Mas en Cordoba ...

On our second day in Cordoba we walked down near the river to tour the Alcazar -- the royal palace of the Catholic monarchs. The buildings themselves were not nearly as impressive as the gardens where we talked another tourist into taking our picture.

Nancy probably waited 15 minutes until she could take a picture of the long water feature (with water spraying in from both sides) without any people present! We did spent quite a bit of time enjoying the sunshine and the well-manicured gardens just below the Alcazar. (There were even some shrubs that had been "sculptured" to look like water pots with handles on both sides.) Since it was December 31st -- New Year's Eve day -- we realized that most shops and restaurants would be closed in the evening, so we ate our main meal at a recommended restaurant at about 2:30 p.m. - rw

Cordoba & The Mezquita . . .

The Mezquita, or huge Muslim mosque, was first constructed in Cordoba in 785 and subsequently enlarged. In 1236 the mosque was "converted" into a Christian church after Cordoba was captured by Ferdinand III of Castile. In the 1520's Charles V of Spain ordered the construction of an elaborate Gothic cathedral right in the center of the mosque. Below, Nancy is pictured with a view of the Mezquita across the river on the day we arrived in Cordoba. (We toured the interior the next morning, Dec. 31st.)

The finished cathedral with its Gothic dome is in such stark contrast to the magnificent Islamic architecture of the mosque that Charles V is reported to have said upon completion, "I have destroyed something unique to the world!" The cathedral, however, has its own beauty, with impressive stained glass windows, dozens of side-chapels, and very ornate Gothic decor above and behind the central altar.

The old city of Cordoba is a maze of narrow streets (photo below) where one literally had to quickly jump on the sidewalk or into a doorway at the approach of a car. Some of the streets were obviously one-way, but for pedestrians like us the "direction" was not readily apparent. Just like in Seville, some of the wider streets were simply pedestrian walkways, with high-end shops on both sides of the street. (In fact, knowing about Spain's economic difficulties and high unemployment, it was difficult to get a feel for the real situation when we observed big crowds in restaurants and expensive department stores.) -rw

The Alhambra in Granada

The Alhambra is reported to be the most visited tourist site in all of Spain -- even beyond the Prado in Madrid. It was first constructed on a high hill overlooking Granada as early as 900 A.D. by the Moors as a defensive citadel. Muhammad I, founder of the Nasrid Dynasty, built a defensive fort, the Alcazaba, in the early 1300's. The Palacio Nazaries (pictured) was built by Yusuf I between 1333-54, and is considered the highpoint of Islamic culture and architecture in Europe. This palace is by far the most impressive part of the Alhambra and is the very first place that tourists like us line-up to visit. Reeve is pictured below, along with Doug and Tracy.

The Sierra Nevada -- not in California, but in Andalucia, Spain -- looms over the Alhambra and the city of Granada.

The "Court of the Lions," where Gabi and I are pictured, was an especially impressive part of the Palacio. And, throughout the Alhambra there were many gardens, fountains and water features of different kinds. The kids did really well during the 3 hours that we toured the Alhambra, and afterwards we took the bus back to our hotel, and from there walked to a restaurant where we all had dinner together. -rw

1492 & Ferdinand & Isabella ...

We found Seville to be the most enjoyable city in Spain that we visited. Since it's way south, it's warmer there, and the city is full of orange trees. (The one pictured was in the Patio de los Naranjos just adjacent to the cathedral.) It was in Seville in 1492 that the famous Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, planned and then launched their military campaign to conquer Granada from the Moors. Right next door to the cathedral is the Alcazar, the fort and royal palace, first used by the Moors, and then by the Catholic monarchs.

The Cathedral was originally a Muslim mosque, but after the Moors surrendered it was rather quickly converted into a Roman Catholic place of worship. When the cathedral was first conceived by architects in 1402, it was planned to be so large and so grandiose that "future generations will think we were mad." When first built it was the largest Gothic cathedral in the world, and now is only third to St. Peter's in Rome and St. Paul's in London. The "Giralda," originally the minaret for the mosque, is a tower about 90 meters tall and can be climbed by a series of ramps that ascend to the top. (We climbed it and took some pictures of the city below.) In touring the cathedral we rented audio guides and got the "full picture" of the significance of all of the small "chapels" that are around the perimeter of the main sanctuary. Stained glass windows (not pictured) were impressive!

We found many walks in the city suggested by our guidebook. One of them took us down to the Rio Guadilquivir and then to the Plaza de Espana which we found particularly beautiful.

The many plazas in Seville -- most with restaurants with outdoor seating in the sun -- were among the most delightful aspects of the city. Another interesting feature in Seville were the many horse-carts that lined the streets and were readily available for tourists who wanted to explore the city in style! As for the abundant orange trees, the fruit looked ripe in December, and we were told that anyone could pick oranges and enjoy the results! Oh yes ... "In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue ..." And as a result of how highly he was honored in Spain after his journeys, his remains are contained in what looks like a royal casket within the cathedral in Seville. - rw

A Memorable Christmas Day in Spain

As Nancy said, "Travel is not all glory -- even on Christmas Day!" As we were preparing to board our 5-hour train ride from Barcelona to Seville shortly after 7:30 in the morning on Christmas Day, a valuable rolling carry-on suitcase of Nancy's was stolen right out from under our not-so-vigilant-eyes. It had train tickets (which were quickly replaced in time), a VISA card (which had to be cancelled), an I-Pad, and all kinds of other valuables. But, after filing a police report on arrival in Seville, and after changing some passwords, we are ready to move on -- now somewhat wiser. The picture above is of La Sagrada Familia (the sacred family) in Barcelona -- the "dream" and largely the creation of Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi at the end of the 19th century. La Sagrada is certainly the only "modern cathedral" we'd ever seen, and it still isn't finished after 100 years of construction!

Nancy is pictured after we both took an elevator up one of the towers. The view of the city from there is normally quite impressive; however, fog was hanging over much of the city at the time. The exterior of the cathedral has extensive sculptures of biblical scenes (the one pictured below is a nativity scene).

As in most of the cathedrals in Europe, La Sagrada Familia had many beautiful stained glass windows. However, toward the rear of the sanctuary the windows were mostly just of plain glass -- offering the promise of much more beauty in the future. The genius of such a modern cathedral, Antoni Gaudi, took over as chief architect in 1883, just a year after the work was commissioned. He died in 1926, but the work has continued ever since -- as evidenced by the cranes and the scaffolding in the picture above. After arriving in Seville and getting settled in our hotel, we took a long walk and ended-up on a hop-on-hop-off bus tour of the city. One "hop-off" for us was at Montjuic (Mt. of the Jews) where we took a cable car to the fortress at the top, with panoramic views of the city. -rw

Madrid at Christmastime

Arriving by plane in Madrid on December 21st, it didn't take us long to discover that Christmas decorations were very much in evidence -- especially at night. Beyond that, we observed that Madrid is definitely a "night city." When the picture at the top was taken we were walking back to our hotel on a pedestrian-only street that was so jam-packed with people strolling both ways that it was only with difficulty that we were able to walk at a decent pace. On our only full day in Madrid we did visit the Prado and were especially impressed with a special short-term exhibition that contained paintings of "the young Van Dyke," and also several paintings from Rico and Titian.

Then, on a walk back from the train station -- where we were unsuccessful in getting all of our train tickets printed out that applied to our 6-trip rail pass -- we stumbled-onto a fascinating clock that on the hour (3:00 p.m. for us) had large figures emerging from the wall and cavorting around for 2-3 minutes! (And then at Playa del Sol [a very central plaza in Madrid] at night we encountered M&M Mouse, Santa Claus, and a couple other figures. - rw

And then there was Chartres (Day #4) ...

Somehow Day #4 got lost in the sequence of blog postings for Paris! Day #4 was Tuesday, December 18th, and we all (Doug, Tracy, Reeve, Gabi, Rania, Nancy and I) took the train out of Paris to Chartres to see what's probably the most famous cathedral in all of Europe. The small picture shows the two towers of the church -- one in Romanesque style (to the right), and the other Gothic, and very ornate. What's rather miraculous is that the cathedral escaped major damage from German bombs in WWII, and also from serious desecration or destruction during the Reign of Terror.

The church was built mostly in the 13th century, and due to very effective fundraising and volunteer labor, most of the church was completed in just 30 years. When entering the cathedral (no charge) we noticed immediately that a major cleaning operation was underway. In the picture below, one can see how the both the stone behind the altar had been sandblasted, and the impressive stained glass windows cleaned. (One of the remarkable things one notices about the stained glass windows [172 of them] is the blue colors.) Below that picture is one of Doug and Nancy at the nice restaurant where we all had lunch. - rw

Days 5-6 in Paris ...

On Wednesday, Dec. 19th, we had booked an all-day tour by bus from Paris to the Normandy battlefields. It was a rainy day on the coast, so umbrellas were much in evidence. Nancy was standing with umbrella-in-hand right down by the beach. While visiting Omaha Beach, and the other four landing sites on June 6th, 1944, we walked around the U.S. cemetery near the beach where the U.S. flag was flying at half-mast due to the tragic deaths at Sandy Hook School.

On Day #5 we joined Doug and Tracy and kids to take the train to Versailles where we spent several hours touring the magnificent palace first built by Louis XIV of France. It was obviously an opulent "house" for French royalty -- with paintings and sculptures galore! - rw

Day #2-3 in Paris

On Sunday morning, Dec. 16th, we took the Metro to the Eiffel Tower and since we had paid for tickets online, we had no trouble getting in and taking the elevator to the very top at the 9:30 a.m. opening of the tower. Pictured right below is a photo of the Arc de Triomphe taken from the top ... and also a picture taken from the top showing The Marine Museum and the Place du Trocadero across the Seine. Obviously, one cannot visit Paris without seeing the Eiffel Tower!

From the Eiffel Tower we took the Metro to the Notre Dame Cathedral where we attended an 11:30 a.m. worship service that was billed as "an international service" with some emphasis on English. It turned out that the service was almost entirely in French -- especially the homily -- so aside from being present in a spectacular edifice built for worship, there was definitely something lacking for us in terms of Christmas inspiration.

Since the winter sun was shining brightly during much of the service, the stained glass windows could be seen in the best light. The famous West Rose Window (pictured) did not have the sun on it, but it was most impressive. From the church we walked to the Louvre, stopping en route for lunch. We spent about three hours inside the Louvre but obviously only scratched the surface in terms of what could be seen. I did like the picture I took of Nancy standing in front of the Mona Lisa!

Doug and Tracy, Reeve, Gabi and Rania arrived in Paris early on Monday morning after their overnight flight from KL. Since they couldn't get into their apartment until afternoon, Nancy and I met them at "our Metro station" and escorted them to our apartment where we stored their luggage for several hours and fed them some breakfast. Then we accompanied them to the Eiffel Tower where I took the picture below. - rw