My name is Marion Vermazen. I am a traveler, hiker, reader, Sun alumnus, computer geek, YouTuber, Spanish and French language student, knitter, weaver and genealogist.
Category: Europe Spring 2020
Our trip to Europe in February, March and April 2020. We visited London, The Canary Islands, the Spanish mainland, France and Italy.
Tonight we are staying in the Parador de Carmona a little east of Sevilla. Before we left Arcos de la Frontera this morning we walked around the town. We checked out a view point and a church.
The drive from Arcos to Carmona was over relatively flat farm country. The crops we could identify included carrots, wheat, olives and grapes. There were also many crops we couldn’t identify.
In Carmona we are staying at a Parador on the sight of the former city wall and castle.
Parador de CarmonaAdmiring the view from our friend’s room
After enjoying our welcome drinks we went out exploring. We checked out the Carmona city museum. This area has been inhabited for six thousand years. The museum had exhibits about the people who have lived here over those years.
Mosaics in the Carmona city museum
We had dinner in the Parador dining room.
Duke had fish cooked in a salt crust I had venison in a strawberry sauce.Chocolate fondant and mint ice cream
Today we drove west again (about 60 mile) to Arcos de la Frontera, another one of the white hill towns.
Before we left Ronda we went for a walk.
Duke in a garden overlooking the gorge in Ronda
About half way to Arcos de la Frontera We stopped at an artisanal olive oil mill in Zahara de la Sierra. Of course there is nothing much going on right now but it was fascinating to see all the equipment and ask questions. After the thousands of olive trees we have seen over the last few days we had lots of questions. The man behind the counter was very knowledgeable. He said his grandfather was a bull breeder for bull fighting. He had lots of very cool pictures.
Duke with one of the olive oil presses
Next we climbed up to the Castillo de Zahara de la Sierra.
Castillo de Zahara de la Sierra
A little bit farther down the road we stopped for a picnic lunch.
The road to the Parador in Arcos de la Frontera is very narrow. Duke pulled in the mirrors on the car and we made it to the Parador with no scrapes. We ate dinner at a wonderful little restaurant called La Carcél. We shared six plates including goat cheese and marmalade, stuffed mushrooms, prawns, and octopus.
The Parador of Arcos de la FronteraThe octopus we shared as part of our dinnerThe road to the ParadorThe view after dinner from the Parador terrace
This morning we left Granada and drove about 110 miles west and a little south to the white hill town of Ronda. Along the way we took a short break at an overlook to eat some of our oranges.
Ronda is one of my favorite places in Spain. There is a gorge running through the center of town. The gorge is spanned by a stone bridge. Our Parador overlooks the gorge and the bridge.
The Parador of Ronda
The weather today was perfect. We enjoyed sitting outside overlooking the bridge for our welcome drinks.
We wandered around Ronda a bit.
The Bull Ring in Ronda
Before we went down to dinner we checked out the full moon coming up over the bridge.
This morning we found a place for coffee near our hotel.
Tomato on toast with fresh orange juice and coffee
About 10 AM we went up to the Alhambra. It sits with a commanding view of the surrounding city and country. We have been there a few times so we did not take the tour. Our friends did take the tour and took some fantastic pictures.
Patio de Arrayanes in the Palacios NazaríesJardines de San Francisco in the Alhambra
We explored the parts of the Alhambra that don’t require a ticket.
Puerta de la Justicia
In the Carlos V palace they currently have a temporary exhibition – Zirid Granada and the Berber Universe. It was fascinating. The introduction to the exhibition says:
The Berber (or Imazighen, as they prefer to be known) are the group of peoples who since ancient times occupied almost all of North Africa, from the Siwa oasis (west of Egypt) to the Atlantic Ocean
The Carlos V palace also houses the equally interesting Alhambra Museum. After Spending quite a bit of time in each Museum we explored a bit more then went to the terrace bar of the Alhambra Parador and had coffee. The terrace is in a beautiful peaceful spot in the middle of the Alhambra.
Duke on the Alhambra Parador terrace
After we left the Alhambra we had lunch.
We needed to buy playing cards. I learned something new. There are two kinds of playing cards sold here, Spanish cards and poker cards. It took us a while to find a place that had poker cards for sale. After a bit of rest we played cards on our hotel room balcony.
Getting ready to play cards
When We were in Granada in February of 2018 we had a wonderful steak dinner at Negro Carbón restaurant. We enjoyed it so much that Duke made a reservation in advance so that we could go there to night. It was as good as last time.
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