I'm here, I promise. I have been a little busy. We have had guests since...ummm...I believe it was March 11th. It feels a bit like we've had guests for a couple of years instead of only a month, but that is just my body talking.
What have we been doing?
We've been to the following locations once:
Tablao El Arenal for the best flamenco and food ever.
Also, Tarifa and beyond for beaches and Roman ruins. We traveled through the park to get to the leather capital of Andalucia: Ubrique. The cork trees, they were so fabulous!
San Roque for the processional on holy Friday. That was indeed a cultural experience.
We've been to the following locations twice:
Granada, once with guided tour and once without.
Also, Seville for the Cathedral, Barrio Santa Cruz and Casa de Pilatos as well as the Real Alcazar.
We've been to the following locations thrice:
Ronda: the bridge, it is still standing! Gibraltar: the apes, they are still wrestling! Jerez: the horses, they are still dancing!
We visited the post office, the town markets, and we even saw a polo match with the last group. Also, I now know which road I will never ever take home from Ronda. Yes, it went through a natural park...eventually...and it did end up in Estepona where it claimed to lead, but the curves, they are so hairpin and the fox, he came from nowhere. We may refer to it as The Road to Espinosa[Read: Tahj and Ahj like to make up new titles for already established locations...another is Ramona(Ronda)], but just because we remember it fondly (with names from Scrubs, no less) does not mean any of us ever want to experience it again. EVER.
Other 'new experiences' I would just rather not experience again:
1. Aparcameinto El Arenal. Possibly the smallest (in all ways) parking garage ever. Not a one of the columns is without chunks of concrete missing. Also, parking there is very much like Austin Powers in the golf cart trying to turn around...you only need about a 30 point turn to finally get your vehicle in the spot. If you're lucky.
2. Ape poo. Nothing more needs to be said.
3. Doggy Fantastic taking issue with his treats and depositing many puddles of yack ON THE CARPET. There simply was no better place. None.
Things that were fabulous:
1. The hotels in Granada and Seville as well as the flamenco. All were scheduled and monies deposited without knowing for sure what it would be like. Thank you tripadvisor and my many guidebooks.
2. The views of Africa from Gibraltar; it has never been so clear.
3. Frank, our guide in Granada. He speaks so many languages, and the stories, they are fab!
4. The olives from La Linea Market. Mmm.....olives.
5. All of the things that I cannot even remember right now because my brain? It is still broken.
Due to my many adventures over the past month, I slept almost all day yesterday. That included two naps in between the laundry, Nissan dealer, and grocery store. Oh yeah, and I had a full night of sleep last night [Read: slept until 11 despite Doggy Fantastic's attemtps to get me up].
Therefore I am feeling much better today.
Almost normal even.
The good news: I have one more guest who arrives tomorrow. We are traveling to all of the places I have already been. This means that aside from the parking garage in Seville, I should know exactly where I am going and also how to leave each location.
We hope.
What does this mean for all of you?
(Ha. All of you. As if there are any of you left after a month of nothing...)
Well, I will once again be missing for at least a week. I will hopefully be able to post on the 12th for 12 of 12. HEY YOU! PARTICIPATE!
Once I am recovered again, I should have much to write about and hundreds of pictures to share. Until then, happy Easter, yay for spring, and look for me in a little over a week!
Tahj, Ahj and R-Shelly are visiting us this week, so this is going to have to be a short one. I'll try to post in more detail later...but we have visitors from now until the 17th of April, so it may be a bit before I am able to do so. This idea comes from the fabulous Chad Darnell. Go to his site and see what everyone else in the world is doing today.
8:46; Sotogrande, Spain
After dropping Señor CC off at work today, I stopped by the bank to get some cash for our road trip. Amazingly, I saw this postal truck sitting there. I had never seen one of the large trucks before; usually I see men on mopeds delivering the mail.
10:45; Sotogrande, Spain
Tahj, Ahj, R-Shelly and I were on our way to Ronda. Yes, I've told you about that here, but today was another day and we did indeed see some new things in the white town.
12:01; Gaucin, Spain
On our way, we stopped at the Hostal Breñaverde to take some pictures of the wonderful view. We all thought it quite funny that the sign (at the hostal) pointed at the building and declared that you had 0.0 meters to travel in order to reach it.
12:16; Gaucin, Spain
Gaucín is one of the many white towns that pop up on the side of the mountain on the way to Ronda. Some towns are on such a steep slope that in addition to the zig-zag streets the cars use to get around there exist pedestrian stairs/slopes that cut virtually straight up through the town for 'easier' access.
13:52; Ronda, Spain
Our entrance to Ronda was somewhat normal. By normal I mean that the usual path we are able to take in our car was (of course!) blocked off for construction and we had to park in a completely new (to me) area. Arriving wasn't all that bad, and we were able to see some new shops on our way to lunch.
14:42; Ronda, Spain
Speaking of lunch, R-Shelly and I had the Menu del Día. I chose the mixed salad, this fabulous trout (head and all) and mixed fruit for dessert. It was yummy indeed. And that trout had such beautiful eyes...
15:31; Ronda, Spain
Our first stop after lunch, in order to see some 'history', was the new bridge. For a small fee we were able to go down and inside of the structure to learn about its construction and use. The room inside was used as a prison and then as a store at one time. There are great views of the gorge from these windows.
15:42; Ronda, Spain
I cannot seem to go to Ronda without taking at least a couple of photographs of this particular view. It is simply amazing and is one of my favorite here in Spain.
16:22; Ronda, Spain
We walked down, down, down through the cobbled streets towards the old bridge. This is where we could see this Puerta de Felipe V as well as catch a glimpse of the Arab baths.
16:31; Ronda, Spain
We crossed the old bridge and then began the walk up the side of the gorge towards the Plaza de Toros. Along the way we had magnificent views of the gorge and plantlife.
16:32; Ronda, Spain
Our path also allowed us this view of the New Bridge. It is unbelievable.
16:42; Ronda, Spain
We made it over to the Plaza de Toros and visited the museum there. One of the most interesting sections of the museum was the royal saddlery. The intricate costumes and saddles were amazing.
We headed back to the car, with a short stop for helado, and then attempted to make our way home. We had a few delays: the normal exit route was blocked and the other had a lack of signs. We eventually made our way onto a road that would lead us towards home, although it was not the road we really wanted to be on.
I saw a sign at one small white town that pointed towards Estepona, a city very close to where we live. I took that road and we embarked on what has to be the most interesting and exciting road I have ever driven on. To call the turns hair-pin would be quite the understatement, and I must say that I had never before played chicken with a massive dump-truck.
I suppose there is a first time for everything...
(and Málaga Airport)M&M visited us in October, as posted here, and I hinted to the fact that I would write about it more later. Now is later. There was also mention of the never ending travel-drama of which M&M are veterans. I shall describe some of that as well.
Our guests arrived on October 7th. They were a few hours late due to a delay in Paris. We are not sure what caused their plane to taxi for about an hour in France, but since they only had about an hour between flights, this caused them to miss their connection. Their airline placed them on another flight, but with a completely different carrier.
This new carrier was not run by a partner of the original airline, which resulted in their baggage being misplaced. In most of the world, if you do not make your plane then your bags are removed. The airlines attempt to keep your bags with you. However, when you change carriers as M&M did, a breakdown in communication can sometimes occur, especially if you are working with a short connection time. They were most definitely doing that because the airline was trying to get them to their destination as quickly as possible.
Their bags were still in Paris on the 7th when they arrived. The plane they traveled on from Paris to Málaga was delayed a little bit itself and then M&M spent a good deal of time first waiting for their bags on the carousel and then waiting in line at the lost baggage desks of both airlines they had flown on their way to Spain. There were many people waiting with them, so there had obviously been a big problem somewhere. Finally they were told that their bags were not there and that they would be delivered the following day.
Ha!
The following day was Sunday. No one does anything in Spain on Sunday. Also, that airport only delivers twice a week to our area, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Obviously the worker at the airport did not...remember this.
We drove home, fed a very hungry doggy, went to eat ourselves, and headed off to bed.
On Sunday, October 8th, we waited a while for M&M to wake up. It had been a very tiring day for them and their clocks were all wrong as well. Cooper, the doggy-fantastic, couldn't wait for them to get up. He spent most of the morning by their door looking imploringly at us.
We woke them up in the late morning and once everyone had cleaned up and had their breakfast M called the airport to ask about his bags. I called as well since I could hear español a little easier than he. We spoke to someone who used a computer database but who was not actually at the airport. He told us that the bags had been scanned in and were there, so we decided to go by the airport to collect the bags.
Our drive to the airport was pleasant and took us through a few toll booths like this one:
We arrived at the airport, found the lost baggage desk, rang the bell and waited. M finally got to go through and searched through three places where bags were being held. He only found one bag. Obviously there had been so many mistakes the day they flew that bags were still being sorted that morning. M&M's bags had been scanned as they arrived at the airport, but they had not been sorted yet, so they were nowhere that he was allowed to look.
Needless to say it was a very upsetting and stressful morning. There is a slight language barrier, of course, and it made for a great start to another less than appealing day.
Señor CC and I decided we would take M&M to Ronda to see the bridge and gorge. First we stopped off in Puerto Banus to eat lunch. We then headed off to Ronda on this road:
That nice, straight, easy-to-traverse road quickly became a slightly more curvy version of itself. There may have been a nice car driving in front of us as well. That always makes for a good picture:
We arrived in Ronda quite late in the day. We only had a couple of hours of daylight left. There are museums, tours of the new bridge, the best preserved Moorish baths in the area and a great places to eat in Ronda, but we would have time for none of that. Luckily, the main reason people travel there is to see the gorge. It is a fine sight indeed.
When we exited the parking garage, we were able to see a beautiful park as well as a view towards the main streets of Ronda:
We walked through the park to the viewing area at the end. Here we had a spectacular view of the surrounding land. We could also look back towards the older part of Ronda from this vantage point:
We had some fun with pictures in the park and then made our way towards the bridge that crosses the gorge. On our way we passed many pedestrian streets such as this one:
We saw the bull-ring that houses a museum on our way, but we did not have time to visit. It really is interesting in the museum. You are able to see where they keep the bulls and also where they train the horses. In addition to that there is a history of bull-fighting along with the outfits and photos of the most famous fighters.
The new bridge is amazing. The first one they built in this location fell down and they had to rebuild. This one has stood the test of time:
The view of the gorge from the new bridge. We could see where the sun shines through the bridge:
The tour of the new bridge tells you about its construction and about a small prison cell that is located inside the bridge. The view of the countryside from the bridge is breath-taking. You can see for kilometers, especially on a clear day. Things were just beginning to get rain again in the beginning of October. This made for some interesting contrast between the browns and greens:
Many restaurants and hotels own property on the gorge. The best rooms are supposed to be those with a view. This restaurant has a great location. Señor CC and I have eaten there and hope to take Tahj, Ahj and R-Shelly there when they visit. You can get a variety of Spanish cuisine, and the view makes everything taste better:
I have mentioned the new bridge quite a few times in this post. There are actually three bridges in Ronda. Two are lower down on the gorge in the older part of the town. The Moorish baths are located near them as well. We did not get to see the baths, but we could see this old bridge from the new bridge:
We walked up the main street, full of shops for the tourists. To the side were los bomberos in their truck. I am not sure why the firemen were there; we could not see any reason for them, but they were kind enough to wave from their truck for pictures:
We strolled through the old streets, small and weaving, until we reached another park area. From here I was able to take a picture looking back towards the first park we visited near where we had parked the car:
As you can see, the sun was really beginning to drop in the sky and we preferred to not be on the curvy roads in the dark, so we left. At the request of M, we all headed back to the Málaga airport for one last check on the baggage. This time we knew the drill and it took a little less time to find things. I had un café con leche while M perused the luggage so that I would be able to drive home. Luckily, M found one more bag.
Unfortunately, the two bags we collected were the smaller of the three they had checked. The main bag with all of their clothing and important items was still not there. It was somewhere else in the building waiting to be sorted. We drove home, fed our tired hungry doggy and ourselves and we all went to bed. It had been a long day indeed.
