Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Of Moros y Cristianos


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

 Ice Skating

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

 Cristiano
Definitely NOT Ronaldo!


Moorish Woman, Me Gusta!


The Cross of Santiago the Moor Slayer

 A Regal Moorish Couple

 Moorish Robe Detail

 Christian Robe Detail


Murcia’s Cathedral and Tower

 Moorish Purple Shoes . . .
Husky Game Day Garb?


1996 Festival Poster


Whatever happened to Steve Wolf?


1989 Festival Poster
A Gay Rights Subplot That Year?

 A Templar Knight


1984 Festival Poster

Our son Mike actually has this poster tattooed on his ankle.


It’s ALL in the details

 Moorish Banner


Why am I here?

 Moorish Crown


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!!!

 For only 35 Euros, I may buy one


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

 They grow oranges in Valencia,
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

 It is Pedestrians Only,
Does It Look Safe to You?

 Santa Kayaking the Rio Segura

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

 No to Drugs, Yes to Books

 Bust Your Ass!
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:

David said...

If those purple shoes are Husky game day garb, it would explain a lot about Washington's season.

George said...

Agreed.