Sav´s travels

As you can see, there´s a bit to catch up on! I hope everyone is doing well!

Well, the countdown has started...4 more days in Spain left... But, sad faces aside, I am getting excited to go home and see friends and family and my crazy little Mocha...

I am in Granada, still or again, not sure which is most appropriate..I have been trying hard to make the most of my last days here...it´s been a lot of fun and I feel successful in having done this...about a week ago, I went to Nerja with a friend ( a resort town on the coast) and hung out there for two days...of all the towns in the Costa del Sol that are right on the water, it´s the one I recommend most just for being slightly less touristy and slightly more Spanish...it also has the Balcon Europa...a pic for you: http://www.hoteljimesol.com/comunes/balcon%20europa.jpg ..which is a gorgeous place to view an endless Mediterranean and a muy romantico spot...the first day was raining so we jumped into a rented car and decided to head out of town towards a little village up the hill...we passed thru the village in under 2 minutes and decided to keep going...and going...and going...our goal was to reach the top of this mountain regardless of how long it took us to get there...it was, as per usual around here, a hair-raising road where sometimes you can only see the very front of your car, and not the road...yes, lots of fun (I filmed it along with the sound effects of a lot of expletives)...! We ended up driving down a narrowing road that passed us through olive groves and eventually through a beautiful village that clung to the side of the hill...it was quite a surprise to find one out there and I wondered why this village would have been built there...it didn´t seem to make sense historically/economically to have built one so far up and away from the sea...but it did make our trip that much more interesting having found it...we eventually found our way back to the highway and stopped on the beach for a beautiful sunset among the storm clouds...after this, we went to a French restaurant set in a cluster of white tourist condos with palm trees surrounding it...it looked charming enough so we decided not to look further...we got settled in and about 5 minutes later I had two cats as my dates...one was on my lap and the other on the back of my chair...they know how to spot a sucker when they see one! But, yes, I was wondering too, why there were cats allowed to wander around a nice restaurant such as this ...hmmm...anyhow, I fed them quite openly from my plate and gave them the fat off my friend´s steak...lucky little kitties...they in turn, gave me terrible allergies for the rest of the night...unlucky me! We returned to the villa we were staying in (very spoiled this time around...a terrace with a view of the Med AND central heating...) The villa was run by a British couple...we went for a nightcap in the cozy little restaurant below our room and had Julie, a very funny British woman, free-pouring us drinks of gin and rum...I´m not kidding with every drink there became less and less room for the mixer...I had what is called a tubo (long narrow glasses, good for iced-tea) filled more than 3 quarters with gin! I like gin, but!!!! Needless to say sleep was good...until about 3 in the morning...I woke up with a pain in my eye and realized i hadn´t taken my contacts out...this i have done numerous times now with no real repercussions..so i took them out, and at 7 in the morning, woke up and felt like there was glass in my right eye...i tried everything to get it out and realized, that i had no choice but to go to the hospital...i woke my friend and off we went...noone in the hospital greeting area spoke English, however, they took one look at my eye and gave me priority past a long line up of people...the doctor was very rough with me and although i can now thank him, I had a fat purple eye the rest of the day from the pressure he put on it from examining me...(i had an ulcer in my eye, possibly from beach glass was the translation i got from an ambulance attendent)Also for the record, it didn´t cost me anything, and while this probably isn´t the norm, I sometimes get the feeling that in Spàin, if you are a foreigner they will get you in and out and not bother with the complete paperwork (?)...I was blind as a bat for the rest of the day, wearing a patch (and nothing like a cool pirate´s one) and in a lot of pain...even the historic caves that we went to see I missed out on as my eyes were too sensitive to have any light at all...I did see the pictures that i blindly took though and it seems i missed out on a lot!! I also briefly saw the tourist pictre that is taken of you by a professional when you walk into the first cave...I should have bought it at discount for laughs...I promise you couldn´t have seen a more scary looking picture!! I do recommend the caves however to anyone visiting the Nerja area!

The next day we went for lunch at a restaurant overlooking the water and I decided, that we/I must go for a swim...the sun was shining and therefore plenty of opportunity to dry out...so bathing suits on, we went for a swim in the clear, clear water and then when we couldn´t feel our limbs working anymore, dried out on the rocks like seals...I loved it! It attracted the attention of restaurant goers who were probably in complete shock at this scene...remember, sandals in October garner strange looks. Refreshed for the drive back to Granada, we left an hour later... a great little excursion it was...

Since then, I have been going through the painful process of getting my new passport...please don´t ever lose your passport as a Canadian...what a "!$"$ hassle! I´ll leave it at that..but, about 2 days before i fly home, i will be getting an emergency passport after waiting a month to find out that´s my only option...

A few days ago, I decided to do some little day trips on my own..I took a look at a map of Andalucia and basically pointed to a place and went...I ended up in a little town called Velez Rubio which unfortunately was less than memorable...the setting it is in was fantastic, probably the best scenery i have seen yet in Spain (other than the Med. and the Atlantic)...but taking a 2.5 hour bus ride to the province of Almeria was worth the trip alone...it´s stunning with isolated mountains jutting out of the red earth and the most picturesque and fascinating cave homes i have seen yet...we drove thru national parks covered in snow and then half an hour later was seeing completely different topography in the sun-baked desert-like lands of Almeria. There were some fascinating buildings well-marked with their history in Velez Rubio and this kept me busy photographing for about 4 hours...also, and this may creep some people out, but as it was too far for me to walk to the 4000 year old caves 6kms away (very highly recommended by the Dep`t of Culture for tourists though!), I instead went and visited an out of town cemetary...here I found an old autopsy room dating from ? (closed in 1965) and curious what was behind the locked doors, I climed up on an old roof and hung over it, peering into a window boarded up but with holes...talk about a perfect setting for a David Lynch movie...there was a marble autopsy bed (with a marble "pillow"!) and aluminum trays with tools and bottles of fluid set up around the counters...! I tried to get some photos, but I don´t expect them to turn out...I got on the bus back in V.R and dreamt up scenes for horror movies...anyhow...next subject...

This weekend I spent in a little village about a 20 minute drive out of Granada and up towards the Sierra Nevadas...I can´t believe that although with its proximity to the suburbs of Granada, how much you feel like you have escaped into an Alps-like village. The setting is second to none, set along a narrow gorge with the majority of the houses on the hills and the town lining the river, and the snowy Sierras in the background...they were celebrating the Festival of San Antone and had fair rides set up, a tent with dancers and music and never-ending fireworks that sounded like cannons going off in the valley. I spent the first day hiking and found some old ruins that are apparently about 4000 years old. I sat here for about 2 hours daydreaming and then went back to my friend Allan´s for supper with two other friends...a very, very fun night...too much wine, an insult to each of us by the cook about why we were too good to eat his cooking and then we dug in to our British-fied Spanish dish of potatoes, veggies, and chicken...after a couple hours of laughing and eating in his newly renovated Moorish home, we went to a very quaint and popular bar in a cave on the hill and drank a Basque liquor until we were nearly asleep on the cozy benches in the caves. The day after, when i finally awoke a 12, i had a true English breakfast and went for a 5 hour hike in the mountains...amazing!!!! I took a ton of pics and I have already talked too much here to get into detail...it was breath-taking though and I did get to see my first wildlife of the animal kind in Spain...they looked like wild bulls and I surprised two of them coming over a hill...they were in the mist and I think i almost had a heart attack on the spot...they stared at me, interrupted from eating and I backed away down the hill and sat behind a rock until I thought I was brave enough to head back the way i came. I finally did and got back to Allan´s high on adrenaline! I really hope my pictures of the foreboding looking mountains, the suspension bridges and the tunnel i had to walk through all turn out...I have decided that should i return i would love to spend a few days hiking in this national park...with someone...

That´s it i think...oh, no, one more thing and I apologize for this being so long..you might have decided to read it in chunks..! But last Thursday I went to see a Flamenco show at a bar called the Upsetter in Granada...it is on the Paseo de Tristes, below the Alhambra and it was probably the best flamenco i have ever seen. We were treated to a singer, a guitar, percussion and a beautiful, powerful dancer. For anyone who makes it to Granada, it is so worth it to perhaps skip the much more tourist oriented shows and go to a place like the Upsetter...it cost 5€´s, 1.50€ for a beer and the setting in a built cave is a great experience. From what i could tell, this place attracts true Flamenco lovers and after each song, there is a chorus of olés by the crowd...so watch for posters advertising this type of show and you won´t be disappointed.

That is it!
See you soon and take care!!
Sav