Saturday 07 April 2001 Talavera de la Reina

12pm – Well, this morning we drove around Madrid on just about every freeway except for the one we wanted in the direction we wanted! There is just no need to drive in Madrid unless you plan on leaving the city. We finally got on the NV towards Talavera de la Reina about 1.5 hours to the west of Madrid. We arrived in the center of the good size city and found that they were having a mercadillo of crafts over the weekend so we walked through the narrow cobblestone streets browsing through the various tables of ceramics (which Talavera is known for) and other craft items. Large colorful fabric tarps had been strung up from all four corners on the buildings high above to cast shade down onto the tight callejones (narrow alleyways) below with a very medieval feel to the area. We also saw lots of buildings undergoing remodeling here in this city as we had seen in Madrid.

We walked through the beautiful Prado park in Talavera and over the attractive azulejos bridge. The old Spanish men in the park were playing Patanc (sp?) with the metal balls as I remembered from my time in this city in the spring of ’92. We came across a wedding party in front of the massive old cathedral Nuestra Señora del Prado in the park with a lovely Spanish bride in full wedding gown with her flower girls. Walking down to the opposite end of the park we found my old piso up on the 8th floor of a building downtown but below what was once a buy street full of traffic was now converted into a walking only paseo, which we found had been done in other areas of Talavera as well. I love how a city would take a stand to approve this and improve the quality of life.

Got back into Madrid and parked under the Plaza de España this time which was much easier to get to and only a walk away from the hostal….another 2.400 pts! Took another walk through Retiro Park and walked along the lake with the crowds watching the street performers and walked all the way down to the metro at Menéndez Pelayo again. Back in Sol we sauntered up the C/ Preciados once more and back down the somewhat shady C/ Montera past the sex shops. We found the Chocolatería San Gines and had some churros and chocolate before the huge crowds coming from the discoteca Joy Eslava stopped in. Watched a little TV on Madrid’s 5 basic channels and went to bed.

Sunday 08 April 2001 Madrid

10am – Church at the capilla de Cuatro Caminos.

We took notes as Alicia prepared an superb home made paella and gave us a bottle of the colorante
we needed to make it at home but is unavailable in the US. Enrique told us that he had arranged and paid for us to stay our next two nights in the very modern and new temple hostal near Pavones instead of moving all our luggage up to the Hostal Lopez and trying to find parking on the C/ Huertas. We couldn’t believe his genorosity! What a great friend… We called the Hostal Lopez to cancel and they assured us that it was no problem at all and that they could rent the room enseguida with all of the Semana Santa hostallers needing accomodation.

We have planned to spend a few days at the end of the trip in Alcazar de San Juan with Antonio and family and perhaps travel to the south of Spain for the processions of Semana Santa (Holy Week) where the biggest and best are. Enrique and Alicia so generously offered to have us stay in their small piso on our last night in Madrid when we were to come back into the city since he would be gone with his wife to Mallorca for a second honeymoon and the piso would be empty.

6pm – Bullfight at Las Ventas in Madrid
I had been to several small pueblo bullfights before so I knew what to expect, but never inside the colossal Las Ventas. It was really the first event of the season so the fights where only good at best. The chairman Stephen Drake-Jones had secured for us some excellent seats 9 rows up on the sun side (only for the first hour) for only 2.500 pts each. Renting a cojín for 75 pts was well worth it as the arena’s lower level seating area is made of granite and very cramped. Of the 6 ‘soberbios toros’ that came out none were good kills but it was entertaining to watch the matadores strut around the ring to the chants of Olé! One bull jumped and landed halfway over the barrier towards the crowd which woke everyone up towards the end.

We headed back to Sol and perused the giant FNAC store on the C/ Preciados

10pm – called friends in Arganda del Rey who we’ll visit.

Monday 09 April 2001 Madrid

10am – Grocery shopping at El Corte Inglés. I picked up a bottle of colonia de bebé, Johnson y Johnson…I love the smell of this stuff!

12am – Checked out of the first-rate Hostal Aresol. Navigating down through Sol to the C/ Arenal and stopping in the middle of the street with the emergency lights on to take the rickety old wooden elevator up to grab the luggage is not something I want to do again!

2pm – Checked into the new hostal in the manzana del templo near Pavones and got on the brand new metro line extension going all the way out to Arganda del Rey, a satellite suburb town to the southeast outside of Madrid. We walked into town past the old missionary piso I lived in during the summer of ’92 on C/ Leonora de Cortinas 1, 3 D and had another bocadillo de jamón y queso in the Plaza Mayor. It was this large plaza that I remember had been converted to a town bull ring for the fiestas during that summer. The fountain was covered with a wooden plate and the large stone benches removed. Large sections of bleachers reaching the 1st planta of the building terrazas were erected to enclose in the plaza and truckloads of dirt were brought in to cover the brickwork and create a bullring the town used for a week! It was the most amazing operation.

4:30pm – Stopped into visit our old friends Dani y Ana.

7pm – Went shopping at the Día grocery store on C/ Hacienda de Pavones back in Madrid where we bought pan de molde, frambuesa jam, pate, arroz con leche cups, natillas danone (I love these!!), fanta limón, and zumo de piña y uva.

8pm – Dropped off the food at the hostal and waited for the #8 bus to Vallecas and met a charming older madrileña lady at the bus stop who I struck up a conversation with. Soon her typically open Spanish disposition had her telling us all about her family and life in Madrid. I told her how long it had been since we’d visited and she proceeded to tell us all about the changes taking place around the city and the higher petty crime levels and to just be careful, especially in Vallecas where we were heading. She insisted on taking the bus with us the mile or so over to the C/ Albuferas into the heart of Vallecas and a major shopping street where we wanted to take a walk. We spent the next 20 min with her as she walked with us up the streets and showed us where to we needed to catch the metro back at Puente de Vallecas. We walked up and down the street past the stadium where Rayo Vallecano plays in the old neighborhood I had worked as a missionary and then headed back to bed.

Tuesday 10 April 2001 Madrid & Segovia with Professor Everett Rice

We met Professor Everett Rice at the statue of Felipe III in the Plaza Mayor at 10am. I had previously called him to arrange our meeting and it was convenient for him since he lives in the Plaza Mayor! He’s an older gentleman who teaches for the University of St. Louis, Madrid campus and has lived in the city for over 40 years….very impressive! He was not too easy to get ahold of but once with us was very enthusiastic about showing us the cascara antigua (old section) of Madrid, sharing the city’s history he has immersed himself in for so long. Prof. Rice usually only gives tours to US embassy personnel, etc.

He first told us how much he loathed the allegorical paintings on the Casa de la Panaderia in the plaza describing them as pornography from the last century. I don’t think they’re that bad but we soon found our that the Plaza Mayor and it’s history are one of Prof. Rice’s strong points. We walked down through the Arco de Cuchilleros and stopped into a bar/cafeteria for breakfast (toasted croissant w/ jam and hot chocolate). Prof. Rice had just come from a lecture and had brought along all his old postcards and pictures of the Plaza Mayor throughout the years so we had a short lesson right there at the table about all the surrounding houses who’s foundations are now built upon the old city walls on the western side of the plaza.

From here we walked the surrounding steep streets around the south end of the Plaza Mayor stopping at various points to talk about a certain building or the changes Madrid has undergone over the past decades when the plaza was a major traffic channel with buses and cars pouring through it’s cobblestone center in the ‘60’s. We followed some of the route we walked with Stephen Drake-Jones, pausing at the small flowered plaza in front of the mayor’s quarters and the grand façade of the Basílica Pontificia de San Miguel. As we walked we noted the many osos con los madroños (bear and strawberry tree – symbol of Madrid) we saw along the way shaped into the molded plaster porticos and terrazas (terraces) of the buildings.

We also spent a lot of time talking about the cimena of Spain’s celebrated modern director Pedro Almodovar after we discovered that Prof. Rice has been his personal friend since the ‘70’s! He had recounted numerous stories about Pedro and Augustín growing up in La Mancha and coming to Madrid and also about the night he won the Oscar for Todo Sobre Mi Madre. Prof. Rice had previously invited us to go with him to Segovia the previous Saturday but we couldn’t make it so I asked him if he thought that we had time today to drive up and he freely offered to come along with us later that afternoon since he had previously lived in there. We arranged to pick him up with the car near the Prado at 3:30pm.

We arrived a little late to the C/ Felipe IV after mistakenly getting on the highway to Valencia and getting lost more than a few times but found Prof. Rice and headed out the windy N-VI to Segovia, situated about 70 miles to the northwest of Madrid into the Guadarrama mountain range. The views of the city from the surrounding hilltops was spectacular with it’s signature skyline highlighted by the spires of the unique Alcázar and the imposing Gothic cathedral. Since the daylight was beginning to fade we drove up on both sides of the small city for some excellent views and made a stop down in the park under the Alcázar where some local school kids were playing soccer. We walked into the plaza under the massive and fully entact Roman aqueduct to admire the massive structure built only with blocks and no mortar. Unfortunately we didn’t have the time to stay and eat any of the city’s famed restaurants where the specialty is cochinillo (suckling pig) but we were able to get a feel for the city and having Prof. Rice along to point out the history and architecture highlights as resident expert was an added bonus.

We realized that we had spent the entire day alone with Prof. Rice but he still invited us to come along to one of his favorite restaurants near the Plaza Mayor in Madrid. So we parked in the garage underneath the plaza and were seated in the back of the restaurant near the C/ de Postas where he often dines. I ordered sauteéd pimientas (green peppers) with thin slices of jamón serrano arranged over the top (a very salty dish) and Caitlin had the home made croquetas (3 flavors). We stayed till about 10:30-11pm and paid Prof. Rice 9.000 pts for his time and services for the day. It was so interesting to learn about his viewpoints of living in Madrid for so long. He finally came with us as we got the car out and he guided us back onto the main road we needed to follow before jumping out and bidding us goodbye.

Prof. Rice was quite surprised to find out that I had heard about him on the net and that there might be other people interested in taking a walking tour of Madrid with him. He asked that anyone interested send him an email at

Or call him at 689.464.384 once in Madrid. He does tours around his teaching schedule and charges 2.000 pts per person. Everett_rice@hotmail.com

Wednesday 11 April 2001 Alcazar de San Juan & Campo de Criptana, La Mancha

For the first day we were able to get up before noon and at 8:30am we took the metro into Madrid and over to Moncloa where we were determined to get our view of the city at the Torre de Comunicaciones which is a 92 meter high steel lookout tower built by the communists and reminiscent of the Space Needle in Seattle (tickets: 200 pts). Prof. Rice had complained about how ugly it looked on the way into town last night but I think it fits with Madrid’s appearance of the new peppered in amongst the old. It was a great view but the western side of the city doesn’t hold as much allure as some of the other areas.

1:30pm – We checked out of the hostal and headed out on the highway south to Andalucía and were immediately stuck in the middle of a huge atasco (traffic jam). The radio announcers were calling it “Operación Salida” when the countless madrileños were attempting to leave the city for their week off, Semana Santa or Holy Week. Making our way slowly down through past Leganés (another town I had lived in), Getafe, Fuenlabrada, and finally Parla took over 1.5 hours! We arrived to Alcazar de San Juan in the region of Castilla – La Mancha at 4:30pm and took a short drive over to Campo de Criptana only 5 kilometros away. We drove up to the hills above the town to photograph the 400+ yr. old molinos de viento (windmills) which are still intact and the wind still blows strong through them. One of them has been converted to a small tourist office with information about their history. We had been to this enchanting little village before with his very steep and narrow streets lined with typical Manchego whitewashed houses and terracotta rooftops. We stopped in their Plaza Mayor for a descanso (rest) which featured a Don Quijote statue.

Back in Alcazar (a town of about 25k residents) we first stopped in to see our good friends Antonio and Irene and then headed out for a walk. I had spent 5 months here in the winter of ’91 and this town too had undergone many improvements with a much larger and more inviting Plaza de España expansion to take in all the town’s residents on a warm evening such as this one. Everyone was out for a paseo as we strolled up the main shopping walkway the C/ de Emilio Castelár where we stopped in and spoke with some of the older shopowners and ate some pasteles along the way. We stopped into the tall brown San Francisco cathedral built in the 16th C and noticed the various floats prepared for the Semana Santa processions.

So we walked back home and went out with the whole family to the town’s well-known pizzeria, Las Cancelas, in business for over 26 yrs to a hearty meal. On the way back we stopped to watch the first of the processions which left the church at midnight. It was a striking site to see the hooded brotherhood
marching past with the large paso (float) carrying the intricate wooden Jesus on the cross as the band played behind them. From an outsider’s point of view it’s interested even if a little unsettling.

We went home and made our plans to travel to Granada in Andalucía in the south of the country in the morning where some of the biggest and best processions are held every year during Spain’s main fiesta time of Semana Santa.

Thursday 12 April 2001 Granada, Andalucía

10am – We left for Granada with Antonio, Irene, Gemma, and their young son Jared in Antonio’s Peugeot 806 minivan and in classic Spaniard fashion drove at 190 km/hr. top speed covering the 300+ miles. It was definitely beginning to feel hotter outside as crossed into the mountains of Andalucía (our first trip to the south!).

Granada, the capital of Andalucía, is a beautiful old city with parts perched on the steep mountainsides first built by the Moors in the 8th C and we ate lunch at an outdoor restaurant on the bank of the river cutting through the city where we ate:

 Callo
 Ensalada Tropicál (fruit salad)
 Gazpacho (cool & spicy tomato + vegetable soup)
 Cazón en adobo (fried fish from this region of Spain)
 Arroz con leche (rice pudding)
 Tarta de manzana (apple pie)
 Liquor de chirimoya (fruity nectar, non alcoholic)

Restaurante Almoradux / Paseo del Salón, 3 / 12008 Granada / almoradux@hotmail.com

To save money and to give the kids an adventure we decided to go camping for the night so we found a spot and the Suspiro del Moro campground just a couple miles out of the city
(email: suspirodelmoroo@eresmas.com). We set up the tents and sleeping bags we had brought with us from Alcazar and drove back to get tickets for the Alhambra which is an old Moorish palace still in incredible condition and one of the main draws to the city. As it turns out Semana Santa is NOT the time to go to see the Alhambra as the crowds and tour buses were unbearable and tickets were completely sold out. Of course we found this out after we had waited in line to park and at the taquilla (ticket office).

So we parked and got a superb spot to watch the evening’s procession which past through the immense Plaza Isabel La Católica city square and the massive crowds of people and tapered up into the slender uphill street where we stood. We saw the hooded figures, both men and children with candles and golden staffs with religious banners pass by followed by Spanish women from Granada dressed all on black and lace, many walking barefoot up the cobbled paving of the steep street. Next were the prominent city leaders and military personel followed by small children scattering flower petals in the street and dispersing drafts of burning incense from small silver urns swinging from thin chains. As the enormous wooden platform of Jesus on the cross rounded the corner up the tiny street it cleared only by a foot or more on both sides. Underneath were probably 10 or more men giving the structure the swaying motion that everyone was looking for as they marched. Next came the even more elaborate and adorned virgin float (María Santísima de la Aurora) decorated with dozens of lit candles shining through the early evening dusk.

In 20 minutes the entire affair was over and wandered through the incredibly intricate and beautiful Capilla Real (chapel) which was filled with worshippers and strategic lights accenting the elaborate designs on the ceiling and walls. Nearby up a small side street from El Corte Inglés we found an exceptional (but not cheap!) restaraunte La Posada del Duende (the gremlin’s dwelling) at C/ Duende 3, Tel. 958.26.66.10 where we ate a dinner of:

 Pan y ensalada duende (bread and house salad)
Lechuga (lettuce)
Tuna
Maíz (corn)
Avocado
Huevo (hard-boiled egg)
Tomate
Zanaoria (shredded carrot)
Cebolla (onion)
Beets
Aceite y sal (oil and salt)
 Boquerones fritos
 Pimientos al horno (baked red peppers in oil)
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 Almejas (boiled clams)
 Calamares a la plancha (roasted calamares – squid)
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 Cordero con patatas fritas (baked lamb with french fries)
 Patatas bravas (fried potato wedges in a bar-b-que type sauce)

Friday 13 April 2001 Granada, Andalucía

9am - We woke up and packed up camp and tried to visit the Alhambra again but the line of people was impossible! Soon the tickets had sold out and there was no way we would get to see it on this trip. Antonio said that usually they allow you to call and reserve tickets in advance as they had done in the past but not during Semana Santa just because of the high volumes of visitors they get during the week. It was a shame but couldn’t be avoided so we didn’t let it get us down….it just turned into a hassle waiting around and even waiting in a long line of cars just to arrive at the top of the hill to the parking lots only to find that we’d have to go back down. We found a gorgeous tropical garden with fountains and water features built on several different levels to walk through instead.

So we found out that today’s procession culminated at 3pm a tiny square up in the Albaicín district which clings to the side of the mountain. This unbelievable labyrinth of streets winds up and down and many are unaccesable by car; built entirely of stone steps with small round inlayed river rocks, very much in the tradition of the city’s sidewalks and main walking thoughfares containing complex designs formed by the different colors of pebbles and stones. We waited the 2 hours with the hot sun pounding down as the plaza begin to fill to capacity around a large stone cross and Jesus figure with a podium placed in front. Chairs were rented for 600 pts and we struck up a conversation with some local ladies who told us all about what we were to see. They all had umbrellas to shield the sun and one of them kindly gave Caitlin her head scarf as it was just so hot out there. Of course my head was just roasting in the sun!

Soon the huge virgin float from the night before was carried in and set down next to the podium where the local priest recounted the various passions and mysterious of the Catholic faith with the crowd quoting the Lord’s prayer along with him many times for about 1.5 hrs. TV cameras were all over and portable media platform had been erected in the plaza with microphones everywhere when they rang the bell for silence during about a minute.

4pm – We were all so tired but had to make the drive back to Alcazar and then on to Madrid as our flight home was in the morning. We stopped at a typical ceramic factory on the way back and got some numbered azulejos (ceramic tiles) for our house.

Arte en Cerámica y Piedra Artificial J.J. González Montes
Autovía de Andalucía, Km.276 / Carboneros, Jaén

Lunch was at a small roadside cafeteria in the mountains.

We left for Madrid from Alcazar after saying our good bye’s and thank you’s to our gracious hosts and drove back into the city at about 11pm, making our way down the Paseo de las Delicias and onto the C/ Tarragona to the Canto’s piso where we would stay the night. Traffic tonight in Madrid was very light as many madrileños were still out of town and not due back till Sunday evening so getting back to drop off the car at Hertz on the Gran Vía was no problem. We finally got back to the piso and into bed at around 1:30am after a hot mug of Cola Cao (Spanish hot chocolate).

Saturday 14 April 2001 Madrid

Up and packed at 6:45am and caught a taxi on Paseo de las Delicias. We whispered our silent goodbye’s to our querido Madrid as the experienced taxista flew through the city north to the Barajas airport – hasta otro año!

 Used 4 metro tickets each of 10 trips = 780pts each one

Madrid – Amsterdam – Seattle - Boise

Leche,

I will be reading your recent Spain experience on my lunch break. I would like to experience Semana Santa and I will read closely your Semana Santa in Granada. Thank you so much for taking time to share your Spain experience. One of the desserts I missed is Tarta de manzana which my daughter and I are so crazy over it.

Welcom back!
mclarke

thanks mclarke! I enjoyed reading about the details of your trip as well (awhile ago). It took some time to write up but will be well worth it when to help me remember all the fun times that can blur together on a vacation.

Leche