15 December ’05, Thursday.
Driving from the Seville area and heading south we travel through low rolling farm lands that have just been plowed, then into the mountain areas of South Spain that make poor “Bumble Bee” get down and dig, pass areas of sand dunes that are whipped about by the wind, white hill top villages that seem to hold on by sheer guts, herds of sheep, cattle, and the prized “fighting bulls”. As we got closer to the coast, we came upon millions of the huge windmills twirling to generate the electrical power that is demanded of them. You could even hear the “hum” in the distance. We are now paying about $4 US dollars a gallon for gas, and feeling it is a bargain. The food costs seem to bounce back and forth from being “reasonable” to pretty expensive. The camp site costs are pretty good, by averaging less than $18 Euro a night. If we eat a “Dinner” out (our lunch, but a heavier one), it will about $28 average…3 or 4 courses with wine, beer, or a coke. When we do eat out like that, we tend not to have any thing but “treats” for the rest of the night… That probably isn’t the best, but … The sun has been with us for quite some time now, with today being the exception…it rained pretty good earlier morning/afternoon as we were pulling into Marbella. Marbella is a coast town with the mountains right at the back side. When the rain comes, the torrents of rain rush down the hills and right into the Med and making the green/blue water look like it is “dirt brown” for a while. This campground is about 100 yards off the beach, and about 6 miles from Marbella to the west. This is the first campground that we have been in that is definitely a “winter” home for a lot of Europeans. I think the campground can hold about 400 campers, and right now it is about 95 percent full. Most of them seem to be from Germany and Great Britain. Tonight Louise and I went out for a walk around the site to see all the Christmas decorations that they have put out around their “pitch”. Some are pretty elaborate, while others have stayed pretty simple if any thing at all. Some of those that make this their 2nd home, have their camper/caravan, plus one to 3 out buildings as well. Most of the “out buildings” are tents like the bigger one that we use once in awhile, and others have built wooden structures...
The grocery store here on site is one of the best we have had, and the prices are very reasonable. The restaurant/bar is nice, but so far we have only seen a couple of people use it. Our plan is to stay a couple of days, head up to Gibraltar for a day, and then a few days in Ronda for Christmas

14 December ’05, Wednesday.
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

13 December ’05, Tuesday.
It was one of those nights when either one of us got much sleep. I guess it was that built-in alarm clock that just kept us thinking about having to get up a little earlier to catch the ferry. I don’t know why the built-in alarm started out so early, but it did. Finally about quarter to eight, we both jumped up and headed for the shower. By 9 we were walking the 2 miles into town to catch the 11:30 ferry…I know, a little early, but we didn’t want to miss it either. Our ride across the Straits of Gibraltar took just over an hour. While on the ride, we met another couple that was taking this tour as well, so although the boat had just a few people on it, we knew that we had at least one more couple going on this tour. Arriving at the pier in Tangier, we found that there were 2 more couples, so now we were 4. Of course Lou and I had a little problem, but fortunately it was taken care of quickly with the help of our tour guide. We were told that prior to leaving the boat, a “policeman” would stamp our passport, and that must be done prior to leaving the boat…well, a “policeman” did come by our seat, and told us to “get our passports out”, at least that’s what we both heard. It turned out that I was to take the passports to his “office” and he would stamp our “TICKETS”, not our passports. Well, neither one got done until we walked “OFF” the boat and got our help. Ok, now we are on the bus, or should I say van. It was nice to have a small group because we got a little more personal attention (another good reason to travel off-season). We were told that there would be aggressive attention to us by young to old venders that were selling just about everything you could possibly want and then some. Once we were out of the van and touring the “Kasbah” (the old fortress of Tangier, and now a place for that “photo moment” as we wandered through the narrow passageways.), they seemed to come out of the ancient walls and settle upon us in groups of 4 and 6. I think the idea was one to attach himself to the women, while another would pull the husband away and try to sell him at a different position of the group while still walking through these VERY narrow passages, and all the time walking a circle around you to keep your attention…quite an art !!! It was amazing to watch them work, because when someone in the group finally found something they wanted to buy, they all converged on her with in a second or two. Our tour guide was pretty good at making them back off, but then in the next few paces, they were all back…it is a game, and I kind of have fun with all of it. I didn’t buy anything, but watching it all happen is great fun. This tour was like a lot those we took in Egypt and Turkey, where the guide will find the opportunity to take you in to “this special place”. There you will find yourself sitting for a “demonstration or explanation” of “hand made carpets, or the second stop, a “Naturalist” who has special recipes for herbs that will heal any and all ails you may have (for me, he wanted to grow hair for me with his special oils…) and of course, our guide gets his cut from anything that is purchased.
We did have a good “local” 4 course lunch included. We started with a great soup, then couscous with chicken, skewers of lamb, and desert. All that was topped off with mint tea. During lunch, we were entertained with a 6 piece musical group that played typical Moorish music. While walking the passageways, we saw some women carrying bread dough wrapped in cloth. they were heading for the “baker”. He has a little stall in the wall that has a wood burning oven built into the back wall. He does the baking of the dough and after a while, she comes back and collects it. Each woman has a special “mark” that she puts on her bread to keep hers separate from the others. Also, as we walked these passages, we had to constantly be aware of string that was strung from one end “street” to the next corner. Sometimes, there were as many as 6 different strings at 6 different levels and angles. These were strung tight for the young man who was twisting them together to make thread for embroidery work. Another item of interest, ONLY men can do embroidery…a woman’s eyes are not strong enough to handle the work required. Again, there were lots of little “shops” that were cut into the walls of the passageways that had these men sitting on pillows embroidering. Our next stop was to see the “snake charmer” do his bit, and then it was across town for those of us that might want to ride a camel. I did the snake thing, with a snake draped around my shoulders, but passed on the camel. Fortunately, the snake he used to place on us wasn’t the cobra, or I most likely would have passed on this experience. We covered Tangier from one end to the other over 4 to 5 hours, and when it came time to leave, we all felt much better about the idea of coming into Tangier on our own someday. For some reason, that bit of insecurity that was there prior to this trip over. During our ride, we were told of some of the traditions of the Muslims of Morocco. For instance, if a husband was to die, his wife is forbidden to attend the funeral. He told us that the idea behind this, is that the woman gets too over whelmed and throws herself all over the body and this makes the ceremony too difficult for the men that are attending. She can go to the grave site, but only after the 3rd day. One other interesting thing, she wears only “white” clothing (robes) during the mourning period of 3 months. After that point, you can wear any color she wants and she can also get married at that time as well..but only if she has refrained from having sex. It seems that the 3 month period of refraining from sex has to do with the possibility of being pregnant while her husband was still alive. Darkness is arriving, so back to the boat, across the Straits, a little stop at the internet, and finding one of the BEST pizzas we have had in a very long time, and last but not least, finding a taxi to take us back to “Bumble Bee”. Tomorrow…CARMONA

12 December ’05, Monday.
We loaded “Bumble Bee” back up this morning and drove into Tarifa, which is the furthest south you can get in all of Europe. I could hardly believe that until I checked out our chart of Europe. Sure enough, you can’t go further south than this… Our first stop was to see if it was still possible to take a “Day Trip” by ferry to Tangier from Tarifa. Well, we found that not only was it possible, but easy, so we bought our tickets. We will board the high speed ferry to Tangier about 11 in the morning and find our “guide” in Tangier. The package deal is fast ferry to Tangier, guided English speaking tour by bus, lunch, and return by fast ferry about 7 the same day. Just enough time, although we wish we would have checked this out earlier, because there is a 6 day tour that we both would have liked to take. The only problem with that, it only leaves on a Sunday morning. If we wait around till next Sunday, we will be getting back on Christmas Eve, and that just wont work for us this time. Getting the tickets taken care of, we went looking for an internet café. Finding one, we took care of the emails and tried to up-load to the web. Unfortunately, the systems were so slow it just wouldn’t get the job done… Now to find the next one and we’ll hope for a better system. Tarifa has a population of about 10,000 people, buildings are all white washed, has a small castle surrounded by a wall, and sits right at the edge of the Atlantic. The village is very much like so many we have seen lately, as the streets are no more than little passageways that run in a pattern that takes years to understand. There is a small market within the walls, 4 or 5 churches, and many businesses and plazas. We found one of those plazas when we were looking for lunch. Sitting there kind of reminded us of sitting in any number of small villages in Mexico and having lunch. The warmth of the sun (about 70 degrees today), the sea, and of course the similar language. While in town this morning, we ran into a guy from Great Britain we had met in Seville. He was telling us about the campground that they had found and how much they enjoyed it. As it turns out, it was the same one that Bruce and Peg had stayed at when they were here 5 years ago. Well, we had to try it out too, so here we are. We will be here for at least 2 or maybe 3 days and then head to Gibraltar. Until then…tomorrow, Tangier

11 December ’05, Sunday.
Going through our copy of Bruce and Peg’s diary the last couple of days, we found that for the first time we are following in their foot steps, only 5 years later. I think we are about 1 or 2 days behind them now, but as I said, 5 years later. It’s fun to read their diary and then write one for us. Peg, if you ever read this, please don’t feel that I am plagiarizing your work… This afternoon we pulled into Cadiz just after noon, and headed for the “old town” that was established in 1100 BC, although what we see today only dates back to the mid 1500’s. Being a Sunday, I was shocked at how many local people had come into town. It was packed and parking??? Non-existent… We thought about parking in the bus zones and even some of the other areas that we know are trouble, but we opted not to because we saw for the first time, a motorbike that had a “boot” attached to the wheel. Now most often a motorbike has pretty much carte blanche, but seeing the boot…we opted to keep looking. Finally, after traveling the main route, and the narrow alleyways, we found a spot just long enough for us to squeeze into. To top that off, Sundays are free… Cadiz is a town of about 150,000 +, and the old city is pretty much right on the water. The town is built out on a spit, and fills it in completely. Another 100 yards out into the water is an old fortress that is linked to the mainland by a narrow walkway. In the city a small part of the fortress wall is seen here and there. Huddled between are many of the ancient buildings of the old town and most proud yet, are the basilica and the churches of Cadiz. We really enjoyed our time by visiting the churches, walking the “pedestrian” areas window shopping, browsing the street markets, and finding a “perfect” Tapa’s Bar for lunch. Fortunately we took the time to visit Cadiz, because it was one town that we had almost passed. In leaving, we found ourselves fighting a head wind for the next 60 or so miles. Just prior to arriving in Tarifa, we came upon a mountain completely topped with the huge windmills that were generating power for most of the towns of the area. You would think that this was “The” power supply for all of Spain… Tonight we are spending a night in a campground that has about 3 “day campers” and 40 “full time” campers registered. With the wind coming into this area, it makes this coastline one of the finest areas for windsurfers in all of Europe. The beach is about 400 meters down the road. On our walk after arriving, we saw about 10 camper units sitting at the beach and every one of them was there to enjoy the wind and surf. About 100 yards back off the beach are some huge sand dunes that attracts the dune buggies and ATV’s. Well, it’s been a nice walk, a nice day, and we’ve seen some great sites…tomorrow…Tarifa

10 December ’05, Saturday.
If we are going to spend a “whole day” in town we are going to have to get up earlier… We caught the 11:30 bus so when we got down town, we were hustling to get things covered before dark. We choose to go to the cathedral first, seeing as how it closed at 1:30pm, and it would probably take us at least 2 to 3 hours there. Prior to being a Christian church in 1401, a Mosque stood there on that foundation. “We will build a cathedral so huge that anyone who sees it will take us for madmen”, is what the Reconquista Christians bragged. Well, they did, but it took them 120 years to build it. There is a stained glass window that is towards the top of the cathedral, and it stands over 9 feet high…from the ground it looks like it could be 3 or 4 foot max…it is a long way up there!!! There are a few huge pillars that they have in braces that are there to hold the building in place. The pillars are cracking, and without restoration soon, the whole place could come down…they are working hard at fixing it. We saw the tomb for Christopher Columbus in this cathedral, an amazing organ that has 7,000 pipes and is finished in carved walnut from Cuba. The gold, art work, carvings and sculptures, and the total enormity of the cathedral are amazing. Then it was time to climb the bell tower. The Giralda Tower was formally a Moorish minaret from which the Muslims were called to prayer. Instead of steps to the top, there is a ramp that takes you up over 12 stories in height. Five times a day, a rider would ride his horse up the ramp to the top of the tower, make the call to prayer, and return down the ramp…it is quite a trip, even if you walk it. Today, it sounds a wonderful call from the 24 bells. On each side of the tower, there are 4 bells that are twirled in a complete circle each time they are called to ring. Louise and I had no more than made it half way down, and the bells started to toll…we were both glad to have the distance between us and them. Then we walked across the plaza to enjoy a walk through the “Alcázar”. The entrance fee for the Alcazar was $7 Euro each, except if you were a “pensioner”…then it was FREE…that’s $14 and, we had already saved $4.50 each at the cathedral. Being a pensioner sure is fun !!! This was originally built as a 10th century palace for the governors of the Moorish state. Not built by the Moors, but by Christians, for Christians, and in a Moorish architectural design. As far a “Palaces” go, this one was different. Not bad “different”, because it was absolutely beautiful. The big difference was it wasn’t like any other we have had the opportunity to visit, not even those in Turkey or Egypt. We visited the chambers were Christopher Columbus met with Queen Isabel after he made his New World discoveries. Fact is, I even got a personal autograph from Chris…(if you believe this, I’ve got a bridge I want to talk to you about…). Well, after having a cup of coffee on the terrace with Issy at the palace, we headed over to catch a bus. This time we were heading across town to see the Macarena district and the Basilica de la Macarena. By the way, did you know this is where the song was written and became the hit in 1996 ??? Our bus ride took us around the 1992 Worlds Fair grounds, across the river, through different parts of the city and finally into the Macarena District. We got off the bus right at one of the longest parts of the old city walls. Passing through the gate we immediately had the Basilica of Macarena in front of us. In the celebration of Easter every year, the basilica has a major part. The basilica has the “Weeping Virgin (Virgin de la Macarena) and the Sentencing of Christ sculptures being carried through the streets on the strong shoulders of the faithful. The Virgin weighs in about 1.5 tons and the Sentencing over 3 tons. A group of 48 men carry the Sentencing on their shoulders while wearing a hooded drape over their bodies that only shows their feet. The Madonna is shown crying, and the tears are crystal droplets. They say that if you were to look around you while sitting in one of the pews, you would find many around you with that same tear coming down their cheeks. This stop was one that we will not forget, but it was getting late, so we had to move on. Instead of catching the bus back, we decided to find our way back through the old city streets…that can be a challenge, but fortunately Drew, “we didn’t get lost because we had a map in our pocket”… Tomorrow we move on down the coast heading south…Cádiz and then onto Tarifa for the night or more…

9 December ’05, Friday.
Arriving in Seville wasn’t with out a little mishap. The highway we came in on, gave us an exit 8-A, and we were looking for “8”. Well, I guessed that we would find “8” after 8-A, so we continued…Wrong… So now I’ve got to go down the freeway to the next exit and come back. Well, it didn’t work out quite like that. It took us 2 tries to get back onto the freeway going the right direction and then when we did we still took the wrong turn again ( a very confusing intersection). This one ended up going down under the road through a small tunnel and coming out at a hospital. “Ok, that’s OK. We will just work our way through the parking lot and turn back onto the freeway going the right way”. About halfway through the parking lot, we came to a tunnel that passed under a walkway. “Are we going to go under that OK?” “I don’t know…better go slow..DID WE HIT ???” … “Tell the guy in back of us we have to back up…” “Who the hell HONKED their horn ???” Well, we were able to back out without any damage, except maybe my ego…and the guy with the horn, I would like to talk to him…
Pulling into the Seville campground about 3 pm gave us enough time to set up and head into town. We are camped in Dos Hermanos, which is about 12 km south of Seville and we have a city bus that will take us right into the middle of the areas we will be touring. It really is nice to have a secure location for “Bumble Bee” and not have to pay a bundle to the transportation systems to get us anywhere. This bus ride only costs us $2.30 for the two of us, and if we were to purchase a 10 ride pass, it would come to a total of $5.00. Seville was at one time, one of the most prosperous cities in Europe. The wealth of the city came from the trade with India and the Americas. As the bus brought us into the “city”, we were blown away by all the huge mansions/palaces that lined the road on both sides. Over 90 percent of these are still being lived in, and they are “BEAUTIFUL”. You feel humbled at the site of them, and the architecture…WOW !!! The Moorish influence is really felt and wonderful to see. As most of our journeys start, we went looking for the TI (Tourist Information) booth. Here in Seville, we found something else first…STARBUCKS !!! Yep, 4 in the afternoon and I wasn’t going to let the moment pass…”Double Decaf Latte, un Carmel Frapuccino Por Favor”… It was one of those perfect moments…Great City, Warm Sunny Day, Starbucks, and a Sidewalk Table available… I really don’t know why we get so excited about having a Starbucks, because every espresso drink we have had on our trip has been just as good and about 1/3rd the cost…Oh well, it’s Starbucks… Finishing up, we headed around the corner, found the TI, got our maps and questions answered, and went on our “fishing trip”. Our first stop was at Seville’s Cathedral. This is the 3rd largest in Europe, but the largest Gothic church “anywhere”…are you impressed yet? The Santo Maria de la Sede (the cathedral) was just about ready to close when we walked in, but we did have a quick walk through. Fortunately, we will have a chance to really explore it in the morning. Seeing as it was getting fairly late, we decided to take a walk around the “Jewish Old Town”, pop into a bar for a quick glass of wine and a little later a dinner at a little restaurant across the street from the University…no wonder it was so cheap. The sun had set, and the lights of the city and the sites had come on, so now it was time to see just what kind of “night photos” were available. We had a real nice time walking the narrow streets that always found their way to a “Plaza, Courtyard, or Patio”. You can’t believe the plazas, and parks that this city has, they are everywhere. While in Lisbon last week, we saw quite a bit of the city lighting up the Christmas lights, but so far here in Seville, we have seen very little evidence that Christmas is coming. On the other hand, the Old City Walls, Cathedrals, Churches, Palaces, Fountains, and any other “site” is lit up really well in the evenings. Well seeing as how we got a late start into town, we headed off to find the return bus about 8:30pm. Coming from Portugal, we had forgotten that we had crossed the time zone again, so we had lost an hour, and we were both ready to head home. Tomorrow…Seville

8 December ’05, Thursday.
Yesterday we had no sooner arrived at the campground in Olhâo, and we had set off on a walk into town. Of course today was a national holiday…Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Who knows what if anything will be open. The front desk said it was about a 20 minute walk following the train tracks so off we went. About half way, we saw a Carrefour Market on the other side of the tracks, and then we found a hole in the fence to go through to the other side. We always like these little challenges…no trains…GO ! Louise has been looking for a pair of lambs wool and suede slippers, and they had the perfect pair. A loaf of wonderful Portuguese bread added to the list and we were on our way again. We really didn’t want to cross through the fence again, so we took a left and went toward the sea. The only thing now, is the neighborhood is a little rough looking, not that anyone was paying any attention to us, it was just… Anyway, we found ourselves walking around the boat docks with all the small fishing boats tied to the pier and the nets set high to dry in the sun. Finally getting far enough, we reached the beach and the boardwalk that took us into town. Olhâo was and still is a small Portuguese fishing village. The part of the town closest to the beach is the oldest, with most of the buildings showing a Muslim influence in their design. We walked through the narrow streets that went in all directions at once…talk about a place that you can get quickly lost in, this is it and hell, they even had a red carpet laid out on the sidewalks to guide you to all the shops. 2 hours later we were back home. Speaking of home (the campground), after our last one in Albufeira , this one we would rate a 3 out of 10 with Albufeira a 7. We even had to camp beside the main road coming and going from the main gate…it wasn’t even a “pitch” in campground terms…hell, we were in the street ! Oh well, it was only one night. Tomorrow…back to Spain and on to Seville

7 December ’05, Wednesday.
After breakfast it was time to head up and get the laundry done. Now these machines are fancy…so fancy, that we had to have help getting it running. First you have to get it to the right “language”, for us it would be English (isn’t that nice to know?). Now it looked easy enough, but 4 of us (all English speaking) couldn’t figure it out. Finally a young cleaning lady came to our rescue and got all of us taken care of. One hour later, we now have some of the cleanest clothes we have had since the beginning of our trip…these are good machines. Washing done, all hung out to dry, and we are off to see what Albufeira is like. This is the sun belt for Portugal, and being the furthest southern point of Portugal, it faces out to the Atlantic Ocean. The beaches are wide, deep, and of golden sand. The town is built on the hillside above the beach, with access to the beach through 2 tunnels and one pedestrian walkway. Albufeira is a small town, but in the spring and summer it must just explode. There are so many bars and restaurants in town, it seems that just about every businessman owns at least one. The prices are very reasonable, the service very good, and the atmosphere is “beach resort”. This is a place we could get used to easily, but we still have places and things to see…tomorrow we are off again. I’m not sure yet, but Faro maybe our next stop.

6 December ’05, Tuesday.
A short trip of just under 200 miles from Lisbon to The Algarve. The Algarve is known as one of the best “winter” locations for the “Brits”. I would say that what we have seen so far, that is a true statement. English is THE spoken language here. It was an easy trip coming down, and kind of reminded us of driving along the last part of the trip into Longbeach. Once we got here, we headed straight for the grocery store. Our stock of food had just about depleted. Finding the campground was one of the easiest yet. All we had to do was follow the road straight in toward the town and 2 km out was our campground. Now this is what you might call “over-kill” in regards to security. We both have ID cards that we have to put into a slot to get in and out of the gates. If we take the van out (which we wont), we have a card for it as well. Everything has to be paid up front, including $21 Euros for the 3 cards (refundable). They have 2 huge waterslides, 2 pools, a large and active restaurant, nice grocery store, and a young lady at the front desk that has a “don’t give a … attitude”. The toilet/shower blocks are the best we have had yet…and there is a lady that is constantly in there cleaning and polishing. To top that off, we are getting all this for less than $15 a day. Louise went and checked out the wash machines and is all excited about them as well. I can just tell, tomorrow is going to be laundry day