Baelo Claudia, Spain

October 26, 2013

These are ruins from the Roman era, but the history stretches much farther back than Romans.  The town was most known for tuna fishing as the tuna go into the Mediterranean to breed.  Right by the water were basins to put the fish into salt baths.  One of the statues was for Isis, evidence that all cultures had an influence.  The town even became so large that it had its own mint.

Vejer de la Fronterra, Spain

October 26, 2013

Another Pueblo Blanco.  The most famous restaurant here is a middle eastern place.  It was closed for siesta when we were by.  We had an authentic breakfast which started with extremely fresh orange juice, then hot chocolate and toasted bread with jamon. In the guided tour we went to a cathedral that was once a mosque and then another time it was a synagogue.  The minaret became the bell tower.  There are even still stars of David painted on the exterior.  Half of the structure was Moorish built and then the Christians added more.  The two styles of construction were very clear.  All of the inner courtyards were once cisterns with a well bucket to get the water.  The cisterns were blocked off when the Malaria became uncontrollable. All of the landscaped areas were incredibly well manicured.

Doñana Natural Park, Spain

October 19, 2013

This is a Natural Park that is across the Guadalquivir River from the National Park.  The Natural Park is open to the public, and when we went, the public was certainly there! There must have been some sort of patron saint family gathering because there were a ton of people dressed up in fancy clothes riding horses and pulling fancy carriages.  One of the carriages was being pulled by what looked like a Roto-tiller.  We didn't linger long, but went further out into the part.  There were a ton of flamingos.  It looked very similar to Dorchester County, MD.  Driving back we went by almost all wine vineyards and it was very pretty.

Granada, Spain

October 11 - 13

This was our first weekend trip.  This is where Columbus got his start and since we were there on Columbus Day weekend, we got to see all the parades and celebrations.  The walking tour took us through the Arabic markets which are still functioning and ending at the main cathedral.  We saw many other smaller churches that were all prior mosques, which you could identify because of the very tall bell tower that was formerly the minaret. All of the churches also had large cisterns since the city is up on a hill water was considered precious. It was in Granada where the last Muslim ruler surrendered to Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492.  A term of the surrender was that the Muslims would be allowed to continue living in the city. The coolest part of the city is the Alhambra.  The original construction began in 889, then it was ignored until the 11th century and was rebuilt by a Moorish king.  In 1333 it was converted into a royal palace.  Then in 1492 it was used by the Christian rulers.  It was in the Alhambra palace where Columbus was granted his final approval to go discover the New World. The significance of the Alhambra is that it is a rare example of late Moorish design.  All of the fountains are elegantly beautiful.  The surrounding gardens are called the Generalife that was unsecured so the king would only spend the day in the Gardens.  Overall, a very cool city.