Visit to the Castle in Aguilas

September 29, 2010
Yesterday after I found the ATM(!), I visited another small and quite deserted beach nearby. Called the Cope de Torre, it is more like a lot of pumice type rock with a little sand, and the water is quite clear. While there, I finished Michael Connolly’s The Last Coyote! But in the on-going quest for hot water, when I went to take a shower, once again, there was no hot water. Well, I am delighted to report than I figured out the tank was empty. But, since I am not keen on how the flame flares up when it first ignites, I prevailed upon Derek to see if he could help me out, which he did. However, that remedied one problem, but there is not still hot water everywhere in the house. So Roger was called back in! (He must be the engineer!) He said that one of the fixtures must need a new washer, as there is not enough pressure to force hot water through that faucet. But there IS hot water in the kitchen sink and the shower on the first floor, so we should be good until we leave!
Today I took a walk around the neighborhood, up the hill near the house, which goes over to the little Torre beach, should I wish to walk that far, but I won’t with a beach chair! I also found Kati’s bakery and coffee shop, where I stopped for a coffee and chocolate covered donut. After lunch I went back to the Torre beach, and there was another couple there with two umbrellas. It was 2 o’clock, earlier than I have been to the beach here, so I wondered if I should have brought an umbrella. But I wasn’t facing the sun, so it turned out to be okay! This couple, Anne and Daniel, is from Bordeaux, so I got to practice my French a bit. Another day I’ll take the French –English dictionary here in the house. They’ve been coming here for five years and apparently know Joan and David. They may have even stayed here once. I couldn’t figure everything out!

September 30, 2010
This morning I visited the Tourist Information center (TI) in the center of Aguilas, so I was able to get a lot of information about the area and Lorca. Then I climbed up to the Castle of San Juan de las Aguilas, built in 1756 to repel Turkish and Barbarian pirates. Recently restored in 2007, the impressive castle can be seen all over the area. The entrance fee was a mere €.60, so they must not make much money here even in the summer! Unfortunately everything was in Spanish, so I could only “look at the pictures”. Now, though I will be able to learn what I can visit nearby before Karen arrives!
This afternoon I returned to the beach for a quick swim, but the French couple did not reappear. Now I am at the Hotel Mayari again, which is near the house. It is a very quiet little place which has a great view!
I’ll have to come back in the morning to have some of the wonderful coffee he just brewed!

Learning about Aguilas and Area

September 27, 2010
It is still quite dark here at 6:30AM. Soon the time will change here also, but I don’t know when.
Home exchanges among other things are about plain regrouping! I TRY to be flexible! For example, the bed I’m sleeping in has a mattress pad, but unfortunately it has a plastic underlining on it! (Joan has young grandchildren....) So if I’m not yet asleep, I hear the sound of the plastic crinkle as I move about. Luckily I’m sound sleeper! (Interestingly enough I bought a similar mattress pad for a guest bed once, but I cut out the plastic, because I figured it would be too annoying to the guest-actually it annoyed me not even using it!) It does not,however, keep me from sleeping! This house at least has screens, but there are also metal screens to keep out the heat. Last night I pulled it so tight, it wouldn't come down, but "Tony to the RESCUE!" He fixed it and showed me to do the same, if I do that again, which is pretty unlikely.
Somewhere I had read that the British had discovered the wonderful weather here early in the 20th century, so they started coming here then. I don’t know how recently they started buying second homes here, but there is a huge population of British and Germans (and others no doubt) who come for extended periods. Usually they come for two or so months at a time, before they return home for a few months. Most keep their homes “back home”. But this huge population of “foreigners” certainly has an impact on the original citizens living here. I would imagine that the younger, educated generation would appreciate the ex-pats’ impact on their economic and tax base. However, others are just resentful; would they like to be living somewhere else and retired? There’s a small neighborhood market nearby which Kathy said has very good bread. However, Tony commented that he thought the owners “don’t like us very much”.
There is also big agricultural base here, as you can see farm after farm from the highway. They look like greenhouses covered with plastic. They seem to be all types of crops-fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Along the road there was a billboard for iceberg lettuce (not Foxy!). When I arrived last Friday, the traffic going the opposite direction was stopped for miles. Some truck, now long gone, had accidentally unloaded cases and cases of tomatoes all over the highway. All I could see was a policeman trying to pick them up?! But I was going the speed limit, so I could not really see what was happening.
Today is a cloudy day, and I thought it looked like rain was coming. I drove to Mojacar (pronounced something like Mohackar), which is about an hour away. Between here and there was not much to see but a series of small towns. Mojacar is in Andalusia and really looks like a white town up on a hill, but I don’t know if it is classified as such. It is very touristy, but quaint! There were miles of deserted beaches and a sweet little chapel, and tons of touristy shops and restaurants which did not snare me! I briefly talked with a couple from Newcastle, who hadn’t been there for twenty years. I took an alternate route home, which was more scenic. The GPS had sent me via the highway-a toll road, no less.
And speaking of highways, the roads are very good here, but then there is plenty of room in the wide open flat space of the plains! Roads outside of town are mostly four lanes, so I’ll not be complaining about the roads! This mess of small plastic clips was all over the opposite lane on the way home.
I was back to the beach for a late afternoon swim. Another British Kathy whom I had met when I first arrived stopped by to chat, as she and her husband were leaving. They invited me to join them at the bar for a drink, so I met two more British couples. Some of them have been fully retired for five plus years, so they’ve been coming on the two month here, two months in London or Newcastle, etc. rotation. Kathy and Tony have just retired this year, so this is the first time they’ve been here this long.

September 28, 2010
This is a “home” day, so I have figured out the laundry system here, and shortly I’ll go to the internet spot to post this. (By the way t oday here at Los Geraneos the TV is showing a talk show, not sure if it "The Bacherlotte" Spain style or what. On Sunday they were watching car races.)
I also need to find an ATM here. I'm always a bit curious/stressed before my first ATM attempt in a new place. So far on this trip I've had no problem, but last year it happened once....The Aguilas Plaza will be my first stop, as I'm sure they must have several ATMs there.
Last night it rained, and today is blue sky-cloudy, although my car registered 31* when I got into it at noon. There is a walk nearby to another beach, which I’m going to follow later on. I’m devouring Michael Connolly’s The Last Coyote! I also downloaded the Lonely Planet Spain book, as I didn’t bring a guidebook in the interest of luggage weigh. So I'll see what other places of interest are near by to save some longer trips like Lorca, Cartagena,and Murcia, for when Karen is here.

From Badesi Sardinia to 83 Avenida Rio Segura, Calabardina, 30889 Aguilas Murcia, Spain

September 23, 2010
I was up early for the last wash, bed change, and cleaning, before I left Badesi. I arrived at the quiet little Alghero Airport far earlier than I needed to, but it was time to leave! So I read and actually finished The Shadow of the Wind while I waited. Because of the striking air traffic control in France, we left two hours later than we were supposed to. Then the captain came on the loud speaker saying that we were going to be delayed another two hours. I thought it was a joke, but he never laughed, so I thought we would be there for two more hours, but that was not the case-luckily! So I had two hours of sleep at the Best Western in Madrid to get the 6AM shuttle to leave for Alicante on an 8:10 flight.

September 24,2010
At the Alicante airport, I picked up a bright blue four door Renault Elf, and drove to (exchanger) Joan’s German friend Hilde to get the keys.(She waited for me all day yesterday, since Joan told her that was when I was coming! Woops!) Before I even got in the door of this house, I met three British neighbors! Kathy and Tony from Gloucestershire live right next door in probably a unit with the same floor plan as this one. (NB. When I was in the Cheltenham several years ago on a swap, and Kathy and I lost our water supply, the water treatment center was in Gloucester!) So I’ve picked up some groceries and am off to bed early. It’s also interesting geography with lots of mountains, but also lots of plains, so far it has not been as dramatic as Sardinia. And it is still very hot! Maybe even too hot to go to the beach during the day!

September 25, 2010
Well, today may have been a bit of a fool’s errand, but who knows! When I checked out the car yesterday at Avis with not much sleep, I didn’t even look at the car for scratches, etc…. But late yesterday pm, I noticed a small nick on the rear left panel. I called Avis and after going from person to person, I finally got to Elayna. I explained the situation, and she said, “How do I know you didn’t do it? I replied, “You have to trust me.” Basically she said she wasn’t getting paid to trust me. She told me to go to the Murcia airport to show it to them.
So about 10:30 I put Murcia into the GPS and started. (Before I left, I found out there was no hot water. so much for washing my hair!)
Now, if because the airport is called the Murcia Airport, I should NOT have assumed it is in Murcia, which I did! Because not only is Murcia the name of a city, it is also the name of the whole province! So until I figured this out, I was going in the wrong direction, since the airport is much closer to Cartagena!
Got to Avis, and got it all resolved, so I shouldn’t have a penalty, when I turn the car back in on October 19th! Oh, and by the way, it is probably about 112 miles each way……..HMMMMMMMMMMMMmm. “If you’re happy and you know it, stamp your feet!”
About 5 I went down to the nearest beach-maybe an eight minute walk-with Kathy and Tony for a swim. It seems like no one goes to beach between 10 and 4! We stopped for a beer at the little bar there, which they said has the best paella and calamari. I’ve never yet had paella, so I won’t be a good judge, but I’ll let you know when I’ve tried it. Karen, who is coming over on October 7th loves paella, so she'll be a much better judge. (Karen lives in Denver; when we went to Peru five years ago,our mutual friend Nancy Foster introduced us, and we roomed together on that trip.)

September 26
Well, this morning I had a bit of a panic attack, as I thought that I’d left my Blackberry charger and the electricity converter in my travels. Luckily I FOUND IT!!!! One of my thoughts at the time was 'I’m ever so annoyed that I’ve become a slave to technology!' So I would have been (sort of) like the old English poets I talked about in Rome doing the Grand Tour!

The place where I am staying is very comfortable with a pleasant patio and deck space. Built four years ago, it is a four bedroom, three bath duplex. Across the street all the units look to be attached; I can see at least four For Sale or For Rent signs! Tony said they are probably asking €220,000, but the “estate agents say they should be asking €180,000”! (Ah, the universal real estate dilemma!)
According to Kathy, these units (maybe eight in all?) were designed by an architect who lives above these units. Because he wanted to see the ocean, he ended up lowering the elevation of these units. Several of them have had huge water problems, because of the rain coming down the mountain and running down this street, and down into the garages. One woman lost her car which was parked in the garage! There was a problem here, but Joan only said “unforeseen circumstances” meant the garage would not be available. I’d not want to park down there anyway. The incline would be a real challenge to anyone, let alone someone NOT used to a manual shift!
Between Tony and Roger, another British neighbor, the hot water heater is running fine now! The flame seems high when it goes on, but they say that is how it should be. Learning about the different systems is always interesting!
I drove into Aguilas, which is a mixture of farming and tourist town. I had seen this shepherd later yesterday herding these sheep. Today I saw him sitting here as they fed off the hillside.
I'm at Los Geraneos, a restaurant-bar near by where there have free internet, so I'm sitting here drinking my €1.20 COKE Light and catching up. GOOD thing I brought my little Acer Notebook! They also have access at the library where we can print things, so Kathy and Tony had said they'll take me there. Shortly I'll head off to the beach for another swim. Ah, but first, I decided to have a snack. CAROL, they have tapas here! So I ordered a dish of what is just like what Gloria made and called Insalada rossa (with potatoes and tuna, etc. Can't imagine what else. It is a bit salty, but tasty!) for €1.50.
Mateo, the bartender here at Los Geraneos,speaks no English, but Natchez, short for Ignacio, does speak English, so he helped me order. It turns out that his father was in the Spanish army, so they spent five years in Alexandria, VA back in the early '80's.
So that is Spain,Chapter 1! Adios!

End of My Explorations in Sardinia

Well, this will be last entry in Italy, as I fly to Madrid tomorrow, and then Friday morning, I will fly to Alicante to pick up the rental car and drive to Aguilas.
Yesterday, as you may have seen on Facebook, I did a “church” tour. It was a gray, overcast day that threatened rain, which never materialized. The churches were all very old; some were totally abandoned. The only one that was actually open was the Basilica della Santissima Trinità di Saccargia, built in 1116, and still used today. The legend has it that it was built by a couple who had the “revelation” that they were going to have their first “longed-for child” while camping at that location. In my wanderings I came across a petrified forest in Carracuna, which was interesting! I saw nothing about it in any guidebook I saw.


Some Italian Trivia-As I wrap up the Sardinia portion of the blog, I wanted to share some miscellaneous observations I’ve made during my time in Italy.

Change or Cambio
Well, I’m not sure why, but every single cashier in every single supermercato in Italy insists on getting –or trying to get- the EXACT CHANGE FOR EVERY TRANSACTION! To the penny or .01euro. On occasion they get somewhat indignant if you have only a big bill with NO change.

Ice
How did Americans get into the habit of putting ices into drinks? What is the history of the ice cube? (Even though my new refrigerator does have an automatic ice maker, I don’t use a lot of ice at home.) However, there is definitely something about ice-especially in the summer-that makes a cold drink tastier with ice in it! However, it is very uncommon to get ice in a drink in Italy. When we asked for it in Rome, we would get one ice cube. There are no ice trays here, although yesterday I saw them in a market for the first time.
So I needed to get a bit creative to have ice for water or soda. In Rome I used the little plastic gelato cups like an ice cube tray. Here in Badesi, I cut off the big 1.5 liter water bottles and filled them with water, so when I filled it with water or iced tea, the “ice cube” was already in the “glasss”. Ah, the proverbial “necessity is the mother of invention”….
Then I found in the drawer where plastic bags, tinfoil, etc. are stored, two boxes of "Sachetti Trasparenti Cubetti Ghiaccio con alette di chiusure” made by the Cuki Company. This is a box of individual plastic bags that you pour water into and each sachetti-bag makes twenty-eight SMALL ice cubes. I tried it once, but I really didn’t do it quite right-little tricky. And, of course,when all else failed, we’d fill the water bottles the night before to have some ice in the bottom….
Shop Hours
Everyone knows that most shops in Europe close for lunch. In Italy, most of them seem to close from 1:30-4:30-even some of the gas stations. SISA, “my” neighbour market here stayed open all day on Sunday until two weeks ago, when apparently summer ended. Some markets even close mid-day during the week.

Dish draining system
There is a small rack up over the sink where you put the dishes which you have washed to drain and dry. (I posted a picture of this on Facebook.) Gloria had this in Nice, but I’d never seen it before then.

So I’m changing languages and dictionaries and am off to Spain for four weeks.
Hasta luego!

Trip to Argentiera with the AFS Group

Well, I've started packing, as I leave here on Thursday for Spain!
Yesterday Francesca invited me to go on the AFS outing to Argentiera, to see "the ghostly ruins of its silver mine, once the most important on the island". Lonely Planet The Romans first mined it, and it was mined up to 1960. And it is ghostly! There is a very small cove of a beach, which was very rough yesterday. There are eight students based here in Sassari, and no more than two of them are in the same school. Most of them are here for the whole year. There is a boy from Bethel, CT. Of course, I went to talk with him; he could have been from Bethel, ME! Most of them have only been here less than a week, so they are still pretty shy. Except for the Spanish speaking students, their Italian is quite elementary-EASY for me to say!
They held a short program at a school, where each student introduced him/herself. Then we drove around to look at parts of this sad little town. It is so small; there cannot be too much tourist activity. Afterwards we met at a beach where everyone had the picnic which they had brought. Some of the parents had been AFS students themselves. Many of them did speak English also.
Francesca and I left early, as she needed to go see her mother at the hospital in Alghero. I just sat in the car and had a catnap!
On our way back to her house, we stopped in the city of Alghero, a major city and port, which still has its street signs in Spanish and Italian. We got a gelato, walked around abit, and saw that there was alot of activity at the Duomo. We had actually seen three young priests walking towards the church wearing basic black robes and carrying what looked to be off white long, fancy surplices. Francesca wanted to go in to see what was happening, and that was fine with me. We only stayed about ten minutes, as it had not yet started, but that is as close as either of us had ever gotten to priests' ordination. There was a huge crowd, and the dress was from very fancy to very casual!
We got back to her house in plenty of time for me to drive home before it got dark.

Meeting Couch Surfer Francesca!

Well, it turned out that the Guatemalan AFS student who is at Francesca's was sick today, so I went to her home for lunch and ANOTHER outing (with her driving!:)). She lives in Sassari just outside of town, and I have passed her street three times before today.
Lunch was at 1:30, which would give her son Simone time to get home from work. I did get lost, since the GPS couldn't pick up the address she gave me. (Later the satellite did get the actual street!) She came to meet me, and I followed her back to her house. She had prepared a lovely lunch of mushroom(?) risotto and chicken and melone with a very nice red wine. (She had a scale in the bathroom, which I dared to step on. OH, MY, I hope it is right!!!)
Francesca is 50, and her husband died of a heart attack four years ago. She has a lovely home, which they built twenty-three years ago. She has another son, Andrea, who is studying engineering in Genoa. Simone, an architect, also studied there; he came back to Sassari, but Francesca thinks that Andrea will not. There are thirty trees in the backyard-apple, orange, mandarin orange, lemon, and olive. She has enough olive trees to provide her enough olive oil for the year!
I had written to Francesca last June to see if I could stay there before I moved into my swap, but that wouldn't work because Rodolfo(who speaks Spanish, English, Italian, and ?)was coming. When I arrived early in the month, I checked in with her, but her mother has been very sick. Francesca is the only daughter with five brothers, so it seems like it has all fallen on her. After lunch she was telling me more about her mother. She is 71 (!) and looks 90. She apparently has had many health issues over the years, including having lost a kidney. Her father, who is 80, had a plumbing and heating business, which all six of them now work in. All, but one of the brothers is married.
After lunch Simone and Rodolfo left for the beach at Stintino, which Angela had told me the other day, was THE most beautiful beach. We were going to Alghero to meet her friend Anna. When I mentioned what Angela had said about Stintino, Francesca offered to take us there on the way to Alghero. She loves to take people around Sardinia, and I was most appreciative!
Stintino, which is now one of the ten richest communes in Italy, has a population of 1000, which expands to 30,000 in the summer. I'd not want to be there then, as I can't imagine how anyone gets anywhere! She said that people go down to the beach early in the morning and put their beach towels down to "save a spot" for when they go to the beach. (Maybe that is how the "saving" of parking spots with chairs in wintry Boston started!?) But today Stintino was quite and quaint; the beach WAS very nice. (I'd thought about driving over there next week, but now I can just go to the Badesi beach!)
Francesca also told me about the towers in that part of the island, which were built when Spain governed the island. A tower was built and within its sight, another tower was built, and so on around the island; so each tower served as a "look-out". In my time there today, I did see many towers.
We drove to Alghero, where we picked up her friend Anna, who works in a bank. She had spent the day on the beach, so she was happy! She said there were only three people on her beach, which was not the case at Stintino! However, it was not the summer crowds.
We were very close to Capo Caccia, which was another spectacular sight! Caccia means wild pigeon hunting(DK Sardinia book), which was once popular there. There is also a place where you can climb down 656(!) steps to the caves of Neptune's Grotto. Grotto is down this spot. (And by the way, that makes my climbs up and down the Spanish Steps NOTHING! 656 steps = 50 flights of stairs! SURE!) We headed back to Francesca's, so I could get on the road ASAP, since it would be dark by the time I got home. Today was all wonderful, and another interesting mixture of delightful new people and new places!

Archaelogy 101 in Arazachena

Yesterday was laundry day, and then I made the ten minute walk into town. I went to the beach, which now has free parking! The surf was very rough so I thought I'd swim when I got home. But the pool looked like it was going to start growing algae, as the pump was off. Piero had given me manager Alberto's cell phone, so I texted him a message in very cryptic Italian (problema in piscine). Luckily he does text, so he was here very quickly. We spoke briefly, and he got the pump back on, so today it looked good.
This morning my destination was Arazachena, which is famous for being in the heart of the "quite stunning" (Lonely Planet) Costa Esmeralda, thanks to Aga Khan and his rich friends who bought alot of the land there fifty years ago to develop. But what makes Arazachena interesting is that there are dozens of tomba and nuraghi in the area. THAT was why I wanted to go there.
I won't bore you with ALL the details, but I saw one nuraghe and three tombas. Lonely Planet says that Nuraghe di Albucciu "is unusual for its flat granite roof instead of the usual conical shape and its warren of emergency rooms". Here is the nuraghe hidden by some trees. Nuraghi had different functions from simple look-out posts to religious buildings. They are not in any other area of the Mediterranean, except for Corsica, the Talajots in the Balearic Isles, the Brachs of Scotland, etc. This is according to Paolo Melis in The Nuragic Civilization. They go back to 1700-1500BC. Whatever the details, they are very impressive structures! (An Irish woman took my picture on the top of the nuraghe.) The three tombas (one is pictured) were somewhat similar to the tomba I had seen last week when I took the ten minute walk in to see it. One of the ones I saw goes back to 3500BC.
I drove over to Porto Cervo which reminded me of many touristy California towns. Lonely Planet says, "it is a purpose-built leisure centre for the super-rich". Olaf had recommended Capo Testa, as an interesting beach he really liked. So I wended my way by there after I stopped for a hot ham and Fontina cheese panini with a Heineken. Well! The driving (FINALLY!) was getting to me.
And it was time to go home, except that I had routed myself home via S. Teresa di Gallura. My 100 country and western songs were getting old, so I went into the market where I had bought the CDs and bought the John Pizzarelli Bossa Nova CD for some musical variety. I drove the 49 km. home in one hour!!!!! (This is a fraction over 31 miles!) The good news is that I did PASS three vehicles...well, that is because they were farm vehicles going even way slower than I do!
Both Gloria and Patrick had recommended Shadow in the Wind , so it's now on the Kindle. I was sitting outside earlier reading, when a yellow jacket decided my foot was in the way, so now I'm nursing a nasty sting.
Tomorrow is a beach day and then a visit from Couch Surfer Francesca who lives in Sassari. Rodolfo, an exchange student from Guatemala, is at her hours, so they will come for beach and dinner about 4.
And the rocks continue to fascinate me!