After four weeks in Morocco and Spain, it’s time to wrap this little jaunt up and head home. I have had a total blast, met fascinating prople, seen amazing sights, eaten delicious food and in general been in a terrific groove throughout the trip. Having Scott and then Deborah jump aboard made it extra fun, and the past week moving about solo has also been very cool and enjoyable. So, without further ado, here’s what I’ve been up to since my last post. I’m in Granada now, which is an absolutely magical city. In additoin to being home to La Alhambra, which is one of the most amazing sights I’ve ever seen and visited, Granada has an old world feel and charm, together with all of the modern conveniences. It’s really a wonderful place, and I’m so glad I came through again.

And now, onto los fotos. After A Coruña, I planned to hit Bilbao and San Sebastián, two of my favorite places, but it was absolutely dumping rain in both towns, so I peeled off to the southeast and the Pyrenees, where the skies were forecast to be clear. I was really hoping to revisit both, as they are both really interesting and beautiful towns, l but I had to roll with that punch, so I headed to Ainsa, widely thought to be the most beautiful town in the Pyrenees. Ainsa did not disappoint.

Lots of Guardia Civil having a big get together. All very nice and polite (thinking back to Franco’s days, that was a major relief).

After a night and day kicking around, I left for Andorra and southern France. I got caught in a blinding snow storm high up, but otherwise had a beautiful drive.

Local fauna:

After the snowstorm traversing Andorra, as I descended into southern France, the skies cleared and beautiful weather re-appeared.

That night I pulled into Argelés-sur-Mer on the French coast, a delightful small town with tons of restaurants strung out along the beach, no cars and a great feel.

Next day I shoved off for Barcelona, a rambunctious and very fun city.

La Sagrada Familia Catedral, otherwise known as Gaudi’s vision, dream and folly. It is the tallest church in the world and you really have to see it to believe it. It is so immense and overpowering that it defies comprehension, and so whimsical and stupendous that it feels as though you’ve entered a dream state being close to it. It’s in the process of being cleaned and “finished,” but it will never truly be completed.

I then returned to the Spanish coast, pulling into La Vila Joiosa, a super cool small town close to the French border, What a great place, with seafood restaurants galore and beautiful scenes in every direction. I definitely had lifeguard stand envy seeing this. It was over 40′ high, and the guards could probably see swimmers in Morocco from up there….

Close to the harbor, the houses are all painted different, bold colors. It looked and felt like a giant art palette. Tough shot at night:

Alicante in the distance, where Scott studied abroad in college. A great town that is growing by leaps and bounds due to its popularity. I hope it stays special and cool.

En route to Granada, where I am now, I stopped in Guadix, an incredible place famous for its cave dwellings dating back to the 15th century. Amazingly, people still live in them today. In town, the local Catedrál. Funny how the doors are so huge and the actual ones that people walk through are so small in thee magnificent structures.

This fellow was talking so loudly to his wife that I heard him a block away. He looked a bit startled when I greeted him, but we chatted for a minute or two. NIce hombre.

The cave homes. Incredible to behold:

And then I was off to Granada, one of my favorite places in Spain.

Local kids playing hoops. Check out the girl perched up high, ready for a rebound and dunk…

Granada’s Catedrál, quite incredible inside and out.

So, that’s it. I’m off to Lisbon tomorrow, then San Francisco Tuesday. Since I posted from Lisbon at the start of the trip, I’m gonna skip a repeat take.

This really was an amazing journey in so many ways. No snafus, problems (except for countless speeding tickets in Morocco; I felt as though they were treating me like their private an ATM) and just loads of fun, learning and enjoyment. Looking forward to getting home and planning the next adventure….