Merle's China

Asleep on the Train

Preening Geese

Orange Cone with Bicycle

Demolition of City Hall

I first caught site of the odd trees.  Walking closer, I realized the tree tops were cut off!

Intently Reading

Laptop Pen Coffee Cup and Tape Dispenser

Jade Plants at the Window

My vacation to Spain has ended and it is back to work.  Another gloomy day in the Pacific Northwest, but I can daydream about my wonderful trip to Spain.

Madrid - Barajas Airport

Day 20 - Arriving several hours before our departure gave me plenty of time for sketching Terminal 4.  This is a view of the line at the ticket counters.

Traveling from Granada to Madrid

Day 19 - I filled several pages in my book with 'thumbnail' sketches.  Here is just a few of them.

Mirador de San Nicolas, Granada, Spain

Day 18 - We walked through and up the Albaicin streets to reach the view from San Nicolas.  The little watercolor painting is of the Alhambra Palace and the snowy Sierra Nevada mountains.  There were many people at the view point, but I chose to concentrate on the palace.

Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzin, Granada, Spain

Day 17 - We spent hours exploring the palace and gardens of this World Heritage Site.  UNESCO has a very good description here.  I found a quite spot in the gardens of Generalife to do a simple pencil sketch.

Eating Lunch on the Cathedral Steps, Granada

Day 16 - I leaned up against the wall off the small plaza in front of the cathedral. I finished the drawing just as the person had finished their lunch and walked away. Good timing!

Train from Sevilla to Granada

Day - 15 We caught a slow train to Granada. As I looked out the window, I saw many interesting sites. Spain primarily exports manufactured goods. However, I would have guessed olive oil as I saw groves of olive trees that stretched to the horizon. These are just a sample of my quick sketches as I looked out from the train: windmills on top of the hills, a tree in a field and an olive tree.

Jamon, Sevilla, Spain

Day 14 - When visiting a tapa bar in Spain, you may see ham hanging from the ceiling or walls. The sketch illustrates a typical arrangement with a piece of rope wrapped around the pig's foot.

Roma Women with Rosemary Sprigs, Sevilla

Day 13 - Guide books warn of scams by Roma women. These ladies were standing outside the cathedral's exit. However, they seemed less interested in bamboozling unsuspecting tourist preferring to talk and laugh among themselves. My observations were made from across the street and out of sight.

Plaza de Espana, Sevilla

Day 12 - After a long stroll in the afternoon sun, I found a shady bench to sketch.

Casa de Pilatos

Day 11 - The Spanish afternoons can be very warm. We avoided the sun by spending an hour or so walking the shady patios of Casa de Pilatos.

Bulls, Sevilla

Day 10 - We departed from Cordoba by high speed train to Sevilla. A short taxi ride from the train station and we arrive at the hotel. Within a few steps of our hotel, we find ourselves sitting in a tapa bar with bull heads mounted high on the walls above us. Sevilla is famous for bullfighting so the bull heads are to be expected. My partner, the meat- eater, enjoyed the grilled pork. I found the fried eggplant with honey excellent ( even with a bull staring down at me).

Tapas, Calle de Maria Cristina, Cordoba

Madrid to Cordoba, Cervezas y Pimientos

Day 8 - We traveled from Madrid to Cordoba by bullet-train. The train is fast as we arrived before the onboard movie finished. A short walk from the train station and we were at our hotel.





After spending a few hours at Alcazar, we found a tapa bar and enjoyed a cool beer and fried peppers with a dash of salt.

Museo de La Catedral Madrid

Day 7 - I leaned up against the magnificent Palacio Real and sketched the large building across the plaza.

Centro de Arte Reina Sofia y Real Jardin Botanico

Day 6 - In the morning, we visited the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. At the entrance to the museum, I took the opportunity to sketch a man looking up at Roy Lichtenstein's "Brushstroke". In the interior courtyard, a family rested at the fountain.





After visiting the museum, we walked to the gardens. The Iris's were still in bloom and waiting to be sketched.

Holy Toledo!

Day 5 - Toledo is a short 30 minutes from Madrid by high speed train. The small train station is very beautiful with impressive tiles covering the floor and walls.





From the station, we walked across bridge and had this wonderful view of the city. Our walk then proceeded uphill for about 1km to Plaza de Zocodover.

We spent much of our visit in the cathedral as there was so much to see. In the treasury, we saw a large structure of about 400 pounds of gold-plated silver loaded with jewels. It is used to carry the Holy Communion wafer. We were amused to see, that very near this priceless object, a small glass gift presented by their sister city, Toledo, Ohio.

Parque del Buen Retiro

Day 4 - We spent a few hours walking in Retiro Park. The area around the lake was crowed with many people watching musicians and other street performers. I found a park bench and spent about 5 minutes sketching the blue rowboats in El Estanque.

Pickpockets Madrid

Day 3 - Government web sites and travel guides warn about pickpockets. One area often mentioned for theft is Puerta del Sol . As we walked off the central square, I was startled by a loud noise on the street. As I turned, I encountered two young girls (~13 years old) holding maps up to their faces and pressed up against my now opened backpack.

I've spent a lot of time in South Louisiana and have a little bit of experience with charging alligators. As ridiculous as this seems, I tried the evasive technique and completely surprised the thieves. An older adult directing the girls stepped into the street and, with a sharp whistle , they all vanished into the crowd.

Nobody hurt and nothing stolen. A good day.

El Desayuno en el Avion

Day 2 - We arrived mid-morning at Madrid's Barajas Airport Terminal 4. Moving through customs was quick as the non-EU passport line was very short. It was easy to catch the Expres Aeropuerto bus into Madrid. After checking onto the hotel, we visited the Museo del Arte Thyssen-Bornemisza. The impressionist paintings were a joy to view.

Flight to Madrid

Day 1

Two Blue Dots