Barcelona, Spain and Canary Islands

Since we weren’t going to Morocco, Norm came up with the idea of renting a car at the airport, then driving to Córdoba and Sevilla to see those places with the luxury of a car. Our plan was jinxed however, because when we arrived at the car rental place in the airport, they wanted an international drivers license, which we didn’t have. We bought our plane ticket to Barcelona, since we were there, and proceeded to the bus terminal where we could take our planned trip by bus. The bus to Córdoba wasn’t so bad. It took about three hours. We stayed at Hostal Fuentes in an apartment so we had more room, but it was noisy on the street. We found some great tapas bars and a restaurant. The main sight to see was the Mosquita which the Catholics claimed as their cathedral, but really had been a mosque during the Moorish times. There was a first holy communion going on in the cathedral which was a delight to watch. We only stayed two nights, so had one full day which was enough. Our next stop by bus would be Sevilla. The trip to Seville took only a couple of hours. In Sevilla, we stayed at Hostal Parlade above a wonderful plaza which was occupied by Duos Tapas Bar and restaurant. This turned out to be our favorite tapas place as it was fusion cuisine with Spain and Japan. We especially loved the crispy vegetable tempura. Sevilla had more to offer with the Alcazar Palace and Gardens and the regal Plaza de Espana. The shops were nicer, but we still didn’t find much to buy. I did get a few more fans. We also became afficionados of the gelato and pastry shops. We enjoyed the tinto de Verano. We stayed two nights again, then rumbled off by bus to Granada, where we flew to Barcelona.