Spain

Spent just over a couple of weeks in Southern Spain visiting Gibraltar, the southern coast, Granada, Cordoba and Seville.

Gibraltar: Unique experience going back and forth between Spain and British Gibraltar. “The Rock” is the main attraction and we chose to take a van (held 8 people) to efficiently explore the summit. The cost was roughly $50/ea. person and included tickets for Saint Michael’s Cave and stops at all of the viewpoints. The monkey’s, of course, are the big draw and very entertaining. FYI: If you rent a car at the airport you have to go back and forth across the border to pick up your car. A bit of a hassle.

Southern Coast: We had a condo at a nice resort positioned between Malaga and Marbella. Ran into some rain and that adjusted some of the things we wanted to do, however, slowed us down and that was needed after our hectic Morocco tour. The highlight was a visit to Ronda and hiking the famous Caminito del Rey. Known as the most dangerous hike in Spain, it is now much safer and a great hike perched hundreds of feet, in a gorge, over the Guadalhorce River. It will test any fear of high, but, is a must do!

Granada: The Alhambra is the highlight of this town and you will need to purchase tickets well in advance, as it sells out! It’s the most visited site in Spain and worth booking a tour. Other highlights is the massive Granada Cathedral, walking through the Albaicin quarter and just overall exploring the city. Like most places we visit, we book accommodations in the central city, so we like to be close to most sites. The con is they usually are difficult to get to and parking is often an issue. 2 full days is plenty of time to visit.

A little triva: There are orange trees throughout the area in southern Spain. We learned you can identify a “sour” orange tree by the leaves. If you see a small leaf on top of the large leaf those oranges will be soar tasting.

Cordoba: The highlight of this city is the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba. A massive mosque with a hugh cathedral in the middle. We were luck to be a block away with great views of the tower. Hint: If you go at 8:30am, you can visit for free up until 9:20am (before mass starts), big score on our part! The rest of the city is great Jewish quarters, a large number of palaces and beautiful churches. 2 full days is plenty of time to visit.

Seville: Our last city before we headed home was a beautiful location full of magnificent palaces (like the Real Alcazar), massive plaza’s (like the Plaza of Espana), grand Cathedral’s (like the Cathedral of Spain) and many churches (like the Basilica of Macarena). We spent most of our time here wandering and exploring the city finding great hidden treasures. We also stayed at the Las Casas de la Juderia which was a unique hotel consisting of about 26 different courtyards and buildings. Plus, featured an underground tunnel connecting them all! Very fun and cool place to stay!