Tag Archives: Spain culture

Spain

Animal Museum in Ronda

We went to a museum in Ronda called “Museo de Caza” which translates to the Hunting Museum. We thought it looked interesting so we went to see it. Once we entered inside the museum we were greeted with a large stuffed grizzly bear.

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A stuffed Grizzly Bear at the Museo de Caza in Ronda

We paid our two euros each and began exploring the different rooms which displayed an enormous amount of stuffed animals.

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One of the rooms in the Museo de Caza in Ronda

As we walked through the museum we came across more and more stuffed animals. There were animals from all over the world and displayed beside the animals were plaques identifying their origin and where they were killed.

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Plaque displaying the area where the animals were killed.

We came across tigers and lions in one of the rooms and an alligator in another room.

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Lion on display in Museo de Caza in Ronda
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Large cat in Museo de Caza .in Ronda
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Shelley with an alligator on display at Museo de Caza.

The animals on displays were all over the walls and there was very little free space in the Museum. It was a bit unsettling being in the rooms with so many dead animals displayed as trophies. There were some areas where we needed to watch our heads in order not to bump into an animal on display.

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Some of the animals on displayed that were on the wall causing a low overhead when walking.

Walking through the different rooms we came across animals from all different areas of the world. We came across monkeys, gazelles and wild boars from Africa.

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Monkeys, wild boars, and other African animals on display
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Wild boar in Museo de Caza in Ronda

There were water buffalo and other African animals, some which I have never seen before.

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There was a pair of  Elephant tusk that was on display which was enormous. The plaque indicated that the tusk were obtained prior to the ban on ivory.

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African Elephant Tusk on display at Museo de Caza in Ronda

We even saw animals that were from North America and Canada in particular.

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Brown Bear that was killed in Canada
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Black bears and assorted gazelles on display. Note the elephant foot used as a table on the right.

There were walls full of mounted skulls with horns displayed from all over the world.

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Horns and skulls mounted and displayed in Museo de Caza

They had every imaginable type of animal displayed including waterfowl, groundhogs, and birds.

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Waterfowl on display at the Museo de Caza

The museum was full of animals from around the world. It was hard to imagine that such a collection of animals were on display in the small mountaintop town of Ronda Spain.

“Adios y que tiene un gran dia”

Spain

The city of Cadiz Spain

We went to the city of Cadiz Spain which is in the south of Spain. Cadiz is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Spain and one of the oldest in western Europe. The Spanish navy has been stationed in Cadiz since the 18th century.

We decided to walk through the old section of Cadiz exploring the narrow streets and admiring the historic buildings.

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Narrow streets in old quarter of Cadiz Spain
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Typical historic building of Cadiz

We came to a large central plaza where people were enjoying the day at the cafes and pubs.

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Main Plaza in old quarter of Cadiz Spain

We walked through the plaza enjoying the hustle and bustle of people. We came to the Cathedral in the plaza which was quite nice.

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Cathedral in Cadiz Spain

We walked along the streets until we came across the ruins of a Roman Theater which was partially excavated. It is believed that the theater was built in the 1st century BC and one of the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. It could hold more than 20,000 people and was mentioned in Roman writings.

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Roman Theater wall from 1st century BC in Cadiz
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Roman Theater remains in Cadiz Spain
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Roman Theater the view of the seating area

We went into the Roman Theater and explored the site. It was truly amazing to see the ruins knowing that they were built in the first century BC. We were able to enter underground and see parts of the Theater from below.

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Archway to below grade of the theater
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inside the underground passageways of the theater

Inside the passageways, we could see the walls which were pitted and worn over the years.

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The walls of the underground passageways

After exploring the underground passageways, we went into the museum section of the Theater.

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Shelley in the museum section of the Roman Theater

We read about the history of the theater as well as to the discovery of the ruins after being excavated in 1980.

Afterward, we headed to the walkway along the edge of the city. The  views along the walkway were beautiful. We could see the entire coastal area of Cadiz.

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Walkway along the coast of Cadiz Spain

We stopped to admire the views and enjoy the beautiful sunshine.

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Louise and Bard on the coast of Cadiz Spain
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Shelley at the coast of Cadiz Spain

We walked along the waterfront for a while then headed to the park before heading back home. The park area was nicely groomed and was a relaxing walk.

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There were statues and nice shaded areas to sit and relax.

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Blaz De Lezo Statue in the park in Cadiz

“Adios y que tenga un gran dia”

Spain

The city of Cuenca, Spain

We went to Cuenca to visit this unique and quaint city. It is known for its long history and unique buildings and is classified as a UNESCO world site. The city was built as a defensive city in the Caliphate mountains by the Moors. Cuenca is unique because it is a well-preserved medieval fortified city. It is also known for its “casas colgadas”  (hanging Houses) built on the sheer cliffs that overlook the Huecar river.

We went to the local tourism office and spoke to the clerk who suggested we take a taxi to the top of the city and walk down the medieval old quarter of Cuenca.

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View from the mountain in Cuenca Spain

We arrived at the top of the city at the parking lot of the Castilo and took in the breath-taking views.

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Cliffs of Cuenca Spain
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Ray, Brad, Louise, and Shelley at the top of the Castillo Parking lot in Cuenca, Spain

We walked slowly down the steep cobble-stoned streets working our way through the amazing city.

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View of the old section of Cuenca Spain
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View of the buildings on the cliffs of Cuenca Spain

Along the route, we came across a side path that went under the roadway that was beautiful.

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Path leading under the roadway in Cuenca

The view from the path provided a stunning view of the Cuenca valley.

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Path in Cuenca Spain
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View of the valley in Cuenca Spain

After taking a break and looking at the beautiful vistas, we headed back down the streets of Cuenca towards the central Plaza de Mayor.

There were 11-century old buildings  along the way, some of which were  built on the sheer edge of the cliffs of Cuenca.

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Building on the cliff edge in Cuenca Spain
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Hanging house in Cuenca Spain

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We arrived at the busy Plaza de Mayor which is the main square in the old medieval section of Cuenca. There were numerous  restaurants and coffee shops in the square.

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A partial view of the Plaza Mayor of Cuenca

We decided to take a break and have some snacks and refreshments before heading on to explore more of the city of Cuenca. The city of Cuenca has so many amazing sites and unique things that we will do several blog post on it. Below is a video capturing some of the amazing sites of Cuenca.

https://youtu.be/WLkYYaAAkEc

“adios y que tenga un gran dia”

 

Spain

Visit to Cuenca Spain

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We took the high-speed rail system to Cuenca Spain, a small quaint city in the mountains. We arrived at the train station “Cuenca Fernando Zobel” which is a new station located on the outskirts of Cuenca.

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Cuenca, Spain the new RENFE train station platform

The new train station is a beautiful new facility and is quite impressive. It looks more like an airport than a train station.

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Inside of the RENFE train station in Cuenca, Spain

We decided to walk into Cuenca and headed down the sidewalk towards the city.

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Walking along the new sidewalk away from the train station toward Cuenca.

As we continued the walk the sidewalk ended and we were walking along the roadway.

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Walking along the side of the road heading towards Cuenca.

We continued to walk for approximately 30 minutes when a priest stopped his car and approached us.  He asked us if we were ok and where we were headed. We told him to our hotel in Cuenca and he indicated that we were about 6 kilometers away from our hotel. He offered to take us there in his vehicle and we decided to take him up on his offer. The four of us and our carry bags squeezed into his small compact 4 cylinder car. The priest was very helpful and drove us to the hotel.

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Priest driving us to the hotel in Cuenca

We thanked him very much and offered him some money, which he refused. He told us to pray for him and wished us well. It is nice to see the goodwill of strangers and to be the recipient of a random act of kindness.

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Our hotel “Torremangana” in Cuenca, Spain

We settled into our hotel rooms and prepared for the next few days of exploration and adventures in Cuenca Spain.

Spain

Abanico (Handfan) in Spain

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One of the things we have enjoyed in our adventures in Spain is the culture. The Spanish tradition of the “abanico”  is interesting. The use of the abanico (Fan ) is a long-standing tradition in Spain. The use of the fan in Spain began around the 13th century   when fans from the Middle East were brought back by Crusaders.

The tradition of the fan was originally used for cooling a person in the heat of the Spanish weather. It is alleged that the fan was also used as a form of secret coded messages. The “secret” fan language was a means to deal with the restrictive social etiquette. In fact, one of our Spanish friends told us how her mother communicated with her father before they were married through the fan secret language.

The secret language is believed to be as follows:

Open fan over the chest showing the design “Yes”
Open fan over the chest showing the back “No”
Open fan covering one of the cheeks “I like you”
Wave fan very fast: “I really like you”
Wave fan very slowly: “I am not interested”
Open fan covering your nose “I want to see you”
Open fan covering your chin “I want to talk to you”
Closed fan near the heart: “I love you”
Open fan placed over lips: “Kiss me”
Close fan waving; “I am thinking about it”
Hit close fan against hand “Leave me alone”
Open and close the fan: “I am upset”
Open fan waving energetically on one side “Don´t come now, other people around”

The “abanico” is still very popular in Spain and it is not uncommon to see women waving the fan when they are hot. The abanicos are sold extensively throughout the country and it is not uncommon to see tourist buying a cheap fan as a souvenir.

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Abanicos on display in Barcelona souvenir store for sale
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Numerous abanicos on sale at a local department store in Alicante

The abanicos range in price from $1 euro up into the hundreds of dollars. The handcrafted artisan style fans are very beautiful and a piece of art. We looked at some fans on display that were quite expensive and locked inside a display case.

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Expensive abanicos on display in locked case at local department store

The style and diversity of the abanicos are truly amazing. There are some for women’s small hand purses, evening classic style and some are works of art used to accent a women’s clothing. We bought a fan to remind us of the tradition. Can you tell which secret Shelley is saying in fan language?

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“adios y que tenga un gran dia”