Blogs from Arcos de la Frontera, Andalusia, Spain, Europe

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Europe » Spain » Andalusia » Arcos de la Frontera October 1st 2014

We left Seville with only one wrong turn - it seems to take the Garmin a few minutes to orient to the area and get the distances correct for the next turn - can't always blame Ross. Ride to Arcos de La Frontera was smooth 120 kmph on divided highway. On the outskirts of Arcos we headed to the centro since I wanted to buy fruit and get a nice coffee. (Cynthia I don't know how you drove through this town with 2 kids as well without showing total panic). Again the streets were a narrowing maze to trap us and the problem this time was they seemed to go up and up and it's so hard to inch through alleyways and around parked cars (why do they park when an alley is already only one ... read more
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Europe » Spain » Andalusia » Arcos de la Frontera April 26th 2012

A light drizzle falls from a slate sky. It is colder than expected. Inside, the percussive tremulous flurry of flamenco guitar rattles the bar’s tinny speakers. Tapas spread across the low wooden table - viridescent garlicky olives, thinly sliced jamon serano, fat-rippled chorizo, honey drizzled manchego cheese sprinkled with ground coffee, and a steaming plate of golden fried anchovies. The tapas, the cold beer, and the weather are strong incentives not to go anywhere. I thumb through a stack of postcards, images delineating the contours of Andalusia: In one, the Mezquita in Cordoba, a building encompassing the layers of history and culture that have shaped Southern Spain. A cathedral within a mosque built from the ruins of a Visigoth church and a Roman pagan temple. Another shows a tile of swirling Arabic calligraphy from the Alhambra, ... read more
in the Alhambra
arches in la mezquita, cordoba
Jesus riding the Easter Bunny just like I always suspected

Europe » Spain » Andalusia » Arcos de la Frontera January 3rd 2011

We spent an evening and day wandering around the maze-like streets of Arcos, the streets so narrow between the white buildings in this town perched upon a cliff top that we wondered how cars (and full sized garbage trucks for crying out loud) manage to maneuver safely through them. They were built for horses, not diesels. Many of the cars here have completely mangled side-view mirrors, cracked, scratched, hanging by a thread. There is simply no room for error and if you’re a tourist and end up driving through the old town you’d better just hope to whatever higher power you believe in that that full insurance coverage is going to be enough of a safety net. The streets, especially when the cars aren’t coming down them, are so charming they’re almost surreal. You feel like ... read more
old meets new
typical street in Arcos
the cathedral as seen through the narrow streets

Europe » Spain » Andalusia » Arcos de la Frontera November 23rd 2009

The trip from Marrakech back to Madrid went smoothly. No problem with customs reentering the Eurozone, even with our bundle of carpets and other goods. The Spanish agents seemed much more interested in Europeans bringing items back than they were in Americans who were going to take their goods back out again. We talked over our next destination after we landed and decided that after Morocco, we needed a quiet place to chill out. We ultimately decided to try Arcos de la Frontera. Although it is a fairly long drive from Madrid, it is also pretty far South, so we're likely to get reasonably warm weather, and the town is small (about 35,000), so it won't cause us any problems with traffic or locating hotels. I had reserved another car for our last 6 days, and ... read more
The old churches always have interesting sculptures
Pedestrians and autos have to take turns here
The castle and cathedral are at the highest point of the town

Europe » Spain » Andalusia » Arcos de la Frontera April 8th 2009

Arcos is a great little town, but we are staying here three nights we are planning a couple of day trips. We had planned to travel to Granada, but Ruth had studied the maps lat evening and when we met for breakfast suggested it would be an aweful lot of traveling and thought a southern trip might be better. I've long since learned to listen to Ruth, soo when we hooked up with L&M we made the suggestion. They have been there on previous trips, so if we were ok with saving it for another trip they we up for the alternate plan. I took a picture from our bedroom window of our breakfast table, then we were off. We had been trying to follow the roads indicated in green (scenic) for most of the trip ... read more
Wind turbine installation
Full moon
view from our room

Europe » Spain » Andalusia » Arcos de la Frontera August 22nd 2008

Hi, We are in a small town right now called Arcos de la Fronterra. We have been here for several days now; we found a cheap hostel and are using this opportunity to rest. The town is our favorite so far. It is a rural place, and is very hilly. The main town consists of two hills. The hill where the old town is has a cliff, and on the edge of the cliff there is a cathedral and several other buildings from the same era (13th century, give or take a hundred years). From the cliff you can see much farther than is ever possible in Los Angeles. There are orange trees and a river below, and hills in the distance. All of the houses are white, and Arcos is one of a string of ... read more
Playing in the park
Enjoying the view
Arcos at night

Europe » Spain » Andalusia » Arcos de la Frontera January 27th 2008

Travel blog 13 Saturday 19th went out for a meal in the evening in El Rocio. 6 of us sat around a table against a mirror, which made us into a table of 12, so we enjoyed a Last Supper - last time we would all be together indefinitely. Sunday morning went back into El Rocio to see the parades by the brotherhoods, interspersed with the letting off of rockets. No health and safety here just 4 ft rockets fired from the hand in the middle of the crowds. This time followed a brotherhood into the church and listened to the very noisy service. The temperature last few days extremely hot, reaching 27 C. Late afternoon enjoyed a BBQ. Vultures had left the Costa's for the weekend and had perched in the trees in the surrounding ... read more
El Rocio
El Rocio church
El Rocio Vultures

Europe » Spain » Andalusia » Arcos de la Frontera November 25th 2006

Driving in the Rain in a BMW…still fun! Before I go on, I got my first chance to drive a Bimmer today and it was a ton of fun, even if it was a small Bimmer not sold in the US (Model 116) and a rental car. I have always stayed away from BMW’s because I feared that once I drove one I wouldn’t be satisfied with any other car. I can say that it was fun to drive but nothing absolutely amazing…I still had a blast either way. More about all this in a minute… Leaving Sevilla For our last night in Sevilla we went out for a fairly early dinner (about 8pm) figuring that we needed to go to bed early for our departure and because I was sick. I currently have a ... read more
Cliffs of Arcos
Walking Through Arcos in the Rain
Arcos Street




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