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Spain

Semana Santa in Alicante

Semana Santa week in Alicante is full of activities and parades. We participated and enjoyed some of the activities during the Semana Santa.

Procession on the Promenade

We went for a walk down the promenade and came to the procession also known as “penance procession” which was underway. We stopped and watched some of the procession including the Nazarenes dressed in their traditional “Vesta”.

Members of the brotherhood of Nazarene in procession

The history of the Nazarenes dates back to the 16th century. They are members of a brotherhood who do penance during Semana Santa. Their faces are covered for mourning and the colourful clothing represents the cloak that Jesus wore when he was being lead to be crucified.

One of the floats being carried by mourners

The floats or “pasos” which can weight in excess of 500 kgs. (1000 lbs) are carried by people dressed in white hooded gowns. These gowns cover their faces in mourning and represent the shame of sinners for the sins they committed.

The procession was interesting and we watched it for approximately an hour before we left.

Procession Santa Cruz

The second procession we watched is one of the most popular and is held in the narrow streets of Santa Cruz. Thousands of people gather early to get a good spot to watch the procession.

People gathering early to watch the Santa Cruz procession

We were very fortunate to have friends who invited us to watch the procession from their balcony which overlooks the procession.  We could see the procession from a great vantage point.

View of the start of the procession from our friend’s balcony

The streets of Santa Cruz are narrow and there is one section in particular which is the narrowest in the procession route. At this section the people carrying the floats (known as the brotherhood) must be very careful to lower the float below the edges of the balconies which line the street.

The floats in Santa Cruz are very heavy and the heaviest one is over a ton. You can see the strain and effort on the people trying to move the float slowly and carefully down the stairs.

Moving the float through the narrowest section of the street

It is considered good luck if you are fortunate enough to touch one of the floats as it passes by. Shelley was able to reach out and touch the statue of Jesus as the float went by.

Shelley touching the arm of the Jesus statue during the Santa Cruz procession.

There are women dressed in black mourning throughout the procession. Some of the mourning women carry symbols of the stations of the cross.

Women in Mourning carrying a crown made of thorns.

The procession in Santa Cruz is very emotional, You can feel the emotions of people as they sing and cheer throughout the procession. It is definitely one of the highlights of the Semana Santa in Alicante.

Below is a video of the procession in Santa Cruz.

Santa Maria Church Procession

We went to a roof top bar to see the Santa Maria procession which begins at the Santa Maria Church. The bar has a great view of the castle of Santa Barbara and overlooks the Santa Maria Church.

Ray and Shelley on the roof top bar with a view of the castle of Santa Barbara

The bar was full of people waiting to see the procession from the rooftop.

People on the roof top waiting to see the procession.

The procession began with the church bells ringing and people on the church roof throwing rose pedals onto the procession.

People throwing rose pedals onto the procession from the church roof
Procession float starting the procession out of the Santa Maria Church

The float is carried out of the church while crowds align both sides of the street. We watched from the rooftop as the procession went along the street.

View of the procession float from the rooftop along the street near Santa Maria Church

Below is a video of the procession from the Santa Maria Church.

Each of the three processions were unique and different. We enjoyed each one for their uniqueness and style. Semana Santa is a great time to be in Spain and in particular Alicante.

“Hasta luego y tengas un buen dia”

Spain

Telefonica museo

We went to the Museo Telefonica which is located inside the beautiful national Telefonica building in Madrid.

National Telefonica building in Madrid

The entrance which was free is at the side of the main building. We went into a lobby area which had a small model of the Telefonica building on display.

Shelley beside the model of the telefonica building

We took an elevator up to the top floor and explored the exhibit which was a history of the phone company in Spain.

Display of different phones that were used over the years.
Ornate telephone used in early 1900’s in Spain

There were exhibits of different pieces of equipment that was actually used in Spain.

Telegraph decoder of morse code which was used until 1950.

The telegraph decoder was used in Spain beginning in 1875 and was in use until 1950. The importance of the telegraph decoder was its ability to instantly decode into printable and readable text messages from morse code. This particular telegraph decoder was used to send news of the movement of Spanish soldiers during war.

Breaker switches and circuit wall which was in actual use at the telefonica company
This switchboard was used in connecting different customers manually.

After exploring the history of the telephone in Spain we went to the third floor to check out the digital exhibit. This exhibit was truly unique and very enjoyable. It is divided into three different parts. The first section called “Black Waves: Lost, Immersed, and Reborn” which is the largest part of the exhibit. When we entered the exhibit it was truly spectacular. There were large digital waves throughout several different large rooms.

View of the digital waves throughout the exhibit.

We walked through the rooms and were immersed into the 3D digital art.

Shelley and Ray in the 3D digital exhibit

The telefonica museum was an interesting spot and the 3D digital exhibit was very enjoyable.

“Hasta luego y que tengas un buen dia”

Spain

Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia

It was a rainy day in Madrid so we decided to go to the National Museum of Art to see some of the exhibits which included Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso and H.C. Westermann.

Entrance to the Museo Reina Sofia

We explored the museum which had many different exhibits. We explored some of the ones which were of interest to us. The first one we went to was the cubism exhibit which featured some famous Spanish artists, including Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso.

Bust and Pallet, (1925) Pablo Picasso
Face of the great masturbator, (1929)- Salvador Dali

Some of the exhibits were quite unique and interesting, in particular we enjoyed the Horace Clifford Westermann exhibit.

Ray looking at some of the HC Westermann exhibits

He is known for his folkloric sculptures and works on paper with playfulness and humour,

We saw some interesting pieces that were very unique including the “Memorial to the Idea of Man If He Was an Idea,”

Memorial to the Idea of Man If He Was an Idea, HC Westermann

We looked at the different pieces and some where quite interesting while others were simply strange.

Antimobile (1966) HC Westermann
Shelley “just missing the bullseye”
“In God we trust” HC WEstermann
Robot by HC Westermann

The Museum was well worth the visit and we enjoyed seeing the different styles of art on display.

Ray in mirror art

It was a great way to spend a rainy day in Madrid.

“Hasta luego y que tengas un gran dia”

 

Spain

The Chicote museum

We went to check out one of the iconic and original cocktail bars in Madrid called the “Museo Chicote”. It is located on the Gran Via and was formerly known as Perico Chicote bar. It opened in 1931 by Pedro Chicote, who was a former barman of the Ritz Hotel.

The outside of the bar was unassuming and had a modern look.

The facade of Museo Chicote bar in Madrid

We went inside and immediately it felt like we had stepped back in time. The inside of the Museo Chicote had some interesting features. On the right side were small booths with moulded chairs and in the centre tables and chairs.

View of the interior of the Museo Chicote bar in Madrid

The rear of the bar had some red velvet curtains with an old style pay phone mounted on the wall.

Pay phone at the rear of the bar

We sat down at one of the booths and took in the decor as we enjoyed a cocktail.

Shelley sitting in one of the booths.

The Chocote bar was one of the first cocktail bars in Madrid. It is known for the many famous people that have spent time in the bar. On the wall behind the bar there were pictures of some of the famous people who visited the bar.

Photos on display behind the bar

We took a closer look at some of the photos and came across some famous people including, Salvador Dali, Rita Hayworth, Bette Davis, James Stewart, Sofia Loren, Earnest Hemingway and Many more.

Picture of Rita Hayworth (top) and Bette Davis (below) in the Chicote Bar
Some of the pictures of celebrities in the Chicote bar.

It was a wall full of Celebrities from all parts of the world.

There is even a Spanish TV series called “Arde Madrid” which features the story of Eva Gardner when she was living in Madrid.

Throughout the series there are many scenes involving the Chicote Bar. In 2004 the Chicote bar received an award as one of the best bars in Europe.

It was a great experience being in the Chicote Bar. We enjoyed a cocktail at one of the historic and iconic bars in Madrid. We even took a selfie picture of us with the Chicote Bar.

“Hasta luego y que tengas un gran dia”

Spain

Alcalá del Júcar

We spent some time in the small and quaint town of Alcalá del Júcar with a population of only 1, 321. It is located in a narrow valley in the province of Albacete.

The view from the top of the valley

The view from the top of the valley is beautiful. The drive into the town follows a road that winds along the rocky walls of the steep valley.

The view of the town of Alcalá del Júcar

Bellow is a short video of the drive down the valley.

We went for a walk and explored the town of Alcalá del Júcar. The town is quiet and slow paced. We enjoyed walking slowly along the quiet streets admiring the architecture and scenery. We came across some interesting and beautiful spots along our walk.

The view from one of the streets in town
Ray near the arched bridge in the town
A man sitting on a chair on the middle of the street

Along our walk we came across a gentlemen sitting in a chair in the middle of the street. He was enjoying the sun and seemed surprise to see us.

There were caves carved out of the side of the valley walls where people lived. We could see the caves in many different areas.

Caves made into houses

Shelley explored a cave house which was converted to a museum. The inside of the cave was spectacular with features that would rival any home.

View of one of the main rooms in the cave house
One of the rooms in the cave house in the town of Alcalá del Júcar

The town even had a castle which was perched above the town.

The castle in Alcalá del Júcar

The castle provided a great view of the town and surrounding area.

The view from the castle of the town of Alcalá del Júcar

Alcalá del Júcar is very quaint and special town. It has great has great character and we enjoyed exploring the town.

“Hasta luego y que tengas un gran dia”