Semana Santa
First stop - Albacete
Iglesia de San Francisco de Asís preparing for their Semana Santa parade
The church was perfumed with the flowers
El Cid? Don Quijote?
Yes, we brought empty water jugs to fill in the middle of the country
Lunch stop at El Mesón de Despeñaperros
After cancelling Sevilla because I didn't want to optimize parades over the Alhambra and Mezquita, I found out many towns to amazing parades at Easter
Between the candle and being able to see and all the walking, this looks complicated
Patio de los naranjos (Mezquita courtyard)
We are not very obedient
Bulls are the thing in Andalucia
We listened to a podcast on Easter. My family (aka, kids) wasn't too familiar with the story of the Passion
A rainbow of Jerez!
Cordoba from across the river
From our hotel we could hear the parade band playing until well after 1 am
I had seen the Mezquita before and still....mind blown
The wall not pointed to Mecca
Context is important
The Jews, Muslims and Christians lived quite nicely together for a while
In case you are wondering how those heavy floats (pasos) move through the streets. They frequently stop and trade off for a well deserved break and cerveza
Pipas shells covered the streets
The streets were slick with wax
I have never heard a group of Spaniard (escandolosos) so quiet as during the processions
Alhambra, Granada
Dale!
The Cathedral in Granada was gi-nor-mous
Caminito del Rey
As the youngest quipped - the views were gorge-ous
How cute is this Easter parade? I wish I had gotten the face of the muñeca Virgin and the aluminum foil ends of the sticks (Ardales)
Ardales church and castle on the hill
Naranjos
The trees perfumed the town
Rotunda de las acetunas (what's the best olive oil? Ja-én olive oil!)
It was hard to capture from the car that in every direction all you could see were olive trees...so I borrowed a satallite view from Google
We were told a story about there having been bears around Osuna... hence the name. But that wasn't right. And there's something about enslaving people restricting the civilization. The town crest remains a mystery
Shopping for Albanicos - some heafty prices here!
Valencia doesn't have a lock on the crazy gargoyles
It's difficult to get all of the church in Sevilla in one foto!
A copy of the windvane atop the church
Plaza de toros
Our calle!
Sevillanas in Plaza de España
Welcome to Portugal (Portomão)
Lagos
So many white storks and their massive nests
Brasil? SF? Lisbon!
Lunch literally at the edge of the water-Ponto Final
The tuk tuks were pretty cute
Had to do the #28 - but not all the way to the cemetary
Project where photos of inhabitants are on walls in the Alfama
Food tour fun! (Sausages were yummy)
A better look at those stills
7 hills = lots of great views
Sperm?
Please tell me if you know the explanation for this (I think I saw more than one)
Awww, so proud of their IP!
Conserviera de Lisboa
Pastel de Nata (Manteigaria)
Not all tile work is traditional
I won't comment on the age of this car
You'd think the Portuguese invented salted bacalao
Amazing view from an amazing restaurant
Quick pop over to Sintra (super beautiful - but a ton of visitors)
In case you want to approach Santiago from the south
Bone Chapel in Évora
I really would like to start a bone chapel back home
De Alvaro Siza - Allegory of life in opposition to death
Diana's temple (1st century CE)
Évora is great for cork shopping, but we passed on the cork bikini from this store
The Romans were busy and everywhere!
Heading toward the rocks (yes, the distant cork trees are stripped on the bottom)
Megaliths from the neolithic
"amazing energy" (Mom)
"more boring rocks" (Daughter)
We felt like we were back in CA
Wish I had gotten a pic the night before
Making our way home
Lunch stop at Garcia Sola Reservoir
Last stop - a night in a parador
So many wonderful places to sit throughout the parador, but not here!
Park in Almagro
Flor de sartén ~ a typical pastry from La Mancha for Semana Santa
Some of the art in the parador was 300+ years old
Can't help thinking this was hung in the dining room because Jesus looks like he's wearing a tablecloth