Where, Oh Where...

I'm here, I promise. I have been a little busy. We have had guests since...ummm...I believe it was March 11th. It feels a bit like we've had guests for a couple of years instead of only a month, but that is just my body talking.

What have we been doing?

We've been to the following locations once:

Tablao El Arenal for the best flamenco and food ever.



Also, Tarifa and beyond for beaches and Roman ruins. We traveled through the park to get to the leather capital of Andalucia: Ubrique. The cork trees, they were so fabulous!



San Roque for the processional on holy Friday. That was indeed a cultural experience.

We've been to the following locations twice:

Granada, once with guided tour and once without.
Also, Seville for the Cathedral, Barrio Santa Cruz and Casa de Pilatos as well as the Real Alcazar.



We've been to the following locations thrice:

Ronda: the bridge, it is still standing! Gibraltar: the apes, they are still wrestling! Jerez: the horses, they are still dancing!

We visited the post office, the town markets, and we even saw a polo match with the last group. Also, I now know which road I will never ever take home from Ronda. Yes, it went through a natural park...eventually...and it did end up in Estepona where it claimed to lead, but the curves, they are so hairpin and the fox, he came from nowhere. We may refer to it as The Road to Espinosa[Read: Tahj and Ahj like to make up new titles for already established locations...another is Ramona(Ronda)], but just because we remember it fondly (with names from Scrubs, no less) does not mean any of us ever want to experience it again. EVER.

Other 'new experiences' I would just rather not experience again:

1. Aparcameinto El Arenal. Possibly the smallest (in all ways) parking garage ever. Not a one of the columns is without chunks of concrete missing. Also, parking there is very much like Austin Powers in the golf cart trying to turn around...you only need about a 30 point turn to finally get your vehicle in the spot. If you're lucky.

2. Ape poo. Nothing more needs to be said.

3. Doggy Fantastic taking issue with his treats and depositing many puddles of yack ON THE CARPET. There simply was no better place. None.

Things that were fabulous:

1. The hotels in Granada and Seville as well as the flamenco. All were scheduled and monies deposited without knowing for sure what it would be like. Thank you tripadvisor and my many guidebooks.

2. The views of Africa from Gibraltar; it has never been so clear.



3. Frank, our guide in Granada. He speaks so many languages, and the stories, they are fab!

4. The olives from La Linea Market. Mmm.....olives.

5. All of the things that I cannot even remember right now because my brain? It is still broken.

Due to my many adventures over the past month, I slept almost all day yesterday. That included two naps in between the laundry, Nissan dealer, and grocery store. Oh yeah, and I had a full night of sleep last night [Read: slept until 11 despite Doggy Fantastic's attemtps to get me up].

Therefore I am feeling much better today.

Almost normal even.

The good news: I have one more guest who arrives tomorrow. We are traveling to all of the places I have already been. This means that aside from the parking garage in Seville, I should know exactly where I am going and also how to leave each location.

We hope.

What does this mean for all of you?

(Ha. All of you. As if there are any of you left after a month of nothing...)

Well, I will once again be missing for at least a week. I will hopefully be able to post on the 12th for 12 of 12. HEY YOU! PARTICIPATE!

Once I am recovered again, I should have much to write about and hundreds of pictures to share. Until then, happy Easter, yay for spring, and look for me in a little over a week!

Sherry Bodegas and Horses, Oh My!

February twenty-eighth was the last official day of my birthday month for the year. It was also Andalucia Day here in Spain. Señor CC and I took advantage of his rare day off and drove up to Jerez for another scouting run. This time we were hoping to find parking as well as our way to the Real Escuela Andaluza de Arte Ecuestra, the Palacio del Tiempo, a couple of sherry bodegas and perhaps even the Alcazar.

We managed once again to follow signs for the centro and ended up in a parking garage right beside the information office. We headed inside to get a map and some other brochures. Our first order of business was to find the Real Escuela; we needed to know how far it was to walk there from the plaza. We saw a few interesting things on the way. The first was this fountain:



Next came this monument:



Followed immediately by the famous Tio Pepe barrels. Someone was having his photo taken in front of them with his guitar. As Jerez is the area of Spain where flamenco was created, the guitar is appropriate for sure.



Doors in Spain are different than those in the U.S. in a few ways, but perhaps the most noticeable is the doorknob. The location of the doorknob in the center of the door is visually different; functionally it does nothing except give you something to grab onto. One must have a key to turn the latch and open the door; the doorknob does not move. These doorknobs were the first that I have seen here with such handy explanation as to what those knobs are for...too bad the doors graced by these are very tall and it is really impossible to even reach the knob:



Jerez is full of monuments and statues. I saw more there in the few hours we were there than in most other cities I have visited. This next one sits at the end of a large plaza with a fabulous fountain.



We made it to the Real Escuela in pretty much no time at all and were able to find the carriage museum and Sandeman Bodega as well. Luckily, most of what we would want to see is up in one area. This is the ticket booth for the Real Escuela; if you look closely you can see the dancing horse above the ticket window:



As in any Spanish town, there are many churches in Jerez. I saw three or four of these tiled plaques in the small area we walked. They are all different and detailed. Usually there are flowers or some other gift placed nearby:



I am excited to go back to Jerez and see the dancing horses as well as some of the other interesting sights in the city. Only a few more days and we shall be there!