Andalucia

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We traveled quite a bit in and around Casares during our week there. The entire region is dotted with ‘white villages’ named for the white limewash that they use to cover the entire town. The towns are built into the mountain sides and on top of the cliffs around the Moorish castles or ruins that still exist there. This results in beautiful green mountains and cliffs that look like they are covered in snow, but it is actually tiny villages perched all over the countryside. Our main drive was to Ronda, it was a beautiful meandering trip through the mountains and tiny villages. Ronda is a town that is built on top of a large plateau, right on the edge of a cliff and is split in two by an extremely deep canyon. There is a very old bridge that links the two sides. This was the site where the Fascists forced hundreds of Communists to jump to their deaths during the Spanish Civil War. The town had an impressive classic bullring where the ‘modern’ version of bullfighting was established. The dirt was mustard yellow, the roof red tile, and the sky deep blue which added to the beauty of the place. Hemmingway was a huge fan of the bullfights here and we had lunch at a famous old restaurant where he used to dine with the matadors after their victories.
Two other days we drove down to the Mediterranean and followed it around past the rock of Gibraltar and the tip of Spain out to Turifa and the ‘Costa del Luz’. The entire drive we would eye the beautiful mountains of Morroco across the way. Africa looks like a quick swim away. The Costa Del Luz is beautiful. It holds isolated pueblos on the edge of rolling green mountains and granite towers up against enormous white sand beaches and green water. We spent two days at a beach by Bolonia. The town consisted of about ten little beach cottages and the beach was a few miles of untouched white sands that were extremely soft. There were mostly local Spaniards there and not that many. Luckily there were was just enough civilization that we could get a couple of comfortable chairs and a beach umbrella. The location we had to visit the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, the little towns, and the beautiful mountains could not be beat. All this and the fact that our own town was so traditional and everyone was so friendly made for a wonderful week.
We have arrived at a unbelievably beautiful inn on the shores of Lago Maggiore in northern Italy. Our hosts Luisa and Eduardo are wonderful italians that speak english well. We had dinner with them last night on the porch. We'll share stories and pictures soon. We are off to hike in the alps today.

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Photos

Kristi on the beach
The mountains in the background are Africa

The mountains of Morocco
View from the Southern tip of Spain towards Africa