May 8 - 9, 2010 -- Madrid

Madrid is a great city and its museums reflect the fact that it was the wealthiest and most powerful European country from the fifteen through the eighteenth centuries. Certainly the Prado Museum reflects this status. They purchased art from Italy and the Low Countries and they attracted artists from these places as well. They identified with classical Rome and classical motifs are evident throughout the royal buildings. We got great exposure to Velesquez, Goya, Rubens, Titian and others at the Prado (spent 7 hours there).

This morning we visited El Rastro, which has to be the world's biggest flea market. It extends for about a kilometre up one street but spills out on parallel and side streets; thousands of stalls and hundreds of thousands of locals and tourists. We left all of our valuables except the camera at the hotel and wandered about the market for an hour or so, which was definitely enough -- one of those once in a lifetime experiences.

From there we toured the Royal Palace and it was over-the-top sumptuous! Although the royal family does not live there, the palace is still used for state occasions such as the signing of the European Union agreements. The conscious attempt to connect the Spanish monarchy to classical origins is obvious in virtually every room. The display of medieval and early modern weaponry in the royal armoury was amazing.

We had dinner for the last two nights at the Mercado de San Miguel, a large Movenpick-type restaurant that is absolutely packed from about eight o'clock to midnight. The tapas are excellent. Crowds are four or five deep at the counters. We were jammed in and became quite friendly with our neighbours on both nights.

The first three couples were from Brazil; their English was pretty good and we parted good friends. The reason that there are only men in the photograph is that the women were off getting tapas for the men. Duane obviously could use a good South American wife!

Tonight we met a couple from Panama and Argen- tina and again hit it off well. Adrian spoke German and Spanish and Monica spoke Spanish and some English so our conversation was trilingual. Of course Duane exchanged cards and invited all of them to visit us in Canada.

This is our last night "on-the-town" in Spain and it is sad to be leaving. We have truly loved our Spanish Sojourn.

May 6 - 7, 2010 -- Madrid

On Thursday we reluctantly left our monastery at Segovia. That wonderful hotel was exceptional in every way, including price, 83 euros ($110 Canadian) per night, which included parking (often this is 20 euros extra) and a superb buffet breakfast (not usually included).

We drove from Segovia to Madrid where we returned the rental car to the airport and took the Metro to our downtown hotel. Although we had two transfers, we managed without a hitch as the underground is well signed and easy to navigate.

After checking into our hotel we decided that a walking tour of nearby Plaza Mayor, Peurta de Sol and Gran Via area was a necessary first step.

Madrid is a large, vibrant city and a mecca for tourists, mostly from Spain. We window shopped on a pedestrianized street, people watched at the Puerta de Sol, strolled to the Plaza Santa Ana for tapas and returned to the hotel. Again and again we noticed young women out with their mothers, shopping or just walking and enjoying themselves.

Today, Friday, we had a light breakfast in the hotel and Duane went shopping for a fuse (which he found just up the street in a little shop that specializes in fuses, batteries and bulbs) for our Kindle. Duane is absolutely loving having the Kindle with us as he reads the Toronto Globe and Mail and the New York Times every day. It's especially wonderful to stretch out with that at night when one is absolutely too tired to take another step. (NB: Carol would use the Kindle as well if Duane would let her get her hands on it.)

We then walked to the Museo de Reina Sophia, which has quite an extensive Picasso collection including the amazing Guernica and numerous individual working studies which informed that painting. There were also many Salvador Dali paintings, one of which is included here.

We spent about four hours admiring the wealth of artistic treasures, had lunch in the museum restaurant and then returned to another floor of the museum where we saw the more modern works of art.

After leaving the museum we took a bus ride to the north end of town, through modern Madrid, with its office towers and government buildings. Madrid is extensive and it has a wonderful mix of old and new.

May 5, 2010 -- Segovia

Cousin Robert Thomson told us that we must see the aque- duct in Segovia, so here we are and it is jaw dropping!

Two thousand years ago the Romans dammed the Rio Frio, which flows from the Guadarrama Mountains, to make a reservoir. They then constructed a 14.5 kilometre aqueduct, spanning a wide chasm in order to take water to a promontory on which they had built a fortified castle. In the elevated aqueduct the water runs in a canal, but later it is conducted underground through the old quarter of the city until it reaches its destination at the current Alcazar.

This is an engineering marvel that functioned until about 120 years ago and is still sound. The elevated portion is 958 metres in length, 28.1 metres in height at its highest point, and features 166 arches. It is made of large blocks of granite aligned without mortar. It is obviously stable and is very elegant. This Roman artifact is simply amazing!

Along Cervantes Street we visited the Arts and Crafts School and exhibit hall which held a lovely exhibit of Segovian glass work, sculptures, fabric and other art, all along the theme of the aqueduct.

We enjoyed our late-morning coffee outside the Segovia Cathedral, the last Gothic Church built in Spain. It is a landmark built right on the Plaza Mayor. The style of this church is, as travel writer Rick Steves says, “flamboyant.”

Segovia also sports a bull ring that is very dilapidated, however, new paving stones all around this old ring would indicate that restoration must be planned, likely to support the city’s application to hold a world cultural exposition here in 2016.

We thought it only right that we visit the cloisters of the convent / monastery, San Antonio el Real, where we are staying. After entering we were handed an English fact-sheet and left alone in the cloisters which serve as a museum. This monastery was built in the 15th century as a hunting pavilion but was later used by the Franciscans. The complex has been used by the Clarissan nuns since 1488 and displays numerous treasures such as Flemish tapestries and art work and Mudejar ceilings and altars. The ceilings are decorated throughout, some painted with detailed decoration, beams and all, and some with rich, detailed wood carving.

How delighted we are that we made the trip to Segovia. Not enough can be said about the magnificence of the aqueduct -- it must be seen. It was declared a National Monument in 1884 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985. It is the architectural highlight of our Spanish Sojourn.

May 4, 2010 -- Salamanca

Today we drove a circular route from Avila to Salamanca, then to Valladolid, and finally to Segovia.

The trip to Salamanca was through a rolling grain-producing area, initially with a fair amount of fallow fields in evidence but nearer to Salamanca we encountered a good deal of irrigation. This is not a heavily populated area, with many miles between villages and few farms in sight. We have heard that Spain is burdened with the latifundia system of land ownership –- large acreages in the hands of very few landed gentry and many landless people and this may explain the extensive holdings. The fields are tilled with modern farm machinery and no farm workers were in evidence until we reached the irrigated areas which featured smaller plots of land.

Salaman- ca was wonder- ful. It is a small and isolated univer- sity town with a massive square, Plaza Mayor, on which many streets converge and one enters the square through portals. The Plaza Mayor is truly the centre of town and evidently the scene of many celebrations and events. Today workers were setting up for a major book show, but formerly it was the scene of bullfights and other spectator sports and it is still the scene of the evening paseo where boys check out the girls and vice versa. The cathedral and the university are right next door.

The university is the oldest one in Spain and was set up as a secular institution, a reputation it fiercely protects. Apparently during the Inquisition one professor was hauled away for making remarks not entirely favourable to the Roman Catholic Church and he was subsequently tortured and imprisoned for five years before finally being allowed to return to his position. His first lecture apparently began with the words: “ As we were saying….”

Workers were labouring on the facades of two or three major buildings, buttressing the facades so that the brand new buildings could retain the exterior of the old buildings. Apparently this is quite common in Spain.

Salamanca makes almost no accommodation for English-speakers but the people who we encountered on the street or in cafes were very enthusiastic about giving directions, explaining things in Spanish, or very nicely correcting our pronunciation.

The trip to Vallado- lid was through more beautiful country- side, mostly in cereal production, although we saw some small and isolated vineyards. We hadn’t heard of Valladolid before and chose to go that route merely to avoid backtracking. It turned out to be the most modern and planned city we have seen -- everything was new and squeaky clean. We can’t think of what is driving the extensive development -- we must do some Wikipedia research on that question.

From Valladolid to Segovia we drove through extensive pine forests and then increasingly rich agricultural land. We are certainly getting the impression that Spain is a predominantly agricultural country and one that has benefitted immensely from the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Community which is highly protective of, and offers huge subsidies to, agriculture.

More on Segovia tomorrow; tonight we are staying in a lovely convent, San Antonio el Real, which has been partially converted into a hotel.

May 3, 2010 -- Avila

Avila has the oldest, most complete, and best preserved city wall in Spain, within which rests the old city with cathedrals, monasteries, castles, etc. It is really quite impressive. Outside of the walls is a small but vibrant city with a fair amount of new construction and infrastructure.

It was very cold in Avila (in fact we experienced a blistering hail) and the hike around the walls was not available (because it was Monday), but we did some exploring of the city.

The cathedral is very old and interesting from that perspective alone. Avila was one of the first Spanish cities to fall in the reconquista and the cathedral's architecture is early Gothic. The Gothic columns do not begin at the floor and sweep up to the ceiling -- they begin atop Roman columns instead and the Gothic arches are not consistent at the ceiling but are interspersed with round Roman arches. This is an interesting transitional church in terms of architecture. Unfortunately, we could not take photos inside the cathedral.

Just outside the city walls, in a lovely plaza, Carol relaxed in the arms of Santa Teresa, who was born in Avila. We then enjoyed some wonderful tapas in a cafe in the plaza and returned to the Parador. The weather did not improve so we welcomed the opportunity to snuggle down for the evening, do some blogging and photo labelling and go to bed.

We read an article in the Parodor magazine which is quite instructive regarding the Spanish daily timetable, which has, and continues to, intrigue us. It is by Santiago Petschen, PhD in Political Science, Chair of International Relations and Jean Monnet Professor of the European Union -- quite a qualified fellow. He is explaining Spanish attitudes to the European Union, which range from refusal to acceptance of elements of Europeanism. He writes:

There is one everyday and highly transparent issue on which Spaniards refuse to accommodate Europe: timetables. We Spaniards have not changed our timetables and therefore continue to be a lonely exception within Europe, despite being aware of their inefficiency. There is now a school of thought that suggests that we should copy the Portuguese timetable, a more European one than our own, but our customs are so deep-rooted that it is hard to imagine that ever happening. Paradigmatically, timetables have a great influence on a variety of other aspects of life, such as eating, sleeping, working, and entertainment.

May 2, 2010 -- Duane's Birthday

Today, after leaving Toledo, we travelled through Castilla-La Mancha, destination Avila. The trip took a couple of hours on a secondary road, travelling through small towns. The La Mancha countryside, made famous by Cervantes, is bucolic, flat and rolling, punctuated by occasional towns dominated by their respective castles. The winter in Spain has been unusually wet so the fields are mostly green although farmers obviously leave some of their fields fallow.

As we proceeded north we travelled though the Guada- harra Moun- tains, the flanks of which are parkland comprised of pine trees and the higher elevations rocky grazing land. On the northern side we descended a short way into Avila, a lovely town with an almost intact city wall.

We spent about an hour trying to find our hotel during which we saw a good deal of Avila, both the old town and the newer regions outside of the wall. We found the Paradore Avila following the instructions of a totally non-English speaking gentleman -- it certainly helps to know the words for left and right.

The Avila Parador is a hotel in a restored castle within the walls of this fortified city. Paradors are a chain of state-sponsored hotels built in restored monasteries, convents, castles and other charming old buildings and we decided to splurge as this is Duane's birthday.

Caitlin, Scott, Jody and Ryan phoned to wish Duane a Happy Birthday, which was a real treat as we have not spoken to them since we left four weeks ago.

Duane's special birthday dinner was in the hotel restaurant and as we had done some culinary research we decided to go with the regional specialties -- white bean soup with quail and chorizo, fried bread crumbs with grapes and chorizo, salad and roast suckling pig.

The first courses were unexceptional and eating the suckling pig was an experience. Carol's portion featured the neck portion with a pig's ear intact. Duane's was a front quarter complete with little toe nails on the foot. Carol just could not bring herself to eat either the ear or the meat behind the organ, and hinted that Duane might switch portions, to which he responded: "In a pig's ear will I switch." However, he soon relented and exchanged some of his flank meat, including crackle. It was extremely rich and very tasty, but he had much more than his share as Carol couldn't get the images of the little ear and feet from her mind.

When we went to bed Carol indicated complete confidence that she would never again order suckling pig; Duane suffered with indigestion.

This hotel is a castle and is lovely, but not extravagant. Still, it was a good choice and we shall undoubtedly enjoy our two nights here.

NB: After reading travel writer Rick Steve´s comment about roast suckling pigs Carol felt even worse about to-night´s meal. Steves says: ¨21 days of mother´s milk, into the oven, and on to your plate.¨

May 1 - 2, 2010 -- Holy Toledo!

We picked up a rental car at the Madrid airport and travelled through Castilla-La Mancha to Toledo, the capital city, ecclesiastically and politically, for hundreds of years. Toledo was also considered the most holy of cities by the indigenous Sepharic Jews, who were expelled during the reformation but brought memories of their home to America, hence the term "Holy Toledo."

Toledo is a very attractive city but because of that, it is quite over-run by tourists. Still, we had great fun walking the city and observing its people.

At the San Juan des los Reyes Monas- tery wedding guests were gathering at the main entrance and we took photos of the musicians and performers waiting at the front entrance for the wedding party to arrive. We toured the monastery which featured a typical lovely courtyard surrounded by Gothic arched walkways.

Toledo was enjoying a festival and the university students were performing at the large Plaza Zocodover, satirizing the crucifixion by singing and playing loud music, bouncing a ball around and featuring a "fat lady" bearing the cross.

We had a reservation for dinner and while we tried to change it to an earlier time, the restaurant didn't open until 8:00 p.m. so we had tapas in the lower level bar before walking home down steep, cobblestone streets to the city gates, and then another 15 minute walk to the hotel.

On May 2nd we again explored Toledo, but not before having our first and only Spanish breakfast of churros, deep fried pastry, -- a favourite of the locals who dunk them in their coffee.

We were determined to see some works of El Greco (The Greek), Toledo's most famous adopted artist. We first saw his work displayed extensively in the Santa Cruz Museum just off the Plaza Zocodover. His portraits stand in real contrast to others exhibited there, for his deep vibrant colours, angular faces with particularly long noses, and his subjects' lack of the conventional look of piety (at least they are not all looking upwards with adoring eyes). Paradoxically, most of his work was commissioned by the Catholic Church.

After leaving the museum we enjoyed beer and paella in a little square, and Carol then had a snuggle with another local hero, Cervantes.

One of the highlights of the day was a ride on a local bus which took us through the historic and outlying areas of Toledo where we had spectacular views of the walled city.

In one plaza we were delighted by a little girl who was dressed in her Sunday best, a flamenco outfit. When her parents asked her to pose for us she looked indignant, with arms akimbo, but later smiled.

Finally, we visited a synagogue, a physical reminder of the large, vibrant Jewish community that lived in Toledo before the counter-reformation and inquisition, during which a third of the Jewish population was killed, another third expelled, and a third "voluntarily" converted to Catholicism. The name of the Synagoga de Santa Maria indicates how this particular building survived, by renaming it after the Virgin Mary with its parishioners becoming more Catholic than the Pope. It is a beautiful little building, hosting a showing of the work of an Israeli artist, himself a convert to Catholicism in Spain, with a theme of building a bridge between Spain and Israel. Now there is an historic relationship that needs some mending.

We left the historic city via the series of escalators which we hadn't used before. Hmmm, should have known about these before we hiked up the steep, and long, cobblestone streets.

April 30, 2010 -- Off to Madrid

Friday was a travel day. We vacated the Frigiliana apartment at 11:00 am and mailed the keys to England, then visited Nerja for morning cafe con leche and some window shopping.

We have been fascin- ated by the ubiqui- tous clutches of old men congre- gated in plazas in every village and town we have visited. In Nerja Duane asked, mostly by gestures and body language, to join one group for a photo op and the men were agreeable -- at least we think they were. The day was lovely -- 27 to 30 degrees as has been usual -- and we meandered along the Mediterranean coast through a number of little villages which now seem to be mostly English enclaves.

We drove to Malaga, left our rental car in the public garage and walked to the new and very commodious Malaga airport, still somewhat underutilized and barren. After leisurely tapas in the airport we caught the Spanair flight to Madrid where we took the hotel shuttle to a marvellous four star Hotel Husa Neuvo Boston. We have found really good deals on some of the better hotels, depending on the day of the week, and this was one of those good deals.

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.

April 27, 2010 -- Granada and Las Alpujarras

We had the morning to spend in Granada so we had coffee, wander- ed around a bit and then visited the Cathedral, a massive Gothic/Renaissance/Baroque structure which apparently changed styles as it was being constructed over the decades. The pillars are massive, not elegant. The church is entered via a low entrance and it has an unimpressive exterior partially because it is surrounded by other buildings, separated only by very narrow streets, and it is without a plaza. Granada never really regained its glory, partly because shortly after the Catholic Monarchs took control Granada was bypassed as a seat of power and influence. Phillip II didn't complete his father's palace but moved to Madrid and built his own, El Escorial.

We hopped a local mini-bus to the Albaycin, the old Moorish quarter across the Dauro River from the Alhambra, apparently with good views of the whole Alhambra complex. Our ride was a bit of a joke as it was almost entirely along narrow cobblestone streets with twelve foot stone walls appearing about a foot from both side windows of the mini-bus. Occasionally we had a peak at a view or some landmark. We were exceptionally happy that we hadn't decided to drive the route ourselves.

Back to our hotel we had lunch and were on our way, gaining the highway with great facility. Having some time to spend we took a different route home, through Las Alpujarras, a valley wedged between the Sierra Nevada and the Alpujarrra Mountains. This is a very high elevation region with little villages clinging to precipitous slopes at the base of the Sierra Nevadas. These white villages each have a special product for which they are known, be it mountain water, cured hams, pottery or hand-woven rugs. We had a beer and tapas at Caliperia, where we purchased a lovely rug and a fruit bowl.

We continued home, passing through Orgiva, a town with a lovely Baroque church with a front entrance patio filled with orange trees in full fruit. As one passes through this countryside one's sense are confronted with the most intense aromas from fruit trees and flowers. One thing that we have yet to figure out -- how can orange trees be in fruit and in bloom at the same time?

Back to Nerja, where we shopped for groceries and supplies to replace those we have used. Carol was not happy with one of the seafood choices Duane suggested for dinner.

April 26, 2010 -- Granada & the Alhambra

Today we started our two day visit to Granada. After all the hype about not driving our car, not being able to park, etc., it was a cinch. Hotel parking was available, but had it not been, public parking was just a block away. Our hotel, the Best Western Dauro 11, could not have been better located -- on a lovely pedestrian street within a few blocks of the Cathedral.

We settled into our hotel and began our visit to Granada with cerveza (beer) -- so much cheaper than coffee -- and food, glorious tapas.

After satisfy- ing our hunger, we decided to begin with the main attrac- tion, the Alhambra, and it was magnificent. Granada was the last Moorish stronghold to fall to the Catholic Monarchs and is by far the most authentic Moorish Palace in Spain.

These folks knew how to get close to Heaven inside their fortifi- cations -- wonderful gardens, pools of water, beautifully designed and decorated spaces whether they were courtyards, ambassadorial halls, private rooms or miradors. Then, of course Charles V, the conqueror, plunked his huge palace adjoining it -- quite a jarring juxtaposition.

Charles' creation is cold and magisterial with a massive courtyard surroundeded by tall Roman columns. It has none of the detailed mosaics or filigree work, the labyrinth of adjoining rooms and courtyards, the detailed carvings on ceilings or, for that matter, the intimacy, tranquillity and comfort exhibited by the Nazarid Palace.

The Alcazaba, or fortress, seems impregnable, much like the forts in Sevilla, Malaga and Cordoba. Interestingly, our little town, Frigiliana, due to its mountainous location and fortifications, was the last small Andalusian towns to submit to the Catholic Monarchs after the fall of Granada and its inhabitants were later very involved in the rebellions against their authority.

We returned to our hotel, exhausted from all the walking and climbing, and rested for an hour before further exploring this wonderful city. Although it was late, the streets were lively. We enjoyed some Cava (much like champagne) at an outdoor patio, listened to the street music and watched the Spaniards strut their stuff. It was a wonderful evening and it seemed we were the first to leave as we retired to our hotel around midnight.

In the hotel lobby we met four ladies from Sarasota, Florida, who were on a Granadian tour, and we chatted with them for an hour or so. They loved our "delightful accents" and we exchanged travelling adventures and locations and marvelled at the highlights of Granada.

April 24 - 25, 2010 -- Belly Dancers, Nude Bathers & Internet Daters

Saturday was a relaxing day, spent mostly on the lovely terrace of our apartment. Carol was not feeling 100% and Duane felt a repeated need to visit the neighbourhood store, coming back empty-handed the first four times. We find it amusing trying to figure out the retail hours of opening here.

In the evening we took our evening stroll to the village and then attended a belly dance performance (which began at 9:30 p.m.) in the local school gym. It was a good show, featuring many different styles of belly dancing -- Oriental and Egyptian, but most based on turn of the twentieth century Parisian fashion. One of the surprising features was a male belly dancer who was quite a dandy and showman. He obviously had a large following because people applauded, stood, and cheered loudly.

Some of the dancers were in amazing physical shape -- the body one gets from pumping iron. Others were the more voluptuous type, and still others were out of shape and overweight. At the end of the program (it was already past midnight) the dancers came into the audience to get people up to dance -- we left before they got to us. Duane loved the entire show; for Carol there was a bit too much vibrating flesh! If you'd like to see some of these jiggling bodies check out http://www.bellydanceshirin.com . The video of the dance Percusion will give you an idea of what Duane dreamt about last night.

Today we drove into Nerja and followed a tour book's directions to Burriana Beach. It was a tough 20 minute hike along the beach as the path was blocked off in many areas where one had to crawl through holes, climb over walls and inch around gates. As well we went through a nude beach area which was a novel experience.

When we got to Burriana Beach we headed to Ayo's, a famous "all you can eat" paella beachside restaurant. The Spanish often go out for their Sunday midday meal as an extended family so it was nice to watch the family dynamics with four generations at the table.

After leaving the restaurant Carol started up a conversation with a British couple and we joined them for a glass of Sangria at a bar down the beach. Turns out that they just had met on the Internet and this was their first day together. She is an expat who lives on the Costa del Sol and he is a carpenter from Anglia in the UK. James is quite a wag. Carol was asking how long Gilli had been Internet dating and asked if she had to endure many toads before she met James. James immediately replied: "Ribbit." We got along famously and they are coming to our apartment for drinks on Wednesday and then we will go out for dinner with them in Frigiliana.

Follow- ing our visit with the Brits we toured the Nerja Caves, a fairly large cave system with pre-historic cave paintings (the paintings were closed to the public of course). The community uses one cavernous room for dance and music concerts. Lots of archaeology potential but no significant interpretation of the findings.

April 22-23, 2010 -- Frigiliana and Malaga

On Thursday we relaxed around Frigiliana, attending the market in the morning before having coffee in the plaza. We pretended we were Spanairds and had a couple of cups of cafe con leche as we watched the people at the market. We bought luscious local produce: avocadoes, peppers, plump moscatel raisins, figs, mangoes, salted almonds, tasty tomatoes, and fresh asparagus. Later we feasted on some of those treats.

Today, Friday, we visited Malaga, taking the bus from Nerja, which was a very wise decision -- no getting lost and no parking issues. Despite what travel guide Rick Steves says, Malaga is a lovely city with a long, beautiful beach, impressive harbour and gorgeous mid-city park. It claims to be the sixth largest Spanish city and second largest Andalusian city after Sevilla, but it is very compact and the downtown area is fairly small.

We did a city tour first, which is our usual practice, then visited the Moorish fortress and palace, the Alcazaba. It is a marvellous defensive structure dominating the city but providing a sense of calm and serenity that the royalty were able to achieve in their palaces, with running water and fountains, extensive gardens, trellised courtyards and cool, airy rooms. The juxtaposition of massive defensive structures enclosing this luxurious setting is quite jarring.

Right beside the Alcazaba is a recently discovered Roman amphitheatre, now being incorporated into Malaga life as a venue for performances. Such a great idea to use a 2000 year old theatre for the same purpose for which it was built.

We also visited the Picasso Museum (which, unfortunately, was partially closed), Picasso's home, a Salvador Dali exhibit, and an extensive retrospective of a Czech modernist painter, Frantisek Kupka. It was a full, but very interesting, day.

Back on the bus -- a treat for Duane, the usual chauffeur -- and off to Nerja and Frigiliana for another of Duane's gorgeous dinners.

April 21, 2010 -- Costa Tropical -- the Road to Almeria

Today we travelled east to Almeria on the Autovia de Mediter- raneneo, a highway designed to partially smooth out the twists and turns made necessary by geography.

On the trip from Nerja to Almeria along the Costa Tropical we saw some amazing road building; we crossed 15 viaductos (bridges) totalling 4628 meters in length and travelled through 12 tunels (tunnels) totalling 7434 meters. The longest tunnel was 2170 meters. The Autovia is not fully completed so we also careened through quite a few miles of winding secondary road.

We passed through miles and miles of greenhouses, covering tens of thousands of acres of land. Many were idle, but we suspect that they are used season- ally to produce fruit, vege- tables and perhaps flowers for northern European tables during the winter months. These plastic-covered greenhouses totally dominate the landscape and are not at all attractive.

Almeria is a seaside city (one can ferry from here to Morroc- co) dominated by the Moorish Alacazaba (fortress). It is very impressive and extensive -- the biggest Moorish fortress in Europe. In this city even the cathedral looks like a fort, a result of too many Berber pirate deprecations.

Almeria is off the beaten tourist track, so every- thing is in Spanish and they don't seem to feel the need to sign their streets. We spent a (semi) pleasant half hour trying to leave the city. One cannot really get lost because the city is built on a slope which ends up in the Mediterranean, so one can get one's bearings quite easily. However, as we didn't want to go to the Mediterranean, we found it a little challenging.

On the way home we decided to eat out and stopped a a nice little town, Calahonda. It was 7:15 pm and the restaurants and bars were closed and/or were not prepared to serve dinner or tapas as it was too early. At one place we were told that the cook would not return for an hour. Others were closed until 8:30. So we returned to Frigiliana and dined on delicious leftovers from last night.