Madrid and Andalucia, October 2008
Carlyn and Cari's Web Page
Carlyn and Cari's Guest book
Venice in November
Spain with Lin and Monica
The Louvre and Monet's House and Garden, September 2009
Disneyland Paris- The end to my month long 50th birthday celebration
London Skyride- September 20, 2009
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Switzerland- July 2009
Carlyn's Birthweek 2009- Fun, Food and Henry VIII
Sailing Trip on the Solent of the English Channel, June 2009
Istanbul, Turkey- May 2009
Aberdeen with Jacky and Steve
The Loire Valley with Mom and Sheri
Budapest, April 2009
The German Christmas Markets with Joyce, December 2008
The Lord Mayor Show, November 8, 2008
Madrid and Andalucia, October 2008
Krakow, Poland- September 2008
Cari's Birthweek- Germany
Dinner at Muspatts Farm celebrating Carlyn's
Italy, June 2008
The Lake District- May 2008
York- May Day Holiday Weekend 2008
Cornwall and Wales- Page 1
Cornwall and Wales- Page 2
Hever Castle
Blemhein Palace
Hastings and Battle- 1066 Country
Brighton
German Christmas Market
Fall in Provence
Paris in a Day
Visitors at Parliament Square
Amsterdam and Kuekenhof
The South West "Jurassic" Coast
Cambridge
Christmas and Canterbury
Normandy
Austria
Prague, Czech Republic
Belgium break
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Blog
We had a wonderful holiday to Madrid and the southern Spain October 25- 31. We began with a long weekend in Madrid arriving around 12:30 PM.
Madrid turned out to be so much more than we had expected. We went for the art, but we fell in love with Madrid for the parks, the architecture, the food, the friendliness and the beauty.
We began or tour of Andalucia driving through La Mancha country to Córdoba, on the Seville visiting the Alcazar, then to Granada to visit the amazing Alhambra. We then toured to medieval capital of Spain, Toledo before retuning to Madrid
The Prado Museum is Spain's most important museum. It holds the biggest collection of Spanish art from the 12th to the 19th century. It was opened in 1819. It holds pieces of art by Velazquez, Goya, Ribera and El Greco as well as works by Flemish, Dutch, French and German artists.
Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (June 6, 1599 – August 6, 1660) was a Spanish painter who was the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV. He was an individualistic artist of the contemporary baroque period, important as a portrait artist. In addition to numerous renditions of scenes of historical and cultural significance, he painted scores of portraits of the Spanish royal family, other notable European figures, and commoners, culminating in the production of his masterpiece Las Meninas (1656).
Having Tapas for the first time. Madrid doesn’t eat dinner until 8:30 at the earliest so tapas is the answer to food between meals. Since we cannot eat that late, tapas became our meal. “La Tapa so as to be meaningful, has to be eaten between main meals as food that allows the body to survive until lunch or dinnertime”.
The Centro de Arte Reina Sofía dedicated to 20th century art with its most important piece is the magnificent Guernica by Pablo Picasso. A copy hangs in the United Nations. The panting welds such a statement about the atrocities of war it was covered with a curtain when Secretary of state Collin Powell pleaded the case for the war in Iraq.
Checking out the Jambons (hams air cured, smoked, bacons, sausages) at the local market
El Palacio Real de Madrid was constructed during the reign of the Borbons. Started by Felipe V, taken over by Filippo Juvara en 1735 and later handed over to Sachetti. The first king to occupy the palace was Carlos III. The decoration was left to Carlos III and Carlos IV. It was the official residence of the Royal family until the abdication of Alfonso XIII in 1931. Things to see include: the arms museum, the 1879 dining room with tapestries and frescos on the ceiling, the Porcelain room, the throne room and the pharmacy.
At its center is the Fuente de la Cibeles. This fountain, named after Cibele (or Ceres), roman goddess of nature, is seen as one of Madrid's most important symbols.
Enjoying a gorgeous sunny Sunday in Madrid by the Puerto de Alalca built in 1778 to commemorate Carlos III’s arrival in Madrid
A sculpture of the Oso del Madroño ("The Bear and the Arbustus") , the symbol of Madrid.
Campo de Criptana, citing its historic large number of windmills, claims to be the site of don Quixote's battle in chapter VIII. Students may debate whether or not windmills, either close up or at a distance, bear any resemblance to giants.
The Mezquita (Spanish for "mosque") of Cordoba is a Roman Catholic cathedral and former mosque situated in the Andalusian city of Córdoba, Spain. Under the rule of Islam, it was built as the second-largest mosque in the world, and is perhaps the most accomplished monument of the Umayyad dynasty of Cordoba. After the Spanish Reconquista, it was transformed into a church, and some of the Islamic columns and arches were replaced by a basilica in early Baroque style. Today it houses the main church of the diocese of Cordoba in Spain.
One of the most striking design elements of La Mezquita is the double-tiered "candy stripe" arches supported by sculptured pillars
The construction of the Mezquita started in approximately 600 A.D. as a Christian Visigothic church. Later, the Mezquita (originally the "Aljama Mosque") was reworked for over two centuries to refashion it as a mosque, starting in 784 A.D. under the supervision of the first Muslim Emir Abd ar-Rahman I, who used it as an adjunct to his palace and named it to honor his wife. The land was bought by the Emir from the previous owners. It is believed that the site included the Visigothic cathedral of St. Vincent. When the forces of Tariq ibn-Ziyad first occupied Córdoba in 711, the Christian cathedral was suppressed.
The Morning began with a city tour visiting the Park of María Luisa, Plaza de España. Laid out in 1929 for an abortive 'Fair of the Americas', the Plaza de España and adjoining Maria Luisa Park are among the most pleasant - and impressive - public spaces in Spain A vast semicircular complex with fountains, monumental staircases and a mass of tile work, it is quite spectacular. There is a tiled alcove named after each of the provinces of Spain
These gardens, named after the Sevillean painter Esteban Murillo (1618 - 1682) are not huge but very colorful. The main path leads to the monument dedicated to Columbus and shows us the SANTA MARIA, the caravel with which he reached THE NEW WORLD in 1492.
A view of Seville Cathedral from the Alcazar- The Cathedral of Seville (Catedral de Sevilla) is an expression in stone of post-Reconquest confidence and wealth. Built on the site of a mosque, it is the third largest church in Europe and the largest Gothic building in Europe. It also boasts the largest altarpiece in the world. Inside is the alleged tomb of Christopher Columbus. DNA analysis did prove some of the bones most probably belong to the man.
Housed in the Alcazar, the earliest known painting on the discovery of the Americas by Alejo Fernandez, 1530’s, in which Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci and Native Americans can be seen sheltered beneath the Virgin in her role as protector of sailors
Our first "must see" in Seville, the Alcazar. The Christian monarchs, Alfonso X and Pedro I employed Moorish craftsmen to build the Real Alcazar of Seville in the 14th century. The Palace of Pedro I is considered to be the most complete example of this so-called Mudéjar architecture in Spain. However, a few remains still lie from the former Islamic palace, Patio del Yeso, from before the Christian Reconquest.
Tapas in Seville for lunch, dinner, snack.....
After a lunch of tapas, and missing our second “must see” the Cathedral of Seville (it closed early this day for a holiday) we journeyed river side to the Bullfighting ring. Think of it what you may bullfighting is a tradition in Seville and the Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza is perhaps the best venues in all of Spain to watch the event. Since the season is over for this year we opted for a tour.
After another evening of tapas (the Spanish don’t even think about dinner until 8:30) we went in search of Flamenco. We were lucky enough to get tickets, after being the last on a wait list, to La Casa de La Memoria for “an evening of flamenco”. It is a cultural center in the Santa Cruz neighbor hood that organizes concerts. The performance included singing, dancing and guitar playing from some of the best young artist from Seville. The performance took place in the patio of an 18th century palace with element from the original 15th Jewish hours. This was Flamenco at its best.
A view of Albayzin, Granada's old Muslim Quarter from the Alhambra
Originally designed as a military area, the Alhambra became the residence of royalty and of the court of Granada in the middle of the thirteenth century, after the establishment of the Nasrid kingdom and the construction of the first palace, by the founder king Mohammed ibn Yusuf ben Nasr, better known as Alhamar. Throughout the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the fortress became a citadel with high ramparts and defensive towers, which house two main areas: the military area, or Alcazaba, the barracks of the royal guard, and the medina or court city, the location of the famous Nasrid Palaces and the remains of the houses of noblemen and plebeians who lived there. The Charles V Palace (which was built after the city was taken by the Catholic Monarchs in 1492) is also in the medina.
Intricately molded stucco walls, beautiful tiling and elaborate stalactite-like muqarnas vaulting, all worked in mesmerizing, symbolic, geometrical patterns. Arabic inscriptions proliferate in the stuccowork.
Generalife- Leisure villa of the sultans of Granada, surrounded by orchards and gardens. The name, of doubtful origin, seems to come from the Arabic Yanat- al- Arif or Garden of the Architect, in a clear poetical-religious symbolism that refers to God, Allah, as an architect, the creator of the universe.
In the Gerneralife Gardens with the Alhambra as a backdrop
The Alambra at night taken from the old Muslim quarter of Granada, the Albayzin
Much to our surprise, the next day we headed to the Imperial City of Toledo, full of history and monuments. Our original tour was to go straight back to Madrid but the tour was passed to another company so off we went to Toledo. This was not to be missed so we were pleased as Sangria. During the 13th century Toledo became one of the few places in Spain where Moors, Christians and Jews managed to live together and tolerate each other more or less peacefully (although not as idyllically as some history accounts would have us believe), and the singular combination of styles and cultures which resulted from this period in Toledo’s history is one of the city's unique characteristics.
Carlyn and I in front of the Puerta Bisagra: The main entrance to the old City of Toledo. What appears to be one amazing stone gateway is infact two: the old gate which was built during the Moorish occupation of Toledo in the 6th and 7th centuries, and the new gate which extended the original and was built in the 16th century.
