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Traveling in Spain
But we are having a great time in Spain. Although I don't speak the language, even Frank's Spanish is either not understood or purposely misinterpreted, as he has not gotten what he has ordered in a restaurant, several times. We think his success ration is 3 out of 5. I, on the other hand, am batting .500. Madrid: Madrid is so beautiful now. The sun was shining, the temperature was high of 72. Our hotel was right on Puerto del Sol, in the heart of Madrid. We only had 24 hours there, so we tried to make the most of it. As soon as we checked into our hotel, we showered, got some maps and walked to the Plaza Mayor. There were street performers out all day and into the night. Mariachis, tango dancers, mimes, a group playing Gyspsy music on zithers and a bass. In the evening, we went to a small club and enjoyed a flamenco performance. We finally got to bed around midnight, then had to get up and leave around 10 in the morning. Malaga:
Miraflores: One night, we went to dinner here at Miraflores. We had a wonderful meal (Frank got the meal he ordered, I got something else, but Frank ordered a martini with 2 olives; he got a martini made with sweet vermouth and a twist of lemon. I ordered a filet of sole. I got a fish dish, but it wasn't what I ordered, but very delicious, anyway. We lingered over dinner and a bottle of wine, then the entertainer came on. One guy, doing a tribute to Neil Diamond. After a few songs, Frank said he thought he had drunk too much as he was beginning to enjoy the music. Eventually, we were dancing along with all the British ex-pat's who live in this area, and the German tourists. We did have fun. Nerja: For a daytrip, we went east, to Nerja, a little town on the Mediterranean, and visited some caves, then went to Balcony of Europe, a ledge at the end of the town, that overlooks the Med. We had a drink at any outdoor cafe while the sun was going down, then had a light dinner at one of the many taverns along the streets. It was quite nice, and we are very pleased with finding neat little places to eat..Tonight we got lucky and we both got what we ordered. Ronda:
The old part of the city is Moorish, and the new part which is really old, too, is Spanish. This is the town that was the birthplace of bull fighting. We walked up hills and down alleys, had lunch and just enjoyed another beautiful sunny day in Spain. Tomorrow we are going to Cordoba and Wednesday we will go to Granada and the Alhambra. So much to see and I haven't even put my feet into the Mediterenean yet. Cordoba: On another trip, we drove about 2 hours northeast, across some mountains, but still in Andalucia. As far as the eye could see, there were olive trees, some buildings that are probably olive oil processing plants, but it just boggles my mind to see miles and miles of olive trees across that entire plain. When we finally found a parking spot in Cordoba, in the old city, we went to the Mesquita. This is a huge ancient mosque-turned Catholic church. It is so beautiful. The mosque dates back to A.D.784, when it was built on the site of a former Christian church. It was the center of a sophisticated culture, and thrived for several hundred years before being confiscated by the Catholics in the 16th century. The red and white striped colums of the mosque are still breathtakingly beautiful. And it is so incongruous to see a Catholic cathedral right in the center of it now. We spent a couple of hours in the mosque. In one of the pictures, a man is leaning against one of the pillars. Then you can have an idea of how immense this place is. After visiting the mosque, we wandered a bit, not too far, but had a very nice lunch before leaving for home. The Taberna had good food, the waiters were so friendly, but the food was not what we expected when we placed our order. It is becoming such a treat to find out what we are going to eat when our meal comes to us. This area is pretty heavy into beef (tor), so I imagined that I was devouring the poor guy who didn't make it at the last bull fight. He was delicious, though. On the way back home, we stopped at a grocery store to gather some things for our snack-type dinner. The picture I took of Frank in the grocery store is of him holding small juice boxes of wine, that sold in a pack of 3 for 99 Euro cents. You could get a quart carton for the same price. But we splurged and bought a bottle with a cork (750 ml) for 1,85 Euro. It is very good, too. Frank's Mexican Spanish is still suspect. Most of the time the locals understand him, but some words are different, and he has to remember to lisp when he says his "s" sounds. I keep saying stuff in Italian, and it works better than English here. Granada
I thought it was interesting that Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand (remember the duo that sent Columbus on his way in 1492?) were buried here.
After touring the palace and the grounds, we had a late lunch at Hotel America, right on the grounds of the Alhambra. We were in an open courtyard, and the ambience was perfect. Finally, we made it home, had our usual dinner of crackers, wine and cheese, and we are calling it a day...it is already 11:15 p.m. Saturday we will go back to Madrid, and perhaps to a bullfight. I always have mixed feelings about the bullfights, so we will see. Weather continues to be in the 70's. Cooler here near the sea at night, but oh, so beautiful. Marbella:
Not only did we see some fantastic boats, but the parking spots were all filled with BMW's, Maserati's, Porsches, Hummers, Jaguars, ..you get the picture. Along this promenade were all the expensive shops, too..but we restrained ourselves and didn't buy anything, although there were quite a few of those big boats with For Sale signs on them... We finally ended our evening there with a good inexpensive dinner. Malaga Redux:
I had to laugh at Frank - when I mentioned that I thought it must be OK to go topless in Malaga at the beach, he didn't even notice! I accused him of getting old - he was more interested in talking to the clothed girl with a Yorkie..always the dog person. Now we are packing, getting ready to leave on the train tomorrow for Madrid. Frank has done a good job of driving, for the most part. I am glad he was driving, because I wouldn't have wanted to do it. I hope you have enjoyed the travelog!
I am not a bona fide tour guide...I just love Europe, especially Italy, and have travelled to Europe many times. I try to arrange trips where the visitor can not only enjoy the most famous sights and landmarks, but also fit into everyday life of the country they are visiting. Travel is my passion and I would love to help make your trip the most enjoyable vacation ever.
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Editor's Note: Our dear friend Dolly recently traveled to Spain with her partner Frank, and was kind enough to share her reports with us:
I don't know whether to say buon giorno or buenos dias or bonne notte... I am so confused.
From Madrid, we took the AVE high speed train to Malaga, taking about 2-1/2 hours. It was great, but if I could not watch the scenery... it went by too fast, but I could see the general terrain. Olive trees, as far as the eye could see, interspersed with an occasional farm house and outbuildings, The fram land is very green right now, and so pretty. Our train was speeding along at 250 to 300 km/hr. It was a very smooth ride.
We got to Malaga about 1:30 p.m. picked up the rental car and eventually got out of Malaga, not without a few scary moments. Frank was driving, a stick shift car of course, and I feared that if he didn't put me through the windshield with his gear changes, he surely would with his braking, and crossing lines of traffic. The saint of freeway travel was with us, and we reached Miraflores, our home away from home, safe and sound. I immediately unpacked the GPS and will be sure it goes every where with us from here on out.
Another day, we drove up to the white hill town of Ronda. That was about 42 km on a winding road, but it was worth the drive. It is a beautiful ancient city, divided into 2 parts by an enormous gorge (the town is pictures at the top of this article.
On another busy day, we made the 2 hour drive from here to Granada...then we got caught in city traffic, one way streets, a veritable driving nightmare, in Granada.....we had allowed ourselves enough time to see the grounds and the gardens before our scheduled time to enter the palace. With all the delays, we made it to the palace with 15 minutes to spare, so we did the extra stuff after the palace.
The Alhambra is so beautiful...I need to find a better way to describe these fantastic historical entities in Spain. Again, like the Mezquita, it is Moorish, but this is a palace for a King, not a religious structure. Every wall is hand carved, with carvings so delicate, yet they have survived centuries.
On the way up to Granada, we saw these gorgeous snow covered mountains (at right) in the distance. These are the Sierra Nevada.
We spent our last two days on the coast....yesterday in Marbella and today in Malaga. Our condo is right in between both cities. We have continued to be blessed with good weather, so yesterday we went to Marbella, the playground of the rich and famous. We walked along the promenade, stopped for a beer at a sidewalk cafe, and eventually had to drive to Puerto Banus, the yacht harbor.
On our last full day, we went the other direction, and spent most of the day on the beach at Malaga. I did not swim, but finally got my feet wet in the Med. Rick Steves doesn't cover much of this area, so we had to wing it. In order to see the important things, we got on the Hop On, Hop Off bus. That was a good way to get an overview of the city. 
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