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Archive for the ‘Spain’ Category

Thursday Doors: Valencia, Spain

Posted by: Darlene on: February 19, 2026

In: Doors | Spain | Travel
122 Comments

Another favourite Spanish city of mine is Valencia. It is the third-largest city in Spain, located about 2.5 hours south of Barcelona on the Mediterranean coast. It has a rich history and amazing architecture. It is also very modern and combines the new and the old very well. There is so much to do and see in this city. I have chosen some of my favourite buildings, windows and doors. But I have barely scratched the surface. Some of these pictures were taken from a bus, so may not be of great quality.

The Bank of Valencia beside a modern office building

The law courts building

I love the artwork by the windows in this building

The old market building by the seafront

One entrance to the Valencia Cathedral

The gates to the main cathedral

Traditional Valencian dancers in front of the cathedral. My favourite picture!

I realized I had too many pictures for one post, so I’ll share more at a later date.

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse of a fabulous city.

Thursday Doors is a weekly challenge created by Dan Antion for people who love doors and architecture to come together to admire and share their favourite door photos, drawings, or other images or stories from around the world. If you’d like to join us, simply create your own Thursday Doors post each (or any) week and then share a link to your post in the comments on Dan’s blog post. Check out all the other amazing door posts.

Tags: Dan Antion, Doors, Spain, Spanish cities, Thursday Doors, Valencia, Valencia Cathedral, Valencian dancers

Thursday Doors: Gaudi’s Barcelona

Posted by: Darlene on: January 29, 2026

In: Doors | Spain | Travel
125 Comments

Barcelona’s most famous citizen is Antoni Gaudí, a brilliant architect and designer (1852-1926). And he is everywhere. I love walking along the city streets and coming upon one of his buildings. Today I’m featuring some of his designs.

The most well-known and impressive structure is his Sagrada Familia, started in 1882 and is now almost completed. It is the world’s largest unfinished Catholic church. I have visited many times in the past twenty years, and it has been fascinating to see the progression.

One of three entrances to Sagrada Familia. Note the intricate details around the door.

These doors display the Lord’s prayer in Catalan. A more recent addition to the church.

Another cool house is Casa Milà, also known as La Pedrera, built between 1906 and 1912 as a private residence for the Milà family. I love the wrought-iron balconies and the fascinating chimneys on the roof.

I’ve featured Casa Batlló before, but here is one more picture of the front.

An interesting door inside Casa Batlló

A visit to Park Güell is a real treat. Originally, Güell and Gaudí envisioned the site as a private residential development of luxurious homes with modern amenities. This idea failed, and eventually the site became a municipal garden for all to enjoy.

Gaudí’s imagination is evident throughout the park, with many unique buildings scattered among the greenery and abundant wildlife.

This is the workshop of Antoni Gaudí, on the site of La Sagrada Familia. It contains some of his plans, drawings and notes. It was also part of a school he set up for the workers’ children.

I hope you enjoyed a brief look at some of this brilliant man’s work.

Thursday Doors is a weekly challenge created by Dan Antion for people who love doors and architecture to come together to admire and share their favourite door photos, drawings, or other images or stories from around the world. If you’d like to join us, simply create your own Thursday Doors post each (or any) week and then share a link to your post in the comments on Dan’s blog post. Check out all the other amazing door posts.

Tags: Antoni Gaudi, architecture, Barcelona, Dan Antion, Doors, europe, Spain, Thursday Doors, travel, windows

Thursday Doors: Barcellona II

Posted by: Darlene on: January 15, 2026

In: Doors | Spain | Travel
118 Comments

The last post showing doors in Barcelona went over well, so I thought I would share more. I’ve been to Barcelona a few times, so I have a lot of pictures to share. I’m afraid I don’t have names for all the buildings, and some pictures were taken out of the hop-on-hop-off bus window.

I love shuttered windows and balconies of buildings lining the streets of Barcelona.

This is the old bull ring. Since bullfighting was outlawed in Catalonia in 2011, they have turned this building into a shopping centre!

I love how Barcelona blends the new structures with the old. This is by the port with Columbus pointing the way to the New World.

There are many old churches scattered throughout Barcelona.

A huge door at the entrance of a building. At one time, this would have been the home of a wealthy family. The doors were large enough for a horse and carriage to enter the courtyard.

I love this walkway between two buildings, which I found in the Gothic Quarter

There are many museums in Barcelona, housed in old buildings that are often situated between apartments and bordering squares with cafes and restaurants.

A door into a museum

A statue welcoming everyone to the museum

A window display from the inside of the Barcelona Museum of History, looking out onto the square

An interesting structure from the window of the bus.

I hope you enjoyed more photos from Barcelona.

Tags: architecture, Barcelona, Dan Antion, Doors, doors of Barcelona, europe, museums, Spain, Thursday Doors, travel

Thursday Doors: Barcelona

Posted by: Darlene on: January 9, 2026

In: Doors | Spain | Travel
116 Comments

Barcelona is my favourite Spanish city. There is so much to see and do. It’s a vibrant city, and the energy is contagious. Here are just a few pictures of doors, windows, and buildings that caught my eye during one of my many visits.

Casa Batlló, one of Gaudí’s amazing creations.

One of the windows inside Casa Batlló

Windows of Sagrada de Familia. The details are incredible.

The building housing the Gaudí Exhibition Museum is interesting. It was built in the 12th century as a hospital for the poor. Gaudí himself was a patron and would often visit the sick there.

I enjoyed the displays, but was fascinated by the old building.

Doors to the Barcelona Cathedral with a young couple on their way to get married.

People dancing in front of the Barcelona Cathedral

A unique building on Las Ramblas

Whimsical figures welcoming visitors to the hotel.

I’ll continue to feature more doors from Barcelona

Tags: Antoni Gaudi, Barcelona, Barcelona Cathedral, Casa Batlló, Dan Antion, Gaudi, Gaudi buildings, Gaudi Museum, La Sagrada Familia, Las Ramblas, Thursday Doors

Thursday Doors: Christmas Version

Posted by: Darlene on: December 18, 2025

In: Christmas | Doors | Spain
94 Comments

It’s time for Dan’s Thursday Doors Challenge. Since it’s the last one for this year, and it’s only one week until Christmas, I decided to feature pictures of doors on miniature buildings in Belén displays. Belén is Spanish for Bethlehem. A traditional Belén is set up in the main squares of many Spanish towns and villages during the Christmas season. These amazing displays depict biblical scenes and daily life from the life and times of Jesus. The details are incredible.

A traditional Belen display in Torrevieja, near our home in Spain.

Gabriel appears to Mary to announce that she will conceive and bear a son

No room at the inn

Stocking up with water at the community well.

Because Torrevieja is well known for its salt lakes and salt exports, salt is included in the local display.

The nativity scene.

The Three Kings making their way to visit the baby Jesus.

Merry Christmas to All of You!!

Tags: Belen, Christmas, Dan Antion, Spain, Thursday Doors

Thursday Doors: Istan, Spain

Posted by: Darlene on: November 28, 2025

In: Doors | History | Spain
76 Comments

Southern Spain is well known for its charming white villages, so we decided to visit one a few years ago. Instead of the more popular, touristy places, we ventured into the Andalusian Mountains to find the village of Istán. Originally a Moorish settlement, Istán is a town with a rich history dating back to the 14th century.

Following narrow, twisting roads up into the mountains, we never knew what we would find around each hairpin turn. Thinking we had to be on the wrong road, we were about to give up when we rounded one more bend, and there before us appeared the historic white mountain village of Istan!

Here are some doors and buildings of Istan:

Delightful outdoor cafes.

And cosy courtyards.

Istán is 15 kilometres inland and is one of the few Moorish villages that survived because of its distance from the coast. After the Christian reconquest of the Iberian peninsula in the 15th Century, Arabs were barred from living within 10 kilometres of the shoreline to prevent them from communicating with their kinsmen across the straits in Morocco. Today, not much remains of Moorish Istán, only the crumbling ruins of a tower hidden in a side street.

Like many mountain villages, where the means of transportation were the mule and the packhorse, Istán’s streets are narrow and unsuitable for vehicles, so we parked the car on the outskirts of town and explored on foot.

The old lavadero, or wash house, is situated in Calle Chorro, surrounded by white houses covered with bougainvillaea and other flowers. The fountain has six jets, which are still fed by ancient Arabic water channels. The water flows into the washing area decorated by brick arches and tiles.

The old wash house where everyone washed their clothes.

All that walking made us hungry and thirsty. We found a cute restaurant located on the ground floor of the old hotel.

The friendly host led us to a veranda at the back overlooking the gorge, where we enjoyed a delicious tapas lunch. A perfect day in every way!

Early American Room

Tags: Dan Antion, Doors, Istan, Spain, Thursday Door Challenge, white villages of Spain

Thursday Doors: The Cave Cafe

Posted by: Darlene on: October 31, 2025

In: Doors | Spain
82 Comments

I’m taking a break from the blog tour to participate in Dan Antion’s Thursday Door challenge. I meet with a writer’s group in San Miguel de Salinas, a village ten minutes from us, once a month. Sometimes we go for lunch after the meeting. Imagine my delight when we had lunch in a cave!

Customers can dine in romantic little nooks and crannies within the cave or opt for al fresco dining on the pretty courtyard terrace.

No doors, just openings between rooms. This would have been someone’s home at one time.

Just a group of writers enjoying a meal and being inspired by the ambience.

The cafe is part of a traditional troglodytic village. These cave houses were originally dug out of the side of sandstone hills for the agricultural workers to live in cheaply. Years later, they were made bigger and modernised for families to live in. Some are still occupied today! They are surprisingly practical, cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.

A great place to have a meal and discuss books and writing.

Tags: Cave Café, Dan Antion, Doors, San Miguel de Salinas, Thursday Doors, troglodytes

Dot’s Blog Post

Posted by: Darlene on: June 15, 2025

In: Dot | Spain
109 Comments

Mom is busy finishing her next book, Amanda in Ireland: The Body in the Bog. So she asked me to write the blog post. She said it can’t be difficult, as John Howell’s two dogs do it every Thursday. Well, I know Lia won’t be much help, but I’m willing to give it a try.

It’s getting very hot here in Spain, so I don’t feel like doing much. But Mom and Dad take us to the beach just about every morning. We go early, before it gets too hot, and before all the kids and their parents show up. We love the beach, and Lia usually behaves there.

It’s fun to see what’s between the rocks.

Lia thinks she’s King Canute and can stop the waves. As if!

I like running on the dunes.

Lia likes to hunt for geckos that hide by the flower pots in our yard. She has never caught one!

Mostly, we like to sleep in the summer. On the couch.

On Mom and Dad’s bed.

Sometimes even before Mom makes it!

On my inside bed. Lia has one, but she never uses it.

On our outside beds. Lia has her own, but she insists on sleeping on mine.

See what I mean? Little sisters, sheesh!

Summer is fun because the ice cream lady comes and we get our own. But we have to wait in line like everyone else.

I hope you are all having a great summer and getting all the ice cream and naps you want.

Mom just reminded me that some readers live in another hemisphere and it’s winter there, so I hope you are having a great winter with lots of cosy naps.

Dot the Dog

Tags: dogs, Dot, John Howell, Lia, Spain, summer

Thursday Doors: The Hanging Houses of Cuenca

Posted by: Darlene on: June 5, 2025

In: Doors | History | Spain | Travel
123 Comments

Cuenca is a unique city tucked away in the mountains of Castilla-La Mancha,140 kilometres southeast of Madrid. It’s famous for its casa colgadas, or hanging houses, perched on cliffs surrounding a deep gorge carved out by two rivers. Due to limited space, the former inhabitants of the old city built their houses close to the edge of the rocky mountaintop. Over the centuries, the relentless wind eroded the limestone cliffs, leaving some houses clinging precariously to the edge. A few balconies actually jut out over the ravine.

The hanging houses are the draw to this remote city, but the old part of town itself is worth exploring.

Interesting buildings in Plaza Mayor

The Cuenca Cathedral, Catedral de Santa María y San Julián de Cuenca, dates from 1177. The impressive three arches of this Gothic Anglo-Norman façade were the first of its kind in Spain, with construction on the cathedral continuing for 300 years and never quite completed.

The medieval cobblestone streets wind past old stone houses with heavy wooden doors.

A typical restaurant in Cuenca.

It was a memorable visit to Cuenca.

Tags: Casa Colgadas, Cuenca, Cuenca Cathedral, Dan Antion, hanging houses, Spain, Thursday Doors, travel

Thursday Doors: Altea

Posted by: Darlene on: May 1, 2025

In: Doors | Spain | Travel
104 Comments

One of my favourite spots on the Costa Blanca in Spain is Altea, a charming fishing village north of Alicante with a blue-domed church overlooking the harbour.