June 20

June 20, 2007

Today we are to visit the Alhambra, an 8th century palace and residence for the Caliph. The building was begun by the Arabs in 766 and was taken over by King Charles V in 1492. The Arabs were expelled but Charles did not move into the palace directly. Since this was a place built by the Infidels Charles refused to enter but instead added to the palace a residence built in the Christian style. Unfortunately shortly after Charles V married and honeymooned at the Alhambra, his new wife refused to return and they moved to Madrid abandoning the yet to be completed Christian palace.

The Alhambra is both a palace for the Caliph and a city of 2400 which were either related to the Caliph or lived to serve the Caliph. There are audience rooms, residence halls, fountains and gardens stretching of 4 sq kilometers. The palace is magnificent and the best example of Moorish architecture in Spain.

After we finished the tour with our local guide we headed back to the bus for the trip to the coast and the area of Costa del Sol, the coast of the sun where we will spend two nights (time for laundry).

5:00 PM Costa del Sol
Our hotel is right on the ocean. The area is beautiful, deep blue Mediterranean, white sand and palm trees. Our Hotel, the Mirabel, is a new hotel and of the 4 star class. We decide to check in and chance into bathing suits and hit the beach, topless beach that is.

Up to the rooms, quick change and we are headed out to the sun and the sand. We find a perfect spot under a palm, spread out our towels and prepare for a swim in the Mediterranean.

As we walk down the beach we notice several sun bathers, some topless, but all worshiping the sun, no one is in the water. It is about 80 degrees with a warm breeze so the water should feel good, so why is no one in the water? Chris and I walk to the water’s edge and soon find the reason. The water is ICE COLD. We tried to walk in, too cold. So we decide to run in. Big mistake. We get to our waste and the sand below falls away and the freezing water takes its toll, and we run back out. We tried a second time and lasted less then 60 seconds in the water so back to the beach.

Well the view is nice, topless you know, but the pool is very tempting so back across the beach and to the pool. The waster is like a bath tub so we all settle in for a pleasant afternoon before dinner.

We left the pool for a stroll down the playa for some shopping and shopping. Not 100 yards from the hotel is a shopping street of local merchants selling leather, Cuban cigars, clothes, jewelry and Tattoos. I seriously consider a Tattoo (5 Euro) but we did not have the time.

We boarded our tour bus for the trip to Mijas a hilltop town. Mijas is an old city all in white. He you can see the coast of Africa, where we are heading in the morning. In Mijas we saw a church entirely in a cave, walked around the shopping area and finally rested at a corner bar for a beer and a rest. Back to the bus for our 30 minute ride to the special fish dinner.

This was a dinner of supreme quality, taste and volume. Let me explain. Dinner was served Tapas style meaning the plates were piled high with food and you shared it with your table mates. The tables were set for 4 or 6 so we had our own table for the three of us.

First we had sardines deep fired with lemon, delicious. Next came baby claims steamed in lemon and salt water. We were a little cautious at first but after Chris pronounced then “surprisingly delicious” Cathy and I tried it. He was right. We knocked off the entire plate. Next came calamari deep fried with lemon. Salad came followed by fried cod with lemon and salt. There was so much food so far that we could not finish it all so we passed the plates to some of our other tables. After a short rest where we were entertained by Spanish Guitar, and more food. Now we had roasted red peppers in Olive oil, bread and of course red and white wine. We thought we were done, but this was just the appetizer. We were stuffed at this point but the special main course was yet to come.

Our host brought out two huge platters of the specialty of the house. Slow cooked sea bass in a bed of sea salt covered with sea salt and spices. Soon came out plate of bass with potato, vegetable and tomato. Try as we might we could not consume more then a couple of bites. Next followed a pastry for desert with hot coffee. More food then any person should be allowed to eat was consumed. We left the hotel for a leisurely walk on the Playa along the beach and back to the hotel for a well deserved and needed rest.

Tomorrow Africa and a 5:00 wake up call.