After Toledo it was time to head south. Our first stop was at a series of windmills that overlooked the plains of La Mancha, made famous by Cervantes and his tales of Don Quixote. After our st ther we headed for Granada and the Alhambra.
The drive south .et the landscape unfold slow.u and the plains turned to hills and eve tally to the mountains of the Sierra Madre. all the while the land was covered with olive trees, for as far as the eye could see. Spain produces more o.ives and olive oil than any other country in the world. After arriving in Granada we had a brief orientation tour and headed off to a group dinner. The location was spectacular as the restaurant sat on a hill opposite e Alhambra and so,our first view of it was at night, all illuminated.
The next day we had a tour,of the Alhambra, it was quite something to finally see a building that was so spectacular and one that most of us have heard about all our lives. The afternoon and evening were spent poking around the various little alleys and squares of the city after which a number of us headed to a recommended Morrocan restaurant for dinner.
The next day it was time to board the bus again and head off to Ronda, a typical Andalusian hill town, pictures taken. A fabulous Lu ch and then off to our little casa rural hotel in the countryside, actually in the middle of acres of olive trees. There was some free time and it was nice to be able to get out on my own for a walk and a hill climb, I have certainly been missing that since the completion of the Camino.
Yesterday we left Ronda en route to Arcos. Along the way we stopped in at yet anger hill town, Zanara, a quiet little whitewashed town with not much going on.
In Arcos we are in a small family run hotel and in this town they really like our tour operator Rick Steves as he has brought considerable tourist income to the town. Ari,him and I lucked into the "Rick Steves" room in the hotel which unsurprisingly is the biggest and nicest room with a large deck and an amazing view. Today we have been off to discover the world of Andalusian horses and even more importantly have spent time in Jerez which is known for its sherry production. It was amusing to be at the home of Harvey's Bristol cream sherry, my late mothers favorite sherry, she would be shocked to see the way the Spaniards drink it, with ice and a slice of orange.
this evening we had a lovely meal of a variety of excellent tapas in a little local Spanish bar, complete with live flamenco guitar music, all in all a fun evening. As it is Halloween we wondered if there would be any trick or treating going on over here and we saw a number of kids out, primarily in ho e made costumes,
Until next time
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