Journeying with Jan

 Today we took a bus tour around Cadiz.  Because it is on the coast there was need for fortifications. We saw several castles and city walls. Cadiz is the capital city of a province of the same name. The Moores were overcome in 1262, and today there are 41 Catholic churches. Excuse the window reflection, but we saw this amazingly huge tree.  See the trunks? A prop holding up one of the branches  Then we were off to Jerez, where we got to get out and walk around. This is Tio Pepe, “Uncle Joe,” who started the sherry bodega that we toured. There were something like 345 barrels in this room, each with a national symbol to show where they ship their sherries. The barrels are stored four high. The barrels are never moved. Every so often they remove 1/3 of the sherry from the bottom barrel and bottle it.  They take 1/3 of the sherry from the 2nd row, and replace the sherry removed from the bottom barrel, and do the same with the 3rd row. When they remove 1/3 from the ...

 I slept in my clothes from 9:30 until 10:45, so I could jump up and go up to an open air deck and try to see the Rock of Gibraltar.  My camera actually pulled it out better than my eyes did!  It would have been nice to see it in daylight, however. And on the other side of the 7 mile wide strait is Morocco. Goodnight!

 So it is Sunday, and so we joined the non-denominational group this morning for hymn singing, witnessing, scripture reading, and sharing. It as a good group of people, but not “worship.” We had to leave the gathering early for our shore excursion, which was a general tour of Malaga.   This is the cathedral in Malaga. It is unusual because it has only one tower, but I didn’t catch why. Of course there are Roman ruins, such as this theater, and the Moorish castle above. The bullfighting arena Our guide kept talking about “the castle” this, and “the castle” as we continued walking downhill.  And I kept thinking that something wasn’t right — we are not going to encounter a castle in a valley!  Finally I realized she was talking about “Picasso” — NOT “the castle!”  This is the church where Picasso was baptized. And here is the plaque that says so. An attractive building next door to the church. Here is the home where Picasso was born and lived until he was ten years...

This morning from our dock at Alicante we saw the old fort. We drove off in a bus, sightseeing in Alicante and then to the own of Elche.  There we saw the old city walls. Nearby there is a church dedicated to Mary, or perhaps the Virgin of Elche.  This is an active parish, but they have a special permission to put on a performance about the story of this virgin annually. It was recently performed here.   Here is the organ.  Again,  notice the horizontal pipes.And the gigantic door beneath it. Finally we went to a botanical garden in Elche.  It is truly a city of palms, but in the garden there are also cacti from around the world. This particular cactus acts like a vine, climbing up the palm. Zoom in on this palm, and you will see that it is one palm with seven branches! We were treated to a tasting of two dates, two fruit and nut breads, a date liquor and a strong sweet wine.