The Trip That Keeps Growing

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Pictures from Seville

Tiles in the Spanish Pavilion

Spanish Pavilion

One of 4 bridges in Spanish Pavilion

Tiles honoring one of Spain's cities

Indian playing a wind pipe

Old Jewish Quarter

Walls of the Palace

Courtyard in Jewish Quarter

Cathedral of Seville

Cardinal's House

Spanish Architecture

Choir Stall in Cathedral

Christopher Columbus' tomb

Main Alter of Cathedral

Cathedral of Seville

Arriving at the April Fair

Dancing at the Fair

Going to the Fair on horseback

Stunning dance at Fair

Row of tents at Fair

Entrance Arch into Seville

Manzanilla Wine

Everyone dresses up

Parading around the Fair grounds

Dancing in the street

A note about Brotherhoods and Holy Week in Malaga. (I forgot to put this in my blog on Malaga). Holy Week in Spain is the annual commemoration of the Passion of Jesus Christ celebrated by Catholic religious brotherhoods and fraternities that perform penance processions on the streets of almost every Spanish city during the week before Easter. Brotherhoods have their origins in the Middle Age, but a number of them were created during the Baroque Period and also during the 20th and 21st centuries. The membership is usually open to any Catholic person, and family tradition is an important element to become a member or "brother". A common feature in Spain is the almost general usage of the nazareno or penitential robe for some of the participants in the processions. This garment consists in a tunic, a hood with conical tip (similar to that used by the KKK in the US) used to conceal the face of the wearer, and sometimes a cloak. However, unlike the KKK, most of the brothers joined the brotherhoods in order to obtain a holy place where their mortal remains would rest peacefully. The exact colors and forms of these robes depend on the church which the brotherhood is associated with. Each brotherhood is assigned a specific day during Holy Week for its procession (and if it rains that day, they must wait another year for their parade). The processions consist of members (young and old, male and female) dressed in their penitential robe carrying highly decorative floats with the images (or shrines) from their church of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. There is a fee for those brothers that wish to do penance. These floats are only used once a year; the rest of the year they are stored in a building owned by the brotherhood. The shrines are returned to the church after the procession. One of the storage buildings was located across from the ruins of the Roman theater, and our trip leaders arranged for us to have a private tour of the building to see the floats. Each float weighs about a ton so you can image how many people are needed to carry it. And they were beautiful – decorated in gold and silver.

Front entrance to Malaga Cathedral

Bishop's home

Inside Malaga Cathedral

Inside the Malaga Cathedral

Ruins of Roman Theater and Moorish Fortress

Downtown Malaga

Malaga Cathedral

Ruins of Moorish Fortress

Port of Malaga

Malaga from the top of the hill

Sign at a local sidewalk café in Malaga

Brotherhood float that carries shrine to Virgin Mary

Brotherhood float that carries shrine of Jesus

Malaga Lighthouse

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Gibraltar

Gibraltar, located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, is a British Overseas Territory. It was first settled by the Phoenicians, and then, in turn, by the Arb sultans and Spaniards. An Anglo-Dutch force captured Gibraltar from Spain in 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession on behalf of the Habsburg pretender to the Spanish throne. The territory was subsequently ceded to Britain "in perpetuity" under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. During World War II it was an important base for the Royal Navy as it controlled the entrance and exit to the Mediterranean Sea. Although it is a bone of contention with Spain which believes it should rightly belong to Spain, the inhabitants of Gibraltar have overwhelming voted to remain British in two previous referendums. About 30,000 inhabitants live in the main city of Gibraltar. Under the Gibraltar constitution of 2006, Gibraltar governs its own affairs, though some powers, such as defense and foreign relations, remain the responsibility of the Government of the United Kingdom.

Gibraltar has an area of 2.6 square miles and shares its northern border with the Province of Cádiz in Andalusia, Spain. I had always thought that it was an island, but it is connected to Spain by a tiny strip of land. It is at the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, which at its narrowest point separates Africa and Europe by a mere 8 miles.

The main feature of Gibraltar is the Rock of Gibraltar, a 1400 foot limestone tower (also known as the Prudential Life Insurance Company logo). In ancient times it was known as one of the Pillars of Hercules (the other located across the Strait of Gibraltar in Morocco).

Our first stop in Gibraltar was St. Michael’s Cave, a network of limestone caves located in what is called the Upper Rock. The stalactite and stalagmite formations are truly amazing, and they are lit up with a colorful light display. During the Second World War the cave was prepared as an emergency hospital, but was never used. In blasting an alternative entrance to the cave - now used as a tourist exit - a further series of deeply descending chambers was discovered that is now called Lower St. Michael’s Cave. These chambers end in an underground lake of crystal clear water. Unfortunately we were unable to descend to these caves. Today St Michael’s Cave, known for its outstanding acoustics, is used for concerts.

Located near St Michael’s Cave are the military tunnels built during WWII. 1940, Britain was at war with Germany and Italy and the future looked bleak for Gibraltar as the enemy surrounded it. Winston Churchill and the British military leaders believed that an attack on Gibraltar was imminent. The answer was to construct a massive network of tunnels (32 miles), to build a fortress inside a fortress - a city within a city. These tunnels were excavated during 1939-1944 by the Royal Engineers and a contingent of Canadian Engineers, along with a force of 5,000 workers. Inside the tunnels were two headquarters – one used by General Montgomery and the other by General Eisenhower. We had a 45 minute tour through some of these tunnels. The work needed to build these tunnels was mind-blowing, and if it had not been for the diamond-tipped drill that the Canadians provided, it is questionable whether the tunnels could have been built. Fortunately they were never needed as Germany never attacked Gibraltar.

As we were driving along, you could see the Barbary macaques (monkeys) that reside on the upper part of the rock. It is the only wild monkey population in the European continent. There are about 240 that call the rock home.

After lunch back on the ship, we drove to the cable car for a ride up to the top of the rock. It is quite a view of Gibraltar. There is a family of about 40 monkeys that live at the top. Once they had to shut down the cable car because two juvenile monkeys were swinging from the cables. One point of interest is the airport runway. They had to extend it out into the water to make it long enough for today’s planes (the largest plane that can land is the A320). When taking off, pilots must make a steep turn to the left to avoid flying over Spanish airspace (another reminder of the contention between Britain and Spain over ownership of the rock). In the middle of the runway, there is a section that is also a highway. Thirty minutes before a plane is scheduled to take off or land, the highway is shut down.

Our visit to Gibraltar was one of the highlights of our trip. We tend to think of the Rock in relation to Prudential Insurance, but it is so much more. The caves and tunnels were fascinating and the monkeys adorable (if you remembered not to bring food with you – they are very clever thieves).

Monday, April 18, 2016

Seville

We arrived in Seville about 9 AM Thursday morning. Seville is the 4^th largest city in Spain and capital of the province of Andalusia. It is located 50 miles from the Atlantic Ocean on the River Guadalquivir, making it the only river port in Spain.

Seville is approximately 2,200 years old. The various civilizations throughout its history have left the city with a distinct personality, and a large, well-preserved historical center. The mythological founder of the city is Hercules, who the myth says sailed through the Strait of Gibraltar to the Atlantic, and founded trading posts at the current sites of Cádiz and of Seville.

Seville was founded as the Roman city of Hispalis, although its origin dates back to the time of the Phoenicians. Two of the Roman emperors, Trajan and Hadrian, were born in Seville. The walls surrounding the city were originally built during the rule of Julius Caesar, but their current course and design were the result of Moorish reconstructions.

In 712 AD Seville was conquered by the Moors (Muslims from North Africa and remained under Moorish rule until 1248 when Ferdinand III conquered the Moors and Seville became part of the Christian Kingdom of Castile. After the discovery of the Americas, Seville became one of the economic centers of the Spanish Empire as its port monopolized the trans-oceanic trade. Ferdinand Magellan departed from Seville for the first circumnavigation of the Earth in 1519.

After arriving at the port, we went on a bus tour of Seville seeing the pavilions of the different countries that participated in the1929 Expo for the Spanish colonies. These beautiful buildings are now used by the local government and universities. We then stopped at the largest pavilion – the Pavilion of Spain which today houses government offices. It was built in a semi-circle with sections depicting each province and/or major city of Spain. All along the walkway vendors were selling Spanish fans and castanets.

This is a misnomer as all he Jewish synagogues were converted to churches and the Jewish quarter’s land and shops were appropriated by the church during the 1391 Pogrom. Many of the Jewish residences of Seville were killed, and those that were not were forced to convert. Today the Jewish quarter consists mainly of little shops. Along one boundary of the Jewish quarter are the walls of the Alcázar Palace, still in use today by the Royal family.

Our final stop on the walking tour was the Cathedral of Seville, the 3^rd largest cathedral in the world after St Peter’s in Vatican City and St. John’s in London. It was built where there used to be a mosque. The only remnants of the mosque is the tower that is part of the cathedral. It is beautiful inside with many little chapels and the main alter decorated in gold and silver leaf. Although many weddings take place in the Cathedral, only royalty can be married in the main alter. It also has a choir stall of mahogany and marble with twin organs on either side. One of the most important features of the Cathedral is the tomb of Christopher Columbus.

We had lunch in an old convent that had been converted into a restaurant.

Every year, two weeks after Holy Week, Seville holds the Feria de Abril (April Fair). This is a 12-day long party of drink, food and dance which takes place day and night in more than a thousand especially mounted tents. Most of the tents are owned by wealthy Sevillians and are there for their family and invited guests. For this occasion, the women and girls (and even the female babies) dress up in their finest (and fanciest) Flamenco dresses (with flowers in their hair). Many families arrive in their horse-drawn carriages while other men parade on their fine horses. There is a lot of dancing in the tents.

We were especially lucky that this festival fell during the time we were in Seville, so our guides made arrangements to take us there. With Rita leading the way, we wandered around the area, oohing and aahing at all the beautiful dresses. At one tent Rita struck up a conversation with two of the owners (it was an association of 28 families that owned this tent). As a result we were invited in and given a drink of Manzanilla, a unique wine produced in this area. Manzanilla is a pale, very dry sherry that is only grown and produced around Sanlucar de Barrameda which is located on the left bank at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River.

It was a wonderful new discovery. As one of our travelers said: “It was the Kentucky Derby, Mardi Gras, and New Year’s Eve all rolled into one. This year we were the only OAT/Grand Circle tour to be able to see this unique Fair. As we were leaving about 5 PM, people were still streaming in and Rita said the partying would go on until late in the evening.

Back on board the ship, we had our port talk on Gibraltar, dinner, and then early to bed.

Saturday, April 16, 2016

Pictures from Fatima, Nazare and Obidos

Pilgrim walking on knees to the Basilica of Our Lady of Fatima

Basilica of Our Lady of Fatima

Inside Basilica of Our Lady of Fatime

Tombs of Lucia and Jacinta-two of the shepherd children who saw the apparitions

Batalhi Monastery

Entrance to Batalhi Monastery

Inside the Monastery

Light from stained glass window reflecting off the stone columns

Tomb of the Portuguese Unknown Soldier inside the Monastery

Courtyard of the Monastery

Outside walls of the Imperfect Chapel

Inside the Imperfect Chapel

Old woman wearing the traditional 7-layer skirt of the fishermen's wives -- designed to keep them warm when they are in the water cleaning the boats. They put on the long wood stockings when they leave the water.