Andalusia is the name for the southernmost region of Spain. It’s made up of several provinces including Seville, Cordoba, and Granada and borders on the Mediterranean Sea. It’s the major agricultural area of Spain, and as mentioned before, is hot, hot, hot during the summer months. We start our bike tour here today.

First, we met our guides, Jose and Roman, and had our route review. In the past, we have always had written directions but this trip we also had the option of downloading the directions on our phones for verbal instructions as we ride along. Very cool.

Next we had bike fittings. Out guides kept busy changing out pedals, adjusting bike seats, etc., and finally we are all underway and on the road for a 8-mile warmup ride. All I remember was a flat circuit out of and back into Palma del Rio. This was the limit for my knee so I took the afternoon off, iced my knee, and finished reading The Lost Girls by Heather Young. Good read. The rest of the group opted for an additional 16-mile ride. On that ride, Ross took two photos. One was of some young bulls likely eventually headed to the bullring.

And this one of a bridge. He also got rained on. A sign of things to come.

That evening our total group of 20 plus our guides got together for tapas and sangria and a chance to get to know each other a little better. We came from New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Florida, Illinois, Colorado, Utah, and Canada. Our guides, fortunately, are from Spain.

Then we all had dinner at the hotel. For these group dinners we have a choice among three options for an appetizer, main course, and dessert. To make up for last night’s pig cheeks, I picked a dessert that included puff pastry and chocolate. Be still my heart.