After a long trip through the countryside, we arrived at the Alhambra palace in Granada. Before I tell you about that, let me just re-emphasize how many olive trees were on the way. Tons. My informal estimate has about 95% of all living things in Spain being olive trees. Okay, I'm really done with the olives now. The Alhambra palace in Granada was the last seat of power for the moorish kings of Spain, who ruled from 711 to 1492. It was beautiful in a way that i...

Left for Granada this morning, after another good breakfast. Drive takes about 5 hours through the Spanish countryside. At the moment, we're going through La Mancha, home of Don Quixote. It's a beautiful countryside, arid farmland mostly. Every once in a while, we drive past buildings that seem abandoned, sometimes complete farms and villas. Some foundations of old brick buildings, or mills that look hundreds of years old. Sergio says that most people, especiall...

Toledo was once the capital of Spain until ------ and was a mixed city of Christians, Jews, and Muslims. It was a beautiful city and a great site to walk around for the afternoon. The cathedral at Toledo, called the Primate, or- wait for it- the Cathedral of Toledo, was a breathtaking cathedral of the gothic style. No pictures inside, but it was astonishing in its size, scale, and grandeur. The choir section had battle scenes from the Reconquista (the reconqu...

Woke up this morning and had a nice breakfast in the hotel. I was told to try tomatoes, olive oil, and salt on toast and found it to be delicious. I added smoked ham, and cheese, and realized I was essentially eating pizza for breakfast. I was fine with that. Everybody looks more rested, brighter eyed, and bushier tailed this morning. Last night most people were, to quote ms. Matthews, "pretty well knackered". We head out to see the royal palace today, and the ...

Today was a long day- but tonight we went to bed in a bed, in Spain, so in the grand scheme of things, a good day overall. We arrived in Madrid after a short flight. A layover in Paris gave us some time to rest, or in the case of mr. Lovatt, sleep on the floor. I shouldn't talk though, as I did too. Madrid seemed quiet when we first arrived. Good Friday is a big deal here, as most of the country goes on vacation for 5 or 6 days. Almost no one around as we too...