Family Travel

June 23, 2007
After a good night sleep we awake refreshed to learn that two of our traveling family was casualties of our trip to Gibraltar. As you may recall I said earlier the food in Gibraltar as typical of Britain was terrible. Well Chris and an elderly woman in our group did not survive the gastronomical experience.

It seems Chris has a bad stomach all time and as such woke significantly dehydrated and feeling very poorly. Our other traveler was in such bad shape she did not leave her room. Fortunately Chris recovered as the day went on but so far at 7:00 PM we have not seen the other casualty.

Barring the stomach issue, Chris, Cathy and I joined the bus for a guided tour of the highlights of Seville. Here we take a 4 hour walking tour of the major highlights of this once Moorish and now Christian city. We see 800 year old aqueducts, a 1400 year old Moorish fortification, a church built by the Moors and reclaimed by the Christians where it was increased in size to the third largest Cathedral in the world.

Seville is old and new. The Jewish quarter once inhabited by 30,000 Jews was the central area of commerce and dining. Today Seville has only 30 Jews registered and as such Christian influence controls all.

One highlight of our tour was a visit to the home of the highest ranking noble in Spain. Our bus takes us to a Palace in which lives a single old woman of 88. She was at one time the wife of a Spanish Duke and holds 26 noble titles, more then the King of Spain. Although her titles are basically meaningless her wealth and home are amazing.

Following the Palace tour we head to the Gardens of the Queen. Once her private gardens, the queen gave her garden to the people, actually she could no longer afford the upkeep so now a park the people pay for it. The gardens are lush and beautiful with fountains and monuments. Along the river and bordering the gardens was the home of the 1929 Spanish American exhibition. Much like a worlds fair the area had pavilions exhibiting art and life in the US and Spain. Most of the buildings were temporary and so are gone but some were more permanent and are now used as offices for government officials.

We head toward the Cathedral, a Gothic structure in the dead center of Seville. The Moors first built a mosque on this site but once the Spanish took control the area was Christianized and the 1400’s the immense Cathedral to our Lady was complete.

The highlight of the tour is the Tomb of Christopher Columbus and that of his son. Legend has it that Seville, Hispaniola, Madrid and the isles of Jamaica all claim to have his body and all show a memorial to the explorer. In 2006 three of the 4 graves were opened and bone samples were taken and analyzed. Using DNA it was conclusively proven that the bones in Seville were indeed the actual bones of the Discoverer of America. His son Diego is also buried here. He was a Priest and fellow traveler accompanying his father on 4 journeys into the new world. Diego was Christopher’s chronicler and author of the diaries of Columbus and so Seville also boasts the largest collection of the works of Columbus in their library.

The Church is amazing and filled with timeless and priceless works of art, gold and silver. The Tomb is made of Bronze and depicts four larger then life men carrying the coffin of Columbus across a black onyx floor, amazing in size detail and splendor.

Next we are on free time. It is near 2:00 PM and the temperature is approaching 100 F.
This is the time to find some food and some shade. We spy a paella restaurant right across the street from the Cathedral and we head for it. I was told by a Co-worker at my office that this is the best paella in all of Seville so we decide to give it a try.

Good thing we got there early. As we walked over to the restaurant, the outside shaded tables were already full, so we headed to the inside hoping for a table and A/C. Inside was empty so we moved some tables together to accommodate 7 people and sat down. Not one minute later another tour group was given free time and they all tried to get in. Since we took over the open space they were forced to leave. At capacity the inside of the restaurant could hold 15 people and outside another 20 at most. This is very typical of the local restaurants, they may be small but there are a multitude of them. Door after door, row after row you can find a small restaurant so you just have to move a few feet to the store next door to find good food.

Anyway we all order chicken paella which is a dish of two pieces of chicken in a saffron rice with vegetables. The rice is slow cooked for many hours which changes the consistency to a delicious paste like fell similar to pasta. The plate also has olive oil and a red sauce and is absolutely delicious and filling.

After lunch we try walking around a little to do some shopping but the heat and the siesta time get the better of us and we take a cab ride back to our Hotel. Chris did not come with us after the morning tour so we were anxious to see how he was feeling. It seems that a combination of medication, A/C water and rest resulted in a miracle cure. Thankfully he is much better, not 100%, but much better. By tomorrow we all hope he will be back to normal.

When Cathy and I got back we both joined in the traditional Siesta and slept for a few hours. It is now 7:00 PM and still near 100 F outside. In an hour or two we will head out to dinner as tonight we are on our own for dinner.

June 22, 2007 Gibraltar

Now, to continue the adventure from last night on the missing purse. We looked all over the room for the purse Cathy misplaced. We told the Hotel Manager to look for it in the laundry in the morning.

Well at breakfast today I explained our situation to our tour guide David. He looked a little perplexed and said he found a purse on the bus this morning! We went to the bus and there it was exactly where she left it yesterday. You see in the morning we were n row three for the tour, later when we returned to the bus we were much further back. She forgot she brought the purse to the bus so we all assumed it was left in the room. Mystery solved and we are now back to complete.

Today we leave Spain for a little while and go to the British Territory of Gibraltar. Most of you will know this as the Rock of Gibraltar. Once an penninsula owned by the Moors the land was captured by the Spanish. Under Franco the area was lost to the British where it remains as a British possession.

I was amazed to see Gibraltar was a modern hustling city filled with history and modern construction. Many rich and famous claim Gibraltar as their home, not to live here but to avoid the high European taxes. If you own a home on Gibraltar and “live there” you can save more then 2/3 on your taxes. So the main industry of Gibraltar is tax law!

We leave our bus and hire a smaller bus where 7 of us pile into for a local tour of the Rock. This place is amazing. Old Moorish fort, mixed in with British Empire army and navy buildings and local homes and expensive condos. All on a rock 5 miles by 7 miles. There are 30,000 permanent people and 360 Barbary Apes.

The apes come from Africa 14 miles across the strait of Gibraltar. They came with sailors as pets, escaped and now form 6 family colonies on the rock. This is the season they have babies and many of the females had babies under their belly. They were cute but are wild animals and must be treated as such.

They have lost their fear of humans and can be aggressive. They also like sunglasses. It seems they are lying around just as cute as can be until they see sunglasses. Then they will suddenly pounce and grab the glasses and run away. Our driver says not to worry; we can buy them back from the monkey stand down the road.

We have included on our local tour a cave of St Michael. This is a marvelous limestone cave with the typical stalactites and stalagmites throughout. They even have a theater built into the cave for concerts.

We drive around the rest of the rock and are dropped off for free time and lunch. The area is famous for electronics, alcohol and the ever present Cuban cigars. Since we do not need either we head of in search of food.

As you may recall this is a British possession and as such they use Pounds not Euros. Another point is the food sucks and is terribly expensive. We look for a nice pub and find one near by. We order up three burgers, they come with a salad, a coke and two pints for Chris and I. The bill 26 pounds or $54. The burgers were meat loaf in nature and upset Cathy’s stomach. Chris and I were starving and would have eaten horse if we had to.
Back to the bus and off to Seville.

On the road to Seville we traveled down the famous road of the bulls. Here all the pastures are dedicated to raising the fearless bulls used in the bull ring throughout Spain and Portugal. Most of the best bulls come from this region. We see them by the hundred most fated to face the bull fighter to see who is bravest and strongest. The bull fight is a strong tradition and there is a spectacle every day.

We arrive in Seville, check into another 4 star hotel, take a nap and prepare for Flamenco night followed by dinner.

6:30 PM we head out to the theater for the Flamenco dance. Our bus takes us to the center of Seville a modern city filled with ancient architecture. We pass Moorish aqueducts, Mosques, the world’s third largest cathedral and many restaurants bars and people strolling the city streets.

We arrive at the theater and our free drink order is taken. Cathy, Chris and I are seated in the front row. Soon the guitars begin to play and the spectacle that is Flamenco. There are two guitars, two singers and three handsome male dancers and six beautiful women dancers. For the next 90 minutes they run through a retinue of songs and dance that is fantastic. This was different from the Gypsy Flamenco in that tonight’s dance was stylish and more complex. Both were fantastic experiences and soon we were shouting “Ole Ole” amid applause.

A short bus drive brings us near the Cathedral and we head to the local restaurant for a meal of fish, vegetables, bread and of course wine and sangria. Tonight’s meal was of a more modest volume a welcome respite from the huge calorie overloads we have been experiencing all week. Good thing too because both Cathy and Chris are suffering from the lousy British food we had at lunch so they did not want to load the pipes so to speak.

We are back at the Hotel now and preparing for our first sleep in…tomorrow we wake at 8:00 PM and depart for a city tour of Seville by 9:00 AM

June 21, 2007 Africa

Five AM came really early. We dressed and heading down to the breakfast room for a quick breakfast before a 2 hour drive to the Port where we are to catch a fast ferry across the straits of Gibraltar and onto Morocco Africa.

We all took the opportunity to sleep on the bus before our arrival at the port. We got there a little early so we had time for a coffee and donut. We board the fast ferry at 8:45 for a 9:00 am departure.

The ferry is actually a small well appointed ship. The layout was one deck with open air deck in front and rear with a club room for first class passengers. The vessel has comfortable reclining chairs, good to sleep in, tables, and restaurant. There are windows for viewing and very clean bathrooms. All in all an excellent vessel.

About one third of the way across the strait I see a group of young high school students all sitting in the center of the vessel. Strange but they looked familiar. I looked closer and asked one of the girls where they were from. “Notre Dame HS in Toledo Ohio” came the reply. Small world. They were on tour of Spain and France and were heading to Morocco for a day in Africa. We chatted a while and it turns out several were in the St. Francis Band. I told them Chris was with us and soon Chris was surrounded!

It seems several of the girls know Chris from St Francis and know Cathy from her time teaching at ND. The rest of the trip Chris was surrounded and Cathy spoke with her acquaintance from ND. Note to Lilly, Chris kept his distance and remained fully faithful.

The vessel passed the famous Rock of Gibraltar on our way to Africa. We will be on the Rock tomorrow. Soon the vessel arrived in Spanish Africa where we left the vessel and met our local guide for the trip out of Spain and into Africa.

Since we were leaving Spain we needed our passports to go through passport control. This is a Moslem country and so it is very controlled. We are assured we are safe but are told to be careful. They kept our passports at the border until we returned.

We were in a lush section of Africa. Morocco is an ancient city as well as a modern city. We were heading to the Midas (ancient part of the city). On the bus ride we saw camels, tent cities, and much modern construction. We passed the summer compound of King Faed, and many wealthy estates. Soon, however, as we approached the Midas things changed rapidly and for the worse.

The central city, an area that has been the same for 1400 years, was crowded, dirty, foul smelling and poor, dirt poor. We enter the Midas and our guide picks up tow additional guides to “help” us. More like to protect us.

The old city is just that, old. The streets are narrow about 4 feet wide, and are filled with turns and noise and smells. The shops and stalls are ancient, dirty about 10 feet wide and 5 feet deep. All the food is outside the shop making the narrow street even narrower. People are coming and going, chickens are clucking, sellers are barking and wagons are running you over. It can only be described as mass confusion controlled by generations of knowing what to do.

The shops sell everything. Each section has a specialty. We saw fruits, vegetables, nuts, breads, meats and fish. All are fresh and come in each day where they are sold to the locals who live in the Midas. Food is very cheap. You can buy fresh almonds at 2.2 pounds for 2 Euro ($2.60). Fish comes in every day and is shown in baskets with no ice or covering. It looks confusing and unsanitary but this is a third world country and you really get the idea of what it is like to be poor.

This area is Moslem and as such there are several Mosques for prayer. They pray 5 times each day. They begin at 5 AM, sunrise, again at Noon, again at sunset. Each prayer time is proceeded by ablations or ritual washing of the hands, feet, midbody, face, mouth and inside the nose. Each washing is done three times as the head priest calls from the Minaret to signal the time for prayer. It is all fascinating.

As we go deeper and deeper into the ancient city, some of our troops are getting more uncomfortable with all the smells, commotion and people. Our guide continues to tell us we are safe but “he doth protest too much” and we are not feeling safer.

Soon we are taken to a typical home turned into a shop. It is amazing. Outside is filthy, water in the streets, crowed and small. Inside is huge, brightly lit, smelling of incense and beautiful. We learn that the residence do not want anyone to know how much money they have so they keep the outsides shabby and have a palace inside. Not all are well of but most are not as poor as they pretend.

Any way we are in a carpet shop where all the carpets are hand made in the mountains and are sold as art as well as practical use. We learn a little of how the carpets are made and they then display them with a flourish.

One man explains about the carpet while another unrolls the carpet by throwing it in the air and pulling the other end. The carpets are beautiful and range from a few hundred Euros to 25,000 Euros. Our tour buys two carpets, one for 850 and one for 1300 Euros.

Buying a rung or anything in Morocco involves a process. The process includes much conversation and traditional bargaining. Americans are not very good at this part of the transaction but it was fun to watch. One couple wanted an 8 X 10 carpet. They were taken into the sale room and sat down. After a few minutes they were told the rung was 2900 USD. They did not know what to do so the seller had to tell them! Make an offer and I will counter then you will counter and we will come to a bargain, the chicken was lead to the slaughter. A few minutes later $850 was agreed upon and off to lunch we went.

Lunch was an affair to remember. Fist back out onto the streets for a short walk to the restaurant. We enter a small door into a wide hall filled with light and music from around the bend. We walk along and there we come to the Whirling Dervish. This is a group in traditional costume playing cymbals, drums and whirling in a circle so that a pom pom on a string (dervish) is set to whirling around.

We enter into a lavish restaurant intricately decorated in traditional art. We go to our table to enjoy a traditional Arab meal. We begin with a Tandori coos coos. This is a meal made of flour and rolled by hand for hours in water and salt until it is small and like pastina or rice. This is put into a Tandori pot a traditional cooking pot that is shaped like a triangle with a flat dish at the bottom. The coos coos is added with chicken, potato, carrot, cabbage and other vegetables and slow cooked for hours over an open flame.

The food is then put into the center of the table and each person serves them self a portion. You then add the hot sauce and a sprinkle of sea salt from the Dead Sea. Mix it together, delicious.

Next comes a course of kabobs of meat. These are small tender spiced meat served on a skewer. You are given two skewers but can have as many as you like. This is followed by a salad and is finished off with mint tea to help the digestion. Mint tea is green tea which is brewed with mint leaves in addition to the tea. It is poured into your cup, returned to the pot and returned to the cup. This is done three times to honor Allah.

We leave the Midas and head back to the bus for the trip to the port and return across the straights back to Torremolino and our beachfront hotel.

We are not done yet. We get back to the hotel at 8:00 and we are on our own for dinner.
As we get ready for dinner we run into a little adventure. It seems when we left in the morning Cathy changed her purse into her back pack and believes she left the purse on the unmade bed. When we returned the beds were of course made but the purse was gone. It was essentially empty but we were concerned where it could be. We looked everywhere but nothing. I went downstairs to report it to the Hotel Manager.

He was more concerned then I was. It seems it was possible the purse was accidentally wrapped up into the bed sheets and sent off to the laundry. The laundry opens at 9:00 am and we depart at 8:00 am. I give him my cell number and hope if they find it they can send it back to Toledo. The good news now is Cathy gets to buy a new purse!

We head out to dinner and walk along the beach to a beach front hotel. We are tired of huge meals and looking for something small and not fish! Pizza answers the call. We spy a pizzeria with a beach front table and we sit down with friends, pitchers of Sangria are served and pizza is enjoyed.

As we are sitting there we watch the people promenade along the Playa. Soon some young pretty girls come walking by and glance in our direction. One takes a double take and walks up and says “Chris?”

It turns out this is another group from Notre Dame HS in Toledo. They did not go to Africa and did not know Chris was in Spain. Again Chris was surrounded and spent much time talking about college and his travels to Greece later this month. Some of these girls will see Chris later this year at Band Camp. Note to Lilly, you may want to have a “talking to” with Chris before band camp!

Finally it is 10:00 PM exhaustion sets in and we walk back to the hotel. The weather is still beautiful and the pleasant walk gets us truly ready for sleep. Tomorrow the wake up is 6:30 am. Wow we get to sleep in!

June 20, 2007

Today we are to visit the Alhambra, an 8th century palace and residence for the Caliph. The building was begun by the Arabs in 766 and was taken over by King Charles V in 1492. The Arabs were expelled but Charles did not move into the palace directly. Since this was a place built by the Infidels Charles refused to enter but instead added to the palace a residence built in the Christian style. Unfortunately shortly after Charles V married and honeymooned at the Alhambra, his new wife refused to return and they moved to Madrid abandoning the yet to be completed Christian palace.

The Alhambra is both a palace for the Caliph and a city of 2400 which were either related to the Caliph or lived to serve the Caliph. There are audience rooms, residence halls, fountains and gardens stretching of 4 sq kilometers. The palace is magnificent and the best example of Moorish architecture in Spain.

After we finished the tour with our local guide we headed back to the bus for the trip to the coast and the area of Costa del Sol, the coast of the sun where we will spend two nights (time for laundry).

5:00 PM Costa del Sol
Our hotel is right on the ocean. The area is beautiful, deep blue Mediterranean, white sand and palm trees. Our Hotel, the Mirabel, is a new hotel and of the 4 star class. We decide to check in and chance into bathing suits and hit the beach, topless beach that is.

Up to the rooms, quick change and we are headed out to the sun and the sand. We find a perfect spot under a palm, spread out our towels and prepare for a swim in the Mediterranean.

As we walk down the beach we notice several sun bathers, some topless, but all worshiping the sun, no one is in the water. It is about 80 degrees with a warm breeze so the water should feel good, so why is no one in the water? Chris and I walk to the water’s edge and soon find the reason. The water is ICE COLD. We tried to walk in, too cold. So we decide to run in. Big mistake. We get to our waste and the sand below falls away and the freezing water takes its toll, and we run back out. We tried a second time and lasted less then 60 seconds in the water so back to the beach.

Well the view is nice, topless you know, but the pool is very tempting so back across the beach and to the pool. The waster is like a bath tub so we all settle in for a pleasant afternoon before dinner.

We left the pool for a stroll down the playa for some shopping and shopping. Not 100 yards from the hotel is a shopping street of local merchants selling leather, Cuban cigars, clothes, jewelry and Tattoos. I seriously consider a Tattoo (5 Euro) but we did not have the time.

We boarded our tour bus for the trip to Mijas a hilltop town. Mijas is an old city all in white. He you can see the coast of Africa, where we are heading in the morning. In Mijas we saw a church entirely in a cave, walked around the shopping area and finally rested at a corner bar for a beer and a rest. Back to the bus for our 30 minute ride to the special fish dinner.

This was a dinner of supreme quality, taste and volume. Let me explain. Dinner was served Tapas style meaning the plates were piled high with food and you shared it with your table mates. The tables were set for 4 or 6 so we had our own table for the three of us.

First we had sardines deep fired with lemon, delicious. Next came baby claims steamed in lemon and salt water. We were a little cautious at first but after Chris pronounced then “surprisingly delicious” Cathy and I tried it. He was right. We knocked off the entire plate. Next came calamari deep fried with lemon. Salad came followed by fried cod with lemon and salt. There was so much food so far that we could not finish it all so we passed the plates to some of our other tables. After a short rest where we were entertained by Spanish Guitar, and more food. Now we had roasted red peppers in Olive oil, bread and of course red and white wine. We thought we were done, but this was just the appetizer. We were stuffed at this point but the special main course was yet to come.

Our host brought out two huge platters of the specialty of the house. Slow cooked sea bass in a bed of sea salt covered with sea salt and spices. Soon came out plate of bass with potato, vegetable and tomato. Try as we might we could not consume more then a couple of bites. Next followed a pastry for desert with hot coffee. More food then any person should be allowed to eat was consumed. We left the hotel for a leisurely walk on the Playa along the beach and back to the hotel for a well deserved and needed rest.

Tomorrow Africa and a 5:00 wake up call.

June 19, 2007
Today is a little cloudy which is good as the temperature will be again in the 70’s, perfect for walking.

Today we are going to Cordoba to see an 8th century Arab Mosque and a 12TH century Roman Catholic Cathedral with in the same building. Let me explain.

In Cordoba in the 8th century the Arabs built a Mosque under the first Caliph of Cordoba. The Mosque was expanded in the 9th century and again in the 10Th century to cover a full 5.5 acres under roof. The Mosque, facing east toward Mecca was the largest Mosque in all of Europe.

In the 12th century the area was invaded by the Catholics who under the King Ferdinand III converted the Mosque into a Catholic Cathedral. This is the only Catholic Church built by Arabs and is contained entirely within the walls of a Mosque.

The building is only 400 sq meters smaller then the Vatican, the largest church in the world. Holding the ceiling is 835 columns, formerly over 1000 columns held the roof but 200 or so were removed to build the church.

The facility is absolutely incredible, light, airy and beautiful in decorations. It simply must be seen to really experience it.

We also went into the Jewish quarter very near the Mosque. We visited a 9th century synagogue. It too was converted by the King into a Catholic Church. Some once again we have a Catholic Church built entirely by Jews. The building was very simple and small as there were over 100 small Jewish temples during the 9th century. Today there are not enough practicing Jews in Cordoba to hold a simple minion (10 men) so there are no active synagogue in operation.

Our local guide was very informative and helpful as we walked the old city of Cordoba. Our last stop we found our first Gelato store. Three Gelatos were quickly served up and we headed back to the bus for our trip to Grenada and Gypsy night.

Grenada
I was amazed at the size of the city of Grenada. It has a population of 350,000 and a University so there is shops and bars and people everywhere. Cathy and I walked around the city looking at the small shops and such as Chris took a nap.

7:30 Dinner
Dinner in Grenada was at a local Restaurant in the center of the new city. This is a major metropolitan city with high end shopping and night life. The restaurant was a very nice local shop. As we walked in we were handed a glass of Sangria before we went to our table. We dined on local fare tonight which consisted of chicken in olive oil, snap peas in a sweet tomato sauce and French fries!

Each table had a bottle of wine and mineral water for a group of four. Cathy sat with another table only because we arrived last in the group and the tables all set out for four so two families were split up. It was OK as Chris and I sat with two younger people and Cathy say with their mom.

Chris opened our bottle and poured each of us a glass. I tasted the wine and it was a little like vinegar! Chris also felt it was a little bitter but we kept drinking. Soon I asked at the next table to see if their wine was also bitter. It was not. Our bottle turned. Quickly a new bottle was brought out and the rest of the meal went very well.

Tonight we enjoyed Gypsy night. After dinner those of us who paid for the optional entertainment went into a small bus for a ride up into the mountains. Here we left the city for the hills where we stopped at a hill top location where the Gypsies lived.

We entered into a cave like room literally made to look like a cave. It was white walls and ceiling with lights and kitchen ornaments hanging from the walls and ceiling made of brass and copper. The room was about 25 feet long and 8 feet wide. We sat on red painted wooden chairs along both sides of the room providing a dancing floor of 5 feet by 18 feet. Talk about close to the action.

The Gypsies were dressed in reds, whites, black and other bright colors. One singer, one Spanish guitar 4 beautiful women and two handsome men assembled to provide the entertainment.

They performed a series of traditional Gypsy Flamenco dances. They were so close to us that literally the breeze from their swirling dresses and flashing hands cold be felt as the music and dancing provided a pounding beat that made you move your feet back for fear of being stepped on.

Flamenco dance is rapid feet movement with highly stylized hand and facial movement. The feet provide tapping akin to River Dance steps with “music” coming from the feet to accompany the harmony and beat provided by the guitar. The entertainment was amazing.

We departed at 11:30 to return to the hotel. We still had to pack and get ready for a 6:30 wake up call in the morning. It was after 12:30 before we were ready for bed. When do we start the resting part of the vacation!