Early spring in Barcelona and Andalusia

Almost exactly a year after our trip to Morocco which ended in a week in Madrid and Toledo, we returned to Spain for three weeks, this time starting in Barcelona, then flying to Seville and seeing some of the highlights of Andalusia. It was barely enough time to get a taste of what the region has to offer, and Andalusia is definitely back on the list of places we want to visit.

We started in Girona, a small town about an hour from Barcelona, simply because that is where RyanAir lands, and you cannot beat a 50 euro roundtrip ticket.  Girona is well worth a visit, with fortresses, cathedrals, a pleasant medieval center and excellent restaurants (and a lot cheaper than Barcelona--50 euros for a nice room and 10 euros for a three course pris fixe dinner).

Barcelona is a trip.  After living in an etruscan city in a 15th century building, the modernisme architecture everywhere was refreshing and interesting, if a bit over the top.  Barcelona is truly the city of Gaudi, whose Sagrada Familia is expected to be finished in 50 years or so.  The Sagrada is so ornate and detailed it is almost tiring to look at.  The views from the top were great also, the perfect way to orient yourself to the city.

At the top of the nativity tower

The stained glass windows were my favorite part
of the cathedral, the lighting inside was superb

One of the many entrances

We spent much of our week in Barcelona gawking at the modernisme buildings, including many by Gaudi.  A block called the 'block of discord' contains three modernisme buildings by three different architects which are warring with each other.

The magic fountain at plaza espanya

 

detail from la perdrera by Gaudi

modernisme hospital pelau

Park Guell above,
City view from Park Guell below

Of course we also visited the museums, cathedrals, restaurants, plazas, and even took a cooking class where we went to the market with the teacher, then made soup, paella, spanish omelet, and catalan cream, then had a feast with lots of spanish wine, 

making catalan cream (left)
the entire class (above)

Although we were replete after the meal, we had just enough energy for a stroll around the ramblas and to the port.

Museum of Catalan Art, a great place to visit after a
walk around the Montjuc area, which includes parks, the Miro
museum, and plaza espanya

"The four cats" bar, famous as Picasso's hangout, and

he designed their menu (left), exhibit of Gaudi

furniture at Catalan museum (above)

A quick plane ride and we were in Sevilla for tapas, flamenco,  and sunshine, along with a stunning cathedral and an introduction to andalusian cuisine.  The seafood was fresh and expertly prepared, I think Tom had some every day.  Flowers blooming, beautiful courtyards, intricate moorish tiling--I could easily live in this city if I wasn't too lazy to learn another language--took long enough to learn Italian!

We stayed in Hotel Casas de la Juderia which is over 20 historic buildings connected to form a hotel, in the heart of the old jewish section of town.  The hotel was like living in a museum, there were frescoes, mosaics, 40 different courtyards, an underground passageway, statues, fountains....it was such a labyrinth that it was not uncommon to see guests wandering around trying to find their room or the reception area.  Luckily Tom has a good sense of direction, I would probably still be there trying to find the breakfast room.

one of 40 courtyards at the hotel

2 common sights--fans as souvenirs
and 'secret' courtyards

Cathedral of Seville, the largest gothic cathedral in Spain,
dating back to 1502 when construction was begun 

gold altarpiece

Tomb of Christopher Columbus, being carried by four kings

View from the top of the cathedral

fish!

paella

at the casa di flamenco

We  hated to leave Seville after only 4 days but leave we did, heading to Granada, Cordoba, and the pueblos blancos.  Both Granada and Cordoba are charming cities with beautiful islamic buildings and tilework.  We visited the Mesquita  in Cordoba and the Alhambra in Granada, both of which tell the story of islam and christianity in Spain.

Texting while riding!

The mezquita has over 800 repurposed roman columns and is
truly spectacular.  it is an old mosque with a cathedral built in the middle

of it.

Bridge across river in Cordoba

The Alhambra is the number one sight in Andalusia, and possibly in all of spain.  A complex of castles built by islamic workmen and featuring islamic design and arabic writing, it attests to the level of acceptance of islam (pre inquisition of course).  It is at the top of the hill, towering over Granada.

Looking up at the Alhambra

mini procession

line to get in at the Alhambra, left
View from the Alhambra fortress, above

one of the interior courtyards

lion courtyard

There were an amazing number of street musicians in Granada, many of them really excellent.  A lively band played in the piazza near our hotel.

Granada cathedral

We happened to catch a concert at the cathedral

The last leg of our journey was exploring the pueblos blancos (white villages).  We stopped in Antequera en route to our hotel in Ronda, and also visited Arcos de los Frontiera and Zahara.  Although guidebooks and bloggers unanimously pronounced Arcos as the most picturesque of the white villages, we preferred Ronda, which is built on a ravine and has beautiful viewpoints and a large piazza with views to the countryside.

Antequera

ancient ruin (and prehistoric buildings) on the way to Ronda

At the Ronda bullfighting ring

Ronda

Old bridge in Ronda

Tom and a friend at cathedral in Arcos de los Frontiera

The drive from Ronda to Arcos would be about 90 minutes without stopping and is scenic and not too horribly twisty, but of course we made many stops on the way there and back.  There are so many small villages you could wander for days and not see half of them.

We had to leave for Malaga to catch our flight home.  Although the hotel was a business hotel next to the train station, it did have a giant slide to the lobby, a first for me.

Although Malaga is much maligned as a tourist destination, we found a lot to like.  The Centre Pompidou has a branch in Malaga that was really well curated, and there are other museums as well as the obligatory churches and forts.  We stuck with the waterfront and the Pompidou,  having seen enough baby jesus and mary pictures for the time being.

Centre Pompidou in the background

new 'mall' built to encourage tourism, very pleasant despite
a plethora of american businesses (Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, etc.)

Back to Arezzo on RyanAir, a smooth trip,even made the train to Arezzo (which cost exactly the same as our plane tickets).  Our German friends visited for a week, and now we are preparing to head to Greece for a month--getting in as much travel as possible before we move back to Seattle on June 29!