The Barber of Seville and Arcos

Antonio the Barber of Seville

Who wouldn't use the opportunity to say you've had your hair cut by the Barber of Seville?

When you are on the road this long you start to need to attend to things like wash, haircuts etc. Fortunately wash was done in Nazare, but I was starting to get antsy about getting a haircut before Morocco. As it turned out Sandra spotted “the barber of Seville” just 4 doors down from our hotel and fortunately he was able to fit me in right away.  I got a great haircut. Seems like a lot of the great barbers are named Tony. Mom reminds me that he danced around the chair as he cut my hair.


Well we headed out of Seville to Arcos and wound our way through some small villages (hill towns) on the way there. In one we stopped when we saw a Mercado so that we could get some meat and cheese and bread for lunch as well as fruit. Sandra jokingly remarked later that one of the ladies took pity on me as I was juggling fruit and she went and got me a bag, while Sandra was left holding her fruit.

Arcos Cathedral

Arcos de la Frontera was a bit hazy, don’t know if it was weather or some affects from the volcano in Iceland but the day was a bit gray there. The ‘de la Frontera’ part of the Arcos name is shared with many hill towns in this Andalusia region of Spain. During the ‘Reconquista’ of the 1400’s these areas were some of the last battlegrounds between the Christians and moors for territory in Spain. They were identified with this moniker, and the towns keep it to this day. Arcos is striking due to its cliffs and ancient ruins.

Arcos in the Haze

The Steep streets of
 Arcos de la Frontera, challenging on a moto

A friend had recommended we take a little travelled road from Arcos to Ronda via Grazalema. It was fantastic and I have shot some excellent riding video which I will load up to the site shortly. It is stunning.