Hotel Rural Rio Arroyo Frio

... well…more gestering with hands and pointing at what other people were drinking. Finally a guy came in that could figure out that I wasn’t speaking English when I was ordering Café Con Leche and Cerveza, which is coffee with cream and beer. As I unpacked the bikes, teenagers on mopeds and dirt bikes would slow down and then rev their little engines wildly as they passed. I didn’t have the heart to start one of ours ...

As we've moved into July, the weather in southern spain during the day has gotten oppressively hot. The 2 greatest reliefs from this are LONG siestas (from right after lunch -about 3PM - until 6:30 or 7) and a concoction they have here called Tinto de Verano. Literally translated, this means red-wine of summer, but it is basically a mix of red wine and Fanta (usually lemon flavored) over ice. We discovered it in Malaga, and have been ...

... shucks).  We took a bus to Cazorla in the morning, then had to wait a long time for the mini bus that takes people out into the park itself.  The mini bus dropped us off a couple kilometers from our campsite, so we hiked in and set up camp. We were a little bored, and things got a little silly.  (Those are my knees.  Really Really, just my knees).  I think I ...

Sorry that entries have been somewhat few and far between these last 2 weeks, but we've been having a great time with Merche and Paco. They are absolutely worderful hosts. Just about every time Paco sees me sitting at the kitchen table (our usual hangout) he offers me another beer or wine, regardless of the time of day. And Merche is a wonderful cook and constantly encouraging us to eat more yummy food. Needless to say, our clothes don't fit ...

... us it was "muy rico". It is a form of ground pork, in a dark red greasy looking sauce. We ate it with bread, and it was slightly sweet and spicy. Pretty good. Then Moses came back to the table (after running after Ramon) and began to explain the ingredients. Cerdo, (pig), cebollas (onions), sangre de cerdo (pig blood) . . . Wait, what was that??? SANGRE de cerdo??? The table erupted with laughter at the expression on my face. Don´t think about it ...

... because when we asked for the bill, he wouldn't let us pay for our 2 beers. We thanked him and went off to spend the evening strolling around Ubeda. Around 9, we settled on a Restaurant terrace that offered some prime people watching and had some good food - and once again we learned the hard way that 3 media-raciones (half-rations) is MORE than enough for 2 people. The next morning, checking our email at the library, we had ...

So we call our host senora "Nena" because she says that's what all her friends call her. She seriously is on top of her game. When we got in from the trip, my laundry that I had thrown in my hamper was clean and folded on my bed. I was thinking oh my god, she must be related to Memere somehow. From what I've heard from the other kids on my trip about how awful their houses are (one girl has a cot for a bed, one is ...

Today we (my roomates and me) are taking a trip to Córdoba...a city in Andalucía which is known for its "Mezquita" - means that it has a mosque with a church inside. It is really special - since the two religions are together in one building! We had the hottest day ever 42º - it felt just unbelievably hot! No fresh air at all ...

... for a big group or something, but later I was talking to the people in our room and they didn't belong to the same group. There were 2 people travelling alone and 2 people travelling together (2 people had stayed in the room but 1 of them had been made to change beds - huh?) so there was absolutely no need for us to change rooms. Joan had forgotten about the changing rooms and was out seeing the Alhambra so I packed up her things and moved all our bags to the next floor. The only ...

... room to lie on the hot marble floor for a good twenty minutes... just at the point of fainting they lead you into the next room where they first bend your body into unimaginable positions and then scrub you from head to toe with what could only be described as sandpaper... the little Moroccan dude quite enjoyed pointing out the layers of skin he head removed... hmmm... After a good lathering your then doused with several dozen buckets of ...