Spain & portugal 9 07

Spain
&
Portugal

September 28 ~
October 7, 2007

Hotel Europa in Puerto del Sol -
View from our balcony

House of the Post Office,
Department of Security
under Franco - he spoke
from this balcony

Kilómetro Cero,
Exact center of Spain

Living statues
….and real statues
walking through Madrid

Museo del Jamon
(Museum of Ham)

.....one at almost every street corner

Casa de la Panaderia, the
seat of the powerful baker's
guild, completed in 1590

The Mercado de San Miguel, originally
constructed in 1835 (closed for remodeling)

Pictures at Museo del Prado
(before we were told to put
our camera away)

El Greco Raphael Rubens

Goya
(the lighter side)

Rembrandt

Goya
(the darker side)

Velazquez

Almost every window and
door in Madrid has a
balcony….

….many surrounded by beautiful hand painted frescos

Mass at the nearby Cathedral and dinner at Café Europa

Day 2 –
We pick up our rental car at
the Atocha Train Station, site
of the March 2004 bombing
that killed 191 people – 911
days after 9/11

(We quickly learned to look
for the “Salida” man to
help us find our way out of
the subways)

Our first stop was El Escorial and the Valley of the Fallen

The monument is an underground
church and the tomb of General
Francisco Franco, topped with a 500
foot stone cross which can be seen from
a distance of 30 miles. Although
supposedly honoring all the dead in the
Spanish Civil war, many Spaniards see
the site as a reminder of the years of
suffering under a Fascist dictator. The
prisoners on the Republican side, many
of whom lost their lives in the process,
were forced to quarry this huge cavern
out of the rock.

Inside the basilica
….inside the mountain

Next stop - Segovia

And another Plaza Mayor

Segovia is Spain and Castile at its best - twisting alleyways, the highest
concentration of Romanesque churches in all of Europe, pedestrian streets
where no cars are allowed, all surrounded by the city's medieval wall. On
the northwest extreme of the wall is the famous Alcázar castle where
Queen Isabel promised Columbus the financial backing he needed to
discover America. On the southeast end is the world renowned Roman
aqueduct, the longest and best preserved of its kind anywhere.
The tallest building in Segovia is still the
16th-century Cathedral, a
prominent landmark as one
approaches from any
direction.

Inside the Cathedral
of Segovia

Confessional….or phone
booth? If only these walls
could talk.

Juan Bravo
and his friend,
Juanita

And suddenly, you
turn a corner and see
the giant Roman
aqueduct, constructed
almost 2000 years ago

The aqueduct transports water 20 miles to
the city from a spring in the nearby
mountains. At its tallest, the
aqueduct reaches a height of
93.5 feet. There are both
single and double arches
supported by pillars.

Back through the streets of Segovia to the other end of town…..

….to the Alcázar castle, the
inspiration for many Disney films

Back on the road to Toledo,

…where you take an elevator
ride up to the “old city”

Toledo is a just south of Madrid. It is the capital of the community of
Castile-La Mancha. It was declared a World Heritage Site by
UNESCO in 1986 for its extensive cultural and monumental heritage
as one of the former capitals of the Spanish Empire and place of
coexistence of Christian, Jewish and Moorish cultures.

The Cathedral
and the Royal Palace

Gardens of Sabatini
outside the Palace

Centro de Arte Reina Sofía – with works by Pablo Picasso,
Joan Miró, Salvador Dalí and others (but again, no pictures allowed)

Guernica is a painting by Pablo Picasso, depicting the
Nazi German bombing of Guernica, Spain on April 26,
1937 during the Spanish Civil War

At 7:30 PM we fly to Lisbon
and taxi up a long and winding
cobblestone road to Hotel
Albergaria Senhora Do Monte

Not only is it a charming little
room full of Portuguese tile….

…..the view off the balcony is breathtaking!
The castle to left, the lights of Lisbon, and the
Christo Rei statue glowing from across the river

The same view at 8 AM
Day 4

We take the long walk down to the seaport,
though streetcars are the traditional form of
transportation in Lisbon

The city is
known for its
hand-painted tile

We catch the bus to Belém, where many
Portuguese explorers sailed off to
discover new worlds

The Monument to the
Discoveries, with Prince Henry
the Navigator at the helm

The Tower of Belém

The lights from the tower were the
last sign of land the sailors saw
before reaching the new world

The Cloisters, with an
amazing assortment of…..

Back to town to visit Castle São Jorge

The iron Elevador
de Santa Justa,
connecting the
Bairro Alto,
(downtown) to
Chiado (uptown),
was built in 1902

Or you can ride the
the Elevador da
Glória, as most of
the locals do

The statue of
Lisbon’s favorite
poet, Fernando
Pessoa, sitting at
his favorite café, the
famous Café A
Brasileira

Goodbye and “good luck” from our
new Portuguese friends

Day 5 -
We fly to Barcelona at 10 AM and take
the bus to the creepy Hostel L’Antic Espai

We ring the bell, are admitted inside, then
climb the ancient stairway to be allowed in

….to the very lavish hotel lobby,
decorated in the style known as
Catalonian modernisme

The hotel is in the Eixample area of
the city, with a balcony overlooking
the Grand Vía

We take a walk down
the Ramblas….

….where even the streetlights are
Gaudí inspired

Thumbs up from Juan at
the famous Pinotxo Bar

By the time we reach the harbor, rain was on the horizon

So we decided to visit the Barcelona Maritime Museum, located inside
the medieval building that served as the Royal Shipyards until 1935

Dinner in a bar just off the
Plaça de Catalunya and off to
our spooky hotel for the night

Day 6 –
Breakfast at the
Café Zurich in
Plaça de Catalunya

At 11, we meet in Plaça Reial to go on the Fat Tire Bicycle Tour

Park de la Ciudadella
in the Barri Gotic

Flamenco dancers
practicing in the gazebo

La Sagrada Família (in Catalan, “The Holy Family”) is a massive Roman
Catholic basilica. Antoni Gaudí designed and started construction in
1882 and worked on the project for over 40 years.

The building was designed to be built over 200 years, and with no
government funds….only public donations. When asked about
the long construction period, Gaudí is said to have joked, “My
client is not in a hurry.”

Our ride then takes us out to
the harbor, with Montjuïc in
the distance

We end the bike tour with lunch at
an outdoor bar on the beach in
Barceloneta

Back to foot travel, we walk through
the Old City seeking out the sites in
the book, Shadow of the Wind, by
Carlos Ruiz Zafón

We lose our way and find
ourselves on Manzana de la
Discordia (Block of Discord)

Casa Batlió, designed by Antoni
Gaudí and Casa Amatller,
designed by Puig i Cadafalch

After a short rain, we walk over to
Casa Milà

Casa Milà, or La Pedrera, is the largest civil building designed by Gaudí. It
was constructed between 1906 and 1910. It was Gaudi's last work before
devoting himself to the construction of the Sagrada Família.

They say the roof is closed
because of rain, but we
sneak up anyway….well
worth the risk of getting
reprimanded!

View from the top –
Sagrada Família in
the distance

Goudí designed
so much more
than buildings

Art in the parks,
Paving tiles lamp posts

Wall tiles, door
Furniture knobs, coat hooks

The hanging chain sculpture….

….with its mirror image,
was the inspiration for one of
Gaudí’s buildings

We walk back to our hotel
seeing glimpses of Gaudí’s
genius throughout the city

Day 7 – We rent a car to drive to Montserrat and Tarragona

After a short
detour, we see
what we’re
looking for
high in the
mountains
west of
Barcelona

The funicular takes us up the
mountain to the Benedictine
abbey, Santa María de
Montserrat (“jagged rock”)

View from the top of the mountain

We wait in line to see the black virgin and touch the “royal orb” she is
holding through the glass enclosure

Back on the road to Tarragona, a city located in
the south of Catalunya by the Mediterranean Sea

Augustus wintered at “Tarraco” in the early
first century, and many Roman ruins remain

After dinner overlooking the
sea and ruins, we get back in
the car to find a place to
spread Uncle Nick’s ashes…
in the Mediterranean as he
requested

We find a beautiful beach with a rocky point at the end – other than a
couple of surfers, the only other visitor was an older gentleman with his
dog….that looked remarkably like Uncle Nick’s dog, Sparky

As it begins to sprinkle, we
say a prayer and send Uncle
Nick on his way to Greece

As we begin to
walk away, the
gentleman asks in
Catalonian what
we were doing

He nods and smiles knowingly as we try to explain in our broken Spanish

And as we drive back to Barcelona, the rain stops and the clouds
separate as if to open the gates of Heaven

Day 8 – our last day in Barcelona
A walk through the city and a climb to Montjuïc

Plaça
de
España

Montjuïc is a broad shallow hill overlooking the harbor southeast of the city
centre. It was the site of several fortifications, the latest of which, the Castell
de Montjuïc, remains today. The fortress dates from the 17th century. In 1842
the garrison (loyal to the Madrid government) shelled parts of the city following
disturbances. It served as a prison, often holding political prisoners, until the
time of General Franco. The castle was the site of numerous executions.

The Palau Nacional houses the
Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya

Views from the top –
the harbor and the
Olympic Stadium

Views from cable car going down

Goodbye to Barcelona….and the spooky Hotel L’Antic Espai

A bus ride to the airport
for our flight to Madrid

Back in Madrid, we go to
Plaza Mayor for dinner,
where we step into the
famous La Torre del Oro –
a shrine to the toreadores

Mass at the Cathedral, then entertainment
in the Plaza for our last night in España

Spain & portugal 9 07

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