WE ARE BACK IN THE GOOD OLD US FROM SPAIN

We feared that a two-week tour of Spain, Portugal and Morocco at the height of summer would be too hot but the weather and the tour turned out perfectly. We wanted to experience everything, so we signed up for the optional tours as well and totally exhausted ourselves.

Highlight of the tour for us was the 8th century Mosque of the Caliphs in Cordoba with its 850 pillars of porphyry, marble, onyx and jasper. The mosque was first built in 785 over a Visigoth church that, in turn, had been built over a Roman temple. It is again a cathedral in the center. It is almost as big as St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Other fascinating places were: the Alhambra with its “lace in stone”; flamenco dancing in Seville; an opera singer that entertained us at dinner in Madrid; the wonderful collection of art in the Prado in Madrid; the Toledo steel shop with its gold and silver inlay work; the quaint town of Mijas above the Costa del Sol; lunch with an Andalusian family in a small village; a visit to an olive oil farm.

According to the Spanish, their olive oil is now the best in the world and you can see the results of that as every hillside is covered with olive trees. Our guide was very knowledgeable and gave us a wealth of information on cultural, political, economic and historical perspectives. The influence of the Moorish occupation was all about us as we traveled.

The next blog will be on the travels in Gibraltar, Morocco and Portugal.