If you walk across the Pont de Toledo over the Manzanares river in Madrid, you will see a stone niche protecting a forgotten sculpture of Santa María de la Cabeza, the widow of San Isidro (St Isidore), male patron saint of Madrid. The bridge was built between 1718 and...
The Church of San José (St Joseph) at No. 43 Calle de Alcalà, is probably the favourite spot of the ghost hunters who seem to abound in the city. The first ghost story associated with the church took place in the nineteenth century shortly after the expulsion in 1836b...
The Casa de las Chimeneas (House of the Seven Chimneys) is one of the rare intact dwellings in Madrid that dates back to the sixteenth century. Until almost a century ago, a dark legend surrounded this building, which today houses the Spanish Ministry of Culture. It is said...
Next time you take a visit to Madrid I suggest that you visit an unusual museum – the Museo De Famacia Militar at Calle Embajadores, 75. This little known museum contains a wonderful collection of military materials all related to medicine. The museum was founded in 1928 with the aim...
If you travel to Madrid there is an eerily beautiful and unnerving place that you must visit, the gardens of Casa Riera. While the gardens are in theory only open to the people working in the building at No. 1 Calle Marqués de Casa Riera, there is a cafeteria...
If ever you are in Madrid, there is one place that you must, if you can, take a tour of, and that is the magnificent Sacristía de los Caballeros (Sacristy of the Knights) in Las Commendadoras de Santiago convent (built between 1584 and 1697). In this magnificent Sacristy, men...
The Capilla del Obispo (Bishop’s Chapel) in Plaza de la Paja, Madrid, is a vertiable gem of Gothic art that has survived over the centuries. Now, after some years of restoration work and an investment of some 2 million Euros, visitors can finally view this small oratory, which...
The little fish carved on the building at the corner of Calle del Pez and Calle de Jesús del Valle in Madrid, denotes the origin of the street name, which goes back to the seventeenth century. At the time, the section between Pozas and San Bernardo streets was...
In the Real Monasterio de la Encarnacíon, Madrid, there is a reliquary which it is alleged contains the blood of St Pantaleon,and once a year, on the 27th July, the blood liquifies, turning from a solid to a liquid state. The church itslef has never confirmed or denied...
The Black Virgin of the cathedral of Santa María de la Almudena is a reproduction of the original statue that was lost in the Santa María church fire during the reign of Philip II. The current statue dates from the late sixteenth century, although it is believed that the...
Welcome to my love affair with the food, wine, history and culture of the Mediterranean, past and present. Here you will find not only recipes, drinks and fabulous products, but the history of the food and culture of the Mediterranean.
My purpose is to get you to explore and experience new tastes and along the way to immerse yourself in the wonderful history of this diverse and wonderful region – from Venice to Istanbul, Rome to Dubrovnik, Athens to Crete and all places in between and in the surrounds. Be prepared to be surprised, delighted and enthralled as you take this trip with me.
