The Rain in Spain Stayed Mainly in the Plain

Visit to Spain with Kaki and David Hutchinson. Spent time in Madrid and on one of the five islands that comprise the Canary Islands, Lanzarote.  People everywhere talk about the "crisis" (26% unemployed and 56% of those under 30 unemployed) A good example was the number of men on the streets of Madrid ready to take gold for cash however, we never felt vulnerable. Sunny, temps in the low 70s and very relaxing!

Enjoy the scenes below.  We did!

To the left, workers preparing a protest march. To the right is self explanatory.

Wonderful parks, gracious trees and statues

Tapas, anyone?

Peter was in Clavelle heaven to see "his" street. Clavel means carnation in Spanish.

We were there on a holy week and these 24 men were lifting this structure with cement weights on top. Penance?

A day trip to Toledo, the capital of Spain until the beginning of the 20th century

 

Then on to the Canaries.... These are photos of the remarkable place that we rented for a week

Outdoor eating area

Views to the left of our villa toward the town of Puerto del Carmen

View to the right from our villa toward the 6 km walking paths along the coast

Moonscapes as we hiked and drove the island...

This was the volcanic crater that we hiked to and around the rim. Ask Peter how much fun he had!

Although dark, this is how they grow their grapes for wine. The bushes are sunken in the ground with a partial stonewall for the protection from the wind

The Beaches were yellow sand, pounding surf and lava rocks out into that surf

Adding depth to the island experience was this artist/architect, Cesar Manrique who in 1968 returned to his island of Lanzarote and proceeded to both design his home (now a museum), restaurants, cactus garden and a lookout to the north.

Cesar used the natural elements of his island, black for lava rock, white sand beaches, green of cactus etc. Nature was incorporated into all the living spaces

His basement pool with the living rooms below on either side

This is a symbol he created and it adorns most of the condos, villas and houses on the island

Courtyard at his home

This Cactus garden is set in a natural crater, with all the elements of nature used in door knobs, seats & steps

This is hard to capture. It is part of an area where the volcanic flow met the water 300 years ago. Cesar saw this grotto cave and made a restaurant. This is a pool that only the King of Spain is allowed to enter...whenever that will happen!

And finally some scenes of the quiet towns that we drove through, stopped and bought smoked goat cheese or smoked salmon

A wonderful vacation at this time of the year!   And now, back to work.

Street life in Tirana

Below are January scenes, here in Tirana. The photos are organized by people, buildings, and street/statues/market views. The final photo is a recent view from our living room window. 

Enjoy!

People near our apt.

There are 10 men in a row selling 10 used cell phones, all day, every day

Blind man providing soothing music

Often you will see a man lining up his used books along the street

High tech repair of the fiber optic system

These next three photos are the Roma people (gypsies) making their living

 collecting plastic and tin cans

Anyone for a 2 hour thick Turkish coffee in doll's tea cup sizes?

Buildings- institutional and private

This is the home of the Dictator, Enver Hoxha just sitting 1/2 a block from our apartment

This is Peter's office building to the right foreground. The soccer stadium is the structure to the left.

Many, many casinos, mostly just machines but a 24/7 guard in front.

This is the "Cultural Palace that the Dictator's daughter (architect) built to glorify him. 

Equal in number to the casinos are these places to place bets on "football" games and politics too!

Here is the national street food of Albania. It is spinach, leek or tomatoes with cheese in flaky pastry.

You occasionally see homes built before the Communist "Block" apartments. This is typical needing attention.

On almost every block are bride shops. Most brides rent their 2 dresses, one for each night of celebration. FANCY!

Many Albanians love America as more Albanians live abroad than here in Albania

A few years ago, the then mayor wanted to spruce up the ugly communist buildings. As an artist he asked anyone 

who wanted to come paint the outside of the building and he would supply the paint.

You see many buildings around town like these shown here.

This same mayor tore down many dilapidated shacks along this river through town and made it scenic

This is the National History Museum with a classic mosaic from the ages. Communism takes central place.

Statues, Streets, Sidewalks and Markets

Notice the cars that just park on the sidewalk when there isn't a parking space nearby.

These sidewalk hazards are like this for months. You need to be looking down when walking. 

This is in front of the Sheraton. People take the covers to sell for scrap metal.

This is the only bunker in town (Parliament Building in background). There were 750,000 of these built to "protect" Albania

Woodrow Wilson Circle to honor the fact in 1917 he protected Albania from being carved up by other countries.

Guess who came to town in his last 4 months in office. He never even made it to Vermont!

Bicycle street in Albania, parts, used bikes and new

This is tobacco to buy and make your own cigarettes. 

How about a live chicken for dinner? You have to kill and clean it though.

Fish for sale

Knock offs

And finally, a recent view from our apartment...

Not a bad place to live for a few years!