And so does the cat, in Tangier. As we were waiting to get on the bus to take us to the Medina, or old town in Tangier, an unhappy woman was getting off the bus. “There are no stores open.” … Continue reading The Market Comes to You
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
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