Tag: Spain

Ronda to Arcos de la Frontera

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 Frontera
The octopus we shared as part of our dinner
The road to the Parador
The view after dinner from the Parador terrace

Granada to Ronda

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.

We had a great dinner in the Parador.

Sea bass

Granada and the Alhambra

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 Nazaríes
Jardines 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.

Almagro to Granada

Today we drove from Almagro to Granada and explored some of the back roads along the way.

The first stork of our trip

We saw thousands of olive trees and stopped for a picnic lunch next to an olive grove.

Picnic lunch by the side of the road

After lunch we were a bit farther down the road and found a dirt road up to a hilltop with a great view.

Castle surrounded by olive groves.

We found our way to our hotel in central Granada and after a bit of a rest went out for tapas and beer for dinner.

Tapas and beer in Granada

Valencia to Almagro

Here is the link to my video with a few of the sites we saw in Barcelona and Valencia.

This morning we picked up a rental car in Valencia and drove 210 miles west to Almagro in the Spanish region of La Mancha. One of the highlights of our day was when we stopped at a grocery store in a small town to buy some picnic food for tomorrow. The staff behind the meat and deli counter were super friendly. They gave us cheese and ham to sample and showed us a few of the many things they stock.

Pig face that you can buy in the meat section.

The young woman behind the counter is a expert ham carver. She has competed in competitions and won many awards. She showed us her album.

La jamonera

The Parador we are staying at in Almagro is a former Franciscan convent that was originally built in 1603. It was expanded in the 17th and 18th centuries but was in ruins when in 1977 they began the work to make it a Parador. The reconstruction took seven years.

The entrance to the Parador de Almagro
The Patio del Agua
One of our rooms

We spent quite a bit of time exploring after we arrived. We had our welcome drinks in the former wine cellar.

Welcome drinks next to old wine vats

We had a delicious dinner in the Parador restaurant. We had steak for our main course and various yummy deserts.

Fried artichokes to start.