Rosie and The Operator are off on their first holiday of the year! Back to Europe we go for the beginning of spring where we will be travelling around Andalusia in the South of Spain, two stops in Portugal and we will also nip across the Straits of Gibraltar for a brief visit to mysterious Morocco in Northern Africa.
Excited? Yes, very much. Except for the Spanish capital city of Madrid which we are flying into we have never been to any of these destinations before so it is all new and exciting!
Itinerary – 23 Days – Southern Spain, Portugal and Morocco is as follows.
Madrid – Spain – 2 days
Drive to Porto through the Douro Valley
Porto – Portugal – 2 days
Drive to Lisbon
Lisbon – Portugal – 3 Days
Drive to Seville Airport to catch a flight to Fes.
Fes – Morrocco – 3 days
Catch a bus to the village of Chefchaouen
Chefchaouen – Morocco – 2 Days
This is a pretty epic day….private taxi to the port of Tangier – Ferry across the Straits of Gibraltar to Tarifa and then collect rental and drive to Seville.
Seville – 3 Days
Drive to Cordoba
Cordoba – 2 Days
Drive to Granada
Granada – 2 Days
Drive Drive to Malaga where we return the rental car on arrival.
Malaga – 4 Days
With The Operator who then flies back to Madrid then to Aukland NZ. Rosie then stays on her own in Malaga for 28 days.
Rosie was a little worried she was trying to cover too much ground in too little a time….but she was assured by The Operator, the voice of reason and logistics that it had to be done as everything we wanted to see was all in a workable area and there was no coming back. Did I mention Rosie was very excited? Here’s why…
1 – Winter is coming….in New Zealand that is, and Rosie, not a big sun worshiper admittedly just loves spring days and is looking to having continual ongoing warmth after leaving at the end of the NZ summer. Daylight is a bonus too, the days were drawing in at home and our clocks were about to go back for the winter…clocks are going forward in Europe…yay, more sight seeing time.
2 – Rosie and The Operator are keen on indulging in Spanish Tapa life….alot. We are not so sure on the other hand about these late hours these crazy Spaniards seem to live their lives by, and siesta?! Seriously?! In the real world Rosie would never get back to work after eating and drinking for two hours mid afternoon. Followed by dinner at ten oclock….at night! Seriously?! Rosie has her jarmies on by then…I can feel the indigestion welling if I was to eat that late and then go to bed! Seems like there has to be some investigation into what is fact and what is urban myth about the Spanish lifestyle….we are game.
3 – Portugal seems like a small forgotten country that is only just surfacing on Rosie’s algorithms as a place to visit. All Rosie knows is that it is coastal country, she can name Vasco de Gamma as a famous Portuguese sailor who pretty much discovered the world before anyone else…yet everyone else seemed to take all the glory. The country is really into blue tiles and they make port. Sadly Rosie is not into port….ever since an excessive night in 1997 in Cleggys Flat, thanks Spencer for ruining Rosie’s Portuguese holiday 20 years on.
4 – Morocco. Rosie cannot decide whether she is nervous, excited, anxious or totally terrified about going there. The Operator wisely said…they are all the same feeling and it will be what it will be. This feels like it will be the most ‘foreign’ place we will ever have visited. Rosie see’s rolling desert sands in her minds eye with a palm tree popping up here and there and caravans of camels carrying colorful robed and turbaned occupants into hazy mirages under sweltering blue skies. I envision bustling markets and plenty of hassle….plus, I have been told by multiple people to pack my Imodium…check!
That is why we travel, to explore new cultures, new places and to sometimes take ourselves out of our comfort zones well and truly in order to have a local and real experience.
Rosie and The Operator cannot wait to get going! Our journey starts with a direct flight from New Plymouth – Auckland – Dubai – Madrid….see you all in 34 hours!
