A Travel Blog
The afternoon of our Pueblos Blancos tour took us to the spectacular city of Ronda in Málaga province.
In a country filled with stunning scenery, Ronda may have the most dramatic. The city balances on top of an enormous cliff and is cut in two by a deep gorge (El Tajo) connected by an arched bridge.
Sprinkled across the Andalusian countryside around Seville are a series of small towns known as the Pueblos Blancos, or White Towns.
Since the towns aren’t very accessible without a car, we booked a day tour with Naturanda that took us with a small group through two of the smaller towns and on to the larger city of Ronda (which we posted about here).
“Lisbon is older than Rome” is a surprising claim we came across a few times during our stay. In fact it is 400 years older, settled by the Phoenicians around 1200 BC. The Roman Empire later founded their city of Olisipo on the site. Evidence from that era can still be seen in a few places.
We visited two fascinating archeological sites: the Núcleo Arqueológico and the Museu do Teatro Romano.
Half an hour from Lisbon is the small town of Sintra, located on a forested mountain. It is home to historic palaces, a Moorish castle, and other picturesque tourist attractions.
We visited on Good Friday and the crowds were out in force. We were glad we decided to go with Lisbon Destination Tours instead of finding our own way on the trains and overcrowded buses.
May 20, 2016 is our 10th wedding anniversary. Josie had always wanted to see Oxford, having read many books and watched many dramas set in that town. This seemed like a perfect reason to take a train and get out of London for the day.
The trip from Paddington Station to Oxford took 56 minutes and cost us £25 (about $50 CAD) each, return. We enjoyed random views of the lush English countryside from the window of our train.