There is an amusement park ride in Spain filled with roller coaster heights, hair-pin twists and turns, expansive views and dramatic moments. It is the local bus from Alicante to the UNESCO World Heritage renaissance cities of Ubeda and Baeza. For a mere 26 euros, you are treated to a seven-hour wild ride that trips through a national park in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, making minutes-long stops in tiny little towns that aren’t on any tour guide map, all to reveal millions of olive trees blanketing the landscape like a tufted bedspread from the 1950’s.
The bus ride was just the beginning of a two-week trek through the Andalusian region of southern Spain. We will cover “must-see” locales like Cordoba, Seville and Granada. George has yet to experience this part of Spain and my dimming memory of 18 years prior is in sore need of a refresher course. And for something completely new to us both, we also plan stops in the slightly off-tourist path but even more inviting white hill towns of Arcos de la Frontera and Ronda.
After a bit of initial homework, we opted for a blend of bus and train public transport instead of the DIY car rental approach. The initial leg confirmed our decision. If we were going to round corners on a single lane road with 1000-foot sheer drop offs and no guard rails, far better it be with an experienced bus driver behind the wheel than one of us.
After a day of jaw dropping views, we checked into our first parador, a 16th-century palace situated on the city’s most historic square, Vázquez de Molina, with a decidedly more intimate and quiet view of Renaissance history spread out before us. With two palaces, one ridiculously ornate private chapel and one grand church all fronting the square, it was a perfect first base camp.
But there is much more exploring to do. Tomorrow, we will start our next homework project – tasting olive oils – because our first destination is right in the heart of the world’s greatest olive-oil producing region of Jaén and we have an appointment to visit one of the best olive oil producers in the world, Oro Bailen in the nearby town of Bailen, Spain.
