Tile Museum in a Convent, September 28

We took a cab to this beautiful museum housed in a former convent. The tiles are amazing and there are examples from many centuries. We returned to our hotel, Four Seasons Ritz, in time to have lunch before our Tauck tour began at 2 p.m.

 

We were given a tour of Lisbon by coach followed by the welcome dinner back at the hotel. One of the other guests was from La Crescenta, our neighboring suburb, and she had taught kindergarten for years with our next door neighbor.

 

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Cordova to Madrid, October 8

We say goodbye to Cordova taking one last picture of the Mezquita from our hotel window and board the AVE train to Madrid, two hours at high speeds, very smooth. Enjoyed scrambled eggs, etc in preferente class. Then our new coach with Amalia as our guide took us on a city tour followed by lunch at Cafe de Oriente. Walked across the street to the Royal Palace built by King Charles III, a Bourbon king and ancestor of the current King Juan Carlos I. Fabulous rooms with amazingly beautiful decor. Silk embroidery walls, huge crystal chandeliers from Venice originally lighted with candles, French furniture with velvet upholstery and elaborate gilt carving, a table that seats 150, one room in Chinoiserie, another with carved porcelain on the walls. No photos allowed, so we bought a book and some postcards. Pictures do not do it justice. The royal family does not live here now, but they use it for special events. They also have priceless Stradavaris which are played periodically in special performances.

 

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September 27, 2012, St. George Castle

 

After a delightful lunch at the Gulbenkian Cafe, we took a cab to the St. George Castle which is up a very steep and winding street. It was built by the Moors in the Middle Ages, never used as a residence, always a fort. Later the Christian kings used it. We climbed up to the parapets and had beautiful views of the Tagus River and Lisbon. We took a cab back to the Four Seasons Ritz, played Mexican Gin in the bar while having a glass of wine and then took a cab to the Biarro Alto to a local restaurant, very nice. A man from our tour who had arrived at the airport when we did joined us for dinner. He is a retired professor of Quantitative Analysis from San Francisco State who grew up in the Middle East as his dad worked for an oil company.

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Cordova, October 7, 2012, a Catholic cathedral in the middle of a mosque!

 

We left Granada at 9:30 this morning and drove for about three hours through beautiful hilly countryside with fields after fields of olive groves. Patricia told us all about processing olive oil. Spain produces the world's best and largest supply of olive oil. We stopped at a store for a break and bought saffron, almonds and paprika. When we got to Cordoba, Bob and I walked from the hotel over the Roman bridge to the old city and had a tapas lunch at a charming restaurant. Then we met the others and toured the Mezquita, the word for mosque. It is amazing, built in 785. When Ferdinand and Isabella became rulers of Spain, the Moors were driven out and the Catholics took over. When their grandson, Charles V, became king, he had a cathedral built in the middle of the mosque and the Muslims are not allowed to worship there anymore. Later when he saw it, he regretted what he had done as it was such a beautiful building. It is acoustically perfect. The Imam could whisper the prayer and it was heard throughout the mosque. Above you see the mosque and then the altar of the cathedral. Then we walked through the old Jewish section. In the Middle Ages, all three religions lived together peacefully. It was a very warm day. Cordova is always hot. After we return to our hotel, we walk a block away to dinner with our whole group, very homogenous and interesting travelers.

 

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Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon, September 27, 2012

Dragonfly corsage ornament 1897-1898 by Rene Lalique

 

This museum has an amazing collection from ancient Egypt and Greece, to Turkey (Ottoman Period) and on to European art from Rembrandt to the Impressionists, Louis XV and XVI furniture ending with a fabulous collection of Lalique who was a friend of Gulbenkian. Gulbenkian was an Armenian from Turkey, an oil magnate, who lived in Paris, but then took refuge in Lisbon during WWII. He gave his collection to Lisbon when he died.

 

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Flamenco!

 

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We arrived in Granada around six and were given keys to our rooms. This is a gorgeous hotel built in 1910. At 7 we met in the lobby and walked down the regal stairs to the theater where we were given a glass of sangria and then entertained by a private Flamenco performance. The woman who sang seemed to be wailing a tragic love story. Accompanied by a guitarist, two women and a man alternately danced very dramatically and beautifully, faster and faster. After the show, we enjoyed a delicious dinner in a glassed-in gallery overlooking the lights of the city. The hotel is high on a hill and all of our rooms have a view of the city.

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