Month: June 2022

Granada is making us feel at home today. It is raining! Liquid sunshine! Actually we cannot complain as this country really needs the rain – there are forest fires like we get in BC however due to the extreme heat and if a day of rain is needed so be it! So we just hung out today in the hotel, and went out when it was not raining and did what normal people do – laundry! In the evening, we had a fun experience which we can only put the dots together to try and figure out. We went to a local restaurant/bar that people had reviewed having GF food. We got there about 7:30pm as on the website it said “the kitchen is always open”. We had something to drink and the waiter indicated that the kitchen would be open sometime after 8pm. While we were there, we noticed these display cases on the wall behind me and there were 2 others on the wall across the room by the washrooms and they had what looked like flat pottery plates that had been made by some 6-12 year old children. As we were only a block from the hotel, Andrew ran back to the hotel for me to get my knitting that I forgot, and while he was gone, people were coming over and looking at the display cases behind me and then the ones on the other side of the room (which were a lot more accessible). Where we were sitting, which was at a low table, there was a high bar table beside us and one behind me in the corner (neither were occupied at the time) and it was really hard with my walker folded up to get into the area but people still tried! This continued when Andrew got back – people would come into the establishment, look at the cases and leave. Then 8pm rolled around and boom! All these people showed up and it was obviously some type of celebration or launch party for the “plates” and we then realized there were bigger ones higher up on the walls. The place got quite busy and loud! As we had already gotten our menu and ordered food, we had to stay. So we had a lovely dinner with all these people filling up the inside, outside area and spilling into the street – gathering we presume in celebration of the artists in the boxes. We also recognized a couple of them as they were the younger people attending the event. It did start to calm down by the time we finished dinner however it was some amusement for our dinner time! Tomorrow is the Alhambra – we got to get some sleep!

And we are off again! This time we are on our way to Granada – the home of the Alhambra which is a palace and fortress complex and one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the historic Islamic world, in addition to containing notable examples of Spanish Renaissance architecture.  I have been looking forward to getting to this city and seeing this historic site that I have heard people talk about! It is a short drive for us today – just over 2 hours assuming we do not get lost! Pretty straightforward it looks like but who knows what will happen! We had no issues leaving Cordoba and got onto the highway very quickly! The drive down to Antequerra was uneventful – the views were as to be expected and I was able to knit instead of navigate as we were not driving around corners all the time. Along the way we realized that as acorns are so small and the top pigs in Spain are fed them, that is probably why we see so many Oak trees! There is a plethora of them growing! We passed many villages with white villages – it is quite a stark contrast at times against the green trees – however it also looks very clean and neat! Then we turned east and headed over to Granada – approaching Granada we were surprised to see how “wide” the area was with a swath of white – it seems that there are several towns that are sprawled out up against the low mountain around the city of Granada. As we approached the city, I keyed in the hotel information into my phone so we could figure out how to get there the easiest way. That involved going on the Marriott website to get the address information. Now, I knew there were 2 Marriott brand hotels in Granada and we were staying at one of them. What I had NOT realized when I booked the hotel was it was a 5 star hotel! I knew it was not an AC hotel brand, which we have been staying in for the last 2.5 weeks (low end Marriott – like Holiday Inn Express) but wow – those are some stars it has! We missed the hotel the first time we drove past so I phoned them to get exact directions and the next time we passed by they were out front waiting for us – now that is customer service! The bellman took our luggage and then “toured us” through some rooms to see which one would be the most comfortable for us. We picked one looking over the main street as it had a window looking at something (first room did not have a window, 2nd looked at a wall) and then the bellman delivered our luggage which Andrew was pretty happy about! After that, the bellman parked our car (no idea where). Our room is very nice and this hotel is beautiful! We will be here for 3 days.

What a lovely city Córdoba is! Armed with a city map and some key places highlighted that we should see, Andrew and I embarked on walking to the Old Town to see the main highlight of the city – the Mezquita-Cathedral. It was interesting to read that while originally a Roman settlement, in the 8th century, when the Muslims occupied the area, Córdoba was a the place to come for education and learning in the world. By the 10th century Córdoba had grown to be the second-largest city in Europe. In 1984, the Mezquita-Cathedral was named an UNESCO World Heritage Site. The UNESCO status has since been expanded to encompass the whole historic centre of Córdoba, so now it has more World Heritage Sites than anywhere in the world, with four. Lastly, considering summer is in 2 days, apparently, Córdoba has the highest summer temperatures in Spain and Europe, with average high temperatures around 37 °C (99 °F) in July and August – well from our experience from Tudela to Zamora to Huelva to Sevilla – they all have Córdoba beat this year for spring temperatures above 40°C in June!

So to get to the Old Town, Córdoba has a LOVELY strip of gardens that you can walk down in the middle of the city! Sort of think of them as a very long oblong of a traffic circle (with some places to cross) where cars can go around in one direction only. In fact the road the hotel is on is on another one of these huge oblongs however going in the opposite direction and it has a park in the middle too! In looking for the wall that appeared on the map, we entered into the residential district a bit early, however soon found out way when all of a sudden we rounded the corner and there was a street full of stores – open on a Sunday! The Cathedral was very close by so we went in and took a look – got some more “reduced to free” tickets for having a disability and accompanying person and went into the cathedral. WOW – what an experience that was! To see its beginnings from when it was a mosque to now and how large the building is and how striking it was – awesome! My pictures really do not do the space justice. After we came out of the cathedral – which a bit about that – this is not the first time this has happened – it would not be possible to get into this cathedral if you used a power chair – there were 3 high steps to get in and then there were ramps everywhere and you received free admission – it was almost like you got free admission as you made it that far. Then to leave, the same thing happened again – ramp to get up to the doorway and then boom! Steps down or for the exit a very dangerous small carved out ramp that was not straight. So now I have gotten over that – we proceeded down to the river where there is a historic bridge crossing the river to a tower on the other side. Also, beside the river is an old water wheel and an historic gate to the city. Then we walked past the Fortress of the Kings and back to the lovely garden walk to our hotel! Once back to the hotel and cooled down (it was only a balmy 35 °C) we decided it was time to eat! Neither of us wanted a big dinner tonight so we settled on pizza from Domino’s again! My phone said it was 134 metres away and would be ready in 10 minutes. So we got ready and started walking, and walking and about 1.5 km later got to Domino’s! No idea what my phone’s issue was but that was a nasty surprise! Nothing like working your dinner off BEFORE dinner! So we had yet another picnic in our room and called it a night – tomorrow we depart for Granada and see what trouble we can get up to in that city!

I really liked the hotel we stayed at in Algeciras. They had solved most of the problems that I have run into in other hotels (including high end ones) and was a very accessible hotel. Take going for breakfast. In Rome, we had to have Room Service as the Breakfast buffet was not accessible as it was up a set of stairs. At the lowly AC Algeciras? Yes there were stairs to get to the restaurant and thus the breakfast buffet however I could get myself up there and down without needing anyone’s help! Check this out!

So, now we have had breakfast, we packed up and got on our way to Córdoba today, with a stop in Ronda. Yes, some of you smart cookies might be thinking when you look at this map- why did you go from Seville DOWN to Algeciras and then UP to Córdoba? Good question! It has to do with two people – our friend Leah who told us about the chasm in Ronda and how stunning it is and then my mother who told us that we just could not miss Córdoba and Granada. So listening to those two important people we changed our routing along the south coast of Spain (which we had already see the major cities via the cruise ship) so that we could go UP to Córdoba and then over to Granada. The reservation in Algeciras and Valencia (along with Seville) were firm and either had been paid for or reserved on points when the points were lower and I really did not want to gamble cancelling those reservations so thus, we did an extra couple of hours of driving!

So we set out from Algeciras to Ronda first and these are the pictures along the way –

Once we got to Ronda, we drove through town as we were a bit perplexed where this “chasm” or “canyon” could be as it was flat the way that we entered town (except for the weird round about but that is another story)! So we drove through town and did not see any parking so I could stop navigating Andrew and figure out where to so, we just kept going and voila! we ran into the bridge where it was obvious (with the number of tourists around) that this must be the spot! So we went and parked and guess what! It was 🙂 It is amazing how you can approach and drive through a city that you think is flat and all of a sudden find out it is on the side of a mountain with a huge narrow cavernous gully through the middle of it! Here are our pictures below –

Now we were done with feeling sky high and me with my fear of height and dropping my phone we were on the road again – this time to Córdoba where we were staying in yet another AC Hotel! This one has guaranteed us an accessible room so I am excited to be in a room that is easier to move around in! Allons y!

We had a great drive up to Córdoba and arrived about 7pm. Had a fun experience when getting gas trying to explain in a small town (where my phone was in the car) that they needed more toilet paper in the ladies washroom! Nothing like playing charades in a gas station! Oh, and for those people wondering, gas prices here are about 2.14 Euros a litre. Sounds like gas is about $2.10 back home! That is getting nasty! I expected high gas prices here but $2.10 is a lot! So we got settled and after a quick trip to the Supermarcado as tomorrow is Sunday and everything is closed (Andrew needed beer) we relaxed and had left overs for dinner! Tomorrow we are going to sign see!

Today we changed our plans to go to Tangier and took the day off. It was a multitude of things but primarily Andrew is tired! Driving in Gibraltar was hard on him – with all the tight streets he had to really concentrate on his driving and with all the motorcycles and various people on other types of moving devices like scooters it is a lot to watch out for. They love to drive down between the waiting traffic and sit at the front of the line at a red light and then zoom off! It is quite distracting – even for a passenger! So we basically relaxed in our nice 7th floor hotel room with it’s terrace and spent the day napping (Andrew) and blogging or knitting (Lynda). We were outside until the sun came over the building and it got too hot! Once Andrew was more ready to face the world he found a restaurant that said they do gluten free and we decided to walk the 15 minutes there instead of driving and trying to park. It was a good decision as the parking was underground with only stairs to get to the surface! The restaurant name was “La Mafia Se Sienta a La Mesa” and it is part of a chain of Italian restaurants in Spain. Their website indicated they opened at 8pm and Google said 8:30pm. So we decided to arrive at 8pm as we were unable to make reservations. After a nice walk through a high rise residential area – similar to what we experience in Huleva, we arrived and there were tables out front however the restaurant was closed up tight. So we sat out front, I had brought my knitting so I proceeded to knit away and we watched the “action” in the square – there also were a set of teenage girls sitting at one end of terrace for the restaurant tables and teenage boys at the other side and the catcalling was something else! It became 8:30pm and the restaurant was still not open… what was Plan B? Well we had seen a Domino’s Pizza on our walk – perhaps we would go walk there and order pizza and take it back to the hotel! Just as I was checking out if they had GF options, Andrew saw action in the restaurant and we were saved – they opened at 9pm! However as we were there already they told the teenagers to scram and they did clean and set our table early and got us some beverages to start. It was also interesting to observe the body language going on in the restaurant – it was VERY obvious that the owner had fired her waitress that night – quite the passionate Spanish conversation took place! After dining at several restaurants now, we are presuming that one of the results of COVID is that restaurants do not use menu’s anymore in Spain – I think we have only had the pleasure of using 1 or 2 menus! All the other restaurants give you a QR code (LIZ – this is going somewhere) and you scan it and see your menu. If you have Google Translate on your phone it will also help translate the menu items for you! So then you just point on your phone to what you want (yes you need internet and that can be a problem for International Visitors) and ordering is EASY! At the above restaurant they did have WIFI so Andrew could use his phone too to order (mine already has internet on it) which made it MUCH easier! We had a great meal – I had an octopus appetizer and then curry chicken and rice and Andrew had beef medallions with potatoes and sautéed onions. For dessert we had a new experience – a lemon sorbet that you drank with a straw – homemade! We then walked back on the seaside walk (which had a lovely l’odeur d’low tide) to our hotel!

“This route requires crossing an International Border” Google Maps told us when I keyed in that I wanted to go to Gibraltar from our hotel. I guess that is so now – considering Great Britain has now left the EU! So off we went, passports in hand to visit “the Rock”. A short 30 minute drive and then 30 minutes in a line to go through customs (both Spanish and British) and we arrived! We as normally happens, selected the wrong customs line – we pick the one with nothing to declare where once we got in the line we noticed that everyone from GBZ picked the one that said “items to declare”. We found out why – that line splits into two – declare or nothing to declare and ours was just one line… However our timing was good on the other hand as the truck behind us conked out in line about 5 minutes after he arrived and created a bit of a traffic jam! We got our passports stamped for leaving the EU however Britain did not stamp them – they just pushed us through after looking at our smiling mugs! I must admit, today was a challenging day for Andrew driving, Gibraltar is small and thus the roads are narrow and small. We have a smaller car but it is not his car so it takes some getting used to as to how narrow a street you can go through. Google Maps does not help much either – they just tell you that you can go somewhere and then I look up and oh wow – that is narrow! Well, this is the 2nd time this has happened – the 1st time was in Trudela when we were trying to find a store and we drove along some roads we had previously walked on and then today was no different – some narrow one way roads! Time to ditch the car and walk! We lucked out and found a parking lot for a hotel that had a nice open accessible parking spot, paid for the parking (as it was private) and off we went! Checked out tourist information – they gave me a map but were not much help as they said “everything here has stairs, you can go to the cave but you cannot drive up the Rock – why don’t you go swim with the dolphins?”, so I thanked him, bought my fridge magnet and we were out of there! We walked down main street which was closed to cars and did some window (and perhaps in a store) shopping and stopped for a bite to eat and sat outside and watch the world go by! We then planned our attack for Gibraltar – to drive to the Cable Car terminal to take a picture (I read it had a view from there) and then around to the point where the lighthouse is located. Well, we were able to get to the lighthouse and see some different things on the way such as experience one VERY SMALL one way tunnel (where pedestrians take priority) which opened up onto a beach area with a beautiful pool (Camp Bay)! We eventually got to Europa Point where there is quite a nice lighthouse facility, a beautiful mosque and a cool breeze! Also here is the University of Gibraltar – very small but beautiful location! We then drove around the other side of the peninsula, which includes about an kilometre long tunnel under the “Rock” portion where the “rock face” is located. Coming around into the northern part of Gibraltar, there is a LOT of construction of high rise buildings going on – which is interesting as the traffic is already really challenging – bringing a few thousand more people to live there will make this place nuts! I presume they are going to set up a better border facility too – it looked pretty thrown together. One of the highlights of the trip to Gibraltar for me was crossing the runway – which you do about 500 metres after getting through customs. It is light controlled so that could also back customs up too now I think of it! This is the 3rd time in my life I have driven or been driven across a active runway – I have done it now in Dutch Harbour, Alaska; Wick, Scotland; and Gibraltar, Great Britain! There might be a 4th… So back to Algeciras we drove. At that time we decided that we were so tired from our escapades in Gibraltar that we would decide in the morning whether we would drive to Tarifa to catch the fast ferry to Tangier for the day.

Hello again! We are now on the move to Algeciras which is on the bottom “point” of Spain. Why did I pick this place? Well it is next to Gibraltar which so many months ago I foresaw that Holland America would cancel the cruise stop, so I decided we should stay here so we could go to Gibraltar and hopefully all things being equal, pop down the road to Tarifa in Spain and take the 1 hour ferry (passenger) over to Tangier, Morocco for the day. However, I am getting ahead of myself! As it was a 2 hour straight shot down to Algeciras we spent some time relaxing in the hotel and our suite in the morning and left about 3pm for our afternoon drive on the highway. It was an easy drive! Sorry, no pictures – I was knitting this time! It was pretty well the same thing as I have posted previously – hills and flat land 🙂 It was also VERY nice to go from 40 degrees in Seville down to about 30 degrees when we arrived in Algeciras! The hotel was pretty easy to find and we checked in and received our key for a top floor room – no, not a suite this time but a room that was accessible! I was SO IMPRESSED! It has room in the washroom and a bench in the shower! Wahoo! I do not like how hard the AC Hotel bathtubs are to get in and out of! And they all have the same ones! Anyway, the best part of the room is it’s terrace! It wraps around the corner room so we can sit on the side in the shade or on the front in the sun! It also has those nice chaise lounge chairs…. As Andrew was tired, we opted for a picnic again – I had left overs from my pizza dinner the night before and he had the ham/cheese/cracker option! As we were planning on doing Gibraltar tomorrow we got to bed early that night.

Now, ready to battle the heat, we are off to the 3 historical sites (well 2 historic sites and one modern site) that we did not get to yesterday! My body is a bit sore and tired from yesterday so we are taking a taxi to the first one and then we will see how it goes! They are all sort of lined up in a nice walkable area so it should be doable! First up – the Real Alcázar of Seville which is a walled palace that was first built in the Middle Ages.  There is Islamic art within the buildings which came to be after the Castilian conquest. There also is a Mudejar palatial space and another area that is in Gothic style .  One can also see other periods of influence such as Renaissance and Baroque updates to the palace. The Alcázar is currently the residence of members of the Spanish royal family when they visit Seville.  This makes it the oldest royal palace in use in Europe. It has been declared an Unesco World Heritage Site, along with the Cathedral of Seville (next to it), in 1987. Exploring it was both fun and not! To start there were ramps which was cool however the farther we got into the buildings the fewer ramps there were! So as it was dark in some places I had to be very careful not to take a spill with the 4-6 inch thresholds to the doorways. Andrew was able to go upstairs (we were admitted for free as I could not access the whole facility) in one building and saw a display of different tiles and plates through the years. The gardens were also beautiful – from a distance as they were down lots of stairs! That said, I think it was better being able to see them all from up high rather than up close, and see their magnitude. After sweating through that experience we were off! We walked past the Cathedral of Seville, which was closed for some reason so we could not go in. It is a magnificent building and HUGE! We then proceeded to the “Parasol” which is a nickname for a modern man-made exhibit, via the “shopping street” that the lady at the hotel said we should walk down. Well! Was she right! Why? They have “sails” above it shading you from the sun and they spray water on you cooling you down! What a blissful experience! Yes, I was able to keep my credit cards in their wallet too! We then arrived at the “Parasol” which sort of appear out of nowhere as you walk down the street. I had heard about them but really did not know what to expect! Actually, it was originally called the “Metropol Parasol” but now it is called the “Setas de Sevilla”(Mushrooms of Seville) or “Las Setas” (The Mushrooms). They are a wooden structure in old Seville, designed by a German architect Jürgen Mayer. They were completed April 2011 and they are 150 by 70 metres (490 by 230 ft) with an approximate height of 26 metres (85 ft) and it claims to be the largest wooden structure in the world. However the appearance, location, delays and cost overruns in construction resulted in much public controversy! They really do look different sticking out amid buildings centuries old! Again, as I could not visit the whole facility, we were given free admission. They had a great movie about Seville that we watched and then Andrew climbed up (as it had stairs) to the observation platform above. I was left down by the store/movie area where I took some pictures from that perspective! After we met up, we went back down to the street and hailed a cab to take us the 3km back to the hotel – we had a dinner reservation to get to and had to freshen up and get the car! So after our “freshening” we hopped back in our teal mobile and off we went to a really cool part of town – reminded us of what Granville Street (portion that is closed downtown) could have been if it had restaurants all down it with open air seating. People walking by, busses occasionally driving down the restricted lane (along with taxi’s) and lots of people having dinner out enjoying the fresh air with friends! We parked in a parking lot (those things here are tiny! and walked a couple of blocks to the restaurant called Al Solito Posto – they have both a regular and GF kitchen! I had made reservations (where they ask how many Celiacs are dining) but found out you did not really need them – oh well – better to be safe when sorry! The first question that they asked was “which one of you is Celiac?” I told them it was me and so I got a special placemat! Very cool – the waitress explained that was so that anyone serving the table knows where the gluten free items go and there are no mix ups! First, they brought me breadsticks – all my own! I ordered pizza (caprese) and Andrew spaghetti and meatballs – not GF. My pizza was delicious – just the way I like it – thin crispy crust! Then I had to save room for dessert! Tiramisu was on the GF menu! While I did let Andrew have the big cake part with expresso as I am not the biggest coffee fan, it was a delicious dessert! Great end to our two days in Sevilla! We walked back to the car in the twilight and parked at the hotel (parking at the hotel is VERY tight too – took us about 20 minutes to wedge the car into the last spot) and realized it was after midnight! I guess we are slowly changing into the Spanish lifestyle! Tomorrow – off to Algeciras!

Welcome to Sevilla! Other than being scorching hot – it looks to be a very exciting city! The hotel is very nice and the front desk ladies gave us a map of the sights and circled everything that one should see. They were surprised that we were going to walk into town (I get that a lot when using a walker) however it was only 800 metres to the first place that we were to look at – how far could we walk in one day? Well, that answer will come later! First, from where we are starting, Seville has a “Kingsway” type street in it along the river, so streets are not quite straight or grid like – they seem to go everywhere and then there are the large traffic circles…. So we walked by the University of Sevilla where we met a peacock in full colour, past a couple of Consulates and then onto the Plaza of America which was lovely except for the pigeon feeding! Then we progressed around the Museum of Modern Art onto the huge park grounds called Parque de Maria Luisa which we walked down the main path (with a few side detours for pictures) until we got to the main road into the Plaza de Espana which is a very famous semi-circular building in Sevilla that was built for the 1929 Worlds fair to showcase Spain’s industry and technology exhibits. What was really cool where the tiled alcoves that are around the plaza, each representing a different province of Spain – I will be editing them and posting the ones that we have gone to – it was interesting to see that we will be touching over half of them! Spain has MANY provinces (50) – way more than Canada! After that it was time for some cold beverages and onto our next sight – the Torro del Orro which we saw from the street as there were MANY steps to get down to it and it looked like there were stairs inside of it too. Instead, it being 2pm we decided that a better beverage break was needed – Andrew wanted more than just water. So we found a cute little cafe and sat inside and had lunch. Gluten free was not a problem for them – they made me some chicken and potatoes and Andrew had the Caesar that we originally were going to share until we found out the chicken was breaded! Now fed and liquified, we tried to find our next sight – Real Alcazar. However the 42 degree heat at that time of day – I soon hit the wall and could not go any further. I looked at my pedometer and we had already walked 11 kms! No wonder! So we hopped into a cab and went back to the hotel – funny enough the 1st cab that I flagged down was a wheelchair accessible one! After resting at the hotel for a couple of hours and stretching to get my muscles going again, we walked to the nearby grocery store to top up our supplies and we had a nice picnic dinner that night in our suite! Tomorrow we will see Real Alcazar, the Cathedral, Parasols and walk down the shopping street which you cannot miss between them (sorry Andrew!) and we shall have done all that the hotel has recommended and more! Last goal – one of the gluten free restaurants for dinner 🙂

Well folks, this is going to be a light reading day! We spent the morning in Huelva relaxing and someone did some optimization of all her fridge magnets that seemed to be scattered everywhere so that we had one less Holland America bag of “things” that we were packing around and then about 2pm we were off to Sevilla! The drive was only going to take us an hour and guess what? It only took us an hour – we did not even get lost this time getting out or into a city! The landscape was pretty well what you have seen before – flat, fields, corn, hay or trees. We finally figured out what some of the trees are – orange trees that do not have oranges on them yet – or big oranges that you can see. OR they are Oak trees which produce acorns and those acorns are fed to special Iberian pigs (which are not pink but black) that supposedly produce the best ham in the world (according to Spain). Yes, there is a pecking order in Spain for pigs and what they get fed! While I do not have any pictures of trees on this journey, I do have pictures of rhododendrons. It is just so pleasant to drive along the main freeways (and tollways) in Spain and have so many flowers along the way! I have included in my pictures below some that we saw on the way to Sevilla. I have no pictures of entering Sevilla as I needed to be navigator and cannot multi task reading Spanish, giving directions and listening to Google at the same time. There will be more pictures of Sevilla in the coming days! I have included some of the hotel though… best part of front room of our Junior Suite and basically first comment Andrew said? “Oh good – the fridge is right next to the chair so I can get a beer anytime I am watching soccer!” NOT, we were upgraded again, what a nice room or anything like that! 🙂