Road Trip to John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Clarno Unit

The rising sun found us enroute to the Painted Hills of Oregon, but first we stopped in at the Clarno Unit.  Both are parts of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.  (We never did get to the third part, the Sheep Rock Unit, which has a paleontology center with exhibits.)

I thought the scenery of this part of Oregon was quite beautiful.  Once we left U.S. Hwy. 97 near Antelope, Oregon, we were on a curving, relatively deserted road, dipping up and down the hills.  As the daylight brightened, we could see long vistas — rounded hills dappled with green trees in the foreground backed by more dry hills as far as the eye could see.

We arrived at Clarno around 6 o’clock in the morning.  Needless to say, we had the only car in the parking area.  I was expecting to see fossils, but except for one specimen, they were not singled out by signs nor on display, so I just enjoyed the landscape.  I walked the very short Arch Trail up to the foot of the palisades cliff formation.  At the end I saw some fossilized logs and a high circular arch in the stone.

Palisades cliff formation

View from the Arch Trail. You can see our car in the parking area.

View from the Arch Trail, Clarno Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

Another view

Fossilized logs

Delicate arch at the end of the short trail

The sole fossil in evidence on the Trail of Fossils, Clarno Unit

We saw more fossils later in the day along the Leaf Hill Trail in the Painted Hills.  We saw a hill where thousands of fossils have been excavated.  These few were  on display there:

The park literature said, “Within the hills and valleys of Eastern Oregon is one of the richest fossil beds on Earth, an ancient record spanning most of the Age of Mammals. . . . remarkable is the great number and variety of fossils.”  I will take the park’s word for it.

Later we drove through the town of Fossil and stopped for coffee.  It’s a very small town, but it does have a retirement center — good to know we fossils have a place to live out our old age!

 

 

 

 

Al Andalus Luxury Train Tour Day 6: Cordoba

Al Andalus itinerary for Day 6 of the tour

We spent our final day of the Al Andalus tour in Cordoba before one last lunch on board while we returned to Seville, where we started our Andalusian interlude.

Cordoba long the banks of the Guadalquivir River

“The [Guadalquivir] river flowed tortuously through the fertile plain, broad and shallow, and in it the blue sky and white houses of the city were brightly mirrored.  In the distance, like a vapour of amethyst, rose the mountains, while at my feet, in mid-stream, there were two mills which might have been untouched since Moorish days.”
— William Somerset Maugham, The Land of the Blessed Virgin: Sketches and Impressions in Andalusia

” . . . Cordova offers immediately the full sensation of Andalusia.  It is absolutely a Moorish city, white and taciturn, so that you are astonished to meet people in European dress rather than Arabs, in shuffling yellow slippers.”
— William Somerset Maugham, The Land of the Blessed Virgin: Sketches and Impressions in Andalusia

View of Cordoba’s Mezquita from the old Roman Bridge across the Guadalquivir River

“The bridge that the Moors built over the Guadalquivir straggles across the water with easy arches.  Somewhat dilapidated and very beautiful, it has not the strenuous look of such things in England, and the mere sigh of it fills you with comfort.  The clustered houses, with an added softness from the light burning mellow on their roofs and on their white walls, increase the happy-impression that the world is not necessarily hurried and toilful.  And the town, separated from the river by no formal embankment, lounges at the water’s edge like a giant, prone on the grass and lazy, stretching his limbs after the mid-day sleep.”
— William Somerset Maugham, The Land of the Blessed Virgin: Sketches and Impressions in Andalusia

Our multi-lingual guide, Maria, in Cordoba

Old Jewish quarter

The Jewish quarter was characterized by patios and private courtyards, for which Cordoba is famous.

We began our guided tour of Cordoba in the old Jewish quarter.  After the reconquest of Spain by the Catholic kings, the Jews of Cordoba had to convert or leave.  Most went into exile, and our guide said that even today there is no Jewish community in Cordoba.

Cordoba’s Mezquita, formerly a mosque, now converted into a cathedral

Exterior, the Mezquita

The highlight of our Cordoba tour was the Great Mosque, the Mezquita.  It was rather imposing, but stark, from the outside.  But inside was a marvel.

Interior, Cordoba’s Mezquita

“Of all the buildings in the Islamic world this is to me the most fantastic. . . . It reminded me of an immense forest full of zebras.  The striped red and white arches stretch away in innumerable vistas, and whichever way you look you see the same view.  It is like a trick with mirrors, yet the feeling it roused in me was one of delight. . . . There is something primitive about the arrangement, yet the effect is, oddly enough, sophisticated.”
— H. V. Morton, A Stranger in Spain

“I know of nothing that can give a more poignant emotion than the interior of the mosque at Cordova. . . . The mosque of Cordova is oriental and barbaric too; but I had never seen nor imagined anything in the least resembling it; there were no disillusionment possible, as too often in Italy, for the accounts I had read prepared me not at all for that overwhelming impression.  It was weird and strange, I felt myself transported suddenly to another world.”
— William Somerset Maugham, The Land of the Blessed Virgin: Sketches and Impressions in Andalusia

“I then entered the mosque by an unprepossessing door and decided to look with unprejudiced eye at this so-called miracle; and as I stood in the darkness and began slowly to adjust to the shadows, I found myself in an architectural fairy tale, surrounded by so many pillars and arches that I could not believe they were real.  I suppose that from where I stood I was seeing something like four hundred separate marble columns, each handsomely polished and with its own capital of Corinthian foliage.  The arches that rose above these columns formed a maze which attracted the eye this way and that, for they were striped with alternate bands of yellow and red, and they were extra impressive in that in certain parts of the mosque they were double, that is, from the top of a capital one arch was slung across to the facing capital, and then three feet above that a second arch was thrown across in the same plane, producing a wild confusion of line and weight.

My first impression was of this wilderness of columns and arches; my second impression was expressed in an involuntary cry ‘It’s so big!’  I think no words could prepare one for the magnitude of this immense building.  Its columns stretch away to darkness in all directions, so vast are the distances, and the fact that light enters at unexpected places adds to the bewilderment.  Also, those vibrating bands of yellow and red increase the confusion, so that one cannot focus on a specific spot in the distance, for his eye is constantly drawn to another.  The men who built this mosque, over the remains of a Visigoth church, had a vision of permanence and magnitude that still stuns the imagination.”
— James Michner, Iberia

“The mosque was dimly lit, the air heavy with incense; and I saw this forest of pillars, extending every way, as far as the eye could reach.  It was mysterious and awe-inspiring as those enchanted forests of one’s childhood in which huge trees grew in serried masses and where in cavernous darkness goblins and giants of the fairy-tales, wild beasts and monstrous shapes, lay in wait for the terrified traveller who had lost his way.”
— William Somerset Maugham, The Land of the Blessed Virgin: Sketches and Impressions in Andalusia

Mihrab, Mezquita

“At length I came to the Mihrab, which is the Holy of Holies, the most exquisite as well as the most sacred part of the mosque.  It is approached by a vestibule of which the roof is a miracle of grace, with mosaics that glow like precious stones, ultramarine, scarlet, emerald, and gold.  The arch between the chambers is ornamented with four pillars of coloured marble, and again with mosaic, the gold letters of an Arabic inscription forming on the deep sapphire of the background in a decorative pattern.  The Mihrab itself, which contained the famous Koran of Othman, has seven sides of white marble, and the roof is a huge shell cut from a single block.”
— William Somerset Maugham, The Land of the Blessed Virgin: Sketches and Impressions in Andalusia

Cathedral inside the mosque

Reflections of stained glass on the floor

“Here, lost in this wilderness of columns, hid a full-sized Catholic cathedral, one of colossal ugliness.”
— James Michner, Iberia

“Nothing could be more emblematic of Andalusia, perhaps even of Spain, than to see this Christian jewel in its unlikely Moslem setting.”
— H. V. Morton, A Stranger in Spain

The awesome beauty of Cordoba’s Great Mosque and cathedral left me speechless.  I cannot think of a more impressive way to end our Al Andalus train tour.

 

 

 

 

 

Travels in Spain: Seville and the Alcazar

“In what you divine rather than in what you see lies half the charm of Andalusia, in the suggestion of all manner of delicate antique things, in the vivid memory of past grandeur.  The Moors have gone, but still inhabit the land in spirit and not seldom in a spectral way seem to regain their old dominion.”
— William Somerset Maugham, The Land of the Blessed Virgin

Alcazar: arches within arches

On our second full day in Seville, Carol and I chose as one our main destination the Reales Alcazar, the palace of the Muslim caliphs who ruled Andalusia (A.D. 711 -1492) and later, after their conquest, the palace of the Christian kings.  We had the foresight to ask our hotel receptionist to book us tickets online the night before, so we avoided standing in line at the entrance.

Entrance gate to the Alcazar, Seville

I was looking forward to seeing the Moorish influences on Spanish architecture:  the quintessential horseshoe arch, glazed tiles, geometric patterns, calligraphy, domes, and delicate carvings.  The Alcazar is emblematic of the Moorish design aesthetic.  Rooms opening upon rooms, arches opening upon arches, the detailed grillwork, repeating patterns, stylized motifs, pools and gardens all bespoke an understated elegance and richness that was very opposite the heavy opulence of the Spanish cathedrals we had seen.  The spaces felt light and expansive, like an echo of infinity.

Arch in the Courtyard of the Hunt, Alcazar

Painting of St. Mary of the Navigators in the Admiralty rooms, Alcazar

It seemed fitting to be walking in the footsteps of Columbus on this October holiday weekend.  The next day would be Columbus Day and a national holiday in Spain.  It was in the Admiralty rooms of the Alcazar where Queen Isabella interviewed Columbus about his voyages of discovery.  The Audience Hall contains a small replica of the Santa Maria and the full painting above included a portrait of Columbus.

Courtyard of the Maidens, Alcazar

Courtyard of the Maidens

“The first glimpse is unforgettable; the fantasy, the lightness, the play of light and shade, the clusters of gold honeycombs at roof level, the slender columns matched two by two, the cusped arches, the lace-like arabesques above them; but it goes on and on like an endless Arab anecdote, full of repetition, until you have the impression that the multiplication table has been set to music.”
— H. V. Morton, A Stranger in Spain

Ceiling in the Hall of the Ambassadors, Alcazar

I especially liked the ceiling in the Hall of the Ambassadors.  The cube-shaped room represents the earth, and the half-domed ceiling the starry heavens.

Terrace overlooking the gardens, Alcazar

Crane tiles in the Banquet Hall, Alcazar

Detail of tapestry, Hall of Tapestries, Alcazar

In the garden, Alcazar

“Seville doesn’t have ambience, it is ambience.”
— James Michner

Patio de Banderas, Seville

Court of the Orange Trees, Seville

Irrigation paths, Court of the Orange Trees, Seville

I felt transported to another place and time at the Alcazar, and I was reluctant to leave and re-enter the twenty-first century.  These patios with Seville’s iconic orange trees were a nice transition space.  Seville’s oranges are bitter, the kind used in marmalade, rather than eating plain.

But soon our walking took us back into the hustle and bustle of Seville:

Seville street performer

Magnificent photos by Aitor Lara graced the side of this building, Seville

Shop window, Seville

Shop window, Seville

Seville street scene

Shop door, Seville

Our stroll took us across the Puente de Isabel II, the bridge to Triana, which is known for its historic tile factories.

Puente de Isabel II

Triana, across the Guadalquivir River from Seville proper

Tile on display in the museum

Ceramic vase on display in the museum

 

 

 

Haarlem, Netherlands: Impressions 1

Barge on the River Spaarne, Haarlem

Don’t you love it when you travel to a foreign country and it actually looks and feels exotic and different from your accustomed surroundings?  When I was in Haarlem I felt immediately that I was in Europe.  The houses, buildings, canals, narrow stone streets, doors and windows, sidewalk cafes — everything exuded Old World charm.

Spring in Holland was at least a month behind Seattle’s, and though I was looking for tulips, I saw only snowdrops and crocuses and a few yellow daffodils.  I had planned on renting a bike and touring the countryside near Haarlem, but it was too cold (reached freezing overnight) so I spent my 1-1/2 days there simply walking.  And that was a delightful way to spend my time.  The AirBnB home where I stayed was a 45-minute walk along the River Spaarne from central Haarlem.

Haarlem, like much of the Netherlands, is flat, densely populated, and cosmopolitan.  It is a very walkable city, crisscrossed by canals and the river which are lined, wall to wall, with old gabled homes and buildings, houseboats, and little cafes.  The public transportation on trains and buses is a marvel — clean, on time, and affordable.  I was so taken with the biking culture here that I will devote my next post to bicycles.

Let me share some of the sights and delights of Haarlem with you here:

Rooftop view of Haarlem with Grote Kerk dominating the city’s center square

Rooftop view of Haarlem from the 6th floor cafeteria in the V&D Department Store

Lovely old canal houses along the River Spaarne

Shabby chic — rustic table and chairs on a canal barge, Haarlem

River reflections

De Adriaan windmill in Haarlem; notice the short rail track from the water to the mill.

Cut tulips brighten a window

Bridges and arches over the canals; notice all the bikes on the bridge.

I loved seeing “Stinke” cheese spread at the Grote Market

Butcher stall at the Grote Market in the central square

McDonald’s sign. “Chain stores abort vacation vision.” — Alexandra Horowitz

Even the crows are different from the ones at home in Seattle.

Flowers grace a houseboat along the canal, Haarlem

Door of alms house, Haarlem. (Wealthy merchants charitably funded homes for widows and poor women. I took a self-guided walk to see some of them.)

Coffee break at the V&D

My mother always told me to clean my plate.

 

 

Central Park in Winter

Central Park

“I have never found a city without its walkers’ rewards.”
— John Finley, “Traveling Afoot”

Temperatures plummeted to about 10 degrees during our final two days in NYC, but we found that it was comfortable walking as long as we stayed bundled up.  Walking through the trees of Central Park broke the wind, taking the biggest edge off the cold.  The park was a starkly beautiful place in winter.  We happened to be there when they city was making snow for a winter festival.  The sparkly moisture in the air created an eerily beautiful backdrop to the views.

Windy path in Central Park

Park benches

Horse-drawn carriage

The park was quiet in the cold winter morning

Trees of Central Park

Snow-making machine at work

Central Park

Lamp posts, Central Park

Trees near the Mall, Central Park

Benches lining the Mall

The Mall, Central Park

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New York: A City of Memorials

Our walk around Lower Manhattan and the Financial District took us past several impressive memorials, which together reflect the diversity of the city.

First we walked from the Brooklyn Bridge past the site of the fallen One World Trade Center.  There, the new Freedom Tower is under construction.  It will be 1,776-feet tall (counting the antenna).  We stopped by the small church that survived the 9/11 devastation, St. Paul’s Chapel.

Freedom Tower on the site of the former One World Trade Center

9/11 memorial inside St. Paul’s Chapel, across from the World Trade center site

Flag and white ribbons on the grounds of St. Paul’s Chapel

From there, we walked past the construction site along Vesey Street all the way to the Hudson River.

Pedestrian tunnel on Vesey Street

The Irish Hunger Memorial is at the end of Vesey Street in Battery City Park.  The Irish potato famine of 1845 – 1852 killed 1.5 million people, and resulted in a large emigration to New York City and America.  The memorial is designed to create awareness of the problem of hunger and the events that led to the famine.

Irish Hunger Memorial

We walked south along the Hudson River, stopping by Three World Trade Center, with its immense glass atrium.

View of Freedom Tower through the ceiling of Three World Trade Center

The NYPD Police Memorial, also in Battery City Park,  commemorates those police officers who lost their lives in the course of their duties.

NYPD Police Memorial

Benches in Battery City Park along the Hudson River

Continuing our stroll along the Hudson River, we next came to the Museum of Jewish Heritage.  I have long wanted to see an Andy Goldsworthy installation, so we stopped in to see the Museum’s Garden of Stones, which he designed to remember and honor those who suffered, died, and survived the Holocaust.  Admission to the Garden of Stones is free.

The Andy Goldsworthy Garden of Stones, with the Statue of Liberty in the background

Dwarf oak trees emerge from each boulder — the ephemeral and the timeless

Garden of Stones at the Museum of Jewish Heritage

The esplanade along the Hudson River is a beautiful walk.  We followed it all the way to the southern tip of Manhattan Island, where we caught the free Staten Island Ferry.  We got great views of the Statue of Liberty from the ferry.

Free Staten Island Ferry

Statue of Liberty viewed from the Staten Island Ferry

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shores.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
— Emma Lazarus, “The New Colossus”