Category Archives: spain

Plasencia, Spain

The Cathedral of Plasencia has to be one of the most interesting cathedrals I’ve encountered in my travels – and I’ve seen a fair number of them. What makes this one unique, is that it was originally constructed in the Romanesque style in the 13th century. Then, in the 15th century, a new construction was begun over the top of the old, replacing the original structure as the new one marched across it. Work halted in the 18th century with work only partially complete leaving two distinct interiors in one building.

Think of it as a 15th century whale slowly swallowing a 13th century fish, and time freezing mid-way through the process. In the photo above, the old structure is the lower portion on the right and the “new” section towers behind it with its unfinished back wall showing there the large arches are bricked in. Think of that as the mouth of the whale.

Inside you end up with two half-sanctuaries. The one on the left is the older of the two that would have been demolished had the construction continued. If you could see through the wall where the blue altar piece is, you’d see the new sanctuary that is pictured on the right.

This is the back wall of the new sanctuary, and you can see the ghost of the old sanctuary fading through with its narrower colonnade and lower arch. This really shows the scale of the new cathedral compared to the old. Had the work on the new cathedral been completed, I think the building would tell much less of a story but, as it is, it’s a treasure for people interested in architectural history (as I am) because you can see two time periods and styles simultaneously. More than that, you can see the actual construction techniques where the the new construction stopped and pieces of the old cathedral can be seen being used as fill within the unfinished walls of the expansion. Definitely worth seeing.

Also worth seeing – and experiencing – was our Parador for the night which was located just a short walk from the cathedral in former convent of Sto. Domingo, built in the 15th – 17th centuries. Here are a few photos of it, starting with the entrance:

My only regret is that I was unaware of this bar in the cellars until the morning we were checking out. What a great spot to spend an evening:

If you’d like more information about Spain’s Paradores, visit their website here: http://www.parador.es

Caparra in the dying light

As I was researching the Extremadura region before leaving for Spain, I was surprised to keep running across mentions of Roman ruins. Obviously, the Empire was huge at one time and there are ruins scattered all over Europe and points beyond but we tend to only hear about a handful. The first we visited on this trip was the site of the Roman city of Caparra. Most notable of what remains is this 1st-century, 4-way arch, built at the intersection of two prominent Roman roads on the Via de la Plata (Silver Way).

We arrived at the Caparra ruins just as the sun was setting and for the next 30 minutes, I scrambled to make the most of the fading light and ever-changing sky.

The surrounding countryside was equally stunning as the sun slipped below the low hanging clouds, painting the distant hills in gold.

Migrating cranes, right on cue.

One of my final shots after the sun had set but while there was still some purple twilight remaining. Next, we were off to Plasencia with another stunning Parador and an interesting 2-in-1 cathedral. More on that in my next post.

Hervas, Spain

A few images from Hervas, Spain, in the Extremadura region. A great little tile-roofed town for aimless wandering. One of my favorite things.

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Hunger Games, Spanish style

Continuing on with documenting my recent trip to the Extramadura region of Spain, day two began with a trip to Jaraiz de la Vera to learn about smoked paprika. We heard about the cultivation and smoking of the peppers at the Paprika Museum, then visited this production facility to see how the dried peppers were milled and packaged. The row of milling machines above looked almost cathedral-like to me, which seems appropriate given how revered paprika is in these parts.

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The aroma in the plant was amazing. I wish I had a way to share that with you. Sometimes when an appetizing smell is in a really high concentration like this, it becomes unpleasant, but I found no such problem here. I left feeling really hungry — which was good because our next stop was Hervas for a lunch of venison with double deserts: chestnut pie and… something chocolatey:

More on the town of Hervas in the next post…

Jarandilla de la Vera, Spain

With a free afternoon on my first day in Jarandilla de la Vera, Spain, I grabbed a couple of cameras and headed out to explore the town. I had done a little research before I’d left home and had run across some images an old stone bridge. It was the one thing that I filed away in my mind to be sure and look for during my few hours in this town so I asked directions from the hotel desk before setting out. It wasn’t far, but the winding streets made finding it a bit more challenging than a similar trip might have been back home where most towns are laid out on a nice, orderly grid. I found the bridge – as seen above – but as is usually the case, the journey revealed much more along the way. Here are a few shots from Jarandilla de la Vera from that afternoon’s walk:

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The good life, in Spain

I often ask myself, “what did I do to deserve this?” Not because I think I’m being punished for something undeservedly. Quite the opposite. More like – what have I done to deserve these amazing opportunities that come my way? I think this most often when traveling. Say what you will about the discomfort of today’s air travel – it’s still amazing that you can be anywhere in the world in just a few hours. We’re spoiled by an abundance of opportunity and I’m especially spoiled.

This hit me hard earlier this month as I joined a small group of journalists invited to explore the Extremadura region of Spain. I lived darned well there for eight days. Among the highlights were our nightly lodgings in six of Spain’s paradores. Started in 1928, paradors are a chain of state-run hotels that are located in historic buildings: castles, palaces, convents, etc. I found them amazing. I want to visit all 94 of them. Check them out for yourself here: http://www.parador.es

That photo above is the view that greeted me after landing in Madrid and making the 3-hour drive to Jarandilla de la Vera. First days on international trips are tough. I fight the temptation to take an afternoon nap as I find that the sooner I get back on a “daylight clock” (stay awake when it’s light, sleep only when it’s dark), the better off I am and the more quickly I adjust to the time difference. On this day, we arrived a little after 1:00 pm and I immediately set out to explore and shoot photos. I’ll share more of those images in a later post but, for now, I’ll focus on the parador itself.

Set in a 15th century palace-castle, the Parador de Jarandilla de la Vera is an imposing structure. The courtyard was what especially caught my eye, though, and I decided to make it my primary subject during those magical moments that occur right around sunset. The day was a bit blustery and it was threatening rain by the time the sun was setting. This is the courtyard as I saw it upon arrival just before 2:00 pm:

I wanted to take advantage of that brief time in the evening when the sky goes cobalt blue and contrasts so well with incandescent lighting. There were lights tucked all around the courtyard so I was hopeful that the lighting would enhance the scene come twilight.

Just after 6:00 pm, things started to happen. Even a cloudy sky will give you a blue effect just after sunset and that’s what I was counting on here. I also made a point of using my tripod and a neutral density filter to extend the exposures and give some softness to the moving clouds and central fountain. By 6:30, things were just as I’d hoped:

As it began to mist more heavily, I moved around to points of shelter to keep the rain off my lens and kept shooting:

For a first day of a trip, after an overnight flight, I’d had a pretty good day. I often feel like day one is a practice day – good only for getting ones bearings and getting in the groove of shooting in a new place. This trip seemed to come together more quickly for me and I’m happy with what I managed to make of my half-day in Jarandilla de la Vera. Which is good, because we’d be off after breakfast the next morning for more adventures in other parts of Extremadura.

Michael C. Snell photography blog

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