Spain and Morocco - 2, Seville A

Hi, We went from the Seville train station to our hotel and then had the afternoon at leisure.

This statue was in the lobby of our hotel.

The next morning we took a bus to Cordoba. As the bus was too large to enter the old quarter of the city we parked across the Guadalquivir River and walked across the Roman Bridge.

This is the bell tower of the Mezquita (or Mosque of Cordoba) above with a detail below. Built by the Moors it became a cathedral when the Moors were ejected from Spain.

These interior views of the Mezquita or Mosque of Cordoba show both Moorish and Catholic influences (above and six below).

After we left the Mosque we walked over to the Jewish Quarter. This gentleman was playing the guitar when we got there.

Maimonides was a rabbi, philosopher and scholar who was born and grew up in the Jewish Quarter here.

There is an old synagogue in the Jewish Quarter near where we spotted the wall of flowers in pots.

It was possible to go into the old synagogue (above and below) although there was not much to see.

A museum in the Jewish Quarter, however, was very interesting (above and six below).

During multiple Diasporas Sephardic Jewish (middle eastern Jews) craftsmen developed a silver/gold alloy thread used for decoration, as on the above garment.

Thanks for looking.

Spain and Morocco - 1, Madrid

Hi, In late October and early November of 2016 my wife, Ruthe, and I took a Road Scholar trip to Spain and Portugal. We did a lot of bus riding on this trip, especially in Morocco. Our first stop was in Madrid.

We began our first morning with a bus tour of the city. We passed the statue of Cibeles, an Anatolian goddess and

stopped at the Plaza d'Espana to view a statue of  Don Quixote with his trusty sidekick Sancho Panza. A statue of the author, Cervantes, overlooks the pair.

The next stop was the Royal Palace (above and below). While tours were available they were not included in our program.

Here is a detail of the facade above the Prince's Gate.

This is a view from the plaza in front of the palace.

A statue of Felipe IV stands across from the palace in the Plaza de Oriente.

Also in the Plaza de Oriente are statues of Gothic kings.

We passed the Alcala Gate, a triumphal arch, during our bus tour.

This seemed a typical street scene.

In the evening we went to a club featuring Flamenco dancing. First the performers talked about Flamenco music and dance.

Then there were a number of dance performances (above and below).

The next morning we took Spain's version of a high speed train to Seville.

Thanks for looking.

Italy Trip - 18, Venice B

Hi, This would be our last day of touring in Venice. We decided to see some of the sights we needed to reach by vaporetto.

Our first stop was at the Rialto Bridge.

Here are two vaporettos and a gondola on the grand canal.

Even ambulances are boats.

A side canal of the Grand Canal has a church on the corner.

The Grand Canal junctions with the Canale Della Giudecca in the vicinity of St. Marks Square.

Many of the side canals emptying in to the main canals are bridged (above and two below). It was bridges like these that we lugged our luggage over to get to our hotel on our arrival.

After lunch we headed for the Jewish Museum on a street off this side canal.

On of the buildings comprising the museum once was a synagogue (above and two below).

We then continued up to the railroad station so I could take some train photos. This street performer was playing on the plaza outside the station.

The trip back to our hotel provide additional opportunities to photograph the interesting buildings.

including St. Marks Square with the Doges Palace on the right.

We enjoy markets for their color and frequent human interest.

The streets in Venice frequently are quite narrow.

We like to photograph doorways and window treatments.

A couple of more photos were taken as we wandered around Venice.

The night before we left Venice we took a vaporetto on the Grand Canal.

Thanks for looking.