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  • Diane and DarrylJourney in Portugal and Spain
    Day 13

    The Alhambra Palace

    March 15 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 68 °F

    The Alhambra is more than a just a palace; it is an entire walled city complex within the city of Granada. There are royal apartments, forts, pavilions, modest homes and extensive gardens. The complex spans 26 acres and housed 3,000 inhabitants at its peak.

    The site was active during the last period of Arab occupation of Spain, as the Moors were pushed further and further south before finally being forced to cede Granada to the Catholics in 1492.

    Historians know that a Moorish fortress existed on the site as early as the 9th century, but the royal residence was not established in the Alhambra until the 13th century. Most of the structures that exist today at the Alhambra were built in the second half of the 14th century.

    Elaborate plaster wall carvings, decorative cedar wood ceilings and tiled walls are the hallmark of this style of architecture. The nearby Sierra Nevada mountains, at over 10,000 feet, supplied fresh water to the settlement (the mountain was beautifully snowy on the day we visited, when temperatures on the ground were in the low 70s!). The Arabs channeled water to their drinking fountains, thermal baths, fountains and gardens.

    We were surprised to find ourselves a bit disappointed in the Alhambra after visiting the Bahia Palace in Marrakech. The site in Marrakech has been beautifully preserved (or restored) and has the feel of still being occupied by the Muslims. The Alhambra fell to the Catholics and was converted for their purposes in many ways, but many Arabic elements remained as well, including inscriptions referencing Allah. We were told that there was a sense that if it was a holy place to one group of people, maybe it will be extra holy if they keep some of the old and add the new Christian elements on top. Who knows?

    We’re headed home tomorrow. Thanks for following our journeys with us!    Read more

  • Diane and DarrylJourney in Portugal and Spain
    12
    Day 12

    Olive Oil and Home-hosted Lunch

    March 14 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    Today’s drive took us through a higher mountainous region toward Granada. About halfway through, we visited a farm co-op in Alfarnate to learn about their olive oil production operation.

    Farmers bring their harvest to the co-op where it is weighed to determine the expected volume of oil, translating to how much the farmer gets paid. Farmers only get paid one year later, after all the oil sold, because of price fluctuations. They can borrow from the co-op if they have justified expenses.

    Once the olives are washed and the solids are removed (twigs left from the harvest, pits, stones), they are ground up into a mash (no pressing involved at this facility!). The mash is slightly warmed to make it easier to separate water from the oil in a centrifuge. They must keep it below 80 degrees to be considered “cold press.” Another step in the process is to filter out any remaining impurities. They mix a dried seaweed powder with the oil, which causes the impurities to stick to the seaweed and fall to the bottom of the filter bin.

    The Spanish olive oil was more of a golden color, unlike the greenish cast of the Italian olive oil we learned about last year. It wasn’t as flavorful, either, although the garlic-infused oil was tasty!

    Then we carried on to the village of Alfarnatejo, population 168, for a home-hosted lunch. Unfortunately, this encounter didn’t include conversing with our host as we did in Zimbabwe. We were simply served a delicious rural meal by our friendly but non-English-speaking hostess.

    After getting settled in to our hotel in Granada, the group went out for a light meal at a tapas bar. Note the emphasis on bar—the process here was that you order a drink and they’ll bring you whatever they have on offer to share with your table mates. Then, if you want more ‘free’ food, you need to order another drink. We got two rounds and were satisfied with that.

    Capping off the night, we took a taxi to a viewpoint of the Alhambra at night—a great way to end the day.    Read more

  • Diane and DarrylJourney in Portugal and Spain
    11
    Day 11

    Ronda: A ‘Gorges’ City

    March 13 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    Yesterday’s drive brought us to Ronda, a charming town in a dramatic setting on top of an escarpment, with a lush green valley below. Not only that, but a deep river gorge divides the old and new parts of the town. This was our favorite town of this trip so far because of its unique geography and scenery.

    An excellent local guide, born and still living in Ronda, walked us through the narrow streets and down, down to what’s left of the old Arab baths. The thermal baths are the best preserved of their kind to be found in the Iberian Peninsula, according to the sign there. They are divided into three main zones: cold, warm and hot, following the Roman model. The old hydraulic system remains almost intact (waterwheel, pipes, boiler, etc.).

    From below the village we got a different view of the Puente Nuevo — the “new” bridge that dates from 1793 and spans the 400 foot deep gorge. Underneath this Roman-style bridge is the old 15th century bridge and the still older Moorish bridge, providing access to a former Muslim palace built into the cliff.

    Ronda is noted for having the oldest bull fighting ring in Spain. The town still hosts two bull fights each year. There is a museum in the bullring that explains about the “Real Maestranza De Caballería De Ronda,” Spain’s oldest and most noble order of horsemanship in Spain since 1485 (Spanish inquisition times).

    The day wrapped up with an evening concert by a female flamenco guitarist and composer who performed a range of classical and modern flamenco styles.    Read more

  • Diane and DarrylJourney in Portugal and Spain
    1
    Day 10

    Spanish White Villages & Cheese-Making

    March 12 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    Leaving Seville, we traveled 4-5 hours through the Andalusian countryside of the Sierra de Grazalema — a UNESCO-designated biosphere reserve — and its famed white villages. Even though it is a mountainous region, it still gets very hot in summer (120 degrees), so the homes are painted white to keep cooler. Many of the villages had watchtowers for transmitting messages by smoke signals to villages along the mountaintops. It makes for very picturesque scenery!

    This remote and rugged terrain allowed the town to employ guerrilla warfare tactics and put up notable resistance to French occupation during the War of Independence, when the town was occupied by Napoleon's troops between 1810 and 1812.

    A highlight of the day was visiting a small artisan cheesemaker where we learned about the cheese-making process through a guided tour of their small museum and a video. Of course we got to taste the cheeses — all from either goat (Payoyo cheese) or sheep milk. We tasted various lengths of aging (younger, milder softer cheeses through firmer, tangier cheeses). In the old days, they would braid wheat to make the molds for the cheese; these days the molds are washable plastic, but still with the wheat pattern (see photo).    Read more

  • Diane and DarrylJourney in Portugal and Spain
    1
    Day 9

    Seville: Plaza de España & Flamenco

    March 11 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F

    Returning to Seville from Cordoba, we stopped by the Plaza de España. It was built for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929, which was like a World’s Fair for Spanish-speaking countries (and the U.S. participated as well). Part of Lawrence of Arabia was filmed here, portraying the British consulate in Cairo.

    We didn’t have nearly enough time to explore and appreciate the tilework and ceramic railings, the Venice-like canals (complete with rowboats) and the expansive park across the way. It’s a place you could spend a full day, enjoying lunch in the cafes, discovering the museum and sitting in the sunshine by the fountain.

    In the evening, we had the opportunity to attend a flamenco performance. Flamenco originated in this region of Andalusia, so it’s a big tradition here—shops with frilly dresses in the windows and several “casas del flamenco” for performances. Our show included all the elements of this art form: guitar playing, dance (lots of foot tapping/stomping), hand clapping, finger snapping, and singing (sounded a bit like Arabic chanting).    Read more

  • Diane and DarrylJourney in Portugal and Spain
    1
    111
    Day 9

    Córdoba: Mosque Cathedral & Patios

    March 11 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F

    Córdoba was once the Moorish capital of nearly all of the Iberian peninsula (and some parts of France, including Carcassonne) as we know those places today, but known as Al-Andalus caliphate starting in the 700s. In Córdoba we visited La Mezquita, an immense mosque dating from the 8th century. The roughly 1,250 columns of the prayer hall were repurposed from buildings from the Roman era, with varying types of stone and different capitals and bases. The disparate columns in the hall are unified by the brick-and-limestone arches everywhere—gives a sort of a hall-of-mirrors feeling.

    As the Muslim population grew, the Moors expanded the original structure three times, up until the end of the 10th century. When Córdoba was captured by the Christian forces of Castile in 1236, the mosque was converted to a cathedral. Not much was done to change the appearance until a Renaissance-style nave was added smack in the center of the vast structure in the 17th century. As for the minaret, unlike the cathedral in Seville, the Catholics built a bell tower around the minaret, covering it completely. Visiting this mosque cathedral was a really unique experience!

    The other thing we did while in Córdoba was to visit the “patios.” These are a carryover from the 1921 “Courtyards, Balconies and Window Displays Competition,” which has now become an annual event. Multi family homes here in this hot summer climate are designed around a central courtyard to provide ventilation for the homes, and the homes provide shade to the courtyard. We visited last year’s top prize winners. The homeowners take great pride in maintaining their living walls.    Read more

  • Diane and DarrylJourney in Portugal and Spain
    Day 8

    Exploring Seville

    March 10 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F

    We spent the afternoon exploring Seville with a local guide—to the Real Alcázar (royal palace), the cathedral and around the oldest neighborhood of the city — the Barrio Santa Cruz that was the old Jewish quarter.

    The Alcázar was formerly the site of the Moorish fortress of the city, begun in the 10th century and then developed into a larger palace complex over time from the 11th through early 13th centuries. After the Moors were pushed out by the Castilians in 1248, the site was progressively rebuilt and replaced by new palaces and gardens. The Christians liked that the Muslim tower was seismically sound, so they simply added a gothic bell tower on top. The Alcázar was featured in the Game of Thrones (season 6) as the Water Gardens of Dorne, the seat of House Martell.

    The Seville Cathedral is enormous—the largest in Spain (nearly 150,000 square feet in area). It is built on the site of a former mosque, dating to the 12th century. At the cathedral’s completion in the 16th century, it was the largest cathedral in the world (nearly 150,000 sq. feet). The central altar is as high as a five-story building. The tomb of Christopher Columbus is there, but a church in the Dominican Republic also claims to have Columbus. Seville decided to x-ray the tomb and found they only have about 15% of his bones. The other church isn’t doing any further research, so no one really knows where the rest of his remains are.    Read more

  • Diane and DarrylJourney in Portugal and Spain
    1
    Day 7

    Villages on the Border

    March 9 in Portugal ⋅ 🌧 54 °F

    On our long driving day to Spain, we stopped for a tour of Monsaraz (Portugal), a 13th century village, home to just 33 people now. Most of the residents left in the 1960s and 70s to get jobs and later because of the hardships under the dictator Salazar (for example, we were told that 60% of the people in the country had no electricity).

    We braved chill winds and some rain to walk through the village to the former town hall and courthouse, now the “Museo do Fresco.” During some renovations in the 1950s, when a wall was removed, the workers discovered behind it a fresco dating to 1340 about corruption—depicting “good and bad government.” It seems they needed a constant reminder there in the hall of justice!

    We couldn’t take photos, but we include an image from a brochure. It shows a two-faced judge (#8) taking bribes—gold from one man (#10) and partridges from another (#11). In contrast is the “good judge,” dressed in white.

    From the hilltop village we could look out over the largest reservoir in Western Europe (97 sq mi). The Alqueva Dam was completed in 2002, and required the removal of people from many small villages in the soon-to-be flooded Guadiana River valley. One village was removed to higher ground and put back together exactly as it had been in the 13th century. It may be Spain’s newest town.    Read more

  • Diane and DarrylJourney in Portugal and Spain
    Day 6

    Visit to Évora & Cooking Class

    March 8 in Portugal ⋅ 🌬 55 °F

    After the cork factory, we moved on to lunch and a guided exploration of one of Europe’s oldest settlements, Évora, dating back more than 5,000 years. The site was conquered over the centuries by Celts, Romans, and Moors before its reconquering by Portugal in the 12th century. It is the birthplace of navigator Vasco da Gama, who charted the sailing route to India. Parts of the Roman city walls, bits of the old aqueduct, and a few columns from a 2nd century temple are all that remain of the Roman occupation. But there are some nice churches, monasteries and former palaces there from the 16th century onwards.

    For our dinner tonight, we got to be the chefs. A family-based cooking school taught us to create many traditional Portuguese dishes with pork, fish, potatoes, black-eyed peas and a Moroccan-inspired carrot dish that we had while in Morocco. Dessert was port-soaked baked apples and an almond egg custard. We have the recipes and are looking forward to recreating some of the dishes at home!

    Our guide, Ulises, is originally from Toledo and studied ethnomusicology in London. His musical focus is on traditional folk songs and tonight he serenaded us (and the cooking staff) with a couple of songs.

    Now for a note about our historic hotel, Convento do Espinheiro: it is a former convent (with church) built in 1458. The word convent (at least in Portugal) is used for religious communities outside of town, and monastery for those in town, and either may house monks or nuns. Our convent was a place for men, and was also a place where royalty and nobility would stop and stay on their journeys around the country. It is said that it was while staying at the convent that King Manuel was brought news of the “discovery” of India by Vasco da Gama. After the religious orders were expelled in 1834, the convent changed ownership many times and eventually went into serious disrepair. In the 1990s an investor made it possible for the building to be lovingly restored, sparing no expense for details, it seems.    Read more

  • Diane and DarrylJourney in Portugal and Spain
    Day 6

    All About Cork

    March 8 in Portugal ⋅ 🌬 55 °F

    Between our farm visit yesterday and our trip to a cork factory today, we got to know all about cork. Portugal is responsible for 60% of the cork production in the world, and it is a big point of pride for them (and concern, as more screw-tops come into use).

    The cork product comes from the outer layer of the tree, and it takes very skilled workers (no machinery) to carefully cut into the outer layer and not damage the growing cambium layer below. Once the bark is cut, they can peel off large sections of bark to be processed.

    Only when a tree has reached about 25 years of age can it begin to be harvested for its cork. This first bark isn’t the quality needed for wine stoppers. Portuguese law prohibits stripping the trees more than once every nine years in order to protect the species. It isn’t until the third harvest (over 40 years after planting) that the bark becomes of high enough quality to produce high-quality wine stoppers. In fact, the more often you peel the bark, the better the quality of cork bark you will get.

    They do make other things with the first cycles of cork harvest—purses, notebook covers, shoes, flooring, t-shirts and much more. We saw most of these products in shops around the towns we’ve traveled to.    Read more

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