Granada and The Alhambra have whetted the sensibilities of Romantics for generations, and at this place along the Sierra Nevada mountains, one finds that there are fewer places to better understand the Saracenic and Gothic which run so deeply and obviously in the culture of Spain. Washington Irving wrote that the Alhambra was “so often and… Read More Granada and La Alhambra (photos)
When Christopher Columbus and his famished crew first smelled the earthy terrarium air of San Salvador in 1492, the plateau of Castile-Leon in Spain was falling into the chill of autumn. Its vendimia had passed, and the leaves in the vineyards had begun to coat the hills with rows of canary yellow and burnt orange. In… Read More 1550, a Year for Human Rights
It’s time to play American or Spaniard? !! A culture game of esoteric quirks and tics, habits and norms, where you read grossly generalizing observations, possibly a stereotype or two, and decide if it’s describing an American or a Spaniard. But be careful! Some of these silly pet peeves could describe either our flag-waving American… Read More American or Spaniard?
Visiting Italy in 21st-century August is a tricky thing, it takes skill and preparation. The country is dense. It is dense with art, culture, and historical artifacts, but it is also dense with the tracks of mindlessly spending zombie tourists with a chronic lack of interest in much beyond the lack of ranch dressing at… Read More The Crowded Roads to Rome
Two small streams, the Arroyos de Los Carneros and del Morete flow through the thick pine forests of the Sierra de Guadarrama into the palace gardens of La Granja de San Ildefonso. The water collects into a mirror-smooth lake, then pours down an intricate system of canals and piping, and on special occasions, the water… Read More It Tolls for Thee because of the Queen
Casual Notebook 