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Évora and Nearby Monuments
Our first stop, Évora is one of the larger cities in
Alentejo. Centuries ago, it was also one of the most important
in Portugal. We stopped nearby to admire the Cromeleque (stone
circle) de Almendres, built more than 4,000 years ago. In town,
we walked around to see the ruins of the roman temple, the
cathedral museum, and the Chapel of the Bones at the Igreja
de São Francisco -- where bones are arranjed in an unusual
way to remind us of our own mortality.
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Sevilla
We'd been to Seville before, but it the tapas are
always tasty! This time, we went to the Plaza de
España and visited the Archaelogy museum.
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Córdoba and its Mesquita Cathedral
In Córdoba, we saw the famous Mesquita -- built on the site
of the original Cathedral of St. Vincent by the Moors, and converted
back into a Cathedral after the Spanish Reconquest. It is incredibly
pretty and has enough to while away several hours, including many pretty
side chapels.
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Écija and its Church Towers
Halfway between Córdoba and Granada, we found a pretty
Spanish town with many church towers, some of them with stork
nests and others decorated with colorful tiles. It was nice to
walk around, but extremely hot -- Écija is known as the
frying pan of Andalucia.
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Granada and the Alhambra Palace
We stayed overnight in the nearby ski resort town of Guejar-Sierra.
During the day, we spent most of our time visiting the Alhambra, which
combines multiple museums, moorish palaces, a ruined red castle (which
gives the place its name) and a pretty water garden.
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Cabo de Gata
Cabo da Gata, a little bit east of Almeria, has a fine
sandy beach and a nearby lake where many flamingoes spend
the summer (however, you need binoculars to get a good look
at them!). On the way there and back, we drove through the
desert near Almeria, where many westerns where filmed, including
the excellent Once Upon a Time in the West.
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Antequera
A pretty and sleepy town about 50 km north of Malaga. It has
many small cobbled streets, old buildings, a hill-top castle,
ruins of a roman bath and an excellent restaurant serving
economical hearty meals for less than 6 euros! Just outside
town, we crowded into some ancient dolmens. These are ancient
communal burial grounds. One of them, the Dolmen the Menga, is
topped with a 180 ton stone. Pretty impressive for stone age
engineers.
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El Torcal de Antequera Natural Park
This park has many curious limestone formations, carved by wind and
water. We went there for an early morning hike, and saw some mountain
goats, vultures and sheep. And we nearly got lost!
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El Rocío
About 15 km north of the big sandy beach at Matalascañas, the
town of El Rocío is the site of a shrine to the Virgin Mary.
It is a pretty unique town too, with sandy (that is, unpaved!) streets,
and lots of cowboys passing through on horseback.
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Playa Costa Manelli
After trying the crowded beach at Matalascañas, we found
a secluded sandy beach a few kilometers west. Next to the beach,
a well marked boardwalk made for a relaxing stroll and allowed
us to try some tiny, pearly white fruits -- "carmonas".
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Parque Natural da Doñana
The park is one of the last refuges of the acutely endangered Iberian lynx
(fewer than 200 individuals remain). We didn't see any lynx, but we did
see some deer, some beetles, and many birds. We did see a 400 year old
wild olive tree, or acebuche. The best time for wildlife
sightings is in the cooler springs and winter months, so maybe next time
we'll be luckier!
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