Out and about in Spain

Even though going to Spain was a vacation for me my spouse had to go to work every day. I spent most of my time sight seeing alone. I had a great time roaming the city and traveling on the busses to the local sites. While in Spain I was able to visit these exciting attractions:

Laguna de Fuente de Piedra nature reserve;
The lagoon is about an hour away from the city. I got directions and grabbed a bus. The bus was similar to a Gray Hound bus with cushion seats and curtains in the windows. When the bus arrived at the station in Andalusia, I walked for a half hour down the highway to the Lagoon.
The Lagoon is the most extensive one in the area and is the second most important one Europe. It is also an important site for the largest colony of flamingos in the Iberian Peninsula. The water is deep blue and surrounded by lush foliage. So I am sure you can imagine my disappointment when I arrived at the reserve only to find a giant sand pit. Of all the people I asked directions to in the past two and a half hours of travel time, no one thought to tell me that the lagoon dries up at this time of the year. I had to wait two more hours for the bus to return, and another two until I returned to Malaga. So in total I spent about seven hours going nowhere. The bus trip went thru the mountains, so at least that part was neat.

Alcazaba;
The Alcazaba is a military fortress built be the Moors in the 11th century. The fortress lies on a hilltop with amazing views of the town and the sea. The hike up the steep sloping walk way was an extreme work out. On the way up I met a lady named from Florida named Malaina. She could speak Spanish, so she translated all the sighs for me. She is afraid of heights, so I helped her gather the courage to climb the stairs to the top of all the towers. It was a wonderful time exploring all the nooks of the fortress.   The architecture was inspiring even though to get there caused you to loose a pound of sweat.

The Roman Theater:
The Roman Theater is located just below Alcazaba, but was not discovered until 1951. It is thought that the last event at the theater accrued the 3rd century and that the Moors used elements from the theater to build Alcazaba. Today the theater is mostly closed off, but there are a few stone rows the public can sit in.

The Picasso Museum;
Picasso was born in Malaga and there is an impressive collection of his work on exhibit at his museum. There were examples from all of Picasso’s phases of art, and some of his sculptures. The most interesting display was a sequence of sketches showing the progression how a painting of his developed. There were a few progressions that actually ended in the finished work. It was fascinating to see how his thoughts and ideas changed thru the six sketches of the same piece until the finished painting.

A bullfight
I never thought that I would attend a bullfight. The violence and cruelty has turned me off the sport since I first realized how the bulls suffer. However like I said, I was eager to experience the culture and events of Spain. So I was open to the idea of going to one. When I read about one on Thursday, I figured that since I would never be in Spain again, it would be my only chance to see a real Spanish bull fight. So I boarded the bus and went to the near by city of Torremolinos where that nights fight was being held. I had to walk about a half hour to the ring where I found two German tourist that spoke English. The also spoke Spanish so they helped me get my ticket and I sat with them during the fight. They were very interesting to talk to, and they brought a bottle of wine to the fight that I thought was strange. They thought that I was strange for not drinking any so it worked out. I will not go in to the details about the fights for it was bloody. Although it was violent, sad and horrific, it was also strangely exciting and exhilarating. At least until the matadors started to stab the bulls. There were six fights, but after four I had seen enough and decided to leave. Watching the crowd’s reactions was another experience. They would whistle if they did not like how the fight was progression, and would wave white cloths if they were happy. If the crowd really liked the fight, they would throw their hats in to the ring so that the Matador could throw them back. All in all it was an interesting experience that although horrific, I am glad I went.