Our next adventure takes us to Spain. We said goodbye to our last hotel for awhile as we will be looking for apartment accommodation now so we can prepare some of our own food. The Maria Nova we had stayed our last night was an exceptional hotel, and very inexpensive being that it is the off season.

We headed by bus from Tavira to Seville, it was a 2 hour bus ride and then we jumped ahead with another hour time change. As we crossed the bridge at Vila Real we recognized the bridge and the river where we had just been on our bikes. There were no inspections, but masks became mandatory in public transportation as we crossed into Spain. It was a beautiful drive through fields of terraced farmland until we reached the urban landscape of the city of Seville. With a population of almost 700k we could feel the change in vibe as soon as we arrived. Streets are crazy busy with traffic and people moving quickly in all directions. Certainly much different that what we had become accustomed to in the Algarve. Our first mission was to navigate the narrow streets to find our apartment. We knew we were near the historic center so we headed off in that direction. We were able to locate it relatively easily as the street names are very well marked.

After checking in with our host, we dropped off our backpacks and headed off on foot to explore. We discovered a Goiko Grill only a few blocks away. The last time we had been at this chain was in Santiago with Steven and Ann from Florida when we finished our walk in 2019. This was a great place to fuel up before finding what was available in the area and trying to locate a supermarket for supplies.

Walking around the historic center you can not help but to be in awe with the Seville Cathedral. It is one of the largest Cathedrals in the world. First built by the Moorish people, and then expanded and rebuilt by the Roman Catholics. It is one of those landmarks which is always visible so you can find your way around by using it as a reference point.

Our apartment host had told us about a bar only a couple of doors away that hosted Flamenco music and dance nightly. What better night than the present so we booked ourselves a spot. This is a very lively dance originally developed by the Gypsies. With many people in one family living under the same roof and sometimes in the same bedroom, this became a way for them to tell stories and express themselves. It truly was a unique experience, and something that is distinctive from this region of Spain.

The region we are in is Andalusia of which Seville is the capital. We don’t have an exact plan yet, but are planning to travel around this southern coastal region of Spain.

There is so much to see in Seville we could be here a week. But the big city is not the right place for us. We have 2 full days here and we are going to pack them each as full as possible.

We found a free walking tour that started at 11 am. We headed out to explore a bit on our own (and of course find coffee) then off to meet Julio our guide by the river at the Torre de Ore. This tour lasted about 2 hours and took in areas of Triana (the other side of the river) which historically were inhabited by the working class, the gypsies and the mafia. Today this area is quite luxurious so we felt very safe with our guide who was very knowledgeable.

After a quick bite for lunch we headed off again to explore, finding our way to the Plaza de Espana.

At 5:30pm we met up with Chel to do our 2nd walking tour of the day. This one would take in the Santa Cruz area which was historically the Jewish Quarter. We explored a maze of tiny streets we would have never gone down on our own, and it was interesting to learn more about the Spanish Inquisition.

All of the streets here seem to run like a spiderweb in a maze. We did get turned around a few times yesterday, but with the help of Google Maps we were able to find our way.

We are certainly not finding as many people here who speak English as we did in Portugal. I think even if we knew Spanish it would be a struggle as they speak their own dialect which is also very fast.

Following our guided tour, we headed off on our own to explore.

At 5:30pm we met Chel who was the guide for our next Free walking tour.

Today started out with a tour of the Cathedral. Tickets must be purchased in advance and on-line only and you were assigned an entry time. Ours was 11:20am. Once you were inside, you were free to take as long as you wanted to explore. The Cathedral was originally built by the Moors and many of the arches have the distinctive key hole appearance.

When we entered we were ushered directly to the Giraldo Clock tower. In the Moorish time period the elders had to climb the stairs of the towers twice a day to pray. As many were aged, it was physically hard for them to get to the top so rather than stairs, ramps inside take you up the 35 levels to the magnificent view from the top. The elders had the privilege of taking a donkey up to the top. Today we walk up on foot.

Back down in the Cathedral you could take as much time as you wanted to explore. So many amazing statues, stained glass windows, carvings, it was very hard to select which ones to include.

After we completed our self tour, our admission also included entrance to the church of the Savior (El Salvador).

Fun Facts: there is a lot more in Seville to see if you have the time and money. We found this city quite expensive compared to the other places we have visited. A coffee that normally cost .80€ elsewhere, in Seville was 1.50-1.95€. Even the cost of groceries is more, 2 bananas which were costing .27€ were .95€.

Other tourist options: There are several hop on hop off bus tours which are also available, along with many private tour companies. There were a few places like the palace of Alcazar and the bull stadium that we didn’t have the time to visit.

We have enjoyed and certainly filled our time here, and now it is time to move on tomorrow as other adventures await.

Today we travelled, we are in a new spot, good night…. Ed’s update.

Now for the real story! We left the big city of Seville behind and headed south towards the coast to the smaller town of Mabella. We travelled by bus this time and the route took us over the mountains. We had a stop in the mountain town of Ronda which was literally built on a cliff. We were very glad that we had a professional bus driver navigating the twisted roads, hairpin turns, and up and downs. It really was a beautiful drive after you got past the terror of it. The bus had an outside temperature display and as we climbed the mountains and passed snow caution ⚠️ signs, the exterior temp dropped from \24022 degrees to 12 degrees. We were very glad as we approached our destination to see the temps start to rise again.

Marbella seems to have two worlds. There is the beach front strip that has a beach vibe, beautiful sand beaches, toys for rent and water activities for hire. Then there is the historical town, originally built by the Moors with narrow winding streets.

It is definitely a quieter place than Seville. A very mature crowd seems to be here, and so far everyone we have spoken to has at least limited English. This area is part of Costa del Sol translated means the Sun Coast. Known for its warm weather, beautiful beaches and marine towns. The population of Marbella is around 150k, but they call it a town and not a city.

Not a lot of pictures today as it was later in the afternoon by the time we arrived. Lots to explore over the next few days. We were able to locate the tourist information ℹ️ at the beach which gave us some ideas and helped to confirm our plans and adventures for the next couple of days.

Another stamp in our passport today.

We spent the day on British soil otherwise known as the rock. We took a local bus from Marbella to La Linea. It was a beautiful ride through the hills, mountains and a few tunnels. When we were looking at regional travel we were very surprised that there was no train service. Now that we see the hills and mountains this explains why bus is the main means of regional travel in this area.

Once we arrived in La Linea we were able to walk through the “passport control” on foot to Gibraltar. Our first adventure was to find the start of the cable car. Once here my fear of heights was put to the first test. We climbed 430 meters in 6 minutes to the top. An amazing view of Gibraltar and Spain was waiting for us at the top.

Once at the top we put our legs to work. The top of the “Rock” is a protected \240Nature Reserve. This area is also home to many many Barbary Macaques, Monkeys with no tails. They were wandering, jumping and playing everywhere. You had to be careful if you leaned against a railing or rock as there might be one there. They looked cute and cuddly, but the posted signs also said they could be fierce.

We followed the paths to the skywalk. This area was a lookout with a glass floor and glass railing. Great place with a view. From here we should have been able to see Morocco on a clear day, but unfortunately the clouds weren’t cooperating. It was surprisingly how quickly the clouds came and went. One minute you couldn’t see and then look again you could see the coastline.

Our next pathway took us to St. Michael’s Cave. This was a highlight for us. Beautiful cave with rock formations. (Stalagmites etc). They were displayed using a sound and light show that made the rocks appear to almost come to life.

After a climb back up to the top, we took the cable car back down to street level. We wandered the British streets, they even had a Marks & Spencer before heading back into Spain. One of the interesting things about the trek to the rock is that the road and pedestrian walkway goes right across the \240Gibraltar airport runway. When planes are coming or going large gates come down that stop all traffic.

We made it back to the bus station with a few minutes to spare. We were able to navigate buying these tickets on-line and we were very glad to have them as there was no ticket counter at this station and several people were trying to buy tickets last minute, some successful and some not.

We actually ended the day with 2 stamps in our passport as we were stamped by Spain on our reentry as well.

Today we are enjoying Marbella. We were able to connect with a free walking tour that started at noon. We wandered and explored in the morning, picking up supplies along the way at the grocery store. The promenade route along the sea is a beautiful multi use path. Very well maintained and clean.

Our tour guide was Santiago. His language skills were amazing. He had us, a couple from Belgium, a family from Spain, a woman from France. Although it was advertised as an English tour he switched languages seamlessly as he described and explained the history.

This historical old city is interesting as it was originally built by the Roman’s. Then the Arabic people, Hebrews and then to the Spanish Catholic influence. Many of the old buildings have architectural characteristics of many time periods.

Some of the fun facts provided by Santiago:

Queen Isabel married King Fernando and were known as the Christian Kings as they forced other religions to either leave or be converted. A test for a Arabic person who readily said they had converted to Christianity was to force them to eat blood pudding as a true Muslim would not eat pork.

Granada was the last Arabian fortress to survive the Christian invasion, and Marbella was the 2nd last. When the Christens came they converted the Mosques to Chapels, Churches & Cathedrals. To do this the ball and moon symbol of the Mosque was converted to a ball and cross. Bells were added to the towers that were previously used for prayer 2 times each day. A entrance \240and exit door is also characteristic of the Christen influence. Beside each Mosque was always a Plaza or square with orange trees and a fountain as the Muslim people always cleansed their hands before praying. As we heard before, many of these fountains were converted to a cross and the fountain destroyed by the Christians.

The Arabic people will build with any materials they have on hand or can find. This was seen in the historic walls where you could see relics of the Roman periods. They would also build towers that were square for ease and simplicity. This allowed them to be able to build structures relatively quickly.

The Catholics would build with new and exquisite materials such as Marble or precious woods. When the built towers they were round so the devil couldn’t hide in the corners.

A new year’s tradition here is to eat 12 grapes at the strike of midnight, there are large celebrations in the town squares. Most town squares house the clock tower that chimes every hour, when the new year is rung in with 12 chimes, eating 12 grapes is supposed to bring you good luck for the next year!

According to Santiago this area Costa del Sol has 320 days of good weather. The mountains behind towns like Marbella block all the bad weather and protect the beaches.

It wasn’t until 1960 when tourism really took off here. It had its ups and downs with some Mafia and Hollywood influences. Right now it is a very safe place to be and the tourists are welcomed by the businesses.

It was a great tour once again with so much knowledge, stories and experience shared by our guide Santiago.

It has been great travelling here in the off season, yet we still have magnificent weather without any massive crowds. Some things are not running because it is low season. But there is always lots to do to keep us busy.

We are really enjoying our time in Marbella. We have found a small coffee shop away from the tourist area that the locals hang out at where we have been getting our morning caffeine charge. After fueling up we headed out to rent bikes for the morning. We had the option of an e-bike which was very tempting, but we were promised that it was very flat along the coast. So we hopped on our cruisers after adjusting our seats and headed out to explore other towns along the promenade.

We headed west and the next town we came to was Puerto Banus. This town was built in 1970 by Joseph Banus as a luxury Marina and Shopping Center. It became a go to place in the 80’s for Arab Kings and other Royals. You can see the Arabic influence in some of the large hotels. Not a place we could afford a coffee so we breezed on through on our cruisers.

The next town we came to was San Pedro. This seemed like a very non touristy town. It still had a beautiful promenade to ride along, but very few restaurants and hotels in the area. This was out turn around point so we had a quick drink and enjoyed our clementines and headed back to Marbella.

As we re-entered the promenade at Marbella it seemed to be quite a bit busier with the start of the afternoon crowd. I can’t imagine trying to navigate this during the busy season.

We had built up an appetite so we headed off to the Historic Center to see if we could find lunch. We ended up back in the Square of Oranges as the music from a local guitarist was a wonderful addition to our shared lunch.

We then decided to chill for a bit on the beach. It was wonderful to enjoy the sound of the surf, very few people, and the beautiful warmth of the sun.

This is our last day in Marbella (although it’s the first town we said we could have stayed longer). But more adventures await so off we must go.

Mid day update - we are on the move again.

We are sad to say goodbye to Marbella, but we have other areas to explore. We are heading away from the coast for a few days to the city of Cordoba. There is no direct route to get there. Our day started with a 1 hour Avanza bus from Marbella to Malaga. We arrived ahead of schedule just before 11.

We had a few hours until our train so we set out to explore this city. Malaga is the capital of Costa del Sol. We found it a very busy city. As we approached the Marina and the historical district it was quite crowded, then we noticed 2 large cruise ships in the port, which explained some of the extra people. We found the tourist information and grabbed a local map of must see landmarks. We did explore the Cathedral from the outside, but paid admission was required in order to enter and climb to the roof and our time was limited so we kept on the move. As we made our way back to the Train \240station we both agreed that Malaga was a beautiful large city, and we were both very glad we had chosen the smaller coastal town of Marbella to spend our time in.

Now off to the train to see what discoveries lay ahead.

Wow, what a full day!

Our high speed train from Malaga to Cordoba was travelling at speeds of 290+ km/hr and it barely felt like we were moving. We could have travelled by bus in 4 hours or by train in 1 hour. \240We arrived and made our way quickly to our accommodation as we had a free walking tour booked for 5 pm.

We met our guide Angel who was Spanish with almost an Irish English accent who was very knowledgeable of the area.

It was a very full day. We grabbed a quick bite and we’re off to bed after our walk.

If yesterday was a wow day, than today was definitely a double wow!!

As frugal travellers we love free, and today we were blessed with tips that provided several free activities. We have so many pictures today, I am going to separate them into different blog entries.

We started our day by heading out early. We were on the streets by 8 am. We never realized how dead the streets are at this time of day. Things really do not start opening up including many cafes until 9 or 10 am. Angel our guide had told us that the Mezquita Cathedral was free from 8:30 until 9:15, and after that there is a charge of 11€ per person. We thought it sounded too good to be true, but we are up early so why not check it out.

Angel was in fact correct and the doors opened promptly at 8:30 am and we were welcomed in with no entry fee. We were told this was a must see Cathedral, but we were in awe at the beauty and uniqueness. It started out as a Mosque temple. When the Christians took it over normally they would tear things down and build grander, but they were in the middle of a war and money was sparse so they added a Cathedral rather than replacing the Mosque. The result of years and centuries of building is truly breathtaking. This was far more than another beautiful church and the pictures will not do it justice.

After our morning wow at the Cathedral we stopped in for a quick coffee at a beautiful courtyard cafe nearby. Then off to explore the former Palace and Alcazar gardens. Apparently King Fernando and Queen Isabel who were the driving force in the Spanish Inquisition, when other religions were forced to become Christian, actually lived in this palace for 8 years. Today it is strictly a museum. They did appear to be setting up for a Christmas light show in the gardens as there was lots of work going on.

We all know how much Ed loves his garden! Our next activity for the day was exploration of the Palacio de Viana. This one was a tip from the desk clerk at our accommodations who said it was free on Wednesday from 1400-1700. In May apparently there is a huge garden celebration and people open their homes and courtyards to the public to show off their gardens. This Palace is run by the city and they maintain the gardens as a public display. I think that Ed now has some new ideas for next year.

I think each picture speaks for itself so no captions are required.

Our last activity of the day, but certainly not the least, combined Flamenco dance with the Royal Equestrian horses and team. This can only be seen in Cordoba and is part of the Royal Equestrian school here in the city. We did have to buy a ticket for this at a cost of 16€. When we were buying our tickets the lovely girl told us that between 11:30 and 1 pm we were allowed to go to the Royal stables and watch them train, and tour the stables for free. Well, of course we were not going to miss that.

During the training we were able to take pictures however during the live show at night they were forbidden. So you are just going to have to use your imagination or come and see them for your self, to see how wonderful the show actually was.

Another beautiful day in Cordoba.

We were moving at a much more relaxed pace today. We had nothing left that we had to see, but a few things that we wanted to so we took our time and enjoyed the relaxed pace today.

We started our day by winding through the labyrinth of streets in the Jewish Quarter. We did not have an exact location, just wanted to see them in the daylight. We were heading towards to Museo - Torre de la Calahorra. This was in the Freedom tower at the other side of the Roman bridge. We knew that it didn’t open until 10 am so we were just taking our time in the maze finding our way there.

This Museum covered the 3 main religions that had influenced this area, Hebrew, Muslim & Catholic. There was a miniature of the Mosque Cathedral and we discovered there are almost 900 red and white arches in total. At one point all 3 religious leaders worked together and Cordoba was the capital of this area.

In the afternoon we explored an Archaeological Museum which was quite interesting.

We have enjoyed our time in Cordoba, tomorrow we are on the move again.

We are on our way back to Portugal today for the final stretch of our adventure and hopefully a little Rest and Relaxation (if that is possible for us).

We are travelling by train (Renfe) back to Seville. We will then cross the city on foot to the bus station where we will catch a bus (ALSA) to Tavira, Portugal. From there we will cross this town once again on foot to the train station to catch the regional train to Monte Gordo. This is one of the towns we rode through on our bikes so we are heading back to explore it a little more. Hopefully all connections go smoothly. Today is one of the days when we appreciate the fact that we are travelling light. When you see people struggling with very heavy or numerous suitcases it makes us appreciate our simple backpacks.

Some Spanish fun facts;

Filtering is used here to assist the flow of traffic in and around cities. This means that mopeds, motorcycles and scooters always move to the front of the line at stop signals. It is unusual for us to see these smaller vehicles weaving their way through traffic as if they are jumping the queue to the front. Here it is normal practice and encouraged to keep things moving efficiently.

One of the name’s originally given to this country Spania by the Carthaginians of the 6th century means “land of rabbits”. Apparently when they arrived here there appeared to be an abundance of the furry little creatures.

In Marbella, we often saw people on the streets selling knockoffs of Gucci bags, scarves etc. It was interesting to watch them scatter like pigeons when police were in the area. As soon as the police are gone, they come back to their perch and start setting things up again.

We arrived!

All connections went according to plan! We were grateful in Seville that we had been here before so we knew a bit of what direction to head. As we passed through the Cathedral we stopped at the Cathedral bookstore to donate my hiking pole. We no longer need it and unfortunately we are unable to take it home.

We arrived at Monte Grondo just in time for a rooftop sunset. It’s been a long day of travel so it will be a quiet night.

Time to chill! ( or I should say, enjoy the warmth and sunshine)

We have found a place to unwind after our busy travel schedule. We weren’t sure if we would stay here, but it is peaceful, not overly busy and we got a smoking good deal on our hotel that we couldn’t pass up. ($80 Cdn \240Halfboard, includes 2 breakfast buffets and 2 dinner buffets each day).

We have found a local shop to rent bikes so from here we will day trip into some of the surrounding local towns.

The beach is beautiful, clean and seems to go on forever.

If you don’t feel like walking on the sand there is a boardwalk that runs from one end of the town to the other, with a few restaurants still open.. Yesterday we even saw a group of Swedish seniors doing a workout on the beach (just need to figure out how to join them).

We will finish our trip up on this blog, but for now there won’t be daily updates. So you will have to keep checking for surprise entries.

Love to all who are crazy enough to follow us on this journey. ❤️

We are enjoying exploring on our bikes. We have rented them for the week so we can come and go as we please. We are not going to break any speed records on them and the large seat is not what we are used to, but it is a great way to explore.

We headed over to Vila Real de Santo Antonio. We were here at the end of our cycling trip, but really didn’t get a chance to explore. It is only about 4 km from our hotel and there is a bike lane all of the way there.

We rode out on the pier as far as we could go and could easily see our hotel location so this might also be a good beach walk one morning.

There are a few more shopping options in this town and it is a Marine town, lots of boats along the Guardina River, which separates Spain and Portugal.

Monto Gordo is a true fishing village.

Our mornings have started with a walk along the boardwalk (after coffee of course!). \240We have mapped the boardwalk path and it is 1.75 km from one end to the other. We normally do it both ways with a few little side excursions along the way.

At the western most point of the town is the fishing village. We have seen them the past few days in the morning unloading their nets. Today we were fortunate to witness the process for bringing the boats ashore. They literally drag them up on the sand with the help of a tractor. \240There must be at least 50 boats all together. One by one they are brought up as they arrive. We hope at some point to catch them heading out to witness the launch process.

Once the boats are on shore, they then start to empty their nets. Some fish we assume they are a reject type and thrown to the seagulls which sends them into a frenzy.

If you are looking for fresh fish, you can visit the fishermen’s hut and buy directly from them.

We headed out on our bikes planning on riding about 5 km to a neighboring beach and explore that area. On the way we noticed a sign for Castro Marmin. This was a place we were planning to explore while here. It was a beautiful day for riding, it was a bit cooler, very little wind so we thought why not alter our course and go.

When we reached our destination we found a medieval castle, once the home of Templar Knights. We also found that we were back on the Camino, well truth is we never left, just altered our course.

At the Castle there was a paid admission of 1.10€. Inside there were several displays to view, and a spectacular view of the surrounding landscape. On the other side of the town was the fortress, which unfortunately you are unable to go inside so we would need to be satisfied with the view from the distance.

We ended up doing a circle route, coming back via Vila Real. At the end of our ride we were 25km in, butts a little sore, and very pleased with our unplanned route for the day.

Beautiful day for a long walk on the beach. This video says it all!

Enjoying exploring by bike. Once again we started out expecting to do about 10 km- and ended up doing 21. Picked up some lunch along the way at a supermarket.

We say goodbye tomorrow to Monte Gordo and we will miss this quiet town.

We have had a wonderful time the past couple of days continuing to explore the area. We have gotten in lots of walks, a few more bike rides, and a few pool side naps. I have discovered the convenience of downloading books to your phone and reading them on the kindle app.

Weather has been cooler in the mornings and evenings, but beautiful in between. Layering our clothes enables us to take off and add back on as required.

Homeward Bound.

We have started our journey home, but of course with a few stops along the way. We have had a wonderful stay in Monte Gordo. There is a large Dutch, Swedish, and English tourist population here. Many people that we met have come here several times, or have been coming here for years. This was one of the original towns in the Algarve to promote tourism, mainly due to the close proximity to Spain, but word has definitely spread.

Our journey here will take us to Faro on the regional train. Travel in Portugal is definitely significantly cheaper than in Spain. Our 1 hour train ride was 5€.

We have 2 nights in Faro so we are able to spend the day exploring the city.

The final chapter….

We left Faro by train bound for Lisbon. We had purchased this ticket about a month ago at a special promo price of €4.5, knowing we had to get back to Lisbon for our flight. \240We arrived around noon and spent time exploring near the Oriente train station, then had to navigate the Metro system Red Line to the airport. We had booked a hotel near the airport with a shuttle. When we arrived at the airport our hotel was so close it was a 4 min walk so no shuttle was even required.

After supper we decided to head to the bar to watch our last Futbol game in Portugal. When we arrived, we met Kelly from BC who was just leaving so she indicated we could have her seat closer to the screen when she left. Well, as the game ended, we were still sitting there enjoying our last glasses of Portugal Douro wine and wonderful conversation with Kelly. In our discussion, Kelly had been visiting a friend from Portugal who provides work away experiences which we had looked into in the past. For free room and board, light work around the house and gardens is traded. We exchanged contact info and Kelly was going to pass along our info to her friend so who knows, maybe this will be the start of our next adventure.

Thanks again for following along with our journey.