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Newsletter #24 - November 28 to December 4,1959 |
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Newsletter # 24
November 27 to December 4,1959 Mailed Madrid, Spain 12/10/59 Received Philadelphia 12/l4/59 Bon dia, (Good morning in Portuguese) Am getting a late start on this week's newsletter. Last night we had dinner so very late that I didn't feel like writing about our first day's travel in Spain, (in this country they don't have dinner until 10:00 to 10:30. They won't serve before 10:00 and then you eat alone in the dining room as the Spaniards do not start to come in until we have finished.) We went through another lovely summer resort city just before the France, Portugal border called Saint Jean DeLuz which, along with being a picturesque summer resort in the Basque country, is also the chief tuna port of France. Customs took us a long time as Meredith had to pick up his films plus paying $9.00 for costs from Paris to the border. This last box of films has really cost a pretty penny as it caused telephone calls to the U.S., night letters and air express but at least we have them now. Our next place of interest was San Sebastian on the Atlantic Coast which is to me the most fashionable summer resort in Spain and one of Spain's most modern cities. There are many striking views of the sea from the woods above the city where you can plainly see the splendid shell-shaped beach named La Concha. Biarritz, St.Jean deLuz and San Sebastian are to France and Spain what Atlantic City is to the U.S. although they do not have boardwalks which would compare with any of our resorts. This Basque country of Spain is even more beautiful than France as its mountains seem to possess just a bit more charm and more color. The countryside is thickly populated and they sure have a fertile and highly cultivated terrain. You see acres of vineyards, olive trees, much cattle and sheep raising and even mining and industries. Last night [November 28] we stayed in a small city called Burgos and had a very nice room in a fine hotel but we went to bed right after dinner as the room was freezing cold. It had a radiator with heat in it but the three windows left in so much cold air the radiator did no good whatsoever. Our first Spanish meal was also none too tasty and we thought quite expensive. We had a tough steak, French fries and soup with a glass of wine which cost $5.00 for the 2 dinners and Spain is to be our cheapest country. We chose the only place in town which had heat and froze just the same so you really can get stung on a trip. Enough of criticism. The country so far is gorgeous and after all our reasons for taking this trip were not to sleep and eat but to enjoy the views, the historical points of interest and the history of each country's civilization and on these aspects we have been amply rewarded. Today [November 29] we left the scenic Pyrenee Mountains and are now driving through the Castile Province which is more into the heart of Spain. The countryside has dull, bleak patches of land and the towns look very poor. At lunch we couldn't even find a bakery for bread to eat with our cheese and wine so we substituted crackers which didn't taste half bad. We decided to by-pass Madrid which is only about 100 miles away and go right into Portugal so we can see the northern part of Portugal as well as Lisbon. We will go back to Madrid in about 2 weeks after we have gone to the Canary Islands, etc. We went through Spanish and Portuguese customs which was rather quick today and drove only about 50 miles into Portugal when we had to find a place for the night. Our home for tonight is Guarda, a town situated on the northeastern slope of the Serra de Estrela Mountains and we really had to climb to reach the city. |
| This morning [November 30] as we left Guarda we saw her real charm. From its fortress, 3,200 feet up, we enjoyed a marvelous panorama of the mountain peaks and highlands as well as the plains of the Castile. We also saw the tall watch tower of the 12th Century, the 13th Century basilica of the Misericordia Church and the Cathedral of the city which is Gothic style although Renaissance and Baroque elements have been added to its Gothic architecture. We certainly are enjoying Portugal and feel it has a great deal of charm. You would all just love the beautiful tiles which decorate so many of the homes in Portugal. Most of them are the blue glazed tiles and they seem to adorn almost all of their buildings especially in the corridors and stairways. The word for the tiles is Azulejos and it is said to be an Arabic word meaning smooth, though some people assume that it is connected with Azul, meaning blue. Although the majority of the tiles seen are blue many are of assorted colors. I've bought several so you will know how lovely they really are. Another great charm of Portugal is their hillside villages usually all painted white or pastel colors and always with beautiful red tile roofs. The country's wild mountainous beauty is also made more unique with its ox drawn carts, with wheels as large or larger than the carts, moving on the rough cobble-stone streets. At a town called Coimbra we saw a famous University founded in 1290 which is one of the oldest in Europe. The jewel of the University is its library, a baroque edifice built between 1717 and 1723. Near this wonderful old university are the modern buildings which have been erected in recent years and they are really outstanding. The students of this university have typical costumes which look entirely black when you see them. They wear black cravats, trousers and jackets with a white shirt being the only outside article of clothing not black. The students we saw were also wearing a loose black cape which is their added garment for warmth. These capes have great symbolic value to the students. They also wear different colors of narrow or wide ribbons which correspond to the facilities of Letters, Law, Medicine, Mathematics, Science, Pharmacy, etc. (The professors dress similarly except their jackets are shaped differently and they wear a kind of cap.) We also saw several other famous buildings in Coimbra such as Cathedrals and museums and also some fine monuments. Today we also visited another world famous shrine called Fatima which is a rather hard-to-find village in the center of Portugal. The fame of Fatima dates only from 1917 when three local shepherd children saw visions of the Holy Virgin on May 13. Pilgrimages take place on the 13th of each month since this happening. At this famous place you find a very enormous Sanctuary and lovely grounds. Again we hope the pictures will show you the beauty of this pilgrimage shrine. Still another unusual sight today was the Abbey at Batalha which is a National Shrine, housing among other things the double sarcophagus of King John I and Queen Philippa. Another famous town we passed through was Alcobaca which has a vast royal monastery named Santa Maria. It is the largest Church in Portugal. It was begun in 1152 by order of the first Portuguese King and also a National Shrine. Our last unusual sight for today was Obidos, an intriguing walled town with an intensely medieval atmosphere. It dates back to the time of the Moors and is remarkable for its fortification, beautiful ramparts and narrow bobble stoned streets. Now we are in Lisbon the lovely capital and cosmopolitan city built on seven hills at the mouth of the Tagus River in Portugal. Here it is our first day in Lisbon and it has rained hard the entire day. We went to the center of the city and got quite wet walking in the rain and decided a good sleep would do us a lot more good so in the afternoon we had a siesta. (All over Europe stores are closed from 1 to 4 and they all - 2 -
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| take an extra sleep. We figure that's why they eat late at night and start all their evening activities so late.) We also went to a movie tonight which started at 9:30 and then had two intermissions, which made us arrive hone at 12:45, so I'm almost too sleepy to tell you about our first day in Lisbon, which was quite dull because of the weather. [December 1] The weather was grand today, which is Independence Day here in Lisbon, and a holiday with everything closed. We drove all over the city seeing many of its famous buildings, such as the lovely Jeronimos Monastery, which is over 500 years old, and was built by King Manuel I in thanksgiving for the success of Vasco da Gama's voyage to India; the Belem Tower, built in the early l6th Century, which is a wonderful specimen of the Manueline style architecture with some Moorish influence and the Ajuda Palace, which was once the hose of the royalty. We also saw the lovely Edwards Bark, the Black Horse Square, the Rossio which is the center of Lisbon and a square dating from the city's earliest beginning under the Phoenicians; at first it was a market center, later a horseracing track, then a slaughter area for animals and now it has fountains, black and white mosaic pavements and crowds of people. The churches of Lisbon represent every conceivable style of architecture and we saw several of these lovely churches which are all quite huge. The city of Lisbon is crowned by a picturesque Moorish castle on the crest of one hill overlooking the harbor where you also see the Castle of St. George. We cannot begin to mention all the lovely things we've seen these few days in Lisbon, but it was all very interesting from the quaint narrow streets to the wide modern boulevards and to add to its beauty, Lisbon has beautiful green hills and a blue sea to make a unique backdrop for its colorful buildings and lovely mosaic walks, tiled decorations and chromatic painted houses, pale yellows, pinks, greens and blues. Today [December 3] we left Portugal and we are once more in historic Spain where we're anxious to get to some of its publicized islands. Our drive to Seville was not nearly as lovely as the Basque area of Spain, but I know we will enjoy Seville, as it is known for its beauty. We did the shops until nine o'clock, and again we're having late meals, but if the sun is shining tomorrow morning we plan to be up early to get pictures of Seville as we'll be here at least two nights. Seville is the city which was made famous by Carmen, Figaro and Don Juan. Again I am late letting you hear about the happenings of the day as we met three other couples and we all went to a nightclub last night called Del Cristina Parrilla, where we saw some excellent Flamenco Dancing and Alusian Dancing and singing, and all varieties of Spanish Dances. The dancers were most attractive. We didn't leave our hotel until 11 o'clock, so you can imagine how late we arrived home, but it was a very good two-hour entertainment with a very short intermission. The costumes of both the men and women were most unusual, as they used the traditional garments of the regions famous for the particular dance they performed. It ended with a terrific finale and we are sure the finale for the second show would have been more dramatic, but 1:30 was late enough for the eight of us. We think the city of Seville is a city of many attractions and the weather both days we were visiting were ideal. Almost without looking you can find the slender and incredibly lovely Giralda Tower which is quite tall and has 25 bells which it chimes for weddings, holy days and deaths. Next you see the Gothic Cathedral which reclines in the shade of the Giralda Tower and is the third largest religious building in the world, being surpassed only the St. Peter's in Rome and St. Patrick's in New York City. It is built on the site of our ancient acropolis and a razed Mosque. Within its confines, like a large patio, are orange groves and within the cathedral there is a fortune in paintings, sculpture, paneling, jewels and vestment. Here is found the tomb of Christopher Columbus whose remains were brought to Seville following the fall of Cuba in 1898. - 3 -
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| Our next visit was to the Palace of the Alcanzar in the Ratio de Banderas and it is renowned for the grace and elegance of its Moorish architecture, this Alcazar is surpassed in history, interest and architectural beauty only the Alhambra of Granada, which we hope to see in a few days. The lovely gardens and reflection pools are very unusual and it would take days to visit all the beautiful gardens in different areas of this city. We visited the District of Santa Cruz where we saw tiled patios, fountains, flowers and all the houses with their lovely iron gates and decorative wrought iron guards on their windows. [December 4] Seville is very rich in churches and convents and we saw quite a few but I will not elaborate on these but only tell you they were magnificent as were the Plaza de Toros, the Torre Del Oro, the Plaza De Espana, with its tiled bridges, the University, the Town Ball and the Roman Walls. We really enjoyed the subtle yet penetrating atmosphere of gaiety which Seville signified, although I am sure the good weather we had helped a great deal after so many days of continual rain. By the time you receive this newsletter it will be very near Christmas, and may we in our humble way without frills and lots of expensive adjectives say " We wish you one and all a very Happy Christmas and a new year that will be filled with Health, Prosperity and all the things you've ever hoped for." We are still fifteen days ahead of our itinerary schedule and our mail is quite mixed up as we keep having the mail forwarded to so many places, we get confused ourselves. We are enclosing a new itinerary which will help you if you write letters during 1960 and we surely hope you'll all feel thus inclined, as we enjoy news. We did read in a recent paper that Navy beat Army and of the Item break in France which caused the loss of many lives. We will be going thru this very area in about three weeks, or sooner. Our health is still wonderful, although we are cold, most of the time, even though we only stay overnight at heated hotels, the trouble is their radiation is too small for the large rooms with high ceilings and drafty windows. Food is O.K. but nothing to cheer about, but they certainly serve it most stylishly and with good china, silver and crystal. Most waiters wear tuxedos and the waitresses are always attractive in black uniforms with white aprons, collars, cuffs and frills on their heads. I surely will miss decorating the house and wrapping packages this Christmas and above all we will miss seeing our families, relatives and dear friends, but we will make up for all this in 1960, we hope. Meredith joins me in sending our love and God's Blessings to all of you. Bon Noite (Portuguese Good Night) Meredith & Charlotte |