Crossroads in Abu Dhabi: Christmas in Spain: Ronda and Seville

Our next two trips were a jeep trek through Andalucia and a LONG day trip to Seville.

First, Andalucia:

We took a jeep tour through the small pueblos blancos or white towns nestled in the hillsides of the mountains.

Looking out across the valleys

In a grove of olive trees....This olive tree has been dated at 1,000 years old.

Picking olives--We learned that green and black olives come from the same tree. The difference is in their degree of ripeness. Green olives are picked by hand. When ripe, the black olives are harvested by shaking the tree trunk and collecting the fallen olives. They then have to be marinated for a long period of time before being eaten.

Also picking oranges....There are orange trees everywhere, even lining the city streets. The ones in the cities are not edible (it would take 1 kilo of sugar to make 1 orange edible). These particular oranges were in an orchard and were delicious!!

The small town of Monda--Women bring their laundry here to the city center and use the water for washing clothes.

Stopping to let the sheep and goats walk past on the road--very pastoral!

Saint Roque Chapel: There is a statue of the saint and the dog who saved his life inside. This is on a hilltop, very windy and cold! Nearby is the water that is said to increase the life-span of the people in the city below. They have been studied by scientists to determine what enables them to live so long.

We all drank water from the fountain so we could have a longer life.....Some of us (Stephanie and Cory!) drank enough to live two full lives!! This is Cory drinking down all the water Steph put into a bottle to take home! LOL

Another view looking down into yet another small white town. I never tired of this!!

Looking down from one of the towns overlooking the Mediterranean Sea

The next day we went to Seville. This was a LONG bus ride in the pouring rain. We didn't get to see much in Seville except the cathedral, but we did have a delightful lunch in a little tapas bar. That's the only thing that saved the day!!