Road Trip: Astorga!

Despite the fact that I'm back in Illinois and largely recovered from the 32-hour trip from León, Spain to my home, I still want to share my road trip to Astorga.

It's a small and ancient town with both Celtic and Roman origins.  Only about 30 miles from León, Astorga is an important stop on the Camino de Santiago (the Way of St. James.)  I drove my mother-in-law's mint-condition 1982 Mercedes 300D, and was there in less than an hour.

1982 Mercedes 300D.  A great car for a road trip.  I first drove this car in 1995 when it was only 13 years-old.  It still looks like a new car.

Famous for it's sweet pastries, called Mantecadas, Astorga is probably best known for its Bishop's Palace, designed by Antoni Gaudí and built between 1889 and 1913. I strongly recommend that you find time to walk through the town's center, but if you only have time for one thing, the Bishop's Palace is the place to see.

Mantecadas are served with coffee at the hotel cafe across the street from the Cathedral and the Bishop's Palace.

Wall art shows the packing of Mantecadas cakes in earlier days.

Tile Roofs from an overlook in Astorga.

The municipal building in Astorga

Me in front of the entrance to the Bishop's Palace. The building is in the neo-Gothic style. (Photo by my mother-in-law.)

Exterior view of the Bishop's Palace. I can imagine it as a set from the Wizard of Oz.

Stained glass detail from the Bishop's Palace.

More stained glass.

Painted ceramic tiles highlight arches throughout the palace.

More stained glass and ceramic tile.

The chapel in the Bishop's palace.

Wide shot of the Palace.

I hope you've enjoyed this brief road trip to Astorga.  I will have more from Spain in upcoming posts. If you would like to follow along and receive a notification when a new post appears, please subscribe by clicking here and entering your email address.

You can view my fine art photography website at:  www.tombellart.com.

This blog has been named one of the top 75 fine art photography blogs on the planet.

Going Home

Preparing to go home from a trip is never easy.  It's not like you just zip open your suitcase, throw in the clothes and walk out the door.  For me, it involves shopping to buy gifts for my family and friends. Mostly, they're very small gifts -- just something to let them know I was thinking of them while I was away.  But even very small gifts can say a lot.

This isn't an easy blog post to write.  I had intended to document my Spanish shopping excursions and  show you all the cool items I found.  Then I realized that my family and friends read my blog.  The question suddenly becomes:  Do I destroy the element of surprise and write an awesome blog post showing all of the nice gifts; or, do I keep the surprise and not show anything to my loyal and faithful readers?

Sorry, loyal and faithful readers.  My family and friends won this round.

Buying for my wife, María, is the most difficult.  When I give her a gift, the exchange usually goes something like this:

Me: "I really put a lot of thought into it and hope you like it."

María:  (ripping open the box and wrapping paper) "Oh, I love it!  I love it!  (long pause)  But, you wouldn't mind if I exchange it for another color would you?   The green doesn't really go with anything I have.  And if they had it with a different neckline...  You know, I have several sweaters similar to this, but I saw one that was really cute in another catalogue...  You wouldn't mind, would you if...."

Don't worry.  I'm used to it.  The only problem is that whatever I choose this time has to be right, because I can't return it.

So, I won't show you what I'm buying, but I'll show you a few of the shops I've checked out on my gift-buying ventures.  You'll see some gift shop windows that I might or might not have found something to buy. Family and friends, you can use your imaginations!  Loyal readers, sorry, you'll have to use your imaginations, too!

You can probably guess that I didn't buy anything here.  I can wait until I get home to buy the M&M's and Twinkies.  (You can click on photographs in this blog for a closer view.  Hit the "escape" or "esc" key to exit to an normal view.)

This is a nice shop for typical food and drink products of León.  You can bet that I didn't buy the meat since customs doesn't like it when I pack it in my luggage.

Meats, pastries, cheeses, and drinks are in this window.

A souvenir shop in front of the Cathedral.

All sorts of figurines.

More from a souvenir shop display.

Ceramics are always popular gifts.

A bottle of local herb liquor.  Very tasty.

Bracelets.  The scallop shells represent the Way of St. James (the Camino de Santiago.)

Anyway, now you've seen some of the cool shopping options I've had.  Hopefully, I made some good decisions.

This will be my last blog entry from Spain, but I've much more to share, including a road trip to Astorga, a fantastic restaurant and trout soup in Órbigo, tapas, more reflections on Holy Week, etc.
Tune-in in a few days after I'm back in Illinois, and I'll still be blogging about my trip to Spain.

If you would like to follow along and receive a notification when a new post appears, please subscribe by clicking here and entering your email address.

You can view my fine art photography website at:  www.tombellart.com.

This blog has been named one of the top 75 fine art photography blogs on the planet.

 

Photos from León

Now that Holy Week is over, I wanted to share some of the views I came across last week walking the streets of León.  The city dates back to the time of  the Roman Legions, and parts of the old Roman walls still stand.  The main street today, Calle Ancha (Long Street) is the same main route used by the Romans and goes directly by the great Gothic Cathedral, once the site of Roman baths.

The Gothic Cathedral is also known as the "House of Light" because of the massive and beautiful  stained glass windows throughout.  The light is also beautiful on the outside of the church as the sun starts to get low.



Detail from one of the many stone
carvings on the church.

A street musician against a wall that adjoins the Cathedral.



On the Calle Ancha near the Cathedral, Elvis serenades the window washer.  The side streets open up to bars, restaurants, and shops in what is known as the barrio húmedo (drinking district).

 

Tapas, the delicious free food you get every time you order a beer or glass of wine are found in almost every bar and restaurant.  These are home-made potato chips and sauce from El Patio, one of the newer tapas bars.

At the Camarote Madrid, one of the better known tapas establishments, even a bottle of water is enough of an order to get you a free plate of Spanish olives.

 

Spanish ham is arguably the best in the world.  Here, it hangs above the Camarote Madrid's bar.  The ham is so popular, and consumed in such huge quantities, that this is a common sight in bars throughout León.

I'll have more from León as the week continues.

 

You can view my website at:  www.tombellart.com.

 



 

My Photography Year in Review - 2015

Every year brings new opportunities for photography.

2015 was no exception.

This year I added both quality and quantity to my fine art photography portfolio.  I also totally redesigned my fine art photography website:  www.tombellart.com.

I totally redesigned my website late in 2015.  Take a look if you get a chance:  www.tombellart.com.

My other big announcement is that effective January 1, 2016, I'm retiring from my long-time position as a college administrator and educator to devote full time to photography.  I'll have more time for international travel and to take on the projects that really interest me.

_ _ _

A SHORT YEAR IN REVIEW

 In January of 2015, I traveled to Guatemala again with my family.  It was a great opportunity for street photography and capturing images of people being comfortable in their own environments.

Pepsi Man.  This Mayan Indian man was enjoying a soda in the busy market of Santiago Atitlan.  This may be my favorite image of the year.  You can click on images for a larger view.

Here's the same gentleman in color.

I believe that these men were father and son.  Again, from the market of Santiago Atitlan.

These shrimp in the marketplace looked appetizing.

Now, jumping to Illinois, I found these images of an old farmstead when I took a detour around a delay on the Interstate:

The old farmhouse is just west of Nashville, Illinois.

I also liked the wide shot with the barn in back.

An old out building also stood out among the rows of corn.

Take a look at older posts from my blog and you'll see these and many other photographs that helped inspire a creative 2015.

You can view my website at:  www.tombellart.com.

The Vendor Children

It is unfortunate that children everywhere do not always enjoy the opportunities of a good education and a secure environment where they can simply be children.

In Guatemala, public schools are sub-par, and Mayan Indian families often rely on the labor of children to help them get by.  Rather than sending them to the classroom, it is not unusual to see children, often very young, selling handmade goods and souvenirs on the street, especially in locations that cater to tourists.  Girls will usually be in their finest traditional Indian clothing.  They will approach whoever passes by and hone their sales skills on the street.

Young girls in Antigua, Guatemala become vendors at an early age.  You can click on photographs for a larger view.

Mayan children at a rural school in Chimaltenango.

A vendor on the steps of the Cathedral in Chichicastenango.

You can view my photography website at: www.tombellart.com.

Ponte Vecchio, a great bridge to photograph

 The Ponte Vecchio in Florence, Italy is often on the list of the world's greatest bridges.  Crossing the Arno River, it's much as it was in Medieval times. There are jewelry shops and curio dealers all along the bridge.  Make you own photograph if you're ever in Florence!

You can visit my website at:  www.tombellart.com.

Illinois Girl Saves Historic Italian Landmark

At the end of June, my family and I traveled to Pisa, Italy.

This obvious photograph is the forced perspective view of  my daughter holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa (She should be given a medal by the Italian government for ensuring that this historic landmark didn't bite the dust).

Cristina, uprights a 500 year-old wrong in Pisa, Italy.

She corrected the lean so that the tower now stands straight for the first time in 500 years.  You can view my website at:  www.tombellart.com.

You can view my website at:  www.tombellart.com.

Photographing (and Eating) Tapas in León, Spain - Part Two

If you didn't catch Part I of my article on tapas:  you may want to read it by clicking here before advancing to Part II. 

Several years ago, my colleague Steve and I went to a tapas restaurant in North Carolina.  He hadn't heard of tapas, and I wanted him to experience something like he might get in León, Spain.  I had had tapas several years earlier in León, and thought the restaurant experience might be similar, yet an Americanized version.  Our waiter told us to pick several items from the menu and they would be brought out as we had our drink.  We ordered a Spanish tortilla (a potato dish), manchego cheese, some ham and even quail legs.  The first dish that was brought out was the cheese.  On the plate were two thin triangles of cheese.

"Are these just for us to try?"  Steve asked, puzzled.

"No, I think that's the cheese we ordered."

To make the story short, the rest of the night continued exactly the same way.  When we left after paying a bill of well over a hundred dollars, Steve said, "I'm hungry.  Let's go get a pizza."  To this day, he will no longer take my advice on a restaurant.  He'll just stare at me and say, "....you remember North Carolina...?"

Well, that's the American version of tapas.  The food was okay, but it was expensive and there wasn't much of it.  In León, however, the bars take pride in the quality and quantity of tapas, as well as the diversity.  For well under two Euros, you'll get a drink and a plate of something good to eat.

We ordered a round of seven drinks.  This is the plate of food that came with it at the Barín de Eva

León's streets are safe to walk, even late at night. The streets just off from the Cathedral are filled with bars.

Many of the tapas you'll get with your drinks are Spanish specialties, although, at first, not all will sound appetizing to some American palates.  One of my favorites is morcilla.  It's a blood sausage, and absolutely delicious.  Another is callos, or beef stomach.  It's served in a hot barbeque sauce and should be tried before declaring you don't like it.  You might also have squid, shrimp, shellfish or other seafoods.

The bartender at the Cervantes cheerfullly let us choose our tapas.  One that I gave a try was callos.

Sandwiches on the left and callos on the right were tapas at the Cervantes Bar.  The sauce on the callos is extremely spicy.

Morcilla and fried potatoes were tapas at the Rincón de los Gauchos. We also had a delicious garlic soup.   Notice that Reserve Rioja was provided rather than a "house wine."

This plate of tapas from the Gala Bar has white asparagus, peppers, potatoes, fish, sausage, a fried egg and bread.

We had shellfish in tomato sauce at the Bar Ribera.

We drank Rioja and Ribera del Duero wine at the Boccalino.  Tapas included shrimp, sausage, and pizza.

Obviously, in just a little over two weeks, I didn't have time to try all the bars in León (although you can see that I tried).  Thanks go out to my wife's cousin, José Luis and his family for making sure we got a sampling of the best food, drink, and hospitality that León has to offer. 

I hope you get a chance to try real Spanish tapas from León, sometime.  If you have a good experience, let me know.

You can view my website at:  www.tombellart.com.