SPAIN PHOTO ALBUM, Part 2: Granada, Cordoba, Toledo

Courtyard in the Alhambra, Granada, Spain.

In the spring of1991, I met my daughter for a ten day driving trip through central and southern Spain.  Jennifer, doing a semester abroad in France, had a week’s vacation and met me in Madrid. Jennifer is fluent in Spanish, which was a big help since my Spanish is limited. After a visit to the medieval walled town of Avila, we did a circle trip to the south, returning to Madrid. The April weather was sunny and cool and the roadsides abloom with red poppies. It was my first trip to Spain and exposure to its historic past--from an ancient Roman outpost, to its Moorish occupation, to the kings and queens of the Age of Exploration, to the present. Here is Part 2 of some highlights from my photo album of the trip.

Granada and the Alhambra

Sunset. View from our hotel in Granada.

Passageway at the Alhambra.

We found that the best time to wander among all the buildings and gardens of the Alhambra was during lunchtime, when all the tour groups had left.

Circular courtyard at Alhambra.

Lion fountain at Alhambra.

Column top at Alrambra.

Arabic inscription carved into wall of Alhambra.

Nearly every surface inside the Alhambra is richly decorated.

Gardens and fountains provided relief from the hot sun at the Alhambra.

Cordoba and the Mosque

Red and white striped arches are a distinguishing feature of the mosque at Cordoba.

View from our hotel at Cordoba.

Charming courtyards with baskets of red geraniums are a typical sight in Cordoba.

Corinthian columns from Spain's Roman era outside of Cordoba.

We attended a flamenco concert while in Cordoba.

Toledo, City of El Greco

View of Toledo, 1991.

Artist's view of Toledo.

Our hotel in Toledo was located not far from a bull fighting stadium.

Large bull "bill board" along the highway from Toledo to Madrid.

16 DAYS IN MOROCCO, Part 1: Guest Post by Tom and Susan Weisner

Chechaouen, "The Blue City", Morocco

Our friends Tom and Susan Weisner went on a 16 day tour of Morocco in June 2019 and have kindly agreed to share a few of their wonderful photos and memories of the trip. This is Part 1. Part 2 will post next week.

Our trip to Morocco was part of a group tour organized by Reed College, where Tom was a student in the 1960s. There were fifteen in our group, including Paul Silverstein, an anthropologist who teaches at Reed and who does fieldwork in Morocco. We had a great Moroccan guide too!

Rabat, Capital of Morocco

Palace near Rabat.

Morocco is a kingdom with some parliamentary government. This is the palace near Rabat. There are other palaces as well.

Rabat fort and inner city at night.

The tomb of Mohammad VI (former king) is in Rabat. Rabat has a huge market in old city walls with narrow streets.

Casablanca, the largest city in Morocco

Susan and Tom at the mosque in Casablanca.

King Hassan II built the second largest mosque in the world in Casablanca (Mecca is #1). It is marble, vast, on the Atlantic coast. Non-Muslims can only enter as part of an official tour.

Typical Moroccan dish.

A beautiful restaurant.

We enjoyed wonderful food! Tajines! (Tajine dishes are slow-cooked savory stews, typically made with sliced meat, poultry or fish together with vegetables or fruit.)

Synagogue

Hundreds of thousands of Jews once lived in Morocco, but most left during and after WWII, going to Israel, Europe and elsewhere. Morocco does not recognize Israel, but the Israeli passport is recognized since so many from the diaspora do sometimes return. We saw a number of museums and synagogues that are protected. Morocco is about the only Muslim Middle East country that has religious pluralism in the constitution.

Catholic church in Casablanca

There are thousands of black sub-Saharan African immigrants arriving in Morocco, trying to get to Europe. Many are Christian. This is a Catholic Church in Casablanca for them. A very rare sight.

Romans in Morocco: Volubilis, Ancient Roman City near Meknes

Roman ruin with mosaic floor.

The Romans, of course, settled all of North Africa including Morocco. We visited Volubilis near the city of Meknes, for example, an entire former Roman city with over 40K inhabitants.Volubilis is a World Heritage site.

Ancient Roman Empire included northern portions of Morocco.

Morocco is in the lower left corner of this map in red.

Tangiers

American National Historic Landmark in Tangiers.

A landmark to the American legation is inside the Medina, or interior market in Tangiers. It was the first American government office outside the US. It is also the site of a Paul Bowles museum.

View of Tangiers

Morocco gained independence from France in 1956 and Rabat became the new capital. replacing Tangiers as the capital city. You can see Tangiers city in white in the distance from our beautiful hotel on the Mediterranean. Spain is faintly visible on the far horizon just a few miles away across the Strait of Gibralter.

Chechaouen

Chefchaouen is a city in Morocco that's famous for its blue hue. While it was founded in 1471, it didn't get its distinctive color until 1492, when it received an influx of Jews escaping the Spanish inquisition, who brought a tradition of painting buildings blue.

Chechaouen, the Blue City, is between Tangiers and Meknes.  Beautiful! We saw many stalls and shops as we walked through the narrow alleys everywhere. Lunch and tea there.

Market stall in Chechaouen.

Purses, shoes and more!

Part 2 of 16 DAYS IN MOROCCO will post next week.