After our leisurely day driving through the white hill towns, we approached Seville, our next stop and first test of Matt's ability to drive in a big European city. Thanks to Mom and Dad's GPS navigation system, we thought we'd have no problem getting ourselves into the city where we would drop off the car at the train station. Wrong. As we got off the freeways, our GPS sounded like a robot on crack..telling us left, then right, twisting us into a knot within the...

Having a car on this trip has given us so much freedom to explore more of the countryside. One of the days we were most looking forward to was a driving day through the 'Route of the Pueblos Blancos' (white hill towns). These are small villages, mostly of no more than a thousand people, that are located high up in the Sierra De Grazelema Mountains. We set off from Ronda and quickly found ourselves on a narrow, single lane highway. It was filled with hairpin turn...

Since our arrival in Europe, every day has been busy. We have been getting up between 8 and 9am each day, jetting off for a quick breakfast, than typically a sightseeing plan till lunch at around 2:00pm. In Spain, we have generally been returning to our hotels for siesta between 4:00-8:00, then back out for dinner and an evening walk. Alternatively, we've had travel days, which are always exhausting, no matter how long or short the journey. The heat, lugging of b...

After our 4 days in Barcelona, we were ready to leave the big cities. While we very much enjoyed the sights and food there, our busy days were starting to catch up with us. So, we hopped on a plane to Granada, a smaller city nestled near the Sierra Nevada mountains in the south of Spain. As we flew in, all you could for miles were olive groves. We arrived in the heat of the late afternoon and immediately noticed the increased intensity of the sun, but the heat wa...

As alluded to in one of my earlier blogs, dining and eating well is a very important part of our trips. So far in Spain, we've found incredible value for our money....eating some incredible meals for very little money. Glass of wine..2 euros, beer 1 euro, the average tapas dish is 3 euros, a fancier main entree is 15 euros. About two months before leaving on our holiday, my online reading took me to a blog titled 'the best dining experience in Spain' and I took ...