From the age of 11, I was forced to learn French in school. Our teacher was a gruff rugby-loving Welshman, built like a bulldozer, who bellowed Gallic phrases at us for 45 minutes every week. All of us were convinced his pronunciation was closer to Carmarthen than Calais. Unsurprisingly, that experience never left me keen to hop over The Channel…
Leave a CommentThe hotel prices in Gibraltar itself are eye-watering and totally unjustifiable. So, at the end of my day trip to “The Rock” I headed east along the Spanish coast to find cheaper accommodation, and landed in the (far more reasonable) coastal town of Torre del Mar. My flight home was late at night the following day, from Granada airport, and…
Leave a CommentHaving been away for almost a week, I was getting a little homesick. There was a cure, however. The tiny British territory of Gibraltar, sitting just off the southern coast of the Spanish mainland, is basically a piece of England on the Mediterranean Sea. They use British money, English roadsigns, red post boxes, and cafés will happily sell you a…
Leave a CommentAfter the hustle and bustle of Seville, the peace and tranquility of Ronda was very welcome. Up in the Andalusian mountains, it’s a town that doesn’t attract many tourists, and I hope it stays that way, because as far as I’m concerned it’s absolutely perfect just the way it is. This was my third visit and the views across the…
Leave a CommentNext destination on my impromptu tour of Southern Spain was the historic Andalusian capital of Seville – a place I’d visited previously, but this time I was holidaying with a lot more autonomy and making the decisions about the itinerary. As a result I got to see a lot more of the “tourist” sites. I know some travellers can be…
Leave a CommentSeeing as I was already in Southern Spain, visiting Granada, it seemed sensible to stay in the region a little longer and head back to see a few more cities and sites I’d enjoyed on previous trips. First stop: Córdoba. I was lucky enough to once again explore the beautiful Mezquita during the day and at night managed to catch…
Leave a CommentHaving seen a cheap deal online for direct flights to Granada, I decided it was time to revisit Andalusia, and in September headed back to Spain to once again explore The Alhambra. This time around, however, I also discovered a surprising and very welcome recent addition to the city of Granada. The Mezquita Mayor is a small but beautiful mosque…
Leave a CommentIn summer 2006, I had a short one night layover in Barcelona. With almost 24 hours to kill, I took the opportunity to head into town, do a little (window!) shopping and visit a few of my favourite places again.
Leave a CommentFor part 1 click here Córdoba After just 24 hours in Granada, we were back on the road again, driving north, in the darkness, on surprisingly good Spanish motorways, to our next destination: Córdoba. Seat of the old Caliphate of Córdoba, the city is home to the world-famous Mezquita, which was high on my list of “architectural wonders I want…
Leave a CommentEarly in 2005, my old schoolfriend Taz and I started talking about returning to Spain. He was deep into learning the Castilian language to an impressively high standard, and wanted to try out his newfound linguistic skills on the natives. While my own knowledge of Spanish was still pretty limited, I was hugely keen to explore the Moorish history of…
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