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I spent my last night in Spain in the same airport hotel in Malaga that I had spent my first night six weeks earlier. As T.S. Eliot said,
" We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time. "
Of course to quote these lines in reference to my holiday in Spain with good friends is ludicrous, but I did know the place for the first time. I knew to order the arugula pizza because it was delicious, whereas the first time I had just been lucky when I ordered it. The next morning I caught the plane for Paris at 5:50am.
In Charles de Gaul airport my good times came to an end when the Air France automated check-in machine spat out my passport. I knew that the employees were on strike, but had heard on the news that it would not involve long flights. Paris to Toronto is a pretty long flight. I tried to stay calm as I told the Air France employee my situation, but my voice was quavering. I was disappointed with myself because I have had critical thoughts about people I feel are overreacting when they are interviewed in airports at times of more serious confusion than a mere strike. Anyway, after she reviewed my papers and confirmed that I was flying home with them and WestJet, a member of their family of airlines, she looked me in the eye and said, "On s'occupe de vous." I became buoyant again at the sound of these words and followed her from one wicket to the next like a child who had lost her mom in a mall and was now happily back with her. In a short time she handed me a voucher for snacks in the airport, tickets for the shuttle, and a reservation at an airport hotel that included breakfast, lunch and dinner. I met a Vietnamese couple, we had two meals together and all went well until I got to Toronto. My bag was not booked through to Kelowna as I had been told it would be, no problem, I just picked it up and put it through myself. But then I encountered a WestJet employee who abruptly informed me that I was not booked through to Kelowna. I began to fear that the family of airlines, like many families, was not a close one. Fortunately, one of her colleagues had a more current passenger list and found my name on it. Then I just had to run to the carry-on baggage check, where my bag was chosen for special attention and I lost my hair scissors, continue quickly to the gate and board the plane for Kelowna. Jay picked me up and drove me home where I happily settled down on my own futon. And now I too have a travel tale that might buy me a few good meals.





The arugula pizza that began and ended my holiday in Spain





The southern tip of Greenland





Crocuses in the front yard






Skiing with Mo and John on Sunday

Almuñécar

We walked around Almuñécar looking at a few final sites, and as the last two days were sunny, we walked along the beach. Caroline and I even swam in the pool, well jumped in, went as fast as we could across it and got out. But we did lie on the grass in the sun for a while. As it is Mela's birthday on Saturday, we had a little celebration. Caroline had thought ahead as she always does and brought a card, candles, and signs. I who hadn't as usual was lucky to find a surprisingly good little kids' cake when I was walking home from the beach in the morning. As it was a kids' cake, Mela and I ate the Smarties and icing off the last bits as the boys used to do, although one time they did it before anyone got to the cake.









Statue in the centre of Almuñécar honouring farm workers








The town of Almuñécar in recognition of our farm workers who with their labour and sacrifice succeeded in creating and conserving the land that welcomes us








Remains of a Roman aqueduct from around the first half of the first century A.D.








Caroline serving our last supper, paella on the beach at the first restaurant she, Mela and I went to in Almuñécar.







View from our balcony on our last night in Almuñécar

Last days around Almuñécar

We had a slow start on Saturday. It was a windy, rainy day, so we sought solace in our old friend, the Mercadona. She did not disappoint. Plain on the outside, she's got inner riches, good inexpensive wine and liquor, Sereno ham, aged cheese, and this time wonderful ribs which Caroline found at a great price. We drove home with our booty and Caroline made Tillie's dry garlic ribs, a meal that warmed us in spite of the cool stone floors and cement walls of our house which would be perfect on a hot summer day but hold the chill of early spring. Caroline also used the two Seville oranges she had collected on the day we visited the Alcazar, together with the sugar she had been getting us to save throughout the trip for no clear reason, to make marmalade. We ate it for breakfast the next day. It had the real bite of the marmalade my family used to have for breakfast on toast with bacon. I tried to approximate the Boyce treat by substituting Serrano ham for bacon. It was great.
On Tuesday we drove to Montril to tour a rum factory I had read about. We began with coffee, cortados, and churros from a genuine hole in the wall churro factory like the ones they have for tacos in Mexico. The tour of the El Montero rum factory was good, the tasting also. We each bought a bottle. On the drive home we stopped in Salobreña to satisfy our curiosity about the place. The woman who speaks on the GPS we have has a way of mispronouncing the name that is so irritating and so often repeated it drives us either to distraction or uncontrollable fits of laughter. Finally we were actually there and happy to be so. It's a small town but parts of it are beautiful, the ruins of the castle are large and fun to walk around, especially when the wind is blowing wildly, as it was. It provides some good views of the town and sea. As we walked back to the car we stopped at small restaurant for a beer and snack. The bread and cheese were very good and the 'habitats con jamón alpujarreño' or broad bean with ham salad was excellent. It's a local spring specialty when the beans are in season. We were happy to have experienced a bit of the hood.










The churros factory in Motril








Us at the Ron Montero Rum Distillery in Montril








The entrance to the distillery








A view of Part of the castle and the town of Salobreña








Inside the castle

Seville Cathedral/Mosque and Giralda

On Friday we visited the enormous cathedral/mosque of Seville. It was beautiful, cold and imposing. I don't know if even the heat of a Seville summer could warm it's stone and marble. But just being in a place that has been built and decorated by such skilled and devoted craftsmen and artists does fill one with awe. The amount of gold squandered on it is less impressive.
Again, my favourite part was the Giralda, the slender, beautiful bell tower. The upper section is a Renaissance bell tower, built from the mid to end of the 16th century. Beneath this is the simple beauty of the original Almohad minaret, built in the late 12th century. Topping it all is a bronze statue of Faith the functions as a giraldo or weather vane.
After the tour, we picked u food for the road and drove home to Almuñécar.




The Giralda of Seville


The tomb of Christopher Columbus in the Cathedral


A view from a lookout partway up the Giraldo


A view of the Cathedral and part of Seville from near the top of the Giralda


The genuine Almohad bronze door knockers. Between them are the two most valuable articles in the tower, two very early lamps which were excavated quite recently.

Seville

On March 14 we began by taking final walks in Córdoba, going our separate ways. I went to see the remains of the Caliphate baths and the statue of Abu al Walid (Averroes). Then we met at the hotel to drive to Seville.
It wasn't a long drive, and the old centre of the city is easier to get into than either Grenada or Córdoba. Our hotel was quite close to the Alcázar, so the first thing we did after registering was to walk there to see it and the cathedral/mosque from the outside. Although we were in the old part of the city, close to the river and the main sites, there wasn't the same feel of being in an old town that there was in Córdoba and Granada.
The next morning, to celebrate Jay's birthday, we walked to and through the Alcazar. It's a huge palace complex that is still lived in by the Spanish royal family when they are in Seville. I don't think they were there when we were but I saw on tv a few nights earlier that their photos were being held upside down and burned by angry Catalans in Barcelona. Like so many other places we have visited in this part of Spain, the Alcazar consists of architecture from many different historical periods: Moorish (11th and 12th century), Gothic (13th century after the "Reconquista"), Mudéjar (14th century when Moorish design and decoration was incorporated into the buildings and the work was often done by Islamic craftsmen who remained in Spain and did not convert to Catholicism) and Renaissance (15th and 16th century after the Moors were almost completely expelled from Granada and all of Spain around 1492 by 'Los Reyes Catholicos').
We spent hours walking through the rooms, gardens and maze and then had a beer and snack outside at the cafeteria.







A part of the Alcazar that was modelled after the Alhambra





The Grotto section that I found fascinating, if rather ugly. According to the sign explaining it, it's a 17th century Mannerist style sometimes understandably called 'grutesco'. The mortar oozes out in rocky blobs from between the large stones. This supposedly creates the impression of nature integrated with architecture.





This was the day that the last of the Seville oranges in the garden were knocked off the trees. The almond trees were beginning to blossom.





Part of a very large Flemish tapestry





A peacock who joined us for lunch. They are the symbolic bird of the Alcazar.

Philosophy and Food

Córdoba was also home to two well known philosophers, Averroes
(Muslim 1126-1198) and Maimonides(Jewish1135-1204). They each had many areas of interest and study, including the attempt to reconcile religious belief and philosophical reasoning. Both were influenced by Aristotle and thus were largely responsible for reintroducing his ideas into Western thought.






Albert,our philosopher, with Maimonides





Averroes





Us awaiting lunch at the Puerta de Luna restaurant. I had rabo de toro, an Andalusian specialty,a tasty ox tail stew.





Don and me under an orange tree in front of the Puerta de la Luna.

Córdoba

On Tuesday morning we went on a guided tour of the Mesquite in Cordoba. Again we had a good guide, a young woman who showed up right on time but immediately launched into an apology in such rapid English I could hardly understand her. She went on to explain that the people of Córdoba are known in Spain as fast talkers. It's true. My Spanish is not great but it's helped us at times. I had trouble understanding in Córdoba. She went on to express a few negative personal opinions about politicians and then began an informative tour. She included many details about the blending of styles in this magnificent church/mosque. They have found remnants of an original Visigoth church which was followed by a mosque, the building of which was begun in 784 by Abderrahman 1 whose statue is in Almuñécar, where he first landed. The mosque was considerably enlarged during subsequent Arab caliphates and finally converted back to a church after the 'Reconquista' in 1236. Each period respected or at least recycled some of the works of the previous ones. It's fascinating to be shown the details of how this was done. Our tour ended with a walk through the Jewish quarter, where we were left to wander on our own. Later that afternoon I climbed the bell tower to see what remained of the minaret around which it was built and to get an overview of the city.







The blending of Christian and Muslim influences in the church/mosque of Córdoba





San Raphael, the patron saint of Córdoba





Us in the mosque/church



The bell tower


What remains of the minaret inside the bell tower


A view of Córdoba from the bell tower


The roof of the cathedral/mosque from the bell tower