The Canary Islands

We are in the Canary Islands, which is a part of Spain. Geographically, however, the Canary Islands are off the northeast coast of Africa.

The first island we visited is called Arrecife. The three photos above were taken in a volcanic grotto and lava tube formed when the lava met the Atlantic Ocean. It created an outdoor pool surrounded by subtropical vegetation. This place was so beautiful! The water, along with the lush vegetation, created an incredibly lovely setting.

Other things I remember about the island are driving by field after field of cactuses. They grow well in the climate here, with little rain falling throughout the year. I also remember looking out the windows of the bus and seeing volcanic rock everywhere.

The second island we visited in the Canary Islands was called Tenerife. This island is more heavily populated than Arrecife, especially in the city of Santa Cruz. After driving through the city, we ascended far into the hills so we could stop and get out of the bus to see a panaramic view of it all.

Last on our agenda, we traveled to the Pyramid Park (first photo) on the island. The world-famous adventurer Thor Heyerdahl discovered this pyramid site on one of his voyages .

An interesting sidelight about the Canary Islands is the origin of their name. They are named for dogs, not for songbirds. Romans called the grouping Insulae Canariae (islands of the dogs).

Casa Blanca, Morocco

This picture is one of my favorite photos from the trip. This little old man was at the cash register of a shop where we purchased some souvenirs.

This mosque is the second largest mosque in the world. It is called the Hassan II Mosque.

The Muslim women are visiting the Hassan Mosque. The mosque is open 24 hours a day and can contain up to 8,000 people who come to pray at the the same time.

Here is a building in Casa Blanca that at one time was a private residence. Now it is a building of city offices. We are out in the courtyard where the women of the house could walk outside and get a breath of fresh air. The house had no windows because windows would make it possible for passersby to see inside where the women lived. The windowless home made the women "safer" from prying eyes.

Well, Casa Blanca, Morocco, had to be the most interesting of all the places we visited. It is probably because the culture is so very different from ours. In order for our bus to get into the city, we had to pass through a large gate with guards. When we came into the city, we saw soldiers (with guns) walking the streets. In several cafes, we saw groups of men talking together, but the women who were on the street were going directly to a destination and walked together in groups.

Everything about the city seemed to shout "Stay your distance. You are a foreigner." People were not unfriendly, but they certainly were not relaxed and open with us. It was quite an eye opener to be here. I am very glad I don't live as a women in this cluture. The restrictions of the clothing alone would be awful.

Cadiz, Spain

For some reason I can't remember a lot about Cadiz. I do remember taking the above photo from a high point in the city. I also remember our fascination with the roots of the tree Paul is standing next to.

We visited another beautiful church. My camera doesn't do too well with the insides of the churches, which is too bad, because they are so lovely. The windows at the top of the ceiling of this church let in some natural light for better viewing.

Flamengo dancers II were actually even better than the first group we saw in Barcelona. The incredible energy of these dancers is amazing. For refreshments while watching the show, we tasted tapas. These are kind of like turnovers, except they are filled with a delicious spicy meat.

Cartagena, Spain

These photos show parts of the beautiful city of Cartagena, Spain. With another perfect warm-weather day, we set out first to climb to the top of a hill. From there we could see the town below and also our ship (tiny miniature next to my arm). A few colorful peacocks ran among the tourists that day.

The two buildings in the photos are examples of the exquisite detail of architecture found in the city. Also, the beautiful statue of the Virgin Mary is one of many we saw throughout the European countries we visited. Approximately 85% of Europe is Roman Catholic, and we certainly viewed many examples of Christ and the Virgin Mary in churches in every city.

Lastly, here we are enjoying a drink in the afternoon sunshine of Cartagena. It's too bad I couldn't have bottled a little of the sunshine to take home to gloomy November Utah!

Barcelona, Spain

I learned something new in Barcelona. The word "gaudy" gets its origin from the architect Antoni Gaudi. The cathedral you see directly above this text is called Sagrada Familia Church and was built by Antoni Gaudi. This structure is really something to behold. I couldn't decide if I liked it or not, but it definitly grabbed my attention. "Garish" is as close to "gaudy" as I can get to describe the building. I had to buy this postcard for my scrapbook because there was no way I could get all of the building into the viewfinder of my camera. You can see at the bottom of the photo a few cars to give you an idea of the immensity of this church.

We watched a 30 minute Flamenco dance in Barcelona performed by a man, woman, and two guitar players. The dancing was very intense and loud. I was sitting next to the stage, and I could feel the vibration from their feet and see the sweat pouring off their faces. The dancers were very professional. Today, if I had been a drinker, I would have been served sangria. I had a coke and some snacks which included more olives!

The photo of Paul in a narrow street shows the flavor of this old world area of Barcelona, and really, of so many of the countries in Europe that we visited. In the United States, we talk of the age of buildings relative to the 200 plus years that we as a country have existed. In Europe, the guides would often talk of buildings in terms of before Christ and after Christ. I don't know how old these buildings are (maybe two or three hundred years), but the ruins we saw in Turkey and Greece were built close to the time of Christ.

Our guide was knowledgable, but she had an annoying speech mannerism that drove us all nuts!! She kept saying "eh" after every sentence and sometimes several times within the sentence. Everyone was glad to get off the bus and away from her!

A Taste of Tuscany

On our first day in Italy, we chose a 10 hour excursion driving through the beautiful areas of Tuscany. On our first stop, we entered the walled city of Lucca. The city has kept its old-world charm. Cobbled-stone streets were narrow, making room only for a small car one-way or bicycles. Lucca is called the city of 99 churches, and we explored the interiors of several of the ornate structures.

We stopped for lunch at an Italian farmhouse and learned about all the orchards of olive trees and the acres of grapevines that we saw throughout the day in the countryside. Again, I probably missed some excellent wine at this stop but tasted several different kinds of olives--kind of sour!!

Our last stop was to Villa Torrigiani--one of the most important and elegant houses in the area including beautiful fountains and trees. The villa is shown second from the top of the photos for this blog. The top photo includes some of the grounds. As we strolled around the gardens, we concluded that even the very rich, who lived in homes like this, still lacked all the conveniences that we are used to in today's world; we wouldn't trade our small homes for this mansion with no indoor plumbing or central heating system!

Our second day in Italy, I decided to stay on the ship for some "alone time" while everyone else headed for some catacombs. I am very cluastrophobic, so catacombs didn't appeal to me at all! I read a novel and relaxed on the ship.

Happy Birthday to Me!

We are home from our trip. I have spent today rocking and rolling just like I did on the ship. Hopefully, in a few days I may regain my land legs. To preserve the memories of the trip, I will write blogs on each place we have seen.

What a fun adventure to spend my 63rd birthday in the country of Turkey! We visited the ancient ruins of Ephesus, which were built in the 1st century AD. The ruins are extensive and also well-preserved from that time so long ago. In the picture above, our guide is standing with us in front of the Celsus Library.

As you can see from the photos, the weather was warm. We were so fortunate to have almost pefect weather for our entire trip (between 65 and 75 degrees).

On the ship in the evening, we celebrated my birthday (and Halloween) at dinner. Indonesian waiters sang to me and presented a little round birthday cake with one large candle. It was really a special birthday.