Thursday, July 14, 2011

Sevilla

Flores along the walkway at the edge of the river.

Juan Belmonte, peering at the Maestranza, the bullring, from Triana. Perhaps the best bullfighter in history. Somebody once told him the only thing he could do to improve would be to die in the ring. He replied that he was working on it. When he was a youth, he would sneak into the cortijos or ranches and fight bulls naked. If he was ever caught I'm sure he was punished, because fighting bulls are not supposed to have contact with humans. There is a hole in the middle of the statue; you can look through it and see the bullring.

The Triana bridge over the Guadalquivir. Back in the day, Seville was the point of entry for ships coming from the Americas. The river was full of ocean-going ships and all the riches first made landfall here. You can see the Torre del Oro on the left. Where the bunch of trees is on the right there once stood the Castillo de San Jorge, where the infamous Spanish Inquisition was based. Oh the heretics who were burned there. Later there was a soap factory. The white house this side of the trees now belongs to my friends Luis and Montse.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Friday, July 8, 2011

Cáceres

We took advantage of the tower being open to see these splendid vistas of old Cáceres.

The plaza principal de Cáceres, the main square. Only recently was it made 100% pedestrian.

L to R: Delia, Vicente, Miguel Angel, Miguel, and Tomás, who, with his dreads, is a little blurry. But he is rocking a WCU jersey.

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Artistas en Cáceres

Saxamaphone quartet, with Vicente on tenor. The group was rehearsing for a gig accompanying a silent film, Chaplin, I think. They were sounding good. I wish I had been there to see it.

Delia studied ceramics at the fine arts school for four years, now she is studying sculpture. A friend from way back in the day!

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Friday, June 24, 2011

Bodas trianeras

Is it good luck or bad luck to run across a wedding?

The Guadalquiver, to the right.

Triana

Two Days in May

May 29, 2011. Nailing my pieces at the Spring recital, including Monk's "Pannonica."

May 30, 2011. This is the plane that dropped me off in Madrid. I took the picture after having a couple of drinks with a Russian woman who was off to Moscow.