Vacations: Spain and Peru
Jul 29, 2009 • Public
Photo: Our tour on the Costa Del Sol took us from Barcelona (near France) to the Straits of Gibraltar and Morocco.
Photo: The Barcelona cathedral was undergoing renovations, so this post card photo will have to do.
Photo: Around the cathedral are wonderful galleries, boutiques, and restaurants.
Photo: We especially enjoyed going to a different tapas place every night for dinner.
Photo: We saw lots of Gaudi's architecture on a tour around town.
Photo: The Gaudi Cathedral. What's the national bird of Spain? Answer: The Crane.
Photo: Here we are on Montjuic, the highest hill overlooking Barcelona.
Photo: One of the buildings that originally hosted the Olympics was renovated into a Visigothic museum.
Photo: After a whirlwind 3 days in Barcelona, we headed to our apartment in Torremolinos.
Photo: Our apartment hotel was right on the beach, with several decent restaurants within walking distance. "Downtown" was uphill.
Photo: Here's Jim in a tapas bar "downtown."
Photo: Me shopping for gifts for the relatives. I also got nice Majorca pearls.
Photo: This is our fearless leader - Antonio, our tour guide. He lived in Salinas, a small town nearby.
Photo: This woodworker in Salinas was trained in Morocco.
Photo: Antonio arranged a home-hosted visit with one of his neighbors. She had two kitchens - one just for show.
Photo: Antonio took us on a tour of Malaga and found the only brewpub there. Jim thought this was excellent!
Photo: The bull ring at Malaga. There was a film crew shooting a scene when we arrived.
Photo: There were the stuffed heads of brave bulls in the museum next to the bull ring.
Photo: Malaga had a nicely restored Roman ampitheatre that was used for local theatre performances.
Photo: This silver float is used for Holy Week parades through town to the Cathedral.
Photo: Then it was time to head along the coast and inland to Granada to see the Alhambra.
Photo: The Alhambra is a fortified castle built by the Moors, conquered by the Christians in 1492.
Photo: This is the famous "Court of the Lions" with its central fountain.
Photo: The layout was typically Islamic, with a Paradise garden.