Southern Spain

Well as Robin is busy studying and we have had many (polite) demands for a new blog post, it is my turn to get out the chisel and stone to let you know about the rest of our trip to the south of Spain.

On March 7 at 1:30pm we flew from Barcelona to Malaga in the South of Spain. The flight was hasel free and short and we even got emergency exit seats which gave us some extra leg room. Upon arriving we got a taxi to take us to the hotel. At this point Robin and I have had a great deal of taxi rides. Some of which are a nice drive, some (most) where there is a large language barrier, others which I enjoy are when they drive at warp speeds through the city. This taxi ride though was another first for us. The driver was employing the heavy pulse braking and acceleration technique, while blaring the news on the radio and taking notes, accompany that with the windows being up and it quite hot in the car and it made for a very unpleasant trip. Robin was really nauseated by the time we arrived at the hotel.

We arrived at the hotel after 25 minutes of agony. Upon checking in there was an issue regarding our reservation but we quickly got it sorted out. We were exhausted and testy and were anxious to get upstairs to our room. When we got upstairs to our "smoke free room" it had a very strong smell of ashtray. We were not entirely pleased. Another trip to the concierge and we were in another room. The rooms were small and crowded, but we were happy to be there. Since restaurants don't open for dinner until about 8pm in Spain, around 8:30pm we decided it was time to go out for dinner. We were pleased to find that the number 1 restaurant on trip adviser was a ten minute walk from our hotel. We ventured out but had no luck finding it. We were certain that we were on the right street. After a thorough walk up and down the street... we found it. It was closed, lights were off, doors were locked. So far we were striking out on this leg of our journey. There was however a sign in Spanish which we deciphered and found that they would be open the following evening after the owners returned from vacation. We ended up walking a ways down the street and found a nice looking restaurant. I had a lovely meal of kangaroo while Robin had lamb. At the restaurant there was a Flamenco show as the evenings entertainment. It was one guitar player, one vocalist, and a female dancer that looked more like a Chinese ninja. The show was not very good. However a highlight was in an attempt to keep the crowd of roughly 12 people motivated, the dancer was coming around and picking people from the tables to dance with her. I was one of the lucky few and had a great time tearing up the floor. Robin says that I looked like a cowboy at a hoedown, even though I know it was not meant as a compliment I still take it as one and think I had great form. After dinner and a show we returned back to our hotel to watch some football.
The next day we set out on an adventure. It was overcast/rainy and chilly, which was the constant for the entire trip. After taking the advice of the concierge to go to the shopping district we were off. With no food in our stomachs and being led to the business district of town rather than the shopping district, we were not impressed. We walked around trying to find breakfast, but being that Spain has eclectic timetables for dining we were unable to find anything. Finally we gave in and settled for a breakfast of champions consisting of diet coke, cheetos, and chocolate bars. That gave us the energy for a nice walk down the beach where we watched the waves for a bit but didn't dare dip our toes in for two reasons: fishermen present on the beach and the chilly weather. On the way back we walked past the botanical gardens, and some historical monuments. Later that night our luck turned as we enjoyed dinner at the number 1 tapas restaurant in Malaga. It was the best dining experience we have had since being in Europe.

The following morning we set off back to the airport to pick up our rental car and our friend Jeff (who is a Canadian living in Holland taking the same courses as Robin.) We had a beautiful drive to Granada, mind you it is still raining and overcast it has been the entire trip so far minus one nice day in Barcelona when we rented our Gocar. It was nice to see the olive groves and the windy roads were quite enjoyable. Once arriving in Granada we were driving down cobblestone streets that back home would not have passed as big enough for sidewalks. Robin and Jeff both remarked that they were glad I was driving rather than either of them.  I had to get us out of some pretty tight situations...literally.  We found a nice hotel and parked the car for two days. After getting settled and enjoying a refreshment at the hotel bar we set out for dinner. After a dinner of shiskababs and Ox tail we set out for a drink. My favorite part of Spain is that when you go to a bar/pub and order a drink, it comes with a free Tapas. You pay 1-3 Euro for a beer and get a sandwich, meat, cheese, chips for free! And that is with every drink that you order. After free tapas and watching some football we headed back to the hotel to call it a night.


The following morning Jeff and I set out to get tickets to the Alhambra . The Alhambra is a palace and fortress complex constructed during the mid 14th century by the Moorish  rulers of the Emirite of Granada occupying the top of the hill of the Assabica on the southeastern border of the city of Granada (thank you wikipedia) . It is such a busy place that once you buy your tickets a time is then reserved in which you can enter and gain access to the Palace. We had a time of 2:00pm which meant we could go back home to nap. At 12:30 we were out on the town and after a quick lunch made our way up the long steep hill up to the Alhambra. The views were breathtaking. It was quite a positive experience and we had a great time roaming the grounds for over 3 hours.

After the Alhambra we went back to the hotel to relax before dinner. We decided that for dinner we would see how many places we could go to and have tapas. We had anticipated going to many different places but after the second restaurant we were full. I had ordered a bagel off the tapas menu which I assumed would be tiny, so I also ordered a dish of roasted potatoes (even though the server warned me the bagel was quite large). My thoughts were, "I am a man, it will take more than a bagel to fill me up regardless of its size....."  I was wrong which I will admit has happened before. The bagel came along with my potatoes. Had there had been pictures on the menu I would have been able to see that the bagel was the size of a wheelbarrow tire (I ended up giving my untouched potatoes to the girls at the table next to us). After dinner we headed back to the hotel to enjoy some Eddie Murphy comedy.

Friday march 11 we set of for the next destination on our adventure. Before setting off though we drove in search of breakfast at mcdonalds, and it was closed, went to the burger king, it was also closed. We then went to a large grocery store and it was also closed, however it did have a Dunkin Coffee (which oddly resembled a Dunkin Donuts) and despite the coffee sandwich artist not speaking a word of English, we sucessfully ordered breakfast. Robin found it particularly comedic that the establishment was named Dunkin COFFEE, yet the man had no clue what I was asking for when I ordered a coffee in English.  After a few hours drive we stopped at Ronda. It was a beautiful city. It was raining as we walked through the city on foot. We walked around for an hour or so and then stopped for a cup of tea/coffee. After that we went back to the car and drove off to Seville.

When we arrived in Seville it was rush hour. After a lengthy drive through the city and a few traffic violations i.e reversing down a one way street, u turns at a red light in front of the city hall, we made it to our hotel. That afternoon we watched diving on Tv and were mesmerized by the ability of the divers. Later that evening we went out to a Flamenco show which had dinner included. It was a first for Jeff, where as Robin and I at this point were well seasoned Flamenco patrons. We were fortunate in that we only paid for the package of show, drinks, tapas, but received the show, drinks and a full meal! Our luck was changing. After the show we wandered back to the hotel. Along the way though we heard a band playing and decided to check it out. They were great. It was nice to hear some jazz/funk music that reminded us of the kind of live band that played at our wedding. After that we set off back to the hotel to call it a night.
The following morning after breakfast in the hotel we set off for a bus tour of the city. This was the second sunny day we had during our entire trip in Spain. We saw many various attractions which also included the Plaza de Espana which was used as scenery for the planet Naboo in Star wars episode 2. It was quite a nice way to see the city. After a late lunch on a terrace we dropped Jeff off at his hotel and Robin and I made our way back to Malaga to catch our flight the next morning at 6:20am.

We got a hotel in Malaga for the evening and had dinner and watched football. It was pretty uneventful. The next morning at 4:30am we were up and headed to the airport. We were back home safely in Maastricht by 9am Sunday morning. Even though the weather could have been nicer we still really enjoyed our trip, however it was nice to be back home.  We hope to visit Spain again sometime, so the poor weather won't leave a bad taste in our mouths forever, but perhaps we'll wait a few more years for that next Spanish adventure. For now, it's back to the grind of homework and a new course for Robin.

View from our hotel room in Malaga

 Boat for sale

 At the beach in Malaga

 In the Botanical gardens

 Out for dinner.... my wife is hot!

 Shiskabobs in Granada.

 The walk up to the entrace of the Alahambra

 One of the views of the city from the Alahambra

 Another view

 One of many courtyards in the Palace

 One of the many gardens in the Palace

My bagel. 

In Ronda site seeing

 Some of the views in Ronda

In Seville the view of Naboo from Star wars.