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!  

Crossing the Atlantic...and Spain!

Well, some of you might be wondering if the MV Explorer is resting on the bottom of the Atlantic! We are safe and sound, currently crossing out of the Mediterranean on our way from Gibraltar to Morocco. We had a very cushy North Atlantic passage, with clear sailing the whole way. No big water anywhere around us and no sleep (or lunch) lost to wavy seas. The ship has been fantastic – good food, great staff, very interesting and entertaining fellow passengers. Our room is a little smaller than our Boulder house but it’s well organized and everything has found its place.


After 5 days crossing the ocean, we arrived in Spain, eager to stretch our legs and see the sights. Cadiz is a great old port town – possibly even the earliest settlement in Europe. It was a critical port in Roman times and was even blessed by a visit from Julius Caesar himself. It boomed again during the Spanish conquest of the Americas and was the main port for ships returning from the New World (as well as the port from which Christopher Columbus began his historic voyage).

We spent our first day wandering around town, enjoying the old town, the very tasty food and stocking up on a few critical things like chocolate bars, juice and Spanish wine. We ended up eating dinner at 10PM in a square with loads of children running around. The Spanish have figured out how to live life – get a late start to the day, take a nap in the afternoon, work late and then stay out until midnight!  And of course we stopped by the huge market in the center of town and went to the grocery store to look at the numerous legs of Spanish ham that hang from the wall!

Day two was a train adventure to Sevilla and back. The notable events were the cathedral (largest in the world, according to the book Milton bought there) and the bullfight we went to. The bullfight left us with those timeless questions we have about traveling and whether it’s right to attend events that conflict with our own cultural norms. It was interesting to watch the elaborate dance that is the bullfight, but tough to watch the treatment of the bull and the eventual, and inevitable, result. Nonetheless, we did attend a quintessentially Spanish performance and the boys saw firsthand how cultures react differently to things.

We rented a car the next day and drove along the coast through numerous and large windfarms on our way to Gibraltar. The farms were well placed as we encountered winds that rivaled what we see in Boulder! Gibraltar itself was much calmer and we experienced a bit of Britain in the Mediterranean before heading up the cable car to the top of the Rock itself. It has a fascinating history and incredible views. We wrapped up our time in Spain the next day with some time by the beach in the cute coastal town of Conil.



And we are now in Morocco, having ported in Casablanca yesterday.  We have already had several adventures in our first 24 hours in Morocco and will expand on that in a few days.