La Cala De MijasOct 11, 2009
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Our first experience catching a bus in Spain. Our apartment is in...
Barbie in our living/dining room.
and looking the other way.
| Our Spanish Home When we got close to our destination, Le Cala de Mijas, we phoned Jan, the owner of the apartment we rented, and arranged a spot to meet. We then followed them to the apartment. It was perfect; just what we were looking for. Jan even had a bottle of wine waiting for us! The only drawback was we had to go next door to the gas station cafe to use the internet. At this point, we were really road weary, and just wanted to sit and relax. Phil generously offered his garage to park the bike, but we thought we might need it to do some exploring, so opted to keep it. While we were dreaming of a couple of weeks on the beach or by the pool, doing nothing; we knew that if we ever got bored, there was lots to see and do. Seville, Granada, Cordoba, (sounds like a car commercial) Gibraltar, and Morocco were all close by. I also hoped to take in a bull fight. You can follow this link (www.ownersdirect.co.uk/spain/S7001.htm) to Jan’s site on Owners Direct. The town is as described, lots of places to eat and drink, and we did make it to the market. Barbie bought a pair of riding gloves in Gibraltar for 20 euro, and found the exact same ones in the little market for 5! It didn’t take us long to find a favorite tapas bar, owned by an English couple, with a waiter from Vancouver!! We ate and drank there perhaps a little too much. The entire Costa Del Sol is English tourist central, you don’t even need to speak Spanish. A short drive into the mountains though and you are right back in authentic Spain. We fell completely in love with Spain. We even started eating olives. Spain is said to be the world’s biggest producer; and I can believe it. We rode past olive groves, as far as the eye can see, for hours. We did see a bull fight, and tried our best to understand how and why it is so deeply ingrained in Spanish culture. We were staying in the southernmost part of Spain in the Autonomous Community (kind of like a state) called Andalusia. This is the area that set forth the great explorers; and brought back the great wealth. It was also under Muslim rule from the 700s to the 1400s, so the old churches usually started out as mosques. If your mental picture of a Spaniard has olive skin and blue eyes, she is most likely Andalusian! They are a fiercely proud, independent people with a rich and varied history. Though often described as somewhat aloof, we always found them to be very warm and welcoming. We’ve got a few pics of us around town, and will do separate entries of our side trips. We would return here in a heartbeat. We had booked 2 weeks, but coaxed Jan into giving us an extra day. We really just did not want to leave. Oct 10-25 |
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