We're trying to find some of those locations to see if we can replicate the spot he stood to take those photos.
We found one of them yesterday, at the roadside village of La Barca de Vejer!
Did a load of laundry, and while that was washing, we went for a walk behind the campground. It didn't take long before we had a nice view of the hilltop town of Vejer de la Frontera.
That's where we're headed!
The entire area is covered in these odd type of fir tree.
And they make a great tree for a campground. Tall enough that the branches are out of the way of tall vehicles, and yet they make fantastic shade trees!
Ruth, checking to see if she can see the sea.
Then we had an early lunch before our walk to the nearby town of Vejer de la Frontera. It's about 4 kms (2.5 miles) each way from where we are staying at Camping Vejer.
A nice view of Vejer de la Frontera.
Lots of storks in the area.
There's a little roadside village below the hill. It's called La Barca de Vejer. It's where my Dad stopped to take a photo 63 years ago...
63 years later!
It felt kind of odd standing where we knew my Dad had stood so long ago.
If you zoom in on the first picture, you can see a restaurant through the trees and the word "Pinto". The sign an the frontage has all changed, but that restaurant is still there, and with the same name. The "Hostal" in the first picture is now a convalescent home. And man, there sure are a lot of trees on that hillside!
Interesting stuff.
We continued on up the road to Vejer de la Frontera.
The castle walls date back to 1100.
Really pretty central plaza.
The fountain actually works!
The old church tower.
The clock still works too!
The church is from the 1400's, but it was built on the site of a mosque.
Tough to fit everything into the picture.
Pretty little town.
View from the top of town.
Just wandering around.
Flowerpots.
The old walled area.
Nice place to visit.
Vejer de la Frontera.
Beautiful area.
We walked back to the campground and relaxed for the rest of the day. We did a total of 11 kms (7 miles) in three hours.
Batteries are recharged (ours, and the motorhomes!) and we're heading off to meet up with friends Glen and Steve, if we can find them again! No idea where we're spending tonight.
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Another price drop on the WEN generator. If you're looking for a small, lightweight, and reasonably quiet RV generator, this is a much better buy than the Honda in my opinion...
Love these Spanish hillside towns, beautiful
ReplyDeleteSo do we and most of them are off the tourist trail so we like them even better! :-)
DeleteSome real wonderful scenery there.
ReplyDeleteThere certainly is!
DeleteThe town looks empty where is everyone????
ReplyDeleteIt is a town that is a little off the beaten track. It has mostly Spanish visitors and we were there in the afternoon when things generally shut up and people have a siesta (nap) in the afternoon. We did however see a lot of people out and about and when Kevin takes a picture of something he will quite often wait for people to move out of the way first, although that does depend on what he is taking a picture of.
DeleteWonder why North American cities and towns don't have a central plaza!
ReplyDeleteMexico is part of North America...lots of central plazas in the towns there.
DeleteOlder cities and towns in the US have plazas, like Savannah GA and Santa Fe, NM. Also lots of towns have courthouse squares.
DeleteYes, we have found that quite a few of the towns mostly in the southern area of the US have courthouse squares in the centre of town. There aren't quite the same as Mexico or here in Spain but they are the cornerstone of the town, nonetheless.
DeleteThe city is beautiful for sure. I just think it is so neat the way you can find the exact place dad took his photo and take an up-to-date one. How amazing that some things never change. So cool.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's another pretty city and a very interesting one.
DeleteWe think it is pretty neat too that we can find almost the exact same spot as his Dad. A few of his pictures would be impossible to do that though. Hopefully we will be able to replicate a few more before the trip is finished.
Beautiful city and nice that you found the spot that your father stood on to take that picture so long ago.
ReplyDeleteThank you Chuck and Anneke, we were happy to find that same spot and have the opportunity to replicate that same photo opportunity.
DeleteThat pine tree is called a Stone Pine or Umbrella Pine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_pine
ReplyDeleteThe campground we stayed in about a month ago was close to Vejer de la Frontera and we also loved those trees! The campground owners were knocking down the pine cones which they told they get pine nuts from. And we also loved Vejer. What a beautiful little town!
Thanks for the bit of info, I was wondering what type of pine it was.
DeleteWhat campground did you stay at when you visited the area? It may have been the same one as we same a ladder up against one of the trees. :-)
Vejer is the type of town that we love to explore. There is quite a bit to see in this area.
Don't you just love the Med? It's not stop beautiful.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is a very pretty coast along here where it isn't so built up.
DeleteStanding where your dad stood more than 60 years ago is very special, to my way of thinking. It is a really lovely town, and your pictures are terrific. You guys are making me WANT to visit Spain!
ReplyDeleteIt was very special to us as well, especially considering that his birthday would have been the very next day, so it made us pause for a few moments to think about him.
DeleteYou NEED to visit Spain, it is lovely here. :-)
That is a gorgeous white city! I love that you got to take a photo from the same spot as your dad stood 63 years earlier. My favorite shot, though, is the white city with the blue flowerpots. I love those colors together!
ReplyDeleteYes, it is beautiful. We are at another "white" city/town now and it is by the coast and it just doesn't have that same appeal to us, we didn't even go into the city/town, instead we walked along the beach and up onto the cliffs down the road from it.
DeleteI love that picture as well. Makes me want to do something similar at the campground this summer.
So beautiful ... how do you ever stop taking pictures? I myself have not did what you are doing, but my cousin, took her children to Europe to stand where her Dad had, and their Grandfather while fighting. It was an extreme emotional time for them.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard sometimes to stop but then again there are times when we put the camera away and just enjoy the beauty for what it is!
DeleteI would think what your cousin and her children did would be extremely emotional for sure. It would be so hard to imagine what her Dad and Grandfather must have been feeling or doing at that time. Very surreal indeed!
Love the 63 years later photo op!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Connie and Barry! Hopefully we will have a few more opportunities before we are finished with our travels this winter.
DeleteMakes you wonder, how many eyes have seen what we've seen and over how many thousands of years, especially when we think about natural or geographical markers. What did Montemayor see when he first arrived to what is now Monterrey 450 years ago? The mountains have changed little if at all. What was your dad thinking when he took those pictures and why did he take those specific ones?
ReplyDeleteWe have thought those very same thoughts many times over our years of travel. The only thing we as people have to go by is what was written down in some of the journals that some of these people/explores. As for Kevin's Dad, we were just wondering the other day, what went through is head and why did he take pictures of something but not of something else. Like why weren't there any pictures of the town itself, perhaps he never made it up to the town or maybe the pictures he took didn't turn out, we'll never know. It sure would have been nice to have done this trip and taken our pictures when he was still alive so that we could have asked these questions.
DeleteIt is special to stand where your father once did. I took a boat trip up the Missouri through the Gates of the Mountains and visited the backcountry ranger cabin that my dad was stationed in. It was such a surreal experience standing and walking where he once did. You are sure in a beautiful area and my favorite is the white buildings with blue flowerpots as well as the photo of the white city on top of the mountain. Stunning!
ReplyDeleteYes, it was special. So glad you had an opportunity to do something similar, it is definitely a surreal moment.
DeleteYes, I like that contrast of the white and blue, makes me want to visit Greece!