Day 11 was another late start.. 9:00am. Hooray. Every morning, breakfast is included at the hotels. These are full, cooked to order breakfasts with fruits, lots of bread (sweet & savory), cheeses, sliced meats, juices and fancy coffee machines. All of the hotels we’ve stayed at have been 4 star. Really nice, comfortable hotels. All have hair dryers (thank you), room safes and some have irons (not all). The shared rooms have two twin beds, and in some rooms the two beds were pushed together to create a king bed. For roommates? I don’t think so. Other “single” rooms had king beds.

I started out with a roommate, as it saved me quite a bit of money. And it worked out, mostly, the first 4 nights. My roommate was another woman from Australia traveling alone. I must admit that my snoring was quite bothersome to her, for which I felt terrible. Frankly I didn’t even think about it when I requested a shared room. It’s been a while since I’ve shared a room with anyone other than Lola (my cat) and she doesn’t seem to mind the snoring. HA HA

We had very busy days and needed to get a good night´s rest. So on Day 5 I decided to speak to our Tour Director and request a single room for the rest of the trip. It worked out fortunately for me and my roommate Yes, I did have to pay the single supplement, but it was well worth it. I think Suzette, my BFF, is the only one that can comfortably be my roommate. We shared a room recently in Los Cabos and it all worked out.

Now back to Day 11. We headed to Granada with a couple of stops along the way. These were unique and wonderful stops.Let me tell you about them. First, a fun fact: Spain is the world’s largest producer of olive oil Our bus rides from one city to the next take us through quite a bit of countryside and olive trees can be seen everywhere. Every single meal (including breakfast) offers bread, and olive oil is at every table, more often than not butter is not offered.

So it makes sense that we made a stop at an olive farm (I think that’s what it’s called). Olive trees as far as the eye can see. We picked up a local tour guide who showed us around and talked to us about how the olives are harvested, then brought to the Olive Cooperative where they are pitted, and the oil squeezed out of them (I’m sure there’s a better way to describe this, but allow me…) and then stored in large metal VATS before the oil is bottled. Quite interesting, and uncomplicated. Our local tour guide, John, was an interesting character from Britain who has been living in Spain for years and years. Yes, I did pick up a bottle of olive oil to take home. The bread in Spain is not quite like what we have in Mexico, it is better in Spain to be honest. Nonetheless, I look forward to dipping my ¨micha¨ in Spanish olive oil.

Now our second stop this morning is in a small town called Alfarnatejo. What a cute little ´white village.´ All the buidings are painted white. Here we took a nice stroll through the town streets until we came upon a lovely home that has been turned into a museum of sorts. We were given local almonds to try (very good) and some sweet white wine. We also had an opportunity to make some purchases before we headed back outside to meet our hosts for lunch. Now here is where it gets especially interesting. Two local women (the man in the picture is who owned the small museum) open their homes to us and make us lunch. Our group is split up into two, and each smaller group has lunch in a home. Yes, in their home they cook a 4 course meal to include salad, sliced meats & cheeses, bread, lentil soup, a delicious pork in a red tomato sauce and fruit and a homemade cinnaman sugar cookie. All served with a choice of white or red wine. It was all just lovely, and her home was impeccable. Maria was our host and she has a large table in a sun room off her kitchen with a beautiful view to the town below (her home is up a little cobblestone hill). She also served us a homemade after dinner drink which was a sweet liqour made from quince. It was very good and quite an endeavor to make, I´m sure.

It was just a lovely stop. Our hosts could not have been nicer or more welcoming. A real highlight of our trip.

We continue our drive to Granada. Here we make a quick stop at the hotel, but almost immediately make our way to the Alhambra. We were warned that the tour of this famous monument would be approximately 2.5 hours and walking would be about 2 miles. On this particular day it was very hot. At one point in the afternoon, my watch read 99 degrees Fahrenheit (37 C). Yes, it was very very hot.

This monument is famous for it´s Islamic architecture and is considered one of the best preserved palaces of the historic Islamic world. In addition it contains notable examples of Spanish Renaissance architecture. It is a large compound surrounded by beautiful gardens. It was started in the 11th Century when Muslims ruled this part of Spain. After the conclusion of the Christian Reconquista in 1492, the site became the Royal Court of Ferdinand and Isabella (were Christopher Columbus received royal endorsement for his expedition. Thank you, Wikipedia). Here are some pictures:

From here we headed back to the hotel. We were on our own for dinner. It was approximately 7pm and I was very tired. After a quick shower, I got a second wind, as they say, and decided to go out for a walk. Right outside the hotel just a few steps away was a very nice Catholic church. I decided to pop my head in, when I noticed 8pm mass was starting so i stayed! Yay! I then walked another few feet and was at El Corte Inglés the same department store I visited in Madrid. I had a singular purpose; to buy a small duffel bag. Although my one suitcase fits everything, however tight. I am certain I will surpass the maximum weight allowed by the airline. And since American Airlines allows me 2 free checked bags, I figured, why not? I did find exactly what I was looking for!

On Day 12 we head out to Valencia and are on the bus most of the day. We make a couple of comfort stops including a stop for lunch at a nice rest stop restaurant off the highway. We arrive in Valencia around 3pm, check into the hotel and have a little time before the next activity. We’re scheduled to leave the hotel at 5pm for a short tour of the city before dinner at 7pm.

The hotel was right in the middle of town, exactly in front of the gorgeous “Ćity of Arts & Sciences.” These are several buildings, architectural wonders, really. They house a planetarium and laserium, a museum of science, an outdoor art gallery, an open air oceanographic park, an opera house and a covered plaza for concerts and sporting events. It is truly magnificent. I went up to the rooftop bar of our hotel where there were amazing views. Here are couple of pictures.

We headed back out for a quick tour of the ciy of Valencia. We went to the old town and walked around a bit, then had dinner at a small family restaurant. The Owner/Chef Lorenzo did a Paella demonstration for us. He showed us how to cook the authentic Valencia Paella, which is quite different than I’ve ever tasted. It had chicken and rabbit (!!), rice, saffron of course, but not that much as the rice was a brown color not yellow. There were also something like 4-5 different types of beans. It was good, but honestly, I found it somewhat bland in flavor. It could have used some salt and maybe other seasonings, like Tabasco Sauce or Cholula Sauce. I dare not even mention that to the Chef!

Here are some pictures of the old town and of the cooking demonstration:

Once we got back to the hotel, some of us were just not ready to say good night. So we headed up to the rooftop bar for one last Sangria! Here’s a group picture of 15 of the 23 travelers. I hope I can get a picture of all of us before we go home. It’s been a great group!

It was another long day, as you can see. But we did see a lot. Stay tuned for more…

Day 11: 13,143 steps. Day 12: 8,347 steps