The plan was for my final stint in Spain to end with an emotional experience that would rectify all of the dissonance I felt for the previous three weeks. In Spain, at this point, I had seen massive cities, mountain-side towns, mosques, cathedrals, forests, rivers, lakes, and everything in between. The one thing I had not experienced was making a new Spanish friend…

My final big city stop in Spain would be Seville. I thought if I could make up to Basque Country after Portugal, I would see San Sebastian and Bilbao. Alas, as you will soon find out, that did not happen. Visiting Seville satisfied a fifteen year dream of seeing the cities of Spain, implanted in my brain during my college years when friends returned from study abroad in Europe. Indeed their architectural beauty holds true. I believe Seville may have the most beautiful city center…

Not to complain about visiting Spain in the summer or anything but, oh boy, does it get hot! After my time in the mountains in Alora, I was determined to spend more time in the mountains in Granada. This would be for the weekend of my birthday as well. I wanted a place with views and quiet so I could focus on catching up on my travel writing. I found what looked like a great hostel up in the mountains in the town of Quentar…