Where to?: Almería pictorally

José and I went to Almería for a day. Almería is the only part of Europe that is desert and I was excited to return to a dry climate; albeit one that has a beautiful beach. The city itself seemed rather industrial, but we didn't spend much time there. Of the interesting things that happened:

I will never go anywhere long distance in a car without a GPS. Ever. I like having a bitchy woman tell me that she is "recalculating" my itinerary when we whip by the correct exit in a roundabout. That's right, you best be recalculating my itinerary fool.
We went to a beach that was recently featured in the Frugal Traveler blog on the NYTimes, Cala Rajá. It was indeed a "hard-to-find-beach down an unmarked road." We had a nice hike down a hillside to get to the there. There were several natural beachgoers (read: nekked) which, as a born and raised American, still makes me do a double take (but not stare, that's creepy.) Then, promptly, as it was a beautiful Saturday afternoon, a family and all 84930 kids came down and set up shop approximately 3 feet from my head. We soon left in search of lunch.
After four years in the scorching desert of Arizona, I finally had a bit of heat stroke. Coming up from the Playa de los Genoveses, in San José, I got that familiar lightheaded feeling. We got some cold water, an Acuarius, and an ice cream (yay!) and a short nap I got better. I now have lost all my "I lived in the desert" streetcred. Which was all I really had goin' for me.
We went to the desert town of Tavira, which was like if someone had copy-pasted the American southwest into Southern Spain. It was hot, sweaty, and full of tourist desert theme park things. We took a photo and then peaced out.
After saying that I would take care of bringing sunscreen, beach chairs, and umbrellas, I totally dropped the ball. José was recently emerged from exams period and his library-pale skin got sunburned. Fail on my part.
I love air conditioning. So much.

Here are some pics: