Bill Carlson

Spain Part 1

Bill Carlson
Spain Part 1
On our last day in Madrid, after foraging through far too many fried foods, fishy sea creatures, pork rinds and offal, we finally found the local landmark bomb: Chocolateria San Gines, home of churros and hot chocolate since 1894! First you dip the …
Angry clowns in Madrid.
Madrid street market.
We hit the road to Avila a few days ago via Segovia and then went onto Toledo, driving through the countryside that presented everything from desert-like regions to ski slopes. Wild blackberries and cool nights make it feel like autumn, but the long…
Toledo
The highways are a far cry better than the 405 in LA. Endless miles of flawless blacktop stretch as far as the eye can see with only an occasional fellow motorist along the way enabling us to make great time, enough so to include a side trip to the …
Merida Temple of Diana
We took a turn to the south into the Andalusia region, first visiting Cordoba and then Granada: Cordoba for La Mezquitaop, once the largest mosque in Europe (and third largest in the world) though it is now used as a Cathedral and then to Granada fo…
Walking through the Jewish Quarter of Cordoba
Every site we visit seems bigger and more elaborate than the last, and the Alhambra is truly magnificent! We feel fortunate to be here slightly off season because the crowds have not been too much of an issue.
We were able to get tickets to a gypsy flamenco performance, which turned out to be much more dramatic and exciting than we had expected and almost as consuming as the architecture we have been seeing.
We hit the Costa Del Sol but even though the attached photo shows the pretty view, up close and personal it is overbuilt, overcrowded and over-rated. We split as soon as possible but not before going down under for a look into the caves in Nerja, ju…
Ronda
The toy store in Ronda.
Grazalema, another whitewashed town nearby, much smaller and even quainter and more lovely than Ronda. We have remained up in the hills, despite having to navigate our little Citroen on single lane roads winding through steep canyons with the occasi…