Arcos and Jerez de la Frontera

June 17 - Arcos de la Frontera

After Zahara, our destination was Arcos de la Frontera. We had detailed instructions on how to get to our hotel, but the narrow, tiny and winding streets proved even a challenge to my master navigator, Diane. We ended up looping around the city center a couple of times until we literally would drive a couple of hundred yards and ask for further instructions to zero in on the hotel. Some of the streets were so narrow that we pulled in the outside mirrors! Finally we found our hotel and parked the car atop the hill, at the Plaza de Espana, next to the cathedral. Our hotel, El Convento, was right down the street. The hotel is a converted convent. From the balcony of our room, we had a beautiful view of the Guadalete River far down below and a panoramic view of the entire valley.

June 18 - Day Trip to Jerez de la Frontera

We took off relatively early in the morning for Jerez. The city is known primarily for its sherry bodegas and its equestrian school. Because we wanted to do both some sherry tastings and to see the school, we had to get there a little early since most things close down somewhere between 1-3pm only to reopen in the late afternoon.

Our first stop was at the Fundacion Real Escuela Andaluza del Arte Ecuestre. That’s a mouthfull for the place they train horses. Oddly enough, in spite of wanting to show off their school, they were very secretive of their techniques, so no photos were allowed.

We toured the stables, the arena where they train the horses, on-going training by horse trainers and a museum. The original training came from the strategic role that horses and horse riding played in war. Better horsemen prevailed. Hence, teaching horse and man to be perfectly compatible and in unison.

Next we visited the Sandman Bodega conveniently located next door to the equestrian school. We got an informative, half-hour tour of the facility, the history of sherry and how it is made. Afterwards, we were offered ample tastes.

A few of the more interesting things we learned were that 1) sherry is made of only three white grape varietals, including Moscatel; 2) they age the wine in American oak, leaving room in each barrel for air and oxidation to occur; 3) they stack the barrels on top of each other, typically around four rows high. The bottom row contains the oldest sherry of which they draw out about one-third for that year’s sherry. They replace the one-third with the sherry from the next row up barrel and also draw from one-third from that row to produce a slightly younger sherry. They follow that principle all the way up to the top row filling those barrels with the newly produced sherry. They term they use for this process is called “Soleras Criaderas”.

We sampled sherries from the very dry to sweet. The medium sweet sherries were our favorite. The oxidized sharpness of the dry sherry was a negative for me. We left Sandman with the intention of finding another bodega. But by the time we got to another one, it was closed. Time for a siesta. Darn! We drove back home to Arcos.

Aside from its uniqueness of being situated so daringly on a mountain peak, its charming, narrow streets and a couple of ancient cathedrals, there wasn’t much more to Arcos. On one evening we spent an hour walking around looking for a restaurant. Most of the places are tapas bars and offer little variety. Still, we were glad to have stopped to experience Arcos.

The Pueblos Blancos

June 17 - The Pueblos Blancos

We drove out of Ronda after a leisurely breakfast overlooking the gorge and watching the swallows flying around. We took the back roads instead of the highway so we could see the Pueblos Blancos - white-washed towns and villages, often on steep hillsides with ancient cathedrals and castles.

Setenil was our first stop. This town was unusual because some of the homes and shops were built right into the rocky cliffs. The streets in the village were extremely narrow - I’m glad we were driving a small car. Next we went to Olvera, with a castle and a surrounding cemetery at the very top of the hill. We got there in the mid-afternoon during siesta time - the town was like a ghost town.

The last Pueblos Blanco we visited was Zahara, situated along a lake-reservoir on a mountain ridge. Zahara was a stronghold against the kingdom of Granada during the Moorish occupation. We hiked up to the castle and had a spectacular view of the entire area. On our walk back we stopped at one of the local hangouts hugging the cliff. We got a snack and washed it down with a cerveza. Needless to say, the view was striking.

Europe Trip - 2010

June 8-9 - LA to Amsterdam

The flight from LA to Amsterdam was flawless. No turbulence and excellent service. KLM appears to be at odds with the typical U.S. airlines and actually gives you free wine, beer and even cognac after a very tasty dinner (also included in the price of the airfare). What a concept! Breakfast came before we landed and, even for me, was too much to eat. KLM definitely is getting my business whenever they fly to where I want to go.

Thankfully, our friends, Maria and Maarten were at Schiphol to whisk us away from the airport mayhem when we arrived. Shortly after our arrival we were sitting in their living room discussing things we had seemingly left hanging when we last met.

Later that evening, we drove into Amsterdam for “rystavel”, the traditional Indonesian dinner. As usual, it was very tasty and way too much food.

June 12 - Malaga, Spain

A couple of days later we were sitting in the Obispo Plaza in Malaga, in the shadows of the Obispo Cathedral at the Cheers Bar when the announcer on the big flat screen came on to say that the next soccer game was the U.S. v.s. Great Britain - this was at the world football cup in South Africa.

Malaga is one of the original old cities of the world. It’s been around since the Roman empire. It has had visits by the Visigoths and Moors before the Catholics were able to recapture the city in the 15th century. And here we are staying at a small guesthouse (Villa Alicia) in the hills of Malaga, just outside the old part of town. It’s a short walk from the Alicia’s up to Malaga’s history - the Gibralfaro fortress.

One of the places we visited was the Pablo Picasso Museum. Although Picasso was born in Malaga, he left here when he was 19 and never returned. In spite of this, Malaga still pays homage to him in a serious way.

Although the museum has much of his typical works, there are lots of other, more unusual drawings and paintings of horses, rape scenes, bestiality, lots of curly pubic hair, minotaur sex scenes etc… I didn’t realize what a wild and crazy guy Pablo really was. Things of interest - 1) some of his drawings looked like they would take ten minutes to draw and had a long and curious title while other very detailed etchings that certainly would have taken many hours, if not days, to draw were listed as “untitled”. 2) There was little hiding the fact that he appreciated women with big boobs. And he didn‘t shy away from drawing detailed vaginas with lots of curly pubic hair.

He loved horses, bulls and bull fights. One of the simple drawings that he made was of two horses standing next to each other. It was all drawn with one line, never taking the pen off the paper. Quite remarkable. The museum also has quotes by Picasso. One of them was in regard to doves, in which he noted that he had watched doves peck another dove to death. He concluded, “So much for doves having anything to do with peace“.

June 14 - Day trip to Granada

Today we picked up our spiffy Mini Cooper and hit the road to Granada. It took us a little over an hour to get there on a very nice and smooth freeway that went through hilly country roads.

We drove straight to the Alhambra, a walled city complex (referred to as the Medina) consisting of a fortress started in the 9th century by the Moors, a summer palace, a type of amphi-theater and a number of beautiful gardens. Much of the Alhambra (meaning red fort) evolved over centuries.

It was ruled by the Muslims until 1492 (of interest to those following the journeys of Columbus), when the Catholic Kings conquered Granada. During their rule, it was transformed into the royal palace. Centuries later, Napoleon conquered the area and ended up nearly destroying the entire complex in the war of 1812. By the 19th century the Alhambra was pretty much abandoned. As you can tell, the Alhambra has had a long history.

There was a dark side to the fortress too - the dungeon. It was cavernous and massive. We only got a glimpse of it from atop and found out it was only used as such when wars were going on. Otherwise, it was used as a storage area. It didn’t look like a place one would want to be as a guest.

After the splendid tour, we went into the city of Granada to walk around and see the main cathedral and some of the small bazaar alley ways that reminded us a lot of when we lived in Iran.

After having dinner at one of the restaurants around one of the city’s squares, we headed home to Malaga. We both thought that Granada would be a good place to spend more time.

June 15-16 - Ronda

After breakfast, we ventured back on the road, this time towards Ronda. We went by way of Marbella, one of the premier cities on the Mediterranean that cater to the rich and famous. So we only stopped for gas. From Marbella we turned north and began a drive on a long and windy road into the mountains. Dramatic views.

In Ronda we had reserved a room at the Hotel Dom Miguel, a smaller hotel adjacent to the “new” bridge and supposedly right on the gorge. We had asked for a room with a gorge view. Then we opened the door and looked out of our window, we could see that our room clung to the edges of the gorge and had a spectacular view all the way down the gorge (over 150 m). It looked somewhat like an aviary with sparrows, doves, pigeons and swallows all flying throughout the immense void from the river bottom to the very top lined with aging castles and white-washed homes.

One thing we are having difficulty to is adjusting to the Spanish eating schedule. At the hotels, typically breakfast is served between 9am and 11am. Dinner is typically served starting at about 8:30pm, though if you show up then, you’ll be eating alone. Spaniards won’t show up for at least another hour.

In Ronda we made an appointment to go to our first Spanish winery (a bodega) for a bit of wine tasting. We drove about five kilometers out of town towards Seville, parked the car at a hotel and were then picked up by a minivan that took us to the Joaquin Fernandez Bodega. They had a spectacular view of the valley and of Ronda - at the top of the hills.

The winery grows all their own grapes for their wines. They grow Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and Grenache. Their wines are an interesting blend of each of these varietals. They make a nearly white wine from Merlot grapes, and also make several blends using all of the varietals in various proportions and blends. All were very good wines and not too pricy (between 10-15 Euros). For our first introduction to a bodega, it was a success.

The Wrap Up

April 8 - Haul Out Day

Our appointment to be hauled out was for 1pm. We motored to Spice Island Marine (about a quarter of mile from where we were anchored) and the crew at Spice Island had us hoisted out of the water in no time. The entire process went flawlessly. They then moved us with a highly maneuverable vehicle to a narrow spot between two other boats. That is now Lahaina Roads' home for the next six months. And for us there is no more rolling sensation. We are on the hard, as they say. Now it takes a long ladder to get on board. There is no more taking a quick dip in the water before dinner.

We took a quick trip to Grand Anse to go to the bank and to a store - it was an adventure. The buses here are similar to elsewhere in that they are vans. Here, though, there is a twist to the process. Each “bus” has an additional individual whose job it is to entice and recruit more riders. Some of them use pretty aggressive techniques to reel in additional riders. One, in fact, jumped out of his bus, ran over to me (about 100 feet), then grabbed me by the arm to get me to ride on his bus. I opted out since another bus had just pulled up right where I was standing. I suppose that this is the entrepreneurial spirit alive and well. The bottom line is better with each additional rider.

The following day was spent getting the boat ready for the hurricane season. We took down the headsail, mainsail and mizzen, along with the reefing lines and preventers. The outboard for the dinghy was thoroughly cleaned and stowed, as was the inflatable dinghy itself. These were not trivial tasks. The sails are huge, bulky and heavy. The dinghy and motor are heavy too and has to hoisted from the ground all the way up into the boat, rolled up and stowed. The 90 degree weather and 85% humidity made it all that much more work. By 4:30pm we were tired and ready for a shower. It was time to sit down and relax.

Sitting on the boat on the hard in the middle of a sea of other boats is a strange sensation. You see so many boats and masts and a number of people diligently working, cleaning things and putting gear away. It’s a solemn sort of a moment in which all these (expensive) adult toys are being neatly stowed away, hopefully to be played with, six months from now. Literally, millions of dollars in boats are busily being prepared (just in this marina).

Monday morning we leave for home. Our Caribbean adventure - Part I is wrapping up.

Union, Carriacou and Grenada

April 2 - Union Island

Union Island is the most southern of the Grenadines. We anchored in Clifton Harbor, the island’s main town. Clifton is one of the larger towns we visited (although still mostly all on one main street). The airport landing strip is a stone’s throw from the main street, so it was fun to watch the planes taking off and landing so close by.

The town is colorful and is not as run-down looking as so many of the other places we have seen. It has a cute central market area with fresh produce for sale. But let me comment on the cost of the produce - it is not cheap! Most of it comes from St. Vincent or elsewhere. For example, I bought six small tomatoes and a small papaya for $9.20! I asked an expat if there was a double standard for charging foreigners and she said no, that produce was just VERY expensive.

Being that it was Good Friday, the long weekend celebration had started. (It appears that all of these islands take their Easter holiday seriously. The drinking starts on Friday and continues through Monday.) A number of the local men were hanging out in front of bars drinking rum, listening to the music, talking and checking out the ladies that walked by. We had a feeling things were going to get loud in the evening.

The following morning we headed off to Carriacou, one of the three islands in the Grenada chain.

April 3 - Carriacou Island

In Carib, the word Carriacou means “island surrounded by reefs”. One look at the charts and you realize that they knew what they were talking about. We first entered in Hillsborough to clear customs and immigration. We were successful with clearing customs, but immigration was off to lunch. They must have eaten a lot, for they were gone the rest of the afternoon.

The town of Hillsborough runs mainly along one street paralleling the beach. An assortment of restaurants, bars and boutiques fill the main street’s beach side, while on the other side are some run-down buildings, grocery stores and fresh produce stands.

During our fruitless, long wait for immigration, we talked to a friendly taxi driver. A real nice fellow. I asked him how he could afford the impressive new Toyota diesel he drove. He said it was from a small business loan that the government offered. We talked about the U.S. invasion of Grenada back in the 80’s after Maurice Bishop, the communist leaning prime minister, was executed along a number of his cabinet. He said that in spite of Bishop’s acts of tyranny, he had made some good contributions by improving education and access to health care, but at the cost of civil liberties. Even today, he remains a popular person.

We gave up waiting for the immigration official and headed back to the boat, hoping to complete the check in, in Grenada. With Hillsborough being a wide open bay (the only one without a reef around it), we opted to move to the more sheltered bay of Tyrrel.

It was late afternoon by the time we anchored in Tyrrel. The bay wasn’t very interesting looking. A local came by the boat and sold us a dozen “mangrove oysters” and a fellow named Simon, in an old beat up row boat, offered to sell us bottles of Australian and Chilean wines. The prices were reasonable but we didn’t really need anything. He looked surprised when I told him no thanks - we still have plenty of wine.

April 4 - Carriacou to Grenada (Our final destination)

We pulled up anchor after breakfast. There was a light easterly breeze, so we decided first to motor. Along the starboard side of us was a tug boat towing a big barge and we could see by the way it was towing, there was a strong current at work. It was helping us move along briskly for a total of eight knots. Not bad.

Eventually, we hoisted the sails and had a leisurely sail to the coast of Grenada. As we approached the island from the north, it appeared steep, lush with vegetation and verdant, not unlike St. Vincent. But by the time we got near to the south in St. George, its capital, the land was flatter and dryer looking.

We anchored in the outer harbor and went ashore to find immigration. No luck. They were on holiday hours (apparently, Easter in these islands is a four-day holiday). We then decided to have a look at St. George. The inner part of the harbor was quite pleasant looking and is called the Carenage. From afar, it looks a bit like pictures of Portofino, Italy. But on closer inspection, the area had a more worn and rustic edge to it. Fort George, overlooks the entrance of the harbor. Around the waterfront area there are lots of old brick buildings - stores, warehouses and some government buildings. It would be a perfect place to have sidewalk cafes and restaurants, but none were in sight. Two cathedrals can be seen up the hill. When we walked to them, we noticed both were in ruins (perhaps damaged by hurricanes).

The following day we moved to the south of the island. Prickly Bay is where Spice Island Marine is and that‘s where Lahaina Roads will be hauled out and put on the hard. Prickly Bay is upscale, with huge, multi-million dollar homes lining the hills of bay. One end of the bay has a nice white sandy beach with palm trees. Part of it is owned by the exclusive Calabash Resort, a spendy looking place.

The following day we rented a car to circumnavigate the island and see some of the interior, which has a rainforest, rivers, lakes and waterfalls. Driving here is on the left - that’s always fun! The first place we went to was the Grand Etang Reserve. There was a small crater lake there, a visitors center and some shops. It was reported that Mona monkeys come by the visitors center but we never saw any.

Next, we drove to a spot where you can hiking to a series of waterfalls. We parked the car and proceeded by foot through a beautiful farming area that eventually led to a steep, wild and jungle-like path winding its way through the forest. After about a half hour we found the waterfall. We took a refreshing swim in the cool water and after a while headed back.

We then went to look for the nutmeg plant in the coastal town of Gouyave. Finding it was a bit of a challenge because the roads were poorly marked and the map we had was insufficient in detail. But after a few missteps we got on the right track and found it. The building was an old warehouse, dark and somber looking. A tour guide explained to us how a rusty and antiquated-looking machine cracked the shells open and then how workers separate the mace from the nutmeg and the final process of how the nut gets ground. Grenada is only one of two countries in the world (Indonesia being the other) that grow and export nutmeg and mace.

The factory had a small store that sold nutmeg products such as syrup, liquor and yes, wine! I didn’t buy any, already having been disappointed by an earlier purchase of ginger wine. I’m sticking to grape wine for now.

The rest of the island driving adventure was nice but by the end of the day we were glad to be back to the boat.

Bequia, Canouan and Tobago Cays

March 31 - Bequia to Canouan

First, something I forgot to elaborate on in my last blog posting. In fact, it was the first photo of a father (Hadu) and his young son at a fruit stand. We had such a nice chat about island life, how he’s worked as a fruit vendor in Bequia for fifteen years and much more. Then he commented that, for an American, I have a dark skin. So I told him my family history. Yet he was very light for a St. Vincent native. So I asked him the same thing. You are very light for a St. Vincent person. How come? He laughed hard. He said “Ah, but I’m black inside. You see, my mother is black and my father is from Portugal.” After he told me that, I told him about the American term for blacks who identify more with whites than blacks and are called “Oreos”. And that it referred to a cookie that was chocolate on the outside with a white cream inside. I told him that it was sort of the opposite of what he was. He simply loved it. He insisted that I write it down. I told him he could go buy Oreos right down the street at one of the small grocery stores in town! It was one of those memorable moments in a trip I’ll never forget.

We left Bequia late next morning and headed to Canouan, another one of the Grenadines. It was again a very comfortable beam reach of about fourteen miles. Once again when we got into the harbor in Charlestown Bay, there was evidence of a drought. The land looked parched and the shrubs were dusty looking.

Canouan is a small island. It is only a bit more than three miles long and half as wide. We went for a walk ashore and bought some local vegetables. On the way back, we stopped and had a drink at the Moorings Yacht Charter bar overlooking the bay before heading back to the boat for dinner.

Apparently, Canouan has nice beaches (and exclusive resorts). But unfortunately, the rest of the island is very trashy and with typical ramshackle housing with million dollar views. Not a place we wanted to spend another day.

April 1 - Canouan to Tobago Cays

We left Canouan after breakfast and headed for Tobago Cays. Being that it was only about four miles south, we were there quickly. The cays are a small group of tiny, uninhabited islands that are part of the national park system of the Grenadines.

We maneuvered through a narrow pass in between two of the small islands and found our way to a beautiful but very crowded anchorage near the fringes of a barrier reef that protects the anchorage from the Atlantic swells. The water was a beautiful emerald blue. The words idyllic and quintessential come to mind. We had not even anchored when we started to see turtles pop up for a breath of air.

After getting the boat anchored, we went snorkeling near one of the islands that is specifically reserved for turtles. We were in the water but a few minutes and already I could see five large turtles munching on grass at the water’s bottom. Every few minutes they’d come up for air and return to munching more grass. The turtles were haw bills. Our presence didn’t seem to bother them in the least.

Having had our fill of turtles. we swam out towards the reef’s edge. The snorkeling was outstanding. Lots of varieties of colorful fish and soft and hard coral. And it was all within a few feet from the top of the water. On the way back to the boat we stopped at other one of the small islands and walked around its white sandy beach with palm trees arching over into the water. Tobago Cays surely rates as one of the premier spots we had seen.

In the morning, after a leisurely breakfast, we headed off to Union Island, again only about four miles south.

Castries to Bequia

March 27 - Castries to Marigot Bay

From Castries, it was a short trip to Marigot Bay. The boat boys were out quite a ways from the harbor to assist us. We were looking for one of two guys - Michael or Nash. The one fellow who approached us identified himself as Nash. He took us to a mooring.

Marigot was a very narrow bay lined with palm trees to the edges and white sandy beaches. Like a movie set. Small resorts and restaurant/bars along the beach. Boats were in very tightly together. Uncomfortable so

Boat boys can be helpful but they also can be a pain. Too many of them were coming by asking us if we needed help, could they get us ice, groceries, take the garbage, etc. With some of them you could tell a sort of desperateness in their behavior - they really need the money.

It turned out that our boat boy, Nash, wasn’t who he said he was. Luckily, he wasn’t such a bad guy. To our credit, we knew to ask for a receipt for the mooring. But he never asked us for money. He told us that we needed to go to the office ashore to pay for the mooring. The way that pseudo-Nash made his money was to sell trinkets and carvings (made in Guatemala).

The following morning we left Marigot and again made a quick trip to the next anchorage of Sofriere, which was right under the peak of the Petit Piton. Pretty darned spectacular being anchored in the shadow of this beautiful, steep and craggy peak.

We went snorkeling around our the boat and it turned out to be excellent. What I found to be most unusual were a type of bushy, two to four feet long, corn-yellow palm frawns that were stuck on big underwater rocks. Hundreds of fish were swimming around. Quite a sight. Of the fish I saw, the only one I had not spotted before was a long, barracuda looking fish that had more of a dolphin-nose with small teeth. At first look I mistook it for a barracuda. But upon closer inspection, it was very different looking. They were inquisitive and not shy, keeping a close eye on me.

March 29 - St. Lucia to St. Vincent

Between St. Lucia and Bequia, our next intended anchorage, was St. Vincent. But we’d heard lots of negative comments on it regarding boat security and night time boardings. We had opted to bypass it until we talked to a French fellow in the anchorage who had just come from Cumberland Bay, St. Vincent. He had had a delightful stay there and had felt quite safe. So we decided to stop in St. Vincent on our way to Bequia.

When we finally left Sofriere we found a nice and steady easterly wind. After having some frustrations finding the right sail configuration for the wind and seas (and trying to mitigate the weather helm), we ended up having a smooth sail to St. Vincent. It turned out that the mizzen was causing a lot of the weather helm. After we took it down, the autopilot easily steered the boat.

The approach to St. Vincent from the north is quite spectacular. The first thing one sees is the Sofriere Volcano peak in a misty cloud with verdant vegetation that goes straight down to the ocean.

Once we got to our anchorage, Wallilabou, just as the book mentioned, boat boys in their row boats were out ready to help us find a mooring and help us tie our stern to a palm tree on shore. (The book also forewarned us not to agree to tow them back into the harbor, lest their boat turn over. We‘d then be held liable.) It all went smoothly. We got a mooring and the line was set up ashore securing us quite nicely We were just feet from the beach and the dock where Johnny Depp had made the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Parts of the set were still around.

Now for another one of my observations - After having read Jared Diamond’s book titled “Collapse”, I can’t help but consider the double-edged impact that tourism (in so far as hotels, resorts as well as yachts) have on these relatively small islands (most are 15-30 miles long and half as wide). Although tourism brings in much needed money and jobs, the trash they generate on these islands must be tremendous. I saw this first hand in Rodney Bay when the first day I deposited our bag of trash in a very large container-size bin that was nearly empty. When two days later, I again deposited trash into the same bin, it was overflowing on all sides. These islands must be suffocating in all this new world trash.

March 30 - St. Vincent to Bequia

Time is starting to run short, so instead of staying another day in St. Vincent, we decided to move on. Bequia is part of the Grenadines, as is St. Vincent and a number of other islands we‘ll still visit. As soon as we got out of the Wallilabou harbor, the wind already was blowing appreciably. We turned Lahaina Roads into the wind and hoisted the mainsail, double reefed it and put out a small jib. It was all we needed. Pretty soon we were in twenty knots of winds, doing a comfortable 5.5 knots.

We encountered lots of turbulent current causing small waves in different directions. Lines along the water made it quite easy to see. Part of that is due to the strong current that runs northwest and bounces of the jagged edges of the islands and up flows from underwater formations. With all that commotion, we decided that it might be a good time to put out a fishing line.

As we closed in on Bequia the wind increased. But with the way we had our sails set, we handled the increasing wind just fine and put Lahaina Roads through its paces up to 7.2 knots. We picked up a mooring at Bequia (pronounced “bequay”) a bit after high noon. Again, we had not caught any fish.

The anchorage looked pretty crowded. And Bequia itself looked a bit parched and arid. Not like the lush green pictures we were seeing in our cruising book. As it turns out, after talking to some of the locals, they indeed are experiencing a severe drought, not having had any significant rainfall this year. Since each house collects its own water through catchment basins, people who are now running out are having to have water trucked in.

Bequia is a laid-back sort of place with a working part of town on one end of the harbor where the ferries come in, ships load and unload cargo, the fishermen bring in their catch there, and it‘s where you can find the fresh produce market. On the other side of the bay are cafes, bars, restaurants, boutiques and other craft vendors. In the middle of town there are some grocery stores and government buildings. A nice blend with decent architecture.