SPAIN

 So far it seems every time we arrive in a new place it's raining and Estepona was no exception.  Though as you can see here, by the next day the sun was out and we were happily enjoying the nice warm weather of the Costa del Sol.  Our apartment was in a terrific location - just about a block from the marina where there were all sorts of markets and restaurants.  We were also about a ten minute walk from the old part of town and on our first day we explored the pedestrian streets with the hanging pots of geraniums and the outdoor cafes and enjoyed watching the spontaneous dancing and other entertainment  (this guy was dancing with castanets accompanied by a guy playing the accordion).

 

On Sunday a girlfriend from my high school days flew in to experience Spain with us.  Monday was sightseeing day and we took in Ronda along with a couple of the Moorish "White Cities of Andalucia".  Here's Dale and Deb in Ronda.  Ronda sits on the edge of a very deep gorge and I would love to show a picture of it but the scale gets lost in translation so you will just have to put up with seeing Dale and Deb on one of the old streets.

We also stopped in one of the most beautiful of the White Cities, Casares, on our way home.  We found a quaint (and I use the term loosely) restaurant perched on the top of the hill where we could sit on the patio and look out over the town (see below).  We had the most wonderful meal - wild boar stew, rabbit with black prunes and then for dessert the best Tarte Tatin I have ever had.  I wish I had gotten a picture of it but we were all so busy eating it that by the time we thought of it it was all gone.  It really was heaven!

 We played golf the next day. . . . . . . . but more about that later.  

On Thursday we drove to Cordoba.  It was about a two and a half hour drive and the whole time we were going through olive groves.  Every square inch seemed to be planted.  It boggles one's mind to think of how they go about harvesting all those olives.

The Festival of Patios was being held when we were there - the private patios of residents were opened to the public and what a show it was.  The above picture is just one example of what we saw.  Geraniums and petunias everywhere!  


And, as you can see with the picture of us on the left, the streets were lined with pots of geraniums too.  This picture is of us at lunch.  We had a wonderful meal of fresh grilled sole and mushroom risotto.  Mmmmm good!

The beautiful patios were just an added bonus to what Cordoba had to offer.  We visited many of the sites of interest including the Roman Bridge overlooking the windmills the Moors used to grind flour and olives, the old Jewish Quarter and the Royal Stables to name a few.

The main attraction, however, was The Mezquita - Cathedral of Cordoba.  

The building, the tower of which you can see in the picture on your right, was first constructed in 600 by the Christian Visigoths (the tower was constructed later by the Catholic Church).  

Then in the late 700's it became a mosque due to the Moorish invasion and occupation of the territory.  It continued as a mosque into the late 900's and was continually added onto until it reached its present size. 

As you can see in the picture on the left, much of the Moorish influence is still present today although it is now one of the more important Catholic churches in Spain.

It returned to a Catholic church in the early 1200's when Cordoba was conquered by King Ferdinand III of Castile.

The complex is an interesting mix of Spanish Catholic and Moorish influences and is only one example of the history as told through architecture in this part of the world.

But now, let's take a break and play some golf.  After all, this area is not only called the Costa del Sol but also the Costa del Golf.  We played three different courses and all were beautiful.  










I don't know if you can tell from this picture but Dale is standing on the tee box of a par 4 and the green, while it looks like it's way in the distance, is really only about 300 yards away - it's just at the bottom of a gorge.  It really gave new meaning to the term "elevated tee box".  Overall, the courses were in great shape, fun to play and visually breathtaking.











But now back to sightseeing.  On Friday we went to La Alhambra, another stunning example of the Moorish occupation - this time in the territory of Granada.

The gardens of this complex are almost too beautiful to describe.  This is but one example of what you see.  There are reflecting pools, courtyards and gardens upon gardens.

There are numerous buildings - the castle of King Charles V built in the 1500's, the Generalife  the Alcazaba or Citadel and the Sultana's Palace.  The most impressive by far though is the Sultana's Palace.  It is the best preserved and the details are amazing.  Above is the Courtyard of the Lions.  It is just one example of the architectural brilliance of this place.

After our tour of Alhambra we decided to drive into the old part of Granada to have some tapas before our drive back home.  It was quite the adventure as we found that our TomTom GPS was not very familiar with the streets of Granada.  After trying to send us down streets that didn't exist it succeeded in sending us down a one-way street that unfortunately for us was going to wrong way.  We met a very irate, impatient woman who almost took out the whole side of her car trying to get around us.  I have never seen Dale drive so fast in reverse in my life.  Finally, however, we found the old town and, even better, a place to park.  Then we came upon this Bodega.  What a find.  This is the bar area and, yes, those are hams hanging from the rod.

The waiter didn't speak English and, needless to say, the menu was in Spanish so we just ordered a combination tapas plate.  Luckily we just ordered one (Dale was thinking we would need three) and below you can see the amount of food we received.  This was on top of the free tapa we each got with our beer!  After eating our fill we still had half of it left so the very nice gentleman who took this picture of us was the recipient of the remainder of our meal.

So, with full bellies, we say Adios!  It has been a great time and we especially enjoyed sharing it with Deb.  She heads home in the morning and after dropping her off at the airport we head for Segovia, Spain, our first stop on the way to Calais and the ferry that will take us to London.