Viva España

First off, thanks to all who have emailed or told me personally that they enjoy this blog. Really, it means a lot to be communicating with more than just an imaginary audience. I know personally that, despite some rumors to the contrary, many of you are real. In any case, your welcome messages just encourage this to continue. So now we're off to Spain for the next few postings.

In real time, we went to Spain during the winter months. The idea of our time in Europe was to keep the sun shining on us as much as possible. Our plan was to spend autumn in southern France, winter in southern Spain (the most southern of our European locations), and spring in Umbria (not the warmest part of Italy but so much visible and beautiful change in springtime).

It was hard to leave France, as it became hard to leave all the homes we'd make. But I was ready to take full advantage of living and touring in Spain. I speak Spanish well enough to have eagerly expected to get right in with the Andalucian life on the southern coast. Ha!

The Costa del Sol is indeed a beautiful place. I think it must be especially stunning in the wintertime, when the coast is relatively abandoned by tourists. We arrived to live in a wonderful spot for sure: Torre Blanca (Fuengirola) in Malaga. Land of palm trees, beach, and lulling ocean waters, all  with the distant sounds of flamenco in the nearby hills behind the sea. Nice?

First, we had to accustom ourselves to living among high-rises lining the beach. Of course, I’d known this because my friend (who owned the apartment we’d rented) had told me so. But, after living so quietly in tiny quarters in France, the movie in my mind took over. So, my quaint idea of getting to “fit right in” with the Andalucians was pretty much shattered upon discovering that I could hardly find any.  Nor did I see anything like that movie in my mind. The high-rises with their ground-level shops were packed pretty closely together, reminding me at first glance of other tourist-driven, built-on-the-spot resort locations.

Visions of Miami Beach and Cancun come to mind. And like them, this was also a place in which English was spoken more than Spanish. Many, if not most, of the residents were Brits, Scandanavians, Dutch, German and some Russians. Even the beach stalls (not yet in full swing) had signs out from last season, the one I liked best advertising “We speak English, German, and Holland.” So much for my Spanish! Iid  just have to learn to speak Holland.

Today’s Thought:

Ya que estamos en el baile, bailemos. 

Spanish proverb which I'll translate as "Since we're already at the ball, let's dance!"

Was I disappointed? Well, I wanted it all, that’s all: a quaint little sunny spot in Spain beside the sea undiscovered by other northern Europeans who craved the sun as much as I did. But they’d gotten here before I had! 

On the other hand, how can you be disappointed being in a place that makes it comfortable for you in terms of language, eateries, shops, amenities all within easy reach? All I had to do was smell the air, feel the warmth, look at the sea right across the street from where we lived atop the high rise with an unobstructed, almost 360 degree view of sea and hills. So, was it really so terrible being in a resort town that nearly everyone in Europe visits for bank holidays? Besides, there was always  Estaquio, the building’s porter, who spoke Spanish. 

After a while there, I started producing some paintings that conveyed some of my sense of the drama and energy of Spain.

Today's Painting:

Malaga , painting by Janet Strayer

More NEWS! I just crafted a new website that slideshows my paintings. I think it's cool. Please tell me what you think. You can see it by pasting this into your URL if  just clicking on it doesn't get you there. Thanks for visiting! 

 http://www.wix.com/janetstrayer/paintings

 
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