Introduction
We flew into Madrid in February 2003 with Darby (age 7) and Grayson (age 5).  We only spent a short amount of time in Madrid, driving in our 5-speed minivan due south one day later to the coastal town of Malaga, which we used as our home base for all our journeys and day-trips while we were in Spain.  The region we visited is called Andalusia, and it continued to amaze us with its variety of topographical and architectural features.  Upon completing the trip we drove back to Madrid to fly home to Atlanta, GA, USA. 

A journal of each location that we visited is detailed below and is accompanied by pictures. 

Click here to see a map of our route.

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.4 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be nearly 5.8 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan area is the third largest in the European Union after London and Paris. The city spans a total of 233.3 sq mi.

Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe. It lies on the Costa del Sol (Coast of the Sun) of the Mediterranean Sea, about 62.14 mi east of the Strait of Gibraltar and about 80.78 mi north of Africa.  Málaga enjoys a subtropical climate. It has one of the warmest winters in Europe.  The summer's season lasts about 8 months, from April to November. Málaga's history spans about 2,700 years and is one of the oldest cities in the world. It was founded by the Phoenicians as Malaka about 770 BC, from the 6th century BC in Ancient Carthage, from 218 BC - Roman Republic and later Roman Empire (as latin Malaca), after the fall of the empire of the 800 years under the domination of Arabs (as Mālaqah), from 1487 under the dominion of the Spaniards . The archaeological remains and monuments from the Phoenician, Roman, Arabian and Christian eras convert the historic center into an "Open Museum" displaying its rich history of more than 3,000 years.

Gibraltar s a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of 2.642 sq mi, it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region. At its foot is the densely populated city area, home to almost 30,000 Gibraltarians and other nationalities. An Anglo-Dutch force captured Gibraltar in 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession. The territory was subsequently ceded to Britain by Spain under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. It was an important base for the British Royal Navy; today its economy is based largely on tourism, financial services, and shipping. The sovereignty of Gibraltar is a major point of contention in Anglo-Spanish relations as Spain asserts a claim to the territory. Gibraltarians resoundingly rejected proposals for Spanish sovereignty in referenda held in 1967 and 2002. Under its 2006 constitution Gibraltar governs its own affairs, though some powers, such as defence and foreign relations, remain the responsibility of the UK Government.

The town of Casares has Moorish cliff-hugging buildings. In Roman times the spa of la Hedionda, located on the road to Manilva, was already well known, and this is where Julius Caesar supposedly was cured of a liver complaint,thanks to the sulfuric waters that still pour out of the local spring. For this reason that during the Roman Empire, Casares was allowed by emperors to mint its own coins.

Seville is more than 2,000 years old. The passage of the various civilizations, instrumental in its growth, has left the city a distinct personality, and a large and well-preserved historical center. Although it has a strong medieval, renaissance and baroque heritage, the city received heavy influences from Arabic culture. In mythology, the founder of the city is considered Hercules. Following the 1492 Christopher Columbus expedition to the New World (from Palos de la Frontera's port), the results from his claiming territory and trade for the Crown of Castile (incipient Spain) in the West Indies began to profit the city, as all goods imported from the New World had to pass through the Casa de Contratacion before being distributed throughout the rest of Spain. A 'golden age of development' commenced, due to being the only port awarded the royal monopoly for trade with and riches from the growing Spanish colonies in the Americas. Since only sailing ships leaving from and returning to the inland port of Seville could engage in trade with the Spanish Americas, merchants from Europe and other trade centers needed to go to Seville to acquire New World trade goods. The city's population grew to nearly a million people in the first hundred years after Columbus.

The fall of Granada holds a significant place among the many important events that mark the latter half of the Spanish 15th century. It completed the reconquista of the eight hundred year-long Moorish civilization in the Iberian Peninsula. Spain, now without major internal territorial conflict, embarked on the great phase of exploration and colonization around the globe. In the same year the sailing expedition of Christopher Columbus became the first European sighting of the New World. Although Leif Ericson is often regarded to be the first European to land in the New World, 500 years before Christopher Columbus. The Americas enriched the crown and country, allowing Isabella I and Ferdinand II significant accomplishments in their reign. Subsequent conquests and colonization from the maritime expeditions they commissioned created the vast Spanish Empire, the largest in the world for a time.