Last one for this trip - some recipes

RECIPE SUMMARY NOT LISTED ABOVE
Butternut /acorn squash risotto with onion, cherry tomatoes balsamic vinegar drizzle and parsley

Pan fry with salt pork, zucchini, green pepper, onion, summer squash, potatoes, mushrooms and bacon - no eggs, but could add them!

Risotto with goat cheese, parmesan, parma ham and arugula garnish

Baquette hollowed out and filled with mushrooms, goat cheese, spinach...mushrooms were also stuffed with the goat cheese and spinach

Peppersauce over every kind of meat possible - great with pork tenderloin!!

That's all folks!

Sunday evening and Monday – October 9-10
Martine picked us up Sunday afternoon ad we headed out to Grinzing to ample some red Sturm and a meal at a Heuringen.. These little spots are supposed to serve only the wine they make, I think. We had a lovely meal and a drive around the Grinzing area and Vienna Woods before heading back to town for Eis at Zanoni & Zanoni, a special ice cream place. Always good.
We got up late and lazy this morning and headed out to finish up some shopping, getting receipts for the tax return at the airport which we neglected to get on Saturday. Then we headed off to have lunch with Jarred. Jarred is an attorney at a firm which does international arbitration – this is stuff between countries or between major multinational companies. A very small nitch of the law, only 5-6 cities in the world are accorded the “neutral” status that can supply this type of process. There are 6 firms here that act as arbitrators or represent the unhappy parties and not many more worldwide. He took us to the Supreme Court’s cafeteria on top of the Austrian Supreme Court building for lunch. They treat their judges to some pretty good food and excellent views of the old town of Vienna. We’ve really enjoyed seeing Martine and Jarred again and getting to know Jarred better. A truly enjoyable visit with two delightful talented people.
Off for more shopping and a bit of a nap before heading out to one final dinner in a wine cellar (1600s) with music. Then it will be a pack job and early trip to the airport with Martine. See you all soon!

Friday/Saturday October 7/8 Sunday morning

So the last two and one half days have been unremitting, mainly non-touristy, things to do. We got up early in Krumlov and headed back south toward Austria. Trusting nuvi on this trip, we directed her to find the Melk Abbey by the fastest and shortest route. Expecting to head south by highway, we soon found ourselves heading SE like a hound after a fox. Over hill and dale and through the cow patch, over creeks, on one (maybe not that big) lane roads we saw parts of Austria we bet even some Austrians have never seen (or wanted to), and certainly not the standard tourist visit. Gorgeous hills, prosperous farms, and green velvet fresh growing fields met our eye each time we topped a steep hill before we fell down the side into sharp little tree covered valleys “Turn left in 1.3 km, turn right in 700 meters” – we did it all; some roads had no name but were simply called “gutter weg” or “good road”- questionable as we truly worked the car’s suspension and brakes. Mark was lamenting not having the TT while I held on for dear life. Oh my, we did make it to the Abbey in relatively good time, but…hmmm…next time we may change the directions to something slow and steady.
Melk Benedictine Abbey has been substantially fixed up in the past 10 years – they sold their original Gutenberg Bible to Yale to finance the reconstruction. In existence since the 500s, in its current form pretty much since the 11th century, with Baroque additions added where parts were destroyed by fire in the 1700s, we toured through the artwork on display, parts of its massive library, and its glorious church. Throughout the Abbey, the Benedictine ideas are painted on walls and carved in stone, honoring law, medicine, theology, philosophy, wisdom, justice, fortitude and recycling. The overall arching theme here was that victory is not achieved unless the battle was just…or something like that. The size of the library was impressive – at a time when knowledge is power and few could read, the books symbolized a lot of power! Down the spiral staircases and back to the car.
Then we took off down the Wachau Valley of the Danube into Vienna. The Wachau Valley was pretty much hidden by rain, but looked to be a cross between the Mosel and the Rhein … vineyards with a more commercial air. We stopped briefly in Durnstein, a very small town near Krems which looked lovely. Almost inaccessible by road, we didn’t realize we were driving on bike paths to get into it…blame it, again, on nuvi…they looked like the roads we’d been on for the last 2 hours! Durnstein was lovely with its little cobblestone streets but, alas, it has been overrun by the large tourist boats, 2 of which were arriving just as we did. Each cute little store was setting out its Stuerm bottles and knick-knacks. We quickly left before the hordes could crush us. Stuerm, by the way, is Austria’s version of the early just pressed wine (federweissen) we had in Germany, only now after 2-3 weeks it is developing some kick…lovely stuff and we get it every chance we can.
We pulled into Vienna and Martine found us and drove us back to her apartment for a pre-dinner drink. They have a lovely hardwood floor furnished place that is in a building hundreds of years old - 3 big rooms plus kitchen and bathroom – 14 foot ceilings. Apparently the owner died about 18 months ago, which they didn’t know. They pay rent into his account and they figure someone is collecting it as they hadn’t been kicked out yet. After some fun conversation, we took off for Sven’s, a very small restaurant that probably wouldn’t/couldn’t be found by anyone without the proper compass and secret password. Tremendous inexpensive local (read pork and dumplings) food. A tram ride home and sleep.
Woke up early Saturday with plans to do lots of touristy things…total failure of plans. Instead, we shopped and bought ourselves some new bedding, pillows, comforters, duvet covers etc. Then had to go buy another suitcase to get it all home…the dogs will like the feathers, as do we. Went wandering through the Naschtmarkt and found this marvelous stall that sells all different types of vinegar. Pomegranate was my favorite, with asparagus and black current running close in the competition. Met Jarred and Martine again and walked all over town, found a great little restaurant again (Wickerl), watched a bit of the Missouri Kansas State football game and then took off into the night to walk home across a busy town at midnight. Ah, sleep, perchance to dream.
Got up this morning to play tourist, just a bit. First went to the Hofburg Chapel to listen to the Vienna Boys’ Choir – not that impressive in this locale for some reason, too few of them for the chapel? Next we went to the 11.00 high mass at the Augustine Church…conducted by the Cardinal for the area. There was a photographer documenting everything he said or did, which took some of the glory off the actions. The real reason we were there, though, was to listen to their spectacular choir and orchestral accompaniment. Wow, so beautifully done it brought tears to my eyes, made the 18 chandeliers swing in time to the music, and then we walked out and stumbled onto the Lippizaners returning to their stable across the courtyard…perfect morning as far as I was concerned. Topped it off with a brief snack at Demels, a café sweet shop with a history centuries long. We had a vanilla crème schnitte (think napolean with Bavarian cream), a milk custard strudel, hot chocolate and a hot wild berry rum punch (oh yeah!). Off to sleep it off. Meeting Martine and Jared for a trip to the wineries this afternoon….as usual, more later.

Thursday Oct 6
Cesky Krumlov is a jewel…somewhat undiscovered so far. That is bound to change. To understand this town, a bit of history is needed. I think my compilation of history here is fairly correct, though pulled out of various things I have read the last 6 months. The Hapsburg empire owned and ruled this portion of Europe for hundreds of years. This is the so called “Sudentenland.” The area spoke German mainly with other ethnic groups rolled in and was as much Germanic as Germany and Austria. After World War I, this area was lumped together with Slovakia and held to be a separate state, removed from German control; it was still, however, Germanic in many ways. The Munich Accords of 1938 gave Germany control of this area again. That’s when Chamberlain returned to England claiming he had arranged “Peace for our time” … yeah, right. At that time, Germany forced all Czechs, Romanys, and Slovaks in the area (25% of the population) to leave; it became a purely Germanic state. Many of those forced to leave did not survive the war, whether due to their ethnicity, placement in concentration camps as resistance fighters, or their death due to other collateral damage related to WWII 10 out of 700 Jewish people from the area survived. The town of C.Krumlov was not damaged during the war, never a focus of any battles. In 1945, when Germany lost the war, the powers that be decided the Germans, Austrians, and Czechs could never get along, so all of German heritage were expelled, as had been the Czechs earlier (the remaining 75% of the population). C. Krumlov was left a ghost town. The communists relocated some troops here, but in 1993 when the communist system failed, the Czech and Russian troops returned to their home states and this area was left with minimal population … without its people a town has no life or history. In order to repopulate the area, local tenants who had been forced to live here were offered the right to buy buildings and homes for 10% of their value, provided they secured financing to repair the homes within 5 years and completed renovations within 15 years. Some other people whose family were originally from here but had been forced to relocate by the communists also came back. As of 2010, the changes to the town are indescribable and almost complete. Even 5 years ago, the neglected buildings and streets looked impossible to repair. Now, the town is a wonder of gothic, renaissance and baroque buildings with a plethora of cobblestone streets, history lessons, inexpensive restaurants and bed and breakfasts. We landed in a tour of the old town with Karolina Kortusova, a Rick Steves recommendation, and heard not only about the history of the town repair, but she shared her personal experiences of growing up Czech in a Russian cage. They are now quite rightfully proud of the town, which they have made their own, and their new found freedoms, with all the potential and responsibility that comes with freedom.
On to the town itself. It is really two towns nestled into adjacent curves of the river. In one medieval town, a castle rose and housed the gentry of the area who had a license to make a special beer sold only to the rich. The castle has 5 courtyards, brown bears in the moat (really) more than 40 buildings and a huge garden. In the other medieval town, they made better beer. Hence the two towns were joined so each could profit from the different beers. There were more than 5 breweries in this tiny area. After the war and relocations, only one continued to operate … Eggerbeer. Even I liked their dark sweet beer…shock! The two towns cover a very small area with every street only a few minutes walk from each other. Hand crafts, and especially wood working, are now the major items available for sale. Before too many years, it will likely become a Disneyland of kitsch. At the moment , though, it is truly a marvelous place. Come see it now.
Time for a post prandial dumpling nod…heavier and deeper than other such post lunch naps…

Tues/Wed October 4 and 5th
On Tuesday, we decided to just spend sometime around town (Hallstadt) buying souvenirs, riding a boat around the lake, and then drive around to some of the smaller towns in the area. We got as far as Bad Ischl, Strobl, and St. Gilgen, the closest lake side town to Salzburg. None were anything special but the lakes themselves were beautiful nestled into the steep high mountains. This area has about 13 lakes which range in size from a mile across and 2-3 miles long to double or triple that size. The Hallstattsee where we stayed appears to be one of the smallest and the hardest to get to. No real motors allowed other than 2 small tour boats so the serenity is amazing…small electric boats, paddleboats, canoes, kayaks and lots of ducks and swans. Apparently the lakes are only about 50 meters above sea level and were first formed when the supercontinent Panagea was bumping around and the alps started getting pushed up. Now snow melt rivers keep them full and calm..and a bit cold!
Wednesday found us driving up to Gmunden for a quick peak at where Martine got married and then onto Mauthausen concentration camp. As with our trip to Dachau in the past, man’s inhumanity to man is unbelievable. The scenery is peaceful rolling green hills and then, in the middle, rises a crematorium smokestack. This was mainly a labor camp where political prisoners, opposing army prisoners, partisan/rebels, and jews were forced to labor up high stone steps (186 of them) from a quarry with rocks on their backs to supply stone to build the third reich monuments. Most were fed 5 tablespoons of food daily, and most died within a few months of arrival. If they fell on their trek uphill, they were simply shot. Close to 100,000 died here from 1938 till May 5, 1945 (7 days after Hitler’s death) when the camp was liberated. The prisoners continued to die for days after liberation because they were simply too far gone to save…60,000 in the last 9 months, 15,000 in the last few days. This is a powerful and moving memorial to those who died here and elsewhere in such camps, and a powerful reminder or education for the rest of us.
Off to Cesky Krumlov in the Czeck Republic after that solemn visit to Mauthausen. I was a bit worried as we drove into the Czech Republic. The first young lady was hitchhiking, I thought. Standing by the side of the road miles from anywhere. Then we passed 7-10 more nicely spaced out along the road….ohhh. Guess it is something different than a car ride they are seeking. That was very discouraging, somehow. Lots of “American Chance Casinos” and “Sin City” buildings. The iron curtain has certainly rusted away (no customs or border visible) and all the buildings are painted in bright colors. In addition, there are babies and children everywhere. In 73, the situation was so grim (no color literally or spiritually) there were no children being born – the future was too grim. What a difference. We rolled into Cesky Krumlov about 6p.m. – lovely color, lots of babies and young children…smiling laughing locals everywhere. No hookers in sight and lots of fun places to walk.
More tomorrow after we have explored.

Sunday Monday Oct 2-3
We left Rothenburg od Tauber early on Sunday, ready for a long leisurely drive through the German countryside…not. The first weekend of Oktoberfest in Munchen and an Allianz soccer match against Dresden (I think) led to a 30 mile back up of traffic around Munich. Our expected peaceful drive took all day and was anything but. We finally got south of Munich and headed up into the foothills of the alps. That means we wound through little valleys with mountainsides that went straight up, with sheep, calves and cows wandering the steep hills – with bells clanging on their necks - under the watchful eyes of their owners’ homes half way up the hill. The beautiful alpen homes look like swallows nests perched on the sides of barn roofs.
Coming through Aptenau we heard an oompah band and saw a town gathering, so of course we stopped. They were all in their lederhosen, felt hats and fancy dirndls; we were in our jeans, sunhats, and orthopedic walking shoes. I am sure they wondered who the hell we were partaking of their beer, wurst and drinking songs. A fun time was had by all – perhaps at our expense. We made it into Hallstatt at around dinner time, stuffed our faces full of goulash, spaetzle, and wiener-shnitzel, all washed down with wunderbar white wines of the region. Then we fell into bed. Mark got up early, got dressed and headed out to explore, only to discover it was 2 a.m.. Guess we went to bed too early! I got up about 4 hours later. After our typical muesli and fruit, ham and cheese breakfast, we hiked off to the new part of town and took the funicular up to the Salt Works – mine. This mine has been worked for 7000 years and salt (“Hall”) has been an important part of history, not only here but for the world. We got to taste the salt rock, red from iron, and twice slide down long wooden bannisters that the miners used to get to the different levels of the mine. We made over 23 km per hour and would have been faster if I hadn’t ended up accidentally dragging my feet when we went double. Fun laser shows on an underground lake and demonstrations of different mining techniques ended with a “train” ride out of the mine. This train, though, was a wooden bench 8”wide which we straddled and then got pulled out of the mine through narrow little tunnels the ceilings of which were low enough to give you a headache if you sat up too high…no litigators here!
Breakfast is always a never-ending source of entertainment, full of characters who don’t know how to keep their voices down. Yesterday morning we shared tea and coffee with one fairly flamboyant gay man, his partner, his mother and a third man (brother?). Each had brought their small dog on the trip with them from Camano Island. After a pleasant sharing of experiences, mom said to her son: “What were you doing last night? It sounded like you were moving furniture!” Stunned silence…We quietly tried to act like we were otherwise involved in a discussion of the menu…
Hallstatt is a tiny OLD town crammed onto a ledge held hostage between the cliff and the lake. Swans circle the long stretch of waterfront threatening you with glares if you fail to throw a little extra spaetzle their way from the terrace restaurant. We didn’t want them to plan a hit on our lives, so they got plenty from us.
The lovely weather continues…70s every day and 50s at night. We understand that will end this week and Vienna will be in the mid 40s. We’ll get to wear the other 75% of our packed clothes then! As you can tell, not much happening these two days. More later!

Fri-Sat September 30-October 1

Friday-Saturday Sept 30- Oct 1
Took off early from Beilstein on Friday, leaving the misty morning river and rising up onto the high plateau in more brilliant sunshine. The weather has been Fantastic – mid to upper 70s each day. I’m running out of warm weather clothes and sunscreen – that is NOT a complaint. We drove west and slightly south toward the German “Romantic Road” which runs south from Wurzburg to Fussen. Destination Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
RodT was one of the largest and most important medieval cities in Europe. A strategic stop on both the North to South and East to West trade routes, it had everything until the 30 year war between the Protestants and Catholics (the fight at least at the start of the war). At one point a 40,000 strong army of the Catholics overran the city of 6000 and impoverished them with bribe payments to let them live – then killed everyone anyway. Over the next decade, the town was overrun repeatedly, losing 70 % of their population to war or disease, all their funds, most of their farmlands, and many villages or buildings once under their control. For the next 200 years, the town wasn’t much of a prize and languished as a city. This poverty prevented any reconstruction or improvements to the town…and then came the tourists – another type of invader, but one that pays!.
Last night we took a tour given by the German Jerry Seinfeld…in the form of a 14th century Night Watchman. Informative, funny and a great way to spend Friday evening learning some warped history. Today, we took a hike around the top of the town wall and ramparts, then another historical walking tour which filled us in on more history. In March of 1945, the US bombed the stink out of this area – destroying 40%of the medieval town. An American general whose mother had a picture of RotD hanging in their living room as he grew up, and who told him stories about the town as a boy, apparently stopped another bombing of the town the next clear night and arranged a surrender of the German troops hiding here. After the war, the people of RotD published a plea in every major newspaper around the world asking for funds to rebuild; those funds are still pouring in from visitors. For 1000 Euro, you can get a plaque put upon 1 meter of the reconstructed wall.
Food sampling here has run from the weird to the delicious. Federweisser is a cloudy drink available only at this time of year. It is apparently grapejuice dregs prior to, or left over from, filling the wine kegs. It looks like a pulverized white feather, hence, we think, the name. The other, strange, food that has struck us here is something called a Schneeballen (snow ball). Rollout some pie crust into a rectangle, make a bunch of slices through the middle of it, leaving the edges intact. Then play cats cradle with the inside “strings” folding it into a ball and deep fat fry it…then add flavoring like, chocolate, amaretto, cinnamon sugar, peanut butter, coconut---use your imagination. Seems to be a bit of an addiction around here. However, pie crust is still just pie crust…
Architecture adds another bit of info to the pix included. It was required that everyone inside the town walls maintain 2 years of food, so each home has a high pitched roof inside which lots of grain could be stored. Didn’t help the town much with the 40,000 army as some idiot inside the walls entered the gunpowder storage tower with a torch and blew down the walls for a good distance. They’ve been reenacting the 2 day siege all day with cannon fire, Hungarian mercenaries, and little children dressed in period clothing running and screaming through the streets. Final act is when the town supposedly offered the conquering general a 6 pt “glass” of wine as a welcome and he offered to spare the city if the mayor could drink it all in one continuous swallow, which he did. The “Meistertrunk” action occurs on the hour with the town square clock providing the scene and show. No mention of the condition of the mayor afterwards…Of course, this story was made up in the late 1800s to entice more tourists. Off to Austria tomorrow.

Thursday Sept 29

Thursday Sept 30
Today was an easy day, still trying to recover from jet lag. We drove upstream along the winding Mosel below hanging vineyards through many small villages, each with their half timbered houses, rathaus and large green lawns along the river. Bernkastel-Kues was our destination. Set in a wide bend of the river, it is actually two towns, one on each side of the river, connected by a bridge. The largest vineyards on the river nestle into the side of the hills above Berrnkastel and spread along the river to towns in either direction. 95% of the grapes here are Riesling and, unlike those we usually see in the US, the wines produced are more dry (trochen) than sweet. We tried the red, rose and white of all kinds of the Mosel Rieslings and all are lovely. The town has quite a bit more bling and tourists than when we were here in 73, but the buildings and places we ate before still exist and are still charming, the dogs still sit at the restaurant tables with their owners, and we still shouldn’t drive after lunch. My lunch was “toast” with a spread of thin-sliced ham, pears with cranberry sauce, and a slice of smoky cheese melted over the whole top of the plate. Quite a lovely blending of flavors. I think the cheese was emmentaler, but can’t be sure.

Bike paths line both sides of the river, with hundreds of people biking on them. Every town or hotel has its bike rental place and it has quite obviously become another favorite pastime, along with hiking, for the german people. Nobody wears bike helmets so perhaps this is how the country limits their old age pensions…send the old folks out biking in heat and traffic.

Home for more Weinprobe ( a flight of 6 glasses) and a small meal of Flammkuchen. Flammkuchen is a very thin, light crust pizza. So thin it looks like they pour it onto a metal pan and then lay toppings on it before cooking for just a few minutes. We had onion, ham and chives in a very sweet cheese (brie?). Once again hard to name the cheese, but delicious and light meal. Off to Rothenburg ob der Tauber tomorrow.

Wed September 28

Wednesday September 28, 2011

Breakfast was a magnificent candle-lit spread in the old kitchen/hall of our hotel Haus Lipmann, a medieval mansion from the 1300s which has been in this family (Lipmann) for over 200 years. A long wooden table sits in front of a walk in fireplace with antlers, chandeliers and feudal weapons lining the walls. We ate our brains out –giant slabs of butter, bacon, eggs, muesli, marvelous little bakery pastries, fruit, etc, then set out to explore the downstream part of the Mosel valley. The Mosel runs 300 miles from the Trier/Luxembourg area to Koblenz where it empties into the Rhein. The boat traffic is amazing and peaceful, controlled by numerous locks which control the flow; it still floods regularly every winter, but is managed well at the time. The vineyards start high on the steep hills and run all the way down to the river, which has carved this path. Classy campgrounds run along grassy lawns in between the small towns. In 1973 we were amazed by the complexity of the family tents which were planted for each summer by families returning to the same site. Now, there are still the fancy huge tents, but they are attached to large travel trailers which set up their spots shortly after Easter each year and then accommodate family visitors till October. Dads, in the past, came in from work on the weekends and the rest of the family stayed all summer; appears to be a similar situation now. We understand many such campgrounds flood in the winter and so these will soon be removed for the winter.

We decided to trek off to Burg Eltz which is one of the best preserved castles on the Mosel. Started in the 1100s, it has been complete since before Columbus decided to sail off the edge of the world. The same Eltz family (and a mix of descendants) has owned it for 850 years. In that time it has never been damaged and only been besieged unsuccessfully once – for 5 years ; this appears to be due to its construction, family diplomacy, good marriages and perhaps some luck. We reached it by hiking 3 kilometers up a narrow valley from Moselkern and then climbing up lots of rock stairs. 80 rooms, 40 fireplaces, and 20 rain flushed toilets- it was quite comfortable for its day (as long as it rained!). A large conference room and courtyard provided a meeting place for the families who shared it (then and now) to discuss management of the complex.

After the hike, we were quite hungry so moved on to Cochem with another majestic castle and medieval streets. We did some “weinprobe” (sampling). We drank a marvelous halb trocken (medium dry) bottle of Riesling along with the Gaststaette Noss specialty of pork or beef in another green pfeffersauce. (They grow and butcher their own meat so it was better than most you find in Germany.) Along with the meat came a stack of perfectly crisped fries which were only improved by the pepper sauce “gravy.” Mark had similarly perfect potato croquettes (read tater tots). I’ve tried for years to match a pepper-sauce meal we had in Munich in 1999, without success; obviously, I have to renew my efforts in that direction. The giant castle complex above Cochem was completely redone in the 1800s – we did not hike up and visit it…too much wine. The lovely little yellow train which took tourists around town would have been fully appreciated by the grandsons. We enjoyed walking along the riverfront promenade through the open air market which lined the street nearby…a place to buy just about any needed (or desired) article of clothing.

Home for a short nap to sleep off the Riesling, and then off for dessert. Apfelstrudel with vanilla eis and Sahne (whipped cream) – hit the spot. Tomorrow we head upstream instead – to Bernkastel-Kues and perhaps Trier or Luxembourg.

Pix Sept 27 Tuesday

Tuesday = 27th

The wedding in Phoenix was lovely. We left very early Monday morning to catch a flight to Frankfurt with a 3 hour layover in D.C.. Mark got some 4 hours of sleep on the plane while I got minimal – closer to 2. We arrived about 8:45 a.m., picked up the car and headed north to the Mosel River (Beilstein) with a lunch at Bacharach on the Rhein. We passed by numerous old castles on the sides of the Rhein as we drove north. Not much has changed since 1973…vineyards down to the river, lots of barges and Rhein river tours passing by. Half of the drive was spent getting K’s cell phone to work – guess that is a change since 73. Took a small (3-4 car) ferry across from the east to the west side near Bacharach. Bacharach is a lovely small medieval town (established sometime well before 1350) with a great castle which is now a youth hostel. Hiked around a bit and then we searched out the spot (we think) in “the altes haus” where we had wine 38 years ago. Lovely old tilted waddle and daub buildings with the German poems printed on them. Spaghetini with pesto sauce, roasted pumpkin seeds, cherry tomatoes and amazing grated parmesan, Carpaccio (thin sliced boiled and dried beef) with a balsamic vinegar and chives dressing. Yum. First had basil pesto with cousin Judy Etschmaier in Heidelberg area, a bit south of here in 73. This time though, Judy, no little green bugs. After lunch we drove the very back roads over the hills between the Rhein and Mosel valleys…single lanes and the old nuvi garman worked hard to get us here. Dropped down from the high plateau so similar to the hills outside of Danville PA where we lived for 4 years 71-75 into Beilstein on the Mosel. Unexpected landscape from other parts of Germany we have seen in the past.

We are currently recovering from, or enhancing (depends on your view point), our jet lag with a lovely dry Riesling spatlese from a nearby vineyard. Sitting on a small grapevine covered terrace at Haus Lipmann in Beilstein. Accessible only by river until the early 1900s, this small peaceful town now has a tiny foot ferry crossing to a bike path on the north side and some extremely vicious protective swans…takes a good kick to get on and off that ferry. Our room is four floors up a tiny narrow winding staircase, dad’s knee is now swollen, and the room is the size of the top floor of our house. Large old timbers supporting the ceiling, large “matrimonial” beds with folded over down duvet covered quilts, bidet…I do love Europe. Dinner appears to be spectacular from what I see around us. More later, with recipes if possible.

So, dinner was indeed special. We first had game soup. I can’t even begin to figure out what all was in it…broth bullion?, some balsamic vinegar, sour cream floating on top, served with a rolled thin pastry cheddar type cheese-stick. Then, I had the traditional green peppercorn steak covered with a cognac cream sauce and a pile of fresh green beans lightly steamed, Mark had a venison steak with chanterelles in a red wine sauce with a roasted cranberry pear…both meals with crisp thin sliced fried potatoes. Side plate of bread with toppings to add of sour cream and chives…and bacon fat. Frugal Germans don’t waste much. Crème brulee for dessert. Our first oink of the trip. Short walk around town and a trip to sleep at about 8. We both woke up at 4 to watch large black flat barges slowly slide by in the dark, but managed to get back to sleep until about 8 this morning and head down to breakfast.

So we'll be off to Phoenix for a wedding on Sept 24, then to Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. Our dog/house sitter is ready and so are we! This is just a test....

Feb 19-21 - Madrid

Feb 19 – 21 Madrid

Got to Madrid about 10:30 am Sunday and took the metro to our hotel near the Puerto del Sol where we were informed the museums would all, but one, be closed the next day. Because we were leaving a day early, it was time to move! We grabbed an Abuela Smith apple off the hotel registration counter, picked up a map of the city and metro and headed out to “do” a couple of museums. First stop was the Royal Palace, supposedly the third greatest royal palace after Paris’ Versaille and the Schonbrunn in Vienna. Heck, we saw the other two almost 40 years ago, might as well add this one to the collection. It certainly was worth it. Broad grand royal staircase from the entry hall up to fantastic royal antiques, the current throne room and magnificent dining halls with room for close to 200 to sit at the same table. Built mainly in the 18th century, it is still in use today, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, though, live a bit farther out in the country and only come here for special occasions. Built by a Spanish King of French descent with an Italian wife, it is a sumptuous feast for the eyes – lots of Baroque decorations, and an impressive arsenal of chainmail, horse (and dog) and knight armor, all inlaid with gold and brass threads pounded into the steel for decoration. Over 2000 rooms, we saw about 20. We can’t possible describe them, so Wikipedia if you are interested in what they look like!

After walking our toes off at the palace, we had lunch at the Mercado San Miguel, strolling among the hundreds of Madridlenos doing the same thing. Each booth at the market offered different tapas such as olives plates, cod plates, beef plates, shrimp, oysters … you get the picture. One booth sold fresh made potato chips, cooked in olive oil with plenty of salt. We retied our shoes to make room for salt and activity swollen toes and headed to the Prado a mile or so away. This is one of the most impressive art museums we have been in, a collection of more than 3000 canvases with whole rooms devoted to different artists ranging from Spanish favorites (El Greco, Velazquez, Goya, Miro) and medieval specialists, to the Italian Renaissance, northern favorites, others like Titan and Rubens. Much of the art had a religious focus, since that is what was popular at the time most of these great painters were working and the protestant catholic battles were beginning to boil. When we came out of both places, the lines stretched for blocks. Late Sunday afternoon was free; we paid and saw fewer crowds.

Tried to then cram all the meals we had planned into that first night. We visited three or four different restaurants, one drink and tapa each until we settled on a full racion of chorizo at Casa Labra Taberna. This was the birthplace of the Spanish Socialist Party in 1879; it still exists and the walls are full of photographs and newsprints for years back. Then it was off to Chocolateria San Gines for hot chocolate (like hot chocolate pudding in a cup) and churros. The churros were extruded into a 3 foot deep vat of boiling oil in a long 30 foot coil which, once cooked, got cut into 12 inch pieces. We each got a plate of churros and a cup of hot chocolate to dip them in. Stumbled off to bed.

Up early the next morning for pastries at Salon La Mallorquilla, one of the best pasty shops we’ve ever seen, coffee from Starbucks (Spain does pastry well but we know how to make coffee with chocolate - Mark needed hismmocha), then off to the one museum open on Monday - Reina Sofia collection of modern (19th and 20th century) art. We saw everything they had, but our real reason to visit was to see Picasso’s Guernica. In 1937, Picasso was in France to paint a light and lively large painting for the Spanish pavilion at the Paris world fair. A civil war was raging in Spain between the legally elected democratic government (who sent Picasso north) and some traditionalist right wing forces under Franco. Franco was friends with Hitler and Mussolini; he asked for their support and gave them the opportunity to try out Hitler’s new air force. The town of Guernica, Basque capitol, on market day was the target of the world’s first carpet bombing of civilian areas. First the planes took out the bridges so escape was impossible. Then the bombing and strafing obliterated everyone; it was market day and full of refugees who were trying to avoid the battles in their own areas. Picasso’s canvas is in black, grey and white, not free and fancy, and is a symbolic masterpiece of the destructive capability of war. Bombs are falling, horses screaming, a sad bull (symbol of Spain) looks on, mother’s hold dead babies, dead warriors with broken swords, prideof Spain, lie trampled. It depicts a true nightmare and is weirdly similar to what Quadaffi is doing now in Libya and what S. Hussein did to the Kurds in Iraq. Somber scene at the museum with hundreds of Spaniards funneling through the room to see it, I think it has become a real statement and summary against the inhumanity of wars of all kinds. It only came back to Spainafter Franco's death. Again, Wikipedia would give you more information.

After the last museum, it was another hit on Starbucks and back to the Mercado de San Miguel for lunch. Many glasses of Sangira, sweet Vermouth, and wine later, with tapas to match, we headed back to the hotel for the later afternoon nap and to pack.

Mark has come to the conclusion the sultry low voice of Spanish women is not inherited or planned. He thinks it is just the end result of a pack a day for 20 years (if you are 35 plus). We are somewhat amazed to see that about 60-70 percent of the population on the streets is carrying a lit cigarette.

Figure the last night in Spain should be a tapas Crawl. A tapas bar in Spain does not equal a topless bar in the US. First up, La Casa de Abuella where we had gambas al ajillo (small shrimp cooked in olive oil, what else, and garlic) as well as sangria and a tuna tapa. There were 4-5 of the same name restaurant…hopefully, we hit the right one. Next we hit Casa Toni where we dined on the local rioja wine, as well as berenjena (deep fried eggplant slices with honey) and champinones steamed (mushrooms). Toni was fun, and had a bar full of bull-fighting pictures and memorabilia. Thank god we escaped before Kathie ordered the snowball size of lamb intestines wrapped like Mexican Christmas ornaments on wooden sticks to be deep fried. Even the grandson of a sheepherder (Mark) could not appreciate that. Ended the evening with an Argentina ice cream tropical surprise at Giangrossi Helano Artesanal at the end of another amazing tapas bar street with will need to be explored on another visit, because we are tap - ed out and leave early tomorrow.

Thoughts of Spain and Madrid? We think Spain is lovely, the people warm, friendly and kind-hearted. We were constantly being stopped on the street and offered help with a map or directions. The people we met were eager to chat about our lives, their lives, what we thought about their country, politics, and any other topic that came to the fore. The waiter who gave us his copy of Don Quixote, even though we couldn't read Spanish, says it all. He wanted us to have something of his to share with others in the states. Wow. Madrid, though a very large city, we found to be intimate and warm - lovely pedestrian streets. Cordoba was historic and a wonderful "small town" to explore. Sevilla was beautiful, full of light and the potential for spring flowers (a return trip may be mandatory). In all our time, we walked the small backstreets streets and big plazas late at night, early in the morning, and in the middle of crowds of locals. Only once were we mildly concerned or uncomfortable about being followed or stalked, and that was likely our imagination. We were told repeatedly to watch our bags, keep our hands in our pockets (so no one else would), and be aware of gypsy scams

Up quite early with an easy hike (1 km) to the Metro to the airport and a flight that was less than 1/3 full. First time that has happened in years. Guess that is why our flight tomorrow was cancelled. Back in the USA! Greasy hamburgers, yuck. Diet starts tomorrow.

Adios till the next trip

More Toledo

Just found out our flight Wednesday doesn't exist. Gee, United, think you should have emailed us this?! They called and left a message that one flight took off at a different time, but not that one just ceased to exist!!! So, have to come home a day early. We won't get out to see El Escorial or the Valley of the Fallen, which I was really looking forward to. Will do whirlwind tours of the Madrid museums... The last picture of Toledo above shows the size of streets the cars and buses drive on. Note the gouges in the wall for car mirrors, and we are talking LITTLE cars, not our volvo or even a VW wagon like Liesl's-those are HUGE here.

Feb 19 - Toledo

Up late and into the center of town to see the Catedral. Again, another amazing take on Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, neoclassical architecture, complete with burial sites of past archbishops, cardinals, and their red hats hanging overhead until they rot and fall down. Pity the poor tourist standing there at the time…might scare the hell out of him or her. And then there is the 16th century skylight added to the arched ceiling after the fact. A deep hole in the ceiling tumbling with angels, clouds, sculptures of cherubs, with feet hanging out illuminates the entire carved back wall of the altar complete with angels holding fill by their gills and the ascending soul of Jesus. The individual choir seats carved in walnut depicting the reconquest of each Spanish city starting with Toledo in the 11th century and ending with Granada in 1492 are so accurate as to be used by historians to trace the evolution of weapons over that 400 years. An amazing 465 pound gold plated silver monstrance is in the Tesoro (treasury), used to hold the Holy Communion wafer that represents the body of Christ during April religious processions around town. In addition, did I mention the 18 El Greco paintings as well as some by all other famous artists from the different eras. The cathedral is a museum all on its own.

Off to Santo Tome to see one of El Greco’s most famous paintings, hung where he positioned it 400 years ago. The Burial of the Count of Orgaz – very colorful and with all the local town fathers fit into it, only El Greco stares out at you from the scene while his son holds a hanky with the Greek name painted on it- the artist’s signature. Then, how about a 1 euro bus ride around town to get our bearings and lift us back up the hill, highlighted by a thread the needle (bus through 16th century medieval arch) maneuver at pace 

Strolling through the labyrinthine twist of streets as the Toledans begin to flow into town for the Saturday stroll, we made the pleasant mistake of pausing in front of a metal working shop window where an old man was doing meticulous gold inlay crafting, hammer and wooden block in hand. In 1973, an old man took Kathie’s hand and led her into the caves of Herculaneum near Pompeii; in 2009, he took Kathie’s hand and pulled her into a dark restaurant; in 2011, that same old man grabbed her hand and took her into the cueva of his shop to show off his metal work of necklaces, rings, scissors, chess sets etc.-all guaranteed to be 24 k gold made by him, not some distant factory. Did we mention knives? “Hey buddy, want a knife? “ Or how about a sword. How to get this into a carry on…hmmm. Every other shop sells hundreds of knives, swords, shawls, mantillas, shoes, or all of the above guaranteed to be handmade by the owner. It used to be the swords were the best in the world, sought by traveling warriors from every country now the stores claim the fame of creating the weapons for Lord of the Rings or Conan the Barbarian….still quality work.

LUNCHTIME “Show mi amigos to a better table in the next room” said el padrone as we strolled in to his Meson Palacious restaurant with Rick Steves under our arm. Lunch was bread, gazpacho soup (cold tomato), veal with pepper sauce, vegetable stew (ratatouille) La Mancha style, chocolate three layered cake, flan, a bottle of wine and – did I mention?- Kathie ate the partridge from the pear tree. Three meals before 2 p.m. may be a record for this trip. Tough to pass the panelaria with great bread on the way up the hill for breakfast and the Two Nuns pasteria with great chocolate, coffee and sweets just off Santo Tome square for a snack.

How do you know when Kathie has had enough wine with lunch?
A) She ate the whole loaf of bread on the table
B) She ordered a double espresso after an entire fixed price menu of the day (she doesn’t drink coffee)
C) She commandeered my wine, then backwashed when she got caught, or
D) All of the above

So, taking the escaleras mecanicos (8 flights which speed up when you step on them) may be an intellectual challenge after the above lunch, but we must hurry before the rain in the distance beats us to the Hotel El Cardenal doors. The rain has kept us inside for the afternoon, but it appears we may take of to Plaza de Zocovoder (used to be the horse market) to see what night life is there. Rumor has it a NJ high school band is playing at 8. We have been crossing paths with them and their parents the whole trip. Off to Madrid tomorrow

Feb 18 - en route to and in Toledo

Another delightful breakfast in Cordoba served by at least 3 people complete with linen tablecloth and napkins, fresh squeezed OJ and assortmentsof breadsetc. Taxi to the train station and a quick 1 ¾ hour ride to Madrid while we typed Feb 17. Got to Madrid to find all trains to Toledo were full. First rumor was no trains until tomorrow. OUCH! Put on our sorrowful, country bumpkin, rube faces and got separate seats on maybe the last train after three hours wait. Lesson learned: get tickets the day ahead! Typed some more on the blog, to upload once we get to Toledo. Had a brief pizza Margherita and jamon bocadillo (sandwich on a baquette) while we waited for our train. Not willing to say the lunch came complete with potato chips and a coke, or that they tasted good. At time this is being typed we are sitting in the ante-room of the Madrid train station. When we arrived you could not turn sideways in the huge station. As we look around now we only see 3 securidad and each other. Have we missed something in translation? Is this the same Madrid train station el Qaida blew up a few years ago? With a second quick look around at least we see no well shaven Muslim men with bulging coats or loanly left backpacks. Security cameras everywhere, but no shifty characters. Speaking of shifty characters got our first Gypsy proposition, baby dropper, yesterday. We either look more like locals, which we highly doubt in our bright yellow coats, the Gypsies are out of babies which we also highly doubt, or business all moved south for the winter, just like the cruise ships.
Caught our train to Toledo and chose to hup our bags a mile UPHILL to our Hotel del Cardenal. Then hiked up hill some more to Plaza de Zocodover to get the lay of the land...then hiked downhill to the Catedral and an early dinner at Adolfo Vinoteca. We made good friends with our waiter Miguel after 5 tapas and 4 glasses of wine. He gave us his personal oopy of Don Quixote (in Spanish), autographed it, and sent us stumbling on our way. Then we tried to find our wy home. Three miles of winding dimly lit alleys (except when cars speed around the corners), help from El Predsidente's personal security guard, and 8 flights of escalators (down) we found our way back to our room. We have found the Spanish people overwhelmingly friendly and helpful and have never been worried about our safety. Off to sleep so we have time to "do" Toledo tomorrow. Nighty-nite!

We give it a bad time, but the Spanish train system has been wonderful. Any shortcomings have been ours. These trains have been great. The US has a lot to learn.

cordoba pictures

Courtyard of the oranges - entry to Mezquita

Roman bridge with Mequitain background

The tower at night

Forest of marble columns

Feb 17 Cordoba

Woke up to a lovely breakfast with fresh squeezed orange juice, a giant English muffin with orange (local) marmalade, STRONG coffee and tea. Then it was off to see the Mezquita. This massive (600 ft x 400 ft) former mosque is jaw dropping; words to describe it are insufficient. You enter through a large garden of palm/orange trees with intricate irrigation system and 2 central fountains. Though the typical mosque provides a west entrance to the mosque and east altar (facing Mecca) this one’s entrance is from the north, facing Syria from where the local Moors who built it came. The fountains were for the ritual cleaning prior to prayers. This mosque was first built in the 700s and the minaret (now bell tower) guards the courtyard. You pass from the orange grove into the interior of the mosque to find yourself in another world, another type of forest, this one of beautiful delicate marble columns connected by red and white double arches – necessary because of the height of the ceiling, The structures adapt the Visigoth ruins (more history later) and roman arches admirably, The columns seem to recede into the distance, like looking at yourself in mirrors where there are hundreds of you. Remember when you were a kid and went to the barbershop. Mirrors in front and behind you made it look like there were 20-30 other kids getting a haircut at the same time. Same sensation looking into the rows and rows of columns. Quickly stepping it off it seems there were easily over 600. The Visigoths built a Christian church here in the 500-600 era, and then came the Muslims. In 1236, the conquering Christians took it over. With amazing forethought, rather than tear down the mosque, they built a lovely cathedral inside the mosque. Yeah, it has to be seen to be believed. The cathedral, in the center of the mosque rises 130 feet and has glorious plaster work in the ceiling, rich decorations contrasting with the simplicity of the Muslim building. We arrived as mass was being said; the warmly intimate forest of columns blended with the chanting and singing – it brought tears to our eyes for the beauty and tranquility presented. The Catholic Church now makes sure to claim the Visigoth heritage from the 500s to prove their current right to keep this active church for themselves. In some ways it is a shame, the Muslim Mihrab (high altar) is beautiful and the 8000 Muslims in Cordoba should, in our opinion, have a right to worship here. It is an ongoing, and perhaps growing, controversy. King Ferdinand III chose to be buried here with the Mudejar mosaic decorations of the Muslims…a beautiful Royal Chapel within the mosque (one of about 50). Peaceful, tranquil and a great showing of the dichotomy between the two religions: simplicity vs. ostentation, god within yourself vs. god as all powerful over you, tolerance of differences vs. intolerance, joy vs. fear. I could go on, mostly based on the history I’ve been reading, but perhaps I am putting too much of my own interpretation into this.
As to history…Spain as a whole and the southern part more specifically. Please remember, I am writing this as a diary so I don’t forget all we’ve learned. Sorry if I digress! The Celts from Ireland and that area present the first evidence of inhabiting the northern Iberian Peninsula. They came by both land and sea about 800-1200 BC and their typical homes and burial sites can be seen where not destroyed by “progress.” Very reminiscent of our trip to Ireland. The Phoenicians first settled the southern edge of what is now Spain in about 1100 BC. Carthaginians and Romans followed in 200-400 AD. When the Roman Empire crumbled, the Christian Visigoths (from current German areas) came and built the first Christian churches. That leadership lasted until about 711 AD when the Moors first landed at Gibraltar. Within 3 years, the Moors ruled the entire Iberian Peninsula. Though powerful, they were very tolerant of different people and religions. For the next 700 years they ruled most of Spain and allowed a mixing of Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths. They valued the Jews especially as the go between for them with the Christians.
Those who weren’t Muslim paid a bit more in taxes but were allowed their culture. This was perhaps Europe’s most advanced culture, totally escaping the Dark Ages, and honoring science, mathematics, literature, astronomy and architecture. They also flourished with wine-making (thanks Romans) even though the Muslim religion forbade drinking it. After a few hundred years, the Reconquista” began when the Moor kings split into different factions, lessening their agreements and subsequent control over the area. With the Catholics slowly advancing south and driving the Moors out of the peninsula,Toledo fell in 1085, Sevilla in 1248, and, finally Granada in 1492. The Moors in some places were allowed to stay for a few years, but inevitably fell back to their more southern areas and finally Africa as they were pushed out. The Jews were forced out or “allowed” to convert around the same time. The vicious inquisition was to find out the “false converts” and kill them all. Not a pretty time. From about 1500-1600, Spanish ruled the seas and the world; then religious arguments and those pesky English ruined it all. A slow decline followed until we thrashed them in the Spanish American War (they lost Cuba, the Philippines and Puerto Rico), WWI was devastating , and their 1930s Civil War finished it all. They also chose the wrong side in WWII and somehow failed to benefit from the situation as Germany did (Marshall Plan).
Enough history. We continued to walk the myriad narrow lanes of the Jewish quarter in Cordoba, and ventured out of the twisty turny lanes to the more modern parts in search of restaurants. Yummmmy search results. We found food, two great restaurants for lunch and dinner. You are supposed to eat a big lunch, sleep it off and then eat a small dinner. When you find a place with food and atmosphere, it is HARD to eat small. Oh well, a few more hours on the Nordi track when we return. We wind through the old and into the new Cordoba. The first restaurant we ate at for lunch yesterday (17th) was in the Plaza San Miguel – the Casa de Pisto ( a local stew). Very local bar in the front and then typical 5-6 rooms in the back. The walls were lined with old paintings, photos (one from1888) and bric-brac from Cordoba history. Olive oil lamps, foot braziers under the table, fountains, and famous bull fighters, flamenco dancers, and padrones looking down at you from the walls. Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs again. It all started with our first pitcher of Sangria. Then we progressed to Salpicon de Marisco – a cold sea food salad with shrimp, cod, crab, green peppers (chopped fine), onions, olive oil, tomatoes and vinegar….burp. Then we moved to fried aubergines (eggplant) with a honey dressing, Sobrasida Iberica (a tomato based pate with lots of salt), broiled mushrooms with crumbled prosciutto on top,

Good thing our waiter was nice. In a polite way he talked us out of 6 half rations, insisting 4 was sufficient (by the way, waiters have vastly improveda fter our Barca experience). He gave us a tour of each of the relics hanging on the walls. Too bad there is no music or flamenco here in Feb. We need to walk this one off. Wined, and I do mean wined, our way home with stops at a few granny grabbers and fall into bed for a short nap. Finally figured we must be awake, up and out between 5-7 p.m. if we want to visit any open shops. Also figured out we must buy the first time we see something because 1) you may never find the shop again and 2) it will be closed if you come back. Note to self: Remember to bring guide book and map when you trek out at night to eat. Else you have to find your way back to the hotel to retrieve them. So what, we looked for one restaurant, couldn’t find it, and ended up at Taberna Salinas, even better than the others we searched for mapless. This place was a small covered court yard. We trusted waiter Jose Carlos to pick the meal and wine. We started with the Cordoban specialty of oranges, onions, salt-marinated cod- strangely, it was great. This was followed by fried eggplant and calamari, croquettes with ham and cheese inside continued with a stewed pork – so tender it would disintegrate with a fork- had to use a spoon. Finished it all off with an orange custard surmounted by a one inch square of vanilla chocolate covered ice cream and sugared almond tart El padron who has been overseeing the entire meal (from a back corner table) and watching his bodego fill up over the last 1 ½ hours. He came and asked us “Fini?” We weren’t sure what we said but he then served us with some PX, Pedro Ximenez, complements of el Pedrone, a sweet after dinner wine reminiscent of Japanese plum wine and port , from grapes grown only in this region. Just what we needed. After another half hour of sipping we have an idea!!! Get Jose Carlos to draw directions on the map (another reason for keeping one with us) to get us home. We shuffle off to the Mezquita for one last night time photo before melting into bed. Tired bodies…off to bed ..travel is so exhausting. Wonder why we do it? The sarcasm is as thick as the PX.

Feb 16 - a slow day

Up early and had a slow easy breakfast and lazy drive out of Granada en route to Cordoba. Two hours later, after driving through miles upon miles (as far as the eye can see)of olive tree groves, we descended into Cordoba and made our way, side mirrors folded in, through the Jewish quarter´s narrow lanes to our hotel. Unloaded the car then took it to drop at the Europecar office at the train station. Then walked back through the Jewish quarter, getting lost along the way in tiny twisty alley ways and ¨streets¨ where the cars brushed the walls (and us) as they passed. Had our big meal ¨lunch¨ at Bodegas Mezquitas near the mosque. Great bunch of tapas and superb dessert wine made from Pedro Ximenez grapes which only grow near here. It tasted almost like Japanese plum wine. Check out the restaurant on you tube...lots of fun. Left ur camera there and one of the waiters chased us down with it. Quite a nice un-touristy place; we will eat there again as the food was so good. The streets here in the Jewish quarter are all tiny, most won´t fit a car and there are tons of shops which aren´t just for tourisits. Lots of baby clothes and toys. We will have to peruse them more carefully tomorrow. Nap time, then we will take another stroll around the nearby streets. Tomorrow it is up early to vist the Mezquita and Jewish synagogue. Hope all of you are well!

Feb 15. If this is Tuesday, it must be Granada and the Alhambra

Feb 15 – Granada and the Alhambra
Up at 6:30 for an early breakfast and early appointment at the Alhambra. Seems we have slipped into the lifestyle. Onto mini-bus #32, down the hill off the Albayzin and back up the next hill to the Alhambra entrance and our 9:30 a.m. appointment with the Palacious Nazaries. This is the last and greatest Moorish palace in Spain. As the Spanish reconquest crept south, the Moors slowly settled into Granada to rule their dwindling empire. In 1492, this was the last place to fall to the reconquest. Though the moors held Spain for more than 800 years, the Spanish Christians finally overtook the last capital of their empire. While the dark ages ruled most of Europe, Spain under the Moors was in an era of enlightenment. The Alhambra has four places of major interest. The oldest is the Alcazaba, a fort with beautiful towers and views of the city below (and Albayzan and the neighboring hill). Next is the Palacious Nazaries, a Moorish royal palace that makes meticulous use of calm water falls, drizzling fountains and flows throughout. There are royal offices, ceremonial rooms and private quarters. Built mainly in the 1300s, the rooms are elegant, refined, and decorated from top to bottom with beautiful filigreed plastic walls – and always the sound of gentle water falling. Another area of the Alhambra includes the Generalife gardens and small summer palace. Again, beyond description. Finally, we hit Charles V round palace, built in the Renaissance after the reconquista, on top of other palaces. Supposedly, Columbus solicited Queen Isabella’s support for his journey in this palace. Sort of funny, but this Isabella/Columbus thing seems to have taken place almost everywhere we have been. Sort of like the George Washington slept here thing. Washington Irving certainly wrote his “Tales of the Alhambra” while staying here in 1829…a text that brought the world to the doors of the palace. A common phrase for the area is “Give the begging blind man a coin, for there is nothing worse in this life than to be blind in Granada.” Very true, even in winter and in a driving rain storm! The peaceful nature of the area may have been aided by the lack of tourists, but this was 4 well spent hours.
Off to lunch at a lovely restaurant on the 2nd floor in the Albayzan overlooking a small square, the local library, and the public school. Children, dogs and rushing parents filled the square while we finished off some local white wine. The best feature of the “comedor” was its fireplace!~ Caliente! Eggs scrambled with shrimp, ham chunks and mushrooms, with a paella appetizer. Thin sliced lamb chops doused in olive oil and peppers…yummm. A beautiful rainy day. The Albayzin is the old Moorish quarter with shady (today they’re wet!) lanes, a view around every corner and lots of small plazas or terraces – AND CLOSE TO 20 CHURCHES …ONE ON EVERY CORNER. In summer, I’m sure every window will pour out flowers.
Next, after a wine induced nap, it is off to trek down the hill to see the cathedral and walk the old town. To walk down to the old town, just face downhill. Soon you are in the middle of wide stepped streets (no cars!) lined with small arab type shops and restaurants – a world apart. At the bottom, newer (1700?) buildings mask the old camel caravanserai (Corral de Carbon) and silk markets where Roma women now try to read your palms, or pick your pockets! The caravanserai, the last of 14 in the old town, is 4 stories tall with a large courtyard and fountain in the middle. Camels, and men, would sit here and chew their hay or smoke their hookah and discuss the trade routes. The nearby cathedral is the center of the old town and has a wow factor, as do all of these magnificent buildings. Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand are buried here. Though free land was available 500 yards away, the conquerors had to, once again, destroy the local mosque and add their bell to the prayer tower –then they just rebuilt the whole thing. It is a gothic foundation with a renaissance completion, it focuses on Ave Maria, who is also revered in the Quran so wasn’t so offensive to the Moors. Nice banana and chocolate crepe, then hop bus # 31 back up the hill. These mini buses make it easy to get around. Bed and then tomorrow to Cordoba. Oops, that means I have to try to drive these streets again. Better charge Nuvi and hopes she gets a good night sleep.

Feb 14 - Valentines Day

Up late today with a long pleasant breakfast in Ronda. We forgot to mention the scent that permeates Ronda - the almond trees are in bloom and it is truly heavenly. They are in bloom 1 month early and, with the storn approaching, will likely lose their blossoms. This happened last year also, the whole crop was lost for the area. Climate change again.
We drove through the mountains to Granada today. Lovely high wide valleys with miles and miles of olive groves and just starting to grow green pastures. The olive groves looked like braided rows undulating to every horizon. No wonder a dish full of them appears on every table for dinner! We drove into Granada trusting nuvi...big mistake. He took us up one way streets and told us to turn where there were no turns. Then a nice older (?) arab man with no teeth on an ancient motorini spotted us and, through sign language, convinced us to follow him. With map in hand, to assure we weren't being slowly led to slaughter (he could only go about 15 k/hr uphill), he led us to our hotel. We paid him for the service and hope the 3 Euro went to repair his almost flat tire.
We checked in and then headed out to explore the Albayzin, the old moorish quarter where our hotel is. A long walk downhill and around old town, then we caught bus #32 which tookus up to the Alhambra and then in a circle around the Albayzin back to our hotel...it's on top of a steep hill. Great "lunch" at 2 pm consisting of:
Garlic and egg soup (poached egg at bottom of chicken broth and toasted french bread in it)

Sliced deep fried eggplant,lightly battered, with a molasses/balsamic vinegar topping

Fava beans with cured ham (and a fine chianti - or at least rioja)

Grilled thin sliced iberico pork served with green chilis over the top, resting on a bed of thin sliced potatoes simmered in OliveOil and chicken broth till tender.

Naptime.

Just woke up (8 pm) and off for dessert somewhere. We need to be up early for the Alhambra tour tomorrow so will not stay out till late!

Feb 12- 13

Sat Feb 12 – Driving through the mountains of Andalucía

We had a lovely breakfast in a brilliantly lit central atrium above our cave. As I said before, I fixed their computer so we could pass on info to this blog. We caught up on email and the Egypto news and then took off for a drive to Ronda. We passed through El Bosque, Ubrique, Villaluenga, Grazalema and saw from a distance many other small white towns. This area is all a national park with very civilized hiking trails and picnic areas throughout. In Villaluenga, was a small bull ring built on top of a rock above town…great views but we think the small ring may have given the bull an advantage. We got lost in Ubrique trying to find the old town center and gave up. Instead had lunch in a small town triangle (wasn’t square!) of Grazalema where there were no tourists and there was great food. Stumbled our way back to the car (great vino also) and let the steep cliffs we were driving sober us up. We arrived at Ronda and found lots of construction to get to the old town. Our mansion here was a bit newer, built in 1735. Very nicely renovated, you can get lost in the numerous stairwells – one of which seems to go up the enclosed central atrium by the small private (12 seat) theatre. Pictures in the dining area of people frequenting the hotel include Rick Steves, Ernest Hemingway, bull fighters and various other world renowned musicians, movie stars and politicians. Ronda is an old town separated from the “new town” by a 300+ foot deep gorge and “nueve puenta” built in the 1700’s after old one fell down. We strolled the city, large lovely pedestrian streets and “mirador” viewpoints for photos to the tune of guitars, harpists, vocal groups and laughing children on their evening paseo. Saturday night here was their St. Valentine’s Day, so restaurants were full. We had to settle for an oven baked thin crust pizza, or two.

Feb 13- Cueva de la Pileta and Bodega San Francisco
Today we head south through the mountains and, like little terriers or dachshunds (which are everywhere) we went to ground. The cave we visited is still owned by the same family that discovered it over 100 years ago. Four generations ago, a farmer saw bats exiting a small opening and went inside to locate guano to improve his fields. They have allowed exploration but resist commercial exploitation…no electricity here - but the bats are (hibernating at the moment!). The entire family has been hijacked by their g-g-grandfather's fascination with the cave. Hiking up a steep rock side, we entered the cave through a small entrance (watch your head!) to marvel at the stagy tites and stagymites…they grow 1 cm every 100 years here. The cave is quite large but we only covered about 2 km. The cave comes complete with marvelous paintings from 30000 years ago and underground lakes (fish on the walls, not inthe lake). The oldest paintings were of animals - horses bulls goats people animal traps, done in iron rust red. The most recent, from Neolithic times 4500 years ago, were charcoal. As the paintings became more recent, they started to take on a more pictographic or symbolic nature, approaching language. There was even a “map” of the cave and calendars important for the inhabitants as they started to do more farming. Probably only one family lived in the cave at a time during the hunting era, though it was huge. It may have held a “village” of 3-4 families once farming started, maybe 12-40 people. At one point, the cave we were in overlay another below us, with 4 meters of rock separating the two – you could stomp on the floor and the whole place reverberated. Very freaky.
Back to Ronda and lunch at the Bodega San Francisco in a small square outside the town walls. DOCP great red wine from the area, marinated anchovies, shrimp cocktail on ½ avocado, octopus and Iberian pork sausage for lunch. Naptime! This evening it is raining slightly and we are catching up this diary while sipping wine in a lovely salon...may skip dinner and stay here for the evening. Tomorrow, off to Granada. Pictures of here to follow.

Feb 11 - Jerez horses and Arcos

Mark gets up late today, 5:30, to work on IMS and other office issues remotely - almost got all his faxes done. No news from WA is good news.
Feeling flush, we ordered in breakfast, finished our wine, perfected our Duet for violin and cello in B minor (see photo for details), then hoisted our bags to walk to the Sants Justa Estacion - the Ave station – to pick up our car. It was a much shorter walk once we knew where we were going. Picked up our Ibesa(?) SEAT, Spanish VW, which is really an A3 TDI. Fun. Once we took off, pleasant surprise, Garmin Nuvi works great!! Off to Jerez first, and the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art. One of only 4 such training centers in the world. They pretty much breed their own horses from Spanish, Arab and English stock. Like the Lippizaners from Austria, they are born black and gradually dapple to gray and finally to pure white by 14-16 years of age. The picture below is an older one. The students / riders come from all over the world to try out. 5-6 new students each year spend 7 hours a day for 2-4 years training horses. Their graduate degree gives them a “Horse Master” after their name and they can name their price for training horses for others. Currently, a number of graduates are located in China in very plush digs training both horses and riders – 6 figure annual salary . The stables, saddlery, coach, and school museum were all beautiful on the grounds of the King’slocalpalacein Jerez. Oh, and the horses were magnificent. We watched a training session where they were leaping, kicking on command, learning to balance on their hind legs and hop, and all the other typical dressage steps.
Off to Arcos de la Frontera, our first Puebla Blancas de la Andalucia. In hind sight we think that roughly translates to “Rock hard bed at the end of the frontier”. Casa La Grande is a grand 8 suite remodeled mansion first built in 1701, literally carved into a vertical cliff looking over the agricultural plains south of Arcos. Our room is actually 15-20 feet underground with a terrace over the edge. We truly “ look down on the backs of birds” as the locals say. The only problem with this town is no matter which direction you walk to go have dinner, and we had a marvelous Italian dinner as Kathie will outline (the dinner also comes with a few glasses of Montepulciano), you have to walk (and I use that word loosely) back up hill to fall (settle gently) into bed. Turn out the lights and the “cave” gets VERY dark. Just try to find the bathroom in the middle of the night. We understand in April during festival time they close the gates to the Old City and let the bulls run, Pamplona style. A little wine, a few of these narrow streets, the elevation, and these hills, and the bulls might have a chance to get a bit of tourista. They have in the past – an Army guy stationed nearby died in 2007.
Some comments on most of the homes we see. I (Kathie) have always been a big fan of the Roman atrium style home … a central atrium with pond/fountain, cloister like columns supporting a covered walkway around the interior atrium and all rooms coming off of that walkway. It would be a lovely setting for an Alzheimer’s unit. The Spanish have done this one better in a hot climate by making the homes 2-4 stories tall. The walls are all about 3 feet thick and the central atrium acts as a chimney. Wonderful sunlit area for a short time each day, otherwise cool shade. The lower windows are open but covered with wet reed woven shades. As the air blows in the window, natural air conditioning from the wet shade drops the temperature 20-30 degrees and the hot air rises up the “chimney” providing a constant cool breeze for the inhabitants If we lived someplace hot, I’d sure build this!
Dad and I both thought about earthquakes as we went to sleep inour cave…wouldn’t want to jump off the terrace.