Spanspek

Back to Pension Barja for one more night. In the morning we got up to have breakfast at a cafe we'd previously visited. It's radio is fixed to a station that seems to play nothing but English-language pop music.

We picked up our luggage and took one last trip on the Metro to the Airport. I hadn't realised that it costs €1 to make one trip, but €2 to go to the airport. The tiocket vending machines at other stations don't offer this, but there are "supplementary ticket" machines at the exits of the Airport stations. Who cares! It's still very cheap.

I'm glad I didn't spend all my Euros: Iberia charges for food and drink!

It took one hour of queueing to get through UK Immigration. I was a bit uncertain about the actual address of the houseboat Lou's Mum had organised as accommodation so I wrote down what I thought it was (Kew Bridge Road—this may not may not be the case). The sour-faced officer didn't give me too hard a time though.

The Tube ride was 50 minutes. I bought an Oyster Card. The guy at the counter recommended a 7-day pass but didn't tell me that there were to be works on several lines that weekend with no replacement bus service. I might have waited until Monday otherwise. I travelled to Russell Square and hiked a couple of blocks.

The hotel that Mum booked for her and Gillian (and me, for the first night) is two terrace houses combined. There's no ventilation in the rooms so it's incredibly stuffy.

I found my sister resting and we spent the hour catching up until Mum arrived. Soon after, we went out in search of dinner. Thanks goodness I'm moving out tomorrow!

Since we got to bed at 1am, the 6am wake-up was a bit rough, but apparently necessary if we were to get back to Madrid on time.

On the way, we visited Toledo in La Mancha. The old city is perched high on a rock surrounded on three sides by the River Tagus whch makes for some spectacular views... and good defences in days gone by. Ther are numerous churches, but perhaps the best kown is the Church of San Tom� which houses El Greco's famous Burial of Count Orgiz. Our guide claimed it was the third best masterpiece in the world. It is an extraordinary painting but characteristically grey (as are many of El Greco's works).

Toledo has so many churches. While we did not visit many, I felt that were we to do so I'd see more of the excessive style I've already mentioned. Still, unlike the outfits run by the Jim Bakkers of the world, you can see where the money went!

One monastery was quite striking. on its walls hang chains and shackles. These were once used on Christians captured by the Moors during the wars to reclaim Southern Spain and hung as a daily reminder of past suffering.

We were given the afternoon and evening off in Sevilla. Just as well too as the following day has been non-stop.

We rode three hours from Sevilla to Granada and went diretly to La Alhambra, the palace of the Muslim rulers. it comprises a main palace and a summer palace.

The summer palace is a series of spacious buildings and exquisite courtyards and gardens. The main palace is a maze of official rooms and residences beautifully built and decorated. Both overlook the city. It's difficult to describe so I'll let some pictures illustrate this entry.

After lunch, we went ot the Carthusian monastery. I have few pictures because photography is not permitted inside (not that that stopped one member of the tour group). The monastery was originally commissioned by a rich general who wished to comemorate his victory over the Moors. But as the surrounding countryside was still subject to raids, the onks felt safer in Granada. The general pulled his funding so it took a long time to be built. Like a number of churches built over hundreds of years, it's a micture of different architectural styles. Over time, it became richer and more ornate. Since the Carthusians are said to have been dedicated to work and prayer, and were always a bit on the nose in Rome, the building began in a rather austere style. The fashionable 'rot' soon set in and later parts are just as nauseatingly grand as many other churches we've seen. One can't help feeling that the Carthusians lost sight of their core values.

Similar excess may be seen in the main cathedral in Granada, built by Ferdinand and Isabel after unification of the Spanish kingdoms. Isabel ws a very smart operator by all accounts. It was she who commissioned many great buildings, artworks and expeditions—including that of Christopher Columbus—to expand the Empire. The Cathedral is adorned with symbols of Ferdinand and Isobel's rule and the two are buried in the crypt.

In the evening we were taken on a hair-raising bus ride through the narrow streets opposite La Alhambra to see 'authentic' gypsy dancing. Our guide had told us it was done in caves and no one really quite knew what to expect. The caves turned out to be tunnels bored into the rock with nicely modelled exteriors. Tourists file in, are offered drinks (almost everyone had sangria, of course) and treated to a display of what might or might not be authentic Gypsy dancing. It's a tourist thing, but fun!

The history of Spain is inextricably linked to the Arabs and Moors who, it must be said, civilised the place. The brought great advances in architecture, art and personal hygiene. (The indigenous Spaniards and the Visigoths didn't bath much before then.) They invaded only those parts they wanted, avoided those they couldn't get to or those that were too cold, and waged constant war against those who resisted (mostly the Portuguese). Once successful, they were remarkably tolerant of others—Christians and Jews.

Nowhere is this to be seen more than in Sevllle and Granada. Their old cities have many traces of the time: Mosques converted to Christian churches, design elements everywhere, and even old synagogues. And this despite attempts to erase their legacy. One can only presume that when the cleverest minds in the Christian kingdoms beheld the splendour of Arab and Moorish architecture, they threw up their hands, realising that it was pointless to try to exceed them... so they converted the to Christian places of worship and dwellings.

Real Alcazares is one such example. It's an Arab palace with Christian additions. Like others of its kind, it is adorned with intricate decoration—portraits of people (and perhaps an living creature) being forbidden under Islam. The beautiful, but often over-the-top, filigree of the Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo periods is garish by comparison. In any case, the latter came from elsewhere in Europe and a few hundred years after the Moors were defeated. So beloved by the Caliph was Granada that he surrendered rather than see his city destroyed.

Today has been full-on: two tours of the city!

The first took us to the Plaza de España, a large semicircular building erected for the 1929 World Expo. It celebrates all of Spain with frescos of each province lining its lower walls. We looked at only the outside. What it´s for now, who knows, but it certainly is impressive.

The next stop was the Maria Luisa Gardens and the Jewish Quarter. Yes, another. I suppose it´s an indication of the tolerance of the Muslim overlords of the time that the three faiths should be allowed to co-exist. But then they do have one thing (God) in common! Like the Jewish Quarter in Cordoba, the streets are narrow, more the way of building than anything peculiar to Jewish quarters.

We also toured the 1929 and 1992 Pavillions, each set comprising buildings erected to represent countries or groups of countries. Then it was on to the Macarena Cathedral. Many Catholics will disagree of course but since I´m pretty much faithless these days and it´s hard enough to understand devotion to something one must know is untrue, throwing enormous resources at places of worship at the expense of the devotees is utterly immoral. But that´s partly my Protestant upbringing!

This afternoon we went to the Real Alcázares, an enormous palace built by the Arabs and taken over by the Christians. But as with the Corbdoba Cathedral, an enormous amount of it has been preserved.

You have to hand it to them. Denied the right to make images of people, the artists threw their efforts into geometric design which is just breathtaking.