The Trials of Travel

While Jay Sea Dee is in repair mode I decided to head home, back to the USA. 

Going from Almerimar Marina to Almeria airport, definitely take the taxi.  It was 60 Euros and it took about 45 minutes but the bus alternative had three changes and with luggage it would have been hard.
Ryan Air was fine until a guy showed up to work the gate and EVERYBODY got in line and I was just sitting there in awe of what was going on and how long the line got in just a minute.  Thank God I had bought the Priority Boarding for 6 Euros and I went to the front of the line to ask if I had to stand in line and he let me go through immediately. 

Then you get on the plane and you take whatever seat you want...another ORDEAL...but I got a front ROW 2 window so I was happy.

Got into Madrid on time and followed the Baggage Claim signs but ended up in a baggage area with no RYAN AIR listed on any monitor.  I ask a security guard where is Ryan Air.  I get the questions, where did you come from, etc.  Then he says I have to go to Terminal 1 which is where I thought the plane landed and go up a level.  I go all the way back across the terminal, go up a level...no baggage claim.  I find an information desk where several people are asking where Ryan Air Baggage is.  Then we proceed down a level as instructed and go to find Lounge 2.  Well, Lounge 2 is where the people are exiting from the baggage area (where you stand with a sign to meet whoever you are meeting coming off a plane).  I don’t think you are supposed to walk through a security area so I go to find another information booth.  I find a RYAN air booth and he rudely tells me the same story so I go look for someone else and he says "Just knock on the doors".  I knock and nobody opens the doors.  So I pass the whole crowd and look inside where everyone is Exiting and the guy waves me in and directs me to the baggage claim where only my two bags are left and one other lone bag.  Could they make it any harder? 

I drag my luggage out to the taxi/shuttle area and wait for the hotel “free” shuttle a  while.  I don't see the hotel shuttle so I just hop in a taxi...another 20 Euros but soooooo worth it...I could not take any more.

I bought some chips and Pepsi Light so that will be my dinner.  Off to shower (no bath...what was I thinking???) and then crawl into bed.  I did make my “free” shuttle reservation for the morning.

Flight from Madrid to Charlotte was uneventful although there were only two TV screens on the whole plane for a 9 hour flight…what is up with that???

I arrive in Charlotte, pick up my checked bag, go through Customs, redeposit my bag and head through another Security check.  They make me go to the full body X-Ray scan and when I go through they tell me I need a full pat down.  I gather all my stuff and head off to the side with the Female TSA lady.  She finds two Euro coins in my pocket (where I put them after buying coffee in Madrid and COMPLETELY FORGET they are there).  But I still get the full body pat down treatment.

Another flight to Houston and see my Jacquelyn running to me and I know I am home and Happy!

Seville #2

There were horse and carriage rides offered throughout the city so we finally hopped on one.  It was 50 Euros ($75) for all four of us and it was about an hour ride.  We saw the University, the Cathedral, the Park Maria Luisa (sister of Isabell II) where you can take boat rides or enjoy the gardens, the Alcazar, the Plaza Espagna where we saw many wedding photos being taken because of its beauty from the waterfall, tile work and hand painted porcelain adornments.  I purchased two fans for just 5 Euro…such a bargain since they are hand painted ones.  We also briefly saw the river and then headed back near the hotel.

Who is rowing?

We just couldn’t leave Seville without visiting Alcazar.  This is a 14th century palace built by Peter The Cruel after re-conquering Seville from the Moors.  It reminded me of The Alhambra in Granada but had its own beauty too.  We enjoyed the Gardens as much as the palace…watch out for that TREE!

We strolled back to the hotel via the Barrio de Santa Crus.  This was once a ghetto for Spanish Jews who were forced out of Spain in the 1400’s. You walk through narrow alleys and labyrinths where you never know what will be around the corner…how much fun is that!

We must return to this city some day!

The Grand Finale! Seville

Seville was our last stop but we certainly saved the best for last!  Seville is Andalusia’s capital city and the third largest in Spain.  It is where Christopher Columbus landed and told Isabella of the new world beyond the Atlantic.  It is where he is now buried.  It is a city of warmth and atmosphere, of passion and people that seem to embrace their city…what a lovely place to be.

Our first mission was to book our Flamenco Show.  We asked at the front desk of our hotel, Casa 1800 and were directed to the Museum of Flamenco Dance which has a one hour show full of emotion including the dance, the guitar, and the singing.  You can feel the dancers passion for their art and they put their all into it.  We showed up early as instructed for our Front Row Tickets.  We were voyeurs into their souls for this brief period and we loved every minute of it!  The tickets were only 23 Euro ($30).  After the show we stopped for Tapas and wine…and look, we even dressed up for the occasion!  What Fun!

We visited the Cathedral, allegedly the largest Gothic building in the World.  The builders goal was that “those who come after us will take us for madmen”.  Construction started in the late 1400’s and took centuries to complete.  The remains of Columbus are here held up by four mariner statues. If you climb up the tower you are rewarded with magnificent views of the city (see the bullfighting ring) and you can see the “flying buttresses” in the architecture.

Pueblos Blanco

This is the land of the famed pueblos blancos or “White Villages”.  Today we headed to Seville.  But in typical Dinsmoor travel-style…when you see something COOL in the distance…head for it.  In this case the cool thing was a white village on top of a high mountain with a castle and a cathedral sitting right at the top.  How can you resist that?

The village was named Olvera.  It is known for its olive oil production.  It was market day and we were just trying to get to the top but we had to drive through the narrowest streets lined with vehicles.  Let’s just say there were a lot of tight squeezes but driver Juan (aka John) got us there in one piece.  We climbed another street and headed for The church, “Nuestra Senora de la Encarnacion”.  We each paid our 2 Euro entrance fee and headed inside.  I would have loved to join them for a service but there were none today.

Then off we went to the Arabic castle.  At first look climbing “WAY UP THERE” was a daunting task but we all made it to the top!

Help me Ronda, help, help me Ronda

OK, so the song has nothing to do with my post other than our next stop was Ronda, Spain and we couldn’t help but sing our way there with that all too familiar tune.    After winding our way through the countryside we finally found our stop, Hotel San Gabriel, a quaint hotel in a back alley way.  You unload and then have to move the car to the Public parking Lot for the night.  It comes complete with its own cinema and DVD’s, including “Don Quixote”. 

Ronda is one of the most ancient cities in Spain and known for the origin of Bullfighting.  It is also known for the gorge cut through it by the River Guadalevin.  When you have a gorge, you need a bridge or two or three, the newest bridge (known as Puente Nuevo) was built in 1751.  It made for a spectacular dinner setting at a restaurant on the cliffs.

See the waterfall?

Cadiz, Granada and the Alhambra

Finally, a road trip.  We rented the car in Almerimar from Europcar for about 30 Euros per day.  The marina office arranged it for us and they brought it to the marina and we drop it off there as well.  What could be easier?  We found more of the Spanish Greenhouses lining the roads, not just the coast.  Known as Andalusia we were going to cover much of the eight provinces in Spain’s Southernmost Region.  We realized we were now in the Land of the Spanish Olives and the hills were inundated with olive groves.   And the road signs cracked us up:

First stop, Cadiz.  This is the only place in Spain to get our SWITLIK life raft serviced and ready for the Atlantic crossing.  We got lost trying to find the place and showed up 5 minutes before closing but were able to drop off the raft so they could have it for the week while we travelled inland.  We drove to Puerto America to check out the marina and were shocked by the desolation we felt pulling in.  No shops…all closed up and had been for awhile.  Trash everywhere.  Not a place we wanted to bring Jay Sea Dee.  Then we drove to Puerto Sherry and found it much better although there are a lot of empty slips here and not a lot of action going on.

After staying the night in Cadiz, we headed to Granada to meet our friends Tim and Linda at the train station.  We found them and headed to The Alhambra Palace Hotel for the night.  What a beautiful hotel and a close walk to Alhambra (a Grand Monument).  Alhambra was built as the Royal City for the Moors between 1335 and 1410.  Granada was the last stronghold of the Moors in Spain.  It was not captured until 1492 by the Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella. 

Spanish Coastline…very interesting!

Here are a few photos I have taken of the Spanish coastline as we sail along:

Very ModernModern mixed with a bit of the past!A typical harbor town.  Find the windmill!

Local fisherman

Geological Anomaly

Hazy day on the Costa Del Sol (Southern Coast) but the coast is lined with these greenhouses that produce much of the countries produce…Great Tomatoes!

Alas, Mainland Spain!

Another long day of fighting waves at the nose as we headed to the mainland from Ibiza.  We headed towards Mar Menor  which is an inland sea but arrived too late for the bridge opening at either 11am or 5pm during the weekdays.  So we found a nice sandy beach to anchor at Cape of Palos.  There is a VERY tall (51meters or approximately 150 feet) lighthouse here.  We were the only boat anchored out.  You can really tell that it is September…crowds are minimal!

The next morning we sailed to Cala Bardina and met with our friends, Claude, Barry (the Yorkie dog….oooooh so cute!), and Anne.  I had not seen Claude since Rome almost a year ago and John hadn’t seen him since leaving Hammamet, Tunisia.  In fact, they had us over for dinner and grilled us some Tunisia Beef and we drank some of Claude’s stash of Tunisian Champagne and red wine from the Atlas Vineyards.  Apparently, he purchased over 60 bottles of each he loved it so much.  We just don’t have the storage for that but it was great.  Anne is from France and does not speak English so I had to work on my French some more…incroyable!  So much fun!  Claude is a great interpreter if we needed one.  They showed me all around their catamaran and I’m thinking how nice it would be NOT TO ROLL every night and/or all day.

The next morning, Jay Sea Dee headed into Puerto Aguilas to purchase some fuel.  We only want to purchase enough to get us to Gibraltor where fuel is VERY INEXPENSIVE!  Today, it cost us 1.24 Euro per liter and we purchased 250 liters.  That comes to almost $5.00 USD per gallon…ouch!  There was a castle near the port called San Juan Castle, built in 1765 by Count Aranda (see photo #2).   I would have loved to climb it for the views but we didn’t have enough spare time.  There is a lighthouse under the castle with lots of graffiti on the quay wall .

After fueling we headed to tonight’s anchorage, Cala of San Pedro.  We had been here two years ago.  It was our first beach experience with much nudity.  There are no roads here, only hiking paths so people come camping and just set up their tents.  There are old tower ruins, palm trees and misc. run down habitats.  A very interesting place…FOR ONE NIGHT.  Last time we came they had a huge bonfire with bongo drums and guitars and tambourines and gypsy dancing…a very hypnotic experience.   We are still waiting for tonights entertainment