Rough Recollections of Military Service and Society Volume N . 2 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1882 Excerpt: ... letters I received from Mm when he was travelling in Spain. "Granada, March 1869. "My Dear Ramsay, --According to promise I write to report myself from here. Our trip so far has been most successful in every way. We have carried out our plans (with one alteration) most successfully, and have been charmed with everything. We spent one day in the cathedral at Amiens; travelled through Paris without stopping till we got to Avignon, where we spent four hours; then to Nismes, where we saw the Roman ruins, &c., and made an excursion to the Pont du Gard. Then by Narbonne to Perpignan. Drove as far as Boulou. Walked over the pass. Joined the diligence at Figueras, and so on to Gerona. I was rather disappointed in the pass, which in itself is neither grand nor wild; but there are some magnificent snowy mountains around, which made everything beautiful. The day was perfect, and we delayed on the top of the pass until the sun was down. "Gerona I was disappointed in. The cathedral is gloomy and impressive, but not nearly so much so as Tarragona and Barcelona; and there is not much to see in the town. Barcelona I was 144 LETTERS FROM SIR G. COLLEY. delighted with. The hotel we were in--a new one, the Peninsular--was, without any exception, the nicest and cheapest I have ever been in. The cathedral I thought beautiful, and the cloisters the same. In some respects I thought they answered to your description of the Tarragona cloisters better than the latter did; for the orangetrees at Tarragona are hardly seen, whereas in Barcelona they and the fountains add wonderfully to the beauty. "I admired the cathedral at Tarragona immensely, and the cloisters are beautifully worked, though in general effect, owing to whitewash, &c., I think them inferior...