Tag Archives: environment

What is this?

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sky bridge1

What the heck? This thing is attached to the seventh floor of our apartment building, and to the seventh floors of the other five buildings in this apartment complex. Since we’re staying on the seventh floor, we went in search of it. Turns out we have a key to the access door, so of course we went out to explore.

I couldn’t bring myself to step out onto the part of the platform that extends beyond the building. Yes, there is a panel at the end, but it’s vertigo-inducing glass and looks very low – maybe only a few feet high. I’m thinkin’ that’s not going to stop anyone. And there is some sort of seam where the platform attaches to the building. They tried to hide it with indoor-outdoor carpeting, but I could see it.

“Step out onto the platform,” Marcus said, “so I can take a photo of you.” No way, buddy, and I’m not letting you step out on it either.

What the heck is it for? The only thing we could come up with is a terrace for residents of the building. Unlike most apartment buildings in Spain, there are no balconies on these because the windows have these funky louvers on them you can adjust to control the amount of sunlight in the apartment. Maybe people bring their chairs and sit out on these platforms. Spaniards do love to be outdoors. Yet we never saw anyone out on one, and the weather was very warm while we were in Sevilla.

Whatever they are, you won’t find me out on one!

view of the next apartment building from our apartment

view of the next apartment building from our apartment

The Rock

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Recognize the profile of the Rock just behind the wind turbines? The mountains behind it are in Morocco.

Recognize the profile of the Rock just behind the wind turbines? The mountains behind it are in Morocco.

I missed Gibraltar. We originally planned to make it a day trip from Casares, but the weather eliminated a couple of travel days and we were having such a great time exploring the pueblos blancos (white villages) in the mountains that we elected not to drive down to the coast. But I was still hopeful that we could get at least close enough for photos on our way to our next destination, Jeréz. Not so.

We were anxious to get down the mountain from Finca Mosca before the forecasted thunderstorms hit the area. As we drove along the coast, we reached a point where we had to make the decision: Gibraltar to the south or Jeréz to the northwest? The clouds grew increasingly dense and dark as they roiled in from the Atlantic. We have some pretty intense storms in Florida, but nothing like the one brewing to our south. They say this type of weather comes into the Mediterranean from the Canary Islands off the northwest coast of Africa. I can believe it. This is the type of wild weather I’d expect from the open Atlantic. We chose to bypass Gibraltar. I know it was the right decision. The rain hit Jeréz about the time we arrived, and hovered over the city the entire week we were there.

So I didn’t get to touch the Rock, and I didn’t even get to see it up close. This is difficult for someone who loves geographical extremes and historical oddities. The Rock of Gibraltar, that crazy profile we know from the Prudential Insurance Company logo, is one of the mythical Pillars of Hercules. The other is Monte Hacho in Ceuta, across the Strait of Gibraltar in northern Africa. (Ceuta is actually a territory of Spain.) The “pillars” are only nine miles apart but stand on two different continents. Together they form the gateway from the Atlantic Ocean into the Mediterranean Sea, or, from the perspective of ancient Mediterranean civilizations, they define the end of the earth as they knew it.

Gibraltar is only 2.6 square miles in area, but due to its unique location it is prized politically. Whoever owns Gibraltar controls the passage of shipping traffic through the portal. It is a major vantage point, strategically and financially. It’s been conquered by many countries over the centuries; it’s been a British territory since 1713. Some say Britain’s possession of Gibraltar kept Spain from joining the Axis forces at the beginning of World War II. Having just emerged from a devastating civil war, Spain was not about to antagonize the British and jeopardize shipments of much need supplies through the strait.

The Spanish want Gibraltar back, badly. And why not? If they acquire Gibraltar, they’ll have both pillars – a matched set. But we know the desire to reclaim it is more than esthetic. And Britain is somewhat attached to her rock. As recently as 2002, the British residents of Gibraltar voted to reject Spanish sovereignty.

So sorry to miss this intriguing corner of the world, but so fortunate we had these views from the hilltop of Casares. It wasn’t the same as being there, but even from a distance I could sense the power of this majestic rock.

Memories are made of this

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We were enjoying ourselves so much, we forgot to take a photo of Mouche and Christian, but here is a photo of Mouche's niece in Andalucían dress with Pela, the free-range horse.

We were enjoying ourselves so much at lunch, we forgot to take a photo of Mouche and Christian, but here is a photo of Mouche’s niece in Andalucían dress with Pela, the free-range neighborhood horse.

While I welcomed an excuse to stay home after a harrowing drive up the mountainside in the pitch-black the night before (In the dark), I also looked at a day off from sightseeing as an opportunity to invite our hosts at Finca Mosca down to our (their) cottage for a glass of wine. But if we were going to be home the entire day and we had groceries to use before we packed everything up and moved on, why not invite them to lunch?

We liked Mouche and Christian immediately when they welcomed us to Finca Mosca. Unlike many of our hosts who are invisible during our stays in their apartments, they were eager to engage with their guests. They seemed genuinely interested in the social benefits of renting out their cottage, not just the financial gain. They bought the property sixteen years ago, living on it part-time in the beginning. They worked diligently, when they could get away from work and other obligations in Belgium, hauling materials up the mountainside to remodel the cottage. They have lived on the property full-time now for two years. They possess that magical combination of being both industrious, but also laid-back. Most importantly, they understand how to enjoy life. I marvel at the way they embrace living in a foreign country: learning the language, taking advantage of the bounty of their natural surroundings, and accepting their neighbors as their new family.

Lunch was nothing fancy; we used what we had on hand. It was a bit too cool to sit on the terrace, so Mouche and Christian brought two more stools down from their house and nestled in with us at the kitchen counter. They brought a delicious French rosé, a nice Spanish red, and some beer, and we talked through the afternoon.

This, my friends, is what this trip is all about. It’s not about the sights, the weather, the food, or the exchange rate – although all of those things may add to our adventure. We travel to interact with people – people who live outside our little box and who add so much to our lives with their perspectives. We get no greater satisfaction than spending an afternoon like this.

When we lived in Germany, we loved the concept of die erfahrung as it applies to travel. Literally the words mean “the experience,” but the concept goes deeper than that. Travel is not about how many sights on your itinerary you accomplish; it’s about what you experience while accomplishing them. Some people never learn the distinction; we feel fortunate that we did. It keeps the compass spinning.

In the dark

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The sun was setting, and we still had to get to our cottage on the other side of this mountain.

The sun was setting, and we still had to get to our cottage on the other side of this mountain.

I love being in the mountains. We don’t get to see many of them in Florida. But we had a pretty hairy drive home from Ronda. My worst fear was realized: We had to drive the treacherous road up the mountain to the cottage in the dark!

The drive from the provincial road up the mountain to Finca Mosca is incredibly steep in some places, and after awhile the road narrows into a single-track, unpaved “path.” If you meet an oncoming car, one of you has to back into a part of the road that is slightly wider so the other car can pass. This is all well and good in the daylight, but after dark it’s an entirely different ball game.

In the dark we did have the headlight advantage: We could see cars coming on the road ahead of us from a short distance (lots of twists and turns on this road), so we could pull over as much as possible before they arrived to let them pass. Every muscle in my body tensed as we rounded each bend. Would we be blinded by headlights in front of us? Would we have time to react? They don’t utilize guard rails much here in Spain, especially on these country roads. My imagination did its worst.

We encountered four oncoming cars in the dark, more than we usually encounter in the daylight, but at least we saw each one coming in time to find a place to pull over.

I announced, after we arrived safely home, that we were taking a day off the next day. No driving anywhere. I needed time to let my nerves settle before we descended the mountain one last time, but it was also our last day to enjoy the sunshine and views from this amazing cottage in the mountains.

Bonus: We invited our hosts, who live in the house above our cottage, to come down the hill for lunch. Now that’s my idea of a perfect day!

Fire!

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fireplace at Casa Emilio

fireplace at Casa Emilio

I love a fireplace on a cool autumn evening. We don’t have either in Florida (a fireplace or a cool autumn evening!), so this is a real departure for us. Makes us miss our days in Connecticut with the wood stove.

Marcus is back in his element. After Christian checked him out on the intricacies of this airtight fireplace insert, we were toasty right up to the sleeping loft. The only thing missing is the apple crisp – a family tradition on the first night we lit the wood stove.

Casares

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Casares, a pueblo blanco in Andalucía

Casares, a pueblo blanco in Andalucía

The cottage we’re renting this week is outside the town of Casares, a beautiful pueblo blanco (white town) in the Sierra Bermeja mountains. The magic of these villages is their sudden appearance on the hillside in front of you as you drive ‘round a bend on a mountainside road. Looming before you is a brilliant-white cluster of buildings literally hanging off the dusky green hills. They are so characteristic of sunny Andalucía, and they take my breath away every time one appears before us.

love these winding passages in the town

love these winding passages in the town

There is a prevalent theory that the pueblos blancos inspired Pablo Picasso cubism style. He was born and raised in Andalucía amongst these little villages stacked up like so many sugar cubes on the hillside, so it just might be true.

climbing up to the Moorish castle ruins

climbing up to the Moorish castle ruins

We had lunch in a little bar on the main square of Casares, then climbed the hill for the views. We are in love with this little town!

mosaic in the town center

mosaic in the town center

Finca Mosca

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view of the Mediterranean from Casa Emilio

view of the Mediterranean from Casa Emilio

Every accommodation we have stayed in in Spain has been an apartment in a city, until now. Last spring, when I was booking apartments, I was looking for something near the Costa del Sol, but not on it. I didn’t want to stay in a high-rise condo with a bunch of ex-pats. I’m always surprised that so many ex-pats, people who choose to live in a foreign country, make such an effort to re-create their own country within their adopted home. If they want to eat foods and shop for groceries from home, why don’t they just stay home? To shy away from the foreignness of a culture defeats the purpose of living there, in my opinion.

casa emilioSo I was searching for something a bit inland from the coast when Casa Emilio popped up on Airbnb. (You have to love a cottage with a name!) I took one look at the photos of the tiled terrace overlooking the Mediterranean Sea from a hillside of the Sierra Bermeja mountains and I was smitten. I’ve been looking forward to it ever since.

the casita (little house)

the casita (little house)

Casa Emilio is a guest house on Finca Mosca, property owned by a wonderful couple from Belgium who moved to Spain part-time sixteen years ago. They are now full-time. Her nickname is Mouche, which means “fly” in French, so they named their property Finca Mosca; mosca means “fly” in Spanish.

persimmons, figs, and olives

persimmons, figs, and olives

When I was taking Spanish in school many years ago, my teacher, La Señora Jones, loved to play jokes on us. We had been practicing a dialog about ordering food in a restaurant for what seemed like months – until we knew it forwards and backwards. One of the objectives of the dialog was to teach the verb gustarse, a very important verb in Spanish. They have no verb meaning “to like;” they use gustarse, which translates literally to “to be pleased.” So instead of saying “I would like the chicken with rice,” one would say “The chicken and rice would please me.” It’s a difficult concept for beginning Spanish students, so Señora Jones drilled us.

Sra. Jones: ¿Te gustan albóndigas? Literally: Do meatballs please you? In other words, Do you like meatballs?

Student: ¡Si, me gustan albóndigas! Literally: Yes, meatballs please me!; or Yes, I like meatballs!

Sra. Jones: ¿Te gustan papas fritas? Do you like fried potatoes?

Student: ¡Si, me gustan papas fritas! Yes, I like fried potatoes!

Sra. Jones: ¿Te gustan moscas fritas? Do you like fried ???

Silence.

Student, thinking frantically: [This word moscas was not in the dialog. What the hell is a mosca? Well, I like everything fried.] ¡Si, me gustan moscas fritas! Yes, I like fried [whatever]!

Sra. Jones: ¿¿¿Te gustan moscas fritas??? ¡Jajajaja! You like fried flies??? Hahahaha!

a cork oak is stripped of its bark every 7 years

a cork oak is stripped of its bark every 7 years

Ha, ha, indeed! My first introduction to the Spanish word mosca and I haven’t forgotten it 45 years later, when most of the useful vocabulary I learned has gone out the window. La Señora Jones was a wonderful teacher; we loved her class.

snailSo here we are at the incredible Finca Mosca. Besides the fabulous view, there is an abundance of flora and fauna: fig trees (Mouche gave us fig jam!); lemons the size of softballs; orange, grapefruit, and persimmon (caqui) trees; olive, chestnut, and avocado trees; cork oaks; goats; chickens; horses; dogs; cats (Mouche and Christian have fourteen!); wild pigs; snakes; snails; slugs; and an assortment of insects that don’t deserve mention – and yes, moscas too!

Pela, a free-range horse

Pela, a free-range horse

Olive country

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olive country in Andalucía

olive country in Andalucía

We love olives! Drove through the heart of olive country on our way from Granada to our new home (for the next five days, anyway) in Córdoba. Stopped in two quaint little villages: Baeza and Úbeda. I don’t think they see many English-speaking tourists here! It’s pretty remote – not on the usual path from Granada to Córdoba.

interesting olives!

interesting olives!

Look at the olives we were served as our free snack with our beverage order. I’ve never seen an olive so oblong before. Even the pits are long. The meat was very dense, and they were a little less brined than most. Different, but yummy!