Thoughts mostly about travel and places I have been. While a lot of my travel is into the backcountry backpacking or paddling I do my share of trips to more traditional front-country locations too. From time to time other items of note will appear that definitely fall outside the realm of travel and associated things. It is also worth noting that I am legally blind.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Seville Day and Night
** Ken **
Sent from my iPhone
Seville, Spain
My Father is standing in the Patio of Oranges outside the cathedral. It is sad to see all that fruit and understand it is sour and not fit to be eaten (sprayed to keep birds away). The Cathedral's Giralda tower rising 97 meters as seen from the entrance just outside Alcazar
One of the pools in the Alcazar. Water features play a big role in the architecture of Muslim-inspired design. Too bad many fountains were not active. The Mercury pool with several pairs of ducks. We also saw a couple wonderfully blue and green peacocks.
** Ken **
Sent from my iPhone
Monday, January 17, 2011
The Alhambra
** Ken **
Sent from my iPhone
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Tenerife Day 4
We have spent the day strolling through the bustling streets of Puerto de la Cruz. This is a substantial town and it seems prosperous. The streets are clean, there are numerous shops of all types, and overall things seem very well put together. Leaving our hotel we walked once again through Taoro park (not the official name but the name I am using) and down the 186 steps past the falling water feature (see the photo with Mom and Dad) and from there down into the heart of the town. The highlight of the town has to be the sea wall that restrains the frothing surf of the aquamarine Atlantic ocean. Today as we walked along the seawall we saw a couple people swimming in the clear, probably chilly, water. We also saw some people practicing with their paragliders in a parking lot. I suppose they were learning how to control them in a somewhat controlled environment (i.e., on the ground). When we left the seaside for the streets we found them full of shops of al types, cafes and other eateries, and plenty of people that seemed, overall, well off. It is clearly a thriving town.
The photo with the small town in the distance was taken yesterday on our way to what would turn out to be our mist shrouded walk through forest and lava fields. The town is Garachico which was destroyed back in 1706 by volcanic eruption. Today the town is much smaller but it certainly looks cute enough seem from on high (about 500 meters).
** Ken **
Sent from my iPhone