Good Vacation

My Trip

Brief Highlights:
-"Homage to Catalonia" proved a good reading companion, even if I was in the wrong part of the peninsula...
-Jabugo, the home of the best jamon iberico. I swear, the Andalucians treat jamon like a spice.
-The Alhambra. Thank you Washington Irving for helping to promote awareness and allow us this grand legacy.
-Ronda and the birth of bull fighting
-Gibraltar and Mumtazz takeout
-Cadiz's winding, narrow streets, Casa Caracol, and the camera obscura
-Jerez, Tio Pepe, and some very nice manzanilla
-Wandering the lands of Tartessos, an Iberian Atlantis and lost, metal-rich culture
-Fresh grilled piles of fish in Faro
-Sintra's palace, twin of Neuschwanstein in terms of crazed royal romantic beauty
-Lisbon's Erasmus corner.

ROUTE: Google Maps

Talkin' 'bout the Young Style

Young Loves: The Current Cinema: The New Yorker: "What happens in this world when you have more promise than you can fulfill is made evident, with tragicomic results, by the figure of Juan Antonio’s former wife, Maria Elena (Penélope Cruz), who is highly intelligent and talented but so tempestuous that she creates havoc wherever she goes."



I can't wait until 15 August--Woody's done it again!

Hrvatska

Next Stop - Zadar, Croatia

Hurray for my 2nd favorite coastal city in Croatia (after Sibenik).

Mediterranean Retreats

Italian Countryside, Just as Imagined - New York Times

Clearly someone is already acting on my retirement dreams. Sadly it looks like they missed the orange groves, almond trees, and vineyards--but can oranges really coexist with grapes and olives and almonds? Or do they have similar but different climate needs? Nonetheless, this chap has realized half the dream--and all from a little productivity during his study abroad in the 80s!