Almería, Spain

December 25-27, 2015

Almería is the capital of the province of Almería within Andalusia.  This is the last capital of the provinces for us to have visited all of the provinces of Andalusia.  There are several instances of the city being 'founded', but the official date falls to being by the Moors in 955 AD.  As was typical for this region, wars between the Moors and the Christians went back and forth for many years.  The city is in a very ideal place for trade and defensibility.  Due to the city being in such need of defenses, the Cathedral (first a mosque) has a very fortress-like appearance.  The current architectural style is the Renaissance after being rebuilt in the 16th century after a earthquake in 1522 destroyed much of the structure. Our favorite part of the trip was the Alcazaba.  Broadly, that means a walled fortification.  It was built on top of the highest peak of the city with evidence of structures from the Roman era.  Throughout history it was used as a fortification, seat of government, mosque, baths, and decorative gardens with fountains throughout. The most interesting part of this Alcazaba is that it is larger than the Alcazar in Granada.  Presently the Alcazaba is part of the Architectural and Monumental Monumental Ensembles of Andalusia.  The Alcazaba has been used to film Conan the Barbarian, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. As can be seen from the Alcazaba, the sides of the cliffs have houses carved into them called the Chanca. Surrounding Almería are many greenhouses for agriculture and also a landscape that was used in many Spaghetti Westerns.

Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park, Spain - Rio Majaceite

December 19, 2015

The Majaceite river is within the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park.  We went on the El Bosque to Benamahoma little trail.  It was just an hour and a half each way with a lovely restaurant in Benamahoma.  We got a really tasty bocadillo with jamon and queso.  The path itself has portions in field areas and then also areas over rocky areas that have really cool metal bridges.  The trail want past a fishery and some old flour mills.

Estepa, Spain

December 12, 2015

La Estepeña bakery was founded in 1858 first being in small coffee shops.  It is still family-owned and operated by the Galván family. In 2004 the factory got a total overhaul to expand and have more modern equipment.  The factory is enormous and they didn’t allow for any photographs. They still have a small area where they produce the pastries in the traditional oven.  This bakery produces the traditional Spanish pastries called “polvorones” and “mantecados”.  They both are very delicious.  Estepa has 24 separate factories, 2,000 local workers and produces 20 million kilos of these pastries per year.  La Estepeña also produces many chocolate treats and a variety of other baked goods.  The town of Estepa has your typical Andalucian history with the ancient cultures marching through ending with the Spanish re-conquest in 1291.  Between then and 1492 wen Granada was taken, the city had many attacks from the Moors.  We visited the Tower of Victoria, finished in 1766.  It is considered one of the best examples of 18th century Andalusian baroque.

Huelva, Spain - Rio Tinto Peña del Hierro Mine

December 5, 2015

The Peña del Hierro is a major mining deposit that is part of the Mining Paro of Rio Tinto.  These are sulfide deposits originating from 300 million years ago.  Mining of this area is documented by the Romans for use in making silver and copper coins, but even further back are the people from the Copper Age. In the early 19th century Peña del Hierro was mined by a Spanish company for mostly copper ores. The profitability of the mine was diminished due to rustic and inefficient mining equipment and being too far from the Cannon Foundry of Seville.  The in 1883, the mine was owned by two different British companies where productivity and efficiency flourished.  The main products were sulfur and copper. These two companies improved the mine with added underground stabilization for the tunnels and open cast mining.  Mostly, they constructed a railway line to connect the mine to the ports within 5 hours.  Previously it would take up to five days to reach the processing area in Seville.  The mine has been out of use since the 1960s. We visited the open-cast mine via the Santa Maria Tunnel.  The tunnel was built to more easily move the rock from the mine out to the processing area.  The water in the open cast is one of the main sources of the Rio Tinto River.  This water has a pH is 2.2 and between 6 to 8 grams of heavy metals and sulfur per liter.  Even before the mining began the water ran red and highly acidic into the Atlantic Ocean – or so the visitor center tells us.

Month 17

Owen is adding more miles onto his extensive travel list.  This month we went on the Greek Islands, Croatia, and Venice cruise.  Now that he is walking, traveling requires him having time to run around and climb on things.  Stairs are still his favorite architectural feature. On the cruise, Owen adopted Sue and Denis from Australia as his grandparents.  Sue was wonderful with Owen and he would seek her out in the morning while we were waiting for our tours to begin.  Owen's newest toy to play with is the phone.  I am planning on going to the thrift store to find him an old one to bang around with. He is still an avid fruit and cheese man.  And now with more teeth I don't need to cut up the pieces as small.  His eye color is still in flux, I think the official designation is 'hazel'.  Sometimes they look brown, others green, and then in other times they look blue.  His favorite toys are anything that can be climbed upon.  If we leave the chairs out, he will get on top of the dining room table in seconds.  Owen continues to be a loving and outgoing boy who loves other kids and exploring.

  

Owen was a bit hot here.

Owen's favorite part about the Acropolis was the gravel.

He had a great nap in the free rental strollers from the museum.