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
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