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Showing posts from May, 2011

The Rock of Gibraltor

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North facing point of the Rock of Gibraltor So another day and another destination, this was quite close, about 85 kms.... the Rock of Gibraltor. It was eerie driving west on the Costa del Sol and then all at once instead of the Mediterranean  sea you see this huge mountain sticking out of the water. It was awe inspiring. With us arriving about 1:15 pm we decided to have lunch at the base before taking the cable car/gondola to the top.  There is a little restaurant in the parking area that is really good and takes reservations. A local family had reserved their Sunday meal there and arrived just as we were finishing. I had  the spaghetti vongole, a favorite and it was very good. A less is more version. Lots of garlic, tons of butter clams in a tomato sauce with a basil pesto, but more olive oil  with very little tomato sauce. It was excellent. Sandra had a chicken Caesar salad she said was very good as well. Then we were hit upon by the taxi drivers there who want to drive y

Marbella

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The Don Alfredo Our drive to Marbella was short, only about 65 kms in total but it transformed us from a high mountainous region (Revelstoke high) to the Mediterranean sea again.  Now Marbella is the beach town/city that Spaniards come to and we had picked the Don Alfredo Hotel on the recommendation of Trev and Chenty. It has not disappointed. It is situated just outside the old town with it’s face on the NE corner facing old town. As you can see from the pictures it has some beautiful views from our 3rd floor balcony. And Marbella is typical, with a promenade overlooking the beach, two smaller marina’s right on the promenade, and many many restaurants. And the nightlife with people strolling in the evening, eating after 10 pm  is common as it begins to cool, it was 28C on the beach and 33 -36C back off the beach during the day, it is a magical trip to a very different lifestyle from ours, and one we are adapting to more each day. A room with a view and enjoying a glass of w

Ronda

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A Ronda panorama The Ronda bridge  between old and new, click on the picture to enlarge it  and you will see the climbers on the waterfall. Old town and countryside Ronda was another possible stop, but since we decided we weren’t going to go to the Alhambra in Granada, 360 kms after just seeing the Alcazar in Seville, it became a definite on our way to Marbella. Eventually this will lead us to Gibraltar in the next few days before crossing to Morocco. And we will see many Alhambra’s in Morocco. Ronda was nothing short of a picture post card perfect with scenic views, panoramas,  ruins etc. We stayed at Hotel Ronda in the old part of the city, and it was an exquisite boutique hotel. The rooms, sheets, bed coverings, location etc. etc. were fantastic and each time we came out of the hotel someone was taking a photo of it. Our meal that evening, was equally noteworthy. The restaurant was perched above the street, the atmosphere very Spanish, the food excellent, with us order

The Barber of Seville and Arcos

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Antonio the Barber of Seville Who wouldn't use the opportunity to say you've had your hair cut by the Barber of Seville? When you are on the road this long you start to need to attend to things like wash, haircuts etc. Fortunately wash was done in Nazare, but I was starting to get antsy about getting a haircut before Morocco. As it turned out Sandra spotted “the barber of Seville” just 4 doors down from our hotel and fortunately he was able to fit me in right away.  I got a great haircut. Seems like a lot of the great barbers are named Tony. Mom reminds me that he danced around the chair as he cut my hair. Well we headed out of Seville to Arcos and wound our way through some small villages (hill towns) on the way there. In one we stopped when we saw a Mercado so that we could get some meat and cheese and bread for lunch as well as fruit. Sandra jokingly remarked later that one of the ladies took pity on me as I was juggling fruit and she went and got me a bag, while Sand

Seville

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The Bulls Entrance.....No Bull! Ran the AC all night as it only cooled the bedroom. The bathroom was easily 15C warmer overnight. In the morning the room didn’t come with breakfast so we headed down to the end of the street for a fantastic coffee and pastry place. Wow the coffee was super strong and good, no bitterness to it at all.  Took the bus #166/ or 160 into Seville proper, 1.3E for a 15 min ride. And walked to all the sites in Seville. The first is the Bull Ring, considered the top ring in Spain, it is where the King and Queen of Spain come to see a bull fight and one is on for this weekend. We took the tour of the stadium and it was very informative. I had attended a bull fight when I was a kid but I learned more from the tour than the actual fight. Seville has a river running through it that used to at one time allow Seville to be a port on the sea, however in the 1500’s the flood plain silted in and it is no longer navigable that way. The river and activities on it r

Salema

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Salema  >> Huelva >>and on to Seville Revolucion Bridge April 25 We headed out from Lisbon over the April 25 Bridge and toward the Algrave region. The Algarve is Portugal’s version of the French Riveria with Lagos being the boating centre and Faro the place everyone flies into. We chose Salema, partly because of advice that had said how it was off the beaten path and we had found a good place to stay there.  Well as it turned out the place to stay had gotten a whole lot more popular and pricey so we inquired in town and found another apartment, 2 bedroom with kitchen, balcony, etc. for 45E a night, stay as long as we want.  Sole for her So we grabbed showers, headed for the beach, showered again then went out for supper the first night at AL BOIA and had a great breast of chicken in port sauce with mushrooms which was excellent and then later enjoyed the remainder of a bottle of Monte De Almonte we had taste tested at a wine store in Lisbon, a Tinto reserva wine

Sintra and Lisbon

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Sintra to Lisbon Sintra Castello Our drive from Nazare to Lisbon was supposed to be through Sintra as it is a WHS town. As old as the hills it stands on it is old. We rode out to a private garden that is called Montserrat however it was like the Butchart gardens. The Castelo there was beautiful and old, just like Convento do Cristo designed by Manueline.  From there we selected the waypoint of our Ibis hotel in Lisbon only to have the GPS come back Route construction error. What the ??  Turns out when downloading the map sets for this area there was a small part of Lisbon that wasn’t selected so we pulled out the netbook and downloaded the proper map set. Later when  I checked the route set I found and caught that I failed to select the maps for Seville. Oh well, now I know. On arrival at our hotel we were deluged with Goldwings, mostly from Morocco since they arrived first. One of the organizers came up and offered us his card and any help he could provide in Casablanca where

Tomar and Nazare

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On to Portugal The border with Portugal Welcome to Portugal Hill Towns Heading from Avila (pronounced a-vi-LA) to Castelo Branco was in keeping with our idea of doing approx. 300 kms. a day. The ride was easy , with no traffic to begin with, then we began climbing up into a mountain pass and then down on the other side with really tight corners and sheer cliffs to one side. It was such a change in pace but it was nice too.  When we got into Plasencia we picked up some fruit to eat and headed for Castelo Branco with the deal being we wouldn’t make a decision on whether to head on further until we saw the town. The border crossings between Spain and Portugal was probably the most interesting in that there is no formal crossing now because of the EU rules, but of course there are all the old buildings and the required country signs.  By the time we got here it was very hot so we changed into the “air” version of our riding gear, had some fruit and continued on. When we got to Caste