Coimbra to Lisbon

First, here are some pictures from Coimbra I could not post until now. Here are some pictures from the town of Coimbra.

Here is a street sign near the university. The streets are identified by blocks of tiles on the sides of the buildings at the intersections. Alas, this road is not heavily traveled by many Americans.

Salt Cod!

The fire station next to the hotel where I stayed.

A view down a flight of stairs on the Coimbra hill.

A little archway.

The view of town from the museum on the hill where we had our banquet.

Hello.

Another quaint arch.

The plaza near the math department.

A periodic table located in the science museum. I am not sure of the age.

The author at the zome tool sculpture site.

This is the aqueduct that I was admiring when I took a little tumble.

Here are some interesting pieces from the conference. These are just a few of the many things on display that caught my eye.

Here are some pictures from the excursion day. Scroll fast if you are easily offended.

The picture above the altar in the side chamber at the convent we visited.

The altar. Wax models did not appear to be life size.

A view from the park we visited on the excursion day. It was very beautiful there.

A tree lined lane in the woods. The large trees were hundreds of years old.

This was part of a display on artificial insemination at the science museum. This shows the seminal work involving the use of a frog condom/rubber-pants.

I left Coimbra this morning for Lisbon as planned. I packed and went to the desk to check out. My credit card was initially declined, but we finally got it to work after several attempts. That was the only money trouble on the trip (so far).

I walked to the train station and purchased a ticket for the next train to Lisbon. It was scheduled to leave in about an hour so I went to a local pastaleria. This is combination bakery and coffee shop. Everything looked good, but I settled for two baked items and a coffee. The first was a quiche with ham. The second was an apple pastry. I also had a coffee. Most coffee in Portugal is shot-glass sized espresso, but this was a large version. I ate a leisurely pace and watched the hustle and bustle of the shop and the activity on the street. I walked back to the station to catch the train.

Actually, this was the transfer train to the other station in Coimbra. The train to Lisbon only stops at the Coimbra-B station. I thought I would recognize others from the conference, so I walked along the train but saw nobody I recognized. I thought this was the right train. At that moment I saw several other conference people getting on the train, so we sat together. Safety in numbers is my motto. We sat in a train car we a defective door. It needed grease or something because it made an irritating shrieking sound, something similar to a cross between a bluejay and fingernails on a chalkboard. The first few times I tried to ignore it, but about the 5th time I wondered what was going on. Well, it wasn't the door but a young woman sitting by the door who was making the noise, perhaps like hiccups. I hope the condition is not contagious. Luckily she stayed on the train when we got off to catch the train to Lisbon. It would not have been pleasant to ride next to her for 2 hours.

The train I took to Lisbon.

The train trip was uneventful. We stopped 5-10 times during the trip. I away from the direction of travel, which is a bit weird and disorienting. At least I wasn't rowing. I got off at the Gare Oriente train station in Lisbon. This is the train station closest to the airport and where I had reserved a hotel room. The hotel was a short walk and I got checked into my room without any problem. The internet connection is wired and works without annoying long pauses or disconnections like I had in Coimbra (hence all the pictures).

Unfortunately, it was sprinkling and overcast when I got to Lisbon so I camped in my room looking at options and hoping for the weather to clear. I discovered most museums were closed today and so I decided to just walk around the hotel area. It is a new area called Parque das Nações, developed for the 1998 wold exposition. There is a large riverfront promenade, parks, several museums, and a mall with lots of shops. The mall was also full of people avoiding the rain. The mall was not very interesting and the rain stopped so I headed to the promenade and walked along the river. One little park along the way had some percussion instruments like bells, marimbas, gongs, etc. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. There was a also a skyway I took, in part to avoid the rain that had gone from sprinkle to drizzle.

The "musical" instruments.

A very cool fountain along the promenade. There were several towers like this that would periodically shoot water like a volcano. It was very fun to watch!

This bucky ball was at the base of the museum. Unfortunately they did not want people to climb on it, even though that is one of the first things that came to mind when I saw it.

At this point I should remind you that Portugal has a rich history of world exploration and conquest. Portuguese is the fifth most popular language in the world. One of the most famous explorers from Portugal was Vasco da Gama, who was the first to travel from Europe to India around Africa in 1497-1499. The mall is named for him and the world expo was scheduled to coincide with the 500th anniversary of his famous trip.

The Rio Tejo forms a large bay near Lisbon. The largest bridge in Europe crosses the expanse. It is 7 miles long, including tunnels. The Lisbon side has two large cable-stay towers and goes out as far as you can see. It is named for Vasco Da Gama.

A really poor stitching of some low quality panoramic shots I took of the bridge. Do a google search for better pictures that give a true sense of the vastness of the bridge. It is nearly 50% longer than the mighty mac.

I came back to the hotel for a little while and then decided to go back out for dinner. I ate a Portuguese seafood restaurant on the promenade. I had shrimp cooked in an Indian curry sauce that was served with rice and pineapple. It was tasty and the pineapple was surprisingly good with the other ingredients. I talked to the waiter a little and he told me his wife had been to Chicago. I skipped dessert and had some port wine instead. I tried a moscatel port that was served chilled. It was very good. I asked for the check and he "made" me sample another variety of port (on the house). Overall, I have felt very welcomed in Portugal.

I walked back to the hotel and skyped home, did some computer work and am ready for the big trip home tomorrow. I need to get up early (2 am at home) to make sure I am at the airport on time for my flight.

Last Conference Day

Does Nick like math? Just a hair.

My legs seemed to have recovered a bit from the shock of all the hills. I walked to the conference today again and definitely felt better than yesterday. I saw several people waiting for the bus near the hotel and we arrived at the conference venue about the same time.

Today was the last day of the conference. The plenary talks were from Portuguese scholars. One spoke about symmetry patterns in the plane and their associated stamp patterns. He also gave a workshop in the afternoon I attended. During his talk he demonstrated some really neat software designed to create and analyze symmetry groups. In the workshop we used the software. I bought a copy for 5 Euros - quite a deal! I also attended some other interesting talks.

I had lunch at an Italian restaurant in a park near the river. I had a pizza with anchovies and capers. Yes, I did order that intentionally. It was very good and surprisingly fast. I then climbed the big hill (again) in the hot sun back to the meetings. For dinner, I had some odds and ends from the local market.

The view from the bridge looking at Coimbra. The conference was at the top of the hill.

After dinner I took a long walk over the river on the way to the concert. I somehow missed the lower-level pedestrian bridge and ended up walking on the 80 km/hr fast traffic bridge. There was a narrow sidewalk across the river and the views were nice. When I got to the other side, the sidewalk ended at the offramp where there was insufficient shoulder to walk. I opted to bound down the steep hill and through the tall weeds back to a more managable path. I walked along a quieter road with slower traffic until the sidewalk started again. the walkway then became a nice pedestrian lane with a very nice view of the city lit by the setting sun. This was the view I was looking for on my walk.

The finale was a concert from the local orchestra. They kicked off the program with Suite No 1 Abertura C Major by Bach. The next piece was a very interesting piece named Densita II by Albini. The third was a new piece composed for the event by Dmitri Tymoczko based on the concept of cellular automata. The fourth piece was Motzart's Symphony 35. The concert ended with Grieg's Peer Gynt.

Tomorrow I will leave Coimbra and head to Lisbon via train. I have a reservation at a hotel near the train station there. I hope to see a few sites in Lisbon. My flight leaves early the next day. Time has really gone fast, but I am glad to be headed home soon.

On a roll

Today was family day at the conference. There were talks in the morning and the afternoon was filled with interactive workshops on a variety of topics. The afternoon sessions were at an other univeristy in town, further from the hotel. I walked there with another group. As we left, we walked under a Roman aquaduct. I was taking some pictures and admiring the soaring arches then BAM. I took a tumble on the cobblestones. I impressed everyone with my syle of tumbling. I did a nice barrel roll and came up with slightly skinned knees. No blood or bruises. Superstar! Our route took us through the botanical gardens and past a seminary. We ate lunch at a small cafe on the way. It was hot in the sun but there was a nice breeze.

After the workshops, many participants had dinner at the local cafeteria. The food was a rice/pork casserole dish. It was good. We then had music night with informal music by conference participants. There was a diverse set of talents on display including singing, guitar playing, accordian, recorders, ukelele, and piano. I walked the 2.5 miles back to the hotel with three others, mostly along the river. It was still very pleasant outside at 11 pm.

I only took a few pictures, but will post them another day when the internet is working better.

Excursion Day

Today was the "Excursion Day" at the conference. Instead of talks, we traveled in groups to several sites in and around Coimbra. Today I paid for bounding up and down the big hill yesterday with very sore calf muscles. I think it is a combination of the steepness of the streets, the roughness of the cobbles, and the poor support provided by my sandals. I decided to take a new way to the conference site that took me along a very pleasant tree lined boulevard. It culminated with climbing about 500 steps. I will try a different way tomorrow.

Our day started by visiting the science museum. This was located in an old chemistry building. In addition to new science exhibits, there were quite a few exhibits and instruments from the early days of chemistry and physics. There was an extensive collection of scientific instruments. Many of the new exhibits were related to light and vision. There was a 30 year old GE gamma camera on display. I explained how it worked to several people. One room contained a large display collection of minerals. My favorite was the dolomite from South Dakota. There was a small exhibit on artificial insemination and how frogs were used in that research. How do you collect from sperm? Simply put some rubber pants on the male frog is shown in the display model!

We had a short break for lunch. I bought a sandwich from a local market and ate near the river. We met at a plaza downtown to catch tour buses. It was hot so I opted to have a cool beverage with another conference participant who is from the Netherlands. We sat under the shade of a cafe umbrella and enjoyed a cool breeze while we talked about our research. We had a good laugh (at the expense of many) when I noted they looked a lot like cattle bunched together under the shade of a small tree.

Our tour buses took us up and into the hills (300-400 m) to a nearby national forest, the Mata National do Bucaco. The park contains cypress and cedar trees that are hundreds of years old (one dates to before 1644). There was a path that has the 12 stations of the cross to with the correct distances ascribed to the passion walk. It also contains a former convent and an active chapel. A room adjacent to the chapel contained a prayer room dedicated to the female breast. There was a large painting of a breast-feeding child. On the prayer table there were small wax models of single and double breasts placed as offerings. There were pictures and notes, presumably prayers of hope and thanksgiving for healthy children, placed by expectant and recent mothers. The paths through the forest led to overlooks where we could see miles (or km) out over nearby towns and countryside. It was very beautiful.

We then visited a local winery, Caves do Freixo. Portugal has a long history of wine production and some varieties of grapes used in wine production are only grown in Portugal. The majority of wine produced at the winery was sparkling. The also had a few types of table wine, a non alcoholic fruit syrup, and an 80 proof brandy distilled and aged on site. I asked the owner about the process and indicated I was interested in purchasing a bottle. He proceeded to give me a sample (which caused much commotion and demands of samples by others in the group). It is very tasty! He then wen to the back room and handed a bottle to me and a local organizer and translator. He said it was too complicated to take our money, so I left with bottle of Reliquia (relic; precious) for the trip home. Ask me for a sample when I get home!

We then left on the bus for Coimbra. There was much envy as I walked on the bus with a bottle of Reliquia. I managed to avert an ambush on the bus and made it back to the hotel with the bottle still sealed.

I then walked around town looking for a nice restaurant. I found a restaurant in a quiet area and sat at a table outside. I had some cod cakes, salad, and rice. I had a vanilla cream pudding for dessert. The cold rose wine was refreshing.

I loaded pictures, but the internet is too slow for much interactivity. I will add pics later. Sorry about lack of visuals, especially of the frogs and wax breasts!

Great Day in Portugal

Yes, I am in Coimbra! This is located on the university campus.

This is a view of the town from campus.

This is the library at the university.

Here is the front of the math department building. What else could be in this building.

Today was a very nice day. The weather is warm/hot with mild humidity. I was able to get up in plenty of time to walk to the conference. I met another person in the lobby who was also headed to the conference so we went together. He was from London and we had met yesterday. The talks were very interesting and I was able to renew some connections with several people and meet others for the first time. I had lunch at a little restaurant down the street from the conference location. I had a ham and cheese omelette. I stopped at a book store and purchased a Portuguese-English translation book. I hope it helps with some language issues I have, particularly with regard to food. The conference has some great pastries for the breaks, probably the best of any conference I can recall. After the talks for the day I went to the local market for some cerveja and chocolate. I drank the cerveja at the hotel before dinner. I zipped back up the hill to the university for dinner.

One artist has carved some mathematical structures from alabaster.

Here is the start of the zome tool sculpture.

Tonight was the conference banquet at the local archaeology museum. We toured a large underground crypt and tunnel system that dates back to the Roman occupation of Portugal. There were several Roman busts and other architectural carvings. The museum is also the site of this year's zome tool sculpture build. I worked on putting some pieces together for a few minutes before dinner. Dinner was a buffet with a variety of main dishes and desserts. I am sure Amy will be disappointed to hear that she could have sampled the snout, ear, or foot of a roasted suckling pig! I had a fish dish and a pork/rice/sausage dish. The sausage was almost as good as the sausage from Delmont. For dessert there three like flan/creme brule and a rice pudding - all were very good. I sat at a table with some people I met earlier this year and some others I met for the first time. One is on the Journal of Mathematics and the Arts and she encouraged me to submit a paper on the work I have been presenting at the Bridges conference. I then walked a new way back to the hotel in record time.

Conference

The started as I had hoped it would not. The conference opening remarks were scheduled to start at 9:30. When I woke and looked at my watch, the time was 9:25. Yikes! I took a quick shower, got dressed, packed my stuff and headed out. I stopped by the breakfast area, but had no time to eat anything. I decided to take a taxi to the conference. This was a good move because it is all uphill from the hotel and I had no idea where to go. I got to the conference by 10, just in time for the first plenary talks.

The first talk dealt with designing curved surfaces using flat shapes. The tricky part is flat material like paper or steel does not want to conform to a curved shape. However, one can distribute the curvature of the boundary between flat pieces by making the boundary as long as possible.

The second speaker, George Hart, gave an interesting discussion of stick puzzles and displayed some for the audience to study. George also talked about the new museum of mathematics that will open in Manhattan in Fall 2012.

I ate lunch at a cafeteria at the University. I decided to pass on the head-on grilled sardines and opted to have plate with some cold fish salad, potato salad, some melon, and a flan-like dessert.

A view of Coimbra from the University.

I then headed to the session I was chairing and speaking. Overall it went well. A few speakers did not seem to understand the time constraints. One speaker showed up right when he was scheduled to speak. Of course it took a few minutes to set up and he had more material then time. He finally gave up talking. Luckily the next speaker, a young woman from Turkey, spoke quickly and completed her talk with time to spare. Overall the talks were interesting. I definitely got a new appreciation for keeping your talk to the time allotted! My talk went well and I had several positive comments afterwards. We had a short coffee break and I went to the final session of talks. One speaker, Rinus Roelofs, showed some verying interesting 3D models. It seems that many have access to robotic paper cutters and 3D printers - some things now on my wishlist. I saw quite a few people I knew at the conference and many cool art works.

I went back to the hotel after the talks. I then went to dinner. At 7 pm. it is still on the early side for dinner, but I went anyway. The clerk at the hotel recommended another place a few blocks away. I sat at a nice outdoor table with a view of the action in the adjacent plaza. Tonight the "entertainment" was a young man and woman arguing and scuffling. The wait staff and other patrons seemed surprised and acted like this was not common place. I was happy the menu had English translations. I then ordered scallops and mushrooms, a favorite of mine. I had a bowl of good soup as a starter. The scallops came, but rather than sea scallops, they were beef scallops. It was good, but I really need to work on better food translations. I finished with a glass of red porto and headed back to the hotel for the evening. I am hopeful to get more sleep and make it to the conference on time tomorrow.

A first look at Portugal

I am in Portugal! Amy was not able to come with me this time, so this will be solo blog posting. I flew from Detroit to Philadelphia on Monday and then on to Lisbon. The flights were mostly uneventful. Our flight to Philadelphia was an amazing 30 minutes ahead of schedule, given the thunderstorms over Pennsylvania. As we waited for a gate to open, the airlines mechanic sitting next to me and I engaged the flight attendant in his worst flight experiences. He indicated in the 1970s he was on 2 evacuation flights where people where killed. One was on a 747 where people were foolish jumping on the slide 80 feet above the ground, rather than sitting, and tumbling/bouncing to an unsuccessful flight. He said the FAA rates planes at 90 seconds for evacuation before the plane will become an inferno. Think of this when you are waiting forever to deplane. He also said in a water evacuation, the tail will likely fill with wasit-high water before people can evacuate. I commented that at least it will hide the fact that you have wet yourself in the process. I love flying!

The flight from Philadelphia to Lisbon was about half full. There were about 10 others going to the same conference on the flight. I mentioned the reason for my trip to the flight attendant and he then played spot the geek with me. It definitely takes one to know one. I think many people missed the flight due to the weather. I had the exit row to myself. I was smug knowing I would easily make it out in well under 90 seconds. I was the second person off the plane after we landed. Customs and baggage claim was no problem. I was able to get some cash at the ATM and caught a bus to the train station.

A sculpture near the Lisbon train station.

The Lisbon train platform. It was warm, but there was a very nice breeze.

The station was large with an adjacent shopping center. I had about 90 minutes before my train so I walked to the shopping center. I also bought some batteries at a little store and practiced my favorite Portuguese phrase: "Eu não falo Potugese. Você fala Inglês?" which means "I do not speak Potugese. Do you speak English?" The woman behind the counter had a good laugh and told me that me Portuguese was pretty good. There was also a big grocery store there. It is always fascinating to look at what sells in other countries. The one thing that stood out was the stacks of dried salted cod (or some other fish). I did not have room in my luggage for such fish, so I settled for chocolate, water, and a fizzy lifting drink.

I jumped on the train, which was at about 98% capacity. I had a second class ticket. Unlike other countries, it turns out these tickets have reserved seats which I found out when the proper ticket holders had me move. I ended up sitting next to a couple of city planners on vacation from Tallahassee. The area looks arid. Lots of pine trees, olive trees, and other dry climate plants. We passed by some agricultural plantings of grapes, corn, and a smattering of other crops. I had to catch another train in Coimbra from the B to the A station. I saw another person I recognized from last year's conference on the train. We had a nice chat and he gave me a very cool beaded bucky-ball.

The bucky-ball. It is comprised of 90 beads in groups of 5 ("pentagons") and 6 ("hexagons").

At the train station I asked about directions to my hotel. It would have been helpful to have the address in addition to the name. I had a map, unlabeled, with the location of the conference hotels. The train worker seemed to think he knew which dot was my hotel. I set out and walked about three blocks. I looked up and much to my surprise and delight I saw my hotel. By then it was hot and I was ready to be done with traveling. I worked on the final details of my talk for tomorrow.

The view from my hotel room. The conference is at the university that is visible on the hill in the distance.

My room is fairly large by European standards. I have free wi-fi internet access and there is complimentary breakfast. I'll see what that is like in the morning. The beds were more comfortable than the plane seats for power napping.

I went to a place for dinner near the train station that was recommended by the hotel attendant. It served Portuguese/Italian dishes. My travel book does not have good food dictionary and the server spoke as much English as I speak Portuguese. I ended up ordering an fish entree the server said was good. It was a bread bowl with some potatoes, fish (probably cod), topped with sauteed onions. I found it very tasty. The restaurant also had a fado performance tonight. Fado is a popular folk music with acoustic guitars and soulful singing. It was entertaining and I stayed longer than usual. I also had a piece of delicious chocolate cake for dessert.

I walked back to the hotel about 10 pm local time. It is very pleasant outside. Low humidity and temperatures in the 60's/70's. I am looking forward to a nice quiet night.

Back in Amsterdam

Just a quick note. We are back in Amsterdam and staying at a funky hotel near the airport. We head back to the USA in the morning and will be back home in the evening! We are ready to be home.

Siesta by the Sea

Today was another day devoted to travel and the beginning of our long trek back to Albion.  We got up and had decided to make sure we could get to the bus terminal and thought we would have some breakfast if it was available in the bus station cafeteria. We walked back to the bus station, about a mile from our hotel, and Dave pulled both the suitcases, hoping to avoid having me fall on the uneven sidewalk like our walk there a few days ago.  the weather has turned a little cooler but as still bright and sunny. We made it to the bus station, found the "gate" our bus would leave from, and realized that nothing in the bus station cafeteria looked appetizing that early in the day.  Fortunately, neither one of us had an up and close incident with the sidewalk.  We had some granola bars with us, for just such an occasion, so we had a breakfast of some of those.

On all our other bus trips, we have been on bus lines that have run without stopping from point A to point B.  Today, we were on a bus that was going to make 7 local stops, lengthening the trip by about 1/2 an hour.  Our seats were in the front, so Dave can see where we are going, and we set off on time. Since we weren' t going direct, we also didn't use the highways, but drove on many local roads.  This allowed us to see a lot of small Spanish towns.  Most stops were just roadside stops, but one was at a bus terminal where we had 10 minutes if we wanted to get off the bus.  The driver got off and came back with a package that seemed to be freight he was taking to the end stop.  He took the tickets, walked to the back of the bus counting people, then restarted the bus and we drove out of the terminal.  I think we forgot someone, because as we rounded the side of the terminal, he stopped the bus, opened the door and tried to get someone's attention.  The police car behind us honked for us to go so he closed the door and started going, but got on his phone and called someone.

We arrived in Malaga, a coastal town into which we flew from Amsterdam.  The bus station is across the street from the train station, and our hotel for the night is actually in a town to the west called Torremolinos.  There were no buses going to Torremolinos this afternoon, so we walked across the street to the train station, which is also a shopping mall.  We stood in line for infomation about trains and were given a timetable for the local city trains.  These leave every half hour and we thought it might be a good idea to stop and have some lunch, since there were plenty of options at the mall.  We have been lucky in finding lots of restaurant choices, for the most part.

Travel at this point is a little sketchy, because while Dave has been meticulous with details about locations and modes of transportation to each place we ahve gone, this one slipped his mind a little bit.  He had a map and a general idea of where we were going, but he forgot to mark the train depot on his map, so when we got off, we knew the general direction we needed to travel, but we didn't actually know how far we needed to go.  We stopped and asked a taxi driver, the only one on the street in front of a large hotel, but he was waiting for another customer so couldn't help us. One of the options we had thought of was to just take a taxi to the hotel. So we kept walking in the direction of the tourism oiffice,  which was also on the beachfront, as was the location of our hotel.  The tourism office was closed, but there was a map with all the hotels marked on it.  We weren't that much farther and all our walking had been downhill ot this point.  We also realized we could have gotten off the train 2 stops earlier to get to our hotel, but at least it was all downhill.  It had now started to rain a little. We have figured we have been lucky to have had great weather the rest of the trip, and this is the first rain we ahve had in the past 2 weeks.  Unfortunately it has occurred where there is nothing else to do but go to the beach.

The view west from the balcony off our room.

We found our hotel and checked in. Arriving in our room, we realize we have been given a double room with a double balcony overlooking the Mediterranean.  We hung out and watched the surfers for a while and then decided it was time for a siesta.  Torremolinos is basically like Ocean City or Myrtle Beach - full of families on holiday and with trinket shops all up and down the beach.  It just happens to also only be 17 degrees, which is about 60 F, and rainy/windy.   We went down to the hotel cafeteria to see what they had for dinner - they have a very popular buffet for meals available here.  We looked like the only people without any family along.  Again, this is one of the biggest holiday weeks in Spain, the week before Easter.  They had plenty of selections and we were surprised to see that all beverages were included as well.

We are now chillaxing in the hotel, catching up on email and starting to think about what is on the docket for the trip back to the states and all the stuff we have to do when we get there - moving the girls home or wherever they are going for the summer, looking at cars to replace the van that was totalled right before we left, and getting the yard in shape for the summer.   Our TV has 3 English channels, enough to keep us occupied for the evening.

Cordoba the sequel

This morning we got up and decided to try the breakfast at the hotel before starting out for some sightseeing.  They have a great breakfast buffet with meats, cheeses, breads,fruits, eggs and all that you can think of.  We have also learned to order cafe solo (black), not cafe con leche (with milk).  Another interesting dining accessory we have not seen in Spain are pepper and salt shakers on restaurant tables.  While the Spanish feel that they have seasoned their food perfectly, we are sometimes looking for a little pepper.

 An ancient wall separates a portion of the old city containing the Mezquita from the newer section where our hotel is located.  We stopped here to watch the local dogs play in the water.

We set out for another visit to the Mezquita, to see the shops one more time and hopfully run into the celebration happenings for the beginning of Semana Santa, Holy Week, in Spain.  We found the procession that was going from the Tower of the Mequita to the main sanctuary  inside.  While we couldn't understand the exact words they were chanting and singing, we have been to plenty of Palm Sunday processions to know the basics.  Many people had large palms and branches to wave as the parade of religious went by into the cathedral.  Many people tried to crowd their way into the cathedral as there is no admission fee on Sunday mornings, specifically becasue if worship, but there is a great deal in difference in admission to the space between the 70-year-old woman in her Sunday best holding palm branches and a family of 5 with cameras and wearing shorts, baseball hats and flip-flops. It was interesting watching the tension develop on the face of the "bouncer" as he tried to decide who was there to worship and who was there as a tourist.  We wondered if the church was more interested in people worshiping or collecting admission from tourists.  Probably some of both.  We decided to skip the mass.

A closeup of a section of the Mezquita above a doorway.  The pattern in the middle section was one Escher copied in June of 1936.  

The Palm Sunday precession into the cathedral/mosque.

We wandered the streets a while longer, crossing the bridge over the river and watching the tourist busses unload.  We decided we had had enough and headed back to the hotel, because Dave had promised some pool time at this hotel, which boasts a roof-top pool area with lounge chairs and some shaded areas.  We thought about laying in the sun, but after about a half-hour of the scorching brightness, we moved to chairs in the shade to nap and enjoy the outdoor weather without running around doing other things.  I hate to rub it in, especially hearing about the crummy weather and rain and snow in Michigan, but it was in the upper 20s here today, which is about 80 degrees F and not a cloud in the sky.

Another view of the hotel showing the oxidized (yes, rusty) shell in all of its glory.

The bridge over the river in town.  The same river runs through Sevilla, although it is much larger there.

Some interesting paving stones in the street near our hotel.

We walked about town looking for some dinner options, which are still at a much later time than we are used to at home.  We set out about 7:30 and stopped at a sidewalk cafe for a beer and glass of wine, but they only served sandwiches for a meal.  We were hoping to visit a tapas bar we had stopped at last night, but had arrived too early for the kitchen to be open and did not wait.  Tonight we were in luck and ordered a few tapas to try.  Dave thoroughly enjoyed them, but I was a little more reserved in my fondness for some of them.  The weather has turned a little more windy this evening and cooler, so we finished up in the hotel lounge with  a few more bites to eat.  We wanted to note that the lobby and lounge area has some really weird elevator music ranging from selections from the musical Cats to the theme from the Godfather movies to Carmen. Maybe the weirdest part is that we recognize all this different music that has been elevator-ized with Spanish trumpet flair.

At this point we have seen all the major sights we had hoped to see and we begin our slow journey home.  Tomorrow we have tickets on the 10:00 am bus to Malaga, where we will then catch a short train, bus, or taxi to nearby Torremolinos to spend one night on the Mediterranean. This bus is not a direct route, but has about 7 stops in small towns to make pick ups.  Our seats are in the direct front, where we can witness all the action.  Tuesday night we have a flight back to Amsterdam and Wednesday morning we head back to the US.