Reflections

At the conclusion of each trip I typically reflect a little in my travel diary, but having no diary with me and arriving home with the 'gift' of a head cold this process was delayed. During one of our last meals in Madrid we reviewed our adventures and looked for the best, and the 'un-best' from our trip...always one of our favorite finishing activities and usually done over a nice bottle of wine!

This trip was certainly full of very enjoyable experiences and was a travel of contrasts. Spain and Morocco, on the surface while spatially close are in many way miles apart, particularly economically. While Spain's economy is experiencing pressure as they try to keep their collective heads above water following many years of excess (re., blog comments "On Strike"), Morocco is much further under water and will likely never break the surface. That said, the longer we travelled southern Spain through the small hill towns, past ancient watch towers long abandoned, and visited the cities we came to understand and appreciate the similarities, mostly based in history. The Moorish and Muslim influence was far reaching. I think this initially came together for me as we flew down the length of Morocco and you could see the villages with their flat roof tops and hap-hazard lay-out.

They clearly used the same town planners in the hill villages along the south slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains! Basically the only difference being that the Spanish villages were painted white, the Moroccan not, though much of old town Marrakesh (the Medina) was painted a funny off-pink.

The older parts of Granada, Seville and Cordoba have many rounded door entrances and gates plus the same narrow streets and by-ways so evident in Morocco. I found it very pleasing to the eye and refreshing. The use of water and gardens in both countries as a meditative and decorative element was perhaps one of my favorite experiences.

Clearly there is less utilization in Marrakesh as water is just too scarce, but it was there if you looked. In Spain where water is more available, the Moores used it for purification and visual pleasure to great effect, and we saw this most places we went.

Aside from some of the spices, we didn't find too much Moroccan influence in the Spanish food, but if one looked closer I'm sure you could find it. Likely there are books written on the subject! Certainly Spanish tapas accompanied with a glass of Rioja wine and the Moroccan tangine with tall glasses of mint tea created the same healthy environment conducive to lingering discussions over meals...and we enjoyed many. In Spain the jamon (ham) was quite amazing and Annemarie swore by the sangria.


Both countries use animals to move product, the Moroccans use donkies to pull wagons containing just about anything and the Spanish use horses to pull carriages full of tourists. They also do the latter in Marrakesh and we meant to participate, but ran out of time. At a fraction of the Spanish cost...next time for sure!

It was refreshing to find very little English spoken in both countries...ok, with the exception of Sevilla, Gibraltar and Nerja...all second homes for the Brits. It forced us to use our limited French and even more limited Spanish, but use them we did. My language efforts created many a smile with the locals...a good thing, right?! We enjoyed the people we met along the way, both fellow travellers and locals alike. After all, you don't travel just to see the buildings and sites...exchanges and sharing of information with local folks is amoung the best experience available when travelling. You learn more about their world and perhaps they learn a bit about your's...helps make the world a bit smaller.

We had many good experiences along the way. I wrote the following in Madrid, but never got around to completing and publishing as I wanted to experience as much as possible close to the end of the trip;
Sitting tonight in Madrid after a very fast train ride on the AVE which travels at up to 300 km/hr! Not sure how fast we were moving, but it was FAST...the fastest I've ever travelled on land. We trained from Sevilla to Madrid (with 2 stops) in 2 hours 20 minutes, a trip that use to take well over 5 hours just a few years ago. We enjoyed Sevilla...a good walking town, but it sure was quiet and organized after Marrakesh! Our day trip to Cordoba on a Bank Holiday to visit the Mesquita Cordoba Mosque (10thC) was memorable with great parks and walking areas which reminded us of a typical university town (which it is apparently not). We bumped into a pretty interesting religous procession on the way back to the train station...think it was Assumption Day or something, and on the way back to Sevilla the train was full of students. Cordoba was certainly a place to spend more time, but at least we had the day rather than stop for a few hours in transit to Madrid as originally planned.



Well, that's it for now. I have a 'few' photos to go through which will generate further thoughts, and I will start that process in the coming weeks. Not sure where the 'bug' will take us next, but it will perhaps fuel a few long discussions through the dark and cold winter nights. Christmas season will be spent this year in the high Kootenays (roads permitting) and we are all looking forward to that as it will likely be the last time we have the opportunity to family travel before significant others begin to appear (they already are!).

Marrakesh: A City of Contrasts

We are back in Spain and have spent the day on a cheap train trip from Sevilla to Cordoba and back. We had intended to make this stop on our way to Madrid, but then we would have had to deal with luggage drops, etc. More hassle than its worth. So a day trip it was to see the amazing Mezquita! Up and on the train as dawn was breaking (cheap trains are always odd times and take longer, but below half price which in this case saved us about $65). Will be looking for cheap train fares on the high speed AVE tomorrow on line! Day was great and we have just arrived back at our small hotel at 10:30pm after stopping for tapas and vino tinto at a Sevilla tapas bar…great way to end a long, enjoyable day.

Just over 24 hours to think about our experience in Marrakesh which was something of a culture shock coming from Spain and Canada. While still sorting through the data…what we observed and experienced…a few thoughts while the experience is still fresh. Clearly Morocco is a third world country heavily influenced by its position on the northwest coast of Africa…one sees it in the streets and in the souks. There is little to correlate this country with its northern neighbor Spain located just across a small straight of water, and I’ve only read about the countries to the east and west of its borders…understandably they heavily influence the country. While perhaps a bit simplistic, we observed two sides of the city, with significant contrast.

From the tourist/traveler perspective, the city is initially a bit overwhelming…exactly what makes it interesting, and perhaps why the French love to travel to here (aside from the sun!). The city has an edge…a buzz! There is lots of noise, street action (you can barely move on many of the narrow streets without bumping someone or something) and color. Everything seems to be in motion all the time. It’s actually pretty cool! Those who know us, know that when we travel we walk until we pretty near drop. Marrakesh was no exception…we walked it from end to end, side to side and completed circle on circle inside the walled medina (old city). During our brief visit we trekked to the best known sites and into parts of the “new” city where most tourists don’t make a regular habit of visiting. I often had the feeling that if the electricity, cars and a bunch of noisy motor bikes were removed the city would be virtually unchanged from 500 years ago. There were active artisans and tinkers everywhere…much like the Athens’ Plaka area was like up until the late 1970’s.

What most visitors to the city experience is a good, safe riad or hotel (a friendly oasis when needed). We also know that we can get good food (most of the time), clean bottled water, and that its fairly safe (as long as you stay on the main roads at night). Most travel through the city in large tour groups, protected by the collective, shooting photos of most things as they pass. This type of experience is fairly common and we met folks who were just visiting the city for a good time and seemed fairly oblivious to many of the social problems in the city. They didn't appear interested in looking too far outside the tourist zone, and fair enough…you pay your nickel, etc.

But if you look beyond the tourist experience, there is a very different city out there. There is very high unemployment and as a result tremendous poverty is evident which has created a street life all its own. Substance abuse is open and is not limited to outside the tourist area. Sitting in a small 2nd floor restaurant one night we watched some of the street life in action, and it was a real education…the owner of the restaurant spoke with us and expressed his concern for what was happening on his street. It made many of our own urban social problems look simplistic in comparison, though they too are serious. Of course Morocco is just the tip of the problems facing this continent. It gave us both a better appreciation of some of the issues facing this part of the world…food for thought.

On a more positive note…we are watching and celebrating the rescue of the Chilean miners on the small TV in our room…all in Spanish, but you don’t need a translation to see the joy and relief on the faces of the miners and their families! I guess they will bring up the fellow who has his wife and a girl friend waiting for him topside last…from the frying pan and into the fire!!

Tonight we learn the Flaminco…Ole!!

From the Roof Tops of Marrakesh

Flying down here today listening on the ipod to CS&N sing their well known song “Marrakesh Express”, I thought I might be writing a different note today…something about the souks, the dye vats or the snake charmers. Well, they are all here in spades and we have seen bits and pieces of these wonders and will no doubt see more special things during our visit. However, sitting on the roof of our Riad enjoying the more subtle warmth of the late afternoon sun as it works its way slowly west, I’m drawn to an unexpected pleasure. When first looking across the roof tops (buildings are only allowed to be maximum 2 stories) its easy to see just what there is to see…numerous buildings that look as though they have been cobbled together in a very haphazard manner, which they have, with satellite dishes peppering the view! The roof lines are uneven and the construction materials, methods and building codes would no doubt frighten the toughest western engineer. Yet somehow it works, basically held together by cement, gravity and the strength of the building next door! I remember building houses with dominos when I was a kid and Marrakesh looks something like that, but better!

Initially while looking across the roof tops I found I was enjoying the sounds the many birds were making, and then I realized that the source of the sound was from within the many gardens tucked here and there all over the medina. The more I looked the more of these small oasis’ I started to find, usually consisting of small shady trees and flowering plants, and I suspect small ponds of water. The birds fly past in ever greater numbers as the sun drops lower towards the horizon and they continue their business as the sun finally sets softly on the horizon…the colors are amazing! Locals and visitors alike have found their way to the roof tops just as I have to find respite from the blazing heat of the day and to enjoy the sunset. As I write this, the lights have come on across the medina and the face of the roof tops has change yet again. The first stars have poked out. All that I have watched, enjoyed and recorded has occurred during the past 90 minutes. Just when I think the show has ended, the sun has set and the birds have fallen silent comes the call to prayer. It comes from all directions and seems a fitting end to our first day in Morocco.

Its nearly time to enjoy the meal that the Riad staff is preparing specially for us tonight. Something that I can’t pronounce… even though you know I’ll try! Before we get to enjoy the meal, we have the opportunity to connect with our daughter Caitlin…seriously, one of the great joys of modern travel, in a very old world of roof tops!

Something About A Rock

We are sitting in the outdoor bar sipping a nice wine in Zahara de los Atunes gazing across the long open sandy beach waiting for the sunset to happen sometime in the next hour or so. What a life! We arrived here late yesterday afternoon and had planned to travel along the Atlantic coast to Cadiz today, but we were both taken with the endless walking beaches here and decided that if the breakfast that came with our room was ok we would stay another day. Well…it was and we did. We spent the morning driving up the coast to visit a very old and quite impressive lighthouse Just opposite the location where Nelson and his 26 ships of the line crossed the ‘T’ of the French and Spanish 33 ships of war…a place called Trafalgar. I just happened to have read a historical account of this engagement last winter, so the information is still pretty fresh. I had no idea until yesterday that we would be passing right through the area. Until I did some reading I always thought that Trafalgar was a British name as I attended an elementary school with the same name, so seemed logical. Funny how a perception, once established, can remain with you for so long. Along the road to the lighthouse we passed through a national park, and stopped on our return trip to hike out to a Roman watch tower for the views from the headland. You can see all the way down to Africa! We spent the remainder of the day swimming and taking long walks down the endless beach.

Anyway, I started this off to write about a rock. Not just any rock. A rock as familiar to most of our generation as our TV sets…remember those Prudential Insurance commercials from the 70’s? Gibraltar. The name speaks volumes. I remember when my Uncle Geoff and Aunt Mary visited there in the ‘70’s and how impressed they were at the time, particularly with the walk across the air strip and the water catchment system (my Uncle is an engineer after all). Its all still there and more! We rode bus #3 to the far end light house (have to pay with Sterling) and worked our way back from there. Up the gondola to the top of the rock…what amazing views! And the apes…quite amazing. They have photos of the better known apes on the walls with a story about each…sort of like a post office wall of the 10 most wanted. The apes get to walk just about anywhere they want, so you are never quite sure where they will pop up. As the story goes, when the apes have left Gibraltar, the British will leave as well. Short of a major health crisis, it appears that the Brits are pretty safe as the evidence suggests that there is a steady stream of young replacements up and coming!

As mentioned, the views from the top are brilliant. The amount of shipping passing through the Pillars of Hercules is exceptional, and the Port of Gibraltar is pretty busy. At some point those of us who are a bit height intimidated decide that hanging over the 1500+ foot cliff taking photos of the views and the apes should probably come to an end. So we did what most don’t and decided to walk down the road to the bottom. So water and a Snickers bar in hand we headed off down the Rock…dodging Blah Tour buses at every turn (actually called Bland, but we liked our name better!). It was a great walk down with constantly changing views and angles. We finally reached the bottom and found a British type pub for an extremely expensive (and not to brilliant) lunch. We spent our left over Pounds on duty free sample bottles of rum and Drambuie…better than candy as recommended by one of the locals we met! Had a great time walking out of the Rock, across the air strip and through customs. Then through the traffic and south west along the Atlantic coast to where we presently reside.



Tomorrow its likely up to Cadiz and onwards to Sevilla where we will drop our wheels and prepare for the early morning flight to Marrakech…just across the straights and due south from here!

Pueblos Blanca

The ‘White Villages’ of Adalucia are truly beautiful and worthy of a visit even if only for a short time while passing through. Since leaving Nerja on Saturday we have travelled along the heavily developed Costa Del Sol to Marbella where we headed north into the high Sierra Bermeja to Rhonda, a beautiful white village built on very high cliffs for protection in earlier times. A spectacular arched bridge is constructed across the gorge that runs though the town…if you jumped it might be somewhat fatal. During the 30’s civil war many were tossed to their deaths, so while there are tourists aplenty, it’s a somber place, though spectacularly situated. We climbed down to the foot of the bridge…we hardy Canadians and a few others and then hiked out and up through country roads until we were back into the old Moorish part of town, where we promptly lost ourselves!

From there we cruised north-west to the small village of Zahara de la Sierra, situated just below a high, craggy rock outcrop with a defensive structure on top. After making our arrangements at a local hostela, we decided to take a ‘short’ drive to see the highly rated village of Grazalema. Well…we zigged when we should have zagged and took a very, very narrow nasty road that kept carrying us higher and higher and into a developing storm to the 1400 meter level…the road was amazing and we just couldn’t believe that it just kept going…UP!! Obviously we made it and did find Grazalema where there was a village re-enactment of an 18th century historical event during the weekend…never did figured out the story line?!

Very colorful and we had fun pretending to be locals cheering the winners of various historical categories without a clue about what they were being honored for.

Back to Zahara for the night and what a night it turned out to be! First we braved the elements and went out to the local tavern for dinner…pretty good food too! Afterwards we stood at the window of a small crowded bar to watch Real Madrid defeat a lesser football club 2-0. With each goal the locals celebrated wildly…clearly a Real following in this berg!! Then back to the hostel where we buttoned down the hatches for one of the worst fall storms in recent local memory…made the Spanish news service the next day. Being up high and facing the storm we took the brunt of the winds and torrential rains head on. So hard, that it forced water under the doors and all over the floor during the night. Annemarie was running around in the night with towels, moving our gear while…I slept!


The next morning the storm has pretty much passed and we decide to retrace our steps to Rhonda and follow a different route to the coast through the Serraia de Rhonda mountains via Gaucin and down to Gibralter. An amazing day of touring and I’m writing this that night long after Annemarie has headed off to sleep. A very long day…but a very good day!

Tonight, we arrived late into the Gibraltar area (La Linea) only to discover that the area was pretty industrial and there were few obvious hostels to be seen…none in fact! So after driving around and up the coast until almost dark Annemarie and I decided to head back up into the mountains to find a village where we knew there were accommodations. The navigator got excited at one point and told the driver to turn right on to another motor way a bit too early, but fortuitously we found ourselves in front of a hostel just off the major auto-strata. Too funny! Its a simple truck stop where the drivers eat and sleep. Very cheap and probably our best Spanish experience thus far. Dinner at 10pm as usual (don’t know how we manage this…probably why I’m still awake!). All the tables are set on one side facing the TV and the truckers eat dinner and watch whatever is playing…pretty funny to watch! Each orders a bottle of red wine with their dinner and consumes about half the bottle…cheaper than by the glass. Then its desert and smokes while they digest…pretty much the least health types you could imagine, but they seem happy to have jobs here where unemployment is north of 20% officially.

Must get some sleep. Tomorrow will be spent wandering up and down the rock that is Gibraltar, with all its history. From there up the Atlantic coast for a couple of days and then drop the car at Sevilla where we will shift gears for Morocco, which can be seen in the far distance. Will post when I can.

Of Tapas and the Alhambra!

It has been a very busy couple of days of touring tapas and a bit of drinking! In spite of the strike we had a very enjoyable time in Granada, made more so by a chance meeting with Joss and Lynne from Philadelphia who introduced us to the ‘art’ of tapas cruising. More importantly, they were great company and we were sad to part ways. Very extensively travelled and accomplished it was a pleasure to pass the time with them, and I have to say that the calamari was just brilliant…somewhere during that tapas crawl! Fast, close friendships are not uncommon on the road and are one of the more special travel experiences.

So what have we been up to since the last entry? I guess the hi-light would be the Alhambra. Clearly the historical and visual pleasure of the trip. The symmetry of the gardens and buildings is stunning and during its prime during the 150 year construction it must have been breath taking. Its little wonder why the Christians wanted to hold the property so badly. They were unable to construct anything to match at the time, with their own buildings dark, damp and grey. The Moors used the ancient geometric principals developed by the Greeks to create the symmetry. Rectangles, triangles and left sweeping transect lines made the floors perfectly aligned and to the eye the results are stunning. We took time during our 4 hour wanderings to just sit and listen to the sounds around us. There are many birds in the area, but once the tour groups pass, the magical sound of running water was present at just about every location. Not being an expert in many things Islamic, my understandings may be flawed, however, I believe that pure water is very important for various rites and ceremonies within the faith. All over the Alhambra grounds, gardens and in the buildings there are small low rising fountains and tranquil rectangular reflecting pools. The water comes from the stream that flows through Granada far below, but the engineers of the time managed to locate the stream where it originates in the Serra Nevada Mountains approx 6 kms upstream and they constructed a reservoir with a gravity release system capable of filling an Olympic size pool in just seconds. They cut a tunnel through the mountains to carry the water to the Alhambra and a 30 meter aqueduct bridges to the palace complex. When one appreciates the shear size of the Alhambra grounds it is an impressive achievement by any measure! They release 100’s of 1,000’s of liters of water daily from the reservoir and the water is funneled throughout the grounds by a very complex system, designed to accelerate and slow the flow of the water, thereby removing the suspended grit with gravity deposition. Pretty cool!! I thought of my Mother and her passion for flowers as I wandered the gardens…I suspect that the gardens of Babylon were no better. In summary, a very tranquil and present moment during a long day in Granada.

We are now down on the south coast on the Med at Nerja where we have spent a pleasant day wandering, swimming and getting prepared for a number of days wandering the ‘white villages’ before returning to the coast somewhere along the Atlantic Coast. No specific plans at this point. During the drive here we visited a series of small Moorish based villages on the south slopes of the high Sierra’s and travelled some incredibly narrow and winding roads as we descended from the mountains to the coast. I’ve driven many similar roads, but I have to say that for shear terror these roads have to rank fairly high up the curve…but they were sure fun to drive!

More on white villages on my next entry.