April 28 - 29, 2010 -- Reflections from Frigiliana

We are nearing the end of our time in Frigiliana and so we spent some time on Wednesday exploring and enjoying this little village and neighbouring Nerja.

Frigiliana is an amazing little village -- so clean and bright, homog- eneous in its architecture, and very livable. Every streetscape reveals some wonderful perspective -- a long winding, cobblestone street, a picturesque courtyard shared by two or three homes, a brilliant white church, a restaurant with balcony or streetside tables, or a plaza with shaded tables and interesting adjoining buildings. The village boasts forty-one restaurants and bars, many of which do not open until nine o'clock p.m. but, despite that, it is a quiet and traditional village.

Today, Thursday, we travelled the short distance (5 minutes) to Nerja, having some places to visit and people to see. Carol got her hair cut by our host's hairdresser and was very happy with the result. Duane visited the car rental dealer to arrange for delivery at the airport tommorrow. We had an early dinner on a balcony overlooking a busy beach.

We see graffiti in our travels which is an expres- sion of people who are not always heard in public discourse. One example expressed a fairly common sentiment here (and in Italy when we were there a few years ago) that the adoption of the Euro condemned the Mediterranean countries to control by Germany in terms of exchange rates, monetary policy, and ultimately economic progress. The thought is that what Germany did not achieve by military means it is gaining by economic control. The current Greek fiscal crisis is seen as a symptom of the inappropriateness of countries like Spain (and other "Club Med" countries) adopting the Euro; they will likely revert to their own currencies -- pesos, lires, and drachmas. This time next year might be a very economical time to visit Greece or Italy.

Driving and parking in Spanish cities is a chal- lenge. Many streets are only ten feet wide and allow one way traffic and no parking. If a street is wide enough, parking is allowed on one side, leaving just enough room for a lane of traffic. On two way streets, cars park from either direction and double parking is very common. Just stop in front of a shop or drive up on the sidewalk, put the flashers on (or not), and go about your business. However, Spanish drivers are careful, courteous and patient. Most of the difficulty for a foreign driver comes from not being aware of one-way streets.

It is sad to leave as we could have profitably spent more time right here in Frigiliana and Nerja. However, tomorrow we are off to Malaga and from there we fly to Madrid.