A trip to 'El Torcal'

Last September, I was attending to a photography exposition when I saw for first time pictures of 'El Torcal'. I asked the presenter about such beautiful and original landscape depicted in his snapshots. He replied me that he could not believe that I did not know anything about it. He explained that it was a natural park very close to Antequera (Málaga).

Hence, I found a perfect excuse to travel again. I delayed my trip a few months. Finally, last February I found time to arrange it with my girlfriend. We booked a hotel in Antequera that can be reached from El Torcal in 20 minutes by car.

I drove directly to the park from Sevilla. The trip was pleasant. When we were reaching Antequera, I noticed how the altitude was increasing. The temperature was only 4 degrees on top that day. We were a bit scared because we were not taking gloves and proper equipment with us. Finally, we reached our destination. A bus took us to the El Torcal visitor center on the top of a mountain. The views were amazing.

After getting a map with the possible paths that we could follow in the park, we started trekking. The landscape is very peculiar there. It is the result of a marine region that emerged above the many years ago. During this time, it has been modeled by the erosion of the rain, and the wind, resulting in a very peculiar rocky landscape.  There are two main routes that you can follow within the park. One takes only 30 minutes. And the other one, it takes about two hours. We took the second one.

Although that at the beginning the weather conditions were not good, and we thought about coming back, the temperature increased at noon. We started then feeling better and optimistic to complete our route. We took multiple pictures on our way. We also made a picnic. Finally, we arrived again to the visitor centre three hours later.

We had coffee there and we headed to Antequera. The city itself it is really beautiful and it deserves to be visit. There is a castle, a few dolmens, and nice places to eat out. I have to say that it was a nice surprise. We spent one night there.

The next day in our way back to Seville, we visited Osuna. I can recommend going to this city too. It has nice monasteries and a beautiful castle. From the top of the castle, we could enjoy the stunning views of the countryside. Finally, we reached Seville in the afternoon. Definitely it is a trip that I can recommend and it is easy to organize is your depart from Seville.

Trip to Yosemite and San Francisco

After a long period overwhelmed by a new research project and a course to improve my teaching skills, I have found time to update my blog again. This time, if my followers (there are four so far) let me do it, I would like to report a trip far away from Andalusia; a trip to California.

A few months ago I was invited to attend to a conference in San Francisco. I had a busy agenda and it was difficult to find time the do sightseeing. However, I was particulary lucky because my fligth from Madrid was arraving in SF on Saturday evening and the event was starting on Monday morning. I had a whole free day to enjoy the city.

After sufirng the net to find things to do in San Francisco, I found out that Yosemite National park was not too far away from the city. You know that I have a natural fascination for nature, water, and wild environments. I search for day-trips to the park from SF and I booked one without thinking too much about the arrangements.

I started my trip on Sunday morning. The flights last too long. I arrived in San Francisco at 23pm (local time). I took a taxi and I went to my hotel. After that, I checked my ticket to Yosemite Park. I had to take a bus from the wharf at 6am. At that point, I regret of my decision because I was too exhausted to start another trip. I set my alarm clock at 5am and went to bed. A few hours later, I got up and I took a taxi to the place where my bus was departing.

I found a lot of young people waiting for the bus in the spot. Almost all of them were Europeans and Asians. This does not surprise me because Americans are not very fond of public transportation. They love driving. The bus arrived a bit late, and I have the opportunity of taking some pictures along the wharf. I could even see Alcatraz island and some seals from the pier.

I started my trip to Yosemite. The bus driver told us that he would drive four hours before reaching our destination. Definitely the concept of distances in USA is different than in Europe. I was a bit scared because I was really tired and I cannot sleep when I travel by bus. During my way to the park, we crossed the state from West to East. I was surprised because California is pretty similar to Andalusia. Hence, I am allow to report this trip in my blog :P. In the central region, I could see plenty of fruit trees; mainly almond trees. I also crossed some vineyards fields.

Finally, at 1pm we reached Yosemite Park. I had to come back at 4pm. It was impossible to see all the park in three hours, so I selected the spots that were closer to the bus stop. I have to say that I really liked it. I could see an impressive waterfall and giant sequoias. It was winter, and I could find some snow there. Maybe, the main difference between this park and the ones that I have visited in Europe was that a bus line was taking the visitors to the different places inside the park. Again, I think that Americans do not like walking.

After enjoying the visit, I started my ride back to San Francisco. I was totally wasted and I got asleep. I waked up when we were reaching our destination. It was dark, and I guess that I did not miss anything interesting during my trip back. Honestly, I think that it was an experince that I will never forget. However, I have to admit that I was expecting more. Maybe, I had an idealised view of California and the States. I have to say that I have visited more beautiful parks here in Andalusia.