Happy Roman New Year
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 …
Morning reflections
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.…
Community Service
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 …
Costa del sol – development and decay
Costa del sol is the sunny coastline along the Mediterranean in the Spanish south. It embraces the coastal towns and communities of Malaga province. These traditional white fishing villages with their favourable sub-tropic climate were ‘discovered’ by international tourism is …
Springing ahead
These days, when I come to my furniture restoration class, the teacher slaps her arms around her body saying ‘Qué frío!’ (What a cold!)
People in our town say that Ronda has no spring. They claim we go straight …
Bringing out the inner mountain goat
Whether they are dusted in snow, covered in clouds or bathed in sun, the mountains around Ronda are nothing but spectacular. From our city, one can easily reach the Serrania de Ronda and the Sierra de las Nieves, some …
My long-distance bread-baking guru
I have made breads since I was a teenager – the majority hard as hockey pucks, and tasting as if I used tree-pulp and shredded bark to make the dough. I pity my son for all those uneatable loaves and …
Jamón, jamón!
There are butchers and then there are butchers and when it comes to Spain, these are a veritable institution in their own right.
Sadly, when it comes to my own place of birth, butchers are dying breeds. Not because Norwegians …
Ronda, ciudad soñada
The other morning, on his way to his wood carving class, Jaime took this picture, looking out on the fields as one enters the old town. Every day the view is different. It doesn’t matter if it is rainy, …
Our life in boxes
Next week we have been in Spain for 3 months – a quarter of a year. Somehow it feels much longer, as though our life in Vancouver happened decades back. Maybe it is because we moved to a part of …