Mon 05.May.2014
Nerja, Andalucia, Spain
Got a roll going here, the old rhythm of photo pages - last night I reviewed, selected,
and laid out the photos. Tonight come the words over dinner, then I'll upload
when I get back to my hotel, and bingo - it will be on the web just like it belonged there!
It works as well in a tourist resort on the Costa del Sol as a real city in Slovakia.
One of two old cannon that look like they may have spent time under water. Visitors
love them now. The kids climb on them, the parents snap photos of the kids, I snap
photos of all of them. These kids were so excited, they managed to tilt the whole
ocean a bit off level.
My tiny balcony looks down on one of the more Spanish-looking streets in town.
The intensity of the buskers here at the Balcony of Europe gets a little annoying
sometimes. I just dismissed a fellow who had the nerve to ask me for money for his
gypsy accordian versions of La Bamba and When the Saints Go Marching In.
On thinking it over, I wish I had given him half a Euro or so. At least he played
acoustic, even if accordian can be pushing the limits of the spirit of acoustic. (A
pet peeve of mine is buskers who use amps, forcing their music on you rather than
making it available to you.)
That is Cinco de Mayo in Andalucia for you - a gypsy version of La Bamba.
Historically, there has been a strong Gypsy presence in Andalucia for centuries. They
were key developers of that most Andalucian of musical forms, flamenco.
Signspotting
Who says you can't translate a furrin language with just a dictionary? It works
as well in German and French as it does in English.
Matachinas?!? That has a bloodthirsty sound to it! I hope it refers
to something centuries ago. Todays Chinas in Spain are visible
mainly as the operators of thrift shops and hole-in-the-wall grocery stores. I
do considerable shopping at both.
Greenery at the Balcony of Europe.
Evening on the Balcony
Most days since I've been here have been just slightly hazy. Not enough so's
you'd notice close up, but enough that I don't know whether you could see
Morocco from here on a really clear day. From the map, it looks like a long shot,
but I'd like to find out. What is the point of standing on the balcony
if you cannot see the next place down the road?
Guidebooks like to describe Tarifa, near Gibraltar, as the southernmost
point in Europe. Locally, they have a case, but I do have to nit-pick; Crete is
a degree or so further south.
Looking east.
Looking west.
South is pure water, at least until the haze takes over.
End of the page already?! That was fast!
I keep prolonging my stay here in Nerja. When I arrived ten days ago, I had a
week and a half unspoken for after Almeria, before I am due back in France en route to
the annual gathering in Saxony. Now I am down to two such days. If I like Almeria,
I can spend them there, or take a couple of nights in Granada and get the night train
from there to Barcelona in time for my reservation on the bullet train to Paris.
Amateurs focus on strategy; pros focus on logistics.