Over New Year's 2006/2007, the Duke Chapel Choir went on a tour through Spain. We sang in many beautiful churches and got an impression of the many different regions and aspects of this country. And of course, getting to know each other much better than is possible during the semester at Duke was another nice side-effect. The route was: Barcelona, Madrid, Toledo, Granada, Seville, Cordoba, Aranjuez, Madrid. Except for Barcelona, all these places were new to me and I was looking forward to a great trip.

Most of the choir members travelled together. However, since I didn't know if I would be in Europe over Christmas, I booked my flights independently and arrived in Barcelona on Dec. 28, one day earlier than the others. The airport bus dropped me of at the Placa de Catalunya. This place is the beginning of the famous "Las Ramblas", Barcelona's super-busy pedestrian zone. Since the airlines had lost my luggage, I had nothing to worry about (yet) and immersed myself in this amazing European World.

I had picked a hostel very close to the Placa and only one block from Barcelona cathedral. After all, I would have to get back to the airport the next day to meet the choir. My jetlag wasn't too bad, and so I decided to discover a few new things that I had missed the last time and that wouldn't be on the very condensed sightseeing schedule the tour operators had devised for the chapel choir. Among others, I descended into the old Roman underworld, several pieces of which are well preserved in the historical museum of the city. Since pictures were not allowed in the museum, a shot of the buildings will have to do.

Much more lively than the old Roman city: the Barri Gotic. I had been here before, but I still got lost several times. Unlike in America, nothing is straight here and everything is so narrow that it's hard to get the "big picture". At some point you decide to just let go, enjoy what you see, and walk until you get to some edge of the jungle and take it from there.

I got up early (jetlagged) and enjoyed an early morning in the city - still devoid of the masses of tourists that would soon conquer its historical core.

I had a coffee in a charming little street cafe. While it was nice to be there amidst Spaniards, I felt bad about not speaking Spanish... even the "cafe con leche" took me forever to figure out :(. On my way through the Barri, I saw many of these teasing but expensive stores with all sorts of meat and, especially, "jamon".

Even more tempting is the huge "Mercat de Sant Joseph" right off the Las Ramblas.

When I fly from the US to Europe, I often notice that Europeans smoke much more. Yet even here people get smarter and many places now prohibit smoking. Others (still) allow it - as evidenced by these signs.

Around noon, I got reunited with my Choir at the Barcelona Airport. That was the good news. The bad news was that Iberia still hadn't found my luggage... and the ground personnel didn't seem to worry too much about it. In order to fight the jetlag, the tour organizers bussed us to a Flamenco show, where we could enjoy loud music, interesting dance, ok food and lots of Spanish red wine.

Here the raison d'etre of the whole trip: The choir was to give a series of concerts in some of the greatest cathedrals and churches in Spain. In Barcelona, we sang in the Iglesia del Pi, right in the Barri Gotic. To our surprise, the church was full - as would be all the other churches during our tour.

The choir had booked a hotel outside of the city; it had been impossible to find enough downtown rooms around New Year's. So we were protected from the temptations of the city and could enjoy the beautiful view around the country side and industrial areas surrounding Barcelona. Because we wanted more, some of us decided to stay downtown one night and visit a club - even if that meant a 60 Euro taxi bill and missing one of the early-morning guided tours.

One of the best places in Barcelona is atop the hills of the Parc de Montjuic. A breathtaking view rewards every visitor, whether he climbed up or emerges from one of the dozens of tour buses.

Early on New Year's day, our trek of three buses rolled towards Madrid. We were carefully watched by the Spanish bulls, which appeared again and again along the roads. According to our guide, these black mockups used to be advertising for a company, but have now become a national symbol.

What a beautiful scenery...

We had only one full day in Madrid and behaved like really bad tourists - we spent less than an hour to rush by the masterpieces of the Prado, and the long waiting lines didn't exactly help with our schedule. Virtually all larger museums in Spain are equipped with metal detectors... we live in the age of terrorism.

A view over the Plaza de Cibeles towards the Gran Via and Calle de Alcala. The buildings in this area of Madrid are truly monumental.

The Royal Palace.

We did not sing in Madrid proper, but in the Basilica of El Escorial. El Escorial is a palace-cum-monastery outside of Madrid and is one of the most important monuments in Spain.

Frescoes inside the palace.

El Escorial at night - after a beautiful concert in a freezing church.

The next stop was Toledo. By that time, several of us had been hit by some mysterious virus that caused all sorts of unpleasurable bodily reactions. I was lucky to suffer for only a few hours the previous night, and I was able to participate in the tour of Toledo. Still, I didn't feel too well and it was freezing - maybe that's why I merely liked the town (as opposed to calling it the most beautiful place in Spain). The tour started with a looooong visit at one of the factories-cum-souvenir shops. Interestingly, this was the only time that we were not given a time to return by the tour guides... They wanted to make sure we had enough time to buy the famous swords...

... or damascene souvenirs (black metail inlaid with gold). After all that shopping and an endless tour of the ice-cold cathedral of Toledo I chose to skip the afternoon and spend it in bed, which was probably the reason why I had virtually recovered by the next day.

We moved further south and I was a bit surprised to see huge snow-capped mountains. But that's how it looks like, the Sierra Nevada.

Our next stop was Granada. Its most famous attraction, the Alhambra, is a palace that was founded by the Moors and subsequently enlarged by Spanish kings after they drove the Moors out of the country in 1492. I loved the Arabic influence and decided that one of our next trips had to be to Morocco.

Detail in the Alhambra.

Reflecting pool in the Patio de Arrayanes.

The towers of the Alhambra offer a beautiful view over the city, including the old Arabic part Albaicin with its narrow streets and Arabic shops and cafes.

Generalife, the country estate of the Nasrid kings up the hill from the Alhambra.

I was fascinated by the orange trees everywhere. They grow in parks, streets, and gardens, and the warm orange pleases the eye, especially in winter.

After visiting the Alhambra, I walked through the Albaicin and came to a beautiful place that offered stunning view of the Alhambra...

...as well as live Flamenco performances.

Watching the sunset over the Alhambra and the city was magical.

When I descended from the hills of Albaicin, I stumbled into a big parade. It was January 6, and that is when the Three Kings appear and bring Christmas presents to the Spanish children (and adults).

The next stop on our tour was Seville. But before we enjoyed the city, our route took us through endless fields of olive trees and vineyards.

We arrived in Seville just in time for the morning mass at 11:30.

We did not sing in the main church (Seville Cathedral is the largest in Europe) but in the lavishly decorated Royal Chapel. We sang only a few pieces and the crowd was small, but the space had something very special and the sound was amazing.

The bell tower "La Giralda", which was built as a minaret in 1189.

The Placa de Espana, a leftover from the 1929 Spanish-American Exhibition.

The Placa has big murals made of tiles depicting the regions of Spain.

Spanish kids testing their Christmas presents. And the haircut of one of them is already pretty close to the mullet that appears to be so hugely popular among the Spanish youth.

The Placa de Toros, Seville's famous bullring.

We also visited the Palacio Pedro I, a beautiful small palace with lots of Moorish architecture and a relaxing garden.

On our way from Seville back to Madrid, we stopped in Cordoba. This city is most famous for its great mosque, the Mezquita...

... which is so famous because of its many arches and pillars and the combination of many different styles of architecture.

In one of the streets of Cordoba.

Countryside between Cordoba and Aranjuez.

First, I discovered the Estacion de Atocha, a train station that is really quite "green".

Book stalls in front of the Jardin Botanico.

The Estanque, an artificial lake in the huge Parque del Retiro.

The "Metropolis" building on the Gran Via.

The Plaza Mayor has a very distinctive style. And I am sure it would have been even nicer if the sun had shown up - but it disappeared as soon as the Chapel Choir left Europe.

One interesting thing about Spain is the "siesta". In other words, nothing goes between 2 and 5 pm. Most markets and stores are closed... This tasty place closed at the very moment that I wanted to buy my lunch.

If a restaurant is open, however, it probably has a very good "menu del dia". On my last night, I went to a small neighbourhood place in the Chueca area and had a three-course meal for 7.80 Euros. Including half a liter of wine 8-).

The Museo del Jamon, a huge store for Jamon, the Spanish bacon. The walls were covered with the expensive meat, which can hang there for ages before it gets consumed.

I am not normally a shopping person, but I could not resist some of the cool stores on the Calle de Fuencarral.

Madrid's famous Plaza del Sol was under construction. But at least I got to see the advertising for Tio Pepe, the most famous Spanish sherry.

Well, folks, that was it. I waved goodbye to Spain (and its most famous heroes Don Quixote and Sancho Panza) and flew back to Duke, where schoolwork was waiting eagerly.

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