Month: November 2021

The weather in Madrid has been bright and sunny with high temps in the 50’s – really pleasant.

 Hotel Europa is located in the heart of Madrid at Puerta del Sol – a major Metro stop and hub – much like Times Square in New York City.   If/when we return to Madrid we think we’d stay in a less hectic neighborhood.  Nearby is the Santa Ana neighborhood with many restaurants, bars, and shops.  We stopped at Cafe Carmela for breakfast,

and ate a Spanish favorite – toast with olive oil and tomato.  It’s very good!

Our goal was to make our way to the Lavapies District.  It’s in the south part of the city and less touristed.  We navigated downhill to the main square, Plaza de Lavapies at the end of this street.  No crowds here!

A stop for lunch nearby started with wine and bread…

There are flower stalls all around town and this one with a favorite winter flower, cyclamen.

And, it’s still officially fall so there are sunflowers too!

We ended adventure for this day with a calamari bocadillo and a beer.

We’ll pack up soon to head home tomorrow – happy travelers!

 

 

We had a couple of hours before our train left Granada for Madrid so we took a stroll around town.  We wanted to see The Gate of Elvira, one of the many examples of Arabic architecture around the city.

In this part of Granada there are many colorful Arabic-style bazaars selling clothing, jewelry, and souvenirs.

Just beyond the gate is a cute shop called Al Sur de Granada.  The young woman in the shop was delightful and we bought a piece of pottery and a slice of home baked banana bread.

We checked out of our hotel,  Aurea Catedral by Eurostars and walked to the train station.

We arrived in Madrid and after a bit of kerfuffle trying to navigate  from the Atocha rail station to our hotel in Puerto del Sol we finally arrived at Hotel Europa – a favorite of Rick Steves travelers.  It was daylight when we arrived,

but once we settled and opened our windows, we jumped for joy to see the lighted Christmas tree just outside our window!

The holiday lights brought many, many people and the streets here are jammed – we bravely ventured out in the evening but couldn’t believe the swarms of people!

It’s Sunday now and and we took a tour of the city and walked by the Opera House,

where La Boheme will soon be performed!

Our next task was to get our COVID tests for our return flight.  We walked to a location on the Gran Via and got our swabs.

While we waited for our results we walked to the Prado Museum.  This arrangement was colorful;

and this painting by Spanish painter Diego Velazquez, spectacular as well!

While we were at the museum, our test results came back – both negative.  Hooray!

The buildings and holiday lights in Madrid are stunning,

…but cooler temps make dining outside challenging and unbelievably huge crowds of people make this a less pleasant destination for now.  Perhaps we arrived on a peak holiday shopping weekend.

In spite of that, we’re happy to be traveling again!

Just like in the US, today in Spain is Black Friday and most shops are offering discounts.

We went to the local large department store  El Corte Ingles and it was packed with people – too crowded for us to feel safe.

Granada isn’t the same as we remembered from our first visit in 2002.  In those days, we were younger and covered a lot of miles in a short time.  On that trip, we visited The Alhambra and moved to our next stop.

The Granada we find today is a fine mix of ancient and modern.  On Thanksgiving Day we made the uphill climb to the Albaicin neighborhood.  It still has narrow, winding streets from its Medieval Moorish past.

Staying in sync with the Spanish tradition of eating late lunches and dinners has caused us some stress and on Thanksgiving Day in a fit of hunger, we made a quick decision and picked a restaurant with less than appetizing food.  Instead of turkey and pumpkin pie, we “feasted” on a plate of fried meat and sausages, plus bread and a bottle of cheap wine.  We had a laugh about our “worst Thanksgiving meal ever!”

There is a very modern fresh food market nearby with stalls selling meat, seafood and fresh produce.  It’s quite impressive!

We enjoy the parks and green spaces all around the city.

We’re staying very near the Catedral of Granada and visited late in the afternoon when it was less busy.

Friday is our last day in Granada before we pack again and head to our last stop – Madrid!  On our last day here we took a city bus;

…To Monasterio de la Cartuja, a Carthusian monastery on the outskirts of the city of Granada.  The simple courtyard is lovely,

but the interior as someone described is a “flamboyant explosion of ornamentation.”  It’s stunning and over-the-top!

Once back on the city we made a stop for lunch at Antigua Bodegas Castaneda.  The food here is delicious and plentiful.  This platter of smoked seafood was a bargain at 17 Euro!

The eggplant delicious as well!

We feel fine about our change in itinerary.   The weather here has been chilly but pleasant and dry – on the other hand it’s rained steadily in the Basque region and the virus count is higher than in other parts of Spain.

Tomorrow we’ll take a train and plan to arrive in Madrid by 4:30!

 

 

When the weather looked cold and rainy and we scrapped our plan to travel north the Basque region, we had to make some decisions.  Granada or Valencia?  Granada seemed a little easier to get to, the weather a little warmer, and we remembered that we liked it many years ago.  So here we are!  The main street, Gran Via is lined with colorful ginkgo trees.

Larry is a whiz at getting us from one destination to another and booked bus tickets from Seville to Granada.  We used an app like Uber called Cabify to get to the Seville Plaza de Armas Bus station which worked great.

Continue reading “Greetings From Granada!”

Sunday we walked nearly eight miles exploring the city – we started our day with a walk around Barrio Santa Cruz, one of Seville’s oldest neighborhoods.

Behind the iron gates we see patios filled with orange trees, greenery, and flowers in season.

The ambiance of tree-filled squares and narrow alleyways have inspired many operettas set in Seville (Don Giovanni, Carmen, The Barber of Seville, and The Marriage of Figaro.)  The sign on the wall says, “In a tavern located on this street, Carmen would meet Don Jose and Escamillo.”  Fun to imagine!

Next we walked to Plaza de la Encarnacion to check out – “the mushroom” a huge canopy of five waffle-patterned, toadstool-like structures.  It’s the site of busy local market.

Lunch was at an outdoor restaurant along the river under the shade of orange trees.  We’ve been fascinated by these trees packed with oranges that no one seems to eat!   We learned the hard way that these oranges are bitter – only used to make vitamins, perfume and marmalade.

And now, a bit of the gritty-side of Seville.

Sunday evening is a good time to do laundry – it’s easier than ever before as the soap is incorporated in the process so all we had to do was load the clothes and add euros – 5 in this case.  While waiting for our laundry to finish, we met a very nice young man from London who is spending a month in Seville to study Spanish.

We’ve spent the last several days admiring the outside of the Cathedral and decided that it was time to go inside.  We bought tickets online in advance and got a senior discount.  It’s the largest Gothic church anywhere and is overwhelmingly huge.  Photos just can’t adequately capture the grandness of the interior.

We’re really fortunate that the weather is still nice enough to dine outdoors.  Fried fish served in paper cones was a good lunch for a Monday.

Tuesday we’ll pack up and take a three-hour bus ride to our next stop Granada.….saying goodbye to Seville for now!

We walked to the colorful Triana neighborhood on the other side of the Guadalquivir River and found a nice place for a tapas lunch.

All around Seville, holiday decorations are in place and it looks like the streets will be quite festive when the lights are turned on the end of November.  The shops, especially the El Corte Ingles Department Store (below) has lots of ornaments for sale.

Seville has many small, elegant shops which make for fun window shopping.

The Royal Alcazar has been a residence for Spain’s rulers for many years.  We visited the beautifully decorated halls and courtyards which have Islamic-style designs.

Yesterday was a nice day and we spent quite a long time walking in the lush Alcazar Gardens.

Even outdoors in the gardens, we were required to wear masks.

We’ve been impressed by the preventive measures taken by many in Spain so far.  Now in Seville, bars and restaurants are crowded and even people eating inside aren’t wearing masks.  We wonder if Spain’s reputation for low virus numbers will hold in the future – we hope so!

The Cathedral is stunning at night but as you can see, clouds are rolling in and rain is on the way.  We are happy to have an apartment for dining “at home” if the weather is icky.

The rains came with thunder and lightning too!  We are happily inside but feeling bad for those stuck outdoors!

Until today, we’ve been so fortunate to have had warm, sunny days but the advance forecast for our next planned stop, Vitoria-Gasteiz is really chilly with rain every day.

We’ve decided to change our plan and we’ll go to Granada for sunnier skies.  It’s nice to be flexible enough to make changes as we go.

For now though, we’re dry and happy in Seville though dinner in tonight might look something like this!

 

 

On our last full day in Cadiz and we had a few things left to see.  We headed out to search for the Torre Tavira – it shouldn’t be hard to find as it’s one of the many (133 now) watchtowers in the city.  This one is at the highest lookout point in the old town.  The highlight of this tower is that it has a Camera Obscura which projects moving images of the city at the precise moment that they are “seen.”  This gave us a wonderful view of various points of interest around the town.  We couldn’t take photos of images from the Camera Obscura but recommend that it you have a chance to see images from one – do so!

Nearby, we bought stamps to mail some postcards at the Correos (Post Office) and Larry bravely dropped them into the mouth of the lion.

We are never seem to be far from the Mercado Central de Abastos so we stopped in for quick snack before our visit to the tower.  We are fascinated with its history – built in 1838 it’s Spain’s oldest covered market.  On this Wednesday, the seafood market was fully stocked!

We really didn’t know much about this city before we arrived, but we’ve concluded that Cadiz a gem.  We think that it deserves a few days visit to really get to know it.  There are many outdoor spaces to enjoy a coffee, glass of wine or a light meal.

Thursday we packed up and took the train to Seville.  It was super breezy in Cadiz – so much so that there was a warning for boats on the sea.  The steel workers are striking so police in riot gear were out en masse.  Just a little excitement as we walked to the rail station.

We miss cozy Cordoba and compact Cadiz but we have a nice place to stay near the Cathedral in Seville.  The city is larger and busier than we’ve become accustomed to.  We shopped for groceries and are waiting for the tour groups to depart so we can explore the city.  It’s not our first time here, but it’s been awhile.

Murillo Suites near the Alcazar is our home base for the next five days.

There is a nice view of the Cathedral from our room near Plaza Santa Cruz.

We’re watching the weather as the forecast for Vitoria-Gasteiz is rainy and chilly for the time we’re scheduled to be there.  If that continues, we might make an alternate plan but for now, we’ll enjoy Seville!

We rented an apartment at El Armador Casa Palacio.  It’s spacious and the small kitchen makes it handy to have breakfast and a light dinner in.  The location is perfect though we confess, we’ve walked more miles than we care to admit, trying to find our way back to our temporary home base.  Here’s the living room:

The Museo de Cadiz is just around the corner.  It’s under renovation but we were able to view a nice mix of archeological finds, Roman statues and fine art.  We especially liked this statue of Livia with flecks of blue paint from antiquity left on her gown.  Tiberius is seen lurking behind her.

Nearby, a cute shop sells handmade-in-Spain Lobe shoes designed by the owner and her friend.  If you like shoes, check out their website at: www.lobespain.com

The Mercado Central has lots of casual outdoor dining stalls with many fresh seafood choices.  Today we tried the fried calamari; crispy, tiny shrimp omelets; and grilled tuna sandwiches.  All good!  Small tapas-style plates make it easy to try several things!

In the afternoon we found the Cathedral rather by accident after stumbling around looking for something else!  The narrow streets of Cadiz wind and twist around in ways that confuse us, though perhaps we’re easily confused.  In any case, it turned out to be a good time to see the inside of the cathedral…

…and to make the climb up to the Tower.

It’s a nice view from this vantage point.

It’s been another good day in Old Cadiz!  So far, the weather is still nice enough in the evening for us to have an aperitivo at an outdoor cafe.  It’s a popular thing to do so we’ll join the crowd!  Cheers!

 

The weather has been surprisingly nice – warm days and not too chilly evenings.  So far, it’s still warm  enough for outdoor dining.  This morning we made a quick stop in the tourist office for a city map and then headed for the walkway by the sea.

There are many parks with lovely flowers like these Birds of Paradise.

We headed inland to check out the Mercado Central with many stalls for produce, cheeses, and cured meats.  Since the fishermen don’t go out on Sunday, the fish stalls are closed.  Still, there was plenty to see.

We had forgotten how fresh and delicious the food in Spain is and Cadiz has many fresh and tasty possibilities, very inexpensively-priced.  These cozy restaurant/bars are colorful with friendly waiters and a Menu del Dia.

We plan to visit the Museo de Cadiz and the Torre Tavira tomorrow.  It’s a nice time to be here!