All Charged Up!

Sercotel I’m in the hotel lobby having a café con leche.  The young man serving is from Morocco.  We had a conversation about immigration.  Learning other languages is important he says because if you only speak your own, then you become threatened and paranoid that others are saying things about you.  That was the jist of it.  He emigrated here 13 years ago when the Spanish and Moroccan governments supported this. Now it is difficult .  People try to cross in boats and many die .  The poverty in Morocco is horrendous. In families of 10 or more people have to take turns sleeping.  And Spain has so much open space.  People all want the same thing: safety, work, raise their families, make a better life.  We talked about the current situation in the USA.  He came legally 13 years ago not speaking any Spanish.  Enough said.  Solutions ? For me? Well, vote. Travel. Connect with people. To note:  look up the Blue City in Morocco.  Blue City in Morocco Fall has arrived .

Sercotel again for two nights We left Toledo driving down the narrowest streets you can imagine.  We had to turn the side mirrors in so they wouldn’t hit the walls.   After a few wrong turns we made it out and we’re at our hotel in an hour.  Left our luggage there and proceeded to the airport to return the car.  Terminal 4.  That’s all I’ll say.  We did make it on time and then caught the shuttle back to the hotel.  A nap and then we packed everything.  Dinner on a rainy night at La Latina where I had muscles Galician style and Craig has his favorite pork “secreto”.   That’s it.  Now back at the hotel reading our books.  Winding down.   And a note about Iberico secreto: The  Iberian pig , or Black  Iberian , is a traditional breed of domestic  pig  that is native to the  Iberian  Peninsula.  Iberian Pigs  have long floppy ears, long snouts, and long legs. They are covered in dark hair. https://kitchenencounters.typepad.com/blog/2013/10/-pan-seared-iberico-pork-shoulder-blade-secreto-.h

After a morning walk around Nerja we began the 4 1/2 hour drive to Toledo.  All the roads we’ve traveled on have been so well maintained.  We tried to stop for a lunch break and quickly realized that everyone was returning from their 3 day weekend and stopping for lunch as well so we journeyed on and rejoiced over the emptiness of the highway!   Nerja looked beautiful in the daytime: Above: the same place we stayed 30+ years ago with possibly the same fishing boats but the pulley that brought them in no longer functional. And now Toledo very briefly.  We managed to get right to our hotel which happens to be in the Jewish section where the ancient synagogue is and the Sephardic museum.  Thanks to Google maps and Booking.com we navigate well.  Since our mobile data is limited we turn on cellular unless we are in a WiFi zone and get the destination up on the map, then turn it off and it still directs us.  The app maps.me works offline as well. At the synagogue.  Perhaps our Xmas card this

We left Tarifa around 10 to pouring rain and wind!  It is November after all.  We drove the coast highway through Malagá to Nerja - a small fishing village with a wonderful paseo that we first discovered get this : 35 years ago .  No longer that small fishing village and in fact, the entire coast is developed in the same way that the PNW has developed.  All the cranes here remind us of Seattle.  Our hotel is a dream.  And all for 70 Euros.  Hot tubs on the rooftop deck, breakfast and tapas included, jacuzzi in the room and ways to change even the color of the lights.   Pretty nice since we have diminishing needs to go out and explore!  Note:  wind power and solar is everywhere.  Also a giant tv with stations galore and many in English too! We like it here. Alot.  Sometimes re-visiting a place cannot create the same feeling .  Can’t re-create being 35 but something about being here feels good.  It has plenty of tourists and the fishing boats have been replaced by a hotel bit it’s not pr

We were on the same wavelength (surprise) .  This may not be a Camino in the strict sense but it is working its magic in terms of feeing a different sense of time and space individually and together. We lazed around, had a home cooked meal, drifting in and out of naps and reading and then finally around 2pm urged ourselves to go out.  And what a time we had !   Right outside our apartment is a long boardwalk bu the ocean leading us straight to the bridge island where on one side is the Mediterranean and the other the Atlantic!  After our now daily walk of 7+ miles, we wandered the old town once again and had some tapas.  Craig had pork.  Another daily occurrence!  I had salmorejo and a salad with goat cheese.  And then home we walked to complete season 1 of The Man in the High Castle.  Questions to look up:   What is Spain’s immigration policy? Are there still many mosques in Spain post Inquisition? And even though we are following the daily rhythm of Spanish life, warinf after 8:30 an

October 15: leave October 16arrive at Madrid Barajas airport and get to Secotel. October 17 stay in Barajas - put bikes together, meet Karen and Dennis  October 18 Barajas an then take Alanza bus to Salamanca.  Trypp Hotel October 19: Day in Salamanca  Trypp Hotel  October 20: Bus to Villar de Plasencia .  El Villar del Rincon  October 21 cycle from Villar de Plasencia to Grimaldo.  La Posada de Grimaldo.  41 miles October 22 Grimaldo to Cacéres. 33 miles  Hotel Extremadura  October 23 Cacéres - Serendipia Apartment $60 October 24  Merida - Hotel Los Lomos - $50 - 45 miles to Zafra (Craig’s battery quits) October 25 Zafra Hotel Plaza Grande 46 miles  October 26 Zafra  October 27 Zafra  October 28 Tarifa, Andalusia (by car)WaWa Hotel October 29 Tarifa. Marco’s AirB&B  October 30 Tarifa Marco’s October 31 Tarifa Marco’s November 1 Tarifa Marco’s November 2 to Nerja November 3 to Toledo November 4 to Barajas Sercotel Hotel November 5th Barajas