One last trip … more of Spain!

We decided to do a last European adventure in Spain, spending a few days in Barcelona visiting with friends and then meeting up with Jo in Seville to do a driving trip around Andalucia.

In Barcelona we visited Gaudi’s Casa Battilo, which was just recently opened to the public. It is my favourite building in Barcelona and the inside did not disappoint. The building is inspired by nature and is filled with curves, rounded shapes and coloured tiles. The centre of the building is designed to maximise the use of light and starts with light blue tiles and large windows at the bottom, transitioning to dark blue tiles and smaller windows at the top. Ahhh! I would love this to be my home!!





That was the most touristy thing we did in Barcelona, we spent the rest of the time catching up with Sonsoles, Llorenc, Joan and Marta, eating delicious food and being entertained by their very cute kids! We also got to meet Pau for the first time – he is so good natured and sweet! The weekend we were there was carnival time and a chance for the kids to dress up at school. The whole time we were there we saw little people running around in costumes – it was quite funny.

On the weekend we all drove down to Tarragona (just outside Barcelona) to visit Poblet (a large monastery), the actual city of Tarragona and El Circ (a roman ruin) – apparently they are discovering all sorts of old ruins in Tarragona these days and most importantly to try 'calcot' at Chez Felix! Calcot is an onion dish that is served only in February/March. It looks like a young spring onion which is pulled out of the ground early and cooked over an open fire. You put on a big bib and some plastic gloves, pull of the burned bits, dip the onion in sauce and then eat it! It was GOOD! Wow, I’ve never eaten so many onions before. This was followed by artichokes, lamb, sausages, wine, champagne, coffee, crema catalayn and a very very full stomach. YUM! By the end of our trip we were well into Spanish meal times, having a big lunch around 2pm and a light dinner around 8pm-9pm. Actually I must say that we followed the timing of meals, but not really the proportions!



On Sunday, we flew out to Sevilla where we met up with Joanne. Sevilla is a lively city with brightly painted facades, colourful tiles and bright sunshine. The streets are lined with orange trees! (we tried one – very sour!). We visited the Santa Maria de la sde cathedral (3rd largest in Europe after St. Peter, Vatican and St. Paul, London), we got a bit confused visiting it as it was a Sunday and we kept getting kicked out and seeing closed signs only to return and see it opened! No I don't think it was personal! It has towering ceilings and a very large gold alter – apparently the largest in the world, according to the Guinness book of world record certificate framed and hanging to prove it. The cathedral also houses the remains of Christopher Columbus (although according to the Rick Steve’s book, the remains are currently being tested for authenticity!). We did a very thorough wander through the little lanes (some so thin they are called ‘kissing lanes’) of the old Jewish quarter, renamed the Barrio Santa Cruz. It is sad to see that the Jew’s have had a tough time throughout Europe. The area is filled with tapa bars, restaurants, hotels and little shops and is quite charming. We found a flamenco place there called Los Gallos and returned for a show that evening. It was really good, wow - some very very fast moving feet, hand clapping, soulful singing and excellent guitar playing.



We also spent a little shopping time in Sevilla (well mainly Jo : ) and took in the Alcazar. The Alcazar is a 10th century palace rebuilt in the 14th century by Pedro I (1334-1369), apparently he fled from his wife and then built the Alcazar for his mistress. It is interesting as it was built by moors (Muslims from Africa), in the Moorish style, but for a Christian rular. Images are not generally present in religious décor. So while the Alcazar looks very Moorish in style (e.g. lots of scripture pressed into plaster in intricate designs) - you will also find lions, peacocks and other images in the décor. It is very colourful and quite amazing to see.

The second floor of the Alcazar is the Gothic King Charles Wing (1530’s). It looks quite different from the first floor and is bathed in yellow painted tiles and orange painted walls. The gardens surrounding the Alcazar are filled with orange and palm trees and would be a fabulous place to spend a sunny day (unfortunately it was raining really hard when we were there).

Our driving trip took us through the white hill towns of Andalucia, including ..

Arcos de la Frontera – where we had ‘nun cookines’ purchased at a local convent through a one way mirror and spinning cupboard … pine nut cookies – lots of them … they were good.

A quick drive through Grazalema ..

Ronda, one of the largest white hill towns with the oldest bull ring, a Moorish presence in much of the architecture and El Tajo – a picturesque ravine that divides the town. We had a great lunch and view there at a restaurant called Escudero.

Along the way it was all about tapas, tapas, tapas … jamon (ham), tortilla (spanish omlette), chorizo, friend fish, Russian salad (lots of mayonnaise), churros and chocolate milk, cheese sandwiches for Jo, zuma naranja (freshly squeezed OJ), café con leche (milk coffee) and a little cerveca to wash it all down! In Sevilla we went to a tapas bar called Cervecerta 100 Montaditos (Montaditos are small sandwiches) – they had 100 types of small sandwiches (like a mini baguette) each for 1 euro. I quite like the idea of rocking up to a bar and ordering lots of little dishes over the counter whether it be breakfast, lunch or dinner. We became (actually probably mostly Steve) quite proficient at getting in on the ordering action at the bar, if it’s busy you have to really work to get yourself noticed.

We also stopped off in Granada, which is a great city to visit. Unfortunately we didn’t have much time, but did manage to squeeze in a visit to the Royal Chapel which houses the bodies of Queen Isabelle, King Ferdinand, their daughter Juana and her husband King Philip the Fair. The chapel is quite pretty and there is one section where you walk right past their very modest (at Queen Isabella’s request) black coffins – felt a bit tooo close! Isabelle and Ferdinand defeated the Moorish rular King Boabdil and worked to unite large parts of Europe as a unified Christian nation. They also sponsored Christopher Columbus who would later touch down in the Americas. When King Philip came to power he brought together what was once known as the Holy Roman Empire, a substantial chunk of Europe (1519-1556). There was a room with some of Isabelle and Ferdinand’s art collection and royal finery. I really liked the design of Isabelle’s silver crown – very simple and elegant.

We also went to the Alhambra – a definite must see! The Alhambra is divided into three main parts.

Charles V Palace – which was built over a Moorish Palace – the building façade looks like it’s made of puffy blocks.

Alcazaba Forts – the original Alhambra, now mostly ruined, but provides some fabulous views of Granada.

And the main event … the Palacios Nazaries, a Moorish Palace built in the 14th century. It is filled with rooms with carved wood ceilings, plaster walls with calligraphy like writing pressed into it and intricately designed arches, colourful ceramic tiles and filigree (think lacy looking) windows. Visually the Palace is amazing.

We made a last stop in Cordoba before driving back to Sevilla. In Cordoba I had booked a 4 star hotel on expedia.com for something like 2.93 pounds!! And since they would only allow two people per room, I booked 2!! rooms at 2.93 pounds for a total under 6 pounds. Seemed to good to be true and I kept waiting for a catch or an email cancellation or something??!! The hotel was very nice and very large for Europe, we checked in and the hotel guy didn’t blink an eye??!! We checked later and I think they did a typo when they posted the price … worked for us!

In Cordoba we visited the Mezquita – the largest Islamic mosque in it’s day .. today a Christian church. It’s large size and row upon row of candy cane arches are what make it a unique and an impressive sight.

Sigh ... our last trip in Europe this year ... definitely much more to see in Spain .. but we’ll have to leave it for next time!