Sat June 8
No comforters on the beds…..woke up around 2:30AM freezing. Grabbed one from the closet and warmed up nicely. Slept until just after 7. Breakfast at the hotel (9E), the usual smallish continental buffet, good though.
Ready to get on the road by 9:30. A bit challenging to get the car out of the parking spot…..kind of like between a rock and a hard place but in this case the neighbouring parked car and the concrete wall…..arms got a good work out! Managed to get out and on to the elevator and on to the street with no problem. Set the GPS for the Seville airport and off we went. 246km, very much the same terrain….fields, farms, towns here and there and a few more vineyards. The roads are excellent in Spain too…..no issues with them or the drivers.
Our excitement for the day was trying to find the long term parking (P1) at the Seville airport. GPS got us to the airport no problem but then tried following the exits and sign for parking. Found a sign with an arrow for P1 and P2 but that took us on the other side of a barrier with no access to the lot, which we could clearly see. No other alternative except to go back onto the highway. Took the first exit and did a repeat of our first attempt (exit 533) hoping that we’d just missed another road….no, ended up in the same place. Four people watching for the road/sign for P1/P2….not sure how we could have missed it AGAIN! So this time we took the exit from the opposite direction (exit 532) which had better signage and found the P1 long term lot with no problem. Fun!! Parking for 2 nights is 30E…..worth it just to avoid driving in the city and paying for parking there. Taxi to our hotel 25E.
Our hotel is fantastic! Hotel Casa Imperial http://www.casaimperial.com/en-gb Originally built in the 16th century by possibly a nobleman or a merchant. Very Moorish with all the arches, walkways and nooks and crannies. Lots of lovely sitting areas and patios, a little pool/pond, big heavy doors, wrought iron railings and beautiful potted plants. The rooms have a separate little sitting area, beautiful bed linens and towels, brightly painted walls, lots of wood work and rather antique bathrooms….all very nice. Brenda and I did a little happy dance because it’s actually better than what it looked like on the website! We had a complimentary bottle of wine in our room which we wasted no time in opening…..had just enough time to sit in the little seating area right outside our room and enjoy one glass before heading out.
Lovely streets and plazas in the old town, brightly painted buildings, especially some of the churches…..pink, yellow and orange seemed to be the colours of choice….a lot of beautiful tile work, wrought iron railings, decorations etc., flowers everywhere and many very nice shops…..tons of shoe stores! I think I’ve found my happy place!!
Wasted so much time at the airport this morning it was almost 3 by the time we had lunch. With such little time in the city we had to make a decision on what to use our valuable time seeing…..we opted for the Alcazar instead of the cathedral, which from the outside is beautiful and massive.
In line for over half an hour…..we had hoped to be able to buy tickets for tomorrow but that can only be done online….not at the ticket booths, so we paid our 11.50E (3E if your a senior with ID). Gardens are very beautiful, well tended with a real variety of trees, plants and flowers….some are labeled. Inside and out the arches, the tile work, all is exquisite, as is the wood and marble carving, fountains and ponds. Map was pretty useless unfortunately. Game of Thrones fans will want to see it for sure! Very interesting history and it is beautiful. It’s one of those places that you must see when in Seville!
https://www.gameofthronesspain.com/film-location/alcazar-of-seville.php
Was after 7 so we just wandered around slowly working our way back towards our hotel. Really glad we are all “wanderers”…..best part of seeing a lot of places is just coming down a street that opens into a beautiful park or plaza….some very beautiful shops and architecture, which is very Moorish….some of the buildings with the closed in wooden balconies reminds me of the ones in Istanbul (Byzantine/Ottoman?).
Found a nice tapas bar for dinner, Lucs’a City Bar. http://www.lucascitybar.com/ Had my first ever salmorejo, a cold tomato soup ….so, so good! Shared meat croquettes, prawn fritters, breaded meatballs, pork cheek stew (excellent!), a big salad and a large jug of sangria 13E each. Figured out where we were on the map and worked our way back to the hotel. Fun day (even at the airport!). Lots of walking in this beautiful city.
Sun June 9
Slept great, other than having the AC a tad too cool…a bit of a sleep-in for all of us, which was nice. Just after 9, found a great little bar for breakfast. Bar Alfalfa …..coffee, croissant and marmalade for 3E.
Destination today was Plaza Espana, which is FANTASTIC!! It’s massive and has to be one of the best plazas I’ve ever seen. Impossible to get a good picture of it all….you would need an aerial view to appreciate it. Beautiful buildings in an arch around the plaza. Around the bottom of the buildings are niches, representing each Spanish province, with seating and beautifully painted tile scenes that reflect the area. There’s a canal in the middle of the plaza, you can even rent boats to row around, bridges with beautiful ceramic spindles, railings and lamp posts, fountains. Just incredibly lovely. Lots of people!! We caught the end of the kids part of a marathon that was finishing in the plaza. Beautiful manicured parks on both side of the plaza…..huge shade trees, palms, ficus that resemble banyans, great walking paths and pretty gardens. What a great place!!
Walked down to the river from there. Pedestrian walkway, Paseo de las Delicias, along the river, some nice little al fresco bars. The river was busy with tour boats, canoers, kayakers etc. Stopped for a sangria and beer break. Bought a jug that turned out to be way more than we could drink….very strong (brandy and vermouth in it). Feeling a bit loopy after a glass and half! Drank all we could and gave the rest to the people at the next table and carried on.
Crossed the river. Lunch at The Phoenix Pub (Irish!)…..burgers and quesadillas and Guinness…all very good. My bill came to 8.50E.
Spent the rest of the afternoon wandering through the maze of narrow streets, some not much wider than alleyways….lots of pedestrian only streets. Into a couple of the smaller churches, which are as beautiful inside as they are colourful on the outside.
Back to the hotel for a bit of rest around 4:30. Checked emails, updated the journal. Rae and I finished off the bottle of wine. I went down to the little pool, which wasn’t really for swimming…..but nice to stick your feet in for a while. Was nice to just sit and have a bit of quiet time….we did a lot of walking today!! But one of the best cities ever for walking/wandering/people watching/eating/drinking……
Off to dinner around 7:30….in a different direction tonight. Went to see the Metropol Parasol…..the “mushroom thing” Las Setas de la Encarnación (Incarnation’s mushrooms). There are no words to describe it really. A bit odd in the middle of the old town but very unique and definitely interesting to wander around and through. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropol_Parasol Had a not so good dinner across the plaza from it…..chicken in a cream sauce with bacon on a bed of grilled peppers and onions and roasted potatoes, which were the best part, along with the white sangria (13E).
Took our time getting back to the hotel….lots of people out and about for a Sunday evening! Brenda went to bed, Rae, Glen and I checked out the rooftop terrace….nice view but nothing up there. Down to the bar for a glass of wine and then to pack up for tomorrow. Such a good day. Will be sorry to leave Seville……I really love this place!
Mon June 10
Up around 7, finished packing up and around the corner for breakfast. Very busy everywhere this morning…..people heading to work, kids off to school, bikes, scooters (manual and electric). Can’t remember the name of the café but was one that everyone seemed to be stopping at to pick up coffees and goodies to go on their way to work. Breakfast was excellent…..sort of a “semi-English”….scrambled eggs, Serrano ham, tomatoes, toast and coffee for 7E. Took our time this morning. Arcos is only a couple hours from Seville and we couldn’t check into our airbnb until 2ish so no hurry.
Taxi back to the airport. Found the car, loaded up and got on to the highway in a round about sort of way….but certainly easier leaving than arriving! Off to Arcos de la Frontera. http://www.andalucia.com/province/cadiz/arcos/home.htm Put the lower town parking garage address in the GPS and off we went.
The roads here in Spain are really good, excellent highway system. First toll road (7.45E)….you pay before you get on. Took just over an hour from the toll booth.
Too early for lunch…..most places don’t start serving food until 1PM. Had coffee and some pastry to tie us over and headed for the big Carrefour store to stock up. Trunk was full with our 4 pieces of luggage so everyone except the driver had at least one bag on their lap! GPS got us to the car park but we missed the entrance the first time by……no signs and looked like it was the road to a park. That gave us a chance to see Arcos from the road below…..what a beautiful white town up on the sandstone cliff. Parking is 15E per day or 50E for a 5-7 day pass. It’s a multi-level parking garage with an attendant (on level 2)…..who very nicely called a taxi for us to take us up the hill to the house. The taxi came right in to the garage which was handy to load everything from the car.
Arcos is very hilly…..up and up we went through what looked like completely impassable narrow streets, hairpin corners. Calf and thigh busting hills to climb….not to mention the ones we went down. Roads so narrow on some streets people have to step up onto doorsills so cars can get by….but this place is beautiful!! Beatriz was there to let us in and show us around. Our place, on Bovedas Ave, is pretty close to the top of the town….beautifully restored and renovated 17th century townhouse, It’s a huge house, lots of room, beautiful arches and woodwork, big well supplied kitchen (lots of good knives!), great air conditioning in all the rooms, big dining room, a funky, windy, ornate metal staircase to the bedrooms, office/library and patios on the second floor.
Unloaded our groceries and got settled in. I didn’t even attempt to carry my suitcase up the stairs…..simply took out my packing cubes and toiletry bag and left the bag downstairs.
Out to explore!! Up and down, in and out of doorways to let cars pass. There is a little bus stop and a little alimentaria shop a few yards down the street. Lots of restaurants, cafes and local artisan type shops.
The views around the perimeter streets out into the valley around this place are amazing. One side looks down on a lake, the other out over the river. The town sits on a tufa or sandstone cliff with buildings clinging to the top. Great views from the Mirador de la Peña that look out over the valley for miles. Some of the ancient wall still exists here and there….and the old Castillo, which is now privately owned.
Stopped at a nice little bar (on the road!) for beer and sangria (very good!) 2.50E. Got some wonderfully garlicky olives and a plate of chips to go with the drinks. Lots of stores and restaurants were closed for siesta….most close around 1 and open again between 5-6.
Next to the bar is Convento de las Mercedarias Descalzas, an old convent from the 16th century that is still occupied by nuns….it’s closed to the public except when they supposedly have their cookie sales once a week on Tuesdays…..we were told it was originally done for fundraising for the old orphanage, which is long closed up, but the cookie baking continues today. Will have to have a look tomorrow. This is onone of the many churches in this town!
Checked out the little store down the street…..some basic goodies and veg, wine but all pretty expensive. The Carrefour was a good size so had pretty well everything we needed. Also a Dia, so might check that out next time we need more food. Had a great dinner in……nice big kitchen for us all to prep and cook in!! Ravioli in a tomato sauce with peppers, onions and chorizo. Very good.
Great day…..love Arcos! Couldn’t have picked a better place in this area really….the old town is beautiful but with lots of amenities just down the road in the newer town, was easy to get to right off the highway. So much to see right here!
To bed around 11. Hard bed but great pillows…..you can hear the cars bumping down our cobbled road, which is one of the streets that you have to step into the doorway when one comes along.
Tues June 11
Beautiful morning! Slept great.
Walked down to the car park…..not too bad at all. Took about 15 minutes….the walk back up was a different story!!
On the road by 10 today…..Pueblos Blancos! Most of them are in the el Bosque and Sierra & Grazelema National park. The scenery is breathtaking, as is the road! Up and up we went for what seemed like hours. Road is in excellent condition but very narrow, barely enough room for 2 cars to pass a lot of the way. The views though are spectacular in every direction.
Field after field of sunflowers, neatly cultivated groves of olive trees and what appear to be oak trees (acorns for the pigs??), wheatfields, fragrant pine and eucalyptus forests, beautiful lush deep valleys, steep rockfaced cliffs (seen a couple of climbers!). Shared the road with a lot of cyclists….most coming down from the mountain at breakneck speeds!! This area has to be a close second in beauty, although very different, to the Tuscan hills. Had really no idea Andalucía was like this. Saw a number of the pueblos blancos clinging to the hills, drove thru a couple of them….just picture perfect! Some were pretty small with few, if any amenities, so we were glad we’d chosen Arcos as a base for touring this area.
Made it to Grazelema just before noon…..took a bit longer than we thought because of the road and the times we stopped at viewpoints to admire the scenery. What a pretty place. Beautiful little plazas, white houses all with tons of potted plants. It was market day so spent some time wandering thru……never get tired of the weekly markets! Back to the plaza for cappuccinos and the Abuela Augustine cheese and sausage shop. Bought some chorizo, great goat cheese and a bottle of wine. So nice but other than the local shops there is nothing else for miles and miles……you’d have to be pretty stocked up to stay here…..no such thing as popping out to pick up a few things such a toilet paper if you ran out! Siesta is strictly followed here…..everything was closing up so we headed to Ronda.
The road was mostly downhill from Grazelema but still very narrow and windy until we hit the main highway heading to Ronda. Was hoping the see the bridge from the valley on our way in but appears that we came from the wrong direction for that. Found a parking garage in the “new” town at the top of a pedestrian street. Beautiful shops and lots of restaurants. Stopped for lunch…..ordered gazpacho and some tapas, prawns in a spicy/garlic oil (so good we ordered a 2nd one!), mushrooms in a creamy garlic sauce and garlic cheese bread…..all was excellent and certainly had our fill of garlic for a few days!! The street takes you right down to the park with the botanical gardens and the bullring (8E just to get in to see it). The view from the garden is unbelievable…..goes on forever….fields, forest etc. The town clings to the top of the cliffs. The bridge, Puente Neuvo, approx. 300+ft high. It crosses a very deep gorge (El Tajo). Built in the 17-18th century…..it is really quite amazing.
Crossed the bridge into the old town…..very nice but very busy, at least on the main street. Lots of narrow streets that go up and down…..didn’t explore too much but definitely much bigger than Arcos and way more tourists and touristy type shops mixed with some beautiful local artisan type shops. Besides a very interesting history, the attraction here is definitely the bridge and the view of the old town built choc-a-bloc on top and hanging off the cliffs.
Almost 5 when we left Ronda. Uneventful drive home on a different route that was much easier to drive. Supposedly the long way around but took only 1.5 hours instead of 3! Still beautiful views, mountains dotted with more pueblos blancos. Got a peek of Zahara off in the distance but decided it was too late to head there……it truly was one of the prettiest towns cascading down the hillside with the old fortress above and the very blue man-made reservoir below.
Back in Arcos, we parked and walked back up the hill…..not too bad really but definitely would not want to be dragging luggage and groceries up. Had some time to relax and clean up before dinner. Just up the street to Meson Los Murales for paella. What a nice man!! We stopped there yesterday for beer and sangria and chatted with him for a bit. Tonight he made up a “special” paella mixto which was delicious….shrimp, prawns, mussels, squid, chicken, pork and veg. (still the “tourist” version…..one day I’ll get the real paella!)
He gave us a complimentary cheese plate appy to start. Ordered sangria for Rae and me, Brenda had red wine, Glen a beer. After dinner we had coffees and out came the Spanish equivalent of limoncello….very good. He gave us a gift of a bottle of the red wine Brenda was drinking. 15E each!! Great day, fun evening, good food. Late night for us….home after 11!
Wed June 12
Up at 7:30….late for me! Coffee and breakfast and off to Jerez de la Frontera today. Horses and sherry! Only about a 1/2 hour drive from Arcos but a zillion roundabouts and one missed exit ended up taking another 1/2 hour to get back to the parking lot we wanted. Even with wrong turns, missed exits etc. we’ve had no issues driving here. Excellent roads, no problems with other drivers…..they actually stop for people in crosswalks here and keep to the right except to pass! Found Plaza Arenal, had coffee and churros with chocolate for dipping. Was market day so had a walk thru it..beautiful looking produce and lots of snails!! Big piles of them on the tables….all very much alive.
Grabbed a taxi up to the equestrian centre, to make sure we caught the training/exercising which only goes until 1:30, and then Sandeman Bodega for our sherry tour and tasting.
Very beautiful horses……what they were doing was all a bit greek to me but Rae explained as they went long which was helpful (she had horses many years ago and spent a year or two in England at riding school, so was really a treat for her to see this). No photos allowed inside! Wandered around the yard after and enjoyed watching them work with horses outside as well but unfortunately you cannot go anywhere near the stables.
Sandemans was just around the corner so arrived at 1:30 for our tour/tasting. Beautiful bodega! Our guide explained the different kinds of sherry, the ageing process and why the barrels are stacked 3 or 4 high……the oldest on the bottom and youngest on top…..the “solera blending system”. When the sherry from the bottom barrels is bottled, those barrels are topped up with sherry from the barrels above and so on. https://www.sherrynotes.com/2013/background/sherry-solera-system/ They use only American oak for the barrels which are torched inside and painted black outside to help with the ageing. They’re used for 50-70 years then go to Ireland or Scotland for whiskey/scotch ageing. Grapes are picked by hand and dried in the sun to bring out the sugar. The pressing is all automated, unlike Port. Tasting and tour was 8E each, which included two charcuterie plates….cheese, ham, crackers and olives. Lasted about an hour….really enjoyed it and found it all very interesting. Still not a big sherry fan though…….
Walked back to the main pedestrian street on the way back to the plaza only to find everything except a couple of cafes and restaurants closed up tight for siesta! Had coffee and then to see the Jerez Alcazar, which was also closed! Nice from the outside. Jerez is a city of just over 200,000 people but at siesta time the streets are virtually empty of people and cars. Jerez is not one of most picturesque places for sure……Rick Steves called it “gritty”, which is a good description. Some nice pedestrian only streets with big trees and nice shops but also lots of big, kind of “soviet bloc” type apartments. Was good to see it but not on my list of places to go to again and very glad we didn’t stay there, which was an option we had originally tossed around because of the location.
Back home for dinner……declicious frittata with cheese and chorizo that we bought yesterday in Grazelema.
Gibraltar tomorrow.
Thurs June 13
Left around 9 for Gibraltar. Just Brenda and me today. Took about an hour and 1/2 to get there. Was beautiful when we left Arcos but started to cloud over the close we got to the coast (marine cloud??) and much cooler! Parked in the big lot in La Linea and walked across the border. Immediately noticed the chaos as we started walking…..horns honking, mega traffic congestion, sirens, line up at the border, tons of people. It was also really windy….almost chilly. Crossed the border and thru customs. The road then crosses the airport runway! There’s a traffic light that turns red when a plane is landing. Was kind of fun standing in the middle of a runway! Didn’t see any planes land, which would have been interesting. Got a good cloudy picture of “the rock” from there.
Says it’s a 1.5km walk to the main square, which it may have been. As soon as you walk thru customs there are guys selling tours…..in hindsight we probably should have taken one to see the sites but for whatever reason I just wasn’t “feeling” the place. Maybe it was the weather, which was verging on drizzle at that point. The gondola was closed because of the wind, so we couldn’t have gone up if we’d wanted too. Grand Casemates Square is huge, ringed with lots of cafés and restaurants…..not terribly pretty though. Main street was also a bit disappointing…..it’s pedestrian only with lots of souvenir shops, clothing and shoe stores, cafes etc. also lots of bits of paper, wrappers and cups…..kind of messy. There were hanging baskets but with dead or dried up plants in them. Many of buildings needed a nice new coat paint, some had big chips of paint or peeling paint….sort of dingy. Very crowded and just no ambiance to me…..certainly not “pretty”. Walked thru Irish Lane…..a couple of pubs but again not terribly attractive. Maybe it would look better in the sun. Walked to the end of Main Street and back. We did see the changing of the guards which was fun. Had fish and chips at a pub (good)….the staff was nice enough but we were asked twice if we wanted our bill before we’d even finished our lunch! That just never happens in Spain! Walked back thru what the gal at the pub had told us was “old town”, but unless we missed something, it looked just like the rest of town but with a lot of steps to get up to it. Had hoped to find some of the pretty streets with cafes that I’d seen online but was not to be. We did think for a minute or two about taking a tour but had pretty much decided we’d seen enough. I’m sure we probably missed a lot and maybe would have changed our minds about the place…..maybe I’ll come back another time and see it in a completely different light! Would have been fun to see the apes, but oh well.
Drive home took just over and hour. Did a bit of shopping in some of the craft/artisan shops on the walk back up the hill….lots of very nice ceramic places. Rae had made a great dinner….roast chicken, potatoes, sautéed green beans and tomatoes and stuffed mushrooms!! All really yummy. Thought we’d go out for dessert down the street…..Rae and I ordered sangria, which pretty much came with an entire fruit salad in it…..huge! B & G had coffee and cheesecake…..all very good.
Long day with Gibraltar trip, which was unfortunately a little disappointing to me.
Fri June 14
Slow start this morning……had thought about going to Cadiz but decided to just stay close to Arcos. Dawdled down to the parking lot….in and out of shops…..so many nice shoe stores! Drove down the “low” road (south of Arcos) to get some good pics of the dramatic towering sandstone cliffs on the south side of Arcos. Really quite beautiful and amazing the whole place hasn’t come crashing down. Looks like one good rain storm could do it! Drove around the outskirts to find the nice little lake we can see from the top of town. It’s a man-made reservoir. There’s a hotel, Meson dela Molinera, with a nice big patio over the lake and another sort of beach area with all sorts of floaty water toys like slides and a climbing wall, peddle boats and motorized boats that pulled rafts around. Lots of fun for kids. Had a great lunch at the hotel….layered salad of avocado, lettuce, tomato, egg, smoked salmon and mayo all topped off with a balsamic drizzle. A bit further along is a nice man-made beach/picnic area with lovely soft sand, picnic table and lots of trees for shade. A few people but no one in the water, which felt quite warm. A great spot to get pictures of Arcos from the other direction…..not quite as dramatic but still very pretty because you could see more of the town up on the hill.
Back to Arcos. Did a bit more souvenir shopping on the way back to the house….tee shirt for Karter, very pretty embroidered mantilla for Cadence and a hot pink and black polka dot flamenco dress for Kallie. Had a bit of siesta and packed up.
Dinner tonight was Moroccan, Aljibe. Was OK…..hummus was delicious with deep fried eggplant chips, bacalhau spring rolls were good too but the beef tajine was kind of boring….like pot roast with figs and apricots. Good service though and very good wine. Not cheap though, the most expensive dinner we’ve had so far, 112E for all of us.
Was a great 5 days here. After touring around we decided that Arcos was definitely the best place to have stayed. Great town, lots of restaurants and little shops as well as some good sized grocery stores like a Dia, Carmela, Carrefour etc. in the newer part of town. Good location for day trips in all directions. Had originally found a place in Grazelema that we’d really liked but after being there we were glad we didn’t stay…..very pretty but also quite isolated in the middle of the park with no real amenities other than a couple of shops, cafes and the local weekly market.
Back to Portugal tomorrow!
My Travel Journals 