Cordoba is an old city in the south of Spain that is home to one principal attraction: the cathedral mosque. This is a perfect representation of the cultural shift in the south of Spain in the 15th century. The south of Spain was originally controlled by the Moors, Muslim arabs from North Africa (711-1492). The Spanish kings began what was called La Reconquista in the 15th century, taking land back from the Moors. This was also the beginning of the time of Torq...

Arrived in Seville late last night. Essentially ate dinner then went to bed. I don't intend on complaining about the quality of hotel beds here, so let's just say that I slept well for the first time in a couple days. Eyes bright and tail bushy, I looked forward to touring Seville, which on the drive in last night, looked beautiful. In the bright light of day (btw, 30 degrees and sunny with no clouds today, I'm just saying) the city was even more stunning. I'd ...

We arrived at our hotel in Torremolinos, on the Spanish Costa del Sol, or Sun Coast. I am told that this section of Spain gets 300 days of sun per year, and is a favorite destination of British tourists. We met British tourists on the way who were absolutely despondent because it was raining in Spain but sunny in Britain for 4 straight days. I gather that was the first time in recorded history that had ever happened. Fortunately for us, the weather was unbelievab...

A quiet day for us today. Not much travel and only light activities. Not a lot of bright eyes this morning: lots of people napped on the drive yesterday, so I think circadian rhythms are a little haywire. Matt Choquette also had about 10 servings of ice cream with dinner, which may have contributed. Left this morning for Mijas, about an hour and a half from Granada. Mountainous terrain and patches of fog make for some beautiful scenery. Mijas is a town on th...

Adventures in Spanish Language: When a room wasn't clean at check in, and no interpreter in sight, I bravely ventured down to the desk to sort it out. I figured all the words out using my phrase book, and got 6 seconds into my sentence before the concierge, who spoke a little English, demanded that I switch to English and hurry up. Deflated, I went back upstairs, searching for "well you can keep your stupid language and I'll just wait for all of Spain to learn E...