Our Andalucian Roadtrip

The first week of April was a busy one here in Sevilla. Not only was it Semana Santa, but my parents came to visit. This was their first time coming to Spain, so I was very excited to get to show them around. We spent the first two days of the trip getting to know Sevilla. I took them to the cathedral, the Alcazar, Plaza de Espana and Parque Maria Luisa. I know they both loved the cathedral and Alcazar and I know my mom really liked feeding the pigeons in the park, even if they swarmed her. The birds must have been starving judging by the way they acted. I don't think my mom had yet to open the bag of seed before they started flying around her and crowding at her feet. Needless to say it was quite the experience.

After our two days in Sevilla we picked up our rental car and took off for Granada. We spent our first hour in Granada lost, searching for the hotel. Road construction made it impossible for us to see the street we were supposed to turn down so we kept passing it by. It took several phone calls and one trip to the wrong hotel, but we finally managed to find ours. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the city, seeing the sights and getting equally lost. The following morning we woke up at the crack of dawn to go to the Alhambra and wait in an enormous line in hopes of getting tickets. You can buy the tickets online, only I wasn't aware that they sell out weeks, if not a month, in advance. We waited for several hours that morning and luckily it was not in vain as we were able to snag some of the last available tickets for the morning visit. After the Alhambra it was time to get back to the car and head to Malaga.

Our arrival in Malaga was very much like our arrival in Granada. Road closure for Semana Santa made it difficult to navigate the streets and we drove in circles for our first hour (if not longer). Getting lost aside we had a nice time in the city. It was sunny when we got up in the morning and we took a stroll down by the port, looked at the shops and visited the Mediterranean. Our next destination was Cadiz, but tired out getting lost while looking for hotels we decided it would be easier to head back to Sevilla and drive to Cadiz in the morning.

Cadiz was quieter and smaller than the other cites we'd visited, but it was beautiful. It's also where my dad got to try Paella. A must for anyone visiting Spain. After a very relaxing day in we drove out of Cadiz just as the first raindrops started to fall.

The final stop on our itinerary was Cordoba to see the gran mezquita. The mezquita is a beautiful and enormous mosque built in the 8th century during the Moorish reign of Al-Andalus. It remained an important Islamic structure until Cordoba was captured by the Christian kings in 1236. The mosque was converted into a Catholic church and shortly after, King Alfonso X had a cathedral constructed in its center. The effect is slightly discombobulating. The cathedral seems out of place, bobbing in a sea of Islamic arches. Nevertheless it is a magnificent piece of architecture and a remainder of the historical struggle between powers.

Up until this point the weather had been less then amazing. Though still warm it had been cloudy and riddle with rain showers. Being from the Pacific Northwest my parents weren't complaining, but I was less than thrilled. I wanted my parents to experience the sunny Spain I was always talking about. As their ten day trip came to a close and we found ourselves back in Sevilla the weather finally decided to comply with my wishes. Their last three days in Spain were filled with warm weather and plenty of blue sky.