We flew from Lisbon to Seville, Spain late at night on a plane that had to have been built by Howard Hughes. It had two propellors and I was surprised when it actually lifted off the ground! However, we arrived safely and awoke the next morning ready to explore Seville. These four days of the trip were a last minute addition so I had not spent a year planning and investigating. We picked up the rental car and headed for the historic area to visit the one “must see” place in Seville which was called Plaza de Espana. It was 95 degrees at 11am so we were both thinking we would quickly knock the plaza out and head out of town. Until we turned the corner and saw the plaza. I do not lightly say that a place is a “must see” but I am telling you…your life will be a little sadder and grayer if you do not see the Plaza de Espana in Seville. I cannot describe its’ grandeur so I hope the pictures do it justice. For any Star Wars fans, the plaza was the set for the city of Naboo in Episode 2. We wandered about the square for at least an hour and did not even notice the heat of the day. It was a great start to Spain! We then began our drive toward Granada which had an ancient walled city that was another “must see”. As we drove along, both of us were surprised at the landscape of southern Spain. It was much more arid than I had pictured and it reminded us of the central valley in California. There were crops spread out as far as my eyes could see. We arrived in Granada and after several frustrating attempts to purchase our tickets for Alhambra online, we gave up and had the concierge handle it for us. He even went so far as to use his own credit card to purchase our tickets since ours was not processing. A very kind and trusting young fellow! We then went on a food hunt. It was once again Sunday and everything was closed. A few restaurants were opening at 8pm but we were exhausted so we grabbed a quick bite in the hotel bar and went to bed. The next morning we walked up the hill to Alhambra. When we arrived, they checked our tickets and our passports. When we were waiting in the line to enter the main castle, they checked our tickets and passports. We walked twenty feet to the castle door and they checked our tickets and our passports. When we left Alhambra, we got to the exit and ….yep….they checked our tickets and our passports. We did not even go through Passport Control to enter the country of Spain but to see Alhambra we had 5 checks! We both voted that Alhambra paled in comparison to other things we have seen on our travels so it was not a “must see” in our book. On the next day of unplanned week, we headed to a hotel I had booked near Cartagena. When we arrived, Bill said, “Well this is a bit in the middle of nowhere. What was it we were planning on seeing here?” I stared at him and responded, “I have no idea! I thought you knew!” After a good laugh, we delightfully discovered the small town of Aleda which had a tower on a hill and one restaurant in town that was kind of like the Mel’s diner of Aleda. The night was one of those wonderful times when you had no expectations and made a forever memory. We also discovered that our hotel had a chapel attached to it and it was breathtaking! Wonders everywhere. We also passed by some vineyards that had bunches of grapes that were the size of basketballs. I had never seen bunches so large! The next night was a stopover in Valencia which had a super modern area with futuristic architecture. We went after dark so I could see it all lit and it was beautiful. The other area of Valencia was the exact opposite. Full of old cathedrals and buildings. We had a good day wandering through the historic district. As we made our way north, the scenery began to look much like northern California with green forests and mountains. We spent the next night in a small beach town which reminded us of Myrtle Beach thirty years ago. We had paella on the beach which was lovely but we still feel that our best paella is yet to come! We pulled into Barcelona this morning and the La Sagrada Familia greeted us around the first turn. We look forward to our days ahead! Ratings for Southern Spain Overall: 7.5 Points of interest: 7 Ease of communication: 8 (because we speak a little Spanish!) Ease of transportation: 8 (because we had a car) Friendly people: 7.5 Food: 6 (really struggling with Sundays and 8pm openings for dinner) Cost of living: 10 Weather: 9 (only a few drizzles!) Bill’s favorite thing: Plaza de Espana and Aledo Sally’s favorite thing: Plaza de Espana and Aledo
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AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
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