Posada De Valdezufre Hotel Aracena Huelva

... we should take by number, IE take third exit on right, but we struggled with which exit was considered a road and which was a cobblestone sidewalk. Sometimes we’d take the right exit and sometimes we’d be off by one, which would cause us to have to backtrack. Very frustrating and time consuming indeed. Finally we got onto the amazing bridge that crossed the waterway east from the city ...

... town was closed for a 3-day festival. They said everything was shut, including all the hotels and hostels. In short, they had no where to stay. Soon we were joined by the two pilgrims I had seen earlier, also French, a father and son, who also had nowhere to stay. I called the mobile number of the guy from the hostal and could hear a party in the background. But he confirmed that the hostal would be open at 5 pm. I explained that it was already past 5 pm and he ...

El Caracol means 'the snail', and that's what it is feeling like at the moment! There are supposed to be waymarks along the path, but today is the first one I have seen! Hallelujah!! I have taken a photo of it (of course) but this computer won't let me download from my camera - the help person tells me this service is using Linux, not Windows... So much for progress!!

... or if not there would at least be a pension or hostal. That 14kms was a nightmare. The day had turned really hot by 1pm, upper thirties I think, and by 4/5pm when we were leaving Aroche it was still as hot, plus, 12 our of the 14kms were up. By the time we arrived in Cortegana it was 6.30 and the rain clouds were forming, there was definitely going to be a storm. Luckily, within 10 mins of arriving we had found a small pension (E40 a room) and were having a cold ...

We drove through the Sierra de Aracena nature park, also in northern Huelva to reach the town of Aracena. The region is famous for cured Ibérico hams and cork oak. Aracena itself is a cute little white-washed town with only two main streets. There were restaurants and shops that sold traditional ceramic pottery crafts of the region. There were also ruins and a castle nearby. We arrived at 1:30pm, ate our ...

... up for the day. Javier Yolanda and I walked into town and ate Tortilla (a Spanish potato omelet) for lunch before hitting the local Corte Ingles (the Spanish version of Target) for some beauty products for Yolanada. Javier left us half way through the shopping trip to head to a catering job for the evening and Yolanda and I finished shopping and headed home. On the way, I remembered I wanted to buy a sim card so I could have a cell phone, now ...

... influences. The architecture was mixed and ornate, and the blue and white tiled walls and many quiet fountains gave a thoroughly mediterranean feel. There were many treasures in the various rooms of the palace but by far the most impressive was the extensive garden the stretched out behind the palace. As I left the back door of the palace, the intoxicating powerful scent of wisteria flowers was overwhelming. Palm trees towered above sand paths that traced curvy lines ...

The day after we moved in with our host families CIEE had a group trip to the ruins of Italica, an ancient Roman city outside of Sevilla. They believe the city was founded in 205 BC, crazy!! Althought a lot of the stuff has fallen down, it was still so cool because obviously we have nothing remotely that old in the United States. And I really like stuff like that because I'm always thinking, I wonder who walked ...

... I have so many already. Last night i stayed with a german family in Conil. They were very nice and gave me breakfast. The Germans had a dried boar leg on their dining table and at any time you could take a knife and cut a piece off and eat it. It´s kind of strange to have dried boar toes in your face while you are having breakfast. Buenos Noche!

... Southern Spanish country-side scattered with olive groves. In Granada we visited the Cathedral and Capilla Real (http://www.capillarealgranada.com/en/c ont_index.html) that entombs King & Queen Fernando & Isabel and their daughter, Queen Juana & her husband Filipe. 12/29/05 We visited La Alhambra (www.alhambradegranada.org) which dates back to the 1400 when it was originally built by the Muslims. I can't say enough to compliment this site sufficiently, so I urge you to visit the website.