Yes Brian, a few times, we used to have a motorhome and did ‘la ruta de la plata’ which is straight north up through Zafra, Merida, Salamanca, Plasencia, Zamora and through to Galicia, then back down the Portuguese coast and the Algarve. Two years later we did it clockwise starting in Portugal.
These are ancient Celtic settlements, close to the Galicia/Portugal border.
Since Tim mentioned Salamanca…
We totally stumbled upon Salamanca driving from Madrid to Porto (well actually ended up in Espinho, but close). Needed a potty break and some food. We ended up eating at some Michelin star restaurant that actually sucked haha.
How about some delicious food photos. The first one here is some of the best shrimp I have had. Outside the market in Barcelona at some hole in the wall.
Christin’s favorite food is Cocido and it’s hard to find in restaurants for some reason. Here we found some cocido Madrid style.
Some of the best food I’ve had in Spain has come at truck stops along the autopista. We discovered this place last time and they served whole legs of suckling pig roasted in their wood fired oven.
Last but not least in this post is one of our favorite tapas. Padron Peppers!
As Aristotle first revealed, bear in mind, if you like octopus (pulpo) that if it’s a male then one of those 8 legs is the penis !!!
You probably would like this Chris. Chips, egg, jamon and pimiento verde with a chorizo topping, very Andaluz.
Delicioso! The jamon photo, not the pulpo. No me gusta pulpo.
One of my favorite spots in the city of Sevilla, is Plaza del Cabido. It’s a pretty hidden plaza off Avenida de Constitution. There are shops down below and apartments above. On Sundays, they have a coin market as seen in this photo I took in December 2012. I just love the beauty of this plaza and it is normally very quiet and cool.
Today’s spot brings us back to Sevilla and one of our family member’s balcony located on Calle Mateos Gago. This is Christin and I with a spectacular shot of La Giralda behind us.
Cordoba is so pretty. I still haven’t been into the Mezquita because it has been closed the few times I have been there.
Here is the Roman bridge in Cordoba:
and some of the outside of the Mezquita
We were gonna stop there or take a day trip in November, but we ran out of time. Once we get to Sevilla, it’s hard to leave even for a day because of family commitments.
The black bulls of Spain (Osborne bulls, or in Spanish, Toro de Osborne) are all over the countryside. These were started in 1956 by a sherry company. They used to have the name of the Brandy on it, but in 1994, a new law required all alcohol signage near roads to be removed. The public got pissed, and the government allowed them to remain with the Osborne name removed.
Another roadside alcohol sign you will still see is the Tio Pepe sign. Tio Pepe is a famous brandy in spain and their branding is legendary with the top hat and guitar. Also in the picture you will notice a wind turbine. Unlike here in the United States, you will see wind turbines all through the countryside.
That Tio Pepe sign looks like the one on the road out of el Puerto de Santa Maria but with differences, where did you take that photo?
It’s possible. This was taken prior to my camera having a GPS and Google can’t find similar images. Looking at the surrounding images in the roll, it is very possible. It looks like we were driving from Tarifa to Cadiz.
Speaking of Tarifa…One of my favorite pueblos in Spain is Tarifa. Tarifa is a small little beach town located on the southern-most point on the Iberian peninsula. Fun fact, it is not the southern-most part of Spain. With it’s great beaches, historical buildings, views of the Moroccan mountains and great fresh seafood restaurants, I quickly fell in love.
We discovered the town randomly looking for a rest stop on our way to Cadiz from Marbella. The town is really windy due to the Strait of Gibraltar and is called the windsurfing capital of the Europe.
The above image is a look toward Isla de Tarifa, or Isla de las Palomas. I haven’t been on the island as I thought it was a military fort (it used to be until 2001). The causeway was built in 1808 to connect the island to the mainland. When you walk on the causeway you can see the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Mediterranean Ocean on the other.
There are several really old and historic landmarks in Tarifa including the Castillo de Guzman el Bueno and Iglesia de San Mateo. This funky castle watch tower thing is on the same site as some bunkers that were built during World War II. I’m not sure if it was built at the same time or not.
Here you can see the bunkers that were built with the help of some of Franco’s 15,000 political prisioners.
A view of the Guzman el Bueno Castle
We have ate here several times now. They are a located right off the water and I have witnessed them buying their seafood straight from the shore fisherman. I asked them why they are Athletic Bilbao fans, but I can’t remember the story. They have several Bilbao things inside the restaurant too.
Tarifa isn’t windy, it’s Christ-almighty-hell-please-god-get-me-outahere windy, your photo of the sea looks like you struck lucky, that’s one of the 5 days a year there’s a dead calm. I think I probably know every bar there, sure I’ve been to that one.
Haha - yeah I’ve had it both ways.
That’s me and my mother helping out some Brits that got stuck in the sand that blew across the road. It was holy hell windy that day.
Looks like it would be a fun trip. We were going to go to Morocco on a trip back in 2011, but the airlines screwed us up and we lost a few days of travel and had to cut it.
Yes, Ceuta is nice enough and interesting but very small, OK for a day trip.
I once flew from Gibraltar to Tanger in a Viscount aircraft, the pilot had retired twice but they kept bringing him back because nobody else could fly the aircraft. It took 15 minutes and they served a meal on the flight. Those were the days when flying was a real pleasure, and the belly dancers in Tanger were the real thing.
I went back to Tanger and found the same shop that sold me a white leather jacket made from antelope skin, 30 years earlier. The difference in Tanger was amazing, nothing has changed architecturally but the Camels and Donkeys that delivered the goods were replaced by Mercedes and Vans parked above the Souk (Casbah).
I’ve been back many times since and toured the entire country including the deserts south of the Atlas mountains where there are no roads.
