Meson de la Molinera Arcos de la Frontera

... show was actually really good - she just got very bored, very quickly. you see one horse dance you've seen them all...Mike took her outside to play in the courtyard. The arena is set in a beautiful garden with a fountain. They had a ton of fun running around the garden and I thoroughly enjoyed the dancing horse show. There are 8-12 horses and horsemen who come out in the arena and do the most amazing horse dances all to beautiful spanish music. It is ...

... Benalauria. The restaurant was an old converted olive mill. It was very cool inside and had 3 levels and an outside terrace for dining. We started off outdoors, but the bee's were scaring us so we moved indoors and sat next to a woman who was in her late 70's holding court with her 3 friends. She spoke 7 languages and was really interesting to talk to. It was nice meal. Again, great salads! We headed back to town and decided to eat in and pack up our things ...

We got up and headed out to the tourist office in Montejaque. We didn't have a plan for the day but we thought we might head down south to Gibraltor. Mike spoke with the tourism guide and he said "don't waste your time. It's just a rock". He suggested we head inland a bit and hit up a town (one of the white hillside villages) called Grazalema and then head over to local lake in another hillside village called Zahara ...

Mike was so excited to get up early and go running on one of the many mountain trails surrounding Montejaque...that was until he walked out side of our villa and took 2 steps when a bee stung him. He ran inside and was looking for his epi-pen which was left in the car about a mile away. I took off running down the hill to find the car. You have no idea how steep these streets are. holy ****! I'm totally out of shape. I got the pen and ran back up ...

... Visigoths, Arabs and finally the Christian Spanish. We got to know it as well as one can in a day of wandering: lots of museums and medieval walks. It deserved another day. Cadiz is located on an isthmus, sided by the Atlantic with beautiful beaches. Unlike the Costa del Sol which was all British, Cadiz looked like a destination more for the Spanish. Back home at 7, dinner 8-9, and in the sack at 10. Whew.

... driver weaving through the narrow streets with no fear. During the day Arcos was very hot and had the feeling of a ghost town, where was everybody? As it cooled into night it was much more enjoyable. We enjoyed a drink at a terrace with an amazing view and watched all the sparrows flying about in a joyous frenzy. Then headed off to bed early for our AM departure. Little did we know it was going to turn into the night from hell. We couldn't sleep ...

... like I used to. Jillian reminded me that I was living in Amsterdam and that life is full of adventures even if you do settle in one place for sometime. At the end of the vacation Jillian packed her bags and attached them to her bike that had been her best friend and travel companion for some long stretches of road and lonely nights spent on park benches and left her place of rest and stability. We travelled up to Madrid where we parted at ...

... The place was truly authentic and after some of the best BBQ pork chop tapas called solomillos (their specialty), he brought us samples of his best sherry to celebrate our honeymoon (we are going to milk that as long as we can!). Sidebar: It has come to my attention via some email responses, that my "reality" postings may be viewed as me not enjoying some aspects of the trip. I feel some clarity may be needed because, actually, it is on the contrary. These long hikes uphill ...

... to preserve the integrity of the lifestyle here. Interesting way of doing things. The other thing that is interesting is the facades. (I may have talked about this already) the side of the house you see isn't really the facade that matters. They consider the true facade the one in the courtyard where the houses face each other. There might be a 8 bedroom 2000 sq foot apartment that has a facade the size of a door. So different than America ...

... of the rain. Major bummer!! Then lined up for 50 minutes to eat at this strange pizzeria in a dodgy back street in the old quarter; figured if heaps of locals were lining up it must be good - and it was, definitely up there with the best pizza ever.In the end we went to a Flamenco show, which showcased signing, flamenco dancing and guitar. The dancer was male and we now all understand the passion, fire, intensity of this culture only comes ...