INTERESTING TIMES
(in Spain, Portugal and UK)
Granada to Portugal
Wednesday 22nd May, 2019
Thursday 23rd May, 2019
Wednesday 22nd May, 2019
Ronda Gorge
his hotel really is a shambles! It has all the things you need except decent staff and the lifts are very small and slow. Christine had to come looking for some of us when we were ready to leave but we were stranded on the 8th floor.
Ronda Bridge
nyway we headed off for Ronda, apparently beloved of both Ernest Hemingway and Orson Welles (they came for the bullfights) . We drove through very spectacular mountain scenery to Ronda, nearly 700 metres above sea level.
Ronda Gorge
Outside the Bullring
t is very spectacularly sited with hugely steep and deep gorges and mountains surrounding it. We had a very enthusiastic local guide named Gisela, who showed us every nook and cranny.
Outside the Bullring
he major drawcard is the bullring, which has a very large arena but only seats about 5000, which is small by bullring standards.
The Bullring
The Bullring
t was a very interesting and impressive building, regardless of how you feel about bullfighting (and I think it is barbaric) I was surprised to hear that it is only used once a year for a three day festival in September. All the tickets are already sold out.
Us on the Ramparts in Ronda
he town has horse and carriage rides and souvenir stalls of quite good artistic skills of various kinds. I bought a print of a watercolour of the Ronda gorge which was very good. The town was dripping with bars and cafes, choosing was the only problem.
Lunch Time
fter the tour we repaired to a terrace bar-café in an arcade of many others (we were hijacked by a waiter when we stopped to read a menu). We had sangria (yes, again - we are getting very fond of sangria) and a plate each of mixed tapas with a tomato salad. The mixed plate contained two kinds of ham, cheese, prawns, croquettes, chips and potato salad. Just a little of each but amounting to rather a lot, especially with bread and water and sangria. Nice though.
fter this we bussed down to Seville, both of us sleeping all the way. The hotel, Melia Colon, is another modern place, but with photomurals of great art on the doors. We had showers and next will have dinner all together with the others in the hotel. More later:
Later:
Not a bad meal of local specialties. A cold creamy soup with chopped ham and eggs, pork cheeks, and apple tart with ice cream. We needed a stroll for the sake of our digestions, but we had drunk too much and eaten far too much. All my clothes are getting tight and so are some of Mac's.
Thursday 23rd May, 2019
Riverside, Seville
ut at 0830 for a tour of Seville (where the oranges come from - but just try and get marmalade for your breakfast toast!)
Seville Cathedral
e left the bus on the banks of the Guadalquivir River, which we were told was Arabic for Big River, like the Rio Grande. We passed the bullring, but mercifully did not go inside, and the lovely Cathedral, which is the 3rd largest in Europe, after St. Peter's in Rome and St. Paul's in London.
Alcazar Courtyard
e headed for the Real Alcazar (Real is Spanish for Royal) which, like the Alhambra, was a Moorish stronghold until the Christians regained it.
Alcazar Decor
Alcazar Decor
t still has a lot of wonderful Moorish architecture, some of which, the Royal Palace, was built later in the Moorish style for King Pedro (the cruel) who loved Moorish architecture (if not the Moors).
Alcazar Garden
Alcazar Garden Pool
he buildings were amazing, like the Alhambra but different in its own way. The Alcazar has been used as a working palace for centuries and has had some subtle (and not so subtle) rearrangement over that time.
Bathroom Door, Alcazar
he gardens were both extensive and beautiful, lots of work over lots of centuries.
There was quite a lot of reference to the great navigator Christopher Columbus (or Colon as the Spanish say) who departed from Seville in 1492, none of which referred to the fact that he came from Genoa in Italy!
Alcazar ceiling
hat I have learned about these buildings is the value of looking up. The ceilings were works of art in their own right and we found that modern buildings,like our hotel in Cordoba and here in Seville, also followed that tradition.
Alcazar Bathroom
he Alcazar was totally OTT but lovely as well. The bath, which was reached by a tunnel, had fabulous reflections.
The buildings were lovely, I adore Moorish architecture myself, but they were very crowded and it was already 30 degrees, very warm all day.
Park outside the Alcazar
e opted out of any more sight-seeing and returned to the hotel, then walked out to find lunch. We found a little café with shaded tables called Le Rincon de Antonio. We had sangria (again) and warm sandwiches of grilled chicken breast on a lovely fresh roll. Sixteen euros, not bad.
The rest of the day is free as well so we will have a siesta - Mac has caught a cold and is snoring - then shower and change and find somewhere nicer for dinner.
Later:
Foyer Ceiling, Hotel Melia Colon
e walked around the area (it is all old town and limited in night time restaurants, mostly café/bars for the workers) but could not find anywhere that looked salubrious The bars and small cafes were very small and cramped and the outside tables were in the heat, dust and traffic. In general I prefer to eat inside. So we ended up in the less formal side of the hotel's restaurant where we had another sangria (!) which they served with a little tray of olives and capers, then Mac had Cantonese style roast pork with noodles and I had grilled chops of baby suckling lamb (seemed a shame to take them away from their mothers) but they were delicious, with a potato bake as well. Very nice.
Foyer Hotel Melia Colon
ac's cold is worse but hopefully will run its course before the cruise and hopefully he doesn't give it to me; sneezing is not an option, right now!
Tomorrow to Portugal.
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