Another Big Trip--Spainhttps://www.facebook.com/, Gibraltar, Portugal with a Dido into Africa, Part IV

We headed south from Toledo to our next airbnb in the unknown Ibros in the Jaén Province. This was an opportunity to be out of the touristy towns and we were able to see a perhaps a more authentic lifestyle for many Spaniards. Our apartment was again a challenge to drive to, and parking became a pain Mike learned to live with.

We were across the street from the town center: the Church.  From our apartment we could watch the comings and goings of the community. Down the street were a handful of bars/restaurants that filled up with the entire town on a Saturday night.

Because we had a car, we spent our two days there exploring two larger, more historic towns: Baeza and Ubeda.

These are towns are part of UNESCO's world heritage center. This area was once ruled by the Moors, but by the 1500's the Christians had taken over and this places in the Jaén Province are primarily Renaissance architecture.














These were relaxing days where we dropped the desire to see most famous sights of the larger towns and cities. One afternoon we sat in the sun in the central plaza of Ubeda and ate tapas and Marin and I painted.

Our subject matter. 

Marin would try any tapas presented. Here she is
eating a raw anchovy.

And we watched the sun go down and the tower we painted light up.







The next morning we loaded up the car an took off for Granada. I had read up a bit about the city of Jaén and convinced Mike and Marin that a sashay off the highway to see the Jaén Cathedral.

It was built on the sight of of mosque, and took a couple of centuries to complete due to earthquakes and other damaging incidents. It was finally consecrated in the early 1700's.

From there, we went through miles and miles of olive orchards.

Olive trees as far as the eye can see.

We stopped to looked more closely. Even a very old tree can be pruned and will continue to produce olives.

By mid afternoon we were in Granada. Where Mike was more than happy to return our rental car!

Granada

We were once again in a very modern apartment in a centuries old structure. We were right around the corner from the Granada Cathedral, and there was no entrance fee.

The biggest tourist attraction in Granada is Alhambra: an Arabic fortress dating back to the 800's when it was constructed on top of Roman ruins. Over time more buildings were added to the complex and it became the royal court of Ferdinand and Isabella. We could not get tickets, even reading tips on how to fool the system. 

Street performers: this too a bit to figure out 

how he did this. 

Fray Luis wrote over 45 books in the 

1500.

We enjoyed a relaxing day of walking and shopping. Marin was anxious to get gifts for her family and friends. And there were plenty of shops willing to sell!

Oh, the smells!

Another car rental and we were off to Gibraltar.

Gibraltar

Gibraltar is so small, yet historically important. Sitting at the juncture of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, it has been a stronghold for Britain since 1714. Spain has not forgotten that it once was part of Spain and they don't make it easy to get there. We had to return our car to Algeciras,  Spain. Take a cab to the Spain/Gibraltar border and walk into Gibraltar. 

This 3 square mile rock is called an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom. The British have put in hundreds of tunnels over the years to hide men, hospitals, guns, trucks and more. The rock also has natural caves. There are about 30,000 residents. The big attractions are the the macaques (tailless monkeys), St. Michael Caves, and the remnants of a Moorish Castle.

We got out of a cab and started the walk to the Rock.

St. Michael's caves were a hospital in WWII, and now host

events such as musical concerts and weddings. 

This photo captures the sea traffic behind the monkey 

The Morrish Castle remains

A 21st Century kid in a 16th Century setting.l

We enjoyed the change from old Spain to old Britain. Our Airbnb was a Georgian Era (1714-1830) museum. We had delicious meals while there since the cuisine was more familiar to American food

We had one dinner outside, overlooking the marina. Within minutes, a tremendous thunderstorm moved in with incredible winds. It was a thrilling natural event which seemed to ground us after all the structural and historical emphasis we'd focused on for days.

With the travel difficulties that arose getting to our next destination in the middle of Portugal, we spent an evening all working on our devises to figure out an alternative. Within an hour, we were getting ferry tickets to Morocco. Why not?!

Another Big Trip--Spainhttps://www.facebook.com/, Gibraltar, Portugal with a Dido into Africa, Part III

I ended Part II "we rent a car." Why is this significant? I can give a few tips here if you have not rented a vehicle in a foreign country.

• Pros: they drive on the right sided in Spain, you can travel to spots that might be hard to get to on public transit, you get to see more of the landscape, it is relatively inexpensive. ( Use a website such as travelocity because the insurance is a lot cheaper with them.
• Cons: an automatic is much more expensive so ask yourself if you can drive a stick shift, you will need excellent backing-up skills because streets in a Medieval town were not made for automobiles, a place to park can be very difficult to find, you need one person driving and one person navigating. 

Be sure to get photos of the car's scrapes and bumps before taking off--and pray you do not add to them.

Notice how Mike and Marin are getting into
doorways to avoid becoming hood ornaments.

If you are lucky like me, you have a steady driver who can put on his big boy pants when he'd rather not. Hey, you have no choice once you made the commitment.

I will share our most stressful experience and let you imagine a few other similar adventures from there. We made the mistake of turning up the wrong street while seeking our Airbnb in Toledo. Inching up the narrow street, we came to a dead end where 2 cars were parked making turning around look like mission impossible. Marin and I got out of the car, one at the front, one at the back. Mike began the "back and fill" of the century. We guided him inch by inch, forward and back, at least 10 times. By the time we were turned around and driving downhill, we were three exhausted and sweaty people.

So back to renting a car. . . We had booked an Airbnb in Segovia. This was the place Marin had named as a place she really wanted to see months before our journey. Unfortunately, the apartment owner contacted us while we were in Barcelona to inform us that there were "structural issues" and the apartment was no longer available. That opened up 3 unplanned days. 

A car was the quickest way to get to Segovia, and then we could head South from there.

Why Segovia? For Marin, she was drawn to this castle which inspired Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty castle. As I read about it, I was attracted to the history as well as the architecture. Celts, Romans, Visigoths, Moors, they all preceded Christians who turned this into an illustrious place.


The still standing aqueduct dates back to the first century A.D.

The Castle was built in the early 1100's. This is where Columbus asked Queen Isabella for support to explore the seas.

The Romanesque Cathedral was burned down and rebuilt in 1525.






I'll share a few interior shots:

Cathedral Interior:

The Spanish explorers brought back gold and silver from the Americas.

There is a creepiness to the thought of so many dead below your feet.

If you get up close, you can see the amazing hand stitched faces in the scene on this religious garb.

Amidst all the glitter and grandeur, I loved this humble sculpture of Madonna and child from the 1200's.

Castle Interior

The castle's chapel

Can you imagine Christopher Columbus gazing across the landscape waiting to meet with Queen Isabella?

 

As the Knights in armor come and go--Ouch!! This brings getting kicked to a whole new level.

Unfortunately we only had one day in this charming wall-surrounded hilltop town.

After Mike's fine driving getting us out of the narrow streets, I found driving on the highway quite relaxing. There was very little traffic and the roads are extremely well maintained.

Since our Segovia apartment cancellation, three days opened up. There was only one night available at an Airbnb we found in Toledo. (That's where the back and fill nightmare occurred.) We finally found our apartment, which was wonderful, but it was late and we didn't see much on our way to dinner.

The next morning we headed out in hopes of seeing some of this historical place. When we got to the Cathedral we ran into mobs of tourists. We kept diving into doorways to avoid the cars were bringing up people for a wedding. The plaza was filled with a peace demonstration asking for a resolution to the Spain/Catalonia dispute. In other words, it was not inviting to wander the streets.

Next time, I would make Toledo a long lay-over. With the grandeur of the having the Royals live there until they moved to Madrid and an El Greco Museum, I know it would be a wonderful stay. But it was not to be on this trip.

A wonderful view of Toledo as we headed south.

We decided to hit the road to our next 2 nights in Ibros. Never heard of it?  We hadn't either, but we found a place to lay our heads and a new area to explore.

Along our drive south, we were reminded we were in Don Quixote territory.