Category Archives: Spain

The Art Exhibit at the Santa Barbara Castle

We attended the art exhibit when we were at the Santa Barbara Castle. The exhibit was titled “The fortress of the ring” and focused on the Author JRR Tolkien and his books  “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit”. The exhibition was displayed inside of three castle rooms and contained an array of interesting and unique features. There were  life-size figures on displayed along with costumes from the movie.

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Full size figures from the movie “Hobbit” and “The Lord of the ring”
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Costume from the movie
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Full size figure from movie

There was a room which contained an amazing collection of miniatures. the miniatures were so detailed and exact that it was hard to tell they were not real.

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Miniature
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Miniature castle with “giant” Ray
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Miniature Castle with great detail

 

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Miniature dragon and wizard

There was also a collection of weapons and clothing, lithographs and original drawings from the comic illustrator. We walked through the rooms and enjoyed the unique displays. Our favourite display was the full size “Ent” which is a tree like creature in the fables. Notice the two little elves on its shoulders.

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ENT tree like creature
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Me and the Ent

It was an interesting and enjoyable exhibit.

“Adios y que tenga un grand dias”

 

Visit to the Castillo de Santa Barbara on the Mount of Benacantil

Today we started our day by heading to the Santa Barbara Castle in Alicante. The medieval castle is a historic landmark and was built on the top of Mount Benacantil.  To reach the castle we walked up the steep slopes and walkways until we reached the top. It was quite a climb and we took our time and stopped along the way to enjoy some of the beautiful views of the city. It took us about an hour to reach the top.

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View of the Santa Barbara castle from beach in Alicante
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The start of the walk up to the castle of Santa Barbara
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View of the Castle walls
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Ray walking the steep walkway to the Santa Barbara Castle

 

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Trail towards the top of the castle
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Steep incline near the top of the mount of Benacantil

When we got to the top the castle and views were spectacular.  The Castle is approximately 166 metres above sea level and overlooks the City of Alicante and the Bay of Alicante.  There have been archaeological remains found from the roman to bronze age. Some of the artifacts are on display in the castle.  One of the artifacts is pictured below, a vase from the 1st to 3rd century AD.

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Roman vase 1st to 3rd century AD

The Castle itself is very impressive, with architectural features, thick stone walls and massive arched bridges. The outside space of the castle is large and there are many structures and a protective wall around the whole castle.

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Arches in castle outdoor yard area

 

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One of the arched bridges in the castle yard
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Bridge overhead in castle yard

On the upper level of the castle yard there are watch posts that were used to guard the city. The views were stunning from there. You can see for kilometers and over the entire city.

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Watch post on upper level of castle
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View through Cannon slot

There were several iron figures throughout the castle yard highlighting key lookout points.

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Guard with spear
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Metal statues in battle
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Archer guarding the castle
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Archer overlooking the Castle
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Archers view from guard post
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Upper level of Castle with guard post
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One of the views of city of Alicante from Castle
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A view of city of Alicante
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Another view of the city of Alicante

The inside of the castle was also very impressive. There are  multiple rooms, some are very large with massive stone pillars. Other castle rooms where smaller and contained displays about the history of the castle.

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Interpretation of the Santa Faz by artist Jose Maria Moran Burritti (Santa Faz Alicante is a Catholic relic of the Santa Faz venerated in the monastery of Santa Faz of the city of Alicante)
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Santa Faz representation
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Stone floors of castle
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Big room in Castle
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Entrance to hallway to tunnel in mountain to elevator
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Shelley in distance taking photo
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One of the many arched entrances into a room in castle
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Shelley in arched hallway in castle

There was also an art exhibit on display highlighting JR Tolkien and the of literature “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” We explored the art exhibit and enjoyed it. We will do a separate blog on the art exhibit. Overall we had a very good day and enjoyed the castle. We had a pedometer with us and we walked over 10 kilometres today. We were very tired and glad to get home after the day.

“adios y que tenga un grand dias”

 

 

City Hall of Alicante

Today we decided to visit the “Ayuntamiento” which means town hall in spanish.  The building is very impressive and is in a  baroque architecture style. Apparently it was  designed by architect Lorenzo Chápuli ( hey maybe he could have been a long-lost relative!) The site was built on the same site as the former city hall in the 18th century.

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The older section of city hall of Alicante Spain the new addition is slightly visible on right of photo

There are some very unique and interesting features of the building. The building is basically divided into two parts, the original section and a modern addition to accommodate the growing needs of administration.

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Modern section of city hall attached to original building.

It is notable that security has been incorporated into the open concept allowing tourist to view the unique features of the building while maintaining security.

On the outside of the building there are barley-sugar columns at the doorways. The main entrance of the building has huge doors over 10 feet high that open into a larger reception area.

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massive entrance doorways to city hall

The entrance area has a substantial presence with a sculpture in the open stairwell of Saint John created by Salvador Dali which is very impressive.

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Salvador Dali sculpture in staircase
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View of Salvador Dali sculpture from top of staircase
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Salvador Dali sculpture

Beside the sculpture in the open staircase there is a plaque on the first step of the staircase. It signifies the exact sea level used to define altitude above sea level. This measurement is used for all of Spain to define sea level.  Scientist discovered that the difference between high and low tide was less on the Alicante coastline. They selected the first step of Alicante city hall as the official seal level designation for all of Spain.

Official Sea level measurement for Spain
Official Sea level measurement for Spain

Inside city hall itself there are numerous paintings, ornate furniture and unique rooms. The “Salón Azul” which was styled from the period of Spain’s Queen Isabel is very impressive. The room has numerous paintings of elected officials and has a large glass table for meetings. There are over sixty paintings of elected officials in the room and there is only one female.

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Meeting table in Salon azul
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Chandelier in salon azul
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Doorway leading out of salon azul

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The “Salón de Plenos” meeting hall was also very impressive. I believe this is equivalent to our council chambers in Canada.

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Throughout the building there are various art works that highlight the history and culture of Alicante. Below are just a few of the spectacular artworks in the building.

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Artwork in Alicante city hall

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On the modern side of  the city hall building are the remains of archaeological ruins of past centuries. There was archaeological ruins that were unearthed when construction was underway for the addition. The elected officials of the day thought they would preserve the historic significance and build around a section of the archaeological remains. Today they are visible and on displayed at the ground floor of City hall.

The display is entitled  “Alicante, la ciudad descubierta” which means Alicante, the city unveiled.  We were able to go down into the display area and view and touch some of the unique archaeological ruins. 

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Shelley standing in between 16th century walls
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13th century defensive wall of Alicante
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The conservation of the 13th and 16th century walls with the integration into the new administration addition of city hall.
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Alicante ruins incorporated into the footings of the new administration building.
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View of the security at entrance to city hall with an open view of the archaeological ruins.

The visit to the preserved archaeological remains was extremely interesting and somewhat moving for us.  Having a “walk” along the 16th century street and touching medieval Christian walls and reading about the vibrant and diverse history of Alicante was very enjoyable and rewarding.

“Adios y que tenga un grand dias”

First day of school

Today was Shelley’s first day of spanish school.  One of the reasons for moving to Spain was to learn spanish and immerse ourselves in the spanish culture. Shelley began her spanish classes today at the Studio 3 school. The three-hour a day class runs for the next two weeks and will provide further foundational language to help transition to Spanish.

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Shelley’s first day of School

Ray has a french background and is slightly  more advance in the spanish language and will take the next level of class when it is offered.

Studio 3 school of language
Studio 3 school of language

The school is located beside the cafe where we go and practice spanish every week. It is  great way to meet people and expand our knowledge of the language. You are never too old to learn new things and we are enjoying the challenges that brings.

“adios y que tenga un grand dias”

 

Not just a walk in the “parque”

On Saturday we decided to go to the “Parque El Palmeral” which is a lovely park. The park is full of palm trees, water falls, small waterways and lake.  Most Canadians would think the “lake” is more of a pond than a  lake (it is quite small).  The park itself is quite impressive and apparently it was used for backdrops in major movie scenes.

Walkway towards the entrance of the park
Walkway towards the entrance of the park

We took the bus from our apartment and we arrived near the park in about 15 minutes. A short two-minute walk and we were at the  entrance way of the park. The walls of the park are impressive with a curved stone style and majestic palm trees surrounding the entrance into the park.

 

Entrance to the El Palmeral Park
Entrance to the El Palmeral Park

Once we entered the park there were multiple trails that led to different areas of the park. We decided to start on the  left and work our way around the entire park.  Bordering the trail are numerous smaller trails that go to small areas with benches.  On one of the side trails we took we came across an orange tree with ripe oranges. Some people would pick them along the way. We didn’t take any oranges because we weren’t sure if it was permitted.

Orange tree in the park
Orange tree in the park

The trails had many small waterways which were only a few feet deep and were man-made.  There was also a small pond (they call it a lake) where you could get a small rowboat and go along the waterways.

The "Lake"
The “Lake”

The boat access was closed when we were there and we would not likely have taken the rowboat anyways.

Rowboats in the pond
Rowboats in the pond

There was an area in the park with a small store where you could rest and buy ice cream, snacks, beer or wine. We came across many beautiful areas with lots of different palm trees and areas to relax or have a picnic.  Interestingly the park had an oriental look to it.  The lanterns were an oriental style and the bridges had an oriental look as well.

Oriental lantern
Oriental lantern

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We came across a waterfalls with a walkway that went through it to the other side. It was a good way to cool down from the heat.

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Waterfalls walkway

What I did notice was the wild cats. There were lots of wild cats throughout the park. They are living in the park and seem to be part of the natural environment there.  They stay clear of people and are careful to not get close. I guess not everyone is a cat lover in the park.

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Wild cats in the park

We spent about three hours walking through the park looking at the palm trees and enjoying the beautiful views. We stopped and had a small picnic and enjoyed the day. The walkway leading  out if the park has a beautiful view of the Mediterranean Sea.

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View of the sea when exiting the park

“Adios y que tenga un grand dias”