We could have spent more time in Granada...but this trip being our initiaton to Andalousia, we wanted to sample a bit more of the sightseeings in the region.  We embarqued once more an ALSA bus, after having purchased our ticket in an automatic distributor...easy! We found bus traveling reliable (and more comfortable than in Canada) and fun...we certainly were happy not to have rented a car: no headaches with parking or traffic!

Sevilla, here we come!

Sevilla was for us the incarnation of Andalousia, with all the cliches of flamenco dancers, toreadors, women in matillas, and oranges all over, of course!

Well, Sevilla has it all...

We spent 5 nights at a centrally located hotel Don Pedro in the barrio of Santa Cruz.   Where to start?

Our first image of Sevilla was enchanting...

View from the Sierra Nevada

While there are many other interesting and beautiful sides to Granada besides the Alhambra, one still feels under its spell while roaming around the city. Maybe because the Moorish presence is strongly felt in the city as for example in Albaicin...which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1994.

The day we discovered Albaicin, we were walking back from La Cartuja, a Carthusian monastery ((Ordre de la Grande Chartreuse en France with the Saint Patron Saint Bruno) located on the hills surrounding Granada. While this poorly maintained historical site, (even with its majestic altar and baroque chapel pretty run down),   did not impress us very much, we enjoyed walking "down" to Albaicin and wandering its pretty casba like streets.

But of course, one of the most exciting things about being in Albaicin is the amazing view of the Alhambra...when we stumbled on the Plaza San Nicholas church, we heard the flamenco music and just admired the view ....it could have been a painting!

Granada was our first item of the things to see in Andalousia, because of the Alhambra, of course. What else did Granada have to offer? We were going to be so pleasantly surprised with this town...and first, with our hotel, Carlos V, located downtown, besides a supermarket (Super Sol) and with a nice balcony from where we could admire the city scape and if we bent down a little, the Alhambra itself.

It is difficult to express all the sensations and moods that overcome one when entering this magic place called the Alhambra.  The words of Washington Irving, an American author and essayist who served as an Ambassador to Spain, finalized a book entitled The Tales of the Alhambra in 1851.

Palace of the Alhambra by Washington Irving

TO THE traveller imbued with a feeling for the historical and poetical, so inseparably intertwined in the annals of romantic Spain, the Alhambra is as much an object of devotion as is the Caaba to all true Moslems. How many legends and traditions, true and fabulous; how many songs and ballads, Arabian and Spanish, of love and war and chivalry, are associated with this oriental pile! It was the royal abode of the Moorish kings, where, surrounded with the splendors and refinements of Asiatic luxury, they held dominion over what they vaunted as a terrestrial paradise, and made their last stand for empire in Spain. The royal palace forms but a part of a fortress, the walls of which, studded with towers, stretch irregularly round the whole crest of a hill, a spur of the Sierra Nevada or Snowy Mountains, and overlook the city; externally it is a rude congregation of towers and battlements, with no regularity of plan nor grace of architecture, and giving little promise of the grace and beauty which prevail within.  

 

These massive structures hide wonderful palaces beyond their walls. The Tower of the Captive (Torre de la Cautiva) is located on the path along the ramparts.

During the 16th century it was called "Tower of the Woman Thief (Torre de la Ladrona) and"Tower of the Sultana" (Torre de la Sultana). The name of the tower was changed to Tower of the Captive because it was thought that Lady Isabel de Solís lived there. She converted to the Islam with the name of Zoraya and was Muley Hacén favourite wife.

 And below, the Tower of the Princesses (Torre de las Infantas) which as described by Irving, was as beautifully decorated as the other parts of the Nazaries Palace… " this was the Tower of the Princesses (la Torre de las Infantas); so called, from having been, according to tradition, the residence of the daughters of the Moorish kings. I have since visited the tower. It is not generally shown to strangers, though well worthy attention, for the interior is equal, for beauty of architecture, and delicacy of ornament, to any part of the palace. The elegance of the central hall, with its marble fountain, its lofty arches, and richly fretted dome; the arabesques and stucco-work of the small but well-proportioned chambers, though injured by time and neglect, all accord with the story of its being anciently the abode of royal beauty." (The tower of las infantas, Tales of the Alhmabra, w.Irving

 The spell of the Alhambra remains with us for a long time...before leaving listen to Canadian singer Loreena McKennitt who recorded a wonderful album at the Alhambra...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QpRCK1IbiE

Espana!

We have never been to Spain (mainland) before so Andalousia here we come...

After a great flight with Air France from Toronto to Paris, and from where we then fly with Air Europa in a very cramped style (sardines???) for 2.5 hours to Malaga. Malaga is a very efficient airport: the 3 official languages: Spanish, German, and English! Malaga is the gate of the infamous Costa del Sol and is described in our guide as an empoverished city with lots of jobless people and a not so exciting place to be: how pleasantly surprised we are! From our first days to the last one, we will develop a really good feeling for Malaga!  First things first, Malaga being the birth place of Pablo Picasso, we were invited by locals to have our photo taken with him...the honour was for us! Another native of Malaga is Antonio Bandera...unfortunately for Marleyne, Antonio was not available that day for a photography session...desgraciamente!

We walked to the Alcazaba , our first mMoorish structure, from where we had a wonderful view of the city.  In the following picture, we can admire the elegant building of City Hall (Ayuntamiento), the Paseo del Parque lined with beautiful trees, and the waterfront.

Malaga was our first encounter with Spanish tapas and other specialties. Seafood can be had everywhere...we especially enjoyed the Market or Mercado Central where we stood at a seafood bar and ordered our fresh shrimps and other delicacies. The olives are, of course, out of this world, and we celebrated our last evening in a Taberna, Taberna Los Gatos, booming with locals eating great looking tapas and drinking San Miguel cervezas.  We enjoyed the sardines on brie cheese as well as the anchovies on brie with morselfs od dryed tomatoes...Marleyne developped a taste for tinto y verano, a red wine spritzer, and a delicious alternative to beer.

 

All wrapped up for the winter season!

Yesterday, it was quite a struggle to get the tarp on - it was windy, and noisy and at times things seemed to be unmanageable.  But we succeeded to get the tarp tied up for the night.

This morning, we finalized the wrapping/winterizing and, with a tear in our eyes, closed the boat and kissed LBV good bye for the winter.

And soon it is going to be too cold to drive with "Pinky".  There is no way around: winter is coming!

So, it is time to look for warmer destinations! Spain - may be?  Or Cuba, or Central America, or .....????

End of season .... we had 5 very nice days of sailing in the islands, enjoying the changing colours among the trees, and went swimming. 

Unfortunately, the time has come to prepare the boat for her winter storage.  We will be using the next few days of sun to paint the wood, do some minor rust work and unload the boat.

While I was making coffee, I took this shot.  By the time I had the camera out, the fog had almost disappeared.

Quebec ... here we come!

Our life raft had to be serviced .. and the place was north of Quebec City.  A 6 hour drive from here (Kingston, ON).

So, we decided to make it a vacation.

And it was a great one.

Quebec City ...

St. Lawrence River images, it is where all it started!

Our friends ...

past ...

and then

 

  an me (H) in the wilderness!

 

And we had a great long hike to the top of this cliff, with a great lunch, which we had (wisely) taken along.  If you look carefully, you might see us between the trees at the drop off ...

 

 

Overall, it was a great land based vacation!  With a delightful stay in Laval at M's sister on the way back to Kingston.

August 23, 2013

It is a special day for us ....

Back in the summer of 1988 my uncle Heinz (Heinz - Joachim) came to visit us in Canada.  This was before the wall between Eastern and Western Germany came down.  It was still the time of the Cold War.

But he got permission to go to Canada to visit his nephew - me (H)!  But without his wife - Ursel!

But by shear determination and organization, he and his son (living in the West at that time) also managed to coordinate their arrival and stay with us.

We picked them up at the Mirabel airport and stayed in the airport hotel - which had a swimming pool set in a botanical garden.  We all had a swim at midnight!  A good way to start our celebration of coming together again after so many years.  He remembered that!

And then we went to Kingston.  Although we (M&H) had a very difficult time due to health issues, we took them around Kingston, Toronto and environs.

Whenever I talk to him, 2 events stayed with him until his last days.  He had been a teacher, and talking to an historian at the school across the river, this conversation stayed with him all his life.

The other one, was him of getting "lost" in the 1000 Islands at Endymion Island - just 50 yards away from the US border.  Different times then and now ....  But he made it back, worried, safely, but very exhausted.   But this memory never left him and propped up at every conversation we had over the phone since.

Here he arrives completely beat, and worried that he may have strayed in US waters.

Heinz, and if you would have!!! ... but he remembered this adventure all through his life.

He had his funeral on August 23, 2013.  Since we were not able to attend, we decided to move our boat on that date to the same place where this "incident" took place.  And in memory of him, we took our (new) dinghy around the island, the same way he had done and thought about our times together, and our past.

And upon our return to our ship we had a glass of red wine to his life.

Heinz, we will remember you as long as we live.  It was a pleasure being with you at that time, and your son, Jochen.

A few years later, my mother came to visit and we took her along the same route.

She did not row around the island as her brother did, but went into the water like a fish and could not be stopped.

And may I mentioned, I never got my hat back!!!!  I would need it now!  I have less hair!

Marleyne and I went back to see them both and Ursel a short while later when we were taking a break from our trip in the Caribbean.  We all had a nice afternoon.

Memories, by which we live by ...

H&M

Summer cruise 2013

Ha ha...ok, this picture has nothing to do with cruising....however, the heat was amazing during that 2nd week of July!  Well over 30C.  Instead of digging trenches in our backyard, the captain was dreaming of sailing on the lake and cooling off with a jump into the water!

Well ... We departed for our annual summer cruise around Lake Ontario one week later and then, the temperature changed...it felt like end of September! A stubborn and persistent high pressure system brought wonderful blue skies ... but cool weather!!!! To make a long story short, this 3 weeks cruise was the coolest ever since we have been sailing on the lake...the water temperatures dropped to 15C at times!!! In July!  We were supposed to have a full blown summer

On our to our beloved Waupoos; the wind was gorgeous, and it was a very harmonious trip...here is a picture of a Seaward 25 with a very nice American couple on board to whom Heiner strongly recommended to visit Waupoos and area. We could not resist taking this shot...

And they took ours ... we all had a slow but lovely sail.

We spent a couple of days in Waupoos, actually riding our bike for a 30 km stretch from the Waupoos marina to the South Bay Marine museum and back to the Cider estate ttp://www.countycider.com/waupoos.html ...it took a couple of hours to rest from that stint!!!!  It is a hilly country side! Luckily, it was rather cool that day and it made the trip a little more comfortable. We also had the pleasure of a visit of our friends Karen and Lindsay on board: it brought back good memories of their time on board when we were in the Caribbean!

We decided to go the inside route to Toronto and we enjoyed the trip to the Murray Canal. It was no problem to find a space at the wall for La Buena Vida ....Once again, we took our bikes and biked around the Presqu'ile Bay park and area. We had the luck of finding a road merchant selling fruits and veggies: we bought the biggest radishes ever from that place! With a cold beer, they were a delicious treat!

LA BUENA VIDA AT PRESQU'ILE 

The trip from Cobourg to Toronto, however, was a different story: we had a fast and really chilly sail with a strong north west wind...15 knots at first with gusts up to 25 and by the time we got close to Toronto, it was steady 30 with much higher gusts! Wow, we had not sailed with a triple reefed main plus reefed jib since the Caribbean! The trip of 56 miles took us just short of 11 hours!!!

We anchored on the outside of Ward's island ...it was Sunday August 5th and a long holiday weekend! The beaches were packed...and the water temperatures a tropical 17.6C!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On Monday, we made our way into the islands and enjoyed its natural peacefulness, despite many more boots moored there for the night...on Monday, they all left as they had to return to work!!! We stayed!

For Marleyne's birthday, her sister was to come from "far away" Montreal to spend a couple of days with us and celebrate Marleyne's birthday. We had fun, walked a lot, drank many gin and tonics and rum, and enjoyed Toronto and the islands.

One of the attractions in Toronto, apart from visiting museums and eating very well, was to go to the Greek Danforth festival.  The streets were packed with people, and food vendors lined the sidewalks. Unfortunately, there was only a bit of Greek music to entertain us, we had expected more.

In total, we had a fun visit.  However, after a stay of 7 days in the islands we prepared the boat and the day after Liette left back for Montreal, La Buena Vida made its way back east towards Kingston. This time, unfortunately, we had absolutely no wind and had to motor the 56 miles to Cobourg, our fist stop.  We had the same condition the next day going to Presqu'ile Bay; only after we had passed the Murray Canal the wind picked up and we could sail, via some nice stops, the rest of the way back to Kingston.  And finally, the temperatures (air and water) started to warm up and as I am writing this, it looks like it is going to be very hot soon ... we will have to go back sailing and trying to recapture our summer!!!!  100 Islands her we come!

At home, we had a delayed birthday party for Marleyne with Karen and Lindsay and a great time with them on their deck.