Spain 2016

Our tour guide Julian with Murray à la Flamenco!

Madrid is the city where we started our 16 day COSMOS tour of Spain, Portugal and Morocco with Jenny and Peter and 35 others. Our tour guide Julian was a fountain of knowledge, had a cheeky chuckle, and could sing a nice tune. He didn't seem to use any notes, but dates, facts and interesting information were constantly imparted at the appropriate times. As well as a top tour guide, we were fortunate to have the competent Pedro as our driver - he had a daunting task in Morocco and Granada, but capably steered us home safely. Needless to say we were pleased to discover that our coach was almost brand new - it was on its second trip, and it was very comfortable and ran so smoothly.

Our first excursion was a day trip about 45 minutes SW of Madrid to Toledo, which was the original capital of Spain until 1561, and now has a population of 75000. The old walled city (now a UNESCO site) was founded by the Romans more than 2500 years ago. The cathedral was huge with ornate altars and so much history. Another church in the walled city houses El Greco's El Expolio de Cristo painting.

During a tour of Madrid we were surrounded by impressive old buildings - we visited the Mercado San Miguel (food market) and were amazed at the diversity of creative cuisines and exotic food displays. We drove past the bull fighting arena which is a relatively modern building as it was built in 1931. Madrid's bull fighting season opened on the 1st May, and on the 2nd May Murray attended a bull fight in Madrid's Bull ring that holds 25, 000 people. He didn't last the whole 6 fights, and was ready to leave after 3. It was sickening to see the bull killed as per centuries-old tradition. Bulls must be killed as they are smart and learn to negotiate the bullfighters cape. Bulls weigh 500-700 kg. After being killed, the bull is taken to a butcher and the meat is sold. Top bullfighters earn $60,000 per fight and perform an average of 30-45 fights per year. Interested teenagers start training in a bullfighting academy at age 15 to 16, and spend about 5 years before becoming a matador.

Avila - the highest provincial capital in Spain and the location of where El Cid was filmed was another stop on our Spanish itinerary. Home of Saint Teresa of Avila, we visited the church there and saw relics of the Saint.

Flamenco Dancers

After visiting Portugal (see a previous blog), we were headed to Morocco (see a previous blog) and traversed through the Spanish city of Seville. What a beautiful interlude we had there. We were entertained by skilful Flamenco dancers and made two visits to the spectacular Plaza de España - wow! The first time we saw it, it was dusk, and it looked magical. I remember the scene in Lawrence of Arabia that was filmed in that building. We were so impressed with our first visit that we walked back to visit it again the next day. 

Plaza de España - the photo doesn't do it justice

Seville Orange Trees

Plaza de España

We were surprised to learn that the fruit on Seville orange trees are never picked; they are only for decoration! So much for Seville marmalade - it espouses to be made from Seville oranges, but there must be another Seville somewhere in the world, or someone simply patented the name?

I don't think too many days went by without us having a beer and tapas in some place or other. We tried many of the local dishes and I found they actually needed a bit more spice! A hint of chilli here and there wouldn't have gone astray, but on the whole the culinary experience was enjoyable.

After our visit to Morocco our first stop back in Spain was a photo opportunity with the Rock of Gibraltar as our backdrop.  We were all expecting to see a big rock in the water where the Mediterranean and Atlantic Oceans meet, but instead, it is actually a promontory of land, 6.8 km square (2.6 Sq miles), with 12 km (7.5 miles) of coastline, that juts into the sea and is home to around 30,000 people. The 'rock' itself is made of limestone and is 426 m (1398 ft) high. It remains a British Overseas Territory (since 1713) and borders Spain to the north. It is very popular with British citizens, as it is a tax-free zone. 

Rock of Gibraltar

An overnight stop at Granada gave us the opportunity to visit one of the most visited places in Spain, the Alhambra Palace - the last Muslim stronghold in Spain. Built in the mountains in 1333, it was an impenetrable fortress, hiding a beautiful palace and tranquil gardens and water fountains within its walls. We spent several hours there, and walked 4 km during our tour. From there we beat a hasty retreat back to Madrid, leaving behind the Sierra Nevada ranges and used tunnels to cross straight through the Sierra Morena mountains. 

We saw the row of windmills (used for crushing grains) on the mountains that were mentioned in Don Quixote's Man of La Mancha (1505) - the most translated book in the world, second only to the Bible. We passed through the world's largest olive oil production area (mid-Andalusia region of Spain) and saw olive trees as far as the eye could see - the olives are still harvested manually and each olive tree produces around 6 litres (12.5 pints) of olive oil each season.

Saffron harvest

 Saffron, from the crocus plant, is also a major crop in the fields around La Mancha, with the delicate flowers harvested during the last week in October and only by women, as they have more delicate fingers. The flower's filament-like stamen  is what is sold as saffron. Very expensive at around $73USD per ounce.  Interestingly, our guide said that the crocus roots are where turmeric comes from, and used mainly as a food colouring in place of the expensive saffron. With recent reports advising us to use turmeric on a daily basis due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, perhaps these crops will increase their market value. Photo courtesy (http://www.venamicasa.com/cultural-activities-for-groups/the-saffron-path-in-la-mancha/).

After 16 days and 4,000 km (2,500 miles) our tour returned to Madrid. As a last hurrah, the group went into Madrid city to the Plaza Mayor where huge crowds had gathered to celebrate a long weekend commemorating San Isidro, the patron saint of Madrid - the vibe was electric. We were served the best meal I've had in all of Spain, followed by a drive around the city for one last look at the sights. A fitting finale....

Jenny, Peter, Murray and I boarded the bullet train from Madrid to Barcelona the next morning, and took 3hrs and 10 minutes to travel about 600 km. We reached a speed of 300 kph and made 4 stops at stations on the way. Barcelona really turned the weather on for us on arrival, and we had a glorious stroll from our ideally situated hotel in Passeig de Gracià to Catalonia Square for beer and tapas the first day, then under cooler but mostly sunny conditions, we toured the city in a sight seeing bus. Barcelona seemed so much more contemporary and casual, compared to the seemingly more staid, traditional vibe of Madrid.