Nerja

We took a bus south from Granada, through snow flurries as we skirted the Sierra Nevada, and descended to the coast and the town of Nerja (pronounced NAIR-ha). We were met at the bus stop by Frans, the owner of the apartment we are renting. Frans is a Belgian who, along with his Thai wife Nuttee, has lived here for 11 years. They own and/or manage several apartments in Nerja, and are emblematic of the large international population here. Judging by the accents we've heard, most of the expats are Europeans, especially Brits, Germans and Scandinavians. These northern Europeans are understandably fond of retiring to the sunny coast of Southern Spain – the so-called Costa del Sol.

Nerja, has fortunately avoided the worst of the overdevelopment that has reportedly blighted much of the Costa del Sol, turning quaint fishing villages into traffic-choked resorts full of tacky souvenir shops and ugly concrete high-rises. Nerja is no fishing village – it's definitely interested in attracting tourists – but it retains much of its old world character. And its spectacular seaside setting is difficult to ruin.

Our apartment has three bedrooms and two bathrooms, a fully equipped kitchen, dining room, laundry facilities, and living room with television (English channels, yea!), dvd player, stereo (lots of CDs), and wifi. There are also two small terraces, plus we have access to the building's roof terrace. Eating at restaurants gets old and makes you go broke and/or fat, so the ability to make your own meals is a real pleasure (at least for me; Deborah does the cooking). Frans and Nuttee even provide little touches like umbrellas and a wheeled cart for bringing back your groceries. This has all the makings of a very nice two-week stay.

Welcome to Nerja


The Mediterranean coast


These flowering vines are everywhere


This sort of exterior tile wainscoting is a common architectural detail in town


Some of the businesses cater to the English-speaking visitors


...like these two.

Granada - More Moors

We spent a good bit of time exploring Granada on foot. We can't say it's our favorite town, but it does have more to offer than just the Alhambra, including the Moorish Quarter, a cathedral, and some nice plazas. The Albayzin, or Moorish Quarter, covers the hill across the valley from the Alhambra. It's a tangle of narrow, mostly car-free streets, and a pleasure to get lost in. Near the top of the hill at San Nicolas Square the tourists and hippies hang out to watch the setting sun light up the Alhambra on the opposite hill. In and around the Albayzin are a number of commercial lanes devoted to vendors and restaurants with a North African influence. We had a nice lunch at one such place filled with exotic tapestries and Moroccan lanterns, where you sat on a pillow-covered bench at a table that was too low for my knees to fit under. The resulting side-saddle meal was nevertheless a good one.

Granada's cathedral was built mostly in the Renaissance style. It's brighter inside than most with its white interior – supposedly painted with lime for health reasons in plague times. Adjacent is the Royal Chapel where King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella are entombed. The marble funerary monuments were sculpted with faces based on death masks, and are therefore considered accurate. I totally have King Ferdinand's nose. It must be a vestige of that one Barcelona ancestor of mine some 5 or 6 generations ago.

Outside the cathedral the local gypsies try to hand out sprigs to the tourists, then insist on reading palms for tips. We just say no. The other annoyance in Granada is avoiding the numerous dog turds peppering the sidewalks. They must train their animals to go nowhere else. Deborah calls this “poo town.” Time to head back south to the warmth of the coast.

The Albayzin, as seen from the Alhambra



Deep in the Albayzin


View from San Nicolas Square


Moorish architectural elements


A nice, albeit empty square (too cold to sit outside this day)


Inside the cathedral


Fountain at Plaza Nueva


Plaza de Bib-Rambla

Granada - The Alhambra

Granada was a quick one-and-a-half hour flight from Barcelona, but a world apart as it is up at an elevation of 738 meters (2421 feet) at the foot of the backside of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. You feel that extra elevation; it's cold here. The major tourist attraction here is the Alhambra, the fortress crowning a hill that was the last Moorish stronghold to resist the Christian reconquest. When it fell in 1492 it marked the end of over seven centuries of Muslim rule in Spain.

Inside the walls of the Alhambra are a complex of structures including the ruins of a fort dating to the 13th century and earlier, an unfinished renaissance palace built by the conquering Christian King Charles V and, most importantly, the Palacios Nazaries, the Moorish royal palace. Built mostly in the 14th century, the various rooms and courtyards of the palace seem to have every surface decorated in intricate geometric patterns and Arabic inscriptions (graven images of humans and animals were frowned upon). Water is everywhere, flowing in channels, bubbling from fountains and filling reflecting pools.

You need an appointment to enter the Palace so the number of visitors is limited, although I almost would have welcomed the extra body heat of several more nice fat tourists because it was COLD in there. Clearly, we were underdressed. But the breezy rooms, abundance of shade and cold stone floors left us shivering. When we found a sunny area in an open courtyard we would stand in the bright spot like lizards soaking up the feeble winter rays. The palace was truly beautiful and I hope we didn't rush through it just to end our icy suffering. We rented an audioguide for our tour but it was extremely lame. The descriptions were apparently meant to be in the voice of Washington Irving, the American writer who lived here in 1829 and wrote Tales of the Alhambra, which popularized this place. The guide would say things like, “...or perhaps you would like to remain in this vestibule and ponder the scene those centuries past. But that, my friend, I will leave to you.” Unbearable.

The Generalife Gardens were the last part of the Alhambra that we visited. Here were the sultan's fruit and vegetable gardens, as well as manicured gardens, more fountains, and a small summer palace. Apart from their aesthetic value, the gardens were mostly exposed to the sun and so offered us a chance to warm up after the palace. Then it was back to the hotel to pile on more layers of clothes.

The Alhambra, as seen from the opposite hillside. Notice the snow-capped mountains in the distance.

Figueres - The Dali Theatre-Museum

The town of Figueres is an easy day trip from Barcelona by train. It's main (some would say only) claim to fame is that it is the hometown of Salvadore Dali and the location of the Dali Theatre-Museum. Just exit the train station and wind your way through town until you come to the big building with giant eggs on the roof and loaves of bread adhered to the outside walls. Built on the ruins of a theater that was bombed during the Spanish Civil War, the museum is self-described as the largest surrealistic object in the world. It features many paintings and drawings from Dali's own collection, strange sculptures, interactive mechanical contraptions that move when you drop in a coin, a room full of furniture that looks like Mae West when viewed from a certain spot, and other bits of weirdness hanging from the ceilings, hovering in niches or stuck to the walls.

The Dali Theatre-Museum. Those are loaves of bread decorating the walls (of course).




Dali's 1941 Cadillac. Now that's a hood ornament.


Mae West Room






A surrealistic couple

Barcelona - Modernisme

Barcelona is the capital of Modernisme, a kind of Catalan Art Nouveau that was popular in the late 19th to early 20th century. It employed modern materials like reinforced concrete, glass, and iron in highly decorative, organic-looking forms. Antoni Gaudí was Barcelona's most famous architect in the Modernista style and his buildings are particularly evident in the Eixample, the elegant district north of the old city. In addition to some views from the outside, we toured the interior of two of his most famous structures: Casa Milà, an apartment building; and Sagrada Familia, the celebrated cathedral which is still under construction (with anywhere from 6 to 30 years still to go, depending who you ask). Both structures were simply amazing.

Casa Batlló - a renovation by Gaudi



Casa Batlló



Detail at Palau Guell


Casa Milà


Casa Milà - Not your average balcony railings


Casa Milà - the rooftop terrace features elaborate chimneys and ventilation towers


Casa Milà - interior courtyard as seen from the rooftop terrace



Sagrada Família - the completed towers nearly outnumbered by the construction cranes


Sagrada Família - The Passion Facade


Sagrada Família - Passion Facade detail


Sagrada Família - Interior; The central nave reaches a height of 45 meters (148 feet)


Sagrada Família - Interior


Sagrada Família - It only looks like Jesus is parachuting in for mass.

Barcelona - Las Ramblas

Las Ramblas is a 1.2 kilometer long pedestrian mall in the center of Barcelona that runs from Plaza Catalunya down to the Christopher Columbus monument near the harbor (the famed explorer was greeted back from his first voyage here in Barcelona by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand). This is a very popular place for both tourists and locals, with storefronts on the sides and rows of outdoor vendors in the middle. Here you can find anything from restaurants to street performers to flowers to ice cream to pets. There was a great market off Las Ramblas also where we stocked up for breakfast and picnic supplies. It is every tourist's duty to do a few laps on this entertaining stretch of boulevard.

palomas (pigeons)



jamón (ham)


frutas y las verduras (fruits and vegetables)


animales domésticos (pets, at one of the outdoor vendors, surprisingly)



flores (flowers)


...and chocolates (chocolates -- one of the easier translations)