Sunday, September 6th - Lisbon, Cascais and Sintra, Portugal

We got a bit of a break today and didn't have to leave until 8:45 a.m. for our tours of Lisbon, Cascais and Sintra.  Considering what time we got back from our tour, perhaps we should have left a bit earlier.

We first had a bus tour of Lisbon where we drove past some of the main sights and up and down some of the hills of the city.  I remember seeing some of the streets going almost straight up the hillsides and some of the elevators or escalators that you could use instead.  I'm sure we went by the two squares we saw yesterday and the university.   I'm sure she pointed out at least the 25th of April bridge and she pointed out one incredibly narrow street - probably no more than three feet - but other than that I don't remember anything from the bus part of the tour.  I know I was impressed with some of the wide streets and  treed boulevards and wide expanses of green throughout the city. And I've already commented on the large buildings, some of them intricately decorated.  I also love the intricate tile designs everywhere on the sidewalks.  They really brighten up the area.

We got off the bus down by the waterfront and went to several sights down there.  I was really impressed with the wide promenade and all the public space on the water front.  There are a number of monuments down at the waterfront so that's where I'll start.  Most of these are in the Belem or Bethlehem area of the city.  The Belem Tower is the symbol of the city of Lisbon and it is truly a beautiful tower.   It is shaped like a boot with a high tower and then a lower tower adjacent to it.   It is made of white stone that just seems to shine in the sunlight and it is totally surrounded by water, or at least it was when we were there. It may not be all the time if it is a tidal issue.  It was built as a defence tower but the design is quite lovely so it looks more like a piece of art than a defence tower.  Historically it is the 16th century Tower of St. Vincent - a defence tower and a prison built on a small island in the Tagus - but now it is just called the Tower of Belem and is a great tourist attraction and is used for exhibitions.  People were line up to go into the tower but we did not have time to do so.  Just past it there is a marina and a small fortress that is now a military museum but we also didn't have time for that.

The Monument to the Discoveries is also a really nice monument.  It has 32 people moving to the prow of a boat (16 on either side) toward Henry the Navigator who stands at the very front.  All of the people are male except for one who is Queen Philippa of Lancaster.  Some of the males are Vasco da Gama, St. Francis Xavier, Ferdinand Magellan, and other scientists, cartographers, missionaries, etc.  The design looks like there are full sails above the people.  The front view is narrow and has large sword on it but that can also be taken as a cross.  As our guide noted, in reality they went out to conquer the world but they always took priests along with them to say it was a journey to convert the world to Christianity.  Officially this monument is called Doca de Belem.  On the square in front of the monument is the most interesting part in my opinion.  There are maps of the world outlined on the sidewalk and the dates of all the Portuguese discoveries are noted on the maps, and they certainly covered most of the world.  This was really interesting to see.  I knew they had discovered a lot of places but I didn't realize how many from South America to India and beyond.  And just in case you'd rather be  flying than sailing, there is a model of a small two-person float plane in the same general area.  It flew from Lisbon to Rio in 1922.  It took 66 hours of flying time but 72 days.  I would not have liked that trip.

We then walked across the street and through the beautiful gardens with ponds and fountains to the 16th century Church of Santa Maria at the St. Jeronimos (Jerome) monastery.  We snuck in right after mass.  There were other lines waiting to get in for a tour but we just went straight in and looked around.  I believe the church and gardens are all part of a larger 14th century monastery and it is all very impressive.  The church is Gothic with a high tower and all made of light stone.  The entrance has a high arched door with carvings all around.  There must be 30 statues and as many spires carved on this one facade alone.  And there is a lovely carved railing around the top of the church to top it all off.  On the inside it is basically white or light with golden hues, possibly from the artificial lighting or from the stained-glass windows.  The columns are thin and ornately decorated with carvings.  The ceiling is carved between the arches and beams and there are tapestries and paintings throughout the church but not a lot of them.  The front altar is very impressive with colourful paintings between light marble arches and columns.  On one side of the church there is a door with different faces carved all around it.  Our guide told us the faces were to represent all the different people they discovered around the world but the faces didn't make a lot of sense to me given the countries they discovered.  

There are two tombs just inside the door of the church and both have very ornately decorated coffins.   They belong to the discoverer Vasco da Gama and to Luis de Camoes, a poet and writer who documented the Portuguese expeditions and discoveries.   At either end of the transept by the front altar and fenced off there was also a coffin.  These were harder to see but they were resting on small statues of elephants.   King Manual I and King John III with their respective wives rest in these tombs.   There was a lot more to the monastery but we did not have time to see anything but the church. 

After we finished with our tour of Lisbon we headed along the coast to Cascais, about a 45 minute drive.  The seaside route to Cascais was beautiful with lovely beaches in places and rugged rocks in other places.   There were also old seaside fortifications and towers in some spots and they looked brilliant in the sunshine as most of them were a light sandstone colour.

Cascais is a lovely little town right on the ocean.  It has a beautiful sandy beach and a marina beside it.  It has a beach promenade and across the street a big square with a wonderfully tiled walkway that looks like wavy lines and can really be an optical illusion when you look at it.  The town, like so many others is spotlessly clean   There are some larger older buildings fronting the waterfront.  One that has a clock on it and i thought that was city hall but I later found City Hall with lovely tiled pictures on the side of it so I'm not sure about the first one.  Many of the buildings were a light colour but in shades of yellow, pink, blue, tan, which made the whole area look very restful.  There was a statue of King Pedro I (Peter I) in the square. Behind the front square there was another square with all kinds of cafes and bars around it.  We had to have our lunch at this stop so we went up on one of the patios overlooking the square and ate up there.  Afterwards we all went in different directions for shopping, sightseeing, etc.  There were lots of people around and I'm sure it would have been a great place to spend more time in but we had to continue on our way.

At one point along the coast we saw the most westerly point of Europe and stopped to take some pictures.  The guide was calling it something like Griesko but when I checked later all I could find, and it was in the right area, was Cabo da Roca, which I am going to translate as Cape Rock even though that is not what the online translators tell me.  It works for my purposes though because it's a cape and it's a rock.  There are some white buildings and a lighthouse on the cape but we did not go out there as we were off to another destination.

Our drive to Sintra took us away from the shore and up into the hillsides and mountainous area.  Sintra is a small village but there is a lot to see including the royal palace, which was our main reason for coming here.  The bus dropped us off and would later come back to pick us up at one of the corners - obviously a corner for all tour buses as it was almost a continual parade of buses dropping off and picking people up.  I could certainly see the reason our guide was telling us that we had to be to the stop early to be ready to get on.  If we missed the bus it was going to be a really long walk back to town.

Once we had our bearings, we went to the royal palace for our tour.  From the outside the building doesn't look all that royal.  It looks big, but not particularly fancy.  It is a white building several storeys high and squarish with many additions to the main building.  There are two huge cone-shaped chimneys that rise above it.  It was lived in by the royals from the early 15th century to the late 20th century and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  In the Moorish days of the 8th century there were two castles in Sintra.  The one we were visiting down in the city remained in use by the new royal families.  The one up on the hill simply became a ruin.  However, even today it is a very impressive looking castle sitting way up on the top of the hill.  

Most of what we see today at the royal palace is from the 14th and 15th centuries but, as usual, there was remodelling done continually as a new monarch lived in the palace.  Some of the major remodelling came in the 16th century when King Manuel added some rooms and redecorated others in old Arabic style with geometric patterns and multi colours.  He also added the coat of arms room where there are 72 coats of arms on the high domed ceiling and blue tiled historical pictures around the walls.  It is a small room but awesome in its design.  And I guess I should add that there are only 71 coats of arms now as one of them was removed after an act of treason. 

King John I left his mark in some of the rooms.  The swan room is so named because it has swans on the ceiling.  I think there were 24 and I think it was a story for his daughter or something she liked.  The magpie room has magpies on the ceiling each holding a message in their beak saying "for honour".  apparently the number of magpies equalled the number of ladies in the court and it was his way of telling them to keep their mouths shut and not spread rumours - after he was caught kissing his mistress.  

Other rooms are very plain but the furniture is impressive.  Dark red-brown writing desks with gold decoration around all of the individual drawers, and there were a lot of drawers.  Pearl-inlaid tables with beautiful designs.  Large dark wooden cabinets and chests.  Fancy chandeliers.  Delicate ivory (?) gifts in fancy gold cases.  Decorative urns on polished tables and stands.  Rich tapestries hanging on the walls.  Dining rooms with big tables of dark rich wood.  Even in plain white rooms these pieces looked pretty darn good.  There was a small chapel that was pink with white doves on the walls and it was very nice.  King John I's private chamber looked like it was fit for a king, albeit not nearly as comfortable as we have it now.

From all of the windows there were lovely views of the gardens or ponds or fountains and from the higher windows there were great views of the entire countryside and the castle ruins up on the hill.  Oh, I almost forgot the kitchen.  There wasn't much of a view from there as they were basically down in the basement but they were huge.  There were large ovens to bake all that was required and a large stove area with very large pots for cooking.  The two conical chimneys that stand so high above the palace are from the kitchen and probably very much needed.  They even had running water in the kitchen and I think that was the only sign of it in the whole palace but I'm sure they must have had some for the royal bedrooms by the end of the 19th century but maybe not.

After the tour we had free time to wander around the streets of the town.  That was interesting  I have mentioned that we are in the mountains, right?  Well the streets were narrow and windy and they almost all had stairs so you could get up and down.  Some just had the cobble-stoned incline for you to walk up.  There were shops all along the streets and some of them were really tiny.  Others were bigger but generally speaking they were small stores.  And this is definitely a tourist place so they sold just about everything imaginable that a tourist could want.  One store dealt mainly in cork products and had cork shoes, purses, belts, hats and jewelry in the window.  There may have been other cork products as well.  Since I am not your typical tourist and didn't want anything, I just wandered up and down.  It didn't take long on the "up" to discover you'd hit the end of the road as far as stores and tourist areas.  They you'd come back down and try another route until it turned into just residential areas.  At one point I found a public fountain so I could fill up my water bottle.  It was a much more ornate one than I was used to with blue tiled pictures and carved decorations around it.  I felt very special.

Where we were meeting the bus, and in front of the palace, seemed to be the main areas of the town centre and the main squares.  There were lots of cafes around and trees for shade and benches to relax on.  I simply ended my time in Sintra by having a treat at the cafe closest to the bus stop so I could watch while I waited.  I think this town was the one that had two special pastries so I had to try a small version of each.  I can't describe either of them but then neither of them really excited me so it probably doesn't matter much.  There was a street musician out entertaining the crowd there as well so I got free entertainment while I waited.  And it was fun waiting and watching the bus procession.  They just kept coming down the hill about five minutes apart, turned the sharp corner and pulled into the bus stop.  They then emptied their passengers or picked up their passengers and went on their way before the next bus came along.  And that process repeated itself continually.  I saw our Trafalgar bus coming down the hill so crossed the street to meet it.  Some were there already and others followed me over.  As usual we had a couple people running late but we weren't too bad so we didn't hold up too many buses.  Once we were all back on the bus we drove back to Lisbon.

We arrived back at the hotel around 5:00 p.m. and had some down time as we agreed to go to dinner at 6:30.  Some of the others from the tour were going out to another optional dinner but our group of six was not.  We met in the lobby and went walking off in the direction the front desk people told us to go to find the nearest (and only decent) restaurant.  It was only supposed to be across the street and half a block away.  We walked all around the block and down some of the local streets but saw nothing.  We decided to walk back to the hotel and check again.  This time some others went in to check.  Meanwhile, we knew there was a small mall next door and a grocery store so we weren't going to starve.  Aside from that though, there was nothing in the area of our hotel except high rise apartment buildings.  The hotel gave us the same directions again and we took off assuming we had just missed it the first time and indeed we had.  Unfortunately the restaurant was closed and that was why we missed it.  

We went back to the grocery store / shopping centre and went up to the food court.  There was only one restaurant still open so that's where we ate.  It was a chicken place so we all had chicken and it was really good.  It was also very inexpensive and we had the whole seating area of the food court to ourselves so it was like private dining, albeit in a dim and not very fancy mall setting.  You really do have to make the most of these situations you know.  After dinner we went back to the hotel and that was it for another day as we have to get to bed early to answer our 6:15 wake-up call.

Saturday, September 5th - Seville, Spain to LIsbon, Portugal

This morning we were back to our early routine with bags out and breakfast at 7:30 a.m. and departure at 8:30 a.m.  It was an overcast day - not sure if it's clouds or if it's just morning mist but it's definitely cooler than other mornings so that is a nice change.

We drove basically west but a bit south until we came close to the coast again, and we crossed from Spain into Portugal as we drove over the International Bridge over the Guadiana river from Ayamonte, Spain to Castro Marim, Portugal.  If our guide had not told us about it we would never have known we were going from one country to another.  I don't even think there was a farewell to Spain or welcome to Portugal sign.  But the bridge is impressive.  It is high so ships can navigate beneath it and it has two tall towers (almost 100 metres) with cables spreading out from them to support the almost 1 km long span.

Just past the border we left the main highway and drove to Tavira for our morning break.  It is an old town on a river and probably on the coast as well although we did not see the ocean.  We simply saw the centre of the town where there were outdoor cafes specializing in desserts.  We each had something, actually several things, and they were good but we really didn't need all the sweets at that hour of the day.  We then had time to wander around the old town for a few minutes.  There were several bridges across the river but the one near us was an old Roman stone bridge.   The town looked nice and it would have been great to spend more time there but that was not to be as the bus was waiting for us.  They were in the middle of a Mediterranean Diet festival, which sounded good but none of the food was available that morning so we couldn't try anything out except for our desserts.

There were stork nests on the hydro poles along the way but I don't remember whether it was in Spain or in Portugal or in both countries.  The nests are huge and really stand out.  However, I was just not quick enough to get any great pictures.  I also didn't see any storks sitting around anywhere.  Maybe they were all busy delivering babies.

The countryside was again farmland and rolling hills at the start.  As we got further into Portugal we had fig trees, according to our guide.  Apparently the Muslims liked figs and brought trees with them to Portugal and figs are still a very productive industry.  We also drove by cork trees with their bark stripped, and they are mainly used for corks for expensive wines.  Spain (not necessarily Portugal) have trees from all over the world.  As all ships went through Spain in the early days, they got samples of trees and flowers from all over the world and most of them did well in the climate so they still thrive.  That's why they have so many different types of trees in Spain, everything from palm to fir and eucalyptus to jacaranda.

In Portugal there were still flat lands and rolling hills.  Some hillsides had castles or fortifications on them.  The fields had treed borders and the green trees against the golden fields (wheat I assume) was very nice.  There were also forests in places and then later very lush green fields and we wondered if they weren't rice paddies as they were so green.  There were ponds and streams along the way, most with more water in them than we had seen in Spain, although the streams/rivers still had wide banks to accommodate more water if needed.  There were also some burned areas which we thought were intentional, as opposed to wild fires.  Small villages or towns could be seen just off the highway or in the distance, and I have to say again that the highway was a beautiful road in fantastic condition.  I think I'll miss these roads when I get to Africa.

We entered Lisbon crossing over the 17 km long Vasco da Gama bridge over the Tagus River, which is over 11 km across at this point but has a lot of marshes and wetlands in a park area on the one side so they had to be protected.  It is an amazing bridge, beautiful and graceful throughout its length.  It has 3 lanes in each direction with wide shoulders on both sides, and parts of it are over 150 metres high to allow marine traffic.  It was built in the 1990's and opened just in time for the 1998 World's Fair in Lisbon that marked the 500th anniversary of Vasco da Gama's discovery of the sea route to India.  It is the longest bridge in Europe and certainly one of the largest I have ever been on beating even the Confederation Bridge (approximately 12 km) which I thought was pretty amazing.  It cost over a billion euros to build and was financed by a private consortium that now gets the first 40 years of tolls.  A car is less than 3 euros and a truck about 12 euros going across into Lisbon.  Coming out of Lisbon is free.  Four different companies worked on the construction.  It took 18 months to plan and 18 months to build and it will supposedly withstand hurricane force winds and strong earthquakes and last for at least 120 years.   

On the marshy side of the river there were a lot of small fishing boats tied to buoys in the shallow water.  There were also fishermen out in the water fishing.  It would have been interesting to see exactly what they were doing but as we were driving across a bridge we couldn't very easily stop to watch them.  They were standing chest deep in the water and I assume they had nets between them but I guess we'll never know for sure.  There were also some very clearly defined wet fields in this delta area and some of them were bright green, which once again made us think they might berice paddies.  Some of the wet field areas appeared to have nothing in them and some people wondered if they might be fish farms.  Just something else we'll never know for sure.

We did a bus tour through Lisbon and there are definitely some huge beautiful old buildings in the city.  There are also a lot of parks and green spaces and lovely squares, statues and fountains.  Their sidewalks and square are even amazing in tht they have patterns all over them.   A number of them were like waves, which was appropriate for a city on the ocean, but the design was like an optical illusion and really interesting to look at.  From some city views the castle on the hill seemed to dominate and in other views it was not even visible.  Apparently Lisbon is built on seven hills - like Rome they like to say.  Obviously there are lots of stairs and slopes going up and down the hilly streets but there are also escalators and elevators strategically located to help a person out.  How civilized!

We had a very brief walking tour around two of the back-to-back squares in the old city centre area.  Then we were left on our own for a couple of hours of free time to explore and have a light lunch since we were all going out for a big dinner in the early evening hours.  I wondered around the squares taking pictures and then walked down the main pedestrian street which was very busy.  It was wide for a pedestrian street but the cafes and pubs took up space with outdoor seating so it seemed narrower.  There were all kinds of shops along the way.  Expensive purses were right next to a fish store that displayed in its window just about every kind of fish - some dead and some alive.  The street had old-fashioned street lamps that hung off of the buildings.  It would have been nice to have seen it lit up at night.  At the far end I could see the arch or gateway to Commercio Square with the statue of Dom Jose I or King Joseph I in front of it down by the water.  I couldn't go any further though because I was out of time.  

There were three living statues along the way and they were fantastic.  I didn't know it at the time but apparently they have themes and to participate and busk for money you have to match the theme.  The current theme was obviously something to do with olden days and musicians because that's what we got.  The lady was wearing an old dress and was totally covered in gold brown paint that looked very much like a bronze statue.  One of the guys was dressed in the costume of a similar period wit long tails and ruffled shirt sleeves and a curly wig and he was holding a bouquet of roses.  He too was totally covered in paint but a much more drab brown than her's.  Both of these two moved occasionally to acknowledge the people and those who gave them donations.  It was amazing how many people jumped when the statues moved.  I don't think they had figured out that they weren't real statues.  The third one was my favourite.  He didn't move because he was a statue of Mozart.  There was a small fountain statue in front of him and then a very ornate pedestal about four feet high and just big enough for him to fit inside.  Then from the chest up he was above the box or pedestal and he was the bust of Mozart.  He was obviously a stone statue and was totally covered in grey and black just like real old stone statues.  He even had a pigeon sitting on his head and there was bird poop on various parts of the statue.  He seldom moved and I'm sure people just thought it was another old dirty statue.  He was fantastic.

The square we got dropped off at and were picked up from was Praca da Figueira or Square of Fig Trees and I don't think there are any fig trees around any more, at least not in the square.  The square is surrounded by the usual huge buildings on all sides.  In one corner there is a statue of Dom Joao I or King John I.  The statue was once in the centre of the square but it got moved to the corner so it could be seen from the water and, sure enough, when you look down the street you can see the water.  Other than the statue the square is pretty empty and it doesn't even have fancy sidewalk designs.

The square just behind it is Rossio Square or Praca Da Pedro.  There is a high 23 metre  column in this square with a statue on top of King Pedro IV or Peter IV of Portugal / Peter I of Brazil.  There is also a beautiful fountain in the square and some wonderfully designed waves on the sidewalk which really do make an amazing optical illusion.  These designs are all hand done and there is a school that trains people in sidewalk brick construction as it really is more of an art than construction.  I believe the building at the end of this square was the National Theatre Maria named for Dona Maria II or Queen Maria II.  It is supposed to be absolutely beautiful inside but I did not have time to go inside.  The Theatre was built on the site of the old Estaus Palace, which was originally a palace for visiting dignitaries but later the seat of the Spanish Inquisition.  The palace burned down in the 19th century and was replaced by the theatre - a much more pleasant venue I'm sure.

Although the Estaus Palace survived, almost all of this area, and indeed the whole of Lisbon, was destroyed by the 1755 9.0 earthquake and tsunami, one of the most deadly earthquakes in history.  The royal palace that was down by the river became the Praca do Comercio.  Streets were developed to join directly to Rossio Square and the old Estaus Palace and the whole area was redesigned and rebuilt.  

We thought we would have time to come back to this area since we were staying in Lisbon for two nights.  However, things didn't work out that way.  As a result I guess I have to do some Lisbon details in this blog.  Lisbon has a population of just under one million in the city proper and about three million in the surrounding areas, and the population is dropping.  Like every other city over here, it has a long history.  In 1,200 BC the Phoenecians were here.  The Greeks and Carthaginians followed and then the Romans were here for over 500 years then the European countries fought over it.  From a shipping perspective, it would be a great port to have, and from a weather perspective it was pretty nice too as it has a mild temperature year round.

As usual our hotel was not in the downtown area but the hotel was very nice.   We were  having dinner out tonight with the group so weren't going to be around the hotel for long anyway.  We left at 4:30 and took the bus to the waterfront.  Then we walked to the ferry terminal and took the ferry across the Tagus to the other side.  We missed the ferry we wanted but there was another one a half hour later so no problem.  The ride was pretty short, which was good because we were totally inside which is not always good for me on boats.  Along the way we had a great view of the shore on both sides and of the 25 of April bridge, which is a suspension bridge that looks similar to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.  

The restaurant was just beside the ferry terminal on the other side and if I could remember the name of the place I would tell you.  We were told it was nothing fancy, which is a good thing in my case, and I think we were all glad we hadn't worn anything too fancy because we were all doing laundry that night.  The meal was definitely a traditional seafood dinner and the food just kept coming.  Not being a real shellfish lover, I'm not even sure I'll remember exactly what we had but there was a variety of fish and most of it was just plopped on the table and we just dug in with our fingers and made a real mess.  I think we had four plates piled in front of us and they just kept taking them away as they got full.  I'm quite sure we had scallops, muscles, prawns/shrimp (lots of these), crayfish, clams and crab.  Our place settings of course came with our own hammers and boards to crack open the shells when needed.  I don't think we had any lobster and I don't remember oysters although there were some strange unidentifiable appetizers to start.  I don't even remember whether we got anything else like salad or potatoes so how can I possibly remember all the different kinds of fish.  It was fun and messy and good and that's all that matters.

The sun set while we were having dinner so I ran out and tried to get some pictures but there was nothing to great.  After dinner we got on the bus, that had come by bridge to meet us.  The driver was actually already at the restaurant before we got there so I guess the bridge route was faster, especially when you miss the first ferry.  We drove back to the hotel and that was the end of another day - except for the laundry to get the fish stains out of our shirts!

Tuesday, September 29th - Salou, Spain

I really must get out of here on some day trips soon because there isn't much to right about otherwise.  Today was a cool (60's) but sunny day with the usual late start.  I'm beginning to think I have to stop thinking of them as late starts because I'm as early as any one else seems to be.  And their day doesn't end until well after midnight so I think I should just start adjusting my clock similarly.  

Their regular hours of sunshine are indeed later as well but I think I've already told you that story.  Most of Spain is actually directly below the UK so should be in the same time zone but when the Germans (or the Hapsburgs or someone) controlled Spain they decided that they should all be on the same time so Spain is the same time zone as most of Europe even though they are so far west.  That means that at 8 a.m. when most people would be starting their work day and the sun would already be high in the sky, the sun in Spain is barely up.  The later start and finish to their day just sort of reflects that later sun hour too.  Their siesta isn't from noon to 2.  It's from 2 to 4 which is the hotter part of their day.  And then everything opens up again at 4:30 or 5 and stays open until 9 or 10 and that's just the regular schedule for them.

Of course this split in the day is not really good for everyone.  Some people can make use of the break by having their lunch, taking a break or going home and doing some work.  Others who live farther from their workplace are stuck for several hours with nothing to do.  They can't even go buy their groceries or run errands because everything is closed.  This also means that kids come home from school in the afternoon and no one is there until late at night.  Grandparents or neighbours or others look after them until their parents get home from work but once the parents get home, they then have to make dinner and feed the family and that makes for a very late night.  Then they get up and do it all over again the next day with big breaks in the afternoon. Maybe they need their siestas then since they are up so late the night before.  

For a while I thought that perhaps the schools worked the same schedule with the break in the day but no, they go through until about 3 and then they finish for the day.  I think there are some after school programs available for them because the school yards and community centres seem to be busy at that time of the day in both Salou and Pineda de Mar.  Later on the activity moves to the general town squares and playgrounds where everyone seems to gather.

And their work week is 45 hours long (not 30 like some of ours) so add the 3 hours off each day between shifts and you end up with a 60 hour work week.  Then people have to commute up to an hour to get home each day so that's 70 hours and often 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. away from home during the week.  According to our tour guide on the Spain / Portugal bus tour, this really needs to change.  People are tired and they are not productive.  The country needs to change it to increase productivity.  But they also need to change it to improve family life and to increase the birth rate, which is apparently very low.  She'd of course also like them to change the time zone to make that easier for everyone.

Wow, that was slightly off the topic of what I did today, so let's get back to that.  After breakfast I went for a walk and went by the tourist info place again to get the schedule of activities for this week.  I noticed there was an art exhibit over at the Nautical Club so I went over there.  The exhibit was called "Dia I Noche" or Day and Night and all the art was the work of one person, M. T. Molner, and it portrayed scenes from around the area during the night or the day.  Most of the work was small, perhaps 12 x 18 " but it was all really good.  It was also very interesting to walk around the room and see how many of the places I recognized.  There were certainly some that I did not recognize as I had not been to them.  There were also some I didn't recognize even though I had been there, but most of them I did recognize so I felt pretty good about it.  Her night time painting of Sagrada Familia was stunning.  The church in all its glory towered in golden light in the painting.  Then there were a few trees in front of it - very dark at night - and then the church was reflected in the water at the front or lower part of the painting.  I recognized the church immediately and she really had done a great job of capturing it and its reflection.  

One of the parks I didn't recognize I had to laugh at later because I had been to it many times and it was just across the street at the corner.  I guess I kept walking through it but just never looked at it as a park.  The Old Tower that I visited the other day was in one painting.  Others showed the marina and beach and sail boats or old buildings or street scenes.  I actually really enjoyed the exhibit and I talked to her for a while after.  When I went in I didn't realize the person sitting there was the artist.  Normally it's just a volunteer.  She made some comment about the works not being framed and I said it didn't bother me a bit and if I had one at home I probably wouldn't frame it anyway.  I think she liked that because she was obviously tired of people telling her they should be framed.  She was also tired of people not buying her work or of bargaining but not buying.  She seemed rather negative on everything but I still liked her artwork - not enough to buy any of it but I liked it.

I left there and my destination was the bookstore and then the grocery store but it was now clouded over and the wind had picked up so I decided to head back to the apartment instead.  There are thunderstorms in the forecast of the day and it looked like one was about to occur.  As it turns out I would have had a couple of hours to run my errands before it hit but I was fine being inside anyway.  When it hit, it really hit.  There was very little thunder but it was loud and I didn't see any lightning but that was only at the beginning of the storm.  After that it just poured rain.  At first it was just light but then it was almost deafening and coming straight down.  Within a few minutes the streets were flooded and the leaves were flowing down the street.  The drains in the park were full to the top of both sides.  My balcony is six feet across and has a roof over it but the rain was hitting the edge so hard that it was bouncing all the way in the door.  I could barely see across the street let alone down to the beach.  I tried to take some pictures and some video but I'm not sure it worked.  The heavy downpour probably only lasted for half an hour but it continued to rain for most of the afternoon.  Cars driving down the street after the rain, seem to be driving in water half up their tires, and pedestrians stay well away from the curb because there is a lot of splash.

I made myself a tuna salad for lunch (and a few more meals).  I remember Mom making tuna salads with pasta and celery and mayonnaise and of course tuna.  I was thinking about her while I made it because I distinctly remember one picnic where she was so disappointed with her tuna salad because it just didn't taste right.  Then part way through the picnic she gave one of her laughs and shouted, "I know what's wrong.  I forgot the tuna!"   It was hilarious and we all laughed but she laughed the hardest and I bet she told that story a dozen times to various people.  Most of us would hope no one else found out but not Mom.  She could laugh at herself better than anyone else I know.  I wish I had inherited more of that from her.  Anyway, my tuna salad was not as good as hers but it was passable.  I didn't have celery so I used carrots instead, which made it much more colourful.  I had it for lunch and have enough left for at least another meal.

I spent the rest of the afternoon reviewing the activities for this coming week in Salou, doing e-mails and blogging.  There area a lot of Ethiopia/Malawi e-mails going back and forth right now and with some of us in Europe, some in Alberta and some in Africa it's interesting with all the different time zones.   The trip to Malawi isn't totally dead yet but I'm not sure it can be revived.  I put my two cents in once in a while but it's really not my decision so I'll just wait and see.

I should also mention that the Catalan elections were held last Sunday and the party that wants to separate was only about six seats away from a majority the last I heard.  Think of them as the Parti Quebecois in Quebec.  They are working with one of the smaller parties to get them on side for separation but the talks are ongoing.  The Spanish government is not saying much and the EU folks are simply saying it's an issue for Spain to sort out.  Separation is all the talk in the papers and on the news.  I assume it's probably the talk on the street too but I really can't understand that.  At least in print I can follow a bit of it - especially in the English versions!  It will be interesting to see what happens but I think this debate has been going on for years if not centuries so I don't really expect anything to happen too quickly.

Well, the rest of the day passed without anything too exciting happening.  Because of the rain I was inside most of the time.  I got bored at one point and even turned on the little TV I have in my unit.  Everything was in Spanish and/or Catalan but I did watch a bit of a tennis match which was pretty good.  I didn't really need to understand the language to follow that.  It's now past my bedtime and the end of another day so I might as well finish this and get it on its way.

Friday, September 4th -  Seville, Spain

We had a bit of a slower start this morning and didn't have to be on the bus until 9 a.m.  We had a quick bus tour through Maria Luisa Park and then started a walking tour of the city from there.

Maria Luisa Park is a huge area and was the sight of the 1929 world's fair.  For that exposition, all of the pavilions were permanent so the city of Seville inherited 70 large and fantastic buildings.  Many of the buildings are now used by the university while others are Spanish and Seville government buildings or embassies and public facilities like an art gallery and museum of archeology.  I can no longer remember which pavilions belonged to which country but it was a fantastic legacy to leave behind.  I know Expo '86 in Vancouver certainly didn't get that many buildings.  The Science Centre and perhaps one other, the one that was the BC Pavilion, are probably the only ones that remained.

The park is beautiful and has lots of wide walkways and paths and lush green trees that provide wonderful cool shade.  It runs from the Guadalquiver River back east into the city and sort of ends at our next destination.  We walked through the park and between some of the great buildings until we reached the Plaza de Espana.  This was Spain's pavilion during the exhibition and it is huge.  There is a central building with two crescent shaped wings going out from it.  There is a stream between the ends of the two crescent shaped wings and it has four bridges going across it.  Everything in the pavilion has a meaning and the four bridges represent the four early kingdoms of Spain.  There are arches along the front of the building, one for each of the provinces.  There are carvings on the stone walls at the front of the building and these are scenes from Spain's history, everything from 1492's discovery of the Americas to a picture of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza from Man of La Mancha.  The whole complex is impressive just because of its size and architecture but when you throw in all of the interesting little historical perspectives it really is a masterpiece.

On the other side of the building the bus picked us up again and took us closer to the old city centre of Seville.  We walked through another park or garden and then through the city walls to the old town.  Having mentioned another park I guess I should say that there are more trees than people in Seville.  I'm not sure who had the wonderful job of counting the trees but since they are pretty stationary and don't move around it might be easier to count them than the people.  The population of Seville is 750,000 and it is the fourth largest city in Spain.  In 1992, on the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' discovery of America they hosted another world fair and there are still some pavilions and exhibitions from that fair.  They also built seven new bridges and they are all different and beautiful in their own way.  The city has a big container port and is located on the only navigable river in Spain.  The city is also on a flat plain and at 0 altitude.  There is a law in place that no building can be built that is higher than the cathedral so the cathedral remains the focal point of the city.  However, someone snuck in a higher one that is not even that nice so there is one higher now.

But I digress, back to the old city.  We entered through one of the city gates and walked down Water Street.  It was called this because there was an old water system right in the city wall along this street that delivered water to the town.  At the next corner there was a little square and that is where we had our break.  There were cafes,  pubs and several shops around so everyone spread out for a coffee or shopping or bathroom break and we got back together 30 minutes later to continue our journey.  I just wandered around and took some pictures of the wall and the old houses with their flowered window boxes.

Our next stop, after wandering through a few plazas was Real Alcazar.  Alcazar is the sight of several palaces, many originally built b the Moorish Muslim kings.  The Spanish royal family still use the upper floors as their Seville residence so it is closed to the public much of the time, and the complex is acknowledged to be the oldest palace in Europe still in use.  It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  

Alcazar is a Spanish Arabic word meaning room of the prince or royal palace.  I can't tell exactly when it was built but I know it was remodelled or expanded in the 9th, 11th, 13th and just about every century after that as different rulers came to live here.  Hence the fact that there are numerous palaces in the complex and many different styles of architecture.  Maria Antoinetta was born here in 1729 when her father, King Philip V, was in town to sign the Treaty of Seville.  More recently, part of the fifth season of Game of Thrones was filmed her (I didn't know that show had been around for so long!), and parts of Lawrence of Arabia were filmed here in 1962.

The palaces really are beautiful, especially the old ones in the Moorish style.  The mosaics and in-depth carvings on the walls and ceilings really are spectacular.  I had a name for it at one point but I've forgotten it now but the carving is so intricate that it looks almost like lace.  And because they were Islamic they are mainly geometric designs.  The curved archways and the key-shaped windows and doors, as well as the colours used: gold, blue, white, red - all assisted by some new lighting effects of course, were beautiful.  In some rooms there are also beautiful old tapestries hanging on the walls.  There were so many rooms it was hard to keep track of them all but of particular note were some of the bedrooms which were huge and apparently all bed.

Most of the buildings are several floors high and there are courtyards with beautiful, carved and decorated balconies all around.  The courtyards floors are paved in marble or in coloured tiles with patterns, or have pools and fountains in them.  And the gardens all around the complex are incredible too.  While these are mainly ornamental now, they were once filled with fruit trees and vegetables to feed the royal families.  There are baths filled with natural rainwater and their curved arches seem to go forever into the distance.  

The Casa de Contratacion or House of Trade was opened in 1503, and seemed to be the only truly business related building in the complex.  Queen Isabella want one place where all trade to/from the Americas was controlled and where any disputes could be handled.  That meant that all ships had to sail through this port.  This was also where all future sailings to the new world were discussed and approved by the King/Queen.  

I've just looked at my pictures Real Alcazar again and I am definitely not doing a very good job of explaining what it really looks like.  The whole thing is just so amazing that you really have to see it to believe it.  There is just nothing more I can say to try and describe it.

After we left Real Alcazar we were on our own with free time and we made the most of it.   We were in the vicinity of the Cathedral and the Giralda Tower so that is where we started.  Some of the group weren't interested in going in at all and some wanted to climb the tower but I knew that meant going up 35 ramps to get to the top so I passed on that and just looked at the church itself.  There was a line-up but it went reasonably quickly and we were soon in.

Christopher Columbus is buried here and the monument to him has four heralds representing the four different Spanish kingdoms: Castle, Leon, Aragon and Navarre, carrying his coffin.  I thought it was a very nice memorial, and very simple compared to the glitz in the rest of the cathedral.  I'm sure he would have approved.

The Cathedral itself is huge.  In fact, according to the Guiness Book of World Records, it is the church with the largest area and the plaque is inside to prove that.  The church is 126 metres long by 82 metres wide and 30 metres high.  When you walk into it you feel like an ant.  It is the largest Gothic church and third largest church in the world, after St. Peter's Basilica and Aparecida Basilica (whatever/wherever that may be), but the largest cathedral.    

In the 12th c. a brick mosque and minaret were built in this location but in the 13th c. the mosque was converted to a Christian cathedral.  In the 15th and 16th c. the current Gothic cathedral was built of stone but some of it was on top of the brick from the previous building.  Other changes have been made since that time but in the Giralda Tower in particular you can see the different types of building as the tower goes higher.  As I noted, I didn't climb up the tower but apparently the views are fantastic from the top which is over 100 metres high.

The one entrance of the cathedral is so Gothic.  Literally every inch of it from top to bottom is decorated in some carved design.  It is made of a light stone and very impressive.  The door is high and arched then above the door the decoration continues on to a pointed peak, and above that there is a window and more decoration.  There is a stone fence and gates outside the church as well.  And when I say "the one entrance" that's all I mean.  There are about a dozen in total and they are all slightly different but still mainly Gothic.

 

Inside the church there is a wide central nave and two smaller, although still wide, aisles on each side plus chapels all along the sides.  In total there are 80 chapels within the building and at one time they did 500 masses per day.  Now, by the looks of it, they do mainly tours.  When you look at it, the church appears to be in layers with three or four floors.   After the high ground floor the floors all have arched windows (some plain and some stained glass) one above the other, which makes the building seem really high.  There are many thick white ribbed pillars throughout the church and high curved arches.  I would estimate about 40 pillars in total and they tend to chop up the interior instead of making it look open.  The copula is open at the top and the day light shines in to illuminate the white and gold patterns all around the dome.  There are two layers of decorations and then a row of alternating smaller windows and paintings.  The walls are basically white and the floor looks like a large checkerboard with white diamonds inside the black squares.  You'd think that in such a big space it would have a dizzying effect but it actually seems to work fine.

Some of the walls and arches and ceilings seem to look gold in the lighting.  There is lots of carved dark wood decoration throughout and over 500 paintings (large and small), some with heavy fancy frames and some with simple frames.  Even the silver organ pipes are enclosed in an intricately carved dark wooden case.  A lot of the decoration around the paintings is gold in colour.  There are gold and marble decorations and statues throughout the church and chapels.  The ceilings is carved between the arches so it gives a really rich feel to the interior - almost too rich to the point of gaudy.   Then you add in the choir, which is huge and fills the entire centre of the nave and is completely carved and decorated, and the huge carved altar which is unbelievably intricate and rich looking.  The main altarpiece is 18 metres high with Biblical scenes depicted by over 1,000 sculptures in individual scenes.   It is carved in wood but covered - literally dripping - in gold.  It is massive and indeed is the largest in the Christian world.  It is almost too much for any church but it is beautiful.  And again I just don't think I am doing it any justice in this blog.

From there we all met up again and walked down to the river as we wanted to see the Torre del Oro or tower of gold.  It is simply an old defence tower that is not round but rather has 9 or 10 sides with a smaller round tower above that and stands 6 - 8 storeys high in total.  It does look golden in the sun but it is actually just a light stone that looks very impressive with its jagged upper edge for protection.  It has a balcony look out to see over the river and you can go up there but we did not as we were running out of time.  

Our next stop was just down the river and we went to the Real Maestranza. The Plaza de Toros or bullring is one of the most visited places in Seville.  The building is Baroque in style and was built in the 18th century.  The interior is of course open and there is seating all around the bullring.  With the gold sand or dirt on the floor of the ring, the red wall or railing all around the ring, and the beige but almost gold looking seats all around the ring and the white arches behind the seats, it is actually a very beautiful facility.  I'm just glad that it was empty when we were there because I don't think I'd really like the sport all that much.  Our tour took us under the seats as well where there is an arched pathway all around the building.  This is where the animals and the humans wait to go into the ring.  

There is also a museum to bullfighting down there.  It was small but very well done I guess.  Again, it's just not my thing so I didn't really need to see dead or bleeding or tortured bulls with their ears and tails cut off.  I didn't know the first two phases of a bull fight were just to stick lances in the bull's neck so he would bleed and become weaker so the matador could actually face him in phase three, which is what I thought was the actual bull fight.  And did you know that bulls are colour blind and they react to movement not the red cape.  The cape is just red so the blood doesn't show up so much.  And did you know you really don't win a bull fight by just staying alive or even by killing a bull?  You actually have to collect three trophies to win and they are any combination of bull ears and tails and if you didn't do your job well you don't get awarded any of these trophies.  If the crowd things you did well you get one or two items if the bull is dead.  You fight two bulls in any fight so you have two chances to collect three pieces.  These bulls are raised specifically for the ring and they can only be used once.  Most of them are killed of course but even if one survives it can never fight again.  They figure it will have learned too many tricks while in the ring that one time so they won't let it fight again.  Parts of Spain, like Catalunya and the Canary Islands, have banned bull fighting and I think that's a really good idea.  

From the bull ring we went to the river and had a relaxing river cruise up and down the Guadalquivir River for an hour or so.  It was a lovely afternoon and we went as far down as Maria Luisa Park and the pavilions we had visited earlier in the day and some of the Expo '92 buildings at the other end of the river.  We saw all seven of the new bridges and went under many of them.  We saw all the sights we visited in the afternoon, including the Giralda Tower, which was some distance away but could still be seen clearly.  And we saw the high rise on the other side of the river that now goes higher than the tower.

When the boat ride was over it was time for us to walk back to the hotel.  We saw so many other things that I haven't even talked about but there are beautiful old buildings in Seville, lots of other churches, museums, galleries, theatres, square, fountains, statues, etc.  There was a shopping street that I think we wandered down for a while but it wasn't much of a draw for us.  There were important places like the Archives of the Indies where all the documentation is kept of the colonization of the Americas, among other things.  The Metropol Parasol also looked interesting but it's really hard to describe.  It's definitely modern and looks like mushrooms above with the shade below for public areas and events.  Underneath there are Roman ruins and a museum.  Above there are various things but we just wandered past and didn't have time to investigate any further.  Macarena was the one spot we did not make it to but had talked about.  The remains of the old city wall are there.  We had driven by them but did not actually get to walk along them.  There is also an old gate there and an old church and murals and other things but we'll have to save those for another trip as we ran out of time. 

We did eat as we were wandering around the city.  We had lunch in a "Mexican" restaurant on a street corner and it was very good.  We had dinner in a small cafe on the way back to the hotel and for both meals I had enchiladas.  I think by the time dinner came around my brain had shut down so I took whatever was first or highlighted on the menu.  At that stage I didn't even remember I'd already had enchiladas for lunch, which some of the others thought was pretty funny.  I don't think my tiredness allowed me to see the humour in it.

We didn't get back until almost 10 p.m. and the last report I heard several hours earlier was that we were over 17,000 steps for the day.  Add in a lot of standing during the same period and my feet and legs and back were all telling me that they were alive, and not necessarily in a good way.  I was quite relieved to clean up and have a shower and then get horizontal in my nice comfy bed for a good night's sleep.

Monday, September 28th - Salou, Spain

Well after listening to my new neighbours in the apartment next door until after 3 a.m. last night, I definitely didn't get up very early this morning.  I cannot believe that people can sit out on their balconies and be so loud and obnoxious at that hour when their neighbours are trying to sleep.  It was most annoying.  They just moved in yesterday and I sure hope this is not going to be a nightly ritual.  I also hope they are not staying long.  Isn't that nasty?

I had my cereal on the balcony this morning and fought a real urge to drag and throw stuff around just to make noise and wake them up but I refrained myself.  Besides, they were up shortly after I was up any way.

My first chore this morning was a simple one.  I wanted to do a load of wash - some red and pink shirts - and get them out on the line to dry this afternoon.  Well, what started at 10 a.m. took until 3 p.m. and even then I had to take each one to the sink and wring it out before I could take it outside.  For some reason, I never got the final spin cycle so they were soaking wet.  I noticed this after the first cycle ran through so I thought I put it just on spin and started it again but then it went through the whole wash cycle again and still didn't spin at the end.  I then tried the quick wash thinking I'd get it but no, that didn't work either.  Eventually I just gave up and had to wring them all out by hand.  Then I put them outside but they certainly weren't going to dry quickly.  I'll be lucky if they're totally dry by tomorrow night.  Needless to say I was not impressed, and i have no idea what went wrong because I'd already done one load of wash and it worked perfectly, including the spin cycle at the end.

I did some blogging while the laundry was happening, and then I had my lunch.  Eventually when I had everything hung up outside I put on my bathing suit and went to the beach for a couple of hours.  I finished my book while I was down there and suddenly faced the dilemma that there were no English language books for sale in town and I had nothing to read.  So I went to the tourist office again.  They gave me the name of one bookstore to try and said probably Tarragona or Barcelona would be better bets.  They also suggested the library so that's where I went as it was very close and I'd been by it a few times. 

They were still open when I got there and right away I saw a sign for novels and one for Spanish and one for Catalan and on the row beside it were signs for English, French and some other languages.  They don't have a big selection but it will certainly be enough to keep me going for a couple of weeks.  I picked up two Ken Follett books, donated the one I had just finished, filled out the form to get my temporary book card and went on my way.  Oh, I did have to give them 10 euros which I will get back when I leave.

I wondered home down a different route, had some dinner and started clearing e-mails.  It was an interesting day on that front too.  It now appears that I might not be going to Malawi after Ethiopia.  I sent an e-mail to the other person who is going and commented on some of the budget items.  I guess that finally got her looking at the budget and she just said, "no way".  The two of us have to cover all the costs and the budget came in at $6,360 for three weeks.  That's food, accommodation, car rental, gas, driver/guide/translator (1 person) and some refreshments for the training sessions we were going to do.  We were already paying for our flights individually so Lynn decided it was just too expensive and called off that part of the trip.  I have to agree that it is expensive but I've been to Malawi and I know how remote these communities and schools are and I know we have to go to them because they can't come to us.  And we can't do it on our own so we need the car and driver/guide/translator and thus have to pay his/her expenses too.  There is just no way around it but the Malawi project was hers so I can't go if she's not going, and Canadian Humanitarian has to do everything through donations so they can't help much other than making the contacts for us.  I'll keep you posted but I think it's safe to say that I will be going to Ethiopia only this time.

And that takes me up to the end of another day, and I don't think I'll try to find anything new to write about just to extend the blog  This is all you get.

Thursday, September 3rd, 2015 - Malaga to Gibraltar to Seville

We were up early again with bags out and down for breakfast at 7 a.m. but everything downstairs was closed and dark.  Apparently nothing opens until 7:30 a.ma.  Argh!!!  I went back to my room to write the start of this blog since I had to stay awake and busy because I was both sleepy and hungry.

Eventually we had breakfast and at 8:30 we left for our drive to Gibraltar about 1.5 hours away.  We followed the Mediterranean most of the way.  The landscape was very dry with only small trees and shrubs.  However, along the coast the area often looks very lush and green.  That's where the big mansions, resorts and golf courses are and of course they are irrigated.  Against the blue sea and the green (or brown) landscape there are villages and towns with bright white buildings and walls.  The countryside is flat to rolling and very picturesque on the non-sea side.  

The highways are great in Spain.  They are wide and smooth divided multi=lane roads even through the mountains so it is a very smooth ride.  On the sections through the mountains there are a lot of tunnels and we seem to stop at toll booths every half hour or so.  With all the winding and swaying in the mountains I'm not really liking some of the roads but so far I haven't suffered too much motion sickness.  The worst times are when I do continuous computer work, then I feel a bit queasy and have to stop working for a while.  At least I haven't had to take any gravol yet or I'd be sleeping through the whole trip.  

La Linea is the town on the Spanish side of the border with Gibraltar.  I thought "the line" was a pretty good name for it.  And the Rock just towers over the town and its beaches.  The border and ownership of the area has been in dispute for centuries.  It was the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht that gave ownership to Britain.  Spain got to keep its South American colonies and others but lost Gibraltar to the British who wanted it for protection and control purposes.  The treaty only gave them control of the land mass though and not control of the water so it didn't work quite as well as they had anticipated.  Despite the battles over the border, Gibraltar and La Linea fought together against Napoleon's troops in 1810 to protect the whole area.  

Most of the people in La Linea work in Gibraltar and have since the 18th century when Gibraltar was a large naval base.  Trade with Gibraltar through La Linea is also big as Spain provides Gibraltar with fruits and vegetables and other staples.  The people easily cross the border now but from 1969 to 1985, that was not the case when the border was closed due to a border dispute between Spain and England.  In a referendum around this same time, the people in Gibraltar voted to stay with England.  As you approach the border the homes and resorts disappear and the area becomes more deserted as it is an army security zone on the Spanish side.

When we arrived at the border between Spain and Gibraltar we got out of the bus and walked across.  Apparently if we cross with the bus we have to take out all our luggage and the bus has to be thoroughly checked so Trafalgar just skips that part.  It was a bit of a walk but the actual process was very fast with the officials only giving a quick look at our passports as we walked past.  We then walked to the airport, which was right next door, to use their facilities.   By the time we had all finished with that process there were two shuttle buses waiting for us and they took us to downtown Gibraltar.  And to get there you had to drive across the airport runway because that's just the way they have it set up.  People were also walking or riding their bikes across as well.  Obviously they have signals like at railway crossings to stop traffic when needed.  We sat for quite a while but then eventually a plane land and crossed in front of us going very fast.

Those shuttle buses took us to a downtown spot and from there we got on to different mini buses for the trip up the actual Rock of Gibraltar.  And I have to say that the Rock of Gibraltar is indeed a really big rock.  I can't say that I really thought about it but I definitely didn't expect to see anything as high and as sheer as the rock really is.   It is huge and just seems to rise out of nowhere.   Legend has it that Gibraltar is one of the two pillars of Hercules with the other one being across the Strait of Gibraltar on another promontory in Africa.

The territory of Gibraltar is only 6.5 km long and has a population of about 30,000 including 2,000 navy personnel.  Everyone lives on the east part of the territory as the west part is a sheer cliff and uninhabitable.  It is a multi-cultural territory with Jews, Muslims and Christians being the largest religious groups.  The area actually has a really long history and Neanderthal skulls over 50,000 years old were discovered in some of the caves of Gibraltar.  Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Visigoths, Arabs, etc. all were once in control.   Even the Egyptians and Greeks knew of and revered it as a sacred place.  The Muslims had control in 711 and the Christians took it in 1492.  With that kind of background it is no wonder it has a multi-cultural feel.  Most of the people living in Gibraltar still speak Spanish not English, which is the official language.  Gibraltar uses British pounds but the Spanish won't recognize them.  We used euros while in Gibraltar and had no problem getting euros back as change.

The drive up the Rock in the mini bus was interesting.  The roads are narrow with twists and turns around the rock face.  At times you are looking at a sheer wall on one side and down a steep drop on the other side.  The next minute the views were teh same but just out the opposite windows.  However, the drivers all seemed to know what they were doing - probably had been driving the same route several times a day for many years - and seemed comfortable doing it.  

Our first stop was at Europa Point.  It has a big viewing area that looks in several directions around the point.  There were views of the Rock itself, views of the harbour with all the naval ships, views to the Mediterranean and the Atlantic and you could even see across the strait to Africa.  There is a big lighthouse on the point whose light can be seen almost 40 km away.  From 1841 and standing 49 metres above sea level, it actually looks like a lighthouse from olden days.  There are memorials and statues to various battles and people.  There are couple of small chapels or shrines and even a small white mosque that looks beautiful set against the side of the rock.  This is quite a large area and obviously one of the main view points.  The parking lot was virtually empty when we were there but it could hold a lot of vehicles and obviously gets busy at times.

We continued our winding journey up and around the rock until we came to the location of St. Michael's Cave.  The cave itself is interesting but we all got sidetracked by the Barbary macaques (tail-less monkeys) or Apes of Gibraltar as they are called.  They are everywhere and they are very tame.  They jumped on the bus as soon as we stopped.  They were on the road and the railings and in the trees and pathways.  They were definitely hard to avoid and most people didn't want to anyway.  They were also quite cheeky and would try to grab things from people.  Of course we'd been warned about that but no one listened.  The older males were quite large.  The females were smaller and the babies were tiny.  It was so much fun to watch them.  They would try to climb up something and fall back down rolling end over end, right themselves and do it all over again.  Some of the little ones kept their distance but others came right up to the people.  Both parents rear the young and it was obvious that the males were climbed on and hugged as much as the females.  The drivers obviously knew them all by name and would talk to them and the monkeys would come and put their arms around them.  Then of course they would start checking their pockets for treats.  They were very cute and a lot of fun to watch.  There are just over 200 of them in Gibraltar and they are the only wild monkeys in Europe.  They are named after the Barbary Coast in Africa, which is where they originally came from.  

 The Cave of St. Michael was really nice with lots of different rooms of different sizes.  The stalactites and stalagmites were of various sizes and the formations were fantastic on their own.  Of course when you added some coloured lights for dramatic effect they were even more impressive.  Reds, blues, yellows, purples, greens, etc. all made for a charming walk in a totally different wonderland.  The one big cave area had chairs set up and obviously they hold concerts in here at times.  The acoustics would be incredible.  There were stairs up and down to get to the different caves and everything was very wide open so no tiny passageways or hidden tunnels - at least not that I saw. It didn't take long to walk through and take pictures but it was very impressive.  Apparently the cave was used as a hospital during WWII and it also has a lower level where the caves are much smaller and tours for this area must be arranged separately.

I think we had one other brief stop up on the rock and that was for a view of the naval base.  It is huge, which I guess is appropriate for such a strategic location.  After that we went down the windy roads and through the tunnels to get to the bottom of the hill again.  They dropped us at the entrance to a town square and we had some free time to do as we pleased.

Everyone went in a different direction as some did want to shop and didn't care about eating.  Others went to eat and didn't care about shopping.  Yes, I went to eat.  I simply went to a local spot to get a couple of simosas and an ice tea.  It took quite a while because the guy was busy but apparently also because the main guy wasn't there and this person was just helping out.  However, the simosas were great and the park bench was just fine.  And he took euros and gave change in euros and it was really inexpensive as well.

After eating I went for a quick walk down the shopping street.  It was a pedestrian street only and very busy with stores, cafes and pubs on both sides.  I kept walking until I got to the cathedral of St. Mary the Crowned.  I'm not sure it was the cathedral I was supposed to be going to see but it was the one I found.  It is a plain beige/pink exterior with white decorations and a tall tower with bells and a clock at the top.  The interior is very white with stained glass windows, statues and other ornaments as decoration.  The whole building, both inside and out, was very plain and simple looking but also very elegant.  It's hard to give a date for the building because it started as a mosque, then was stripped of everything Islamic and changed to Christianity, then it was remodelled, then it was damaged in a war and then it was rebuilt.  I really have no idea what period this final design is from.

There were many other old buildings in Gibraltar and up on the hill and it would have been nice to have had more time to explore.  The museum sounded very interesting and would have been very informative.  An old Jewish synagogue, an Irish town (or at least a street), the King's Bastion, a moorish castle and other sights would have been interesting to see.  But instead, we crossed back over the airport runway, went through the border crossing and got back on our bus to continue our journey.

The drive between Gibraltar and Seville through the Andalusian countryside was a couple of hours through low rolling hills, some flatter valleys and some mountains.  There was more water lying around in ponds and rivers in this area than we had previously seen and there were cows and sheep in the pastures even though the land itself still looked quite dry. 

We arrived at our hotel in Seville and didn't have too long until it was time for dinner, which was included at the hotel.  I don't remember what it was but I'm sure it was not memorable for a reason.  After dinner, some of the group went off to a Flamenco show but we did not join them.  Instead we went for a short walk.  Well, the short walk turned into a longer and longer walk as we got a bit lost on the streets that didn't seem to go in any uniform direction.  However, we kept walking and eventually made it back to the hotel.  It was not without a moment or two of panic by some of the group though and we weren't helped by people who said there was no bank on the street when we knew we had used one on the street earlier.  I'm still not sure what that was about.  Of course we all just walked out after dinner and didn't necessarily have the official hotel name or address with us so that wasn't too smart on our part.  We are definitely not staying in the touristy part of town though so our walk was just through the local neighbourhood with a lot of churches and small squares and restaurants along the way.  We did make it back just fine.  We just walked a bit further to get there than originally anticipated by some of us.