Uhlfelder News

December 19, 2007.  Today we drove south from Barcelona to Villajoyosa, a town about 40 kilometers before Alicante.  We turned a five hour drive into a six and a half hour drive, but it was a lot of fun since the boys sang, scretched, got of each other’s nerves (and hours) and we were driving about 85 miles an hour in a small car on narrow roads with lots of trucks and getting lost at every opportunity.  We are here at the Hotel Montiboli for three nights, then another five (?) hour drive to a place in the country, then three nights in Marbella.  I’ve received different reports about Marbella but most are negative.

December 22, 2007.  Hiking and enjoying was what we did today.  I also watched a great sunrise.

December 21, 2007.  After a fantastic breakfast, we went off to the pool (the boys and I).  I read the paper and the boys played for hours.  It’s just a beautiful property, and although it’s not warm, it’s not that cold either.  Rocket took Anne for a hike around the hills and to another beach a bit further south.  Our beach, where we all ended up, is covered with egg-shaped rocks. 

Then off to lunch which was at the same good place with nice service as yesterday, called Portofino.  The owners suggested we check out Altea, which turned out to be a cute town with some uphill to a church that was very pretty.  It was populated by art galleries selling comtemporary stuff with all signage in English. 

We’re finding that Spain is a pretty big country with a lot of stuff. 

Rocket’s comments.  Erf, erf.

December 22, 2007.  Once you get south of Valencia and Murcia, it looks a lot like the American West which is why some westerns were filmed here, especially around Almaria. 

Off we went to our next destination, a cabin in the hills of Andalucia.  We found it fairly easily and even didn’t get lost after our days of getting lost during the last drive.  It was a nice, country place organized and owned by a Spanish guy who insisted on trying to speak with us with his two words of English.  One nice thing is that it’s heated by olive oil pits and remains, which seems just fine and a lot cheaper than gas or oil.  Anyway, we’re all toasty here. 

In any case, we finally went into town (Priego del Córdoba) to see what was going on, and it was a 20 kilometer hard drive.  There was a ton of life in the country square in Priego, and the Christmas spirit was in evidence.  We asked a lady for direction, and she was either deaf or didn’t understand us but we had a nice, and funny chat.  The Spaniards like to say “hombre” a lot even when it’s women speaking to one another.  There was a huge Kresch in the town square on the municipal building (no separation of church and state here).  There was some amplified music and people were out.  We went and did a fast shopping and got back to the cabin at close to 9:00 for a Spanish timed dinner.

We have no Internet, phone or anything else here so it’s a hideaway.  It’s not what we were looking for but as one who never goes with the flow… I did.  I also made a huge fire in the fireplace (like the American cowboys of yore and not like the American Indians – sorry, Native Americans.  Since all the wood is wet here, it takes a long time to get it to burn but once it’s lit, it seems to stay lit.  Olive wood makes great firewood.

December 23, 2007.  It was time to explore and Anne and I had decided (of course, after bringing the boys into our decision-making process) to go on a hike.  So off we went in search of the La Subbética, a National Park.  This was about a hour plus drive since we took some backroads (really backroads that at times turned to dirt).  We eventually arrived at Lugue, another whitewashed town (there are tons of them), and stopped briefly to walk up a small hill to see the castle but it was locked shut with a chain.  There was a church, and we felt obligated to stare inside.

Then off to find our hike, which was near the town of Zuheros, yet another Andalucian whitewashed village, oh so cute.  I found a woman who was supposedly there to provide information for the tourists who drove up the pass, in part of see the caves.  This was a guided tour, about an hour long, and didn’t sound like easy in and out.  So we opted for our original plan and I tried to get her to explain how to find the hike, which she sort of did and we found what we thought was the trail head.  It was and we hiked for about an hour and more and then decided that we had done enough.  It was thoroughly enjoyed by all, including our dog.  Joshua lost his second front tooth, pulling it out in a bloody mess and holding it proudly for all of us.

We went down to the town at the end, and couldn’t find a sandwich place.  There was a restaurant open, but that seemed like too big a deal; we were dirty and just wanted something quick.  So, off we went back to our cabin, without having eaten except for snacks, which luckily tided the boys over. 

December 24, 2007.  We decided to go to Priego, the town that seems the central part of the region and has enough interest, not to mention possible laundry facilities, so that we can enjoy it (and get a change of underwear).  Off we went for the 30-minute drive to Priego, found the laundry, and decided to visit another town about 10 kilometers closer to our casa.  Again, off we went and tried to find anything open (Christmas eve, remember, in Spain, which I think of as a pretty religious place).  Not only was it closed, it was really closed and very poorly marked.  So after driving around on narrow roads and driveways, we decided we were best off in Priego, which in any case was full of life. 

Caught in Christmas Eve traffic, we finally parked and went to the tourist office.  The woman, who was very nice, spoke lots of languages since she was from Tunisia, having learned Arabic, then French, then English and then Spanish.  We saw a few of the sights of Priego, Anne lost her purse (briefly) and we found a place to eat lunch, which was a relief (no smoking!). 

We had enough and after buying some groceries, we went back to our rural casa superior and hung around.  I hunted for fossils with Joshua (found none) and we walked around the olive groves.  Then I went back and restoked the fire, which I’ve only had to light once. 

December 25, 2007.  Off we went to Marbella, where my parents used to live.  I heard it had changed.  Of course, we had to get lost for a brief time and probably took the wrong road, but got there eventually.  In any case, it didn’t look anything like I remembered from 20 years ago or so, having been really built up.  One huge improvement is there is a boardwalk from town to Puerto Banus, about five kilometers. 

In any case, we’re staying at a hotel called the Don Pepe, which we remembered from the old days.  It’s still very nice with great grounds.  Despite the fact that my email said we were traveling with our dog, they said no dogs were allowed but once we checked in, they just said to carry it in the public spaces, so we got over that.  My sister joined us too, which we had planned, so we have three rooms at the end of one hallway, the “Uhlfelder Wing”.