Hotel Coto del Valle Cazorla

... the side of the road. I managed to duck sideways in my seat and avoid one but the other caught me in the upper left chest just at the neck line of my leathers. It hit me hard enough to move me back in my seat and it went flying lifelessly to the side. After we pulled over to look at the damage, I was relieved to see just some redness in the area of impact and some minor bruising. There would surely have been serious bruises and ...

... it ever since. We also learned just the other day that you can also get it with just cold carbonated water instead of Fanta, but why would you do that? :-) So basically it's a wine-cooler, but somehow classier, and it is SO good. It turns out that you can actually buy it pre-mixed in 2-liter bottles at the supermercado, because Mercedes brought a bunch home one day when we mentioned that we like it. The pre-mix is not quite as good ...

... and the water was snow melt (really cold!) At noon we stopped for lunch, then decided we'd better turn back.  We made it back to the visiter center in time to get our bags before they closed for siesta (2PM -5PM).  Then we relaxed at a little bar down the hill.  We caught the afternoon shortbus back to Cazorla, and then the afternoon real-bus back to Ubeda. 

... as well as when we arrived. Also, we rarely pass up an opportunity to improve our skills in the kitchen, and this has been a golden opportunity. Merche has taught us to make gaspacho, tortilla espaņola, albondigas and croquettas. Unfortunately, the last 2 usually require a deep-fryer, (Merche has a countertop model-about the size of a bread maker) but we will experiment when we get back home. We have had such a fabulous time in the kitchen and ...

... Paco, just enjoy. Well okay then. Yum yum yum, pig blood. All in all it was a wonderful night. We got a little burnt out trying to follow the conversation, but all in all we are very content. Sunday night we had a cultural experience of a different sort. The Euro Cup is in full swing right now, and on Sunday night Spain played against Italy. It was a big game because the winner would go on to the semi finals, and the loser is out of the running ...

... Mercedes and Paco. Apparently they have a big house and usually host up to six students at any given time. Hoping Mercedes and Paco might let us stay with them for a few weeks, we wrote them a letter back in February. Unfortunately, we never heard back from them. Shortly after that, we also got word that the school in Ubeda had closed, so we had no other way of getting in touch. It was a little dis-heartening. We knew that ...

... the Midwest and we are the ONLY people from NY, so basically we got the party started every night. We found these little bars in the middle of the "pueblo" where we were like the only people in them. So the bartenders would always put on the kind of music we wanted and stuff. I got everyone in a huge circle and got that cheerleading game started where one person goes in the middle and does a dance move and then the ...

... pastries, a bag of chips and I already had a apple - healthy it wasn't but I had little choice. On the train I got to talking to an older lady who was also travelling alone - Joan. I found out later that Joan was 72 years old and travelling alone for the first time. She was going to places that I had already been so she thought I was a wealth of information. I was happy to help especially when I found out she is travelling without the aid of the internet. She just rocks up in a ...

well, to be honest i havenīt a clue how to work this travel log thing and the map!! but iīll sort it out for those of ye who donīt know where iīm talking about!!! well, down to granada i went after officially the most lonesome journey of my life!! i got dropped off at the bus station at 6am hoping to arrive in granada around 6 that evening. how dumb could i be! i failed to realise that this was the first weekend in ...

... tour of the Albycin and a Flamenco Show. 1 guitarist, 2 male singers and 5 female dancers entertained us for an hour and a half while we drank sangria. Thursday June 2, 2005 This was our day to see the Alhambra, a Muslim fortified neighbourhood with palaces, gardens, fountains, watch towers, etc. We heard and read that the line to get in takes 3 hours and to book ahead of time. We didnīt book ahead, but did show ...