Travel Memories 4: Granada

Flamenco in the afternoon.

The reason I went to Granada was to see the Alhambra, the Moorish palace/fortress. Checking online just now to date the Alhambra (largely 13th and 14th centuries), I see that these days (well, pre-pandemic) the site is so popular you must book timed tickets in advance; in 1992, I simply walked up from town when the mood took me. I wandered the back streets of the old town, stopped for tapas and sherry, listened to guitar and ‘canto jondo’. I strolled around the Generalife Gardens, where there always seemed to be the sound of water — gurgling, trickling, tumbling water. And I marvelled at the flamenco. Not paid performances or professionals, these were ordinary men and women, in jeans and skirts, having a great time dancing in tents set up in the streets. Some of the women wore elaborate (and heavy!) dresses. The makeshift tent floors vibrated and rang with the stamping of people’s feet, mothers danced with young children, and girls in their own ruffled dresses looked on hopefully from the sidelines. It was totally unexpected, and quite stupendous.

Travel Memories: a single photo from a trip — one that always makes me smile, or reflect, or want to go back.

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click here for a larger version of the map below

Travel Memories 3: Monaco

Is this row of helicopters not what you expected for Monaco? There is a reason! In 1998, while living in London, I won a trip for two to Monaco, courtesy of a radio station and whatever entity was sponsoring the trip. We flew to Nice, and then were taken in a private helicopter to Monaco. (If you have sharp eyes, you can just about make out the words “Heli Air Monaco” on the tail of the black helicopter in the feature photo.) The holiday was off to a great start! Sadly, the flight is more like a hop — practically up and then down again. Nonetheless, we felt as if we had arrived in style.

Travel Memories: a single photo from a trip — one that always makes me smile, or reflect, or want to go back.

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click here for a larger version of the map below

Random Fridays: Venetian mask

There’s something eerie about those empty eyes …

Masks such as this are common souvenirs from Venice. I bought this one in 1991 and it has travelled with me on my various moves between hemispheres ever since. I wish I could read music, because I’d like to know if the notations along the top are real music or just decoration.

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Travel Album: Switzerland

Walking in the mountains above Interlaken

There was such an enthusiastic response to my recent post about mountains that I thought I would share more photos from the Bernese Oberland area in Switzerland. These shots are from three walks in June 2008 (which explains the less-than-fantastic quality of the photos). To see a much better version of the map below, click here.

Map of trains, buses and walking routes accessible from Interlaken. Just hop on a train, and go!

Walk 1: After my visit to Jungfraujoch and Top of Europe (more photos here), I walked from Kleine Scheidegg to Wengen, a route that takes about 2 hrs and 45 minutes. This was a lovely stroll with a gentle descent of only 800 m.

Grindelwald station (1034m): change trains and keep going up!

Kleine Schedigg (2061m), where you get the train to Jungfraujoch.

A very youthful-looking me on Jungfraujoch (3545m). Behind me is the Aletsch Glacier, the largest and longest glacier in the Alps, being 24 km (15 miles) in length.

A stroll in the snow, Jungfraujoch.

Looking back up at Jungfraujoch and Top of Europe.

Wildflowers along the path.

Mountains reflected in a pond.

Lupins and mountains. (You can just spot Top of Europe on the ridge.)

The path leading to Wengen.

A meadow near Wengen.

Walk 2: From Harder Kulm to Interlaken, roughly 2.5 hours – and a descent of 2500 m. My knees were shaking by the time that one was over!

Funicular up, walk down.

Looking down on a paraglider.

Looking across to Jungfrau.

Interlaken sits between the Thunersee to the west …

… and the Brienzersee to the east.

A lovely, tree-lined walk — down, and down, and down.

Time to rest!

These four photos were taken from the balcony of my hotel, the Metropole. Stunning views of Jungfrau, in all conditions (well, the foggy one is not so stunning).

Taken at 3:52pm.

5:35pm, and what a change in the weather!

Two hours later, Jungfrau is bathed in pink as the sun sets.

The next morning, 6:15am.

Walk 3: Along Schynige Platte, a generally flat 2.5-hour circular walk on a plateau.

From left to right, the famous peaks of Eiger (3970 m / 13025 ft), Mönch (4099 m / 13448 ft) and Jungfrau (4158 m / 13642 ft).

A view from Schynige Platte.

A view from Schynige Platte.

Looking down at Interlaken from Schynige Platte.

A view from Schynige Platte.

My lunch spot on Schynige Platte.

If you have enjoyed these walks in the mountains of Switzerland, be sure to visit Jo’s Monday Walk for other walks.

There’s nothing like a mountain to make you feel small

Mountains have a great way of telling you just how insignificant you are in the scale of things.

Walkers on a snow field; photo taken from the Jungfraujoch.

The Jungfraujoch, with the ‘Top of Europe’ building perched on its top. (elevation 3466m ASL). Note the tiny ant-people at the bottom!

A crop of the previous photo, showing the Top of Europe building.

Another view of Top of Europe. This is not my photo — well, it’s my photo of someone else’s photo, on display at the Top of Europe. You can see the white flare of my flash.

Avalanche on the flanks on the Jungfrau. I’ve highlighted the building to give an idea of the size of the avalanche.

The famous North Face of the Eiger. I’ve highlighted a person at the base. Imagine climbing that!

Descent to the caves of Taittinger

Eighteen metres (59 feet) below the ground in Reims, France, lie the caves of Taittinger, one of the finest producers of champagne. To make the descent to the caves, you must negotiate this spiral staircase.

The Taittinger caves occupy some of the vaults of the ancient Saint Nicaise Abbey. These stairs are in the old abbey vaults.

In World War I, the caves were used as places of refuge for civilians and Allied soldiers. If you look closely, you can make out the year 1914 in this graffiti carved into the wall.

A pupitre with bottles is visible at the foot of these stairs. The bottles of champagne are placed in the pupitre and rotated so that the sediment collects in the necks.

And this is what it’s all about…

(The first four photos were taken in the caves of Taittinger in May 2005 on a poor quality print camera, and later scanned to digital. The final photo was taken in October 2014: the champagne in the glass is not Taittinger, but the backdrop is a bag from Taittinger; it appeared recently in this post.)