Ronda

We had heard good things about Ronda and decided to visit it as a day trip from where we were staying in Benalmadéna. So we took a bus from Malaga and after following the windy, switch back road through the mountains we reached a high plateau which we continued along until reaching finally reaching our destination.

Known for its views of the surrounding mountains and its 18th century bridge which splits the town in half Ronda is a popular tourist destination for many of the vacation goers who stay in the Costa del sol. It is Built on an isolated ridge of the sierra and is split in half by a gaping river gorge, El Tajo which has sheer drops on three sides. The gorge is spanned by the beautiful Puente Nuevo which was built in the gorge itself.

Ronda was a nice place to explore and we spent the day walking around the city’s old town and visiting its sights. Its historic Plaza de Toros and the cathedral were especially noteworthy. After snacking on tapas at a local tavern we headed back to the bus station and returned to Gaby´s relatives house.

Málaga

With Málaga so close to where we were staying, we took the opportunity one day to go there and check it out. Neither Gaby nor I had ever been to Málaga, so it gave us the chance to explore it for the first time. Lourdes dropped us off on the coastal road near their house and we took a local bus for about a half an hour into Málaga’s downtown bus station. We passed mile upon mile of beach until we finally reached the outskirts of the city.

The government of Spain and the European Union have poured millions of dollars into Málaga over the last ten years to convert it into an attractive, modern European port city from the less than idyllic condition that it had historically been.

From the bus station we walked down to the old town and checked out the ancient Cathedral. According to the locals, the cathedral has one tower that was never completed. A few years ago the government proposed finishing the tower. The citizens of Málaga were strongly against the idea and in a referendum voted down the new construction. Thus the Cathedral has stayed and will always stay lopsided.

Nearby, we stopped in one of the cozy tapas bars in the downtown and grabbed a cold beer and some tapas to hold us over till the evening.

From the Cathedral we walked through the picturesque old town, illuminated with lights for the holiday season to get to the Picasso Museum. Pablo Picasso was born in Málaga and the museum for his works is located in a beautiful old Spanish house. The collection encompassed many of the different stages of his development as a painter. Some of the paintings we found very interesting and others we were not so in love with.

After leaving the Picasso museum we walked around and explored Málaga’s old town. With its old stone buildings and narrow, winding streets it was a fantastic place to explore. Málaga seems like a nice city to live in and a place with a high quality of life.

That evening we met up with Lourdes and her boyfriend Carlos for a drink at one of Málaga’s best known wine bars. A cavernous place of darks woods, well dressed twenty and thirty somethings and old signs on the walls which has been around for hundreds of years. We enjoyed some good drinks and conversation and dined on typical Malaguenian food.

As the evening wound down, we left the wine bar and walked through the picturesque old town toward Lourdes’s car. Once in we headed back to Benalmádena.

Once a seedy port city, Málaga has thrived from Spain’s inclusion to the Euro area and has become a very attractive and cool place to visit and live. Gaby and I had a very nice time there and really enjoyed Málaga.

Steve

Benalmádena, Spain

We had been looking forward to going to Spain. We love the country, the culture and the food. It was nice to be able to speak the language again and after more than three weeks in Morocco we were both a bit tired, dirty, and chilled to the bone.

From the ferry terminal Marcela took us to her place in the coastal town of Benalmádena. Located 20km west of Malaga, this area is part of the Costa del Sol and is a heavily built resort area for British and German vacation goers during the cold European winter. The area was gorgeous and the climate warm and sunny year round.

Marcela and Daniel are Argentineans who have been living for many years in the south of Spain and along with their daughters Lourdes and Sabina. Along with Gaby’s Aunt Selma they were fantastic hosts for us and after a hectic three weeks in Morocco we were able to rest, eat great home made food and catch up on the latest with the family. In the morning I would get up and go for a run on the beach and in the local supermarket they sold Belgian beer, Jamon Serrano & Manchego cheese (my favorites).

Spain was the first place that we really saw the effects of the global financial crisis. The Arabic countries where we had been until then are less dependent on the global financial system and seemed to be more immune from the effects of the global crisis. But Spain is suffering a lot from the overbuilding of the last five years and the lack of credit and vacationers from northern Europe is seriously affecting the local economy.

One day Marcela, Daniel & Lourdes took us for a drive to get acquainted with the area. We drove high into the hills outside of where they live to visit some of the whitewashed villages up in the mountains. In Mijas we found a view point and enjoyed the panoramas of mile upon mile of the Costa del Sol spread out below us. From there we walked through its cobblestoned old town with its historic Plaza de Toros. Then we wound down to the coast and drove along the road that paralleled the ocean. We drove through and explored Marbella, Fuengirola, and Torremolinos. Some of Spain’s hottest summer party spots were in hibernation during low season around us.

For us, our stay with Gaby’s family in the south of Spain was one of the highlights of our entire trip because it was such a fantastic place; it was so nice to meet and get to know Gaby’s family there and we got to visit so many beautiful places. With some great home cooking I was able to get over my touchy stomach, we warmed up and recharged our batteries from Morocco. We enjoyed ourselves a lot.

Steve

General Impressions on Morocco

From its towering mountains to its desert oasis, from its imperial cities to its wild coast Morocco is exotic, captivating country and an assault on the senses.

Both Gaby and I have been interested in seeing Morocco for many years. Thus, we built our trip around going to Morocco and flew there from Dubai as it was a place we really wanted to visit.

Due to Morocco’s location it is a crossroads between African, Berber, European and Middle Eastern culture. Its years under French rule and the large number of European tourists that it receives has given the country a distinctly European feel. The people dressed nicely, the cafes felt European and the local diet had many European foods. We found Moroccans to be very linguistically talented and most locals that we met spoke at least Berber, French and Arabic and many also spoke Spanish or English.

Divided by the 1000 meter long range of the high Atlas, Morocco is a haven for outdoor sports lovers with lots of hiking, biking and exploring the Berber villages. Unfortunately, because of the snow and my condition (I was still feeling the effects of my food poisoning) we avoided the mountains and stuck with the coast and imperial cities

Morocco is a relatively poor country, with 20% of the population living below the poverty line and a very high unemployment rate. And the gap between the rich and the poor continues to grow every year. Those that we met who had jobs got paid so little that it barely covered their basic costs. We found the Moroccans we met to be street smart and driven and one told us “they use their mind to work hard so they don’t have to use their back.”

As a result Moroccans risk everything to cross the sea and work in Europe. From the Moroccans that we met we realized that for them going to Europe to work is the “promised land” and they talked with pride about family members that were there working there as ones that had “made it.” Later, when we got to Europe we saw the other side of things and saw how the large numbers of Moroccans living in Europe had changed things in Europe.

Moroccan families are large. We were told that a “small” family has six children while a larger family would have twelve children. As a result, 1/3 of the population is under 15 years old, which will cause many problems for the government down the road.

From locals we talked with, the current kings’ father, King Hassan II is well loved by the Moroccan people as being very good for the country. His son, Mohammed VI is relatively young and is known for giving women greater equality to women in Moroccan society. We were also told that he is the first Moroccan king to present his wife to the people and show her in front of the public eye.

Morocco is 95% Muslim and most of the population is Sunni. Religion is extremely important in Moroccan society and when we were staying in Marrakesh for a couple of days during the Eid the streets were empty and all businesses closed.

Many Moroccans wore the traditional jellaba, which is an ankle-length kaftan (robe) with a pointy hood and silk buttons or zipper down the front. Some women wear the hejab, or headscarf, but many don’t and in Morocco it is totally up to the individual. A lot of Moroccans that we met wore very westernized clothes and had a very good sense of fashion.

Morocco was a beautiful country and a fantastic experience. I would suggest to people that visit though to go in the summer time as most hotels we stayed in didn’t have central heating and we froze while there. But it is an interesting country with lots to see.

Steve