Ancient palaces, Alhambra & Alcazeba

Our next tour took us to Granada to visit the Alhambra - a medieval palace built in the 1300's by Nasrid sultans ( Arabic Muslims). Decorated with intricate patterns of wood, ceramics, plaster & calligraphy, but no images as that is forbidden by the Quran. Breathtaking, carved wooden ceilings, stalactites of plaster, indoor fountains & "streams". Access is very controlled to prevent too many people inside at any time, they checked our tickets 4 separate times, it was definitely a "bucket list item" for me.

We also toured the old centre of Granada thru squares & to the cathedral. And of course "free time for shopping"!

We have been spending time with other Canadians from our group, happy hours, suppers & a very enjoyable Sunday roast dinner at an English restaurant, complete with 5 kinds of roast meat & banofee pie for dessert! We are a bit lonely now as the group went home Wednesday, leaving us to our own devices for another week. We have taken the local buses to visit surrounding towns - Mijas up in the mountains ( we both purchased lovely leather jackets there), Fuengirola to the huge weekly market ( of course we found a few things that we "needed" and to the city of Malaga. In Malaga we visited the Alcazaba, another Moor (Arabic Muslim) palace, constructed in the 11th century. Not as ornate as the Alhambra but we enjoyed it more as they also have many artifacts from the period on display. We were lucky to see a group of flamenco dancers having photos done - of course we took as few as well. Next to the palace are the remains of an ancient Roman theatre, pretty cool! Up a very long hill from the palace we toured the Castillo de Gibralfaro, constructed in the 14th century to protect the palace. Malaga bullring looks quite out of place in the city! In Malaga we enjoyed the best meal yet at La Tortuga bar, mixed tapas & local beers.

Of course we still lounge in the sun, catching up on some reading & people watching.

Tomorrow we are off to Nerja where my Norwegian brother Olav & his wife May will be vacationing. Time for a quick visit before we start the "fun" job of packing. Definitely enjoying ourselves!

Travels in Morocco

We spent a day here in Torremolinos thinking about my father - he actually spent his last few years living here. We found his last apartment & had a beer with an old Danish fellow in a Scandinavian pub who remembered Roar. It was a good day.

We spent our 39th wedding anniversary on the beach and supper of seafood & Fire grilled sardines - excellent!

On Oct. 10 we left for a 3 day trip to Morocco. Bus trip then a ferry from Algeciras across the Strait of Gibraltar to Cueta. We were surprised to learn that Cueta is a Spanish city on the coast of North Africa. City tour, tapas & beer then off to the border of Morocco - slow process, dealing first with Spanish customs, then Moroccan. Our guide Mohammed was very helpful! First stop camel riding - a bit frightening when they stand up but great fun for only 3€.

An unfortunate fact of Morocco that we found out about pretty quickly - young teenage boys think that life in Spain is "perfect" so they try to sneak their way there. They see a tourist bus, doesn't matter which direction it is headed, and they try to climb onto the back grill or climb underneath & cling onto the frame. 3 boys were discovered underneath the bus when we stopped for the camels, filthy from head to toe - grease & road dirt, they were chased out but tried to get back on as soon as we started moving. Sadly this was a regular occurrence at most stops, even through the customs area.

Tangier city tour on the bus and a walking tour of the Medina (market). Busy city, people, scooters & cars everywhere, noisy and dangerous to cross the street! Our bus driver seemed inexperienced with the narrow streets & tight turns, he managed to back into a car in a traffic circle. This caused pandemonium - yelling, arms waving, quite the excitement! It didn't delay us too much, we arrived at our hotel in Tangier by 8, dinner not till 9. This was almost early by Spanish standards!

We were given some history of Morocco including some basic facts about Muslims way of life & their dress. Surprisingly 60% of Moroccans are 20 yrs old or younger, but generally it is not a poor country, lots of agriculture. It is becoming more modern, we saw only a few women with the full burkas, but many men & women wear the jihab (caftan with a hood).

We left Tangier to go to Chefchaouen, a city in the mountains, very picturesque, past small farms with donkeys, sheep, goats & cattle. Saw lots of olive groves & 3 traffic accidents. The transmission on our bus was failing so we had only 2 gears, stalled several times on the 2 lane highway (rather dangerous) & travelled at either 30 km/hr or 70 km/ hr. Not a fun ride & we unfortunately had chosen to sit in the front seat. 

We had an amazing walking tour with a tiny local man as our guide. He led us through the blue & white city (white to reflect the sun, blue to ward off mosquitos) - thru tiny lanes, up and down stairs, thru the Souk, quite cave-like in places, built in the 1400's. Excellent lunch of Moroccan stew, then of course, free time for shopping ( this is fit into every tour!). Lots of handwoven blankets, tablecloths & scarves, also leather, esp. Pointy shoes & purses of every colour.

Our 2nd night was spent in M'Diq in a beachside hotel, lovely and a great place to add to our sea glass collection. Plus we got a "matrimonial bed" ( queen), vs the singles in our hotel in Spain!

We were greeted in the morning with a new bus - hurrah!, then off to Tetouan, a city started in the 8th century - can't get over the age of places, quite the experience to walk on streets where the Romans may have been. Another walking tour thru the walled centre of the city, thru different markets, gold, leather, clothing Berber blankets, second hand, all in narrow lanes & squares. I was the model/Guinea pig that was dresses in traditional Berber dress, many layers plus a charming hat! We wandered thru the Kasba (housing area), each with a mosque, Koran school, Turkish bath, bakery & fountain. We were given a "tour" of a Berber pharmacy - selling Moroccan Argan oil, spices & other exotic oils & potions, then of course, shopping. Hopefully we make it through customs with our collection.

Lunch was a delicious Moroccan meal in a beautiful hall, exquisite detail in the decorations, Arabic dancers & musicians - couscous, chicken, mint tea.

After spending 3 days listening to rowdy Spaniards & the hustle & bustle of Morocco it was lovely to return to our hotel, looking forward to two more weeks of sun & relaxation.

We spent yesterday on a trip by local bus to the town of Mijas, along with another couple. Horse & buggy taxis, amazing views of the coastline, lots of shops - leather as soft as butter, I may be coming home with a new jacket!

We continue to "live the dream"!

Adventures in Paris and on to Spain

We have embarked on another adventure, off to Spain for 4 weeks on a packaged long-stay vacation. Long flight, left Edmonton at 6:10 PM Sept. 29, arrived Amsterdam the next morning. Short layover then off to Paris where we had a 7 hour wait until the last flight. I had done some research beforehand so we bought a day pass on the train & headed into Paris where we visited the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame Cathedral - both very impressive in their own way.

Our last flight took us to Malaga, Spain on the Costa del Sol where we were pleasantly surprised to see that our luggage had survived 3 different airlines & arrived with us. We were met by our local representative who ushered us into our waiting transfer - a lovely Mercedes - the driver standing there holding a sign with our name, just like in the movies! We arrived in Torremolinos, a seaside city on the Mediterranean & checked in to our room at midnight. Great sea & mountain views, right on the walkway along the beach, buffet meals breakfast & dinner (included in our package) - hope our clothes fit on our way home!

We are spending our free days wandering along the beach, picking up sea glass, fancy stones & shells, stopping for beer or wine at the many restaurants & pubs and window shopping in the many shops. We have several excursions booked, some included, some extra, our first was to the city of Nerja, perched on a cliff above the sea. We visited the caves (Cueves de Nerja) which is a series of vast caverns filled with stalagmites & stalagmites, the tallest measuring 32 metres in length. We also stopped in Frigiliana, one of the typical white villages perched on the side of a mountain - very picturesque. Lunch was a huge seafood paella & pitchers of sangria that just kept coming! There is a group of about 16 here at our hotel that are on the same package, along with others at different hotels or apartments - we travel together & have met a bunch of great folks.

The city of Ronda was our next day trip - it sits on a massive rocky outcrop, straddling a very deep limestone gorge (330 ft deep & 200 ft. wide) and it has been there since well before the 1400's. The "new" bridge was finished in 1793 & joined the 2 sides of the city. Ronda has one of the oldest & the most important bullring in Spain, inaugurated in 1785. We also stopped to visit a Catholic Church built over the remains of a Moorish mosque from the 13th century, very ornate! The streets of many of these "white towns" are very narrow, evidenced by the many scratched & dented fenders on the cars. We made a short stop in the coastal city of Marbella, the seaside home of many rich & famous - yachts, expensive shopping & luxury cars - saw our first Mazerati.

Next stop jolly old England, or the city of Gibraltar, 30,000 British subjects living next to The Rock (of Gibraltar) on a small peninsula of land on the coast of Spain. It has been a British territory since 1713 & an important military post. There are 50 km of tunnels inside the rock, used for housing troops, hospitals, ammunition during the war. We were given a tour of a short section of tunnel, where we were told that Canadian troops were invaluable in constructing the tunnels. Gibraltar is home to 200 Barbary macaques, a somewhat friendly ape, but don't get too close!

The city has a few oddities - you have to drive across the airport runway to get into town and every house has sea water piped in for use in the toilets. We, of course, had to eat fish & chips with mushy peas for lunch, along with a good British ale. We caught a glimpse of North Africa across the Stait of Gibraltar, we head there later this week.