Date received: Thu Dec 07 2000, 03:28 AM PST
I'm back in Spain! After a long journey from Chefchaouen yesterday, I and another friend I met in Morocco arrived in Màlaga. We were trying to get to a place called El Chorro, but the one train a day that goes there was not running because it is a holiday. Not only that, but all the accomodations were booked through Sunday. It is apparently Immaculate Conception day tomorrow here in Spain, and apparently all the Spainards take the week off in order to immaculately conceive. Which may be great fun for them, but it is a real pain for me, since everywhere is packed. I decided to not go to Europe in Aug. to avoid crowds; I didn't expect them now.
Given the weather (overcast, almost raining, and cold) and the accomodation problem, it seems like climbing makes no sense, so I'll probably go straight to Granada. Granada is home to The Alhambra, one of the wonders of the world.
I had been slowly retreating south to find good weather, and now that I'm back north and heading further north, I'll probably be moving pretty quickly; a few days in Granada, maybe a day or two in Valencia, then Barcelona. I might be out of Spain in a week or so. We'll see.
Morocco was a wonderful sidetrip; I really loved it and I'm glad I went. It is definitely a world away from Europe. It has been hard getting used to being back in a modern, western nation. I almost miss the 5:30am chants blasting from the mosques.
peter
