De Vuelta a Los Orígenes de Acebo

 

Finally after being here for three years we made it to the birthplace of my grandparents, Fermin Acebo Casar and Elvira Lastra Gomez.  They arrived in the United States through Ellis Island and made their way to Vermont meeting in and marrying in Montpelier.  If you travel to their birthplace, Mirones, you’ll notice similarities to Vermont, mountains, albeit more rugged and imposing, and green, very green.

We had planned to visit Mirones (population 142) in September but Landen and Lauren had planned a trip to see us, visit Bilbao and San Sebastian in Basque Country (Pais Vasco), and then go to Germany to link with her brother and sister.  So Cindy and I added a day to our itinerary and went to Mirones another 80 km to the west and visited my cousin Tina Acebo Gomez , her husband Val, and daughter Elena.  Tina was actually born in Barre and moved to Spain with her parents when she was 20.  I posted a picture of us on Facebook and Suzy Bedia Lamson (Suzy is Spanish too) recognized the little girl she used to played with on Second Street in Barre.

Bilbao (345,000)

Bilbao is more temperate in climate, cooler summers and winters, no Vermont winter, 20-30 C  in summer and 8-10 C in winter, sounds pretty ideal to me.  We loved Bilbao, just a beautiful city, different from the south of Spain with multicolored buildings and of course the center piece of the city, the Guggenheim Museum.  Landen found an Air B&B centrally located which made negotiating the city very easy.

Museo Guggenheim 

San Sebastian (186,000)

Smaller than Bilbao, you could live here, hell I could live here, if you like beaches and if you like quaint and beautiful.  It has these beautiful arching beaches with a imposing castle protecting the harbor from invading English or French.  Again walking is so easy and lots of wonderful restaurants and sights. 

Tour Guides

Mirones (142)

The family started here and my newest cousin, Elena’s daughter and Tina’s granddaughter.  It’s surreal walking down these streets after Google Earthing them many times.  We also went though another village with some Barre connection so this one is for the Rubalcaba family.  Another village nearby is La Carcoba which also rings a bell in Barre.

I’ll finish this with current history, no not the stuff in Washington, but Madrid and Cataluyña.  We are following the events here and have been since we moved to Ronda. The Catalán government passed an independence resolution and have now formerly declared independence.  They have their own language, police force, medical system, education system, and account for approximately 20% of the Spanish economy, think California which accounts for 14.1% of the US economy.  So this is a big deal when put into perspective, and it’s always about the money.  And it’s also rooted in history, yup that history again.  Under the Franco dictatorship minorities were suppressed in Catalyuña, Galicia ( different language here too), Pais Vasco ( and another language).  So take the past stir in some present and you get….a problem looking for a solution, and the solution as it is most times is COMPROMISE.  So we’ll see what transpires.  

Here’s some language for you

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Luns Martes Mércores Xoves Venres Sábado Domingo-Galician

dilluns dimarts dimecres dijous divendres dissabte diumenge-Catalán

astelehena asteartea asteazkena osteguna ostirala larunbata igandea-Basque

lunes martes miércoles jueves viernes sábado domingo-Spanish

 

el 4 de agosto, 2017 Dos aniversarios Hoy!

When I started writing this it was August 4th.  I’ve gone back numerous times to add, delete, and generally fix, but for some reason WordPress is not letting me.  So, sorry, it is what it is. 

Today August 4th has some very special meaning for us.  In 1979 we were married in Barre Town at Cindy’s parent’s home and thirty-five years later we put three large suitcases, actually LL Bean very, very large soft luggage suitcases onto a Norwegian Airlines flight to Spain. Between those dates; two children, lots of teaching for both of us, and of course great reflections on our lives in our native state of Vermont.

So we’ve settled into our life here pretty well.  Language will always be a challenge, brain just can’t take twenty Spanish words in a nano-second and put them into English before the next twenty words follow. But it’s getting better, and having a younger brain wouldn’t hurt either.

On the fourth we went to Bodega San Francisco and met our friends Ed, Judi, and their daughter Catherine. It was only a short ten minute walk down the hill to the Plaza Ruedo Alameda, however it was 98º at 7:30.  

They setup outside in the Plaza across the street from the actual restaurant six days a week.  Like roadies in the Jackson Browne song, “set it up and tear it down….”, tables, chairs, unbrellas, tables with items they’ll need, napkins, knives, forks…. .  The food is prepared inside and they literally walk across the street, back and forth all day and night to serve customers. Camareros, waiters, work very hard.

Google Earth of Plaza Ruedo Almeda

The waiter in the middle of the picture is just a reference point, but the couple in front of him have their children. The evening was full of parents and their children, no babysitters here, they come with the parents, play in the plaza and could be here long after midnight.

This was taken at 11:15 when we left but they were still going strong in the plaza.

Vuelta a España 2017, 23 de julio, 2017

Olvera, Cádiz, Andalucía, España

 It’s been awhile since I posted which was due to traveling back to Vermont to visit family and friends, but mostly family.  Cindy’s mom Thelma has a condo in Barre where we plunk our bodies.  Thelma’s 87 and doing very well but does need some limited assistance.  We also had our two children to see, Baleigh in Boston, soon to be Denver, and Landen and his wife Lauren in Charlotte, NC.  And this time around I had to move my father, Victor, from one ASL to another.

Vermont has fleeting seasons, except for winter which starts in November and ends in April, don’t believe the solstice and equinox. Vermonters live for summer and sometimes they’re rewarded, this year not so much, but nevertheless they’ll say it was a great summer.

We arrived on May 6th to pouring rain in Boston and rode to Vermont with our daughter; rained all the way. This was the just a precursor to our stay, 57 days and 38 with rain.  We also took a short, to short, a trip to NC to see our Landen and Lauren and were able to connect with my hunting/teaching buddy JJ and his wife Karen in Asheville.  “A good time was had by all,” as our good friend Rod would say.

Twin brothers from different families.  

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Italian Time

I married an Italian/American which I highly recommend.  Cindy loves to cook and her Italian DNA always comes out when with the family. This year she made homemade raviolis and tortellini with her mother and  tortellini with our son.

What do we NOT miss most about the US?

• Don’t miss the weather, especially winter.  Well a little quick with this answer, now it’s 41º C so 20º C would be nice.

• Don’t miss the roads in Vermont, the climate is unforgiving and the infrastructure suffers because of it.  We just accepted it when living there, it’s Vermont.

• Don’t miss the prices and quality of fruits, vegetables, and wine. We’re spoiled in Spain.

• Don’t miss dining out, which is a misnomer in Vermont, usually it’s inside; we dine out here. 

• Don’t miss the red lights controlling traffic, give me a rotary any day.

• Don’t miss the cost of living, though I do pay 1.02 € per liter or $4.30 a gallon.

• I do miss Vermont Public Radio while driving, however I am listening to it now or use podcasts.  I also watch PBS Newshour on YouTube.

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Tía Maria

We lost my aunt just before we left, Mary Acebo Garceau.  I think I posted a few years ago that some of these very petit ladies here in Spain reminded me of her.  She had flaming red hair, as some of her siblings had, always dressed to kill,  energy to spare raising three sons and a daughter, and she was noted as a seamstress extraordinario, she could sew anything including the making of wedding gowns.  She and the family lived for most of her life in the home of my grandparents in an upstairs apartment.  She took trips to the family home, Mirones in Santander province, and when I was looking for information about our family she was the keeper of the past.  She was 94 and lived in Lincoln House an ASL in Barre and a former school for many.  My Dad also lived in that facility with her for 3 years until moving this past May. Acebo’s have some good DNA with her 94 years, Dad will be 93 in August, and Tío Tino is 89. I also had a great-aunt who lived to be 104 mas or menos.

 

Alexander Valentino Acebo, Victor Acebo, and Mary Acebo Garceau. This photo was taken in 2016 prior to my aunt’s death. Of nine children only Tino and my Dad are survivng.

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Possibly a move on the horizon

When we came to Spain we picked Ronda because our daughter had lived here and that we visited and knew a little, but really not much. We now know more, can manage the nuances of the culture better, language skills are better, the Mediterranean is 45km away and Cindy is a beach girl.  So with that we’ll look for something just east of Málaga not exactly on the coast but closer.  Also the parents-in-law Rafael and Kathy Fuentes comes to El Palo a suburb of Málaga and stay the winter months.  When friends and family visit we all be closer, the airport in Málaga would be easier, but not difficult now.  You have to do these things when you can, and with Cindy finally turning 60….well you understand.  If you’ve booked your flight, don’t worry this isn’t happening tomorrow.  We have to wait until after August, more like late October-November to start looking.

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Fiesta de la Noche

Starting from L to R Alima, John, Cindy, Jason, Carol, Sarah, Selena, Catherine, Miguel,  Ed and Judy

I’ll Finish with Food, Yesterday in Málaga at Los Gatos

For all you calamari lovers.

 

el 6, abril, 2017 Raul y Pam Hudson en España

Ralph and Pam at Alcazar in Sevilla

Finally they made it to Spain a trip they’d planned in 2015 but unfortunately Murphy’s Law interfered.  However, in the end the obstacles were overcome and they arrived in January.

Ralph a.k.a. Raul and I taught together for eleven years at BTEMS, he science and me history. He’s the guy all women want to marry; builds houses, wood, stone, or stucco, in Vermont (stone), Arizona (stucco), and New Hampshire (wood): plumber, electrician, computer guy, rides a BMW, fixes stuff,  and builds a travel van out of a new Fiat Ducato, there’s more but we have places to see.

We toured some of the same cities and sites that we did when Tom and Phyllis Wiggins were here last year, Sevilla, Cádiz, Ronda of course, a brief beach lunch in Málaga with Rafael and Kathy Fuentes, the parents-in-laws, and a new place for us, El Conjunto Arqueológico Dólmenes de Antequera.  Antequera is a little larger than Ronda, 40,000 vs. 35,000 and is located about 100 km to the northeast.  Its draws tourists to the UNESCO World Heritage Site Dólmenes de Menga.  These are megaliths constructed of huge rocks some weighing as much as 200 tons and  used to for burial sites, same purpose as the pyramids but nowhere close in size, more like a mounds, and these tombs date back to 3,000 B.C..  After construction they were covered with earth and later when opened in the 19th century the remains of hundreds of people were found. 

el 5 de marzo, 2017 Ronda, España

 

El Monasterio Del Carmen

Hotel Monasterio Del Carmen is a boutique establishment located in Ronda, Spain and owned by John and Carol Small.

This post is sort of a  commercial, but a well-meaning commercial. This beautiful boutique hotel above is owned by our good friends, John and Carol Small whom we met  through our language class.  They’ve lived in Ronda for ten years  after escaping  the UK seeking  a different lifestyle and sun, probably more sun than lifestyle.  They introduced us to sites around Ronda and when carless drove us to find a one.  We’ve really enjoyed their friendship these past three years even though John and I support differently teams in the EPL, he Sunderland and myself Crystal Palace.

Eight years ago they purchased this historic monastery in the old part of Ronda and began a two-year renovation project. The building’s original  construction commenced  in the 16th century and  was destined to be multi-functional. It was linked to a monastery, that once stood next door, and was used for religious services, a hospital, a hostel, and lastly as a waypoint for pilgrims traveling to other parts of Spain. Later additions were made to the building in the 18th century. The building is baroque  with a sole rectangular nave and barrel vaulted ceiling with transverse arches , lunettes, and an octagonal Camarin or a small chapel.

The building was known locally as Iglesia del Carmen because of its close proximity to the city walls (The Walls of Carmen). It was de-consecrated approximately 30 years ago when the bishopric sold the building. It was then used as a community center hosting many musical and theatrical productions. The ground floor was used for musical rehearsals, and the top floor as a stage and bar area. The building was later abandoned and fell into disrepair and classified as being in bad condition in desperate need of restoration.

Purchasing and rehabilitating this property was not an easy process due to its historical significance.  As I mentioned, they purchased the property eight years ago and it has taken these eight years to navigate the legal issues and complete the restoration. But that’s all behind them now and they just opened for business.

The monasterio has two bedroom inside and two beautiful casita (small bungalows) located on the terrace. All are air-conditioned and heated which is a necessity in Ronda; summers can be hot with temperatures reaching 37° C (100° F)  and 0° C (32° F) in winter.

Casitas

The casitas are private little bungalows situated outside the man hotel on the terrace with an area to sit and enjoy the out-of-doors, or hop easily into the infinity pool.

Piscina

As you leave a casita you’ll walk out onto the expansive terrace with a beautiful infinity pool.  The view here is pretty special as you look a the beautiful landscape of the Serranía de Ronda mountains that surround our area.

Interior Rooms

 If you choose a room indoors they are very well apportioned, hotel rooms in Spain tend to be smaller than those in the US.  All rooms have TV and WiFi.

 

The hotels interior is stunning, one of John’s favorite words, but in this case it’s true.  It’s decorated with beautiful antiques in a huge living area with a vaulted ceiling.

I’m a bit biased but Ronda is a beautiful place to visit and the surrounding pueblos such as Setenil de las Bodegas, Grazalema, and Zahara, and the ancient Roman ruins of Acinipo are just a half-hour from Ronda and well worth visiting. Except for Acinipo * all are quintessential “pueblos blanco” so if you have rented a car they are easy to access. There is also bus transportation and buses in Spain are excellent. To continue this bias, John and Carol’s El Monasterio Del Carmen is really a wonderful place, as are the owners.  

Next post?  Good question.  We joined a fitness club and may do them and  our friends Ralph (Raul) and Pam Hudson have come and gone  and we went to Cádiz, Sevilla, Málaga, and Antequera.  Also thinking about doing something about the cost of living here in Spain. There is another excellent blog, East of Málaga, who has done a shopping cart to give folks an idea of the cost of living here but I haven’t seen it for awhile so may include more about living here.

*No bus service to Acinipo

 

 

 

 

el 7 diciembre, 2016 Teba y Cañete de Real, España

 Castillo de la Estrella, Teba, España

Castillo de la Estrella en Teba, Málaga, España

December 7th, on this day 10 years ago I would show excerpts from  the movie Tora Tora Tora ! and then we’d analyze President Roosevelt’s Day of Infamy speech.  I would briefly touch on the war with a much more in depth study to follow later in the school year. However, one issue I did focus on as a result of the attack was the fear Americans felt. After all, the US had been protected by the great oceans east and west, but now they felt vulnerable; technology had reshaped their sense of security. To placate that fear the US government went to extreme measures and stripped Japanese-American citizens  of their constitution rights and  property, and forced these American citizens into internment camps away from the west coast.  In light of the current atmosphere and rhetoric in the US I feel good that I introduced my students to this.  History doesn’t really repeat itself, but past themes do arise from the grave and haunt us; we are slaves to our history.  Do we learn from the past? 

But this December 7th was different for me and Cindy.  We needed a field trip and one of our very first friends, other than the San Cayetano Hotel friends, was a young lady, Mari Carmen Fuentes who comes from Teba, about 50 km from Ronda.  We’ve driven by the Castle (Castillo) many times and decided to go visit today.

Many Castles are built on hills and this castle was built to protect the western access to Granada the Moor’s stronghold and capital.  This was also during the historical period when Catholic Spain was attempting to wrest the peninsula from Moslem control.  

King Alfonso XI of Castile in 1330 had conquered strongholds to the west and Teba was his next focus.  The ensuing Battle of Teba took place in August 1330.  Thousands were killed on both side but the Moors were able to retain the fortification.  However, there’s an interesting story involving  the heart of the King of Scotland, Robert the Bruce. The Scottish king on his death bed asked his good friend Sir James Douglas to bring his heart upon his death on a crusade (Monty Pythonish here), since he had not been able to do so himself.  So Sir Douglas was entrusted with the King’s heart to fulfill his dying wish.

Truth is stranger than fiction as they say.  There’s a monument to this event in Teba, but I didn’t know the story until I started researching this.  Douglas with the aid of the King of England in concert with the Alfonso XI, was granted  permission to sail to Spain and join the coalition against the Moors.

Unfortunately for Sir Douglas he fell in battle and never made it to the Holy Land nor did the heart.

The monument I never found but will in the future

Castillo de la Estrelle, Teba

Looking off to the east toward Campillos. I have no idea how many wind turbines are in that area, literally hundreds. Actually the photo doesn’t do justice.

A portion of Teba. According to the census in 1950 almost 8,000 people lived here. The most recent census puts the population at just under 4,000.

3 km from Teba. Fields here are growing winter wheat or other grains.

When we left Teba we were heading home but I’d seen another pueblo in the past, Cañete de Real.  The village isn’t far from the main highway A-367 and similar to others, you climb.    However, on the road  to the village we saw six to eight people paragliding.  Ironically there jumping off point was next to the local cemetery.

Paragliding, Cañete de Real, España

Not much else from that little trip.  Christmas is coming to Spain, stores full of Christmas stuff, cities with lights strung across the street.  We will be checking out the lights in the Larios shopping district in Málaga.  Here’s a link to see how they light up Málaga https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J06pZScsrc .

I will be doing the post I promised on John and Carol Small’s boutique hotel here and we may be going to Casares, 55 km from Ronda toward the coast.  Tuesday, December 13th, we are going to Marbella for Cindy’s hair appointment with friends Ed and Judi as  Judi has an appointment too.  Fortunately for Ed and I the salon is near the casino, really it is.  

It Only Took 43 Years!

This brief post begins fifteen or more years ago when my friend and colleague, Cassie Major, asked me while getting my mail at Barre Town School, if I had ever taught a Michael Burgun, I had, years ago at Tumbarumba High School in Australia.  She’d received a message from him looking for me and thus began our return to a time together in Oz.

When I was doing my student teaching at Montpelier High School I ventured into the teachers room after class and started reading an educational journal.  Magazines and journals had these little ads to buy something, or subscribe, or in this case get a job in a land far far away.  So I sent it in and received a letter a few weeks later from the New South Wales Department of Education informing me that if I would like to interview for the opportunity to teach in Australia I should confirm the time and day enclosed and show up at Syracuse University.  Teaching jobs were very scarce in Vermont and not very plentiful in the US in general at this time.

The interview was pretty straight forward and really my first ever.  Two weeks later I received a letter offering me a position and informed me that I  needed to arrive in late January for the school opening in February.  Later I found out that race may have been a issue.  Australia had enacted a law, The Immigration Restriction Act, just after independence from Great Britain in 1901.  This law was eventually abolished in 1973 just after arriving.  I don’t know for a fact that they wanted to see what color I was, but…. .

Technically speaking I was an immigrant and when I arrived they put me in immigrant housing in a suburb of Sydney.  We had orientation classes for a week and then they gave us our posting.  Teachers in Oz are posted by the department of education unlike the US.  The winning town drawn was Tumbarumba located about halfway between Sydney and Melbourne near Wagga Wagga. Tumbarumba is on the periphery of the area known as the Riverina and the Snowy Mountains at an elevation of 670 m with about 1500 population as of 2012 and I’d say it was similar in 1971.

This is where I came face to face with MY first students on a daily basis. Education in Oz was very prescriptive and we had to follow a state syllabus that coincided with the exam at year’s end. I had twenty-five in a class more or less and they called me SIR, corrected my spelling, labour, colour, taught me to say controversy correctly, introduced me to rubbers, erasers not condoms, and chooks, crook, hunting with ferrets, and shooting rabbits at night, lots and lots of rabbits, like 300 in five hours with a .22 caliber.  I learned a lot!  The experience changed my life and solidified my love of children and teaching.

Enter Michael and many others like Cathy, Angus, Kerry, and Russell (Michael refreshed this one).  Barre Town and Tumbarumba had great students, just nice people, and the community embraced us, the two other “septic yanks”. 

So Michael and I then connected on Facebook.  On a recent posting he mentioned he was working in the UK, Denmark, South Africa, Bulgaria, and Spain, Madrid.  Off handily I mentioned he was getting closer to me,  a little tough in cheek.  I didn’t expect it but he responded and said he might be able to squeeze the 20th, Saturday, in for a night and then return to Madrid for his flight to Copenhagen. He took the AVE to Málaga and   Cindy and I drove to Estación de Málaga Maria Zambrano and captured him.  

We did a very brief tour of Ronda, the bridge and the Parador, not much time.  We went back to the house where Cindy had prepared a delicious meal of chicken with sherry, which doesn’t do it justice,  and much more. Bottles of wine went into the night, still beer for me.  Politics was the El Menu del Día, and we agreed.  

Family, Michael has a twenty-nine year old son and fourteen year old daughter and is married to Sara, a pommie, but I’ve come to terms with this as he obviously has.  Michael graduated from The Australian National University in the Australian capital, Canberra, and majored in math.  He does consulting for IT and much more, so when he possibly returns in a few months with his wife we’ll delve into this.

They say you can never go back, but we did.  Names, places, events, they’re still the same, but we are a little older.  He said I influenced his love of history, nice, and he influenced me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

el 27-29 de octubre de 2016, Faro y Sagres, Portugal

Map of our trip to Faro and Sagres, Portugal

Cindy and I ventured out of Spain for the second time.  The first time was to meet with Landen and Lauren in Italy and this time we drove 4 hours to Portugal, a Boston to Barre and return journey.  We had to drive north to Sevilla (120km) and then west to Portugal.  The autovias are excellent and the posted speed limit is 120 km which too many do not drive and exceed by another 25 km easily.  

As we entered Portugal there’s a sign informing you that all tolls are deducted electronically. Since this is an EU country  you can travel between countries with no passport, though Cindy had hers and I had my ID.  Definitely not like crossing into to Canada now from Derby Line or Highgate Springs.  In Portugal as you enter the country you insert your credit card to pay road fees for using the divided highway. They photograph your license plate with overhead cameras and charge your card.  Each section of highway has a toll that is posted and varies in accordance with distance and type of vehicle. Everything worked well for us except one thing.  When we entered Portugal I needed a pit stop and saw a sign for information.  I zipped in but no info and no pit stop, so seeing the exit I zipped out and totally avoided the credit card machine which records information about my car, license plate, and of course my credit card.  This part of the story will continue as we leave Portugal.

Our destination was the city of Faro on the South Atlantic coast.  This city has a population of 75,000 inhabitants and is in the popular tourist area of the Algarve.   We noticed that Portugal, and of course this is only a sliver of the country,  was less busy, meaning: in Spain we see lots of agriculture in the area.  Where olives or citrus could be growing they weren’t, and not knowing the region there may be a very good reason.  The idea of not being busy was also evident in Faro.  Ronda is smaller and touristy too, but lots of activities are going on and the shopping district on La Bola is always full of people.  My impression was that the “Crisis” from 2008 had hit Portugal harder than Spain.  Faro looked like a city that had seen better times.

Faro, Portugal

Stork on a church across from our hotel in Faro

When you eat in Faro this is the place.  We ate here two nights.  Great food and atmosphere and no reservation needed.

Spinach, tomatoes, potatoes, black olives, and octopus, AWESOME!

The next day we drove 100km to the extreme southwest tip of Portugal, Sagres. When I taught the Age of Exploration it began with the early feats of Portuguese explorers rounding the tip of Africa and venturing into the Indian Ocean thereby providing a sea route to Asia.  The king of Portugal’s son, Prince Henry, sponsored expeditions along the African coast that eventually led to the rounding of The Cape of Good Hope and the riches in the East Indies.  Unfortunately this is not all good news since many of these explorers goals were not only economic but to spread Christianity by whatever means necessary.  On the economic side the good news was they brought back products and inventions unknown to Europeans or in scarce supply. Another  bad was the Portuguese also began the lucrative slave trade to the detriment of millions.  Many of these voyages of exploration began here in Sagres.

Sagres Peninsula. You can see the fortress and paths we walked that lead completely around the peninsula.

Entrance to Fortaleza Sagres

Exterior walls of the fortress

 

Recently discovered compass rose located on the floor of the fortress

You can understand why they built the fortress in this location.

As you leave the fortress interior this walkway takes you out to the extreme end of the peninsula. Along this path are numerous gun emplacement.

Cindy holding down the fortress

Great beach area and locals were surfing

All along the walkway around the cliff area people have taken the rocks and created these sculptures.

Fisherman on the edge, and I do mean the edge, and I didn’t see any fall protective equipment. They are fishing from 200 to 300 meters above the sea.

The wind was very strong that day as it may be on many days. Cindy was getting ready to enter the fortress and using the car as a shield from the wind.

The trip was not all about history.  As we came close to Sagres we went by a pottery shop, which Portugal is famous for and Cindy loves bowls.  But I have to admit she was very tame on this ocassion and only bought four coffee cups.

These photo speaks for itself.

Mas

Mucho mas!

We got up Saturday morning and headed home.  Cindy became concerned that we had not paid electronically for using the highways.  As the kilometers moved us closer to Spain I too was wondering what we were going to do.  Just as we arrived there were police in the highway with flags directing us to an area with an information booth similar to the one we went to when we arrived in the country. A very nice lady came to our car and wanted us to complete a survey, WHEW!  We pulled over and went into a trailer and armed with her computer asked us about our travels in her country.  I also told her the story about not having given my credit card when entering the country.  She basically said, “Well don’t worry about it.”  So after the interview we continued back to Spain without incident. Since our return I’ve learned that they have pictures of my number plate, many actually, and I may or may not receive a bill in the mail.  To be continued!

The US Election

It’s over, well not really, but for now!  Tim Crowley probably would’ve had to fire me!

Special Visitor Coming

So let’s go back to Tumbarumba, Australia, my first teaching employment back in 1971. Fifteen or maybe fewer years ago my colleague, Cassie, at Barre Town School came to me and asked if I’d ever taught a young man named Michael Burgun because she had been contacted by him and he was looking for his teacher when he was 13.  Michael was a bright one, and I had lots of bright ones.  So now after graduating from The Australian National University in Canberra in mathematics he has his own company and travels the world consulting.  He posted on his Facebook page he would be in Madrid and I responded telling him he was getting closer to me.  So now he is coming to Ronda and we will be seeing each other on the weekend (November 19 and 20).  Definitely a small world and not so bad as we may tend to think.

el 24 de octubre 2016

Mercado Central de Atarazanas, Málaga, España

We took a trip to Málaga with our friends Ed and Judi Culwell, Houstonians.  They too are getting their residencia here like Cindy so once again we travelled to the Oficina de Estranjerías.  This office seems to be very popular as a destination and fortunately easy for us to get to.  They completed all their necessary requirements by delivering their final piece to the puzzle and now we could turn Cindy and Judi loose 

Ed, Judi y Cindy a El Mercado Central de Atarazanas

in the Mercado Central de Atarazanas, the huge indoor market for fruit, vegetables, fish, meat, candy, nuts, and more but I can’t remember, oh, olives.

Olives  (aceitunas) and Ed just on the extreme right of the photo

As foodees, Cindy and Judi are very compatible in the mercado flitting from stall to stall searching for food to bring back to Ronda.  Cindy was on a quest for cranberries, Thanksgiving. Just another excuse to cook and have friends over for a fiesta. 

Aceitunas (olives) and in the container nearest on the right the are berenjenas (eggplant)

I’ll just call them all setas (mushrooms) lots of types and Cindy saw the ones her family picked in Vermont in late summer in the most secret of places that were never divulged, not even to friends.

Spaniards live longer than Americans, 81.57 yrs. vs 79.68 yrs.  This is manteca (lard) with chorizos I think.  Never had it, but…see it on tables in our restaurants when serving breakfast.

 

 

I Love chicken here.  Pollo campo is your free range variety and hasn’t been processed, 4,95 € /kg (kg=2.2 lbs today exchange rate is $1.09 US for a Euro) so the pollo campo is about $2,38/lb. the 3,95 € chicken would be about $ 1,91/ lb.. Not really a huge difference.  In Spain money is separated with a (,) not a (.).  However, one thousand is written 1.000. 

Should have gotten closer, fresh fish

Carne de conejo (rabbit), pavo (turkey), cerdo (pork), y vaca (beef)

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There are 100 plus booths selling a variety of foods and you can spend hours wandering around and comparing the food from one vendor to the next.  Outside the market are restaurants as you saw in the photo with Cindy in the beginning of this post.  We had baby squid and a vegetable platter,  mineral water, and Cindy had tinto verano, 15€.

More Friends Coming

We were just contacted by a friend who is planning on coming to visit us at the end of April.  If you’re planning a visit, no problem, just let us know well in advance since we’ll make a pilgrimage to VT, MA, and NC to see family in the spring.

Visiting Portugal

This week Cindy and I are heading to Faro and Sagres, Portugal. For all you history geeks, Sagres is where Prince Henry the Navigator had his sailing school which led to the Age of Exploration.  We live close to the Portuguese border so it’s not far. The next posting will be about this trip.  When we return I’m going to write about our friends, John and Carol Small’s  Boutique Guest House, Monasterio del Carmen, http://www.hotelmonasteriodelcarmen.com/about-hotels-in-ronda/ a beautiful place to stay when visiting Ronda if you don’t have reservations with Casa de Acebo that is.

I’ll end with this.  November 9th we’ll be watching the election returns at 3 a.m.. Others are coming to watch and we’ll be having breakfast here with cava. Vermont will be one of the first states to be declared.  I have always loved election nights and always stayed up all night to watch the returns.  

Regardless of whom you support VOTE.  “The duties of the office of private citizen cannot under a republican form of government be neglected without serious injury to the public”. Louis Brandeis, Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court

11 octubre, 2016 La Vuelta a España

Jeff Zorn, Jan Zorn and us. Mirador Del Puerto De Las Palomas

 

1357 m or for you Americans 4452 ft, take a back seat Mt. Mansfield

Cindy and I returned to Spain September 26th after visiting family and friends in the US and attending the wedding of our friend Jameson Pelkey and his  lovely new wife Kelly in Amherst, NH.  

When being away from the US you recognize differences; red lights, too many, even in small cities like Barre.  Probably just my pet peeve, but traffic does move slower.  We went to visit our son and daughter-in-law in Charlotte, NC, a big city and lots of stop lights.  OK enough on the lights.  Last time we were there I mentioned Big Pharma drug advertisements on TV.  It hasn’t change; we have none here in Spain, and the big news was the Epi Pen controversy, bigger coffee cups and much more expensive.  As a whole Spain is probably 30 to 40 percent cheaper, but Spain have a lower median income so that probably makes sense.

So now we’re back eating differently and better.  When we arrived two years ago I thought it was just the novelty of a different culture, but it’s not.  It seems that we just have a larger availability of fresh fruits, vegetable, fish, and smaller portions. When in Vermont we found ourselves going back to our old diet, not that we ate badly, just differently.  Happy to be back in España.

Residency for Cindy

Many of you have been through our process of trying to obtain residency for Cindy here.  The advantage of having it is travel.  When you get your identification for foreigners (NIE) it officially terminates after three months.  So back to the police to get another one.  Now she can travel in Spain and outside in the EU with her card.  Don’t worry, she’ll carry her passport when we travel, but it just makes life a little simpler.

Our meeting with the Guardia Civil (State Police)

Once we arrived we needed to obtain a few staples that are unavailable in Ronda, so the solution is a trip up the mountain, then down the mountain to San Pedro on the Mediterranean.  Iceland, the British supermarket and not the country is located there and cooking ingredients coveted by Cindy are readily available.  We were on AP-7 (I-89) got off at the Exit 174 and there was a Guardia Civil officer in the roundabout who directed us to pullover.  We’ve seen them at other roundabouts but had never had issues.  He detected that our car was lacking an inspection, sticker on the window just like Vermont.  When cars are new in Spain they have a four year window before getting their first inspection.  Our car is a 2014 so 2018, no problem, well almost,  the exception was for cars that were previously rental cars, OURS.  When we purchased the car the salesperson said, as I remember, “You have two more years”.  He was wrong or I can’t remember, either one could be correct.  The fine was 200€, mierda! (Shit in any language), however, if you pay within 15  days they reduce the fine by 50%. Still 100€, about $110 US.  I paid the fine at the bank, that was one place you could, they have about five options, and you don’t have to prove you have had the car inspected which could result in a second violation if you’re pulled over again. Needless to say it was inspected within three days but not at a local garage.  Here in Ronda we have an ITV, Inspección Técnica de Vehículos.  You can call or make an appointment on-line. You pick a date and time, show up and check in via a computerized system.  Your license plate will show up on the computer screen, click it, and it will print out your license plate number and approximate time.  On the wall is a large screen and when your  plate number appears it tells you which bay to enter.  Very efficient.  I found the inspection to be more rigorous than a Vermont one and cost about the same 42€.  So now the inspection is completed, fine paid, and I have a new red sticker in the upper right corner of the windshield which is good for two years.

Story about the photograph at the beginning of this post

In spring 2015 we were saying goodbye to some friends  at a restaurant in Ronda. At an outdoor table were some Americans and they went inside when I did. I think I helped them order, maybe not.  Anyway Jeff Zorn, Michigan/Florida, and I chatted and he mentioned he went to the British Invasion yearly in Stowe.  Jeff has a company that sells British car parts and memorabilia, need a Union Jack or coffee cup he has one, http://lbcarco.com/  He and Jan were headed back to Vermont this year and he sent me an email asking if we were still in Ronda, ah yes and no.  At the moment I was in Vermont so we made plans to meet in Stowe and did.  This past week they arrived in Ronda and for the past few days Cindy and I were tour guides to Grazalema, Zahara, and Setenil.  Last night we celebrated their stay here with tapas at De Loco Tapas http://de-locos-tapas.com/ owned by Willam pictured below with Jan.  Willam thinks he looks like Robert Downey Jr.,  but not the police mugshot version or maybe it’s the police version, again I’m not sure.

William and Jan

Jeff and Jan left this morning for Málaga and then hopping a cruise to the states. Great folks who will be returning, Ronda has bitten them.

Feria in Grazalema

This past Sunday the 9th we ventured over to Grazalema for the Feria with Ed and Judi Culwell.  Back when the French army tried in vain to control this area locals took to the hills which is not hard to do here.  Many stage reenactments of locals fighting off the hated French.  Period costumes, horses, guns, bandleros/as, and French soldiers are the norm, plus villagers getting together to celebrate, eat, and drink.

La Comida

Bandalero y Bandalera

Ayuntamiento en Grazalema

Bandaleros

Guapas

La Gente

 Dixville Notch, NH you’re to late

Lots of elections going on.  Spain may have a third but probably not.  The Socialist Party Leader (PSOE) Pedro Sanchez was forced out by his own party because he was seen as a roadblock to attemps to form a coalition government by the other parties.  If Spain does not come up with a compromise government by the end of October we vote again on, ready for this, December 25th, yup, Feliz Navidad.  

Then we have the American election.  Actually I’ve been pretty quiet, but there’s only one candidate that I would invite to my home and she’s welcome anytime. That being said Dixville Notch is to late.  Ronda has voted 8-0 for her and it can only get better since we have more ballots coming in until November 8th.  We’ll be up November 9th at 3 pm with friends here to watch the returns come in and historically  Vermont could be the first state predicted, should be an exciting evening.

Friends and Family are coming to visit

enero

Ralph and Pam Hudson, confirmed their flight so this is real

febrero

no one yet

marzo

no one yet

avril

possible Baleigh and two friends

mayo

we may be in the USA

junio

we may be in the USA

julio

no one yet

agosto

Landen and Lauren plus maybe four cyclist couples

septiembre

no one yet

octubre

no one yet

noviembre

no one yet

diciembre

no one yet