by Mark | Oct 3, 2011 | Deep In It
Tarifa offers a historical and beautiful setting with Morocco a short 10km across the Strait of Gibraltar, a gateway between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Beaches, natural beauty, climate, and location combine to make Tarifa worth seeking out.
The wind here is legendary. This is a mecca for all wind-related water sports attracting the best from around the world. While steeped in a long history, it has the feel of a California beach town but more international. The city is relatively small (20,000). We caught a picture-perfect day with the wind blowing in all its glory.
The best view of Tarifa can be had from the battlements of Castillo Guzmán el Bueno (castle of Guzman the good) who earned his moniker by refusing to hand over the castle in 1296 to the besieging forces of the Infante, Don Juan, and the Moors in exchange for the life of his son (good story).
A statue of the hero stands in front of the castle:
Tarifa has a hippy element which may account for the nice selection of vegetarian restaurants. We ate at a combination yoga center and restaurant called Tarifa EcoCenter and met an interesting German woman who came to Tarifa to visit her boyfriend and stayed. The city has that kind of appeal.
Beyond the natural beauty and wonderful climate, Tarifa offers the annual African Film Festival, dedicated to African cinema.
For the naturalist, Tarifa serves as a key point of passage for migrating birds between Africa and Europe. For birdwatchers one of the most impressive sights over the Straits is when flocks of storks, sometimes numbering up to three thousand, cross en mass relying on thermals and updrafts which occur over narrower expanses of water.
It was tempting to take the shuttle to Africa…
but with reservations in Malaga, we headed East along the Costa del Sol to arrive by nightfall.
by Mark | Oct 3, 2011 | Deep In It
The map at left shows the relative location of Cádiz while on the map to the right you can see its unique position on a peninsula with the old city located at the end. Cádiz is said to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in Europe, founded in 1104 B.C.
The old city (Casco Antiguo) within the remnants of the city walls consists of a labyrinth of narrow streets connecting large plazas. Fought over by the Phoenicians, Carthage, Hannibal, Rome, the Moors, and the Visigoths, Cádiz is awash in history.
The view from our hotel rooftop evoked a sense of the Casco Antiguo.
The lure of the city was everywhere. Along the waterfront, boats perched on the sandy beach brought the fishing heritage of the city to life.
The old city is easy to walk, it is confined to an area 1200 by 800 meters yet filled with bustling plazas and parks.
The Catedral de Cádiz is a stunning building…
On a beautiful Sunday afternoon we walked this festival filled with booths of crafts, foods and collectibles in Plaza de San Antonio. The festival was packed with people sampling cheeses, dulces and local faire. The garlic pan (bread) with the local jamon (ham) with a side of on-the-spot-made potato chips cooked in olive oil was too hard to resist. Andalucia is an olive-producing center that prides itself on its product.
Our original plan was to rent an apartment here, spend a couple of months, study Spanish, and soak up the sun while immersing ourselves in the city. We had some apartment possibilities but could not quite land the right apartment. After a few days, we decided to move on.
We were ready to explore more of Andalusia so we rented a car and headed south toward Tarifa.
by Mark | Oct 3, 2011 | Deep In It
View of Bullring in Malaga, Spain
We arrived in Málaga (Spain) on Friday, March 19, 2010, at around 4pm (local time) after missing our scheduled connection in London the previous morning. Since British Airways made the connection too close and our plane was late leaving Miami, they paid for (2) hotel rooms plus (3) meals. It turned out to be a great mistake.
We found the London hotel, laid down our bags, put our post red-eye game face on, and took the subway into London around 2pm for a free of day of sightseeing. We were able to easily walk to Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Parliament, Hyde Park, Piccadilly Circus, Westminster, etc., then a bite to eat. With a plane for Spain to catch early the next day,we were back at the hotel by 11. We measured the last 24 hours since leaving Miami as full.
The next day we arrived in Málaga, got in our rented car and drove about two hours to Ronda, where we stayed the night at the Arunda Hotel in the heart of the city, nothing fancy but reasonable and clean. Ronda is a beautiful city in the mountains about 100 kilometres (62 mi) northwest of Málaga. It was a short visit in this city of about 35,00 people but we all fell in love with it. It seems we are not alone, American artists Ernest Hemingway and Orson Welles spent many summers as part-time residents of Ronda’s old town quarter called La Ciudad.
The Guadalevin River runs through the city, dividing it in two and carving out the steep canyon, above which the city perches.
We toured the city on foot the next morning (stretching the pins as the Brits say) and then drove to Cadiz about two hours away. The weather was perfect, around 22 degrees Celsius.
From Ronda it was a short drive to Cádiz where we planned to rent an apartment, explore, soak up some sun, and learn Spanish.
by Mark | Sep 28, 2011 | Pulled Back
Foyer of National Gallery of Art
Sometimes we don’t find the next road until the last minute. Like this time. There we were scurrying around like the squirrels in Presque Isle, Michigan, looking for places in Cape Cod, Asheville, Virginia Beach, Charleston, then we discovered an amazing apartment for a five-week stay near Dupont Circle in Washington DC. Let’s call it luck.
Arriving September 21, we have spent the past week settling into this beautiful apartment, exploring, reading about the city and getting some work done. Where did the week go?
After meeting the engaging owner of the apartment and getting the “how-tos” of the apartment, we drove her to the airport, found our way back with a quick stop at Whole Foods and started unpacking. Beyond offering an ideal location, this apartment is spectacularly designed. Here is a favorite piece among way too many to show…
The dining room is a beautiful airy place to work.
Parking the car was a big relief, mass transit or walking is so much simpler. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is one of the best; between the subway, buses and Circulator, it is a breeze to get around town.
Four bridges and two tunnels along an 11 mile railbed of the B&O railroad
We joined the Captial Bikeshare ($25/month) and will start to utilize that popular program as well. It is a 10 minute bike ride to the National Mall and about the same to the Capital Crescent Trail a popular and scenic shared use trail from Georgetown, D.C. to Silver Spring, Maryland, along the historic Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.
To get acquainted with the Circulator which is only $1, we rode several blocks over to Georgetown, south and west of here, did some window shopping, took in the scenery along the Potomac and had a quick bite to eat.
Sunday we walked down to Dupont Circle for the weekly Farmers Market.
The produce was irresistible…
Later, a bike ride to the Mall ended up at the Captiol building.
We may not make all of the Smithsonian Museums in the next few weeks (so far we have visited the Natural History Museum, National Portrait Gallery, and American Art Museum), there are oh, so many restaurants to try, neighborhoods to explore and places to see; but from this last minute, lucky apartment discovery, we plan to know Washington, D.C. well before we leave.
by Mark | Sep 25, 2011 | Pulled Back
Campanula rotundifolia (Harebell)
After two months in Baltimore, we packed our bags and headed north to Presque Isle, Michigan. Wait, don’t click to Google Maps, just hold up your right hand, palm facing toward you. Presque Isle is at the tip of your index finger approximately 750 miles north of Baltimore.
We spent two weeks nestled among the trees visiting friends who live on the shore of Lake Esau, a small beautiful lake in the heart of Presque Isle. The setting provided a stark contrast to the urban landscape in Mount Vernon, Baltimore, where we had spent the previous two months.
Our friends left us alone for a week (not exactly, they left their cat) as they traveled to Vancouver, Canada. We enjoyed their amazing self-designed and built lakeside house and caught exceptional sunny days with highs in the 70’s. Did I mention the jacuzzi in the sun room?
This area is a stone’s throw from Lake Huron, a historical cargo passageway among the Great Lakes. Lighthouses are common on the Great Lakes, in fact there are 149 of them in Michigan, more than any other state. Here there are two exceptional examples. The lighthouse below was build in 1840.
And then this one replaced it in 1870…
While we occupied most of our time with a contagious mixture of basking in the sun, working, biking, walking and relaxing, we did make it to the local farmers market in Alpena, about 20 miles south, had breakfast at a local hangout, and toured the city a bit.
Luckily, our visit coincided with one of the biggest cultural events in the area. The 60th Annual Posen Potato Festival was taking place in Posen (pop. 292) about 15 miles west of Lake Esau. We marked that on our calendar with a big “must do!”
We started our Potato Feast with breakfast at the local VFW hall.
You guessed it, eggs, polish sausage and potatoes. There was a big turnout and some huge appetites. After that feast, we moseyed over to the flea market and caught another glimpse of Americana…
We decided it was time to get back to the lake on this beautiful September day and as we walked back to the car, Potato Festival enthusiasts were already setting up chairs to get ringside for the main event, the Sunday Potato Festival Parade. I know, you’re thinking how could we leave now, and it was a close call but the sun and lake were too big of a pull and besides, we had a lot of city life in Baltimore. The tranquility of the wilderness called.
We leave you with one more glimpse of Northern Michigan lakeside living at its finest…
From the beauty of Northern Michigan, the next road leads to our nation’s capital Washington, D.C.
Tarifa offers a historical and beautiful setting with Morocco a short 10km across the Strait of Gibraltar, a gateway between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Beaches, natural beauty, climate, and location combine to make Tarifa worth seeking out.
