Monday, 29 December:
The
weather turned a bit chilly today with a strong breeze causing most of the
havoc. As I walked through town, I stayed on the sunny side of the street to
keep warmer but was blinded by the intense but low Sun to be found at these latitudes
in December.
My goal
today was a visit to the Museum of the Federation of Associations of Festivals
of Moors and Christians. It is located in the Cuartel de Artillería which is an
old military installation in the Murcia’s Barrio Del Carmen, about a 2 ½ mile
walk from La Hacienda.
Along the
way I did see a few things of interest . . .
Murcia’s Division I Basketball Team
The team
is a modest 7-6 on the season and is owned by UCAM, i.e., the University of
Murcia. It is not a college team but a professional club owned by the
University of Murcia.
It’s kind
of like the University of Alabama in football.
I will
see a game soon.
Inner Tube Sliding
Both
venues were set up for local kids in the Cuartel de Artillería, it looked like
they were having fun. I hope that the ice skater with glasses lived to tell
about it.
The Moors and Christians Museum
The
Christian troops of Jaime I and Alfonso X retook the city of Murcia from the
Moors in 1226 A.D. Now, every September, Murcia holds a grand festival to
commemorate this event with local citizens dressing the part of the Moors and
Christians in the garb that they would have worn in the 13th
century. This museum displays some of the elegant outfits seen during the
festival.
Looking GOOD in her get-up
Moro
Definitely NOT Ronaldo!
Moorish Woman, Me Gusta!
The Cross of Santiago the Moor Slayer
Murcia’s Cathedral and Tower
Husky Game Day Garb?
1996 Festival Poster
Whatever happened to Steve Wolf?
1989 Festival Poster
A Gay Rights Subplot That Year?
1984 Festival Poster
Our son Mike actually has this poster tattooed on his ankle.
It’s ALL in the details
Why am I here?
Moorish Sword
All in
all, it was an interesting museum, what a spectacle this fiesta must be every September!
The next
goal was the reach the nearby Barrio Del Carmen Train Station to buy my tickets
for the three hour and 30 minute ride on Tuesday to Valencia, España’s third
largest city.
In case
you are wondering, according to the infallible internet, these are Spain’s Ten
Biggest Cities based on population:
1. Mardrid – 2,824,000
2. Barcelona – 1,454,000
3. Valencia – 736,000
4. Sevilla – 695,000
5. Zaragoza – 601,000
6. Málaga – 542,000
7. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria –
355,000
8. Bilbao – 351,000
9.
Murcia – 350,000
10. Valladolid – 317,000
We’re #9!
We’re #9!!
We’re #9!!!
Don Quixote is En La Casa!!!
Colorful old Water Tower
at the Train Station
I got my
round trip ticket to Valencia at a nominal price thanks to my Senior Citizen Tarjeta Dorada. I also scored a nice
room with wifi in Valencia for only $35 USD through AirBnB for my one night
stay in Valencia.
Merci to Marianne Bamboise for the
AirBnB tip last Summer!
BIG Murcian Smoke Stack
don’t they?
If anybody has the cable to hook
up my TV, these guys will!
They
didn’t.
A Fine Looking Pedestrian Bridge
Spanning the Rio Segura
Does It Look Safe to You?
Why not,
he deserves some time off after what he did last week.
And then
there was some graffiti . . .
The Spanish Civil War dies hard
in these parts
The new motto of the Cobras Linemen
I took
the Tram to practice tonight, a new and enlightening experience. We had eight
Juniors and I worked mostly with our new QB, Alberto Talavera, on the raw
basics of the position. Patience on both our parts is a must!
We had 13
Seniors show up for our workout tonight as the holidays continue to disrupt the
flow of things. At this practice I worked with the four linemen that answered
the roll call (Roberto, Tómas, Alberto and Tanque), they really worked
hard! If the line continues to be willing, our team will be solid.
We also have
a running back named Amoros who is small in stature but plays with a BIG
heart . . . my kind of player!
One of
our Senior linemen, Alberto, showed up in style tonight, GOT TO LOVE IT!!!
What ALL the good-looking Spanish Linemen
are wearing to practice this season
I am usually asked by teams in Europe what schemes I'll want to run and my answer is, "None."
The reason that I say this is that I am acutely aware of the European problem of A. getting players to come to practice and B. only practicing two or three nights a week. Our attendance rate of about 50% nightly in Murcia is a perfect example.
If we were trying to teach entirely new schemes under these circumstances, it would quickly become very frustrating for all concerned. Thus, I firmly believe that it is the team's best interest to lessen the learning curve and just tweak the things that the team already does while trying to improve the squad's fundamentals and mental approach to the game.
Good news on La Hacienda front, on
Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. La Hacienda will be hooked up to the World Wide Web!!!
Of course, I will be in staying
overnight in Valencia when this blessed event happens.
See you in Valencia on Tuesday!
2 comments:
If those purple shoes are Husky game day garb, it would explain a lot about Washington's season.
Agreed.
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