After surviving our marathon journey from Canberra to Madrid (35 hours all up) we had a very good night's sleep. The next morning we for Granada with a stop in Toledo to see the old city and visit the factory where they make swords, knives and jewellery all out of Toledo steel - very beautiful!!! On the way to Granada we passed kilometre after kilometre of olive groves - olives with every meal - I'm in heaven!!!!! That evening we visited Sacromonte (the old part of Granada) to enjoy some local gypsy dancing - of course I had to have a go - they were great I was lousy!!!
We spent the next moring at the Allhanbra palace - words can't describe it - I bought a book full of beautiful photos as I didn't think that we could take enough photos. Magnificent place full of Arabic tiles and decorations. The onto Costa Del Sol (where there wasn't too much sol) but we had a waterfront hotel and the view was great. There were lots of fresh seafood restaurants along the beachfront and we shared a platter of freshly caught and cooked seafood and a local beer - it's a hard life!!!!
On ou return from Morocco we went to Seville - beautiful city - probaly themost beautiful we have seen in Spain. After our city tour we decided to walk back to our hotel and took the scenic route!!! Several hours later we got back to out hotel having seen bits of Seville that others didn't. That night we visited a hacienda outside of Seville where they make olive oil and sherry - tried both!!! They also had some Spanish dancing horses which performed for us - beautiful!!!
Over the border into Potugal late this morning and arrived in Lisbon early afternoon. Took a ferry to dinner at a local seafood restaurant - they got off to a very good start ny meeting us at the door with a cold beer!!! More great food and good wine.
Lisbon is very hilly with lots of narrow winding streets with the majority of the buildings painted pink or yellow (very traditional). Other building are covered in tiles, mainly blue and white although some are floral. City tour whick took in memorials to Vasco de Gama and Christopher Columbus. Took a drive along the coast to the seaside town of Cascais (where all the rich and famous go for their holidays) had lunch and then came back to Lisbon via the mountains. Went into the old town for dinner and a Fado (Portugese blues) show.
The next day travelled out of Portugal and back into Spain. Stayed in Salamanca, a small pretty town overnight on our way back to Madrid. City tour of Madrid and heard lots about Cervantes who wrote Don Quixote - there is a memorial to him in the main square. Probably needed a week to see all of Madrid - beautiful old buildings and lots and lots of parks. As it was raining we headed to the Irish pub near our hotel and had lunch and then wandered over to the football stadium to check out all the Real Madrid memorabilia.
Had a farewell dinner at a local restaurant that night which was great.
Overall, Spain and Portugal were fantastic - lots to see and great food, wine and people. Would like to go back on our own and spend more time there.
