Barbara's Travels

Farewell to Spain

We enjoyed this trip. It is not among our top 5 by any means, but not among the 5 worst either. As usual we enjoyed being aboard the Aegean Odyssey and we had meals with some wonderful conversationalists.

We flew home Seville to Madrid, Madrid to JFK and JFK to Seattle, arriving close to midnight. Surprisingly the next day I felt full of energy. Who would have thought.

We have reservations on an Azamara cruise in November to Madeira and the Canary Islands. It includes port calls at Gibraltar and Malaga, both places we have been before. Gibraltar is small enough and the dock close enough to allow us to wander around the town on our own since the excursions are ones we have taken before. And while we did dock in Malaga, it was to go to the Alhambra and we did not see much of Malaga at all. Azamara offers a number of excursions in the city itself. For more information, see https://www.azamaraclubcruises.com/voyage/1447131600/15-night-madeira-canary-islands-voyage

We have heard only good things about Azamara from fellow cruisers so decided to give it a try. But you have to make your own flight reservations. And pay for transfers from airport to ship and reverse. When you make air arrangements through their subsidiary you get ship board credits but you can't use them to reserve excursions (which are extra, all of them) before sailing. Only on board ship and then there may not be openings in the ones you want to take. So I don't think we will sail with them again simply because Aegean Odyssey doesn't have any of these things. They make the flight arrangements, provide free transfers and free excursions. And now that we have sailed with them often enough, free laundry. Azamara has free do it yourself laundry. Not quite the same and sending it to the laundry.

So the trip after the Canary Islands is back with Aegean Odyssey, London to Lisbon in June 2016. http://us.voyagestoantiquity.com/cruises/the-best-of-france-portugal-1015/cruise-features/?date=2016-06-22&region=&offer=

While we have been to Normandy, it was back in 1988, and we have not seen the Biscay Bay coasts of France and Spain.

We plan to keep on traveling as long as we are able and there are new places to see. Like South America, where we have never been.

Outside the Mosque

We took a walking tour through the side streets around the Mosque. You can just see the tower of the church in these pictures. We had lunch at a nice restaurant - nothing special - and then Bob and I wandered through the area without getting lost (a major accomplishment since the streets are narrow, run at all sorts of angles to each other and there appears to be no street plan.

The long drive to and from Cordoba features some of the world's largest solar towers. For a good look go to http://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/08/the-solar-power-towers-of-seville-spain.html

On our way home the following day and I was ready to be home sleeping in my own bed.



 
 



 
 

A Desecration of the Mezkita

And in the center of this great place of prayer, the Spanish monarchs built a catholic church in overdone baroque. I'm not fond of the baroque style in general but to find this overdone church in the middle of such Muslim simplicity - I don't have words for how bad this is.



 
 



 
 



 
 

The Great Mosque

The interior is cavernous, dim and cool. And filled with these wonderful arches. The columns and capitals were gathered from Roman buildings across the country and used here, which accounts for the great variety of stone and style. The hanging lamps are now electric but were candle light back in the day. Despite the crowds, the interior has a great serenity about it and a feeling of being in a holy place. A place where one wants to pray and meditate.



 
 



 
 

The Guadalquivir at Cordoba

And here we are at the second reason for this trip, on our way to the Great Mosque. Again a long bus ride which ended on the bank of the river, across from the Mosque.

The Plaza of Spain - Seville

 To quote from Wikipedia: The Plaza de España complex is a huge half-circle with buildings continually running around the edge accessible over the moat by numerous bridges representing the four ancient kingdoms of Spain. In the centre is the Vicente Traver fountain. By the walls of thePlaza are many tiled alcoves, each representing a different province of Spain.[4]

It was a beautiful sight and I wish we had had more time to just wander around and enjoy the tile work.

3 great iPhotos

Following a day at sea between Tangier and Seville, we sailed up the Guadalquivir River toward Seville. As we neared the city, we had to go through a lock system. See those blue and white towers on the left side of the lock. The raised white portions are actually bridges for roads that cross here.

As you can see in picture 2, it was a tight fit in the lock. And in picture 3 is the infamous lady in the light blue jacket - me - looking down at the captain as he conned the ship through the passage. After we exited we were towed by a tug the rest of the way. Watching the tug maneuver back and forth actually made me "seasick" and I had to retire to our cabin and lie down. Strange.

Tangier

Saturday, June 13. Here we are docked in Tangier. By this time I was in need of a day of rest so Bob took the excursion himself while I slept late, drank tea on deck and read. The main part of the excursion was the souks and I had seen plenty of those on our wonderful trip to Morocco. Which still ranks in the top 2 or 3 of all our trips.

The first picture is the Cape Spartel lighthouse with a view across the Straits of Gibraltar. Burros, anyone?

It was cold and overcast and everyone was complaining about how chilly and unseasonable the weather was. It didn't help that the ship itself was over air conditioned. We had to turn it off in our cabin and even then I needed a second duvet at night.



 
 



 
 



 
 

Some Thoughts

The Alhambra and Granada are wonderfully preserved (or maybe restored, since they date back to the early 15th century). It was everything I had anticipated and more despite the crowds. Some day I have to read Washington Irving's book about his visit there.

The ride to and from Granada was miles and miles and miles of olive trees and almonds. There were also fields of wheat, barley and vegetables. The land looks to be fertile and the area prosperous but the soil, other than in the river plain, is mostly rock and the mountain slopes are bare rock.

The evening of our excursion was a flamenco performance which was loud but excellent. Different from the one we saw last time we were in Spain and Portugal but still wonderful to watch. It is sort of improvisational. It appeared as tho the performers listened to the opening part of the music and then waited and listened until they felt moved to get up and dance. The male and female dancers were both excellent and the singer was outstanding. A wonderful finish to a great day.

The Generalife Gardens