Valencia - and our trip to the Bullfighting

Firstly - I apologise to anyone who views bullfighting as inhumane. But, on arriving in valencia our tour group finally found a bull fight on the night we were actually in a city. Given the significance of bullfighting in the South of Spain it was something we had to see.

As you can see - huge numbers of people (young and old) turned out on this Wednesday night in late July for the Bullfighting (part of a week long festival in Valencia)

I went with an open mind - and yes after seeing it - it is gory and gruesome - but its also artful and a true performance spectacle .

I was amazed also at how serious the crowd take these events - the group of locals next to us - were yelling criticism of the size of the bulls (being too small) and the inadequacies of the matedors.

Truly a Spanish experience that I wont forget in a hurry!

Granada - A fantastic bohemian city - I could get lost here for months - Please come and find me here !!

Granada - I can't do this place justice on my blog. I could fast see why our tour leader Monica loved this place. From the small arabic styled streets to the alhambra's palace and the city's overall bohemian flavour ( and thats not just in the air) Granada is a place to lose yourself.

I figured that out very quickly here.

It has a blend of cultures - still ever present today. Moorish, Jewish, Spanish... all who have coexisted for centuries together.

But with many universities today it also it has a young crowd - as well as lots of art, music and sport...

It has great restaurants, cafes, tapas bars - I did not find a bad place to go. There were thriving bars and clubs... even mid week ..

It has hippies too ! And It is bohemian in every sense I even saw people taking drugs in the streets.

This is a place not to be missed - Some time in the future I will return here...

Cordoba in 24 hours

This was a rushed part of the tour - i was left wanting to see more. We had less than 24 hours to see this place. Our lunch on arrival was sensational - a chance recomendation by a stranger in the middle of this old town - when most things are closed over the weekend,

This city had a dazzling array of old Moorish buildings (including a mosque in great condition, as well as a fantastic Palace and gradens), a cute spanish village atmosphetre, some old roman relics (such as the bridge above) and brand new streetscapes.

Like Seville it doesn't have the number of people you expect in such a grand town. You really have to make your own fun here. I always try to do that anyway!!!

I haved a little catchinhg up to do

Well I have just landed back in Barcelona after Amsterdam, a week in Torrevieja and a week in sitges - way behind with the blog - lets just say i had a holiday from the blogging - back to it now and will do my best this week to update you all on what I have been up to :-)

Miss you all ,

Dan

Ronda - a beautiful town.

Ronda was a great place to stop - Its a beautiful old trading town, surrounded by picturesque countryside (and many horses including the white ones like at El Cabalo Blanco - for those Sydneysiders who remember that place) . It is famous for its bridge linking a major gorge (im in the picture above with the bridge in the background, and its the birthplace of bull fighting in Spain. There are also ruins of Moorish(Arabic) baths from when this was part of the Moorish Empire.

More pics of Tarifa

Some more pics - in pic 4 you can see the very choppy sea from all the wind and Africa to the South - only a 35min fast ferry ride away

So how did I survive ??

Well I found(along with my friend Carmella from the US) a great tiny surfie town called Tarifa - I think many people emphasise the "rifa" here. (The smell of it filled one of the bars we visited )..

We sampled the fresh local seafood - had amazing tex mex food and enjoyed one of the best sunsets I have ever seen. (its such a treat seeing the sun set in the western ocean horizon when you come from East Coast of Australia)

The only down side here is it is one of the world's windiest cities - so much so it is home to "kitesurfing" and windsurfing sports most of the year. Its a cute seaside town with an old city wall - not sure if that was built to protect from invaders or to just keep the wind and sand out. So my trip to the beach was spent nestled in a tiny protected cove.