Here, There, and Everywhere...

 These last few days leave us wondering where to begin the story? We have seen the most beautiful and unusual villages and cities imaginable. This  will be a little bit of everything. If you want all of the details you will have to plan a visit to our home. There we will sit you down, give you some vino or cerveza, a bit of jamon and queso and put in the DVDs (there's bound to be more than one).

    First we began with a visit to the Picasso Museum. 

I swear I heard Dennis say, "Oh, I'm so confused."

    The next day we were on a bus trip to Setenil de las Bodegas.

The town of about 3,000 inhabitants dates back to prehistoric times. They say the name Setenil comes from the Christians trying 7 times and finally taking the town from the Moors. Initially the caves (bodegas) were used for storage. The people discovered that the caves provided an ideal home, cool in summer, warm in winter and all that was needed was the façade. Voila! An amazing village!

    Back on the bus we left the province of Cadiz behind and return to the province of Malaga and the city of Ronda. Ronda sits on each side of the El Tajo gorge, spanned by the "New Bridge" which was completed in 1793. The gorge is 328 feet deep (think a 30 story building). It is also known for its bullfighting history. And as aficionadas of bullfighting, both Ernest Hemingway and Orson Welles have been immortalized with sculptures here. Both of them spent many summers in Ronda and Welles' ashes are buried on the property of a famous bullfighter.

Yes, I had Rabos de Torres and it was delicious!

We got lost on the way back to where we were supposed to meet but eventually found the bus station and slept all the way back to Malaga.

    The following day Dennis explored the port area and beach while I worked on the virtual service project for Ethiopia and did a bit  of painting, inspired by Picasso.

    On Saturday we were once again on our way out of the city heading to Nerja. Nerja is a very picturesque city on the costa del sol. We spent a bit of time there learning about the area from our guide Mano (Manuel) with another couple Matilde and Antonio. 

 

    From here we went on to (for me) the highlight and challenge of the day--Frigiliana!

Frigiliana began as a Moorish town. The old quarter is filled with winding cobblestone streets all of which go UP HILL! The houses are all painted white so it is quite dazzling. The doors are of a variety of colors. No two houses next to each other will have the same color of door unless they are both owned by the same person. It is a beautiful town. As a reward for not whining, the tour was followed by a beautiful lunch.

    Sunday found us on a bus to Marbella, another beautiful town in the province of Malaga. It is little wonder that so many visitors return to retire here. We were met at the bus station in Marbella by Cristina, a former Spanish teacher in Cicero who showed us a very gorgeous day. Cristina is now a principal in one of the top one hundred schools in Spain. It was a wonderful day that included a chance to see her school.  The highlight has to be lunch with her parents. They are absolutely fantastic and it is easy to see why she has been so successful. We put ourselves in their hands and they ordered a most fabulous lunch!

Churros!

Carmen, Pepe, Cristina
What an incredible week!

And now for a word from Senor Dennis:    

    Wow! Did we really do all that over the last few days? Seeing what Cindy's pictured and written is  an act to tough to follow so I'll keep my post short. (Getting fat and lazy also helps tp facilitate this position.) 😄 Regarding the Picasso Museum? There was a quote near the end of the tour that I think summed it up for me. I'll paraphrase. He was nearing the end of his life when he said, "I spent eight decades of my life learning my art in an attempt to paint again like a child." That's how I found it--confusing... The cultural gene was somehow deleted from my anatomy when I was conceived. 

    Churches and museums have dropped a notch or two on my "must see" list. Although some, such as Gaudi's Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona and the Prado in Madrid have become forever imbedded in my memory. This being said, the past week has been wonderful. The things we've seen as well as the people we've met have made it so. As Cindy and I have discussed many times, we've been very, very fortunate to have the time and ability to still do things like this. We're also glad that we can share them with you. Stay with us.