Road Trip 2009 - Andalucia

[Franglais]

Last month I did a “classic self-drive autotour” of Andalucía (Southern Spain).

On arrival at Malaga my first impression was good –the organization on arrival was excellent, people drive very well and the whole place is very clean.

1. The Costa del Sol is full of English. I had the best cup of tea I’ve had for ages then spent the evening over a draught Guinness in an Irish pub. But my main lens (18-200) was not focusing properly. Need a solution fast.

2. Next day sprint along the coast via Nerja and get to Granada early in the afternoon to buy a consumer Sigma 55-200 from the Pro shop at the Neptune center near my hotel. Then I set off in search of the postcard shot of the Alhambra at sunset. This one is from near the Mirador de San Cristoba but it’s not the killer postcard shot. I needed to be up the nearby church tower but it was closed.

3. Late afternoon in Grenada and I have some practical problems:
- I don’t know how to order tapas. I’m starving
- I must stop replying to people in Italian
- The car+GPS is worse than useless in the city and all my planned nightspots are too far away

Grenada is city of small streets that are being dug up to build a subway. I dumped the car at the hotel and set out to explore. The hotel was in the student area which meant there were some interesting decorations and lots of cheap places to eat.

4. Night falls. A dark city street, en empty bar, a beautiful blonde seen from afar, waiting to be whisked off on a scooter. Wherever the place to be in Granada on a Monday night is – it’s not here.

5. Next stop Cordoba. I chose to go the direct route via the old highway (prettier, less CO2). About half way the railway station at Luque has been converted into a bar/restaurant for the tourist coaches doing the same circuit as me.

[Didache]

Great shots! It's been a long time since I was in Spain. I must get myself back there. Andalucia would certainly be on or near the top of my list. I do have the advantage that Spanish was my school language - at least enough to get by!

Cheers
Mike

[Franglais]

6. I saw lots of old stone in Andalucía but the mosque/cathedral in Cordoba was my favorite. About a thousand years ago, Cordoba was the intellectual capital of the western world. When the Christians pushed the Arabs out, they had the intelligence to respect their cultural heritage – except the construction of a Gothic cathedral in the middle of the mosque. This gives a magnificent cross-culture building like something out of an Alien movie.

7. Flamenco is really big in Andalusia. These girls were part of a display in the city center, posing for the local newspaper.

8. Seville is the only hotel I have ever been to that included a comb in the customer care kit. It seemed to me that Seville is a very civilized place; a quality that is being that is being lost elsewhere

9. One image to sum up what it is like walking about the Feria, from left to right:
- Everybody is well-dressed
- Row of casetas, a sort of long tent belonging to a family, association or enterprise
- A Gypsy beggar with baby in arms is trying to get into one of the casetas
- Girls in traditional dress, like 80% of the women present
- Security guard in uniform in front of caseta
- Mobile phones are everywhere

10. My last step was from Seville to Malaga via Ronda. I made a detour via the white village region to try to find my cousin’s place. Another triumph for the GPS which took me up an alley the wrong way – and reversing 200m in my very big, very new hire car

[Asmarlak]

You reminded me of my trip to Spain and its beautiful memories of that exceptional part of the world. The sad thing about my trip to Andalusia is that I lost all my pictures when my computer HD crashed. I was only left with few pictures that I shared with friends previously.