Saturday morning in Sevilla
Saturday morning in Sevilla in the shadow of the Giralda Cathedral saw these two grooms carrying out running repairs. One is holding the hoof whilst the other swings a small hammer. In the background a driver is discussing prices with two prospective clients.I took the Málaga Antequera route to Sevilla this time, just for a change. It's about 30 kms longer than the route through Los Barrios down in Cádiz but it's faster. I like to go one way to Sevilla and make the return journey on a different road. One of my favourite roadside ventas is about 50kms before Sevilla. The coffee and local olive oil on toast is to die for.
I was back in Sevilla and checking out the two big bus stations. I get quite a few enquiries about buses from Marbella or Malaga to Portugal and I wanted to sort a few things out although when the AVE (Spains high speed train) connects Sevilla with Malaga later this month and brings the journey time down to 50 minutes, not so many will use the bus for this leg. If you are thinking of taking the bus from Sevilla to the Algarve I have put up some photos of the Estacion Prado de San Sebastian and the Estacion de Plaza de Armas bus stations
I love Sevilla on a Saturday. Smartly dressed Sevillanos proudly board their immaculate new trams and others sit in the sun all around the city sipping fino and eating tapas. They do it with such style as well!
I drove back via Ronda and on the way checked out Zahara de la Sierra. It's a lovely little pueblo blanco (white village) about 19 kms before Ronda, about 16kms from Grazalema and is perched on a peak above a large lake. I'll definitely be spending more time there soon. I have passed it countless times but I'm really glad I had a look around.
The hypermarket in Ronda on the bypass, just on the coast side of the railway line is well worth stopping at for a coffee before dropping down the coast.
Can I help you with any travel enquiries? Leave a question for me in the comment box below.
Labels: bus stations in Sevilla, Estacion Plaza de Armas, Estacion Prado de San Sebastian, Giralda cathedral, Sevilla, Zahara de la Sierra
posted by Mike Drury at
23:30
6 Comments:
Hello GoMarbella! With reference to your comments concerning Ian Smith and African politics and your invitation to comment I offer the following:
"Ian Smith only once doubted the wisdom of his decision to declare UDI and lead Rhodesia into a 15-year civil war to protect white rule.
That moment of doubt occurred in April 1980, during a meeting with Robert Mugabe, who the previous day had taken office as the first Prime Minister of Zimbabwe.
Mugabe had summoned Smith to Government House and Smith was surprised to be greeted with a warm handshake and a broad smile; after all, the country's new Marxist leader had promised his people that, come liberation, he would have Smith publicly hanged in Harare's main square.
At that meeting, Mugabe told Smith he was acutely aware that he had inherited from his old adversaries, the whites, a jewel of a country, and he praised its superb infrastructure, its efficient modern economy, and promised to keep it that way.
The point is Mugabe was not the sophisticated, balanced, sensible man Smith had briefly hoped for. Even as he was shaking Smith's hand, he was plotting the destruction of another group of political enemies, the Matabele, and was soon to send Korean-trained troops into Matabeleland to conduct a campaign of torture and murder that has still to be fully exposed.
He became the embodiment of corrupt, violent, amoral African dictatorship - just as Smith had warned his supporters.
Let us not forget the context of Smith's determination to hang on to white rule in the 1960s.
At the time that he claimed to be defending "civilised standards", Rhodesians had already witnessed the flight of Belgian refugees from the Congo; Idi Amin had trashed Uganda, and Mobutu Sese Seko was about to introduce an even more brutal and dysfunctional regime in neighbouring Zaire; immediately to the north of Rhodesia, Kaunda's Zambia was in a mess, riddled with corruption and economically mismanaged, and Malawi was being similarly misruled by the eccentric despot Hastings Banda. So why, Smith argued, would Mugabe be any different?
Why, indeed!
It was easy to mock Ian Smith, but perhaps he was right - both about the betrayals and about the quality of most African politicians."
Thanks for that. Isn't it amazing that he was able to murder 15 000 Matabeles even while the world was queuing up to give the new Zimbabwe's begging bowl. How long do you give South Africa?
It's a good question Mike and one that Nelson Mandella was acutely aware of when he said, "South Africa cannot escape its African destiny. If we do not devote our energies to this continent, we too could fall victim to the forces that have brought ruin to its various parts."
Sadly Mandella is not typical of African politicians and when people like South Africa's Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka says that South Africa could learn a lot from Zimbabwe's land reform ... namely, how to do it faster .... it makes you wonder! South Africa needs a bit of "oomph" she says, and maybe it should get some colleagues from Zimbabwe to come and advise on how to get that oomph.
What chance indeed!
Hello Mike- I hope you can help us, we're taking the airport bus from Malaga to Marbella, then we are thinking of taking a taxi from Marbella to Costalita where we have booked an apartment.
How much does the taxi fare cost? (is it per person or per taxi)
How far is it to costalita and roughly how long does it take?
Many thanks
Clive and Lynn
Hi Clive and Lynn
Thank you very much for writing in and I am sorry to have delayed my reply to you.
I phoned the taxi company this afternoon and the girl said it would be approximately 20 euros by taxi from Marbella to Costalita.
I hope this helps you and the information has not come to late for your stay on the coast. Very best wishes from Marbella
Mike
I should have added it's about 20 kms from Marbella placing it about halfway between San Pedro de Alcantara and Estepona.
On a good day it shouldn't take more than 20 minutes. The preparatory road work for the new tunnel under San Pedro is quite unpredictable but the Spanish road engineers are excellent at keeping the traffic flowing whilst building goes on.
Best wishes
Mike
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