Alexander+Whitman

April 27: Initial research started with a general plan for the trip. We will be taking a circle through Andalucia starting out by heading north from Granada and then east toward Sevilla or Cadiz depending on the weather. After Cadiz or Sevilla we will head back to Granada via the coast, seeing Gibraltar and parts of the Coast del Sol. The weather is being temperamental so having a strict plan will only lead to being wet, we are going to have to play it by ear but I would like to see some white mountain villages and Ronda if possible.

April 28: Parents arrived this evening. We will be leaving tomorrow morning for our trip, tonight a light dinner and a little looking over the map. We will return with enough time to explore Granada. But in my itinerary we will be exploring Granada first and the moving on the the rest of Andalucia.

April 29: Today we started north from Granada driving through endless olive trees. We stopped at Alcala la Real but it was siesta and the castle was closed. From there we headed west stopping in Priego de Cordoba for the afternoon, beautiful city but it is raining. From Priego we headed to Osuna for the night. Osuna is beautiful, with spectacular mansions and delicious food. We stayed the night in the Palacio Del Marques De La Gomera Hotel, in the suite that is on the hotel's postcard. We had dinner at Casa Curra, incredible, cheap and very authentic Spanish food. Delicious.

April 30: Explored Osuna little, saw storks living on the cathedral. Today we headed south to Ronda. A very nice drive through the countryside but Ronda was overflowing with tourists when we arrived. Despite all of the people we managed to find some privacy by heading down below the bridge, beautiful views and some yummy tapas for lunch. This evening we drove through Grazalema and El Bosque to Arcos de la Frontera. A beautiful drive through the mountains and cork orchards. Definitely a treasure of Andalucia. In Arcos we found Casa Campana a wonderful little inn with an apartment to rent. We then dined at a very local restaurant with shrimp and breaded mussels.

May 1: We took a walking tour of Arcos this morning designed by our hotel. An incredible town with a long a interesting history. We bought some pottery from an artisan store tucked away in a corner of an old part of town. Today was Cruces de Mayo so we explored Arcos and found quite a few crosses, our favorite was the one where the man offered us a delicious cup of sangria. Around noon we headed to Cadiz. Upon arrival we were not very impressed with Cadiz and hotels were full and expensive. We walked along the beach and through a seaside park before heading further down the coast to find a hotel. We ended up in Vejer de la Frontera and stayed at the Convento San Francisco. A beautiful but simple convent converted into a hotel at the entrance to the old city.

May 2: My mom's birthday! We had a looong day but it was quite fun. We explored Vejer during the morning, a wonderful little town with a lot more to offer than we expected. Vejer has a very unique Plaza España and an interesting Muslim quarter. After exploring Vejer we set off along the coast, stopping Zahara de los Atunes for a short stop and Tarifa where we walked to the southern most point of Europe. From here we continued driving along the coast past the Rock of Gibraltar, we decided not to cross the border but did walk along the beach next to it and took some photos. We continued driving into the night arriving in Mijas in the hills above the Costa del Sol. We found a quaint hotel in the heart of the town and a delicious though late Birthday Paella. Delicious.

May 3: Another long day. After exploring Mijas for the morning (touristy), we drove through Malaga and stopped on the beach of Rincon de la Victoria where we enjoyed fresh fruit and pastries on the beach, finally some sun. We took the coastal route all the way to Nerja where we walked along the beaches and collected perfectly white rocks. We had round of gin and tonics next to the beach and headed to the Alpujarras region. In Lanjaron we found ourselves quite pleased with the region but the stress of school looming in the morning we decided to head back to Granada after a sortido of products of Alpujarras.

May 4: Class all day and I uploaded photos from out trip and began sorting them for my powerpoint. I am going to have to find some photos of a few hotels that I missed and invent a couple of stops for my itinerary but over all it seems like a rather good tour of Andalucia. I feel like we saw a wide variety of what this region has to offer, such a diverse place.

May 5:A fun day in Granada with the parents. They are staying in Hostal Lima, a hotel I would recommend to anyone, affordable and run by a wonderful family. We explored the Albaicin and centro today. It is fun to share all the little corners of Granada that I have discovered with my family. We played the tapa game tonight and we discovered a couple of corners of Granada that I had never been to before, this town is delicious.

May 6: The Alhambra. A sight that everyone visting Granada has to see. I have been a few times now and it is still impressive. The MC Escher exhibit is quite a treat, I have been a fan of his since I was a child. We ended the night with a flamenco show at Un Chien Andalou. Spectacular. I had no idea a dance show could be so enjoyable. We also ate a wonderful dinner of lentils and gazpacho and few surprises as well. Half the fun of traveling is the miscommunications. Off to Galicia tomorrow via Toledo. I am definitely looking forward to the walk.

May 7- May 17: Camino De Santiago

May 18: Galicia is incredible, but I am tired, no work today.

May 19: I am still tired but I am going to begin building my presentation.

May 20: Finding the missing pieces of my itinerary today. Attempting to finish up my presentation but I don't think it is quite there yet...

May 21: It is just too nice today, honestly lying in a park enjoying the sun today. I sent in as many old homework as I could dig up. Tomorrow I should be able to finish up my presentation.