon, and walked on to the Spanish Square, which was constructed for the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition.  The huge half-circle pavilion structure (Renaissance Revival style) at the Spanish Square contains ceramic-tiled alcoves for the provinces of Spain to depict their unique cultures.  Four bridges representing the ancient kingdoms of Spain span the moot to access the pavilion from the main plaza, which contains a large fountain. 

We then walked to the Guadalquivir River and cross over to Triana on the Isabelle Bridge.  Triana contains numerous ceramic factories, but these were closed due to the Corpus Christi holiday.  There were a couple of open shops that we visited and we stopped for a beer in the Triana market.  Walking back over the Isabelle Bridge we met up with the group for our 3 pm tour of the Alcázar, which is the royal palace of the kings of Spain and is still in use today.   It dates from the early middle ages and is an excellent example of Mudéjar architecture.  We entered through the Lion’s Gate and proceeded to the main plaza with its view of the Palace façade and the House of Trade on the right hand side of the plaza.  Within the House of Trade, Isabelle met with Columbus after his second expedition to the Americas.  Throughout there are excellent examples of Moorish and mudéjar architecture.  There are exquisite ceilings; one of which in the “throne” room represents the sky.  There are fountains, a fish pond and beautiful gardens positioned throughout the palace grounds.  This  link shows the extensiveness and a map of the palace grounds.  Being in the gardens was a nice respite from the heat (40^o C) of the afternoon. 

Tomorrow we venture to Cordova, but don’t leave until 11 am.

Traveling to Seville

Wednesday, June 3rd:

This morning we had an early 7 am departure from the hotel to be transported to the train station for our 8:30 am high-speed train to Seville.  As expected, the train left exactly on time, had about 5 stops along the way, and travelled at about 300 km/hr (186 mi/hr) once we were in the countryside.  

High Speed Travel to Seville

 Countryside scenery changed a lot to a much more arid appearance with lots of olive trees and vineyards along the way.  We arrived in Seville at 2 pm to 104^o temperature, which is much higher than we experienced in Barcelona.  But, as they say “it is so dry!”  Our bus then took us to our hotel, the Hotel Silken Al-Andalus Palace, where surprisingly the internet worked using our log-ins from Barcelona.  Both hotels use the same internet service, kubi.  That certainly makes a lot of sense.  Why doesn’t Hilton do that in the USA? 

After a brief rest, we headed out for dinner and a Flamenco show.  The dinner was tapas with plenty to eat and drink.  After dinner, the show began and by the time it was over 1-1/4 hrs later, we were exhausted from the intensity for the flamenco dancing.  We only wished we understood the “story” that was being told.  The performance was excellent.  Then we had a brief walk to Columbus Blvd. where we had a pretty view of the Guadalquivir River and the beginnings of a sunset.  Tomorrow we leave at 8 am for the Corpus Christi celebrations in old town Seville.

Sunset in Seville

Ole!  Mary Alice