Spain 2021 on The Jamison Family

Day 11 - Madrid and Segovia

Thu, 14 Oct 2021 12:32:55 -0700

The final day started with a bus tour of Madrid with a local specialist concluding with a walk around the Royal Palace. Then we drove north to Segovia to see the aqueduct and sites.

Day 10 - Salamnca, Avila, Toledo, Madrid

Wed, 13 Oct 2021 12:32:55 -0700

Another early wakeup call, breakfast and on our way to a vista of the walled city of Avila. A surprise chocolate and churros morning snack was followed by a drive through the countryside of Castile La Mancha to Toledo. Then back to Madrid to complete the circle tour.

Day 9 - Lisbao to Salamanca

Tue, 12 Oct 2021 12:32:55 -0700

Day 9’s first stop was Fatima. We were fortunate to arrive just as a mass in the chapel located on the spot where Mary appeared to the three shepherds. We then rode through the countryside and onto Coimbra, Portugal. We then drove to Salamanca, Spain for a night walk and dinner.

Day 8 - Sintra, Estoril, Cascais, Lisbao

Mon, 11 Oct 2021 12:32:55 -0700

The morning excursion to the west of Lisbao included a palace in Sintra, a drive through Estoril and the costal fishing port of Cascias. Then we went back to Lisbao for a local guided tour of the Jerónimos Monastery. Finally, a ferry ride across the Tagus River ended with a local seafood extravaganza dinner.

Sintra National Palace

Praia do Guincho

Cascais, Portugal

They only serve people named Paul???

They served us a sub right before dinner

Day 7 - Evora to Lisbao

Sun, 10 Oct 2021 12:32:55 -0700

Leaving Evora, our first stop was Monsaraz, a medieval town atop a mountain. Then on to the capitol city of Lisbao. We walked the main square area, ate lunch and toured the river bank..

Day 6 - Sevilla to Evora

Sat, 09 Oct 2021 12:32:55 -0700

Day six started early as we headed west across Andalucía to the Guadiana river into Alentejo Portugal. Our first stop was a Lusitano horse farm named Monte Negro. The farm has been in the same family for three hundred years. After learning about the farm’s history and the horses, we had a delicious lunch featuring home grown, home made ingredients.

Day 5 - Jerez and Cádiz

Fri, 08 Oct 2021 12:32:55 -0700

A day trip from Sevilla to Jerez de la Frontera and the ancient port city of Cádiz. The first stop was the Sandeman sherry bodega where we learned about the types if sherry and how they are made. Of course, in the name of education and research, we had to sample them at the end of the tour.

Day 4 - Sevilla

Thu, 07 Oct 2021 12:32:55 -0700

Day four was a tour of the main sights in Sevilla . This included the Plaza de America from the 1929 Exposition, the largest Gothic Cathedral in the world and the Alcazar. The evening ended with a night of Flamenco.

Day 3 - Cordoba

Wed, 06 Oct 2021 13:32:55 -0700

Córdoba was founded at the foot of a Roman bridge, as was typical during that time. The Cathedral was originally a roman site, then a mosque and then a Catholic cathedral. The pillars of the mosque are mismatched Roman columns which were scattered/plundered by the Moors. Little is known of the Roman site as what is left lies under the cathedral. Fortunately, the Catholics decided to preserve the Moorish elements and adapt it to meet their needs. Our guide Gemma was true to her namesake, a real gem! Her passion for the cathedral and its history quickly became apparent when she hugged a column telling us what is had “seen” throughout history inside the mosque/church.

The Roman bridge still crosses the Guadalquivir River

The Molino de la Albolafia is a historic medieval watermill and giant wooden noria (waterwheel) located on the Guadalquivir River in Córdoba, Spain

Day 3 - The Alhambra

Wed, 06 Oct 2021 12:32:55 -0700

Wednesday morning started with a tour highlight, a guided walk through the Alhambra. Our guide, also named Paco, was a second generation in his family to provide tours of this World Heritage site. He was knowledgeable, articulate and very funny. He kept promising he would stop with his beat-box vocals, but I think he is still doing them. The Alhambra is a special place where so much happened in the numerous palaces, building and gardens. While many wars were fought here, even between Islamic factions, so were there hundreds years of peace where Islamic, Christian and Jewish people lived and prospered together.

Day 2 - Valencia to Granada

Tue, 05 Oct 2021 12:32:55 -0700

The second day on tour started the regular routine: Wake-up call at 6:15am, suitcases outside your door and breakfast at 7am and on the bus at 8am. Our first your stop was just outside the City of Gaudix, known for it’s troglodyte cave dwellings. Here, we went to a cave home and living museum belonging to Paco and his family. You knew this was the real deal when Paco had to break off his talk about building and living in cave homes to stop the cat from eating the lunch cooking on the stove. The day ended up in the Sierra Nevada, the real, original Sierra Nevada mountains, in the city of Granada. It was here that Queen Isabela and King Ferdinand defeated the Moors and effectively unified their kingdoms into the country of Spain.

Day 1 - Valencia

Mon, 04 Oct 2021 14:32:55 -0700

We entered the Mediterranean port city of Valencia and started with a bus tour of medieval and modern parts of the city. 14th century towers are just minutes away from modern architecture designed by Santiago Calatrava. We then had a lunch stop by Valencia’s market and finished the day with a lesson on making paella and a walking tour around the city’s cathedral.

Day 1 - Madrid to Valencia

Mon, 04 Oct 2021 13:32:55 -0700

During the reception dinner, Alexandre told the tour group we would become good friends over the two weeks. He was right. Sharing our experiences with the such good people made the trip even better! We ate, we drank, we laughed, we sang, we danced, we walked and we talked our way through southern Iberia.

The tour group at Monte Negro, a Lusitana horse farm in Portugal.

The first morning we boarded the bus before dawn, which comes late to Spain as its the western most country in the central EU time-zone. João drove southwest from Madrid towards Valencia, our first night’s stop.