Toledo to Costa Del Sol

Day 4: Sunday, May 1, 2011
Unfortunately I woke up sick with a sore throat & cold on the morning we left for Cordoba via Toledo, and the next few days kind of blended together but I will tell you what I can remember now that I am starting to feel better.

On Sunday we started heading south and stopped in the old city of Toledo. Toledo is a truly spectacular city. The streets are narrow and winding, it has a fortress wall, and sits on top of a hill. What made it even more enjoyable was the beautiful weather we finally had!

Our local guide took us on a walk through the streets while giving us the history of the city. It's really interesting to get the perspective of someone who lives locally, rather than reading about it in History 101. The passion for their culture and heritage really makes history come to life.

In the heart of the city was the cathedral. With it's high towers sweeping the sky it was really a sight to see!

I especially loved the detail that went in to everything. Just below the high cathedral windows etched in to the rock were Jesus & the disciples at the last supper.

Another interesting thing about this city was the massive doors, with the knocker way to high to reach. Our guide explained that those were the quarters on nobility, who you knew by them riding horseback, so they made the doors wide and tall enough for someone who was on a horse.

To end our tour of Toledo we stopped in at a working Damascus steel shop where we got to see artisans inlay gold and silver into steel for jewelry, swords, and pendants.

We had a couple hours drive from there to Cordoba where we would stay for the evening. I slept most of the trip there, and when we arrived pretty much went straight to bed, knowing I would get to appreciate Cordoba in the morning and would need my energy.

Day 5: Monday, May 2, 2011
On Monday I woke up feeling worse than the day before but couldn't resist going on the morning tour of Cordoba.

Cordoba is an unusual city in that it was lived in by Jewish, Muslim, & Catholics at the same time. These different cultures contributed to the different variations in the buildings and architecture.

The highlight of the morning was a visit to the 8th Century Mosque of the Caliphs. The entire building is made of hand carved stone and resembles a mosque & cathedral at the same time. The pictures below are different parts of the same building.

It was also interesting that as we walked through the city (and thinking back to the others), all of the streets were made of cobblestone or solid granite. Chris and I are thinking of doing a major remodel in the backyard this summer and we couldn't help but to think how expensive it must have been to build these beautiful cities.

After our short stay in Cordoba, we began our drive continuing south to Granada.

Day 6: Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Tuesday morning we got to tour the famed Alhambra, a 14th Century fortress/palace in Granada. Here is where I truly appreciated being on a guided tour - because of the size they are only able to sell a certain # of tickets each year, usually selling out up to a year in advance, and are timed tickets. if you are more than 30 minutes late they will not let you in. at all.

The alhambra means "the Red Palace" because it's color is red and was built for a red headed king. The last person who lived there was actually Washington Irving, who wrote many of his books there. One, which I guess is hard to find in the US, is a book about all the different stories and legends of the alhambra. Definitely something I plan on looking up on Amazon.

The courtyards & gardens were especially beautiful, unfortunately it was raining the whole time so the pictures we captured really doesn't do it justice.

After our tour of the alhambra we drove way way up into the hills to a tiny village for our home hosted lunch. Here we split into 4 groups and each headed to a different home to have lunch with one of the local families. It was a very different feel from the fast paced lifestyle of the cities, and such beautiful country.

On the way we passed miles and miles of olive groves - not flat but you could see layers of hills, reaching up to 3,000 feet of rows of olive trees. Truly spectacular. We learned that Spain has surpassed Italy and is now the world's #1 producer of Olive Oil. So, after our lunch, we were able to visit a small olive oil factory to see how it is made. And of course got a taste of the end result before we continued on our way to Costa Del Sol for a leisurely 3 nights stay in Torremolinos, a beach resort city by the mediterranean sea. So ready for the sun!