retired from what?

All the negative things I've said about the Spanish churches were turned on their head today as I experienced one of the prettiest churches I've ever seen.  It is the Catedral of Madrid, the Cathedral of the Virgin of Almudena. We popped in just as the sun popped out and I was gobsmacked by the ceilings.  So richly painted and very reminiscent of Moorish design. Stunning and contemporary. Have never seen anything like it and the photos don't begin to do it justice, as always.  Later learned that the sanctuary looks so contemporary because it is. It was consecrated in 1996. I don't know anything about the Virgin of Almudena, but as our walking-tour guide explained, any Spanish word with "al" at the beginning came from Arabic; he said 4,000 Spanish words are rooted in Arabic, since they ruled Spain for 700 years. All over this country there are church bell towers built like minarets. Again, I think how very different it is to be in a place that esteems it's ...

I read a bit before this trip on Spain and especially the reign of Isabella. It was her desire to show the world that Spain was the most Catholic nation.  These are photos all taken in the cathedral at Jaen, the heart of Spain's olive country. It was an enormous church with at least a dozen side altars. The Spanish love of mannequins in clothing they never would have worn for real, escapes me, but the big picture is clear -- that suffering, pain, bleeding and creepy skeletons are the main imagery and that  opulence and treasures beyond the imagination of the masses belong to the church. Gold and silver chalices and candle sticks so valuable they are kept in a vault in modern times.  The point being this --- being Catholic is about suffering you can imagine because these manaquins look like people and  Point 2 - Look at how rich the church is! God loves us best!  The gospel of prosperity, as preached by Joel Osteen and many others, is simply the modern version of...

Spanish parents like to dress their kids in very traditional clothing, with smocking and such,  and they like to dress them alike. Saw 8 girls with 2 Moms and only two different outfits. Stores with dressy kids clothes are common.  Shops selling flamenco clothes are more common than I would have guessed. Who wears that and when? I have no idea.  Nail salons? None. Hair salons? Tons The bare legs look has not caught on. Women, even teens, wear hose not only with dresses, but often with shorts! (Have not seen any adults in shorts.) The thing about stores closing for several hours in the afternoon? Very true if you're not in a tourist area. Bakeries with amazing looking sweets abound, yet it is rare to see anyone seriously overweight.  Shoe stores are also everywhere and I expect that's because when you walk as much as they do, you go thru them fast.  The local pedestrians walk as though you are expected to get out of their way. No eye contact. No moving, unlike Ne...

Raining gatos y peros today and as the woman in the info center curtly said "All museums in Spain are closed on Mondays." So we got the car from the underground and hit the road. We wandered east toward Guadix and saw how the troglodytes live. Both in the past and present, people in these parts make homes in caves. It's interesting to see hill tops with chimneys and TV antennas. There was a cave home museum, but it was, of course, closed.  We drove past vast ceramics shops and up into the Sierra Nevada, so similar to much of the American west. (The sun came out briefly.) But there are differences. This is all much greener, plus I've never seen olive groves in Wyoming.  Furthermore, we have yet to see a police car on the highway or anyone anywhere pulled over.  Speaking of cars, this Renault Clio with GPS is a car that nags. It beeps when you exceed the speed limit, it tweets when you're on a road that has radar (or at least that's what we think) it shuts off w...

                                            

I don't recall when I first heard about Alhambra but it has always held a special fascination. Because it is something that goes back to childhood, I was quite prepared to be disappointed. But I wasn't.  The Nazari Palace, especially at night, was magical and amazing.  They allow a few hundred people in and the rooms are lit by one or two up lights, but it is still filled with shadows and dark. Amazingly, there are no obvious guards shooing you this way or hissing at you to keep back from anything. There is very little in the way of signs or explanatory info. I assume there are rentable audio tours in the daytime but it was perfecto to walk and marvel at the intricate and vast details of the walls and ceilings. I tried to imagine what it must have been to live there. But even as we took them, we knew the photos would disappoint and they do. Some things simply cannot be captured.  The opulence of the Spanish churches left me cold. The decoration of Alhambra was busy beyond...

Like so many places we've been, especially in mild weather, Sevillians live on the streets.  There are bars and cafes and stores are open late and school age kids are out kicking futbols in the plaza and people of all ages are talking and smoking and smoking a lot. Living in detached houses is for farmers. Life in public is how they live. And though folks of all ages are out and about, so many are young it feels much like a college town. Of course what we like so much about the old world is that they kept any old things.  On to Alhambra.