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Andalucia Spain – November 2006
On November 11, 2006, Bebe & I flew to Seville, Spain to begin a 10 day trip through parts of the Andalucia region that we had missed during our honeymoon 52 years earlier.
Arriving in Seville the following day a taxi dropped us at the end of the narrow street in the old Santa Lucia section where our hotel, the Amadeus, was located.
The Giralda tower of Seville’s spectacular cathedral came into view as we began exploring Santa Lucia.
The nearby Mudejar palace, the Alcazar required the better part of a day to explore. The moorish architecture is evident in the Court of the Damsels.
On day 4 we picked up our Renault Clio and took mountain roads through Ronda and Grazelema on our way to Arcos located on a hilltop with narrow, barely passable streets.
From Arcos we made a day trip to Jerez to view a performance at the Real Escuela Andalucia del Arte Equestre. Here’s what the arena looked like before the show during which no photos were permitted. Bebe bought a DVD for viewing at home.
Back in Arcos we lunched one day in the rooftop garden of our hotel, the Casa Grande. The town center above and some of the valley below can be seen here.
On day 7 we did some more exploring on our way to Cordoba. The hillsides visible from the highways were often covered with olive groves.
Another hilltop village came into view and had to be explored. This was Zuhero where we had lunch in the square at the top of the village. The houses below were the traditional white.
We reached Cordoba that evening and began our visits the following day with the Fortress of the Christian Kings. Here is one of many photos of the pools and gardens.
The medieval city in Cordoba had many little streets like the Calle de las Flores. Our last day included a visit to the city block size Mezquita (mosque) built by the moors with hundreds of keyhole arches. A christian king later built an enormous cathredral within.
A drive from Cordoba to Seville with a stop at Carmona brought us near the airport from which we departed the following day.