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Drew enjoying a baguette and some sangria at the window of our hotel [Drew says he is listening to the wind and the rumours it may bringeth him]So, we're on another train, this time heading to Madrid. I'm typing with one hand and holding my nose with the other as I suspect the mumbling loon sitting a few feet away has thoroughly soiled himself. Jo is endeavouring to watch the entirety of New Moon in Spanish (Edward is sooo cute in any language (Jo just let me know that Edward isn't really in this one; Jacob is sooo cute in any language).
We've spent the last week in Almeria, a small city on the southern coast of Spain, not frequented by many foreign tourists. Barely anyone spoke English, but we'd given up on trying be culturally sensitive and try Spanish, so we flipped the verbal bird and launched into the good old lingua franca on most occasions (I do enjoy saying 'adios' and not sounding like a complete dickhead though).
I'm hesitant to say that the weather's been glorious, since I know that the weather in New Zealand's been terrible, and I don't want to boast, so I'll skip around the 30+ temperatures and clear skies.
Almeria is mostly visited due to its proximity to Cabo de Gata, a stretch of coastline that is some
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The entrance to Alcazaba (the muslim fortress) sort of nature reserve. The beaches are long, sandy and relatively deserted. We did take the time to visit an old Muslim fortress which oversees the town, it was well worth the visit. The price of admission varied by country of residence, and when we told the ticket officer come from New Zealand his eyes glazed over, he paused, and just handed us free tickets. I suppose obscurity has its advantages.
I've never been to Africa, but I'm going to take a guess and say that the fort and its surroundings were very African, and that if it were not for a stretch of water, southern Spain would seamlessly fade in to Northern Africa. This may seem presumptuous, but most of you have probably visited neither Almeria nor Africa, so I'm 50% more informed than you.
We had planned to stay in Almeria for four nights, in pretty typically spartan backpackers' accommodation, eating backpackers' food. However, we got sick of shoveling down baguettes and salami, clawing salad from a bag, rolling over a hobo to flavour our dry crackers on his salty tears, and we considered splashing out.
On our third night in the hostel we gained
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Just inside the entrance to the fortress some new neighbours who assuaged our discomfort with an evening-song: verses of intense argument (2-3 minutes), choruses of love-making accompanied by boar grunts and banshee screams (also 2-3 minutes). I admit that I'm sometimes prone to exaggeration (our crackers weren't actually that dry), but this lasted from 8 at night until 2 in the morning.
So we swooped on a bargain and headed to an all inclusive spa resort, where we've spent the last three nights. The taxi drive to the resort was interesting as it drove home how the recession has battered Spain. Half finished hotels lined the roads, construction cranes hanging flacidly over them. We could see the Spanish economy struggling but felt no guilt in pecking at its exposed intestines.
The resort was great, pool, buffet, a free sangria, not many kids (downside of not many kids was many old people (although many old people are quiet, it also means many old breasts (I now have more 'thank god I'm NOT wearing contacts moments))). I always enjoy buffets, especially the kids' section. I always smatter more sophisticated fare on my plate (stew, the fish, some kind of cheese) before sidling over to my deep-fried friends
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Jo and the fortress bathing under the heat-lamps and loading my plate with chicken nuggets and fries (I was tricked into eating battered broccoli).
So we passed our resort time without much incident, and now look forward to Madrid, SE France, Paris then back to the UK. Only a week more in France/Spain, which is a shame.
Best leave it for now, it appears the man in front's pants hadn't quite reached maximum pay-load, and I think Edward/Jacob's about to take his shirt off, so I may need to catch a fainting Jo.
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