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:
I always knew we were tasty
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.
Delicious mint tea
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