KARETHE LINAAE
Last weekend, our hiking club Pasos Largos (large steps) arranged a 16 km climb of the Sierra de las Nieves. A national park and UNESCO Biosphere since 1995, this snowy mountain chain has barely seen any snow this winter. Years ago, ice was transported down the mountains and sold for refrigeration, though I cannot possibly see how…
Living in a place with Roman and Arab ruins abound, one could become jaded. We had been told that Andalucia’s best-preserved Roman theatre laid merely 20 minutes drive away, yet we had been ‘too busy’ to go and explore it. One day we saw the sign for Ronda Veija and decided to drive and check…
April is here and the fields have been transformed into a deep green colour, looking like a velvet patchwork carpet with stone fences as seams. Though the poppies won’t come out in their full splendor until May, the country has started looking like a Monet painting. On our walk the other morning (it is…
In Norway, Easter is synonymous with spring skiing, while in Canada it seems to be all about bunnies and egg hunts. Nothing wrong with chocolate and skiing, of course, but Spanish Easter is certainly more spiritual. Yesterday was Domingo de Ramos or Palm Sunday and the holiest week in the Catholic calendar has begun. Andalucía’s…
Since we moved to Spain, we are relieved that our 300 000-mile Canadian diet (wild guess…) has been reduced considerably. We use olive oil, cheese, meat, oranges and wine from Ronda’s own fincas and bodegas. In the winter months the majority of our fruit and vegetables are probably transported an hour up from the coast, but we…
It always amazes me how nature finds its way, in spite of our most concerted efforts to dissuade life with cement and concrete. Therefore, I love the way Andalucian roof-tiles and stonewalls seem to allow flowering neighbours to take residence in their midst.
A car boot sale, as the name implies, is where people sell stuff from the boot of their car. These markets happen all up and down the coast, with the largest one held at the fairgrounds in Fuengirola. This weekend we decided to check it out, driving down to the coast with empty bags, spare…
New Year in January has always felt completely wrong to me. It is cold and dark and does not signify the natural beginning of anything. Certainly not a time when one are supposed to reinvent oneself and become a new and better person. Thankfully, for those of us who need a couple of tries before…
When I went out this morning to hang up laundry in the communal garden, the grass was still frozen. Yet, the sun was already pulling humidity from the ground, creating a sense of walking on a fine layer of mist. There is such a sacred peace about at this hour. The workers have left their…
Since we arrived here in November, we have been looking for a way to give back to the community that has welcomed us so kindly. We have always volunteered, so when we heard about a network of environmental volunteers who help replant and clean up Ronda and its surroundings, we signed up immediately. Today was…