Our driving trip through southern Spain

Best sight not in Rick's books-Ubeda. Ubeda is located north of Granada and is a Renaissance pearl of a town. It is a fooler. The new town is ugly, plain, ordinary. But somehow we found our way to the top of the hill to the center of the old town and it was like breaking out of the modern world and entering a Spanish Brigadoon. A perfectly preserved example of a Spanish Renaissance town set high above rolling fields of olive groves with mountains in the background. We strolled the town all afternoon having most of the streets to ourselves. Completely charming and without the tourist crowds of Toledo. Ubeda is known for a lovely green pottery and there were several artisans selling large bowls and other items. I loved it.

Best day: Granada-We started the day at the Alhambra. We entered the site at 9am. Saw the Nasrid Palace at 10:30am. and finally left about 2 or 2:30pm. The palace is larger than I'd imagined and the gardens were beautiful. We were there May 2 and the spring flowers were in full bloom. The Generalife gardens were the best I've ever seen. After a bite of lunch at a cafe with a terrace and a bit of a rest, we took the bus downtown and switched to the bus to the San Nicolas Mirador. By then it was getting to be late afternoon and the sun made the red of the Alhambra glow. Here's a tip: the San Nicolas Mirador was very crowded, full of all sorts of people. While we were admiring the view a pot deal was going on right in front of us. So we wandered away and just a short way down the street is the garden of the main mosque of Granada. All are permitted in, no alcohol allowed, 'be respectful' the sign said. It was lovely. The same view without the crowds. By that time, it was time for more sangria and we went to a street one level lower, where there was a very nice cafe with an outdoor terrace with the same view. (It's in Rick's book). Then we headed back downtown on the bus, went to the Bib-Rambla Plaza where the Festival of the Crosses had drawn children and adults in full flamenco attire. A band was playing and people were breaking out in flamenco everywhere. Really a day I'll always remember.

Best meal: Our dinner at the Parador de Toledo was gourmet. The entree was deer in a red wine reduction. Succulent. The service was perfect. The view was spectacular. And the price was not exhorbitant.

Best cathedrals: Toledo and Cordoba, with the winner being Cordoba. I've never seen anything like it. There were so many more of the mosque's stone arches than I'd imagined. We spent hours in there just marveling.

Best festival: The Festival of the Patios in Cordoba. I really loved Cordoba. Its a smaller city than Sevilla and feels open. One can see open country from the Roman bridge. And those patios. This is a great chance for a tourist to see what's behind those plain white walls that abut the street. The patios are explosions of pink, red, blue and green. They put flowers in every square inch of space up the white walls of the interior courtyards. And it's completely free (although every patio had a tip bowl, no pressure though).

Best drives: The N roads marked in yellow in the Michelin maps are scenic. They were well marked, smoothly paved and had little to no traffic, except for the occassional cyclist or cycling group. The road from Ronda to Grazelema was so beautiful, through the mountains, seeing olives and cork trees, sheep and cows and the little villages. We also took an N road between Caceres and Salamanca, again through one of Spain's parque naturels. Again, fantastic views, no traffic. We had the road to ourselves, which after negotiating some of Spain's large cities is a real relief. We liked the N roads so much that we took an N road into Salamanca and found ourselves going past large estancias full of horses and bulls (fighting bulls?) maybe. My tip: Get off the autovias and autopistas (toll roads) in order to see the countryside of Spain.

Surprising Salamanca: Salamanca is a more beautiful city than I expected. The whole town is built of golden colored stones, large blocks of it that glow in the sun. The walking streets are wide and the paseo there on a Saturday night, well, the whole town comes out. The students were out in costumes, some singing, some dressed with the robes and beaks of plague doctors doing what appeared to be a scavenger hunt. Children were watching a puppet show in the Plaza Mayor. There was a wedding at the cathedral. A very lovely place to stroll. And there were storks!

Best wildlife of Spain: Storks! Storks make the most interesting clattering noise with their beaks, sort of like castenets. There were storks in the trees near the Alcazar in Segovia, at the top of the church of San Esteban in Salamanca and along the roads in electrical poles. They are huge birds. I loved seeing them.

Weather: We had absolutely fabulous weather. I'd planned a late April, early May trip after watching Rick's shows and noting when they were filmed. It rained a bit in Madrid, the day we arrived. The rest of the time was sunny, not too hot, ideal.

What a great trip report! In almost three weeks, we still didn't make it to Cordoba or Salamanca. Now must definitely go back! Thanks for posting!

I loved your report, especially listing out your favorites. It is always nice to read about other travelers adventures. Nice that you mentioned wildlife. I am a birder and will be hard pressed to leave my binocs home in September.. Happy travels on your next trip.... Bet you are already thinking of another.

I enjoyed reading your trip report, it brought back some great memories.

Thanks for the tip about scenic roads on the Michelin maps. I just looked at my maps for France - the scenic routes are shown differently, but they are there and now I know how to find them (on the map, anyway).