We received a very timely email from Mario, telling us that his mother’s family was from a village in Spain called Carmona, and “if” we were to get close to it, could we drop in and check it out…well Mario, we were and we did. Carmona is a beautiful walled village that is situated on a hill overlooking a wonderful valley. The city walls are not complete anymore, but 2 or the main gates, a large portion of the defensive walls, the Alcazar del Ray D. Pedro I, (the Alcazar is now a Parador, which is a historic building, and one of many that Spain has turned into very nice and popular hotels) and many more prominent buildings and churches from the 11th century. Mario, Carmona even dates back further than that. In ancient times (like a thousand years before Christ) it was one of the main enclaves of the Guadalquivir areas. For over a half million years people have lived on this hill which they now call “Carmona”. Yes Mario, you most likely have some relatives that still live here… Louise and I were really taken with Carmona, the position that it holds on this hill, the natural beauty of way, they all say “Hi”, and await a visit from you next time. We walked just about every little passageway that made its way around inside the walls, looking at just about every building that is there. We tried to visit those beautiful churches, but unfortunately, they were all closed. During our walk, we came to the conclusion that most of the living quarters have been completely remodeled inside, and now belong to the famous and wealthy of the area. You could see many signs of their wealth, although if you were to look at the exterior only, you could be fooled into thinking that nothing has changed for many years. The main gate area holds the TI (Tourist Information) and a little store which we had a chance to visit. About in the middle of the village, sits the main plaza. We found a perfect restaurant/bar to have lunch in at the Square San Fernando. Louise had chicken filet and I had fried sardines. Together we shared a serving of egg-plant that was deep fried, placed on top of sliced boiled potato’s and then served with hot honey spread on top of it all…the house specialty, and boy was it goooodddd !!! We took lots of pictures and have lots of memories, so Mario…
Now that was a quick afternoon. Tomorrow…Marbella