2 July

Charlotte.  We flew in from Madrid today and are delayed in Charlotte again.  Boo to US Airways! At least we have internet, iced Cokes, and Quiznos. I've calmed down a bit. Hopefully, we will depart for Chattanooga at 5:38, but we'll see.

28 June

Tariffa to Seville to Barcelona to Lisbon.  Today was a travel day.  Andy drove us from Tarifa to the Seville airport where we dropped off the car.  The Seville airport was huge and empty.  We had a cafeteria meal at the airport.  When we eat like this, we call it being hungry for 'tengo hambre' (I'm hungry).  We shared some chicken mostly to not be hungry. 

Our flight was late as the plane didn't even land by the time we were supposed to board, but luckily we are traveling all legs of the journey with Vueling.  Our flight was great once we were on our way.  The plane was a huge Airbus with sets of three seats on either side of an aisle.  The stewardesses were friendly and helped everyone get their luggage stowed.  We asked one of them about the flight from Barcelona to Lisbon and he assured us that it would leave from the same terminal that we would disembark from. 

When we arrived in Barcelona, our flight wasn't due to post on the board for 50 minutes.  So, we got some much needed cash at an ATM and enjoyed a Pans & Company dinner of a jamon and queso sandwich with fries and a Coke (with ice!!!).  It was so good and refreshing.

We finished and arrived at the information board in time to find our gate.  The gate was posted just five minutes before we were supposed to board the plane, so we were very lucky.  We made it to Lisbon in about an hour and fifteen minutes.  We learned that Portugal is an hour behind Spain, so it was only 10:30 PM local time when we arrived.  We grabbed our bags and headed to the taxi stand.

The taxi drivers have a reputation for being dishonest.  I had done some reading about this before we left.  But, our driver was excellent.  He helped us load our bags, spoke English, and talked to us about life in Portugal.  He said that a lot of people are living on 500 EUR per month and that things are really bad for them.  He expressed displeasure about the nation of Portugal being dependent on the will of Angela Merkel.  He said that they bow to her when she speaks.  He was disappointed about Portugal's loss to Spain in the Eurocup last night, but was happy that Italy beat Germany.  He said that the Portuguese would cheer for Italy now that Portugal was out.

When we arrived at our hotel, he explained that we are in a pedestrian area.  I noticed that he charged us the Tariff 1 rate, which is the cheapest taxi rate.  I think we paid only about 12 EUR, which is cheaper than the per person train fare to go from the airport in Rome, Italy into town.  Usually the taxi from the airport is a set rate that is much higher than regular fare.  This conversation and experience gave me my first clue of the great tragedy that is the Portuguese economy.

Our hotel was just a few steps away from where the taxi dropped us off.  Our hotelier warned us about the problem they have with pickpockets.  He told us not to keep hotel information anywhere on us in case the robber should get it and then come to the hotel. 

Our room is one of the best that we've had on our trip in terms of  comfort and cleanliness.  We are in a central location in Lisbon on the seventh floor of our hotel.  Our main window looks out over the town.  We can see the St. George Castle from our window. 

Tomorrow we will enjoy some sightseeing in Lisbon.

27 June

Tarifa and Tangier.  Today we woke and breakfasted in Tarifa, Spain and caught the 9 AM ferry for Tangier, Morocco.  The ferry takes 35 minutes to cross and is a smooth ride similar to the feeling of a plane flight.  The ferry had a freight hold for automobiles and even tour buses.  The second floor was general seating and Moroccan customs.  The third floor was business class and a snack bar.  The top floor was an open deck.  As Andy and I can get a bit motion sick, we decided to ride it out in the general seating area.  The ferry didn't leave on time.  It left at about 9:30.  So, we got to Tangier by about 10 AM.

We met our guide Ahmed Taoumi at the dock and he told us another family would be joining us.  The family was also from Tennessee.  The mother and father were teaching at a boarding school for the children of missionaries.  Their school is in Germany.  The mother graduated from MTSU's library science program two years after me. 

Our guide took us all throughout Tangier.  We started in a private mini-bus.  We drove to Cape Spartel where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Mediterranean Sea.  We we to the Caves of Hercules.  We drove through the California neighborhood, which is where many foreigners have nice homes.  Ahmed explained that it's easy to purchase property and own it outright in Morocco.  Many developers in England and France are building houses in Tangier but selling them through offices in their home country.  He said that most of them run around 500,000 EUR.

 House in the California community of Tangier

Cap Spartel lighthouse, where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic

 Month-old donkey with boy dressed in Berber costume at Cap Spartel

 

 Ride a camel for one euro

Baby camels are just for show

Cave of Hercules.  Can you see the face?

Interior of a restored house in the medina

Fatima symbols (the hands) on a medina interior

Friendly face in the medina

We walked through the old town, which is being renovated.  We also saw the marketplaces and were present during the call to prayer.  This was a very interesting moment because two separate mosques were calling to prayer at the same time while we were walking through the narrow streets of the old town.

After we emerged from the marketplace, we saw the St. Michael's flag, the flag of England above a church.  This was St. Andrew's Anglican church.  Ahmed sent us into the church while he went to get drinks for the children in the family on the tour with us.  The church has a beautiful yard with a garden, gravestones and stray cats.  We entered the church and were greeted by a man who was working there.  He told us that the Arabic inscription inside the church was the Lord's Prayer.  The priest was also there.  He asked the family with us if they were Episcopalian, which they were.  He offered to give us communion.  He said that anyone baptized in the name of the trinity could take communion, so we all participated.  It was really nice to participate in such a thing while traveling, but especially to take part in such a thing in a little island of the Christian community in a generally Muslim land.

Interior of St. Andrew's Church.  The dark brown is the Lord's Prayer in Arabic.

The priest explained that the church hadn't had a permanent priest in about 10 years and that different priests serve the church on a rotation.  They each stay for just a few months before rotating out.  We bought a postcard from them that was a print of Matisse's painting of St. Andrew's and made a small donation.

Our guide took us to a cafe where we ate sandwiches and had Cokes to drink.  Then, Ahmed took us back to the ferry and walked us all the way up to the customs checkpoint.  He explained to us that the number stamped on our passport at entry is our permanent registration number in Morocco.  Should we ever return, we would give that number to customs and they can pull us up in the computer.  We saw a couple of people taken away by customs officers while we were in line.  The customs into and out of Morocco was very strict and I can see why it would be so with so many people in Africa seeking a better life in Europe.  The actual crossing seemed more concerned with the movement of people rather than goods.  While we put our bag through a scanner, many people walked away without scanning their bags and nothing was said.

Our guide knew everyone in Tangier.  He did a great job of keeping us free from salesmen when we indicated that we didn't want to buy anything.  I only saw one beggar in the entrance to one of the food markets.  Most everyone was trying to sell something.  I had been a little nervous about our safety in Tangier, but Ahmed made me feel quite comfortable in his city.  He was also very knowledgeable of the history of the region. 

I really enjoyed the visit to the archeological museum where we saw the interaction of Portuguese, Greeks, Romans, and many other groups.  He told us of the town of Cotta where ancient people made a sauce called garum.  Garum was a fermented paste made of olive oil, salt and pieces of fish that were made in large vats and poured into clay containers.  Because of the use of salt, this paste was primarily consumed by the very wealthiest classes of Romans.

We also learned about the university in Fes, Morocco, the University of Al Karaouine.  Maimonides, a great Jewish doctor and philosopher, was one of the people who studied there. 

We returned on the 5 PM ferry to Tangier.  We went back to the hotel to wash the dust away and take a siesta because we had been in the heat and tramping around for so long.  We were pleased to find that the laundry we left with the front desk last night was sitting on our bed when we returned.  It was only 10 EUR, the cheapest we have had anywhere so far. 

We made our way to Cafe Central, a recommended restaurant in our guide book.  We noticed lots of people in their Spain national soccer team jerseys and remembered that it was Spain vs. Portugal in the Eurocup tonight.  At our cafe, we ordered a cheeseburger that had a fried egg on it (I've seen this on the menu several places and figured this was the day to give it a go).  Andy had a chicken filet.  Service was incredibly slow because it was busy and the staff was a little distracted with the game.  We were able to watch the entire first half of the game before we left.  A random guy came in the cafe to blow a horn in his enthusiasm for the evening.  It was funny.

We strolled around the nearby church and saw the local men's club next door.  In Spain, men traditionally have houses where they meet to socialize, read the paper, or have a meal.  Women and even tourists can visit these clubs, now.  We merely peeked and took a picture.  We saw the Order of Santiago symbol on another nearby building.

We strolled toward our hotel and out to the beach, which we haven't really seen because of our schedule.  There is a lighthouse just along the coast that was nice to see in the evening.  As we walked back to the hotel, many people were still enjoying the soccer match on the big screen TVs setup outside the cafes.  We had had a long day, so we went up to the room.  Our TV selection is the most interesting yet.  We have zero English language channels.  There is a French channel, a German sports channel, an Arabic language channel that shows soccer mostly, and lots of Spanish channels.  Unfortunately, the Spain vs. Portugal game was not on our TV, but we could tell by the noise in the street that it came down to the last minutes in the game and that Spain pulled out a win.

Tomorrow, we travel by car to Seville.  We'll leave the car at the Avis in the airport and catch a flight to Lisbon with a layover in Barcelona.  Sadly, this route was the best option that I could find.  I couldn't find a rail option that seemed to work and most of Portugal uses buses to travel (even long distances). 

26 June

Grenada.  We enjoyed a proper eggs and bacon English breakfast before we took a taxi to the Renfe station to pickup our Budget car. It turned out that the car rental was through Avis, which was a little confusing. The Avis lady was very nice. We added the GPS unit and walked out to get the car. The car is a Nissan Micra and had room for our luggage in the trunk and plenty of legroom and a great air conditioner. 

Part of our trip took us through dry, mountainous olive groves. There were hundreds of miles of olive groves. We also passed about five toll booths. The first toll was 6.25 EUR. Then we paid 4 and then 5 and then 3 EUR. I was getting ticked off because the GPS unit was taking us through these tolls. We had a couple of problems with the GPS unit. We drove through a section of new tunnels and highways that weren't on the map. Then, we lost signal. Finally, Andy saw the coast on our right when it should have been on our left. We got turned around and finally made it.

Getting to Gibraltar is tricky because the Spanish aren't happy that it is still an English position. There are no signs for Gibraltar until the sign that tells you the next exit is for Gibraltar. So, we had to look for nearby coastal towns that were on the map and take the splits in the highway for those towns. Once in La Linea de la Concepcion, the Spanish town on the border, we went through eight round-abouts and slow, beach traffic. My perception of La Linea is that it is a bit like Daytona Beach.

There are huge oil refineries on the border with Gibraltar that belch smoke and flames. I have to think that the coastal waters aren't exactly the place to dip your toe in the Mediterranean. Andy parked the car at the Fo Cuna parking garage and we walked across the border.  Our car rental agreement said not to take the car out of the country, but our guide book also mentioned that this garage was cheaper and safer than other places.  We have heard that rental cars are targeted for theft in this area more than other areas.  The traffic going into Gibraltar is a bit like Pigeon Forge in high season. It is a traffic jam. We merely showed our passports to the border patrol and customs agents to enter Gibraltar. They didn't even stamp us in.

We had to wait for a plane to land before we walked across the tarmac into town.  Because Gibraltar is so small the airstrip intersects with the main road.  In the above picture, you see the main road approaching border control.  Planes land on the airstrip just past this gate.  We took a municipal bus ride on its route to see the town and got off at the main pedestrian street. By this point we needed a snack. We stopped at the Burger King and paid in euros but got our change in British pounds.  As you can imagine, this was an expensive and bizarre transaction.  We strolled the main street and its shops, including Marks & Spencer (a prominent British department store) and lots of gift shops. We stopped at the King's Chapel because it had a sign to say that all were welcome. It was a beautiful church with commemorations to many soldiers and civilians who had given their lives in service to the crown.  This chapel has a long history dating back to the late 1400s.  In those days it was part of a Franciscan friary.  In the 1700s, the chapel began service in the Church of England.  At one point all Gibraltararians worshiped here, but they soon outgrew it and had to build another church.  This church is the main church of the British army in Gibraltar.

Across from the chapel was a garden where Yoko Ono and John Lennon were married. We snapped a picture and then headed for the cable cars that would take us to the top of the rock. In six minutes we were at the top with the Barbary apes and incredible views. The apes were cute like big stuffed animals, but we were warned several times that the apes like to take tourist bags. As we had our daypack with us and I didn't want to have an ape perched on my shoulder, I kept my distance. After a while of viewing everything, we stopped in at the snack bar for a Slushpuppy to cool us down from the hot, sunny weather. We hit the cable car and were on our way back to the border.

As we walked, I noticed the Gibraltar flag in one of the buildings was made of Lego blocks. So, we stopped and snapped a picture. We hopped on another municipal bus to the border, showed our passport at customs, and legged it back to the parking garage in La Linea.

Andy drove us the rest of the way to the hotel in Tarifa, which took about an hour. We ascended a mountain and then slowly descended on a curvy, but well-paved road. We saw many windmills. We parked our cart at the port and walked to our hotel. Our room is spacious, with a bathroom with an actual door. We have air conditioning and our kind hotelier told us we could also get football on TV. The gentleman at our hotel has been so helpful. We were able to leave our laundry with him for a girl to pick-up in the morning. We asked about Wi-Fi, too.  It's fun to ask about Wi-Fi in Spanish because they call it "wee-fee".

Our room is in the hotel annex. It's a bit creepy because there is no receptionist in our building. It's as if another hotel went out of business and Hotel Alameda purchased it. We have our hotel key to let us in the building and also into our room.

Tomorrow we go to Morocco.

24 June

Madrid to Grenada. We took a 4.5 hour high-speed train from Madrid to Grenada on Sunday. While it is a long ride, it is fun to travel by high-speed train.  You get a direct route without the hassles of airports (delays, baggage, delays).  They have a food car in which you can purchase sandwiches, drinks, and snack foods.  The staff are friendly and seem to enjoy their work.  On the longer routes, they play Spanish films or Spanish-dubbed American films that I found pretty amusing.  Plus, it's kind of cool to take a modern train.

As we traveled south from Madrid to Granada, we saw many miles of dry and dusty fields of olive trees.  Our tour guide, Frederico, said that it rained very little.  The dust from the fields often blows in the wind.  Sometimes it is easy to see how much dust is in the air.

We made a short stop about an hour away from Granada at what appeared to be a fueling station for the train.

At last, we arrived in Granada.

We had some problems getting straight to our hotel. We heard some tourists speaking English so I asked for directions. They also had a Rick Steves' guidebook like mine. They were from Australia and advised us to avoid eating in Plaza Nueva and to eat in Bib-Rambla. After asking for directions twice more, we got to our tiny hotel room. I must say that it had several key features--air conditioning, fridge, elevator, clean bed and clean shower big enough to use.  There are two English TV channels that I have to mention because I they are odd--Disney Channel and Discovery Max channel.

We had a 4 PM appointment at Alhambra. We went but it was very hot--over 100 degrees. I think it will be one of those things we enjoy more later in memory. Andy and I drank 2 liters of water during our visit and could have had more.

We came back to the hotel and took a siesta.  Then, we went for dinner at Bodega Castanedas, a hopping tapas bar filled with the locals. We were kind of lost and hungry, but the one-man service staff gave us a table and started bringing us food.  As we ate, we felt better and enjoyed ourselves.

We strolled the Plaza Nueva and saw a couple getting their wedding pictures. As usual, the kids, grandparents, parents, tourists, hippies, etc, were all out at 11 PM enjoying the cool of the day/evening.

25 June

Granada. Today was mostly a rest day. The temperatures are above 100 degrees from around 1-6 PM. We slept in and had an English breakfast just up the hill from our hotel.  I must say that I love the influx of British tourists in the south of Spain.  We get to benefit from aspects of British culture (large breakfasts, English language signage, and early dinners).  'British' doesn't equate 'American', so it helps to have visited England to have some perspective.  For example, a British breakfast may include French fries and a pot of baked beans in addition to the fried eggs and bacon. 

We took another siesta and worked to organize ourselves for some siteseeing in the evening when it is cooler outside.   When we finally set out, we took a walking tour of the town found in our guide book. Our first stop was the Capilla Real de Granada (royal chapel of the Granada Cathedral). It is the place where Ferdinand and Isabella are entombed. We saw the sarchophogi for them as well as Phillip the Fair and Juana (the mad), their successors.  A fifth, small coffin, belongs to Prince Michael.  Prince Michael would have grown to have ruled a united Iberian Peninsula as he was heir to the Portuguese and Spanish crowns.  Unfortunately, he died just before his second birthday.

Phillip I and Juana were succeeded by who we know as Charles V (a.k.a. Carlos I of Spain).  Charles V ruled an empire over which the sun never set, as they say.  Charles V was followed by Phillip II (Invincible Armada guy). Charles V and Phillip II are entombed just outside of Madrid in El Escorial.

The Capilla Real is where a lot of things came together for me. 

We find Ferdinand and Isabella here in Granada because this was the site of the last Moorish stronghold in Spain. In 1492, the Moors were pushed out and into Africa. Granada and Spain became Christian.  In 1492, the Jews were also expelled.  For Ferdinand and Isabella, a Catholic Spain was their great legacy and so they naturally wanted their final resting place to be here in Granada. 

It was cool for me to see this site because of the connection to the Americas. The chapel also has a museum with such artifacts as Isabella's crown and scepter, the box that was once filled with jewels and given to Columbus to pay the cost of his journey, the cross Cardinal Mendoza brought into Alhambra after the defeat of the Moors, and a small collection of art that Isabella collected. Only 30 items remain of the 200+ that she left because it was taken when Napoleon's troops arrived in Granada. 

We see remnants of Napoleon everywhere that we have visited in Europe.  Here at the Capilla Real in Granada, I finally began to see Napoleon as that 'bad guy' of history.  For much of my life, I viewed Napoleon as a kind of liberator of the common Frenchman from the oppression of monarchy and the chaos of revolution.  This harkens back to my American history lessons in which George Washington is a 'good guy' and King George III is a 'bad guy'.  But everywhere we go, we see where Napoleon's troops have stolen the art treasures of each place they marched.

In Spain, we have seen thriving regional cultures that were just as vibrant in Napoleon's time.  The people of these regions have proud traditions and languages.  To be ruled from afar by a foreign nation is completely unacceptable.  What I see of Napoleon in Granada is the theft of the history of a place.  The theft of Isabella's art erases a bit of the past.  In the remaining collection, which consists of highly religious themed works by Botticelli, Memling, Perugino, as well as works by Spanish painters, we see the effects of a pious collector.  The paintings show the suffering of Christ and John the Baptist, the devotion of Mary, and the betrayal of Judas with the skill of Renaissance and Baroque painting.  I must suppose that a person who would have collected these works would have viewed them regularly in the course of daily life and must have enjoyed them.  This leads me to believe that Isabella's pioty and zeal were honest. 

When Phillip II moved the capitol of Spain to Madrid and built El Escorial, this piece of history was left in Granada.  I compare it to inheriting Grandma's velvet Elvis (since I don't have a royal bloodline).  'Grandma' Isabella's things are out of fashion and for a person of substantial means, it is easy to replace the velvet Elvis with something more in keeping with one's own taste.  So whether out of respect or disinterest, this monument of Ferdinand and Isabella's time remained preserved until Napoleon arrives on the scene.  I have to wonder at the loss.  To only see a small portion of her art collection makes me wonder what was taken.  Perhaps those pieces were less serious and spiritual.  For today, this perspective on history seems swept away by the hands of Napoleon.  It leaves me curious to know where everything ended up.  Many of the greatest art treasures are housed at the Louvre in Paris.  Perhaps some of these items are there.

We left the chapel and strolled in the Bib-Rambla, a plaza with a fountain with Neptune, many restaurants with outdoor eating, and families enjoying the cool evening. Andy and I had pizza at one place and then enjoyed a brownie and ice cream at another cafe. There are so many British tourists here that the menus and eating times fit the British way with equal parts Spanish. We enjoyed being able to eat at 7PM vs. 9 PM as one benefit. 

After dinner, we strolled through the old silk market and the area where the silk caravans once convened. 

I am so glad that we were able to have this day's sites.  The picture of Spain's history became clearer for me by understanding Isabella just a bit more. I also saw something more of modern Granada by seeing the mixture of tourists and local families on the Bib-Rambla tonight. The Plaza Nueva is more for the gypsies and hippies ('black feet').

Tomorrow we are off for Gibraltar and will stay the night in Tarifa. The following day, we will ferry across to Tangier, Morocco.  Tomorrow, Andy will pick up our car at the train station. He will drive us because I can't drive a stick shift.  It's a little more than 3 hours to Gibraltar.  We definitely have another full day ahead of us.

23 June-Andy's Version

Today we went to Toledo. Toledo is an hour ride outside of Madrid. It was the old capital of Spain. It was the happening place back when Queen Isabella was going to the cathedral in Toledo. The cathedral was massive! The whole town still has tons of money. They still make gold jewerly and lots of knives and swords. It was neat to see them making gold jewerly. One of the things that was most interesting in Toledo was how tight everything was. They drive cars down "streets" we would condsider to be an alley way. Our first run in with a car in Toledo included our entire group of 22 needing to step inside of a store so the car could drive down the road.  We are leaving for Granada in the morning. I hope it is not too hot. Today in Madrid it hit 36 C. I think that comes out to be 97 F. That is rough when we are walking up hill both ways towards anything.----Andy