Madrid...Dinner and a show!

Today was the last day of our fantastic trip to Spain. Gate 1 Travel put together a thrilling group of guides and experiences to help us gain a taste of Spain, its culture, and its history. This last day of the trip was a whirlwind tour of Spain's largest and capital city, Madrid. We visited the Prado Mueseum, the Royal Palace, enjoyed a free afternoon, and then were treated to a flamenco dance and dinner at Cafe Chinitas.

The Prado museum is a massive collection of art and sculpture. Many of the paintings in the museum originated from previous royal collections. There are roughly only 1500 of the nearly 7800 paintings on display. This is mainly due to a lack of space within the museum. The Prado is home to masterpieces from such artists as Rubens, Goya, El Greco and Velasquez. Perhaps the most famous painting in the museum is Las Meninas by Velasquez. Unfortunately, the no-camera rule of the Prado prohibited us from making any art of our own. Both main stops on the Madrid tour today (the Prado and the Royal Palace) did not allow photograpy inside.

The Royal Palace is no longer inhabited by royalty. While the royal family does not live in the palace, they do use it occasionaly for ceremonies of the state. The palace has over 2000 rooms, of which we were only afforded the time to visit around 25. The Prado and Royal Palace are two of the most important sites in a city that would be difficult to visit well in one month, let alone one day. However, these two sites gave us a taste of the splendor that makes up Spain's capital city.

After visiting the Prado and the Palace, we were afforded free time in the afternoon until our flamenco dinner. This time was perfect for a return visit to the Prado for a more intense look at its walls, for a visit to the Reina Sofia museum that houses works by such artists as Picasso and Dali, for a visit to the Gran Via and its shopping district, or for catching up on much needed rest at the hotel. Those who chose to explore the city found that certain familiar sites of home would pop up occasionally...such as below.

Those who chose to visit the Reina Sofia museum were treated to works by Picasso and Dali, among others. For some strange reason, this museum would allow photos without flash...and without fear of being tackled by security. One of Pablo Picasso's most famous works, Guernica, was on display.

After our free afternoon, we met back at the hotel to head to dinner and a flamenco show. We had the pleasure of enjoying great food, tremendous performances by the dancers and guitarists, and good company during our final evening together in magical Spain. Tomorrow we board our plane to return home.

Thursday found us heading to the wonderful city of Toledo via Madrid. We boarded our plane Thursday morning in Malaga and made the one hour flight to Madrid. Happy to have one leg of the trip back to OKC out of the way, we directly boarded a bus for the hour drive to Toledo. No, we were not in Ohio. However, after approaching the Alcantara bridge that spans the Tagus river and seeing the brilliant reddish-colored architecture that forms the city, we realized we weren't in Kansas anymore either. The Alcantara bridge was built in 866 AD and reconstructed in 1257. Once in the city, our first stop was the cathedral.

The cathedral was an absolute masterpiece that took 500 years to build. Unfortunately, there was no photography allowed inside the cathedral. This made our resident photographers fairly uneasy. Thankfully, they kept their fingers off the shutters. The grandeur of Toledo's cathedral can only be explained in photos. If you would like to see the inside, buy the book. We did.

From the cathedral, we went to Santo Tome church, where El Greco's The Burial of the Count Orgaz resides. This work of art in considered by some to be one of the four most important paintings in the world.

After the cathedral, we went to the synagogue where we were treated to examples of the Jewish influence on the city of Toledo throughout history.

Once back at the hotel, a couple of us stole away to attempt to capture the magnificence of the Royal Palace at night before we visit it by day tomorrow.

Tales from Alhambra

In 1829, Washington Irving wrote "How unworthy is my scribbling of the place" in reference to his time spent inside The Alhambra in Granada. His book, Tales of the Alhambra, essentially brought to light this Moorish palace for Western audiences and helped to spark its resurrection. The Alhambra, which means "the red one", and Generalife, its gardens, are a spectacular example of Islamic architecture dating back to the middle of the 13th century. We were treated to the sights of the fortress, its reflecting pool in the courtyard, and the gardens. Following our visit, we returned to Torremolinos and enjoyed a stroll along the beach and shopping in the local souvenir shops that line the shore. Many found it difficult to resist this multi-national temptation: a shirt that said "I Love Rome." Who could resist a Rome shirt...bought in Spain...made in China? We finished the evening with a delightful dinner of shellfish soup and veal in a restaurant along the beach. Tomorrow will mark the end of our adventures in Costa del Sol as we fly back to Madrid. From there we will visit the city of Todelo.

Sevilla

After serenading our beloved group member, Rosemary, to a Spanish rendition of Happy Birthday, we headed north to Sevilla, once Spain's largest and richest city. Sevilla is now the fourth largest city in Spain. We were thankful the sun made the three hour trip with us, and we stepped off the bus to a bustling city lined with shoppers, orange trees and charm.

Our first stop was Sevilla's cathedral and Giralda bell tower. This is the third largest church in Europe and the world's largest Gothic church. According to locals, the goal was to build a cathedral so grand that "people who see it will say we are mad." Two of the cathedral's finer features are its tremendous pipe organ of 7,000 pipes and the tomb of Christopher Columbus.

Following our visit to the cathedral, we made the short walk to the Alcazar, the 10th Century palace built by the Moorish kings and still in use today. The unique architecture of the palace is accentuated by the vastly different styles of the rulers who lived there. As Spanish rule evolved from the Moors to the Christians, so did each addition to this magnificent palace. After leaving the palace, we enjoyed a rest in its lush gardens.

The final stop on our tour of Sevilla was the magnificent Spain Plaza. This plaza was built for the 1929 international fair. Restoration of this panoramic site was recently completed just in time for our visit.

Tomorrow promises to bring more sun and grandeur as we head northeast to Granada to visit Spain's most visited site, the Alhambra.

Mijas and Ronda

The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain...but also, it seems, in the mountains! Today we traveled west through the Sistema Penibetico, or Baetic Mountains, and found ourselves witnessing one of the only ten days of rain that this region of Spain purportedly receives.

The white (chalked) facades of Mijas remained beautiful even in the dreary conditions. We proved braver than our absent "donkey taxis" as we traversed the streets of lovely Ronda on our own two (wet) feet! The elevation of the village once provided area farmers with an opportunity for supplementing their agricultural income by offering visitors donkey rides up the mountain side to see the fantastic views provided in the picturesque community which overlooks the ocean. We were accompanied today though by only our knowledgeable local guide (and our umbrellas!)

RONDA

Next, we traveled northwest through exclusive Marbella, where the enormous estates of several American movie stars were visible from the roadway, toward our destination of the Andalusian village of Ronda. Ronda is populated by homes and shops adorned with decorated iron and floral balconies (see above). We tentatively left the rain behind and were greeted with some welcome sun after a lunch featuring regional specialties of Spanish ham, pork loin and pasta. We toured one of Ronda's most famous features, it's bullfighting arena, which is the oldest in Spain. This arena was a favorite of Ernest Hemmingway, who wrote a number of his works in the city of Ronda, and Orsen Wells, who specified his cremated remains be scattered here. Undoubtedly, the most breathtaking views in town for most were those surrounding the Puente Nuevo ("New" Bridge) which, despite the name, was completed in 1793. The bridge was built to connect the older portion of Ronda to the newer and resides 120 meters (~390 feet) above the canyon below. With structures clinging to its sides, it is a dramatic view that can only be fully appreciated in person, but we all took our best shots at capturing it! Tomorrow, we enjoy Seville with it's fabled beauty, and hope the sun comes with us!

Tangier, Morocco!

With cheer in our hearts and a spring in our steps (abandon seriousness here), we left the hotel this morning at 6:15 and headed out on the 2.5 hr bus ride to Tarifa--the port on the Strait of Gibraltar where we would take a 35 min. ferry ride across to North Africa. Tangier was our only stop in Morocco on this one-day excursion. We marveled at the difference between the the South of Spain and Tangier. Streets were rather crowded, and Sunday is considered a light day for both tourism and commerce. The architecture reflected the strong Muslim influence on the region. We were met with kindness by the locals, although at times we were treated a bit too kindly by those peddling their wares in the streets. We visited the Kasbah, with its tightly winding streets, and the Medina, or old part of town. We had the pleasure of being treated to authentic Moroccan cuisine at the Restaurant Hammadi. Inside, we were greeted by a live instrumental quartet and treated to a four course meal consisting of tomato soup with garbanzos, veal skewers, couscous, and a honey almond pastry. We finished the meal with a famous Moroccan tradition: a cup of mint tea. The food and atmosphere of the restaurant were excellent. However, the greatest part of this stop for a meal was perhaps the dodging of the rainfall that we were anticipating. It only rained while we were inside the restaurant! Following the meal, we visited a store selling Moroccan carpets and another selling spices. We ended our time in Tangier with a little over a half hour of free time to visit the local shops before we boarded the ferry to return to Spain. Our bus ride back led us past the Rock of Gibraltar and back to Torremolinos where many of us enjoyed dinner on our own in one of the various restaurants surrounding our hotel. My breaking of the news that we would not be departing until 9 AM tomorrow was met with enthusiasm! Tomorrow we head North to the two hilltop towns of Mijas and Ronda.

Welcome to Spain!

Our 19 spirited travelers braved what seemed like two days of travel (We lost 7 hours!) and arrived at our hotel in Torremolinos at about 6 PM today, March 12. All three plane rides went smoothly with good weather. We had ample time to explore the airport in Madrid after our 9.5 hour flight from DFW. Our flight from Madrid to Malaga lasted just over one hour. We then mounted a bus for the 10 mile jaunt to Torremolinos where we will be staying until Thursday. We were treated to an expansive buffet at the hotel (Gran Cervantes pictured above) this evening and had a chance to meet our tour director, Mercedes, who will be with us for the remainder of the trip. After a busy day of travel, tomorrow morning's departure time of 6:15 will come early! We are heading to Morocco for a day-long excursion. The weather is pleasantly cool, about 55 degrees F, but it may threaten to rain throughout the week. Stay posted for more updates of our journey through Andalusia. Feel free to email me at kingfisherspanish@gmail.com, as I will check it at least once daily.