Seville!!

Seville is such a pleasure.  We have walked and walked and walked.  The days fly by.  There is a beautiful view at every corner.  The streets can change to narrow cobblestone that are easy to wander through.  Shopping is fun and there is always a place to rest. 

I fell in love with the Gazpacho.  You can even order it by the pitcher.  It is so good!

Some of the streets were pretty narrow.  This street also shared that little sidewalk with pedestrians.

Paella.  A Spanish specialty.





Purses for sale





streets with rock designs

We love Spain!!

We hope to be back someday!



The road to Seville!

So Sweet!

The black hoof is the best.

The beaches are never ending.

Olives EVERYWHERE.  Yum

 

While walking in the hills near the course we ran across some interesting things. 

 

This is actually quite large....  we should have had something for scale.

 

 

 

 

We had a peacock that hung around.  It was a bit shy


 Ahhh that sun!

"Hit em hard!"

The countryside in Spain is varied and amazing.  The highways seem new and there is little or no traffic.  It’s a joy to drive them. 

 

 

We are now staying in a little town just north of Cadiz.

 

 

  We are staying at a golf course here. It's called Montecastillo.  It's considered to be in the top 100 golf courses in the world, designed by Jack Nicklaus and host of the Volvo Masters for 5 years in a row.  

 

Granada is a wonderful city.   We enjoyed walking around in the absolutely perfect weather. 

 

 

It was a national holiday so every hotel was booked full and was at least 150% of the normal nightly prices.  We explored the Alhambra and the surrounding gardens



 

....but then moved on to a less popular area to spend the night.  We drove to a wonderful small town called Salobrena.  We stayed in a small hotel near the water.  We walked to the beach area and enjoyed a wonderful meal at a restaurant right on the beach.    

 

 

 

The next day we headed over the hills to the southern border of Spain.  We saw some beautiful sites along the drive. 

 

 

 



A rental car headed toward the hills!

We rented a car on the edge of Valencia and drove to Ubeda.  I’m so glad we did.  The countryside is amazing. 

 

 

 

 

 However, it was difficult to navigate because we had decided, for some stupid reason, that we did not need a GPS.  Pat was in charge of the map reading.  Neither of us could read the tiny writing on the map when the car was parked much less moving.  It was divine providence led us into Ubeda. Ubeda is in the middle of the mountains and olives groves were everywhere. 

 

 

  In Ubeda we stayed at a parador. 

http://www.parador.es/en/parador-de-ubeda 

 

 

It was also Halloween.  There were little trick-or-treaters dressed in sweet costumes everywhere.  All of the costumes were very well done with much attention to detail.  The following day is a national holiday for Spain.



Valencia!

We left Barcelona by train and headed to Valencia today.  The train was ~ 2.5 hours.

 

  We had checked hotels online prior to arriving.  Considering it’s the slow season we decided not to book and look at the hotel room prior to staying. We had selected a hotel on the edge of town so we could rent a car and get out of town easily.  None of the cabbies had heard of the hotel we'd considered.  Our taxi brought us to the address.  Wow!!!  On arrival we asked to see a room.  What a stink hole. The hotel did not match any of the photos on Expedia.   The hotel was a complete lie.  The girl at the reception desk was sleeping.  The rooms stunk.  On the way up to see the room the sleepy reception girl sneezed in the tiny elevator that was ~ 4 feet by 4 feet.  She left her mark on the mirrored wall. 

 Our taxi driver brought us to a hotel in the city center that he recommended.  What a blessing and a delight!!  We dodged a bullet there! 

 

We love Valencia!  The shops and the prices and the food and the people are all delightful.  The city center was filled with flowers and the scent was intoxicating.

 

 

 

 

  We took a cab to a car rental company outside of town for an easier exit.  We were sad to leave Valencia.