“There is a place in Spain that is the ideal spot to watch a bullfight for the first time…” (Ernest Hemingway). I must say, I would really have liked to have had the chance to see my first bullfight while here. I don’t know, maybe I’ve been in Spain too long, but I would. After seeing the “Bull Fighting Arena” here in Ronda, and going through the museum under the grandstands, walking the fighting arena and kicking up the dirt, taking time in the bull pins, I felt the urge. It must be the history or the architecture or maybe the personality of the arena. This bullring is one of the oldest and most “monumental” of its kind. Ronda is noted as the “cradle of bullfighting in Spain. True bullfighting didn’t start until the early 18th century, but in the late 1500’s, they used to train the horsemen that went into combat, by riding in defense around and through the fiercest bulls. The Bulls were quick and would make the rider and the horse a quick adversary if given a chance. Well I guess you can see, I have been impressed… Now it was time to see if we could find a grocery store. We need a few things to tide us over the holiday season, so we went on the hunt. Walking the main pedestrian shopping area, we were taken with all the local shoppers and the holiday music that seemed to come from every store…it was a busy day for the shoppers of Ronda. Finding our grocery store, we filled my backpack +, and headed back to camp. As we were walking through town, I happened to look into a doorway and saw a crowd. Now this doorway was no more than a doorway…a standard door with a window, and that was the most of it. It was a “Tapa’s Bar”, and with the crowd of “locals” crowded tightly into this establishment, we just had to wiggle our way in and have lunch. Let me tell you, it was a good choice. We had a skewer of salmon and shrimp, white fish, potato salad with fish, and a skewer of barbequed pork. To go along with that we had 2 beers and a glass of wine…All for $9.10 !!! OK, now the long walk back up the hill, into the wind and back to “Bumble Bee”…it’s getting colder too !!! It looks like we both will wear our socks to bed tonight. Then in the morning…I just love getting out into this cooler weather, wind howling, and have to get into the shower in the COLD shower block, hot water or not, it is tough on the bod…
22 December ’05, Thursday.
“There is a place in Spain that is the ideal spot to watch a bullfight for the first time…” (Ernest Hemingway). I must say, I would really have liked to have had the chance to see my first bullfight while here. I don’t know, maybe I’ve been in Spain too long, but I would. After seeing the “Bull Fighting Arena” here in Ronda, and going through the museum under the grandstands, walking the fighting arena and kicking up the dirt, taking time in the bull pins, I felt the urge. It must be the history or the architecture or maybe the personality of the arena. This bullring is one of the oldest and most “monumental” of its kind. Ronda is noted as the “cradle of bullfighting in Spain. True bullfighting didn’t start until the early 18th century, but in the late 1500’s, they used to train the horsemen that went into combat, by riding in defense around and through the fiercest bulls. The Bulls were quick and would make the rider and the horse a quick adversary if given a chance. Well I guess you can see, I have been impressed… Now it was time to see if we could find a grocery store. We need a few things to tide us over the holiday season, so we went on the hunt. Walking the main pedestrian shopping area, we were taken with all the local shoppers and the holiday music that seemed to come from every store…it was a busy day for the shoppers of Ronda. Finding our grocery store, we filled my backpack +, and headed back to camp. As we were walking through town, I happened to look into a doorway and saw a crowd. Now this doorway was no more than a doorway…a standard door with a window, and that was the most of it. It was a “Tapa’s Bar”, and with the crowd of “locals” crowded tightly into this establishment, we just had to wiggle our way in and have lunch. Let me tell you, it was a good choice. We had a skewer of salmon and shrimp, white fish, potato salad with fish, and a skewer of barbequed pork. To go along with that we had 2 beers and a glass of wine…All for $9.10 !!! OK, now the long walk back up the hill, into the wind and back to “Bumble Bee”…it’s getting colder too !!! It looks like we both will wear our socks to bed tonight. Then in the morning…I just love getting out into this cooler weather, wind howling, and have to get into the shower in the COLD shower block, hot water or not, it is tough on the bod…
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21 December ’05, Wednesday. The moment we left the city limits of Marbella, we were climbing into the mountains. A nice 2 lane road, but it was one of those that would drive some drivers absolutely nuts…impossible to pass on. If a car or VW van just can’t run up the steep hills and make the sharp turns quite as fast as those that end up behind you, well it’s just too bad. The turns come at you so fast and plentiful, it leaves no distance even for a quick car to get by. That was the case for telling me, I couldn’t take the time to look…). One of the only distractions I had on my mind was the gas gauge. I have said it before, and I’ll probably be saying it the rest of the time I’m able to drive…”I will never let the gas gage show below the 1/3 mark without getting it FILLED !!! But for some reason it still gets down to the point that I get into those “No Gas Sweats” too often. Every time we got into a real steep climb, the gage went down below empty, but then when we kind of leveled out it went just above the “E” mark. One of my saving points was we only had 50 miles to go and I was in hopes that half of that might be down hill. Fortunately we found a gas station about 10 miles out of Ronda, so from that point I could be rest assured that I wouldn’t have to walk for gas through the mountains. Oh yes, then there was the wind. Did I say wind, hell it was a hurricane and it was pushing us from the front back down the hill for the whole trip. After pulling into the campground here in Ronda, we found out that the wind was going to stay with us for at least 3 or as much as 6 more days. If the wind quits it will rain…what do you want??? OK, we will live with it. After setting up camp, we headed out for town. We were told it was just a 1.7km walk to the walls of the old town, but by the time we walk into the “new city”, we might want to call a cab to get back. All bundled up for “Winter” walking, we headed off. Both of us looked like a couple of heavy weights walking down the road. It felt strange to have all those clothes on all at once, and still feel comfortable. The wind was pretty much at our back going into town and it was down hill all the way. Now lets talk about 3 hours later when we want to head on back to “Bumble Bee”. It was tough going, but I guess it wasn’t tough enough because we plan on doing the same tomorrow… I guess I should say a little bit about Ronda, and what we were able to see the first afternoon there. Ronda is set in a spectacular location, one massive rock outcrop that straddles a limestone gorge. Because of its impregnable position, Ronda was one of the last Moorish “bastions” to fall to the Christians in 1485. There is still a lot of “Moorish” influence shown here in the architecture, whether be it new or old. Of course we have the cobbled streets and sidewalks?, narrow streets?, white washed buildings with window grilles, small patios with lots of flowers streaming colors and fragrances everywhere. There are very few dogs or cats around this town, which is quite unusual. Walking the “Old Town” from one end to the other doesn’t take a lot of time, but there is a lot to see. The 1st stop I wanted to make was at the Puente Nuevo (New Bridge). Built in the 18th century, this bridge spans the huge Tajo gorge. It is 330 feet deep and about 200 feet across. It is spectacular, and I’m glad I had a chance to see it. Then it was off to see the Casa del Rey Moro. This was a castle for the Moorish King, when the Moors were in power prior to 1485. The Santa Maria la Mayor church, which was built on the foundations of a Muslim Mosque. Of course, there were a couple more churches, a convent, 2 more palaces, 3 gates, 3 bridges, and etc, etc… This is a town that we are having a good time in and if the wind would let up for a while it would even be better. Well, we’ll be back tomorrow…. 20 December ’05, Tuesday. We’ve been staying close to camp the last couple of days, and have made a small change in our itinerary. With the weather deteriorating a little bit, but so far no rain, we have decided to pass on Gibraltar and head directly to Ronda and await Christmas. Everyone we have talked to and most of the books we have been reading have indicated that Gibraltar is not worth the hassle and the time it takes to make it a worth while stop. With that being the case, we have just stayed close, did some laundry, and walked the beach, to the grocery store, and a few times to the internet across the street. Since we are staying close, it has given us a chance to meet more of our “neighbors”. This is a large campground and a winter destination for most, with staying times going out as far as April. Most of the campers are motor homes from 20’ to 38’ (24’ avg.), with a few caravans (camping trailers). Just about all have an attached tent, but there are a few that have up to 3 or 4 tents spread all over their pitch. I would guess that about 20-25 are “permanent campers” the way they are set up. There is a wonderful pool for those that come in the “high season”. The grocery store is nicely stocked, and the prices are not too bad. This morning I was sitting out side as this couple walked by. Seeing our little Seattle sticker on the bumper, they stopped to talk. They have been to the northwest recently to visit friends on Vancouver Island. There are 5 of them all together ( mom, dad, and 3 teenagers) from Sweden. Their plans for the rest of the winter are to rent a home here in Marbella and just enjoy the Spanish hospitality for the winter, and write a book. The book is going to be about their most asked question…”How Can You Afford To Travel Like You Do” (or something like that…”buy a VW Van”…). Even if the sun hasn’t been out for 2 days, the temperature is still comfortable enough, with the lows of 50+ and the highs reaching 65+-. I barbequed chicken last night (I still think the chicken we have gotten here in Europe is by far better tasting than that we have at home), and Louise made a wonderful pork stew for tonight’s dinner…we really do eat well, and we MUST keep walking or we will swell like a balloon. We even splurged tonight by buying some ice. Unfortunately, it will all be melted by morning, but what we were able to have tonight made it worthwhile. We have also been gorging ourselves on Mandarins. This is the same time of year that we did the same in Turkey…they are REALLY good and cheap as well. Louise has also found her favorite cookies, and our shelf is pretty well stocked of “Spekulatius” cookies…they are pretty good… 18 December ’05, Sunday. We were at it again, this time we were heading off to Fuengirola (OK, you pronounce it…). It is about 20km the opposite way from yesterday’s trip (East). Our trip must have been longer, because it cost us $1.56 (fifty six???, were do they come up with the six ?), instead of the $1.16 yesterday. We had heard that there was a “market” on the beach today, and it might be fun to go too. Fuengirola is definitely a tourist town, but far from what we saw yesterday in Marcella. This is a Spanish beach front town from the get-go. Being a Sunday, most of the stores were closed except those closest to the beach front. All the local families were out to enjoy the day and doing just what we were doing. We had come for the market so no sooner had the bus stopped and we were headed straight for the beach. Fuengirola also has a nice boardwalk, and the market was being held at one end of it, just off the sand. I would guess that there were about 100 booths, selling anything from clothing, shoes and boots, tourist “junk”(trinkets), and food. We started working our way through one row and then on to the next. At the end of the second, it was time for a “coffee break” (her idea, I wanted to keep looking..). This little beach coffee/snack bar, had great coffee but what it is now known for, is their chocolate cake and ice cream !!! I must admit, I had both, and it sure was good. Then, it was time to get back to walking the market. I bought a pair of pants with zip off legs for $8, and Louise bought a rhinestone T-shirt. Finished, we headed out, but just as we were reaching the boardwalk, a couple of ladies came up to us with white carnation flowers in their hands. They wanted to sell us one for five cents. Well, that is a good deal, so I reached into my pocket and got out a nickel. Louise was doing the same, when all of a sudden, the lady that was talking with me, took the flower from my hand and put it into my pocket…now wait a minute, what is your hand doing in my pocket ???...yep, she tried to get my wallet !!! Fact is, while this one was trying to get my wallet, the other had done the very same thing to Louise, and had put her hand into Lou’s purse…we were among the fortunate ones, we didn’t lose anything, but we did learn just how quick they can be, and also one of their ploys. Well, that done, we headed off hand and hand, walked the rest of the boardwalk soaking in the sun, sea, and surf and saying a little “Thanks”. Just prior to sunset, we ended up back to the market area, where everyone was just packing up, and found another restaurant to have a light dinner. Did I say light, well, I ordered those sardines that are either fried or barbequed, and some great little squid, while Lou order a wonderful avocado and tuna salad…we shared it all. Boy, this is getting more like a “vacation” all the time…ain’t it great. Day at an end, we headed out to find our bus back…”Do you know were we catch it ?”…”Right were we got off..”, “Were is that?”… Fortunately, it wasn’t too hard to find, but when it came time to get off…we missed our stop. It could have been worse, because we only missed it by ½ mile, so it was easy enough to walk the highway back. It was noisy, it was dusty, but we made it…another adventure…. 17 December ’05, Saturday. Marbella, probably the most “polished” or “glitzy” town we have been in yet. There is no doubt that there are lots of people with loads of money living in and around this town. The newness of everything in the “new” town in contrast to the old of “old town” helps make this an enjoyable outing. Yesterday we caught our bus into town about 11am. Driving down the freeway, Louise mentioned a terrible noise that was coming from the engine compartment of the bus. “It’s just a fan belt slipping”… About 30 seconds later, the bus driver was waving us off the bus… I don’t know what it was all about, but about 40 of us were escorted by foot to the next stop and were told to wait for the next bus. Well, that’s another first for us… Arriving in Marbella, we had a small street market going on at the plaza right in front of us. One of the stands was operated by the Tourist Information Office, so we got our faithful map and headed off for the “old town” first. “A” typical old town, buildings from the 14th to 15th century, narrow streets, lots of little stores and restaurants on the main floor, apartments above, and everything painted white. About 6 churches and more than a dozen “plaza’s” make up the rest of the area. There is a small portion of the old walls, but the castle is gone. There were a few people walking the streets and plaza areas, but overall it was pretty quiet. We found a table in the main square that had half sun and half shade and decided that it was lunch time. Nothing exciting, a chicken salad and tuna salad sandwiches that did their thing in filling the tummy, but unfortunately that was about it. Then it was time to head for the new part of town…the “polished and glitzy”. This part of town runs from the main road that splits the town in half, down to the boardwalk and the marinas. The new part is also divided in half, the east side and the west side, and in between them is a beautiful green space, fountains, water feature that runs down the street about 200 yards, and about 20 bronze sculptures that are placed every 20 yards or so until you reach the boardwalk. All the shops, hotels, apartments, and condominiums are priced for those the “have”, but those that don’t can sure enjoy looking… The beach that runs for miles both ways is absolutely beautiful. The golden sand and the green/blue crystal clear water make you want to stop and enjoy immediately were you stand. One thing interesting, yesterday we walked down the beach from the campground (which is about 75 yards from our van) and we came upon a sailboat that had washed up on the beach. Unfortunately it is now a total loss to someone, but this afternoon, while walking the boardwalk here in Marbella, we came upon another sailboat. This one had run aground on the breakwater in front of the town…complete write-off… It would be interesting to know the story behind both of them. Last time we came upon a sailboat beached, was 2 years ago in Cabo San Lucas…it seems like just yesterday. About 5, we caught the bus back to “Bumble Bee”, and got ready to make dinner…one of my favorites, spaghetti. A note of interest (our at least it was to us…), we met one of our neighbors, and they have quite a story to tell…they have shipped their motor home to the states twice, and traveled extensively in the US, Canada, and Mexico for over 2 years total. They even drove the highway to Alaska one year. The favorite place that they visited was a little village area just north of Puerto Viagra….(just checking to see who’s reading this…) They are from Switzerland, and have also visited each and every country that we have been in…now that is vagabonding ! 15 December ’05, Thursday. Driving from the Seville area and heading south we travel through low rolling farm lands that have just been plowed, then into the mountain areas of South Spain that make poor “Bumble Bee” get down and dig, pass areas of sand dunes that are whipped about by the wind, white hill top villages that seem to hold on by sheer guts, herds of sheep, cattle, and the prized “fighting bulls”. As we got closer to the coast, we came upon millions of the huge windmills twirling to generate the electrical power that is demanded of them. You could even hear the “hum” in the distance. We are now paying about $4 US dollars a gallon for gas, and feeling it is a bargain. The food costs seem to bounce back and forth from being “reasonable” to pretty expensive. The camp site costs are pretty good, by averaging less than $18 Euro a night. If we eat a “Dinner” out (our lunch, but a heavier one), it will about $28 average…3 or 4 courses with wine, beer, or a coke. When we do eat out like that, we tend not to have any thing but “treats” for the rest of the night… That probably isn’t the best, but … The sun has been with us for quite some time now, with today being the exception…it rained pretty good earlier morning/afternoon as we were pulling into Marbella. Marbella is a coast town with the mountains right at the back side. When the rain comes, the torrents of rain rush down the hills and right into the Med and making the green/blue water look like it is “dirt brown” for a while. This campground is about 100 yards off the beach, and about 6 miles from Marbella to the west. This is the first campground that we have been in that is definitely a “winter” home for a lot of Europeans. I think the campground can hold about 400 campers, and right now it is about 95 percent full. Most of them seem to be from Germany and Great Britain. Tonight Louise and I went out for a walk around the site to see all the Christmas decorations that they have put out around their “pitch”. Some are pretty elaborate, while others have stayed pretty simple if any thing at all. Some of those that make this their 2nd home, have their camper/caravan, plus one to 3 out buildings as well. Most of the “out buildings” are tents like the bigger one that we use once in awhile, and others have built wooden structures... The grocery store here on site is one of the best we have had, and the prices are very reasonable. The restaurant/bar is nice, but so far we have only seen a couple of people use it. Our plan is to stay a couple of days, head up to Gibraltar for a day, and then a few days in Ronda for Christmas 14 December ’05, Wednesday. We received a very timely email from Mario, telling us that his mother’s family was from a village in Spain called Carmona, and “if” we were to get close to it, could we drop in and check it out…well Mario, we were and we did. Carmona is a beautiful walled village that is situated on a hill overlooking a wonderful valley. The city walls are not complete anymore, but 2 or the main gates, a large portion of the defensive walls, the Alcazar del Ray D. Pedro I, (the Alcazar is now a Parador, which is a historic building, and one of many that Spain has turned into very nice and popular hotels) and many more prominent buildings and churches from the 11th century. Mario, Carmona even dates back further than that. In ancient times (like a thousand years before Christ) it was one of the main enclaves of the Guadalquivir areas. For over a half million years people have lived on this hill which they now call “Carmona”. Yes Mario, you most likely have some relatives that still live here… Louise and I were really taken with Carmona, the position that it holds on this hill, the natural beauty of way, they all say “Hi”, and await a visit from you next time. We walked just about every little passageway that made its way around inside the walls, looking at just about every building that is there. We tried to visit those beautiful churches, but unfortunately, they were all closed. During our walk, we came to the conclusion that most of the living quarters have been completely remodeled inside, and now belong to the famous and wealthy of the area. You could see many signs of their wealth, although if you were to look at the exterior only, you could be fooled into thinking that nothing has changed for many years. The main gate area holds the TI (Tourist Information) and a little store which we had a chance to visit. About in the middle of the village, sits the main plaza. We found a perfect restaurant/bar to have lunch in at the Square San Fernando. Louise had chicken filet and I had fried sardines. Together we shared a serving of egg-plant that was deep fried, placed on top of sliced boiled potato’s and then served with hot honey spread on top of it all…the house specialty, and boy was it goooodddd !!! We took lots of pictures and have lots of memories, so Mario… Now that was a quick afternoon. Tomorrow…Marbella 13 December ’05, Tuesday. It was one of those nights when either one of us got much sleep. I guess it was that built-in alarm clock that just kept us thinking about having to get up a little earlier to catch the ferry. I don’t know why the built-in alarm started out so early, but it did. Finally about quarter to eight, we both jumped up and headed for the shower. By 9 we were walking the 2 miles into town to catch the 11:30 ferry…I know, a little early, but we didn’t want to miss it either. Our ride across the Straits of Gibraltar took just over an hour. While on the ride, we met another couple that was taking this tour as well, so although the boat had just a few people on it, we knew that we had at least one more couple going on this tour. Arriving at the pier in Tangier, we found that there were 2 more couples, so now we were 4. Of course Lou and I had a little problem, but fortunately it was taken care of quickly with the help of our tour guide. We were told that prior to leaving the boat, a “policeman” would stamp our passport, and that must be done prior to leaving the boat…well, a “policeman” did come by our seat, and told us to “get our passports out”, at least that’s what we both heard. It turned out that I was to take the passports to his “office” and he would stamp our “TICKETS”, not our passports. Well, neither one got done until we walked “OFF” the boat and got our help. Ok, now we are on the bus, or should I say van. It was nice to have a small group because we got a little more personal attention (another good reason to travel off-season). We were told that there would be aggressive attention to us by young to old venders that were selling just about everything you could possibly want and then some. Once we were out of the van and touring the “Kasbah” (the old fortress of Tangier, and now a place for that “photo moment” as we wandered through the narrow passageways.), they seemed to come out of the ancient walls and settle upon us in groups of 4 and 6. I think the idea was one to attach himself to the women, while another would pull the husband away and try to sell him at a different position of the group while still walking through these VERY narrow passages, and all the time walking a circle around you to keep your attention…quite an art !!! It was amazing to watch them work, because when someone in the group finally found something they wanted to buy, they all converged on her with in a second or two. Our tour guide was pretty good at making them back off, but then in the next few paces, they were all back…it is a game, and I kind of have fun with all of it. I didn’t buy anything, but watching it all happen is great fun. This tour was like a lot those we took in Egypt and Turkey, where the guide will find the opportunity to take you in to “this special place”. There you will find yourself sitting for a “demonstration or explanation” of “hand made carpets, or the second stop, a “Naturalist” who has special recipes for herbs that will heal any and all ails you may have (for me, he wanted to grow hair for me with his special oils…) and of course, our guide gets his cut from anything that is purchased. We did have a good “local” 4 course lunch included. We started with a great soup, then couscous with chicken, skewers of lamb, and desert. All that was topped off with mint tea. During lunch, we were entertained with a 6 piece musical group that played typical Moorish music. While walking the passageways, we saw some women carrying bread dough wrapped in cloth. they were heading for the “baker”. He has a little stall in the wall that has a wood burning oven built into the back wall. He does the baking of the dough and after a while, she comes back and collects it. Each woman has a special “mark” that she puts on her bread to keep hers separate from the others. Also, as we walked these passages, we had to constantly be aware of string that was strung from one end “street” to the next corner. Sometimes, there were as many as 6 different strings at 6 different levels and angles. These were strung tight for the young man who was twisting them together to make thread for embroidery work. Another item of interest, ONLY men can do embroidery…a woman’s eyes are not strong enough to handle the work required. Again, there were lots of little “shops” that were cut into the walls of the passageways that had these men sitting on pillows embroidering. Our next stop was to see the “snake charmer” do his bit, and then it was across town for those of us that might want to ride a camel. I did the snake thing, with a snake draped around my shoulders, but passed on the camel. Fortunately, the snake he used to place on us wasn’t the cobra, or I most likely would have passed on this experience. We covered Tangier from one end to the other over 4 to 5 hours, and when it came time to leave, we all felt much better about the idea of coming into Tangier on our own someday. For some reason, that bit of insecurity that was there prior to this trip over. During our ride, we were told of some of the traditions of the Muslims of Morocco. For instance, if a husband was to die, his wife is forbidden to attend the funeral. He told us that the idea behind this, is that the woman gets too over whelmed and throws herself all over the body and this makes the ceremony too difficult for the men that are attending. She can go to the grave site, but only after the 3rd day. One other interesting thing, she wears only “white” clothing (robes) during the mourning period of 3 months. After that point, you can wear any color she wants and she can also get married at that time as well..but only if she has refrained from having sex. It seems that the 3 month period of refraining from sex has to do with the possibility of being pregnant while her husband was still alive. Darkness is arriving, so back to the boat, across the Straits, a little stop at the internet, and finding one of the BEST pizzas we have had in a very long time, and last but not least, finding a taxi to take us back to “Bumble Bee”. Tomorrow…CARMONA 12 December ’05, Monday. We loaded “Bumble Bee” back up this morning and drove into Tarifa, which is the furthest south you can get in all of Europe. I could hardly believe that until I checked out our chart of Europe. Sure enough, you can’t go further south than this… Our first stop was to see if it was still possible to take a “Day Trip” by ferry to Tangier from Tarifa. Well, we found that not only was it possible, but easy, so we bought our tickets. We will board the high speed ferry to Tangier about 11 in the morning and find our “guide” in Tangier. The package deal is fast ferry to Tangier, guided English speaking tour by bus, lunch, and return by fast ferry about 7 the same day. Just enough time, although we wish we would have checked this out earlier, because there is a 6 day tour that we both would have liked to take. The only problem with that, it only leaves on a Sunday morning. If we wait around till next Sunday, we will be getting back on Christmas Eve, and that just wont work for us this time. Getting the tickets taken care of, we went looking for an internet café. Finding one, we took care of the emails and tried to up-load to the web. Unfortunately, the systems were so slow it just wouldn’t get the job done… Now to find the next one and we’ll hope for a better system. Tarifa has a population of about 10,000 people, buildings are all white washed, has a small castle surrounded by a wall, and sits right at the edge of the Atlantic. The village is very much like so many we have seen lately, as the streets are no more than little passageways that run in a pattern that takes years to understand. There is a small market within the walls, 4 or 5 churches, and many businesses and plazas. We found one of those plazas when we were looking for lunch. Sitting there kind of reminded us of sitting in any number of small villages in Mexico and having lunch. The warmth of the sun (about 70 degrees today), the sea, and of course the similar language. While in town this morning, we ran into a guy from Great Britain we had met in Seville. He was telling us about the campground that they had found and how much they enjoyed it. As it turns out, it was the same one that Bruce and Peg had stayed at when they were here 5 years ago. Well, we had to try it out too, so here we are. We will be here for at least 2 or maybe 3 days and then head to Gibraltar. Until then…tomorrow, Tangier 11 December ’05, Sunday. Going through our copy of Bruce and Peg’s diary the last couple of days, we found that for the first time we are following in their foot steps, only 5 years later. I think we are about 1 or 2 days behind them now, but as I said, 5 years later. It’s fun to read their diary and then write one for us. Peg, if you ever read this, please don’t feel that I am plagiarizing your work… This afternoon we pulled into Cadiz just after noon, and headed for the “old town” that was established in 1100 BC, although what we see today only dates back to the mid 1500’s. Being a Sunday, I was shocked at how many local people had come into town. It was packed and parking??? Non-existent… We thought about parking in the bus zones and even some of the other areas that we know are trouble, but we opted not to because we saw for the first time, a motorbike that had a “boot” attached to the wheel. Now most often a motorbike has pretty much carte blanche, but seeing the boot…we opted to keep looking. Finally, after traveling the main route, and the narrow alleyways, we found a spot just long enough for us to squeeze into. To top that off, Sundays are free… Cadiz is a town of about 150,000 +, and the old city is pretty much right on the water. The town is built out on a spit, and fills it in completely. Another 100 yards out into the water is an old fortress that is linked to the mainland by a narrow walkway. In the city a small part of the fortress wall is seen here and there. Huddled between are many of the ancient buildings of the old town and most proud yet, are the basilica and the churches of Cadiz. We really enjoyed our time by visiting the churches, walking the “pedestrian” areas window shopping, browsing the street markets, and finding a “perfect” Tapa’s Bar for lunch. Fortunately we took the time to visit Cadiz, because it was one town that we had almost passed. In leaving, we found ourselves fighting a head wind for the next 60 or so miles. Just prior to arriving in Tarifa, we came upon a mountain completely topped with the huge windmills that were generating power for most of the towns of the area. You would think that this was “The” power supply for all of Spain… Tonight we are spending a night in a campground that has about 3 “day campers” and 40 “full time” campers registered. With the wind coming into this area, it makes this coastline one of the finest areas for windsurfers in all of Europe. The beach is about 400 meters down the road. On our walk after arriving, we saw about 10 camper units sitting at the beach and every one of them was there to enjoy the wind and surf. About 100 yards back off the beach are some huge sand dunes that attracts the dune buggies and ATV’s. Well, it’s been a nice walk, a nice day, and we’ve seen some great sites…tomorrow…Tarifa |
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