July 27, 2009

3:33 pm

Sorry for the lack of posts in the last few days! We did not have access to wireless internet at the Casa de Gloria, which, by the way, is the most fabulous place we have been…

Last Friday, Zach and I toured the Alhambra--a huge Moorish fortress in Granada. It was veeeery hot, but quite interesting... The heat zapped our energy, and we found a salida after 3.5 hours of walking through the palaces and gardens and up way too many flights of stairs. We found a supermarket on the way home, and Zach picked out a frozen dinner to "cook" back at the hostel. I also bought some strange fruits that turned out to be really tasty! On the way back to the hostel, a Moroccan man we had met the day before stopped us and invited us to have tea with him in a cafe near the place he had his booth set up. He wrote people's names in Arabic for a few Euros. Hussein had some very strong opinions about the right to bear arms, religion, American culture, racism, etc. When we got back in the hostel, we met a really neat trio: a couple from Canada and another guy named Mo from Morocco/New York/Ontario. We chatted in the hammocks until bedtime and had a great time!

Saturday, we went to the train station in Granada way too early (thanks to me—I couldn’t read my own handwriting!) and had some time to kill. It was nice, though, to get to the station before the 118 degree Granada-heat set in. I went to get us some lunch while Zach watched our bags. As we were enjoying our pizza baguettes and chocolate chip cookies (finally!), Federico, of all people, walked in! If you remember, Federico was our roomie back in Paris… seems so long ago! He had not planned to go to Granada, but his plans apparently changed when he and his lady friend started fighting. Nice surprise!

When we arrived in Ronda, we left our bags at a hostel across the street so we’d be able to comfortably walk around the city and see the famous bridge. The view is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Past the beautiful white houses built into the rock and on either side of us were huge, rolling mountains and waterfalls. I got a little carried away with the camera. :)

Zach and I toured the city a bit longer, stopped in some souvenir shops, and grabbed a bite to eat. We took a train to the village of Benaojan where we were staying, and then I had to call Jose Maria to come pick us up at the station and take us to Julia’s. This was my first encounter with “Andaluz” (please don’t check my spelling for this word). Anyway, Andaluz is the dialect of Spanish that the village uses. Jose and I kind of understood each other (ha) and he said he’d be to the station in cinco minutos to give us a lift. Success!

Julia’s lovely, light blue home was precious, and Julia was so hospitable and very interesting. She greeted us with a pot of hot Indian tea, and asked us to join her in the living room for wonderful conversation. Julia refers to herself as an “old fidget” because she moves from place to place so frequently. She is twice widowed with one unmarried 40-year-old son who lives in Toulouse, France, originally English (a breath of fresh air), one-quarter Jewish, and quite cultured. We stayed up until the wee hours of the morning in her living room and on her patio learning from her and her experiences living in Kenya, Kashmir, and Sri Lanka. I fell in love with Benaojan and the Casa de Gloria immediately.

Sunday morning, Julia made us a gourmet breakfast, complete with sliced bread, homemade marmalade, Spanish ham and cheese, beef tongue (seriously, and not bad!), muffins, and an apple. Our breakfast turned into a two-hour conversation about the political issues of the Indian subcontinent, Basque terrorism, and the potential independence of Scotland. Zach dominated our end of the conversation, of course… ha!

After such a luscious meal, Zach and I were well prepared for our hour long hike up quite a steep hill to the “Pileta de la Cueva,” a famous cave in the village that is home to the largest concentration of Paleolithic and Neolithic cave art in all of Europe. About one kilometer away from the cave, an English family pulled over and offered us a ride. Yes, Moms, we hitch-hiked. Julia said it was ok! :)

The cave was so interesting! The stalagmites, stalactites, sub-terrainian lakes, and cave art were estimated to be more than 25,000 years old. Crazy.

A very friendly German couple that toured the cave with us gave us a ride back down to the village. Zach and I were a bit disoriented in the village and couldn’t remember how to get back to Julia’s house. But, no problem! The locals here are just as hospitable, if not more hospitable, than the “sweet as honey” Southerners back home. Two 14ish-year-old Spanish boys in their swim trunks wandered around with us as we looked for the casa azul. Another Spanish family walking down the street assisted us by ringing the doorbell of an English man who could better lead us in the right direction. Everyone knows everyone… so nice.

We found home!! And the Spanish boys invited us to go to the local pool with them! Zach and I quickly suited up and headed out to the piscina for such a wonderful, refreshing time. We felt like little kids as much as we laughed and had a good time.

After exhausting any bit of energy that remained after spelunking, Zach and I came back to Julia’s for a much needed siesta. For dinner at 10:00pm, we went to Jose’s for yummy tapas and Coca-Cola. We are such Spaniards now!

This morning, Julia prepared for us another incredible breakfast. Mom and Nana, I have some new recipes for you! Julia had blended dried fruits with yogurt for a porridge-looking mix, and had also made some focciacca-looking bread with a blended tomato topping. She gave us some more blood sausage that remained untouched (ha) and some ham, along with the very traditional bread, butter, and blackberry jam. Everything was absolutely amazingly wonderful…

We taxied back to the station with Jose and caught the train to Ronda, to then take the bus out to Setenil for my Nana! The village was beautiful, but we got lost in it. The bus dropped us off way into the village, away from the train station. We walked around to look for a mirador (look-out) and assumed that we were on our way back to the station. Time was slipping away with no sign of the bus station, and Zach was very stressed about missing our bus back to Ronda. Thankfully, I managed to find a few helpful locals who guided us back to the station in time for ensaladas and Coca-Cola. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed drinking Coca-Cola as much as I have here. SO refreshing!

We are now back to the station in Ronda, anticipating our train to Madrid, which is el fin of our trip…. Bittersweet.

12:40 am

Zach and I just got back in our hostel from an outing with new friends: Kim from Israel, Ed from Leeds, and Reemy from Quebec. Madrid is very city-ish... quite a change from the quaint villages I have come to love. We no longer have plans to attend the free tour tomorrow with New Europe. Apparently, some tourists and tour guides have been verbally and physically assaulted by a competing tour company who has also bribed the police to turn their heads, so New Europe has suspended tours for the time being. I suppose Zach and I can find our way around Madrid with a map in hand.

It's late.