Road trip to France part 2 (coming home)

The first stop on our way back was a quick stop at a hotel in Santa Maria de Solius.   There was a lovely swimming pool which we were happy to see after the three and a half hour drive from Arles.

Our next stop was the town of Reus, in Spain which is the birthplace of Antoni Gaudi.  We stopped at the very interesting Gaudi Museum - we had decided on this trip to avoid the tourist traps of Madrid and Barcelona so we bypassed both of them and this was a good way to get some exposure to Gaudi's work.  We'll visit again in the winter when the tourist population is down and when we are less likely to be targeted by local protestors of the tourist invasion. 

The museum is lovely and has a great audio tour, although we watched the introductory film almost all the way through listening to the music without realizing that there was narration going on in the earpieces that we had hanging around our necks!

Anne in the first auditorium

After the Gaudi museum we visited Casa Navas which is a famous house of a rich aristocrat from the town.

Casa Navas entrance hall from above

The architect who designed the house used a style that Gaudi elaborated on in Barcelona with his famous buildings.  Gaudi had been one of his students.

I found the stories about the Spanish Civil War (the town was bombed by Nationalists and this house was quite severely damaged) and also the evidence of the desire for independence of Catalonia which we saw in Costa Brava and here very interesting.  I guess I need to read more about it.

We had a few short stops in  Spain on the way back.  The first we realized was going to be very hot and had a 7pm check-in time.  The summer heatwave was in full swing and this was inland with no cooling and was a shared apartment.  So we booked another at the last minute in Benicasim which turned out to be lovely,  It was a short distance to a beach and we were able to wash our clothes and cool down in the heat.

We had arrived quite late and had a lunch date with a friend in Alicante so we weren't able to really settle in there for more than just the overnight.

The apartment had some interesting deco.

We left fairly early and met our friend in the apartment that she and her husband have in Alicante with a beautiful sea view out from their porch.

View from the apartment.

She is Iranian and we had a very informative conversation with her about the history and tragedy of that part of the world.  There is so much to learn and it is incredible how two-dimensional and paper-thin our knowledge of these really ancient places is, where some of the most profound ideas in chemistry, mathematics and philosophy originated.

After stopping in Alicante we drove for a few hours to  Orihuela where we stayed in a tiny AirBnb for the night.

Orihuela AirBnb rooftop - photo by Anne

We were into the last week of our trip and these short stops were really nothing more than sleepovers and a quick stopover at the local beach, but it was good to discover some of these places for future visits.  

Our next stop was Málaga after driving through more of the tunnels and past the unsightly plastic covered vegetable agriculture called the "Mar de plástico". This "plastic sea" has brought tons of money into Spain and France but they are unsightly and seemingly quite harmful pollutants.

Plastic covered vegetable agriculture

The entrance into Málaga is very scenic through a number of low mountains.  Anne had booked us into a hotel for 2 nights as a birthday present so that we could explore the city. 

The very friendly receptionist gave us our room key and interrupted our apologetic reference to the quality of our Spanish.  When she saw that we were from Portugal she explained that the Spanish love Portugal because it is Spain's sister and has never invaded Spain.  We thought this was a great take on history, as we have experienced numerous discussions to the contrary.

We settled in and walked to find a restaurant for dinner and were greeted by some unusual wall art on the building nearby depicting what looked like a racoon and some rats and squirrels trying to escape from certain death above the bones of friends who hadn't made it.

Bones below some desperate creatures

 We planned to visit some landmarks on our first full day there and were quite enchanted by the city streets and old buildings.

We stopped to admire a large cathedral before making our way towards a Moorish castle called Alcazaba which featured some lovely architecture

Reflecting pool in the Moorish castle - photo by Anne

and gave us a great view of the city harbor.

View of Málaga harbor from Alcazaba

Our daughter had told us that we could find a secret door at the bottom of the tower associated with the castle but we decided not to visit it because we had a fairly full day ahead that included a visit to the Picasso museum.

We stopped to look at the Roman Theater where we enjoyed some a capella  singing in the street and a harpist at the castle gate.
 

a capella sinnger - photo by Anne

The Roman Theater was not as impressive as the one we had seen in Arles.  This one was also built in the 1st Century but was only discovered in 1951 after having been buried for many centuries.

Roman Theater in Málaga

We decided to stop at an impressive cathedral with the equally impressive name.

Santa Iglesia Catedral Basílica de la Encarnación de Málaga

 

The Cathedral contains a beautiful centerpiece which was in the process of being mopped and dusted.

Some dusting and cleaning in the church.

 

 

 

 

 

There are many beautiful wood carvings of saints in the three tiered 44 seat Baroque choir section.  The carvings are intricate and depict saints of Málaga and other religious scenes.  Anne noticed a woman warrior carving but we couldn't find much information about who she was or what the scene was depicting.

The sword in her hand is in the eye of the apparently severed head of a man.  Searching for a possible explanation of this figure was not very helpful.  However, after I posted that I had given up trying to find out who this statue depicted, my daughter sent me the following and said she had found it with a simple google search!

Biblical Origin: The story comes from the Old Testament Apocrypha and depicts Judith, a virtuous widow, who saves her people by seducing and then beheading the Assyrian general Holofernes.
Symbolism: The story is often interpreted as a symbol of courage, female strength, and the triumph of a just cause over tyranny.

 

 

Saint Judith with a sword in the eye of a defeated man - photo by Anne

 

The Pablo Picasso museum was an important stop for us in the city.  

 Pablo Picasso was born in Málaga and his mother, whom he adored, lived there all of her life.

We were particularly impressed by the large print machine he used for printmaking that was on display in the museum.

Picasso's printmaking press - photo by Anne

 

We saw some interesting images from exhibitions of surreal painters of the time and, of course drawings of Picasso's include one of his mother.

Drawing by Picasso of his mother - photo by Anne

Anne has conflicted feelings about him because he didn't treat women well, but he is a towering figure in art.  There were photos and commentary displayed in a timeline of his life.  He lived in tumultuous times, through both world wars and was a force in art for many decades.

The basement of the museum is an archaeological site containing walls and artifacts from Phoenician Roman times extending back to 300 or 400 years BCE.

A colorful market in Málaga

We had an evening meal at a lovely restaurant with waiters who were very friendly and entertaining.  The waiters told us of a cafe that made the most amazing churros and said that we should make our way there early the next morning because it is a very popular place.

We were not disappointed.  We had a short wait when we got there at about 8:15am and were served delicious churros with chocolate dip.

It was a straight shot from Málaga to our home.  About a four and a half hour drive and back into the routines of our normal life.  

We were due to be surprised to discover a late night intruder who stopped by to rifle through our things and clear out all the loose money we had, which has shaken our complacency and prompted us to take more of an interest in security, keeping our house shuttered at night and when we are away.  More about that next time.