Motril

Have you ever been to Motril? I had to look it up on a map and found it on the South coast of Spain in the Mediterranean. We had just left Ibiza and the next morning we arrived in port of Motril.

The view from the ship didn't look like anything special, but we got the shuttle from the Port inland to the town. It was about a 15 minute drive and the bus dropped us at the bottom of town.

Initially we took a walk through the town. It was a small modern CBD in a compact area. We walked the many small streets in search of good coffee for my mom and I, and beers for my husband and my dad. Success! We found a nice looking square with various restaurants and bars to quench our thirst.

The guys get Beers

The ladies have cappuccino's with whipped cream

We weren't interested in shopping at this point in our trip, so we headed down towards the gardens. We had noticed this area when the bus had arrived and knew that we needed to com back to explore.

Parque de los Pueblos de America

The Parque de los Pueblos de America is a beautifully landscaped space designed to include the community and draw visitors in. We entered at the top end of the garden where there are large grassed areas for picnics and planted flowers.

Further down is a man-made lake which is home to ducks and geese as well as fresh water turtles. We spent a whole lot of time watching the turtles slowly climb up onto logs and rocks and then drop back into the water. Back home we have sea turtles that are big and generally in the deeper part of the ocean or in aquariums, so it was are real treat.

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Fresh water turtles

Next we walked through the shade of the trees and found an incredible skate park. My husband was a skateboarder as a teen and he was seriously impressed. The park had smooth concrete bowls that interlocked with each other making for a large skating area.

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The Skate Park

There was also a school nearby with sports areas, so I'm sure they would have access to the skatepark after school. How amazing to grow up with access to a public area like this.

Sanctuary of our Lady of the Head

After exploring the park we did a circular walk back up the hill towards the church. The bells had tolled every hour announcing the time.

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Sanctuary of our Lady of the Head

The church has been well maintained and was apparently built on the remains of the Nasrid Castle. The Sanctuary has a cross structure which was damaged during the Civil War and then later rebuilt. Today it looks well cared for and holds services for parishioners.

We took a slow walk back to our meeting place for the shuttle, staring down at the garden as we walked. We felt blessed to have experienced it in the spring when the trees and flowers were in bloom and showing off.

The garden...

Next stop CADIZ!!!!

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//:# (!worldmappin 36.72477 lat -3.52790 long Mediterranean Cruise: Motril (12) d3scr)