Saturday, November 10, 2018

Southern Spain and Gibraltar 2018

It seems like a dream come true. 
We have finally made it to Seville, Malaga, Cordoba and Granada
with a few others in between, including Gibraltar.

More about each individual place
(These links will open in a new window)








Some details about the trip:
Our Miami-Malaga flights were booked with American (turned out to be Iberia operated by British Airways and Finnair!!) and as expected with Iberia, there were a few bumps along the road (like the mad dash thru T4 in Barajas to catch a plane with less than 15 minutes to spare because the Malaga-Madrid flight was almost an hour late!!). But we made it :)

We stayed at an Airbnb in Malaga (Thank you Agostina!) for the whole stay and rented a car with Budget from Malaga Airport - we drove back and forth instead of staying on each city. We had requested a compact car and were given a full size Renault Talisman sedan, very comfortable, with navigator and all the latest tech including proximity sensors, which were very much needed since spaces in Europe are very tight. There were a couple spots in which we had to tuck our mirrors in in order to navigate the narrow streets... 

The weather was supposed to be warm and the apartment was equipped with a washer so we were able to pack extra light this time:

Weather turned out to be HOT HOT HOT (Even in Granada where it was in the upper 50s at 10 AM and climbed up to the upper 80s in the afternoon!) and we were very glad we didn't pack anything warmer!!
It had rained the entire previous week and rain was predicted for the entire following week so everyone we met told us we were very lucky, weather-wise. Still, it rained every night, long, heavy downpours which left dense clouds at sunup covering the mountains but by the time we made it to the actual places the sun was out and shinning in all its glory. The worst day was Gibraltar - a 1-hour drive turned into a 2:30 hr drive because of heavy rains and when we got there, we could not see the top of the Rock!

But about one hour later the clouds dissipated and the sun came up. Thank you weather gods!








Wednesday, November 7, 2018

GIBRALTAR, UK


Aeropuerto - Airport

Main Street

Cementerio de Trafalgar - Trafalgar Cemetery

Teleférico - Cable Car

Macacos - Apes

Skywalk

El Peñón - Top of the Rock


Eating out:
The Angry Friar
289 Main St, Gibraltar GX11 1AA, Gibraltar
If you walk Main Street you can't miss it. It's a traditional English pub with traditional English fare. We happen to like it, so we enjoyed our fish & chips very much.



Monday, November 5, 2018

GRANADA, Spain

Catedral

Carrera del Darro - From the Cathedral to the Lookout

Mirador de San Nicolas - St. Nicholas Lookout

Alhambra - Generalife

Alhambra - Alcazaba

Alhambra - Palacios Nazaríes/Nasrid Palaces


Thursday, November 1, 2018

CORDOBA, Spain

Caballerizas Reales - Royal Stables

Patios y callejuelas - Streets and courtyards

Calleja de las Flores

Puente Romano - Roman Bridge

Mezquita-Catedral / Mosque-Cathedral

Tuesday, October 30, 2018

SETENIL de las BODEGAS, Spain

We fell in love with Setenil. So glad we decided to take the fork at the road.

We walked up and down the two major streets under the overhang and admired the houses built into the rock. There are also a couple of nice small churches and lookout points to admire the entire town.
We stopped to talk to a couple of elderly residents who are very proud to live in such a striking place. Every corner has its own piece of history attached to it, from the cavemen to the Romans to the Moors to modern times.
Great little town to spend half a day or maybe one slow day. Plenty of bars and restaurants along the streets. 

Friday, October 26, 2018

Thursday, October 25, 2018

RONDA, Spain

Mirador del Tajo

Plaza de Toros

Callejuelas

Iglesia de Santa Maria la Mayor y Plaza de la Duquesa

Puentes Nuevo y Viejo (Mirador de Aldehuela)

Puente Nuevo (Mirador del Tajo)


Monday, October 22, 2018

SEVILLE, Spain

Torre del Oro

Alcazaba

Patio de las Banderas

Archivo de Indias

Casa de Pilatos

Plaza del Ayuntamiento and nearby streets

Juderías

Patio de los Naranjos and Giralda

Cathedral


Eating out:
Taberna Las Escobas
(Calle Álvarez Quintero, 62, 41004 Sevilla, Spain)
We came across this cozy corner place and decided to sit down for a cup of espresso. While waiting for the coffee to arrive, we learned that this place claims to be the oldest eating place in the entire country, dating back to thee 1300s, and many important people visited it: Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Bécquer, Dumas, Lord Byron, etc. We are not even close to be this important! We liked the environment and the service. 

Saturday, October 20, 2018

MALAGA, Spain

Roman Theater

The Alcazaba

The Gibralfaro Castle

The Cathedral
(Web page)

Seawalk and Malagueta Beach

Walking around
(Description on each picture)


Eating/drinking out:
Tejeringos 
(Cuarteles 54, 29002 Malaga, www.tejeringoscoffee.es)
We had breakfast at this location every day for a week. Service was awesome. Off the beaten path but two doors from where we were staying.

El Rincon del Cervecero
(Calle Casas de Campos, 5, 29001 Málaga, elrincondelcervecero.com)
Loved it! Incredible selection of beers from around the world and great tapas. Prices were reasonable and service was good. It's a bit off the beaten path.

Cafe Plaza
(Plaza de la Marina, 2, 29015 Málaga)
We had dinner here twice because it was conveniently located halfway between the place we were staying at and the city center. It was good and the prices were reasonable. Service was very good.

Cafe Central
(Plaza de la Constitución, 11, 29005 Málaga, cafecentralmalaga.com)
The entire world believes this is the best place to get coffee in Malaga. Well, either no one has ever had good espresso or we had the worst luck ever. We were not impressed. Coffee was meh and service was horrible.

El Pimpi
(Plaza de la Judería, 29015 Málaga, elpimpi.com)
Great location with a view to the Roman Theater. We had the best sangria ever. Service was good, but slow.

Pepa y Pepe
(Calle Luis de Velázquez, 3, 29008 Málaga)
Food was good, prices a little high, service OK

Saturday, September 22, 2018

Discover Miami: Zoo Miami

Zoo Miami
12400 SW 152nd St, Miami, FL 33177
https://www.zoomiami.org/

Monday, August 6, 2018

Florida the Beautiful: North Fort de Soto Beach, St. Petersburg


Great beach with tons of parking, restrooms, showers, picnic areas, playground, white sands, shallow areas and a very enjoyable sandbank.

Saturday, June 30, 2018

Discover Miami - Miami Springs

Driving around Miami Springs

Glenn Curtiss Mansion
1-hour historic tours every Saturday at 10 AM ($5, free with library pass)
500 Deer Run, Miami Springs, FL 33166



Thursday, April 26, 2018

Little Cayman, Cayman Islands

The island - view from plane (Video)

Little Cayman Museum

Point of Sand

Driving around
(Most pictures have descriptions)

Little Cayman Beach Resort/Reef Divers

Diving (Pictures and videos)