Where Is Joey Today?

(long post warning, (slightly graphic (but blurred) photo warning as well) the Reader's Digest version is below this post)

Tirar los galletitas

Em and I got up early on Saturday to catch the 9a bus to Seville. We had a change of plans. Saturday was supposed to be a Gibraltar tour day but the weather was bad, therefore dropping a few folks from the roster. Meanwhile, Em and I wanted to check out apartments in Sevilla which is notoriously difficult in the month of Semana Santa.

The buses in Andalucia have very comfortable seats and large windows. They usually are also a little more convenient than trains. For example, a bus to Sevilla is about 3'30, a bus to Malaga is 1'+ 2'30 train ride + your waiting time.

Running late as usual we cut our breakfast and hailed a cab to the bus station. With 3 minutes or so to spare Em said she was having that empty stomach nausea you get when you exercise before breakfast. So I held the bus while she ran to get some M&Ms and water.

The road to Sevilla passes through Ronda. A-397 is one of the most dizzying rides you can imagine. A turn every few seconds; 60 minutes of uphill slalom. Em with her propensity towards motion-sickness was a sad pup within minutes of taking off. She seemed like she would be okay but she got worse and worse and within sight of Ronda it became just too much. Her stomach heaved and with no bag or anything to catch it, I put my hands under her mouth. I was hoping that maybe just that little bit would be enough until she got off the bus. You would think that I had never vomited before based on that line of thinking. It continued...and continued.

Covering the floor, the tips of her hair, her jeans, my jeans and with a little even hitting the woman sitting in front of us. The woman, who wanted to make her ride more comfortable leaned back her seat creating a space for my sister's hurlorama to sneak through. Bet she doesn't do that again! Lo siento is just way too short make up for regurgitated snacks.

We finally arrived at the bus station in Ronda with a slightly chocolaty-peanuty aroma in the air. It could have been much worse. I eventually just emptied my hands on the floor and wiped them on Em's jeans. We had a change of plans. Today would be a tour of Ronda but not before washing our clothes a bit.

Help me Ronda, Help me get it out of my hair

Colgate Total makes a surprisingly good ersatz shampoo. Em changed her clothes, I just rinsed mine down in the men's restroom. Some people asked me if I felt like a giant in Japan. Not at all...but I did in Ronda. I waited in line for the men's room and I think I was the only person over 5'3 there. The women next to me were all clawing for 5' even. I came back to the cafe where the conductor tells me that they always carry bags on curvy roads. Good to know.

Hemingway said that Ronda is a perfect place to spend an afternoon. I agree. Ronda is most famous for it's "Puente Nuevo" (also called Puente San Miguel--nuevo, or new, is such a relative term in Europe, it was built in 1793) a 300ft tall mammoth bridge that spans a picturesque canyon. While that is the draw, the city is nice enough unto itself. The narrow roads of old town, the green fields in the distance, give the place an other worldly feel. If Caserta, was for Naboo's royalty this was the home of its commoners.

GORGE-ous

Considering how famous the bridge is in the town (at least half the visitors come here JUST for that) it is surprisingly hard to locate on the tourist map. If you don't know the name, you would assume it is just another bridge. The tell tail sign in any town, of any tourist destination, is the density of postcard racks. As we reached bridge, the town opened up and we had an incredible view. How they built something like this 200+ years ago just astounds me. We soaked in the atmosphere with a supermercado lunch (bread, meat, cheese, chips, fanta, water) on a trail that was to take us to the bottom of the canyon.

In the back there is another bridge, less famous, and less impressive by comparison but still quite nice and a welcome reprieve from the hoards of tourists understandably distracted by the Puente Nuevo. Ronda is a town that rewards walkers. The view of the bridge from the lookout points is very close and dizzyingly vertical. From the long path (unfortunately, suitable only young people) you get the best angle on the bridge and its surprise waterfall. Ronda is a required stop on any tour of Andalucia.
Down below we met up with some American students taking a weekend break from their studies in Sevilla. We sketched the area, and continued looking (in vain) for a way to get under the bridge. The path that seemed most promising led us through an abandoned electrical generating facility. It has probably been in this state for several years because the vines had taken it over.

It was getting late so we got our mosy on to the bus station to head back on a much straighter path to Sevilla.

At Giralda...large

We arrived around 9:30 and I found myself surprisingly aware of where I was within the city, considering I have never arrived by bus. Outside the bus station was a very modern slick looking metro line (one that was underconstruction while I was in Sevilla last time).

We hopped a cab to the out of the way hostel I stayed at last time, figuring it was bound to have empty beds at this hour. Nope. Apparently a rowing team and a bicycling team had taken the place over leaving us further a way from the other hostels. Em and I began the long walk back to the center of town. We walked through the Plaza Nueva, the University and of course got to see the Cathedral with its iconic belltower the Giralda glowing against a clear black sky. It never fails to impress.

One of the rules to keep in mind in Andalucia is that hostels are not always cheapter than 1-2 star hotels when you aren't traveling solo. We checked a few centrally located pensions and were running in the 40-60 euro range. When we arrived in Plaza Nueva, we found a few backpackers and ran up to them to see if they were heading to a hostel .Yup! Okay great, so we headed off to Hostal Suijzo Nuevo. Em and I were far too tired to do much of anything that night so we just collapsed and slept through the night (surprisingly tough to do in a hostel).

The next morning was a rainy, dreary, mess of a day. We stopped off at McD's which was the only thing open on a Sunday morning at 11a. Trying to find apartments to rent in one day is pretty ambitious. Sunday was going to be a get to know Sevilla day to see if Em wanted to stay here or continue in Marbella.

We did a tour of the cathedral (still among the most impressive I have seen). Sundays are no longer free as they were when I was here last but the 2 euro student price (7 euro adult price) is very much worthwhile. Trying to capture the jawdropping beauty of the place with photos is impossible, which to me is a sign that God wants us to travel ;)

We did the obligatory climb up the Giralda to get a view of the streets of Barrio Santa Cruz below. From there we headed to the Plaza de Espa~a, home of the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929, Naboo, Lawrence of Arabia and the first page of Dan Brown's Digital Fortress. Sunset in the plaza is pretty spectacular. The top of the plaza glows iridescent orange as does the back of the front wall. It lasts only a few minutes and then for a nocturnal encore, the fountain's, towers, and square light up. Sevilla es de cine, literally.

We got ourselves to the 2nd train station in Sevilla (the place I got off the first time) and were about to buy our ticket to Malaga when we had a realization. There may not be a bus back to Marbella at 10p. We'd be stuck in Malaga. So a 3 day weekend it was. Insert arm twisting here.

Back to the center of town and back to the Barrio Santa Cruz. Our first pension attempt was 40 euros down the back of an alley with a rude owner/manager who was supremely insulted when we tested the shower for hot water before agreeing to stay. He told me "If you want to know if we have hot water you just need to ask me if there is hot water" not being quite the fan of this guy's attitude I asked Em if she wanted to continue looking to which she said (in English) "Absolutely, I don't trust this guy at all" yup I agree. So one of two things, either there was no hot water (possible), or there was and this guy has no customer service savvy at all (very possible).

Two streets later we found Pension de Santa Maria de la Blanca. A very simple accommodation, in a traditional Andalusian house 40 euros for ensuite bathroom and twin beds. Deal. Walking the narrow streets can be fun with the assortment of bars, cafe's, heladerias and the like.

The next day we focused on contacting people looking to rent furnished apartments. 1 bedrooms are from 650 and 2 bedrooms appear to be from 750 to 850 depending on distance to the city center. As always, a bit of negotiating is usually a good idea. We also had as a priority finding the Enforex school. Not knowing the area, I decided to follow instructions from Google Maps from the cathedral. When we took a 2 mile loop around the city we found the school...literally meters from where we stayed at the pension. Lucky is the person who has the free time to walk for two hours in Sevilla.

We rode back to Marbella via a train to Malaga and a subsequent direct bus to Marbella. The train station was under a fair amount of construction the last time I was there. It is almost unrecognizable and it would rival Kyoto for me for the train station to get stuck in. Great weekend in Spain.


Ciao!



--Joey