Days 37-44 (5th - 12th Oct) - Seville, Ronda, Granada, Cordoba

Day 37 continued (5th Oct) - Seville:  The landscape over the border changed quickly to flat plains and rolling hills, full of orchards. The orchards were mainly of oranges or olives. We were on our way to Seville.

After the Algarve, Seville is definitely the big smoke and we took a while to find parking for the car somewhere near our hotel. This was after dropping Gill and Rod off at their place since we were unable to get accommodation there too. Just as in all the city centres here, most of the roads are impossibly narrow and you share them with pedestrians. 

Our hotel looked quite lovely even though our room was quite small. 

We had no time to enjoy it then as we'd booked ourselves in to see a Flamenco show a little over a kilometre away on the other side of the river in a district known as Triana. 

There were heaps of people enjoying time by the river either on the public seating that was everywhere or by having a drink at one of the myriad establishments that line its banks. 

We found our theatre and were treated to an hour of wonderful entertainment.  The clapping! Oh to be able to clap with this kind of rhythm! And how the dancers move their feet so quickly I have no idea.  The show was a good mix of dancing,  singing and guitar playing. The male dancer in particular was dancing with such gusto, with such heart and soul. After the show one other member of the audience commented that it was like he was a madman.

Inside the theatre

After dinner we each retired to our own accommodations, me still with rhythm in my soul.

Day 38 (6th Oct) (16.83 km) - Seville: I had stuffed up in my planning when visiting Seville and had somehow missed getting tickets to see its famous Alcazar Palace. Even out of peak season, some sights just have to be booked months in advance.  Gill and I were disappointed but there are plenty of other places in the city to see.

We decided to begin our look around the city from the furthest point away from where we were staying,  the Seville Plaza. However, before you get there, you see other places… I love the fact that almost anywhere you turn, there is some interesting old building or sculpture to wonder at.

There were so many people around this building, we decided to see what it was. I think it was a theatre at some stage, but on this particular day it was the venue for a bobbin lace conference. We were both able to see inside the building, which was beautiful, see examples of the lace, also beautiful, and see it being made - insanely difficult. In Spanish, it is known as ‘encaje de bolillos’.

The Spanish Plaza is an incredible structure built in the early 20th century as a show of power and money and had been a bit of a white elephant since. While it began use as a building for various government departments, none seemed to have stayed and now it is largely empty.  However,  it is hugely popular as a plaza and the panels depicting the various parts of Spain are photo spots for many.

One of the many panels depicting Seville

Pete was showing us a Pavilion built at the same time by a famous architect,  Mies van der Rohe, for a show in Barcelona. The difference in the two styles couldn't be more stark. 

This photo is from a Wikipedia article on the Pavilion https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcelona_Pavilion

We then looked through the Maria Luisa Gardens, which are a lush paradises in the city with lots of huge trees,  water features, birdlife and plenty of human visitors.  There were lots of green parakeets, lots of pigeons and lots of ducks. 

After morning tea (which here is had nearer to the middle of the day) the boys decided to go and visit the Bullring while Gill and I decided to visit Casa de Pilatos, considered to be one of the best examples, after the Alcazar that we couldn't visit,  of a Sevillian Palace.  It is a blend of styles and although we weren't able to hang around to see the upper floor (next tour was more than 2 hours after we arrived), we certainly appreciated what an incredible building it is.  The tiles on many of the walls are like tapestries.  I don't think any two are the same.  There was incredible plaster work and beautiful ceilings.  There was also a very attractive formal garden. The whole place was well worth the visit. 

Pete and Rod enjoyed their time at the Bullring. Here are a couple of Pete's photos.

A good afternoon had been had by all.  I left Gill to return to my accommodation for that most wonderful of European traditions, a siesta, but with no working phone and no map,  I had to rely on my brief look at Gill's phone map.  I almost made it back without losing myself, but I had neglected to look at how many alleyways were between each turn I had to make! I got there in the end,  but it did require a bit of backtracking and looking for familiar landmarks! That is always difficult,  because different places seem to be open at different times around here,  so you are never sure that something you have seen earlier will be obvious when you return. I did come across some interesting cake shops,  some of which were selling what looked to be a Spanish incarnation of a lemon meringue pie.  I'm not sure about the other creation - is it meant to be an apple something?

After a rest we joined the others for a tour of the Seville Cathedral. Again we had booked late,  so we couldn't get self-guided tickets. The only way we could get in was on a Spanish speaking guided tour.  Funny.  I caught a few words here and there.  In some ways,  I'm glad I couldn't understand the explanations, the idolatry speaks for itself.  The cathedral is gigantic and while there are some beautiful parts there are also some very gaudy sections. 

We were able to climb up the bell-tower for the views of Seville.  Unlike any other towers we have been up,  this one was big enough to have ramps instead of stairs,  36 of them!  You certainly do a lot of climbing in these parts. 

A view over the Alcazar Palace we were unable to visit

After the Cathedral, we wended our way through to a place called Setas da Sevilla, or The Parasol. It is the world's largest wooden structure,  even though it is hard to tell that - all the wood is coated with a waterproof,  breathable and flexible polyurethane coating to ensure longevity.   It is an unashamedly modern structure,  completed in 2011 to bring life back to a plaza that was once the central market of the city. You are able to walk along 250m of pathways on the top and enjoy an evening light show from below. 

We did the latter,  having a tapas dinner below. 

A lovely evening,  unfortunately caped off by an unnecessarily long walk home.  Google Maps directed us to another location with the same name as our hotel but in the opposite direction.  We both thought that the direction 'felt' wrong but thought that surely Google Maps wouldn't lead us astray! I had been struggling with a cold caught from Pete and I just wanted to get back to the hotel so I paid little attention to my 'gut feel'. Silly - we added 20 minutes onto what should have been a 13 min walk home. 

Day 39 (7th Oct) (8.82 km) - Seville to Ronda: The first thing that surprised  me on our way from Seville to Ronda was the amount of cotton fields. I'd never associated Europe with cotton but Spain is one of 3 countries in Europe that do.  Greece is the number one producer apparently. Most of the cotton had already been harvested but there were patches of still unpicked crop around.  The first thing that alerted us to the fact that cotton was being grown was all the cotton on the side of the road!  Then there were miles and miles of large fallow fields waiting for rain to enable planting of two bigger crops in Andalucia, barley and wheat.  In among these fields we noticed plantings of what we would soon learn is the largest crop of all in the region, olives. So many new trees being planted. 

Our first real stop was at Cadiz, a coastal town that is really an island and joined to that island is a spit, at the end of which is an old fort.  It is a popular attraction and well worth the stop.  Just the walk out,  watching the fishermen,  seabirds and local tourists was fun. I managed to find a bird I had not seen previously.  While it would have been nice to explore a little more, after pizza to eat and a visit to a central plaza, we left Cadiz for another time. 

I did find these strange buildings and wondered what they were …

We headed inland again and after a while the landscape change and we started to notice mountains and fascinating-looking white villages in precarious positions.

The sky was looking ominous but we only had an hour's worth of light rain later in the evening. 

After unpacking at our accommodation we were just in time to wander around for a bit before the rain set in.  We found a lookout,  supposed to be good for sunset,  but sunset wasn't going to be a thing that night - it had already gone behind storm clouds. 

Day 40 (8th Oct) (15.93 km) Camanito del Rey and Ronda: Despite a persistent cough, I was really looking forward to this walk.  The drive there was a pretty one through the mountains and despite being initially a little worried about timing we made the start of the walk in plenty of time.  Everyone is given a starting time but the disorganisation at the start meant not everyone started when they were meant to.  We had to have safety rules explained and had to collect helmets in case of rock falls.  

Again,  I was unprepared for the sheer numbers of people who were there and had reservations about what it would be like.  

But,  once we started,  the reservations soon disappeared. 

This walk is an amazing feat of engineering in a stunning natural landscape. It was built originally as a way to get workers more efficiently between two waterfalls (or two generation plants) as part of a hydroelectricity project.  The Spanish King was invited to visit the dam, but to do so he had to use this path.  Since then it had been known as the Path of the King (Rey).

The actual side-of-the-cliff part of the walk is 3.3 km long including a small section of relatively 'normal' path.  For the most part,  it is a little over a metre in width.  Somehow it feels safe,  but when you look down,  you certainly see how precarious a position you are really in!

The geology of the gorge the path runs through, the Los Gaitanes Gorge, is stunning.  It is mainly limestone and dolomite and in one section the limestone has been shifted to be vertical. There are caves and cutaways.  There is constant erosion. A railway track is on one side of the gorge with tunnels though most of the hillside.  It must be so frustrating to go on that trail journey.  You would catch glimpses of this stunning landscape,  then be back in a tunnel!

The cliffside path ends with a small suspension bridge and then a 2km walk along the river to where you hand back helmets. An extra 500 metres sees you at a bus stop for a shuttle bus that will take you back to the start. We passed a church that is reminiscent of rural churches in colonial Australia. This was the centre for community activities and provided education for the children of the workers. The good side of the church.

We returned to Ronda via a different road than we had come in,  stopping at another lovely village, Setenil de las Bodegas, the original houses of which were built under cave-like limestone overhangs. When we arrived, the parking signs all pointed up so we wound our way up to almost the to of the hill before finding a parking spot. This of course meant that to get to any of the village attractions we had to walk down.  

The walk through any town though is interesting and here was no different. We found our way to the old fort which unfortunately wasn't open and then we wandered toward the creek where we suspected the cave houses might be. We did see one that was open to visitors but it looked so small that we thought four visitors might be too much of an ask. Down by the creek, at the bottom of the gorge the town sits around,  we found many places built into the hillside. Some were obviously falling into disrepair, others looked well kept. The village is on the Rio de las Cuevas or River of the Caves and we walked along this for a while since it seemed to be where most of the cave houses were.  Very picturesque.

These towns are like rabbit warrens with all the small alleyways so after we finished exploring, we guesstimated where the car was and just tried to find our way up. Only one wrong turn, but plenty of up! This town was definitely worth visiting. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening exploring Ronda. Like many towns in this area it is built on a hilltop near a gorge so it was protected basically on three sides by natural means.  

The beauty of this town has inspired many over the years and there are signs of famous people all over the place - Picasso, Hemingway and Oscar Wilde among others. It is said to be the town of Romantics and it is not hard to understand its appeal. 

The sunset this time was not filled by storm clouds so while Pete and Rod searched for a tapas place for dinner,  Gill and I enjoyed the sunset colours. 

Day 41 (9th Oct) (2.91 km) - to Granada via the coast: It was good to have a day doing nothing much today.  We were on our way to Granada where we knew that the next day would be a big one. Our first aim of the day was to be able to get to the coast on the low battery percentage we had on our hire car,  a Tesla. The car assured us it would make it ... We had mountains to cross and it was with some trepidation that we watched the percentage drop and drop some more as we wound our way up to over 1000 m. Fortunately these cars charge the battery whenever you lift your foot off the accelerator and so the downhill 1000 m charged the car back up to where we had started.  No worry at all! The scenery crossing the mountains was magnificent.

We decided not to visit Malaga although that had been our original intention.  Too far to go and we didn't feel like coping with city traffic.  Instead,  we kept hugging the coast, Spain's Costa del Sol. It is very built up along most of the coast,  but the hinterland looks in many areas like the playground of the rich and famous,  at least as far as housing goes.  Lots of very large houses and condominiums! 

At Marbella, we had a brief look at a marina and decided we'd like one of these fake car boats.  They look like fun. 

We stopped off briefly at a place called Almunecar to look at the beach. Unfortunately it was blowing a gale so it was not very pleasant, although some English tourists were determined to make good use of the beach while they were there.  

There are heaps of palm trees grown around here,  almost all with the old branches cut off and just a crown of green leaves. A lot of the beaches are very pebbly too. 

On the way there,  Gill suddenly remembered an appointment with a Turkish bathhouse that she and Rod had.  All of a sudden,  we were in a hurry and I was hoping a speeding fine didn't get us when we left the hire car! In the historic centres of these old cities,  many of the roads are very narrow,  cobbled and host many pedestrians with little or no footpath so the last little bit of the drive was quite stressful.  Or so I thought until,  after dropping off Gill and Rod,  it took Pete and I 40 minutes to navigate our way around in circles and increasingly narrow alleyways to our parking lot which,  when we worked out where we actually were,  was only a few hundred metres from where we'd dropped Gill and Rod!

Our apartment was in an excellent position,  just down the hill from Alhambra, the most famous sight in Granada. I decided to skip dinner and just enjoy our apartment. 

Day 42 (10th Oct) (13.39 km) - Granada: There is one certain thing in Spain and that is that early mornings are deemed completely unnecessary, especially at this time of the year when there are still a couple more weeks of daylight saving and the sun doesn't rise until after 8am. This is made up for at night when many restaurants don't even open their doors before 8pm. Pete and I finally departed for our wanderings around the place at 9:30 am and delivery trucks were still delivering goods to stores that hasn't opened.  

Nevertheless,  there was still quite a lot happening.  We first headed to the Palacio de la Madraza,  an historic building from the time of the Moors, when it was used as an educational institution. The Moors were particularly fond of, and proficient in mathematics and medicine according to our Alhambra guide.  It is now used by Granada University as a centre for contemporary culture and there was an exhibition on when we were there about Women in Agriculture. It seemed to be discussing sustainable agriculture and revival of old agricultural techniques and crops alongside the new. 

We stumbled upon a small art gallery that had on a photography exhibition by an artist called David Jimenez.  Most of his work displayed here was interesting ways of looking at old sculptures and stonework.  I really enjoyed it. 

We wandered past church after church and then found ourselves a cute donkey statue

and then a cute little pastry shop with delicacies we hadn't seen before.

They only sold pod coffee and their pastries of course,  but we enjoyed these on a park bench in front of a delicatessen that among many other things sold huge tins of fish, cured sausages, legs and heads of pigs, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Oreos, cheeses, and 1kg containers of stock powder. Fascinating. Despite being in the historic centre,  we had chanced upon a very 'real' shopping precinct for locals. 

I found it hard to tear myself away from the fruit and vegetable store that sold innumerable varieties of dried beans and fruit.

We wandered along some more and found the University's Botanic Garden,  very much still a teaching garden.  It was divided into sections such as dicots and monocots, herbs, vines, fruit trees, etc. There were a number of historically important trees including two HUGE specimens of Casuarina cunninghamiana.  Such healthy looking trees. 

We hoped to see inside a small quadrangle within the Department of Botany but it was in the middle of being renovated so there was not much to see.  We wandered a little more, passing through alley after alley of all sorts of souvenirs, Portuguese and Moroccan. There were some incredible Moroccan sweet shops and eating establishments!

A Signpost to Saint Nicholas' Lookout signalled where we were next to head. We climbed up and up along more cobbled roads and interesting sidestreets until we reached the lookout where you could get some understanding of the extent of the Alhambra.

The walk back down towards our accommodation along myriads of small landways was very enjoyable.  

A small rest at our accommodation was in order after this,  before spending the rest of the afternoon on a three-hour tour of Alhambra. 

Before the tour we had to climb up the hill. There are a couple ways to do this.  We went up the route closest to our accommodation,  a route that had been known by various names including the Path of the Little King,  Slope of the Watermills,  and Slope of the Dead,  and Slope of the River Pebbles. I’m happy with the last,  as this is what the route is made from (as of the end of the 19th century).

While we were on information overload by the end of our tour of Alhambra, it was worth the three-hour tour. We didn't see it all - there is sooo much to see. There are gardens and palaces, old house ruins and courtyards, prison cells and storage shafts, towers and archways. The Muslim califs who built this place found water higher than this hill and managed to bring it to where Alhambra stands today and use it for gardens,  drinking,  cleaning and sanitation.  The aqueducts they used are still in use today.  Over time,  the place has been ruined and rebuilt a number of times,  but vestiges of each use are still visible.  Christians overthrew the Muslims and destroyed some and adapted other elements of the buildings.  For many years,  the buildings deteriorated through lack of use.  Now,  they are treasured for the history they tell.  The food gardens have been cultivated continuously since the time of the Muslims and today all produce from the orchards and vegetable gardens is given away to those in need. 

The following photos give you just a taste of the gardens of Alhambra.

The next lot of photos give you a glimpse into what the buildings of Alhambra have to offer.

From one of the Alhambra towers there were wonderful views of UNESCO’s largest heritage-listed residential quarters in the world.

At the end of our tour we were going to explore the gardens a little more but noone of us had the energy so we headed via another route back down the hill. 

We decided that in honour of the Muslim heritage in Granada we would have a Moroccan meal in one of the many Moroccan restaurants.  Very nice. What a wonderful day!

Day 43 (11th Oct) (13.31 km) - Granada to Cordoba: On our way to Cordoba we discovered why Spain is called the olive oil capital of the world. I have never seen and probably never will again see so many olive trees. Miles upon miles of olive orchards line the roads between Granada and Cordoba. Just occasionally other crops grab a space between the olives. 

We visited a town called Iznajar on our way.  It is another white hilltop village and known for a patio of flower pots and its old church and fort. We weren't able to see inside the church but there was an interesting museum inside the fort. 

Next stop,  Cordoba where we had booked a ticket to visit the Mosque-Cathedral.  After finding our accommodation and navigating the 2km walk into the old part of town,  we reached this amazing place.  Our audio guide was next to useless but the building spoke for itself,  especially the more mosque-like parts.

It had been altered considerably since it was a mosque and the mosque itself was built over some previously existing Christian site (late-era Roman mosaics have been found there), the type of which is subject apparently to rather a lot of conjecture. The Catholic Church has used the mosque design well to house many altars and chapels around the edge of the building and also added the central nave and altered ceilings in a more Gothic style.

There were a few rooms dedicated to showcasing relics,  just one of which I'm sure would feed a starving family for a year.  How much is really worth preserving? It is a simple question,  but one without any simple answer, I know.

There were some non-religious interesting 'things' inside too. These are the mechanics of a clock that was on the cathedral tower in 1747.

There were some interesting features around the wall that surround the Mosque-Cathedral.

After visiting the mosque-cathedral, we wandered around for a bit, finding some Roman ruins then a plaza where the person who showed us into our apartment had recommended good tapas places. It was a more modern plaza with residences all around. We had a drink there but unfortunately it started raining and the number of people and outside eating spaces reduced suddenly.

When the rain stopped we headed to the river in order to see the Roman bridge that still exists there.  While obviously it has been renovated and altered since Roman times,  the basic structure is still obviously there.  Many people were out enjoying the bridge and the river. 

There were plenty of birds around too.

There is also an Alcazar in Cordoba,  but unfortunately for us,  it was not open during our visit.  As this was our last night with Gill and Rod before we parted ways, we had a good meal out at one of the restaurants along the river. 

Day 44 (12th Oct) (6.34 km) - Cordoba: Gill and Rod did not need to leave until early afternoon but we were slow getting started as it was raining.  I went out to find a supermarket for breakfast goodies,  and found nothing but a service station open.  I lost my way home to boot and my phone and fingers were too wet to be of any use. I eventually worked out that I had just missed my street by one as it changed its name a block from where we were staying.  

Later on,  we worked out that it was National Day in Spain and so many businesses out of tourism central were probably closed. 

We had discovered that Cordoba was home to an old Jewish synagogue,  one of only three in Spain so decided,  rain or no,  we would go and visit it.  Fortunately,  the rain did ease off so it was not horrible to be outside.  

The synagogue was very small and crowded but interesting to see. The Jews suffered in both Spain and Portugal in the 14th and 15th centuries.  In Spain,  any Jews that had survived inquisitions etc. were expelled by Royal Decree in 1492. Luckily,  during its life as a hospital,  this synagogue survived with many features still intact. 

We then visited some little lanes that are known for their flower pots, wandered further around what is known as the Jewish quarter then found somewhere for lunch before dropping Gill and Rod off at the railway station so they could catch their train to Barcelona.

Pete and I then headed out to the ruins of an old Moorish medina (old walled city) that had been found outside Cordoba. We only visited the museum though because the place was closing early due to the day being a public holiday. We would have to return the following day. 

We had looked on the Internet for any special activities that might be happening in Cordoba for the public holiday but found nothing,  and no signs of it anywhere we went.  Apparently Madrid is the place to be for military parades etc.

With the rain continuing Pete and I decided to hunker down for the evening and have a quiet night in,  so an Aldi meal shop yielded some goodies for dinner and breakfast the following day.