A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 26 Feb 2019 - T for Breakfast in Almería

Warning:

Photo-heavy!

Good morning lovely T-Gang! How are you all? Are you sitting comfortably?  I have a lot of things to show you today. 

First off is a postcard from Germany: Munich. I don't normally like multi-views but these photos are quite tasteful. I have travelled through Munich many times and all I remember is the train station and the beer.

As today is T for Tuesday, hosted by Elizabeth and Bluebeard at Altered Book Lover, I am going to show you a beverage. On our second morning in Almería, we had breakfast in a delightful cafe called  La Dulce Alianza (trad: the sweet alliance)

We had the traditional Andalucian breakfast of toast with olive oil and tomatoes, accompanied by a glass of  on-the-spot- squeezed orange juice, and a cup of coffee. Mine is a cafe cortado. Which is a normal expresso with a splash of milk in it. Hubby likes some cheese on his toast too.

On the way out we walked along the display cabinets of the cakes and chocolates....

No, we didn't buy any. We had a full day of sight-seeing ahead of us.

We went to the Alcazaba, which had been closed the day before.

Wikipedia writes:
In 955, Almería gained the title of medina ("city") by the Caliph of Cordoba, Abd ar-Rahman III: construction of the defensive citadel, located in the upper sector of the city, began in this period. The alcazaba, provided not only with walls and towers but also with squares, houses and a mosque, was to be also the seat of the local government, commanding the city and the sea nearby.

Up we go again:

It was warm and sunny, but there was a bit of wind as you can see. 
So we went through the first entrance:

Through a beautiful garden, up some steps to the next large door:

I love the shape of these doors. Here you can also see how thick the walls of this fortess are.

On the inside were even more beautiful gardens with flowers: 

and water features:

These stairs went up.In the middle was a narrow water canal. Very pleasant. I love the sound of running water and fountains etc. And I can just imagine the caliph and his advisors walking in the garden.

The views from the top are stunning. The fortress is huge and overlooks the harbour and the surrounding countryside.

In one of the many courtyards we found several cats. (I though Bluebeard might like a glimpse of a Spanish beauty):

A couple of building held exhibitions. This is one of the artifacts unearthed there, a fragment of a jar decorated in manganese:

This stuff is all 8th or 9th century. Below is a small recepticle for facial cream or make up. There is even a little spoon to apply it with. This whole thing was only the size of my hand.

Some fragments with writing:

And a bowl, not bigger than a dinner plate, beautifully decorated. It was deep so could have been a salad bowl. (Did they eat salads in those days?)

Some more flowers:

This was near the place where the cats lived:

Walking back to the main building crossing the excavation site. This place is a continuous archeological dig. We were only allowed to walk in certain areas.

 Looking back over the excavation site:

Across the excercise yeard to one of the turrets:

Me having a little rest:

This is inside:

A canon and a very old door:

The view from one of the windows:

We could see all over the harbour and the sea.

Walking back through a different part of the gardens, again with the running water in the middle of the paths:

I hope you enjoyed seeing the Alcazaba with me.

Happy T-Day to all!

Hugs,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Friday 22 February 2019 - Friday Smiles

Hello Lovelies,

It's Friday again! Gosh, that week has flown by! It's been a lovely week weather wise. We have been eating outside on the terrace all week.

I'm going to show you some of my postcards that arrived this week:

 This card comes from Germany and was sent by someone called Gabi. The town is Ulm. She tells me that Ulm has the highest church tower in the world, and that Ulm has a very nice Museum of Modern Art.

And I received another card from Finland. My favorite naughty aunties illustrated by Inge Löök.

Sent to me by Isabel. She writes that she bought the card from Mrs Inge Löök herself at an annual book fair in Helsinki.

This is the stamp. Quite fun don't you think?

Earlier this month we went to Almería for a few days. Here are some photos of the impressive cathedral.

It was built between 1524 and 1562 in the gothic style with renaissance facades.

 It was built as a fortress because of Berber (North African) pirates attacking Almeria. You can clearly see this in the next (old) photo which I got off the internet:

We stepped inside into a huge court yard/cloister.

There we found a door into the church bit:

 Inside is very impressive. We were given an audio guide (in English) for a detailed explanation. This photo is from the leaflet: (Much better than my photo)

 One of the chapels with a lot of art:

 This is in the room where the clergy used to (and probably still do) get dressed. In the large drawers, the vestments are kept and there are mirrors. Here I am having a bit of fun photographing myself in the mirror.

That is my for today. I'm going to link up with Annie at A Stitch In Time and with Virginia at Rocking Your World Friday. 
I'm afraid I haven't got many funnies this week, but a few things to think about. 
The one about marriage is quite funny, I saw it somewhere else and someone had added something about a joker, but I have forgotten the punch line .....

Have a lovely weekend,
Big hug,
Lisca