Córdoba, Grenada, Marbella and Sevilla, Spain and Gibraltar

On Monday morning, we headed south towards Marbella, on the Mediterranean Sea. We stopped in Córdoba and Grenada.

This was an interesting sight on the way:

Solar panels lined up for miles.

Entrance into the old city of Córdoba , the Puerta de Almodóvar.

We walked through a medieval maze of streets to La Mezquita, a huge mosque and Islamic monument.

At the entrance to La Mezquita.

In front of the doors into La Mezquita.



The tower seen from the Patio de los Naranjos, a beautiful courtyard of the mosque.

Outer walls.

The beautiful streets of Córdoba.

From Córdoba, we continued south and back a little east to Grenada.

This was an interesting town we saw from the highway, all the houses were white.

Piper catching a nap with his buddy Pooh.

Granada is the home to the Alhambra, or the red one. It is a military base at the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas with amazing architecture.

Unfortunately, the tickets to get into the Alhambra sell out around 8AM, so we didn't get a chance to tour the interior.

We did take the opportunity to hike around the exterior and the parks a little.

On the drive out, we stopped and enjoyed the sunset view over Grenada.


And the southern view of the Sierra Nevadas.

Then we drove south to Marbella, a small town on the Meditteranean Sea with a lovely beach.

Tuesday morning the first thing we did was head out and enjoy the beach!

The boys looking for seashells.

Throwing rocks into the water.

Seashells!

happy boys

sandy boys!

After some quality time on the beach, we headed out to see the Rock of Gibraltar.

We originally planned to go out to the rock and do some exploring in the caves, but it started drizzling so we headed back to Marbella and spent some time at our hotel pool, which the boys thoroughly enjoyed!

Piper took a much needed nap and the older two and I headed back out to the beach.

It was windy, but we had fun and collected a whole bucket full of lovely shells.

We walked down the boardwalk to a pier.

Looking back up the beach toward our hotel.

Marbella was a lovely location right on the sea with beautiful beaches and a great boardwalk.

The next day, Wednesday, we headed northwest towards Portugal, stopping in Sevilla, Spain, our final Spanish destination for the week.

Doors to the Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza, home of one of the two great bullfighting schools in Spain. Since we still had a long day of driving, we skipped the tour of the bullfighting ring and spent some time at the Catedral de Santa María de la Sede, or the Cathedral of Sevilla instead.

In front of the façade of the Cathedral.
The Cathedral of Sevilla is the third largest in the world, after St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and St. Paul's Cathedral in London, and the largest Gothic edifice in the world. It took over a century to build.

inside the Cathedral

Pierre Dancart's masterpiece, the retablo mayo, is considered one of the finest altarpieces in the world. It is a completely golden wall of intricately wrought saints and disciples.

Sepulchre of Christopher Colombus.

We walked the 35 ramps up La Giralda, the minaret or bell tower.

View of the dome of the cathedral from halfway up La Giralda.

The bells rang while we were up there, and it was loud ;) but amazing.

View of the cathedral roofs - the bullfighting ring can be seen in the distance.

View of the Patio de los Naranjos.

View of La Giralda from the Patio de los Naranjos.

Where next, Dad?

Gate to the Patio de los Naranjos, part of the old mosque, now annexed to the Cathedral.

After Sevilla, we headed west out of Spain and into Portugal.

The Portugal portion of our trip will be posted next!