2022.12.24. Disastrous Christmas

12/24, woke up and stepped on to water. Water was flowing on the floor. Immediately I started soaking and squeezing water with towels.

12/18-20 heavy snow.
12/21, temperature dropped down to 13°C. But it was sunny, so I walked about.
12/23, temperature started to rise quickly. Raining buckets.
Overnight the snow on the balcony melted so fast, that water and ice mixture rose and seeped through the concrete wall and into the livingroom.

I put on rain jacket, shoveling snow over the railing standing in icy water. Got reprimanded by an upstair neightbor. But there's nothing else I could do without causing more damage. I had to come in to warm up my feet from time to time, and soak and squeeze water from the floor. But more water was coming in than I could remove. Had to call my sister for help. Downstair neighbor came up twice, because their ceiling was raining. The emergency number of the building reached no one. More hands on the balcony. After removing most of the snow, we found the drain. It was blocked by ice inside. Poured hot water down. Finally the water level started to drop. Continued wiping the floor inside. An HOA board member came to investigate. Called 3 Home Depots hoping to rent 1-2 blowers, but all out.

Later in the afternoon, sis brought 2 heaters and a fan. The room was kept in an uncomfortable high temperature.

12/25. Woke up many times, difficult to sleep: too dry and too hot. Sore muscles in legs, hip and back.

12/31. Update, my legs were in pain for 4 more days. Still sore a week later.

2022.12.8. Mr. Dickens and his Carol at Seattle Repertory Theatre

Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva. Good acting. Simple but efficient stage set. I don't particularly like the story, too contrived.

After the flop of his latest novel, Dicken's financial situation is in peril. He is commissioned to write a Christams story in a month, but not in the holiday mood. After walking in the London streets aimlessly, he met a young lady with a "mute" son, he suddenly found his muse, saw the holiday spirit. Wife and kids came back to celebrate Christmas, and suddenly no more worry of money. The muse also dies of convenience.

I had minor confrontation with the box office. They wanted a name to be associated with my ticket. That took some time, and I had to sit outside watching a TV screen with terrible sound before they let me into the theatre.

2022.12.4-6 Málaga

12/4, Sunday. I asked to be dropped off near Paseo del Parque, where it was slow going due to traffic and people. It felt like a city. Warmer and sunnier. Tons of vendors along the paseo, and a lot of people.

I heard music, so walked into a concert at the courtyard of Museo de Málaga, a neoclassic building. I didn't know it was free, but one empolyee asked if I'd like to sit down, and showed me an empty seat. I'm relieved to sit down because I was carrying all my belongs (not much). Banda Municipal seems to play here regularly. Popular and classical tunes. It made me like Malaga instantly.

Since I am already here at the museum, decided to check it out. Put my bag into a locker. €1.5 for non-Europeans. Excellent value. It has everything: archeology, painting, modern art. Everything in both Spanish and English. I'm especially interested in learning there're magalith tombs in southern Spain too.

After checking in to my hotel, I walked by the Roman Theatre at the foot of the Alcazaba. There are stairs to go up for a view of the city. But no way to access the Alcazaba from the top of the theatre. All behind the wall.

Both Alcazaba and the Castillo are free on Sundays. Very busy in Alcazaba. The reconstructed wall is easy to walk on and by. A couple of well attended small gardens. Only one building with a nice Moorish ceiling and one reflection pool. But enough nook and crannies to keep you occupied.
Good view of the harbor below. From here, you can see the Castle behind, which you cannot go through. Have to exit the Alcazaba from the front, and walk around under these walls to get there. A bit of a walk. No wonder, not many people go to the castillo.

The Castillo de Gibralfaro is higher, so much better view. But more empty, feels more military. Many walls to walk around. Stone laid courtyard with nothing in them. I feel that this should be called the alcazaba. A small exhibition room (I no longer remember what else is in there) has a relief, which provided me a better understanding of where everything is. Too bad that the setting sun is blinding the harbor view.

Afterwards, I found a trail getting down due south to the beach, instead of backtracing my original step. The trail turned strange and rough at some point, going by some residential buildings and garbage dumps. The beach is blackish, not very pretty, empty (which I like).

Walked the beach front road to the harbor. It was very lively. There's Pompidou Center! (I didn't go in.) A lot of people, booths, restaurants and shops in multiple levels. A few large yarches who can take you for a cruise. I didn't see many boats.

Walked back to hotel, passing the Picasso House. A line outside waiting. There's another Picasso Museum in the town somewhere else. I didn't bother with either.

After dinner, I walked to Santuario de la Victoria. Google said it closes at 9pm, but when I arrived around 8:45, the guy was eager to close the gate. So I wasn't able to check out its rocco chapel.

Did my 2nd Covid test. It took awhile for the "positive" line to show up, faint though.


12/5, Monday. First (and the only) visit today is the cathedral. Nice ceiling (more Baroque, not Moorish at all), stained glass windows, wooden choir. Again, I was given a QR code to scan for the guide, but no WiFi is offered.

My last day in town. Shopping for souveniors to take home, and also shop for dinner. Walking to the outskirt of the town for big box stores. On the way, walked by nice cafes, modern buildings, and a Starbucks!

So many different seafood. Saw such giant "langoustine". Bought 3, and a bag of conch. My hotel is a studio, so it has a kitchen.
Salad with jambon Iberico, papaya. Boiled giant pawns and conch. Croissant and bread, beer. Didn't buy another bottle of wine since the sherry.

It rained this evening. Nice.

12/6, Tuesday. My flight home is at noon. It gave me ample time. Took a train to the airport. It's very convenient.

Saw this faucet in the airport. Fancy: wash on one side, and dry on the other.

Summary: I really like southern Spain. The two large cities Valencia and Málaga are very liveable, plenty culture activities, each has a few universities, with easy airport acccess. Málaga has more English presense (more expatriates from US and UK). Valencia has to deal with its own language (a dialect of Catalán). Valencia is slightly cheaper. All southern spain is very inexpensive: ~1/3 of Seattle. Being on the coast, hopefully not too hot in summer. I can see myself retiring here :)

2022.12.3-4 Ronda

12/3, Friday. 1 night in Ronda, a very pretty hill-top town in Sierra de las Nieves mountain range.

I took the bus from Cádiz via Jeréz (once a day, but more buses to Seville and Málaga), arrived ~2:30pm. The bus station is a short walk to town. It's not a large town. Soon I was walking along the cliff, now mostly public spaces with trees benches and good view. Alameda. Even the Parador let people walk by its property. The drop-off is quite dramatic.

The new bridge (late 18th century) over the chasm is very impressive. It's called "Tajo" here. Great view to both side. You can see the old bridge from here and the creek running beneath. I walked to my hotel on the other side of the bridge. The lady spoke good English.

After checking in, I continued down along paved path by the wall to the north side. Along the way, there's an Arabic old bath to visit, and some new (closed) power or drainage facilities. There are stairs to get on the walls here and there, as well as benches for rest. The wall is very "restored".
I walled all the way out the door of Almocábar to the east, all around the bluff. Right outside of the door, saw this sign of Camino de Santiago (via Serrana).

There is a paved path connecting to the road from the south side which provides multiple access to near the waterfall and some all the way to the creek below. One trail I took that branches off this paved section requires some scramble over roots rocks and overgrown tree branches. Met only 1 person here. Saw the remnant of some power station? or water mill? One well engineered path leads to a closed fence right in front of the bridge. A handful of tourists here.

Around 6, sun sets. I got back to the hotel, but couldn't open my room. My keycard was de-maganitized. Had to call the hotel emergency number.

Booked a Blabla ride to Málaga tomorrow at 11am.

12/4, Saturday. Cloudy. Morning is very nice and quiet.

Walked to the municiple hall (Ayuntamiento) first. A very nice plaza, still sleepy in the morning. Santa María la Mayor at the other end looks imposing, at least from the outside.

Ronda has many small museums for its size. They are nice, but none worth a trip from somewhere else. First, I visited Casa del Gigante, because it opens earlier than others, at 9:30am. The so-called Giant is this little rock in the glass case. It has a audio-visio room showing Ronda's developement over the centuries. Very short, but informative. It has a tiny Moorish courtyard, but the reflection pool is dry, and not working. A nice roof in one room.

On my way back, visited Palacio de Mondragón. It has its own section of the cliff for a relaxed view. It has some frescos. Nice but small yard, with a couple of small fountains.

I txted my ride before leaving hotel, then, went to look for them at the Parador (the former city hall). A very nice couple. They were out looking for me already, even though I was early. The lady is the one I contacted. Her husband drove. He's on a crutch. He has adapted the steering wheel and pedals to his deformed leg. Very nice.

We stopped at a small town, and picked a middle aged lady. Then, all 3 of them started chatting rapidly, and non stop. I couldn't quite follow the conversation. One topic was that this passenger only rides with a woman.

2022.12.1-3 Jeréz - Cádiz

12/1 Thursday.
Took a train to Jerez de la Frontera, the capital of Sherry (anglicisation of Xérès/Jerez) - the first official DOP in Spain. According to Wikipedia, after Francis Drake sacked Cadiz in 1587, he brought back 2,900 barrels of sherry that had been waiting to be loaded aboard Spanish ships. This helped popularize sherry in the British Isles. The most well-known brand is Tío Pepe, whose statue stands near the Alcazar. Its bodega and many others offer wine tasting tours.

The train station at Jerez is nice looking: Moorish Revival (Neo-Mudéjar) style. There're ticket agents. Only 1 line, north to Seville, south the Cadiz. The bus station next door has multiple agencies, but all window were closed. I took photos of the schedules posted here and there. There's an airport close by, with frequent bus connection.

After I checked in to my hotel (for 2 nights), the next guest was told that all rooms were sold. Not sure if there's something going on, or just because it's a Saturday.

Walked around. The cathedral and the Alcazar are on a small hill. Almost no one was out. It's usually very hot here, so most establishments close for the entire afternoon, until maybe 7pm. The cathedral's main facade looks quite impressive. The pedestrain walk on Calle Larga is indeed wide, nice looking.

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12/2 Friday. RT train to Cádiz. €8.6. Many stops. On the way, it passes a large marshy area.

Right out of the train station, it was green with palm trees. Feels like seaside, even though I couldn't see water. More lively than Jeréz. It's a short walk to the old city center.

Visited the Roman Theatre (free). It's small, but well made. As usual, over-reconstructed.

The Baroque cathedral (18th century, €6), a block from the old cathedral (17th century, free), does have more to see. Huge columns, tall ceilings (with large screens hung underneath, not sure for what purpose, at the moment catching dry leaves). The wood carving of the choir, the crypt with the incorrigible body of virgin marter Sta Victoria and tombs of bishops and compose Manuel de Falla and playwright José María Pemán.
Being just one block from the waterfront, even though it's not high, the view is lovely. The mediterranian is very blue. The plaza in front of the cathedral is quite nice. A row of vendors in booths covered by white felt-like top resembling snow.

Museo de las Cortes de Cadiz is free, small, dedicated to the congregation of Cortes 1810-12.

Next door, church of Oratorio de San Felipe Neri, is where the very first Spanish Constitution was signed (1812). €4. Its exterior wall was decorated with many conmemorations. The Cadiz constitution affirmed separation of powers, freedom of the press, free enterprise, universal male suffrage, abolished feudal privileges (fueros), and established a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system. It extended political rights to natives (non-slaves) in Spanish territory. Cadiz was chosen as the congregation of Cortes because of Napolean's rule over most of Iberic peninsular, and this is the major port (fortified) for merchants go to and from the colonies. Out of 307 delegates, 37 were born overseas. Granting rights to "citizens" outside of Spain allowed more voting power for colonial interests. Unfortunately it is short lived. Only 2 years later, it was abrogated by King Ferdinand VII. However, this constitution was reinstated a couple of times, and served as a model for subsequent constitutions in Spain and in Spanish America.

Visited the fort (Castillo de Santa Catalina. Free) It's quite simple. Good view from its not-very-tall walls. The beach is wide, right by the old town. There's a causeway to walk to the currently-closed Castillo de San Sebastian. Very pleasant walk (bring umbrella).

Took the same train back. A ticket agent got onboard and told me that I was on the wrong train. So had to get off at the next station and wait for the next train.

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On the way from the train station to the hotel, I detoured to Mercadona for grocery, also checking out different sherry. Prices vary wildly. Found a different store that sells small bottles of Tio Pepe. Bought one. At the hotel, I asked the front desk for an opener. The guy insists that it should be cold, and put my bottle in its fridge, and told me to come back later.

I couldn't find a bus to Monastario Cartuja de Santa María (15-17th century), so I just walked there. It's NOT a pleasant walk: the country roads have no side walks, but ditches on both sides.
In 1810, Napolean troops took it over as barracks, damaged a significant portion of the complex. I couldn't tell, because of the limit access to public. When I walked in, I saw nobody. The facade of the monastery looks quite impressive. A feel of serenity. A wooden sign at the door said:

Tues-Sat: 7h15 maitines, laudes; 8h15 misa; 17h45 visperas Sunday: 17h visperas; 17h30 misa Monday: 17h30 misa

Well, around 17:30, I saw a nun running into the gate, clutching her handbag. Later, saw another (or the same) nun open a side door in the wall to let a guy into the yard. I didn't follow them. A little after 5:45, I tried the door, and realized that it was open, so went inside. The sisters didn't show up until almost 6pm. They sang, but I'm behind a partition, could barely see anyone. I didn't stay long, because I didn't want to walk back in dark.

Back at the hotel, picked up my sherry from the hotel fridge. It turns out, it's a screw-top. That's convenient. The front desk gentleman also brought me a proper wine glass. I poured to the glass, and gave it to him. He took it reluctantly.

Ate my dinner with Tio Pepe. I'm not sure I like sherry. Tastes like dry white wine, without the fruity fragrance, but smells of distilled spirit. The alcohol content is actually very low for a fortified wine, about 15%.
I screwed the top back on, and went out into the town center. Seems everyone from far and wide came to see the Christmas lights. All ages, eating some fried stick coated in powdered sugar. Many streets were fitted with colorful lights, each street is different. A giant cone wrapped with lights at the junction of Calle Larga and Plaza de Arenal. Very festival.

12/3 Saturday. Woke up at 9:00. Packed.

Went to San Domingo. The sign at the door says open 10-13:45 on weekends. I waited till 10:10. No sign of anyone.

Went to Alcazar. Ok for €5. It dates to 11th century, but nothing looked that old. The entrance leads to a pink walled palace, built in the 17th century. On its second floor, an 19th century municipal pharmacy An old mosque, but no decorations survived. You can walk up to 2 towers. Not very tall. A nice but very small garden. More ruins maybe dated to Roman era. Gigantic mill for pressing olive oil.

Went back to San Domingo to see the 14th century gothic cloister. Free. Rushed back to hotel, and checked out.

Other hightlights of Jeréz are

• the motorcycle race track, home of the MotoGP Motocycle Grand Prix
• home of Carthusian breed of horses. There're a number of equestrian schools and contests
.

Bus to Ronda (in the province of Málaga) runs only once a day. Saturday it's at 11:45am, as posted on one of the many posters by the one of the windows (no one ever man any of the windows). This schedule doesn't show on the large display of departure/arrival. I asked around just to make sure. The bus didn't arrive until 11:56 (from Cadiz). None of other passengers seemed to be concerned. Cash only. €13.66. Pay on the bus to the conductor. It left in 11 minutes.