We got here in time for the annual festivities this year and as Spanish cultural parties go, it was colorful, which I think was how I described the last party in Jerez a week ago. Seems to be a weekly thing over here, colorful parties, parades, song and dance, food and drink, and of course horses everywhere. I was tempted to make this post a pirate theme, but I did that earlier with the lame parrot thing and while the dress looks sort of ‘pirate-ish’, they are actually bandits. Could be called land-pirates I suppose. Is that a thing? And that is what the Romantica festival is really about. Bandoleros. …
Jerez – Fare Thee Well
Our month here is at an end and we will miss this place. And we’re leaving in style, weather-wise as it has been in the md 30s for the past week. We took in the Cathedral de Jerez and the Cathedral of San Miguel a couple of days ago and as old churches go, these are pretty spectacular and well worth the tour. Amazing construction, very beautiful buildings, and you feel in awe just being inside them. Wandering around the streets and squares we would often come across interesting cultural activities such as the groups of people singing or, for want of a better word, mariachi-style bands marching up…
Cadiz – A Walk on the Promenade
We had a 5-day stopover in Cadiz due to airBnB logistics. Last year we mentioned that 3 days in Cadiz was probably more than enough and we’re sticking to that. It’s pretty in Cadiz and the weather is very nice but there’s not a lot to do except eat out and it’s always overrun with cruise ship tourists. The highlight for us was a day walk along the extensive promenade that almost encircles old/new Cadiz. We didn’t make it as far as the nature preserve which would have been interesting I suppose, but we got lazy and by the 3rd day we were just waiting to get back to Jerez…
Jerez – Episode II – Return of the Clan
Well, it could be a Star Wars episode. Darth Vader and the Imperial storm troopers certainly wouldn’t be too out of place in the street festivities. Yes, it’s Holy Week again here in Spain and the hooded hordes are everywhere. It’s a big deal in Southern Spain over Easter as we saw last year in Granada, Cordoba, and Seville and Jerez is no exception. The parades, put on by the many brotherhoods, wind through the narrow streets and the cacophony of the beating drums can be heard for miles. Today is Easter Sunday and we should give thanks, mostly for the fact that the Klan competition is over. On Good…
Lagos
Lagos is located at the western end of the Algarve and much more rugged geography-wise than Tavira where we were last year. The coastline, with its long sandy beaches has some spectacular cliffs, coves, and high waves. Lagos’ history goes back a couple of thousand years to the Celts and the Carthaginians and later was home to Henry the Navigator. It was at one point, so I’m told, the center of the European slave trade. Now it’s just a top vacation destination spot. You’d think that with all that activity over the centuries combined with the beautiful location and nice weather, Lagos would be a big city on the Ocean,…
Lisbon Streets
The time is almost up. Three weeks have gone by quickly but, there’s always next year. Most of the photos we’ve taken are of the street kind; glimpses of people and day to day activity. Lisbon’s very laid back and with the weather being endless days of blue sky and sunshine, it made it easy to walkabout and point the camera. We walked to the LxFactory market one day. That was a 17km hike so good thing we are in reasonable shape. It’s an old run-down factory district which now houses trendy IT offices for the working millennials. On Sunday’s there’s a market and a whole lot of food joints. …
La La Lisbon
We’re back. It’s a good thing, ‘cause we like it here. I know most of our friends in BC and Alberta are going to be waving Mr. Puppet Finger at the computer screen when they read this but…sorry. With a month of snow in Vancouver and the rest of Canada colder than parts of the Antarctic, it’s nice to feel the warmth again. It was a little cooler though when we got here (if you call 16 – 18 with some showers cooler) but that was ok since we needed 2 days to get over the jet lag. We’re staying in the same place as last time which is 30…
Sechelt – Retrospective
As I write this, we are currently in Lisbon and we must say, it’s nice to be back in Europe. Decent weather (18 with sun and some showers here and there), Mediterranean food, and cheap beer. We haven’t written much in the past 3 months as, well, there wasn’t a whole lot to write about. Sechelt was ok but it’s a small west coast town and there’s not a lot to do there. It was also winter (and still is judging by the weather report), so even less to do. But we had a dog to look after and we continued our ‘european-like’ lifestyle which was get up whenever, leisurely…
Antigua – Volcano Redux
It was nice to get back to Antigua, more things to do and a better selection of groceries. And we are glad to be not quite ‘under’ Volcan de Fuego. It started acting up while we were in San Marcos and forced the evacuation of about 4000 people (see the BBC report here ). Fortunately, the activity seems to be on the other side away from Antigua and even the ash blows out toward the ocean. But it’s pretty spectacular even so. It quieted down a little when we got back but the ash clouds during the day are massive and the lava at night sometimes looks like fireworks. We…
Lake Atitlan
Wow! This is one of the most picturesque areas we’ve ever been in. A large volcanic crater lake surrounded by….more volcanoes. Some active-ish. The last one erupted sometime in the mid-1800’s. The safety odds are probably better than being next to Volcan de Fuego but the lake mysteriously rises and falls every few years, like about 50 feet, so you never know. When it was formed some 80,000 years ago the ash covered an area ranging from Florida in the north to Ecuador in the south. It is very beautiful though and considered by many to be the most beautiful lake in the world. Tourists come here for the mystic qualities,…