A bunch of pictures, taken on an iPhone 16 Pro mostly using the Halide app, then processed in Lightroom.
The Explora
We joined a repositioning cruise from Miami to Barcelona on the Explora 1. After seeing a sunset over Miami in our review mirror we started across the Atlantic.
We spent a day in the Azores…was going to be two but the captain held the ship back in the western Atlantic for an extra day to stay out of some choppy weather. The azores are not tropical but warmish and really green.
We took a day trip to Évora, about an hour and a half east of Lisbon. This provincial town had some ancient megalith circles nearby (think small stone henge), which reportedly have a resonant audio frequency of around 110 Hz (the A exactly two octaves below reference A440, how weird is that!). Also, a charming town, with a slightly creepy chapel.
Not the first time in Barcelona for us, and we noticed that overtouristing really is a thing (La Rambla is now just a non-stop stream of tourist humanity in both directions — that of course we made worse). But still some interesting nooks and crannies.
Dianne found this beautiful old hotel (house of the converted moor) just up from the River Darro below the Alhambra. Several windows in our room (two in the bathroom) with gorgeous views over the rooftops.
Carmenes
Beautiful old courtyarded homes that are scattered across the old Albaicín neighborhood.
Alhambra
The huge old fortress/city that dominates Granada. Irving Washington’s love letter to the “old pile” is everywhere – and for good reason, it’s a great read.
South central town, important during the Al-Andalus (moorish ruled Spain), with a huge and beautiful mosque converted to and incorporating a catherdral.
Another great hotel find by Dianne. Across from the mosque. Really…right across. Plus, it had roman ruins inside the hotel! And philosophical quotes (in multiple languages) on the corridor walls.
Like the carmenes of Granada, beautiful courtyard homes but with an even more extreme floral obsession.
Battle of the Flowers
Stumbled across this holy week parade – with flowers thrown at passers-by (Dianne got one).
House of Sepharad
Museum of the Jewish quarter of Córdoba. The Sephardic culture flourished there, peaking in the period of the 10th to 12th centuries, before periods of forced conversions and ultimately expulsion in 1492. Some intense stories and perspectives.
A new Spanish word to learn! Blackout. The country went dark as we were trying to board a train for Madrid. We spend the night with a few hundred of our closest friends on the station floor (under emergency light till about 2 AM when that went out too).
Madrid
A night on a food tour in the La Latina neighborhood.
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