Lagos, Portugal 12/2 - 12/6

I arrived late in the evening to Lagos, a destination that I chose last minute from the advice of another traveler since everything was closed up for the season in Tarifa, the very southern tip of Spain.  Lagos is a beach town in the heart of the Algarve, that has a great mix of rock cliffs, called "grottos" because of their rock formations and beaches right on the Atlantic Ocean.  Lagos has a strange attraction to it and a lot of other people feel the same way about it.  Many people come here as a vacation destination and never leave.  The laid back atmosphere, great year round weather and affordable economy make it a nice place to set up shop  for a few days or maybe a few years.  Lagos is very much a party place in the summer months.  I spend about 4 days here and became very relaxed while walking around the narrow, mostly pedestrian filled streets and cliff side paths along the Atlantic.  

About forty minutes away by bus is Sagres, the most southwesterly point in Europe.  I was told it was once thought to be the end of the Earth a few centuries back.  I spent a day in Sagres,

a well known surfer's destination, but luck would have it that the ocean was like glass that day.  There was plenty of fishing going on though, it was real interesting to see people fishing right off the cliffs, probably about 300 feet above the ocean.  The fish were biting pretty good, definitely quantity over quality though, as the fish were pretty small.  

From Lagos, I boarded a bus for a five hour sunday drive north to Lisbon, Portugal.  Unfortunately I left the sunshine and jacketless weather behind.  

The top left pic is of a street in Lagos.  The upper right pic is a shot from a cliff side path of a beach in a cove.  The middle right pic is the sun setting on Sagres Point, the most southwesterly point in Europe.  The bottom right pic is a shot of some of the "grottos" in Lagos from a distance.

Seville, Spain 11/29 - 12/2

My last stop in the Andalusia region of Spain was Seville.  I had about 4 days here, one more day than I had planned, but I planned poorly, which was not that big of a deal, Seville is not a bad place to spend another day.  I was reaching my burn out point of visiting the Spanish cathedrals and palaces, but I decided to push my limits and visit the cathedral and bell tower known as Giralda.  I had read that the cathedral was free on Sundays, but that was not true, unless your are a Spanish citizen or unemployed...which I am but I had no way of proving it, damn it!  The cathedral was pretty unique and also houses the tomb of Christopher Columbus.  The Giralda had nice views of the city as well as some interesting displays on how the tower was built and added on to several times through out the decades.  I did not go into the Alcazar, the Moorish Palace, since I did not think it will be anything close to the Alhambra in Grenada. 

The tapas was not free like it was in Grenada, but I was introduced to a great little spot called "Bodega Santa Cruz" where I must have stopped by at least 3 or 4 times to eat some great food and wash

it down with some wine and or cerveza (beer) all at a very affordable price.  Socially, the bull fighting scene in Seville is a pretty big part of their culture, but like most things, the season is done until next year.  Futbol (soccer) on the other hand is still very much in season 
and paralyzes the city whenever a match is on.  I watched the Barcelona vs. Real Madrid match in a city square with many

other people, mostly in silence until there was a big play or goal.  

The first picture is of the cathedral and bell tower, Giralda.  Next to that is Plaza de Espana, to Star Wars fans, it was used as Naboo, in Episode II.  The bottom left is Christopher Columbus's tomb inside the cathedral.  The middle pic is of a worker at Bodega Santa Cruz carving up some presuto before the evening rush.  It appeared that he has had many years of practice at his trade.  The right picture is of a what I think I remember is a Magnolia tree, said to have been planted from a seed brought back by from the U.S. many moons ago.  

In the last post I said I was headed to Madrid the following night.  Well that changed, Lisbon was way too much fun to leave, although I am in Madrid for night #2 right now.  Ill be catching a flight to Barcelona tomorrow morning, it was cheaper and faster than the train.  I have 5 nights booked in Barcelona, I have heard only positive things from there.  If anyone has any questions or wants to learn more about the places I have blogged about, Wikipedia is a great place to begin, or you can always ask me.

Cordoba, Spain

Next stop on the Andalusia route was Cordoba, Spain.  I was not here for very long, about a day total, but I felt that was enough.  One of the main sites to see here is the Mezquita, which is a cathedral that was originally built as a mosque.  You cannot really tell from the outside, but once you enter the cathedral, it is very interesting to see how two religions were once in the same building, not at the same time though.  Cordoba is a nice little city, it is full of narrow, winding streets that you can easily get lost in while wondering around.  The weather was perfect the day I was there, but it was not expected to stay that way, so I decided to catch a bus to Sevilla, Spain the following day.    

I am writing right now from Lisbon, Portugal.  The weather is pretty mild, a t-shirt and light jacket is more than comfortable.  I have been traveling for 75 days and have 14 days remaining in my trip.  Ill head to Madrid, Spain via a night train on 12/9.  I hit a bit of a wall and have been taking it easy the last couple of days, regrouping for the last two weeks of the trip.

Granada, Spain 11/25 - 11/28

I decided to tour the Andalucian region of Spain, which is nice for many reasons, one being that you do not kill a whole day on a bus or train going from place to place.  Granada is unlike any place that I have been to or seen, it has everything from an elaborate palace, to people living in caves, to free tapas when you buy a beer and all of this is surrounded by the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  

One good thing about traveling in the off season is avoiding the lines.  There is usually a day or two wait to get tickets to the Alhambra, an amazing palace and the most visited monument in Spain, but I got my ticket by walking right up to the ticket booth.  Spending four hours in this palace does not take much effort at all.  There is no gold leaf or painted murals, everything in here was carved out of stone, pretty unbelievable.  It is easily one of the most fascinating buildings I have seen in Europe.

 Another unbelievable site is taking a walk into the Sacramonte area of the city, which is a community of people living in caves. 

 You have everything from fully furnished caves just like modern houses to people living in caves just like cavemen.  On top of all this on your way back to the center of town in the evening time you can walk into almost any bar, order a drink for around 1-2 euros and get a free plate of any variety of tapas (small plate of food) that bar is offering that day, its great!  Very economical as well.  Granada was a great!

I tried to post a variety of pictures.  The first one on the right is taken from Alhambra around sunset looking over the city into the Sierra Nevada's.  The first one on the left is of one of the many caves in Sacramonte, note the solar panels on the roof and dog.  There are stray dogs running rampant all over, very friendly though.  The night shot is looking at Alhambra from San Nicholas church.   The bottom left is an example of what inside Alhambra is like, all carved out of stone.  The bottom right picture is taken around sunset.  You can see the snow capped mountain if you look closely, the snow is very new.   

Malaga, Spain 11/23 - 11/25

Running from the wind and rain and in search of the sun, I booked a flight to Malaga, Spain, about as far south as I could get.  There was instant success as soon as I got off the plane!  Malaga is the birth place of Pablo Picasso, so there are quite a few references to him around the city.  I stayed at a hostel called "Picasso's Corner," which was a great place to hang out.  The hostel staff cooked authentic Spanish meals every night and made sure there was plenty of beer and sangria to wash it down with, all at a ridiculously reasonable price.  I walked around the Alcazaba, an old fortress, and then up to the Gibralfaro Castle, which were both built during the 11th century on the same hill.  There were great views of the city and the ocean to be had on the walk as well as a fantastic sunset.  Compared to the colder Central and Eastern Europe cities, it was very refreshing to see mass amounts of people walking around the city at night, which gave it a great feel.

From Malaga, I caught a very scenic bus tour to Granada, Spain.

The first picture is of the house Picasso grew up in, which is now a museum.  To the right is a picture looking down on the bull fighting stadium and the bottom left is the city at sunset from the walkway leading to the Gibralfaro Castle.