Saturday April 28th

For our trip to Spain, we traded one week of the Pelican timeshare for two weeks on the Costa del Sol. But you know Les, we are happily traipsing all over southern Spain!

Our flight on Pan Am left at 9:30am SFO and we changed planes at JFK. Les got us upgraded to business class, promising I don’t know what, to the agent who said he’ll look us up! Very nice flight to Madrid, six hours of nice attention by Victor, a Puerto Rican based in NYC. He gave us a bottle of Moulin a Vent to take with us! Arrived at 9:00am in Madrid.

Getting the rental car, a Seat, was simple at the airport and we drove through Madrid, easy on Sunday, on our way to Toledo. Good four lane highways, but it seemed more than 47 miles to Toledo. Not knowing what to expect, we drove around the edges of the town a little, finally braving a plunge into the little streets of this hilltop town of 50,000. Yup! Narrow cobblestone streets and a zillion tour buses. There were lots of quaint old buildings and everyone was mostly walking. We found the tourist office, which is always a big help, and got maps and directions. We explored the parador, but at $150 a night, thought we could do better. Found the Cardinal, and at $75 a beautiful hotel built right into the city wall! Great! And we can walk to anything in Toledo. Took a lunch at the hotel and were so exhausted, we slept for four hours until 8pm. Got up and walked most of Toldedo. Looks great, can’t wait until it opens on Monday.

Monday, April 30, Toledo

Gray and overcast. A little cool. We set out about 9 a.m. and had our cafe con leche. Walked our legs off for six hours. Visited the cathedral, immense, and lots of other spots, one that had the El Greco " Burial of Count of Orgaz". Lots of steep streets and fun shops, most all selling the same damascene we saw at the sword factory in the morning. Had lunch at a little second story place, paella, salmon, and trout. Took a long siesta and headed out again for a walk. Fascinating town, dark narrow streets you're not afraid to walk on. A sausage dinner and then read up on roads to Malaga.

Tuesday, May 1 - The road from Toledo to Benalmadena

The birds woke us up again to a little nicer morning. Coffee and since it was a holiday, a lot of places were closed. We took in the Alcazar and the cathedral before hitting the road. We followed our Hertz guide through Valdepenas and Bailen. The countryside changed dramatically on our eight hour trip. At first the rolling hills were covered with olive trees, then mountains covered with olive trees! I think we saw a couple million olive trees! The roads were mostly very good and well marked. Only a few tailgaters and impatient people. At Jaen, a mountain city we tried to find a spot to stop and stretch, but got lost and ended up in a dump! On the road again, we noticed the long lines for petrol. We zipped by Granada and then near Loja, came to a halt. Creeping along, we came across a festival procession coming our way, tractors and trucks all bedecked with flowers carrying well imbibed revelers. Much waving and honking, it took half an hour to get through. Over the Sierra Nevada through Malaga; had one false start to find Pueblo Vita but found it on the second try. After eight hours on the road, we were tired. And at 9 p.m., the office was closed, so the nice security guard found our room and let us in. It was a very small room but okay. We ate at the fancy on-site restaurant. The owner was Belgian, food was heavy sauced French but very good. I had monk fish, Les had rabbit. Strawberries on a large black plate with cream was dessert. The Pueblo Vita sprawls up a hillside, interesting and varied white stucco units all with terraces. We look out over the complex in can see the Mediterranean Sea. We've found out at dinner that the petrol lines were due to a gas strike. No one can buy gas. Now what do we do?

Wednesday, May 2 - Costa Del Sol

Gray skies seem to follow us and it rained in the morning. Good thing we brought pastry from Toledo! We lazed around and headed for Playa de Carihuela where there are supposed to be 50 seafood restaurants. We asked a few questions and found El Roqueo, and had fantastic tiny clams, and calamari rings. Les had bream en sal, a bitter preparation in a mound of salt, and I had rape (monk) again. The flan was great. We strolled the shops along the beach; it looks a little like Venice Beach, overbuilt and very commercial. We hear a lot of British people speaking.

Back to the condo, we see an empty gas station and pull in. Apparently rental cars are allowed during the strike -- great! Napped and snacked late. Getting ready for Granada!

Thursday, May 3 - To Granada

We headed off on a sightseeing adventure to Granada at 10am. It was slow going through less-than-pretty Malaga. But the coast becomes pretty, like a little Big Sur. We stopped for a great walk through the Nerja Caves. They are beautiful, underground formations with nice music. Then we drove through a a little white town on a hill with extremely narrow streets. But, we couldn’t find a place to eat, so proceeded onward into the hills and stopped at a highway restaurant where we had pork chops. The scenery is beautiful, mountains without a lot of foliage. We had to detour through a couple of little towns, nice but slo-o-w! It took 7 hours to get to Granada, where we drove to the center and found the tourist office closed. However, we found our hotel and walked to the Alhambra. There was not enough time to tour so we walked the grounds a little. Taking a taxi back down, we found a festival in full swing. Almost all women and girls were in flamenco dresses and everyone was drinking or already drunk. We found a restaurant and were surprised at our $100 check -- some items like spider crab were priced by the gram! A walk on the streets was pleasant before retiring.

Friday, May 4 - Granada

For breakfast, we munched on fresh strawberries and wonderful croissants in our room before driving up to the Alhambra. We parked at the Alhambra Palace Hotel, beautifully situated on the hillside. The Alhambra tour: what a fantastic place! It’s a fortress, partly, exquisite Moorish carved walls, gardens, with views of the countryside. We walked over to the Generalife, the royal getaway palace with its gardens, courtyards and gorgeous views of mountains and town. Lunch was at the Hotel America on the Alhambra grounds, a small hotel with pleasant dining courtyard. It was great to get away from the crowds that were lined up to get into the palaces. We met a nice couple from Boston when we took a break and were having refreshment at the Parador San Francisco. We then taxied down to see the chapel where Ferdinand and Isabella’s tomb is; it’s quite a monument. Then we scouted around to find the cathedral entrance. It’s huge, with an impressive organ and white columns. Then we went back to the Alhambra Palace Hotel and took a picture for a couple from SF! Driving back to the timeshare took only two hours. We had baby squid for dinner.

Saturday, May 5 - Jet Settin’

We couldn’t come all this way and not see Marbella, of the rich and famous! So, we headed for a view of all the movie stars we were sure to see. No such luck! Marbella looked like a Laguna Beach, sort of, and the drive from our condo looked like you were driving near Monterey with all the pine trees around. But, it’s overbuilt and too crowded. We had no idea it was so populated. We drove on to Puerto Banus which is where the jet set crowd goes, so we felt right at home! Strolling near the yacht harbor, which is very nice, we saw some fabulous yachts! Then we headed for the hills, and I do mean hills, for lunch at a former parador. It’s at the tip top of the mountains behind Marbella. Lunch at the former hunting lodge was lamb stew, oxtail stew, which were pretty good. It’s a cozy, out of the way place. Then we drove back down through Ojen again, one of those white towns. The road is very curvy, and winds around and around. We stopped by the Marbella Club Hotel which was kind of disappointing; maybe the individual units are more luxurious. Then back to Puerto Banus for a $3 draft of beer on the corner pub of the marina. There were some nice shops and good looking restaurants, some of which were outrageously expensive. For food, we decided to stop at the Hiper Mercado to get some comestibles, and got chicken, cheese, apples and had our supper in -- saved tons of money! We found the sherry Les liked, called Bertola, about $4. The weather had warmed up a little the last few days, but still a little cool at night. We decided to go to Morocco a day early, so we’d get back on the day Ron Koenig arrives in Malaga. Spent the evening reading the travel literature.

Sunday, May 6 - Africa

This is the first time Jer had been in Africa -- chalk up one more continent! We lazed around, cooked our left overs for brunch and packed for a two nite stay in Tanger. Leaving at 1pm, we headed for Algeciras (that’s with a "th"). The road out of Marbella past Estapona wasn’t as good, sometimes two lanes, but you can see, and feel, where they are preparing to widen it. We zipped past Gibraltar and into the port area of Algeciras. Parking in a large garage, we found the ticket windows for the boats. You can go by hydrofoil or ferry. We took the ferry, a $75 round trip! It’s something more like a little ship. It gets confusing because they don’t put up many signs in this part of the world, and they wouldn’t let us on the ship because it wasn’t time to board; how were we supposed to know? Had to have our passports inspected, stamped and shown three times.

On the ship, we couldn’t tell how to get into 1st class so we wandered around until we found out how. We were the only ones in 1st class; low season I guess. The view wasn’t great, and we couldn’t even see Gibraltar because of the smog. Maybe we’ll see it on the way back. It’s a 2 ½ hour trip to Tanger.

When we arrived in Tanger, we ignored all the offers of cabs and guides, and followed the natives into town on foot. We had looked at a map before we started, and guessed our way to the hotel. When we finally asked a merchant, we were only a block away! We stayed at El Minzah, the best hotel in Tanger, a five star! The room was nicely appointed, gorgeous bath. We took a stroll and saw all the men out, thousands of them, all ages. I guess they lock up the women at home! From early evening to 7:30 they stroll and sit along the street, having coffee and tea with each other. We appeared to be a curiosity because lots of them stared at us. That was OK by us, with their sparkling eyes and 1 of 6 a beauty! They walk sometimes with arm around a shoulder, sometimes holding fingers. Nice. It’s two hours earlier here than the condo, which seemed strange. We had dinner at the hotel in the Moroccan restaurant which was very nice. We didn’t sit on pillows, but had beautifully upholstered couches at low tables. Four musicians played some monotonous music but it seemed appropriate. It was a beautiful dining room. Jer had a white fish with green peppers and wonderful spices, after an appetizer of many flavorful items as a ‘salad’. Les had puff pastry with seasoned meat.

Monday, May 7 - Tanger

Our hotel is quite nice. An interesting feature is the outside tambour shutters that you close from the inside by pulling on a cord. We munched on pretty good pastries we’d found last night, and met our guide for today at 8:30am. His name was Aziz, and was a lot of fun. He walked us around, showing us various spots, US consulate, and places he liked, he said. A small cafe opened for us, and we had mint tea on the edge of a cliff which was pleasant. Then we were off to Malcolm Forbes mansion to see the military miniatures. It’s a gorgeous house. Then we scurried down to the Kazbah, where there are ancient buildings and narrow winding streets. Aziz is short, was wearing a white jebaba and a guide pin. Not many people bothered us, probably because we were with Aziz, and we saw the medina. The streets are so narrow, and a multitude of tiny shops occupy every little hole in the wall. Many children were sewing or twisting silk thread. Aziz took us to a rug dealer who had a nice shop upstairs. They brought mint tea and will show you as many rugs as you want to see. When the sales guy finally got the message we weren’t buying, he sat down to chat. He told me I had beautiful eyes; I told him he was a good salesman! Then we went to a leather shop where I bought a leather attache case for $110.

We walked through the market, bought cherries for Aziz and paid him 100 dirham ($12) and said goodbye. It had been fun. Les went for a massage, and I headed for the hotel room. Later we met for tea at our favorite tea place, and then had a taste of wine at the hotel wine bar. The cabernet was best, and the Cabernet Medallion at $17 was the priciest on the menu! For dinner we decided on the hotel restaurant where we had lamb medallions in light tarragon sauce and chicken curry.

Tuesday, May 8 - Africa to Europe

We decided to catch an early ferry back to Spain since we woke up at 6am. We hurried and caught the 7am ferry. A semiofficial guy helped us fill out forms and got our ticket validated. For $2.40 it was a big help even though he didn’t carry our bags. In 2 ½ hours we were back in Algeciras at 11:30am, and drove to the Rock.

It’s amazing how you can drive all over Gibraltar! We drove nearly to the top and saw the apes running loose. After stopping a few times and seeing what little there is to Gibraltar, we proceeded to leave. It took much longer getting through customs on the way out, which seemed strange. So off we were to Malaga to meet Ron Koenig. When we got there, we found out that he had called and canceled several days earlier. Not entirely unexpected! So, we drove back to Pueblo Evita and had a nap. We had dinner like the natives at 10pm in La Carihuela, where we had great anchovies in oil and vinegar. The wine was Torres San Valentin, which was similar to Moncontour, and very pleasant.

Wednesday, May 9 - Ronda

Today it was raining. We checked out of the condo, and drove over the spectacular Sierras to Ronda. The little town is perched on the edge of tremendous cliffs. Unfortunately, all the good restaurants are closed on Wednesday, so we had a so-so dinner at the modest hotel we were staying in.

Thursday, May 10 - Seville

The road to Seville took us through Arcos de la Fontera, which was a nice little town but less dramatic than Ronda. It did have very tiny steep streets. Our objective was to see a bodega where they make the famous sherries. In Jerez, we finally found Domecq and saw their bodega, one of 80 of theirs! We sipped some sherry and enjoyed our tour and visit. We ate lunch nearby. Then it was time to get to Seville where we found our hotel, the Dona Maria, pretty easily in the busy city of 650,000 people! The hotel had the tiniest garage ever, and we left the driving to them! For dinner we ate at Meson Don Raimundo.

Friday, May 11 - Sightseeing in Seville

See the pictures.

Saturday, May 12 - To Madrid

We left Seville, reluctantly, and headed for Madrid. On our way, we stopped in Cordoba and had a great lunch. See the pictures. We had gazapacho again, and once again fixed differently. It rained off and on during our drive, a total of 500km today, a long way! With Les’ good instructions we found our way through the Madrid maze to our hotel. Parking is fun in big-city Madrid! Settled in, we called Jim Bowersox who was here in Madrid, planning to meet tomorrow. We strolled about and had a fair paella at 11pm. People are everywhere, so late, here!

Sunday, May 13 - Madrid

We met Holla (Jim Bowersox) at the Royal Palace. What a grand palace -- we took a little tour and saw about 15 of the 2000 rooms. Then we hustled over to the Prado Museum, since it’s not open on Monday. What a fantastic collection of Goya and Reubens! We saw the Guerneca by Picasso, a huge black and gray painting. Afterward, at the Ritz Hotel, we sipped expensive drinks and enjoyed the atmosphere. A stroll through the large Retiro Park was pleasant. At 9pm we had dinner at El Botin where Hemmingway also dined. The place opened in 1725!

Monday, May 14 - Madrid to San Francisco

We had driven 2339 kilometers on our trip through Spain!