The Nasrid Palaces where the center of power for the Granada Emirate. They are designed around rectangular interior courtyards and flowing water. The decoration looks inward rather than outward, and is made of stucco, and stonework. The courtyards are surrounded … Continue reading The Nasrid Palaces at the Alhambra
The Alhambra, or in Arabic “The Red One” is a complex of fortifications and palaces on a hill in the Sierra Nevada Mountains overlooking Granada, Spain. It is the best preserved bit of Islamic medieval architecture in the world, and … Continue reading The Alhambra, Granada
The first leg of this cruise had two sea days. We needed them after an intense time in Barcelona and two very hot port days. I think they were created to give us a break more than from the necessity … Continue reading 9 Knot Sea Days
We left Barcelona at 10 PM and 14 hours later were in Ibiza, one of the Catalan speaking Balearic Islands. For a while she lived in the shadow of her larger sister Mallorca but has since become “the scene” for … Continue reading Brutal Heat
That’s a mouthful. I was standing at a little round bar table talking to Oosterdam’s tech expert (texpert) trying to get my HAL Navigator App to work. Water was dripping on my head. I wasn’t the only one with tech … Continue reading Iberian Idyl and Mediterranean Eclipse Collector Cruise
Until the 1850s Barcelona was confined, by law, to lie within its old city walls. The government in Madrid feared a Catalan independence movement and wanted to keep Barcelona, the center of Catalonia, small and confined. But by that time … Continue reading The Block of Discord
Walking into the Sagrada Familia is like walking into a forest during that magic hour when the light is low and color and shadow play out their drama. Stained glass artist Joan Vila-Grau realized Antoni Gaudi’s dream starting in 1959. … Continue reading A Forest of Light.
Travel writers have described Sagrada Familia’s Nativity Façade as if “Someone left the cake out in the rain.” Borrowing a term from Jimmy Webb’s MacArthur Park. Webb, in turn took the line from WH Auden who said his lined face … Continue reading Someone Left the Cake Out in the Rain
In 1899 industrialist Eusebi Güell bought a farm on a hill overlooking Barcelona, which had exploded across the plain with rapid industrialization. The farm was to become a suburban subdivision for wealthy families living in detached houses with parkland, trails, … Continue reading Park Güell
This is the landing page for a two month trip including two cruises, one crossing and more than a month of rambling through Europe. This trip has taken longer to put together than most. We are on our way we … Continue reading Eclipse Trip, The Summer of ’24
November 28 is Albanian Flag Day, or independence day. Thirty years ago in 1993 I celebrated Flag Day at the 55th anniversary of Radio Tirana, founded on Albania’s national holiday. It, like everything else in Albania in 1993 was fraught … Continue reading Happy Independence Day, Albania!
In 1968 it was easy to “experience” a slice Iceland without large crowds on a 48 hour stopover. The tour companies developed the “Golden Circle,” a day tour that take you to a waterfall, geothermal area with a geyser, the … Continue reading Ersatz Iceland
When I was in grade school Iceland was a distant land, stuck between two continents, that, our teacher assured us, was not all ace and snow. But the odds of any of us getting there, unless one of us were … Continue reading Hippie Airlift (Exploring Reykjavik)
(I can’t believe I’m referencing ABBA.) The United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man are all on the British Pound. English Coins and Bank of England notes are accepted all over. But each jurisdiction also issues its … Continue reading “Money, Money, Money. Must be Funny.”
After visiting the Cathedral Suzi and I sat in an outdoor café on the plaza in front of the cathedral enjoying a coffee and deciding what to do next. There are a good number of chalk artists in the plaza … Continue reading Ukrainian Modernism.
I first saw the cathedral at dusk from a train pulling into the station. I was staying on the train, on my way from a student seminar in Bonn in 1964. The Cathedral seemed dark and menacing, backlit by a … Continue reading Cologne Cathedral
German trains do not run on time. We were on our way to Cologne from Copenhagen. This was the last of our missed stops from the 2023 World Cruise. No the Zuiderdam did not sail up the Rhine to Cologne, … Continue reading “I don’t know what’s happened to our country, it’s a shame.”
…Thank you Frank Loesser. * We were having lunch on a deck by a shaded lake. There fountains in the lake giving us a constant water gurgle regularly punctuated by screams of terror and delight. We were enjoying open faced … Continue reading Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen.
The Cove of Cork, Queenstown, Cobh, by what ever name it was Ireland’s pressure valve, the port from which large parts of Australia, Canada and the United States were populated, and not a few to Argentina and Chile. Thousands of … Continue reading Farewell to Ireland
We stayed at an Air B&B in Moville, three miles south of Greencastle. Moville is half again bigger than Greencastle, with several bars and restaurants, and is a good place for traditional sessions. With the kids it was hard for … Continue reading The Road South from Greencastle
When my grandfather was a kid, he played in a real castle. The castle was built on a high spot along the shore near the narrow entry to Lough Folye in 1303 by Richard de Burgh, the Norman Red Earl … Continue reading The Castle.
I was in a car that drove to Inishowen Head twice this trip. Once with Suzi and Brian and once with Kevin and Shannon. Inishowen head is just north of Stroove, which is 3 miles north of Greencastle. There is … Continue reading Stories From the Road between Greencastle and Stroove.
As a youth my grandfather spent every New Years Eve on his knees in St. Finian’s church, welcoming the new year with prayer as the bell in the tower tolled 12 times. When he left Ireland he preferred a different … Continue reading My Grandfather’s Church
Greencastle was the emotional heart of this journey for me. It was the center of my grandfather’s stories of growing up in Ireland. It is the place of family legends. Grandpa took me there in 1961 when I was 14. … Continue reading Greencastle, Ireland