Third - Everything Else

I gathered a pile of beach glass along the Costa del Sol - the southern shore of Spain that sits on the Mediterranean. Here are located fabulously expensive resort homes and beautiful shopping areas. It is beautiful but nothing compared to combing the shore of the Mediterranean for beach glass. That was one of my favorite moments.

This photograph was taken in the former fishing village of Nazare. The streets are narrow and wind up steep hills. We ate a memorable lunch here in a beautiful old restaurant filled with cuban mahogany and brass. The waitress spoke perfect english and her friendliness added a dimension to the experience.

Nazare sits on a rugged coast of the Atlantic. The weather is windy and harsh; the surrounding shoreline shows evidence of deep erosion and some homes are in danger of tumbling down the rocky cliffs. You can't help but reflect on the difficulties people there faced in eking out a living. It reminded me of a story I once read of a village of Japanese fishermen who, faced with imminent starvation, built bonfires on the beach to lure shipping vessels to flounder so that they could plunder them and thus survive. What a dreadful choice; to starve or be forced into predatory behavior. Survival is not always easy and crime is not always a black and white affair.

This is Ronda, the beautiful town spanning two sides of a vast chasm. There is a turbulent river below and the views will make your stomach flip. Some of the houses sat perilously close to the lip of the canyon. I don't have the make-up to live in such a house. I am a person who always pictures disaster; I can't seem to help myself.

This is the Gaudi house the locals refer to as the stone pile. If I have the story straight I understand that the wealthy woman who employed Gaudi to build it for her was displeased because she had an extensive art collection and none of the interior walls were flat enough to hang her pictures on. Gaudi, Gaudi, Gaudi, you imp!

One of my favorite churches was this one; the Batalha Monastery in a quaint little town in Portugal (sorry, don't have the name on the tip of my tongue). I took pictures all around of the doors and windows to Photoshop and use in my paintings. Spent several hours last night doing that and got a wonderful page to use.

Here are the three musketeers posing in front of Toledo before a drenching downpour arrived. There is more to tell; things are happening here so fast that I can't keep up with them. In my next post I will try to get my feet back on the ground as far as what is going on here - life goes on with you or without you and so I have two weeks of "home" to enjoy and organize too.

Happy Tuesday and thanks for stopping by. I will answer e-mails asap. Thank you for all the comments and well wishes; your words keep me going.