Alcala la Real

[Susan Umberger]

Today proved to be the first day of a rainy weekend--it forced us to cancel our room in Gibraltar and reschedule our plans. We were a little disappointed, but knew there was so much to see closer to home.  And the day began with sunshine, as you will see.  The next day, Sunday, was our planned trip to Ronda.  We ended up doing that on Monday the 12th--it just would not quit raining once it started!  Oh well, it's still vacation!  

Today we visited Alcala la Real, which was highly recommended by our host Juan.  He knew what he was talking about, La Mota was a stunning fortress too!  A fortress since the Bronze age, it includes the church which came later, the towers, prison, walls (some of the longest preserved walls) and gates.  We found the parking without much trouble, and talked with the friendly people at the gift/snack shop and bought our tickets.  The views were spectacular! 

The next day we decided to go to the local mushroom museum--yes!-a mushroom museum.  It was actually quite more like a botanical garden, with different types of areas featured and the mushrooms that would grow in them.  We saw more cork oak trees and lots of beautiful flowers.  Not many mushrooms, but still, a pleasant interlude before we took off on another road trip the next day...