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This month’s selection of strange shops comes to you from Andalucia, and range from wholesale creepy religious paraphernalia to a sewing shop with a crucifix made from cotton reels, and a shop in Cadiz that sells – well, I have absolutely no idea what it sells, but its window display looked as if it hadn’t [...] Friends have asked me why I would go to Jerez (see columns passim) for a weekend when it’s so awkward to get to – there’s only one flight on the revolting Ryanair, or else you have to change in Madrid – but I think it’s one of the best-kept secret destinations in Europe. There are [...] An article in The Guardian today discusses the downside of 3D printing, the computer technology that recreates objects as 3D wireframe models so that they can be manufactured as single units. For some time now, this has been seen as a ‘magic bullet’ for manufacturers, who will no longer have to worry about economy of scale. [...] Here’s another fantasy train that would have made a great cover for my Gothic thriller ‘Hell Train’, this one spotted on the side of a Spanish funfair ride. I still prefer Graham Humphries’ take on it, though. Unlike British funfair rides, European ones offer real value for money and seem to last for about twenty minutes. [...] Last year I posted some creepy amusements from the Prater in Vienna. Now my ‘Eyes In The North’ Porl Cooper has spotted this Victorian Jolly Jack Tar at the end of Southport pier, and pointed out how much it looks like the one that features in the story ‘Oh, I Do Like To Be Beside [...] In Which Admin Handles Three Hours’ Sleep & An Awful Lot Of Sherry. Two years ago I posted from the feria at Jerez, the Tio-Pepe-tippling town near Cadiz at the Southwestern tip of Spain close to the African coast. This year I’ve returned to hammer my liver again and attempt bad flamenco moves at the party [...] In the bullring at Ronda there’s a bullfighting museum, one of the siderooms of which has a dozen wood and leather cases of duelling pistols. These intricate sets are accompanied by explanations of the entire history of the duel, from two centuries of swords to guns (easier to master), and their rituals (fire in the [...] ‘You know what people do when they move to Spain?’ my taxi driver told me, ‘they drink and read. It ruins them. Nice weather, though.’ The tiny town of Gaucin, in the mountains above Ronda, isn’t famous for much; it makes a type of sloe-gin and good local tapas, and there are tiny colourful birds everywhere. [...] An afternoon spent in Granada’s Alhambra was fascinating if not exactly soothing, with crowds and a three-hour wait for tickets (prepaid!), although there was plenty to do. Spain’s greatest example of Islamic architecture was built in the 14th century by its Berber rulers. After falling into disrepair for centuries, the Alhambra was rediscovered in the [...] Today I’m in the Moorish city of Cordoba visiting its extraordinary mosque. The Iberian and Roman city became the capital of an Islamic caliphate in the Middle Ages. At the end of the 10th century it was the most populous city in the world and the intellectual center of Europe. Much of the city’s fabric [...] |
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