Road Diary - Spain 08

The Seville Spring Fair was memorable. First for the amount of rain that fell; and second, for the intensity of the partying when the clouds cleared and the sun shone through. The city was awash in polka dots, the preferred pattern for this season's Flamenco dress. And at least half of the women in town, it seemed, were in full Flamenco finery. Ruffles, embroidered scarves, tiaras and artificial flowers for the hair. Though such costumes could be seen all over town, the nexus of color, form-fitting gowns and excitement was concentrated at the site of the fair. I will have lots of images and slideshows of the fair and its revelers, horsemen and dancers in a future post. Most of the hotel Internet services don't provide card-readers or USB ports so I'm not uploading the majority of my images. Be patient. The rewards will be considerable.

Of special note in Seville is the Alcazar Real. Home to Spanish royalty, including the current royal family when in Seville, the Alcazar is a grand and stunning campus. The gardens are simply extraordinary. On par with the Huntington in Southern California, Montreal's botanical gardens and (on a smaller scale) the gardens at Versailles, the Alcazar's very old and formal grounds are spectacular. While in Seville, we visited the Museum of Flamenco and attended a wonderful performance of traditional style artists at the Casa de la Memoria. Much more on those events in later posts.

Following Seville, we took the bus to Granada. There, we joined the throngs of visitors touring the fabulous Alhambra. The last Moorish outpost in Spain during the "re-conquista," Granada is still the most "Arab" of all Spanish cities. Again, pics and links to follow.

Road Diary - April 08

After three days exploring the souks in the Medina at Marrakech, we´ve arrived in Seville for the Spring Fair. Arrived to buckets of extraordinary Spring rain as well. I´ll have many, many pics soon - so prepare to be dazzled and delighted.

Marrakech´s Casbah, the Medina souks, is the mother of all marketplaces. Over 1,500 years old in parts, the Medina is comprised of a seemingly endless maze of small alleyways and 4,500 hundred shops. That´s right. There is a street of metal workers crafting ornate Arabic-style wrought iron; a street of leather workers hawking raw skins, making luggage and pointed Moroccan slippers; a section of spice sellers, herbalists and parfumeries; and of course, Lamb Alley where a hungry visitor can purchase and consume freshly roasted lamb of any variety including lamb´s head and eyeballs. Snake charmers with Cobras; monkey masters with furry, sometimes threatening creatures on chains, black African dancers and Berber women offering Henna tats are set up in the square in front of the entrance to the souks. Violently visual, intensely engaging and sensual.

We stayed in Marrakech at the fabulous Ville d´Orangers. Much more on that, with images, in a later post. And more on Seville in the Spring Fair in the next post.

Seville's Spring Fair

The Author is retiring for three weeks of holiday to the Iberian peninsula. I'm not anal enough to have pre-written ten posts and stored them with images and links on a Net-based blog publisher. No, I'm going to walk away for a spell and rest my brain and my fingers. That said, I may venture by an Internet cafe and post a short update at some point. Or not. The really good news is that my partner, Lupe, and I are traveling to party and listen to lots of new music which I will then dutifully report on in future posts.

We're not just going to any party. We'll be attending the annual Seville Spring Fare in Spain, arguably the country's biggest and most music-driven event of the year. (Seville at night and street fair pictured) So we'll be listening to lots of Flamenco and fine Gitano musicians. There'll be drinking (of course), dancing and bull-fighting for a week of unparallelled revelry. Yea, that's what I'm talkin' about.

While I'm away, I'd like to suggest regular readers take the opportunity to check-out the sidebar contents for previous posts that may be of interest. Or, you can go to a new Pop Impulse partial post list web page, here. There are lots and lots and lots to check out (over 220 posts). For example, one could take a tour through the "music & bands" category. Most posts have links to artist websites and videos. From Cuban Surf Rock music here, Alt. Mex here, to the blues here, here and here. Or, one could check out some cool places like Cape Breton Island, Madrid, Venice and that Treehouse bed and breakfast in Cave Junction, Oregon. Gluttons for punishment can groan and stress their way through multiple posts on consumers, the economy and the sub-prime meltdown. Have at it. I'm outta here in the morning.

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