el 6, abril, 2017 Raul y Pam Hudson en España

Ralph and Pam at Alcazar in Sevilla

Finally they made it to Spain a trip they’d planned in 2015 but unfortunately Murphy’s Law interfered.  However, in the end the obstacles were overcome and they arrived in January.

Ralph a.k.a. Raul and I taught together for eleven years at BTEMS, he science and me history. He’s the guy all women want to marry; builds houses, wood, stone, or stucco, in Vermont (stone), Arizona (stucco), and New Hampshire (wood): plumber, electrician, computer guy, rides a BMW, fixes stuff,  and builds a travel van out of a new Fiat Ducato, there’s more but we have places to see.

We toured some of the same cities and sites that we did when Tom and Phyllis Wiggins were here last year, Sevilla, Cádiz, Ronda of course, a brief beach lunch in Málaga with Rafael and Kathy Fuentes, the parents-in-laws, and a new place for us, El Conjunto Arqueológico Dólmenes de Antequera.  Antequera is a little larger than Ronda, 40,000 vs. 35,000 and is located about 100 km to the northeast.  Its draws tourists to the UNESCO World Heritage Site Dólmenes de Menga.  These are megaliths constructed of huge rocks some weighing as much as 200 tons and  used to for burial sites, same purpose as the pyramids but nowhere close in size, more like a mounds, and these tombs date back to 3,000 B.C..  After construction they were covered with earth and later when opened in the 19th century the remains of hundreds of people were found. 

After viewing Los Dólomenes we went to find some lunch and eventually found the Alcazaba de Antequera.  This fortress was home to the earliest Romans and later the Moors who built a fortress over the previous Roman fortress.  As  Christian forces threatened from the north they strengthened the fortress to protect access to Granada their capital.

Alcazaba de Antequera

Where we ate lunch near Alcazaba

Alcazaba de Antequera

Cindy on the Castle’s wall

Excavation of Roman ruins

Excavation of la Mezquita

Alcazaba de Antequera

Alcazaba de Antequera

Outer Wall

Wouldn’t be complete without a Catholic Church

We also toured Sevilla, La Catedral de Sevilla and The Alcazar which I blogged about last year.  Cindy and I are now registered tour guides (una broma) for those sites since we’ve taken our visitors there to enjoy the history.  On our trips to Sevilla we’ve noticed a castle parapet just off the A-375 El Castillo de las Aguzaderas so on the return to Ronda we stopped to investigate.  What’s interesting about this fortress is its position.  Unlike others we’ve visited this fortress is not located on the high ground but actually in a low area to protect a valuable source of water.

 Our next destination was to the Atlantic side of Spain’s southern coast, Cádiz.  We like Cádiz a lot since it’s a large city but not to large, 125,000 population and unfortunately declining.  Cadiz was first settled by the Phoencians in 1104 B.C.  

One of exciting things about traveling and going back is there’s always something new.  So here are some new shots of Cádiz with Ralph and Pam.

I have no idea what type of tree this is but it’s huge.

On the way north from Cádiz to Ronda we stopped in the city of Arcos de la Frontera. Romans were here also followed by the Moors and Christians. The Moors built fortifications between 1000-1100, and the Spanish eventually captured the city in the early 1200’s on their way to unifying Spain and expelling Moors, Jews, and others who conflictied with their beliefs.  And those were the lucky ones as thousands more were murdered during the Spanish Inquisition (1478-1834) in an attempt to purify Spain of non-Catholics.

Cathedral at the top of Arcos de la Frontera

Yes, my car fits. And why they don’t buy Amercan cars or trucks.

View from below Arcos de la Frontera

Ralph and Pam are safely back in the US and back in the warmth of Arizona. We had talked about them coming before we left in 2014 and I never doubted that they would make it.  It was great having them here eating, drinking, and showing them our slice of Spain.  More friends are coming at the end of April, and as I write this Baleigh and Ricky are hiking around Tenerife in Las Canaries which are owned by Spain, it’s the last parts of the former empire except for two enclaves on the Moroccan coast, Cueta and Melilla.  In August Landen, Lauren, and two cycling couples are coming to ride the mountains, it will be hot.  Also at that time will be the Vuelta a España Cycling race and a couple stages are near so it should be a great August into early September.

So here’s your bonus picture. Couple weekends ago we went for a ride with Baleigh and Ricky over the mountain to Zahara and we saw this, probably 25 or more.  

Spanish Ibex between Grazalema and Zahara

Male Spanish Ibex, nope didn’t see this one leading me to believe that the one above is a female or a kid. Males and females travel in distinct herds and range in size from 30-135 kgs(65-235 lbs.)  This video will give you an appreciation of there climbing ability. 

Here’s a video  from the BBC of Ibex dining on a dam wall, amazing agility  and balance.  http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150612-vertical-scaling-ibex