Spain - Six Days to Explore Andalucía

After concocting a hundred different itineraries in our heads that included flying to Barcelona, hiking the Pyrenees, and visiting the sword making city of Toledo, we decided to rent a car and thoroughly explore the southern region of Spain called Andalucía.  Six days was not near enough time. 

We arrived in the Andalucían capital of Seville, Spain at eight in the evening, just when the city was awakening for dinner.  We had briefly visited Seville in 2009, but this visit showed us an entirely new side of Seville.  We loved walking amongst the bustling diners who sat at bistro tables lining the small cobble stone streets.  Everything was vibrant and alive. 

As we weaved our way through narrow streets that fed into a large square, La Giralda Cathedral greeted us with its candelabra lights.   We were mesmerized by the lights dancing off its spires and decided to see more of Seville at night thanks to a kind horse and his carriage driver.  The horse’s hoofs created a magical clicking on the cobblestones as we were pulled past the historic sites, palaces, fountains and parks.  

Our next destination of Jaen attracted us because of its famous castle hotel.  The hotel was built onto an original fortress and it looked and felt like the medieval home of kings and queens.  The cavernous dining and reception halls were the most spectacular we have ever been in and the town at the foot of the castle was charming.

Our adventure continued when we drove through the mountains along nausea-inducing roads, finally arriving at the town of Nerja on the Mediterranean Sea near Malaga.  If it had not been raining, we would have enjoyed the spectacular cliff-side beach.  Instead we discovered the Cueva de Nerja, vast caverns that stretched back for a mile and upwards for hundreds of feet.  It was the most fantastical setting one could ever think of for a movie and could well have inspired scenes from Lord of the Rings.

We spent the last night of our journey in Ronda, set along the top of a deep gorge that is spanned by a 18^th century bridge which is famous for the number of people who had been thrown off it during the Spanish Civil War.  We managed to not fall off the bridge (or be thrown off it!).

We arrived in our Spanish port city of Cadiz with only a little time to explore the town we had visited in 2009.  We had been away from the ship for eleven days and were happy to arrive back at our floating home to rest our heads and change our clothes!