Spain, Day 6

After all the hoopla, we didn't schedule anything for Day 6. Instead, we walked past the Torre de Oro, to the Guadalquivir River and took a boat ride to see the city from there. They have a lovely riverwalk, and this is where we saw the Columbus-like boat. I got a kick out of a father pushing a stroller and singing/humming/duh-duh-duhing the Pirates of the Caribbean song for his son. It was a laid back kinda day.

Torre de Oro

Cat by the river!

Nina? Pinta? Santa Maria?

We continued our walk over to the bullring, the largest in Spain and saw the memorial garden for one of the famous matadors. We had empadillas for lunch (yum!) and did some souvenir shopping. Our last day in Sevilla (another excursion planned for day 7).

Day 7: The Rock of Gibraltar 

A Spanish wedding

Different countries, different customs. Some the same. Vows and speeches in English and in Spanish. A blending of traditions.

Yo y mi esposo

On our fourth day, we did family stuff. Visited. Had a cocktail party overlooking the city at night. The Giralda tower illuminated was breathtaking. Side note. For those of you who know me, my hair hasn't changed. I've just learned how to tame it. Mostly. Sometimes. Except when its humid. And I didn't have my usual mane-taming equipment. Oh yeah, and I have more silver highlights these days. With that being said, the hairdresser did a marvelous job the day of the wedding.

The wedding was outside and the weather was gorgeous. We all came away glowing. Well... some of that might have been sunburn, but what a beautiful ceremony. The bride and groom had gotten married last year, but different cultures, different traditions, and add COVID into the mix, and voila. Party on their first anniversary!

The couple walked in to the reception to Queen - Somebody to Love. We were served fresh, local foods as appetizers after the ceremony, then sat down to fresh local foods for dinner, and then a night of dinner and dancing (and mojitos).

You know how at weddings in the U.S. you do the Electric Slide and/or the Chicken Dance? Over there they do a version of Flamenco and its absolutely lovely to watch. Oh, and dancing waiters/bartenders.

Next week: Sevilla unscripted. A walk along the Guadalquivir River and other tourist attractions.

Spain, Day 3

While it tried to rain on Day 2, it absolutely rained on Day 3. Did that dampen our adventurous spirit? Nope. It did make one of the stops a bit.... soggy.

We started out on Day 3 for the tourism office where a bus would take us on a day trip. Because we were leaving early in the morning, we thought we'd just swing by the McDonalds on the way for an egg McMuffin. Guess what? McDonalds doesn't open early in Spain. Nor do they sell egg mcmuffins. So we stopped at a local cafe en route and ordered a Spanish breakfast. Tostada (toast) with jamon y queso (Iberian ham and cheese). Traditionally, you'd order it with tomato, olive oil, garlic and cheese. This was the spot the shopkeeper wrote down what we owed her so there would be no mistakes. She was accommodating, if not slightly impatient about the language barrier, and again, I knew just enough to get by.

We started out for an olive oil factory first. There, we saw how they harvest the olives, then layer them with hemp mats to make a "lasagna" and put them in a press to squeeze out the oil. The olive pulp is later used as animal feed or fire starters. On the mountain beside stands a castle, a remnant of days when castle overlords provided for the regions below. Many of the villages in the mountains have castles above.

We continued up the mountain to Grazalema, where the white chalk houses are built into the mountainside. The town has Moorish origins, as much of that part of the country does. We traveled twisty, winding mountain roads to get there, through a nature preserve where they grow cork oak trees. They also have a goat unique to the region - the poyoyo - which produces poyoyo cheese. We managed to walk through the narrow town roads for several minutes before the microclimate showed us what life could be like up there - RAINY. They also run the bulls (but don't kill them), and there are other plants indigenous to the area, including a species of pine. We stopped for lunch and I had my eggs (which I'd not gotten for breakfast), served with potatoes. Delicious.

It's a looooong way down

On to Ronda. Fans of THE AMAZING RACE likely saw this town during their Spanish leg of the race. In the middle of town is a deep gorge with a bridge. The landscape is dramatic! They also have a bullfight ring, and a matador walk of fame similar to what we have in Los Angeles with the Hollywood stars.

Bridge over the gorge

overlooking the bull ring

Matador walk of fame

The surprise was at the meeting point, which was yet another church. My brother-in-law had mentioned we should find a torno, or a convent where cloistered nuns sell cookies from behind the secrecy of a sort of lazy susan. We'd been told there were several such places in Sevilla that we had yet to find. HOWEVER, while we were waiting to return to Sevilla from Ronda, someone asked our tour guide if she wanted to see "the hand of Santa Theresa." Yes, the hand (read the story here). Our guide invited us to join her, and in the chamber, we found a torno! Of course, we bought cookies from the hidden nuns (sultanas/coconut macaroons). They had several items to choose from. Legend has it if you take ingredients to the nuns at the tornos, they will bless you. I asked some of the other tourists on our trip the significance of Santa Theresa, and they jokingly referred to her as "Terry." After you've petitioned her, you will know she's heard you when you see a rose. Maybe it will be a picture, maybe it will be the flower... 

The hand of Santa Theresa

Nun cookies!

This "menu" (on the left) and
the "torno" (on the right)

Next week, Wedding stuff.

Spain, Day 2

The funny part about learning Spanish was that the virtual instructor tried to tell me that in Southern Spain, they speak what he teaches, and in other parts of Spain they speak ceceo, which is the equivalent of a Spanish lisp. He was wrong. Much like Bostonians don't pronounce the letter "R", Sevillanos don't pronounce the letter "Z." Instead, they pronounce it "TH" which sounds like a lisp. That took some getting used to. In Spanish classes, they teach you the letter Z sounds like the letter S. The letter V sounds like the letter B. (And that's your Spanish lesson for today.) It took some time to understand "Réal Alcathar" (which is how they pronounced it) was the Royal Alcazar palace. Also, "Hasta Luego" came out "Hatha Luego." For the longest time, I couldn't figure out what they were saying! One of our tour guides was from Granada, and as she explained it, she ate half her words, so forgive her if that carried over into her English. An example of that? "Buen (or Bueno) Dia" in place of "Buenos Dias."

And so, a very abbreviated description of Day 2: We got up the second day, having learned from getting lost the night before, with the intention of finding our way to the first tour ahead of time so we wouldn't get lost and we'd arrive on time. Guess what? We got lost. And the funny thing (which happened more than once) was that when we found our way, we discovered streets we were actually becoming familiar with - essentially shortcuts home. So what did we see? Well, while we were waiting for the tour to start, there were parrots nesting in the palm trees overhead! "What's that annoying squawking bird? ... OH! It's green!"

Hansom cab with its rain bonnet

Arriving on the Cathedral square, there are hansom cabs and orange trees. (Don't pick the oranges - they're sour.) The Cathedral is one of the largest in Europe. Because of the proximity to Morocco, there is a considerable Moorish/Muslim influence, including minarets. The architecture is very impressive, as are the contents of the church. Inside are the remains (or what's left of the remains - they were moved many times) of Christopher Columbus. There's also a tomb where one of his sons is buried, along with the usual assortment of saints buried under the floor. We went from the church to the bell tower, which was 35+ ramps to the top, with a staircase taking you the final stretch. 

Cathedral de Sevilla

Tomb

Cathedral and Giralda bell tower

Climbing to the top of the
Giralda tower.

From there, we went to see the Réal Alcazar, which was used during the filming of Game of Thrones. It's a royal fortress and palace -- three buildings, showing different architectural and cultural influences. Should I mention Carlos V married Isabella of Portugal the day he met her? Although it was an arranged marriage, he was completely captivated by her. The cathedral couldn't marry them on such short notice, so they were wed in the Réal Alcazar.  

Behind the palace are expansive gardens that alone are worth the price of admission.

It was a long day seeing SO MANY beautiful things. More than I can encapsulate here. We found our way back to our apartment (now that we knew the "shortcut"), had dinner, and went on the paranormal tour. Our guide told us fun stories of ghosts haunting the third floor of a restaurant, unexplained noises following him on a tour, the Faculty of Fine Arts (built over a crypt of notable locals) where security guards would go home mid shift because of screaming in the basement (attributed to author Fernan Cabello). We heard stories of a bride who never picked up her wedding dress (she died), so she tried to put it in the shopkeeper's window for him to sell to someone else, a haunted hotel, and last, but not least, a "presence" at a British building that frightened the guide enough that he didn't like to go into its courtyard. Fodder for the next book? Yep. Some 😁

Next week, Day 3. Ronda and the white villages.

Touring Spain

As promised, here's the first installment of our trip to Spain. 

I'll start with whether or not it actually helped to brush up on my Spanish, and the answer was yes. While I struggled to keep up most of the time, the locals were usually happy for the effort, and they can spot a foreigner (read American) miles away - particularly when you speak. Some wanted to try out their English the way I wanted to try out my Spanish, some switched immediately to English upon identifying me as American, and some rolled their eyes at me and wrote down the things I needed to know (like how much I owed them). 

We rented an AirBnB, and the owner met us at the place, his English was fairly good if not heavily accented, and I learned a new word. Everything he tried to explain to me, he followed up on with vale? To someone with no Spanish knowledge, the word sounds like ballet (sort of), and was clearly a "throw away word," like "right?" We heard that EVERYWHERE, so I asked my niece about it. Roughly, it means okay. Later when I did a Google translate, this was confirmed. But I digress...

Iberian ham. Notice the hooves? 

"Dani" showed us a map and told us we had to see ALL THE PLACES (upwards of 40), and he recommended places for us to eat. His written instructions were fairly good English, except for a few places where he'd reverted to Spanish, like "this place is junto that place." This is where my Spanish helped, because I immediately said "next to?" and he said, "yes, yes," crossed out junto and wrote next to.  After he'd acquainted us with our place and left us to begin our adventure, we went out to the grocery store (Supermercado Mas) for supplies to stock our little kitchen. The market had a street-facing bakery case, which also included sandwiches, so we grabbed a couple of those for lunch/dinner, another place where my Spanish helped to identify what we were looking at and to ask for what we wanted. Google translate also works... That part of Spain is famous for its Iberian ham, which is sold in the grocery store "on the pig." Not something we're used to seeing in America...

In Sevilla, tapas bars are on every corner. As with life, food should be enjoyed in little bites - at least that's how they present it. Tapas come in varying sizes and they recommend each person try something for yourself and get one to share. It should be noted that in Spain, most restaurants don't open until 8 pm, or they open for lunch, close, and then open again late for dinner. We walked to meet my sister, her husband and my niece for a dinner - our first "I'm lost" moment. Yes, we got lost every day, but that was part of the adventure. Very easy to get turned around there since the streets aren't straight. Similar to New Orleans, you find the names of the streets on the sides of buildings rather than the signs we're accustomed to in America. At any rate, we found the restaurant (we were never lost for long), and my niece helped us order several plates of tapas to try. All of them were delicious! My husband, who is a very scheduled eater ("that's way too late to eat dinner!"), wasn't happy at first, but even he got into the spirit of things.

Colo de toro y solomillo y tortilla
(oxtail, tenderloin and Spanish omelet)

Pollo
(Chicken)

My family walked us back to our apartment, and after a long day of traveling, we were happy to fall into our bed for a busy day of touring on Day #2.

Next week,  day #2 - the Cathedral of Seville, the Giralda Tower, The Real Alcazar, and (or course) a paranormal tour.