Category: Uncategorized (page 3 of 6)

Barcelona…Park Guell was our first stop with its view over the city.  (Sorry for the absence of accent marks and umlauts here, but I couldn’t find accent keys in the blog editing.)

This park was designed in the late 1800’s by Antonio Gaudi as a posh residential suburb, but the development of high end homes never took off because it was too far from the conveniences of downtown life for most who could afford to build homes in Barcelona.  While there are only a few houses here, the park remains as a great example of Gaudi’s style…flowing lines, non linear, mimicking Mother Nature’s forms as much as possible.

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Perched above pillars in the park is a sinuous, curving bench along the whole perimeter.  The bench is decorated in a manner that preceded our trend to recycle…glass and ceramic pieces fit into every curvy to form flowing designs.  Tourists can also snap pictures of the skyline of Barcelona.

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The ceiling supported by the columns below the benches is similarly decorated with ceramic and glass pieces to reflect the plants and animals of the seacoast.

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As you descend the stairs from the benches, you see more Gaudi designs….

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…and his popular lizard statue at the base of the stairs.  More whimsical than our desert lizards!

View of the stairs, columns and upper bench from below in Park Guell.

Alejandra, Catalina, Griffin, Jaimie (our English instructor), Miranda, and Kyle enjoy the party atmosphere.

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This is a view of Barcelona, featuring La Sagrada Familia (and the forever present cranes) from the viewpoint of Montjuic, a hillside park near the Olympic venues.

Marie, Charlotte, Jaime resting in Montjuic and enjoying a musician in the park.

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Photo stop at Montjuic.

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Barcelona is split into various neighborhoods according to when they were built/added on to the town proper.  This is a popular spot in the Gothic Quarter.  The “Bridge of Sighs”, although very pretty, was not built until the 1920’s to connect a few town official buildings for a world exhibition in 1929.  The buildings it connects ARE Gothic, however!

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This is the cathedral of Barcelona (NOT the basilica of Sagrada Familia) in the Gothic Quarter.  It is dedicated to the city’s patron saint, Eulalia.  Rather smaller compared to some of the other Gothic churches we saw, but still charming.

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Interior of cathedral–choir stall.

Crypt of St. Eulalia.

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Space above the main altar of the cathedral.

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Marie enjoyed taking the (very small) elevator to the roof area for a better view of the spires.  The anti-war t-shirt is one she bought in Pamplona.

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Interior cloisters in the cathedral.

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Front view of La Sagrada Familia.  This is the still-unfinished basilica and brain child of Antonio Gaudi as his master work.  Guadi was very devout, even living in the church for the last few years of his life until he was hit by a trolley in the 1920’s.  Construction began before 1900, I think, but charitable donations are the only source of funding at this time.  Gaudi originally designed 12 spires, one for each apostle, for this church–these are not all built yet.  Although he designed many homes and apartment building for wealthy patrons prior to working on this church, the basilica was his sole focus later in life.

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The facade to the basilica entrance is devoted to the Nativity and the early years of Christ.

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Again, organic motifs are everywhere in the sculpture work.  Architects who took over construction after Gaudi’s death have tried to keep the design faithful to the organic themes Gaudi favored.

These kids (band members??  Never found out!)  were too colorful to pass up as we waited to enter the basilica.

Sculptures at the entrance were incredibly detailed.

Again, organic leaf designs behind the Nativity scenes.  As a young student, I used to think that Gaudi’s style was gaudy and over-done, but I didn’t really understand his artistic motivation until I prepared for the trip to Barcelona.  He was a tremendously creative and expressive architect and way, way ahead of his time in material use and design.

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Interior of La Sagrada Familia….true to form, Gaudi wanted the columns to be reminiscent of tree trunks/forests.  The interior space really soars and creates a light, airy space of worship.

The interior also creates an atmosphere of constantly shifting light and color with its stained glass windows.  Much more dramatic and at the same time softer than any interior space I have seen in any other church.  For years I had seen pictures of this as a Spanish student myself, but photos don’t really do justice to the beauty of this place.  You have to see Gaudi’s work to truly appreciate it fully.

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Looking up from the floor of the basilica…

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Karla takes photos to capture the beauty of the light.

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Plaques feature the four Evangelists near the main altar.

Windows create a light show inside.

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Exterior doors where we exited the tour have a Crucifixion theme.

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Casa Batllo is a famous apartment building / museum designed by Gaudi in busy downtown Barcelona.  La Pedrera, a larger example of a commercial building he designed, was under renovation at the time of our visit, so I was unable to get photographs.  Karla and I scrambled around a backhoe doing street construction to get a shot of this.

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We assembled in the Plaza in Pamplona for a very short tour.  Bonnie and Karla are in the background and Elena is explaining Pamplona’s Festival of San Fermin, which is famed for it’s dangerous running of the bulls in the town’s streets.

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This statue to Carlos, a king of Navarra, faces the plaza and the provincial government building.

Hotel la Perla was a favorite hang-out of Ernest Hemingway when he visited Pamplona during the “Sanfermines”.

Karla took a group photo every day to send families via Instagram, but she herself was rarely in a photo.  Elena runs every aspect of the group tour and did an impressive job handling all the transportation, hotels, and meals.  I think she speaks 4 languages (at least) and knows everything from the most historical places to the trendiest spots to eat and shop.  She gave the kids a great feel for the history and culture of Spain in general and every city we visited.

We paused outside the Plaza de Toros in Pamplona, where the running of the bulls (el encierro) ends on each of the 8 days of the festival of San Fermin in July.  Ernest Hemingway put Pamplona on the map for a much wider audience by writing about the bullfighting experience.   He was a huge fan, and Pamplona showed its gratitude with this monument.  Interesting to note that Barcelona and the whole region of Cataluna prohibits bullfighting now, but it is still popular elsewhere in Spain.

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It’s probably hard to imagine what this street looks like with wooden barricades erected down each side to contain the bulls and runners in their white outfits and red neck scarves during “el encierro”….Google “Pamplona bull run” and it will look very different from this scene.  The run covers around 900 yards, but I’m sure it seems longer if you decide to run.  I was here in 1976 for the feria, and it surely did not look like this!  I watched from a balcony and the street was a sea of people and animals.  Total lunacy….they say you must “not be under the influence of alcohol” to run, but well, wink, wink.  You can smell alcohol everywhere on the streets and people sleep on park benches if they aren’t quick enough to book a hotel.  At least, that was what it was like years ago.   Perhaps it is cleaned up somewhat now.

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The town hall in Pamplona.  At 8 AM every morning of the San Fermin festival, they shoot a rocket from the balcony to begin  “el encierro”.

Another nice shot of one of the streets in Pamplona.  The little blue sign “Todo para peregrinos” means “Everything for pilgrims”.  Pamplona is also one of the stops along the “Camino de Santiago” a hiking route stretching from France all along the northern part of Spain to its end point of Santiago de Compostela, the Romanesque cathedral in the far northwest.   Elena pointed out a “hole in the wall” bakery…Pasteleria Beatriz…which had really fabulous pastries.  Well worth the wait for a box of cookies to take on the bus.

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I asked what the 2 side flags were….the red one is the flag of Navarra and the blue one is the E.U. flag.

This is Maria Christina Bridge San Sebastian, a popular resort city right on the Cantabrian Sea and only 20 km. from the French border.  In the far north of Basque country, Donostia is the Basque name for this city and most of the signs are in both Spanish and Basque.  In the late 1800’s, Queen Maria Christina favored its seaside climate and the town became a draw for other nobility and the wealthy.  Today, San Sebastian is also host to an annual film festival.

Iglesia de San Vicente in Donostia/San Sebastian.

Although I don’t remember the name of this statue, I believe it commemorates the women of the town who helped rebuild after a fire or war.  An interesting tribute.

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Iglesia de Santa Maria del Coro, a Baroque church in San Sebastian.  Notice the plaque depicting a ship above the clock…San Sebastian has historically been a center for commerce and shipbuilding.

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Partial view of La Concha Beach on the Bay of Biscay.  Marie and I had a great lunch at one of the restaurants along the beach. The former queen’s home, Miramar, is the building above the green lawn on the far left

Marie at a picturesque viewpoint of the beach and the little islet leading out to sea.

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Bonnie Perkins, on the left, one of Marie’s art teachers, and Elena, our guide for the entire tour group, on the right.  Elena is a delightful person and a native of Galicia, the far northwest province of Spain.

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The next few photos are of the area along the piers in the seaside neighborhood of San Sebastian.

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This Ayuntamiento, or town hall in San Sebastian, started out as a casino.  The upper classes flocked to vacation here after Queen Maria Cristina built a vacation home near La Concha Beach.

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Small but beautiful park near the Town Hall.  There is a continual stream of runners, skaters, and cyclists along this pathway and all along the beach.

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La Concha Beach, which is very long and very busy.  This man must have traced these initials in the sand at least 40 times all over the beach, but I couldn’t find anyone who knew what it was about.  Something political?  Still trying to find out!

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Miramar Palace was built by Maria Cristina on a hillside just above La Concha Beach.  It is now used as a conservatory/school of music.

A statue to a local composer at the Plaza de Guipuzkoa, a quaint park in San Sebastian.

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Downtown areas of San Sebastian further from the beach are relaxing, very clean, and full of pedestrians and folks out for a drink at local cafes.

This area is on the opposite side of the Maria Cristina Bridge and was teeming with surfers–much better waves than La Concha.

Town Hall in Bilbao.  Bilbao is a much more modern city compared to the others we toured.  Commerce related to shipping, especially with British companies, bolstered their economy in the 19th century.

A run to help fund breast cancer research was well attended at the plaza adjacent to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.  People participated in the race with family members and brought kids along to play and cheer on moms/dads.

Just as the exterior of the Guggenheim features curved lines, the interior is a maze of flowing lines in stone, metal, and glass.  The 1997 opening of Guggenheim, designed by Frank Gehry, was intended to revitalize Bilbao and it certainly did make it a destination for lovers of modern art.  They have everything from traditional paintings on canvas to sculpture to digital art and multimedia film art.  Marie and I watched a one hour movie projected on about a dozen screens of people all playing a song while in different rooms of the same house.  Scandinavian thing and wonderfully weird–definitely imaginative.

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Part of the exterior of the Guggenheim where patrons can stroll and enjoy the outdoor sculptures.

“Arcos Rojos” by Daniel Buren

This is called “Tulips” by Jeff Koons.

“Tall Tree and The Eye” by Anish Kapoor is near the Fog Pool

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The play of sunlight and clouds on the metallic walls of the museum made for interesting visual effects that day.

“Maman” by Louise Bourgeois.   It was a pleasant surprise to see this piece because she has an almost identical work at the Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, Michigan, my hometown.

Marie (who had a true case of arachnophobia as a kid when she saw this in Michigan) felt relaxed posing with Maman.

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I’m not wild about all modern art, but found I could have spent all day in this relatively small museum.   It’s the kind of place where you “experience” art rather than just look at it.  The visitor is invited to wander through exhibits and explore them at his/her leisure.

View of modern commercial buildings adjacent to the Guggenheim.

Entry to the Guggenheim where the kids relaxed waiting for the next stop on the tour.

The Basque flag is very prominent throughout the streets of Bilbao.  This was discouraged (to say the least) during Franco’s time and I saw only a few there when I visited as a university student in 1976.  Now the flag flies everywhere.

Students were assigned a photography “scavenger hunt” as an afternoon activity, so the next couple of pictures are from just wandering downtown.

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The next few photos are aerial views of the city from a hilltop park on the edge of Bilbao.

Again, you can see how the Guggenheim and modern structures nestle into the skyline.

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Not too far from Segovia is the town of Burgos, much famed as the home town of  “El Cid Campeador”, the medieval Christian warrior knight who fought on behalf of Spain’s Christian kingdoms to push back Moorish invaders.  In the foreground is Luis, our “precious” guide.  He is truly proud of his town’s heritage and will patiently tell you every detail about its history.  He kindly gave me a poster illustrating El Cid’s ancestral relationships to dozens of former and current royalty.  He shows students the town gate and how the towers of Notre Dame in Paris are a stunted version of Burgos’ bell towers.  Luis knows all……

Close up of the town gate upon entering Burgos.

View of the Gothic cathedral of Burgos.

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Alicia, Catalina, Paige and Tulsi in front of the cathedral–selfie time?

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Again, star of David is featured in an archway entrance.

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Cathedral facade with sculture.

Side entrance door.
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Altarpiece in the cathedral.

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Amazing cupola in the center of Burgos’ cathedral.

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El Cid  (Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar) and his wife Jimena are both buried here.

More examples of stained glass work in the cathedral.

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Close up of the rose window.

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These are ceremonial carts formerly used in processions.  The silver came from Spain’s colonies in South America and Mexico.

Here lies Pedro and his wife….sadly, I’d have to read the Latin inscriptions on the side to tell you who this couple was.

The altar features a typical statue of “Santiago Matamoros” (St. James the Moor Slayer).  St. James is Spain’s patron saint and according to legend, he would appear during battles between warring Christian and Moorish to rally the Spaniards.  Troops in the field probably needed a morale boost.

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Town plaza in Burgos.

This marks the place where Fernando and Isabela received Columbus in audience as he returned from his second voyage to the New World.

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The statue of El Cid Campeador in the center of Burgos.

Although El Cid was the ideal of the Christian knight in Spanish legend, in reality he was a mercenary–as were many  of his contemporaries.  He fought on behalf of both Christian and Moorish leaders on occasion.

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Burgos has a lovely long promenade/park that stretches alongside the cathedral area.

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Residents enjoy a stroll in their park.  A ceramics fair was exhibiting wares from local artisans during our visit.

Departing view of the town gate as night fell.

Segovia is about an hour north of Madrid.  As you approach the city, you see the Alcazar (former royal castle) from the outskirts of town, looking uphill.  Marie and all her classmates enjoyed posing in the park area below the castle.

The hilltop position of the castle provided a great view of anyone approaching.

A short walk around the city affords a view of the cathedral in Segovia.

Typical flower strewn balconies adorning Spanish streets.

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A side view of the Alcazar before you reach the entrance.

We had a nice view of the moon as we approached.

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Entrance to the Alcazar.  Actually, there are multiple “Alcazar” buildings throughout Spain in a variety of cities–they are palaces.  This one was used by Fernando and Isabela as well as their daughter Juana (briefly).   

This is one of the gilded ceilings in the palace–intricate mudejar art and geometric carvings

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The twin thrones for Fernando and Isabela, who ruled together as the “Catholic Kings”.  Their marriage united the main territories of Spain, but Isabela did not relinquish her right to rule in her own name in Castilla.  Both of them were committed to reclaim the remainder of Andalcia, the area of Granada, from its Muslim occupants.

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Ceiling over the throne room/ambassador’s receiving room.

The cornices below the ceiling are lined with all the Spanish kings who ruled from the start of the “Reconquista”–starting with Pelayo, down to Fernando and Isabela and their daughter Juana.  Juana succeeded her mother since her only brother died as a child.  She married Felipe el Guapo (Phillip the Fair), whose marriage bonded her family to the Hapsburgs of the Holy Roman Empire. (Their own son, Charles V, succeeded to both the throne of Spain and that of the Hapsburg dynasty in central Europe.)  When Felipe died very young, legend says that Juana refused to allow him to be buried for days…this incident and her unhappiness with his continual philandering supposedly led to her mental collapse.  Recently, the theory is that she really was not “Juana la Loca”.  Her father Fernando just didn’t intend to share his throne with Juana and found this a convenient excuse to lock her up for years.   She never really raised her son, who was sent to Germany, and her “mental instability” was quite convenient for Fernando and Carlos to rule as they pleased.

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Lovely view of the outskirts of Segovia from the ambassador’s receiving room in the Alcazar.

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Group photo of our Fountain Hills High School tour group, minus our leader Karla Primosch, who was also taking photos.  Most of these kids have been in at least one of my classes.  Marie is on the far right.

View from the towers of the Alcazar.  Sage–climbing the stairs–is a photography student who compiled a series of photos from the tour into a book for her fellow students.

The armory room in the Alcazar was full of weaponry and armor for soldiers and horses.

Karla Primosch, one of our art teachers and the tour leader, shared an iPhone shot with Sage (left side of photo) in the armory room.

The main plaza in Segovia is cheerful and inviting to tourists taking a break from a day of walking.

Segovia also boasts a Gothic cathedral of sizable proportions.

This back side of the cathedral is the only wall with Romanesque columns, which predate the building of the Gothic sections.  Reminds me of the Romanesque architecture in the north that I studied as a university student.

A short walk from the town center and the cathedral, everyone flocks to see the famous Roman Aqueduct of Segovia.

Rome sent a congratulatory sculpture (Mama wolf, Romulus and Remus representing mother Rome) to congratulate Segovia on the 2000 year anniversary of its aqueduct.

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The rose window in the Cathedral of Toledo.

View of Toledo (apologies to El Greco…)  The rainy clouds make it look much like the El Greco painting as well.  Rio Tajo winds around the town, which we entered on foot via the medieval bridge.

Students Miranda, Nacho, Henry, Tessa posing outside Toledo.

It’s a short walk from the bridge across the river up to the old part of town.

Students got to see how narrow the streets were when these were built during the Middle Ages as they approached the cathedral.

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Here is the approach to the Gothic cathedral of Toledo, and typically, you see the bell tower first.

The Gothic facade has a wonderful front portal with customary sculptures overlooking the entrance.

Close up of the sculptures on facade.

The interior starts out with the usual rose window and pillars….

…and an uncharacteristic smiling Madonna and child statue…

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…plus the gilded pipe organ.  Apparently, these have to be played every day or they go out of tune easily.

The real gem is the “Transparente” along the side aisles of the cathedral.  This is very Baroque.   It was masterminded by Narciso Tome and his 4 sons as a skylight to connect the ceiling area visually to the tabernacle it was designed to highlight.  The collaboration was intended to let the viewer’s eye blend the frescoes into the sculptures.

Close-up of the Transparente sculptures.

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This is the tabernacle area the skylight was designed.  Also Baroque.

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This is one of the chapels in the church of Santo Tome, which has one of El Greco’s most famous paintings, “The Burial of Count Orgaz”.   While you can’t take photos of that painting, the crowds thin out a bit further inside where other smaller works of El Greco are featured.  The ceiling frescoes are not his, but side paintings are.

The “Disrobing of Christ” is the main painting in this salon.

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The tile marking Santa Maria la Blanca, also in Toledo’s former Jewish quarter.  Toledo was home to Christians, Jews, and Muslims for many years of the Middle Ages while the Christians and Muslims fought over and traded territory during the Reconquista war years.  This was originally a synagogue built for in the Jewish quarter in the 12th century.

The architectural features of the buildings show how all 3 cultures blended artistic talents for the city’s art in the 12th century.  When Ferdinand and Isabela expelled the Jews in 1492/3, (yeah, bad move) synagogues like this were usually converted into Catholic churches.

Signs in the back of Santa Maria la Blanca indicate partnerships with the state of Israel to educate tourists about history/contribution of the Jewish community to Spanish culture at that time.

Really beautiful plaster work on the walls.

Artisans combined Arabic geometric designs with the Star of David and the conch shell of St. James, the patron saint of Spain.   Not many other places can boast mixing 3 religious traditions in one building.

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The horseshoe arch was a typical design in mudejar architecture in Spain.

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Eduardo, our sprightly 80 year old guide in Toledo, also educated us about how steel was tempered for superior sword making in Toledo.  We toured a Damascene jewelry/sword shop where artisans delicately tapped gold wire into jewelry in intricate designs.

Fishing boats waiting in the harbor.