Driving in Spain, so far
In our last post we celebrated our owning a car. We definitely have more freedom now than last year, but we still walk from home into El Centro. It’s nice to be able to go to our larger supermercados and buy more than we did before. Our lives have become a little easier, and when the weather gets ugly with rain and raw wind, it will be nice to have the car.
We’ve taken two trips of substance. Saturday, November 22nd we took the A-397 south to Marbella to find some heating panels for the walls in our home. There’s a large mall, La Cañada, which has many stores similar to US malls and a huge supermercado, AlCampo.
The “A” in highway, A-397, refers to Andalucía, the region we live in, our province is Málaga. In essence we are traveling from an altitude of over 1000 m down to sea level. Going down is faster than returning as tractor trailers and buses use this route. Patients is a virtue (always in Spain), but where people pass is scary and it’s a long way down through the guard rails if you make a mistake. From Ronda to Marbella is only 68 km but the road and traffic slow you down, unless you want to risk passing. Dramamine is in the glove box!
We got to Marbella easily then took the toll road, AP-7 (Interstate quality) for 10 km. Fortunately I had brought my GPS from the US and it was fine until we needed to find the entrance to the mall. Signage is different and not as ubiquitous. Fortunately we had no red lights to hassle with, but we did drive in circles literally and up and down the same street a few times. I remembered they had a McDonald’s there and saw the turn on maybe our third or fourth attempt, the mall. Another problem with the GPS was the voice speaking Spanish street names in English, ABSOLUTELY the worst pronunciation of Spanish. They need to fix this to speak English but street names need to be close to how they are pronounced in Spanish. We had a great day shopping and found many goodies unavailable in Ronda, and now we know how to get there.
As I write this we are both recovering from the “Spanish Flu” not the 1918 version. If you don’t believe in flu shots, ok. If you do and haven’t received one yet, you should, it was nasty and Cindy is still recovering. Because of the bug we were locked inside for four beautiful days. Monday, November 30th came and we needed to get the hell out. We knew that Jerez De La Frontera * (212.000) had another IKEA and we just needed a few more items before Landen, Lauren, Baleigh and Ricky arrive.
*Back in the good ol’ days when Spain was Muslim and Christian towns with La Frontera in their name represented the border, frontier, between the competing religions.
As you can see from the above map “you can’t get there from here”. Between us and Jerez are mountains, sharp and jagged, all part of the uplift as Africa and Europe continue to collide. The coastal plain from the Mediterranean inland to our area is narrow and then mountains rise steeply. It reminds me of driving to some degree in Vermont. I remember driving to Middlebury College for soccer games. Shortest route was over Appalachian Gap, fastest route was a host of backdoor routes from Richmond, to Hinesburg, to Bristol, and finally Middlebury, the last route was farther by 10 or so miles but 30 minutes faster.
They look like they are just minutes different, but if you’ve ever driven in Vermont you know traffic makes all the difference. The route in the middle had other shortcuts involved too. Every soccer official in Vermont has a mind full of shortcuts to locations throughout the state.
Due to my experience with the GPS in Marbella I decided I needed to upgrade the maps. My European maps would cost another $95, but a new one with a lifetime of upgrades was 116€, a no brainer. So now I have this spiffy new Garmin. I knew how to operate it since my old one was a Garmin and went online to get a manual. Unbeknownst to me this new one has a built-in indicator letting you know you are approaching a speed trap. Yes, here in Spain they set traps but let you know ahead of time, however, some folks still get caught, and it’s very expensive with points on your license.
What has really helped is just living here for a year and not driving. We’ve learned how to navigate the streets and now when driving know where we are and how to get from point A to B. Remember from previous posts, we have no, zero, red lights in a city of 40,000, one-way streets and rotaries move traffic safely and quickly.
Driving is driving, but it’s not. There are many nuances to driving here. One that I’ve found that I need to be aware of are scooters and motorbikes. They scoot through traffic when you stop on your left or right, so you really need to be aware. Another one today scared the sh-t out of me.
As I said, driving is driving, but it’s not. If you come to Europe, and I’m painting here with a broad brush it will be different. When we first came in 2008 for Christmas, Landen, Cindy, and I drove from Madrid to Ronda. It was confusing at times, luckily I had Landen as a navigator. I feel much more at ease now. Coming when we did in 2008 really didn’t prepare us, experiencing it has, you learn by doing. If you come to Europe, be it Madrid, London (OMG, the other side of the road), Paris, or Rome, it won’t be driving in the US. Some signage is universal, but some are not.
100 kph which is 62 mph. Speed limit actually rises to 120 kph or 72 mph. There was talk of raising it to 128 kph or 80 mph
Yield sign when accessing a highway from an entrance ramp.
At first I was confused but then realized it’s the highway with a side road on the left
Just a reminder that these may be in the road, or sheep, or goats, or deer.
¡Nuestros Hijos Están Llegando! (Our Children Are Coming!)
This will be the theme of our next post. Christmas will be like 2008, in Spain. With a couple added highlights, Baleigh’s Ricky, Landen’s Lauren, actually they are all our now, and Rafael and Kathy, Lauren’s parents, should be here too. So let the fiesta begin. The lights in Ronda are being strung and the city will have lights everywhere culminating with the parade down La Bola.
Our España 