Quick Daily Journal

TRAVELING WITH GO AHEAD TOURS

Friday March 18 - Toledo

Tour of Toledo - old capital of Spain. An hour by bus.

First - around the city. Bus stops at scenic outlook - great view of city.

Photos

River Tajo surrounds city on 3 sides. It flows into Portugal where it empties into the Atlantic.

Toledo has 80 churches.

From lookout - view of Arab baths - an archeological dig.

Trees in bloom
        white blossoms are almond trees
        pink blossoms are fruit trees.

Visited the Cathedral - gorgeous gothic arches
        Huge building
        One fascinating Baroque section
        El Entierro del Señor - a painting by El Greco
        In the sacristy (sp?) of the cathedral are beautiful original paintings by El Greco, Velazques and Goya. These masterpieces are very accessible to the public.

Our guide, Luís, is quite knowledgeable and enthusiastic about art and history.

We walked along cobblestone streets. Old Toledo is lovely.

Walking to the Puente San Martín and PHOTOS of Toledo before crossing bridge and while crossing bridge.

After touring - a “factory” where Damascene items are made. I bought earrings for myself, a small plate with the Star of David for Mom A, and a pendant for Mom.


Saturday March 19

Going by train to Córdoba. 2 nights in Sevilla

Flamenco show tomorrow night.

Ate breakfast with George from Wisconsin near Green Bay.

At 12:30 in Córdoba we could hear the church bells and see the bell tower.

Palm Sunday

Sevilla - Within the courtyard of the Alcazar a wall section in Grotesque Style - Photo

Previously - Photo outside church.

Monday

Between Cadiz and Marbella

Acorn trees and bulls together in open fields.

Los Corson - a restaurant on the highway to Marbella. slowest service in the world. We arrived at 2:00. Our food was served at 3:00. Then we had to get on the bus at 3:30.

Wednesday - March 23

Leaving Marbella - I will miss this lovely place and the wonderful ocean-side room.

9:00am we should be leaving soon Raining a bit. Maybe this happens most mornings at seaside.

Jane and Bill went to Morocco yesterday. Jand said she had “a sinking spell” - nice southern expression, but she still said she enjoyed it. Bill had not been to Morocco before and she wanted him to see it.

Spain - not unusual to see Plice on mopeds. almost everyone rides mopeds.

Question - What happened to George?
        When I came to the lobby this AM I saw George lying on a couch. He was one of the last to get on the bus and then it was only with help. Alexander held him under the arms helping him to walk to the rear of the bus.
        
Alex and Christy are now married. Don’t know the details.

Afternoon at ALHAMBRA - many PHOTOS 26 of 36.

Adventure in GRANADA - took a cab with Ron and wife. We wanted to go to the old section of Grananda and ended up in Albayzín. It’s raining and I’m cold. Jan and I stop at a small café for coffee and cheese plate. Had an unexpected view of the Alhambra - breathtaking.
        name of café - Carmen de Aben Humeya
        A very nice man called a cab for us which took us to our hotel.
        A beautiful view of the Alhambra from the café. I could see people (barely) taking flash pictures of the town from the Alhambra - close to where i took my first pictures of Granada. Too bad I didn’t have my camera and of course Jan didn’t have hers either.

To Spain and Back

It's hard to believe that the trip I had been planning for so long is now over.

I had hoped to post messages on a daily basis as I traveled through Spain, but for some reason each entry that I made disappeared somewhere into cyberspace.

What I will do now is post excerpts from my travel journal, and from time to time upload a photo or two. As you can see in a previous posting I included a view of The Alhambra from its walls. I found this hauntingly lovely place to be as beautiful as I had imagined.

The Alhambra

Alhambra
Originally uploaded by paltner.

A view from the walls of The Alhambra