STREET SCENES
This page follows the tour route, beginning in Barcelona and ending in Seville. Barcelona has some talented street musicians and is just a great city to people-watch. I had thought the tour started at 12 instead of 12:30, so was standing outside the hotel waiting, when I realized it was Sunday afternoon.
Our hotel in Barcelona was just down the street from the main plaza, Plaza Catalunya, on a bustling pedestrian thoroughfare called the Portal de l'Angel - the gateway of the angels. On this sunny Sunday morning it warmed my heart to see couple after hand-holding couple strolling together. Young and old, puffer coats and leather jackets, boots and sneakers, affluent and modest, arm-in-arm or hand-in-hand, perfectly complete in each other's company, they made the paseo together. Love - the gateway to the angels indeed!
From honkey-tonk - to bluegrass - to opera -
Barcelona has it all!
On our tour of the Gothic quarter on Sunday, we came across this big group, dancing the Sardana - a traditional Catalan cultural dance.
THE MARCH IN MADRID
One thing I didn't say in the "About Me" is that I have long been against mass incarceration - the kind we practice in the U.S. and especially in California. Also - don't tell RS - but I'm not a big fan of palaces. So - on our first full day in Madrid, I opted out of going on the tour to the Royal Palace and was walking toward the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum - when - around the corner came a mass of people. Suddenly I was surrounded by mostly young guys in black T-shirts. I had no idea what they were marching about but the word "prisiones" was on the backs of their shirts - so - duh - if it had something to do with prisons or prisoners - hey - I'm marching, too!
All the elements for the 6 o'clock news were there:
The newsman and his camera guy.
The politician talking and the reporter not listening (holding the mic, looking at her cell phone)
Crowds waving signs and raising fists!
Translated, the signs said "More training, More Security, More Workers, More Dignity. Your abandonment can kill me."
If there's a march, count on people who are there for another "cause". At the end of the street, in front of the congressional building, this group gathered. I don't know what they were advocating, but they were older, passionate and - shades of the 60's! - were singing their protest.
Like most capital cities, Madrid has a housing shortage.
Down the street from the Prado, across from the Royal Botanic Gardens and the equivalent of our HUD headquarters, advocates had set up a tent city to call attention to the need for affordable housing.
As we traveled south from Madrid, the weather got warmer and the towns got smaller. The pace slowed, we relaxed and time seemed to stand still.
Toledo prepares for a religious procession.
Back to the big city of Granada. Anything goes in Granada where brides and bachelors come to party, and where you may be sitting right next to flamenco dancers!
And another reason to take a Rick Steves tour - avoid the long lines waiting to get into the Alhambra.
in between the big cities of Granada and Seville,the smaller towns of Ronda and Arcos de la Frontera were welcome respites - a time to enjoy the simplicity and charm of colorful doilies, pom-pom canopies and ingenious door handles!
We knew something big was happening in Seville - jets flying overhead, low and often. Then we heard the marching band and saw the troops. At the hotel they explained that the King and Queen of Spain were coming to Seville in a few days and the military was practicing! Pretty exciting!
Which ride would you prefer?
Don't know what this procession was for, but there were a lot of people following!
You can buy fans anywhere in Spain, but Seville is known for its handcrafted, beautifully-painted fans. I confess, I bought one. But I hadn't seen anyone actually using one until - there she was - crossing the street - using her fan (and it matched her hat!).