Month: January 2016

Today we spent a wonderful day relaxing on the coast in Nerja at the east end of the Costa del Sol. We walked down to a lookout called Balcón de Europa. Apparently the King of Spain called it this in the early 20th century. Hence Duke’s picture with the King.

Below us on the beech was a fisherman fixing his net and next to us on the lookout was a harp musician busking. The temperature was in the low 60s and it was a perfect day to just stroll and enjoy the view.

We went back to our room to read and rest and then we felt an earthquake!! It was a magnitude 5.1 and apparently it was 25 miles off the coast of Morocco due south of us. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us10004g3i

It gave us a pretty good jolt. I thought we might even see a small tsunami but if there was one we missed it.

Later on we went for a walk on the beech to see if a beach front paella place that I read about in the guide book was open. They have seating on the beach for what looks like several hundred people but since this is the off season there were only about a dozen people around. Nerja must be packed in the summer!

Tonight we had dinner at a tavern not far from our hotel. The owner told us the fish was very fresh so I had dorado and Duke had salmon. It was divine! With a bottle of wine, dessert, and coffee the total bill was $54.

Tomorrow we are off to a town called Torremolinos near Málagaalso on the coast.

This morning in Granada we walked to the Monasterio de San Jerónimo. It was unlike any church I have ever seen. Almost all the walls and ceilings had painted scenes and as Lonely Planet says “the stained glass literally pales in comparison.”

We walked back to our hotel, got our bags and took a taxi to the bus station where we caught a bus south to the town of Nerja on the Mediterranean. We are staying at a Parador right on the beach. As we left Granada we also left the olive trees behind. And the towns on the Mediterranean look different too. Almost all the buildings are white.

We checked into the Parador. Because we belong to the Amigos program we get points for every euro we spend at a Parador and we get a coupon for a free drink when we check in. So that has been our routine. We check in then go down to the bar for a glass of wine or beer. It is clear from all the shops and signs that this area has a lot of British snow birds. In the dining room next to the bar there was an English group with six tables of duplicate bridge.

We took the elevator down to the beech. That’s the elevator in the picture below. Then walked along the almost deserted beech. The weather here is a lot warmer than inland and the Mediterranean was calm and relaxing.

We had dinner in the Parador dining room.

We are spending two nights in Granada which is nice. It is amazing how fast one can ‘settle in’.

We started relatively early this morning to explore the Alhambra. It is network of Moorish palaces, irrigated gardens and towers sitting above the city it is world heritage site and rightfully so!

One of my favorite parts about our trip so far is being here in winter. Sometimes it can be cold but having so many sites almost to ourselves is wonderful. I really don’t like fighting crowds and it seems we never have to.

It was quite a climb from our hotel up to the Alhambra. We savored the views from the towers. Our room must be visible down there someplace. Then we got in line for our 9:30 ticket to the Palacios Nazaries. This central palace complex was all jaw dropping carved walks and ceilings, geometric gardens and running water and fountains. In my opinion the Muslim geometric designs stand the test of time much much better than medieval Christian paintings.

We stopped for coffee in the parador that is in the old convent of San Francisco inside the Alhambra. Someday we may stay here but it is the most expensive parador in Spain. A room even now in winter would be about €300.

After our coffee break we strolled through the gardens. Even in their winter dormancy they were gorgeous. Leaving the Alhambra we headed down hill back to our hotel for a siesta.

This afternoon we visited the Royal Chapel. I’m sure I learned about Ferdinand and Isabella in first grade when I first learned about Columbus. Of course we didn’t learn about how Ferdinand and Isabella united Spain or how they completed the reconquista and took over Granada from the Moors in 1492. Ferdinand and Isabella are laid to rest in the Royal Chapel. We saw their coffins in the crypt below their marble monuments.

For dinner we went to a taverna near our hotel and had a bottle of wine the grilled vegetable plate, the cheese plate and the free tapas that I think was beef. It was another wonderful meal for less than the wine alone would have cost at home.

Posted with Blogsy

Up until today for breakfast we have been leaving our hotel and finding a place for coffee and toast. But today we had breakfast at the breakfast buffet in our Parador. It was yummy – especially the big bowl of fruit. Probably because it is winter there haven’t been a lot of fruits and vegetables in our meals. After breakfast we went for a walk.

We had a taxi pick us up to take us to the Jaén bus station. The ride to Granada was relatively short. Yesterday we didn’t get a picture of our Parador from the bus station but Duke made sure to get one today.

In Granada we are staying at a little hotel right next to the Alhambra. Duke and Vicky and Valerie stayed here when they were in Granada 14 years ago. This is the view from our room.

This afternoon we wandered around a bit to see the Cathedral and the streets around our hotel. We also printed our tickets for the Alhambra tomorrow. Duke bought them online a few weeks ago. For one part of the Alhambra they limit how many people are allowed in every half hour. Our tickets are for 9:30.

After 2 big excellent restaurant meals the last two nights tonight we are ready for tapas again

I’ll leave you tonight with another picture of the Granada Cathedral.

This morning we visited the Chapel in Úbeda which was right outside the window of our room. According to Lonely Planet it is one of the purest examples of Renaissance architecture in Spain. That’s our Parador on the left below and the church on the right.

Then we went for a walk along the the wall of the town and got a great view of the olive groves which surround Úbeda.

We stopped in to see a small collection of miniatures all made by one man. The gentleman was there and was very proud to tell us all about them. He said he has been retired twenty years and working on them the whole time!

After wandering through and marveling at the narrow streets and squares we picked up our bags and headed to the bus station to catch a bus to Jaén. The bus drove through unending olive groves before dropping us at the bus station in Jaén. The picture below is of one of the many squares in Úbeda. The nice thing about being here in winter is that we almost had the town to ourselves.

From the bus station in Jaén we could see way way above us the Parador Castillo de Santa Catalina. The Castillo de Santa Catalino was originally an Islamic Fortress. Thank goodness we took our first taxi ride of the trip to get there. By taxi it was about 3.5 miles and up 2600 feet. This picture is taken from the taxi half way up..

Word can not express how magnificent is the setting of our room in the Parador tonight. Although I’ll give it a try. We have a balcony with a wonderful view of the mountains and the town of Jaén below. We walked along the ridge next to the castle out to the cross overlooking the town.

After we returned to the Parador we stopped and read for a while in one of the common spaces and then had another wonderful dinner in the restaurant.

I’m leaving out any food pictures in this post. I wouldn’t want you to think we are eating our way through Spain!!!