To Leave Things Unvisited

“The wisest thing is to leave unvisited in every country some place that one wants very much to see.”
— William Somerset Maugham, The Land of the Blessed Virgin: Sketches and Impressions in Andalusia

I don’t know whether I will ever return to Spain, so I cherish the two plus weeks I spent there this October.  I say this not because I have exhausted my interest in Spain, but because life is so short.  There are so many places and activities competing for my limited time and savings.

We never did drink from the supposedly magical fountain, Font de Canaletes, on the Ramblas — a single drink is supposed to guarantee that you will fall in love with Barcelona and return again.  So perhaps we stacked the cards against us!

Still, I did leave unvisited some places that I would very much like to return to, if time and money permit.  Here are my top two:

•  In Toledo I regret that we did not have enough time on our single day trip to see much beyond the magnificent cathedral.  What I would most like to see would be El Greco paintings hanging in those locations where he painted them.  Here is a list.

• In Barcelona, I would love to make a day trip to Colonia Guell to see more of Gaudi’s imaginative architecture and art.

Now that my travels have ended and I have completed my recap in these blog posts, I am ready to stop looking back and start looking ahead.  Where will my future travels take me?  Will I change how I travel in my retirement?  While I doubt I will give up completely the idea of traveling as vacation — a fun break from my regular routines — I am thinking  more along these lines:

• Retreats:  to deepen my skills (watercolor painting, photography, sketching, writing, journaling, etc.) — among other like-minded souls
• Action adventures:  hiking or walking trips, for example, or pilgrimages
• Sojourns:  renting an apartment for three or four weeks in a single destination, like Seville or Manhattan, living like the locals and making day trips from there
• Work assignments:  perhaps someday someone will actually pay me to take photographs and write and blog about a place

How do you fashion your travels?  Any suggestions?

Spain Travels: Modern and Cutting Edge

Glassed-in balcony, Barcelona

Given that historical buildings in Seattle are likely to be less than two hundred years old, it is not surprising that I was drawn to the charms of medieval and vintage Spain —  its narrow labyrinthine streets in the old quarters of its cities, the faded Moorish influences, the wrought-iron balconies . . .  But I was also very impressed with some of Spain’s avant-garde glimpses of fashion and architecture.

Fashion, shop window in Granada

I was totally captivated by this metal spiral staircase that we saw inside La Caixa Forum in Madrid:

And their bathrooms were pretty wonderful, too!

Apple-green restroom, La Caixa Forum, Madrid

The Metropole Parasol at Plaza de Encarnacion in Seville is a fanciful urban installation with an elevated viewing platform.  I loved the lightness of its balsa-wood-like structure, its curviness, and imaginative shape.

And in Barcelona, we spotted the Agbar Tower, that gherkin-shaped building designed by Jean Nouvel, as we were crossing a street.

All of these wonderful expressions of modern style and design tell me that Spain is not living in the past, but is striding exuberantly into the future.

 

 

 

Travels in Spain: Barcelona’s La Sagrada Familia

” . . . the Sagrada Familia is Barcelona as much as Sacre-Coeur is Paris and the Empire State Building is New York City.”
— Mary Ellen Jordan Haight and James J. Haight, Walks in Picasso’c Barcelona

La Sagrada Familia

” . . . Antoni Gaudi’s phantasmagoric prayer in stone.”
— from Frommer’s Easy Guide to Barcelona and Madrid

The highlight of my time in Barcelona was seeing Gaudi’s great basilica, La Sagrada Familia.  I have been fortunate in my travels to have seen some of those special spiritual places designed by great artists:  the Matisse chapel in Vence, Mark Rothko’s chapel in Houston, Louise Nevelson’s Chapel of the Good Shepherd in St. Peter’s Church in New York City, and on this trip Goya’s Real Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida.  Gaudi’s unfinished masterpiece is another of these unique marriages of art and spirituality.

When you travel in Europe, there seems to be a cathedral in every city or large town, and for me, these cathedral visits lose their appeal after a while.  They start blurring together.  The gold-plated trimmings, Biblical paintings and statues, and displays of wealth and power seem at odds with the way I see the universe.  They do not inspire awe so much as repel.  But Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia is not like that.  Its interior is awe-inspiring and your spirit seems to soar.  It feels uplifting and humble at the same time.  The space is clean and uncluttered compared to those Gothic cathedrals.  The lights, softly colored, evoke a spiritual space.  If you travel to Barcelona to do nothing but visit La Sagrada Familia, it would be worth it.

Exterior, La Sagrada Familia

The Nativity façade

The angular sculptures on the Passion façade

“The entire front was a kind of garden rising vertically from the pavement.  Vines climbed upward to provide niches in which statues of Biblical figures stood as if resting in some countryside grape arbor.  What in a traditional façade would have been a pillar, here became a tree in whose spreading branches perched stone birds.  On either side of the main entrance, at eye level, families of realistic chickens scratched, beautifully carved, and wherever human figures appeared, animal life appeared also, for it was obvious that Gaudi had loved nature; his definition of religion encompassed all that lived.”
— James Michner, Iberia

” . . . the spires were built in such a way that they resembled pretzel sticks studded with salt crystals, except that at the upper end they narrowed down to points of rock candy, brilliantly colored.  The spire was decorated with ceramic bits set in plaster and color was reflected everywhere. . . . and since many of the ceramic pieces were finished in gold, the spire seemed to be a finger of the sun.”
— James Michner, Iberia

Interior, La Sagrada Familia

“The dominant aspect of the whole concept for the cathedral was the emphasis on verticality, the linking of heaven to earth.”
— Mary Ellen Jordan Haight and James J. Haight, Walks in Picasso’s Barcelona

“The straight line is the work of Man, but the curve is the work of God.”
— Antoni Gaudi

 

Travels in Spain: Barcelona’s Ramblas and Mercat de la Boqueria

“Today, for most people, the Ramblas is Barcelona.”
—  Robert Hughes, Barcelona the Great Enchantress

The Ramblas, Barcelona

“The humanity of the Rambla!  It’s an inscrutably human street!  So many stories come and go every day from these cafes, shops, and stairways!  The air is saturated with their human feet.”
— Josep Pla, The Gray Notebook, translated by Peter Bush

“The Ramblas is and always will be one of the great, seedy, absorbing theaters of Spain, or for that matter of Europe.”
—  Robert Hughes, Barcelona the Great Enchantress

Mercat de la Boqueria

My favorite part of strolling the Ramblas was our little detour into the grand food market, Mercat de la Boqueria, which reminded me of Seattle’s Pike Place Market and the one on Granville Island in Vancouver, B.C.  An overwhelming panorama of vibrant colors, prepared dishes, and raw food.

“[The Boqueria] is the hub and heart of both Barcelona’s gastronomy and its everyday eating.  Its site was originally occupied by the sixteenth-century convent of Sant Josep and the fourteenth-century one of Santa Maria.  Hang me for a gluttonous atheist if you will, but compared to the increase of human happiness afforded by this great market, the loss of a couple of convents is nothing. . . .

For any serious lover of food — which most Catalans aggressively are — there is no other place in the world quite like the Boqueria, that vast covered space crammed with stalls that display just about everything short of human flesh that could conceivably be eaten, from skinned rabbits (their moist eyes still peering reproachfully at the hardhearted shopper) to soft brown hills of newly shot but unplucked partridges, neatly tied fagots of expensive but irresistible angullos or jamon Serrano. . . . If there were a grocery, butcher, and fishmonger attached to the Garden of Eden, in which one could sample what terrestrial food tasted like before the fall of man, it would be something like the Boqueria.”
—  Robert Hughes, Barcelona the Great Enchantress

 

Travels in Spain: Barcelona

“To travel across Spain and finally to reach Barcelona is like drinking a respectable red wine and finishing up with a bottle of champagne.”
— James Michner, Iberia

“It was a magnificent day; the skies were electric blue, and a crystal breeze carried the cool scent of autumn and the sea.  I will always prefer Barcelona in October.  It is when the spirit of the city seems to stroll most proudly through the streets.”
— Carlos Ruiz Zafon, The Shadow of the Wind

View of Barcelona from the terrace at Parque Guell

“The city is a sorceress . . . It gets under your skin and steals your soul without you knowing it.”
— Carlos Ruiz Zafon, The Shadow of the Wind

Carol and I spent the final days of our Spain trip in Barcelona.  We traveled via bullet train from Seville to Barcelona, a 5-1/2 hour journey, remarkably smooth considering we were speeding along at up to 300 km/hour (over 180 mph)!  We passed lots more orange and olive trees on the journey.

So many motor scooters in Barcelona

Building with balconies, Barcelona

Some of these balconies were glassed in.

Once in Barcelona, we resumed our habits of walking and eating tapas.  We noticed the prevalence of motor scooters as a popular mode of transportation here.  The citizens seemed industrious; there was construction going on, deliveries to the many shops and bars, lots of hustle and bustle.

Like all Spanish cities, the buildings sported lovely balconies.

“Ornate balconies, sometimes entirely boxed in with glass, hung like family jewels on the faces of the old buildings.”
— Miranda Franca, Don Quixote’s Delusions: Travels in Castilian Spain

Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter

Barcelona’s old town, the Gothic Quarter, had its share of narrow streets.  But the city’s architecture also reflected the influence of Moderniste architects and designers, like Gaudi.

La Sagrada Familia, Gaudi’s bascilica

Casa Batllo, designed by Gaudi

Reflection in scooter mirror

Lovely Moderniste lamp post, Barcelona

The terrace of Parque Guell

Parque Guell, terrace overlooking the city

Parrot in Parque Guell

We were back being independent travelers in Spain.  Which meant that we were entirely dependent on maps.  Maybe we were tired, but we seemed to get lost repeatedly.  It didn’t help that the street signs pointed in directions at odds with the map!  Aah.  The joys of travel . . .

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

Al Andalus Luxury Train Tour Day 5: Linares, Baeza, and Ubeda

Al Andalus itinerary for Day 5

In the early morning of Day 5 our train made its journey to the station at Linares-Baeza where we parked for the day.  We were definitely in olive country.  Rows upon rows of olive trees stretched to the distant horizon outside the train windows.

View of the landscape around Granada, from the train window

Olive trees as far as the eye could see

An accident blocked the road to the Olive Oil Museum in Baeza, so we had a change in itinerary and started the day with a walking tour of the town.  Our guide, Andrei (he was Italian and loved to talk with his hands), was very enthusiastic about sharing the history of this area of Spain, where he is now a resident.

Baeza was a center of learning and the location of an antique university.  Today the new International University of Andalucía is located there.

Antique University

 

Botanical print on the walls of the Antique University

This was a day for small towns.  After we left Baeza, we took the bus to Ubeda, where we went on another walking tour.

The town of Baeza

Scenery around Ubeda, from the bus window

Landscape with olive trees, near Ubeda

Finally, after another delicious lunch at the National Parador of Ubeda, we were able to drive to the Olive Oil Museum for a tour and olive oil tasting.  Our guide said that this area of Spain has 65 million olive trees, of which half have been planted in the past 50 years.  There is now very much a mono-crop agricultural economy here.  And 95-percent of the trees in the Baeza area are of the Picual variety which make the best olive oil.

When we did the olive oil tasting, I discovered that the oil of the Picual olives leaves a very bitter aftertaste.  But it is high in nutrients and good for cooking.

We learned that virgin oil is derived by simple pressing or squeezing (no refining).  Extra virgin oil has only positive attributes.  The color of the oil doesn’t reflect on its quality.  If green, it just means the olives were picked earlier in their growth cycle so they retain more chlorophyll. Olive oil never gets better with age.  Two years is the maximum expiration date.  Olives for eating need to sit 40 days in salt brine.

Olive oil tasting at the Olive Oil Museum of Baeza

The first cat I saw in Spain (at the Olive Oil Museum)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Al Andalus Luxury Train Tour Day 4: Granada

En route to Granada, view from the train windows

We set out for Granada after a leisurely lunch at Ronda’s parador, and we stayed in Granada for our Day 4 activities.

“The ancient kingdom of Granada, into which we are about to penetrate, is one of the most mountainous regions of Spain.  Vast sierras or chains of mountains, destitute of shrub or tree and mottled with variegated marbles and granites, elevate their sunburnt summits against a deep-blue sky, yet in their rugged bosoms lie engulfed the most verdant and fertile valleys, where desert and the garden strain for mastery, and the very rock is, as it were, compelled to yield the fig, the orange and the citron, and to blossom with the myrtle and the rose.”
— Washington Irving, Tales of the Alhambra

” . . . the Sierra Nevada, the pride and delight of Granada, the source of her cooling breezes and perpetual verdure, of her gushing fountains and perennial streams. . . . Those mountains may well be called the glory of Granada.”
— Washington Irving, Tales of the Alhambra

The major tourist site in Granada is the Alhambra.

“On the hill above the city stands, of course, the Alhambra — foppish within, tremendous on the outside, especially if you pick out its red and golden walls through the lens of a distant telescope, and see it standing there beneath the Sierra Nevada like an illumination in a manuscript.”
— Jan Morris, Spain

Looking out at Granada from the Alhambra

“Such is the Alhambra — a Moslem pile in the midst of a Christian land, an Oriental palace amidst the Gothic edifices of the West, an elegant memento of a brave, intelligent, and graceful people who conquered, ruled and passed away.”
— Washington Irving, Tales of the Alhambra

We started our guided tour of the Alhambra in the Generalife, the royal gardens of the complex.

View of Granada from the elevations of the Alhambra

View of Granada from the Generalife gardens

” . . . [Y]ou may see places long and often before they are thus magically revealed to you, and for myself I caught the real emotion of Granada but once, when from the Generalife I looked over the valley, the Generalife in which are mingled perhaps more admirably than anywhere else in Andalusia all the charm of Arabic architecture, or running water, and of cypress trees, purple flags and dark red roses.”
— William Somerset Maugham, The Land of the Blessed Virgin: Sketches and Impressions in Andalusia

Generalife, Alhambra

Generalife, Alhambra

The view from the Alcazaba, the military area of the Alhambra complex, looked down on a great wall,  what I imagine is like the Great Wall of China.

Great wall marches over the landscape, Granada

My favorite parts of the Alhambra complex were the Nasrid Palaces, which like the Alcazar in Seville, were magical spaces, full of Moorish touches.

” . . . all Moorish buildings are externally plain . . . the actual entrance, offering no hint of the incredible magnificence within, is an insignificant door. . . . But then, then you are immediately transported to a magical place, existing in some uncertain age of fancy, which does not seem the work of human hands, but rather of Jun, and enchanted dwelling of seven lovely damsels.”
— William Somerset Maugham, The Land of the Blessed Virgin: Sketches and Impressions in Andalusia

” . . . the Alhambra was much lovelier and much more Muslim than I had anticipated.  I think what pleased me most in the buildings was the subtle manner in which one memorable room or hall led quietly into the next, as if an intricate musical composition were unfolding with always the right notes appearing where they were needed.  One moves through this extensive collection of architectural highlights as if he were in a dream, in which one gentle surprise lures him on to the next.”
— James Michner, Iberia

“But in the Alhambra the imagination finds itself at last out of its depth, it cannot conjure up chambers more beautiful than reality presents.”
—  William Somerset Maugham, The Land of the Blessed Virgin:  Sketches and Impressions in Andalusia

“From the terrace that overlooks the city you enter the Court of Myrtles — a long pool of water with goldfish swimming to and fro, enclosed by myrtle hedges.  At the ends are arcades, borne by marble columns with capitals of surpassing beauty.  It is very quiet and very restful; the placid water gives an indescribable sensation of delight, and at the end mirrors the slender columns and the decorated arches so that in reflection you see the entrances to a second palace, which is filled with mysterious, beautiful things.”
—  William Somerset Maugham, The Land of the Blessed Virgin:  Sketches and Impressions in Andalusia

“The Court of Myrtles, where the reflection of  orange trees lies in a pool of unruffled green water, was lovely; and I thought that whenever the Arab can ge into the open air and make a garden he often creates purest poetry.”
— H. V. Morton, A Stranger in Spain

Court of the Lions, Alhambra

“The Courtyard of the Lions was as pure a work of art as I had been told, for there the inventive architects had converted a collection of slim marble columns and filigreed arches into a garden of stone which includes that handsome twelve-sided fountain protected by a pride of granite lions who look more like friendly puppy dogs than jungle beasts.”
— James Michner, Iberia

“What queer benevolent lions they are . . .”
— H. V. Morton, A Stranger in Spain

Hall of the Ambassadors

“But it is in he Hall of the Ambassadors which shows, most fully the unparalleled splendor of Moorish decoration.  It is a square room, very lofty, with alcoves on three sides, at the bottom of which are windows; and the walls are covered, from the dado of the tiles to the roof, with the richest and most varied ornamentation. . . . One pattern follows another with infinite diversity.  Even the alcoves, and there are nine, are covered each with different designs, so that the mind is bewildered by their graceful ingenuity.  All kinds of geometric figures are used, enlacing with graceful intricacy, intersecting, combining and dissolving; conventional foliage and fruit, Arabic inscriptions. . . . The effect is so gorgeous that you are oppressed; you long for some perfectly plain space whereon to rest the eye, but every inch is covered.”
—  William Somerset Maugham, The Land of the Blessed Virgin:  Sketches and Impressions in Andalusia

I loved that the uniforms of the Alhambra staff incorporated traditional Moorish tile designs and colors

“[Leaving the Alhambra] . . . to mingle once more in the bustle and business of the dusty world.  How was I to encounter its toils and turmoils, after such a life of repose and reverie?  How was I to endure its commonplace, after the poetry of the Alhambra?”
— Washington Irving, Tales of the Alhambra

 

 

Al Andalus Luxury Train Tour Day 3: Ronda

Itinerary for Day 3 of our Al Andalus train tour

We spent the third day of our Al Andalus train tour in the town of Ronda, another of Spain’s white villages.  I found Ronda quite beautiful, and after a walking tour with a guide, I was perfectly content to stroll its narrow streets with Carol.

Ronda, another of Spain’s white villages

“Ronda is set deep among the mountains between Algeciras and Seville; they hem it in on all sides, and it straggles up and down little hills, timidly, as though its presence were an affront to the wild rocks around it.  The houses are huddled against the churches, which look like portly hens squatting with ruffled feathers, while their chicks, for warmth, press up against them.”
— William Somerset Maugham, The Land of the Blessed Virgin

“But if Ronda itself is a somewhat dull and unsympathetic place with nothing more for the edification of the visitor than a melodramatic chasm, the surrounding country is worthy of the most extravagant epithets.  The mountains have the gloomy barrenness, the slate grey colour of volcanic ranges; they encircle the town in a gigantic amphitheatre, rugged and overbearing like Titans turned to stone.  They seem, indeed, to wear a somber insolence of demeanour as though the aspect of human kind moved them to lofty contempt.”
— William Somerset Maugham, The Land of the Blessed Virgin

View of Ronda from the Puente Nuevo (new bridge)

Landscape surrounding Ronda

Our tour guide told us that Ronda has been depicted as a romantic destination by many writers over the years. Even Hemingway endorsed it:

“That is where you should go if you ever go to Spain on a honeymoon. . . . The entire town and as far as you can see in any direction is romantic background . . . Ronda has everything you wish for a stay of that sort.  Romantic scenery, you can see it if necessary without leaving the hotel, beautiful short walks, good wine, seafood, a fine hotel, practically nothing else to do . . .”
— Ernest Hemingway, Death in the Afternoon

Tiled mural in Ronda

I liked the quaint charm of the town — its narrow streets, unusual doors, wrought-iron balconies, neatly tiled entryways.

Narrow street up from the Puente Nuevo, Ronda

A small doorway inside a bigger door was characteristic of the homes here.

Tidy entryway

Narrow street, Ronda

Self-portrait in sunglasses

Ronda is also known as the birthplace of bullfighting and its double-tiered bullring is one of the oldest in Spain.  The Plaza de Toros also houses a museum, and I was especially taken with some of the beautiful posters displayed there.

“The bull ring at Ronda was built toward the end of the eighteenth century and is of wood.  It stands at the edge of the cliff and after the bullfight when the bulls have been skinned and dressed and their meat sent out for sale on carts they drag the dead horses over the edge of the cliff and the buzzards that have circled over the town and high in the air over the ring all day, drop down to feed on the rocks below the town.”
— Ernest Hemingway, Death in the Afternoon

Bullring in Ronda

I liked the little folk-art embellishments in the ring.

Tourists playing around in Ronda’s bullring

Lovely tiled staircase inside bullring, Ronda

Detail of staircase tile

Museum, Ronda bullring (looking at the matador regalia, you could see that most were very small men).

One of my favorite historic posters

 

 

 

 

 

 

Al Andalus Luxury Train Tour Day 2: Jerez and Ronda

Itinerary for Day 2 of our Al Andalus train tour

The second day of our Al Andalus luxury train tour was filled with iconic Andalusian experiences:  sherry, horses, and flamenco.

Jerez de la Frontera, one of Spain’s white villages

Jerez

“Every building in Jerez is washed with lime, and in the sunlight the brilliancy is dazzling. . . . Jerez is like a white banner floating under the cloudless sky.”
— William Somerset Maugham, The Land of the Blessed Virgin: Sketches and Impressions in Andalusia

Bodegas Gonzales Byass

This region of Spain is known for its sherry.

” . . .[S]herry is a fortified wine aged in above-ground cellars called bodegas in three main towns within the Andalusian province of Cadiz — Jerez de la Frontera, Sanlucar de Barrameda, and El Puerto de Santa Maria.”
— Talia Baiocchi, Sherry: The Wine World’s Best Secret

I learned that all sherry is blended, thus there are no vintage years attached to a particular bottle.  And all are fortified with extra alcohol.  We were taken on tour through the bodega, saw hundreds of barrels of stored sherry, and ended in the tasting room.  My favorite part was seeing the barrels signed in chalk by famous people, like Cole Porter, Esther Williams, Chelsea Clinton, etc.  (They do not own the sherry inside the barrels, however!)

Signed sherry barrel

Tasting room, Bodegas Gonzalez Byass

The bodega grounds

Then we were back on the bus for the drive to The Andalusian Royal School of Equestrian Art where we saw a show featuring the dancing and meticulously choreographed horses of Andalusia.  I was disappointed that photography was not allowed during the performance because the fluid, graceful horses would have provided scores of spectacular photos.

Arena, Andalusian Royal School of Equestrian Art

The day’s Andalusian delights were not yet over.   That evening after dinner, we drove into the town of Ronda for a private flamenco performance.

Flamenco performance, Ronda

“Pain and joy, pena and alegria, are the two emotional motors of flamenco . . .”
— Giles Tremlett, Ghosts of Spain: Travels Through Spain and Its Silent Past

The performance was amazing.  The dancer was electric.  The following quotes capture perfectly what it felt like to watch flamenco in person:

“A man draws the first few phrases of a song out from deep inside him, and suddenly friends are tocando palmas, beating out a complex, staccato, machine-gun rhythm with their hands.  This, along with a dancer’s stamping feet, is the traditional source of flamenco’s percussion.”
— Giles Tremlett, Ghosts of Spain: Travels Through Spain and Its Silent Past

“Whatever the performance, whether the curious strangled notes of the cante jondo are being torn from a falsetto voice or whether the crisis of the dance is achieved and dissipated, there are grace and insolence in the women, cruelty and mastery, absolute male conceit and dominance, in the men.”
— V. S. Pritchett, The Offensive Traveller

“She stood for quite a while in her long, white-spotted red dress, her eyes half closed, waiting to begin while the guitars thrummed in the background.  The audience began to clap and stamp their feet in time to the music, still the girl remained motionless as if in communion with far-off spirits.  Then suddenly up went her arms, click went her castanets, and the music rushed after her as she moved into a dance which, it seemed to me, had the rare flavor of antiquity. . . . She had tremendous vitality and personality and passion.  There was hardly a sound now as she danced, only the guitars and the rapping of her high heels; and to me her dress had become the many flounced dress of the Cretan snake-goddess, whose altars were strewn with cockle shells, perhaps the first castanets.

There were moments when her body was stationary except for a slight tapping of her heels; but her arms and hands were still dancing, weaving slow patterns in the air.  Then she would plunge into her corybantic frenzy again, bending, shuddering, turning and glancing over her shoulder.  All the time, above her head, at her waist, in the air around her, like cicadas on a summer day, was the sharp rattle of what Madrid called the Boetica crusmata.  With a swirl of her dusty skirts she had abolished the modern world . . . Then, when I least expected it, the guitars broke off, the girl stood as still as coloured marble, hardly breathing, and a volley of Ole‘s rewarded a living visitor from a world that we are told died three thousand years ago.”
— H. V. Morton, A Stranger in Spain