Spain Trip

Seville 1999- Plaza de Espana, Bridge of Lions

You wouldn’t know it now, but when I was in school I studied Spanish for 4.5 years.  My senior year of high school I was lucky enough to travel to Spain for 10 days as part of the Spanish Club.   Up until that point I hadn’t traveled beyond New England, and I remember being so impressed by the beautiful artwork I was exposed to on the trip.  Even the city walkways were beautifully tiled.  It was my first exposure to professional mosaics, and I loved it!  Recently I have been seeing mosaic courses offered as vacation packages, and the premier destination (after Italy) seems to be Spain.  I feel fortunate that I have had the opportunity to visit Seville, Madrid, Cordoba, Granada, and Costa Del Sol.  The next time I make it to Spain, I will have to see Gaudi's works in Barcelona. I suspect I could spend 10 days in Barcelona alone!

I particularly enjoyed mosaics when visiting  Alhambra en Granada:
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Mezquita, the Mosque-Cathedral de Cordoba:
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 We saw ancient Roman mosaics when visiting the Archaeological Ensemble of Italica:

It seemed everywhere I looked I saw beautiful tiles, colors, and inspiration!  Little did I know at the time, I would soon be making mosaics of my own!

* These two photos are from Wikipedia.  My camera photos inside were dark and shadowed.  Thankfully, my photography has improved since high school!