This post recounts some of our travel experiences within
Spain during the second half of May, after our successful 1,000 km walk (Camino
de Santiago) described previously. We had two weeks available because when
planning the trip, we had allowed seventy five days for our Great Walk in case
of ill-health, bad weather etc, but actually needed only sixty one. During the
two available weeks we were able to slot in travel other places in Spain. We
did this as 60 year old backpackers, using public transport to go from one
place to the next. This was a life we thoroughly enjoyed and became skilled at
reading timetables, finding our way through underground systems and searching
for hostal accommodation upon arrival. We also experienced several travel
adventures that helped build our characters! Skip these paragraphs if you
wish.
After a three day rest period in Santiago, we took a train
to Madrid. This ride took us away from the lush, green ‘Adelaide Hills’ type of
landscape, through semi-arid heath-covered hills where plantation pine trees
struggled to gain a roothold. Finally, hills gave way to plains and after a
long tunnel, we emerged at Madrid at about 9:00 pm. We located a hostal and
ventured onto the streets. Although it was late (10:00 pm+), the streets swarmed
with the city’s four million inhabitants.
Next day, we boarded a hop-on-hop-off bus and toured the city, being impressed at its grandeur, countless old and modern buildings, classical history and that its buildings are well-maintained and kept very clean. That evening we became a little street-wise when, while Anne was following just a few steps behind me, I was warmly greeted by a scantily-clad young lady selling something … When Anne caught up, the young woman apologised profusely, lost interest in me, and proceeded to offer other unaccompanied men a cheery ‘Hola’ - and perhaps more. We sat down to an outdoor ice-cream nearby, and watched her and many other well-dressed young women at work. This is a scam Anne read about, being a ruse to induce men into bars where they would be tricked into buying many very expensive drinks in exchange for a friendly chat. My theory was that they were selling software of one kind or another …
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| Christopher Columbus |
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| Bullfights are still part of the culture and many cities have bull fighting rings |
Next day, a bus trip to Valencia took about five hours
through flat country and several stop-overs. Vegetation in this part of Spain
was much drier, more like we’d imagined Spain would be. I went on another hop-on-hop-off
bus to see the city while Anne went on her own self guided walked tour. I also
went to the bus station to obtain tickets for our next day’s travel. This task
kick-started the series of character-building adventures mentioned in the first
paragraph of this post.
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city streets  |
Snails (above) and live eels (below) for sale at the Valencia
markets
Original city gates in Valencia
Skyline in the central city
It was important for us to get to a particular small town
further along the coast, because we’d arranged this with private hospitality
hosts there – but then discovered that no buses actually go to that town! I returned
to the hostal and phoned our hosts, and set about making alternative plans – but
our internet access had ceased to function. Later, after Anne’s return, we devised
an alternative plan. We would take an early train to a city called Murcia, from
where we would rent a car and drive to our destination village. Problem
resolved, I again phoned our host to advise that we’d be there the next night.
We were up at the crack of dawn, enjoyed the six hour trip
to Murcia, emerged from the station to the Avis car rental office, and enquired
about booking a car. The good news was that they could supply a car, with
one-way travel the way we wanted. The bad news was that the four-day rental
would cost six hundred Australian dollars! We declined. We then walked to a
nearby bar (café) where there was free wifi to clients, and again searched the
web for the car rental deal we needed. Successfully! Four day’s rental, one-way
to Granada for forty dollars total. The car was to be picked up from the Murcia
airport. All we needed was transport from Murcia town to the Murcia airport! The
Avis lady told us where the bus station was located, and we found our way to it.
We obtained a ticket to the airport, very pleased with ourselves, and feeling
very much like seasoned travellers who could handle anything.
Once aboard the airport bus and en-route, I began to feel a
bit uneasy about the direction we seemed to be heading. Were my directional
senses wrong? At length we arrived at the airport – but at the airport at
Alicante fifty km up the coast in the direction we’d just come from, not the
one called Murcia Airport. So there would be no rental car awaiting us. Unless,
unless … What if the rental pickup point could be transferred? After all, it
was the same company. Yes, yes? No, no? After long-distance phone calls and
discussions with a very helpful lady, the answer was Yes, it could be
transferred, we could pick up from Alicante etc etc, but No, it would cost us
considerably more for the one-way portion. Given that it was now getting late,
and our driving trip would now be six hours instead of four we spat the dummy
and declined the whole rental affair.
So what next? Well the two seasoned travellers regrouped yet
again, and found a hostal at Alicante for two nights, phoned our hospitality hosts yet
again, to apologise profusely for our no-show, and , went to
bed.
Alicante is a beautiful city. Better than our Gold Coast and
Sunshine Coast beaches and with wonderful accommodation options all along miles
of waterfront. We took a tram along some of it, and walked a couple km along
the beach promenade. Perfect. We also walked up a small mountain to an historic fortified
castle. The views from there over the city and beaches were absolutely wonderful.
Also wonderful, was the food at the city’s new Indian restaurant. We had craved
Indian food for weeks without being able to locate any, and this meal was excellent.
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| We spent a number of hours exploring the old castle, which gave amazing views from the top |
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| Ahhh. Indian food at last. Walking along the boulevard at dusk |
The following day (Saturday) we took a bus from Alicante to
Granada where a second hospitality host was expecting us on the Sunday. The scenery between Alicante and Granada was
fascinating, initially passing through a series of harsh, arid stony mountain
ranges, perhaps like South Australia’s northern Flinders ranges – but with the
valleys being filled with agricultural activities and large areas of semi-urban
development and a series of cities. Huge areas of vines, citrus, almonds and
olives continued to dominate. This moved into scenic mountains near Granada,
some peaks still snow-capped.
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| Lunar like mountain landscape |
| Intense cultivation in the valleys |
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| rugged mountains nearing Granada |
We arrived safely, and checked into a first-floor room
overlooking The Noisiest Party Street in Granada. I actually slept quite well,
but Anne stayed alert for hours while the drunken voices from the street below bellowed
their beery songs.
And then it was Sunday, our first full day in Granada – and
my sixty-sixth birthday!
We left the hostal late in the morning, ate at a nice
breakfast place where the toast was more crispy than the usual warmed bread,
and with help from a kind elderly couple, were soon on our way to out host’s
house by public transport. We didn’t know at just which stop we’d need to
alight, and the driver didn’t seem to understand me when I described that we
needed to get off ‘at the fountain’. So when we arrived at the fringe of the
district we’d named, he indicated that this was where we would need to get off.
Doing so triggered another adventure!
Having alighted, we crossed the street to ask at a
street-side café if we were somewhere near the fountain. They indicated that
no, we were not anywhere near it! But if we were to just cross back over to
where the bus dropped us off, another would come in, umm, one hour’s time and
take us all the way. We reckoned we could walk, after all we’d just walked
1,000 km, and another six wouldn’t hurt us. But they insisted that it was all
uphill, and how would we find our way through the tangle of streets anyway?
Common sense prevailed and we decided we’d find a taxi, perhaps hoping that the
café owner (who spoke good English), might phone for one. However, at that
point, one of the men we’d been talking with (in Spanish and despairing
gestures) got up from his table, indicated that we should just wait there for a
while. He then set off walking down the street and – yes – wonderful assistance
from yet another Spanish angel. He returned with his car, and drove us to our
destination point!!!
Now to the last lesson for the day. When we got out of his
car, I checked to make sure I had all our bags etc, especially my notebook from
which I’d been showing them our destination address. It wasn’t to be seen. This
notebook is semi-precious, containing not only my daily diary notes, but key
addresses of future hospitality hosts etc etc. The man was poised to drive away
so I frantically gained his attention, indicating that we were missing ‘something’.
He understood no English and my phrase book Spanish didn’t quite suit the situation,
so I just gestured as best I could that this ‘something’ was either still in
his car or somehow left back at his street café. He was keen to move his car on
from where he was obstructing traffic, so off he went. We searched our
possessions some more, but no, my precious notebook was lost! Bugger!
So what now! We regrouped yet again. Reasoning that if/when
our driver angel and his helpers back at the café found the notebook, they
would seek to return it to us. But then how could they know where we’d be? We
further reasoned that they would return to the same drop-off point, just hoping to
locate us. So Anne waited exactly where he’d dropped us off, while I tried to
remember the street address where our hostess awaited us nearby. Fortunately,
that was easy. I explained our predicament, and that Anne was across the road
in the hope that our book would somehow reappear. And – it did!!! The man had
discovered it somewhere in his car and immediately returned with it – doubtless
in the corresponding hope that one of us would await just this scenario. So
Anne too arrived at our final destination, both of us extremely relieved!!!
Our hospitality hostess and her daughter chatted with us,
and then gave us a tasty lunch. After all it was only 4:00 pm and that’s when
lunch is eaten in Spain. Later they kindly took us to see the grounds of an
historic castle known as Alhambra and also walked us around other fascinating
parts of the city – a preview perhaps of some of the sites we will see in
Morocco. We were home by 9:30 – it is still daylight at that time – and Anne
and I ate my birthday tea at a nearby pizza shop and were in bed by midnight.
We subsequently returned to the Alhambra and found it most
fascinating – the ‘castle’ blends the influence of successive Islam and Christian
dominance over the past 1,000 years.
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| Intricate art work from the Isalmic culture adored walls and ceilings |
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| Granada city viewed from the Alhambra |
A stay in the seaside town of Malaga, and another in Algeciras
brought us to the point where tomorrow (Friday) we catch a ferry to Morocco,
As a ‘pilgrim’ and as a ‘tourist’
we know we have only scratched the surface of all there is to see and do.
There are still many things we puzzle over, and our limited language skills mean that we haven’t been able to either ask or all the questions we wanted, or to understand the answers. Much to her disappointment, Anne has never really understood Spanish food. Apart from the hours of eating being so very different to what we are used to, so is the variety in food portion size. Sometimes we get so much we can barely eat it and at other times so little we need to fill up on ice cream....and we never really know the reason for the difference!
In the cities especially there is a sophistication beyond that of
Australia. This is not only in the
physical setting with the grandeur of the buildings, but also in the appearance of the people, for no matter the
time of day both men and women are very smartly dressed.
The strength of family is very evident as people of all ages gather in bars, cafés and city squares to socialise. It is very common to see women in their 40's out walking with their parents or to see older couples all dressed up and out walking arm in arm. Children are obviously very loved, with babies and toddlers being passed from one adult to the other around the family’s restaurant table. It is not unusual to see children up and alert at 10 pm or later – we don’t know how they manage it, as our few days of living to a Spanish timetable left us exhausted.
We have experienced only friendliness and assistance when
required and have never felt uneasy or in danger.
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