Sheilaclapkin's Blog;

This is the entrance to the city of Cordoba.

Cordoba is an hour and ½ drive from Seville. It is well worth the drive to see such a lovely little city. You will realize that in this city Jews and Muslims lived side by side peacefully as they did in many early times in Spain.

There is a very small early Synagogue in Cordova still left intact. We were walked through the small winding streets of the once Jewish Quarters, which is very lovely and well kept, and then on to The Cathedral.

It is especially important when visiting Cordoba to go to the enormous Cathedral for a reflection.  I did have time to reflect on inspiration, beauty, as I perceive it, and truth, as I understand it, righteousness, and taking pleasure in life, guilt free.

At first the site on which the Cathedral sits was the Church of San Vicente and was demolished to make way for the creation of a Mosque now the Cathedral of Cordoba. What have made this huge complex so unique are the red and beige arches. Other aspects are hugely important as well, but for now it was important to experience the beautiful overlapping arches. The red is achieved with red bricks.  Although it was a very hot day and trailing our guide was exhausting, the city and the Cathedral were and are wonders of the world to me. If time permitted, I would have liked to stay within those rooms full of arches and make some decisions. As it was, I did make a decision, I just hoped for more.

MARRANOS:

Our guide’s explanation of the calling of the converted Jews Marranos:

Remember this, one of the Spanish words for pig is marrano. We were told by our guide much about the Marranos who are/were the Jews, who during the time of the Inquisition in Spain had effectively converted to become Catholic or Christians in order to remain in Spain.  Jewish inhabitants of Spain were asked to convert to become Catholic or Christians or leave the country and their homes. So to prove that a Jew had successfully converted he or she was asked to eat the meat of the marrano, the pig.  If the pig meat was eaten then they were considered a Marrano, an eater of pig. So the proof became the name. I stood there in the courtyard, which had been the Jewish Quarter and decided this is something I must always remember. Why, because it is true and it is something I did not now before coming to Spain.

There is a beautiful bridge leaving the historical area of Cordoba and after a long and exhaustingly hot tour of this area, we were to walk the bridge to meet our bus on the other side.  Albeit my face was red and sweat was running down the back of my neck, but other than that, I was on the move towards the bridge.  My family was worried that I was too tired to do the bridge. I do not know what the heck they said to the guide, but she asked if she should order a taxi for me.  What the… are they kidding? I said, “Why?” She said, “I don’t know.” Skip said, “Well because you are so slow.” Pissed was I, and said, “Turtles win races and off I started out over the bridge.  I was second over that sucker and learned a very important lesson.  When you do win or are over before everyone else there is no one there to cheer you. Really. Also, you rushed through the experience of walking over a bridge and have only being over it to remember. Turtles win races in fairytales and in real life; I have been the turtle and I have been the winner. Yes!!!!!

Here they are going over the bridge and here comes the turtle.

COSTA DEL SOL:

We are now in Costa del Sol.  The word Sol I know means sun and the sun shines down with a fury. It is so beautiful and hot, hot, hot here. We enjoyed a midnight stroll along the boardwalk that stretches for miles and miles.

Long ago these beautiful built up towns of Costa del Sol used to be tiny fishing villages of not more that 300 people, but now you will find huge condo complexes, gorgeous homes of the rich and famous and cities within cities. These little fishing villages have truly been transformed into a huge tourist destination. From our location today, we are to visit Malaga the birthplace of Pablo Picasso and a private museum with his paintings put on display by his grandson.

It feels like 1,000 degrees, but in the shade and out on the beaches it is cooler. This afternoon, all I want to do is stay in our room, with the air conditioner blasting, but alas you are at the beach, so go out and enjoy. Mama Mia, they go topless here.  We noticed ladies are very free about their bodies and comfortable within them. It was one of those non-verbal messages to me.  I don’t have to strip to the waist, but should be happy with what is still there! Still working, still quite presentable, still supple and well hydrated and not too much of it all. One grandmother lifting her grandbaby up and down was so huge and so tan. Everyone is so tan. It looks like hey painted it on, but it is not. One topless wonder was redder than a fresh boiled lobster. Many topless women were mothers with children around them totally unconcerned they might be marking them for life. Marked, how, I do not know for sure. Perhaps it is a good thing, perhaps, not. What do you think?

Oh so sorry, no photos.

Gibraltar

All of your life you have seen the icon The Rock of Gibraltar as being strength of the mighty monolith. The Rock icon is a real place and it is a place with a strong and long history and a tenacity to continue to build and reclaim land all around its perimeter. Gibraltar is an amazing place and an honor and privilege to visit there. It covers only 7 miles of property and every inch is used.  I am repeating only what our guide for the day told us. First it was owned by Spain, of course, it is connected to Spain. Then somehow during the War of the Spanish Succession, the Gibraltar peninsula was ceded to Britain by Spain.  Now, this is the part that opened my eyes and dropped my jaw. Spain has made attempts to re-claim the territory, but in the last treaty signed by Britain and Spain, it is stated that the territory would belong to Britain as long as they had monkeys and Jews living on the rock.  I am not making this up. You can tell me I am wrong, but I am not.

Spain will never get their land back, because they have 30,000 Jews living there and wait, they have monkeys living there as well. Lots of them, so you see Spain is not going to get Gibraltar back anytime soon. This is where the situation is now, but history has shown that many countries have claimed Gibraltar each leaving its mark on the area.

Let me show you the monkeys living on Gibraltar, and I only met one Jew, Solomon Levi and have no photo for proof.

Today when we drove right up to the rock, we needed to exit one bus and walk through customs with our passports out opened to the first page. Once on the other side, we walked and boarded another vehicle and drove to a building to fill out paperwork that would allow us to drive up or climb up the rock.  And by the way when we left we had to take two busses out and show our passports again.

We had to wait at the light going into Gibraltar and going out as well. Planes used the main road as an airport runway and when a plane is going to be taking off or landing, you have to stop and wait until the red lights turn green. This can happen quite a number of times a day. Everyone is patient.

Photo shows us waiting for the plane to take off. I really tried to get the photo of the plane passing through, but just got the lights.

When we learned that the peninsula of Gibraltar is at the confluence of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, we stood and looked for a long time. It seems so interesting that the water just splits and one goes one way and the other goes another.

Back to Gibraltar: It is tiny, they reclaimed lots of land since the original fortress walls were built. They originally had not water source, and used a rainwater catching method of getting water. Now they use desalinization process. We bought bottled water.

There are no taxes; everything is duty free.  They have tiny little alleyways for streets and most all of them are one way. There are 34 miles of tunnels as well as a massive network inside the bowels of the Rock because Britain believed that there was going to an attack by Germany and the network of tunnels would make Gibraltar a fortress!

We noticed during our short, but wonderful visit that everyone works well with each other. I did not hear one horn sound the entire day. Tiny Gibraltar has everything any city has and more. Every inch is used and has a purpose. A visit to this lovely Rock is an adventure and well worth the effort to be there and to share this culture.

This tree is in Maria Luisa Park in Seville, Spain

Our Seville City Tour and Cordoba

Before we leave Portugal let me tell you that I was so impressed as one of their exports is cork, yes, cork as in wine bottle corks, etc.

Did you know that cork comes from trees? I surely did not.   There is such as thing as cork trees and I was captivated. I bought a cork bracelet to remind me of the new knowledge gained regarding cork and cork trees.  The following photo taken by Rachel from the bus is one of a cork tree shaved of its bark to get at the cork.

The second photo is taken from the bus as well showing fields of cork trees as they grow contently in the countryside.

We continued to head south to the Algarve and crossed the border to Spain effortlessly; the wheels of the bus just rolled on. In Seville, we are treated to a visit in the Plaza de Espana built for the 1929 exhibition, but as you may remember the Great Depression was in 1929. It is said no one came, but they have these beautiful buildings and lovely grounds as a result of their planning. On the morning of our visit semi-hoards of swallows were enjoying the early morning with you. Close your eyes and imagine all the tweeting, the swooping low to say hello and the general envelopment of you and the area with their presence. It is times like those complete encounters I wish I had some of the talents of Doctor Doolittle.

Beautiful Moorish Architecture

The Cathedral

The Cathedral is beautiful, full of treasures and adorns the city of Seville. The architecture in the city of Seville is attractive and I will include a few photos to share.

The Cathedral from the outside.

City of Seville photos:

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This building is on a jetty which is the closest point to America from Portugal.

For you who have asked, the luggage arrived. Four people on this tour did not receive their luggage for several days.  I heard once upon a time, that you could tell the quality of a person’s character by the way they handle LOST luggage.

This new lovely hotel does not have any soap. You heard that right! This is such a marvelous, well-rated hotel that they are filming a movie in the lobby with Nick Nolte and other stars from America. They have had trouble with their suppliers and have given us all four bottles of SHAMPOO and asked that we use that as soap. They did not even apologize and acted rather annoyed that we asked.  I’ll betcha Nick has soap; I mean real soap in addition to his shampoo and conditioner. Another guest in our party had poop left in the toilet and the supervisor, after flushing it said, “ All is clean now.” She neglected the other issues with the bathroom area.  Oh dear.  Yes, this is a well-established hotel with movie stars as well as tourists. It is not that bad and not that good.

We drove up the Estoril Coast to get to the town of Estoril where we did not stop, but went on to Cascias a beautiful Fishing village and a place where people come to vacation. We had Portuguese food for lunch and let me tell you it was highway robbery all the way, or let me restate this for clarification; it was a tipper rip off. But the end result was that we tasted Portuguese food for two out of the three nights and I will have to get my rocks off for the rip off and say what nasty food we had. I know there is better food in Portugal; it is just that we did not run into any, yet.  Thank goodness for the bakeries. A little hit and miss, but a good variety and for the most part very tasty.

The visit, the scenery, the resort experience and the photo ops in Cascias were enjoyed; tipper, ripper and all.

Another Beach scene in Cascias.

Fishing Traps photo below

Sintra

Sintra is a lovely little city up in a thickly wooded mountain area about an hour from Lisbon. Skip and I were there about 15 years ago. It is still beautiful and wonderful, but it certainly has grown up.  There were so many tourists visiting. Many, many tourists explain so many curio shops carrying many souvenirs mostly made in China. I was surprised on that one, but according to our lovely guide, unless she tells you what is especially native to the area, then it is not authentic. Be aware that many, many of the trinkets we bring back from our visits to other countries are made in China. That is all I will say on this subject.

Royal Palace in Sintra with elongated chimneys.

We visited the Royal Summer Palace with its elongated chimneys and through the upper window, I found Sleeping Beauty’s Castle.  I found it once before when we visited Sintra, but thought it was just a figment. This time I know it is true. It is exactly how I thought it would look; what do you think?

Sleeping Beauty’s Castle in Sintra, Portugal, for real!

The Alfama in Lisbon (Lisboa) is one of the oldest sections of the city. The Jewish and Muslim people lived there in relative peace for centuries. When the Inquisition came to pass everything changed, as you know. We stopped to visit The Cathedral in the old section of the Alfama. I was struck by the fact that this huge CHURCH had the Star of David carved in front of the steps leading to The Cathedral. I asked our guide why the star was there and she said that at the time this was being built the Jews gave huge donations do its building fund in hopes of gaining favor and being allowed to stay in their homes. She said there are many, many churches and cathedrals with a Star of David found in various places on Churches to be seen by all who come. As we travel on to Spain we will see, according to Carmen, our guide, the etched and carved Star of David on the churches for ourselves.  So, in the meantime, here is a photo of the Great Cathedral in the Alfama, Lisboa towering up in its greatness and you can see the etched Star of David at the entrance I have provided here. If you know more, please share it.

On our visits in and around Lisbon today, our guide told us that it was very important to take a photo of yourself in front of The Tower of Lisbon, built in 1515 as proof that you were here. There is a saying that when you go to Paris, you must take your photo in front of the Eiffel Tower, when you are in London you prove your were there by taking a photo in front of the Tower of London, when you are in Sydney it is the Opera house and when in New York City you take a photo of yourself in front of the Statue of Liberty.  So we are here in Lisbon and you see proof as we have posed for a photo in front of The Tower of Lisbon.

We also visited in the same area Monument of Discovery.  This monument is dedicated to all of the Portuguese explorers who left from this spot on the Rio Tagus leading to the Atlantic Ocean during the Golden Age of Discovery.

Behold the hugh hill she has climbed

I realize how far I still have to go in life. Even ageing as I once thought was so bad, isn’t as bad as it is going to get. Look at this lady literally pulling her body step by step up a rather steep hill that had my traveling partners and me a huffing and a puffing. I value this woman and her struggles. I value my life, my aches and pains have been greatly ease by the sight of this gorgeous beautiful effort of this woman.  Once I caught up to her, I tried to smile and say a few words to her, but she could not verbally communicate because of a huge language barrier as well as a cultural divide.   I have spent time contemplating the beautiful non-verbal communications I got throughout a number of days after my encounter with the woman in the photo.

Smiles are few and far between from others UNLESS you initiate the smile.

Today was the first day out on the travel trail, so to speak. A lovely lady traveling with her husband and son, exited the bus and fell hard on the white cobblestones.  She smashed her face and was bleeding profusely, but I saw how she fell and it was on her shoulder. As it turns out, she has broken her right shoulder in three places and will require surgery at some point in time. She insists on continuing with the trip. Oh gosh, she does not know how much pain she will be in, or does she. We met just the night before this happened, but I knew immediately I liked her and we laughed a lot.  Hope we all can help her to laugh a lot more.  What happened to her I have seen on three prior trips and it scares me so much.  All of the previous falling victims went home immediately, so this lady, by the way her name is Charlotte has the courage of her convictions.  I worry about falling the entire time on or not on a trip and am extra diligent. I noticed for the rest of the day we all were cognizant of the fact we need to be so, so careful and even then, we are all vulnerable.

This event made me wonder how many times my lady on the crutches has fallen and has anyone helped her?  Is she able to get up on her own?  She obviously has not given up. She hasn’t let her infirmities stop her.

GOZO

Harbor where the ferry to Gozo docks

There are three main islands that comprise the Maltese Archipelago. Malta, Gozo and very tiny island Comino where two brother’s and their cousin live.  It was a dry but rain was threatening  as we drove to the ferry to take the twenty-five minute float to Gozo, but by the time we walked onto the ferry, it started to rain.  It started with sprinkles and as the day wore on it became more furious. Hey, you are on a trip. You have come a long, long way; this is the only time you will see this island of Gozo, so we set about it in earnest. Gozo is 9 miles wide by 5, so it does not take long to go from place to place. All the homes and buildings are made from a honey colored limestone, so the facades are all the same color. It looks soft and soothing. Actually, the buildings look delicious.  When the stone is first cut it is soft, so many of the homes have carved balustrades around balconies and once they have been carved and set, they harden and will last for centuries.

The Maltese Islands were an interest of conquest because they are exactly in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. Now, tourism is the main industry, but mostly on Gozo they are still farmer’s and men of the sea. Gozo is clean, green and fertile. Sixty percent is agricultural land. The countryside is terraced and ownership of the land is divided by stone walls, reminiscent of Ireland’s countryside walls.

Ggantija Temples

Ggantija Temples: They claim that these free standing temples are the oldest in the world, older than the Pyramids and Stonehenge. They were built around 3600 B.C. I tried for the entire time we visited this area to get a vibe from the past, a glimpse into any little pocket of time ready to burst and talk to me, but alas, nothing but cold stone, wind and rain. I made my heartfelt offering on the sacrificial alter and it was not a goat, or a little lamb. It is a hope for the future of humankind.

Next stop on our private tour was the Citadel. Walking the grounds in the hard rain was interesting because it is all uphill and the rain cascaded off of the marble and stone paths like a river heading for the sea. We stuck with it to get to the top for the glorious views.The early inhabitants were required by law to spend their nights in the Citadel because there were great dangers due to raiding pirates and tribes who would take the citizens into slavery. We noted many lookout towers in Gozo to protect the island as well.

View from the Citadel walls

We were delivered to a local old Gozitan farmhouse for an authentic Maltese style lunch and local wine. When we sat down a great wind hammered the window and the rain pelted down with a fury. The food was salty and the wine was not the greatest,it was cold, but we were in the countryside of Gozo, in an old farmhouse and we were happy. It was a happy house.

St. Ta' Pinu Basilica

After lunch we visited the St. Ta’ Pinu Basilica.  Madonna St. Ta’ Pinu has EVERYTHING to do with cures, real life saving miracles. Okay, this is why I came to Gozo, I am convinced. I didn’t know it then, but I surely do know it now. The church itself is lovely, but along all the walls of the corridors, and rooms are photos, thank you letters, and items sent by people who have thankfully been cured of their ailments. The walls are covered with wartime medals of honor, silver hearts, baby clothes, crutches, casts and all memorabilia of cures. I do not have words to tell you how moving this experience still is in my mind.  If all of these people believe in this saint’s ability to cure and have sent proof, rooms full of their belief in her curative powers, then, who am I to argue any of this, so I believe, too. I believe as well, that the power is in the belief.  I purchased very little on this trip, but I did buy little trinkets depicting the likeness of St. Ta’ Pinu and if you want one, ask, and if I still have one I will be glad to give it to you!  I am wearing a little bead bracelet with a tiny likeness of hope and cure plus, I feel ten times better than I have in years.  Now remember, the power is in the belief and I believe in the power and the cures relating to this belief. Imagine all of these cures and all of this power of belief delegated to St. Ta’Pinu residing in a hilltop Basilica on a little fairly remote island called Gozo. Best of all, now, I got in on it.

Lace Making

We visited lace making, wine and cheese tasting and the town square in Victoria, the new name for the capitol of Gozo. The ancient name is Rabat, an Arabic name.

Both Malta and Gozo have many traditions and words in their Maltese language that date back to the times they were occupied by neighboring countries. They switch from Maltese to English and back again all day long.

The law is there are no divorces, so choices have to be carefully made. No abortions and no cremations.

Something to be noted: Garbage is collected every day in Gozo as well as Malta. Lucky. They just set out their bags, recycling is optional at the moment and the trash will be gone in the morning. Also, on Tuesday’s and Friday the people buy their fresh fruits and vegetables. This morning is Tuesday and walking down the road we spotted a man selling vegetables and fruit to the local women from his truck.  You know I loved that scene. What no camera on hand? Skip’s Uncle Danny used to sell fruits and vegetables from a truck in Albany, New York almost a seventy-five years ago.

Gozo is beautiful and note the honey colored lime stone used in building.

Today was our walking tour of Catania and we awoke to a downpour.  It lasted throughout our entire walking tour.  Okay, so they ordered a bus for us, but we did much walking in the center of town, rain and all.  We went to an open air market, mostly meat, cheese and vegetables. Of course they had erected large umbrellas for their customers. Did you know that they have beautiful purple broccoli that is delicious and red oranges that make a deep tasting and hearty  juice. They turn these brilliant colors because  there is a 20 degree temperature difference between day and night. Catania is at the base of Mt. Etna which accounts for the temperature differences and the color changes.

Catania is beautiful and a wonderful city. The people are exceptionally warm, generous and gracious. The city is a gathering of many cultures past and present.

On our own free time, we did try to visit the Prince of Catania, who entertains visitors from all over the world from all walks of life.  We absolutely could not find the right building. Well, we will have to make an appointment for our next visit.  If you would like to host a meeting and or a banquet in his palace, he will oblige.

Our afternoon tour was to Taormina, a beautiful sea side village on the Ionian Sea.  Not only is the whole town beautiful, the main street charming, but it has a unique place of great interest which is the ruins of a Greek Theater. It is one of the most famous Sicilian monuments in the country. It was an honor to be taken there and spend time in this spot.  They still use this theater in the summer when evenings are warm and they invite top performing artists to perform. It is capable of seating 5,000 spectators. It is my favorite ruin and monument to date.

We did quite well in the rain today, but it is uncomfortable to get soaking wet.

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The Valley of the Temples and Mt. Etna

As you walk through the Valley of the Temples, just down from Agrigento you have an incomprehensible reverence for the Greeks who inhabited and worshiped in this area over 500 hundred years ago. They left some of the best preserved ruins in the world. Later, many years after the Greeks were gone, some of their temples were turned into churches, but the churches soon faded away and the original temples reemerged through weathering.  With just parts of the temples remaining, much of the splendor is left to the imagination.

I do not know why I picked Apollo out of the many God’s in mythological history, but I am certain Apollo, God of light and truth walked along a bit of the way with all of us. Possibly light, enlightenment, and truth are things I needed to explore in this valley.

We had a bit of a drive to Mt. Etna, so our guide said he could not really discuss the Mafia with us, but he did. Oh my, after exploring its ideology we found that it works all the way from the bottom to the top perfectly.  I’ll tell you my favorite story. When the elections are coming to fruition, the money from the bottom all the way to the top finances the candidate of choice.  Now, when it comes time to vote, the Mafia knows what you want, like a new motor scooter, a T.V., or an upgrade on the 90 day wait list to get needed medical attention. You get it and in return, you get an already filled in ballot. You take the marked ballot to the voting station. You get a blank ballot on which to vote. You turn in the already filled in ballot in the polling box and your responsibility is to turn in the blank ballot to your Mafia contact. So it goes. Having elected officials on your side is quite valuable wouldn’t you think?  They don’t kill anymore, so it is said, but you don’t say no to them because there are other consequences you will not like.  It works. Everyone gets what they need and want. How can you argue with what works and makes everyone happy?

The afternoon was spent climbing (in the bus) 6,500 feet into Mount Etna. We saw the effects of the 1984 pyroclastic flow. There was already a snow pack, so imagine white snow and black lava rocks. Beautiful.  Now imagine it starting to snow a little while you get out for a stop. This California girl had to stand out in it and then, it really started to come down hard. I was covered from head to toe in snow. Oh how wonderful, I thought, but it was not so wonderful for the driver of our bus.  The guide quickly gathered us and began to descend the mountain slowly and carefully.  We had no chains and we would have had to wait three hours for the snow plow, Visibility was altered.  Finally we crawled down out of the snow and came down, down, down, from Mt. Etna to the town of Catania.

The photo shows that the lava flow stopped just short of a school.

One of the main reasons we chose Sicily to visit is because my childhood and lovely friend Josie brought back a jar of sea salt from Sicily.  I enjoyed using it so much, I thought this might be the perfect place to pick up another jar of salt. Of course I could have bought it online, I am sure, but being there, being at the salt flats where they are drying salt from the sea is much more exciting, believe me.

This is where the salt extraction takes place. The extraction of salt from the water, as you can see is in varying stages. They pile it up and then they put a tile roof over each pile so that it will keep dry and continue breathing as it is drying out. You see two piles without tile roofs and those are ready to bag or jar for sale. I do not even remember the name of this little wonderful place, but the bus pulled up and a few explanations were made and then we were on our own. What a lovely little respite.