I have been too lazy or busy to post my daily blog, so I will try to catch up. Ann and I are on a train from Sevilla to Madrid on a warm Wednesday morning.
On my last post, we had visited Tio Pepe on a day trip from Arcos. We left Arcos and drove to Vejer de la Frontera stopping along the way to find pastry. Although the town we were in was fairly large, we couldn't find a pastry store. I settled on a banana from a produce store.
Vejer is a beautiful white village and appropriate for our final Andalusia stop. I managed to find a tapas bar and ate enough to supplement my banana.
Our final Happy Hour and group dinner was at a Moorish hotel. On our group walk over to it, we stopped at a pretty fountain for a group photo. Our photographer was a Russian tourist who was touring Spain with his family. We saw him again at the hotel where we had champagne toasts celebrating our journey. For dinner, we sat at a very long table and had very good Moorish food. My choice was lamb targine.
Early the next morning, May 8, the cyclists left early. Their goal was to reach Tarifa in time to pack their bicycles and get on our chartered bus in time too reach Malaga at a reasonable hour. My goal was to get to the Malaga airport, turn in the rental car and meet Ann shortly after 4:00. I had plenty of time to do that, so Cindy and I love payed "tourists". We tried to visit the Trafalgar lighthouse but the road was closed. We did, however, get to tour a Roman village abutting the Atlantic. These ruins were a fishing village and we're still being restored.
Cindy and I had lunch in Tarifa. I left her there to meet Dave and ride to Malaga with him. I drove on to Malaga passing the Rock of Gibraltar on the way. Gibraltar is a huge mound that is surrounded by flat terrain. It is not subtle.
I turned in the car and met Ann at the airport with time to spare. We took a taxi to the hotel, had a bite to eat and met the cyclists as they arrived on the bus. The plan was for everyone to meet in the bar for some farewell drinks after cleaning up. This didn't happen for us. Ann was too jet-lagged and fell asleep early.
The next morning, May 9, we had and early breakfast along with a few of the cyclists. We sat with Cindy and Dave so that Cindy and I could tell tales about our motor tour. After breakfast, we wheeled our bags to the bus station and caught our ride to Granada.
Our room wasn't ready so we walked over to a very busy and very good tapas bar. We had to stand at the bar to eat. Back at the hotel, we had some down time and then went to our 4:30 tea time. Our hotel had nice extras like this. They even gave us a bottle of the local fizzy wine. Although the temperature was getting hot, the thick walls of the hotel kept us cool even in the patio.
For dinner, we went searching for a recommended tapas bar, but it was closed. We chose another one at random. It was just OK.
May 10 found us getting up early to meet our tour of the Alhambra. The tour changed our starting time to 8:30 from 10:00. We were happy because the temperature was expected to be hot in the late morning and early afternoon. I had toured the Alhambra a couple of weeks before with our cycling group and a guide that we hired. Today's guide was an order of magnitude better. Gus spoke fluent and understandable English. He had a good knowledge base of history and culture and presented it in an interesting way. We saw all of the highlights and understood their meanings in our three-hour tour.
The remainder of the day found us eating tapas, taking Rick Steeves walking tour, visiting the Cathedral and the Royal Chapel, going to tea time at the hotel and eating a good Moroccan dinner.
May 11 was our transition day from Granada to Sevilla. After a short morning walk in the old quarter with its winding and hilly narrow streets, we took a taxi to the train station and rode to Sevilla. When we arrived, we took another taxi to our hotel which was in the middle of the old quarter. Our driver drove us through very narrow and picturesque streets. Our hotel's street was car-free so he let us out a short block away.
The temperature was heating up. When we walked to an outdoor restaurant, we sat in a covered patio that had cooling mists of water keeping us from overheating. We then had some downtime and meandering time until our Flamenco concert. This was in a small concert hall adjacent to our hotel. There was a guitar player, a singer and a male and female dancer. The female dancer had elaborate costumes while the men dressed in black. We enjoyed the concert although it was very loud and the dancers were very serious.
We officially became Spainish when we left for dinner at 9:30 and had some excellent tapas. Bedtime was late.
We had the basic breakfast that our hotel provided on May 12. Because the weather forecast predicted hot temperatures in the afternoon, we took Rick Steeves walking tour and n the morning. It was a pleasant slow-paced tour in our area of town. Lunch was at a good tapas bar where we ate standing up at the bar. In the afternoon, we toured the huge Cathedral and then the Alcazar. By then, the heat and the touring forced us back to the hotel for some rest.
For dinner, we ate at the best tapas bar yet. It had very creative choices.
Now it is May 13 and we are in Madrid. Our hotel is in the middle of Puerta del Sol. We arrived from the train station by taxi. Our first challenge was to find lunch at Casa Labra. I got us going the wrong direction and we had to get better directions from our front desk. The restaurant/tapas bar is famous for its cod. The tapas area was overcrowded, so we ate in the restaurant. We had two different baked cod entrees. They were perfectly cooked and their sauces were very tasty.
I am writing this post in late afternoon. The temperatures are in the high 90s. We will stay inside until it cools off and then join the locals in the evening stroll and dinner.
I have taken many photos. When I include them in this blog, it takes forever to upload them. When I get home and put together our website for this trip, you will see the better photos.
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