2010.05.30-2010.06.09 Southern Spain (2164km)

SPAIN (SOUTH)

2010.05.30/31

CHATEAUNEUF DE GRASSE TO BARCELONA

We caught a local bus from Chateauneuf de Grasse to Nice and had time to see Nice at night.

 

Then we left the bustation @23:59 for Barcelona. This man obviously lives at the busstation.

On our second wedding anniversary (31 MAY), we arrived in Barcelona at 10:15, retrieved our backpacks and walked to see some of the Barcelona specials:

The Placa de Toros Monumental

The Temple de La Sagrada (Gaudi was the architect). It was being completed/ renovated.

Can you see the words SANCTUS SANCTUS SANCTUS on the tower just below the roof? Gaudi glorified God in his architecture.

The next fascinating building is also Gaudi's work - the La Pedrera.

But the queue to visit the building was enough to  make even the brave weak.

Quite close by in Pg Gracia, we found Gaudi's Casa Batlo - a house covered in flowers.

Then we took the Metro to Las Ramblas which is a street famous as one of the longest shopping/ restaurant areas in the world.

We reached our destination. This is the entrance hall of the once proud apartment building in which we stayed.

Once we had settled in, we started exploring.

We saw:

the Mirador de Colon (with Columbus at the top peering out to sea). 

the Rambla de Mar (the largest floating jetty in the world). It seems to function as a continuation of the Las Ramblas.

In the bay at the Rambla de Mar, an enormous cable way transports visitors from one end of the bay to the other.

We walked along the harbour to find the recommended restaurant, Rei de la Gamba.

Mrad ordered seafood for ONE!! (Inge volunteered to help Mrad eat it - just as a good wife should?!?!?). 

And Inge had truly Spanish paella - delicious!

A fitting way to celebrate our 2nd anniversary!

On Tuesday, 2010.06.01, we walked via Las Ramblas to the Placa Real - a famous square in Barcelona.

We found Gaudi's Palace Gueli nearby (Gueli was Gaudi's patron).

Then we visited the church of St Jaume which still has a pious atmosphere.

and shopped at the Mercat St Josef la Boqueria

for provisions for the day.

Don't the figs look divine?

We then walked to the Plaza de Catalunye

where we saw this magnificent statue.

And caught bus 24 to Parc Gueli.

On route (by bus) we passed fascinating buildings - just look at the intricate lead glass windows and the painted walls.

Parc Gueli was designed by Gaudi as an open air park - however, it was a financial flop and Barcelona Municipality took it over.

Now the general public can enjoy its beauty. Here are some pictures of Parc Gueli:

Mrad is really standing up straight! The pillars all lean! 

The dark stripe towards the sea is tree lined Las Ramblas!

The three crosses in Parc Gueli.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look at this enormous pavillion!

The lizard and Inge are colour coded!!

We left by the main entrance of this magnificent public park.

We headed towards the Barcelona cathedral - guess what? It was being restored!

Further along, we passed the Picasso Museum.

And found the church Sta. Maria del Mar - best preserved and oldest Gothic church in Barcelona. We loved it!

The day ended in the restaurant Can Mano with us eating typical dishes: stuffed sardines, fried aubergine and baby hake.

On Wednesday, 2010.06.02, we packed to leave Barcelona. We travelled by Metro to the railway station where we picked up our rented car.

By 12:30, we were heading west along the south coast of Spain.

Eventually we reached the small coastal town of Miami Platja (Mami Beach!). We spent the late afternoon sitting on the beach.

A passerby took this photo for us.

Thursday, 2010.06.03, found us travelling west. Sometimes along the highways

where we found these Valencia oranges at the petrol station

And sometimes along the byways

where we found Castella de Penella high up in the mountains.

We passed the cities of Castello, Valencia and Alicante in the distance.

That night we slept in San Pedro del Pinater. This was the view from our hotel room.

We walked along the coast of the Mar Menor which boasts the Ants Islands.

We visited the helpful Oficina de Turist on Friday, 2010.06.04, and decided to take a detour to Cartagena (Port of Cultures). However, we only managed to reach the ancient sites in Cartagena with a policeman's help. We felt like royalty being escorted!

We passed the old city's walls.

Coffee on the harbour revived us.

Then we walked to the Town Hall, a unique three-sidedmodernist building of the 18th century,

saw Casa Cervantes with its famous white Miradores (balconies)

and investigated the Roman Theatre dating back to the first centry BEFORE Christ!

The museum explained the artifacts found at the site. Here Inge's touching a pilar's capital which is more than 3000 years old!

This is Rea Silvia (said to be Romulus and Remus' mother). Isn't she beautiful?

We walked through a tunnel underneath the ruins of the Antique Cathedral of Santa Maria

to enter the Roman Theatre itself which has been beautifully restored.

Mrad greeted the "populace" (!?!) from the stage

and we continued our journey to the west through tunnels

past oleander filled highway islands with the fertile valley on eitherside.

Then we turned south and downward towards the sea

and the mountainsides looked like a moon landscape

with the road often cutting through the flanks of the mountain.

About 30 km from Almeria hot houses started appearing next to the road.

Initially we were impressed by the industriousness of the Spanish people, but then the hot houses started to spoil the surroundings.

And that night our hostess, Helen, told us about abuse of migrant Moraccan labour

and the noxious gasses emitted by the hot houses. Sadly, we were then less impressed by the hot houses. 

Fortunately, the coastline is beautiful to see.

And the Spanish highway system impressed Mrad.

Our destination, Salobrena, appeared on the horizon. See the castle?

And we were warmly welcomed by Helen whose house is at the foot of the Castello de Arabe.

Helen had to drive our car up the hill and down again through narrow turns and steep roads.

There is no doubt that the people who live on the hill of Salobrena are excellent drivers.

This is the view from our bedroom window - thankfully no hot houses in sight!

Helen hosted us in spite of a busy schedule - thank you, Helen! We helped her (hopefully) with preparations for the Eco Market

and saw the sunset from Salobrena beach.

At "home" Helen prepared supper for us. Very enjoyable!

The next morning, Saturday 2010.06.05, we lazily wended our way down the mountain to the Eco market. The proceeds from the market were earmarked to feed the hungry poor in Salobrena.

After browsing through the market, we shopped and walked home. Up, up and up ...

On Sunday, 2010.06.06, Helen advised us to visit the small village of Pampaneira. Pampaneira is in the Sierra Nevada mountain range in the Las Alpujarra area which is in the Granada province which lies within Andalusian region. Helen - do I have it right?

This is the view of the Sierra Nevada (White snow) mountains which supply Salobrena's water.

On our way down to the car we passed the Salobrena town square which had been prepared for a religious festival.

We set off in the direction of Orgiva and passed an enormous dam. See how the bridges span it with flamingoe legs?

The road took us through valleys and up steep hairpin bends in the Sierrra Nevada mountains. See how Orgiva clings to the side of the hill?

After much twisting we saw Pampaneira snuggled against the mountainside. Can you see its patchwork fields?

Pampaneira's main walkway is an outdoor shop (like many other Spanish towns) lined with their renowned "fluffy" carpets.

Furrows channel running water down the middle of the streets.

This tapas bar really apealled to us.

Mrad chose a typical Las Alpujarras dish: "black" sausage, chorizo, fried potatoes and Serrano ham (a speciality of the area).

After a pleasant afternoon, we returned "home" where Helen had prepared Russian salad for us. Delicious - all eaten before I could take a photo of it!!

Helen suggested that we go to Cordoba. So on Monday, 2010.06.07, we drove to Cordoba via Malaga - a long way . Once again we went through many tunnels and crossed deep gulleys on incredible bridges. Inland from Malaga, the area seems to be greyer" and boast several large bull statues.

The olive groves looked like polka dots against the mountains

and the patchwork fields enchanted us.

Cordoba came into sight.

We parked our car and walked to the famous Mezquita cathedral via this gateway to the old Jewish quarter.

See the narrow streets?

The Mezquita was built on the place of a 6th century Christian church which was razed when the Moors invaded Spain. We looked down at the foundations which were found during subsequent changes to the building.

In 785 AD the Moors built a mosque in the same place as the razed church and extended the mosque over the next 500 years during the reign of various Sultans.

When the Moors were vanquished in 1236 AD, the mosque was changed into a cathedral by ingenious adaptatoins and additions to its structure. Can you see both influences in this picture?

Here is a clearly Muslem theme (the Mihrab)

and here is a purely Christian facet (The Parish of the Tabernacle).

Some more pictures which are woefully inadequate to show you the splendour of the Cathedral Mezquita:

Just look at the horisontal Spanish organ pipes!

After our visit to the Mezquita, we walked through the Puerta del Puenta

to look back at the old city of Cordoba and to see the Roman bridge (dated 7th century).

A passerby took our photo.

Then we drove home again and met Helen's delightful visitors, Kurt and Mercedes. We spent a lovely evening swopping ideas and information.

On Tuesday, 2010.06.08, we had to leave Helen's safe haven. Once again, thank you to Helen for hosting us so lovingly!

We travelled along a beautiful byway towards Madrid.

We said goodbye to the Sierra Nevada.

We headed for the town Granada to see the Alhambra which was the headquarters for the Moors for 300 years from the 13th century. This is the Medina section:

This is the Palace Alcazaba where the Sultan's guards stayed.

The Iglesia de Santa Maria de la Encarnacion shows how the Moors decapitated the monks - look at the top of the photo.

The Palacio Carlos V (Charles the fifth) impessed us. This is the exterior.

And this is the interior - see how the roof structure follows the circular design of the interior courtyard?

This is a view across the Old Moslem Quarter (the Albaicin) in Granada.

And then we headed further north towards Madrid, but stayed overnight at Tembleque which is within easy reach of Madrid's airport.

Wednesday, 2010.06.09, was our last day in Spain. We had to return the car full of petrol so Mrad quickly filled the car!

We arrived at Madrid's Barajas airport in time to have our bags wrapped and booked in.

Then we took the Metro to the Sofia Reina. This is the exterior

and this is the amazing glass interior.

The modern art was interesting (!?!) and my favourite was Salvadore Dali's "Girl looking through the window".

But Picasso's work was an experience! Here is one of his grotesque paintings "Woman with handkerchief" which was one of many precursors to his greatest artwork, "Guernica".

All Picasso's artwork expressed the pain whch the Spanish people felt during Franco's facist regime. Even his "Horse" is unnatural.

Here is his masterpiece "Guernica" in which he combined many of his forestudies. It was only sent to Spain once Spain became a democracy (as Picasso had stipulated in his will!)

We returned to the airport in time for a last cafe con leche.

We left for Istanbul via Frankfurt, but were rerouted to Stuttgart due to bad weather.

Thanks to Luft hansa we spent a short night in the Frankfurt Holiday Inn (bussed there!) to be flown to Istanbul at 1pm.

Our epic journey of 2164km was memorable, not only because of the wonderful sights we saw by also due to Helen's interesting company and caring heart.

For the next installment ... wait for our blog on our travels in Turkey.

Love you all. God bless you all. Thank you for feedback.