|
|
TO MADRID...
...AND BEYOND
This page is to serve as a viewer for friends
and family to see the photographs we have taken in Spain. There will be
a commentary on the locations with a link to associated pictures. The pictures
will also have a brief content description. The blinding color scheme for
these pages evokes the "bandera de España" , or flag of Spain. There
have been 45761 visitors since March 6,
2001.
Click here to make a guestbook
entry.
This is probably the most interesting place we have been. Founded in 25 B.C., Mérida is southwest of Madrid in the region laughingly referred to as "Extremadura". If this name evokes thoughts of a harsh landscape and climate, you have the right idea. Think of south Georgia without electricity or iced tea. We made the mistake of going about two weeks too late, after the mercury had hit 200F and would not come back down. OK, I exaggerate, but it was hot.
The city was settled by Roman legions returning from Africa after defeating Hannibal (Lector?) in the Second Punic Wars. For some reason, the troops decided to stay in Iberia rather than to return to Rome and the hurly-burly big city life. Mérida is located at a crossroad between Toledo and Lisbon in the East West direction and Salamanca and Seville in the North South direction, thus meeting the Roman criteria for occupying the most strategic position whenever possible. McDonalds has used a similar strategy in the US. Mérida is reputed to have more Roman ruins than anywhere except Rome itself. The old DB Latin teachers, Ms. Johnson and Elmore, would go wild.
There is a sizable amphitheater (Teatro Romana),
built to seat 6,000 , in good enough condition to still be used for an
occasional local event. I believe a clogging contest was set for the night
we were there, but you can imagine the demand for tickets. There is adjacent
a small stadium (Anfiteatro Romano), built to seat 15,000 for short track
chariot races and gladiator combat with animals or other gladiators. It
is in fairly good shape, and you can go into the animal storage areas at
ground level. It was built to be flooded in order to stage maritime killing
events as well. There are additionally aqueducts, bridges, a quarter mile
chariot track, numerous temples, arches, and a huge museum with zillions
of artifacts including a section of Roman road in pristine condition discovered
in the construction of the museum and incorporated as an exhibit. One remarkable
ruin had the barest remains of a housing complex--but left open so that
one can walk on the intricately designed mosaic floors built in the 1st
or 2nd century.
Here are a few shots of the house here in Spain. It is referred to here as a "chalet", but it would be called a duplex or more likely, a "giant duplex" in the USA. The buildings are about 20 years old with heating, plumbing and electrical designs from the mid 1930's.
Heat is provided by hot water heated by a kerosene fired furnace, then pumped to radiators in each room. The furnace also generates hot water for the baths, kitchens and lavatories. The heating system works quite well, and the cooling system does..., well, there is no cooling system. Construction is 100% steel and masonry, and is of high quality. The roof is unusual, being asphalt shingles rather than the normal tejas or half round tile.
The layout of the house is Spanish, meaning that
the cooking and laundry facilities are meager, as these tasks are supposed
to be performed by a live-in cook/maid. We use the maid's room as a breakfast
room. There is a switch
in every room that will ring a bell in the breakfast
room, and flip up a little numbered flag telling from where the bell is
being activated. Penny has not quite caught on to this system yet.
The yard is large enough and the landlord provides the gardner/handyman, Jose Luis. There is a common area behind the yard which is shared by the eight families in the complex, and provides a swimming pool, a tennis court, and a small open area with a 9 foot high basketball goal.
Pictures have been added to show our rental house
in the resort area of Sotogrande, in Andalucia, near Gibraltar.
go to Casa pictures
(13)
Cuenca is about 3 hours southeast of Madrid. It
is well known as a beautiful, scenic location. The name is Spanish for
gorge or canyon. The old city was first settled by the Moors, or Morocs
as the Spanish call people from Morocco, and use the same word to refer
to the ancient conquerors of Spain. In true Moorish fashion, the town is
built on the top of a mountain which happens to be on one side of
a considerable gorge. The Plaza Mayor is pretty, but has the drawback of
allowing cars to drive through the Plaza, which means you can be flattened
at any moment.
North and West of Madrid about 1 and 1/2 hours
is the city of Segovia. The most famous feature is the acueducto
built by the Romans in the 1st or 2nd century, but there is also an outstanding
catedral and alcazar. Segovia is in a mountainous area, and is not too
far from Avila and numerous other interesting sites.
South of Madrid about one hour or a little more
is the famous city of Toledo, once the capital of Spain, and home to Torquemada,
the Grand Inquisitor. The food here is roasted partridge hung out to season
for several weeks prior to cooking , and the postre, or dessert, is marzipan.
A four hour train ride due east of Madrid takes you to Valencia on the Mediterranean. Famous for naranjas, or oranges, and paella, one of the most dangerous foods in the world. Paella is made from rice saturated in saffron and seafood snatched from the jaws of the disposal. Sea urchin spines, fish heads, scales, etc. show up in the mix. Who can resist?
We went there to see the "fallas", a celebration associated loosely with Father's Day (Spanish equivalent), the first day of spring, and the CBS evening news. Some 50 or 60 organizations in Valencia spend all year building paper mache figures satirizing national and international political figures and their frailties. Some of the figures are 40-50 ft. tall and beautifully sculpted and painted. On the night of March 19, the figures are ignited, creating some incredible bonfires which are supposed to rid the world of all bad things and allow a fresh start. Talk about a party.
Three languages are used in Valencia, Spanish,
Catalan-a mixture of Spanish and French, and Valenciano-a mixture of Catalan
and Spanish or maybe German. Cab rides can be very adventurous.
This is a small town two hours southeast of Madrid,
primarily known for the Parador hotel located in an old castle at the high
point in the pueblo. It seemed a lot of work was going on to make Sigüenza
become a tourist attraction and it is quite a picturesque location.
North and west of Madrid about three hours lies
the university city of Salamanca. The U. of Salamanca was renowned in the
10th century as one of the tops in the world. It still has a good reputation
and a great looking campus. There is a puente romano, or Roman bridge,
still in good repair. The streets in Salamanca were much tidier than what
seems normal in most of the places we have been.
On the Costa del Sol, in Andalucia, in southern
Spain is the resort community of Sotogrande. There are just three pictures
here, but it is a scenic locale.
El Campo is the land area between cities, or as
we would call it in the US, the country. So these pictures aren't for a
particular area, but from just riding around on some trips.
Tarifa is located at the narrowest point in the Straits of Gibraltar. Here the Arabic pirates controlled the passage of ships in and out of the Mediterranean, until they were driven out by Guzman El Bueno (Guzman the Good) around 1500. The Arabs charged a fee for each ship that wanted to pass, or they raided the ship and killed the crew. Most people paid. The fee came to be known as a tarifa, evolving into the English word tariff.
Vejer is a very small town perched on a mountaintop in southern Spain, north of Cadiz, and south of Seville and of Jerez. It is supposed to be the most Arabic town in all of Spain. The women wore traditional head to toe black garments until the 1950's.
Spain is full of palaces, most of them built with gold from the conquest
of the new world. They all seem to have about the same floor plan, differing
mainly in size and quality of finish. There can be surprises when you tour
one, for example, who would have thought that the summer palace at La Granja
would house the world's largest collection of Flemish tapestries. Usually
they will have paintings by some of the old masters.