Espagna
Andalucía
The real Andalucía is behind the coastal mountains of the south, in the river basin of Guadalquivir, around the historical cities of Sevilla, Córdoba and Granada. It is a country of endless sunshine and lassitude, fiestas and music. It is the country of bullfights and flamenco dances, lemons and sherry. The most agreeable months are March-April and September-October.
This is the home of gazpacho, the cold tomato soup with olive oil and vinegar, garlic and onions, often with bread crumbs, in endless variations. This is the home of the iced refreshment drink, sangría, containing red wine, carbonated water, fruit juice and a drop of brandy.
Sherry originates from Andalucía. The best sherry is fino, scraping dry, pale and light. It is the pre-prandial drink par excellence, emphasizing taste rather than numbing it. Real amontillado is darker and heavier, suitable for closing a meal.
Costa del Sol
The main tourist center of Spain, a Mediterranean coastline of nice beaches and garish hotels from Cabo de Gata to Algeciras. Málaga is the major city and Marbella the most stylish resort. Torremolinos is the main tourist center and we start from there.
The first leg of our Andalusia drive is 110 km and brings us from Torremolinos on Costa del Sol to Ronda. We drive on the cost east through Malaga and turn inland at San Pedro de Alcántara on the road to Ronda. It passes through the beautiful mountain landscapes of Serranía de Ronda
Ronda
The town is built on a mountain 750 meters above sea level at Tajo, the gorge of Guadelevín, which runs through the center of Ronda. The old town is on a separate rock and the newer one is on the edge of the mountain. There are two bridges between the two town parts. The older is Puente Romano and the younger Puente Nuevo. Both offer grandiose views into the gorge.
Take time to wander in the pedestrian alleys of the old town. There is an old, massive church with a Moorish minaret. Also the Renaissance Mondragón palace, the Salvatiera palace and the Moorish baths, which remind us that Ronda was the capital of one of the Moorish states in Spain. It is easy to walk between these places as the city center is only 15 hectares.
We have lunch at Don Miguel on the Tajo cliffs, beside Puente Nuevo.
Parador de Ronda
Plaza de España. Phone: 287 7500. Fax: 287 8188. Price: Pts.15800 ($126) without breakfast. 71 rooms.
A convenient abode for travelers, directly beside the Puenta Nuevo, formerly the town hall of Ronda. There are short distances from the hotel to Plaza de Toros and Carrera de Espinel and over the Puenta Nuevo to the old town center
Don Miguel
Plaza de España 3. Phone: 287 1090. Fax: 287 8377. Price: Pts.7000 ($56) for two. All major cards.
At the cliff’s edge beside Puenta Nouvo, a perfect observation point in Ronda, offering the best food in town.
The chef, Miguel Coronel, is a specialist on old receipes from the mountains of Andalucía.
• Revuelto de setas = omelet with mushroom.
• Faisán de la serranía rondena = pheasant from the mountains.
Puente Nuevo
One of the best vantage points for viewing the gorge.
In the newer town, 100 meters from Puente Nuevo, is Plaza de Toros, one of the oldest bullfight arenas in Spain, from 1785. Spanish bullfighting got it present form in Ronda. It was Francisco Romero, born in 1698, who formulated the complicated rules. His son, Pedro Romero became the most illustrious bullfighter in the history of Spain.
A quaint street, Carrera de Espinel, with old houses, leads off the arena.
From Ronda there are 86 km to Arcos de la Frontera. We drive through a mountainous area with the famous “white” towns glimmering in the sunshine, such as Castellar, Vejer and Zahara. This was for some the frontier between Islamic and Christian Spain and many towns still have “de la Frontera” or “on the frontier” in their name.
Arcos de la Frontera
The town sits on a rock above Guadalete river. The best view is from the main square which is on the edge of the rock.
The Plateresque church of Santa María is on the square. Also the hotel of Parador de Arcos de la Frontera in Casa del Corregidor, with some balconies hanging over the edge of the cliff.
Parador de Arcos de la Frontera
Plaza de España. Phone: 70 0500. Fax: 70 1116. Price: Pts.14200 ($114) without breakfast. All major cards. 24 rooms.
One of the famous Paradors of Spain, in the old Casa del Corregidor building on the main square in town.
It has a magnificent view from the dining room and from guest room balconies on the cliff’s edge. The cooking is rather good, specializing in Andalucian food.
• Gazpacho = cold tomato soup with vegetables.
From here there are 91 km to Sevilla.
Sevilla
The main city of Andalucía and in earlier centuries the main city of Spain, a Moorish city for more than five centuries, 712-1248, as testified by the city castle and the church tower. Sevilla became rich following the discovery of America in the end of the 15th C. The river Guadalquivir was navigable to Sevilla at that time.
Voyagers like Amerigo Vespucci, Cristóbal Cólon (Columbus) and Fernao de Magalhaes (Magellan) were here. This is also the city of Don Júan, Don Quixote, Cervantes, Velázques and Carmen. It is a lively city with over half a million people and lots of tourists. The World Fair of 1992 was held on a Guadalquivir island in Sevilla.
The famous Semana Santo starts at Palm Sunday and continues with processions for a week. Brotherhoods compete in marking the most decorative wagons with towers and sculpture. People dance and sing between the wagons. Feria de Abril is a festive week in April, when people raise tents, dine and dance and sing. Sevilla is also the home of the flamenco and sevilliana dances.
We start our walk at Catedral de Santa María.
Catedral de Santa María
Avenue de la Constitución.
The cathedral dwarfs the surroundings with its powerful tower and extensive flying buttresses, the third largest church in Europe, after San Pietro in Rome and St Paul’s in London. Everything of importance in Sevilla is near the cathedral, built in Late Gothic style in 1401-1506, after the destruction of an earlier Islamic mosque.
The western front with its complicated portals is well-known.
The cathedral is entered from the other side.
Catedral de Santa María interior
Hours: Open 10:30-13 and 16-18:30.
Enormous and cold inside, 56 meters in height, with 75 stained windows, some of them the original ones from the start of the 16th C.
Capilla Real on the left of the entrance is the burial place of a few Spanish kings.
At the southern end is the tomb of Christopher Columbus, carried by four figures representing the four kingdoms of Spain, Aragón, Castilla, León and Navarra.
Giralda
Hours: Open 10:30-13 and 16-18:30.
Beside the cathedral eastern entrance, the late 12th C. church tower was originally a minaret of an earlier mosque. It is 98 meters in height, wide and rectangular, as usual in Western Islam, built of pink brick.
The style is Moorish, from the reign of the Almohads, who were religious hardliners and opponents of gaudiness. The tower is therefore very formal in design, with regular pointed arches, horseshoe windows and delicate ornaments. A decorative top floor with a Christian belfry was added in the 16th C.
A spiral path inside the tower leads you up to an excellent view of the city.
We go to the north side of the cathedral to enter Patio de los Naranjos
Patio de los Naranjos
A garden of orange trees, laid out in Moorish times, a typical part of an Islamic mosque.
To get from the cathedral to the city castle we cross Plaza del Triunfo, with Casa Lonja on the right side.
Lonja
Hours: Open Monday-Saturday 10-13.
The Museum of West-Indies, Archivo General de Indias, in a palace that was built in 1572 as an exchange when Sevilla was the main city of America voyages. It was designed by Juan de Herrera who also designed the royal palace of El Escorial.
Old navigation charts and charts of towns in Latin America are in the museum.
The city castle, Alcázar, is in front of us.
Alcázar
Hours: Open Monday-Friday 9-12:45 and 15-17:45, Saturday-Sunday 9-13.
The oldest part of the castle is from Moorish times, the wall between the outer courtyard, Patio de la Montería, and the middle courtyard, Patio del León. Otherwise the castle is mostly from the reign of the Christian King Pedro the Cruel, 1364-1366.
The castle was designed in Mudejar style, clearly influence by the Alhambra in Granada, and the craftsmen were Mudejar Moors. Pedro the Cruel did not understand Arabic and did not know that their decorative scrollwork on the walls says: “There is no victor except Allah”.
Moorish style survived in Spain in competition with French and Italian styles for a long time after the Moors had been evicted from Spain. Alcázar in Sevilla is the best and the most straightforward example of Moorish style from the Christian era.
We go from the middle courtyard to the inner courtyard, Patio de las Doncellas.
Patio de las Doncellas
The ground floor of the inner courtyard is in Moorish Alhambra style with pointed arches on all sides. An upper floor of a mismatching arcade was added in the 16th C.
Behind the palace there is a large garden with rows of shrubs and trees, ponds and flowers and the garden house of Pedro the Cruel. Another garden, less formal, is on the left side.
The district to the east of the cathedral is Santa Cruz.
Santa Cruz
The Jewish ghetto in the Middle Ages became the district of nobility in the 17th C. It still is the quarter of well-off people who live in well-preserved houses with peaceful courtyards and narrow pedestrian alleys.
Lots of cafés, bars and restaurants are in Santa Cruz, especially on the squares, such as Dona Elvira, Venerables Sacredotes and Santa Cruz with a statue of Don Juan.
We walk to Plaza Dona Elvira.
Plaza Dona Elvira
The main square of Santa Cruz, a popular site of restaurants and cafés, accessible by pedestrians only. It has an Andalucian atmosphere of lassitude.
Alfonso XIII
San Fernando 2. Phone: 422 2850. Fax: 421 6033. Price: Pts.35000 ($280) without breakfast. All major cards. 129 rooms.
The classy hotel in Sevilla, a large palace 300 meters from the cathedral and just in front of the old tobacco factory of Carmen, now housing the University of Sevilla. Alfonso XIII was built on the occasion of the World Fair in 1929 and has ever since been the preferred abode of the rich and famous.
A nice tiled courtyard with a fountain and Moorish arcades graces the ground floor. There are lots of Moorish decorations. The mayor parties in town are held at the hotel. It has good parking facilities.
Fernando III
San José 21. Phone: 421 7307. Fax: 422 0246. Price: Pts.11600 ($93) without breakfast. All major cards.
A practical hotel in the old luxury district of Santa Cruz, 300 meters from the cathedral.
A modern building furnished in country style, sporting a swimming pool and rather large rooms, well equipped. Rooms with a balcony are preferable. The hotel has good parking facilities.
Albahaca
Plaza Santa Cruz 12. Phone: 422 0714. Fax: 456 1204. Hours: Closed Sunday. Price: Pts.10600 ($85) for two. All major cards.
A beautiful city mansion in the middle of Santa Cruz, offering versatile cooking.
It combines beautiful ambience, good service and the best food of Santa Cruz.
• Sopa de frutos del mar = seafood soup.
• Lenguado a la naranja = sole in orange sauce.
• Entrecote de ternera grillé con trufas del olivar y verduras naturales = grilled veal entrecote.
• Mousse de queso con salsa de frambuesa = cheese mousse with raspberry sauce.
Egana Oriza
San Fernando 41. Phone: 422 7211. Fax: 421 0429. Hours: Closed Saturday lunch, Sunday. Price: Pts.13800 ($110) for two. All major cards.
The best restaurant of Sevilla is in the center, beautifully designed in an old house under the city walls.
The Basque cook is José Mari Egana, mixing Basque traditions and Andalusian material, such as game from the surrounding areas.
• Sopa de bacalao = saltfish soup.
• Ajo blanco = cold tomato and garlic soup with melon, a kind of gazpacho.
• Revuelto de patatas, ajetes, setas y pimientos = scrambled eggs with a potato and mushroom filling.
• Chipirones = small squid in flaky pastry.
• Pichón de Bresse asado con salsa de vino tinto = braised pigeons in red wine sauce.
• Helado de queso y miel con crema de nueces = cheese ice-cream in honey.
Hostería del Laurel
Plaza de los Venerables 5. Phone: 422 0295. Price: Pts.7800 ($62) for two.
An old and a traditional Andalusian restaurant on two floors in a Santa Cruz building and on the pavement outside.
There are tiled walls and arched doors, lamps of wrought iron and wooden sculptures.
• Espárragos = asparagus with three sauces.
• Tournedos Hostería del Laurel = beef tournedos in house style.
Isla
Arfe 25. Phone: 421 2631. Fax: 456 2219. Hours: Closed Monday. Price: Pts.10000 ($80) for two. All major cards.
Near the cathedral, but on the other side of Constitución avenue, in a side street, specializing in deep-fried and grilled seafood, mainly from Galicia and the coast of Cadiz.
Popular with local people, unknown by tourists, who seldom happen to be in this street. The furnishings are plain and the conversations are loud. Service is very good.
• Jamón de Cumbres Mayores = raw ham.
• Revuelto de salmón con champiñones y gambas = scrambled salmon with mushroom and shrimp.
• Tocino de cielo = crème caramel.
San Marco
Cuna 6. Phone: 421 2440. Hours: Closed Monday lunch, Sunday. Price: Pts.11000 ($88) for two. All major cards.
One of the best restaurants of town, about 600 meters straight north from the cathedral.
Situated in a beautiful town house from the 18th C., offering unusually good service. Asana Ramacciotti cocks in an Italian way in the kitchen.
• Boullabese a nuestro estilo = seafood soup.
• Couscous de pescado = fish couscous.
• Pato con aceitunas = duck in olive oil.
• Ravioli rellenos de lubina en salsa de almejas = ravioli with sea bass and shell sauce.
From Sevilla we drive 143 km to Córdoba.
Córdoba
Emirs from Damascus reigned here from 719 and kept power until 1236. It was for a long time the major Moorish city in Spain and a celebrated center of learning. It was the home of the famous Jewish physician Maimónides and the equally famous Moorish philosopher Averroes. At one time there were 300 mosques in Córdoba. The Mezquita is a memorial to this glorious past.
The city declined when the Moors were evicted in the 15th C and the Christians took over, allowing the irrigation system to disintegrate. It is now a city of 300,000 inhabitants.
The action is in Córdoba in May. The celebration is similar to the April celebration in Sevilla, with a week of music and dance. The patios celebration is also in May, with competition between house-owners on the most beautiful flower arrangements in their patios, which are open to the public for the occasion.
The Mezquita is in the center of Córdoba.
Mezquita
A true wonder of the world, built in 785 and broke at that time new ground in the history of architecture, as its horseshoe arches have a height of two storeys. It gives an impression of greater height and space. Later the mosque was enlarged several times, always in the same style.
Basically the Mezquita resembles other congregation mosques. Outside it is surrounded with powerful walls. Inside them the conventional garden of orange trees, Patio de los Naranjos, is a forecourt with an impressive minaret and a cleansing fountain.
We enter the mosque.
Mezquita interior
Hours: Open in summer 10:30-13:30 and 16-19, in winter 10:30-13:30 and 15:30-17:30.
A dense wood of 850 columns in 10 rows, seeming at places to be endless. The columns support double Moorish horseshoe arches, striped with alternate white limestone and red brick. As a whole the mosque is a silent dream world of endless refraction of light, changing at every footstep.
At the far end there is a Qiblah for prayers and the sacred Mihrab niche which shows the direction to Mecca. Also complicated series of interweaving arches.
An ugly Rococo cathedral has been forcibly erected in the middle of the mosque. The church stands in grotesque excess in comparison with the simple Moorish elegance.
When leaving the courtyard of orange trees we turn left into Torrijos and walk alongside the Mezquita to Amador de los Ríos, where we turn right and walk to the entrance of the Alcázar.
Alcázar
Amador de los Ríos. Hours: Open in summer 9:30-13:30 & 17-20, in winter 9:30-13:30 & 16-19.
The city castle is from the 14th C.
The most interesting part are the Moorish gardens behind the castle, on uneven ground with fountains, flowing water and ponds. It is a good place for resting after sightseeing in Córdóba.
We now return to the Mezquita for a walk in Judería.
Judería
The Jewish Ghetto surrounds the Mezquita with its narrow, winding pedestrian alleys and potted plants on the walls. We start our walk at the minaret corner of the Mezquita square. We enter the corner alley, turn right into Deanes and then left into Romero to the square of Salazar where we turn left and walk through a narrow alley to the square of Maímonides.
The museum of bullfighting is in Maímonides, open 9:30-13:30 and 17-20. We walk alongside the museum, past the handicraft market behind the museum and past one of the last two remaining Jewish synagogues in Spain, this one in a 14th C. house on the left side of the street, open Tuesday-Saturday 10-14 and 16-19. Finally we return by the same way to the Mezquita.
From the northern corner of the Mezquita forecourt we walk into the alley of Bosco and immediately turn right into Calleje de las Flores with beautiful potted flowers on the walls. At the end of the alley there is a small square with an excellent view to the minaret of the Mezquita. We then return the same way to the Mezquita.
Conquistador
Magistral González Francés 15. Phone: 48 1102. Fax: 47 4677. Price: Pts.16000 ($128) without breakfast. All major cards. 103 rooms.
The best hotel in Córdoba, a recent one, in Moorish style.
Maimónides
Torrijos 4. Phone: 47 1500. Price: Pts.13700 ($110) with breakfast. All major cards. 60 rooms.
An economical hotel just in front of the Mezquita.
There is a car park under the hotel.
Room no. 208 had a wonderful view over the main street in town, the minaret of the Mezquita and the lively entrance to the popular restaurant El Caballo Rojo. The room is luxuriously outfitted with leather furniture. The bathroom is in good condition, but the air condition is rather weak.
Caballo Rojo
Cardenal Herrero 28. Phone: 47 5375. Fax: 47 4742. Price: Pts.9000 ($72) for two. All major cards.
Possibly the best restaurant of Andalucía, in a prime location just in front of the minaret of the Mezquita.
A simple restaurant on two floors at the end of a long courtyard. The service is good and the prices are economical. The popularity is such that there are often queues on the sidewalk. Chef Francisco Medina Navarro specializing in old receipes from Moorish times.
• Alcachofas a la montillana = artichokes of the house.
• Espárragos blancos de Córdoba a la Crema de almendras = asparagus with almond cream.
• rape Mozárabe = monkfish in Moorish raisin sauce.
• Cordero a la miel = lamb in honey.
• Surtido des postres = mixed desserts.
Churrasco
Romero 16. Phone: 29 0819. Fax: 29 4081. Hours: Closed Thursday. Price: Pts.8600 ($69) for two. All major cards.
One of the very best restaurants in Córdoba, economical in price, situated in the Jewish ghetto just over 100 meters from the minaret of the Mezquita.
It is in four rooms on two floors in a beautiful city mansion with a courtyard for alfresco dining. It has also one of the best wine lists in the whole of Andalucía. It is always busy and always popular with the locals. Rafael Carrillo is the chef.
• Jamón de pato = marinated duck.
• Salmon al vapor de las finas hierbas = steamed salmon with mayonnaise.
• Bacalao al estilo del chef = saltfish of the house.
• Magret de pato en salsa de dátiles = duck breast.
• Buey churrasco = beef from the coal grill.
• Cerdo churrasco = pork from the coal grill.
• Iles flottante = meringue.
Next we drive 166 km from Córdoba to Granada. We drive through the flatlands of Andalucía in the direction of the mountains.
Granada
Mainly famous for Alhambra, the most beautiful and important monument in Spain, perched on a hill above the city center. The city of 250,000 inhabitants sits at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, which shows its white snowcaps on a good day.
This was the last bastion of the Moors, when Christian kings pushed their power southwards. The Moors fled to Granada from Córdoba when it fell in 1236 and held on to power in Granada until 1492. Granada was an Islamic city for almost eight centuries and has now been Christian for only five centuries. Nothing remains from the time of the Moors except the palace of Alhambra.
We drive uphill to Alhambra.
Alhambra
Hours: Open Sunday-Monday, Wednesday and Friday 9:30-20, Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday 9:30-20:30 & 22-24.
The apex of Moorish architecture, the sole Moorish palace to survive almost intact to the present day. It reflects the desire of the sons of the deserts for an oasis of greenery and running water. The buildings themselves are a secondary matter, deferring to the open spaces, acting as frames around flowers, brooks and fountains. In and out becomes a united whole.
The building material is light, simple and transitory, an haphazard stucco mixture of brick, refuse and plaster. The landscape architecture and delicate ornaments are the focal point. It is surprising how the weak buildings have survived all these centuries and are now as sparkling as if they were abandoned yesterday.
To enter the Moorish palace, Palacio árabe, we pass the ugly and intruding palace of the Christian King Carlos V in a strict Renaissance style, clashing violently with the Moorish elegance. It is now a museum of history and art. Behind the ticket office is the oldest part of the complex, the 9th C. castle of Alcazaba, with singular views over Alhambra, Granada and Sierra Nevada.
We enter Palacio árabe and go to Patio de los Leones in the center of the palace.
Patio de los Leones
The delicate excess of intricate decorations in the arcades around the open-air gardens is well preserved. Sunlight reflects in the mathematically exact plastering rolls, beautifully colored porcelain tiles and in Arabic sayings. The ceilings sparkle with multicolored stalactites and a riot of wood-carvings.
Some of the rooms have roofs and others are in the open. There are several windows with views over the city. The most famous roofed room is Sala de Embajadores = the ambassadors’ room. The most famous open rooms are Patio de los Arrayanes = the courtyard of myrtles; and Patio de los Leones = the courtyard of lions. Alhambra is designed around these two courtyards.
From Patio de los Leones we enter the gardens, Jardínes del Partal, who extend with brooks and orange groves along the ridge of the hill to Torre del Agua, where Alhambra ends and Generalife begins.
We enter the gardens of Generalife.
Generalife
Hours: Open Sunday-Monday, Wednesday and Friday 9:30-20, Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday 9:30-20:30 & 22-24.
The summer palace of Alhambra with long walks, cordoned by cypress and laurel trees, rioting in blossoms in July and August. Otherwise the beauty of the flowers is at a zenith in May.
The small 14th C. summer palace is at the far end of the paths, offering a good view to Alhambra.
We leave Generalife and Alhambra and drive down to the city center to park near Catedral de Santa María and Capilla Real.
Catedral de Santa María
Hours: Open 10:30-13 & 16-19, in winter -18.
The 16th and 17th C. cathedral is entered by a footpath leading from the main street in the center, Vía de Colón. It was started in Gothic style but mainly built in Renaissance style.
It has a nave with two aisles on either side. An unusual, circular chapel is in the middle of the church, supposed to emulate the Church of the Holy Grave in Jerusalem.
Capilla Real is alongside the cathedral. It is entered from Vía de Colón on a footpath alongside the old exchange building, Lonja.
Capilla Real
Hours: Open 10:30-13 & 16-19, in winter -18.
A royal chapel in late Gothic style from the beginning of the 16th C., the burial place of Fernando and Isabel, who combined Aragón and Castilla to make a united Spain. The couple won their final victory over the Moors here in Granada and drove them out of Spain.
On the other side of the chapel is a Baroque City Hall from the 18th C.
To reach Alcaisería we walk on the footpath past Capilla Real and turn left.
Alcaisería
The ancient Moorish silk market, now a tourist bazaar with long arcades of boutiques.
The main market square in Granada, Plaza de Bibarrambla is at the other end of the Alcaisería.
We pick up the car in Via de Colón and follow signs out of town to Cartuija.
Cartuija
Hours: Open 10-13 & 16-19, in winter -18.
A Carthusian monastery on a hill above Granada, a perfect example of the exuberant Churriguera Baroque style of the late 17th C.
América
Real de la Alhambra 53. Phone: 22 7471. Fax: 22 7470. Hours: Closed November-February. Price: Pts.10000 ($80) without breakfast. All major cards. 13 rooms.
An economical hotel at the Alhambra entrance, surrounded by the Alhambra gardens, very clean and plain, built around a courtyard.
Parador de Granada
Alhambra. Phone: 22 1440. Fax: 22 2264. Price: Pts.23200 ($186) without breakfast. All major cards. 36 rooms.
A real dream of a hotel in the 15th C. monastery of San Francisco, surrounded by the Alhambra gardens on three sides. It is the flagship of the Spanish Paradors chain of hotels. The hotel is a gem inside out. The rooms are on two storeys around a peaceful courtyard and have a view to the Alhambra gardens, some of them also to the snow-capped mountains.
The cooking is also good, specializing in historical courses from Andalucía, such as: Gazpacho Andaluz = cold tomato soup; and Moorish courses, such as: Postre Albacain = Moorish dessert. Also: Habas con jamón = peas with dried ham; and: Tortilla del Sacromonte = omelet with brains, testicles and vegetables. Dinner for two costs 8500 pts.
Room no. 213 is large and with a spacious bathroom. All furnishings are luxurious.
Sevilla
Oficios 12. Phone: 22 1223. Hours: Closed Sunday dinner. Price: Pts.7500 ($60) for two.
One of the best restaurants in Granada is alongside the Capilla Real, furnished in typical Andalusian country style with large tiles, small pictures and platters on the walls, beams and lanterns in the ceiling.
Before the civil war intellectuals met here, such as Federico García Lorca, who was born in an nearby town. José Rodríguez López makes traditional Andalusian food in the kitchen.
• Sopa Sevilla = Hot milk soup with fish and shrimp.
• Tortilla Sacromonte = omelet with brains, testicles and vegetables.
• Jamón con habas = peas with ham bits.
From Granada we drive straight over the mountains to Costa del Sol and arrive at the coastal town of Almunécar. We drive on the coastal road through Nerja with its cave, all the way to Málaga. This leg from Granada to Málaga is 127 km.
Málaga
The main city of Costa del Sol, a township for 3000 years, already an important port in Roman and Phoenican times.
The twin castles of Alcazaba and Gibralfaro are on a cliff above the center of Málaga. We drive the winding road up to the cliff.
Parador Málaga-Gibralfaro
Gibralfaro. Phone: 222 1903. Fax: 22 1904. Price: Pts.12000 ($96) without breakfast. All major cards. 36 rooms.
One of the famous Spanish paradors, perching on the cliffside just under the the walls of the Gibralfaro castle above Málaga.
The rooms offer wonderful views over the Plaza de Toros in Málaga and the harbor. The dining room offers traditional food from Málaga.
Antonio Martín
Paseo Marítimo 4. Phone: 22 2113. Price: Pts.9000 ($72) for two. All major cards.
The best harbor restaurant in Málaga.
Other good harbor restaurants nearby are in the Maestranza street, Taberna del Pintor at no. 6, Nuevo Bistrot at no. 16; and in Vélez Málaga, Café de Paris at no. 8.
We are going on an Andalucía trip of several days from Costa del Sol to Ronda, Arcos de la Frontera, Sevilla, Córdoba, Granada and Málaga. We rent a car and are going to drive about 700-750 km.
Alcazaba
Hours: Open in summer Monday-Saturday 10-13 & 17-20, Sunday 10-14, in winter Monday-Saturday 10-13 & 16-19, Sunday 10-14.
Side by side, two Moorish castles, originally the major strongholds of the Moors in Andalucía. Alcazaba is the one which rises above the city center. It is now a museum of Moorish art. Inside the ramparts there are also Moorish gardens.
There are extensive views from Gibralfaro, the other castle on the cliff.
This is the end of our drive through Andalucía. We take a well-earned rest in Parador Málaga-Gibralfaro.
1991
© Jónas Kristjánsson
Barcelona
The capital of Catalunya is the second largest city in Spain with 2 million inhabitants, the main center of banks and commerce, more nervous and hurried than Madrid, similar to Western Europe and also the main link of Spain to the main part of the continent. People work in Barcelona and live in Madrid. They hang less out in cafés and have a quicker step on the city pavements.
Barcelona has broader avenues and more avenues than the larger Madrid. Still the traffic is much heavier in Barcelona, reaching congestion all over the center. Many famous buildings hail from the Art Nouveau period in the beginning of the 20th C. From that time we see bank palaces that seem like fairy-tale castles, different from the sober bank buildings of Europe.
Catalan is replacing Spanish as the official language in Barcelona. It is a different language, related to French, influenced by the proximity to Provençe. Free taxis use the sign “lliure” instead of “libre”. Street-signs and menus are now in Catalan. The explanations in Joan Miró’s museum are only in Catalan. The Spanish language is being evicted from Barcelona.
We start our walk through central Barcelona at Plaça de Catalunya.
Plaça de Catalunya
Plaça de Catalunya. (B2).
The large square with a fountain garden in the middle is the central square of Barcelona.
El Corte Inglés department store is at the eastern side of the square.
We walk past the department store and continue down the pedestrian Portal de l’Ángel. Gradually the street narrows to its end at Plaça Nova.
Plaça Nova
Plaça Nova. (B2).
On out left is a modern building with a large bas-relief by Picasso showing Catalans dancing Sardana, their national dance.
In front of us are two towers, the remains of the west port of the Roman city wall from the 4th C.
To the right of the towers is the bishop’s palace, Palau Episcopal. To the left is the house of the archdeacon, Casa de l’Ardiaca, originally from the 11th C. and renovated in the 16th C.
From the square we see the cathedral of Barcelona, Catedral de Santa Eulalia.
Catedral de Santa Eulalia
Plaça de la Seu. Hours: Open 7:30-13:30 & 16-19:30. (B2).
Built in the 14th and early 15th C. in a Catalan version of the Gothic style, with no aisles, only a nave with numerous chapels between the buttresses. In the 19th C. it was restored in the original style.
The white choir-screen of marble is from the 16th C.
On the right side there is an exit from the church to a peaceful cloister from the 15th C., with rambling geese.
The best time to be here is just after 12 on Sunday when the Sardana dance starts in front of the cathedral.
Sardana
Plaça de la Seu.
A complicated Catalan ring dance, banned during the Falangist regime of Franco, practiced in secret and became a symbol of the movement of Catalan independence. Arriving churchgoers, young as well as old, participate in the dance each Sunday. This happening is a moving experience, also for travelers.
We now enter the Barri Gòtic district.
Barri Gòtic
(B2).
The name of the old center of Barcelona, with its narrow and winding pedestrian alleys, lined with cafés and restaurants, derives from the Gothic 13th to 15th C. style of many houses.
We walk along Condes alley on the northern side of the church. Museu Frederic-Marès is on our left.
Museu Frederic-Marès
Condes. Hours: Open Tuesday-Saturday 9-14 & 16-19, Sunday 9-14. (B2).
The medieval royal palace, the residence of the counts of Barcelona, who became the kings of Aragón in 1137, the forerunners of the kings of Spain.
The palace is now a museum of Medieval art, especially sculpture.
We continue along the palace and the next one, Palau del Lloctinent.
Palau del Lloctinent
(B2).
The former Renaissance palace of the vice-king of Spain, now the National Archives.
We turn left, walk around this palace and enter Plaça del Rei
Plaça del Rei
Plaça del Rei. (B2).
The courtyard of the palace of the counts of Aragón, later kings of Aragón and finally kings of Spain.
To the left of the plaza is Palau del Lloctinent and Torre del Rei Martí. To the right is Capella de Santa Agata. In the center is Saló del Tinell.
We first observe Saló del Tinell.
Saló del Tinell
Plaça del Rei. (B2).
The 14th C. banqueting hall and throne room of the royal palace.
The steps in front are famous as the place where King Fernando of Aragón and Queen Isabel of Castilla received Christopher Columbus when he returned from his first voyage to America.
The tower to the left of Saló del Tinell is Torre del Rei Martí.
Torre del Rei Martí
Plaça del Rei. (B2).
An observation tower from the 16th C. with several levels of arcades.
To the right of the palace steps there is Capella de Santa Agata.
Capella de Santa Agata
Plaça del Rei. (B2).
A Gothic church from the 14th C.
Opposite the palace courtyard is Museu d’Història de la Ciutat.
Museu d’Història de la Ciutat
Plaça del Rei. Hours: Open Tuesday-Friday 9-20:30, Saturday-Sunday 9-13:30. (B2).
The Museum of City History is in the 16th C. Casa Clariana Padellòs and the surrounding buildings.
We continue along Casa Clariana Padellòs and turn left along Libreteria where we immediately arrive at Plaça de l´Ángel. We can take a detour of a few steps to the north to observe Capella de Santa Agata and the city wall from Plaça de Ramón Berenguer el Gran. Then we return to Plaça de l’Ángel, cross the traffic of Laietana, walk along Princesa and turn right into Montcada.
Montcada
Montcada. (B2).
In the 12th C. this alley of greenery on balconies was the main residence street of the nobility. The palaces on both sides are from the 13th to the 18th C.
Museu Picasso is at Montcada 15-19.
Museu Picasso
Montcada 15-19. Hours: Open Tuesday-Sunday 10-20. (B2).
The museum is in three palaces. It is entered through a typical Catalan palace courtyard.
The museum exhibits important works by Picasso who came to Barcelona at the age of 15 and learned to paint.
The fashion museum, Museu de tèxtil i de la Indumentària, is opposite Museu Picasso on the other side of Montcada.
We return through Montcada, Princesa and again cross Laietana and then walk along Jaume to Plaça Sant Jaume.
Plaça Sant Jaume
Plaça Sant Jaume. (B2).
The central square of the old Gothic center of Barcelona. On the right there is Palau de la Generalitat and to the left is the Ajuntament.
We turn our attention to Palau de la Generalitat.
Palau de la Generalitat
Plaça Sant Jaume. Hours: Open Sunday 10-13. (B2).
The Council of Catalunya is a large 15th C. palace.
Before we turn our attention to the other palace on the square we walk into the alley to the right of the Generalitat palace, Calle Bisbe Irurita, to a covered gallery connecting the Generalitat and the Canonges palaces.
Canonges
Calle Bisbe Irurita. (B2).
The 19th C. Neo-Gothic covered gallery connects the office of the Council of Catalunya to the office of the President of the council in the Canonges palace.
We return on Calle Bisbe Irurita to Plaça Sant Jaume and turn our attention to Ajuntament on the other side of the square.
Ajuntament
Plaça Sant Jaume. (B2).
The 14th C. City Hall of Barcelona.
We leave the square at its southern corner and walk along Ferran to Gegants where we turn left and walk on Gegants and Avinyó, typical Barri Gòtic alleys, all the way to Moll de la Fusta.
Moll de la Fusta
Moll de la Fusta. (B2).
An extensive promenade, lined with palm trees, running along the yacht harbor.
We turn right and walk along the promenade to the Monument a Colom.
Monument a Colom
Plaça Portal de la Pau. (B2).
A giant column with a statue of Christopher Columbus at the top.
We can use an elevator to the top of the column to enjoy the view.
On the harbor side is the Custom House of Barcelona.
Custom House
(B2).
A decorative palace, recently built in Historical style.
The Santa María replica is on the other side of the palace.
Santa María
(B2).
This full-sized replica of the caravel that brought Christopher Columbus on his first voyage to America is usually moored at the quay near the Custom House.
Opposite the Custom House, on the other side of the avenue, is the Drassanes.
Drassanes
Plaça Portal de la Pau. Hours: Open Tuesday-Friday 10-14 and 16-19, Saturday-Sunday 10-14. (B2).
The 14th C. shipyard of Barcelona, the only existing example of an industrial building of that age.
It is now a large maritime museum, Museu Marítim.
Here at Plaça Portal de la Pau is the southern end of Las Ramblas.
Las Ramblas
Las Ramblas. (B2).
The most popular promenade in Barcelona, leading from Plaça Portal de la Pau to Plaça de Catalunya, where we started this walk. It is a broad street following the contours of an earlier river. In its center is an island of trees and kiosks, cafés and shops, including flower shops and bird shops.
We pass the wax museum on our right in Museu de Cera, on the corner of Passatge Banca. Then we take a detour to the left into Carrer Nou de la Rambla, where Palau Güell is near the corner.
Palau Güell
Carrer Nou de la Rambla. (B2).
An Art Nouveau palace by Gaudí, with typical ironwork decorations. It is now a theater museum.
This is the Chinatown of Barcelona.
Barri Chino
(B2).
The Chinatown of Barcelona with lots of shady characters, including pickpockets and whores.
We return to Las Ramblas, cross it and walk into Carrer Colom, which leads in a few steps to Plaça Reial.
Plaça Reial
Plaça Reial. (B2).
A pedestrian square closed to motor traffic. It is a completely designed square with identical buildings and a ground floor arcade in the style of Plaza Mayor in Madrid.
Stamp and coin collectors meet in the cafés in the shades of the arcade on Sunday morning. At night the square is overtaken by hobos and drug addicts.
We return to Las Ramblas and continue northward. On the left side we see Gran Teatre del Liceu on the corner of Sant Pau.
Gran Teatre del Liceu
Las Ramblas. (B2).
The City Opera from 1846, refined and unobtrusive on the outside but spacious inside. It has been restored after a fire in 1993.
Opposite Liceu the Cardenal Casanas leads north to the squares of Plaça del Pia and Plaça Sant Joseph Oriol.
Plaça del Pi
Plaça del Pi. (B2).
These two squares under the church of Mare de Déu del Pi accommodate the flea market of the city center. They are also the venue of some artistic happenings.
Bordering Plaça del Pi on the northern side is a district of shops and shopping arcades, combining the maze of an Eastern bazaar with the polished cleanliness of the West.
We return on Cardenal Casanas to Las Ramblas and continue northward. On the left we come to La Bouqueria and cross the street to enter the market.
Boqueria
Las Ramblas. (B2).
The food market of Barcelona is formally named Mercat de Sant Josep and usually called La Boqueria. It is an Art Nouveau building of glass and wrought iron from the end of the 19th C.
Inside there are colorful oceans of fruit and vegetables, fish and meat. The action is mainly in the morning and dies out in the afternoon.
We return to Las Ramblas and come on the left to Palau de la Virreina.
Palau de la Virreina
Las Ramblas. (B2).
In colonial times the Vice King of Peru lived in this palace. It now houses some museums and exhibitions.
We continue on Las Ramblas, past trees and cafés, bird and flower shops, newspaper kiosks and possibly protest marches to arrive at Plaça de Catalunya where we started this walk. We cross the square to enter Passeig de Gracìa on the north side.
Passeig de Gracìa
Passeig de Gracìa. (B1).
This is one of many avenues of the new city center from the end of the 19th C. It was then the luxury apartment district of Barcelona, Eixample, and is now the luxury shopping district.
The producers of Cava, the Catalan sparkling wine, often have tents on the spacious pavement, offering pedestrians free samples of their product.
At no. 41 we arrive at the colorful Casa Amatller from 1900 by Josep Puigi Cadafach in Flemish Art Nouveau style and at no. 43 at Casa Batlló.
Casa Battló
Passeig de Gracìa 43. (B1).
Built by Gaudí in 1905, easily recognizable from its wavy balconies and curved roof.
These buildings are all in a radical Catalan version of Art Nouveau alias Jugendstil of the years around 1900. This style had more influence in Barcelona than in any other European city.
A little farther to the north is Casa Milà or La Pedrera, also by Gaudí and also from 1905, almost sea-sick in its form. We turn right on this corner and soon arrive at Sagrada Família.
Sagrada Família
(B1).
The symbol of Barcelona, the extravagant church of Gaudí, the famous architect of Barcelona, the Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família. Building started at the end of the 19th C. and is not finished yet. The many towers with their multicolored mosaic tips rise in a riot of grandeur above the city.
This fairy-tale construction cannot be described in text and not even in pictures, as the immense size is not properly reflected. The only way is to come here, stand in the roofless nave and gaze upwards to Gaudí’s towers.
From here we hail a taxi to Parc Güell.
Parc Güell
An amusement park designed by Gaudí. It was originally meant to be a district of 60 garden houses. The plan was never realized. What remains of the project is the pleasure garden of outrageously funny houses and absurdly amusing brick-walls, a dream world of children of all ages.
From here we take a taxi to the top of the Montjuïc hill.
Montjuïc
Montjuïc. (A2).
Accessible with a funicular from the harbor near Monument a Colom or by road, offering a good view over the city center, harbor and ocean.
A military museum, Museu Militar, is on the top of the hill. Below it is an amusement park with a Ferris wheel and diverse gadgets.
We start our walk down the northern side of the hill. First we arrive at Fundació Joan Miró.
Fundació Joan Miró
Montjuïc. Hours: Open Tuesday-Friday 11-20, Saturday-Sunday 11-14:30. (A2).
The Miró museum is a modern building showing works of art by one of the main practitioners of Abstract art in the 20th C., the Catalan Joan Miró.
On our way down the hill we next come to Palau Naçional.
Palau Naçional
Montjuïc. Hours: Open Tuesday-Sunday 9-14. (A2).
An imposing palace on the northern rim of the hill, overlooking the fairgrounds of Barcelona and Plaça d’Espanya, built for the World Fair in Barcelona 1929.
It now houses one of the world’s largest museums of Medieval art in the world, Museu d’Art de Catalunya.
On the slopes to the right and down from Palau Naçional there is the archeological museum, Museu Arquelògic, open Tuesday-Saturday 9:30-13 and 16-16, Sunday 9:30-14. Also the museum of ethnology, Museu Etnològic, open Tuesday-Saturday 9:20-20:30, Sunday 9-14.
On the slopes to the left and down from Palau Naçional we arrive at Poble Espanyol.
Poble Espanyol
Hours: Open 9-past midnight. (A2).
A living museum of folklore, a whole village composed of clusters of exact replicas of typical houses representing parts of Spain, such as Catalunya, Andalucía and Castilla. The houses are used as shops, artisan workshops, cafés and restaurants, representing town life in earlier times.
Variable programs are in the evening, dances, concerts, plays, exhibitions, performances and other entertainment.
We leave the folklore village by the northern entrance, turn right and walk to the area of Barcelona fairs. From there we have an imposing view up to Palau Naçional. We walk to Plaça d’Espanya, cross it and arrive at Plaça del Toro.
Plaça del Toro
(A2).
One of the main bullfight stadiums of Barcelona, built in Moorish style, like so many such stadiums in Spain.
We walk around the stadium and at its back arrive at Parc Joan Miró.
Parc Joan Miró
(A2).
A recreation area with a large sculpture by Joan Miró.
From here we take a taxi to the other end of the city center, to Parc de la Ciutadella.
Parc de la Ciutadella
(B2).
The World Fair of 1888 was held here. It is now a popular park for Sunday walks.
The small and modern city zoo is in the southern end of the park. To the north of the zoo is the city museum of modern art, Museu d’Art Modern, where Catalan artists are well represented.
The parliament of Catalunya is also in the park. To the south are the grounds of the Olympic Village from 1992.
This sightseeing walk in central Barcelona is finished. We are now ready for excursions in the surrounding country, Catalunya.
Catalunya
A cultural driving force in Spain, the country of Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Gaudí, Salvador Dalí and Pau Casals, especially marked in the decades before the Falangist takeover. After the reemergence of democracy Catalunya has again sprung to the forefront of culture and politics, industry and commerce.
Zarzuela = seafood mixture, comes from Catalunya, also Bullabesa = a strong bouillabaisse, and rape = monkfish. A national dish is Crema Catalana = a milk pudding with caramel crust.
Catalunya is the country of Cava, a sparkling wine made in the Champagne manner. Cava is commonly sold in the streets of Barcelona and in special Xampanyerias-bars. Catalunyan wine is not as good as Rioja wine, but is improving, especially the wine from the district of Penedès.
Costa Dorada is an interesting part of Catalunya.
Costa Dorada
The sunshine coast south of Barcelona. The main town is Sitges, 30 km south from Barcelona, with a beach, cafés and a quaint old center.
Farther to the south, 100 km from Barcelona, is Tarragona, an ancient Roman town with a Medieval center and lots of antique remains, such as an arena and a city wall.
From Barcelona there is also a short way of 60 km to the mountain monastery of Montserrat with beautiful landscapes.
We can also drive north from Barcelona, to Costa Brava.
Costa Brava
One of the most beautiful coasts of Spain, with interchanging promontories and peaceful sand beaches. The town of Gerona is 100 km north from Barcelona, with the best preserved Medieval town center in Spain.
Art nouveau
Many famous buildings hail from the Art Nouveau period in the beginning of the 20th C. From that time we see bank palaces that seem like fairy-tale castles, different from the sober bank buildings of Europe.
Artists
A cultural driving force in Spain, the country of Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Gaudí, Salvador Dalí and Pau Casals, especially marked in the decades before the Falangist takeover. After the reemergence of democracy Catalunya has again sprung to the forefront of culture and politics, industry and commerce.
Catalan
Catalan is replacing Spanish as the official language in Barcelona. It is a different language, related to French, influenced by the proximity to Provençe. Free taxis use the sign “lliure” instead of “libre”. Street-signs and menus are now in Catalan. The explanations in Joan Miró’s museum are only in Catalan. The Spanish language is being evicted from Barcelona.
Cava
Catalunya is the country of Cava, a sparkling wine made in the Champagne manner. Cava is commonly sold in the streets of Barcelona and in special Xampanyerias-bars.
Catalunyan wine is not as good as Rioja wine, but is improving, especially the wine from the district of Penedès.
Colón
Avenída Catedral 7. Phone: 301 1404. Fax: 317 2915. Price: Pts.23500 ($188) without breakfast. All major cards. 138 rooms. (B2).
The good hotel of the city center is perfectly situated in front of the cathedral, the only four-star hotel in the old Gothic town.
It is rather old-fashioned but has been renovated on the inside. Many rooms are in light and flowery colors.
A room with a view to the cathedral is preferable.
Metropol
Ample 31. Phone: 310 5100. Fax: 319 1276. Price: Pts.12400 ($99) without breakfast. All major cards. 68 rooms. (B2).
An economical hotel in the Gothic center, 300 meters from Plaça Sant Jaume.
It is a dignified hotel with agreeable staff.
Room no. 404 is elegantly furnished in taste and includes a writing-desk. The marble bathroom is unusually large.
Regencia Colón
Sagristans 13. Phone: 318 9858. Fax: 317 2822. Price: Pts.14200 ($114) without breakfast. All major cards. 55 rooms. (B2).
An economical and recently renovated hotel just 100 meters from the cathedral.
The cheerful staff is efficient.
Room no. 57 is nice and refined and has a small balcony with a view to Torre del Rei. It has a flowery wallpaper and old furniture in perfect condition. The tiled bathroom functions well.
Suizo
Plaça del Ángel. Phone: 315 4111. Fax: 315 3819. Price: Pts.12600 ($101) with breakfast. All major cards. 48 rooms. (B2).
A tired, antique but usable and economical hotel in the Gothic city center, 200 meters from the cathedral.
The cleaning staff is just as tired as the hotel.
Room no. 211 is small, well furnished in an old-fashioned manner, with a balcony. The tiled bathroom functions well.
Agút d’Avinyó
Trinitat 3 / Avinyó 8. Phone: 302 6034. Fax: 302 5318. Price: Pts.11000 ($88) for two. All major cards. (B2).
In a Gothic alley a few steps from Plaça Sant Jaume, one of the best restaurants of the old city center, practicing traditional Catalan cuisine.
Beautifully designed with nooks and crannies on different levels with only a few tables on each level, with lots of steps and railings. Enormous paintings from the turn of the century and lots of antiques add to the perfect atmosphere. Politicians and business-people lunch here and joke with Mercedes Giralt.
• Sopa di bogavante = lobster soup with toast.
• Chicken and vegetable puré with ham cubes.
• Bacalao = plucked salt-fish.
• Langostinos = prawns in cheese gelatine.
• Shellfish in tomato sauce.
• Pato = duck.
• Wild strawberries.
Brassiere Flo
Junqueres 10. Phone: 319 3102. Fax: 268 2395. Price: Pts.8300 ($66) for two. All major cards. (B2).
Just west off Plaça de Catalunya, a large and noisy, happy and lively brassiere, one of the best restaurants in town, with French-Catalan cooking, open for orders until 1 in the morning.
Oysters are on exhibit at the entrance, the specialty of the place. The spacious dining room has large chandeliers and numerous pillars. Old posters and high mirrors line the walls. There are many regulars from the media and opera.
• Crema de bogavante = lobster soup.
• Ostras al cava = cheese-baked oysters in sparkling wine.
• Solomillo de buey = beef filet.
• Filet mignon de ciervo = venison filet with pear, raisins and pepper sauce.
• Crema catalana = milk pudding with caramel crust.
• Macedonia de frutas = fresh fruit.
Cuineta
Paradis 4 / Pietat 12. Phone: 315 0111. Fax: 315 0798. Price: Pts.11300 ($90) for two. All major cards. (B2).
A double restaurant behind the old cathedral of Barcelona, one kitchen with one menu, but two entrances and separate dining rooms, owned by antique dealers.
A beautiful place, paneled in hardwood and glass, full of antiques. Guests dine in comfortable arm-chairs and receive automatically a fino sherry while they are studying the menu.
• Espáragos gratinados = cheese gratinated asparagus with ham.
• Pate higos = paté of the house.
• Bacalao Cuineta = salt-fish with spinach and raisins.
• Lenguado plancha = grilled sole.
• Pudding with whipped cream and kiwi.
• Ricotta cheese with chestnuts and honey.
El Túnel
Ample 33. Phone: 315 2759. Hours: Closed Sunday dinner, Monday. Price: Pts.9500 ($76) for two. All major cards. (B2).
At the bottom of a narrow alley beside hotel Metropol lies hidden one of the best restaurants of the Gothic city center, 300 meters south of Plaça Sant Jaume.
It has been owned by the same family since 1923. Virgilio Casado cooks in the traditional Catalan manner according to the fresh food situation of the day. The restaurant is popular with locals who like the food and the quality paneling and other furnishings.
• Ensalada de judía verde con fois gras y trufas = salad with truffles and goose liver.
• Sopa de pescados con su rouille = tomato fish soup.
• Lenguado pieza grille = grilled sole.
• Turbot planche = grilled turbot.
• Cabrito = kid goat.
• Tarta Tatin = apple pie.
• Biscuit = ice-cream with chocolate sauce.
• Crema Catalana = milk pudding with caramel crust.
Gran Café
Avinyó 9. Phone: 318 7986. Hours: Closed Saturday lunch, Sunday. Price: Pts.12000 ($96) for two. All major cards. (B2).
A romantic, split-level restaurant in a pedestrian alley a few steps off Plaça Sant Jaume, offering traditional Catalan cooking.
The style is turn-of-the century Art Nouveau, with large windows, chandeliers and lamps. The place gets very romantic at night when dinner music is played on the piano.
• Amanida de bacalla marinat = salt-fish flakes, marinated in vinaigrette, with beans.
• Amanida de tofones i llagostins = shrimp and liver paté on salad.
• Mushroom salad with ham.
• Filet d’Ávila a la vinagreta = beef filet from Ávila with tomato vinaigrette.
• Burxets de filet al oporto = beef on skewers.
• Cheese-cake.
• Apple pie.
Neichel
Avenída de Pedralbes 16 bis. Phone: 203 8408. Fax: 205 6369. Hours: Closed Saturday lunch, Sunday. Price: Pts.14000 ($112) for two. All major cards.
The best restaurant in Barcelona is outside the city center, but included here as an exception, as it is also one of the three best restaurants in Spain. It is in the soccer stadium and university district in the west, hidden in a one-way drive behind a swimming pool. Surprisingly this is not a Basque restaurant, as Chef Jean-Louis Neichel is from Alsace in France.
The dining room is plain and unadorned and rather empty before it fills up with people. Large windows open out to lemon trees in the garden. The service is so perfect that every detail in the ultra-professional firing-up of a Havana cigar is observed. Evelyne Neichel directs the service. The cuisine is Nouvelle Française.
• Sopita de cigalas y centollo = shell soup.
• Esqueixada de atún al limón verde y bogavante con caviar de berengenas = lobster and tuna in aubergine.
• Croustillant de salmonete y hortalizas en un fumet de setas de bosque = red mullet in crust with wild mushrooms and mushroom fumé.
• Granizado de manzanas verdes y coulis de frutas silvestres = apple sorbet.
• Lomo de buey del Limousin en escalopas a las cinco pimientas aromáticas = filet slices from Limousin beef.
• La caravana de los finos postres = dessert wagon.
Quo Vadis
Carme 7. Phone: 302 4072. Fax: 301 0435. Hours: Closed Sunday. Price: Pts.11300 ($90) for two. All major cards. (B2).
A traditional and simple restaurant with good food and good service in a street leading off La Rambla, a few steps from Palacio de la Virreina. It is open for orders until 2 in the morning, convenient for the opera audience from the nearby Liceu theater.
The raw material is not far away, as the food market of Barcelona, La Boquería, is almost next door.
• Six different mushrooms.
• Mixed vegetables in vinaigrette.
• Shrimp, egg, fish and salt-fish, pan-fried in oil.
• Seafood plate in tomato sauce.
• Cheeses.
• Fresh berries and fruits of the season.
Seynor Parellada
Argentería 37. Phone: 310 5094. Hours: Closed Sunday. Price: Pts.7700 ($62) for two. All major cards. (B2).
Near the old city walls, 500 meters from the cathedral, a large and noisy restaurant, simple and friendly, rather economical, frequented by business people. The cooking is traditional.
Mr. Parellada himself walks around and takes care of the guests, not only the habitués.
• Carpaccio = marinated salmon.
• Esqueixada con escalibada = salt-fish salad.
• Calamars = small squid.
• bacalao con samfaina = salt-fish.
• Grilled sole.
Siete Puertas
Passeig d’Isabel II. Phone: 319 3033. Fax: 319 4662. Price: Pts.9500 ($76) for two. All major cards. (B2).
Situated on the harbor avenue, a large and lively restaurant, French in style, always brimming with people, founded in the early 19th C., one of the landmarks of Barcelona. Chef Antonio Roca specialized in rice and paella.
Guests sit on small chairs and long benches under walls of panel and tile. Large mirrors enlargen the already large restaurant.
• Esquixada = salt-fish in tomato.
• Espárragos = asparagus.
• Rodaballo = braised turbot.
• Paella Parellada = paella of the house.
• Biscuit = ice-cream with hot chocolate sauce.
• Sorbete de orujo con pasas = sorbet with raisins.
1991
© Jónas Kristjánsson
Espagna
The heart of Spain and the fountain of the Spanish language, called Castilian by the minorities in Spain. It is a barren plateau, overgrazed and sparsely inhabited, a country of shepherds and poets, warriors and priests. Castilla is also, as the name implies, a country of castles, including Manzanares el Real, Mombeltrán, Coca, Gormaz, Peñafiel, Belmonte and Sigüenza.
Many historic cities are in Castilla, including Segovia, Ávila, Salamanca and Toledo.
Castilla has brought Cochinillo asado = braised baby pork, and Cordero asado = braised lamb, to Spanish cuisine, also kid, partridge and venison. Well known is Manchego, the cheese from La Mancha.
We are planning a tour of 580 km from Madrid through El Escorial, Segovia, Ávila, Salamanca and Toledo back to Madrid. The first leg covers 50 km from Madrid to El Escorial.
El Escorial
Hours: Open 10-13:30 and 15:30-19, -18 in winter.
Felipe II of Habsburg was one of the most peculiar Spanish kings. He was an ultra-religious Catholic and built the religious royal palace complex of El Escorial. The palace is in strict and cold Renaissance style, designed by Juan de Herrera, and built in the late 16th C., when Madrid became the capital of Spain.
The form of the palace complex is a mathematical square with a Greek crucifix inside. The crucifix has a Renaissance church in the middle. In two of the four sections is a smaller Greek crucifix. Half of the complex was a monastery, a quarter was a university and a quarter was the royal abode.
There are many works of art in the palace, including the Agony of St. Moritz by El Greco. It is interesting to compare the austere apartment of the Habsburg king Felipe II on the 1st floor with the elaborate apartment of the Bourbon king Carlos IV on the 3rd floor. Most Spanish kings of recent centuries are buried under the floor of the central church.
From El Escorial we drive 50 km to Segovia.
Segovia
A city of 50,000 people 1000 meters above sea level, rising like a ship above the highland plateau. It is mainly famous for its Roman aqueduct and the city castle.
We find Acueducto romano just before we enter the walled center of the city.
Acueducto Romano
You will not miss the immense Roman aqueduct from 100 AD, when you enter the old center of Segovia. It is one of the best preserved remains in the world of buildings from the reigns of Vespanian and Trajan.
It still carries water to the old center on 167 arches. It is 728 meters long and 28 meters high at the square, where the street passes under it. It is built from hewn granite stones without any gluing material whatsoever.
If we can say that the aqueduct is at the stern of the ship of Segovia, the Alcázar can be called the stem of that ship. Between them there is an easy walk of 1 km through the old city center. On the way we pass a 16th C. Gothic cathedral, slender and splendid, with a golden patina in the sunshine. There are many interesting houses and alleys. We continue to the Alcázar.
Alcázar
Hours: Open 10-18:30, -15:30 in winter.
The city castle from the middle of the 14th C. rises above the highland plateau. Very few castles in Spain are as imposing in the landscape as this one.
It was for a while the residential palace of Queen Isabel. It is now an armory museum.
It pays to drive around the old center of Segovia and observe the castle, especially from the bridge over Eresma river and from the Vera Cruz chapel on the other side of the river.
Linajes
Dr Velasco 9. Phone: 46 0475. Fax: 46 0479. Price: Pts.10000 ($80) without breakfast. All major cards. 55 rooms.
The best and most interesting hotel in Segovia is in the 11th C. Falconi palace, hidden in a narrow street in the old center, just north of the cathedral and east of the city castle.
It is loaded with antiques. Try to book a room in the old style.
Mesón de Cándido
Plaza Azoguejo 5. Phone: 42 5911. Fax: 42 9633. Price: Pts.7200 ($58) for two. All major cards.
The best and most interesting restaurant in Segovia is just in front of the Roman aqueduct in a 15th C. house.
It is on several storeys in an old Segovian style, popular with travelers who are admiring the aqueduct.
• Sopa Castellana = an old Castilian soup.
• Truchas frescas Felipe V = trout.
• Cochinnillo asado = braised baby pork.
• Cordero asado = braised lamb.
• Perdiz estofada = partridge with dressing.
From Segovia we drive 67 km to Ávila.
Ávila
A completely walled town from the Middle Ages, now the domicile of 40,000 people. It is 1131 meters above sea level, the highest district capital in Spain.
The city walls are the main attraction of the town, floodlit at night, especially beautiful when arriving from the west. When we leave town on the road to Salamanca we shall stop at the viewpoint of Cuatro Postes on the other side of Adaja river to observe the town from the west.
We park in the old center, preferably near the cathedral at the eastern side of the walls. Then we inspect the Murallas on foot.
Murallas
The 11th C. walls are still intact, with their 8 gateways and 88 semicircular towers. The walls are 10 meters high. We can take a 3 km walk on the walls for a full circle.
Next we turn out attention to the cathedral.
Catedral
The fortified granite cathedral with crenellations is a part of the eastern wall of Ávila and looks like a fortress. It is one of the oldest Early-Gothic churches in Spain, built in the 12th C. Ávila was for a long time on the border of Islamic and Christian Spain and the church reflects that insecure period.
San Vicente is a little older Romanesque church from the early 12th C, just outside the northeastern corner of the city walls.
Palacio Valderrábanos
Plaza de la Catedral 9. Phone: 21 1023. Fax: 25 1691. Price: Pts.13700 ($110) without breakfast. All major cards. 73 rooms.
An historical hotel in an old Bishop’s palace opposite the cathedral, with a powerful Gothic entrance from the 15th C.
The elegant restaurant El Fogón de Santa Teresa is in the hotel.
The rooms are large and comfortable, luxuriously furnished.
Parador Raimundo de Borgoña<
