Tales from Spain Part 1

Coffee

Buenos Dias! Back from Spain, I'm suffering severe jet lag (I know, poor me), but dragged myself to the computer to peruse my photos and relive our wonderful trip. So grab a cafe con leche (Spanish coffee is better than any I have ever had), like we did above, on a regular basis – like 4 times a day – and have a look.

Rolling-sea

We began our trip in the south of Spain in the wonderful seaside town of Marbella. Just a 45 minute drive from Gibraltar and the straits, on our first day (jet lag and all) we took the 35 minute ferry ride over to the storied Moroccan city of Tangier. The wind was howling and the sea was roiling and lurching. We had to delay our departure by a couple of hours, but undeterred, we set sail.

Inside-ship

My husband was brave enough to hit the decks for the picture above, while I stayed cozily glued to my seat, praying that my seasickness medicine would anchor my stomach – which thank god it did. All around us was the sound (and dear god the smell) of retching.

Ahmed-wall

Happily off the boat we were met by our guide, Ahmed, who enthusiastically lead us to the old walled city center, the Medina.

Medina 

Ancient and wonderfully twisted and narrow, the old city enchanted and beguiled.

Medina-2

I'm glad we had a guide in this amazing maze of narrow passageways.

Tangier-restaurant

We had lunch in a lovely old hotel, visited by hollywood royalty and rock stars alike. The beautiful keyhole door shape repeated again and again.

Passageway

Every turn a new archway…

Arabic-wall

…revealing some amazing decorative detail.

Hand-of-fatima

The Hand of Fatima (or hamsa) guards this beautiful door, keeping away evil spirits.

 Passion-christ

Passions run very deep in Spain and is evident in their religious art…

Toro-poster-1

…and their love of bullfighting, especially in the southern region of Andalusia where we began our trip. Posters for the season…

Toro-poster-2

…annouce which toreros (bull fighters) will meet the toros bravos (brave bulls).

Women

All the best finery comes out of the back of the closet for the Corrida (bullfight).

Church

Glorious, old, statuesque churches are everywhere – the moorish influence visible on this facade. Just miles from Morocco, it's influence covers the south of Spain.

Ronda-madonna-1

Madonnas grace the churches, the divine feminine alive with a shining countenance….

Madonna-wall

….grace the most ornate alters or the simplist of niches.

Next up Barcelona in the northern Catalonian region of Spain. I have so many photos I can't possibly share them all here. It's a photographers heaven alive with history and color and textures and patterns. And food! The food was wonderful and amazing, as was the ever plentiful wine. In the near future I will upload more pictures to my SmugmMug site, so check back in a week or so and you can see more photos if you are interested.

3 thoughts on “Tales from Spain Part 1”

  1. Welcome back Fran. Thanks for sharing these amazing photographs. You really have captured the feel of the region and there is so much history to be seen in every shot. Thanks!

    Reply
  2. Fran!!! oh, the cafe con leche….nothing like it, we tried to duplicate it here, but really cannot. Just seeing the little cups brings back the rich taste…mmmmmmmm

    wonderful wonderful and I need to see more. Thank you for sharing these!!

    x..x
    steph

    Reply
  3. Yikes! No wonder you didn’t sleep…all of that coffee (I can smell it from here) and a very busy travelers schedule. Thanks for stuffing us into your travel bag. The photos are wonderful, but I’m pacing around in a circle, staring at my watch, waiting to see the travel journals that have made you famous!

    Reply

Leave a Comment