In a few days Pandora will be hauled for the season and Brenda and I will head to Madrid for about a week to see the sights before we head home to the US for the winter. We won’t return to Pandora until next spring, likely April.
We have enjoyed being aboard Pandora here in the marina and doing some touring of local landmarks. Well, local has been up to two hours away so we have been doing a lot of driving.
The marina is quite nice, reasonably priced and loaded with places to dine out. It seems that a lot of the boats are being stored and many of those have likely been here for years, with no use.
The big driver of visitors to this area are the beaches which go on for miles.
When we were looking at flights from Almerimar we discovered that while this place is a great spot to haul with plenty of services and reasonable rates, we found that flights to the US, while available, were a lot more expensive than from more popular tourist destinations.
Also, as we are smack in the middle of “high season” the pickings for affordable fares were quite limited.
So, what to do?
We hunted around quite a bit to see what we could do to find reasonable fares and settled on departing from Madrid, a 4.5 hour drive from Almerimar where we could get a direct flight to Boston and avoid stopovers, sometimes two and more than 24 hours to make the trip from here.
We figured, that we could afford to stay in Madrid for about a week and the hotel cost could be about the same as the savings on the flight by being flexible.
What we did not anticipate is the crushing heatwave that has settled over much of Europe and especially Spain and we will be treated to 100 degree temperatures for our entire visit to Madrid. That is such a bummer so I guess we will have to focus on indoor activities or do our outside stuff in the early morning or evening.
The landscape here along the coast is very barren as this area has the only true desert in Europe and it shows with mile after mile of barren landscape devoid of any real plant life.
Just about every spot that is near the coast and mostly flat is covered with greenhouses. We have driven 90 minutes in each direction from the marina and there are greenhouses everywhere.
We visited a number of local towns and enjoyed seeing the sites. As it was very hot, we weren’t able to do as much walking as we had hoped. In Nijar, not far from here, we enjoyed time touring the windy roads on foot and also by car. Even with our tiny Fiat 500, we ended up on one street where we had to fold the side mirrors as we could not fit through the buildings.
On one particularly narrow street we happened upon a very nice woman who was proud to share her little corner of the world with us. Her English was only slightly better than our Spanish, which is to say not good at all as we don’t know any Spanish, but we muddled through and enjoyed our brief time together.
She motioned us to head up the staircase to see a restored Arab watchtower from the 14th century. There are ruins of many of these towers in the area as they served as early warning from attacks.
It was a pretty steep climb even though the path was well paved.
Steep or not, the view from the tower was amazing. Again, with greenhouses in the distance.
In town a maze of narrow streets.
Whitewashed buildings set off by a blaze of color from the bougainvillea.
In various areas in the town there were communal fountains where locals come to fill up jugs of drinking water.
Rain is scarce here with less than a foot falling each year. However, when it comes, it sometimes comes in a rush so there are wide drainage culverts running thru the towns to handle the surge of water.
On this building a lovely decorative spout from the roof to handle the occasional downpour.
We enjoyed a glass of wine nearby but had to beg to be served as he was closing up for the afternoon. However, after asking again, very nicely and agreeing not to steal the glasses, he relented. The setting was very peaceful.
Closed or not, a charming spot.
And behind us, a treelined courtyard. We sat to the right…
Interestingly, this area is known for pottery. We so wished that we could have purchased some to bring home. Alas, too heavy. We visited a shop that was a riot of merchandise.
I was lusting after the amphora.
Truly a family business as the workshop and kiln were in the back room.
Another day we visited the Alcazaba castle/fort in Malaga, actively used from the 11th to 14th century. In the foreground a Roman Amphitheater from the 1st century. There are also ruins from the Phoenicians hundreds of years BC in the area. That’s a long time ago.
It is remarkable that the history of this area here goes back so far when we measure our history in hundreds (barely) of years and even that is looking shaky. I guess that it’s safe to say that every civilization is fragile and will begin, prosper and end.
I have to wonder where the US is on that continuum. Getting GREAT? I guess it is a question of perspective…
We had a lovely lunch, perhaps the best so far in Spain, overlooking the fortifications. We saw a family and offered to take their picture. They reciprocated…
It’s interesting to see how Alcazaba was built into the hillside instead of leveling the hill the way we do nowadays. Of course, for security, they wanted to be on a hill. Harder to lay siege against them. Besides, they built all of this with just brute backbreaking labor and minimum machinery beyond ropes and levers so they had to build it in a way that took advantage of what was there.
This pyramid in the square looks down into the Roman ruins but we were not able to see if first hand as it was closed that day. The fort was built on the hill above the roman ruins. I wonder if they cared about the history of the area the way that we do now. Probably not. Out with the old and in with the new.
As we toured the fort, it was astounding to see how extensive it was.
With contemplative gardens… And, of course, plenty of tourists “contemplating.”
The complexity of the brickwork was a sight to behold. I guess you can lavish a remarkable attention to detail when you have three centuries to get it right.
And views of the city with old but not as old as the fort and modern apartments. That’s what happens when a place is home to generations over thousands of years. Here “urban renewal” means something different…
Not sure what to say about this tower except that it’s lovely.
Another day we went to Almeria, yet another historic city, and after three days of running around in the heat we decided to do less than in previous days. It was hot…
Did I say that it has been hot? Thought so…
We decided to limit our touring to a single place, the Cathedral of Almeria. It is catholic but is not what we generally associate with Catholic churches. Like other structures from this time period, the 16th century, it was a place of worship and yet had defenses to keep out invaders.
“Hey, Juan, please shoot those guys trying to siege us, I am in the middle of giving communion.” “Wait, if they are willing to convert, invite them in.”
Inside a massive courtyard.
And, of course, the cathedral itself, amazing. No surprise that it took 40 years to build the basic structure, and centuries to complete as it stands today. The last part was completed in 1804. That’s a long time. I guess that for hundreds of years, the administration’s priorities didn’t change much.
An impressive altar to be sure. But wait, there’s more…
Hard to believe that there was enough money and skilled labor, to do all this. Perhaps it was a fear of going to Hell.
After all that religion, we had to find a place for tapas and this one was well reviewed and packed…
A Lovely location and it must be good because it was standing room only. Sadly, some of the dishes were a bit too unfamiliar to our western pallets be fully enjoyed. Exactly what was that dish anyway?
Over several days we drove hours to and from the marina but I will admit that it is already blurring a bit and it’s hard to keep track of what we saw were.
So, with two days more before Pandora is hauled, we are thinking hard about what clothing to bring home and what to leave on board. As you can imagine, after years of tropical cruising a lot has accumulated and now we have to decide what should stay and what should go.
While it is very hot here now, our cruising for the next few years will be during the “hip seasons” spring and fall which are not as hot as we are experiencing in August. Yes, temperatures are above normal, or perhaps in line with the “new normal” but being in the 90s to 100s now is a lot hotter than spring and fall when it’s more like 10 to 15 degrees cooler, which is certainly more temperate.
During our first two months aboard next spring, we will move north toward Barcelona with stops in the Beleric islands and they too are cooler than here, in the 60s to 70s during the day and in the 50s at night so the sorts of clothing will be very much different than what we need now.
Lots to think about along with all the work to be done to Pandora while she is on the hard.
I guess that’s about it for now. Time to begin thinking about weightier issues like where we will go for dinner and what we will order. Exactly what is in that dish?
I have become very accustomed to sangria so that’s progress.