Andalucia Explorer

Monday Morning Photo - Spanish Street Lights & Palm Trees

2013-05-20T10:11:00.000+02:00

Blue sky, palm trees and ornate street lighting with the aroma of Orange blossom filling the air in Santiago de Calatrava, Jaen.

Spain Trip Planning - Tapas Tours & Horse Shows in Andalucia

2013-05-17T11:15:00.000+02:00

Tapas is a way of life, an expectation on our dinner table, a necessity with chilled beer and a fabulous way to eat al fresco sampling a little of what you fancy from a large choice. So when my latest trip planning clients wanted me to include some flamenco and tapas tours on their Andalucia trip I couldn´t have been more delighted than to recommend Shawn, the Tapas Queen in Sevilla, with whom I

Monday Morning Photo - Local Romeria

2013-05-13T12:37:00.000+02:00

The local village Romeria in El Reguelo where we have our holiday rental home Casa Rural El Reguelo yesterday. Coming Down from the Chapel Carrying the Virgen D36VPGSKKY29

Spanish Wooden Church Door, Peep Holes and Wild Flowers

2013-05-06T22:37:00.001+02:00

Fabulous wooden church doors in Torredonjimeno, Jaen. Wooden doors, peep holes, and wildflowers placed in jars, very touching in a spot surrounded only by olive groves and no houses let alone people. See some of my other Spanish wooden door posts Spanish Wooden Church Doors Old Spanish Wooden Doors

Monday Morning Photo - Santiago de Calatrava

2013-04-29T10:23:00.001+02:00

The entrance sign to the small town of Santiago de Calatrava, Jaen.

A Walk Down The Ramblas - A Barcelona Guided Tour

2013-04-25T09:08:00.000+02:00

I've written so much now about the history of Barcelona's Ramblas, the origins of the name and the fact that The Ramblas is actually five streets in one that in this guest post, which Rachel has kindly invited me to write for her Andalucia Explorer blog, I thought I'd tell you about a few of the highlights of my A Walk Down The Ramblas Guided Tour. Aerial View, The Ramblas The Ramblas Walking

Seeing Malaga with a Walking Tour Guide

2013-04-20T18:04:00.000+02:00

Having a spate of airport drop-offs I took the opportunity to explore Malaga a bit more. It´s a city that has grown on me bit by bit, the more I see, the more I like it and want to discover more. This time I was escorted by an expert tour guide, Victor, who was born and bred in Malaga, has travelled extensively and returned to Malaga. His company We Love Malaga, offers Tapas Tours, Walking

Top Ten Best Voted Spanish Towns

2013-04-18T22:40:00.001+02:00

The Spanish publication 20minutos.es has published a list of ´Los 50 pueblos mas bonitos en España´ or The 50 Prettiest Towns in Spain. I´ve pulled out the top ten and listed them below. I´ve now many additions to my ´Want to Visit´ list and so far I´ve only been to one out of the ten here - Ronda. 1 Albarracín, Teruel 2 La Alberca, Salamanca

Monday Morning Photo - Wild Asparagus from the Olive Groves

2013-04-15T09:16:00.000+02:00

After a month of rain and two weeks of sun the wild asparagus is prolific this year. Revuelto de Espárragos for supper tonight. Revuelto is a great recipe/idea to use up any leftovers you might have. A few green beans or spinach or asparagus? Pop it it a frying pan with some olive oil and garlic, add any chopped up bits of chorizo or jamon you have then pour in a beaten egg or two, depending

Spa Hotels in Spain

2013-04-09T09:36:00.000+02:00

Never one to say no to a spa and always nosy and on the lookout for nice places to go I thought a post of Spa Hotels both large and small, rural and urban would be in order. So here´s my reminder of finds and far easier to locate that the mountainous scraps of paper or trawling through diary scribbles and notes (yes, I still use pen and paper.) This post will be constantly updated. Please do

Monday Morning Photo - Sunset behind the Sierra Caracolera, Jaen

2013-04-08T09:15:00.000+02:00

Going home one evening I just had to stop and snap the sunset, I think it must be my finger in the top right-corner (something I manage a lot with the camera on my phone) but quite effective!

Hotel La Fuente del Sol

2013-04-02T11:57:00.001+02:00

On a better than we´d had, but not great weather day, we set off southwards towards Antequera and a night away in the wilds of Sierra del Torcal de Antequera Nature Reserve. Around 50 km from Malaga, Antequera is a town that has grown on me greatly every trip through. This time (on the way home) we stopped and wandered, took photos and agreed we´d like to come back, stay in the town itself and

Monday Morning Photo - Sierra Subbetica

2013-04-01T13:24:00.001+02:00

An exploratory long route home from Malaga airport through Rute and Carcabuey overshadowed by the granite mass of the Sierra Subbetica Natural Park, joining Cordoba and Jaen province, with some fabulous cloud formations. Sierra Subbetica Natural Park

Antequera in Photos

2013-03-28T12:32:00.001+01:00

Having very little time we drove straight to the Casco Historico and zipped around a tiny part of Antequera. We were impressed and will be back, this time to stay in the heart of the town, not out in the sticks like the Hotel La Fuente del Sol which we were checking out. At around 16 long, winding, impressive kilometres from Antequera, the area reminded me of Exmoor, a touch of Scotland and had

Monday Morning Photo - Museum & Bar, El Torcal

2013-03-26T19:57:00.000+01:00

Yes, I know it´s late. It is really Tuesday evening but I´m desperately trying to keep up the weekly photo. We´ve just returned from an Antequera, dolmen and El Torcal trip, passing a bar/restaurant/museum after leaving the fabulous rocky formations of El Torcal I spotted, and as I was driving did a quick unexplained U-turn to explore, Molino Blanco Restaurante and Museo. And as one photo is

Monday Morning Photo - Driving Nice Roads in Andalucia

2013-03-18T09:36:00.000+01:00

Every so often on an exploratory trip hubby will declare ¨this is a nice road.¨ It´s taken a while but I´ve finally understood the difference between just any old road and a nice one. Having driven from home (Jaén) to Malaga airport, on to Granada city centre and then back to Jaén I was feeling just a little jaded and more than fed up with autovias (dual carriageways.) I headed off towards

Teruel: Mountains and Culture

2013-03-14T09:12:00.000+01:00

With reason, Teruel was one of the places where the Maquis (the resistance fighters who fought on against Franco’s regime hiding in the mountains) lasted longest. Well into the 1950s these heroic fighters fought on, hiding out in the more remote areas of the Sierra de Albarracin and surrounding area). This was possible because not only is Teruel one of the least populated provinces of Spain

Morning Morning Photo - Wedding Cake Church in Malaga

2013-03-11T09:50:00.000+01:00

The Sacred Heart Church or Iglesia del Sagrado Corazon is also known locally as the Wedding Cake church. My Malaga city tour guide, Victor from We Love Malaga, told me there´s a three year waiting list to marry there. Wedding Cake Church, Malaga More Posts? All Morning Morning Photos Best Tapas Tours in Malaga Read my Seeing Malaga with a Walking Tour Guide post, this photo is from the night

Castles and Battles Route

2013-03-06T12:59:00.000+01:00

The Castles and Battles route or Ruta de Castillos y Batallas starts with Castillo de Calatrava la Vieja in the region of Ciudad Real to the north of Andalucia and travels down through Jaen province into the province of Granada, ending with the magnificent Alhambra Palace in Granada city. Castillo de Calatrava la Vieja, Ciudad Real It is said that Jaen province has the most fortifications in

Monday Morning Photo - Street Lighting

2013-03-04T09:43:00.000+01:00

Wrought-iron work street lamp, Baeza, Jaen.

Becoming more Españolised (drying-orange peel domesticated)

2013-02-27T10:06:00.000+01:00

Little did I think, when I finally harvested my grapes last September that, I would be drying orange peel now. It all started when my carefully grown grape vine cutting became my car port for shade and produced a bumper harvest. One of my larger, more vocal neighbours, Andrea, kept asking when I was going to pick the bunches of grapes and that she´d show me how to make wine or to bottle grape

Monday Morning Photos - Mancha Real Church

2013-02-25T09:45:00.001+01:00

Iglesia Parroquial de San Juan Evagelista XVI - XVIII century church in Mancha Real, Jaen.

IV Tapas Competition in Priego de Cordoba

2013-02-24T22:18:00.002+01:00

Priego de Cordoba in the Sierra Subettica Natural Park has medieval and Muslim influences and is also known as the cradle of Spain´s baroque architecture with several fine churches and the fabulous Fuente del Rey or King´s Fountain with tiered pools and hundreds of spouts surrounding King Neptune. King´s Fountain, Priego de Cordoba Priego´s IV Tapas Gastronomic Competition begins on the 1st

Best Beaches in Spain

2013-02-22T12:36:00.000+01:00

Love´em or hate´em TripAdvisor has a huge audience and some note has to be taken of the fact that so many people vote for their lists. Spain has two beaches on the TripAdvisor 2013 Top 35 Beaches in the World list. Having not been to either and more of a Natural Park than a beach fan, it doesn´t mean I wouldn´t pop over to these two like a shot, time permitting. Spain´s Best Beaches as voted

Salmorejo Typical Andalusian Dish

2013-02-19T10:59:00.004+01:00

Salmorejo, tradtionally from Cordoba, is rather like gazpacho but thicker and served more as a dip or sauce. It is based on tomatoes and garlic and served chillled. A classic Spanish dish, Salmorejo, just like its close cousin the famous chilled gazpacho soup is served chilled with diced serrano ham and chopped hard-boiled eggs on the top. Variations of this dish can be found all across Spain,