Spain

Gallery Tiana

Published on by joannaalmasude

January 1st 2020, I landed in Barcelona from a short one night stay in Frankfurt, Germany. But Barcelona wasn’t my stopping point, I am spending a week in Tiana, Spain. 

Here is the current info found on the web about Tiana:

Description: Tiana, Catalan

Tiana is a town situated in the east of the Province of Barcelona in northeastern Spain, near the Mediterranean Sea. Its people are called tianencs in Catalan, and tianenses in Spanish. The population in 2014 was 8,314. Its total surface is 7.96 km², with a total population density of 1024 habs/km². WikipediaPopulation: 8,709 (2018) Instituto Nacional de EstadísticaMayor: Esther Pujol Martí (2015) Weather: 9°C, Wind NW at 8 km/h, 66% Humidity

La Nucia, Spain

Published on by joannaalmasude

La Nucia is a little suburb of Benidorm, Spain…. it’s mostly in the mountain area looking down on Benidorm which is by the sea. I have never stayed on a mountain as high as this one… a very interesting experience.

We are staying here in a condo high up on the mountain with 2 lovely cats… which have their own album which can be viewed here. It’s a three week adventure spanning from the end of January to February 20th.

Benidorm, Spain

Published on by joannaalmasude

For anyone interested in finding a reasonably priced Spanish beach vacation spot, check out Benidorm. Coming from the United States, I had never heard of it. It sits between Valencia and Alicante on the eastern coast of Spain. We are here in February 2019 for around a month. The weather is pretty nice (50s at night and 60s up to 70s during the day), very similar to Florida in February!

This photo I took on February 10th. It is a typical view of the large and well developed boulevard on the Ocean. The afternoon sun is amazing – creating dramatic contrasts and light and shadows,

Amar and I are walking many miles on the shores of Benidorm and I’m taking hundreds of photos. But no artwork yet. Maybe someday when I am traveling less, I will have time to produce more artwork! 🙂

The Prices are great in Benidorm, food, clothing, shoes pretty much everything is cheaper than the USA. Wine is especially good price, and for good wine! Below are a few selected photos from out stay in La Nucia and walks in Benidorm.

Almeria Spain

Published on by joannaalmasude

We are only spending a few days in Almeria, March 9th – 12th, 2018. 

Arrived by bus on March 9th at 2pm. Found our way to the Airbnb by taxi. We stayed in the older district. We have been to Almeria before… back in 2007 (if I am remembering correctly). And we did enjoy the one day/night that we stayed. So, I was looking forward to the visit! 

Here are some photos from our visit… including the Alcazaba (free and excellent to go through), The Dona Pakyta Museo De Arte (free and excellent) as well as the Historical Museum  (again free and excellent)!! Overall I highly recommend visiting Almeria. Great history and an excellent value.  


Almeria Quick facts

Almería is a city in southeast Spain. The Alcazaba is an imposing Moorish fortress overlooking the city. The fortified, 16th-century Almería Cathedral has a Gothic ribbed ceiling. The Museum of Almería displays archaeological finds from across the region. Underground lies a network of tunnels, the Civil War Shelters of Almería. The English Cable is a huge iron pier and symbol of the city’s former mining industry.
  • Population:
    • 193,024 

Granada: 3-3-2018

Published on by joannaalmasude

Yesterday included a smooth rainy bus ride from Cordoba to Granada. Then with a time mix up and waiting in the rain for an hour to get into out airBnB. We ventured out to get food. After a long walk in the rain we found the Grocery store closed! More search for groceries led us to meet a local who invited us to their families nightclub with very good drinks… thus to dancing and a good end of a very wet day. Which brings us to today, our first full day in Granada. Tried we finally found a store and got food in the morning … and then ventured off to explore the following 2 places:

  1. House of Zafra – Calle Portería Concepción, 8, 18010 Granada  
    Free of charge. Nasrid palace built at the end of the XIV century. The Catholic monarchs ceded it to their secretary Hernando de Zafra. At his death it became part of the foundation of the convent of Santa Catalina de Zafra. The convent conserved the palace between 1527 and 1946, year in which it passed to public ownership. Noteworthy are the decorative elements, especially the plasterwork, the carpentries and the remains of mural painting.

  2. José Guerrero Center – Calle Oficios, 8, 18001 Granada
    Free of charge. This is home to some of the Granada-born artist’s best works and organizes cultural activities as well. 

Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba

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Going to the Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba is free every morning from 8:30 to 9:30 am, after that the entrance fee is 8 euros each. So, my husband and I went 2 mornings in a row (Feb 26th and Feb 27th). It is very worth getting up early to see. When the time is up, the guards chase you out. For some unknown reason, they chased us out 10 minutes early today.

The history of the building is very interesting, historians believe that there had first been a temple to the Roman god, Janus. That is easy to believe if you see the Roman bridge very close to the site – which is amazing!  In 572 the temple was converted into a church by invading Visigoths who seized Cordoba. It is stated that when Muslims conquered Spain in 711, the church was first divided into Muslim and Christian halves. I find that highly doubtful 

  The mosque in Córdoba, to 23,400 m2, was the second largest in the world after that of Mecca, until in 1588 the Blue Mosque in Istanbul exceeded.

The mosque is divided into two distinct parts: the patio or portico sahn houses the minaret beneath the Renaissance tower, which is the only intervention that Abd al-Rahman III was in the mosque. This part also is the prayer room or haram. The second part of the mosque is the interior of it. It is characterized by the set of columns and arches that define bicolor. These make a very distinctive color and formal whole. The inner area is divided into five parts, each corresponding to the successive enlargements that the mosque has had throughout its history.

The minaret was built in times of Abderramán III and today is kept in the interior of the bell tower. Damaged after a storm, it was arranged by the Cathedral Chapter in 1593 to demolish part of the old minaret and built the bell tower. In the seventeenth century the clock was added. Faced with the danger of collapse are all better cemented by the end of the century. In 1664 the campanile was completed.