Edinburgh is as green as anywhere you can imagine. Yes, it has been raining, sometimes heavily, but the payoff is that the gardens are beautiful and the flowers in perfect bloom. We’ve arrived in Scotland at an unusual time. The Brexit vote was just over a week ago, and like many others, we were unpreparedContinue reading “First impressions of Edinburgh”
Tag Archives: Architecture
Tile is everywhere in Portugal
We’ve seen a lot of decorative tile in Portugal. It covers many buildings, sometimes as an overall pattern: exterior walls, interior walls, decorative wainscoting, decorative details. Sometimes there are scenes created from tile. The Porto train station is one such place, Here is a church that is completely tiled with religious scenes on the exteriorContinue reading “Tile is everywhere in Portugal”
Empedrada is underfoot in Portugal
Empedrada is a particular kind of square cobblestone surface that is found all over Portugal. The material tends to be a uniform pale color and it covers lots of sidewalk and many public plazas, private patios and even streets. Contrasting designs are made with black stone, and very rarely colors. There are some typical patternsContinue reading “Empedrada is underfoot in Portugal”
New Architecture Ignores the Old in Portugal
Portugal is full of churches, palaces, fortresses and restored historic houses containing private art collections. Possibly there are more historic sites per capita in Portugal than anywhere in Europe. Older houses, too, are frequently architecturally interesting, with curved roof lines, angled windows, wrought iron balconies, tiled facades and other graceful details. We even see theContinue reading “New Architecture Ignores the Old in Portugal”
Porto on a sunny Sunday
The Douro River divides Porto into the city and the port-tasting zone. There is a long tradition of making port here (Porto, get it?). Whether you like port or not, it is part of the experience to taste some. We didn’t trek across the bridge to the lodges because Jonathan found a place where youContinue reading “Porto on a sunny Sunday”
Lisbon Sights
We had a whirlwind week, splashing through the rain and ducking into cafes to avoid the worst of the downpours as we visited a variety of places with our visitor, Peggy. In Lisbon, we began at the “Taste of Perdition” and Thieves Markets, both of which might have been better without rain. Despite the unprepossesingContinue reading “Lisbon Sights”
A few more sights from the neighborhood
Young people are everywhere, here are some hanging out at a local fountain (water tap). What is education like in Morocco? Are there after school activities or part-time jobs available to young people? Is an after school job considered a good thing or a stigma? It’s clear I have a lot to learn about Morocco,Continue reading “A few more sights from the neighborhood”
The Glaoui Palace
A peculiar sight in the Fez medina is the Glaoui palace. The lavish home of a pasha of the early 20th century, the Glaoui family sided with the French and were stripped of all their properties when Morocco achieved independence. For reasons that are completely mystifying, the family palace in Fez has lain unused forContinue reading “The Glaoui Palace”
Modern medieval in the Medina
A medina is a walled city, very exotic for a visitor, and it’s easy to forget that medieval here isn’t just an adjective. In Fez, this means that many buildings are hundreds of years old, maybe their foundations really are a thousand years old. I find that close to unimaginable. When Fez was founded, theContinue reading “Modern medieval in the Medina”
We find a photography gallery off the beaten path: Dar Balmira
While at the Cafe clock, we saw a poster for an exhibit of historic photos of Fez from the early 20th century that have been restored and reprinted. The gallery is not far from our riad and is in a restored riad, so we decided a field trip was in order. We found our wayContinue reading “We find a photography gallery off the beaten path: Dar Balmira”
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