Back in Cadiz, although this time we are not staying in town, but exploring the Pueblos Blancos (White Villages) that dot the countryside.  We’ve rented a car from Galco with a pick up at the train station, which is an easy walk from the terminal.  We arrive early, as always, but strangely, there is no Galco rental office at the station.  There is Europcar (where we have a car booked for our next visit to Cadiz in November) and a Hertz/Dollar, but no Galco.  The information gal with Renfe doesn’t know anything about an office (but of course, why would she, she’s the train info gal), so we are a little stumped.

Waiting outside, the phone rings, and it is the Galco people looking for us – as it turns out, he’s standing 10 feet away near the parking lot!  Apparently they don’t have an office here, and have brought the car over with the paperwork – which we fill out on a halfwall inside the train station.  Totally weirdly sketchy, but hey, it all works.  The car is right outside and when we return the rental guy gives us strict instructions to leave the parking pass inside the car (he repeats this twice) and give the keys to the lady at the cafeteria inside the train station.  Got it!

And we are off, driving over the cool huge suspension bridge that spans the bay of Cadiz and off into the mountains of Andalucía, heading for our first stop, Arcos de la Frontera.  The drive is fairly easy, decent highways, taking less than an hour to reach the gorgeous white walled town perched on a sheer cliff above the River Guadalete. 

Parking turns out to be easier than expected.  They say you have to be “brave” to drive all the way up to the cathedral and main square parking area, as there are narrow archways and a one-way street system. We are not doing that – and manage to find a lot at the bottom of the town, where we can simply walk up and into town. 

Arcos is everything it is advertised as being!  Teeny, picturesque narrow cobblestone lanes, alley-like streets branching off into residential areas, old stone churches, scary statues on the square (what are those hooded things? They are either religious or KKK, which is really what they look like!) and elegant palacios lining the roads.

Stopping at the tourist center, we pick up a map and the helpful lady there circles the most important sights, pointing us toward the Cabildo Square – where the St. Mary’s Basilica is located.   Oh, and the little car park, and the previously mentioned very narrow arches! Yeah, it would have been a total disaster to drive up here!  Those arches are narrow and the car park is absolutely jam packed full. There was no way we’d have found a spot.  Then we’d have to try to get out of there and back down to other parking? Oh no.  Good move staying outside the town walls!

Beyond that, the Gothic Basilica is stunning with fabulous statuary, and the viewpoint here at the plaza del Cabildo is amazing.  The views stretch endlessly over the still green countryside and down along the rest of the steep cliffs below Arcos to the San Pedro church, our next stop.  Beautiful.

Walking through the little narrow alleyway like streets is really lovely, giving us great photo opportunities.  Unfortunately though, there is a huge tour here that is going in the same direction as we are, and we decide we’d rather not fight the crowds to see the church or anything else. We’ve got other towns to visit, and we’d just as soon get back to the car and head further into Andalucia.

So we reverse our course, back through Cabildo Square with more incredible views of the Basilica, through the white washed walls of the town and back to the car for our drive to Zahara de la sierra. 

We had 3 other towns mapped out to visit, but looking at our time constraints, we decide to focus on Zahara, which sounds like the smallest and most interesting of the Pueblos Blancos.  The drive takes us down the hillside, with great views up the sheer cliffs Arcos is built upon…

…and into farmland, with acres and acres of yam fields, where the yams are being harvested by the thousands.  We never got any good pictures, but it was quite an operation going on out there with hundreds of people and yams as far as the eye could see.  There were goats, of course, and miles and miles of olive groves.

It was a lovely drive, even when we were routed through a little village and had to drive around the village square.  So weird – for some reason the street was one way, going in the opposite direction only on the north side of the square, making us drive all the way around the square just to get back on the same street we started out on, just one block down on the other side of the square.  Bizarre.

But, easy enough, and soon we were driving down narrow roads with a view of Zahara in front of us, with the castle perched high above the town on the top of the mountain.   

Parking here is a challenge – or at least a little confusing. Again, there are one-way roads, and supposedly a carpark on the roof of the Arco de la Villa at the top of town. But we’ve read that you have to be careful at lunch time (which it is) because the restaurants’ tables spread out onto the road, making it challenging to pass.  Nope. Not going there either.  We find a car park, but scoping out our walking route, it looks like we can drive a bit farther up the hillside and cut out some uphill walking.  Turns out to be a good decision as we find lots of plentiful street parking further up making it much easier to hike uphill into the town itself. 

Once in the town proper, we wander through the little tiny streets (they are narrow, and the tables do spill out onto the road) to the Plaza Mayor and the Church of Santa Maria de la Meza, snapping pictures all along the way.  Love these tiny mountain towns.  So picturesque.

We stop at the view point looking over the Zahara-El Gastor reservoir with the Sierra de Lijar in the background, one of the best places to paraglide in Andalucia for some gorgeous shots of the white washed houses, turquoise water and contrasting deep brown hills.  Meandering back through town, we plop ourselves down at a streetside (well on the street) table at La Cabana for our midday meal. Wine, beer, croquetas (which are delightful), calamares fritos (which comes with a much needed salad), montadito of queso and bacon (excellent – but probably way too much) and an order of Melosas which are basically croquetas with pineapple and goat cheese.  Oh man. So good, but so much food! 

And all while watching out for our feet and the chairs as the cars come up the street, barely making through the narrow space!  Yep, whoever wrote about driving through at lunch time was absolutely correct!

Completely stuffed, we walk off some of our meal by huffing up the steep street to the viewpoint at Alameda de Lepanto for an excellent view of the Tower of Homage, the fortress way up there on the hill.  Yeah, we aren’t climbing up there. Although there are some hardy souls up there walking around. 

On the other side of the plaza viewpoint stretches the orchard of Bocaleones and the Sevillan countryside, ringed by the Penon de los Toros and Sierra Margarita mountains. 

Olive groves cover the lower hills, a green dotted contrast to the brown earth, but also to the white washed walls and tiled roofs of the Zahara village.  It is all so beautiful and well worth the climb for the vistas.

Heading back down to the parking lot, we find a miniature version of the Tower of Homage, which Sunny finds very intriguing.

Then we’re out of the town proper, into our car and back out through the olive grove and yam farm countryside.  The scenery speaks for itself, we just can’t get enough of it.

An hour and a half later, we are back in Cadiz, dropping the car off at the station (yes, leaving the parking pass in the car and giving only the keys to the cafeteria lady) and wandering through town in search of an afternoon beverage.  Cadiz is so easy to get around – most everything is within walking distance and it is easy to find a café for a drink right on the one of the main plazas with the statue of some guy – which always happens to have a seagull perched on his head.  Seriously, always! 

Anyhow, beer and wine and snacks on the square, a short walk back to the ship and another successful port day is done.