Purple Ferrari: BLOG 3 – SPAIN AND FRANCE AND OUR FIRST EXPERIENCES OF AIRBNB

I flew to Madrid via Brussels on Tuesday 16 June, after a lovely two weeks in the UK. Arriving in Madrid, I found a taxi with a very rude driver – not impressed with my luggage! – It probably also didn’t help when I tried to get in on his side of the taxi! Dah! He grumbled and seemed to be swearing under his breath all the way to my hotel! The next morning, Jenny arrived having had a taxi driver who toured the neighbourhood before finding my hotel – very near the airport! We explored our area and then went to the airport to fly to Seville that evening!

ANDALUSIA – SOUTHERN SPAIN in a few words equals: beautiful tiles, lovely food, plenty of sunshine, lots of heat and wonderful churches. We spent a day exploring Seville, another in Cordoba where we visited the famous Mesquita – it started as a Roman temple, became a mosque in the 8^th century and in 1236, the Cordoba Cathedral. In Granada, we went on a tour of the magnificent Alhambra Palaces and Gardens for nearly three hours – no sitting and temperatures in the high 30s! Then, we went on to gorgeous Malaga where we loved the sea and the beautiful old city and the rosada fish for lunch followed by smoked salmon for super.

We stayed in three different airbnb places – each time sharing a room in the home of a local - and found them all excellent value for money! In Granada, we discovered that our room was on the fourth floor and that was more than a mission with our gigantic cases. In fact, our hostess greeted us with the words, “Madre Mia!” and hired a young girl across the hallway to cart our cases out of the building when we left! Thank goodness, because the thought of that mission scared us both!

There is very little English spoken in Andalusia and so we were very fortunate that two of our hosts spoke French. Our lady from Granada very cleverly spoke Spanish into her phone which then translated her message into very strange, literal, but understandable English! We were impressed with her nonetheless, especially as she was not so young! We got used to lovely Spanish omelettes (full of potato), tasty fish, beautiful huge juicy cherries and lots and lots of water for the heat! We learned how to jump onto trains, buses and taxis and how to communicate in some basic Spanish words! It would have been lovely to have my Natalie with us as a guide and translator!

From Malaga, we flew to Marseille via Lisbon – and then had such a lot of luck with transport. We arrived at Marseille airport in a tiny TAP (Portuguese Airlines) plane – one seat on the left of the aisle and two on the right so it felt a bit unbalanced! We got our luggage and found the shuttle bus waiting outside. As we got on, it took off for the train station! At the station, a lovely Frenchman helped us buy our tickets at a very complicated machine with a huge dial instead of buttons – we went up the stairs and saw a train approach and literally got on with 30 seconds to spare! And an hour later, we were in Avignon in the south of France!

AVIGNON AND AIX-EN-PROVENCE - Our host, Gilles, was at the train station to meet us – in a tiny two-door Corsa – again horrified by two big cases! We managed though and found our room on the first floor – what a Bohemian place! The host reminded me of a Grahamstown festival chap – a forty-something actor with a Grahamstown festival home to match! There were lots of candles, quirky touches, a downstairs loo and an upstairs shower. The location was great though and we could walk everywhere so easily. We visited the Palais des Papes – home to six popes in the 14^th century. We also went onto the Pont d’Avignon, which sadly no longer crosses the river because it has been broken by flood damage. The town is beautiful and we had a lovely time wandering all over. In fact, we have walked and walked and walked! Thanks goodness for all those early morning walks to the Nahoon Beach since January.

From Avignon, we lugged our cases to the bus station and made the fairly short journey to Aix-en-Provence, where I have been before, but which was new for Jenny. Our hosts were away and so we followed elaborate direction to their home and again… more suitcase lugging once we got off the local bus. We met a charming very elderly Frenchman who told us how he loved rugby and especially the South Africans playing in France – like RRRorrry (imagine the French accent) Kockott! And can you believe it, I found myself sitting next to the very same gentleman on our bus trip into town the next day? He reminded me a lot of the lovely old gentleman in “The Holiday”, the movie with Kate Winslett! Aix is gorgeous… very pretty with lots of alleyways and lots of pretty pavement restaurants. Luckily, Jenny and I like the same food and so we have eaten tons of salmon, salad, fruit and sandwiches and even had some sweet, cheap pink wine!

It has been lovely sharing this part of my journey with an old friend and now it is time for Jenny to continue her trip to Grenoble, Germany and then the UK, while I start my next phase in Greece and Turkey with Adrian Slaughter, a friend and colleague from Hudson Park High. There will be no more speaking French, which has been fun.... and I really wish my Greek was better. My poem about a bunny rabbit, the Lord’s Prayer and the alphabet as well as some basic greeting are all my Greek – and that won’t get me too far! Never mind, miming and greekifying words might help! At least, all the Greeks will pronounce my name properly and you know how happy that makes me!