Living on a cliff face was unique!
Trip Start
Jul 03, 2009
1
5
10
Trip End
Jul 29, 2009
Where I stayed
Arcos de la Frontera, Andalusia, Spain and Canary Islands
Monday, July 13, 2009
Monday was a road trip to get to our next stop, Arcos de la Frontera, but we took the indirect route, swooping down to Gibraltar and looping back up the Atlantic coast through windy Teneriffe.. The route took us through another valley dotted with white villages that spill down the mountainside. The towns were sometimes under defensive castles; there were Renaissance towers built on top of Moorish towers…who went for water?!
Of course the Spanish would never use the word "Gibraltar" until you're practically under the famous rock. They’ve always been in a snit that the Brits never have it back. Driving down a causeway towards the backside of the Rock, we got to the checkpoint border. Traffic was backed w-a-y back waiting to get through; I got the impression the Spanish side wasn’t overly-motivated to make it easy for tourists to enter Gibraltar. It looked like at least an hour wait, and it was hot, so after a u-turn, and a picture on the way out, and ticked Gibraltar off the “Saw It” list and headed north, up the coast. But the history and symbol of Gibraltar as entrance to Mare Nostrum and as a wartime bunker were not lost on me…
Next stop was the most southern town on the Iberian peninsula, Terifa. This is the windsurfing capital of Europe that attracts sailboarders from all over the continent in VW vans. The area has miles of beach, strong constant winds, and lots of bars. We stopped for lunch and checked out a Moorish castle ruin right outside the “Closest European Restaurant to Africa”. I guess it was. Surrounding the left and right side of the castle walls were big round gun turrets from WWII.
I wanted to stop up the coastal road at Cape Trafalgar, site of Lord Nelson’s famous 1805 naval battle that sent him home in a spirits barrel – preserved. I read a pocketbook about the battle about a year ago. Nelson’s ships-of-the-line aggressively attacked the superior French fleet after they came out of the safe port in Cadiz. British naval-battle tactics were fast and aggressive, cutting through the French line and reining hell into the lightly defended aft of the French ships; the cannonballs mowed through everything up the length of the ship, leaving a bloodbath – then turning to deliver mercilessly broadsides to the crippled ships. Flotsam & bodies washed up on Cape Trafalgar for days. Today, I learn there is no access to the Cape (rocky terrain right to the shoreline) and no museum which was a pity and a big omission I thought, so on we motored to our destination, Arcos de la Frontera. (“de la Frontera” is a suffix for lots of town in southern Spain, meaning “on the frontier”; these were border towns separating the Spanish “re-conquest” troops from the retreating Moors in the 14th and 15th centuries. Arcos is about 50 km. inland from Cadiz on the coast.
on driving: The directions said “Get to the top by the palace lookout” but with scant directions on how to do so. I have a photo of our Ford navigating the town’s tight alleys…..there were 3 fingers of space between stone walls and the car’s outside mirrors! You gotta be kidding; I did that 8 times (sober).
Next day we drove to nearby towns, each about 10-12 kms apart, lying in mountains. This is the route of the Pueblos Blanco – the white villages. Most had a population of 5-6,000 but one was 12,000. They really didn’t have much to offer in-and-of themselves but approaching the towns, stuck to the mountainside and spilling down a few hundred feet, was very picturesque. It took all day to make the trek.
Next day, we drove in the opposite direction to the coastal city of Cadiz. This became the landing site of all the Spanish fleet returning from the New World with their riches, beginning with Columbus’ 2nd voyage. Cadiz is also the oldest city in Western Europe (1100BC) having been home to the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Visigoths, Arabs and finally the Christian Spanish. We got to know it as well as one can in a day of wandering: lots of museums and medieval walks. It deserved another day. Cadiz is located on an isthmus, sided by the Atlantic with beautiful beaches. Unlike the Costa del Sol which was all British, Cadiz looked like a destination more for the Spanish. Back home at 7, dinner 8-9, and in the sack at 10. Whew.
