Today we had a nice breakfast and then headed over to Pineapple Beach to have Bbq ribs and chicken for lunch. We took a golf cart over and then had a drink at the bar and then hiked up the hills to The Outhouse to enjoy lunch.
The ribs and chicken were as good as we remembered from the last time we visited, and we really did them justice – washing it all down with beer. There were some delicious sides to eat as well…beets, corn on the cob, salads, and olives, to name a few.
Pineapple Beach seems very crowded and there is a kind of frenetic vibe going on. We much prefer our resort. It’s more spread out and the beach is much nicer. The pool is larger as well. We also have two other pools in secluded spots that are quite lovely as well.
We took the cart back to our resort and spent the rest of the day at the pool.
We went to Wavy Wicket for a quick drink and then had dinner at Portofino’s. I had the meatballs, but they were very spicy and not the Italian style that I was looking forward to, so I just ate the pasta and the sauce. After dinner we went back to the Wavy Wicket for a nightcap.
There was a live band playing poolside and we stayed and listened for a while, danced a bit, then it was to bed.
After breakfast, Allan and I walked our mile plus and he went for a coffee and I decided to do water aerobics. I first basked in the sun for a bit and then tested the pool water with my toe. OMG…freezing! Probably since we had the tropical storm yesterday (yes…I’m calling it that), the pool water was filled with rain and since the pool is heated by the sun and the sun was AWOL yesterday, the water was freezing.
I picked up the webbed hands gloves and figured, what the heck, and gingerly made my way down the steps into the ice bath. Finally I said, forget it, and just plunged myself in.
Usually once in, you warm up quickly, but not so. It was cold!
The instructor came and was surprised to see that there were quite a few of us who had braved the cold water. She wasn’t even in her bathing suit because I think she figured no one would show up. We all shamed her into changing into her suit, and she came back and finally got into the water herself.
It was a good workout and afterwards we had a drink and then met Dick and Sharon for pizza. Most everything here definitely works on Island time as the pizza place, which should open at noon, didn’t even have the ovens turned on. We all had another drink and eventually our pizzas were ready. The pizzas were delicious, and realistically, where were we in a hurry to get to anyway?
We went back to our rooms and dressed for our Catamaran Sunset Cruise, a cruise we took four years ago which was wonderful. Since we knew we’d be on the open water, Sharon and I had on capri pants. I brought a light jacket as well.
It took about 45 minutes in the tour bus for the driver to take 12 of us to the beach where we would board our catamaran. It was interesting seeing the houses and the sights along the way.
When we arrived, they told us to take our socks and shoes off since it would be a wet boarding of the catamaran. Say what now??????? That was NOT how it happened the last time. We boarded the catamaran from a dock last time.
So we made our way through the surf which was very choppy and we had to take a huge step to get on the first rung of the staircase, which was partially submerged in water. The waves were coming in fast and we all got soaked all the way to our thighs. Oof!!!! There is nothing I hate more than sitting in a wet bathing suit…but sitting in totally wet pants definitely tops it!
The drinks were plentiful and you could have as much as your wanted, which was evident an hour or so later as many of the guests were happily drunk.
We were supposed to get finger food. But that consisted of two tiny pieces of cheese and a grape on a toothpick, and a very small tuna “wrap” that was about an inch by two inches. They came around once with those meager offerings. Then they offered a small piece of what looked like Sara Lee cake.
The crew was fun and we had a good time with them, and sunset was lovely. After sunset, the captain booked to get back to shore and he went so fast that the water was spraying all over us as it swelled up and over the deck. Now our shirts are pretty wet as well as our pants.
In getting off the catamaran…the last step caused us all to get soaked once again since it was at least two feet into the surf until we would touch sand with our feet. This time, when’s wave came in, we got soaked all the way to past our crotches. We had to walk barefoot to find our bus and driver and finally found him, boarded our bus again for the 45 min drive back to the resort, our feet filled with sand and our pants sopping wet.
The cost of the cruise was $170 a couple, plus another $20 per person for the bus driver. Not worth the money. I told Sharon and Dick we should have picked up a few nice bottles of wine and sat on the beach at the resort and watched the sunset there. It certainly would have been drier!!
We were very disappointed and plan to complain tomorrow that this definitely was not a good experience!
We all took hot showers to warm up and get the salt off of our bodies, and then had a nice Caribbean dinner at the main restaurant. We went for drinks afterwards to reminisce about our adventure. Between the tropical storm getting us soaked and this cruise, I’ve had enough water experiences to last for the rest of the vacay. 😂
Breakfast this morning had a lot of great choices. I had poached eggs over spinach and a kind of corned beef hash. Delicious. Yesterday at breakfast, i sampled the national dish of Antigua called fungee. It’s made from cornmeal and it had a nice subtle flavor.
Allan and I walked a mile through the resort and then I had water aerobics and Allan went to the gym to work out.
We ate lunch at Sails and Tails and our favorite bartender mixed Allan an extra dry vodka martini and I had a mojito. Lunch was unbelievably delicious. We started with spring rolls and Allan had a huge juicy burger with fries and I had three fish tacos with crunchy battered fish. A little kitten came to visit us while we were dining (the restaurant is open air with a roof above) and I fed it some of my fish and the little one gobbled the morsels down. I suspect the little one gets fed quite frequently by the patrons.
We spent a leisurely afternoon and then Sharon and Dick and Allan and I headed over to the Wavy Wicket for some drinks before dinner at Sails and Tails.
The dinner at Sails and Tails was excellent. I had bruschetta and Allan had Caesar salad with chicken for appetizers. He had steak with shrimp and I had tuna with veggies and coconut rice. Allan finished the meal with bread pudding. It was all very good. 😌
We walked to the main pool and sat for awhile and had an after dinner drink and then it was to bed at 11:45. Tomorrow will be a rain for most of the day so we’ll just hang out.
We’re having a wonderful time on this beautiful island, vacationing with our good friends Sharon and Dick. The four of us took a cab from the airport and were greeted at Verandah Resort with a rum punch and a nice cool towel to freshen up with. We checked in and were driven to our cottage that will be home for the next 10 days.
Our cottage is spacious and our view from our veranda is gorgeous. Our cottage is next door to Sharon and Dick’s. We have a huge walk-in shower, and a king sized bed that is very comfortable, and we are within walking distance to most of the amenities at the resort.
Since we were here before with our friends Sharon and Dick, we know the layout of the land. The resort has changed from a family resort to adult only, added new restaurants, spruced up the pools, and extended one of the beaches.
Sipping mojitos, sunning at the pool, enjoying pizza, and listening to Island music has been wonderful. The staff are very friendly and helpful, although they do work on island time so, there is no rush and sometimes you have to wait for service.
I’ve been to a pool aerobics class. Pool aerobics was a good workout and afterwards the instructor had us join hands and form a circle, and she asked every other person to float, while the rest pulled the floaters around in a circle. Then after a minute of reflection and calm for the floaters, we switched and the floaters took a turn pulling the others around the circle for another minute. Great relaxing way to start the day. (Except the guy next to me really wasn’t too great at floating and he kept gripping my wrist and pulling on it while I pulled him along. Not very relaxing for me… so I finally gently pulled his death grip off my wrist and said…” Maybe floating isn’t for you!” Mental note: Don’t stand next to this guy again during circle time!!)
Dinner last night was Italian at the main restaurant which is buffet style. It is also the same place we go to for breakfast each morning. The dinner was excellent, especially the meatballs. Our only complaint is that the food could be served a tad hotter. Breakfast in the morning is plentiful – cereals, waffles, pancakes, an omelet station, an assortment of breads, meats and cheeses, and coffee and juices. Of course you can also have a liquor drink as well.
Our waitress the other night told us that she works two jobs each day as the cost of living is high with a 17% sales tax on everything you purchase. Tipping at the resort is not expected and is actually included in the price of your stay, but the four of us tip the staff with cash periodically, and they truly appreciate it.
Tonight we all go to Sails and Tails restaurant at the resort for dinner. You have to make reservations a few days ahead for the specialty restaurants. There is no extra charge, except for Nicole’s, another specialty restaurant at the resort, that has a $40 up charge.
Being with our friends Sharon and Dick has been so much fun. Lots of laughing, story telling, and just wonderful being together.
We have dinner reservations made for the week, a sunset cruise scheduled, and today we will go to guest relations with our friends to schedule some more activities for the rest of our stay.
View from our veranda and the personal pizza we enjoyed for lunch.
Our flight back to the states was uneventful, but when we were walking to pick up our luggage, the fire alarm went off throughout the building. YIKES! It was very loud and continued to assault our ears for the better part of 20 minutes.
We picked up our car and stopped on the way home for McDonald’s, since there’s nothing like a burger and fries!
It was a wonderful trip and we really did delve into the history of Spain and Portugal in depth. Till next time… Adios!
This morning we took the bus to Sintra and Cascais and on the way our local guide talked about life in Portugal.
There are three types of health care for the public in Portugal. The first is the National Health Services. It’s designed to serve all people who contribute to the social security system. This is funded through general taxation, as well as social security contributions. The second type is known as the health subsystem program. It provides health insurance coverage to members of certain professions and organizations. Some of the most prominent groups covered under this stream include the police, the military, banking services, and public servants. The third type of care is voluntary private health insurance. While not as popular as it is in other countries, private medical insurance still plays an important role in Portuguese society.
For the most part, the first six months of your salary out of the year goes towards the taxes for the socialized medicine and for education. But in actuality, the year is really 14 months and not 12 months since you are paid a vacation month bonus as well as a Christmas month bonus.
Education is free for elementary and college but you can pay to attend the better private schools if you have the grades.
With health care, if it is an emergency or a serious illness, you are seen right away, but if it is elected surgery or just because you want to see a doctor, you have you wait.
We drove to Sintra, a town Lord Byron called “the most beautiful in the world”. We began at the Royal Palace, which dates back to the Middle Ages. It was the residence of the Islamic Moorish rulers of the region. Nothing built during Moorish rule or during the reign of the first Portuguese kings survived. What they think is the earliest surviving part of the palace is the Royal Chapel, possibly built in the 14th century. The chapel was under renovation when we were there, but we were able to see the ceiling with the doves of peace painted in squares to resemble tile work.
We toured the many rooms, and two of interest were what looked like bedrooms. There was a huge bed in the room called a state bed. These beds were used for major “events” such as marriage, birth and death. These events were deemed so important, that witnesses would have to be present and would stand around the bed while the event took place.
We saw the Swan Room because of all the painted swans on the ceiling, which was the symbol of the house of the groom. There was also the Magpie Room with magpies painted all over the ceiling with the emblem “por bem” (for honor) in their beaks. Our guide said that King John I was caught kissing a lady while he waited for his queen. The gossip of the kiss spread throughout the palace by the ladies of the court. To put a stop to the gossip, the king decorated the ceiling with as many magpies as there were women in the court.
The rooms were elegant as were the furnishings, and we had to climb many curved staircases to get to the top rooms. The view was beautiful though as it overlooked all of the rooftops and we could see the ruins of a Moorish castle in the distance.
We got did some shopping, enjoyed a pastel de nata and some Portuguese coffee, and then it was back on the bus. Since is was Halloween, I gave out Hershey candy bars to everyone. The local guide and the bus driver really enjoyed them.
We then drove to Cascais, a beautiful seaside town along the Atlantic ocean. It is known for tourism as well as for hosting many international events for surfing and sailing. The town has many restaurants and we stopped in one for a bowl of soup. Then we went across the street to Santini’s which is supposed to serve the best gelato in Portugal. We weren’t impressed.
The Farewell Dinner took place tonight, and before hand, we sampled some porto wine and our guide thanked us for coming to his country. We walked to the restaurant for the dinner and said goodbye to all the travelers. Tomorrow we are up at 5 to make our flight back to the states.
View from the Royal Palace entrance way
The swan ceiling
Tiles
State bed
Heraldic Hall with the coat of arms of Portuguese royalty and tile work showing scenes of the 18th century
Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world and a very beautiful one.
We went on a bus tour around Lisbon with a local guide, seeing all the historic sites. We saw many monuments of people along the way and I couldn’t remember who all of them were. There is a monument of some Portuguese historical figure in every plaza.
Our first stop was the Monument of The Discoveries that celebrates the Portuguese Age of Discovery during the 15th and 16th centuries. The monument has Henry the Navigator at the helm, with 33 figures comprising explorers, cartographers, artists, scientists, and missionaries. In the distance we could see the 25 de Abril Bridge, which is a suspension bridge connecting the city of Lisbon to the municipality of Almada. The bridge is the sister bridge to the Golden Gate Bridge as the design is very similar. In the distance we could see The Sanctuary of Christ the King, a Catholic monument that overlooks the city of Lisbon with outstretched arms. It was modeled after the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro. The statue was built to express gratitude that Portugal was spared destruction during WW II.
We saw the The Jerónimos Monastery that was erected in the early 1500s and is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site. We also visited the Tower of Belem, a 16th-century fortification that served as a point of embarkation and disembarkation for Portuguese explorers. It also is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The amazing thing about these buildings is they survived the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, which struck on the morning of November 1, The Feast of All Saints Day. The earthquake caused a tsunami as well as fires and almost completely destroyed Lisbon. There is something to be said about the architecture of these buildings for sure.
Many of the buildings are covered in beautiful tiles. These painted tiles are called azulejos and were introduced by the Moors. They are quite beautiful and are on many buildings throughout the city.
Juanjo treated us all to a delicious tart called Pastéis de nata, and he went to the only bakery that makes the authentic ones to get them for us. The tart is a flaky pastry filled with an egg cream. They were delicious!!
We did some more touring and then went back to the hotel and had lunch on the 8th floor overlooking the city. The lunch was delicious and included a large salad, a cod, egg, and potato dish that was outstanding, and a delicious custard dessert with cinnamon. It also included wine. All for 24 euros. We asked for bread and the waiter brought olives and cheese to eat with it. It was a wonderful culinary afternoon.
At 3:30 we meet our guide for a walking tour of old Lisbon, seeing many sites and we also took the Gloria Funicula up a 17.7% steep incline.
We saw the Church of Saint Dominic. The sacristy and altar survived the great earthquake, but in 1959, a fire ravaged the church burning the wooden ceiling and valuable paintings. The marks of the fire, particularly the black soot, was left on the church walls as a reminder of the fire. When we walked into the church, I gasped when I saw the devastation. It was eerie and powerful seeing the walls in the state they were in.
We walked under the Santa Justa lift – the elevator that takes you to the top of the hill if you don’t want to walk or take the tram.
We continued our walk on the sidewalks, which isn’t easy to do as they are made of tiles which are rather uneven and slippery. You constantly have to look down for fear you will turn your ankle. The sidewalks in the entire city are made of these tiles and most of the streets are cobblestones. Our guide said the street cobblestones are to keep the traffic from speeding thru the streets. When it rains, it is really slippery and between the sidewalks, the cobblestones, and the steep hills to climb and descend, it’s not a fun place to walk. But the city is so beautiful, you have to overlook it!
We had a light dinner at a restaurant and then it was off to bed.
A street in Lisbon.
Tiles on the sidewalks
Tiles on the buildings
Tower of Belem
Monument of the Discoveries
25 de Abril Bridge and the statue The Sanctuary of Christ the King in the distance
The Jerónimos Monastery
The delicious Pastéis de nata
Our view from the restaurant
The street tiles
Church of Saint Dominic that was ravaged by fire
Saint Dominic church
Gloria Funicula
View from the top
You can see the street cobblestones and the sidewalk tiles and how tricky they are to walk on.
First off, there are a few things I forgot to mention in previous posts.
We tried seafood paella at a restaurant in Torremolinos, but actually real authentic paella is made from rabbit and snails. I’m glad we had the seafoods version.
Another interesting tidbit is that the word Spain actually translates to “the land of the rabbits” because some of its early settlers named it “Ispania,” from the Carthaginian word sphan, meaning rabbit, as rabbits apparently were plentiful when the early settlers arrived.
Today we left the hotel early as we had a long drive ahead of us to Portugal. We enjoyed seeing the countryside along the way and of course we stopped a few times at rest stops to have a “technical stop” (potty break) and to get a little snack.
At one rest stop, a bus was next to our bus, and then it went on its way. Sadly, when that bus pulled into the next rest stop, and the passengers and driver got off to use the restrooms, thieves broke into their bus and stole as much as they could grab of the personal possessions of the tourists. Wallets and passports were taken. What a horrible thing to happen. We found out about it because it was the same bus company that we are using and that driver radioed our driver to alert him. We were very lucky it didn’t happen to us! (Although, I always take my bag with me whenever I leave the bus, leaving nothing to chance.)
While traveling, we saw many cork trees along the roadside. Many of the trees had numbers on them, and our guide explained that the numbers tell the year of when the last harvesting of the cork took place. The cork is stripped off for the first time when the tree is 25 years old. Afterwards, it can be harvested every nine years. Many items are made of cork… pocketbooks to shoes to jackets and so much more. We will get the opportunity in Lisbon to go to some stores that specialize in cork merchandise.
We arrived at our first destination – a working horse farm in the region of Alentejo. It had rained hard while we were driving to the farm, so the bus could not navigate the dirt road to the home, for fear we would get stuck in the mud. So, the owner of the farm, Maria, along with a taxi cab, drove us all in shifts up to the home. Fortunately, the rain held off.
We toured Maria’s beautiful home and then we were invited into another building to enjoy a home cooked meal. We had delicious vegetable soup, chicken, rice, and salad, plenty of wine, and a delicious ice cream dessert.
After lunch, we entered yet another building and listened to Maria tell us about her life. The horse farm had been in her family for years, but in the 1970’s, the communists entered that region of Portugal and took over the homes and farms. The soldiers marched in with guns and told Maria, who was 18 years old, and her husband that they had two weeks to take their children and vacate their home. They weren’t allowed to take anything with them and had to leave the horses, the furniture, and most of their belongings.
After about three years, a new regime came about and realized what a hardship the people whose homes were taken over by the communists was, and they were allowed back. Sadly, the inside of their home was burned as well as all of their furniture, and their prized horses had been sold. The house was still standing as it was made of stucco, so they started over trying to rebuild their lives. They scoured the countryside in search of their horses and when they found them, they had to purchase them back.
Her husband passed away in his 40’s, and she, with her 6 boys, rebuilt the farm and continued the breeding of the different breeds of horses.
She is now very wealthy and her boys have their own ranches. The boys help her with her farm, the training of the horses, the finances, and one son is the vet for the horses.
She talked about how the stallions and mares are bred and how they keep careful track of the lineage so that their isn’t inbreeding. They sell the horses… The cheapest can run $10,000 and the best horses can bring in over $50,000. She sells the horses all over the world after the horses have had three years of training on the ranch.
After her talk, we were treated to a horse show. The horses were gorgeous and they went through their paces beautifully.
It was a very interesting day and we enjoyed Maria, the horse farm, and the luncheon very much.
Lisbon was another few hours away, but we finally arrived at our hotel, checked in and had a doner kebab at a local stand and then it was off to bed.
After breakfast we boarded the bus for a tour of the city of Seville. Seville is the fourth largest city in Spain and the birthplace of flamenco dancing.
The city is quite beautiful and we saw many of the buildings that were erected by different countries when they participated in the 1992 World’s Fair which ran from April to October of that year.
Today is Saturday, so many Spaniards were out and about and the town was bustling. We saw the beautiful Alamillo Bridge that crosses the Guadalquivir River. The bridge was built as part of the infrastructure improvements for the ’92 World’s Fair.
Our bus took us to the Santa Cruz area and we all left the bus for a walking tour of the area. Santa Cruz was the former Jewish Quarter of the city. The streets are narrow and the buildings are whitewashed and filled with flowers hanging over the balconies. Orange trees line the streets and there are many restaurants offering tapas. There are also shops selling ceramics and souvenirs.
We also visited the Plaza de Espana, a beautiful plaza showcasing tiled alcoves of Spain’s provences, beautiful bridges over the canal, and the Vicente Traver fountain. The Plaza has been the filming location of some popular movies, including scenes from Lawrence of Arabia.
Our next stop was the magnificent Cathedral of Seville also known as The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See. It is a Roman Catholic cathedral and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is one of the largest cathedrals in the world. Ferdinand and Isabella’s only son was baptized in the Cathedral in 1478 and Christopher Columbus is also buried there.
The cathedral has 80 chapels, and one of the chapels contains a famous painting entitled The Vision of St. Anthony by the artist Murillo. In 1874, it was discovered that part of the painting was cut out and stolen – the part depicting St Anthony. Someone in 1875 attempted to sell the piece and a gallery owner in New York City, Hermann Schaus, recognized the painting, purchased it, and then contacted the Spanish consulate to arrange for the painting to be returned. Apparently, the thieves were never caught, but the segment of the painting that was returned was added back to the original painting by a restorer.
The Cathedral is truly beautiful and it was amazing to see the height of the ornate ceilings, the columns, the chapels, the organ, and the stained glass windows.
We took a tram back to the hotel and Allan and I enjoyed a beef taco tapas… That wasn’t really a taco but rather delicious tender beef on bread with gravy.
We went back to the hotel to get ready for an evening of dinner and flamenco presentation which was wonderful. The dancing is elegant and expressive and the guitar music enhances the performance as does the singer. The two guitar players played classical guitars with 6 strings.
Accompanying the guitars is a singer called a cantaor, and he introduces the dancers with what almost sounds like chanting. The songs are expressive and sung with deep feeling.
The dancers enter the stage and with intense emotion, expressive use of arms, hands, and facial expressions, they begin the powerful rhythmic stamping of their feet. The dancers’ feet move about quickly and it’s amazing the amount of energy they put into each dance. The costumes are colorful and the dresses are made so that the dancer can kick her feet and not get tangled in the ruffles.
A flamenco dancer chatted with us and explained the dance, the costumes, and showed us how she uses castinets. She told us her tap shoes are custom made and she showed us her hair accessories and how she puts the flowers in her hair for the performances. She brought out a beautiful fringed scarf and showed us how the scarf is used in the performances, almost like a matador’s cape.
It was a wonderful day!
The buildings of the World’s Fair
The Plaza
The fountain
Santa Cruz
The Cathedral
The tall columns
The remains of Christopher Columbus
The main altar
The portion of St Anthony was stolen. You can see the dark line above him where the stolen part was restored.
St Francis of Assisi
We took the tram back to the hotel and Allan and I enjoyed delicious tapas at a local restaurant.
The flamenco dancer telling us about the costumes
We weren’t allowed to take photos during the performance, but we were able to take some shots afterwards.
This morning we visited the Jewish Quarter as well as the Cathedral of Cordoba.
The Jewish Quarter is where Jews lived between tht 10th and 15th centuries and is a maze of narrow alleys that wind through the streets. The area became a World Heritage Site in 1994.
The Jewish Quarter was surrounded by a wall which protected the Jews from attacks by the Christians. We visited the small synagogue with an Arabian style interior. At one point, the synagogue was used as a church and you can see a faint cross on one of the walls. There is a statue of Moshe Maimonides outside. He was a scholar of the Torah and was also an astronomer and a physician. He was born in 1138 and died in 1204.
We visited a lovely secluded patio, which was one of many that are tucked in throughout the area. In the month of May, The Festival de Patios takes place and for 12 days, residents open their private patios, which have been decorated with beautiful flowers that overflow from windows and spread along the stone walkways, so that tourists can enjoy the spectacle. Last year over 900,000 tourists came to see the displays.
From the Jewish Quarter we headed over to The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption. Because of it’s former status as a mosque, it is also known as The Great Mosque of Cordoba.
Allan and I have visited many mosques and cathedrals all over the world, but we have never seen anything as magnificent as the Cathedral we visited today. It is a cathedral surrounded by a mosque.
The mosque was constructed in 785 and had been expanded over the centuries. In 1236 the mosque was converted to a cathedral. The former minaret of the mosque became the cathedral’s bell tower. Today, the Cathedral celebrates daily masses.
The mosque at the time was very important to the Islamic community and was the focus of the city. It has been said that “the beauty of the mosque was so dazzling that it defied any description.”
I would absolutely agree!
We entered the prayer hall that faces towards Mecca, and it was quite beautiful. It is called the Mihrab.
After 1236, the Christians added many additions to the mosque, including small chapels. The most substantial and visible additions are the nave and transept of the Capilla Mayor (the main chapel where Mass is held today) which were begun in the 16th century and inserted into the middle of the former mosque’s prayer hall.
The mahogany carvings where the choir sits, as well as the ornate altar, and the two pipe organs, were unbelievably beautiful. The upper row of carvings depicted scenes from the bible and encircled the area and the lower carvings depicted some of the saints.
I hope my photos will do justice to do cathedral as it was really beyond words.
After our tour we had lunch at a small restaurant and then boarded our bus for the ride to Sevilla. Dinner was a buffet and then Allan and I took a short walk around the neighborhood. It was a lovely warm evening.
Jewish Quarter
Synagogue
Synagogue
Patio
Patio
The Cathedral bell tower. You can still see the minarets.
Inside the Cathedral
The mosque section
Small chapel. Gate from the mosque, column from Roman times, and Catholic chapel. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all the religions could exist side by side.
The Mihrab – the prayer hall of the mosque facing Mecca
