Semana Santa: The Secular Edition

Image Source: http://www.rusticblue.com/images/spain_holiday_1126.jpg

Semana Santa is Spain's holy week that includes, but is not limited to, Easter Sunday. We heard that Andalucía in southern Spain is THE place to go because of its extravagant Semana Santa celebrations. As we had two weeks to burn, a group of us decided to confirm this rumor and visit Cordoba, Granada, Cadiz and Sevilla. What follows is an overview of what we did, saw, drank and ate when not experiencing the religious side of Semana Santa:

Cordoba

Scent of orange
Columbus here for money
Alcazar, Roman bridge

(Clockwise from top left: Gardens at the Real Alcazares; Columns from a Roman temple; wrought iron and shadow; Roman bridge at night; The Mezquita; Calle de Las Flores)

Granada

Gypsies, caves and baths

Mountains and free tapas

Alhambra sunsets

(Clockwise from top left: Sacramonte with the Sierra Nevadas in the background, quiet street at night, part of the Alhambra overlooking the city, Sacramonte at night, Reflection at the Alhambra, door to a cave house)

Cadiz

Forts to discover

Walking along the beaches

Romans were here, too

(Clockwise from top left: Boats on La Playa de Santa María del Mar, View of Cadiz from Torre Tavira, Plaza San Juan de Dios, Shadows on Victoria Beach)

Sevilla

Sangria tastes good

Flamenco and Cathedral
Giralda, Betis

(Clockwise from top left: Main entrance of Sevilla Cathedral, Guadalquivir (historically known as the Betis) River at night, La Giralda from the exit of the Real Alcazares, Stained glass shadows inside Sevilla Cathedral, La Giralda, Matador sculpture in front of the Plaza del Toros, Plaza Virgen de los Reyes as gateway to Barrio Santa Cruz)

Things I ate: rabo de toro (braised oxtails), flamenquin, berenjenas fritas con miel (fried eggplant slices drizzled with honey), grilled vegetables, spinach croquettes, gazpacho, mushroom croquettes, fresh tomatoes with garlic chips, meatballs seasoned with cinnamon, leche frita, sesame picos, tortilla de patata, Lamb tagine, migas, spinach and garbanzos, manchego cheese, roscillas (small round sandwiches) with ham, braised pork, ham and solomillo roscillo, montadito (another type of small sandwich) with lomo and almond sauce, patatas alinadas (sliced potatoes with bell peppers an oil and vinegar sauce), huevos revueltos (scrambled eggs) with asparagus and jamon, a barnyard-y and Cabrales-heavy surtido (assortment) de quesos, patatas bravas, jamon de bellota and baked provolone scented with laurel.

Things I drank: tea at various teterias, sangria, Kas Bitter, manzanilla sherry, fino sherry and Pedro Ximenez (sherry)

Eating and Drinking establishments I really enjoyed:

Bar Las Teresas, Sevilla

La Carboneria, Sevilla

El Rinconcillo, Sevilla

Bodegas Mezquita, Cordoba

Bar Santos, Cordoba

La Riviera, Granada

La Bella y la Besta, Granada

Arsenio Manila, Cadiz

El Faro, Cadiz

Czech, Please!

Nothing starts a good overview of a historic city like a bad pun, right? I'd been waiting for a long time to go to Prague, home of one of my favorite writers, Franz Kafka, the largest castle in the world, Prague Castle, and the location of many a major motion picture movie scene (more on that later). This was my first solo international trip and I fared pretty well. I missed having dining companions, though...

Sights:

The Charles Bridge

Prague Castle

(Clockwise from top left: St. George's Basilica where I took in a classical music concert one afternoon, Prague Castle at Night, Prague Castle from Petrin Hill, Prague Castle juxtaposed with a modern sculpture in Old Town in the foreground, view of the Mala Strana neighborhood from Prague Castle)

St. Vitus' Cathedral at Prague Castle

The Astronomical Clock

Municipal House/Obecni dum (An Art Nouveau treasure)

John Lennon Wall

Old Town Square

(Left to right: Detail of Old Town Hall Tower, Church of Our Lady before Tyn with it's signature towers, known as the last resting place of Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe is buried)

Me, Prague and the Film Industry

Prague is used a lot as a location in major films. I stayed at a hotel on a square in Kampa Park that ended up being on the same square and location of a big car blow-up scene in Mission: Impossible. Being a big fan of action movies, you know I was pretty psyched about this. Here are some pictures of the square. Maybe you recognize the square from the movie?

(Clockwise from top left: Double staircase leading from The Charles Bridge to the square my hotel was on, my hotel which is the last yellow building on the left, View of the square from The Charles Bridge, a movie being filmed just off the square by the Devil's Stream and, no, I have no idea who those actors are. Do you?)

Odds and Ends


(Clockwise from top left: Devil's Stream near The Charles Bridge and Kampa Island, another view of stream from Kampa Island, Statue near Prague Castle, Park Benches on Kampa Island)

Food and Wine

I ate twice at the hotel restaurant/pub twice and enjoyed it both times. Then I ate at a restaurant in Prague Castle, a small, yummy and quiet bistro and at a true Czech microbrewery/pub.

A sampler: Smoked pork ribs, pickled vegetable relish, horseradish and mustard, seared duck with orange sauce, Moravian red wine, beef goulash, bread dumplings, potato dumplings, Prague ham, pickled hot peppers, Krusovice dark beer, Pivovarsky Dum light and dark beers, roast duck with sweet and sour cabbage and sauerkraut, mulled wine to-go, Pretzel bread rolls.

Excuse the rushed overview, but time is a-ticking on my time here in Europe and I need to share a lot more information with y'all!