As I mentioned I’ve had visitors - we’ve been hosting visitors to Spain. We took them around Barcelona, and then went on a trip to Andalucia, which was fantastic.

Here’s a pic of Ronda, one of the “white towns” of the region. We started in Seville, got a car, and drove to a bunch of the hill towns.

The countryside was just stunning. The area was the sight of numerous battles from when the Arab invasions and the Christian Reconquista took place. Most of the towns were situated in the hills for defensive purposes, and many had castles. Ronda was unique in that it spanned a huge gorge - on one side was the Arab old town, on the other the Christian town. The Arab side even had Arab baths, which we got to tour.

Another place we stayed at was Arcos de la Frontera.

It was our base while we did road trips around the area. We also got to see a lot of the Easter processions - and there were a lot of them, some going through the night!

But I got a chance to see what I consider the most beautiful of the White Towns…in fact, perhaps the most beautiful place I’ve ever been to - Zahara.

This photo really doesn’t do the city justice. It had views like the Galapagos, a lake to the left of this shot that just glowed blue, and an incredibly beautiful old city with orange trees growing all over the place, and of course the mountains marching off into the distance. This was from the very top of the city, at the very top of the ramparts of the castle.

Lydia managed to grab a pic of me perched at the edge:

It was just disgusting, and I hope to visit again.

I’ve taken a week to recover from travel. It’s monday of the following week, so it’s time to get back on the program!