We set out a bit early as we had a long drive ahead of us to Vejer de la Frontera. About an hour outside of Granada we stopped for gas, as S was paying for gas, a package of cookies caught my eye:

Oh man! You just know I had to buy them and bring some home. For the record, they are quite tasty. A perfect treat for afternoon tea.

We knew we were getting to close to Gibraltar when signs to Gibraltar disappeared (Spain is apparently in no business to promote its location) and we started to see signs in Arabic (surreal) advertising ferry trips to Tanger. We’re driving, driving, driving and then all of a sudden we see this HUGE rock. That must be Gibraltar.

Unintentionally, we drove our rental car into the UK and decided to stop here for a few hours. It was in Gibraltar that we remembered to buy a music CD for the car – flamenco guitar, of course – and stopped for a late lunch of fish n’ chips. We made our way to the cable car/gondola that would take us to the top of the Rock. As we departed, there was a tail-less ape sitting on the cable structure, scoping out food I’m sure. We were greeted by more apes at the top. They were sitting in front of a sign that said something to the effect of “These apes equate all plastic bags with food. Please be sure to secure your belongings.” They weren’t kidding either. These apes just blended in with all us tourists. We took our requisite, this-is-as-close-as-we-got-to-Morocco pictures and high tailed it out of humid Gibraltar. That’s when we hit a snag, driving back into Spain. So, as I mentioned earlier, there were no passport people in the Sevilla airport to stamp my passport, so there was no indication that I could legally be in the country. Luckily, I still had our boarding passes accessible and was instructed to keep them with me at all times. We also had to explain that we were married since my passport is still in my maiden name and had to point out the amendment on the last page of my passport. Oy! This guy was much stricter than most US customs officers – really!

Within a few hours we arrived in Vejer de la Frontera, just before we burned up the transmission. You see, the quickest and most direct way into this hill town is to cross and gnarly intersection and drive a steep and narrow-for two-cars road where your option is to either roll down the steep hill or roll down the steep ditch. Luckily our poor little Corsa made it through the intersection and up the hill and delivered us safely to our hotel.

Unbeknownst to us, Vejer was in the midst of music festival. Our first night was flamenco. We had dinner at an amazing restaurant on the Plaza de Espana and walked around town as we waited for the flamenco show to start at…11pm! (At this point, I realized I could never live in Spain. Forced siestas. Evening events starting at 11pm or later. How do they do it?)

Before we headed out to a pueblo blanco, we managed to snag one of the last reservations at our hotels’ restaurant. Arcos de la Frontera is about an hour drive from Vejer. Again, S maneuvered the Corsa through the way too narrow streets and before we knew it, we had driven right out of town. So back again, we parked at a garage and walked.

The Parador provided air conditioned refuge and icy coca-colas before we made a quick walk through town. We passed on the ice cream this time around since we were still full from breakfast.

We read and lounged at the pool and walked about town a little more the remainder of the afternoon before our dinner reservation. About 45m before our reservation, we were both hungry and got a bite to eat at the Jardin del Califa express. OMG! Probably the best hummus we had ever had. S spoke with the guy working there once we realized he spoke French – counting out the change, “…cuatro, cinq, seis…”

Dinner at El Jardin del Califa was amazing! One of the better meals on this vacation. We started out with a typical mezze platter: hummus, feta, babagannoush, dolmas, falafel, tabbouleh – yum! S + I both had the couscous, served in real tagines. Sadly, I was already full after the hummus & pita and mezze platter that I couldn’t finish my couscous. But, as there is always room for dessert, we finished off our meal with bakalava and Morroccan mint tea – green tea infused with fresh mint and sweetened with rosewater.

Tagged: andalucia, food, spain · Wednesday, September 3, 2008 · No Comments »

En route to Granada, S + I also realized that we needed a music CD, pronto. We stopped in the small hill town of Antequera, as recommended by a friend. It’s a cute little town with a bullring. We stopped to have a quick lunch and quick stroll through town. Did I mention that it’s in the mid-90Fs by now? Instead of seeing the castle, all I could think of was, “AC! I need AC!” So we skipped the castle and continued on our way to Granada.

Finding our hotel in Granada was not as bad as Cordoba, thankfully. Though our digs for the next two nights weren’t in the center of town and it was geared towards business people, we had free parking, a thoroughly modern room, a television with CNN (yay!) and a pool. We settled in and mapped our route to the cathedral area. HUGE mistake. Maps don’t tell you if a particular street is a zona peatonal, or even a one way street. Again, the streets weren’t labeled as prominently as you expect for a metropolitan area. So we said, eff this, parked the car in a random, but true garage and walked to the center. As we walked around a bit and I was able to pull a klutzy kellybean in front of the cathedral. To my defense, I believe that they polish the stone steps everywhere in Spain…and that is why I managed to slip and fall on my ass in front of the tourist spot that is the cathedral. Nice.

The next day we opted got the last two spots for the late afternoon tour of the Alhambra (we failed to get our tickets beforehand) – which meant we could putz around in the morning and lay out by the pool before we had to head out.

Our tour of the Alhambra was led by Marco (Polo!) who conducted the tour in English and Italian (for the 4 Italians in our group). I think that for something so big, an organized tour is nice because you get more of the story behind the structure and purpose of the room you’re in. As beautiful as the Alhambra is, S + I still thought the Mezquita was more impressive. I think that Marco, at some point said that the Generalife gardens rivaled those of Versailles. Now, wait just a minute…maybe, just maybe in it’s heyday, but the Generalife pales in comparison to the gardens of Versailles.

After the tour was over, S + I made our way to the beautiful Alhambra Palace Hotel for drinks on their patio, as recommended by my uncle. It was a perfect place to unwind after walking the palace and gardens all afternoon. We ended our stay in Granada with a tapas dinner at Cascanueces and a late night stroll along the Acera del Darro. Again, a chocolate ice cream helped me forget that it was 92F at 11pm and that there were bats flying above my head as we crossed the bridge back to our hotel.

Tagged: andalucia, spain · · No Comments »