Cadiz, Cordoba, Gaucin and Ronda

Continuing on to 8 June 2010
We have covered incredible distances since the last letter, and done such a lot of things, that I don’t know where to start.
At the moment we are in our room in the Hotel Picos de Europa and experiencing a little déjà vu, as we are in an area very similar to the Dolomites in Italy and we are having almost the same sort of weather that we had there in 2004 with the Maltbys (except it is not nearly as cold, it is not snowing and it hasn’t rained much). All the peaks have disappeared in the mist but we did manage to drive on some very scenic mountain roads earlier today. Anyway, I am getting ahead of myself.
The weather here is a far cry from the day spent a week ago in Cordoba where it reached 38C and was clear, sunny and dry. This didn’t stop us enjoying this beautiful town and it was made even easier as our hotel was directly opposite the Mezquite (former mosque, now cathedral) which is the main sight there. It is incredible and amazingly cool. Those Moors knew something about building in hot climates. The temperature must have been 10C cooler inside.
Our choice of places to stay has been very successful—probably because of a lot of pre planning and early booking. And we are out of the main season and booked early online, so have enjoyed very low rates (eg our hotel in Cordoba cost us about 60euro, when the rack rate is 250euro!).
We had a bit of excitement finding our hotel in Cadiz as the GPS didn’t differentiate between 2 similarly named streets in the old town and we found ourselves outside a very derelict building at first (thought we had been scammed!). A few enquiries (to cap it off my phone had a flat battery) around the area put us straight, then Arthur couldn’t drive into the pedestrian free zone and had to back out of a one way street after we had downloaded our bags. The plus side was it was Saturday evening, and parking on the street is free until 930 Monday. But … we also think our rear wind screen wiper blade was pinched then. Win some, lose some!
Food has generally been good in Spain, particularly if we keep mainly to tapas type dishes. We found the most amazing place in Cadiz—a classy restaurant which also had a popular tapas bar. The tapas were around 3euros each for dishes that had the presentation and quality that would set you back $15 and more in Sydney. We were lucky we arrived by 2030 on Saturday as 30 minutes later there were people waiting 2 deep behind us! (above—goat cheese salad, salad caprese with sardine and a dessert tapa of fried custard and caramel ice cream—all less than 3 euros).
We have generally walked our legs off, with Arthur as a competent (mostly) guide, once he has a good map. In Cadiz it is made easier because the walking routes are marked with different coloured lines on the streets. We really enjoyed Cadiz—it is a vibrant town with lovely shady parks on the perimeter (with a number of familiar Aussies in the form of Norfolk Island pines and Moreton Bay fig trees). Later, in Galicia in the north west we were amazed to be driving through large eucalypt forests. We think they are logged for chipping and there only seems to be one species planted, and very close together so they are tall and straight.
Before Cadiz, our week in Gaucin was a superbly relaxing time with the occasional day or two of doing nothing, reading, lazing around the pool, swimming and wandering down to one of the many cafes for lunch or a coffee. This was interspersed with two major sightseeing days, one to Ubrique, a town which is well known for its leather (but guess what time we got there—just as the outlets closed!). However we loved the whitewashed houses and buildings in the old quarter and had a tasty tapas lunch in a bar in little square. As you can’t take the same road back (and the scenery is incredible) we did a side trip to Ronda even though we were intending to visit this very scenic town later in the week. Our approach was slowed considerably by an enormous procession of gypsy caravans, not pulled by horses, but by huge tractors, which were returning from the big Romeria at Huelva (near the border with Portugal) the previous week. We think they were going to be in a town nearby the next weekend but we had to leave by then.
Ronda is in a high valley, with a deep narrow ravine separating the old from the newer town, and it is very popular with tourists. It also has one of the oldest bull rings in Spain and this is open for a visit, including to the excellent museum. This means you can see the parts that would not be accessible if there was a show on (the pens, horse riding school, etc).—To be continued….