Tuesday, 14 October 2003, 5:32 pm (11:32 pm in France)
Subject: Spanish Mountains and countryside

Hello to all,   First of all, I'd like to say a special hello to Jean-François who is going through a difficult time [a member of the online discussion group who had had surgery and some complications] and to encourage him to work through the physical therapy that is ahead of him. One has to persevere to attain one's goals, and Maryse [wife of Jean-François] is behind you to give you help and support. I'm am keeping up with the news of your situation through the messages in the list, and you have to keep going.   The last time, I left you with the intention to go to this famouns flea market. I should have read more, because when I presented myself there at 3:30 after having sent my e-mail, the street was strewn with cardboard boxes, packaging, and bottles of beer. It was over! Everyone had gone for the siesta. That will teach me.

So I set off with my map of Seville and I walked to the next point of interest, and the next, and the next, and so on. All the sites are concentrated in a very small section of town, and that is good if one has good shoes and good stamina. So I walked around the cathedral, skirted the Real Acazar, lolled in the Murillo gardens as far as the statue dedicated to Christopher Columbus. I continued in the Plaza España and its marvelous gardens where there is a large ceramic exhibit. And in the evening, I went along the Alfonso XIII Canal to get back to the Plaza Nueva where the surface of the marble is idea for ice skating. All that on the first day.

The next day, Wednesday the 10th of October, I went to the bullfighting arena and the Taurino Museum. The visit was good but very long. It's as it one was an intruder and that they were anxious for you to leave to make room for the next group. One little detail in passing, at the end of the visit there were heads of bulls mounted on a wall and the guide told us that one of these heads was not that of a bull but of a cow. It was the mother of the bull that had killed a toreador in a bullfight in 1992. They had slaughtered her so that she would never give birth to another toreador killer. In any case, I thought that a bit much, do you?

I want along to the Museum of Fine Arts dedicated to painters and artists of Andalousia, very beautiful. I finished my day quite mellow and had supper along the canal and turned in early. Lots of walking in two days. In any event, Seville with its mazes of charming little streets has been able to keep the antique style of a Mediterranean city and I had walked it all.

I was due for a rest and I was refreshed when I took to the road again Saturday morning toward Gibraltar and its great rock. It was cloudy and it rained abundantly in places. When I arrived at the Costa del Sol [Sun Coast, the Mediterranean coast], I went first to Cadiz which is a very popular swimming beach. In effect, the beaches are beautiful and the Spanish know it. A series of buildings 15 and 20 stories high are lined up parallel to the beach along its entire length and that means for 3-4 km. (2 - 2 1/2 miles). It was very impressive to see, because there is quite an economic development in this region.

I continued toward Gibraltar and the rock indeed resembles what I have seen in photos. The only problem is that there were low and menacing clouds that hid the upper part. Moreover, there was an interminable line of people who wanted to go there and the wait was more than two hours. Because Gibraltar is a British possession, one has to park the car, enter on foot, and go through Customs because they are not part of the European Union. I saw more on the side and I therefore made a detour toward my next destination, Ronda.

It was a last-minute addition because I had read that the previous evening that this city was known for two reasons, a magnificent bridge built in the 18th century to connect the two sides of the city separated by a deep gorge and also as the home of bullfighting. I therefore crossed the bridge and descended into the gorge which was well organized for taking photos. Afterward I went to the arena and I was truly impressed. As much as they whisked us through at Seville, Ronda welcomed us with open arms and I was able to visit every corner of the building. There was nothing held back, and one could see where the bulls were kept, the horse stalls, the room of the toreasors, their chapel, really everything.

Ronda was truly magnificent and I wanted to spend the night but I was not the only one. It is a small isolated town with a number of tiny hotels. Everything is reserved in advance and there was no way for me to find a room. Happily, it was still rather early. The mountain road that I chose was magnificent with its breath-taking countryside.

Going back down toward the coast, I crossed a grove of giant windmills and the highway went through it. I scarcely knew where to look, between the sea, the blowing wind, the mountains and the windmills turning at full speed in the clouds. I stopped for a moment to absorb it all and to catch my breath. I finally found a hotel in Marbella along the road about 7:30 in the evening and it closed at 7:35. Just lucky enough, thankfully.

Sunday the 12th of October I treated myself to taking the road along the coast up to Motril to climb again the Sierra Nevada to Granada which was my next destination. The countryside was superb and I stopped frequently to admire the view. Arriving at Granada, I wanted to see the Alhambra and the Generalife but a nasty surprise was awaiting me. In effect a limited number of people can see the interior each day. One had to either wait a long time or buya ticket in advance. At 1 in the afternoon when I arrived, they were selling tickets for 7:30 in the evening. I would perhaps have been more lucky on a weekday, but it was not worth dilly-dallying all day. I walked around the outside, and hopped into my car.

%% Route E-15 threaded its way through the Sierra Nevada and it was a pleasure to drive. I continued a little beyond Murcia and reserved a room for the night at the first place because it was beginning to get late. It was a bus stop! I had my doubts about staying there, but the room was on the upper level and it was sound conditioned quite well. There must have been 6 or 7 busses at the same time staying there, but I heard nothing. The room was air conditioned and had a TV, no problem. I was becoming accustomed to the Spanish game shows, there was nothing else on TV. Suffice it to say that I don't watch them at home.

Monday the 13th was another story. I had to pay eventually for the beautiful roads that I had chosen up to now because it couldn's all be as beautiful. I came out on route N332, the milk run. An empty passage with little towns and interminable lines of trucks. I finally arrived in Valencia which is the third largest city in Spain, but the central city is a jealously guarded secret. I never did find it. I came out on a beach, wandered around a bit to find myself in a new section of the city where they were building a center for the arts which will be magnificent and modern when it is finished in 2004, but no signs at all for the center of the city. At that moment I decided to follow the first sign I saw for either the center of town or Barcelona. Well, Barcelona won and I left with my good humor intact.

Sagante was not too far and I stopped there because of the Roman Theater which seemed interesting. Unfortunately the city fathers had decided to restore it, and were adding modern materials like concrete where there the ancient stones were missing, in order to use it as a regular amphitheater. I didn't like it at all. Moreover, the one road to get there was scarcely wide enough to let one car pass, very dangerous. When I got back to the bottom, in the direction Tarragona and another Roman circus [amphitheater]. Happily, the signage was better and I arrived without a problem. Found a hotel nearby and made a little tour of the town in the evening to prepare my journey for the following day.

I got up the next morning with the fixed idea of what I was going to see and I was not disappointed. I got there by car and parked as high up as possible because experience had taught me that the best sites tended to be at the top. Not here anyway! Before I realized it, I had walked down to the edge of the sea where the famous amphitheater was. I had passed very near it the previous day without seeing it and I was kicking myself for my inattention. It was very beautiful and well presented so that it was interesting. The people of Tarragona have integrated the old city very well, as opposed to Sagante, and the numerous old city walls have found their place in the modern city.

Thus I arrived in Barcelona relatively early in the afternoon to find a hotel in the center of the old city close to everything. I bought a 2-day pass on the double-decker bus to make an initial exploration and tomorrow I will visit it for real. Barcelona is a much more modern city and it has integrated a lot of modern art into its scenery, which I had not seen elsewhere in Spain.

Good night, and til next time,

Paul

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