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Newsletter #25 - December 5-11, 1959 |
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Newsletter #25
December 4-11, 1959 Mailed Spain, 12/11/59 Rec'd. Philadelphia ap. 12/21/59 Buenos Dias (Hello, in Spanish) We left Seville this morning [December 5] on a beautiful sunshiny day and drove through some very lovely country with miles and miles of olive groves and rows and rows of vineyards, with pretty villages of white homes and their quaint donkey carts, oxen and mules working in the fields. We drove into the town of Cadiz, which is situated at the extreme southwest corner of Spain on a narrow peninsula jutting out into the sea. This city besides being attractive has the old city entrance and a very old convent of splendid architectural design which seems to dominate the town. From lovely Cadiz we drove along the beautiful coast of the Atlantic Ocean and saw many outstanding sea views and fishing villages. Before we came to Algeciras we saw the famous Rock of Gibraltar and we are staying at our first motel, where we see the Rock of Gibraltar by looking out of our front window. It is beautiful at night, with all the many colored lights and ships. Tomorrow we will leave our luggage at the motel and drive over to Gibraltar for the day and hope for sunshine. (This trip so far has not been too good to us weather wise, since we've left Hawaii, but we are enjoying fine health most of the time, which makes up for the poor weather.) We had lots of time this afternoon, so we've purchased our plane tickets for our trip to the Canary Islands. (We will go to Las Palmas and Tenerife and stop at Casa Blanca on our way back.) We must leave from Madrid which makes the trip more expensive than from Seville as we planned, because if we left from Seville we would only have a two-day or nine-day trip and we wanted more than two days but less than nine, so we must use the Madrid schedule. Today [December 6] we visited Gibraltar which is a rock or an isolated mountain ridge in the form of a promontory, which is linked to the Continent by a low, narrow isthmus, barely one mile long and a half mile wide. It is situated on the southern coast of Spain at the Mediterranean Sea and the territory has been a British Crown Colony since the Spanish War of Succession in 1704. It has strategic importance as a naval base and from Europa Point, Rosia Bay and Camp Bay you see many scenic views of the harbor and the town of Algeciras. From here you can take a boat to Tangiers which takes two and a half hours, but since you cannot come back the same day we decided against this trip. We had a very nice time shopping and photographing here but since the English are sticky about anything you bring to the island and the Spanish are fussy about what you bring back, we left luggage etc. back at the motel to avoid trouble with customs. We visited the City of Malaga today [December 7], which is famous for its sweet wine with the same name as the city. This is a busy industrial city situated on the shores of the beautiful blue Mediterranean waters in the midst of a fertile countryside. From Algeciras to Malaga we saw lovely palm trees, lowers and a wide range of tropical fruits, vineyards and numerous lovely summer and winter resort towns which were as outstanding and glamorous as resorts in Florida. This city is known as the Pearl of the Mediterranean and we were deeply impressed by its beautiful gardens and lovely wide streets and architectural treasures. It boasts a Renaissance Cathedral, an 11th Century Moorish Alcazaba on a hill which was once the site of a Phoenician fortress, and the remains of a castle known as Gibralfaro. |
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Newsletter #25
We hiked the steep hill to the remains of this castle where there is a magnificent view across the bay and the fertile plain to the mountains. Here you can see right into the bull ring and take splendid pictures of the city, but it was too cloudy for photography. Weather again is very bad today and we have left the coast of the Mediterranean to head through a huge ring of mountains. As far as the eye can see you view rise after rise of hills covered with well kept olive trees. Meredith and I are definitely sure that the world will never run out of olives since between Greece and Spain we've encountered enough trees that we feel there is at least one olive tree for every family in the universe. We are now in Granada which is beautifully situated at the eastern limit of a very fertile valley beneath the towering peaks of the snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains which rise to a height of over 11'000 feet. It is generally stated that Granada is unique among the cities of Europe and is full of some of the world's supreme architectural treasures. The most famous of these is the Alhambra whose construction began under Mohammed V in the early 13th century and this lovely place still retains unscathed all the delicate beauty of seven centuries ago. In fact, it takes no effort of imagination to picture the cultivated court of Moorish Kings living in this lovely structure where you view gardens and fountains from every window and from this high hilltop you get majestic views of the city and its surrounding mountains. We also saw several other lovely buildings and several red stone turrets which once guarded the ancient walls and the fabulous gardens which are beautifully kept. Near Granada we saw the gypsy dwellings which were caves but we did not go to Sacromonte which is one of the largest gypsy cave sections remaining in Europe as you had to walk back a narrow passage past many gypsies and we did not trust it alone. Still another gray rainy day [December 8] and we were on our way to Madrid when we decided to go over to Toledo, a city which is religiously speaking, the Rome of Spain. It was once the capital and seat of the court when the Spanish Empire reached its culminating levels of prestige and is built high on a hilltop and almost completely surrounded by the Tagus River and encircled by a Seventh Century visigothic wall with its handsome ancient citadel in ruins from Spain's Civil War. We went into this citadel called Alcazar and before it was bombed it must have been beautiful. Its steep winding streets leading up from the old gates to the picturesque market square, offers lovely views over the low Castilian plains beyond the Tagus. As you climb these narrow streets there is a beautiful old monument on practically every block which arrest the attention of any tourist. The greatest treasures of Toledo are here — 11 Greco paintings and the lovely home of El Greco, which is filled with many of his works. (His famous "View of Toledo" and "Tears of St. Peter" were most outstanding.) In the Cathedral which is massive and gorgeous we enjoyed the music of several choirs as they were having a mass for a Holy Day known as Our Lady of the Conception Day, or as one native Spaniard told us Mothers Day, which is always celebrated on December 8th. Toledo is also famous for its gold Damascene and we were fortunate enough to witness a few men doing this type of intricate work. Meredith took a few flash pictures which we hope will give you an idea of its delicate craftsmanship. (I also purchased two rings of this damascene which is similar to the jewelry we saw hand made in Kyoto, Japan.) We also visited the El Greco Museum, where we saw El Greco and Goya paintings of out standing beauty, The San Vicente Church houses El Greco's "Assumption of the Virgin", which we saw only from - 2 -
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Newsletter #25
a distance as this church was also having mass. It was really interesting to see all the natives dressed for church while at the same time all the shops were open for business. Two other outstanding churches we saw were San Juan de los Reyes, built by Ferdinand and Isabella, with a most elaborate interior and the Church of Santo Tome, both housing El Greco paintings, also. This entire city has been declared a national monument and we are so glad we included its beauty in our trip. Meredith took only a limited number of pictures here as the light and sky were not conducive to good photography. Today [December 9] we arrived in Madrid and we still had heavy overcast skies, which was certainly a shame as we had some lovely scenic views from Toledo to Madrid. If I were a millionaire. I've decided one thing I'd like to do for Portugal and Spain and that is buy yards and yards of rope and then travel through the farm areas and small villages and distribute lengths for wash lines for every housewife. The reason being I've seen so many Spanish and Portuguese women washing under severe handicaps, such as using small puddles of water or streams miles from their homes and then placing the wash on tree limbs, briar bushes, cactus plants and many times on the ground to dry. We admire the cleanliness of these two races considering the lack of facilities and conveniences we take for granted. Even a cold water, non-heated flat would surely seem like a palace to these people in the village and farm areas. This is not true though of the cities like Madrid, Seville, Cadiz, Malaga, etc., — their homes and new housing areas are really luxurious, on the exterior at least. Madrid is a beautiful capital city and has a highly individual personality with strongly marked contrasts. You find traffic-filled avenues with beautiful squares and monuments, while side by side with a super designed modern skyscraper you will see a 17th century church or the baroque entrance to the house of some noble family. The ancient quarters have narrow streets, plazas and buildings, while the new part of the city consists of beautiful broad avenues, clean, well-paved streets, green promenades, plazas and parks. The modern houses with their ornamented balconies and arcades are especially attractive and most of their city has broad streets with huge apartment houses, schools and public buildings, galore. The Prado Museum is Madrid's pride for this is universally recognized as one of the two or three richest art galleries in the world. Its Retire Park with an extensive garden containing 353 acres and statues of heroic Spanish Monarchs, its ponds and fountains and artificial lake are most outstanding. We visited the Plaza de Toros (Bullring) which is a very outstanding building of unusual beauty and also University City which has one of the finest campuses of its type in Europe. It embraces all the arts and sciences and was completely destroyed during the Spanish Civil War and was entirely rebuilt since 1939. Madrid's Royal Palace is a magnificent building which was constructed on the ruins of the ancient Alcazar; this palace until 1931 always housed the kings and queens of Spain but General Franco, who is the chief of State, resides at El Pardo, huge state-owned grounds nine miles from Madrid. - 3 -
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Newsletter #25
To name all the wonderful monuments, parks, public buildings, cathedrals, etc. which we have viewed in Madrid (usually in the rain or on a cloudy day) would take pages, but we will say even after four days of bad weather in Madrid we think the city is outstanding, artistic and even majestic. We will be coming back to Madrid next week for at least one more full day and perhaps we will get sunshine for pictures that day. Today [December 10] we drove to El Escorial, about 35 miles northwest of Madrid, and the sky was lovely and blue when we left the city at 9:30, but it just poured rain the entire time we were there. El Escorial is an architectural masterpiece erected by Philip II after Spain's victory at San Quentin in 1557. The monastery is in the shape of a Greek Cross with many chapels and it contains the Pantheon in which rest the mortal remains of all the Spanish Kings and their Queens from Carlos I to Alfonso XII, with the exception of two. It is of black marble and bronze with an altar in the center. Its walls are lined with urns containing the remains of the kings and queens of Spain. (No pictures again, as Meredith could not keep the rain from the camera lens.) On this trip we also saw very faintly the large memorial to those who fell during the Civil War. It is a gigantic cross 400 feet high and has only recently been completed. (It is called the El Monumento a Los Caidos) (Between 35 to 40 miles from Madrid.) Tomorrow [December 12] begins another newsletter week and we leave Madrid via plane to Las Palmas and later Tenerife. We did want to tell you that Madrid works night and day and even during siesta (1:00 to 4:00) to keep their lovely boulevards and streets clean. They use the fire hoses with their terrific force and brushes of unusual size and texture. You never see leaves, paper or debris of any type on the streets anywhere in the city of Madrid, as they seem to be cleaning all hours. Another nice feature of Spain is the no billboard ruling they have, although they do advertise by painting on buildings occasionally. So far we have been very impressed with both Portugal and Spain and we certainly hope we'll have the opportunity to return in several years to be here during summer and good weather. The Spanish food, which is cooked with lots of olive oil, is still agreeing with us and we are feeling fine. We have met several different groups of Americans and English tourists who have gotten quite sick in Spain from the food they ate, so we feel fortunate as we've been here three weeks and still feel tip top. We must get to bed early tonight as we leave on an early plane to Tenerife and we will have a five hour flight, so I'll sign off for this week and hope you are all feeling fine and not too tired from the busy Christmas season, as I know Christmas will be over by the time you read this letter, although there are still two more weeks for us to wait for the big day. (We wish we were back in the Holy Lands for Christmas Week, as we hear it is really a wonderful experience to be there at that time.) Until next week, Buenos Noches (Good Night), Meredith and Charlotte - 4 -
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