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Published: April 26th 2011
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Camping out in Grazalema National Park Andalusia is definitely our kind of place, small villages clinging to mountainsides, stunning national parks with lots of scope for hiking. Then add a good dose of mixed European and Arabic culture., then you have it all. Managed to camp out a few times. Nothing better than to wake up with a view of the mountains, lovely breeze, birds singing,and you have a wash outside with only nature as your witness, (we hope)😊 Visited several ´Pueblos Blancos¨(White Villages) with Ronda being the most spectacular one, built on a huge rock, so stunning views. The Grazalema National Park is the only place with pine trees in Southern Spain, and it´s SO green it almost hurts the eyes, particulary this time of the year. Imagine the white villages against this greenery😊
Time for some culture so we camped at La Linea and visited Gibraltar for 2 days. So much history in that Rock. Did a short tour including the tunnels, cave and the cheeky monkeys hopping on to the roof the cars. It seems more English than the English in Britain. Red phone boxes, bobbies, fish and chips and ... lots of pubs! A special happening took place here, Norm had a haircut,
El Chorro
North of Malaga. No we didn´t climb the rock but some young people did! and it is.... a long-lasting one, that´s all I can say!!
At the moment we´re in Sevilla, which is a stunning city with so much to look at. The architecture is totally different, we think it has a bit of Latin American flavour. It´s so green, having parks and gardens everywhere and lots of old mansions, absolutely beautiful, it´s our favourite city in Spain.
Now already April 17. Have just watched one of the many Easter processions here in Sevilla, spectacular. They keep happening during the whole week, ´Semana Santa´. Processions include, men on horseback playing drums and trumpets, Ku Klux looking alike individuals some carrying a cross, up to 2,500 from each brotherhood take part. There are 8 brotherhoods in Sevilla!!. Both kids and adults participate, the kids handing out lollies as they walk. The highlight is the carrying of the ´paso´, which is carried by a team of about 40, so many feet move along passing by!! The feet is all we can see of the bearers😊 Each of the bearer carrying about 50 kilos so not for the faint hearted!
Have just spent 2 days in Cordoba to see the famous Mezquita, which is a large
Ronda
Got away from the crowd. and stunningly beautiful mosque with a cathedral inside it. When the Christians took power they were clever enough not to destroy this lovely building but put their mark on it by building the cathedral inside it. Left the van in Sevilla and caught the train to Cordoba, great to have a little holiday. Thanks to Lonely planet we stayed right next to the Mezquita, a real treat😊
Now we´ve had our cultural fix it´s time to venture up into Extramadura, which is the area north following the border with Portugal. We´re looking forward to more camping out, smalll villages , and of course the hiking boots need to be dusted off as well. We hope to see more happenings re ´Semana Santa´on our way. Will keep you posted.
April 20. Love the mountains north of Sevilla, the Extramadure area. Lots of small pretty towns dotted along here. Saw an impressive and original monastery in Guadelupa. Full of treasures, for instance, books for singing hymns. These books weigh about 50 kilos, so too heavy to carry therefore they´re on wheels! Saw cloaks embroidered with silver, gold, and precious stones. The whole thing was on a scale we have never seen before,
Zahara de la Sierra
Prettty against the green, isn´t it. We drove on a road where half of it had been washed away a few days earlier in heavy rain! so a bit overwhelming. Also experienced a second Easter procession, in a small town, quite touching. Had hoped to hike more here but knees are on strike so must wait. Hope to see a special happening tomorrow here in the Vera Valley. Men carrying a cross in silence through the night in a small village. No, I haven´t put Norm´s name on the list😊
Now in Salamanca, no, haven´t seen the town, but its supposed to have a special atmosphere. Yes, we did see the special Easter happening in Valverde, this tiny village with old traditional houses. It rained all day, so stuck in the van, a long siesta as we set the alarm for 11.45pm to get up for the event starting at midnight. The event is an old tradition going back to Celtic times, it has been adapted into the Catholic faith. Young men have crosses tied to their body, arms are stretched out so they´re followed by family or friends in case they fall. Clad in white, wearing a crown of thorns, chains on legs they walk through the narrow streets of the village, kneeling at all 17 crosses in the village. It may sound a bit
Gibraltar
The Med on the left and the Atlantic on the right harsh but it was very moving. Easy to imagine the same thing happenng in medival times. To add to our experience we were very lucky to be invited to a couple´s house. A couple from Madrid who´ve renovated one of the old houses. They use it as their weekend retreat. Lovely to be invited in for a glass (or two) of wine , local cheese and ham and of course discussing Spain, travel, etc. A very interesting couple, the guy often working in Africa as an architect. So at 2.30 am we finally went to bed, and what had started out as a dreary day turned out to be one of the best😊
Next day we went on our merry way to further explore the mountains of Extramadura in Las Hurdas, the most remote area. Norm often wonders what I get him into!!!! We basically ended up at the end of a road, looking down on this tiny village situated at the end of a valley surrounded by mountains, stuninng😊 I have to say Norm is a fantastic driver, he handles the narrow, winding roads with expertise😊 He was greatly tested yesterday, I did feel a bit guilty. Saw small
Gibraltar
One of the cheeky monkeys hamlets living a very basic life. Nearly lost Norm to a lady dressed in black, (Mainly elderly peple in these villages, so nearly all women wear black) she fell in love with him after havng got one of our kangaroo pins. She was so full of life, a real inspiration. These villages have some very old houses built in traditional style, ie, built of rooooocks from he area with slate rooves. Extramadura has the reputation of being th poor cousin in Spain, and though it has been somewhat developed, it´s still poor. That´s enough for now, catch you later.
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Craig
non-member comment
It was love at first site!
Norm steady there tiger , you will have the old girls knees knocking if you keep applying the charm. have fun guys and take care. Glad i was not driving on the narrow road!! Cheers Craig