Next we headed for the mountainous heart of Andalusia driving through the Grazalema National Park to Ronda. MoneyPenny did well on the tight turns and hill climbs, despite the extreme heat. The landscape is spectacular with rugged rocky peaks rising up and graceful kestrels and eagles riding the warm currents above. We took a leisurely pace and there wasn't much traffic (no-one else would be crazy enough to be out on these roads at this time of year) so it took us around 3-4 hours to reach Ronda (via Ubreque & Grazalema)
We arrived in Ronda to a blast of 40+ degree temperatures at around 3.00pm and checked into the Hotel Palacio de Hemingway https://hotelpalaciodehemingway.com-hotel.com/ for the night. The carpark was10 minutes walk from the hotel but you can drop off your luggage at a parking space just across the road first. The Hotel is very close to the famous Puente Nuevo (a beautiful bridge across the deep gorge) and you can easily walk to most of the other historic sites. Unfortunately, the extreme heat made it challenging to see too much of this lovely place. However, we did get to the Casa del Rey and I climbed all the way down and back up the ancient Moorish water well dating back to the 14th century when the water wheel was driven by Christian slaves. The gardens of this ancient home were a cool and beautiful haven. There's also a bullring, Arab Baths and much more to see in Ronda but the heat was too much for us that afternoon. We'll have to catch these next time!
From Ronda we left the Grazalema National Park and drove to Seville. This took us about 3 hours, once again taking a leisurely pace traversing more mountain roads and driving through fields of sunflowers being harvested by busy farmers in the hot sun. Sunflower seeds are apparently one of Spain's most profitable crops alongside olives (which were also everywhere!).
Seville is beautiful. We stayed 2 nights at the Palacio Alfonso XIII https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/svqlc-hotel-alfonso-xiii-a-luxury-collection-hotel-seville/overview/ which was commissioned by the King of Spain to host dignitaries attending the 1929 Iberio-American Exhibition. It is a stunning hotel and the pool was greatly appreciated in the 42 degree afternoons!! We went to the Alcazar and the Cathedral (largest Gothic one in the world) and the Plaza de Espana (also built for the 1929 exhibition).
We now leave Andalucia and our amazing adventure there to head north and eventually back to the UK and Sydney. Our next stop is Madrid.
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