Remembering Spain

In the Spring of 1988 (yikes! more than twenty years ago now), my sister Catie and I traveled to Spain to visit our brother Nick, who was then stationed at the Torrejon Air Base outside Madrid. We were there about a week, and got to travel around quite a bit. In my ongoing project of digitizing old photos, I'm now processing the images from that trip and thought I would share a few. First up is a picture of the Crystal Palace in Retiro Park in Madrid (right behind the Prado art museum).

We spent some time strolling through the park after checking out the Prado and the adjacent gallery devoted to the classic Picasso painting Guernica (a prime candidate for a future "Favorite Paintings" post). I recall that there were a lot of street performers, musicians and so forth, and that I purchased a small marionette from a vendor, which is currently hanging in my music room at home. As I recall, this was our last day in Spain, and it was a great way to finish up a wonderful trip.

The next picture was taken in the courtyard of the Alcazar in Toledo, where we went for a day trip near the beginning of our visit.

I don't recall who the statue depicts (maybe El Cid? The Toledo Alcazar served as a military college, I believe), but I was more struck by the youngster sitting there all alone with no one else in sight (maybe his parents were behind me snapping their own picture). Other memories of Toledo: the amazing cathedral, with its "hidden" tableaus in the arches overhead visible only from weird angles down below; the Museum of Torture, right across the street from the cathedral (handy for the inquisators, since it was originally a dungeon); the fantastic hot, fresh pistachios I bought from a street vendor whose wagon was piled high with nuts; the narrow, winding streets that made it pretty easy to circumnavigate the entirety of the city in a single afternoon (maybe Catie or Nick can add to the list in comments?).

Last, for now, here's a view of the ancient town of Segovia (home to some incredible remains of a Roman aqueduct), with the Cathedral dominating the skyline:

This was taken from one of the parapets of the castle (or Alcazar) on the outskirts of the town. Touring that medieval structure really conjured up images of kings and knights and really cold and drafty nights (one really appreciates the value of drapes and tapestries in such a setting-- they're mostly to stifle the wind blowing through). I have another shot which I will post later of the view looking out into the valley outside the town, and it's pretty cool too. As is usually the case, looking again at these photos makes me want to hop a plane and head back for another visit. I hope I get the chance.