by kiwisonadventure

Pilgrims, Picasso and Palaces

We had attempted to see the north of Spain once before but had to change plans with an opportunity for a housesit presenting itself, but now we had an extra ten days from our return to Madrid, so planned to explore places we couldn’t find housesits. We picked up our very cheap car rental (costing… Read More

by kiwisonadventure

Delightful surprises – unknown Spain

We continue to be delighted and surprised as we discover the “off the beaten track” Spain. On our way out of Portugal, we stopped for a night in the tiny town of Trigueros – a truly Spanish settlement that (luckily for us) had a decent small hotel and a couple of restaurants. Often these places… Read More

by kiwisonadventure

Spain again – small towns and housesitting

Our destination was Arcos de la Frontera, a small authentic town near Jerez where we were to care for 3 cats – two recently acquired kittens and an older cat, as well as the house. On our way here we stopped off to explore parts of Seville, walking the town between the Metropol Parasol (aka… Read More

by kiwisonadventure

Ancient towns, walls and cathedrals

We were playing musical cars again – we had snagged a great one-way deal from Malaga to Madrid and were planning for a northern Portugal and Spain road trip using a different rental company when we won another housesit position back in the south again. Plans were re-jigged, and destinations updated (the joys of free… Read More

by kiwisonadventure

How many pets? House-sitting magnified…

Before we left NZ, we had secured a referral* housesit through one of the sites I had signed up for and completed a house-sitting course with. This opportunity piqued our interest as it involved looking after feeding stations for local stray cats in the town of Alhaurin (al-er-REEN) de la Torre. Meeting the “home” family took… Read More

by kiwisonadventure

High and White Villages in the Alpujarras

When we first decided on Spain, a friend recommended the book “Driving over Lemons” by Chris Stewart which introduced me to the Alpujarra region of Granada and it became a place I hoped we could visit on our travels. Leaving the heat of Granada, we were pleased to find ourselves climbing as we drove to… Read More

by kiwisonadventure

The Alhambra

This was a special place, so I have decided to devote this whole post to it. We had been forewarned that tickets should be prepurchased – even so, when I looked at availability, the earliest entry time for the Nasrid Palace was 2.30pm. At least we had tickets, we heard of people who expected it… Read More