Adios Andalucia :(

Wow! this week went by so fast.  I said adios to Andalucia last night and flew to Bilbao in northern Spain.  I really enjoyed Andalucia and southern Spain - the whole region is what I thought Spain would be like - beautiful rolling hills, olive trees as far as the eye can see, glorious blue sky, welcoming people and yummy food - oh my we did eat!!

On Thursday, we headed to Jerez to view the Andalucian horse show - dancing horses - beautiful and wonderfully trained horses though some of us were just a bit uncomfortable and wondered if this was a good thing for the horses - but they seemed to be in very good shape and for the most part seemed to enjoy performing.  We were not allowed to take photos of the performance but there was a horse and rider on view outside the venue.

We then went to Sandeman Sherry for a tour and tasting. While Sandeman originated in Scotland it has been in Spain and Portugal for over 200 years.  The hat represents Spain and the cape - Portugal.

I learned that I prefer the moderate or sweeter sherry - the dry was too dry for me.

On Friday we headed to Seville - which is one of the prettiest citys in Spain - unfortunately I had some camera problems but did manage a few shots. 

 (the blog today is not letting me upload photos easily so I will try to send some later)

We tried to toured the Plaza Espanole or the semi-circle square as Ali - our leader called it but there was some kind of an official ceremony taking place so we were not able to wander about too much.  Then we headed to the Alcazar palace and gardens and then to the Cathedral - both very impressive.  Christopher Columbus is supposed to be buried in the cathedral though there is much speculation that it is not really him but perhaps a relative - though of his DNA - We speculated that perhaps it is just his toothbrush ;)