I have been struggling with writing this post because there was so much fit into just 11 days. Rather than boring you with all the details, I decided that just a photo summary and some travel tips will do. So here goes...
As is with all normal jobs, after a month and a half of being in Spain, both my French Partner in Crime (FPIC) and I took advantage of some local holidays and time off from work to explore the south of Spain. On a Friday afternoon we packed up our little green Peugeot and headed first to Toledo by way of Madrid.
Stop 1: TOLEDO
Toledo is a beautiful old city. You have to pay to go in most of the churches, sites, etc...but it is just as nice to wonder around the streets or do as we did and go sword shopping.
Stop 2: GRANADA AND THE SIERRA NEVADASAfter having seen every sword in the city of Toledo, we continued our route south to Granada. (Note to my dad: I drove this part).
We didn't really do Granada justice. We got very lost. It was a rainy morning and the tickets to Granada's biggest attraction were sold out (the Alhambra - get your tickets early folks). We decided to forget Granada all together and drove into the mountains instead. We spent the afternoon hiking in the Sierra Nevada mountains. It was windy and freezing but beautiful and perfect. I am sure Granada is a lovely place, but once we left into the mountains instead, we didn't look back.
Hiking in the Sierra Nevadas
Stop 3: TABERNAS
We have a love/hate relationship with our GPS. It spends most of it's time trying to get us onto the most expensive highways and taking the longest routes possible. When we don't follow it's directions it looks like this.
We have a love/hate relationship with our GPS. It spends most of it's time trying to get us onto the most expensive highways and taking the longest routes possible. When we don't follow it's directions it looks like this.
But on the route from Granada to Tabernas it decided to play nice and took us on the most beautiful road. The road took about 2 hours longer than the GPS predicted, but it was so gorgeous that we really didnt care. Much of it looked like this
Sleeping in Tabernas for the night was an interesting experience. The whole time the people in this liitle town were giving off a very staring uncomfortable vibe. It was as though they had never seen anyone from outside their city before, but when they looked at us they seemed to be more secretly cannibalistic than curious. I didn't sleep very much that night.
The next day we went out to find these old towns where Hollywood used to film westerns (and some of Indiana Jones). My FPIC had been dreaming to visit this place ever since he was a little French boy. It took us a bit longer to find one of these old western town than we thought because they happen to be owned by some of the most unfriendly men I have have ever seen. We had to search around but we finally found one. Once there, we were able to recreate all of my FPIC's western fantasies of having gun fights and pushing the doors of the old saloon. I recommend visiting here if you have younger children or an overly enthusiastic French man with you...the road to Tabernas is beautiful and makes the trip worth it, even if the final destination is a little lacking.
Stop 4: NERJA
I dont have a good picture for this place but it is well worth a visit. There is beach, sea, and caves. Also we slept not in the car for the first time of the trip. And showered which is good
Stop 5: GIBRALTAR
The rock of Gibraltar!! This was a fun sight to see enroute. You have to cross a border into Britain to get there, but we were happy just to take photos from Spain. You can also see Africa from here!!
Stop 6: RONDAThe route to Ronda from Gibraltar ran through the mountains and had lots of little white villages throughout like this one...
The thing that Ronda is known for is the birth of bull fighting. Although I am not pro-bull fighting, I did enjoy going into the Plaza de Torros. If you stand in the middle and stomp your feet around there is a really cool echo.
Also to see in Nerja is this huge bridge. You can actually get under it into the gorge on this little path if you jump over a fence and...
Stop 7: SEVILLA
There is really only one way that I can sum up Sevilla. It is beautiful and wonderful and we had planned to stay only one night and ended up staying 4. Also we will be moving there next.
Stop 8: TRUJILLO
This a cool little village to visit. We stop enroute from Sevilla to Madrid. There are huge nests from storks on the old church. Also we bought the worst wine of our life here...but they have really good cheese.
Stop 9: MADRID
Happened upon Madrid on Halloween night and they were for sure celebrating it there. We didn't really stay long as we planned to pull an all nighter back to Eibar (but ended up sleeping somewhere in the car) but this short visit was busy and very eventful.
Stop 10: back to EIBAR
Were welcomed back to Pais Vasco by being serenaded on the radio in Euskara. :D It's good to be back
Until next time all!
