The Happy Hippie Bus stalls out. Kinda.

The work on the bus stalled for a bit. First, I was doing all that stuff with the fast heart rate, the bad medicine, and the heart stress test. Distracting. Ranger Borderline usurped my workspace to paint her black cat lamp. We kept trying to yell at the cat on the table. One thing, then another. I've been doing mundane and boring bits; white trim for the roof, beginning the wheels, the door, layer after layer of bus yellow paint. Dull. The exterior murals will be far more entertaining.

The weather has been odd, warm then snow, snow then warm. Argh. MyLarry tilled the garden last week and moved the wisteria vine. We hope it survives the transplant, but it could not stay where it was, against the back fence. The vines get wild in the summer, and the Evil Bitch who lives behind the vinyl privacy fence has her garden guys lean over into our yard and hack away. They don't trim, they slice deep into the woody heart of the wisteria. So one way or the other, the poor thing was being brutalized. Now there's a discrete and happy little dogwood shrub in the vacated hole. Shrubbery! I have a shrubbery!

Getting ready for the Element 11 fundraiser is keeping me busy too. I have a painting station for kids, although I wish I had a wider selection of things for them to paint. Plenty of boards, but also masks, canvas mats, birdhouses and some wooden heart shapes. Plus the Home for Wayward Art; I have plenty leftover art from last year. We shut down a day early because of all those intense dust storms. Not very good art, but wayward indeed.

The Super-Hero theme should be great fun, although as usual, MyLarry has a better costume than I do. He's just so tall and slim and has no shame or inhibitions. We found him the greatst pair of shiny over-the-knee stiletto boots on clearance at Hot Topic today. Nine freakin' bucks! Add the PVC hot pants, the mask and a silver cape? Super Larry! I need to make him a super shirt with an "L". Yes, yet another project to delay the bus.

Check your transfer, it may have expired.

The Happy Hippie Bus takes off

This is the project I've been working on all last week, in addition to starting some paintings. This bus is a Burner Bus, but I like to call it the Happy Hippie Bus. a very 60s~70s decor, with all the cliches I can think of. I started with the undercarriage and floor, added the stairs, the front panel, the rug, the back panel, then the steering wheel and dashboard, and the small stair wall. Next was the sides and the roof sections. What takes so long is waiting for the paint and glue to dry before moving on!

The rug was originally two orange washclothes I picked up after Halloween on clearance. The roof sections are lined with Japanese washi paper. The undercarriage is solid black. I will add in the doors (non-opening) and then paint murals on the sides and rear. Although I may put on the front and back bumpers first! I've already begun cabinets for the interior, and I have some furniture and "stuff". I need to make all the Burnery things, poi, hula hoops, stilts ... I even have a one inch scale ice chest!

The Bus will be joined by an Airstream-style trailer later.

Leaving Spain

I guess I should finish this trip, Hmmm?

We got up very early to depart; our flight was the first of the morning. Driving to the airport and dropping off the car was a breeze that early in the morning. I was touched by the janitors who were giving juice boxes to the few homeless guys camped in the lobby.

There was a large group of kids on a field trip waiting for our flight. Boys engaged in a candy fight, giggling girls. Unattended baggage "in line" for check in. There were several announcements made, and the women and her two teens sitting behind us studiously avoided hearing them. When it was time to check in, she and the kids rushed up, a man who'd been waiting had stepped up. She bitched at him and grabbed her bags, and shoved in front with her kids. But the flight attendants made everyone wait until they had every child and chaperone on board. She had the nerve to complain, and was told (in English) that the welfare of the children came first and she would simply have to wait. Whatta toolette.

Good thing I gave us plenty of time between flights. The international terminal is a hike and a half to Terminal One ... you have to get the boarding passes on one level, then go find security. Yikes, my feet hurt. We did buy wine, sanwiches and pastries for a quick bite. If you have Euros to spend, do not buy perfume or booze; buy chocolate at the duty free shop. You can take the chocolate through security.

The flight was unremarkable. Atlanta sucks. Immigration wasn't so bad, nor customs. They're very official. Mostly concerned about ham and sausages. Immigration would have been quicker if the tourists hadn't gotten into the citizen lines. We found our waiting area. My feet hurt. Larry fetched food. Then we had to go to another terminal; our flight changed gates. That involved taking the tram again. Our flight was delayed and delayed. It was very full, I was sitting back by the toilets on the aisle. Worst. Seat. Ever. One poor woman got sick, they had to close off the toilet, she'd made such a mess. Poor thing almost passed out in the back, they had her on the floor. They called for a doctor, there were several on board! We almost landed in Denver; but by the time a decision was made, Salt Lake was closer. Yay for us. Many people had already missed their connecting flight anyway. The poor woman was traveling with teenage boys, I felt really bad for the family. We all had to wait to deplane until the paramedics came and took the lady away. Poor thing.

We got home and I was very, very glad. My feet hurt.

Wednesday: Malaga

(Apologies for the delay, I've not felt like writing)

Complete album at:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2007106&id=1192536713&l=570b0

We got up not so early on Wednesday, and gorged on a big breakfast trying to consume the groceries we'd purchased. As we drove to Malaga, Larry spotted the street fair. Wow! Even bigger on Wednesday! We bought a black bag, the twin to mine, for Larry. He really likes the way he can wear it across his chest. I saw tiles I liked, and again, did not buy one. Silly me! Five Euros isn't that much! I did get a coin hip scarf and wristlets; that vendor was not there on Saturday. we spent more time there than we'd planned, but I enjoyed it.

Parking in Malaga is not impossible, but finding the entrance to the underground lot was a hassle. We got turned around, came back through less savory parts of town; grumbled at each other, eventually finding the lot and a spot fairly easily once we were in. First stop, a potty in Macdonald's. Their coffee is strong and the desserts fantastic! Fortified, we headed over to the Tourist Info Pavilion. They circled the Picasso Museum for us on a map, as well as his home.

The weather was crisp and windy. We strolled past the vast Catherdral, undergoing renovations. I took a few pictures but we did not go in. I'm sure I would have liked it, but my feet were already bothering me. Too much walking on cobblestones the day before.

The Picasso Museum is sleek, in a renovated and updated old home. I had to check my camera. The works were interesting, a lot of early pieces and rarely seen paitnings, as well as pottery. Worth a visit if you're a fan, not so much if you're not a devotee of modern art. We skipped walking up to his childhood home.

The gal at the resort recommended a bodega near the museum as a great place to try tapas. El Pimpi's Bodega is accessed through a series of courtyards bedecked with tile artwork and potted plants hanging from the walls. You walk through a smoky bar, into a covered courtyard, back into a great room. There's yet another courtyard too if you want to graze outdoors. The walls are lined with oak barrels signed by celebrities and giant bullfight posters, very Art Nouveau. Simply dripping with atmosphere. We were deciphering the Spanish menu when the waiter brought us one in English. Gracias! The choices were many and varied, from the traditional meat platters to the crunchy little slips of bread topped with salt cod or chopped olives, cold veggie dip, endive with Roquefort and sticky raisins, olives in oil... and on and on. Delicious! We drank Manzanilla Sherry, sweet and wonderful. I thought I did not like sherry, but I guess I simply don't like cheap American sherry. Oh, cash only! The waiter gave me a postcard as a souvenir. Nice surprise, the prices were very affordable.

Next we walked up toward the Alcazaba ... yes, they have one in Malaga also. We passed the Roman Theater, which was fenced off. They're excavating it as it has been buried under modern buildings for decades. Or centuries. There is a multi-lingual display above the digs with pictures showing how tthe city sat on the ruins. The park leading into the theater was locked, a man was feeding fish heads and guts to the feral cats. The kitties had dry food and pans of fresh water, but he was feeding them anyway. Each cat would slip between the bars of the fence to get a piece of fish, the man would then gently lift them up and set them back in through the bars. Such care!

We bought tickets for the Cazaba, but not for the castle above. My feet were bothering me a great deal by now. The grounds were almost empty, we climbed on the walls for the view, yes, you're allowed to climb up! The Roman marble was fascinating, worked into the Moorish and Christian additions. The place has been heavily looted and vandalized over the centuries, but the city is doing a fine job of restoring much of the interior. There's gardens and fountains and a museum. I loved it! The back half was closed off, I was sad, I wanted to see the dungeons. This was a far more relaxed and personal visit than the Alhambra; very onteresting to see the similarities and the differences. Oh yes, more cobblestones.

Tuesday: Alhambra

For many, many more pictures, check out my Alhambra album.

The Alhambra, located in Granada, is one of Spain's great treasures. I can describe the trip, I can post pictures, but the feeling and the experience is unimaginable.

We were up at zero-dark thirty, grabbed a bite and hit the road. We went east to Malaga, then north and east again. The roads are well-marked, and once you hit Granada, finding Alhambra is simple. Figuring out the parking was more difficult, you park, pull a ticket and pay when you leave.

Next you walk down to the admission gates. We bought a guidebook, I am glad we did. We skipped the audiotour. The Nasrid palaces are so popular, you are assigned an entry time. We had to hustle to get down there at 9:00, we'd parked at 8:30. It was chilly and damp, and in winter there is a lot of restoration work going on. We finally found the line, our map wasn't too specific and there was more than one way to go. Yikes. But there were only a handful of tourists in line. One man was upset that it was hard to find the way to the line, the nice guides and docents kept shuffling him off to another place in line. He complained a lot to us as we spoke English. I think the guides spoke more English than they were letting on, and I don't blame them.

We had to wait for a guided tour group to enter, then we were allowed in. There isn't a set plan for going through the palaces, but the way through flowed fairly well.

The Nasrid palaces are Moorish structures, with elaborate arches and vaulted ceilings, fountains and courtyards. When the Christian monarchs came in, they acquired the palaces and knocked openings in walls to make them into one vast palace. We were disappointed that there were no lions under the Fountain of Lions, they're in the shop so to speak. But as the other tourists and the guided tour went at a faster pace than we were moving, Larry and I often were in the grand and awesome rooms all by ourselves. I swear you could hear the history leaking off the walls. I won't go into details, if you look through my facebook pictures, each place I snapped has a description.

We left the palaces and entered into a series of gardens along the walls. We didn't go up into the many guard towers. There were gardeners out, and one friendly little red cat. She trotted up to us along a low wall, and purred and asked to be petted. I put my arm down and she curled up in the crook up my elbow, snuggled in my cape. When we walked away, she trotted into the gardener's shed. I was impressed by the way the Spaniards were caring and careful of the feral cats.

We explored other parts of the Alhambra, the cistern grounds, more gardens, the Medina, the archealogical digs (no, you can't go down in them. we skipped the cathedral, becasue my feet were dying from walking on cobblestones. King Philp's palace is interesting, it has a wonderful museum which is free for tourists. And of course, we found the gift shops, one was dedicated entirely to inlad wood. Nice! One had a dress-up as a Moor portrait gallery, I wish I'd insisted we do that. By this time, the groups of school kids on field trips arrived, which changed the energy in a fun and interesting way.

We went through the Wine Gate into the Alcazaba ... which means citadel or fortress. This is the oldest structure, with massive towers and remains of homes and baths behind the great walls. Larry climbed the high towers, I was exhausted by now. We skipped the Generalife gardens, I just wasn't up to plants and sore feet.

On the way to the car, an old gypsy lady stopped us and told our fortune, read our palms, in Spanish, after handing me a sprig of rosemary. Really, she had the shawl and the hunch, as if she'd stepped from central casting. No gold earrings, though. She told me I was faithful and kind and a good mother. Two out of three ain't bad. Still, we were careful and hung onto our purses! Larry gave her a handful of coins, three Euros something. She insisted we give her five Euros. We shook our heads and kept going ... you don't get to set the price for begging, do you? So I think I have a gypsy curse as a souvenir.

Hint: if you are going, get there early.

Monday: Ronda

I was unfamiliar with the city of Ronda until we got to Spain. I saw a picture of the way cool bridge on a tour pamphlet in the resort lobby; we decided it would be interesting to go see that. But there was so much more!

Ronda is an ancient city set high atop rocky outcroppings along a river. There were cave dwellers in prehistoric times, then as animals and crops were thrown into the mix, settlements were built on the plateau. The Romans came in, possibly the Phoenicians beforehand. Then the Moors, and the Christians. All the cultures overlap and contribute to the depth of the history.

Breakfast was early and we set off into the sunrise. We drove up from the coast through San Pedro. Figures that we were there just in time for all the parents to be dropping kids off at school, traffic was simply awful, clogged and slow. We missed a turn at one of the roundabouts and ended up behind some factories. We figured it out after much grousing at each other.

The Triple A map gave a different name for the two lane highway, but it took us there anyway. The drive in to the mountains is steep and at some points, quite spectacular. There were few places to stop for snapshots. It even snowed on us! When we stopped for fuel, Larry fussed about which pump to use. I had it figured out. The servicios behind the station were cold, cold cold! I was still glad to see them.

As we drive into Ronda, Larry turned east instead of following the older Sur del Ronda road. We came in through the newer sections of town. Very small one way streets and no visible parking. We finally found a parking garage under the plaza in front of the cathedral near the bull ring. That just sounds cool. As we walked over to find the tourist information center, we stopped and bought cheesy tourist keyrings with our names on them. Glad I can go by Margarita if I like! I passed up a tile picture in a shop set in the side of the bull ring, my one smallish regret. Very pretty and would have gone well on my tourist art wall.

The tourist center is tiny but great. You can buy tickets for the museums and sites in Old Town there, a ticket package gives reduced entrance fees. If I'd had my student ID, it would have been even less. The map claimed there were bathrooms behind the tourist center, but they were locked for the winter. Gah!

First we went into the New Bridge. This is the bridge we thought was Roman in the pictures, no, it was built in 1751! That's "new". It is still in use. Inside the bridge were interesting bits of history and pictures.

Next we went to the House of the Giant. This is named for a sculpture the owner found in a stream and brought to display in the house. It is pre-Roman, possibly Phoenician or ???? The house is an example of the overlapping cultures, a museum showing how a Moorish home was built over an original Roman dwelling, then converted into a Christian household. Fascinating!

A step across the tiny plaza brought us to a museum dedicated to a pupil/contemporary of Picasso, Peinado. Cubist, very good, but not my main thing. Beautiful little museum. There was a painting of a cubist skull I rather liked. One section of the gallery was sketches for paintings of nudes. My, my. And those led to what was assuredly taken from a private notebook. Wow. Not for the eyes of children or blushing virgins. Graphic, to say the least.

We got lost in the narrow streets a bit, then found the Palace of Mondragon. This immensely and lovely home has been converted to the city museum. All sorts of objects, art, displays, maps, dioramas, grave stones, and even prehistoric homes to walk through. Overwhelming, but intensely educational. I could spend all day there. wonderful views over the valley.

As we headed to our fifth site, we stopped at a little place to eat. Actually, the owner was out on the sidewalk, hustling folks to come in. We were cold and hungry, so in we went. Nice place, although the menu was limited. We had an excellent platter of tapas; Iberian ham and chorizos and a type of sheep (?) cheese. I ordered the meatballs so we'd have a bite of hot food. The bread placed on the table... that was not free, which is a little misleading, but hey, it was filling and nummy. Of course I had a glass of wine. By this time, I'd gotten the hang of ordering red table wine. I didn't see the pastries until we paid. No fair! They were lovely and looked decandently delicious.

We wound our way down to the last site, passing all sorts of interesting looking places ... The Moor's castle, and old home or three, the arch of King Philip. We walked down long low terraced steps to the Arab Baths. This sits lower to the river, below the stone walls. The baths had been restored somewhat. We watched the short animated film describing how the bath house had operated. A donkey walked in a circle harnessed to a wheel, moving buckets which scooped up water into an aqueduct set in the top wall. The water was heated in a furnace room, and then set to flow under the floors of the rooms. The first and smallest room is the Hot Room, the next is the Warm Room, and last is the Cool Room. The Cool Room was a gathering place to gossip,play games and get a massage. There were rooms for women, and a large entrance area with alcoves for changing and having cool drinks. I loved it.

We walked back up the steps, which was getting difficult for me, I was wheezing. We crossed the Old Bridge, built in the 1600s. Looking down to the east we could see the "Roman" bridge, which was not built by the Romans at all. We hiked up terrace after gardened terrace. Lovely, even if it was wintery. There were feral dogs who challenged us, but we hissed at them and waved our arms and the canines thought better of coming near us. By now it was siesta time and the little shops I wanted to go back to were closed for a few hours. We retrieved the car ad headed back to the resort. Of course we drove over the New Bridge and through the narrow little streets of Old Town and out the ancient city gates. Way, way cool!

We did stop at a big leather factory place, but it was pretty touristy and expensive. extremely nice leathers and furs, but far, far out of our price range. Eu79 for plain men's leather gloves.

Pictures: the New Bridge, the statue of the Giant, House of the Giant interior courtyard, inside the Mondragon Palace museum, tapas, me!, entrance to the Arab Baths, the cathedral above the car park. You can see the entrance to the parking garage if you look closely.

Link to my Ronda album

Sunday, Gibraltar and the Barbary Apes

Sunday morning, we got up early, ate breakfast and headed west for the Rock of Gibraltar. The Rock is, of course, the massive peak guarding the entrance to the Mediterranean. Huge! This has been occupied by the Moors, the Spanish and now the British. Fascinating layers of history, and I should have bought a good guidebook before we went. I dislike not knowing just what it is I am seeing.

The drive was easy, the road well-marked. A national highway and all that. I did notice that that stretch of the coast looked exactly like ... old California. Rolling hills, oak trees, cattle. And new California too with wind farms and a refinery. No wonder the Spaniards took to our West Coast so readily. It really did look like home to the Andalusians.

Crossing into Gibraltar is ludicrously simple, you just follow the lanes of traffic marked Nothing To Declare. The gal at the border just looked to see we had passports in hand, not that they were ours or any of that. Then you drive across the runway of the airstrip. Turns out you can drive pretty much as high up the Rock as the cable cars go. A winter day with wind and rain, not too many tourists about. Parking wasn't too bad, but I think in summer it would be impossible. The roads are tiny and narrow with many blind spots. The shops are closed on Sunday, a good thing, because there's a lot of duty-free shopping for high-end goods.

We drove around, went to the southernmost point and tried to see Africa. We could seeing a looming dark mass, I guess that was it. Unless it was still Spain, which might have been what I was seeing. Hard to tell! The wind was so fierce, it shoved me around, nearly off my feet. There was an impressive Moorish structure and a lighthouse. Drove around some more, looked at the old military installations and the nifty houses and buildings. Then we drove to the cable car terminal, but the cars were closed due to high winds. There was an independent tour guy who had a little van, he rounded up a bunch of us and took us up to the major sights and sites. It was pricey, but worth it not to have to walk up in all that wind and damp. Although we had driven right up to where he stopped to buy us tickets. The Pillars of Hercules monument stands behind the ticket office, and there's a long story about Spanish silver dollars, aka pieces of eight, being impressed with the pillars, which gave Americans their dollar sign. America used Spanish dollars long before we minted our own.

Anyway, we saw the Cave of St. Michael, a natural cave which has been used since prehistoric times. Lots of drippy stone and wet. It was a hospital at one time, but now it is a music venue. Cool. Nest we stopped at the Ape's Den, the remanants of an old stucture at the top of the Spanish Stairs. This is where one of the troops of Babary Apes lives. There are six troops and they do not co-mingle. You aren't supposed to feed the apes, but our guide had treats and a stick to fend off the alpha male. Alpha was a big bully, naturally. The babies were adorable, but if you paid them attention, the asdoloscent male went, well, ape-shit. I held my arms our, hands clasped, as suggested, and sure enough, the ape hopped up for a photo op. They aren't dumb. The ape was tugging at Larry's pants leg, and suddenly climbed up onto his shoulder. I whirled around and shot a snap, but it didn't turned out well. Larry was near the guide, sure enough the ape reached over and snagged some extra treats. If you climb the short stairs at the Den, you can see the Med and the Atlantic at the same time. One is blue-grey and choppy, the other green and smoother.

Next we went to see the Great Siege Tunnels. These were blasted out facing the mainland by the British. I have no idea what the conflict was about, but I'm thinking the Brits were taking the Rock around then. I need my history book. There were mannequins in some of the enclosues, and one behind a door who would trigger on movement and shout, "Who goes there!" One nervous Brit on the tour kept warning me not to be frightened. Poor guy, everything frightened him, it was his first journey outside of England. He wouldn't even walk down to a pub in his own hometown! He was quite proud he'd made a day trip into Spain for a meal. Wow.

The guide showed us some other bits and pieces, then drove us into the middle of the Old Town. By now we were hungry and found a wonderful little restaurant called The Penny Farthing. I had calamares, with chips and veggies and a salad, but I wish I'd gone with the tandoori. Larry had lamb and couscous. We were sitting right where we could see over the counter into the kitchen. The cook was Morroccan and once a chef at a five-star hotel. He was delighted Larry had chosen the coucous, it was truly excellent. They did take Euros, but you have to tell them first so they can figure the bill. Gibtraltar uses English pounds.

I took a lot of pictures on the walk back to the car. Again, I need a history book! I also hit the tourist shop that was open, bought kitschy things, a fridge magnet with a lucky ape penny, a shot glass, postcards. Then the rain came pouring down and we decide it was time to head home. I wish I'd stopped on the Spanish side for a long shot photo of the Rock, there was no good place to stop on the way out.

Pictures: The Rock from halfway up, the Moorish palace (?), windy me, the map, I think I can see Africa, the Pillars of Hercules, Larry with my purse, Me and the Ape, Apeman, Ape, seige tunnels, the Penny Farthing, around Old Town, old gravestones set into the wall of the Tragfalga cemetery.

I have posted many more pictures on Facebook and provided links:

http://tinyurl.com/bvo8ll

http://tinyurl.com/d5dkt4

Tomorrow: Ronda and I wish we'd had a chance to stop and take pictures on the windy mountain roads!