Zermatt and Wengen

Zermatt and Wengen

11 Jan, 2020 | Highlight, Switzerland 2020

  • Got into Zermatt as the sun was setting. Views from our hotel room were spectacular.
  • Next morning the views were again spectacular, in a different way. As the sun came up it kissed the peak of the Matterhorn then slowly moved down the east face. The valley lit up and we could see all of the village and other surrounding peaks. Quite a start to the day.
  • Checked out of the hotel then stowed our bags and took the train to Gornergrat to see the Matterhorn up close. Wow. It was amazing to be in this iconic mountain environment surrounded by clear blue sky. Lots of people skiing back down the slopes. The range of head wear was nice and diverse.
  • Transited from Zermatt to Wengen via Visp, Spiez, Interlaken Ost, and Lauterbrunnen. Interesting scenery along the way.
  • Weather forecast looked good the following day so we headed to Jungfraujoch on an early train. First big view from the ‘top of Europe’ is the Aletsch Glacier. Then saw the Jungfrau, Monch and Eiger peaks, all under clear skies. That was great for us as tourists, though it was unsettling to hear locals say how concerned they were about the lack of snow in winter.
  • On the way back to Wengen we hopped off the Junfraujoch train at Eigergletscher (Eiger Glacier). Chairlifts, ski runs, restaurants. The scale of infrastructure in the Swiss Alps is quite amazing. Hopped off again at Kleine Scheidegg. Walked along the ‘Fox Run’ from Kleine Scheidegg to Wengernalp dodging experienced Swiss skiers and inexperienced tobogganing tourists. Lots of fun. Late train back to Wengen.
  • Julie laid low with illness the following day so I pottered around Wengen. Next day was a transit from Wengen to Geneva via Lauterbrunnen, Interlaken Ost, Spiez, and Bern.
35 schnapps time
Next stop - Geneva
Previous stop - Glacier Express
Back to Switzerland 2020

Shrines and temples of Nikko

Shrines and temples of Nikko

9 Aug, 2019 | Highlight, Japan 2019, Nikko

Friday was spent exploring Nikko’s World Heritage shrines and temples. Old Shin-kyo Bridge spans the river near the entrance.

Shin-kyo Bridge

We spent most of our time in the Tosho-gu Shrine which is by far the largest. It includes the tomb of  Tokogawa Ieyasu, founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Climbing stone steps from the river you pass through a massive stone torii (entrance gate) and see a giant pagoda.

This leads to the shrine’s main gateway, called the Omotemon, guarded by fiece looking Deva kings.

On the other side of the gateway lies a courtyard with the Three Sacred Storehouses and the Sacred Stable.

Deva king #1
Deva king #2
sacred storehouse
sacred stable

Next is the purification building (Omizuya) which has a gorgeous ceiling. Beyond this a smaller torii leads from the courtyard further into the shrine. It’s exciting to feel yourself being pulled through the complex towards the next set of highlights. Through the torii you can see a large gate in the middle with bell and drum towers to the left and right.

Yomei-mon, the Sunset Gate, is most certainly a highlight. It has every form of ornamentation you can think of. It’s said that those who built it were worried it’s perfection would offend the gods, so they placed one pillar upside down as a deliberate mistake.

The degree of decoration and ornamentation within the inner section of the shrine is intoxicating. Gilt and bright colours, burnt wood and matt finishes.

purification building (Omizuya)
Omizuya ceiling
smaller torii
Yomei-mon
Yomei-mon guardian
peacock detail
gate detail
door detail
mantle detail
wall detail

To get to Ieyasu’s tomb, called Okumiya, you exit through the Sakashita-mon (gate). The mantle has a carving of a cat called Nemuri-neko which is much loved by Japanese pilgrims. Exiting the gate you get a nice view over the roofs of the building complex. Hope they have good fire prevention plans in place. It’s a giant tinder box.

Nemuri-neko
building complex

It’s quite a climb to Okumiya, and being summer it was hot going uphill. It’s cool and tranquil when you get there. The shogun’s tomb is very simple, in contrast to the shrines and temples below.

uphill path
Okumiya

We then left Tosho-gu and headed to the next shrine.  It’s pleasant to walk between them, providing a break from the intense decoration. Next we visited Futasaran-jinja. Founded in 1619 it’s the oldest shrine in Nikko. It is much smaller and less grandiose than Tosho-gu. The relative simplicity felt calm and peaceful.

Futasaran #1
Futasaran #2
Next stop - Lake Shuzen-ji
Previous stop - Nikko
Back to Japan 2019

Kamakura

Kamakura

5 Nov, 2018 | Highlight, Japan 2018

  • We caught the train to Kita-Kamkura which is one stop north of the town centre then spent the day walking between temples and shrines. It was rainy and we had to manage around the weather, though we were never going to see all of the sites in one day. If you have the time, Kamakura is definitely worthy of a longer stay or repeat visit. It’s only an hour by train from Tokyo.
  • In 1180 Yoritomo Minamoto set up his base in Kamakura which has the sea on one side and is surrounded by heavily wooded hills. He was appointed shogun in 1192 and made Kamakura his capital. It remained so until 1333, when Kyoto again became the capital. The city then went through a long slow decline, being finally eclipsed in 1603 when the Tokugawa clan established their capital in nearby Edo / Tokyo. It was also heavily damaged in the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake. Much of what we see today has been lost then rebuilt over the centuries.
  • First stop was Engakuji-ji Buddhist temple. It was founded in 1282 and is one of the main Rinzai Zen temples in Kamakura.
  • Across the railway line, on the main road, is Tokei-ji. It’s a lovely Buddhist temple with a history as a refuge for women. It also has the most beautiful gardens. Moss and lichen cover every surface and all the shades of green were glowing in damp air.
  • After an excellent lunch we visted Jochi-ji Temple, right next to Tokei-ji. It is another of the main Rinzai Zen temples in Kamakura.
  • It has a beautiful entrance and we took quite a while climbing the stone steps, walking over the bridges, watching artists painting, and couples being married. The grounds are quite extensive and kept opening out into new and interesting spaces.
  • We particularly liked the Buddha safety cones.
  • A little further south is Kencho-ji, which is highest ranked of the five main Rinzai Zen temples in Kamakura.
  • It was founded in 1253 and grew to have seven main buildings and 49 sub-temples. Most of these were destroyed in a series of fires during the 14th and 15th C. The temple precinct was restored under Zen Master Takuan Soho (1573-1645) with aid from the Tokugawa shogunate.
  • A number of buildings on the site today were dismantled and moved from Tokyo, Kyoto, and Skizuoka.
  • Last stop of the day was Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu, the main Shinto shrine in Kamakura.
  • All in all we had fabulous day and can’t wait to come back to Kamakura.
Next stop -Tokyo
Previous stop - Yokohama
Back to Japan 2018

Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki

14 Jun, 2018 | Greece 2018, Highlight

  • We spent four very enjoyable days in Thessaloniki. It’s a city of substance that has a deep, rich history. It doesn’t feel the need to put on any airs and graces, and we really liked that.
  • One day we explored its Roman heritage and visited the Archaeological Museum. 
  • Another day we took a ‘Byzantine’ slice through the city, checking out the churches and monasteries, the Byzantine Walls, and the Byzantine Museum. This was a fantatstic day.
  • For the rest of the time we kicked back, wandered around the waterfront and ate in some excellent restaurants recommended by the young crew who ran the hotel we stayed in. All in all a great time.
statue of Alexander the Great, Thessaloniki waterfront
  • The Roman Agora built in 1 AD sits nonchalantly in the middle of the modern city. It was built on an older Macedonian commercial centre from 3 BC.
  • When it comes to Roman Thessaloniki, Emperor Galerius is the man. It was the base he used for most of his administrative actions. He built the Rotunda as a future mausoleum (though didn’t get to use it), and the Arch of Galerius and Palace of Galerius bear his name.
  • We spent an afternoon in the very fine Achaeological Museum. It steps through the history of Macedonia from pre-history to about 400 AD.
  • Thessaloniki was established in 315 BC by the Macedonian King Cassander, and named after his wife who was the daughter of Philip II. It’s said that 26 nearby settlements were unified to form the city, and burial artefacts from these settlements represent a core part of the collection. The Derveni Krater is an outstanding piece.
56 krater from Derveni cemetery
  • The wall painting ensembles, mosaics and frescoes of Thessaloniki’s Byzantine churches and monasteries are among the great masterpieces of Early Christian art, recognised as World Heritage Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments. This heritage stems from its strategic location, and its role as capital of the eastern Roman empire under Galerius. Thessaloniki morphed into being the ‘second city’ of the eastern empire (behind Constantinople) when east and west were permanently split by the Emperor Theodosius in 395 AD. Under Theodosius the city’s Byzantine Walls were commenced and the Roman Rotunda of Galerius was converted to a Christian Church and decorated with high quality mosaics.
  • We spent a day zigzagging between the ancient churches and monasteries, gradually climbing up to the old walls that sit high above the modern city.
  • On the way up we visited Agia Sofia (750 AD), Church of the Acheiropoietos (470), Agios Dimitrios (634), Latomou Monastery (Osios David, 490), and Vlatadon Monastery (14th C).
  • After a well-earned and delightful lunch behind the Byzantine Walls, we visited Agios Nikolaos Orfanes (14th C) on the way down to the Byzantine Museum.
  • What a day…
  • Thessaloniki is a coastal city. It has an extensive waterfront that’s very lively and we walked it several times during our stay.
  • The White Tower is a major landmark at the eastern end of the old waterfront. ‘Cafe boats’ depart nearby. For the price of one drink (or more if you like) you get to cruise around the harbour for a while.
  • At the western end of the waterfront is Ladadika, an old commercial district. There’s a couple of nice churches in this area, St Catherine and Agios Apostoli, as well as some remnant byzantine walls.
Next stop -Central Crete
Previous stop - Veria
Back to Greece 2018

Koya-san

Koya-san

17 Apr, 2017 | Highlight, Japan 2017

  • We booked two nights in Koya-san, staying at the Yochi-in Buddhist monastery. It takes four trains and a cable car to get from Kyoto to Koya-san, so we used a baggage service to transfer our big bags on to Kinosaki (next stop) and travelled light for a couple of days. It was a good decision.
  • Koya-san is one of the World Heritage Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range. It’s a steep cable car ride up from the modern town to the monastery complex and it is like being transferred to another world.
  • We really enjoyed the experience of staying in the monastery for a couple of nights, eating amazing vegetarian food, attending morning ceremonies of incense burning and chanting, and generally being quiet and contemplative.
  • Koya-san is most famous for the Oku-No-In cemetery-temple which includes the mausoleum of Kobo Daishi (also known as Kukai), founder of the Shingon sect of Buddhism. The cemetery is about two kilometres long and has over 200,000 tombstones.
  • We spent the morning with a local guide who walked us through Oku-No-In and the main temples of Danjo-Garan and Kongobu-ji. It was great to have access to her knowledge and understanding as we tried to make sense of all we were seeing.
  • She explained various legends as to why Kukai chose Koya-san. In one he threw an implement from China and this is where it landed. In another he met a hunter with one white and one black dog on the mountain slopes. The hunter was son of the Shinto spirit of Mt. Koya and gave Kukai permission to build his Buddhist temple there, highlighting coexistence between the two religions in ancient Japan. She explained that Shingon Buddhists believe Kukai is not dead but rather in meditation, and the monks take him food every day. That once you cross the small Tamagawa River at Minyo-no-hashi, the area becomes a most scared place and photographs are not allowed. And much, much more.
  • We headed back to the Danjo-Garan Temple complex which has an impressive pagoda (Dai-to), just in time for the bell ringing service.
  • Next stop was Kongobu-ji Temple which is headquarters of the Shingon sect and has a lovely raked gravel and rock garden, the largest in Japan.
  • After lunch we went back to Oku-No-In, wandering slowly, and thinking about all we’d been told.
  • One thing that stood out was the painted, wooden memorial hall dedicated to Uesugi Kenshin, a famous warlord from the Sengoku Period. The hillside hall faces the stone memorials of his great rival Takeda Shingen and son Takeda Katsuoi. Locked in eternal combat.  So many stories.
  • Late in the day we headed up to Daimon Gate, the old western entrance of the monastery complex.
  • Koya-san is a very special place and we felt privileged to visit.
Next stop - Kinosaki
Previous stop - Kyoto and Nara
Back to Japan 2017

Monemvasia

Monemvasia

29 Jun, 2014 | Greece 2014, Highlight

  • We left Kardamyli mid morning en route to Monemvasia. In the village of Nomitsi we stopped to check out the tiny church of Ayioi Anagyroi which stands defiantly on the edge of the modern road. The name Anargyroi translates as ‘without silver’ and refers to the saints Cosmas & Damian who were twins and gave their medical skills to the poor for free.
  • Crossing over to the eastern side of the Mani peninsula we stopped at Gythio for lunch. We visited its ancient theatre, had an excellent taverna meal on the waterfront, and admired the rusting hulk of the Dimitrios shipwreck at Valtaki Beach. 
  • There is nowhere quite like Monemvasia. It’s a towering rock island that was cut off from the mainland by an earthquake in 375 AD, and is now reconnected via a causeway.
  • It’s been inhabited since the 6th C and became a major trading centre of the Byzantine Empire, famed for its trade in Malmsey wine.
  • The medieval village of Kastro occupies every inhabitable surface on the rock. We stayed in the lower town for two nights. The upper town was closed for maintenance when we visited.
  • It’s a place that does get a lot of visitors so it was lovely to stay for a couple of nights. Once the crowds had cleared out we could wander the narrow streets and lanes at will.
92 approaching Monemvasia
  • Monemvasia seems to have a magic that it works on people.
  • The couple who owned the apartment we stayed in had come to Monemvasia for a holiday and loved it so much they bought in and stayed.
  • We saw a lovely poster of Monemvasia on a restaurant wall and found out that it was by the local artist Manolis Gregoreas. We went to his gallery and ended up buying three prints. He told the same story, in that he and his wife has come to visit and ended up living here.
  • And the the ladies that ran the (excellent) restaurant where we saw the poster said they’d been there since 1970 i.e. 45 years.
Next stop - Mystras
Previous stop - Kardamyli
Back to Greece 2014

Arab-Norman Sicily

Arab-Norman Sicily

19 Jun, 2012 | Byzantium, Highlight, Italy 2012, The Moors

  • The mix of Byzantine, Arab, and Norman influences on Sicily from 535 to 1194 created an incredible artistic and architectural heritage that is unique.
  • As part of Emperor Justinian’s plan to reunite the eastern and western empires, his general Belisarius took the island of Sicily in 535. Although Sicily had been part of the Roman Empire for 700 years, Belesarius was welcomed by a population that largely identified as Greek in language and custom.
  • Under attack for many years because of its strategic location between North Africa and Southern Europe, Sicily was finally invaded by Arab Muslims in 827. The island prospered under their rule, and Palermo became the capital.
  • The Norman conquistador Robert Guiscard and his brother Roger I gradually captured the island between 1061 and 1072, at which time Roger became Count of Sicily. The Normans were ferocious conquerors but adopted a concilitory appproach as rulers, embracing and building on Sicily’s Arab and Greek influences. Roger I died in 1101 and his widow Adelaide del Vasto ruled until 1130 when their son Roger II became King. He was an enlightened leader who ruled with distinction until 1154. Things gradually fell apart under his successors, William I, William II, and Tancred until Norman rule was replaced by Swabian (South German) rule in 1194. Which is another story…
  •  Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Monreale and Cefalu are World Heritage listed in recognition of this unique history.
  • Palermo’s Palazzo Dei Normanni dates to the 9th C but what you see today bears the hallmarks of Sicily’s Norman rulers. The Capella Palatina (chapel) and royal apartments were designed by Roger II in 1130 and the combination of dazzling mosaics, marble inlay, and carved wooden ceilings in the Arab style (muqarnas) reflects a distinctive vision. We spent several hours trying to take it all in.
  • Another day we caught the bus to nearby Monreale, 8 kms southwest of Palermo. It is here that William II built a magnificant Catherdral designed to outdo his grandfather Roger II. Several different mosaic cycles cover the interior.
  • The Sanctuary including the main apse, north and south chapels has an enormous Christ Pantocrater (Almighty) surrounded by various, life-size saints.
  • The lower walls, columns, arches and ceilings of the interior are also beautifully decorated.
  • The Cathedral has a gorgeous Cloister with slender, inlaid columns, sculpted capitals every one of which is different, and elegant arches. The fusion of Byzantine, Arab and Norman sensibilities is fully on show in this space. We enjoyed taking our time to do a few laps of the Cloister before going back in for a second round of the interior.
  • The north and south walls of the central Nave are covered in the cycle of the Old Testament, with 42 stories represented.
  • The Transept includes the cycle of the life of Christ.
  • Taken as a whole Monreale borders on being overwhelming, and we left with our heads full and our senses heightened. It was amazing.

Ravenna

Ravenna

12 Jun, 2009 | Byzantium, Highlight, Italy 2009

  • We spent a day exploring Ravenna’s World Heritage Early Christian Monuments. Stepping off the train from Bologna you wouldn’t guess that you were walking into a place that has played a signifcant role in European history. Modern Ravenna is unprepossessing at first impression. Stepping off the modern streets and into the ancient churches, baptistries, and mausoleums presents an entirely different picture. You are blasted by a quantity and quality of art and architecture befitting a place that was capital of the Western Roman Empire, capital of the Ostrogothic Kingdom, and a base for reuniting the Eastern and Western Roman Empires under Justinian the Great and his wife Theodora. Ravenna remained an exarchate or lordship of the Eastern Roman / Byzantine Empire until it was captured by the Lombards in 751.
  • This ‘time capsule’ exists in part because of natural processes. Ravenna used to lay about four kilometres inland from its ancient port at Classe. The port silted up and by the 10th C Ravenna was literally a back water. Over time siltation has moved the coastline a further nine kilometers east and Classe now is far from the coast. This greatly benefited the city of Venice with its access to the Adriatic. Yet it also helped to preserve the remarkable buildings and mosaics of Ravenna that were protected by irrelevance and inaccessibility.
  • We started at the Arian Baptistry which has an incredible dome mosaic of Christ being baptised by John the Baptist, surrounded by twelve Apostles. It was commissioned by the Ostrogothic King Theodoric the Great around the year 500. Theodoric was an Arian Christian and decided to let the Goths (Arians) and the Orthodox Christians co-exist albeit in separate neighborhoods with separate religious buildings.
  • Next stop was the Basilica di Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, built around the same time as the Arian Baptistry. Along one wall a procession of 26 female martyrs is shown leaving the town to follow the Magi who bear gifts for the Virgin. On the other wall a line of male martyrs leave Theodoric’s palace to honour Christ. It’s a mesmerising sight.
  • After the poet Dante Aligheri was exiled from Florence his wanderings eventualy led him to Ravenna where he completed his great poem The Divine Comedy before dying in 1321. We visited Dante’s Tomb which sits within a small neoclassical monument next to the Basilica of San Francesco. [Having visited Dante’s Tomb in 2009, it was interesting to visit Alfredo Jaar’s ‘The Divine Comedy’ at MONA, our local museum, in 2019. Not sure if it’s significant but Jaar’s interpretation of Hell was by far our favourite.]
  • The Neonian Baptistry is named after Archbishop Neon who commissioned its mosaics around 485. The building is a converted Roman bathhouse which is octagonal in shape. It also has a dome mosaic of Christ being baptised. Four of its eight walls bear mosaics of altars and the other four bear mosaics of empty thrones symbolising ‘preparing of the throne’ for Jesus to deliver the last judgement.
  • It’s easy to overdo the superlatives in describing Ravenna’s treasures, but the Basilica di San Vitale is probably the highest of the highlights. The combination of greens, blues and gold is startling, and the mosaics of Justinian and Theodora make them seem surprisingly human.
  • Next to San Vitale is the small Mausoleum of Galla Placidia. Galla Placidia led an amazing life. She was daughter of the Emperor Theodoius I, half-sister of the Emperor Honorius, held hostage by then married to King Athaulf becoming Queen of the Visigoths, and Regent of the Western Roman Empire when Honorius died hierless, ruling for 13 years in the name of her son Valentinian III. Her mausoleum is appropriately spectacular, though in a final twist she’s actually buried in Rome.
  • Across the railway lines and surrounded by parkland stands the Mausoleum of Theodoric. It’s an austere monument built in 520 out of Istrain stone and assembled without mortar. The roof alone is a single slab weighing over 300 tonnes and enormous effort must have been required to transport the material to Ravenna then construct the building. Inside is a beautiful Roman porphyry basin which was recycled as a sarcophagus. Theodoric was a Germanic warrior who, around the year 488, brought over 100,000 people across the Alps and into Italy after their homeland was overrun by the Huns. His mausoleum provides a fascinating link between the Roman empire, the Barbarian invasions, and the Byzantine empire. It seemed the perfect way to end an amazing day.

Granada

Granada

27 May, 2008 | Highlight, Spain 2008, The Moors

  • We spent four nights in Granada on our tour of Andalucia. It’s a charming city located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains and the confluence of four rivers. We were attracted here to visit the famous Alhambra and the day we spent exploring this remarkable site was a highlight. There is however much more to the city and its surrounds.
  • We took a bus 75 kms to the southeast and spent a lovely day in the whitewashed villages of Las Alpujarras, the region that was awarded to the Moors when they surrendered Granada 1492.
  • In the rest of our time we explored the city’s grand Catholic monuments, interspersed with traces of Moorish heritage, and wandered the old Muslin quarter of Albyzin which is draped over a hill facing the Alhambra across the Darro River valley. All in all, Granada was a treat.
The Alhambra from Albyzin
  • Granada rose to prominence in the 13th C as the base of the Nasrids, the last and longest running Muslim dynasty on the Iberian Peninsula. By 1228 the Almohad Caliphate was in decline in Al-Andalus and Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn Nasr (Muhammad I of Granada) emerged as an ambitious Muslim leader. Coming from Arjona he took control of several southern cities including Granada (in 1236) and established the Emirate of Granada in 1238.
  • With Cordoba (1236) then Seville (1248) falling to the Christians, Granada became the last Muslim stronghold. Muhammad I aligned himself with Ferdinand III of Castille (who took Cordoba and Seville), and this unholy alliance helped to ensure the Nasrid dynasty survived for over 250 years before Granada was surrendered to the Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492 to complete the Reconquista.
  • It was under the seventh and eighth Nasrid Sultans, Yusuf I (1333-54) and Muhammad V (1354-91), that Granada reached its zenith. They left an amazing legacy of architecture and art most conspicuously expressed in the World Heritage Alhambra building complex and Generalife Gardens.
  • The Alhambra receives a huge number of visitors, understandably so, but don’t let this put you off. It’s a very well managed site. We pre-booked a ticket for a specified starting time and walked straight in on the day. As each tour group frogmarched through we just retreated to a corner for several minutes then reoccupied the space when they were gone. For much of the time we were there (several hours) it felt like we had the place to ourselves and a few other like minded souls.
  • Our tour of the Alhambra entered through the Puerta de Vino and into Palacio de Carlos V. A wing of the Nasrid building complex was destroyed to make way for this Renaissance palace commissioned by Charles V in 1527, though it was never finished and stood roofless till 1957. It’s an interesting building with a two-tiered, circular coutyard inside. Although it is misplaced amongst the Moorish architecture, it’s far less odious than the Cathedral plonked into the middle of the Great Mosque in Cordoba. The Alhambra Museum is on the ground floor.
  • Palacio Nazaries (the Nasrid Palace) is the main attraction and for us it’s one of the most remarkable buildings we’ve seen anywhere in the world.
  • First you pass through the Mexuar, an antechamber for receiving visitors, then enter the Patio del Cuarto Dorado (Golden Room) where the emirs would give audiences. Next is the Palacio de Comares built as a residence for Yusuf I. It surrounds the Patio de los Arrayanes (Patio of the Myrtles) which has a beautiful pool. The combination of decorative plaster, wood, and tile decoration on the palace walls surrounding the patio is simply astonishing. The patio opens onto the Salon de Comares with an extraordinary marquetry ceiling representing the seven heavens of Islam.
  • It’s thrilling to walk through the Palacio Nazaries and wonder what you’ll see next. Patio de los Lions is certainly a highlight with its beautifully ornamented pavillions.
  • We progressed through Sala de los Abencerrajes and Sala de Dos Hermanas, admiring the delicate ornamentation on ceilings and arches.  Patio del Lindaraja led us out of the palace and into El Partal gardens with a lovely old portico facing west.
  • The Alcazaba was the Alhambra’s citadel and there are fine views of the ramparts and surrounds from Torre de la Vela.
  • The Generalife (Architect’s Garden) is a great last stop on a tour of the Alhambra. The beautiful Patio de la Acequia and Jardin de la Sultana have a soothing effect on tired legs and overloaded minds. What a day.
  • One day we took a day trip to Las Alpujarras, a collection of valleys on the southern flank of the Sierra Nevada about 75 kms southeast of Granada. Berbers settled here in the 10th C and the area became renowned for irrigated agriculture and silkworm farms, supplying weaving workshops in port city of Almeria. When the Emir Boabdil finally surrendered Granada to the Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isobel in 1492, he was awarded Las Alpujarras as part of the settlement. As Catholic promises of religous tolerance were subsequently broken, Las Alpujarras became a hotbed of Muslim insurrection until all of the Moors were finally deported from the region in the late 16th C and replaced with Christian settlers.
  • We caught a bus from Granada, up the Poqueira River valley to the village of Capileira. It takes a couple of hours to get there. Capileira is the highest of three villages in the valley. The stone streets, whitewashed buildings, and distinctively shaped chimneys are reminiscent of Berber villages in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains, standing in testament to its Moorish history.
  • We spent a lovely day wandering the cobbled streets and along some of the footpaths that radiate into the higher mountains.
  • Granada was the last domino to fall in the Catholic reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula. Ferdinand and Isobel had planned to be buried in Toledo, but after capturing Granada in 1492 they commissioned the Capilla Real (Royal Chapel). Their marble funerary monuments lie side by side in the chancel though their bodies are in simple lead coffins in the crypt below. The Capilla Real was not completed until 1521. Isobel died in 1504, Ferdinand in 1516, and they were interred in the Alhambra until the chapel was completed.
  • The adjoining Cathedral was commenced in 1521 and not fully completed until the 18th C. The Cathedral and Capilla Real have separate entrances.
  • It was pleasant to wander the streets around the Cathedral complex. The Alcaiceria is now an area of tourist shops on the site of the Moorish silk exchange. Nearby Corral del Carbon began life in the 14th C as an inn.
  • A little to the north of the city centre is the 16th C Monasterio de San Jeronimo. It has a lovely cloister, excellent stone carvings, and a profusion of brightly painted sculptures. It is the resting place of Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordoba, know as El Gran Capitan (the Great Captain) for his role as Ferdinand and Isobel’s military commander.
  • We visited the Archaeological Museum then stopped for lunch before an afternoon wander around Albyzin.
  • The old Muslim quarter of Albyzin is also part of Granada’s World Heritage. It’s a delightful area to explore with cobbled streets, whitewashed buildings, and great views across the Darro valley to the Alhambra and the Sierra Nevada beyond. We checked out the Collegiata del Salvador which is a 16th C church built on the site of Albyzin’s main mosque. A patio with Moorish arches survives as a reminder of this history.
  • We left Granada well satisfied with our visit to the city and the fascinating region of Andalucia.
Next stop - Barcelona
Previous stop - Seville
Back to Spain 2008

Folegandros

Folegandros

13 Jul, 2008 | Greece 2008, Highlight

  • Caught a fast ferry from Thira to Folegandros which only takes about 40 minutes. We spent four nights in a lovely hotel in the port town of Karavostasis. It could have gone on much longer…
  • Folegandros is a small island, only 12 kms long and no more than 4 kms wide. It’s very barren and rocky, and has a history of being a place where political prisoners were exiled. We swam in the bay and hung out on our balcony. Mostly it was very quiet. One day some older Greek locals came down to the beach, floated out into the deeper water in a little group and started to sing together. It was a beautiful thing. When a ferry arrived the port would burst into life for a little while, then die back to a torpor after it had gone. There was a lovely rhythm to it all. The hilltop town of Hora is particularly charming and we’d catch a bus up the hill each afternoon to wander its lanes before before selecting a taverna for dinner. The food was consistently very good. On our last day we took a boat trip around to Agios Nikolaos Beach in Vathi Bay, giving us a chance to see some dramatic coastline along the way. It was a great day out.
  • All in all, we found Folegandros to be simply gorgeous.
Next stop - Naxos
Previous stop - Santorini
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