A todos, “Hola de España”.
Sometimes we think our mantra should be:
“We haven’t
been everywhere, but it’s on our bucket list.”
…. and yet, a return to Andalucía was absolutely the
right choice.
That had always been clear
in our minds but until our approach to Malaga, over the sparkling blue Mediterranean
waters, we hadn’t felt it in our hearts.
Oh, yes, it was nice to be back in España!
As some of you may know, our return to Fuengirola marks a new chapter in our travel habits.
We’re calling it “Savouring Andalucía” and
serendipitously, that’s exactly what was needed after some difficult patches
over the fall and winter.
Returning to
our familiar digs in this lovely little coastal town avoided those pesky stages
of settling in ... to a new, well, everything,
and that was wonderful.
I guess it was like sharing a creamy cup of hot
chocolate on a cold blustery winter’s night. 
Although, there’s a familiarity in that first aromatic whiff, it still warms the nose and awakens the senses.
Happily,
the Mediterranean is our hot cocoa this year …. leaving us to wonder what
Spain had in store for us.
So, here’s to familiar tones and new experiences!
Viva España!!
But first things first.
Before coming here, we inserted a five-day layover
in London, where we visited our friends Jeremy and Jo.
It was a big year for them. Both had become head teachers (principals) and
together they purchased their first home.
Jeremy’s school was one in which he had previously worked
for a number of years, both as a teacher and an assistant-head,
....with the result
that he already had a profound knowledge of the school’s strengths and needs.
It was my very good fortune to able to spend an
entire day with him and his team at Three Bridges School Primary School,
....marveling
at the wonderful work being done there.
It
goes without saying that I was enormously proud and extremely honoured to see
this gifted school leader weaving his magic.
But sun and sea awaited us and soon we were sitting
on the balcony of “our” little place, basking in the Andalusian sun,
…entranced
by the view of the oh, so lovely Mediterranean and the Zen-like sound of waves
rolling gently to the shore.
What a nice feeling, to be back... but with a difference!
 |
Fred and Nikta with friends John and Lucy
... and you know who.
|
Two
sets of Ottawa friends, who had also chosen this area as their 2018 winter holiday
destination, had already arrived.
Fred
and Nikta, both incredible and wonderful hosts, have a beautiful apartment, just
about 2 kilometers as the crow flies down the coast from us in Benalmádena.
It boasts
a view of the Andalusian sunset that sometimes paints the sea and sky in shades
of red and pink. Predictably, their
balcony has already become a hub for friends and family visiting from Canada.
Benalmádena
is, in itself, a wonderful long-term destination with attractive beaches and
interesting places.
Thanks to Nikta and
Fred, we’ve discovered Colomares Castle.
Interestingly enough: Colomares Castle was the
accomplishment of a life-time dream of a Spanish doctor who, having made his
fortune in the U.S., ...
... returned to Spain and set out to build a memorial to his
hero, Christopher Columbus, whom he believed to be under appreciated here in
Spain.
Like
many of those somehow involved with Columbus, he, too, ended up bankrupt and
died. ☹
As well, we learned about the 33-meter-tall Benalmádena Buddhist
Stupa, the largest in Europe,
the Benalmádena Marina and ...
the Benalmádena Cable
Car.
Enough
practice, ….now can you say Benalmádena three times quickly? 😊
A
curious note: Although our two
apartments face the same shoreline, (we can actually see their building from
our balcony), their orientation allows them to see a beautiful sunset while ours
allows us to witness incredible sunrises.
Oh, the magic of Spain!
Another set of friends, Barb and Dwight, live right in the centre of Fuengirola.
A brisk 35-minute walk along our promenade has us standing right in front of their building. They, too, are real explorers and continue to discover places and restaurants that we knew little about.
This week we set off with them to Torremolinos where, high up on its mountain, we
visited a beautiful botanical garden featuring amazing water displays, statues, ancient
grist mills, aviaries, and an oasis of Palm trees.
A walk and a wonderful meal down on Torremolinos
Beach topped off a great day. (Yes, the beach is only meters away from the promenade.😊)
We,
too, have had some guests here as well.
Our friends Jeremy and Jo visited us for a week of relaxation, dining,
and exploring.
At the same time, Karli,
a terrific former Pinecrest staff member, took a room in a
house nearby for a
couple of days. For a number of years (4
over 5 program), she had been saving with one goal in mind: to travel for six months
with her son, Jonah, throughout Europe and Northern Africa. To our delight, she found a couple of days to
spend here before setting off for Morocco.
After
seeing Jeremy and Jo off at the airport, we continued on with the light-rail
train to Malaga to meet up with Jim and Beth, our long-time friends now living
in Halifax.
Our afternoon flew by, what with all the
walking, catching up, and of course, delicious Mediterranean cuisine to savour. Their plan is to do a week-long tour of
Saville, Cordoba, and Granada, and then to return here to spend 7 days at
shore’s edge…. and perhaps beyond.
This
year, Linda and I are both taking Spanish classes. I am amazed at how much
Linda is learning in her course. Her
teacher, Rocia, has a program for beginners that has simply captivated her
interest. It’s really fantastic to see.
We
take Spanish on alternate mornings which, unexpectedly so, is working out
fabulously for our fitness.
40 minutes
of walking to our little sun-lit church plaza (where we meet to have a café con leche or even lunch after
class) and then 40 minutes back get us our 10 000 daily steps pretty
quickly.
Ugh, if only Spanish cooking
weren’t so d_ _ _ (can you spell “darn”) good!
Recently,
we met two of Fred’s many relatives, Kathy and Robert, former Newfoundlanders
now taking up residence in Nova Scotia.
Curious
wanderers of the world, they have seen and done much. The highlight of the evening was when Robert
pulled out a bottle of Scotch, made to commemorate the storied Shackelton 1907
Antarctic Expedition, in which 11 surviving bottles of whiskey had survived in
the cold Antarctic waters.
An
interesting story indeed, but one which can be Googled. Even more interesting was savouring a dram of
Shackelton on the shores of our blue (and
warm) Mediterranean.
And on that note, we shall see you all, hopefully, very soon.
Hasta la vista! And thanks for reading our blog.
