Knot Tide Down

Friday, June 14, 2013

MORE FROM SPAIN…...WHAT A GREAT PLACE !!!

Almunecar, Spain

Looking south across the Med toward Africa

Wow. This place is great. I don’t think we have ever been anyplace where the weather was more perfect than it has been here. The temps have been around the low 70’s for the lows and the low 90’s for the highs. That would seem a little warm for the afternoon high temps except: the ocean is cold, the breeze is constant, and the humidity in zero. The humidity being so low is the great thing about being here. There has hardly been a cloud in the sky…..we love it.

The area is breath-taking….we love the mountainous views of the ocean from the highway that runs along the coast. The architecture is very interesting and a perfect match to what I thought it would be like in this area. Think the old movie Casa Blanca.

Seafood is plentiful and delicious, the fruits and vegetables are as good or better than what we find in the U.S., and, by and large, the groceries are cheaper. We don’t care for the pizzas we have bought out, and the meats are probably more healthy than back home (with less fat content), but they are not nearly as flavorful as ours are.

We have spent a lot of time just walking around the town of Almunecar exploring the various shops and sites, and people watching. We have had a blast. There is a great, wide slate sidewalk on both sides of the road that our condo is on, right along the beach that is great for running and walking. We have been wearing it out. I have been doing my 4-6 mile run every other day, and Dahleen has been walking every day. On the days I don’t run, I walk with her.

We are excited to have Lindsay, the daughter-unit, visit us for a week and she will probably need a vacation to get over her vacation by the time she gets back to the U.S.

I have selected several photos, from the hundreds we have already taken, and posted them below. If you want to see more, in a few weeks check on our Facebook page.

Happy, happy happy. Sure beats Afghanistan.

The Cross at El Penon del Santo (The Rock of Christ).

Touring the Gardens.

Castillo de San Miguel….captured by Christians from the Muslims in 1489.

Dinner and flamenco dancing. A great evening.

A nice crib with a view of the Mediterranean Sea.

The weather was perfect…..low humidity and a nice warm breeze blowing constantly.

Thursday, June 6, 2013

BREAK IN SPAIN....HABLO ESPANOL UN POCO......HELP!

6 Jun 2013

Almunecar, Spain

Me taking a photo of Dahleen taking a photo….what ???

Me hablo espanol un poquito…it has been a long time since high school Spanish classes. Yeah, I know I am married to someone who is bilingual (Spanish and English). Although I tease Dahleen about being “media bilingual” (halfway bilingual)….halfway speaks English and halfway speaks Spanish…I have to admit she does both pretty well. You would think that being married for almost 14 years to someone who speaks fluent Spanish, and whose family (for the most part) speaks fluent Spanish, would help me to learn the language better. The truth is, it doesn’t.

For the most part, it is my fault; I am too impatient to struggle understanding, and especially trying to speak, the language during the course of conversation that I cry “uncle” and plead for English. I do understand much more than I let on. It comes in handy when those who think you are oblivious to the language try to slip something by you in Spanish. You know, like they are speaking in a secret code and you have no idea what they are saying. I just act ignorant and let them go. :-)

Anyway, I digress. I said all that to say this….it sure is nice being a tourist in a foreign country accompanied by someone who speaks the language fluently. I am sure that a non-Spanish speaking person could travel and enjoy all that Spain has to offer with just a little difficulty, but it was so much easier with Dahleen being fluent is Spanish. Let me add, even with the little difficulty of not speaking the language, Spain is a GREAT place to visit….especially the Costa del Sol of Southern Spain.

After leaving Kandahar, stopping for a layover in Dubai, a very quick (almost too quick) connection in Amsterdam I arrived in Madrid and found Dahleen. She had arrived about an hour ahead of me, and we had no trouble meeting at my arriving terminal.

We found the rental car desk, secured the car for a month and then set out on our 5 hour drive south to Almunecar. It was a great road trip, weather was beautiful and the countryside was picturesque.

Once in Almunecar, we settled into the condo……7^th floor, beachside….heaven.

I have included a few pictures of (very few of hundreds) of Alumunecar and will report more as we enjoy our time here in Spain. We will post most photos on Knot Tide Down's Facebook page as we go. Here you will just get a sampling.

Dahleen striking "the pose" at one of the many cool spots in the town of Almunecar.

The view from the condo….the coast of Africa is just on the horizon.

Happy, happy, happy !!!

Friday, May 3, 2013

WHERE'S THE BOOTY ?!?!?

3 May 2013
Kandahar, AFG

Our "unit" patch. Desert Diablos of Department of State Airwing

The above photo is of our Desert Diablo patch. Notice the caption underneath….”SURRENDER THE BOOTY”. My question is, “Where is the ‘booty’ ? In the few months I have been here, I have flow over a large portion of this country and have seen nothing that any civilized person would consider ‘booty’.

This is one of the most barren, desolate, backward countries on the face of the earth. The desert is pretty, if you like desert landscapes; and the mountains are pretty cool when they are covered with snow, but when the snow melts they become a barren hunk of rock and sand. NO TREES at all, except in the mountains in a small section of the NE corner of the country. Most of the ‘cities’ are barrio/ghetto-like.

I could say more about the culture and how messed up these people are, but this is not the place for that blog. Sorry for the digression…..this is suppose to be a cruising/sailing blog, and even though we are not actually sailing right now, there are occasionally some things we do that do relate to cruising. J

We are still excited about our future life; and excited to be boat shopping. We are still about a year away from being really serious about purchasing our boat, but IF the perfect boat came along we might take the plunge. At any rate, when the time comes, no one will know the market better and that should serve us well in getting the best boat/deal available at the time.

Till later….be careful out there; lots of idiots running around.