Spain: Costa de Luz

I'm still recovering from the nervous tic developed as the result of co-piloting during our drive-trip in  Spain. 

We rented a little Peugot from a Spanish rental company named "Sixt" - and recommend them highly - about 50% less expensive than rental car companies we were familiar with (Hertz, Avis etc.). Great car, clean and in good condition.

Fortunately for us, the direction of traffic was just like you would expect in North America and the steering wheel was positioned on the left. No surprises there. Thank you Jesus. The challenge was in getting from Point A to Point B...alive.


Navigating the streets of Seville proved to be a 'tourist challenge', however.

Our concern was winding up on one of those one-laned, cobble-stoned, teensy streets in the city center but trying to find 'Avenida San Franscisco Javier' when it suddenly turns into 'Calle Luis de Morales' near 'Carretera Cortijo de las Castillas' followed by 'Calle Fray Franscisco de Pareja' was just too much for this navigator to deal with.

Adding insult to injury, finding the damn street signs in Seville was yet another challenge - because there wasn't any. I take that back. Eventually, I did find street signs.

Find the street sign...

Quaint. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm all about 'quaint' but for crying out loud - c'mon.

As if that wasn't enough... there seemed to be little display of caution by Spanish drivers. Weaving in and out of traffic, horns honking, headlights flashing. Or was it just us? My advice to Mr. Something..."Just drive like I would!". He ignored me and for that, I am grateful as we are here to tell the story.

But, in the final analysis, we do not regret stepping out of our comfort-zone by driving in Spain. If we hadn't, we might have missed this...

Cadiz

Tarifa 

More on Tarifa later...If you look closely, you can see Africa behind us.

Ronda

Return to Seville... Our last night in Spain

Spain: Seville

Barcelona or Seville? Doing both was not logistically feasible for us, so the historic value of Seville won out in our decision-making and was only 2.5 hours by Renfe AVE train (high-speed) from Madrid (Renfe is the national train system).


Located in the Andalucian region of Spain, Seville (Sevilla) is known for its Tapas, Paella and Flamenco.

Tapas is everywhere. Small servings of food normally ordered at bars way before the 9 pm dinner hour. We frequently had tapas at 6 (as 9 pm conflicted with our bedtime). Here's an idea of what we ordered....

Tapas

Tortiilla Espana = Potato Quiche
Tortilla Paisana = Veggie Quiche
Aceitunas = Olives
Alioli = Garlic and Oil
Calamare = Fried Squid (not necessarily battered)
Boquerones = Anchovies (quite popular)
Patatas Bravas = Small diced potatoes
Pulpo al gallega = Octopus
Pan = Bread

On the occasional days we could hold out until 9pm to eat dinner...this was our favorite...

Paella

Many years ago, I read a book written by Erma Bombeck called "When You Look Like Your Passport Photo... It's Time to Go Home". She described how young people would regale their friends with stories of the architecture, artworks and culture when they returned home from their travels abroad. Old people talk about the food. OMG. I have arrived.

Travel tip: Re: Train travel in Spain. Save money. Go Tourist Class. We traveled Renfe '1st Class' (to Seville) and 'Tourist Class' (from Seville). There was very little difference in service or comfort between the 'class' structures. 1st Class offered a small complimentary snack and wine.

 Flamenco

Our 14th Anniversary was celebrated over dinner and a Flamenco Show at El Palacio Andaluz.

My knowledge of dance is lacking. That being said, the long faces and apparent bad attitudes of the Flamenco dancers was getting to me. In fact,  they were looking downright pissed off. 

Later, I learned that's the way it's supposed to be. Flamenco's roots are from many years ago where it was a secretive dance to express passion and frustration of poor, disenfranchised Spaniards.

There you have it.

Seville was lovely. All tiny alleyways and flying buttresses.

The Seville Cathedral (circa 1100) is an architectural miracle and is the final resting place of Christopher Columbus.

Seville Cathedral

Seville Cathedral - Flying Buttresses

Spain: Toledo

About 30 minutes by train from Madrid, the ancient city of Toledo was a cool day trip to a way-old city known for Muslim, Christian and Jewish peaceful co-existence. How refreshing. As odd as it was to see a nun selling Christian trinkets and religious artwork in an ancient Mosque, it was equally civilized.

Toledo is a UNESCO designated World Heritage site.According to Wikipedia..."The (UNESCO) program catalogues, names, and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common heritage of humanity."

And rightly so - Toledo is so incredibly rich in culture and beauty...

Spain: Speaking Spanish

Upon arrival to Madrid, I was determined to speak Spanish.

Who knew that the Spanish I had taught myself from working as a nurse in various Dallas Emergency Departments would be incomprehensible to the Spanish natives?

With resolute determination, (head held high, shoulders back, direct eye-contact and smile) my first opportunity to speak Spanish  was received with abject clueless-ness. Suppressing the look of incredulity is a challenge in any culture. Spain was no different and despite their politeness, I suspect the 'Madridlenos' were wondering what in the hell I was saying. Could it have been the eye-roll that frequently followed this expression?

The Incredulity of St. Thomas - Caravaggio 

Typically, Spanish responses to my questions (and they were always questions) included "the look" followed by a rapid-fire spoken Spanish akin to a verbal machine-gunning. After asking a simple, "Perdon senor, donde esta Plaza Mayor?" we were exhausted. With intense focus to our respondent, we were lucky if we made out an "isquierda" or a "dereche" but only if hand signals were involved.

Thankfully, we weren't special. It seems as though even the Spanish have a hard time understanding one another. In the southern Spanish province of Andalucia, we struck up an English conversation with our bilingual waiter, Marc from Barcelona. The topic of differences in the Spanish spoken in Texas and Spain.  Marc said the same held true for the various regions in Spain and added, "Even I don't understand the Spanish in Andalucia".
 
The Spanish spoken in Mexico, Columbia, Peru, Bolivia is "Latin American Spanish", the Spanish spoken in Madrid and northern Spain is "Castillian" and the Spanish of  Southern Spain, Andalucia (Seville, Cadiz) and parts of the Caribbean is "Trade Winds" Spanish. Huh. I learned something new.

"Gracias" was a dead give away that I was a tourist.

Or was it the backpack, sneakers and tourist guide clutched in my hand?

None-the-less, the locals don't pronounce "gracias" as you might think. They say "grathee-a".

Dropping the "s" at the end of a word and creating a "th" sound to anything that sounds like an "s" within the word itself tended to deplete any confidence I might have had in speaking Spanish to begin with. For instance, when I asked "Donde esta Real Alcazar?" and was met with "the look", I sheepishly pointed to the words "Real Alcazar" in my tourist guidebook. What I should have said was..."Donde etha Real Alca-tha?

Mr. Something thought it sounded as though the Spanish had a lisp.

Other examples? "Dos cafe con azucar por favor" really should have been "Doh cafe con a-thooca".....

So, humbly, by Day 7 after persistent pleading being encouraged by my travel partner, I sucked it up and reverted to pointing out words and phrases in my trusty tourist guide.

Spain: Occupying Barstools

Mr. Something and I just returned from Europe where it was all about Sangria, crunchy bread and scarf-wearing. Needless to say, further documentation of our journey is upcoming but for now...a few photos from our very own, personal ..."Occupying Barstool Movement" throughout southern Spain.

...in Madrid

...in Seville

...in Cadiz

Scarf-less ...in Tarifa

...in Ronda