Even though travel restrictions are easing I am not yet minded to risk it so I still have no new stories to post so I continue to go through my picture archives and see where I was on this day at any time in the last few travelling years.
In October 1977 I was in Benidorm on the Costa Blanca in Spain. I know that it was October but to be honest I cannot be entirely specific about the date so I have just chosen one at random.
Posted in Beaches, Europe, Food, History, Literature, Natural Environment, Postcards, Spain, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Alicante, Benidorm, Benidorm in the 1970s, Costa Blanca, Don Juan Benidorm, Freddie Laker, Los Pelicanos, Spain
The seven hundred year period between 722 and 1492 has long been known to historians of Spain as the ‘Reconquista’ and the Spanish have organised their medieval history around the drama of this glorious event which over time has become a cherished feature of the self-image of the Spanish people.
Posted in Africa, Cathedrals, El Cid, Europe, History, Literature, Spain, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Babieca, Burgos, Castilla y Leon, Cordoba, El Cid, Gladiator, La Tizona, Moors in Spain, Reconquista
“…the breed of men who conquered a continent with a handful of adventurers, wore hair shirts day and night until they stuck to their flesh, and braved the mosquitoes of the Pilcomayo and the Amazon” Gerald Brenan
Many of the sixteenth century explorers and adventurers who carved out the Spanish Empire in South America came from Extremadura and as well as Pizzaro, there was Hérnan Cortés, who defeated the Aztecs and founded Mexico, Hernando De Soto, who explored Florida, and Pedro de Almagro, who accompanied Pizzaro and they all came from this south-west corner of Spain.
Posted in Cathedrals, Europe, Food, History, Literature, Postcards, Spain, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Conquest of America, Conquistadors, Cortez, Extremadura, Francesco Pizzaro, Inca Gold, Mérida, Trujillo
While the current travel restrictions are in place I have no new stories to post so what I thought that I would do is to go through my picture archives and see where I was on this day at any time in the last few travelling years.
On 8th July 2013 I was in the town of Besalu in Catalonia.
We found the Hotel Three Arcs and the receptionist told me that we could ignore the traffic restriction notices that seemed to suggest that the place was pedestrianised and bring the car into the main square but I was nervous about this because it involved driving over one of those solid steel retractable bollards that rise up from the centre of the road.
I was worried in case it raised up without warning and the CCTV cameras would catch the moment and I would forever be shown on television repeats of the Spanish equivalent of ‘You’ve Been Framed’ or ‘America’s Funniest Videos’. I could sense that a local driver behind was getting impatient so I had to go and I revved the engine and popped the clutch, spun the wheels and dashed across as quickly as I could. Nothing happened – the bollard stayed down of course and people sitting at a bar probably wondered why I had set off as though I was an Italian driver at a set of red traffic lights.
Click on an image to scroll through the Gallery..
Posted in Cathedrals, Europe, Food, History, Literature, Natural Environment, Postcards, Spain, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Almagro, Besalu, Carmona, Catalonia, Catalonia Postcards, Chincon, Ciudad Rodrigo, Cudillero, Pedro Bernardo, Ronda, Santillana del Mar, Sigüenza, Trujillo
In my last post I took you to Disney and World Showcase at EPCOT. There are eleven countries showcased at the theme park and some time ago I wondered why it was those particular eleven and speculated on an alternative selection.
Click on an image to scroll through the Gallery…
Posted in Africa, Athens, Cathedrals, Europe, Food, France, Greece, History, Ireland, Italy, Literature, Morocco, Natural Environment, Postcards, Spain, Travel, United Kingdom, USA, World Heritage
Tagged Culture, Disney World, EPCOT, Epcot and ethnicity, Florida, Life, US visitor statistics
While the current travel restrictions are in place I have no new stories to post so what I thought that I would do is to go through my picture archives and see where I was on this day at any time in the last few travelling years.
On 18th May 2008 I was on a golfing holiday with my brother and our sons we all agreed that being only sixty miles away was an excellent opportunity to visit the notorious city of Benidorm and see it for ourselves.
Some Benidorm pictures from various visits.
Click on an image to scroll through the Gallery…
Posted in Beaches, Europe, Food, History, Natural Environment, Postcards, Spain, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Benidorm, Benidorm holiday, Benidorm hotel, Blue Flag Beaches, Levante, Poniente, Spain World Heritage Sites
While the current travel restrictions are in place I have no new stories to post so what I thought that I would do is to go through my picture archives and see where I was on this day at any time in the last few travelling years.
On 5th May 2011 we were in the Spanish town of Trujillo which I am happy to declare one of my favourites in all of Spain.
Click on an image to scroll through the Gallery…
Posted in Cathedrals, El Cid, Europe, History, Literature, Natural Environment, Postcards, Spain, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Extremadura, Francesco Pizzaro, Hérnan Cortés, Lima, Mexico, Peru, South America, Spain, Spanish Empire, Trujillo
While the current travel restrictions are in place I have no new stories to post so what I thought that I would do is to go through my picture archives and see where I was on this day at any time in the last few travelling years.
On 25th April 2017 I was in Spain and took a walk to Guardamar del Segura.
The Casas de Babilonia are a string of fishermen’s houses built in the 1930’s perilously close to the beach and to the sea and over the years the advancing Mediterranean has nibbled away at the fragile infrastructure and undermined the inadequate foundations.
A massive Winter storm in early 2017 did a lot of damage…
Click on an image to scroll through the Gallery…
Casa Batlló is a unique and fabulous building that defies any sort of description and is a building that has to be seen to be fully appreciated. From the road outside the building looks stunning and the local name for the building is Casa dels ossos, literally the House of bones and the building has a visceral, skeletal organic quality. Much of the façade is decorated with a mosaic made of broken ceramic tiles that begins in shades of golden orange and moves and merges harmoniously into greenish blues.
Thursday Doors is a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favourite door photos from around the world. Feel free to join in the fun by creating your own Thursday Doors post each week and then sharing your link in the comments’ on Norm’s site, anytime between Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American Eastern Time).
Posted in Arts and Crafts, Cathedrals, Europe, History, Spain, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Art Nouveau, Barcelona, Casa Batlló, Doors of Catalonia, Doors of Spain, Gaudi, La Sagrada Família, St George
While the current travel restrictions are in place I have no new stories to post so what I thought that I would do is to go through my picture archives and see where I was on this day at any time in the last few travelling years.
On 13th April 2014 I was in the Spanish town of Siguenza in Castilla-La Mancha.
We had travelled there specifically to see the Holy Week Parade, the Semana Santa which is one of the most important traditional events of the Spanish Catholic year; it is celebrated in the week leading up to Easter and features a procession of Pasos which are floats of lifelike wooden sculptures of individual scenes of the events of the Passion.
Click on an image to scroll through the Gallery…
Posted in Arts and Crafts, Cathedrals, Europe, History, Spain, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Castilla-La Mancha, Culture, easter Holy Week, Easter Parade, Life, Religion, Semana Santa, Sigüenza
