Spain Private Tour ... Itinerary 12

Seville - Cordoba - Granada - Ronda - Gibraltar - Tarifa - Tangier - Jerez - Seville.

Madalyn and Geoff Gempler from Breckenridge Colorado flew into Madrid from Chicago. They hopped onto an internal flight to Seville where they met up with their son Chris and his girlfriend Christy who was studying Spanish for a semester in Seville.

Shortly after arriving they were dragged along to the Plaza de Toros where they saw an outstanding bullfight in which three of Spain's top matadors were performing as part of the week's Feria de Sevilla celebrations.

On the morning of Monday April 18th I (Gerry) met Madalyn, Geoff and Chris at their Sevilla Center Hotel at 9am and we headed out of the city to Cordoba. In Cordoba they visited the Mezquita (Great Mosque) and the Juderia (Jewish Quarter) before enjoying a tapas lunch at El Caballo Rojo.

After lunch we met at 2.30pm and took the Olive Oil Route south of Cordoba which crosses terrain consisting of millions of olive oil trees with Baena as the centre of the local industry. We arrived at Granada's Alhambra Palace Hotel at 5pm where I left the family to enjoy the luxury of this marvellous establishment located right next to the Alhambra palace.

On the Tuesday morning at 10am the Gempler's were met by one of our official guides for a tour of the Alhambra Palace which lasted around three hours. At 2.30pm we met again and headed south to the coast which we followed west through the Costa Tropical and Costa del Sol as far as Marbella and San Pedro where we took the mountain road up to Ronda arriving around 6pm.

Their chosen hotel in Ronda was the Enfrente Arte which must rate as one of the great places to stay. Not only is it incredibly quaint and located on a cobbled street of traditional old Ronda houses, it has the novelty factor of a free bar. On arrival Dimitri, the Belgian manager, will tell you to treat the place as your home and will explain the workings of the coffee machine and beer pump then tells you to get on with helping yourself. Breakfast is also included in what are very reasonable rates and there are daily evening meals with a Moroccan theme for just 10 Euros a head.

Our visitors were disappointed to be leaving this woderful hotel after just a single night and vowed to return just as soon as the opportunity arises. We left Ronda on Wednesday around 1.30pm and headed back down the mountain to the coast and along to the British colony of Gibraltar which Madalyn, Geoff and Chris visited for a few hours whilst I waited on the Spanish side of the border looking after their luggage as is always the case when clients head off to do some sightseeing.

After Gibraltar we continued west with the Atlas mountains of Morocco clearly visible across the Straits. That evening we stopped in Tarifa on the southern tip of Spain which is an ideal base for excursions to Tangier in Morocco, for dolphin and whale watching trips and for anyone interested in wind and kite surfing as Tarifa is rated as one of the world's top three wind sport destinations.

On Thursday morning our guests took the 9am ferry to Tangier returning at 3.30pm. Only a few hours in Africa but the contrast with Europe is quite alarming for a country lying a mere 17km across the Straits of Gibraltar from Tarifa. On returning they met up with Christy who had taken the bus bus down from Seville as soon as the suggestion of a sherry tour in Jerez was mentioned :-)

On the Friday morning we met at 8.30am and after breakfast in Tarifa we went to the Roman ruins of Baelo Claudia at Bolonia just a few kilometres west of Tarifa. These ruins are quite remarkable as they represent the finest example of a Roman town on the Iberian peninsula yet they are relatively unknown. Identifying the various parts of the Roman town which was once populated by 2000 people is quite straightforward with the help of the map provided by tourist information which clearly shows the forum, theatre, baths, shops, taverns and fish salting factory.

No less impressive is the stunning setting right on one of Cadiz's most beautiful golden beaches. See if you can spot the Lamas as you drive away ... I saw three and swear they must be the only three in Spain. What they are doing there I really don't know.
We now continued west towards Vejer de la Frontera entering what the Cadiz tourist brochures refer to as 'La Ruta del Toro' ... the bull route.

It is in this area that you will see some of the finest specimens of bull that are bred to one day fight in the bullrings of Spain. We spotted plenty of these fine beasts especially between Vejer and Medina Sidonia. This area is also a birdwatcher's paradise and we saw a large number of Griffon Vultures circling above. After Paterna we joined the main road into Jerez de la Frontera and drove to the Gonzalez Byass sherry factory just in time for the 12.30pm tour in English which provides a fascinating insight into the world of sherry and the chance to sample some of their products including the world famous Tio Pepe brand.

With temperatures now over 30C and after a few sherries it was decided that we should call it a day so we headed on into Seville to the Hotel Derby where we said our goodbyes after was an action packed and most enjoyable 5 days in Andalucia.
 

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