MarvelIing the marble History of Spanish civilisation...preserved in its opulent finery...captured in your words and lens...marvellous...simply marvellous.
A slice of paradise! Fab photos and excellent historical and philosophical perspectives on one of my ab fab fave parts of the world! Oh, the brilliant blending of cultures in that Moorish Golden Age--how lovely and inspiring to visit its remnants. We can hope for a time when Muslims and Christians can worship together and tuckered-out children sit down in sacred spaces. Love in Andalusia, indeed!
Love in Andalusia, indeed! Since my visit I’ve been lost in naïve musings about these buildings and what they mean to people today and through the ages. More specifically ‘who loves them most’? Love lost is a powerful emotion, but so is love lost and found. Unrequited love is a dangerous state of mind, and then again Hell has no fury like a lover scorned, and other clichés. Now I’m even more confused as you seem to be insinuating you love this part of the world more than me.
Love your humor You had me chuckling through this entire piece. What a mess. What an adventure. We travel with our two young children as well, so I could see us in your place, dealing with the same issues. I hope we can snicker at the crappy situations in retrospect, too.
the Treaty of Windsor (1386) Now that Brazil's Vasco da Gama Football Club looks like it is saved from relegation from the top division...time to put Portugal back on my wish list...where it all began! A country that has always had allure for me due to its Age of Discovery. Friends that have been there love it.
All I can say is "ditto" on TaraClouds comments. I love how you blend perspective, analysis and photos in your travel blogs. Now I can add drive through Portugal to my wish list.
Portugal Dave's family was planning to go to Portugal in the 70's and that summer they had the coup so the plans changed and they went to California to visit family. Portugal remains on our short list. The cheeses, meats, breads and wines will certainly lure us to the area sooner than later. The quaint villages and the people are the real attraction for us. We long to see the beautiful architecture.
Never been For some reason Portugal gets overlooked. I don't know if it is the geographical location out there on the edge or whether Spain gets all the limelight and people think Portugal is just more of the same? It was our first time, but if anything that delay adds to the wonder. Put it on your very short list. You'll love it!
Idyllic small towns and border crossings Once again, I love your fabulous historical perspective and analysis, and great photos! In my few months in Portugal, I, too, visited incredibly charming small towns--Obidos, Evora, etc and didn't even bother with the crowded Algarve. The Portuguese prefer English partly as you said, because of that old treaty with England, but also because they were invaded and occupied by Spanish Felipe II-Felipe IV, 400 years ago--memories are long there. Regarding border crossing, it's not so easy for everyone. With the Schengen Treaty, we Americans are supposed to stay in Europe only 3 months, but I'd been there three years with no border problems. However, since Portugal wants to keep out the Spanish Roma and African immigrants, borders can be tighter. I was nabbed in 2004, crossing the border from Salamanca to Porto. Three Roma people and I were taken off the bus. While I was told to get to Lisbon immediately to clear this up, (which of course, I didn't do), the three Romas weren't allowed back on the bus.
Borderless Europe When I was living in Denmark I was with some Spanish friends on the commuter train into Copenhagen when some policeman entered the train and asked them for ID (miles from any border-less border). They weren't carrying any, so were removed from the train and detained at the police station for a few hours. Of course they never detained me, even though I never carried my passport, and was theoretically just as foreign as they were. One might even surmise their 'swarthy' complexions and 'strange' accents played a part in their detention.
Same ... but some shocking news... Was there twice earlier this year after never being before and had similar experiences. But more importantly, some news to piss on your road toll parade - the UK is losing the good old tax disc (next year I think) and it will be done online with the Big Bro cameras checking that you've done it. Ahhh, progress even reaches the UK eventually.
Road Tax So it'll just be the paper disc that's replaced? Not that they'll be billing you for every stretch of road you drive down? Progress will never truly reach that island mate. I still have my crumpled pink driving license sans picture n' all - vaild til 2076!
Galicia I just found out you've been in "my" part of the world!. I was born In Ferrol, about 100km from Santiago. Glad you enjoyed the North of Spain... most people choose to go to the South, to fry themselves on a beach... the North is soooooo much nicer ;)
The shrinking world theory When we meet Dave can share his thinking world theory with you over a beer. Kids are flexible, adaptable little sponges so in theory "their comfort zone" is China and as they grow older and visit the UK or other more modern lands they may experience that discomfort because it was not familiar during the formative years. Not good, not bad, but certainly an interesting thought. Dave and I are not the norm and thrive on change-- that is why we do the "traveling" jobs. We get bored with the routine. Love the quote, " A ship in the harbor is safe, but that's not what a ship is built for".
Global interactions - the shrinking world Would be interesting to discuss the phenomenon. I actually teach my students a course with that exact title in the last months of their time here. It proves a lot more difficult than one would think. First off, an 18 year-old seems to have no historical perspective about how the world used to be, so it is almost like teaching history class. And further, living in Shanghai the pace of change is white-hot, and they have a hard time appreciating that things move a lot slower over in the already-developed world. Which brings me to the idea of modern lands -- after returning from Europe to China, in many ways it feels like I am travelling to the future. As for the kids, they are destined to be TCK's, and more than likely will have lived in half-a-dozen countries before they reach adulthood. Though we are hoping that in this rapidly changing world, this experience will allow them to be more comfortable moving between cultures than the proverbial frog sitting in a pan of water as the temperature rises.
A slice of life in the comfort zone When you're the Nomad...hard to break the yearn when you live your life dreaming of what's next. Nice to have a bit of down time sometimes... a slice of life in the comfort zone...especially good with those you love in an exotic locale. Recharge the batteries to go, seek and find.
A slice of life in the comfort zone. This was actually the hardest blog to write. Looking back I can hardly remember anything about it, except this overarching warm fuzzy feeling. Difficult to write a travel blog about that. So I wrote a blog about that.
Dancing Dave
David Hooper
MarvelIing the marble
History of Spanish civilisation...preserved in its opulent finery...captured in your words and lens...marvellous...simply marvellous.