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Alhambra (the Red Castle)

Heading into Granada early in the morning, we decided to take a chance to see if we could get into  Alhambra, the Red Castle. This World Heritage Site receives 6000 visitors per day during the summer and tickets are bought months in advance.

Standing in the long line, in the cold drizzle, two Belgium women approach us. They say, “we have two extra tickets to get into the Alhambra for 9:00 AM, would you like to buy them and come in with us?” Their problem was that all 4 tickets were bought in advance and two of their friends fell ill and couldn’t use them. Sure, we said.

For the next 3 hours we marvelled at the network of lavishly decorated palaces and irrigated gardens.

Love Recommendations!

Our girlfriend suggested that we might really enjoy visiting La Casa del Viento in Lanjaron situated in Las Alpujarras, close to the Sierra Nevada. Keeping that thought in mind we ended up contacting Ann with only a few days notice. Fortunately for us, she had two cancellations and we would be her only guests.

Ann owns a terraced property overlooking Lanjaron. Not only was Ann a wonderful host, the hiking was superb, the food amazing and her helpers were awesome. So I have to say, it was one great recommendation.

Ronda

This is one of Spain’s oldest communities first founded by the Islam’s in the 9th century. Ronda is divided by a magnificent gorge that separates the old town from the new town, relatively speaking. Although the gorge and surrounding landscape is beautiful the bridge that spans the gorge is a structural gem. Not surprisingly Ronda is also home to Spain’s largest and oldest bull fighting ring.

We heard that not even 15 years ago Ronda maintained a fairly quiet existences and people loved its special charm. Every day countless visitors embark on this community daily arriving in a steady stream of tour buses. It feels to me maybe a little of the charm people speak about may have been lost.

Seville ended up being a wonderful transition from Spain’s Canary Islands to the continent. We stayed in a beautifully renovated apartment in the historic area, wondered through magically narrow streets, ate impossibly delicious tapas, and were moved to the core by incredibly skilled flamenco dancers in the most intimate theatre. Wow, great fun.

Mass Tourism, Kite Surfers, Sand Dunes & Nudes!

We new about Maspalomas and were not sure about visiting a place of mass tourism without to much heart or soul. On the other hand, in the same place massive sand dunes cover an area of 400 hectares here. Creating somewhat of a strategy, we decide to work our way by expensive shops, restaurants, panhandlers and sunbathers to get access to the dunes. Noticing kite surfers in the distance we started walking towards the action attracted to the bright colourful kites. Making our way around huge sand dunes we find ourselves in the middle of a nude bathing zone. ----Ummmmmmm--- I guess you might say were a little over dressed for the occasion!

LOOK!

The odds of seeing at least one procession during Semana Santa seemed less likely as we approached Easter Sunday. It was about 8:00 PM when we drove into San Nicolas and noticed several of the streets were closed. So we decided to check it out. Sure enough, a procession had started and some how Nick and I ended up right smack in the middle of it.

Sombre music droned from the creeping marching band as people quietly, sadly almost, shuffled behind priests in full regalia; some pushing decorated floats in honour of the sacred event.

Ocean Mist

It is refreshing to visit the coastal area of Agaete. The town has a beautiful harbour sheltered from the pounding sea that protects the colourful boats and lovely pebble stone beach. Beyond the harbour the terrain is rugged and the steep. The waves smash against the rock walls sending frothing water in a myriad of directions.

eNDleSs PoSsiBiLiTiEs

Hiking options are plentiful in this region and many are very challenging. On this day we decide to hike the Roque Nublo circular route. Roque Nublo is the second highest peak on the island and is culturally very important to the local indigenous people. Often the peak is covered by a cloak of clouds and the weather is constantly changing. We navigated our way up and down steep trails, saw beautiful flowers, and enjoyed eating our picnic lunch by a group of singing green frogs. Another awesome day!

Balconies

Beautiful Grand Caneria balconies that are common on houses in the region.

Acusa Seca Cave House

Our directions were simply; "meet Tino at the only gas station in Artenara and he will give you the keys to the cave house". Sure enough, we walk into the gas station and there is Tino patiently waiting for us to arrive. We walk outside, he hands over the keys, and proceeds to describe how to get to our destination in Spanish. Figuring out the key points in Tino's directions, we find ourselves on a very narrow serpentine road that literally ends at the cliff dwellings.. Wow, wow, wow, wow, holy crap, wow, kept rolling off our tongues......this is spectacular.

Walking on da moon; hope my legs won't break...

We spent a few days hiking in this unique and varied volcanic terrain. There are twisted lava pinnacles, sharp black lava boulders, dried out magma flows, and endless mountain trails. We trekked through sand and snow, climbed routes impossibly narrow, just to reach the top of a mountain. Yeah, it was all worth it.

Spectacular El Tiede

The largest volcanic mountain in Spain is a mere 3,718 meters and literally dominates the landscape on Tenerife. En-route to this monolith in the sky, we pass through towering pines, snow clad ridges and burst through the cloud cover to what feels like the top of the world. Welcome to Parque Nacional del Tiede.