Live Love Spain: Vive Ama Espana

By Isabelle Crosbie

Open yourself to a superbly visual account of historical Spanish cities and festivals such as the Dia de la Cruces in Granada and from Cordoba, la Fiesta de los Patios. Walk the sandy streets of El Rocio, enter ancient and modern cathedrals and explore Alcazars; feel cool coastal breezes and then the white heat of the Pueblos Blancos. Travel through open countryside and the wide expanse of Spain to share a journey. From a first hand perspective of living every moment under the sun during a five week sojourn through Espana, may you too, experience from your discoveries amidst these pages, a love for the zest of life that is Espana.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press AU
• Release date: Jan 21, 2016
• ISBN: 9781452530697

Isabelle Crosbie

ISABELLE CROSBIE lives in Newcastle, NSW. Although a trained secondary science teacher, her passions of travel, writing and photography have taken her across the world; from deserts in North Africa, to the tin mines of Bolivia; from coral sands in Belize to icy blizzards in Antarctica. Join this adventure, Spain.

Book preview

Copyright © 2016 Isabelle Crosbie.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Balboa Press

A Division of Hay House

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.balboapress.com

1 [phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4525-3068-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4525-3069-7 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date: 01/19/2016

41193.png

Contents

SYDNEY DUBAI MADRID GRANADA

GRANADA

La ALHAMBRA

CORDOBA

JEREZ

CADIZ

ARCOS de la FRONTERA

PARQUE NATURAL de la SIERRA de GRAZALEMA

CUEVO de la PILETA

RONDA

OLVERA

EL ROCIO PARQUE NACIONAL DONANA

SEVILLA

SEVILLA ALCAZAR

CUENCA

VALENCIA

BARCELONA

La SAGRADA FAMILIA

DONOSTIA - SAN SEBASTIAN

MADRID

PASEO del PRADO

JARDINES del BUEN RETIRO

PALACIO REAL

MADRID DUBAI SYDNEY

DEDICATION

For Mum, I love you dearly

To Karen, who shared this journey and helped make it possible

To Judy, who came and joined us

To my family and my friends who support me always and enrich my life

To the wonderful well met people of Spain

This book is dedicated to those who travel, live in the moment and truly experience the world.

INTRODUCTION

Before planning this trip with Karen, I had travelled to Spain briefly on two prior occasions. I spent barely 5 days in Barcelona, in 1990, part of my first significant oversees trip backpacking around Europe. In 2000 I toured Spain, Portugal & Morocco. Espana had made an impression.

Karen, I first met in Dublin Youth Hostel, in 1990. With another (now friend), Deb, we shared a hire car exploring Ireland and our friendship was struck. Over many years, Karen and I discussed travelling to Espana, sharing a common interest in the language. Finally our timing aligned.

Together we spent months on the internet in preparation; discussing accommodation, researching trains and sites of historical significance, investigating local food and wine specialties and finally selecting a variety of routes and prioritising our itinerary. We had been thorough with 16 colour-coded (thanks to Karen), versions.

Once we finalised our itinerary choices, Karen utilised her superior Spanish and computer skills to finalise much of our journey on line; hours booking accommodation, train tickets and advance entry tickets. For this and as my travelling companion, co-consultant, co-planner and chief translator (when I couldn’t find the words), mi amiga - muchos gracias - I remain very grateful.

Be forewarned on several counts: Karen and I love food and photography so both feature significantly in these pages. I have taken a liberty or two; throwing in an occasional word, in Spanish (see the lexicon in the back) and a few, hopefully helpful, travel tips (italicised), perhaps remembered or for your future departure. Restaurants and Historical information have been placed in bold print for quick identification.

May you enjoy the read, for what follows it is my perspective of a sojourn both visually and culturally sensual, through the spectacular country which is Spain – Espana.

with gratitude

Isabelle

Day 1

SYDNEY DUBAI MADRID GRANADA

martes - miercoles 29-30 abril

As I did a final lock-down and a de-electrifying of the house, Mum arrived. Before any extended trip I always unplug and turn most things off. We had lunch together before I placed the last couple of freshly washed items into my new, now heavy, suitcase. At Mum’s urging, the fleece pants were coming abroad.

I had booked a fare to Sydney airport. The shuttle van was on time, but as we waited on the verge, the driver hesitated part the way up the crescent, turned to go down the hill and then turned around again to come up to the house. The driver did not introduce himself but was quite friendly as he placed my bags in the boot.

After saying farewell to Mum, I piled into the seat and belted up, waving as we drove off. I realised I was quite tired and dozed in the rocking back seat on the way down to the airport. I was slightly concerned that I did have to take off the new boots at one point. They were burning my feet, an early sign of events to come. A very good run through the city traffic of Sydney, saw my arrival at the international terminal at around 5:00 p.m.

I checked in quickly, finding my suitcase weighed 21kg, very heavy for me. I waited some time before phoning a friend, who had said she might come to the airport. She was home when I rang, so we had a quick chat before I went through to customs.

I vacillated in the duty free and then proceeded to the lounge at gate 57 to do plenty of stretching. The new boots were making an impression. I put this down to a long walk out to the departure gate, noting that the airport was becoming a bit like Heathrow.

I rang Mum as I had some time, did some more stretching and was then paged over the intercom, only to have my seat changed for a family. Discrimination at being single, I thought. I registered my judgement and let it go. On to the massive airbus; the cattle call.

Can a plane be too big? Clearly I thought the answer to that question was yes. I had been allocated a window seat, at the back of the bus, next to a couple already seated. Pleasantly, they both got up to let me slip in and get settled.

Kerryl immediately introduced herself and husband John, which naturally I thought, boded well for a good trip. This lovely couple were on their way to Italy, via Dubai, for a rendezvous with a group of fellow Bridge players. It was Kerryl’s first trip abroad. I assisted them with an orientation of the entertainment systems so we were off and running after the safety demonstration. I’m not sure I wanted the pilot to inform us that we were heavy. That much was already clearly obvious to me from my own suitcase and the copious amounts of cabin baggage some people were bringing on board. We were told that it would take some time to climb to our cruising altitude of 30 000’ which I felt was low. Lucky I wasn’t flying this enormous machine.

At various points John and I chatted for extended periods as Kerryl ploughed her way through more movies than me and that is saying something. I selected a couple I had missed at the local movie theatre and was laughing in one, so much so, that John wanted to know what it was so he could select the same feature.

The drinks and dinner were fine; Thai green curry and lamington cake with raspberry coulis. I tried to get some shut eye, opting for the mask and ear plugs I had brought with me, a sound free choice. Not great at sleeping on planes, a sore coccyx was not helping. As each kilometre passed, the pillow on which I was resting it, seemed to be compressing further.

After a long and interesting conversation with John about a trip he took to Melbourne with a Judge of the Melbourne Cup, there was sufficient time to fit in one last movie before breakfast was served.

Out the window the predawn colours look much like Australia, until the sun begins to rise and you see a vast expanse. There is a lot of sand down there. Coming in to land in Dubai we were about fifty minutes late. At 6:00 a.m. it is a warm 27oC.

With farewells to Kerryl and John, I am on my way at pace, not knowing Dubai Airport. I see by the signs that a train might be and was, necessary for my connection. I locate a strategically placed departures board and find that my flight is from Terminal B at Gate 30. Noting that the airport is impressive, there is little time to stop and check out the duty free, except for a flying visit to do a comparative perfume price check.

Walking the walk, it was combinations of escalators, lifts and finally the train, to traverse to Terminal B and onto the end of a significant queue for too few toilets. These were a stark contrast to the modern decor elsewhere. I wondered if the men’s room looked as shabby.

Through the next security check and I set myself to some stretching and yoga in the flight lounge. I made time for meditation but I was also watching the steady stream of early morning Dubai traffic, wending its way past the airport, interspersed by the occasional plane landing.

On board a smaller 777, I think, a young Spanish couple was seated next to me. As they talked to one another, I again fired up the entertainment system after divesting myself of my day pack, several rows down in very crowded overhead lockers. There was no comment from the captain this time, although some passengers had the kitchen sink on this flight. My boots were off and on the floor under the seat in front. I reflected that there was obviously something to be said for breaking in new equipment. Later I would recant this statement, as sometimes you just have the wrong fit, even if it felt great at the time of purchase.

The Dubai-Madrid leg was a search for light entertainment, so I started with Austenland which hit a bit of a chord, another title, which may or may not come to me later (it didn’t) and finally "The Hobbit", which I had seen, as we were coming in on our descent, so I only got the start.

I claimed my bag from the furthest carousel, declared nothing and walked straight through customs after being asked my flight route.

Emerging into a busy arrivals lounge I did a quick recheck of the Hotel name. I had remembered it correctly and so began searching for the tourist information desk. Not seeing it anywhere I asked a security guard who informed me it was dentro. I had totally missed it somewhere inside the airport, before customs.

Tip 1: Airport. Check locations of tourist information desks before going out through customs.

Following the signs I tried the buses first and asked about a shuttle into the city - no go. Next, el tren, but after getting there well ahead of the crowd, I couldn’t work out the stop required or the ticket machine. On my last trip here this had all been so easy.

Tip 2: Destinations. If going into the city by train, have your nearest metro station adjacent to your accommodation worked out before you arrive.

That left arriba scalar, up the escalator, to the now, crowded, taxi rank. The fare was a 30 euro flat rate into the city, at time of writing.

A lovely driver was someone on which to try my espaniol. Onto the freeway we were discussing my country of origin, skiing, because I could see snow on the mountains, a bit of geography, city traffic when approaching downtown Madrid and finally, where the hotel actually was, located in a pedestrian calle.

I rolled my bag into Hotel Europa around son las tres or 3:00 p.m. local time, thirty minutes after my anticipated time of arrival. I could see gear on a table near the door which looked like it could belong to my friend, but knowing that she never leaves her stuff unattended. At that moment she walked through the door. Karen wondered how I had got past her without her noticing me, since she had just stepped outside to take a photo.

We barely greeted one another and we were on our way. A quick walk to the nearest metro station, Puerta del Sol. Once there, between the two of us we sorted the ticket machine, as we had a bar code on our pre-booked documents. Down some escalators we went, contending with peak hour flow, just missing el tren by less than sixty seconds with an eleven minute wait for the next. There is something about being able to see the time at which the next train will arrive. It was packed but we only had to go one station to Atocha.

Originally named Estación de Mediodia but now Estación de Atocha (because of the nearby basilica dedicated to Our Lady of Atocha), Atocha Station was inaugurated in 1851 as the first railway station in Spain. Ten years after construction the original station was largely destroyed by fire. Architect Martin Alberto de Palacio Elissague designed, in 1892, the replacement station. It was larger and had a wrought-iron vault. He collaborated with Gustave Eiffel (of Eiffel Tower fame), the engineer of the project being Henry Saint James.

Arriving and navigating the expansive station to the correct section and platform was a tad challenging, particularly after being given directions by attendants to the wrong platforms. We needed the high speed Renfe trains and not the local metro, for it was here that our adventure would begin in earnest.

Karen bought us some water. We passed through security, in Karen’s case a couple of times and waited for the train landen to be announced, which I got correct with my guess of seis.

On boarding we took a couple of ‘here we go’ photos, next to the signs and door, before settling excitedly into our preferente seats in coche 1.

Tip 3: Pre purchase all your train tickets on line, when they go on sale at much reduced prices, several months before your trip. We chose seats behind one another as it gave us both windows, but on reflection this was not really necessary. These are high speed trains.

There were some sunny plains of Spain to be passed through as we initially hurtled along quite smoothly. I had gone into my suitcase to retrieve my travel folder, for Karen to peruse. This contained additional itinerary activity suggestions and a detailed history of the pueblos blancos, White Villages, we were to visit, a copy of which I had for Karen’s folder.

Countless olive groves later, as night and darkness approached, at 9:00 p.m. I was unable to keep my eyes open.

Finally in Granada and revived, we caught a taxi from the station to the Hotel Marcia Plaza, to be greeted by a lovely gentleman on the desk. We had a top room, 402, con balcon, opening over Plaza Nueva. Agreeing that we were off to a good start accommodation wise, we admired the view.

Tip 4: We went online and did a thorough job over several months looking at apartments and hotels to vet our accommodation. Karen enjoyed the contact and e mails required to organise. I was happy to make notes and suggestions, agreeing on locations and distances to attractions etc. We also read countless reviews for noise, bed comfort and so on. We left our backpacking roots for this trip. The organisation of this takes a lot of time but we found it was well worth it.

Dumping the bags we were promptly out the door to grab a quick bite to eat. Seated in the local kebab place, we left when several late comers were served before us. After a short ‘reccie’ of the surrounds, we adjourned to a nearby crowded tapas bar, where we could see a spare mesa inside the door. Attentive and polite cabelleros were our first impression. We ordered sprite, some calamari frites and flamequin, the local speciality of jamon y quesu. On the way back to the hotel we decided Los Manueles had been a most suitable choice.

Now, more than twenty four hours after leaving home, I desperately wanted a shower. The snazzy bathroom with a frosted glass door did not disappoint. The shower came on hot and strong. I chose to wash my flight-grubby hair, as it is long. I then had to dry it. I had brought my small, well-travelled, UK dryer and adaptors, for that job. By this time I was well past ready for bed. Not, however, before taking a video snippet of the room, the first photos from our balcony of the plaza below and the view up to the hill on which La Alhambra is perched.

It always is the longest day!

Day 2

GRANADA Dia del trabajadores

(Labour Day) jueves 1 mayo

On my first morning in Andalucia, I was up early for some pre sunrise photos. The square below, Plaza Nueva, was at last quiet. There had been some loud commotions during the night which floated up through our terrace door. Stepping onto our small balcony as the sun commenced to rise, I took photos of La Alhambra, perched on al-Sabika Hill and of the colourful multi-story buildings (con pequeno balcons – que lindo tambien), forming the perimeter of the square.

The light a couple of hours later had greater crispness and clarity, so I took some more photos of the beautiful plaza, Iglesia Santa Anna and again the view up to La Alhambra.

IMG0535.jpg

Plaza Nueva to al-Sabika Hill - Granada

It was now around 8:00 a.m. and we headed abajo por desayuno. The breakfast was €7. We thought this was reasonable and we found it to be very reasonable in later comparisons, in terms of quality and choice offered. I had some lemon yoghurt, tried the linden flower tea (quite nice and I had three cups of it in fact), a piece of tortilla, a boiled egg and I then went back for some scrambled eggs. I realised I was hungry and we had a full day of sight-seeing ahead.

As the day was progressing, we knew we should get going. After quickly going back to the room we headed out into the plaza to get our bearings, check out the tourist office, visit the catedral and head off alongside the rio Darro. Finding the cathedral, Iglesia Santa Anna, at the end of the plaza closed, a local guide began chatting to us. We subsequently booked a walking tour for 6:00 p.m. being advised that it would be too hot at 3:00 p.m. and a ticket for a Gypsy Flamenco show taking place in one of the cueves of the Barrio Sacromonte, for Friday night.

We set off down beside the river, joking that we had come only about two hundred metres in an hour. The cobblestones were hard on the feet. Don’t think my new boots were fully broken in yet, which was not helping. My request for great weather had been granted. The mercury or alcohol these days, was rising and so too, the number of people out for a paseo. The calles were filling.

IMG0344.jpg

Rio Paseo by rio Darro - Granada

Tip 5: Always request your weather in advance – but be ready to take what comes.

Crossed up and over a puente where we chatted for some time with a woman who had come out to sit in front of her tienda. It was a natural photo and she said si when I asked her permission to photograph the scene.

IMG0352.jpg

Local Tienda - Granada

We peeked into a few of the shopfronts with the beautiful mosaic lamps, beaten bronze work, colourful cloth and ceramics, taking our eye.

IMG0524.jpg

Moorish Lamps - Albaycin District – Granada

Tip 6: Buy the post cards with ceramic designs (if interested in such) in Granada. We saw them in very few other places.

Back down beside the rio Darro, the road began to climb ever so slightly. Our next stop was at one of the best preserved Moorish baths in Granada and arguably in Andalucia, Banos de Nogal or El Banuelo.

Built in the Zirid style, Banos de Nogal is the showcase of the twenty one baths once in Granada and the oldest building in the city, dating to the 11th Century. A house, remodelled in the Christian period, forms the main entrance. It opens into a patio leading to the house of the watchman. Inside, a hallway provides access to three thermal rooms. The hot room had an underground hypercaust for heating the room and two water containers. The barrel vaulted ceiling had carved skylights to allow ventilation and regulation of the heating.

IMG0368.jpg

Banos de Nogal - Albaycin District – Granada

This was where Karen’s camera decided to de difficult, the shutter not cooperating for her. The site was small and cool inside, being sheltered from the sun. In the rooms leading to the remaining tepadariums, the lattice work on the columns was outstanding and beautiful. These two words, outstanding and beautiful, would become much used, but always applicable, during our travels.

A short way along the calle we spotted the convent selling dulces. Mentioned in our pre-trip reading, we noted the location, knowing we would later return. As we progressed further, every side street seemed worthy of a photo, casi. The doors were also getting our attention; solid wood and splendid iron work, they were old and beautiful. Midday sol at the Iglesias con la Cruce, made the photo dificil, but I persisted through the wrought iron fencing.

At a delightful tapas bar, Raz, a local acquainted us with some basics on tapas etiquette and the significance of the serano hams, hung over the bar. Finding a delightful table by the window, we elected to keep with local tradition and try the especial jamon de la region, matured for some time and considered a delicacy. The tapas de la casa, was interesante, being melon con peppers chorizo y cous cous. The vino tinto de verano was refreshing and quite a nice drop.

IMG0443.jpg

Serano Jamon - Bar Raz - Albaycin District - Granada

The day was quite hot, so feeling satisfied after our first tapas luncheon, we chose to make our way back to the hotel to partake of the local custom, a siesta. It was a good doze for us both, before bounding up at 5:30 p.m. to make our 6:00 p.m. tour of the old town.

Our guide was a lovely and very well informed young woman called Niamh. This was her last week in Granada before heading off to Mexico to commence guiding there. We were with an Italian couple, Caroline and Roberto, who were very pleasant and communicative.

The tour commenced retracing the path along the river that Karen and I had walked in the morning. We were glad we had gone into the baths earlier as we didn’t have an opportunity in the evening; they were closed. We then began to climb arriba, seeing some lovely vistas as we made our way up to San Nicolas mirador. Here, we hit peak hour on a public holiday. Frustrated with people continually pushing in front of us, we initially had limited success securing a vantage point for our photos. With patience and persistence, some space appeared. The panorama of La Alhambra backed by the snow capped Sierra Nevada’s was amazing.

IMG0560.jpg

La Alhambra and Sierra Nevada - Granada

The historical centre of Granada is broken into different ‘cultural’ areas. Our tour was traversing through some of them. We strolled across