Thursday 30 April 2015
Goodbye Dubai hello Spain
Goodbye Dubai, leaving memories of a very different experience in desert living. Totally appreciated the amazing ability of building such a cosmopolitan city, the shear nature of being able to work in the desert heat with not all the modern tools for building, where the lower class do all the labouring work by hand, while the blue collared workers have all the comforts & tools at there disposable, the desert village people lead a simple life & the wealthy abuse the privilege of a materialistic world. Thanks for the introduction of my Europe journey.
Hello Spain, where the transition into a mind boggling public transport system, sunken into the depth of despair of the underground world, did our heads in from the moment we stepped out of our 8hrs flight from Dubai to Madrid. We had to catch a train to go get our luggage, which took us more than an hr to get our gear & leave the airport, then to navigate our way thru the complicated train platforms where we had to catch another 2 trains & then walk to our hotel as the taxi said it was only up the road & he would have to drive the block to get us there, found us totally exhausted. We checked in & ventured straight out into the Manyon plaza square as we were right in the heart of the city, into the full on Friday night social outings of wining & dining, buskers & tourists everywhere. Wondered endlessly, bought some fresh prosciutto (or curd ham for those of u that aren't familiar), easier to fall into this culture as it is not that different to the Italian way of eating, socialising, family gatherings & language. The next morning once again captured our tolerance of trying to navigate our way on two trains, then go to the bus terminal for a 5hr drive thru the country side to Malaga, only to discover, the coast is so big that the Marriott resort was still another hour & a half bus trip, so on we got, enjoyed the views of villages, resorts of all shapes & sizes, terrace buildings, olive trees everywhere, tourist all over the place as this is there peak season, it dies off in July/August as it is too hot & starts again in sept, finally reaching Estepona only to discover that we still had to catch a taxi as the hotel was still another 20mins away, boy what a challenge. Lucky for us the Marriott is a beautiful resort & we r right on the Mediterranean Sea, although there beaches leave a lot to be desired with rocks, black brown sand & not wise to walk it barefooted ( we r so spoilt with our beaches & golden sand). We got some cheese bickies & red wine, rugged ourselves up & sat on the banana lounges on the beach to celebrate Spain. The weather was raining & cool for the first 2 days & now just magic sunshine. We have managed to catch the local bus for a half hour drive to the beautiful village of Marbella, which has the very different way of life in those very narrow stoned streets, terraced villas, lovely terracotta planter boxes & pots everywhere, gr8 eating piazzas/squares where all the little streets meet, shops all cramped into these little buildings, everything tiled, paved or cobble stones, very pretty, the waterfront promenade full of resorts & eateries of all cultures, tapa's bars everywhere. We managed over the 2 days to enjoy the sangria's & tapa's food, ate paella, loved the olives & the salamis(yum).
Tues 28th April, we took a tour to the Rock of Gibraltar, still owned by the British, so we had to cross the boarder, have our passports & once again sit on a bus for 2 1/2 hrs, so much chaos, once there, got transferred to smaller buses & got guided around a most fascinating historical old city, then got taken up the mountain to see st Michaels caves that were once fitted out as a hospital in world war 2 & now is a unique natural auditorium, we mingled with the free wondering Macaques Ape monkeys, such characters & attitude they have, saw the old fort, fantastic views of the Atlantic Ocean meeting the Mediterranean Sea, plus we were able to see Africa, the shipping port, plus the North & south side of the rock, the guide also gave us a low down on the history as we drove thru the old part of the city., told us about the king being preserved in rum when he died as he wanted to be buried in England & this was the only way they could do it in those days while waiting to be shipped back. In our free time Lyn & I went up the cable car & enjoyed more stunning ocean/ city views, plus the monkeys antics, then we walked thru the plaza & city centre, more stoned skinny streets & terraced villas, back in the bus (again), had a gr8 & adventures day
Sent from my iPad
Hello Spain, where the transition into a mind boggling public transport system, sunken into the depth of despair of the underground world, did our heads in from the moment we stepped out of our 8hrs flight from Dubai to Madrid. We had to catch a train to go get our luggage, which took us more than an hr to get our gear & leave the airport, then to navigate our way thru the complicated train platforms where we had to catch another 2 trains & then walk to our hotel as the taxi said it was only up the road & he would have to drive the block to get us there, found us totally exhausted. We checked in & ventured straight out into the Manyon plaza square as we were right in the heart of the city, into the full on Friday night social outings of wining & dining, buskers & tourists everywhere. Wondered endlessly, bought some fresh prosciutto (or curd ham for those of u that aren't familiar), easier to fall into this culture as it is not that different to the Italian way of eating, socialising, family gatherings & language. The next morning once again captured our tolerance of trying to navigate our way on two trains, then go to the bus terminal for a 5hr drive thru the country side to Malaga, only to discover, the coast is so big that the Marriott resort was still another hour & a half bus trip, so on we got, enjoyed the views of villages, resorts of all shapes & sizes, terrace buildings, olive trees everywhere, tourist all over the place as this is there peak season, it dies off in July/August as it is too hot & starts again in sept, finally reaching Estepona only to discover that we still had to catch a taxi as the hotel was still another 20mins away, boy what a challenge. Lucky for us the Marriott is a beautiful resort & we r right on the Mediterranean Sea, although there beaches leave a lot to be desired with rocks, black brown sand & not wise to walk it barefooted ( we r so spoilt with our beaches & golden sand). We got some cheese bickies & red wine, rugged ourselves up & sat on the banana lounges on the beach to celebrate Spain. The weather was raining & cool for the first 2 days & now just magic sunshine. We have managed to catch the local bus for a half hour drive to the beautiful village of Marbella, which has the very different way of life in those very narrow stoned streets, terraced villas, lovely terracotta planter boxes & pots everywhere, gr8 eating piazzas/squares where all the little streets meet, shops all cramped into these little buildings, everything tiled, paved or cobble stones, very pretty, the waterfront promenade full of resorts & eateries of all cultures, tapa's bars everywhere. We managed over the 2 days to enjoy the sangria's & tapa's food, ate paella, loved the olives & the salamis(yum).
Tues 28th April, we took a tour to the Rock of Gibraltar, still owned by the British, so we had to cross the boarder, have our passports & once again sit on a bus for 2 1/2 hrs, so much chaos, once there, got transferred to smaller buses & got guided around a most fascinating historical old city, then got taken up the mountain to see st Michaels caves that were once fitted out as a hospital in world war 2 & now is a unique natural auditorium, we mingled with the free wondering Macaques Ape monkeys, such characters & attitude they have, saw the old fort, fantastic views of the Atlantic Ocean meeting the Mediterranean Sea, plus we were able to see Africa, the shipping port, plus the North & south side of the rock, the guide also gave us a low down on the history as we drove thru the old part of the city., told us about the king being preserved in rum when he died as he wanted to be buried in England & this was the only way they could do it in those days while waiting to be shipped back. In our free time Lyn & I went up the cable car & enjoyed more stunning ocean/ city views, plus the monkeys antics, then we walked thru the plaza & city centre, more stoned skinny streets & terraced villas, back in the bus (again), had a gr8 & adventures day
Sent from my iPad
Wednesday 29 April 2015
Friday 24 April 2015
Dubai 18th April till 24th April
Touch down at Dubai greeted us with the works on the weather front, haze skyline, hot sun, sand blowing in with the cool breeze. This is a fascinating place, in the sense of how they have managed to build all these sky scrapers in the desert. We have experienced the beautiful, clean, efficient train system, travelled a dhow boat ride up the creek river which is their major trading port, leisure cruising, promenades & cafes/restaurants along the banks of the creek river, personally driven around by our friend Ben a couple of times on a nail biting 2hr journey to the boarder of Oman & from the airport (sent me into numerous amount of praying), took very cheap taxis & the big hop on/ off bus. We have enjoyed the gold, spice, madinat, blue & old souk (which is their version of market places), where haggling is a must for purchasing the vast array of merchandise & jewellery, Lyn managed to get caught up by there persuasive manner. Dubai museum/fountain, Deira city centre, where walking the streets with original stripe shops bursting at the seems with products of all sorts to buy, shops so cramped & small. Above the shops are residential apartments, very cramped, no outdoor space, feel for the poor kids who have nowhere outside to play, got to view only from the outside the tallest building Burj Khalifa, the sail building that is on the water Burj Al Arab, Atlantis the palm shopping mall & hotel, Palm Island, walk the beach of the Arabian gulf sea, walked the promenade of the Dubai marina, toured the old city of Sharjah (meaning pearl of the gulf) heritage district, travelled to the creek lagoon natural mangroves to see the wild pink & white flamingos that migrate from all over the place, kept on having to meet for all our touring at the WAFI Egyptian mall & Raffles hotel, beautiful up market shopping & the Khan Murjan souk & restaurant, to which we tried the traditional Lebanese, Egyptian food (yum). This has been both mind boggling over the top wealth flaunting, with everything bigger & better than anything in the world, to the poor end of the scale with a 2hr drive to the border of Oman thru the desert & dry sandy mountains where the community villages live a simple basic life with very little material possessions, shed buildings for shops & the main greenery of trees are their date palms, then to the humble politeness of the people, the hard day to day life styles of the local working people who keep the towns clean & running for all the tourists. Unfortunately for me, I have been grateful for the experience, but would not want to work or live here as not enough green natural nature & wild life for my liking.
Sent from my iPad
Sent from my iPad
Dubai & Europe 18th April till 22nd July Lyn Chalmers & Josie travelling
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